The Standard - 2015 April 01 - Wednesday

A sweet family affair

Pacman gets Ali’s support

VOL. XXIX NO. 48 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDAY : APRIL 1, 2015 www.manilastandardtoday.com [email protected]

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SENATORS SLAMLYING ON BBL

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A3Typhoon hitsPhilippinesthis week

Holy Week fi gure. A stained-glass fi gure of Jesus Christ adorns the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City this Holy Week. SONNY ESPIRITU

In observanceof Holy Week,The Standard willresume publicationon Easter Sunday.

Comelec debunks‘no-el’ plot

Senators blast ‘lying’about Bangsa budget

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PNoy Pilate. Women from the group Gabriela protest against the higher charges for electricity this month in front of Meralco’s head office on Ortigas Avenue. MaNNy PalMero

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) debunked on Tuesday the claim of poll lawyer Ro-mulo Macalintal that a no election scenario might happen in 2016 if the Supreme Court scraps the P268-million contract for the repair and refurbishment of 81,000 voting ma-chines.

While dismissing Macalintal’s claim, Comelec spokesman James Ji-menez however admitted that there is no such provision in the auto-mated election law that would per-mit the country to return to manual election.

“We share the view that the auto-mation law mandates automation,” Jimenez said.

But he assured that the Comelec will excert all its efforts to prevent a no election scenario.

“But if there are absolutely no ma-chines available, will people prefer no elections?” Jimenez said.

“We need to prepare for all con-tingencies,” the Comelec spokesman added.

One of the contingency plans that Jimenez mentioned earlier is getting its own IT experts to refurbish the 81,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in case the SC scraps the P268-million diagnostic and repair contract with the Smart-matic-TIM.

Jimenez assured that the Com-elec will release to the public their contingency plan as soon as the Commission en banc finalizes the result of their meetings last week.

“We will release out contingency plans as soon as these are finalized,” Jimenez said.

On Monday, Macalintal warned that there might be no election in 2016 of the SC junked the P268-million negotiated-contract for the refurbishment and repair of 81,000 voting machines.

In the worst-case scenario, Ma-calintal said, the Court could nullify the contract forcing the Comelec to hold another bidding. Even if another bidder wins, he added, Smartmatic is-not expected to disclose its technology to the winning bidder.

“If this happens, we can say goodbye to an automated election or [have] no election at all in May 2016,” he said.

Macalintal also discounted man-ual elections because the Automated Eleciton Law does not allow the con-duct of a manual count unless law-makers amend the rules.

Comelec acting-chairman Chris-tian Robert Lim said last week that reverting to a manual count was better than postponing the 2016 elections.

“Manual elections are better than no elections,” Lim said, adding that “having no elections will be unac-ceptable to many”.

He feared that deferring the na-tional elections might trigger a “cvil war” even as some lawmakers who have been supportive of Smartmat-ic, Comelec officials could be im-peached for failing to hold automat-ed elections as mandated by the law.

Ferrer has been insist-ing that only P35 billion would go to the prospective Bangsamoro government—P27 billion in a block grant, P7 billion in development funds and P1 billion in a transition fund.

But Escudero, chairman of the Senate finance commit-tee, disputed Ferrer’s claim and said P75 billion a year was a conservative estimate.

“We have not included the revenue generating power of the BBL-- they can impose fees and charges. We have not included the royalties share from the natural re-sources, which were also giv-en to them. Overall, it will surely reach that amount (P75 billion). That is even our conservative estimate,” Escudero said.

The senator said it is good to clarify this to Ferrer be-cause she might not under-

stand the agreement she en-tered into when she signed off on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“It should be a line item [budget]. We should know where the funds will go. We in the national government, there’s a line item [budget]... Perhaps, the Bangsamoro Parliament should not also have that, and should follow the decision and direction of the government in spending funds. There should be ac-countability and transpar-ency,” Escudero said.

With so much of the Bangsamoro budget in a lump sum, Escudero said, the chief minister of Bangsamoro gov-ernment might end up having a bigger intelligence fund than the President of the Philippines.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local govern-ment, said P75 billion for the

By Macon ramos-araneta

SENATOR Francis Escudero on Tuesday hit the government’s chief peace negotiator, Miriam Cor-onel-Ferrer, for claiming that the annual budget for the proposed Bangsamoro region is P35 billion when it is much closer to P75 billion.

Bangsamoro was bigger than the budget of the Armed Forces and the Philippine national Police.

Marcos suspended hear-ings on the BBL after 44 po-lice commandos were killed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, by Muslim rebels, including fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with which the government is in peace talks.

Marcos had scheduled a re-sumption of the BBL hearings on April 13, after receiving re-ports from the MILF, the police board of inquiry, and the three Senate committees that investi-gated the Jan. 25 incident.

Escudero said he will quiz Ferrer on where will the P75 billion would go and how they can justify this huge amount to other regions and provinces.

While acknowledging that the Bangsamoro area has been neglected for several years and suffered destruction from war, Escudero said it would still be difficult for them to justify the P75 billion budget.

“I also do not want to think that if one sows terror and challenges the government to a war, one will be rewarded in the end if they talk to you and talk peace,” said Escudero.

Escudero and Marcos ques-tioned the huge annual bud-get for the Bangsamoro and raised the possibility that the MILF might use the funds to buy arms for their combatants who will later fight the govern-ment and launch a war against it. They also cited reports that the MILF was continuing to re-cruit fighters, establish camps and manufacture weapons.

These were the same views expressed by Senator Alan Pe-ter Cayetano, who warned the government against talking peace with the MILF after the Mamasapano massacre.

Marcos said there was no as-surance that the funds would not go into the pockets of the region’s leaders, as they did un-der the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Escudero also raised the alarm over the absence of checks and balances when it came to the P75 billion budget.

“How can we have checks and balances when this P75 bil-lion is a block grant and a lump sum?” Escudero said.

Cayetano on Tuesday took exception to warnings that the MILF could go to war if the BBL is not passed or is watered down in Congress. With Sandy araneta


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Comelec throws out bidto stop Palawan recall

Typhoon ‘Chedeng’ to hit PH this week

Military arrests yet another BIFF leader

Airport crush. Passengers crowd the check-in counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 1, where officials have reminded the public to come at least four hours before their scheduled flight times because of the Holy Week travel rush. Avito C. DAlAn

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Joselito Kakilala said Abdulgani Esmael Pagao alias Abdulayman Pagao was arrested at around 8:30 p.m. Monday.

He said Pagao did not resist ar-rest as government agents served a warrant of arrest on him for a string of criminal charges.

Kakilala said Pagao is the fi-nance officer of the BIFF and its political arm, the Bangsamoro Is-lamic Freedom Movement.

“Pagao is also the deputy com-mander of the BIFF’s 4th Division and among the spiritual advisers of the group,” Kakilala said.

Government agents found a gre-nade and a loaded caliber .45 pis-tol on the BIFF leader, he added.

With the arrest of Pagao and other leaders, the BIFF was crum-bling, Kakilala said.

An intelligence officer said Pagao was among the BIFF commanders who escaped a military dragnet befor the launch of an all-out offensive.

“Our intelligence agents were able to pinpoint his hideout in the city and they did not lose sight of him until he was arrested last night. More BIFF personalities will be arrested in the few days. We’re intensifying our intelli-gence operations against them,” the officer said.

Recently, BIFF commander Mo-hammad Ali Tambako along with five security aides were captured

in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City. This was followed by the death of Commander Yu-suf Abesali in a firefight over the weekend in Baranagay Pamalian, Shariff Saydona, Maguindanao. The military said two other com-manders were killed in the en-counter while scores were wound-ed, including the son of Kagi Karialan, chief of staff of BIFF founder Ameril Umbra Kato.

Tamabako’s group had protected Filipino bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman after he escaped a police raid on Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Malaysian terror-ist Zulkif li Abdhir alias Marwan was killed in the operation, but 44 police commandos also lost their lives. Another Malyasian terror-ist, Amin Baco alias Jihad, was believed to be with the f leeing Usman and four other “foreign-looking” terrorists.

On Monday, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said they have scaled down the all-out offensive, saying the armed capability of the BIFF was already crippled by half.

He said focused operations would continue against the BIFF, which had broken into small groups.

A Palace spokesman said Tues-day government forces will con-tinue to hunt down Usman and the other terrorists who f led with him. – With Sandy Araneta

By Sandy Araneta

METEOROLOGISTS warned Tuesday that Tropical Storm “Maysak” which left several casualties and severe damage in Micronesia was building into a super-typhoon as it swept across the central Pacific towards the Yap group of islands.

Maysak is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Wednesday or Thurs-day and will then be renamed “Chedeng” but the country is not expected to experience its effects until weekend.

If it does enter PAR, it will be the third storm to enter country this year and the first to hit during Holy Week when most of the country is on holiday.

Malacañang, meanwhile, assured the public that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage-ment Council and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adminis-tration are on top of the situation.

“The NDRRMC is on top of it together with Pagasa,” stressed Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, during yesterday’s press briefing in Malacanang.

“We will be provided timely warnings. At the same time, the NDRRMC is, as you know, is com-posed of several Cabinet agencies so all of them are already informed of the incoming storm and inso-far as the roles of each Cabinet agency, they know what to do,” Lacierda also said.

Lacierda said if there is a need to advise local government units affected, it would be the De-partment of Social Welfare and Development which would be handling relief.

“All of these are being prepared now so we will be able to anticipate and prepare for the incom-ing storm,” he said.

The island of Chuuk, part of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), received a direct hit late on Sunday from Typhoon Maysak and the Yap group was next in its path. With AFP

By Sara D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elec-tions dismissed with finality the appeal of Mayor Lucilo Bayron against the recall pro-cess that is being held in Puer-to Princesa City.

In a 14-page en banc deci-sion, the Comelec en banc dismissed Bayron’s appeal for lack of merit and for failing to substantiate his allegations.

“Apart from his self-serv-ing allegations, respondent-appellant failed to prove the same. It is settled that upon him who alleges rests the burden of proof. This burden rests upon respondent-appel-lant on the first instance be-fore the EO (election officer), which he miserably failed to discharge,” the Comelec said.

The resolution also stated that Bayron failed to prove his allegation that the veri-fication process was not ac-complished within the peri-od allowed, which was from Feb. 20 to Feb. 28, 2015.

It also denied Bayron’s al-legations that the EO erred in his findings that the 12,322 signatures were not forged or falsified; the 277 thumb marks identified as blurred, smudged, indistinct were

deemed valid and the signa-tures of deactivated voters were also considered valid.

“Finally, it bears stressing that the grounds invoked by respondent-appellant, at the most are mere procedural irregularities that do not constitute grounds for the dismissal of the recall peti-tion,” the Commission en banc wrote.

The resolution also dis-missed Bayron’s claim that the EO “did not conduct independent assessment of the signatures objected to as forged or falsified.”

The poll body explained that the EO in fact con-ducted an independent ex-amination of the questioned signatures in order to arrive at a conclusion as their au-thenticity.

The Comelec also found that Bayron was given the chance to raise his objec-tions during the verification process, but he failed to do so in the manner provided for in the rules.

The recall petition against Bayron was initiated by Al-roben Goh, a former city in-formation of Puerto Princ-esa. Bayron was accused of graft and corruption.

Mini ride. A young boy takes a ride on a midget horse in Wright Park in Baguio City, which is hosting a huge vacation crowd during Holy Week holidays. DAviD CHAn

By Florante S. Solmerin

MILITARY and police agents arrested a high-ranking leader of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Mon-day night, dealing a blow to the group that broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an Armed Forces spokesman said Tuesday.

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Gabriela protest causes pullout

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Court of Appeals rebuked state lawyers for failing to properly advise Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas on the preventive suspension they served on Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr.

A FILIPINO oil worker was killed and five others were wounded in a rocket attack on a coastal town west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, a Libyan security source said Mon-day.

Three other Filipino oil workers were wounded in Sunday’s attack on Zawiya, 40 kilometers west of Tripoli, the source said.

The four Filipinos were riding in a car when the attack took place, the source said, adding that a Su-danese man and a Libyan man who were driving separate cars were also wounded.

The foreign ministry spokesman in Manila confirmed the death of one of its citizens.

“Our embassy in Tripoli con-

firmed that one Filipino died in [a] bombing in Zawiya,” spokesman Charles Jose said in a text message to AFP.

He made the statement even as the Philippine Overseas Em-ployment Administration said no placement agencies in Malta were authorized to place Filipino nurses from other countries in the medical sector in Malta or the UK.

The agency made the statement after Foreign Affairs said Filipino nurses and health-care workers still in Libya were being lured to work in Malta but in exchange for recruitment fees.

“Filipino nurses cannot work as nurses in Malta or the UK

without securing the necessary accreditation from the govern-ment of said countries,” the POEA said.

Libya has been wracked by con-flict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Moammar Kadhafi, with rival mi-litias and governments battling for its oil wealth.

The security source said Zawiya falls under the control of Fajr Lib-ya, a militia coalition that in Au-gust seized Tripoli, where it has set up a rival government and parlia-ment.

There was no immediate confir-mation by Libya’s internationally recognized administration of the attack. AFP, with Vito Barcelo

Filipino worker slain in rocket attack

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE Gabriela Women’s Group on Tues-day again protested the selling of shirts al-legedly promoting rape in the SM chain of shopping malls.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Je-sus slammed what she described as the malls’ corporate irresponsibility, saying those were selling merchandise promot-ing violence against women and chil-dren.

But SM said Tuesday it no longer was selling the shirts.

“The shirts have been pulled out,” Cora-zon Guidote, SM Investments Corp.’s se-nior vice president for Investor Relations, said in a statement.

De Jesus, a member of the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives, was referring only to the shirt with the “I

promise I’ll pull out” caption. The shirt was said to have been sold at the youth section of the shopping mall’s department stores.

“The play of words may sound like a harmless joke to marketers, but this has a subtle encouragement for young boys to seduce women and subject them to date rape,” De Jesus said.

“We bel ieve that major reta i l-ers keep their promise to screen merchandise for messages that are harmful to women and foment v io-lence, bu l ly ing, voyeurism, non-consensua l sex and other ant i-wom-en acts .”

Gabriela had earlier filed a resolution denouncing the selling of shirts by the same shopping mall chain, which were captioned “It’s not rape. It’s a snuggle with a struggle.”

During the CA hearing on the contempt charges Binay filed against Morales and Roxas, mag-istrates of the appellate court grilled Senior State Solicitor Ray-mund Rigodon for arguing that the temporary restraining order the CA filed against the suspen-sion was invalid.

Justices of the CA Sixth Division grilled Senior State Solicitor Ray-mund Rigodon after he claimed that Morales and Roxas could not be held in contempt for ignoring the TRO, issued last March 16, be-cause the court order was suppos-edly invalid.

Associate Justice Francisco Acosta asked Rigodon what his grounds for arguing that the court order was already moot because it was issued after the notice of Binay’s six-month sus-pension was served, but Rigo-don failed to answer and instead asked for more time to prepare an answer.

Acosta also challenged Rigo-don to cite any jurisprudence to support the argument that the CA has no power to issue a TRO on the preventive suspension orders of the Ombudsman, but Rigodon could not provide a single court ruling.

When Rigodon argued that the DILG should have not been im-pleaded in the contempt case as the agency enjoys state immunity

from suits, Acosta rebuffed him and said it was Roxas who was be-ing charged of contempt and not the DILG as an agency.

“It is your interpretation that TRO is invalid, that’s why you did not properly advice your client?” Acosta stressed.

CA’s Sixth Division chairman, Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr. sid-ed with Acosta’s view and told Ri-godon that “as a lawyer you could have been prudent in giving advice to your client.”

Reyes also scrutinized the legal opinion of Morales that the TRO was already moot and unenforce-able, which he believes “could have also triggered the defiance (of the TRO).”

Reyes also questioned the mo-tive of the manifestation filed with the court last March 17, which es-poused the Ombudsman’s legal opinion, included a conclusion that the TRO was moot.

The justice made the same com-ment on the similar legal opinion of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima.

For his part, Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr. grilled Rigo-don why he did not advise Roxas to seek clarification from the court instead of asking for De Lima’s opinion.

“Why did it not aver with the public respondents to ask the court to clarify the parameters of the TRO?” he asked.

Digital Rizal. Bandai Namco, developers of the online computer game Tekken, has introduced its latest character, Josie Rizal, whose skills include eskrima and kickboxing, in Tekken 7. But the National Council for Culture and the Arts has objected to the character because it supposedly trivializes the national hero, Jose Rizal. DANNY PATA

Mopping up. Fire fighters put out a blaze that gutted 20 houses in Paranaque City on Tues-day. DANNY PATA

CA slamssolicitors’failure tobrief Mar


NEWS

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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MALACAÑANG is hopeful the United Nations would eventually resolve the case in favor of the Philippines in relation to the People’s Republic of China’s nine-dash line concept, which seeks to demarcate the Philippine territory in the West Philippine sea to within 200 meters from the shore.

“The international arbitration mechanism has its own rules and regulations. We abide by it, having filed our case before the arbitral tribunal, we abide by the rules and regulations that are provided and specified under those rules,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“Certainly, we would hope for a resolution of the case and a resolution in our favor as we believe that we have a strong case against China in their nine-dash line theory.

“Again, we submit to the (UN abitral tribunal), having submitted to the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, we will follow their timetable,” Lacierda said.

But Lacierda declined to comment if the Philippine government would request the fast tracking of the case before the UN.

“My limitation is I am not familiar with the arbitral rules and regulations.I can give you a motherhood statement but it might be unfair because I am not familiar with the rules and regulations of the arbitral tribunal. The DFA would be in a better position to speak on the process itself,” said Lacierda.

Malacanang earlier said that it cannot accept China’s nine-dash line concept, which seeks to demarcate Philippine territory in the West Philippine sea to within 200 meters from shore. Sandy Araneta

Sandigan clears Ongpin in DBP behest loan deal By Rio N. Araja

THE Sandiganbayan has reaffirmed its order to dismiss two graft and corruption cases filed against businessman and former trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin over a P660 million loan.

On Tuesday, the anti-graft’s Special Division issued a March 7 resolution penned by Associate Justice Samuel Martires, upholding the dismissal order.

The resolution said the Office of the Ombudsman prosecutors failed to present new evidence and arguments to challenge the Sandiganbayan’s May 28, 2014 order to quash the graft suits against Ongpin, former Development Bank of the Philippines chairperson

Patricia Sto. Tomas and 23 others.“After going through the instant

motion, we find that there are no substantial arguments that would warrant a reversal of our May 28, 2014 Resolution and in fact, the issues raised by the prosecution are the very same matters that have been previously been passed upon and resolved by the Court in the assailed Resolution,” the resolution read.

In June 2014, the Ombudsman filed a 99-page motion for

reconsideration, urging the Sandiganbayan to reconsider its May 28, 2014 dismissal order on Ongpin.

The Ombudsman said the anti-graft court’s decision “was premature” since the “dismissal based on insufficiency of evidence may only be made after the prosecution rests its case.”

It said it “was deprived of its opportunity to prosecute its case and to prove the culpability of the accused,” citing the dismissal was “unwanted turnaround” and “constitutes a premature appreciation of evidence not yet formally presented and offered,” thereby “violating the right of plaintiff People of the Philippines to due process of law.”

Alex Poblador, Qngpin’s lawyer, said the loans could not be considered behest since these were

paid with interest well before their maturity.

He said the loans made up only 17 percent of the total financing Ongpin raised since 2007 to accumulate the stake in Philex Mining Corp.

Last year, Ongpin issued an official statement and welcomed the Sandiganbayan’s decision, saying the decision “is a clear vindication” to him.

He said he had pursued to bring in investments to the country “despite the continuing persecution by the current administration.”

Also last year, Ongpin sued Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla and former Anti-Money Laundering Council executive director Vicente Aquino for freezing his bank accounts in connection with the DBP alleged behest loan case.

By Sandy Araneta PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has answered most of the 20 questions on the Mamasapano incident raised by the Makabayan bloc in Congress as the lawmakers are not giving up hope that the chief executive will show up and answer these questions its members have prepared for him.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda quizzed the bloc’s motive in pressing for the answers to the questions. “Why are you asking it again? Maybe you don’t want the answers the President gave, one reason, or you are not satisfied with the President’s statement or there is a line that you want the President to state, (or) to say.”

But again, Lacierda said, “you want the truth to come out and since these are 20 questions that you asked, you are members of the House of Representatives, it’s up to

you to go through and the House leadership to go through the procedure and—ensuring, however, that the separation of powers and the respect to the co-equal branch is maintained.”

On of the questions for Aquino: Why did you authorize or allow the participation of suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima in Oplan Exodus...? Didn’t you violate the chain of command when you when you let a suspended officer head an operation?

Lacierda said the President and his spokespersons have already stated in a number of occasions the role of resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Alan Purisima in the Mamasapano incident.

Lacierda said the Makabayan bloc should ask the House of Representatives leadership’s permission and should determine first the process as to how the questions would be given to the President.

PH abides by tribunalon China’s9-dash line

Water cannons are trained on a Turkish Airlines plane during the launching of its inaugural flight on Monday night (March 30, 2015) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in Pasay City. Inset shows MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado receiving a plane replica from Ahmet Olmustur, Chief Marketing Officer of Turkey Airlines. ERIC APOLONIO

‘Aquino has responded to 20 questions’

Disruption. Workers lay a seven-foot water pipeline on Juan Luna and Hermosa streets in Manila on Tuesday March 31 causing a temporary water supply disruption in the southern portion of Manila until April 3. DANNY PATA

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Arrest DOJ witness—victim’s kin

In their March 29, 2015 letter to Jus-tice Secretary Secretary Leila de Lima, the family of slain jail warden Al-Khail Tangki Mamalangkay appealed to her to arrest former Mayor Akmad Am-patuan of Datu Salibo town.

De Lima earlier admitted that Ak-mad has been placed under the DOJ’s

Witness Protection Program being one of the principal witnesses against the batch of respondents in the Ma-guindanao massacre case now un-dergoing preliminary investigation before the DOJ.

Akmad is one of the accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case

By Rey E. Requejo

The Department of Justice has been urged to serve the ar-rest warrant against one of the principal witnessese against the 50 new suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case. The warrant was issued by the Cotabato City Regional Trial Court for the murder of a jail warden 17 years ago.

By Maricel V. Cruz

An administration law-maker has filed a measure increasing the combat duty pay of all commissioned and non-commissioned Philippine national Police personnel in the aftermath of the Mamasapano in-cident which saw 44 po-lice commandos killed in clashes with Muslim mili-tants in Mindanao.

Cebu City Rep. Gabriel Luis Quisumbing, in House Bill 5455 or the proposed “PnP Combat Duty Pay In-crease,” sought mission al-lowance for the PnP and the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP) personnel who are exposed to combat situa-tion and hazards unusual to peacekeeping.

Under the bill, the monthly combat duty pay for commissioned and non-commissioned PnP personnel shall be in-creased from P240 to 25% of their base pay.

The mission allowance, on the other hand, shall rep-resent 50% of their base pay, according to the bill.

In pushing for the passage of the measure, Quisumbing cited Section 5 of Article XVI of the Con-stitution, which provides that professionalism in the armed forces and adequate remuneration and benefits of its members shall be a prime concern of the State.

Quisumbing, a vice chairperson of the House Committee on national Defense and Security, la-mented that government forces in conflict areas re-ceive only P240 per month as combat pay.

Combat pay hike for cops sought

An administration law-maker has filed a measure in Congress that imposes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment on a person who causes injuries and deaths by his/her indis-criminate firing of guns particularly during new Year and similar public cel-ebrations.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr. said that those found guilty of indiscriminate firing es-cape imprisonment due to an absence of a specific law for the crime commit-ted as such.

Baguilat proposed stiffer penalties for willful or in-discriminate discharge of firearms.

Citing government data, Baguilat said in 2015 alone, there were sixty-one victims in-jured due to stray bullets. Eleven-year old Stepha-nie nicole Ella died be-cause of this,” Baguilat said. Maricel V. Cruz

‘Life term for willful dischargeof guns’

Makati re-routes traffic,lifts number-code scheme By Joel E. Zurbano

MAKATI City will enforce a traffic re-routing scheme in connection with the city’s traditional religious activity from Holy Wednesday to Easter Sun-day even as it lifts the number-coding scheme starting today (April 1) until Friday (April 3), and on April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan.

The city government said some 20 “kubols” or “kalbaryos” have been installed on major streets in Baran-gay Poblacion for the faithful to relive the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

“Kubols” are tableaus with religious

themes traditionally assembled in Po-blacion communities by families and associations, where antique statues of the Holy Family and saints owned by prominent families are placed,” Resi-dents gather here for the traditional “Pabasa”, the singing of the Passion of Christ Jesus. The faithful also spend time in the “kubol” to reflect and meditate.

In a statement, the Makati Public Safety Department advised motorists that from 10 p.m. of April 1 (Wednes-day) to 5 p.m. of April 5 (Sunday), the stretch of J.P. Rizal Street from Re-poso Street to Makati Avenue will be open to two-way traffic.

that left 57 people dead, most of them journalists.

The family informed De Lima that the former mayor was charged with murder before the Cotabato RTC, Branch 13, on January 27, 1999 and the case has since been archived due to the failue of police authorities to serve the arrest warrant is-sued against the accused.

A certification issued by branch clerk of court Abdul Buayan last February 2015 states that the warrant of arrest against Akmad remains enforceable.

“This is to certify that per record of the case, the warrant of arrest issued in this case dated September 24, 1999 against the accused is still valid and in existence as of today,” the court stated.

The Mamalangkay family led by

the victim’s 80-year-old mother Tan-gli Mamalangkay said they are de-termined to seek justice for his son whom she said was murdered by the former mayor.

Tangli said that his son was able to execute a dying declaration pointing to Akmad as his assailant.

She stressed that the pieces of evi-dence against Akmad are overwhelm-ing considering that his son’s stolen motorcycle was even found by authori-ties at his (Akmad’s) residence.

The complainant added that they have prodded authorities numerous times to serve the arrest warrant but no one dared to enforce it for fear of reprisal from Akmad who is known to be very influential in the province.

NO. NAME OF PROJECT AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION IMPLEMENTING OFFICE

APPROVED BUDGET FOR

THE CONTRACT (ABC)

1Cakes for Birthdays of Senior Citizens, Golden Wedding Anniversaries and Centenarians for year 2015

MSWD P4,852,282.75

2Building Maintenance Services for various Elementary and High Schools of Makati City for year 2015

DEP-ED P23,819,825.78

3Acquisition of Contract for the Outsourced Maintenance of Water Purifier (46 units) at various schools of Makati City for year 2015

DEP-ED P6,281,422.22

4 Summer In-Service Training of Teachers under Project TEACH DEP-ED P7,499,920.50

5Pencils and Ballpens for the use of Kindergarten, Elementary and High School pupils/students of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati

DEP-ED P7,146,255.70

6 Makati School Bags for the use of Kindergarten and Grade 1 pupils of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati DEP-ED P4,527,600.00

1. The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites interested bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for the above projects, with Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) indicated, inclusive of all taxes, such as, but not limited to, value added tax (VAT), income tax, local taxes and other fiscal levies.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening.

2. 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”.

3. 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.

4. A complete set of Bidding Documents will be available one (1) day after posting / publication of the above projects up to Closing Date (before the deadline of the submission of bids),weekdays only from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount stated on the issued order of payment to the City Government of Makati Cashier.

5. The BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on April 07, 2015 (02:00 P.M.) at BAC Conference Room, 9th floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City to discuss Eligibility Requirements and the Technical and Financial Components of these projects. However, only those interested Bidders who have purchased the Bidding Documents are allowed to raise and submit queries or clarifications regarding the Bidding Documents.

6. Deadline of Submission of Bids shall be on or before April 21, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), atBAC Conference Room, 9th floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

Opening of Bids shall be on April 21, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), at BAC Conference Room, 9th floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

7. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the said address. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8. The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, or to reduce the corresponding ABC and Terms of Reference (TOR), without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please visit or contact: BAC SECRETARIAT OFFICE Makati City Government 9th Floor, New Makati City Hall Building F. Zobel Street, Brgy.Poblacion, Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 loc. 1331; Fax No. 899-8988 website: www.makati.gov.ph

(SGD.) MS. VISSIA MARIE P. ALDONChairperson

(TS-APR 1, 2015)

Bids and Awards Committee

J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati CityTel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988

www.makati.gov.ph

INVITATION TO BID

REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS LUNGSOD NG MAKATI Republic of the Philippines

Province of BataanMUNCIPALITY OF LIMAY

INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipality of Limay through the SPECIAL

EDUCATION FUND Budget CY2015 invites registered contractors to apply for eligibility and if found to be eligible to bid, hereunder the projects/contracts. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of Project/Contract Location

Sources of

FUNDSDuration

Approved Budget

Cost(ABC)

Cost of Bid Doc’s.

1Construction of Facilities for Consultants

Lamao National H/S, Brgy. Lamao, Limay, Bataan

SEF FUND 60 Days 4,205,000.00 5,000.00

2

Construction of Two(2) Storey Administration Building for Limay Elementary School

Brgy. Townsite,

Limay, BataanSEF

FUND 180 Days 9,299,800.00 10,000.00

3

Construction of Two(2) Storey Administration Building for Lamao Elementary School

Brgy. Lamao, Limay, Bataan

SEF FUND 180 Days 9,299,800.00 10,000.00

4

Construction of Two(2) Storey Administration Building for Lamao National High School

Brgy. Lamao, Limay, Bataan

SEF FUND 180 Days 9,299,800.00 10,000.00

Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from 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, Instruction to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorship, partnerships or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Municipality of Limay at the address given below from 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Municipality of Limay will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on April 10, 2015, 2:00 P.M. at Limay Municipal Building , which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before April 24, 2015 until 1:00 P.M. and to be opened at 2:00 P.M. of the same day at the Limay Municipal Building All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in Clause 18 of Bid Data Sheet.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidder’s representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Submission of Class “A” documents and Financial Statements at least seven (7) calendar days and the Technical Documents (completed/on-going projects) at least fifteen (15) calendar days before the deadline for the submission or opening of bids.

The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Municipality of Limay reserves the right to accept or deny any bid, to annul bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, refer to:RONNIE LATANAFRANCIA BAC TWG Tel. No. : 613-8026

(SGD.) ROMARIO C. PANANGUI BAC – Chairman(TS-APR 1, 2015)

Beefing up. At least 165 policemen from National Capital Region Police Office arrive at the Manila District Command on Tuesday to beef up the regular force who will help ensure peace and order during the Holy week. DANNY PATA

[email protected]

w e d n e s d ay : a p r i l 1 , 2 0 1 5

news A7

Eco-friendly airport to riseon Panglao Island in 2017

Housing board: Property ads must not mislead customers

Driver turned mayor honored in bust

If this bridge could talk. Budget Sec. Butch Abad, ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Major Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan inspect the wooden footbridge in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao. It will be replaced with a P10-million, 120-meter steel struc-ture to be called the Bridge of Peace. Omar mangOrsI

regatta. A fisherman watches small boats race each other at sea in southern Cebu. ralph pIezas

Abaya said the con-struction of the New Bohol airport, the first airport project of the Aquino administration to be developed as an “eco-airport,” is set to begin before the end of

summer this year.An eco-airport will fea-

ture environmentally sus-tainable technologies.

He said the airport is designed to accommodate one million passengers yearly, catering to the

CEBU CITY – The Hous-ing and Land Use Regula-tory Board says property developers only have until April 15 this year to com-ply with its Board Resolu-tion 921 which prohibits exaggerated and mislead-ing statements in their advertisements.

HLURB Arbiter Joe Vin-son Empaces said these rules would be enforced “to enable the public to make an informed choice” and to protect prospective buyers against fraud and malpractice.

The resolution, which took effect February 14 this year, is governed by Presi-dential Decree 957 and the 2014 Guidelines on Adver-tisements recently issued by the agency.

All real estate ads should specify the name of the developer, the exact location of the project, its license to sell (LS) num-ber, the advertisement’s approval number, and the approved completion date as indicated in the LS.

“No mode or manner of payment and financing shall be included in the advertisement unless such payment and financing scheme is fully disclosed in the ad.” Empaces added.

For economic and so-cialized housing projects, a maximum selling price should also be stated in the ads.

Pictures and illustra-tions should be “properly captioned” and the ad should state whether these

are actual photographs, an architect’s perspective or an artist’s illustration, the HLURB said.

The project’s location and distance in relation to a known place or land-mark should be expressed in kilometers.

Advertisements covered by HLURB include print, broadcast, and out-of-home ads like billboards, banners, tarpaulins, transit ads, and digital displays.

In the case of print ads, the LS number must be of the same font type and size and resolution as the adver-tisers’ contact number.

HLURB VII Director Alixes Roy T. Lopez said developers risk paying fines if they do not comply with the new rules. pna

A new world-class, eco-friendly airport will rise in Panglao Island in Bohol by 2017, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jo-seph emilio Abaya said Monday.

steadily increasing number of tourists in Bohol.

Japanese joint venture Chiyoda Corp.and Mit-subishi Corp. bagged the construction contract for P3.36 billion.

Abaya said that it was vi-tal to develop and modern-ize the country’s airports not only to provide better service to passengers, but to also enable economic growth for Filipinos.

Construction of the

New Bohol Airport fol-lows developments in the country’s other air-ports, including the opening of the new wing (arrival area) of the Ka-libo International Air-port last March 26 and the beginning of regular night flight operations at the Laguindingan Airport last March 29.

Last year, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Termi-nal 3 was finally opened

for full airline opera-tions. In the same year, DOTC also kicked off its project to rehabilitate NAIA Terminal 1.

Furthermore, the ex-pansion by more than 8,000 square meters of Clark International Air-port’s passenger terminal building was begun in May. Contracts to bring the Mactan-Cebu and Puerto Princesa Airports to world-class levels were also awarded. pna

LUCBAN, QUEZON—A bust monument of a pas-senger bus driver-turned-local leader, Lucban’s late Mayor Hobart Dator, Sr., was unveiled Tuesday at the 50th anniversary of the South Luzon State University.

The former mayor, provincial board mem-ber and vice governor founded the school in 1964, then named Luc-ban Municipal Junior High School.

It was subsequently re-named Lucban Municipal High School, Lucban Na-tional High School, Lucban National College, Southern Luzon Polytechnic Colleg-ebefore attaining university status in 2007.

SLSU now has more than 10,000 students and satellite campuses in Lu-cena City and the towns of Candelaria, Tiaong and Gumaca.

Dator also led a gue-rilla group during World War II. In 2008, he received the Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan posthumously as a model public servant.

Dator’s son, civic and environment advocate Ho-bart Dator, Jr., incumbent Mayor Celso Oliver Dator, university president Alvin Losloso led municipal, ba-rangay and university offi-cials and school alumni in the unveiling. Rep. Vicente Alcala was guest of honor and speaker.

macon ramos araneta

opinionA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

TwenTy quesTions for The PresidenT

A9ADELLE chuAe d i T o r

W E D n E s D Ay: A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 5

opinion

Lies upon Lies

The specTer of no-el

Continued on A11

TWENTY Questions is a traditional parlor game that encourages deductive reasoning and creativity. In the game, one player is designated the answerer and chooses an object but does not reveal it to the others in the game. Players then take turns asking questions answerable by yes or no. If they cannot guess the object by the end of 20 questions, the answerer wins.

Given the many unanswered questions surrounding the Mamasapano debacle in which 44 police commandos were killed, it is hardly surprising that lawmakers have decided to pose their own set of 20 questions to President Benigno Aquino III, who, along with his good friend, resigned police chief Alan Purisima, was the only high-level official who knew about the covert operation before it went down the tubes.

Realizing, perhaps, that the President is unlikely to give a straight yes-or-no answer, they have framed many of their questions in an open-ended way. Like the original parlor game, however, the 20 questions for the President are designed to arrive at the truth by narrow-ing the field of inquiry with each succeeded question, until the well-guarded truth in Mr. Aquino’s mind is revealed.

Eight of the questions deal with the President’s buddy, Purisima, and why Mr. Aquino al-lowed him to participate in the active planning and execution of the covert operation when he knew that the police chief had already been suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman on corruption charges. Did the President (yes or no) knowingly violate the Ombudsman’s suspension order?

Purisima’s involvement raises many other questions.Why, for example, did the President lie about Purisima’s role on Jan. 25? In a question-

and-answer session that day, the President claimed his good friend was involved only until he was suspended in December 2014. Subsequent testimony before the Senate and even the President’s own statements later reveal this to have been a bald-faced lie.

Why too, if the President wanted the mission commander to coordinate with the Armed Forces, had he simply not picked up the phone and called AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang or brought PNP OIC Leonardo Espina into the mission briefings?

The lawmakers also want to know if the President relied purely on text messages for his information, or had he attempted to call anybody, including Purisima, to get a clearer pic-ture of what was happening in Mamasapano. If he did not, why not?

Why, the lawmakers wanted to know, was there no air support for the Mamasapano op-eration? Was the President aware that two helicopters and two planes that could have been used to provide the police commandos with air support were deployed that day in Zam-boanga to protect him? Did the President order the Army to stand down and not come to the aid of the beleaguered police commandos in view of the ongoing peace talks with the Muslim rebels?

The lawmakers from the leftist Makabayan bloc also wanted to know what the role of the United States was in the operation and what the President’s legal basis for getting them involved was.

The lawmakers had wanted the President to answer the questions in person at a hearing before the House, but that is unlikely to happen, given the spirited blocking defense that Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and the President’s other lackeys in Congress have mounted to protect him.

But those questions will not go away simply because House leaders refuse to call in the President, who has painted himself into a corner with his lies. And outraged Filipinos won’t stop at 20 questions to get at the truth that they know he is hiding from them.

There are questions that

only Aquino can answer. none of his

subordinates can answer them for

him.

lowdown

jojo A. robles

bACK ChAnnel

AlejAndro del rosArio

We may not realize it but the prospect of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s term being extended if no elections are held in 2016 is staring us in the face.

This would be the consequence if the legal issues on the contract between the Commission on elections and the Venezuelan firm Smartmatic is not resolved by the Supreme Court. extension of Aquino’s term by force majeure cannot be discounted.

Comelec acting chairman Christian Lim said reverting to manual counting in place of automated voting provided by Smartmatic and its 82,000 precinct count optical scan machines is better than no election at all. Lim’s statement raised the specter of a no-el scenario for the first time if electronic voting using the PCOS machines is shelved.

Not implementing automated voting also raises a constitutional issue since automated voting is mandated by law. Congress has to pass a law allowing manual counting for it to be implemented in 2016. The clock is ticking and Congress has yet to address the key issue in time for the May 2016 polls. Is the deliberate stalemate the end game planned all along by Aquino and his congressional allies?

Smartmatic must be such a favored contractor that Comelec unanimously overturned a decision disqualifying the IT provider from participating in the bidding for the supply of the optical mark reader machines.

***In pushing for the passage of the

Bangsamoro Basic Law, President Aquino painted a grim scenario if Congress does not act favorably on the BBL presently under review.

This is the crossroads we face: We take pains to forge peace today, or count body bags tomorrow,” said the President who invited Church and community leaders to a peace summit to improve the BBL. It has become patently clear the framework agreement drafted by Aquino negotiators Prof. Miriam Coronel Ferrer and Teresita Deles with the MILF is terribly f lawed. Otherwise, why would Aquino concede it needs improvement?

To some, Aquino’s graphic “peace or body bags” remarks seem to toe the MILF line that more bloodshed will follow if Congress revises a BBL that is not to its liking. This posture can only harden the position of many legislators whose constituents in the proposed Bangsamoro region include the Christian communities who are alarmed about their own security and future under a Muslim sub-state.

The lies just keep on com-ing. And because the policy of lying about what happened last Jan. 25 in Maguindanao has already been set by the Liar-in-Chief, new lies will only be heaped upon the old ones, until – the government hopes – nobody can really tell what’s true anymore.

To the demand of a group

of left-leaning congress-men who prepared a set of 20 questions for President Noynoy Aquino, whom they asked to attend the resump-tion of the house hear-ings on the Mamasapano Massacre after holy Week, Malacanang replied: Talk to your leaders.

But Presidential spokes-man edwin Lacierda was, as usual, being facetious. What he really meant was, the palace-oriented leader-ship of Congress had already ruled out any appearance by the President at the hearings

when they resume.And then Lacierda ven-

tured into out-and-out lying, when he said that Aquino had already answered the questions raised by the Makabayan Bloc of Congress, so there was no need for the President to testify anymore. And then Lacierda let loose with the whopper, the big lie of the day:

“Again, we’d like to empha-size the commitment of the President to uncovering the truth [about Mamasapano],” Lacierda. And he told this brazen lie with the straightest

of faces, one worthy of that long-forgotten straight path that his boss once promised to take us on.

But let’s break down

Lacierda’s two latest hits: First, on the matter of Aquino already answering the questions posed by the congressmen – this is obvi-ously a canard.

Aquino has not, by any stretch of the imagination, answered the first batch of questions posed by the Makabayan congressmen, which have to do with the involvement of suspended (and now resigned) PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima. What Aquino did was to blame the command-er of the Special Action Force, Director Getulio Napenas, for taking orders (or “advice”) from the sus-

pended official.elsewhere, Aquino included

Purisima among those who fooled him about his order for coordina-tion with the military. Then, in sub-sequent pronouncements, Aquino – probably because he remembered that Purisima is his bosom buddy – never mentioned the suspended police chief again.

Aquino never mentioned the in-volvement of the American mili-tary (or the reported involvement

of other countries, like Malaysia) in the operation to extract wanted terrorist Marwan. The allegations about the possible involvement of foreign soldiers or officials were never discussed by Aquino in all the four instances that he talked about the massacre.

These are just two burning questions that the congressmen are itching to ask the President. he certainly cannot claim to have answered them to any significant

extent anywhere.And then, there’s the supposed

commitment of Aquino to get to the bottom of what happened last Jan. 25. If Aquino were really deter-mined to get at the truth, I’m cer-tain he wouldn’t mind being asked questions about the incident, right?

After all, if Aquino sincerely be-lieves that the house is still made up of his yes-men (like Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, the leader of

Continued on A11

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MEMBERPhilippine Press InstituteThe National Association of Philippine NewspapersPPI

can be accessed at:www.manilastandardtoday.comONLINE

MSTPublished Monday to Sunday by Kamahalan Publishing Corporation at 2nd Floor PJI Building, Railroad corner 20th Streets, Port Area, Manila. Telephone numbers 521-8507 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 521-5581, (Editorial Fax) 521-7381 (Advertising), 521-8507 (MIS) 521-5591 (Sales and Distribution/Subscription) and

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MSTPublished 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-

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and said. “Going once, twice...sold for $10!”

A man sitting on the second row shouted. “Now, let’s get on with the real collection of the masters!”

But the auctioneer laid down his gavel.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “the auction is over. When I was called to con-duct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal the stipula-tion until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that portrait would inherit the entire estate, including all the paintings. The man who takes the son gets every-thing!”

This Holy Week, we should reflect and meditate that some 2,000 years ago, God gave his son, Jesus Christ, to be incarnate through the Blessed Virgin, to save mankind only to die on a cross on Good Friday. Much like the auctioneer, God’s message this Holy Week is, “The son, the son, who’ll take the son?”

* * *During the graduation

ceremonies at the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang, Cavite, President Aquino intoned that the truth about the Mamasapano clash must be told. And he went on saying that as President he did not send the PNP-SAF on a suicide mission. Next page

OPINIONW e d n e s d ay: a p r i l 1 , 2 0 1 5

a10

THIS being the Holy Week, a time for reflection, I would like to share the story of The Son.

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare and great works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. And they would often sit to-gether and admire the great works of art around them.

When the Vietnam War broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous, but he died in bat-tle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified; he grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package on his hands. He said: “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave up his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet from the enemy struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.”

The young man held out his package and said: “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great art-ist and painter, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this,” and gave the package to the father.

The father opened the package. It was the por-trait of his son, painted by the young man. The fa-ther stared in awe at the way the soldier had cap-tured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes of his son in the portrait that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the portrait.

“Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift,” the young man said.

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works of art he had collected. Sadly, the father died a few months later.

There was to be a great auction of his painting. Many influential and rich people gathered. They were excited over seeing the great paintings and having the opportunity to purchase one of the great collections of the deceased. On the platform sat the portrait of his son.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel and said: “We will start the bidding with the portrait of the son. Who will bid for this painting? There was silence. Then a voice from the back of the room shouted: “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one,” the voice shouted, referring to the portrait of the son. But the auctioneer persisted: Will some-one bid for this portrait? Who will start the bid-ding? $100, $200?”

Another voice shouted angrily, “We did not come here to see the portrait. We came to see the van Goghs, the Rembrandts, the Picassos and Raphaels. Get on with the real bids!”

But, still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the father and the son. The gardener said: “I’ll give $10 for the portrait of the son.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. The auctioneer then pounded his gavel said: “We have $10, who will bid for $20?” The auctioneer continued, “who’ll bid for $20”

People in the room said: “Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.” Still, the auctioneer persist-ed, “$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid for $20?”

The crowd was becoming restless and angry. They did not want the painting of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their own collection. Then the auctioneer pounded the gavel

The sTory of The son

Ph bankingBy nearly every parameter, BDO Unibank is the leader in Philippine banking. BDO is No. 1 in resourc-es, deposits, gross loan portfolio, total equity, trust funds, and profit-ability.

At the end of 2014, BDO had total resources of P1,973 billion (P1.97 trillion), 17.27 percent of the total resources of the Philippine commercial bank-ing system; deposits of P1,491 billion (P1.49 trillion), 18.07 percent of the industry; gross loan portfolio of P1,188 billion (P1.18 trillion), 23.26 percent of the sys-tem’s; and equity of P179.67 billion, 16.37 percent of the system’s total capital.

In 2014, BDO reported total profits of P22.8 billion, a slight increase from the P22.6 billion reported in 2013. In terms of recurring income, profits rose 18 percent. PH BDO is in the able hands of the management tan-dem of Chairman Teresita Sy-Coson and President-CEO Nestor Tan.

BDO’s growth is the saga of Philippine growth. Economic gains have been fueled largely by consump-tion, which has accounted for 79 percent of GDP pro-duction – 68.9 percent by households, and 10.3 percent by the government (in constant 2000 prices).

Most of that consumption comes from consumers whose pockets are bloated by some $26 billion in an-nual remittances of ten million overseas Filipino work-ers. By 2017, earnings from call centers and business process outsourcing could match, if not exceed, OFW remittances which grow at about 5 percent per year. BPO income could top $47 billion by 2020.

The conglomerate of Henry Sy Sr., SM Investments Corp, whose flagship bank is BDO, captures that con-sumption.

In the last eight years alone, the economy has more than doubled, from P6.89 trillion in 2007 to over P14 trillion today.

SMIC’s core businesses – property, banking and retail, are all geared at the consumption of 25 million Filipino families. Sy has four core listed companies – SMIC, the holding company; SM Prime (the property company); and two banks – BDO and China Bank.

It used to be that Henry opened only one mall ev-ery year. Now, SMIC is on a frenetic pace – five malls opened per year.

Philippine growth is one of the fastest, if not the fast-est, in Asia. Philippine banks have cashed in on that boom, registering consistently years of record profit-ability. “We have seen 64 quarters of consecutive growth since 1999,” gushes Lorenzo Tan, RCBC president.

The top-tier banks make at least P1.6 billion in prof-its every month, making them among the most prof-itable Philippine corporations. “Our strong domestic private consumption will help insulate the country from extreme shocks and volatility,” says BDO Chair and SMIC Vice Chair Tessie Sy-Coson.

Moving forward, however, Philippine banks face stiff competition – among themselves and against new, for-eign players.

Congress has allowed the entry of new banks wholly owned by foreigners. If the foreign bank comes from another ASEAN country it will be given parity status – meaning, its nationality is counted as Filipino.

Local banks really need to consolidate. The en-tire Philippine commercial banking system is actually

very small. Total resources is only P10,849 billion (P10.85 trillion) or $240 billion – not even enough to match the resources of Singapore’s largest bank – DBS, which has total assets of $321 billion.

BDO itself, with resources of P1.873 trillion (or $41.62 billion) is just half the size of Bangkok Bank

($85 billion), Thailand’s largest bank.Only six families or groups own more 73.26 percent

of the Philippine commercial banking system – 1. Henry Sy in BDO and Chinabank 21.6 percent; 2. George Ty (Metrobank) with 14.67 percent; 3. the government (Land Bank and DBP) 14 percent; 4. Zobel de Ayala in BPI 13.22 percent ; 5. airline and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan, PNB, 5.52 percent; and 6. Al yuchengco ‘s RCBC 4.25 percent.

The trouble is that these six people or families cannot get together to form one or two much larger banks to compete with their much bigger ASEAN peers. Better to be a big boat in a small pond than be a small boat in a big pond.

That could change, however. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has also allowed banks to open more branches in areas where opening up was once limited. Like Metro Manila.

Accordingly, Al yuchengco’s RCBC has applied for a license to open 50 new branches, at P20 million per branch. That’s easily P1 billion.

Why did RCBC opt to open new branches instead of buying smaller banks with existing branches? “The sell-ing price of existing banks is as much as P70 million per branch,” explains RCBC President and CEO Lorenzo Tan, the younger brother of Nestor.

RCBC’s Tan finds 2014 challenging for Philippine banks, especially with the onset of Basel 3 accompanied by the low interest environment.

This explains why bank profits did not grow as fast as they did in 2013 over 2012.

RCBC has scored a coup by allowing the entry of a significant foreign investor – Cathay Life Insurance of Taiwan. “Its entry is an affirmation of RCBC’s viability and long-term growth prospects,” says Lorenzo Tan.

The banks have plenty of room to grow their loans. Commercial banks have total deposits of P8.25 trillion but have lent out only P5.09 billion in loans or 61.6 per-cent, leaving more than P3 trillion excess cash stashed in the vaults of BSP or in some low-yield but safe gov-ernment IOUs.

The government needs to spend 5 percent of GDP or P800 billion ($18 billion) a year to modernize the country’s decrepit stock of infrastructure. And it needs to spend P800 billion every year for five years. That’s P4 trillion.

With loan demand for non-infra needs growing by 25 percent per year lately, banks do not have enough money to lend for infra.That extra money can only come from foreign banks or sovereign funds.

In response to the timidity of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, China has formed its own bank, the China Infrastructure Investment Bank, to finance the region’s need for infra financing estimated at $11 trillion over the next five to ten years. Problem – Manila is currently not on friendly terms with Beijing. Hence, it cannot tap the Chinese moolah.

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Whoever takes The Son gets everything.

to the point

emil p. jurado

Virtual reality

tonylopez

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A11ADELLE CHUAE D I T O R

W E D N E S D AY: A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

MAIL MATTERS

WHERE DID LOPEZ GET HIS NUMBERS?

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THIS is in response to Mr. Tony Lopez’s article entitled “Aquino loses his man-date” that appeared in his 20 March 2015 “Virtual Reality” column in your paper.

Mr. Lopez claims that two factors caused the drop in President Aquino’s performance and trust ratings: the failure to reduce poverty and unemployment, on the one hand, and the Mamasapano massacre, on the other.

He also added that poverty incidence has remained stagnant at more than 25-28 percent of the population in the past five years, noting that 25.1 million Filipinos are currently poor.

At the same time, he observed that the Aquino ad-ministration’s cumulative four-year budget from 2011-2014 amounted to P7.8 trillion. Citing University of the Philippines (UP) estimates, Lopez claims that up to 40 percent of the national budget has been stolen. And that if indeed the government officials had not stolen 40 per-cent of the budget, the 25 million officially poor families could have easily crossed the poverty threshold seven times over.

To begin with, we would like to ask where Mr. Lopez obtained the President’s performance and trust ratings because this was not mentioned in his column.

We are also wondering how Mr. Lopez was able to

attribute the drop in the President’s ratings to the failure to reduce pov-

erty and unemployment. Having reviewed one possible source of his report (i.e., Pulse Asia Research’s March 2015 Nationwide Survey on Presidential Performance and Trust Ratings), we note that was never any mention that worsening poverty and unemployment were part of the news headlines in the weeks immediately prior to and during the conduct of their field interviews.

But even supposing increasing poverty incidence and unemployment were significant factors, we find Mr. Lopez’s mention of the possibility that 40 percent of the national budget was stolen by government officials to be spectacular in the extreme. If this were indeed true, this would be tantamount to state failure and total bureau-cratic breakdown – a fact that would be impossible to ignore. We hope he can share with us who exactly from UP made this estimate so their estimates can be verified and subjected to audit.

LILA RAMOS SHAHANIAssistant Secretary & Head of CommunicationsHuman Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster Communications Group Office

Foremost of their fears include the Bangsamoro either seceding from the Republic or opting to be a federal state of Malaysia. Why did the Arroyo and Aquino administrations allow Malaysia to be a third-party broker when it has a conf lict of interest involving Manila’s territorial dispute with Kuala Lumpur over Sabah?

Malacanang denied President Aquino was in Zamboanga expecting to receive the head of Malaysian terrorist Marwan from the PNP-SAF team.(Just a figure of speech; unlike ISIS or Abu Sayyaf, SAF commandos don’t decapitate their captives). Marwan’s index finger cut off by the raiders was all Aquino got. It was good enough for US forensic experts to do DNA testing and confirm the commandos did take down Marwan.

Somehow the Palace explanation that the President was in Zamboanga to look into a car bombing in the city doesn’t wash. Why the President? Why not just assign DILG Secretary Mar Roxas or PNP OIC Gen. Leonardo Espina to handle a purely police matter?

***Airline passengers now have to worry

not only about terrorists in their midst but also a madman in the cockpit--the pilot who’s supposed to f ly them safely to their destinations.

A report by an official of Germanwings said the Airbus A320 was deliberately smashed into the side of a mountain in the French Alps. Based on its initial findings, crash probers said the chief pilot was locked out despite his efforts to have the co-pilot open the cockpit door. The German co-pilot , Andreas Lubitz, was reportedly depressed over the breakup with his girl friend and decided to end his life and that of the 149 passengers on board.

Lubitz, according to crash investigators, put the plane on auto pilot from 36, 000 feet to a steep descent of less than 300 feet to send it crashing onto a mountain wall.

This latest case involving a pilot’s mental state brings to mind what really happened last year to Malaysian Air f light 370. Debris of the Malaysian airliner have yet to be sighted to this day and could be lying at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Questions as to why the Malaysian plane headed for Singapore from Indonesia made a sudden turn westward to India is still a puzzle. The mental health of the Malaysian pilot or his probable link to a terrorist organization is suspected behind the bizarre disappearance of the jetliner.

The Specter... From A9

CHONG ARDIVILLA#FAILOCRACY

Once again, he blamed lack of coordination between the police commandos and the military that resulted in the slaughter of the Fallen 44, and that those responsible will be held accountable.

I don’t know who the President’s ghost writer is, but if that’s what the President calls the truth, the President should fire his ghost writer.

The truth as found by the PNP Board of Inquiry is that the President broke the chain-of-command, and no matter how Justice Secretary Leila de Lima tries to exonerate boss, it was clear as day that he broke the chain of com-mand. He made resigned po-lice chief Alan Purisima, his best friend, on top of “Oplan Exodus,” since Purisima at that time was already sus-pended. Clearly, President has liability and culpability.

The story... From A10 Lies... From A9

the chamber whom Lacierda correct-ly implied had already ruled out any direct testimony to be given by the President in the hearings), then he has nothing to fear. And if he is really tell-ing the truth and has nothing to hide, he should already be booking an ap-pearance at the House hearings.

There are questions, after all, that only Aquino can answer in detail and with certainty. Given the secrecy of the get-Marwan operation, none of his subordinates can answer them for him.

As for me, I’d like Aquino to an-swer an additional question, if he ever shows up at the House hearings: Since he has already ripped apart the Board of Inquiry and Senate reports on the incident, what does he think of the report prepared by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front?

Understand, Aquino has not com-mented on the MILF report on the massacre, which gained its share of notoriety by claiming, among oth-

er things, that the SAF commandos used their dead colleagues as human shields to explain why their bodies had become so riddled with bullets. Does Aquino, by staying silent on the MILF report, believe that this is the most accurate account of what hap-pened that day in Mamasapano?

* * *Aquino has already announced that

he has said all that he will about the massacre. But even he, in his lucid moments, must realize that it’s not what he’s said so far but what he has hidden from our knowledge that re-ally needs clarification from him.

Of course, I think it’s a safe bet that Aquino would never show up in the Batasan when the Mamasapano hear-ings resume. If he does that, he will just be tripped up by his own lies and his refusal to tell everything he knows “to uncover the truth.”

Truth is, Aquino has lied to us from Day One. And he’s not ever going to give anyone the chance to get at the truth, having so carefully covered it under a mountain of lies.

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wednesday: aPRI L 1 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Wide-openwar loomsin men’svolley tilt

headhdheadhdheadhd hedddddadhd

Novak wins

56 Pinoy jins vie in Asian meet

TORONTO—DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 42 points and matched a career best with 11 rebounds as Toronto beat Houston 99-96 Monday in a battle of NBA division leaders.

DeRozan, who netted 12 points in the fourth quarter, was 14-of-27 from the court and 12-of-17 from the free throw line to power the Raptors to their eighth home win in a row over the Rockets.

Atlantic division leader Toronto improved to 44-30, one game behind Chicago for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Southwest division leader Houston fell to 50-24, level with Memphis for the division lead and the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Amir Johnson pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds for the Raptors.

The Rockets, who saw their four-game win streak snapped, were led by James Harden with 31 points.

Dwight Howard sat out after playing Sunday. He has been on limited duty since returning last week from a knee injury suffered in January.

In Atlanta, DeMarre Carroll scored a game-high 23 points and the Atlanta Hawks, already assured of the best record in the NBA Eastern Conference, ripped the Milwaukee Bucks 101-88 on Monday.

Al Horford scored 18 points while Paul Millsap contributed 15 points and nine rebounds and Car-roll added eight rebounds as the Hawks improved to 56-18, 4 1/2 games behind Golden State for the top record in the league. AFP

FIFTY-SIX talented Filipino athletes will banner the Meralco/MVP Sports Founda-tion/PLDT Home BRO team in the 2015 Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships on April 11 to 17 in New Taipei City, Tai-wan.

Thirty-four of the campaigners (men, women, boys, girls) will compete in the junior and Cadet divisions in kyorugi (sparring) for Meralco and MVP Sports Foundation, while 20 will see action in the junior and Cadet cat-egories in poomsae (forms) for PLDT Home BRO and MVP SF. Two boys, aged 17 and 19, will participate in the Para event.

Nine officials – six coaches and three in-ternational referees – complete the delega-tion put together by the Philippine Taek-wondo Association and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, SMART Communi-

cations Inc., PLDT and Milo.Vying in the junior division are 15 to

17-year-old athletes while those aged 12 to 14 will compete in the Cadet group.

The Filipinos will pit their skills against athletes from 35 other Asian countries in the prestigious Asian tournament. Among these are Korea, China, Iran, Chinese Taipei, Viet-nam, Indonesia and Thailand.

The Philippines has been consistently ranked among the top contenders in this com-petition. In the last Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships held on June 18-24, 2013 in Jakarta, the Filipinos brought home two gold, one silver and five bronze medals.

The competition serves as a tune up for the Filipino bets, who will also vie for honors in the Korea Open this July in Korea and the World Cadet Championships this August in Muju, Korea.

THOUGH Instituto Es-tetico Manila and Cagayan Valley boast of formidable rosters, the six other teams vying in the Spikers’ Turf are also teeming with tal-ents, guaranteeing a spir-ited battle for the inaugu-ral crown when the event is fired off Sunday at The Arena in San Juan.

In fact, PLDT Home Ultera and Army loom as the early title contenders with the former parad-ing Howard Mojica, who powered Emilio Aguinal-do College to its first-ever NCAA crown, and St. Be-nilde’s top hitter John Vic De Guzman and the latter out to duplicate its coun-terpart’s domination in the Shakey’s V-League behind Greg Dolor, Patrick Rojas, Antonio Torres, and Jaidal Abdulmajid.

Cavite, Philippine Air Force, Champion Infinity and Cignal are also coming into the event with souped-up rosters, ensuring a slam-bang action all through the two-month long league presented by PLDT Home Ultera and backed by Mi-kasa.

Cagayan Valley, led by Ateneo’s Marck Jesus Es-pejo and Rex Emmanuel Intal and National U’s Peter Torres tests Cignal’s mettle in the lone game on Sunday starting at 9 a.m.

Cignal will be spear-headed by Reyson Fuentes, member of the UAAP champion National U, along with Alexis Fay-taren, Sandy Montero, Jay dela Cruz and Lorenzo Capate Jr.

The Cavite Patriots Fourbees, meanwhile, will be led by Perpetual Help’s Warren Catipay, Jack Ka-lingking, Neil Ytorzaita and Allan Jay Sala-an; Air Force will be headed by Jeff Malabanan, Clarence Es-teban and Dante Alinsun-urin and Jukran Hamdan; and Champion Infinity, formerly Systema, will be backstopped by Chris Ma-casaet, Chris Antonio, Syl Honrade and actor Richard Gomez.

DeMar DeRozan (right) of the Toronto Raptors shoots against the Houston Rockets’ James Harden at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Raptors won, 99-96. AFP

Rama Chandra Liporada (right), one of the participants in the Asian junior champion-ships, delivers an axe kick to the face of his opponent in a recent match.

MIAMI—World number one Novak Djokovic moved closer to a possible fourth Miami Open tro-phy Monday by defeating Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-0, 7-5 to reach the fourth round.

Defending champion Djokovic, seeking his third March hardcourt double of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year, fired five aces and broke Darcis five times.

Djokovic will next play Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, who ousted Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-4.

Australian Open winner Djokoivic wrapped up victory with a break in the final game to earn his 21st victory of the season as he pursues his third title of the year.

Djokovic needed less than half an hour to take the first set but had to come back from a break down in the second, trailing 5-4 before rallying for the triumph.

“The first set went completely my way, but I had a drop of intensity and didn’t use opportunities early in the second set, made it close,” Djokovic said. AFP

DeRozan erupts for 42as Raptors rip Rockets

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WEDNESDAY: APRI L 1 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTS

Army paddlers fastest in regatta opener

Sporty summer happens at BEST

PHILIPPINE Army began where it left off the previous year, turning back arch rival Philippine Navy to rule the thrilling men’s 300-meter standard race in the opening leg of the 2015 Cobra Energy Drink-PDBF Dragon Boat Regatta last weekend at the Manila Bay overlooking the Baywalk along Roxas Boul-evard.

Overall champions the past season, the Army paddlers made their move in the last 100 meters to emerge clear winners in one minute and 7.67 seconds of the event sponsored by the country’s leading energy drink, Cobra, and organized by

the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation.The Navy bets took runner-up honors

(1:08.87), Triton A placed third (1:09.73) while Maharlika, one of the PDBF’s pioneer clubs, scored a major breakthrough by reaching the finals for the first time in more than a decade and finished fourth (1:13.01).

“Alam namin malakas ang Navy kaya pinag-igihan namin talaga itong karera,” said Army skipper and national team member, Staff Sgt. Usman Anterola, of the close duel with Navy under windy conditions and the scorching sum-mer sun. “Ensayado talaga kami para manalo.”

In another tight contest, Navy earlier topped the women’s small boat 300-meter contest with a time of 1:23.05, edging Philippine Coast Guard (1:23.57), and Triton A secured third (1:27.05), narrowly relegating Philippine Blue Phoenix to fourth spot (1:27.87).

Saving their best for the last race, the Coast Guard rowers secured the mixed 300-meter standard title in 1:10.53, slipping past second-place Navy (1:11.42), One Piece placed third (1:12.58) and PBP fourth (1:13.17) in the regatta also backed by the Manila Cultural Affairs and Tourism Bureau.

Tough test for PetalcorinBy Ronnie Nathanielsz

WORLD Boxing Association world light flyweight champion, hard-hitting Filipino southpaw Randy “Ultratune” Petalcorin, faces a tough fight when he defends his title against China’s Ma Yi Ming, who is ranked no. 9 by the WBA, no. 8 by the World Boxing Organization and no. 10 by the Interna-tional Boxing Federation in Beijing on April 24.

As Petalcorin’s co-manager, multi-tiled Australian promoter Peter Maniatis pointed out Ma is undefeated in five years and re-cently defeated former number No. 2-ranked Tommy Seran.

Maniatis co-manages the tal-

ented Petalcorin, with JM Man-angquil of General Santos City. He was cited alongside International Boxing Organization champi-on Rey Loreto at the 15th Flash Elorde Annual Awards last March 25 at the historic Manila Hotel.

Maniatis told the Standard/boxingmirror.com: “This will be a very hard fight for Randy as we are fighting Ma in Beijing, China, before a hometown crowd.”

The title fight on the Top Rank -SECA Fist of Power 3 will be tele-cast live on free TV to air in China.

Both Maniatis and Manangquil reported that Petalcorin was hav-ing a good training camp to date.

“I first saw Randy Petalcorin fight on the Brian Viloria vs. Car-los Tamara World title undercard in January, 2010, in Manila when Randy was only 18 years old. I signed a deal with Randy, basi-cally after that fight to co-manage him with Sanman gym in General Santos City and Jim Managquil.

My plan was to always bring Ran-dy to Melbourne so he can train and fight under Mick Hargreaves’ Boxingfit Gym as his trainer,” Ma-niatis said.

He added: “I am lucky that I had the support of Ultratune CEO Sean Buckley to have Randy fight at Malvern Town Hall in Novem-ber 2013 and March 2014. It was a buzz for the local the boxing in-dustry to see a potential superstar like Randy fight at Malvern Town Hall.”

He said Buckley also organ-ized Petalcorin to do the PTY LTD High Altitude training to increase his breathing and stam-ina and help make him a world champion.

THE Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners (MARHO) Founders Cup (MFC) racing festival last March 28 was a day marked by longshot and big dividends,

The 12-race fiesta de karera was held at the Metro Turf racecourse and is the first time MARHO has held an event at the track owned and operated by businessman Norberto B. Quisumbing Jr.’s Metro Manila Turf Club, Inc. (MMTCI).

Also held that day was a MARHO general membership meeting and election of officers.

Congratulations to the new slate of directors headed by Javier, Leyte Mayor Leonardo M. Javier Jr. as chairman.

With him on the Board are busi-nessman Antonio G. de Ubago Jr. (president), lawyer Sixto S. Esquivias IV (corporate secretary), business-man Antonio V. Tan Jr. (treasurer), Quezon City Councilor Victor V. Ferrer Jr. (auditor), and businessman Nathaniel G. Velasco (vice-president for racing).

Also on the Board as directors are Manila Rep. Amado S. Bagatsing, Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur C. Abalos, former Tarlac representative Jeci A. Lapus, Kalookan City Vice-Mayor Macario E. Asistio III, and businessmen Eric R. Tagle, Emmanuel A. Santos, Vicente P. Go Bon, Arleen D. Chua, and James Albert Dichaves.

MMTCI through the generosity of Dr. Quisumbing gave added prizes of P25,000 to the winners of 10 MFC races.

He also put up a P50,000 added prize for the winner of the MARHO Founders Cup held in honor of the as-sociation’s 15 original founders who established what is now the sport’s old-est horseowners’ group in 1974.

Dr. Quisumbing was himself one of the original members of MARHO.

The MFC was won by longshot Cat’s Silver (Ultimate Goal x Cat’s Gold), owned by Mayor Abalos, trained by CC Angeles, and steered by Jonathan Hernandez.

MARHO provided an added prize of P50,000 for the MARHO-Dr. Nor-berto B. Quisumbing Jr. Cup won by Mabsoy (Art Moderne x Spring-streetballet), owned by Reli de Leon, trained by DV Bungar, and ridden by Jeffrey Bacaycay.

Each winning groom that day also received a P1,000 added cash prize.

Cote d’Azur started the trend of longshots that by the end of the day yielded good dividends in the exotic betting.

MARHO directors and members also gave to the winners of each of the 12 MFC races free stud service certificates to stallions Bwana Bull, Ultimate Goal, Warrior Song, Trust n Luck, Self Feeder, Fort Dignity, Ibarra, Minsk, Zap, Smart Farda, Shining Fame, and Reenact.

Also held that same day was the Philippine Racing Commission’s 3YO Fillies Stakes, won by Running Rich Racing’s Miss Brulay (Cat Bru-lay x Near Miss), trained by Renato Hipolito and guided by jockey Kel-vin Abobo.

On hand to award the trophies to the winners were Philracom com-missioners lawyers Ramon S. Bagats-ing Jr., Wilfredo de Ungria, and Vic-tor Tantoco.

All races at Metro Turf last Satur-day were run over 1,400 meters.

Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twit-ter: @gogirlracing, Blog: http://jen-nyo.net

MARHO stages successful

Founders Cup

JENNYORTUOSTE

THE Metropolitan Association of

JENNY

THE HOARSE WHISPERER

SUMMER is here! The classes are over and there is plenty of time for your kids to relax. But being out of school does not mean the end of learning. In fact, summer vacation is a great time for your children to learn new things and try the activities they have always want to do at their own pace.

One of the engaging activities that kids can do during summer is to play sports. Aside from having plenty of time to practice the sports they love, they can also improve their fitness level and keep their mind sharp while taking a break from school. Plus, they can develop life skills and good values, like leadership and self-disci-pline. Most importantly, they meet new friends and make great memories.

The Basketball Efficiency Scientific Train-ing Center, or more popularly known as BEST Center, is a premiere basketball and volleyball school that offers summer sports clinics for kids and teens. Established in 1978 by former nation-al coach Nicanor “Nic” Jorge, the school start-ed out as a basketball training center for boys, which utilizes scientific methods. It has now ex-panded to provide volleyball trainings for girls.

The school also conducts basketball and volley-ball tournaments for children and adults.

At the BEST Center’s basketball clinics, your children will learn the fundamental aspects of basketball, such as ball handling, dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork, and defensive and offensive moves. The same ap-proach is used in the volleyball clinics, where children learn essential moves, like serving, spiking, blocking, and footwork.

Your children will be assigned into classes based on their level of experience. They will be facilitated by top coaching staff who have had extensive training and experience in basketball and volleyball, with some holding master’s and doctorate degrees in human kinetics.

Raise basketball and volleyball superstars. Start by providing them a good foundation this summer and let them train with the best. The rest is success!

The BEST Center summer sports clinics will be held this April and May in major cities across the country. For the venues and schedule of classes, visit BEST Center’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/best-center-sports-inc.

Members of the Philippine Navy women’s squad display their medals and trophies and are shown with PDBF president Marcia Cristobal (fourth from left) after ruling the women’s 300-meter small boat race of the 1st leg of the 2015 Cobra-PDBF Dragon Boat Regatta last weekend at the Manila Bay.

A BEST Center instructor gives a participant pointers on how to dribble.


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Bahrain bootersedge Azkals, 2-1By Peter Atencio

BAHRAIN, which is preparing for in-ternational meets, turned back the Phil-ippine Azkals national men’s football team, 2-1, in a friendly Monday night at Bahrain National Stadium in Isa Town.

According to online reports and a dispatch from the Gulf Daily news, the Azkals gave up two goals in the first half.

But the Azkals countered in the second half when Manny Ott struck in the 61st minute.

The match was part of Bahrain’s preparations for upcoming international matches. They are getting ready for the World Cup 2018 qualifying Asian Zone, just like the Azkals.

Bahrain’s first goal came in the 29th minute through defender Fawzi Ayesh before mid-

Delos Santos, Edanggarule Globe HEAD netfestSHARYL Delos Santos and Jarrel Edangga clobbered their respective rivals to lead all winners in the fourth leg of Globe 17th HEAD Graphene XT Junior Tennis Satel-lite Circuit General Santos City leg at the GS City Tennis Court in General Santos City yesterday.

Delos Santos defeated Kathlenrey Arandia in the girls’ 18-under singles finals, 6-2, 6-0, to bag the crown, while Edangga blasted Jeric De-los Santos in the boys’ 18-under championship round, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (6), to take home the title.

Kathlenrey Arandia whipped Jessica Car-cueva in the girls’ 16-under singles finals, 6-2, 6-2, to capture the trophy and Abson

John Alejandre walloped Janus Ringuia in the boys’ 16-under singles’ finals, 6-2, 6-3, to pocket the title of the annual competition or-ganized by the Dynamics Sports.

The tournament is supported by Chris Sports, Head ATP Tennis Balls, Graphene XT, Toalson, Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Tennis Association, along with Sports Radio 918AM, Home Radio 97.9FM Natural, Boracay Informer, Todo 88.5FM Aklan, Radyo Inquirer 990AM, Power Wheels Magazine, Motorcycle Maga-zine, Balikbayan, The Asian Journal Maga-zine, Wazzup Pilipinas, Reach Magazine, Oishi and AMAX Inn Makati.

fielder Abdulla Abdo blasted in another in the 31st minute.

Azkals’ coach Thomas Dooley opted for a new strategy as he tested a 3-4-3 formation for this match.

The formation saw Simone Rota, Juani Guirado and Alvaro Silva forming a three-man backline, while Martin Steuble, Jerry Lucena, Daisuke Sato and Ott took their places in the midfield

It was Bahrain’s second international friendly match during the current preparation stage. They took a 0-6 loss to Colombia last week.

Dooley also put Patrick Reichelt, Phil Young-husband and surprise starter OJ Porteria up front.

There were two good attempts in the first half and a goal almost came when Ott delivered a free kick to Lucena, who then blasted the ball over the goal in the 35th minute.

Reichelt also came close with a short volley seven minutes before the break but the goalkeeper was quick to make the save.

Subic...From A16

Watercraft Ventures, Inc., Standard Insur-ance and the Depart-ment of Tourism.

Every year since 1962, international yachtsmen and women have pitted themselves against the cold rough seas off Hong Kong at the start of the race, and the languid, sun-drenched slope of the windless days off the coast of the Philippines.

This year, the race from Hong Kong will finish in San Fernando, La Union (480 nautical miles).

Avecilla said the Commodore’s Cup will have several races of different kinds of train-ing boats. These are the Optimists, Flying 15, 420s and Streakers, he added.

“Blessed with one of the best race manage-ment teams in Asia, safe marina facilities and the wide expanse of Subic Bay, the Commodore’s Cup Regatta makes for an exceptional racing experience and it also renowned for good close racing on spectac-ular Subic Bay and hard partying back onshore,” Avecilla explained.

He said this year marks the expansion of the PSA sailing pro-gram in Subic Bay, which is spearheaded by Judes Echauz, PSA chairman. PSA sailing coach Medy Fidel, who is aiming for Olympic qualifier, will be the head of the expansion training this summer.

Filipinos have always been considered as one of the best sailors in the Philippines. Pong’s crews are mostly Filipi-nos coming from Cebu, Bacolod and Manila. They have been sailing and competing for more than 20 years. A. Armero

Bahrain National Stadium in Isa Town.

the Gulf Daily news, the Azkals gave up two goals in the first half.

InvItatIon to BIdfor the Supply, delIvery and InStallatIon of GranIte and Carpet at paGCor

Cf-IloIlo under ITB No. 03-01-2015BACThe Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming Public Bidding for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Granite and Carpet at PAGCOR CF-Iloilo under ITB No. 03-01-2015BAC.

Brief Description Lot 1 (Supply, Delivery and Installation of Granite Tiles and Concrete Floor Tapping of Carpet Area)

• Granite Area: +/- 950sq. m.• Carpet Area: +/- 250sq. m.

Lot 2 (Supply, Delivery and Installation of Carpet)• 250sq.m.

Lot 3 (Supply and Delivery Re-cabling Materials)

Delivery Schedule Within Ninety (90) calendar days for Lots 1 and 2 or within Thirty (30) calendar days for Lot 3 upon receipt of Notice to Proceed extendible upon the option or schedule given by the end user.

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC):

The ABC for the project is in the amount of Six Million Three Hundred Forty-Two Thousand One Hundred Twenty-Five Pesos (Php 6,342,125.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction

The ABC for each of the three (3) lots are as follows:

Lot 1 [Supply, Delivery and Installation of Granite Tiles and Concrete Floor Tapping of Carpet Area]: Five Million One Hundred Twelve Thousand Two Hundred Ten Pesos (Php 5,112,210.00) VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction

Lot 2 [Supply, Delivery and Installation of Carpet]: One Million Pesos (Php 1,000,000.00) VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction

Lot 3 [Supply and Delivery of Re-cabling Materials]: Two Hundred Twenty-Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Fifteen Pesos (Php 229,915.00) 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 Schedule

1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents April 1, 2015 to April 20, 2015

2. Pre-Bid Conference April 7, 2015 (2:00 p.m.)

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids April 20, 2015 (2:00 p.m.)

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids April 20, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bid documents which will be available to prospective bidders at the Bids and Awards Services Section, upon payment of the non-refundable bidding based on the following matrix from the address below:

Approved Budget for the Contract Cost of Bidding Documents(in Philippine Pesos)

500,000.00 and below 500.00More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million 1,000.00More than 1 Million up to 5 Million 5,000.00More than 5 Million up to 10 Million 10,000.00

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 Casino Filipino - Bacolod’s Finance Section located at the Second (2nd) Floor, Admin. Building, PAGCOR, Casino Filipino - Bacolod, L-Fisher Hotel, 14th Lacson St., Bacolod City either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from the Bids and Awards Services Section 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 Branch Bids and Awards Committee (BBAC) CF-Bacolod 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, PAGCOR, Casino Filipino-Bacolod, thru the Bids and Awards Services Section, L-Fisher Hotel, L-Fisher Hotel, 14th Lacson Street, Bacolod City, with telefax no. 034-434-8912.

(SGD.) RANDY O. CHUAChairpersonBranch Bids and awards committee (BBac) PaGcor, casino FiliPino-Bacolod

(ts-aPr 1, 2015)

InvItatIon to BId for the Supply, delIvery and InStallatIon of varIouS Modular WorkStatIonS, furnIture and fIxture for paGCor houSe annex offICeS under

ITB No. 03-24-2015 The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming public bidding for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Various Modular Workstations, Furniture and Fixture for PAGCOR House Annex Offices under ITB No. 03-24-2015.

Lot Description Approved Budget

(VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction)

Delivery Schedule

1

Supply, Delivery and Installation of Modular Workstations, Furniture and Fixture for Corporate Communications Department (with similar finishes, joint connector and trimmings as the existing)

Eight Hundred Twenty-One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Two Pesos and 36/100 (PhP 821,252.36)

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

2

Supply, Delivery and Installation of Modular Workstations, Furniture and Fixture for Entertainment and Bingo Department, Adjudication Secretariat and Hearing Unit, Surveillance Unit, and Marketing Department

Nine Million Six Hundred Seventy-Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Forty-Seven Pesos and 64/100 (PhP 9,678,747.64)

Total ABC Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP 10,500,000.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction

Source of Funds: Internally Funded

NOTE: Bidders may bid on any or both lots.

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 Schedule1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents April 1, 2015 to April 20, 2015

2. Pre-Bid Conference April 8, 2015, 10:00 a.m.

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids April 20, 2015, 10:00 a.m.

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids April 20, 2015, 10:00 a.m. onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidders at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), upon payment of the non-refundable bidding fee in the amount based on the following matrix from the address below:

Approved Budget for the Contract Cost of Bidding Documents(in Philippine Pesos)

More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million 1,000.00More than 1 Million up to 5 Million 5,000.00More than 5 Million up to 10 Million 10,000.00More than 10 Million up to 50 Million 25,000.00

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 PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, M.H. del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from the BASD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1 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 Bids and Awards Committee 1 thru the BASD, Room 203, Second Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel Nos.: 524-3911, 521-1542 local 223/617.

(SGD) RODERICK R. CONSOLACIONChairpersonBids and awards committee (Bac) 1 (ts-aPr 1, 2015)


[email protected]



Purefoods, TNTstart semis warBy Jeric Lopez

A VERY competitive rivalry is set to resume yet again.Defending champion Pure-

foods and powerhouse Talk ‘N Text start their semifinal clash in the 2015 Philippine Basketball As-sociation Commissioner’s Cup

The best-of-seven semifinal tus-sle between the Star Hotshots and the Tropang Texters, both perennial title contenders for almost a decade now, kicks off at 7 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to see who gets to draw first blood.

This will also be a rematch of the finals of last season’s version of this tournament, where Pure-foods, then named San Mig Su-per Coffee, topped Talk ‘N Text in their best-of-five tussle, 3-1, to

win the crown. It was the second of four straight championships for Purefoods during that stretch.

Talk ‘N Text coach Jong Ui-chico is well aware that the two heavyweight teams will trade big blows once again.

“Pagdating dito sa semifinals, ibang usapan na (Here in the semifinals it’s a different ball game). It’s the best against the best. Purefoods is a tough op-ponent. The players have to play a notch higher for us to win and they know it,” said Uichico.

Purefoods’ mentor Tim Cone couldn’t agree more as he him-self shares the same sentiment.

‘’We’re playing well and they’re playing well. This should be a hell of a series,’’ said Cone. ‘’We can’t be happy just getting back here in the semifinals. We have to come out with a similar effort as our quarterfinals performance.’’

Talk ‘N Text, seeded No. 2, took advantage of its twice-to-beat in-centive in the quarterfinals to advance by annihilating Barako Bull, 127-97, last Saturday. Third-ranked Purefoods was likewise dominant when it swept Alaska, 2-0, in their best-of-three affair. They posted a 96-89 victory last Sunday in Game 2 to advance to the semifinals.

Loyzagaeyed asNU sportsdirector

Frisbee aces. The Ultimate Frisbee club of Smart Communications, Inc. re-cently placed third in Division C of the prestigious 2015 Boracay Open, which drew in 50 teams from all over the world. Smart business analyst Raymund Buenaventura was named part of the Mythical 4, the top players in the tour-nament. Last year, the all-employee team placed first runner-up in the Metro Manila Ultimate Commission Summer League, and third in the Ultimate Heatwave Beach Tournament held in Zambales. Smart Ultimate is one of 22 employee clubs which encourage the Smart workforce to “Live More.”

By Peter Atencio

FORMER basketball star Chito Loyzaga could find himself holding a new job this year.

He leads the short list of candidates for the next athletic director of Na-tional University.

Loyzaga’s new post comes after he became a commissioner of the Philippine Sports Com-mission three years ago. He also managed the basketball games of the University Athletic Asso-ciation of the Philippines in 2013.

“Negotiations are on-going for Mr. Loyzaga. He is in our short list,” said Nilo Ocampo, who is NU’s representative to the UAAP board.

NU is looking for a replacement for the posi-tion following the resig-nation of Junel Baculi ef-fective end of the school year.

Baculi is quitting his post as the school’s longtime ath-letic director and plans to return to coaching.

During his tenure, NU was able to gain promi-nence in sports, winning the men’s basketball title of the UAAP, the wom-en’s basketball crown and placing runner-up in the junior cagefest. The NU Pep Squad also reclaimed the cheer dance crown

Ocampo revealed that there are many things that need to be managed in NU’s sports program.

First, the NU Pep squad is joining the World championships this month and the na-tional women’s basketball squad, which is made up mostly of NU players, is training in Malaysia.

Game 1 Today (PBA Semifinals,

Smart Araneta Coliseum)7 p.m. • Purefoods vs. Talk ‘N Text

Republic of the PhilippinesNATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY

CARAGA REGIONBIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Butuan City

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NFA-SURIGAO DEL SUR PROVINCIAL OFFICE

BUILDING AND SITE DEVELOPMENT

The NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY, through its Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2015, intends to apply the sum of SIX MILLION FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SIX PESOS & 94/100 (Php 6,478,296.94) being the APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC) to payments under the contracts for the construction of NFA-Surigao del Sur Provincial Office Building and site development:

QUANTITY UNIT PARTICULARSCONTRACT

COMPLETION TIME

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE

CONTRACT(ABC)

1 LotConstruction of NFA-Surigao del Sur Provincial Office Building and Site Development

120 days from receipt of

NOTICE TO PROCEED

Php 6,478,296.94

Prospective Contractors must have a Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) License of at least Small B.

Bidders should have completed within the immediate last three years from 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. Instruction000s to Bidders (ITB).

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders on April 1 - 23, 2015 (working days only) from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable bidding fee of Php 10,000.00.

National Food Authority Caraga Region shall hold a Pre-bid conference on April 10, 2015 at 1:30 P.M. at NFA-Surigao del Sur Provincial Office, Brgy. Mabua, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bid must be delivered to the address below on or before April 23, 2015 at 1:30 P.M. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bid opening shall be on April 23, 2015 at 1:31 P.M. at 2nd Floor, Rudy Tiu VIII Bldg. J.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representative who choose to attend.

The National Food Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to:

.Ms. Hyde Beth M. PascualBAC Secretariat Head

National Food Authority2nd Floor Rudy Tiu Bldg. VIIIJ.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan CityTel Nos. (085) 815 3284 (085) 225 6701 Fax No. (085) 342 7898

(SGD) GIL B. IBARRA Assistant Regional Director and Chairperson, BAC(TS-APR. 1, 2015)

Republic of the PhilippinesNATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY

CARAGA REGIONBIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Butuan City

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE CONCRETING OF THE ACCESS ROAD

OF CANTILAN WAREHOUSE

The NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY, through its Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2014, intends to apply the sum of ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (Php 1,100,000.00) being the APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC) to payments under the contracts for the concreting of the access road of Cantilan Warehouse, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur:

QUANTITY UNIT PARTICULARSCONTRACT

COMPLETION TIME

APPROVED BUDGET FOR

THE CONTRACT(ABC)

1 Lot

Concreting of Roadway at Cantilan Warehouse, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur

Specification: .20 m thick x 8 m width x 58 m length concrete pavement

90 days from receipt of

NOTICE TO PROCEED

Php 1,100,000.00

Prospective Contractors must have a Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) License of at least Small B.

Bidders should have completed within the immediate last three years from 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 (ITB).

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders on April 1 - 23, 2015 (working days only) from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable bidding fee of Php 2,000.00.

National Food Authority Caraga Region shall hold a Pre-bid conference on April 10, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. at NFA-Surigao del Sur Provincial Office, Brgy. Mabua, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bid must be delivered to the address below on or before April 23, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bid opening shall be on April 23, 2015 at 10:01 A.M. at 2nd Floor, Rudy Tiu VIII Bldg. J.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representative who choose to attend.

The National Food Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to:

Ms. Hyde Beth M. PascualBAC Secretariat HeadNational Food Authority2nd Floor Rudy Tiu Bldg. VIIIJ.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan CityTel Nos. (085) 815 3284 (085) 225 6701 Fax No. (085) 342 7898

(SGD) GIL B. IBARRA Assistant Regional Director and Chairperson, BAC



W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 5

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

[email protected]

REUEL VIDALA S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

Ali’s daughter Rasheda Ali, who is very close to her dad, told TMZ: “My dad is Team Pacquiao all the way.”

She said in a story on boxingscene.com her dad “really likes Manny and is a big fan of his. He knows Manny as a great fighter, but it’s more about what he does outside the ring. He is such a charitable person.”

Rasheda said Ali and Pacquiao have been friends for years and recalled that Manny attended her

father’s 70th birthday party in 2012.She told TMZ that her father

respects Mayweather as a fighter, but says Floyd and Ali are two very different people.

“My dad stood for things... Mayweather, I don’t think there’s a comparison,” she said.

Because of his illness, Ali won’t be able to watch the fight live at the venue but his daughter said “he won’t miss it for the world. There’s no question he’s going to order it.

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

MUHAMMAD Ali, regarded as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, supports eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao over undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their May 2 clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

LOTTO RESULTS6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00

6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00

6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0

3 DIGITS 0-0-0

2 EZ2 0-0

6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00

3 DIGITS 0-0-0

2 EZ2 0-0

6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0

LOTTO 6/496/496/42 6 32

6/42

32

6

Pacman gets Ali’s support

TURN TO A13

SPORTS

It takes my dad way back to when he was fighting.”

Ali is best remembered for the famed “Thrilla in Manila” against Joe Frazier in what is regarded as the greatest heavyweight championship of all time, held at the Aranerta Coliseum on Oct. 1, 1975. Ali won by a 14th-round TKO when his renowned trainer, the late Eddie Futch, told referee Sonny Padilla to call a halt because one eye of Frazier was closed shut and he couldn’t see the punches coming.

Meanwhile, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum revealed that Mayweather Jr. isn’t as impressive in training as his handlers and a couple of sparring partners claim.

In a conversation with the Standard/boxingmirror.com, Arum, who once handled the career of Mayweather said: “The reports we are getting is that Floyd is not looking great.”

He, however, pointed out that there is still plenty of time before his showdown with Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2.

While a very short video of Mayweather showed him pounding an unidentified southpaw sparring partner, while another identified as 27-year-old Don Moore claimed Floyd hits really hard, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes he has faster, more talented young sparring partners compared to those of the American.

In fact, Moore, who has a record of 17-0 with 11 knockouts, is a lightweight, who according to boxrec.com, has fought only once in 2012 and once more in 2013 against mediocre opponents.

He scored a four-round unanimous decision over Alfredo Guarneros, who had a record of 5 wins against 9 losses, with 4

knockouts on Nov. 3, 2012 and won by a first-round TKO over Reymundo Hernandez, whose record was 6 wins as against 14 defeats, with 6 wins by knockout, on Nov. 22, 2013.

In the meantime, Arum said that the expensive cream being used on Pacquiao’s calves to prevent cramping “has worked.”

“The cream, which costs $1,800, was developed by people who are experts who really know. It is used extensively on basketball players and baseball pitchers,” said Arum.

The promoter also said they have decided to cut the uphill runs at Griffith Park and are concentrating on running on the track oval with short bursts of speed.

Roach’s assistant trainer, Filipino Marvin Somodio, said that Pacquiao looked fine when working on the punch-mitts yesterday after a good rest over the weekend.

DeRozanhits 42 pts, liftsRaptorsTURN TO A12

Subic hostsCommodore’sCup Regatta

THE Saturday Afternoon Gentlemen Sailing Club will stage the eighth Commodores’ Cup Regatta from April 7 to 9, in cooperation with The Lighthouse Marina Resort and Philippine Sailing Association.

Hong Kong’s defending IRC Racing champion Jelik of Frank Pong and IRC Cruiser B winner Selma skippered by Ricky Sandoval are expected to compete in the two-day sailing event, according to PSA vice chairman Jun Avecilla.

However, IRC Cruiser A winner Red Kite II, skippered by Anthony Root will not participate this year.

The inshore races are organized by the Saturday SAGS Club, in conjunction with the Asian Yachting Grand Prix and in cooperation with The Lighthouse Marina Resort,

Turn to A14

Army paddlers regatta champs

Participants of last year’s Commodores’ Cup Regatta race to the fi nish.

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 1, 2015

[email protected]@gmail.com



RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

Real estate loans still rising

Ayala set to finish toll roadB3

PH eyes more Turkish touristsB4

BUSINESS

Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasTuesday, March 31, 2015

Foreign exchange rateCurrency Unit US Dollar PesoUnited States Dollar 1.000000 44.7960

Japan Yen 0.008325 0.3729

UK Pound 1.480000 66.2981

Hong Kong Dollar 0.128954 5.7766

Switzerland Franc 1.034019 46.3199

Canada Dollar 0.787712 35.2863

Singapore Dollar 0.727167 32.5742

Australia Dollar 0.764292 34.2372

Bahrain Dinar 2.652450 118.8192

Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266603 11.9427

Brunei Dollar 0.724533 32.4562

Indonesia Rupiah 0.000077 0.0034

Thailand Baht 0.030713 1.3758

UAE Dirham 0.272287 12.1974

Euro Euro 1.082600 48.4961

Korea Won 0.000904 0.0405

China Yuan 0.161090 7.2162

India Rupee 0.015998 0.7166

Malaysia Ringgit 0.269433 12.0695

New Zealand Dollar 0.750582 33.6231

Taiwan Dollar 0.031980 1.4326 Source: PDS Bridge

7,940.4941.08

Closing March 31, 2015PSe comPoSite index

45

44

43

42

41

HIGH P44.700 LOW P44.760 AVERAGE P44.725

Closing MARCH 31, 2015PeSo-dollar rate

P44.700CLOSE

VOLUME 501.400M

Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

oilPriceS today

P508.00-P728.00LPG/11-kg tank

P37.27-P42.82Unleaded Gasoline

P27.40-P31.70Diesel

P35.40-P39.15Kerosene

P23.70-P24.40Auto LPG

todayP27.40-P31.70

P35.40-P39.15

P23.70-P24.40

PP37.27-P42.82

Peso weakens on slow remittance growth

Free trade talks. Trade officials of the Philippines and the members of the European Free Trade Association, includ-ing Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland convened on March 24 to 27 in Makati City for the first round of free trade talks. The delegations were led by Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. (left) and Ambassador Didier Chambovey of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs representing the four EFTA member states. The free trade negotiation was launched four months after both sides agreed on the objectives and key prin-ciples of the negotiations.

By Julito G. Rada

THE real estate exposures of universal, commercial, thrift banks and trust departments stood at P1.221 trillion at the end of 2014, up 5.4 per-cent from P1.159 trillion at the end of third quarter, on higher real estate loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

Data from the bank regulator showed real estate loans increased 6.8 percent to P1.043 tril-lion quarter-on-quarter. RELs represented 85.4 percent of real estate exposures during the pe-riod.

“Sixty percent of the RELs were extended to land developers, construction firms and other corporate entities. The remaining 40 percent, on

the other hand, went to individual households for occupancy,” the Bangko Sentral said.

Investments of banks in real estate securi-ties, meanwhile, dropped 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to P178 billion at the end of 2014. Investments in real estate securities com-prised 14.6 percent of the banks’ real estate exposures during the period.

“While REEs sustained an increase, the ratio of non-performing RELs of U/KBs and TBs followed a downtrend. At end-2014, the banks’ non-performing RELs represented 2.47 percent of total RELs from 2.80 percent at end-2013. This is the lowest posted for the quarterly indicator since December 2012,” the BSP said.

The Bangko Sentral regularly assesses the quality of banks’ real estate exposures as part of its mandate to foster the strength of indi-vidual banks as well as the systemic stability of the local banking industry.

Meanwhile, the gross non-performing loan ratio of U/KBs dropped to 1.82 percent as of end-December 2014 from 1.98 percent as of end-December 2014. This is the lowest NPL

ratio posted by the U/KBs in the years after the 1997 financial crisis.

“The indicator reached a record low amid a month-on-month decline in NPLs and an in-crease in the banks’ total loan portfolio,” the BSP said.

The banks’ NPLs decreased to P93.06 billion at the end-2014 from P95.52 billion in November last year. Total loan portfolio of U/KBs rose to P5.118 trillion last December from P4.83 trillion a month earlier.

Aside from keeping the NPL ratio low, U/KBs continued to allocate substantial reserves for potential credit losses. The industry’s loan loss reserves at the end of December represented 142.43 percent of NPLs. The figure rose from the 140.91 percent recorded a month earlier.

“The industry’s gross NPLs also remained manageable across economic sectors, as seen in financial intermediation; real estate, rent-ing and business activities; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; and electricity, gas and water supply. Said sectors received 72.4 percent of the U/KBs total loan portfolio at end-2014,” the Bangko Sentral said.

THE Philippine peso had its biggest monthly drop since September after growth in remittances slowed and the greenback rallied.

Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas rose 0.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the slowest pace since January 2009, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported March 16.

Remittances accounted for around 9 percent of gross

domestic product in 2014. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the currency against 10 peers, rose 2.7 percent in March, extending its gain over the past year to 18.5 percent.

“The slowdown in remittances in January was a signal” for the peso to weaken, said Jonathan Ravelas, a Manila-based market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc., the nation’s largest lender.

The peso declined 1.4 percent

this month to 44.70 at the close of trading Tuesday. It touched a two-month low of 44.850 on March 23 and rose 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

The currency may trade in the range of 44.40 to 45.20 in April, said Alan Cayetano, head of foreign-exchange trading at Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Ten-year sovereign bonds completed their first monthly loss this year amid prospects of a US interest-rate increase and higher

oil prices in the second half.The yield on the benchmark

notes due 2024 rose 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 4.06 percent this month, according to fixing prices from Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. The yield was steady on Tuesday.

“Oil prices can rebound and there’s the impending rate hike in the US,” BDO Unibank’s Ravelas said. Bloomberg

2014 oil imports hit $13.5bB6


BUSINESSWEDNESDAY: APRIL 1, 2015

B2

M S T52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Tuesday, March 31, 2015

52 Weeks Previous % Net ForeignHigh Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying

Trading SummarySHARES VALUE

FINANCIAL 30,430,591 3,053,317,803.242INDUSTRIAL 110,493,412 2,445,655,472.14HOLDING FIRMS 93,806,605 2,753,626,843.02PROPERTY 166,666,251 1,764,806,319.28SERVICES 161,037,734 1,472,225,704.115MINING & OIL 3,173,616,517 937,114,694.719GRAND TOTAL 3,742,759,115 12,490,950,649.862

FINANCIAL 1,864.12 (down) 0.99INDUSTRIAL 12,831.97 (up) 61.49HOLDING FIRMS 7,071.74 (up) 21.08PROPERTY 3,193.10 (up) 50.28SERVICES 2,100.12 (down) 5.95MINING & OIL 15,484.38 (down) 236.89PSEI 7,940.49 (up) 41.08All Shares Index 4,560.17 (up) 9.96

Gainers: 80; Losers: 109; Unchanged: 34; Total: 223

STOCKS Close(P)

Change(%)

LMG Chemicals 2.5 -16.11

Transgrid 263.20 -12.27

Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.365 -12.05

Nickelasia 24 -10.45

Primex Corp. 7.6 -8.21

Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3700 -7.50

Liberty Flour 35.00 -6.42

Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 30 -6.25

Nihao Mineral Resources 3.64 -5.45

Forum Pacific 0.300 -4.76

Top LoSerSSTOCKS Close

(P)Change

(%)

Euro-Med Lab 2.69 35.86

Berjaya Phils. Inc. 27 13.68

Cebu Prop. À' 6.49 11.90

2GO Group' 7 10.41

Discovery World 1.84 9.52

United Paragon 0.0120 9.09

Oriental Pet. À' 0.0130 8.33

Vista Land & Lifescapes 8.590 7.51

ISM Communications 1.3000 7.44

Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 1.09 6.86

Top gainerS

FINANCIAL2.7 1.55 AG Finance 7.25 7 6.97 7.03 -3.03 73,700 75.3 63.5 Asia United Bank 70.75 70.95 69.2 70.95 0.28 21,540 734,934.0099.4 67.5 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 122.10 124.40 122.70 123.70 1.31 4,484,140 58,501,152.00105.2 82.5 Bank of PI 101.70 101.80 100.10 100.50 -1.18 1,577,970 47,674,742.0063 50 China Bank 46.55 46.85 46.5 46.5 -0.11 45,700 2.3 1.9 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.34 2.34 2.28 2.28 -2.56 11,000 4.2 1.1 Bright Kindle Resources 2.22 2.22 2.22 2.22 0.00 4,000 19.6 14.5 COL Financial 16.72 16.8 16.5 16.5 -1.32 374,200 5,405,640.0031.6 23.2 Eastwest Bank 24.6 25.1 24.35 24.55 -0.20 209,600 776,960.0022.5 6.84 Filipino Fund Inc. 8.68 9.50 8.51 8.80 1.38 77,200 9130.92 0.74 First Abacus 0.75 0.8 0.8 0.8 6.67 110,000 890 625 Manulife Fin. Corp. 746.00 728.00 728.00 728.00 -2.41 10 7,280.001.01 0.175 MEDCO Holdings 0.425 0.430 0.420 0.420 -1.18 140,000 92.9 69.35 Metrobank 98 98.55 97.35 97.55 -0.46 5,062,280 44,498,084.001.65 1.2 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 1.02 1.09 1.05 1.09 6.86 864,000 30.5 20.45 PB Bank 18.28 18.48 18.26 18.36 0.44 263,700 99 76 Phil. National Bank 77.80 77.90 77.50 77.50 -0.39 1,214,050 391,669.00140 119 Phil. Savings Bank 97.00 97.50 95.00 97.50 0.52 1,150 392 276 PSE Inc. 320.4 320.6 316 316 -1.37 1,850 51,480.0059 41.5 RCBC À’ 45.7 45.7 45 45.15 -1.20 604,200 965,135.00146.8 105.1 Security Bank 171.1 172 169.1 172 0.53 2,113,850 -36,223,548.001700 1281 Sun Life Financial 1435.00 1434.00 1385.00 1434.00 -0.07 200 210,595.00130 116 Union Bank 69.20 69.35 69.10 69.15 -0.07 6,170 -42,227.002.8 2.25 Vantage Equities 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 0.00 10,000

INDUSTRIAL42.6 31.75 Aboitiz Power Corp. 43.8 44.95 44.5 44.5 1.60 2,653,000 16,254,095.006.1 2.51 Agrinurture Inc. 1.73 1.75 1.74 1.75 1.16 13,000 1.66 0.88 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.07 1.1 1.04 1.1 2.80 519,000 2.3 1.25 Alsons Cons. 2.14 2.19 2.07 2.09 -2.34 9,550,000 216,200.0017.98 9.58 Asiabest Group 11.6 12.98 10.8 12 3.45 139,600 148 15 C. Azuc De Tarlac 97.00 96.90 96.90 96.90 -0.10 1,000 17.2 14.6 Century Food 19.9 20 19.5 20 0.50 357,800 4,326,534.0015.8 9.82 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 32 32 28.9 30 -6.25 5,504,700 56.8 21.5 Concepcion 63.7 63.9 63 63.35 -0.55 499,500 -946,859.004.57 0.82 Da Vinci Capital 1.78 1.83 1.78 1.78 0.00 52,000 39.5 17.3 Del Monte 11.6 11.76 11.5 11.5 -0.86 137,000 9,058.0014 5.98 DNL Industries Inc. 20.250 20.050 20.05 20.050 -0.99 1,329,600 8,610.0012.98 9.05 Emperador 11.50 11.90 11.32 11.90 3.48 4,668,100 52,317,106.008.15 4.25 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 8.63 8.69 8.48 8.50 -1.51 18,005,800 -2,475,415.0012.34 8.68 EEI 10.28 10.28 9.95 9.99 -2.82 1,308,200 -268,665.002.5 1.01 Euro-Med Lab 1.98 2.89 2.06 2.69 35.86 2,550,000 41,220.0017 8.61 Federal Res. Inv. Group 20.05 21.7 19.36 20 -0.25 199,900 -174,445.0027.1 12.2 First Gen Corp. 30.4 30.75 30.35 30.5 0.33 5,427,300 80,478,755.0090.5 48.9 First Holdings ‘A’ 99.2 100 95.5 96 -3.23 691,490 -24,301,429.000.014 0.0097 Greenergy 0.4600 0.4600 0.4600 0.4600 0.00 110,000 32,200.0015.74 12.8 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.50 14.50 14.50 14.50 0.00 2,100 9.4 2.05 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.6 6.61 6.5 6.53 -1.06 616,800 697,859.000.98 0.32 Ionics Inc 0.630 0.630 0.620 0.620 -1.59 218,000 -57,040.00199.8 150.8 Jollibee Foods Corp. 215.00 220.40 217.00 220.00 2.33 1,214,000 87,058,990.0010.98 8.55 Lafarge Rep 9.46 9.49 9.38 9.38 -0.85 2,020,500 16,803,190.0079 48.5 Liberty Flour 37.40 35.00 35.00 35.00 -6.42 800 5.2 2.8 LMG Chemicals 2.98 2.85 2.5 2.5 -16.11 198,000 30 20.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.2 27.2 26.7 27.1 -0.37 1,390,700 25,385,640.0090 12 Maxs Group 27.4 27.4 26.5 27.4 0.00 1,931,400 -8,623,895.0014.7 10.1 Megawide 7.850 8.100 7.680 8.100 3.18 316,400 3,750.00317 246 Mla. Elect. Co À’ 271.00 272.00 266.80 267.00 -1.48 488,860 -101,580,044.006.49 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.18 4.18 4.16 4.16 -0.48 23,000 5.37 4 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.12 4.12 4.08 4.08 -0.97 20,857,000 302,610.0014.48 11.56 Petron Corporation 9.80 10.00 9.79 9.95 1.53 1,159,100 28,153.007.5 5 Phil H2O 4.98 5.25 5.25 5.25 5.42 2,000 10,500.0014.5 9.94 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.50 11.48 11.50 0.00 159,100 -714,150.007.03 4.33 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 4.05 4.40 4.05 4.15 2.47 2,639,000 63,770.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 2.61 2.60 2.53 2.53 -3.07 1,614,000 Pryce Corp. À’ 3.81 4.14 3.25 3.67 -3.67 9,214,000 6.68 4.88 RFM Corporation 5.30 5.32 5.26 5.29 -0.19 972,000 -911,864.008.1 2.28 Roxas Holdings 6.77 6.55 6.5 6.5 -3.99 63,500 275 210 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 203 209.8 204 204.2 0.59 37,430 5,762,022.002.25 1.7 Splash Corporation 1.67 1.69 1.67 1.69 1.20 27,000 -3,380.000.191 0.102 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.170 0.173 0.170 0.170 0.00 3,050,000 2.5 1.6 TKC Steel Corp. 1.35 1.40 1.32 1.32 -2.22 74,000 2.68 1.37 Trans-Asia Oil 2.21 2.23 2.18 2.20 -0.45 2,855,000 -329,280.00188.6 111.3 Universal Robina 224 226 221 226 0.89 3,793,790 279,747,688.005.5 1.58 Victorias Milling 4.5 4.51 4.51 4.51 0.22 60,000 -261,580.001.3 0.550 Vitarich Corp. 0.68 0.7 0.68 0.69 1.47 142,000 2.17 1.33 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.50 1.50 1.46 1.48 -1.33 152,000

HOLDING FIRMS0.7 0.46 Abacus Cons. À’ 0.470 0.475 0.455 0.475 1.06 520,000 61.6 45.75 Aboitiz Equity 57.10 58.15 57.50 58.00 1.58 3,812,000 64,745,133.0031.85 21.95 Alliance Global Inc. 26.50 27.00 26.20 26.50 0.00 11,214,300 -21,304,225.002.16 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.43 1.43 1.43 1.43 0.00 500,000 7.39 6.3 Anscor À’ 7.16 7.15 7.05 7.15 -0.14 1,900 2.7 1.550 Asia Amalgamated A 1.70 1.84 1.60 1.76 3.53 104,000 3.29 1.8 ATN Holdings A 2.81 2.84 2.80 2.84 1.07 111,000 2.05 1.04 ATN Holdings B 2.8 2.83 2.82 2.82 0.71 31,000 45,280.00747 508 Ayala Corp À’ 793.5 798.5 787 795 0.19 1,250,470 159,370,500.0011.34 7.470 Cosco Capital 9.13 9.13 8.8 8.98 -1.64 6,247,300 21,215,557.0084 47.25 DMCI Holdings 15.44 15.60 15.44 15.50 0.39 7,779,300 48,969,860.005.34 4 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.49 4.55 4.49 4.55 1.34 24,000 0.23 0.144 Forum Pacific 0.315 0.325 0.300 0.300 -4.76 2,630,000 1060 706 GT Capital 1324 1339 1318 1338 1.06 154,310 -22,245,600.007.1 5.3 House of Inv. 6.30 6.30 6.03 6.30 0.00 8,100 12,060.0059.8 36.7 JG Summit Holdings 71.90 72.50 72.00 72.50 0.83 3,966,240 203,809,987.006.55 3.95 Lopez Holdings Corp. 8.7 8.7 8.49 8.55 -1.72 3,307,900 12,100,078.000.9 0.58 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.78 0.81 0.76 0.76 -2.56 2,558,000 -7,600.0019.9 12.96 LT Group 16.3 16.34 16.3 16.3 0.00 3,202,800 12,584,266.000.75 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings À’ 0.64 0.64 0.63 0.63 -1.56 2,115,000 5.4 4.06 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.87 4.91 4.8 4.83 -0.82 30,901,000 -3,424,650.005.35 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 5.2 5.2 5.11 5.2 0.00 175,800 0.0550 0.027 Pacifica À’ 0.0400 0.0410 0.0410 0.0410 2.50 1,000,000 0.84 0.355 Prime Orion 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.00 253,000 88 54.5 San Miguel Corp À’ 68.00 68.00 67.25 67.45 -0.81 288,140 -6,179,854.503.5 1.5 Seafront À’ 2.93 2.94 2.94 2.94 0.34 15,000 866 680 SM Investments Inc. 900.00 914.00 898.00 899.50 -0.06 216,910 60,256,405.002.2 1.04 Solid Group Inc. 1.26 1.21 1.21 1.21 -3.97 18,000 390 170 Transgrid 300.00 263.20 263.20 263.20 -12.27 30 156 58.05 Top Frontier 101.00 107.00 102.00 103.00 1.98 7,720 172,680.000.285 0.158 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.4000 0.4000 0.3600 0.3700 -7.50 8,420,000 0.245 0.150 Wellex Industries 0.2430 0.2430 0.2350 0.2350 -3.29 2,050,000 104,720.000.510 0.295 Zeus Holdings 0.325 0.330 0.315 0.330 1.54 40,000

P R O P E R T Y9.03 5.51 8990 HLDG 8.880 8.880 8.700 8.700 -2.03 1,561,600 -4,347,160.001.99 0.99 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.96 0.95 0.91 0.92 -4.17 1,233,000 2.07 1 Araneta Prop À’ 1.310 1.330 1.300 1.320 0.76 660,000 325,000.000.375 0.185 Arthaland Corp. 0.240 0.310 0.240 0.245 2.08 6,440,000 35.3 23.7 Ayala Land `B’ 37.60 38.85 37.80 38.50 2.39 19,586,700 243,699,805.006.15 4.41 Belle Corp. À’ 4.29 4.3 4.1 4.3 0.23 10,572,000 984,920.00

6.1 5 Cebu Holdings 5.2 5.2 5.15 5.15 -0.96 357,500 -1,259,018.005.6 2.8 Cebu Prop. À’ 5.8 6.49 6.49 6.49 11.90 200 2 1.22 Century Property 0.95 0.95 0.93 0.93 -2.11 4,679,000 963,390.002.51 1.21 City & Land Dev. 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.21 0.00 12,000 1.5 0.97 Cityland Dev. À’ 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 0.00 85,000 0.201 0.068 Crown Equities Inc. 0.150 0.150 0.147 0.148 -1.33 14,170,000 0.98 0.47 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.450 0.455 0.450 0.450 0.00 1,800,000 -90,000.001.09 0.87 Empire East Land 0.890 0.890 0.890 0.890 0.00 7,000 0.370 0.175 Ever Gotesco 0.196 0.196 0.196 0.196 0.00 20,000 3,920.002.25 1.22 Global-Estate 1.49 1.51 1.45 1.45 -2.68 2,355,000 -285,760.001.77 1.18 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.80 1.81 1.78 1.80 0.00 7,213,000 4,713,060.001.6 1.19 Interport À’ 1.48 1.45 1.43 1.43 -3.38 810,000 4.88 2.75 Megaworld Corp. 5.52 5.57 5.42 5.43 -1.63 25,301,700 -26,037,076.000.180 0.070 MRC Allied Ind. 0.120 0.122 0.118 0.122 1.67 1,650,000 0.74 0.4 Phil. Realty À’ 0.5000 0.5500 0.4900 0.4900 -2.00 19,700 4.45 2.5 Primex Corp. 8.28 8.54 7.2 7.6 -8.21 6,176,000 340,733.0024.8 18.72 Robinson’s Land `B’ 31.00 31.60 30.20 30.80 -0.65 5,605,800 28,308,685.002.06 1.45 Rockwell 1.76 1.78 1.76 1.78 1.14 29,000 19.62 14.1 SM Prime Holdings 19.60 20.10 19.82 19.98 1.94 12,430,100 124,229,619.001.02 0.58 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.83 0.84 0.8 0.82 -1.20 4,935,000 -225,800.006.66 3.05 Starmalls 7.46 7.5 7.31 7.35 -1.47 13,795,900 1.96 0.87 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.090 1.090 1.050 1.090 0.00 206,000 6.5 4.37 Vista Land & Lifescapes 7.990 8.590 7.950 8.590 7.51 24,760,900 38,620,259.00

S E R V I C E S3.25 1.55 2GO Group’ 6.34 7.25 6.21 7 10.41 1,086,600 10,940.0043.7 27 ABS-CBN 62.6 62.8 61.65 61.65 -1.52 34,370 1.43 0.92 Acesite Hotel 1.15 1.21 1.1 1.12 -2.61 64,000 1.09 0.59 APC Group, Inc. 0.700 0.700 0.680 0.690 -1.43 1,167,000 12.46 10 Asian Terminals Inc. 14.3 14.3 14 14 -2.10 8,500 105,000.0031.95 18 Berjaya Phils. Inc. 23.75 27 27 27 13.68 800 14 8.28 Bloomberry 10.40 10.46 10.38 10.44 0.38 5,361,800 34,873,544.000.1640 0.0960 Boulevard Holdings 0.1120 0.1150 0.1120 0.1140 1.79 17,850,000 4.05 2.97 Calata Corp. 3.82 3.81 3.76 3.8 -0.52 46,000 71 44.8 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 85.6 86.4 84.6 85 -0.70 1,032,420 52,791,621.0012.3 10.14 Centro Esc. Univ. 10.5 10.02 10.02 10.02 -4.57 100 3.28 1.99 Discovery World 1.68 1.84 1.69 1.84 9.52 2,000 9 4 DFNN Inc. 6.80 7.10 7.00 7.00 2.94 55,200 -199,500.002008 1580 Globe Telecom 2040 2078 2014 2014 -1.27 82,320 32,836,220.009.04 7.12 GMA Network Inc. 6.55 6.75 6.57 6.70 2.29 323,300 2.02 1.2 Harbor Star 1.57 1.59 1.54 1.54 -1.91 136,000 118.9 94.4 I.C.T.S.I. 110.5 112.6 108 108 -2.26 1,768,210 -30,434,475.000.017 0.012 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.014 0.015 0.014 0.014 0.00 27,100,000 0.0653 0.026 Island Info 0.230 0.236 0.224 0.228 -0.87 19,290,000 -24,110.002.2800 1.560 ISM Communications 1.2100 1.3200 1.2100 1.3000 7.44 295,000 6.99 1.95 Jackstones 2.93 2.99 2.79 2.89 -1.37 311,000 9.67 5.82 Leisure & Resorts 8.75 8.80 8.50 8.50 -2.86 1,245,800 2.2 1.1 Lorenzo Shipping 1.35 1.41 1.35 1.41 4.44 30,000 13,800.004.32 1.9 Macroasia Corp. 2.25 2.20 2.20 2.20 -2.22 53,000 1.97 0.485 Manila Bulletin 0.680 0.690 0.680 0.690 1.47 107,000 2.45 1.42 Manila Jockey 1.97 2 1.96 2 1.52 95,000 -148,250.0014.46 10.14 Melco Crown 9.17 9.21 9.1 9.16 -0.11 4,359,000 18,377,531.000.62 0.35 MG Holdings 0.360 0.360 0.355 0.360 0.00 200,000 1.040 0.36 NOW Corp. 0.490 0.495 0.470 0.495 1.02 100,000 4,950.0022.8 14.54 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 18.38 18.38 18.12 18.38 0.00 5,900 6.6 5.2 PAL Holdings Inc. 4.55 4.50 4.44 4.45 -2.20 27,000 2.85 1.85 Paxys Inc. 3.04 3.1 3.04 3.05 0.33 87,000 -15,300.00107 81 Phil. Seven Corp. 110.00 110.20 109.00 110.20 0.18 1,640 173,706.0011.3 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 13.54 13.56 13.52 13.56 0.15 3,644,100 42,969,682.003486 2572 PLDT Common 2830.00 2872.00 2748.00 2756.00 -2.61 192,355 -42,636,600.000.710 0.250 PremiereHorizon 0.590 0.600 0.580 0.590 0.00 4,954,000 2.01 0.26 Premium Leisure 1.450 1.480 1.400 1.460 0.69 59,634,000 13,711,600.0048.5 32.2 Puregold 41.45 42.00 40.70 41.55 0.24 2,477,000 4,309,010.0074 48 Robinsons RTL 85.50 85.60 84.00 84.00 -1.75 737,150 34,963,198.00 SSI Group 10.40 10.40 10.14 10.18 -2.12 1,716,400 -4,294,862.000.87 0.59 STI Holdings 0.71 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.00 2,570,000 39,760.0011.46 7.78 Travellers 6.88 6.9 6.6 6.65 -3.34 2,331,700 -8,342,453.000.435 0.305 Waterfront Phils. 0.350 0.350 0.340 0.350 0.00 110,000 1.6 1.04 Yehey 1.390 1.430 1.310 1.430 2.88 121,000 -1,430.00

MINING & OIL0.0086 0.0028 Abra Mining 0.0056 0.0058 0.0055 0.0057 1.79 624,000,000 -560,000.005.45 1.72 Apex À’ 2.84 2.98 2.81 2.81 -1.06 266,000 -704,700.0017.24 11.48 Atlas Cons. À’ 8.86 8.86 8.70 8.84 -0.23 949,600 -236,367.0025 9.43 Atok-Big Wedge À’ 10.80 10.80 10.80 10.80 0.00 1,700 0.325 0.225 Basic Energy Corp. 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.00 60,000 12.8 6.2 Benguet Corp À’ 7.7000 7.6900 7.69 7.6900 -0.13 2,800 1.2 0.5 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.09 1.09 1.05 1.05 -3.67 2,373,000 1.73 0.76 Coal Asia 0.89 0.9 0.89 0.89 0.00 1,656,000 -267,000.0010.98 4.93 Dizon 8.10 8.25 8.01 8.02 -0.99 191,400 183,964.00 Ferronickel 1.9 1.94 1.8 1.84 -3.16 46,175,000 -8,908,770.000.46 0.385 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.415 0.430 0.360 0.365 -12.05 20,480,000 12,300.000.455 0.3000 Lepanto À’ 0.228 0.230 0.228 0.229 0.44 5,230,000 0.730 0.2950 Lepanto `B’ 0.234 0.238 0.238 0.238 1.71 700,000 0.024 0.012 Manila Mining À’ 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.00 888,500,000 0.026 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.00 51,500,000 8.2 1.960 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 5.1 5.1 4.9 5 -1.96 1,977,100 -2,500,000.0048.85 14.22 Nickelasia 26.8 26.7 23.5 24 -10.45 19,866,900 97,463,105.003.35 1.47 Nihao Mineral Resources 3.85 3.9 3.5 3.64 -5.45 9,587,000 1,010,140.001.030 0.220 Omico 0.7400 0.7500 0.7300 0.7500 1.35 984,000 3.06 1.24 Oriental Peninsula Res. 2.070 2.140 2.070 2.140 3.38 432,000 31,150.000.021 0.016 Oriental Pet. À’ 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 8.33 4,600,000 12.88 7.8 Philex À’ 7.4 7.44 7.28 7.28 -1.62 1,516,400 -22,285.0010.42 6.5 PhilexPetroleum 2.48 2.54 2.27 2.46 -0.81 1,098,000 1,077,800.000.042 0.031 Philodrill Corp. À’ 0.016 0.016 0.015 0.016 0.00 18,400,000 -75,000.00420 123 Semirara Corp. 163.00 167.00 163.00 167.00 2.45 1,492,990 128,107,947.009 4.3 TA Petroleum 4.08 4.1 4.07 4.07 -0.25 70,000 0.016 0.0087 United Paragon 0.0110 0.0120 0.0100 0.0120 9.09 1,471,300,000

PREFERRED44.1 26.3 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 61 62.8 61.1 62.8 2.95 54,630 1,828,190.00 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 506 510 510 510 0.79 960 60 30 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 525 524 523.5 524 -0.19 10,850 9.04 6.76 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.24 6.62 6.4 6.4 2.56 90,000 MWIDE PREF 110 109.8 109 109 -0.91 15,100 PCOR-Preferred A 1080 1080 1080 1080 0.00 50 PCOR-Preferred B 1100 1080 1080 1080 -1.82 5,000 PF Pref 2 1045 1043 1040 1042 -0.29 470 41,680.0077.3 74.2 SMC Preferred A 76.1 76.1 76 76 -0.13 170,010 78.95 74.5 SMC Preferred B 84 83 83 83 -1.19 12,990 81.85 75 SMC Preferred C 84 84.2 84 84.1 0.12 71,860

WARRANTS & BONDS2.42 0.0010 LR Warrant 3.840 3.940 3.710 3.720 -3.13 65,000

S M E10.96 2.4 Double Dragon 8.88 9.03 8.31 8.6 -3.15 2,716,100 1,742,330.0035 7.74 IRipple E-Business Intl 69 68.2 68.2 68.2 -1.16 210 Xurpas 10.2 10.3 9.79 10 -1.96 3,986,000 10,416,264.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS119.6 94 First Metro ETF 130.2 130 129 129 -0.92 5,530



B3

Ayala set to finish toll road

Stocks extend rally to hit new high

Record level. The Philippine Stock Exchange index pierced the key 8,000-point level, climbing to a new all-time intraday high of 8,007.98 on Monday. While the PSEi failed to close above the 8,000 mark, it still ended at a new record of 7,899.41 on Monday, which was surpassed Tuesday at 7,940.49. The PSEi has broken through new record highs 22 times since the start of the year while its year-to-date gain now stands at 9.8 percent. Shown are traders celebrating the 8,000-level trending of the index.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is reminding the public that effective 19 April 2015, applications for registration of foreign direct investments (FDIs) should be filed with the BSP not later than one (1) year from the date of actual inward remittance of funds/transfer of assets to the Philippines.

The prescriptive period is contained in BSP Circular No. 645 (series of 2009), as amended by BSP Circular No. 818 (series of 2013). The change intends to strengthen the ability of the BSP to capture current data on FDIs. A two (2)-year transition/grace period (which ends on 18 April 2015) was allowed under the Circular, where applications for registration of existing unregistered FDIs may be filed with the BSP, regardless of the time when the funds/assets were transferred to the Philippines. After said date or starting 19 April 2015, the one (1)-year prescriptive period shall apply.

Foreign investors or their duly authorized representatives are, therefore, enjoined to file requests for registration of FDIs soonest, as applications are processed on a first-come first-served basis, based on full compliance with standard requirements. The checklist of requirements is found in Appendix 10 of the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions (FX Manual) which may be downloaded from the BSP website at: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/MORFXT/MORFXT.pdf.

The BSP also wishes to clarify that registration of foreign investments is optional and is required only if the foreign exchange for repatriation of capital and the remittance of earnings will be sourced from authorized agent banks or their affiliate foreign exchange corporations.

BSP REMINDS THE PUBLIC ON THE 18 APRIL 2015 DEADLINE FORREGISTRATION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS

MAYNILA, PILIPINAS

For inquiries, please contact the International Operations Department:E-mail: [email protected]: www.bsp.gov.phTelephone: (632) 708-7107 Fax: (632) 306-3091

By Darwin G. Amojelar

AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., the infra-structure arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp., said it expects to complete the construction of the Muntilupa-Cavite Expressway in June, or three months behind the initial target of March.

STOCKS rose for the fifth day, with the benchmark index closing at a new record, on combination of window dressing and improving sentiment in Asian markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 41 points, or 0.5 percent, to finish at 7,940.49 Tuesday. It was up 9.8 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, advanced 9 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,560.17 on a value turnover of P7 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 117 to 66, while 37 issues closed unchanged.

Property developers led gainers Tuesday. Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. emerged as the biggest gainer among the 20 most active stocks, as it climbed 3.6 percent to P8.28. Ayala Land Inc. rose 2.9 percent to P38.70.

Jollibee Foods Corp. added 2.3 percent to close at P220. Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., the holding company of the Aboitiz family, rose 1.6 percent to P58. Globe Telecom Inc., the second largest mobile phone company, gained 1.5 percent to P2,070.

Meanwhile, Asian markets rallied Tuesday, led by Hong Kong and Shanghai after China’s decision to ease mortgage rules fuelled hopes for further stimulus measures, while improved confidence weighed on the safe-haven yen.

Traders were given another strong lead from Wall Street, where the three main indexes surged more than 1 percent, supported by the Chinese move while dealers are awaiting key US jobs data at the end of the week.

Hong Kong climbed 1.03 percent, Shanghai gained 0.88 percent Tokyo added 0.65 percent, Seoul put on 0.40 percent and Sydney jumped 1.40 percent after tumbling Monday.

Regional investors picked up where their counterparts in New York and Europe left off after the People’s Bank of China on Monday lowered minimum downpayments on second homes from 60 to 70 percent to 40 percent in a bid to boost the slowing economy.

The announcement came after the bank’s head Zhou Xiaochuan at the weekend hinted at fresh measures to fend off deflation, while Premier Li Keqiang said at the start of the month the government had the firepower to support the economy.

“Investors continue to work on the expectation that the People’s Bank of China will deliver more policy reports in coming months and that the US (Federal Reserve) will be cautious about its policy deliberations,” Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research in Sydney at Perpetual Ltd, told Bloomberg News.

On Wall Street, the Dow rose 1.49 percent, the S& P 500 gained 1.22 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.15 percent. And in Europe the Frankfurt DAX 30 jumped 1.83 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris ended 0.98 percent higher and London’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.53 percent. With Bloomberg, AFP

“We are optimistic that a June construction completion is achiev-able barring further delays in the right-of-way delivery and any un-foreseen on-site technical issues,” AC Infrastructure chief operating officer Noel Kintanar said.

AC Infrastructure said the de-lay in the completion of MCX, formerly known Daang Hari-SLEX link project, was due to on-site challenges, which resulted in the redesign of certain portions of the access tunnels leading to the South Luzon Expressway.

“The unavailability of as-built plans for an existing bridge also contributed to the delay as exca-vation work for the tunnel had to proceed at a much slower pace. This is to avoid possible damage to the existing structure and en-sure public safety as the bridge is heavily used by the public,” AC Infrastructure said.

The company said commercial operation would commence, once the Public Works Department and the Toll Regulatory Board is-sued the substantial completion certificate and the toll operation certificate, respectively.

“Once in operation, MCX is expected to significantly help de-congest traffic in the Daang Hari and Alabang areas as well as im-prove access to Cavite, Muntin-lupa and Las Pinas from Metro Manila’s central business districts and the rest Southern Luzon,” Kintanar said.

The P2.01-billion MCX is Ay-ala’s first toll road project under the Aquino administration’s pub-lic-private partnership program.

The road will provide southern Metro Manila with a high-stan-dard highway within a 200-ki-lometer radius of the Philippine capital and will serve as an al-ternative route to Cavite, de-congesting traffic in some parts of the province and Las Pinas and Muntinlupa, especially the Alabang-Zapote Road and Com-merce Avenue.

Aside from MCX, AC Infra-structure, in partnership with Metro Pacific Investments Corp., also won other PPP projects such as the P1.72-billion Automated Fare Collection System and the P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project.

BUSINESSB4

PH eyes more Turkish touristsXurpasbuyinganothercompany

Electric auto makers seek funders to spur sector

New VietJetAir plane. The first A321 for VietJetAir arrived at its new home in Ho Chi Minh City on March 22, following a delivery flight from the Airbus final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany. The A321 is the 9,000th aircraft to be delivered by Airbus and received a special welcome in Vietnam from VietJetAir’s management and crew. VietJetAir first took to the skies in 2011 and now operates a fleet of 22 A320 Family aircraft on a network covering Vietnam and a growing number of destinations across Asia.


THE Tourism Department expects the num-ber of tourists from Turkey to double this year with the launch of direct, non-strop flights between Istanbul and Manila.

“Our fighting target is to double it, but because of their vast network in Europe we are not only looking at the poten-tial of Turkey, you are looking at the potential of easily 10 to 12 other countries in Europe, which all connect to Istanbul and onwards to Manila,” Tour-ism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. told reporters Mon-

day night.Bengzon referred to Turkish

Airlines, which inaugurated its flights between Istanbul and Ma-nila at the Ninoy Aquino Inter-national Airport Terminal 1.

Available data from Tourism showed 3,731 tourists from Tur-key visited the Philippines in 2013, up 19 percent from 2012. The Turkish Ministry of Cul-

ture and Tourism recorded 3,581 tourists from the Philippines last year.

Benzon said the Turkish Air-lines operations in the Philip-pines was “very significant” be-cause Turkey was one of the 15 biggest economies in the world.

“You can just imagine the pur-chasing power of the outbound tourists from Turkey,” he added.

Citing the country’s impres-sive growth, Turkish Airlines chief executive Temel Kotil said Turkey expects to leverage on the renewed global interest in the Philippines.

“We are very excited to bring our renowned inflight services

to Filipinos and we hope that our new flights to Manila will boost trade between our two coun-tries,” he said.

Turkish Airlines will have direct, thrice-weekly flights between Manila and Istanbul pursuant to an air services agree-ment, which grants Turkish car-riers three frequencies per week to Manila and Clark. Scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, the flights are seen to serve two-way tourist arrivals be-tween the two countries.

Kotil said the airline would target businessmen, tourists and transit passengers seeking a gate-way to Europe.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Electric Vehicle Associa-tion of the Philippines is seek-ing funders to speed up the implementation of the country’s electric vehicle program, the group’s president said Tuesday.

EVAP president Rommel Juan said in a statement access to fi-nancing would spur e-vehicle development.

“We need funders, financ-ing people or angel investors to come in and tie up with credible and reliable EV players to final-ly catapult the EV industry into the mainstream and achieve economies of scale,” he said.

“With over 40,000 tax-is, 370,000 jeepneys and 3,500,000 tricycles being used in the Philippines, there is definitely space for green eco-

friendly mobility in the coun-try,” Juan said.

He said EVAP had already established the credible players in the EV Industry, and urged consumers and prospective e-vehicle stakeholders to coordi-nate with the group.

Juan said there were many suppliers with credible back-grounds and solid track re-cords. They include those who have production facilities and a local office to ensure long term viability and sustainabil-ity.

“Other than this, we also rec-ommend hooking up with ex-perienced public transport op-erators such as EVEE-I, which now operates the Filinvest 360 Ecoloop at Filinvest City Ala-bang, or MServ which operates the Ateneo Ejeeps,” Juan said.

“EV operations have suddenly become viable and very attrac-tive to long term investors as it has a return on investment of 24 percent or a payback period of about four years. Furthermore, there is also significant carbon credits to be gained from these green transport projects as 80 percent of Metro Manila’s air pollution now comes from in-ternal combustion engines of second hand vehicles now be-ing used throughout the Philip-pines,” he said.

Sevcon vice president and EVAP member Jon Atchison said certain parts of the coun-try, including the Metro Ma-nila area, represent ‘the perfect storm’ for mass EV deployment, especially as a means of public transport.

“In areas such as Manila, you

can’t go very far very fast and the stop-start nature of driv-ing conditions means EVs are a perfect solution. They don’t pollute when stationary but rather regenerate electricity to replenish their batteries when braking and coming to an idle stop,” Atchison said.

Juan said the economics of running EVs to replace internal combustion engine-powered vehicles in applications such as tricycles and jeepneys made commercial sense.

“People do not buy public transport vehicles to be ‘green,’ they do it to make money--and EV solutions are allowing them to make more money while at the same time reducing tailpipe emissions and noise pollution in the heavily-congested areas where they operate,” he said.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CONSUMER technology stock Xurpas Inc. is acquir-ing a 31.52-percent interest in MatchMe Pte. Ltd., a Singa-pore-based mobile and Web tournament games platform, for $1.4 million.

Xurpas said in the disclo-sure to the Philippine Stock Exchange it would receive the license and right to use, inte-grate, publish, distribute, mar-ket and promote the MatchMe platform and its related game content.

The agreement also gave Xurpas exclusive rights to use MatchMe for telco deployment in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

“MatchMe is a truly unique offering, potentially allow-ing millions of players to play against each other on any de-vice, anytime, anywhere. The platform allows us to provide a unique game playing expe-rience to consumers in the Philippines, the rest of South-east Asia, and worldwide” said Xurpas president and chief ex-ecutive Nix Nolledo in a state-ment.

MatchMe is engaged in the development, licensing and operation of a mobile and web based, real-time, multiplayer platform for mobile games.

The platform is open to third-party game content integration, which means by integrating with MatchMe, third party de-velopers from around the globe can offer their players synchro-nous, real-time tournaments against friends and opponents.

“We’re delighted to have such a strong and strategic partner as Xurpas onboard,” said Hal Bame, co-CEO of MatchMe. “The shared syn-ergies and goals between our companies ring true on a va-riety of levels, not the least of which is bringing entertaining and competitive experiences to mobile and Web-based gamers throughout Southeast Asia and beyond.”

MatchMe is the fourth com-pany that Xurpas had invested in since holding an initial pub-lic offering in December 2014.


W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 5

BUSINESS B5

Open letter to MVP

Globe investing $80m in new cable

Foreign traders urgegovt to limit holidays

HE may have pleasantly nixed the virtual endorsement of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago that he should be the country’s next president, but this hasn’t stopped people from hoping that Manny “MVP” Pangilinan would have a change of heart and reconsider. One such plea came from a recently retired and still young expat by the name of Ryan Villaflores who wrote an open letter that was posted on Facebook by Mike Acebedo Lopez, urging MVP to run.

Like others who read the rather lengthy letter, we saw nuggets of truth in Villaflores’ words, his yearning to see Filipinos redeem their dignity, the dismay over the Filipino diaspora because decent, well-paying jobs are hard to find in this country. Happy Hour would like to share the thoughts of the expat by quoting certain portions of his “Dear MVP” letter. Those who want to read the entire post may check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/MikeAcebedoLopez/posts/10155357276010581?fref=nf.

“Last night, I read about four things in the news. “First, about the President wanting to address the nation for the

last time later today to tie up (and perhaps justify) every decision he made that led to the fall of the 44. Second, about the latest Pulse survey where the poor is screaming louder than ever about the myth of economic growth, begging, seeking liberation from abject poverty. Third, Miriam calling on you to run for President, which is not new.

“How long have we been hearing foreigners rave about how creative we are, how brilliant if we choose to be, how kind and generous, how happy and compassionate we are, how we make the most delightful team workers in the world, how we must even be the greatest of friends and lovers in the world, the most devoted of workers, the most patient and most cherished caregivers, the most loyal and faithful, the most rewarded and dependable and beloved wherever we are.

“And yet in our very land, we are so downtrodden, divided, frustrated, so dirt poor, how sometimes we end up biting and destroying each other for crumbs and paltry opportunities, these that make many of us leave and never want to come back, and watch from afar our supposedly great nation waste so many chances at being great once again.

“More than prosperity, we need our hope back, our dignity back, our pride back, our Diaspora back.

“I close my eyes now, and I see a gifted young man, with barely enough baon in the Ateneo, a lad who carried through school with scholarships up to an MBA abroad, a lad who would never take no for an answer, defying the silence and meager means of his father, if only to keep his star shining, blinding so bright that from that day forward, from Manila to Hong Kong and London and back, with a prayer and spark in his pocket, there was no turning back for the boy, no turning back from good fortune after good fortune, pride after pride, success after success, no turning back except towards home.

“But I believe your greatest gift is not your own ability to turn around businesses. I believe your foremost gift is believing in the Filipino gift to turn around failure into success.

“Indeed, I imagine how earnestly you believed first in the Filipino in you, and then the Filipino in your team, and then the Filipino in your company. And you did that wherever you were, here or somewhere in the world.

“I see in you the excellence I saw in my tour of duty in the capitals of the world for the last 10 years, the same excellence that I helped sow myself wherever I am in the world, the same excellence I want to nurture here if only to wow us with what we are truly capable of.

That is why we need a leader who understands this.“Most expatriates avoid going back home because the same

families, the same family names, the same dynasties govern us. Of course there are exceptional ones, but we all know how our leaders do not have anymore the raw appreciation of that dignity of labor imbibed in you as a boy... and of course, the glorious afterglow of triumph each time you turn failure into success!

“Imagine the Filipino diaspora, the bright boys and girls abroad, flocking back to the motherland because of you.

“None of the candidates right now, none but you can make the most cynical and skeptical yet the most talented, loving and patriotic Filipino, envision like this, with eyes closed, all of my heart and soul, and tears running in between.

“Everyone in the current list is but a recycled version of one other. And you, you are the best version of the best of the Filipino.

“How many times have you been pushed to run? Can I tell you that those pushing and begging for you to run, they do adore and love you, but you know what? We push you because we love our country more. And surely, as much as you do.

“Be our president, Manuel V. Pangilinan.” •••

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

PH-Cambodia pertnership. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala (left) exchanges gift with his Cambodian counterpart, Ouk Rabun, after a meeting on March 25, 2015 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The two officials agreed to establish a close collaboration and partnership, which they aim to formalize through a memorandum of understanding on agriculture cooperation to be signed within the year. Alcala also used it as an opportunity to reiterate Philippine invitation to Cambodia to take part in the 37th gathering of Asean Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry in Manila from September 7 to 15 2015.


GLOBE Telecom and six foreign tele-com companies an-nounced Tuesday the start of construction of the $250-million submarine cable sys-tem directly connect-ing Southeast Asia to the United States.

Globe executive vice president and chief operating officer Gil Genio said the SEA-US project would enable the company to play a major role in providing su-perior connectivity for consum-ers and businesses between the Philippines and the US.

“Our linkup with the SEA-US cable system will serve the expo-nential growth of mobile Internet use in our country, enabling the Filipino digital lifestyle and won-derful experience for our custom-ers and businesses,” he said.

He said “this development will also benefit the outsourcing and offshoring industry, including major contact centers, business process outsourcing providers, global financial institutions and a host of other multinationals that require very large bandwidth as the Philippines has become the preferred destination for these companies.”

Globe said of the $250 million investment, it would contribute $80 million for the project.

Aside from Globe, the SEA-US consortium also includes PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia In-ternational, RAM Telecom In-ternational, Hawaiian Telcom,

Teleguam Holdings, GTI Corp. (a member of the Globe Telecom group of companies) and Telkom USA.

NEC Corp. and NEC Corp. of America are the system suppliers for the $250-million project that is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The SEA-US system will link the five areas and territories of Manado in Indonesia, Davao in Southern Philippines; Piti in the territory of Guam; as well as Ho-nolulu (on the island of Oahu), Hawaii; and Los Angeles, Cali-

fornia in the continental US. The system will cover 15,000

kilometers in length, stretched along a unique route and has been designed and engineered to bypass earthquake prone areas in East Asia, thereby providing a strategic diversity in the range of connectivity to trans-Pacific net-works with ensured stable con-nectivity.

The cable system will provide an initial 20 terabit per second capacity, with state-of-the-art 100 gigabit per second technol-ogy.

By Othel V. Campos

THE Joint Foreign Chambers has asked the Philippine government to limit the number of non-working holidays in country.

American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines executive director Ebb Hinchcliffe said the JFC was concerned that the many holidays were affecting the business of foreign companies in the Phil-ippines and local firms as well.

“We’re still pursuing the 15 days [holidays] only, not more than that. And these holidays are those that are mandated by law only,” he told reporters in an interview Tuesday.

While he conceded his group could not change the law, business-men could still encourage the President and local government units to limit the holidays.

The group wants the government to adopt a new “new holiday policy,” which is the recommended 15 non-working holidays as stipulated by Phil-ippines laws. Any additional holidays by proclamation either by the Presi-dent or local authority will be optional for the employer, it said.

The group and multinational companies in the Philippines are pre-paring a study assessing the impact of “too many” holidays in busi-ness.

The study will gather feedback from different foreign companies operating in the Philippines, such as Philip Morris Manufacturing Philippines Corp. and Chevron/Caltex.

“These holidays has a cost to it. For one it is affecting the competitive-ness of the Philippines,” said Hinchcliffe, adding companies were still pay-ing overhead costs in operations and labor, even during holidays.

Republic of the PhilippinesProvince of Bataan

City of BalangaBIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE

INVITATION TO BIDNO. GOODS-032-2015

The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund32 intends to apply the below listed procurement w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess ofthe ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of Project Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

1. Supply and Delivery of Medicines for the use of Jose C. Payumo Jr. Memorial Hospital, Orani District Hospital and Bagac Community & Medicare Hospital

=P= 4,437,479.20

The Provincial Government of Bataan now invites bids for the above listed Procurement. Delivery of goods is required on or before the maturity date stipulated on contract. Bidders should have completed, within Ten (10) years from 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 ll. Instructions to Bidders

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specific in the implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committee and inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the same office.

Bid documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of using standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below.

Approved Budget for the Contract Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents

(in Philippine Peso)500,000 and below 500.00More than 500.000 up to 1 Million 1,000.00More than 1 Million up to 5 Million 5.000.00More than 5 Million up to 10 Million 10.000.00More than 10 Million up to 50 Million 25.000.00More than 50 Million up to 500 Million 50,000.00More than 500 Million 75.000.00

The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on April 7, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered on or before April 21, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. At Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted.

In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days.

Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan Activities Schedulel. Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid March 31 - April 6, 20152. Eligibility Check Refer to date of Opening of Bids3. Issuance and availability of Bidding Documents March 31- April 21, 20154. Request for Clarification April 8, 20155. Opening of Bids April 21, 2015

The Provincial Government of Bataan reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Engr. Josephine R. Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound Balanga City, Bataan 047-237-9316 [email protected] (Sgd). ENRICO T. YUZON BAC Chairman(TS-APR. 1, 2015)

Repub l i c o f the Ph i l ipp inesREGIONAL TRIAL COURT

Nat iona l Cap i ta l Jud ic ia l Reg ionBranch 99, Quezon Ci t y, Met ro Mani la

IN RE: PETITION FOR JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE AND DECL AR ATION OF CAPACIT Y TO REMARRY UNDER ARTICLE 26 , FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES. C IV IL CASE No. R- Q ZN -14 -119 49 - CV FOR: Enfo rcement o f Fore ign JudgmentGL ADYS CONCEPCION REYES, Pet i t ioner.x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x

ORDERFi led by Pet i t i oner th rough counse l i s a ver i f i ed Pet i t ion fo r

Judic ia l Recogni t ion of Foreign Divorce and Declarat ion of Capaci ty to Remarry Under Ar t ic le 26 of the Fami ly Code, praying that af ter due hear ing and presentat ion of al l the required documents, an order be issued: 1) recognizing the divoce decree duly issued by the Japanese author i t ies and thus recognizing the same as with ful l force and ef fect upon pet i t ioner ; 2) direct ing the Local Civi l Regist r y of Pasay City and the Nat ional Stat ist ics Of f ice1 to annotate upon the records of the marr iage contract between Japanese Masahiro Oishi and pet i t ioner, that the said marr iage had already been served by v ir tue of the judic ial ly recognized foreign divorce; 3) dec lar ing the pet i t ioner wi th legal capaci ty to remarry pursuant to the provis ions of the second paragraph of Sect ion 26 of the Family Code of the Phi l ippines and; 4) recognizing the duly entered agreement between Japanese Masahiro Oishi and pet i t ioner that the custody over their chi ld Natsuko Reyes Oishi shal l be with the Fi l ip ino mother.

WHEREFORE , f ind ing the Pet i t i on to be su f f i c ient in fo rm and substance, the Cour t ORDERS as fo l lows:

1.) Let th is case be set fo r hear ing on May 4 , 2015 a t 8:30 in the morning at Room 210, 2nd F loor, Ha l l o f Jus t i ce Bu i ld ing, Quezon C i t y, on wh ich date, p lace and t ime, any in te res ted person is d i rec ted to appear and show cause, i f any, why th is pet i t i on shou ld not be granted;

2.) Let th is Order be pub l i shed in a newspaper o f genera l c i rcu la t ion, once a week fo r th ree (3) consecut ive weeks, to be chosen by ra f f le pursuant to P.D. 1079, a t the expense o f the pet i t i oner ;

3 .) Pet i t i oner i s o rdered to send by reg is te red mai l cop ies o f the Pet i t i on, Order o f hear ing and i t s pub l i ca t ion to MASAHIRO OISHI a t h is las t known address and to submi t to th is Cour t p roof o f compl iance therew i th;

4 .) Pet i t i oner i s l i kew ise o rdered to fu rn ish copy o f the pet i t ion and this instant Order to the Of f ice of the Sol ic i tor General, the Of f ice of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, as wel l as the Phi l ippine Stat ist ics Author i ty and the Civ i l Regist rar General, for their informat ion and appropr iate act ion and for pet i t ioner to submit proof of such service on or before the date of hear ing.

SO ORDERED.

Quezon C i t y, Met ro Mani la , December 22, 2014.

(Sgd.) MA . R ITA A . BASCOS SAR ABIA Pres id ing Judge_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1 Present ly known as the Ph i l ipp ine S ta t i s t i c s Author i t y

( TS - MAR. 25 /APR 1 & 8 , 2015)

2014 oil imports hit [email protected]

[email protected]


B6

Money supply up8.5% in February

PNB promo winners. Philippine National Bank recently awarded four Yamaha Fino Classic motorcycles and other prizes during the ATMSafe Panalo ang Protektado Promo, which catered to clients who enrolled to ATMSafe. PNB ATMSafe is the first innovative insurance product in the Philippines that secures and protects ATM cardholders and their accounts for only P12 per month. Shown with the promo winners are PNB executive vice president and retail banking group head Joven Hernandez (sixth from left) and partners from ATMSafe, Alliedbankers Insurance Corp. and PNB General Insurers Co. Inc.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

OIL imports rose 0.4 percent in 2014 to $13.52 billion from $13.47 billion in 2013, despite the lower cost of crude and petroleum products in the world market, data from the Energy Department show.

The Energy Department said the net oil import bill, or the dif-ference between oil imports and exports, reached $12.292 billion last year, down 0.8 percent from $12.394 billion in 2013.

The department said this “could be attributed to lower import cost for both crude and petroleum products, although import vol-ume increased.”

Oil import costs were made up of 46 percent crude oil and 54 percent finished products.

Crude oil imports fell 0.5 per-cent to $6.215 billion from $6.247 billion in 2013, as the average oil price declined to $95.715 per barrel in 2014 from $110.887 per barrel in 2013.

Crude oil imports climbed 15.3 percent by volume to 64,938 mil-lion barrels in 2014 from 56,343 million barrels in 2013. The Phil-ippines imported 75 percent of crude oil requirements from the Middle East.

Data showed on a country ba-

sis, the Philippines sourced 57.1 percent of crude imports from Saudi Arabia, 17.5 percent from Russia, 9.9 percent from the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, 8.5 percent from Qatar, 5.5 percent from Ma-laysia, 0.9 percent from Brunei and 0.4 percent from Vietnam.

Total petroleum products im-ported last year also increased 9.7 percent to 68.130 billion barrels in 2014 from 62.112 billion bar-rels in 2013.

Diesel oil imports rose 11.5 percent while LPG and gasoline imports grew 2.8 and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Fuel oil imports surged more than 80 percent, but kerosene im-ports dropped 12 percent.

About 54 percent of the total product imports were brought in by independent industry players, rising 6.2 percent to 36.839 bil-

lion barrels from 34.674 billion barrels in 2013.

The three major players (Pe-tron, Chevron and Shell) ac-counted for the remaining 45.9 percent, which increased 14 per-cent to 31.291 billion barrels.

The local refiners (Petron and Pilipinas Shell) accounted for 31.3 percent of the total product imports, which included blend-ing stocks, as against 68.7-percent share by the other players.

Product import mix comprised mostly of diesel oil at 43 percent, gasoline at 21.8 percent, LPG at 13.5 percent, kerosene at 10.2 percent, fuel oil at 7.2 percent and other products at 4.4 percent share in the total product mix.

Petroleum products exports went up by 10.2 percent to 9.496 billion barrels. The total export mix comprised of condensate

(46.4 percent); naphtha (17.7 percent); fuel oil (17 percent); mixed xylene (7.3 percent); toluene (3.8 percent); pygas (2.9 percent); propylene (2.0 per-cent); benzene (1.8 percent); re-formate (1.2 percent) and LPG (0.02 percent).

The major oil companies (Pe-tron Corp., Chevron Phils. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.), meanwhile, got 68.9 percent mar-ket share of the total demand while the other industry play-ers, which include PTT Philip-pine Corp., Total Phils., Seaoil Corp., TWA, Filpride, Phoenix, Liquigaz, Petronas, Prycegas, Micro Dragon, Unioil, Isla LPG Corp., Jetti, Eastern Corp., Per-dido and Filoil Gas Co., as well as the end users who directly import part of their requirements cap-tured 31.1 percent of the market.

By Julito G. Rada

MONEY supply rose 8.5 percent year-on-year in February, faster than the 7.7-percent expansion in January, on sustained demand for credit, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

Data showed that domestic liquidity or M3 reached P7.5 trillion as of end-February, up from P6.9 trillion recorded a year ago.

“Domestic claims grew by 10 percent in February from 10.8 percent in January as credits to the private sector expanded at a broadly similar pace relative to the p revious month,” Bangko Sentral said.

“Domestic liquidity has continued to grow at a moderate pace during the month due in part to the increase in placements of trust entities in the BSP’s special deposit account facility relative to a year ago,” Bangko Sentral said.

It said the M3 growth in February also reflected statistical base effects associated with the significant increase in domestic liquidity a year ago of 36.6 percent, following the operational adjustments involving access of trust entities to the SDA facility, which were completed in November 2013.

Meanwhile, outstanding loans of commercial banks, excluding reverse repurchase placements with Bangko Sentral, grew 15.2 percent in February, slower than the 17.3-percent increase in January.

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WORLD

Publisher, editor heldin new Malaysia arrests

HK murder hearing to resume

China closesnearly 70golf coursesin new drive BEIJING—China’s Communist rulers have turned against the ex-clusive sport of golf with the gov-ernment saying nearly 70 “illegal” courses had been closed, seemingly enforcing a decade-old ban for the first time.

The announcement by the minis-try of land and resources comes amid a high-profile anti-graft campaign spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, which has seen crackdowns on ban-quets, lavish gift-giving and other of-ficial excesses.

The ruling Communist Party has long had an ambivalent relation-ship with golf, which is a lucrative opportunity for local authorities and a favored pastime of some of-ficials, but is also closely associated with wealth and Western elites.

“Presently, local governments have shut down a number of illegal-ly-built golf courses, and prelimi-nary results have been achieved in clean-up and rectification work,” read the announcement on the ministry’s website late Monday.

Three of the 66 “illegal” golf courses listed by the ministry are in Beijing. Eight are in the eastern province of Shandong, while the southern and southwestern prov-inces of Guangdong and Yunnan are home to six each.

Even the tropical island province of Hainan—considered the capital of the sport in China—has not been spared, with three unsanctioned courses shut down, according to the

Ho Kay Tat, head of The Edge media group, was arrested along with Jahabar Sadiq, chief editor of The Malaysian Insider news portal which is owned by The Edge, the portal said.

That followed the arrest of scores of people in recent days on sedition charges or for as-sembly violations related to a series of anti-government pro-tests sparked by the February jailing of opposition leader An-war Ibrahim.

Senior opposition figure Lim Kit Siang estimated Tuesday that more than 100 people had been detained over the past week.

Three Malaysian Insider edi-tors had been arrested on Mon-day over a recent news report involving the nation’s nine cer-emonial sultans.

The Edge, however, has also earned the government’s anger for a series of reports on the murky dealings of a govern-ment-owned investment com-pany whose board is chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak—including questions over the

whereabouts of huge sums of missing money.

In a statement published by The Malaysian Insider before his arrest, Jahabar said the po-lice actions “appear to go be-yond just our reportage” on the story concerning the sultans.

“The Malaysian Insider will continue to report without fear or favor despite these arrests. It is business as usual,” he said.

Th ruling coalition—in power since independence in 1957—launched a crackdown on freedom of expression and other civil liberties following a poor showing in 2013 elections.

The current wave of arrests adds to scores of opposition politicians, academics and ac-tivists already nabbed over the past year on sedition and other charges. Nearly all were released pending court proceedings.

Najib’s government also jailed Anwar on sodomy charges that have been widely criticized, including by the United States and international rights groups.

Anwar was jailed in February for five years on charges he sod-

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian police arrested a prominent publisher and a website editor for sedi-tion on Tuesday, the latest targets in a mounting tally of detentions that is being compared to an infamous 1987 political crackdown.

omized a former male aide in 2008.He says the case was fabricated by

the government to halt recent oppo-sition successes.

Najib’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the crackdown.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed the journalists’ ar-rests in a Twitter posting, warning: “There will be no tolerance for any seditious activity.”

‘White terror’ -Police said the ar-rests stem from the Malaysian In-sider’s report last week that a coun-cil of the Muslim-majority country’s nine ceremonial state sultans had

opposed an Islamic opposition par-ty’s proposal for tough sharia crimi-nal punishments such as amputat-ing the hands of thieves.

The portal said the sultan’s coun-cil denied the report’s claim.

It is not clear how the report could be considered seditious, but Malaysia has strict rules against in-sulting the sultans.

Senior opposition figure Lim called the spate of arrests a “reign of white terror” evoking “Operation Lalang,” the 1987 arrests of 106 ac-tivists, opposition politicians, intel-lectuals and others, widely seen as a bid to curb regime critics. AFP

CITRINE PAWNSHOP CO., INCAll unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 4, 2015 at RITZ - 12:00 PM at Stall # New Muntinlupa Public Market, Alabang Muntinlupa City JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

MAKATI LUXURY JEWELRY PAWNSHOP CO.,

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 wil l be sold to public auction on APRIL 04, 2015 at BF Homes – 10:00 AM # 43 President’s Ave., BF Homes, Parañaque City SPL - 3:00 PM at Casa Hacienda San Pedro, Laguna on APRIL 08, 2015 at the ff. branches: ROMULO - 10:00 AM at 135 13TH Ave., Cor. P. Tuazon, Cubao, QC SANTOLAN – 4:00 PM 526 ADR Bldg., Dela Paz, Santolan, Pasig City on APRIL 11, 2015 JP RIZAL – 11:00 AM # 529 Olympia St., JP Rizal, Makati City ALPHALAND – 5:00 PM G11 South Gate Towers, P. Tamo Ext., Makati City MANUELA – 3:00 PM G/F Starmall, Wack2, Mandaluyong City APRIL 18, 2015 LALOMA – 11:30 AM # 67 Calavite St., Brgy., P. Bundok, QC RETIRO - 12:30 PM # 270 N.S. amoranto Street, Retiro QC. ROTONDA – 2:00 PM # 1 Sto. Tomas St., Rotonda QC at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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WESTCHESTER

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 11, 2015 at the ff. branches: HERRAN - 8:00 AM at # 1101 P. Gil St., Paco, Manila STA. ANA – 10:00 AM # 390 AP Reyes Cor. JP Rizal St., Makati City at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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TAMCAR PAWNSHOP CORP.

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 11, 2015 at the ff. branches: BUSTILLOS -2:00 PM at # L2522-28 Road 216, Earnshaw Bustillos, Manila APRIL 24, 2015 CALOOCAN – 1:00 PM # 434 J. RODRIGUEZ ST., at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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PANG NEGOSYO PAWNSHOP

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 08, 2015 at the ff. branches: COUNTRYSIDE - 12:30 PM at 49 Countryside Ave., Sta. Lucia, Pasig City JUNCTION – 2:30 PM # Star Valley Plaza Mall, Junction at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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POB CASA DE EMPEÑOS

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 23, 2015 at the ff. branches: ST. FRANCIS - 10:30 AM at # 40 Kingfisher St., St. Francis, Meycauayan, Bulacan POBLACION – 11:30 AM # 721 Barrera St., Poblacion, Baliuag, Bulacan at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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NORTHERN LEGASPI

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 wil l be sold to public auction on APRIL 24, 2015 at NAVOTAS - 2:30 PM at # 256 Champaca St., Navotas Metro Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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N.C. TAMBUNTING

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 7, 2015 at PATEROS - 8:00 AM at # M. Almeda Cor. B. Morcilla St., Pateros, Metro Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

PENTHOUSE PAWNSHOP

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 4, 2015 at BETTER - 8:00 AM at # 82 Betterl iving Subd. Parañaque City at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

CINTHY PAWNSHOP

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on: APRIL `24, 2015 STA. MESA – 8:00 AM # 3630 Ramon Magsaysay Blvd. Sta. Mesa, Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

LUIROM PAWNSHOP CO., INC.

All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 04, 2015 at the ff. branches: SUCAT - 9:00 AM at #3 Dr., A. Santos Ave., Sucat, Parañaque City MUNTI – 1:30 PM #659 National Road, Poblacion St., Muntinlupa City APRIL 08, 2015 SAN JOAQUIN – 1:30 PM # 9 M. Concepcion San Joaquin, Pasig City APRIL 24, 2015 10TH AVE. – 2:00 PM # 245-B 10TH Ave., Brgy., 60 Zone 6, Caloocan City APRIL 23, 2015 MARILAO – 1 PM #5 NETWORK AVE., MERALCO VILL. LIAS MARILAO BULACAN APRIL 11, 2015 SAGRADA – 11:00AM #1978 ESTRADA ST., FORMER SAGRADA FAMILIA STA. ANA, MLA. APRIL 18, 2015 GAGALANGIN – 8:45 AM #2 JUAN LUNA ST., COR. GUIDO ST., TONDO MANILA APRIL 23, 2015 STO NIÑO – 9:30 AM #30 ST., THERESE COR, ST. PETER, P3 STO NIÑO MEYCAUAN BULACAN at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

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PEARLAS PAWNSHOP CO., INC. Al l unredeemed p ledges dur ing the month o f NOVEMBER 2014 w i l l be so ld to pub l i c auc t ion on APRIL 04 , 2015 a t the f f . b ranches : MONTILLANO - 12 :30 PM a t 249 Mont i l lano St . , A labang, Munt in lupa C i ty APRIL 08 , 2015 SUMULONG – 9 :00 AM # 24 Sumulong Hway Sto . N iño , Mar ik ina C i ty CONCEPCION – 10 :00 AM #19 Bayan Bayanan Ave. , Concepc ion , Mar ik ina C i ty APRIL 11 , 2014 G. NUEVO – 9 :00 AM Tan Hock B ldg . , Cor. EDSA, Makat i C i ty APRIL 24 , 2015 B. BARRIO - 11 :30 AM # 35 Malo los Ave. , B . Bar r io , Ca loocan C i ty APRIL 23 , 2015 VALENZUELA – 12 :00 PM # 115 Faust ino St . , Puntur in , Va lenzue la C i ty a t JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

RACATAM PAWNSHOP CO., INC. All unredeemed pledges during the month of NOVEMBER 2014 will be sold to public auction on APRIL 18, 2015 at the ff. branches: PRITIL - 8:00 AM at 1833 N. Zamora St., Pritil, Tondo, Manila BLUMENTRITT – 10:30 AM #1687 M. Hizon St., Blumentritt, Manila VARONA – 8:30 AM 1872 F. VARONA ST., BRGY 95, ZONE 8, TONDO, MANILA APRIL 24, 2015 ALTURA – 9:00 AM # 418 Altura St. Sta. Mesa, Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

( T S - A P R . 1, 2 015 )

ERRORS & OMISSIONSIn Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

statement.It did not give a time

frame for the closures.With an eye on con-

taining public anger over China’s widening wealth gap, authorities in recent years have is-sued bans on an assort-ment of “extravagances”, such as private clubs—often frequented by offi-cials—in historic build-ings and parks.

Government officials keen on joining golf clubs often do so under false names, wary of being perceived as corrupt or out-of-touch, according to Dan Washburn, author of “The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream”.

Washburn pointed out on Twitter that the announcement of the closures came days after news that US star Tiger Woods was to be paid $16.5 million to redesign a course in the capital.

“What a country!” he added.

Central authorities ordered a nationwide moratorium on new golf courses in 2004, but de-velopment continued as revenue-minded lo-cal officials went their own way, even offering tax breaks for operators of new courses in places such as Hainan. AFP

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HK murder hearing to resume

Robin Williams heirs agree to negotiate

Teen heldfor videoagainst Lee Kuan Yew

Bountiful harvest. An Indian laborer walks between piles of mangoes at a fruit market outside Hyderabad. AFP

Pledging conference. Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah (L) and Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur (R) attend the opening ceremony for the Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria at the Bayan palace in Kuwait City on March 31. Kuwait’s emir pledged P500 million at the start of the conference, describing the crisis unfolding in Syria as the “biggest humanitarian catastrophe in modern history”. AFP

HONG KONG—It is a crime that shocked Hong Kong—two young Indone-sian women found dead in the upmarket apartment of a British banker, the de-caying body of one of them stuffed into a suitcase.

In a city generally regarded as safe by residents and known for its high-end shops and glitzy skyscrap-ers, the killings were unusually brutal and shone a spotlight on the seedy underbelly of the finance hub.

On Thursday, one-time securities trader Rurik Jutting will be back in a Hong Kong magistrates court for the latest hearing in the double murder case.

It is the first time that an indica-tion of a plea can be given, although the defense is not obliged to do so.

Once all the evidence is submit-ted, after being reviewed by both sides, the magistrate will commit the case to the High Court, which handles murder cases and where an official plea must be entered.

If Jutting pleads guilty to murder he will receive a mandatory life sen-tence; if he pleads not guilty to mur-der, he would face a jury trial that could take months.

The 30-year-old, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employ-ee, called police to his flat in the Wanchai neighborhood in the early hours of November 1 where they found the grisly scene.

Seneng Mujiasih was dead in the living room, naked and with knife wounds to her legs and buttocks. The body of Sumarti Ningsih was found hours later in a suitcase on the balcony.

Both women were in their 20s and police are investigating whether they were sex workers—they were killed a few streets away from Wanchai’s no-torious red-light district.

Days before, Jutting had posted on his Facebook page that he was embarking on a “new journey”.

“Stepping down from the ledge. Burden lifted; new journey begins. Scared and anxious but also excited. The first step is always the hardest,” he wrote. AFP

SINGAPORE—A Singaporean teenager arrested after post-ing an expletive-laden YouTube video attacking the country’s late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity was charged Tuesday with jailable offenses, including obscenity and hurting religious feelings.

Amos Yee, a slight student with a thick mop of hair, smiled and fidg-eted as charges were read to him in a district court. He was released on Sg$20,000 ($14,500) bail.

Yee, who at 16 is old enough to be tried as an adult, was al-ready known in the local You-Tube community for humorous postings and a bit role as a child actor in a comedy movie called “We Not Naughty”.

Yee, who wore a dark T-shirt over beige trousers and rubber flip-flops, was slapped with three separate charges, including one for actions that have the “deliberate in-tention of wounding the religious or racial feelings of any person”.

Yee was also charged with cir-culating on his blog an obscene object—a graphic cartoon of Lee with former British Prime Min-ister Margaret Thatcher—as well as making threatening, abusive or insulting communication un-der the city-state’s newly enacted Protection from Harassment Act.

In an eight-minute video titled “Lee Kuan Yew is finally dead” Yee launched a scathing attack on the 91-year-old political pa-triarch who was cremated after a state funeral on Sunday.

In the video, Yee, who was arrested on the day of the fu-neral, also likened Singapore’s first prime minister to Jesus as he launched a tirade against Christianity. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Robin Williams’ widow and his three children have agreed to out-of-court negotiations in a battle over parts of the late actor’s estate -- including movie awards such as his 1998 Oscar for “Good Will Hunting.”

A judge in San Francisco delayed until June a hearing on a suit filed in December by Susan Schneider, with whom the comedian and movie star had been married for five years when he committed suicide in August of last year at the age of 63.

Schneider’s attorney, James Wag-staffe, told AFP that over the next two weeks he would meet with

Williams’ three children from two previous marriages—Zelda, Zach-ary and Cody Williams—to try to reach an agreement.

If this fails a mediator will inter-vene, he said.

The deadline is June, when the battle could reach court and be-come public.

The dispute centers on objects related to the actor’s career, his childhood and objects from his of-fice, except the furniture that was in the house he shared with his now widow.

The movie awards that Williams won, such as his Oscar, would be

worth a lot of money to his chil-dren, the attorney said.

Schneider said in her lawsuit that the executors of the fund that the ac-tor created to manage his estate in-sisted, days after his death, on having access to his home to share out and take possession of some objects.

The widow says all she wants is the suit Williams wore in the cere-mony in which he married her and their wedding gifts.

Zelda Williams rejected reports on social media Monday that she and her siblings had already re-moved objects from the home of their late father. AFP

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

C1BAMBINA OLIVARES WISEE D I T O R

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LIFE

IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOCOLATES AT THE PENINSULA MANILA ON EASTER

A SWEET FAMILY AFFAIR

Easter is a very special occasion for families and their little ones at The Peninsula Manila. With an elaborate Easter chocolate garden in The Lobby, Easter Sunday brunch in Escolta, a visit from Peter Bear, The Great Easter Egg Hunt in the Rigodon Garden with a London-inspired Easter playground at the Rigodon Ballroom

featuring Hamleys toy store and a special Easter room package, few places welcome children over Easter as warmly as the 38-year-old grande dame of Makati hotels.

➜ Turn to Next Page

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LIFE

Easter Sunday is sure to become more magical and ex-citing for kids as Eastwood City brings ‘Alice in Won-derland: A Children’s Musical’ to Once Upon an Easter Wonderland.

A world-class children’s musical production from Kids Acts Philippines, ‘Alice in Wonderland: A Children’s Musical’ will be staged on April 5 --- 6:30 p.m. at the Eastwood Mall Open Park as one of the main attractions of Eastwood City’s Once Upon an Easter Wonderland. ‘Alice in Wonderland: A Children’s Musical’ is based from two books of Lewis Carroll’s “The Adventure of Alice in Won-derland” and “Through the Looking Glass”. This version’s script and lyrics is by LUIGI NACARIO and music by EU-GENE BELBIS. Alice in Wonderland has captivated children all over the world for more than 150 years with its timeless and whimsical story that has been adapted into a number of different ver-sions over the years. Alice created her world through beautiful things in her mind. She loves to discover stories in every living thing around her. Her story started under a huge tree in an English farmyard, young Alice was beginning to get very tired of sit-ting by her sister reading a book without pictures and conver-sations. To her it was boring, so she was considering, in her mind whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies. Afterwards, she decided to rest under the tree and went to sleep. She dreamed of a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. Burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it popped down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. In a moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. There begun her magical world of adventure in Wonderland. She met interesting creatures and characters like French Mouse, Duck, Dodo, Lory and Eaglet in the Pool of Tears; the Live Flowers, Caterpillar, The Grinning Cheshire Cat, the Cook, the Duchess, the Jolly Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, the crazy Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse. In the Hearts King-dom, she had fun time hunting Easter eggs with the King and Queen of Hearts until she became the witness in the kingdom’s court of who stole the beautiful easter eggs, where she made the Queen so furious. And Alice finally thought how she could go back to her real world from all these wonders. Discover how Lewis Carroll’s literary work comes alive on stage featuring The CampArt Kid Actors (ages 7-15 tears old) of Kids Acts Philippines namely: Ella Gonzalez, Noel Comia Jr., Hyacinth Leonado, Allen Orolfo, Justin Orolfo, Angel Yu, Jewel Yu, Shanelle Comia, Woersha Calderon, Van Crisologo, Liam Crisologo, Nathan Flores, Ivan Jacosalem, Liza Marcos, Walline Calderon, Joshua Ang, Gab Hernandez, Princess Manaloto, Bella Engalla, and Raven Orolfo. Those looking to be part of Alice’s magical adventure to Wonderland through this enchanting musical for the kids by the kids can get an Easter Wonderland Passport (Storybook) to get seats at the venue. The passport also entitles bearers to different activities and storybook worlds of Once Upon an Easter Wonderland includ-ing Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and the Pirates, Cinderella’s Royal Ball, Pinocchio’s Toyland, Hansel and Gretel’s Candy For-est, Mulan’s Adventure and Jack and the Beanstalk. Kids can also enjoy other fantastic fairy tale attractions and activities such as Storybook Parade, Giant Easter Egg Exhibit, Candy Buffet, Royal Makeover, Easter Egg Painting and many more! ‘Alice in Wonderland: A Children’s Musical’ is the story of a child’s world of wonders that will certainly be a fantastic Easter treat that all families will enjoy. For more information on Alice in Wonderland: A Children’s Musical and Eastwood City’s Once Upon an Easter Wonderland, call the Mega-world Lifestyle Malls Concierge at 709-9888, 709-0888 or 0917-8380111 or visit www.megaworldlifestylemalls.com.

EASTWOOD CITY PROUDLY PRESENTS

‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND: A CHILDREN’S MUSICAL’ AS

EASTER SUNDAY TREAT ON APRIL 5

From C1A SWEET FAMILY AFFAIR

EASTER CHOCOLATE GARDENSnap a photo for a chance to win tickets to the Hamleys Easter Egg HuntMARCH 26 - APRIL 5, THE LOBBY

During the two weeks leading up to Easter, a colour-ful and elaborate chocolate Easter garden created by Executive Pastry Chef Aaron Maree and his talented culinary team will be on display at Escolta and The Lobby for a social media contest that will have cam-era-happy netizens vying for Easter prizes. At stake are tickets to the The Great Easter Egg Hunt and Easter playground featuring Hamleys toy store, plus a two-night Easter staycation. To join, guests must take a photo of themselves at the chocolate Easter garden, post it on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #PenDaysofEaster and answer the question “What makes Easter a special time for you and your family?”

EASTER SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET IN ESCOLTAAPRIL 5, 12:00 NOON TO 3:00 PM

An elaborate Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet will take place in Escolta with traditional and signature dishes, carving stations, sushi and more. An assortment of decadent desserts and pastries completes the experience.

P 1,300 (children under 12), P 2,400 (adults) and P 3,500 (with free-flowing Champagne for adults).

A maximum of two children under 12 years old per table have complimentary access to the The Great Easter Egg Hunt and Easter playground featuring Hamleys toy store at the Rigodon Garden/Garcia Villa and the Rigodon Ballroom, respectively. Extra tickets are available at P 1,200 per child.

THE GREAT EASTER EGG HUNTA Very Hamleys of London Easter Playground in the Rigodon BallroomAPRIL 5, 12:00 NOON TO 3:00 PM

Experience the magic of Hamleys, London’s oldest and most loved toy shop right at the heart of The Pen-insula Manila. A total play experience, the Hamleys Easter Playground will have toys from their famous Regent Street store, a bespoke Mini Cooper embla-zoned with the colors of the Union Jack, ice cream and cotton candy stations, a photo booth, face paint-ing sessions and a musical and balloon twisting show.

EASTER EGG HUNT IN THE RIGODON GARDEN AND GARCIA VILLA ROOMAPRIL 5, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Starting 1:00 pm, the Easter Egg Hunt begins!Batch 1 (Ages 4 to 6) 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm at the

Rigodon GardenBatch 2 (Ages 1 to 3) 1:30 pm to 2:00 pm at Garcia

VillaBatch 3 (Ages 7 to 12) 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm at the

Rigodon Garden

EASTER SUNDAY LUNCH IN OLD MANILAAPRIL 5, 12:00 NOON – 2:30 PM (LUNCH)

Closed on Good Friday and Black SaturdayChef de Cuisine Ricardo Acquista of Old Manila has created an indulgent three- and four-course Easter menu that is perfect for the entire family.P 2,400 (three-course) and P 2,950 (four-course)

FILIPINO TAPAS BUFFET AT THE LOBBYAPRIL 2 – 5, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM (DINNER)APRIL 3 – 5, 12:00 NOON – 3:00 PM (LUNCH)

P 1,500 (adults)P 800 (children under 12)

AFTERNOON TEA AT THE CONSERVATORYAPRIL 2 – 5, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

P 1,600 (adults)P 850 (children under 12)

LENTEN SEASON SEAFOOD BUFFET IN ESCOLTAAPRIL 3 – 4, 6:30 PM 10:30 PM

P 2,500 (adults)P 1,300 (children under 12)

THE GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT MECHANICS• A maximum of two children, under 12 years old,

per table availing of the Escolta Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet will enjoy complimentary access to the Hamleys of London Easter Playground in the Rigodon Ballroom and the Easter Egg Hunt in the Rigodon Garden/Garcia Villa Room. Extra tickets are available at P 1,200 net per child.

• Children under 12 of guests dining in other res-taurants of the hotel may purchase their tickets in the restaurant at P 1,200 net.

• Children under 12 of guests staying in the hotel may purchase their tickets at the Concierge Desk at P 1,200 net.

• Children under 12 of guests not dining/staying in the hotel may purchase their tickets at the Res-taurant Reservation Desk located in the Rigodon Ballroom at P 1,500 net. (Limited tickets)

• The Peninsula Manila can also help make the Easter holidays an unforgettable getaway experi-ence, with the Pen Days of Easter Room Package.

• The Pen Days of Easter Room Package is inclusive of an Escolta buffet breakfast for two adults and two children under 12, a P 1,000 dining credit at The Lobby (once per stay) and a special Easter gift. Valid from March 27 to April 30. Room rates start at P6,800 for a Deluxe Room. A minimum two-night stay is required.

• Restaurant and room rates are subject to 10 percent service charge and applicable government taxes.

For inquiries or further information on The Peninsula Manila Easter dining promotions and room pack-ages, please call +63 (2) 887 2888, extension 6694 (Restaurant Reservations) or 6630 (Room Reservations), e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or visit the website peninsula.com.

C3BAMBINA OLIVARES WISEE D I T O RLIFE

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Jean-Luc Thunevin is a vineyard owner, brilliant winemaker, as-tute negociant and a very savvy wine marketer – and YES, finally in 2012, an elite member of the 18 Premiers Grands Crus Clas-sés of Saint-Emilion with his now iconic Chateau Valandraud. In the French wine landscape find-ing good Bordeaux wines is a dime-a- dozen’. It therefore takes ingenuity, plenty of hard work and definitely some luck to catapult any one single label into the ranks of the best wines in the world. Jean-Luc Thunevin is one of these few noblemen to have achieved this, and he did it literally from scratch. Chateau Valandraud only had its first vintage in 1991 - quite an infancy stage compared to the centuries of legacy many of the fellow illustrious chateaux have.

FROM `GARAGISTE’ TO MAINSTREAMJean-Luc Thunevin is largely credited to have started the so called garagiste’ movement (though many would argue that Jacques Thienpont of the ex-pensive and surreal Le Pin in Pomerol is the real creator of this concept). The term garagiste’ created by French writer Michel Bettane refers to winemakers la-boriously and primitively making `low-crop’ wines in a garage, or garage-like size area, due primar-ily to lack of funding and big win-emaking facilities. This started when Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle Andraud bought a 0.6hectare plot in Saint-Emilion near Chateau Pavie-Macquin. The first vintage Chateau Valand-raud, named by Jean-Luc after his wife’s last name Andraud, was the 1991, which became known as the first `vin de garage’ (garage wine). But it was the Chateau Valand-raud 1995 vintage that demigod Robert Parker rated 95 points - even higher than the right bank’s

perennial top-notch wine, Chateau Petrus, that cap-tured the attention of the wine world. The rest as they say is now history. Chateau Valandraud now owns over 10 hectares of land in the Saint-Emilion appellation.

THE BAD BOY TAGJean-Luc being the non-conformist in the very tra-ditional Bordeaux region had earned himself many nicknames, both good and bad, among fellow Bordelais, but it was Robert Parker who called him `Bad Boy’ that would make Jean-Luc famous. After the coup created by the 1995 vintage, Chateau Valandraud continued to outshine and out- price more established wines from both the right and left bank of Bordeaux. Jean-Luc would go on to produce a second label called Virginie de Valandraud, and even a generic Bordeaux AOC wine called... what else... Bad Boy. The Bad Boy brand is used everywhere in the world, except in the US, because of an existing Californian wine brand of the same name. Instead in the US, the wine is called Mau-vais Garcon, French translation for Bad Boy.

WINE STORY APPEARANCEJean-Luc Thunevin was in Ma-nila to be at Wine Story in Seren-dra and the new Planet Grapes in ShangriLa Mall (both owned by the Healthy Options group led by Romy Sia). While Jean-Luc does not speak English, his charming disposition and enthusiastic body language spoke quite well of his very modest nature. Tanguy Gras, the Assistant F&B Manager at the Sofitel Hotel acted as the English translator for Mr. Thunevin in the Master Class event in Serendra. Eight different wines were fea-tured in the tasting including five vintages of the flagship Chateau Valandraud. I wrote about Cha-

teau Valandraud in May 2010 in this column when I com-pared the rags to riches story of then presidential candi-date Senator Manny Villar to Chateau Valandraud. My column title was called If Presidential Candidates were Wines? Much to my sur-prise, Mr. Jean- Luc himself was able to filter through the web and picked up this story which he included excerpts of my column in his blog site. Apparently he is one of the

few really busy famous wine personalities that like doing blogs. When I met him in person last month in Wine Story Serendra, even without speaking English he was thanking me profusely for a column I did five years ago. I was deeply honoured and touched by his humility. To Mr. Thunevin I say “Merci, Monsieur Jean-Luc. Je ai l’honneur d’écrire plus sur vous et être dégustation de vos vins.”

TASTING NOTES (I missed tasting the only white wine in the batch):• Virginie de Valandraud 2006

`black cherry, herbaceous, some earthy tones, supple texture, still rigid and close, coffee latte flavours at the end ’

• Virginie de Valandraud 2009 racy black fruits, chocolatey,

very concentrated, full- bodied, toasty and spicy on the finish; so much cellaring potential’

• Chateau Valandraud 1999 `rich berry nose, licorice, vanilla, some flintiness on the mid-palate, drinking deliciously at the mo-ment, long and rose-like finish; this is an incredible wine for a 15 year old from a so-so vintage’

• Chateau Valandraud 2002 `opulent, plummy, luscious, good concentration with excel-lent fruit acid, quite supple on the palate, though on finish a bit steely; while already 12 years old I would still keep this given its nice acid structure’

• Chateau Valandraud 2004 `powerful and complex nose, charcoaled, dried berries, cof-fee bean, peppery on the palate, rich and long on a flinty finish.’

• Chateau Valandraud 2006 `raw power, expresso, dark fruit jam, dark chocolate, on the palate li-corice, bitter sweet chewy tannins, big and mouthful, and relentless depth, long lingering sweet finish; this is not for the faint of heart – but I love this wine ’

• Chateau Valandraud 2007 cigar box, black currant, li-

corice, intense and inky, vel-vety texture on the palate, still opening up with tartier acid, and a mocha-like finish’. Cha-teau Valandraud, Virginie de Valandraud wines are avail-able in all Wine Story stores: ShangriLa Mall in Edsa Man-daluyong, Serendra in the Fort, Taguig City, and One Rockwell West Tower in Makati. You can also visit their website at www.winestory.com.ph.

For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy and other wine related concerns, please e-mail me at [email protected]. I am a proud member of the Federa-tion Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. You can also fol-low me on twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.

‘BAD BOY’ MAKING GOOD WINE

The Bad Boy Bordeaux AOC wine from Jean-Luc Thunevin

Lenten traditions are observed by believers of the Cath-olic faith, as well as congregations of various Christian denominations. But for others, the extended weekend is just another annual national holiday that serves as an opportunity to do things that no one has the time to do on work-days and indulge their wanderlust. The Gist caught up with some friends to ask about their alternative plans for the next four days. Here are what they have to say:

THE OTHER HOLY WEEK ACTIVITIESBY ED BIADO

I already went to Malasimbo so I’m not that eager to go out of town again. Maybe I will go to the beach on Labor Day. But for now, I’ll stay home and do my spring cleaning. It’s been some time anyway since we last cleaned the apartment other than the occasional sweeping. It’s about time. I’ll also get a mani-pedi and spend some quiet moments at a coffee shop, if I see one that’s open. It’s perfect, really, because there’s no traffic in the city. – K, 31

Jean-Luc Thunevin (right) of Chateau Valandraud at Wine

Story in Serendra

It’s really just another weekend for me and my family, so we’ll be doing what we usually do on weekends—have lunch to-gether and catch up on some TV. I’ll also try to get some work done—there will be lots of time for it and it’s good to get a head-start when Monday arrives. – L, 26

Even if I’m not Catholic, I do believe that Holy Week can be a time for reflection and self-evaluation. That said, I’ve booked myself for a staycation at a hotel in Makati and I’ll probably be spending most of the four-day holiday there by myself. Since everyone will have their own things go-ing on, I’ll have some alone time, which will hope-fully recharge my outlook in life a bit. In case it gets too melodramatic, I have some numbers on speed dial. Who knows? It might turn into a party. – G, 31

I’ll be in Puerto Galera

with my friends, where else?

– J, 30

My family is Catholic. I’m what you would call not-too-much-of-a-Catholic but I respect the customs and traditions. And this is important for my family so I’ll stay home with them and do the things that they ask me to. They’re not gonna go as far as drag me to church but I am expected to participate in the observance activities at home. – B, 29

I used to go to Boracay every Holy Week. I did that about three times in the past and every year, it keeps get-ting more crowded. For a change, I’ll be spending the holidays with my partner in Bohol for a romantic geta-way. This is one of the few times that we can do that because it’s hard to get away from work and get leaves approved. – R, 35

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LIFEW E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 : 2 0 1 5

In a predominantly Catholic country like here in the Philippines, Holy Week for is an opportunity for Christian ref lection. Being the last day of the holiday, Easter Sunday is typically met with festive celebration (those who abstained from meat or all solid foods altogether feast on sumptuous food), it is after all the day of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

If you have no plans to leave the city--because why not? There’s no traffic!--and want to welcome the new beginning with fun or solemn activities before going back to work, worry not, because Metro Manila has no shortage of egg hunts and other Easter affairs for the whole family to enjoy.

EASTER HAPPENINGS:

HIGH MASS, EGG HUNTS AND OTHER FUN ACTIVITIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Games and grub await Easter revelers at Buddha Bar Manila’s Bunnyville Easter Sunday Fair from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm. A sumptuous spread will be served at the Easter Lunch Buffet at P950 net for adults and P475 net for kids 12 years old and below. The delicious menu for adults in-cludes spicy beef puffs, salmon potato cakes with dill, tuna salad maki, spicy salmon with mango sauce, vegetable maki, California sesame, petite spring rolls, togarashi fish gratin or fish fillet with wasabi ranch sauce, herb roasted chicken with rosemary cream, Asian beef stew with pastry crust, grilled pork cutlet with black bean BBQ sauce, Chinese chicken pasta or Bud-dha Bar noodles, dimsum selection, and slow roasted beef with shiitake

gravy, and roasted vegetables, among others. Desserts include cake pops, pavlova, chilled panna cotta, profit-eroles, cheesecake, chocolate sesame bars, whole cakes selection, fresh fruits, and warm caramel pudding. Meanwhile, the kiddie corner is filled with country fried chicken with gravy, French fries, spaghetti Bolognese, macaroni jello salad, to name a few. Children can make their own dessert at the ice cream station and cookie decorating corner. Adults who will avail of the lunch buffet entitles their little companions to join the Easter Sunday activities. Kids who want to join the fun activi-ties but prefer not to dine could still participate at P250 net. For reservations, call (632) 856-6859, (632) 856-6719 and 0998-983-3918.

End the week of reflection with an Easter Sunday High Mass at Resorts World Ma-nila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater at 11:00 am.

The main celebrant for the high mass will be Bishop Leopoldo S. Tumulak, D.D. from the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Church together with homilist Fr. Gil Peter Coching.

Attendees are advised to proceed to the NPAT vestibule early as theater doors open at 10:00 am and seating is on a first come, first served basis.

With 1,500 seats available, attendees of the Easter High Mass may experience a unique and solemn celebration with the NPAT’s giant LED screen, advanced audio and video technologies, and fully air-conditioned venue.

After the High Mass, attendees are re-plete with dining options at the one-stop entertainment and leisure hub. Summer food and beverage promos are available at RWM signature restaurants for fami-lies planning to celebrate Easter lunch or dinner. Once everyone is full and recharged, join in the fun games, raffles draws, and other awesome family entertainment at Resorts World. Numerous booths are filled with loot bags and goodies, pop-corn, cotton candy, flip pictures, balloon twisting, surprise performers, and free-bies for event participants.For more information on the attractions that RWM offers its guests this Easter Sunday, visit www.rwmanila.com or call the Tourist/Visi-tor Hotline at (632) 908-8833.

Aye! Kids who fancy treasure hunts and adore the sea will enjoy Century City Mall’s pirate-themed Eggventure Island Treasure hunt on Easter Sunday, April 5 at 1:30 in the afternoon.

The goal of the hunt is to find as many eggs hidden around the mall as possible in order to win exciting, fun, and sweet priz-es. No one leaves empty-handed as partic-ipants automatically get tokens when they participate.

Same day registration will start at 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at the 4th level activity area. The P300 registration fee comes with a loot bag, a treasure map, and free entrance to

the bouncy ship. Not only that, all participants get to claim their special freebies including popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cone.

Aside from the egg hunt, kids can also enjoy other Easter Sunday mall activities such as the Pirate Show, balloon twisting activity, and face-painting activity. For more details, visit the Century City Mall website at www.centuryci-tymall.com.ph or call the concierge at 705-6200.

BUDDHA & BUNNY

HIGH MASS AT THE GRAND THEATER

EGGVENTURE ISLAND

C5ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 : 2 0 1 5

i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

SHOWBITZ

Viber, the country’s leading mobile mes-saging app known for its stickers that ooze with personality, launched a global sticker design initiative called Sticky Fingers to � nd the next great sticker art-

ist. Done in collaboration with worldwide creative community Talenthouse, the creative brief invites Filipino visual artists, illustrators, and designers to create the next Viber sticker character that will en-liven conversations around the world. Stickers are a core part of Viber’s service and millions of people use them every day to convey an emotion, a reaction, or simply to share good vibes with their friends and families. In fact, Viber’s 516 million users sent more than 22 billion stickers last year. With this, Sticky Fingers becomes a great opportunity for Filipino artists to showcase their design talent to the rest of the world. “� e Viber community love using stickers and we’re always looking for talented artists to collaborate with,” said Mark Hardy, Viber’s CMO. “� e idea be-hind ‘Sticky Fingers’ is to surface and support the best new talent from across the world by o� ering them the chance to turn their amazing designs into a commer-cial production through Viber.”

From producer Ridley Scott and the producers of Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty comes the chilling crime thriller Child 44 based on the best-selling � rst part of a trilogy by Tom Rob Smith starring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Con-sidine, Jason Clarke and Vincent Cassel. Daniel Espinosa directed the � lm Child 44 is a gripping thriller set against the backdrop of 1953 Stalinist Russia. A proud product of the Soviet system, orphan-turned-war-hero Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy) has risen through the ranks of the MGB, the state’s domestic security appa-ratus, to become a star investigator of dissident activity. When he and sadistic colleague Vasil (Joel Kinnaman) capture suspected spy Anatoly Tarasovich Brodsky (Ja-son Clarke), the “traitor” names Leo’s own wife, beautiful schoolteacher Raisa (Noomi Rapace), as a co-conspirator. Forced to investigate Raisa on suspicion of treason, Leo also takes on the case of a boy found carved up alongside railroad tracks. Despite evidence to the contrary, Leo de-scribes the death as an accident to the boy’s father, MGB Agent Alexei Andreyev (Fares Fares) because Stalinist de-cree dictates, “� ere is no crime in Paradise.” When Leo refuses to denounce his wife, MGB Com-mander Major Kuzmin (Vincent Cassel) exiles the couple to the grim industrial city of Volsk. Con� ned to a one-room hovel and stripped of rank, Leo and Raisa learn that dozens of other dead boys have suf-fered gruesome “accidents” near railroad tracks under almost identical circumstances as Alexei’s son. Team-ing with local Police Chief General Nesterov (Gary Oldman), they sneak back to Moscow and pursue clues before zeroing in on mild-mannered factory worker Vladimir Malevich (Paddy Considine). Desperate to rein in his former colleague, the increas-ingly psychotic Vasili tries to stop Leo and Raisa before they catch the child murderer, who has no place in Sta-lin’s supposedly crime-free Communist society. In the end, only one man survives the spectacular forest show-down between hero, pedophile and bureaucrat. But de-spite the victims and the damage done, the Soviet State remains immune to Leo’s inconvenient truths. Child 44 e opens at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on April 29.

“Filipinos are known for many things – creativity, talent, and wit among them, and that’s why we

believe that our artists will be strong contenders in this competition. We are encouraging the country’s creatives to join Sticky Fingers to showcase Pinoy pride and design � air to the

entire world,” said Crystal Lee, Viber country manager for the Philippines. � e search will uncover one Selected Artist, who will be determined by a panel that includes Viber Creative Director Erez Shocher and Chief Marketing O� cer Mark

Hardy. � ey will work with the Viber Design Studio to turn their Sticky Fingers character

into a fully developed commercial Sticker Pack. � ese will be sold in Viber’s Sticker Market and the

Selected Artist will receive a share of revenue every time their Sticker Pack is bought. � eir work will also be featured around the world via Viber and Talent-house’s social media channels. Interested artists can submit their original piece of work until, April 16 at 1 a.m. through www.viber.com/StickyFingers/Info. For more updates on Viber Sticky Fingers, follow www.viber.com/viberph, facebook.com/viberph, twitter.com/viberph, and instagram.com/viberph or follow the hashtag #ViberStickyFingers.

‘CHILD 44’ EXCLUSIVE AT AYALA MALLS

CINEMAS

ARE YOU THE NEXT GREATSTICKER ARTIST?

LegCat is one of Viber’s most

popular stickers around the world!

Violet, the Viber girl, is just one of the 22 billion stickers sent last year by the

messaging app’s 516 million users!

From sketch to reality; even LegCat had to start somewhere! You, too, can

Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy play Russian police general and war hero, respectively, thrown into the throes of intrigues along with Noomi Rapace in the thriller Child 44

Sticky Fingers becomes a great

opportunity for Filipino artists to showcase

their design talent to the rest of the world

ACROSS 1 LPs 7 Icy remark? 10 Letter encl. 14 Strain 15 “Road” movie locale 16 Brokaw’s business 17 Answer back 18 In the past 19 Levin and Gershwin 20 Tempt fate (3 wds.) 23 Turn loose

26 Conclusion 27 Tabloid twosomes 28 Ibsen woman 29 Greet the moon 30 Unlatch, to a bard 31 “The Raven” author 32 Vegas lead-in 33 Female ruler 37 Coast Guard off. 38 Is, to Fritz 39 Moo goo — pan 40 Labor org.

41 Mural undercoats 43 Vein contents 44 Payable now 45 Gary’s st. 46 Family mem. 47 Advance, as money 48 Dark gray 51 Loop trains 52 Counterfeit 53 Thunderhead 56 Water, in Baja 57 “— -Man Fever” 58 Whizzes 62 Stop working 63 Make top honors 64 Comes to terms 65 Unattach 66 Business suff. 67 Flavorful seed

DOWN 1 Carthage loc. 2 Embroider, maybe 3 Diner sandwich 4 Perfect place 5 — Oberon of films 6 Mex. miss 7 Very muscular 8 Unyielding 9 Tooth anchor 10 Brandy glass 11 Cliffside refuge 12 Throng 13 Slalom runs

21 Friendly fungi 22 Love beads wearer 23 Dismantle a tent 24 Herman’s Hermits lead 25 Lock or curl 29 Established 30 Sharif and Bradley 32 A Barrymore 33 “I” trouble? 34 Sea duck 35 Wielded a bat 36 Nobel or Garbo 42 Move into position 46 Served the cake 47 Also-rans 48 Wolf down 49 German pistol 50 Divert 51 Pass legislation 52 Soft candy 54 Outback mineral 55 Meadow plaints 59 Pod content 60 Speaker pro — 61 Compass dir.

C6 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 : 2 0 1 5


SHOWBITZ

A N S W E R F O R P R E V I O U S P U Z Z L E

CROSSWORD PUZZLE WEDNESDAY,

APRIL 1, 2015

Young rapper Abra is an established hip hop act but before he was able to introduce his own brand of music to his fans, he himself was also a fanatic of a particular genre. Interestingly, it’s not rap or hiphop. Twenty-four-year-old Raymond Abracasa, better known as Abra, got his start in the music business as a heavyweight in the rap battling (flip-top) arena and as a member of Pinoy hip hop group, Lyrically Deranged Poets (LDP). Apart from the numer-ous accolades he has received since his debut as a solo artist in 2012, Abra is also famous for his compelling lyri-cal style coupled with witty antics. But where did he get that style and what influenced him to tackle socially relevant issues in his music? “I was a rock fan growing up,” the rapper told The Standard, ”Be-fore Eminem and Kendrick Lamar came into picture, I was listening to Parokya Ni Edgar and Eraserheads. And there’s this particular song from Parokya that inspired me to rap.” Abra was referring to the 2005 rock novelty “Bagsakan” culled from the band’s Halina sa Parokya album. He credits the late Francis M and Gloc-9, who lent their talent in the song as featured artists, for inspiring him to follow in their footsteps. “When I heard the song, I told my-self, ‘Uy iba ‘to,’ and from then on I started liking the genre,” he revealed.The young rap artist feels blessed that he’s in total control in terms of writing and creating his own music. It made him stay true to his advocacy of dis-cussing political and social pains. “I don’t compromise my music. I am so blessed that I can freely express

myself and nobody tells me what not to say or what not to wear,” the rapper explained. And his ingenuity as an artist has a favorable outcome, it obviously bears fruits, some are already ripe for his pick-ing. For instance, the music video for his song “Gayuma” (Love Potion) has already reached more than 32 million views on YouTube, the highest number generated by any local artist to date. His impressive achievement, be-ing a relatively new player in the mu-sic business, is a solid statement that Abra is one of the driving forces that keep local music afloat. It is enough for him to receive numerous awards and for him to earn the respect of his colleagues in the business. Abra will be one of the highlights of MTV Music Evolution music con-cert in May 17. Handpicked by MTV, alongside Gloc-9, to represent Philip-pine hip hop in the grand event, Abra feels surreal as he will be sharing the staged with the most revered names in the world of hip hop.

PHILIPPINES ON THE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC MAPThere’s an outdoor musical happening in May that will put the Philippines on the international music map. It will also solidify the country’s position as one of the top entertainment destina-tions in the region. In a media launch last week, Mark Whitehead, executive vice president and managing director, Viacom Inter-

national Media Networks Asia, officially announced that the country is hosting MTV Music Evolution. It is the grand gathering of hip hop artists and aficiona-dos across the globe. Its first edition will be held on May 17 at the historic Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park in Manila. Grammy Award-winning hip hop act, Naughty by Nature, the Philip-pines’ most celebrated rapper, Gloc-9, and Philippines’ hottest hip hop act, Abra are going to be part of the first wave of artists to grace the MTV stage. The official from MTV Asia elabo-rated that MTV Music Evolution “is a live music concert that brings to life the evolution of a music genre and en-ables young people to experience and discover how music styles and sounds have evolved over the years. It will showcase iconic and contemporary hip hop acts from both international and local music scenes on a single stage, while featuring the best of Phil-ippine music and culture to interna-tional youth audiences. “ The grand event is expected to reach an international audience of more than three-quarters of a bil-lion households in over 160 countries as the show will be recorded live for global telecast under the MTV World Stage global series. “The Philippines has such a strong music influence and has become a popular entertainment destination. With a successful history of partner-ship with Tourism Boards around the world, we are naturally thrilled to be collaborating with the Tourism Pro-motions Board of the Philippine to bring MTV Music Evolution to our fans in the Philippines and around Asia,” said Whitehead.

Gripping portrayals of significant events from the world’s most famous book mark History’s Holy Week presentation as it airs The Bible marathon from April 3 to 5 at 5 p.m.

The 2013 Emmy-nominated miniseries captures the stories of the heroes and villains from the Old and New testaments in a 10-episode spectacle produced and script-ed to bring viewers to a near-cinematic experience.

April also brings a new series that examines the possibility that giants existed for real. In Search for the Lost Giants, two brothers comb lands deep and wide to uncover the mystery behind these colossal beings that may have walked the earth.

Beginning April 22, Wednesdays at 10 p.m., the stonemason Vieira brothers Jim and Bill will dig se-cret chambers, explore underground tunnels, and dive into the deepest museum storage vaults to find that one bone, one hair, or single strand of DNA that will testify to the existence of earth’s enormous creatures.

In the second season of Appalachian Outlaws, ginseng takes over the lives of the characters liv-ing in the famed mountains. With over-harvesting in Asia increasing the demand and pushing pric-es to an all-time high, people are rushing to cash in on this rare root. Follow the region’s top buyer Tony Coffman fulfill the biggest deal of his life as he taps his two best diggers to meet a 2000-pound ginseng order from New York City as the new sea-son kicks off on April 9, Thursdays at 10 p.m.. History will also feature the lives of two luminaries on April 25. At 9 p.m., the show looks into the rise of world boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao as an ama-teur boxer at the age of 14 to becoming the world’s only eight-division world champion and later as elected politician in the Philippines.

Mega-tycoon and Thai Politician Thaksin Shi-nawatra’s story comes into focus at 10 p.m., as the biography examines his life in business and politics delving into Thaksin’s many business interests and the programs he implemented while in office.

‘THE BIBLE’ MARATHON

The Bible is one of the features on History along with E- Search for the Lost Giants and F- Appalachian Outlaws this month

ABRA’S MUSICAL INFLUENCE IS NOT RAP

Abra traces his roots not to rap but to rock

VJ Yassi Pressman, Abra, VJ Alan WongVJ Yassi Pressman, Paras Sharma, Abra, Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III, Mark Whitehead, VJ Alan Wong

WITHOUT WANG2

BY NICKIE WANG

C7ISAH V. REDE D I T O RSHOWBITZ

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 : 2 0 1 5


It was a sparkling celebration when New Summit Colors Distribution, Inc. marked four years of bringing popu-lar beauty brands to the country. The

event was held at the ballroom of the Dusit Hotel where New Summit and their partners such as top hairdressers from popular salons toasted the company’s suc-ces in the industry. New Summit Colors had humble begin-nings, starting with distributing Cynos In-side Hair Care to only a handful of salons in Metro Manila. Because of the quality of their products, the buzz grew in the indus-try, and soon the company started supplying to high-end establishments such as chain salons, with a presence able that reached

even the Visayas and Mindanao. “We were able to answer every hairdresser’s needs and expectations of a professional product range. We have proven our credibility and promise to every hairdresser who uses our from products from coloring, to perming and rebonding treatments,” explains Lynne Ona, marketing manager. From just one brand (Cynos), New Summit Colors added several more brands in their portfolio of beauty products. Launched on the 2nd quarter of 2014 were CND Polish Shellac and CND Vinylux,

the global leader in professional nail, hand and foot beauty and Erayba Philippines, the professional hair care cosmetics from Barcelona. Introduced on the 3rd quarter of last year was Organique Salon Profes-sional which are specifically designed and formulated for Asian hair. To help their partner salons create the perfect looks for Filipinas, New Summit Colors will continue to introduce new product innovations and offer in-salon trainings in collaboration with top hair-stylists in the country.

The company also recently launched its 2015 Lookbook called the Ethereal col-lection, to help give inspiration for salon professionals using the brand’s top color-ing and styling products. There will be a relaunch of their Techni-cal Training Center that will offer monthly professional trainings to salon hairdress-ers and help them create the latest looks to enhance the Filipina beauty.

NEW SUMMIT COLORS CELEBRATES4 YEARS OF BEAUTY

Rosa Ramos-Cinco, president of New Summit Colors (left) and Tinette Ozamis Puyat of Tinette & Co. Salon Professional

New Summit Colors Family with Rosa Ramos-Cinco, president (5th from left)

Get a double dose of infor-mation about the days’ top stories as CNN Phil-ippines gives you access

to two of CNN International’s programs, The Lead with Jake Tap-per and Erin Burnett OutFront. From Tuesday to Saturday at 6 a.m. Jake Tapper, a former se-nior correspondent at the White House, talks about “the Lead” or the headlines in politics, money, sports, pop culture and those that didn’t make it to the front pages. From Tuesday to Friday at 5 p.m., Erin Burnett OutFront rounds up stories of the day starting with the biggest headlines with analysis, panel discussions and reports from other CNN Correspondents. Stay informed and inspired with the latest around the world. Watch the freshest episodes of The Lead with Jake Tapper via sat-ellite and Erin Burnett OurFront only on CNN Philippines. CNN Philippines is seen on free TV Manila RPN - TV9, Cebu RPN – TV9, Davao RPN – TV9, Zam-boanga RPN – TV5 Baguio RPN – TV12, Bacolod RPN – TV8; Cable TV thru Sky Cable - Chan-nel 14 (Metro Manila) Sky Cable – Channel 6 (Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo and Baguio), Destiny Cable – Channel 14, Cablelink Channel 14, Cignal – Channel 10.

HHHHH The Voice of the Philippines Sea-son 2 grand winner Jason Dy won Brother Philippines’ P1 - million business package from Brother International Philippines Cor-poration (Brother Philippines), a premier provider of printing, im-aging and multi-function centers for offices and homes. The Official Multi-function Printer of The Voice of the Philip-pines Season 2, Brother Philippines gave Dy and his family the oppor-

tunity to establish an innovative and lucrative business through its wide roster of products. Believing in the Filipino talent and creativity, Brother is always at your side to uplift Filipinos’ abilities. Brother Philippines President Glenn Hocson said that through the Brother busi-ness package, they want to make a lasting impact on the life of the grand winner while echoing that The Voice of the Philippines is a competition where the contes-tants’ voice is the only thing they need to start a better life, and yes, an exciting new business.

HHHHH This month on Talk Asia’, CNN’s Anna Coren meets Ital-ian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Hong Kong. The pair, who re-cently created headlines around the world over controversial comments they made about IVF, speak candidly to CNN about their stance on love, marriage and children. They also openly discuss their relationship – both as intimate colleagues and ex-lov-ers – as well as where their mul-tibillion dollar fashion empire is headed 30 years after founding it. In a rare excursion, Coren then takes Dolce and Gabbana to the heart of Hong Kong’s garment industry to get their take on up-coming trends and what fuels their inspiration. They explain why the Chinese market is so crucial, and why they think the Chinese are similar to the Italians when it comes to their apprecia-tion for luxury. Watch on Thursday, April 2. at 4:30 p.m.; Friday, April 3, at 11:30 a.m.; Saturday, April 4, 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.; Saturday April 11 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 12 at 1230 HKT

JAKE TAPPER & ERIN BURNETT IN CNN PHILIPPINES

Jake Tapper anchors CNN’s The Lead

Erin Burnett hosts Erin

Burnett Outfront also

on CNN

The Voice of the Philippines winner Jason Dy with Brother Philippines President Glenn Hocson

From C8

CNN’s Anna Coren meets Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Hong Kong to talk about the recent controversy the two got involved with

SHOWBITZi s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

C8 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 1 : 2 0 1 5

� e youngest sibling of the phe-nomenal Jonas Brothers band, Nick Jonas, is now hoping � lm audiences around the world see him as a serious actor. He stars as an adult, his � rst foray into and se-rious acting, in Careful What You Wish For. He plays opposite Isabel Lucas and Dermot Mulroney. Jonas plays Doug, a hand-some self-conscious virgin stu-dent who gets more than what he bargained for when he started having a very passionate a� air with Lena (Lucas), the wife of an investment banker Elliot Harper (Mulroney). Further into their relationship, Doug is eventually charged with adultery and has become the prime suspect of Harper’s death. From the direction of Eliza-beth Allen Rosenbaum, who also directed Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Aquamarine, Careful What You Wish For delves into the millenials’ psyche on their desire for immediate grati� cation. “For me, our movie is a mo-rality tale exploring that very subject matter and depicting the true consequences of attention-grabbing, momentarily thrilling but illicit, behavior. � e � lm is a provocative, cautionary story for the upcoming generational archetype – a peer group that is suddenly faced with a far bigger stage, more attainable tempta-tion, and higher stakes than any generation that has come before,” explains director Allen of the movie’s theme.

Allen further shares on work-ing with his male lead star, “Nick Jonas is in almost every scene in the � lm, and it was a true plea-sure to collaborate with him as he admirably threw himself into the task of exploring this young, impressionable character. Nick does a beautiful job of depict-ing Doug’s arc; we watch him both emotionally and visually transform from an innocent boy into a jaded, hardened man. At the end of the � lm, the audi-ence understands in one simple shot of his face that he can never have his boyhood back. Ever. I wanted to cast Nick Jonas be-cause of his raw talent and also because he himself was going through a transformative time in his career that mirrors the story line of Doug Martin. � ere are many parallels between Doug’s story and Nick’s transition into � lm acting – and I believe that this fact profoundly impacts the deep, rich performance Nick Jo-nas delivers on screen.” From Axinite Digicinema, Careful What You Wish For on May 6 in cinemas nationwide.

★★★★★Marion Aunor is featured in her very � rst birthday concert Take a Chance on April 10. She turns 23 on that day. And she’s celebrating it with music along with friends Michael Pangilinan, Edgar Al-lan Guzman, Vin Abrenica, Ed-ward Venoza and her younger sister Ashley. She is also launching her sec-ond (still untitled) album. � e 11-track album comes with the bonus track “Pumapag-ibig,” that was Jungee Marcelo’s entry to Himig Handog 2014, which Aunor interpreted. She also re-corded songs she wrote apart from those by Jonathan Manalo and Joven Tan. “Take a Chance,” the music video she shot in Canda is now at no. 14 in MYX countdown.� e Star Records artist says, “it is an honor to be related to La (Nora) Aunor, an icon in this country.” And she is elated to have been given the chance to share her music and prove her worth as a singer. While privileged to have ce-lebrity roots (she is the daugh-ter of 70s actress-producer Lala Aunor), this does not give her an edge over other aspiring talents in the industry. “For my second album, Star Records wanted me to show the oomph that was lacking in my � rst album,” she says. Even her looks, the hairstyle particularly, matches the more mature image she is trying to project. Marion will be very visible these as she promotes her new album, and the concert on April 10. She proceeds to SM Las Pi-ñas the day a� er and in Baguio on April 25.

SIMPLYRED

SIMPLYRED

ISAH V. RED

NICK JONAS NOW A SERIOUS ACTOR

Nick Jonas is in almost every scene

in the film, and it was a true pleasure to collaborate with

him as he admirably threw himself into the task of exploring this

young, impressionable character

– Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum

Pop star Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers band has crossed over to the big screen as an actor, starring in the film Careful What You Wish For

Marion Aunor releases her

second album and celebrates

her 23rd birthday with a

concert

Continued on C7

The Standard - 2015 April 01 - Wednesday

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Transcript of The Standard - 2015 April 01 - Wednesday