The Standard - 2015 September 29 - Tuesday

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Grace stillahead inPulse Asiavoter poll

Huge upset. Smart Gilas Pilipinas guard Jayson Castro (known as Jayson Williams in international play), sneaks past 7-3 Iranian Center Hamed Haddadi for a layup in one of the highlights of the Philippines’ 87-73 huge upset win over Iran in the Fiba Asia Championship in Changsha, China. Castro finished with 26 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals.

govt nixes unlumad probe

VOL. XXIX � NO. 229 � 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 � TUESday : SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 � www.thestandard.com.ph � [email protected]

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ongpin saysmeralcostock salea good deal

“We could not accommodate the request of the UNSR this year,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said Monday.

The human rights group Karapa-tan had asked the UN special rap-porteurs to investigate the killing of lumad leaders Dionel Campos and

Juvello Sinzo and lumad teacher Emerito Samarca, but the UN en-voys are not allowed to conduct an investigation without an invitation from the government.

Karapatan secretary-general Cris-tina Palabay appealed to the Aquino administration to allow the UN en-

By Vito Barcelo, Rio N. Araja and Florante S. Solmerin THE government has turned down the request of the UN special rapporteurs to visit the country to look into reports of killings and human rights abuses committed against tribal communities or lumad in Mindanao.

voys to visit Mindanao so that they could see the real situation of the lumad there, but the administration said it would undertake its own “in-ternal processes” before any interna-tional bodies can get involved.

“It is best to leave the investiga-tion to relevant authorities in the Philippines,” Jose said in an earlier text message.

But Karapatan on Monday said a probe announced by Justice Secre-tary Leila de Lima would be “com-pletely pointless” because she was running for the Senate in 2016.

“She is leaving the Justice Depart-ment next month. The investigation

will be useless,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairman of Karapatan and the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto.

De Lima, who is expected to re-sign in a few weeks, earlier vowed to conduct a thorough and truthful investigation into the abuses against the lumad communities in Mind-anao, taking into account the United Nations’ interest in the cases.

“Somebody will be replacing her. Can we expect continuity? You know what kind of government we have. You have to shake them up before they would move,” Enriquez said.

By Sandy Araneta

SENATOR Grace Poe leads the latest survey of presidential hopefuls, with 26 percent of the respondents choosing her, Pulse Asia Research said Monday.

Second place was shared by Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, with 20 per-cent; Vice President Jejomar Binay with 19 percent; and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (16 percent).

The survey was conducted from Sept. 8 to 14, with a sam-ple of 2,400 respondents, and

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T U E S d ay : S E P T E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 5

news

Roxas opposes taxreduction proposal

Grace...From A1

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“It’s easy for us to grandstand, for us to say that we should not collect taxes, that taxes should be zeroed-in. But what are the pro-grams that will be sacrificed?” Roxas said. “How many youths will not have their classrooms? How many of our countrymen will not benefit from PhilHealth? How many will be slashed from the 4Ps [the government’s dole program]?”

“Having come from the legis-lature and the executive, I think it’s responsible to be always re-viewing all taxes and all imposi-tions of the government. But at the same time, we should weight in where do these taxes go? And what will be slashed if these will not continue,” Roxas added.

Despite a rising clamor from business and labor groups, the President has rejected calls to lower income tax rates, saying he is not convinced that doing so would benefit the majority of Filipinos.

In testimony before the Sen-ate, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan admitted that the country’s tax system is regressive, and that middle- and low-income groups bear the brunt of the cost of gov-ernment.

Last week, 18 major business

groups urged the President to re-consider his position, saying that reducing personal and corporate income tax rates would make the Philippine workforce and corpo-rations more competitive with their Asean neighbors; broaden the tax base by encouraging tax compliance; and increase dispos-able income for domestic pur-chase of goods and services that, in turn, would increase the gov-ernment tax take on consump-tion taxes.

The statement was supported by TMAP, most major interna-tional chambers of commerce, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines and the Makati Business Club.

Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, who has filed a bill to lower tax rates, said revising tax brackets would help fixed-wage earners by increasing their take-home pay and encourage tax compli-ance.

The latest Pulse Asia Research Survey said Monday that infla-tion and improving workers’ pay are the most urgent national con-cerns among Filipinos.

The Ulat ng Bayan Survey showed 47 percent of respon-

“Under a new leadership, we have to double our efforts. De Lima will be leaving her post with unfinished business since two weeks is not enough to dig deeper into the atroc-ities… and human rights violations committed on lumad and [their] ad-vocates,” she added.

Enriquez said that on Sept. 17, De Lima was supposed to meet with relatives of the slain lumad leader, Campos, but failed to keep the meet-ing because she had to go to the Palace to meet President Benigno Aquino III.

“Who are we to compete with the schedule of the President?” En-riquez asked.

On Sept. 22, De Lima met with Enriquez and Renato Reyes, Bayan Muna secretary general, at her of-fice in Manila, and vowed to look into the reports of killings and abuses in lumad communities inMindanao.

On Monday, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate challenged De Lima to drop charges against him and other human rights defenders that he said were trumped up, and focus instead on a speedy resolu-tion of the cases against paramilitary groups that were responsible for the killings.

“The trumped-up charges filed against us are harassment charges,” Zarate said. He said he and other members of human rights groups were merely helping the lumad and they were the ones being bullied.

“Should the Justice Department find there is no basis at all to back these charges, then De Lima should dismiss these cases outright,” he said.

Also on Monday, a spokesman for the Moro National Liberation Front said the forced ejection of in-digenous people from their ancestral land and relocating them was a clear violation of an existing law granting them ownership of their domain.

MNLF spokesman Absalom Cer-veza said the plan by the govern-ment to relocate the lumad and other tribes in Surigao del Sur constitutes clear violation of Republic Act No. 8371, “An Act to Recognize, Protect and Promote the Rights Of Indig-enous Cultural Communities/Indig-enous Peoples.”

“It is the government that is vio-

lating its own laws after having es-tablished a legal framework for the indigenous people’s as contained in the law,” Cerveza said.

The government suggested that lumad be relocated outside of their communities in light of the atroci-ties prevailing in their communities blamed on communist rebels and the militarization of their communities that has led to the killing of dozens of indigenous people since Sept. 1.

The Commission on Human Rights, which has launched its own investigation, came under fire from Manobo leaders after it refused to al-low a federation of lumad participate in the inquiry.

Rather than looking into the hu-man rights violations against them, the CHR focused instead on the conditions inside the Haran Mis-sion House of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and asking the people sheltering there if they were willing to be transferred to an-other sanctuary.

The indigenous people said they preferred staying in the church com-pound because they felt safe there.

The military has denied involve-ment in any atrocities against the lumad and blamed the communist New People’s Army for the violence.

The 10th Infantry Division on Monday said it supported the Justice Department investigation on atroci-ties committed against the lumad tribesmen in Davao del Norte and Bukidnon.

“We believe that, in light of the various views surrounding this issue, a thorough investigation conducted by a competent government insti-tution is a step forward to find out the truth. More importantly, the lu-mads, who have been the victims of this controversy deserves the justice that our constitution has guaranteed them,” 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief 1st Lt. Alexandre Cabales said.

A spokesman for the NPA on Monday said two lumad brothers who were killed early this month in the mountains of Valencia City in Bukidnon, died in a firefight with the communist rebels.

Mamerto Bagani, spokesperson of the NPA’s Mt. Kitanglad sub-regional operational command, denied the claim by military officials that the victims were abducted, tortured then killed on Sept. 13. With Maricel V. Cruz, PNA

had a margin of error of plus or mi-nus 2 percent and a 95 percent con-fidence level.

The results showed Poe ahead of 11 other possible contenders for the presidency.

Only 3 percent said they were not inclined to vote for anyone on the survey list.

By geographical area, the leading choices for President in Metro Ma-nila were Poe (26 percent); Binay (22 percent), and Duterte (21 percent).

In the rest of Luzon, the top con-tender for the post was Poe (31 per-cent).

Pulse Asia said Roxas was the choice for president by a sizable plu-rality of Visayans (34 percent).

Mindanaoans, on the other hand, were most supportive of Duterte (29 percent).

Across socio-economic classes, the most preferred presidential bets of those in Class ABC were Poe (22 percent), Roxas (22 percent), Duterte (20 percent), and Binay (17 percent).

Pulse Asia said, about a quarter of those in Class D (26 percent) ex-pressed support for Poe’s presiden-tial bid.

In Class E, the most favored candi-dates for President were Poe (25 per-cent), Binay (20 percent), and Roxas (20 percent).

For vice president, Poe and Sena-tor Francis Escudero were statistical-ly tied for first place (24 percent and 23 percent, respectively).

While 24 percent of Filipinos would elect Poe as vice president, 23 percent said they would support Escudero’s own vice presidential bid, Pulse Asia said.

The only other probable vice presidential candidate who registers a double-digit national voter prefer-ence is Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (13 percent).

Nine names were included in the vice presidential survey.

Three individuals shared the top spot in Metro Manila—Escudero (27 percent), Poe (21 percent), and Mar-cos (21 percent).

In the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, the leading contend-ers for the vice presidential post were Escudero (19 percent to 26 percent) and Poe (21percent to 28 percent).

In Class ABC, the most preferred vice presidential candidates were Poe (24 percent), Escudero (22 per-cent), Marcos (20 percent), and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (15 percent).

In Classes D and E, Poe and Escu-dero emerged as the frontrunners in the vice presidential race (23 percent to 26 percent and 21 percent to 24 percent, respectively).

Pulse Asia said Filipinos are now naming an average of 10 of their pre-ferred candidates for the Senate and most of them already have a com-plete senatorial slate (64 percent).

Of the 50 individuals included in the senatorial survey, 14 have a statis-tical chance of winning—with Sena-tor Vicente Sotto III landing in solo first place (63.6 percent).

About two in three Filipinos (64 percent) are already naming 12 pre-ferred candidates for the senatorial elections in May 2016.

Former Senator Panfilo M. Lac-son was in solo second place with an overall voter preference of 59.3 per-cent, while Marcos, Jr. was in third place with 54.9 percent.

Completing the list of probable winners are Senate President Frank-lin M. Drilon (48.2 percent, 4th to 6th places), Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis N. Pang-ilinan (46.6 percent, 4th to 6th places), Senator Ralph G. Recto (45.4 per-cent, 4th to 6th places), former Sena-tor Juan Miguel F. Zubiri (41.4 per-cent, 7th to 9th places), Saranggani

Rep. Manny Pacquiao (39.6 percent, 7th to 11th places), Senator Sergio R. Osmeña III (38.7 percent, 7th to 13th places), former Senator Richard Gor-don (36.8 percent, 8th to 14th places), Las Piñas City Representative Mark Villar (35.8 percent, 8th to 14th plac-es), former Senator Jamby Madrigal (35.2 percent, 9th to 14th places), Jus-tice Secretary Leila M. de Lima (35.2 percent, 9th to 14th places), and Taguig City Rep. Lino Edgardo S. Cayetano (34.2 percent, 10th to 15th places).

Pulse Asia said only 2.1 percent of Filipinos did not express support for any probable senatorial candidate in the May 2016 elections.

Poe said her 6 percent lead over Roxas was an indication that she should start going around the country to convey her platform of government.

“Perhaps, it also makes a differ-ence that the survey was taken prior to my announcement,” said the sena-tor, who announced she was running for president on Sept. 16.

“Again, I thank the Filipino peo-ple for their confidence. It is from them that I draw my strength,” said Poe. “More than just a measure of popularity, this is a reminder that we should always focus on performance and genuine service,” she added.

A spokesman for Binay, Rico Quicho, said the vice president was

unfazed by the latest survey results, saying he would work doubly hard to regain his lead.

“The vice president will continue to talk directly with the people and work doubly hard to inform them of his track record of helping the poor and programs to bring more employ-ment, quality education, accessible healthcare and reduction of poverty,” Quicho said in a statement.

Quicho said that the latest survey only shows that the people are still fa-voring for Binay even though he has not appeared in political advertise-ments like his opponents.

“The vice president is satisfied with the Pulse Asia results consider-ing that he did not have any televi-sion advertisement running during the survey period. It showed us that we have a stable core of supporters,” Quicho said.

Drilon said the survey showed the race was a dead heat.

Administration allies in the House, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone and Quezon City Rep. Al-fred Vargas said they expect Roxas’ numbers to rise because the people have started to realize his capability as a leader after being endorsed by President Aquino. With Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo

By John Paolo Bencito and Sandy Araneta

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Manuel Roxas II said Monday he opposes proposals in Congress to lower income tax rates, echoing the views of President Be-nigno Aquino III, and signaling that Filipino work-ers who pay the highest taxes in Southeast Asia would get no relief under a Roxas administration

dents said inflation was most ur-gent, while 46 percent cited the need to improve workers’ pay.

A second cluster of national is-sues deemed urgent by Filipinos were corruption in government (39 percent), employment (36 percent), and poverty (35 per-cent).

The survey said four issues make up a third group of urgent national concerns—peace (21 percent), criminality (20 per-cent), rule of law (16 percent), and environmental destruction (15 percent).

Filipinos were least concerned about rapid population growth (9 percent), national territo-rial integrity (7 percent), charter change (4 percent), and terror-ism (4 percent), the survey also said.

Across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, the only issues deemed urgent by majori-ties were workers’ pay (53 per-cent in Metro Manila), employ-ment (51 percent in the Visayas), and inflation (53 percent in Min-danao and 52 percent in Class E).

The survey involved face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults from May 30 to June 5, 2015. The margin of error was ± 3 percent at the 95 percent confidence lev-el.

Pulse Asia said the respon-dents were asked to pick three issues from a list that they think the Aquino government should act on immediately. They were also told they can add other con-cerns not on the list.

Reacting to the survey, Com-munications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the government was exerting “maximum efforts” to preserve the purchasing pow-er of the peso.

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Speaker. Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addresses the National Unity Party’s national convention at the Hotel Sofitel in Pasay City on Monday. Lino SantoS

new party. Lawyer Apolonia Soguilon acknowledges the cheers of members of the Philippine Green Republican Party, which she heads, during the group’s launch Monday in Quezon City. Rio n. aRaja

LP counting on Robredo as VPDuterteto run forPresident, source says

Palace slammed for politicking

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS

A N N O U N C E M E N T

(TS-SEPT. 29, 2015)

President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the ad interim appointments of the following ranking officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines:

Gilmar N. Galicia, PA and Royland M. Orquia, PA (Reserve) – ColonelThe public may submit any information, written

report or sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City, Metro Manila.

For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat can be reached through telephone numbers 551-7532, 831-0893, 831-1824, 834-2706, 831-1566 and 834-2713.

28 September 2015.

ARTURO L. TIU Secretary

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will join the presiden-tial race in next year’s elections, a highly placed source said Monday.

The source said Duterte will announce his presidential bid and his running mate, Senator Allan Peter Cayetano, “any-time from today until the first week of October.”

“The prospects of teaming up with Senator Cayetano sweet-ened everything for Digong [Duterte’s nickname]. They have a high chance of winning both posts,” the source said.

Cayetano is among the vice presidential prospects being groomed by some Liberal Party stalwarts as the running mate of the party’s standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II.

Former House Speaker Pros-pero Nograles said he will sup-port Duterte once he declares his candidacy.

“Mayor Duterte will be sup-ported by Davaoeños. I am a Davaoeño,” Nograles said.

He said he would support another presidential candidate only if Duterte did not run.

“It is considered a sin in a lo-cality not to support somebody who will represent the area in national elections,” Nograles said. Maricel V. Cruz

THE Liberal Party is counting on Ca-marines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo being the running mate of its standard bearer Manuel Roxas II as it has “no plan B,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Monday.

“There’s no plan B,” Abad told report-ers at the sidelines of the budget delib-erations at the House of Representatives.

He said the LP wanted Robredo only as they saw her as Roxas’ perfect partner.

“She’s the perfect match for Roxas. Definitely, if you ask the party, there’s a lot of push for her,” Abad said.

“If she’s the one chosen by the party, she has a chance of making it.”

The LP will hold its national execu-tive committee meeting on Sept. 30 at its headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City.

Roxas is expected to announce his

running mate during the event, where the party will also announce its senato-rial line-up.

Abad said he was confident the LP would be able to convince Robredo to run as Roxas’ vice president.

“Congresswoman Robredo is very credible in the eyes of the voters,” Abad said.

“Many people appreciate the fact that she has been hardworking as a legislator. She has a long track record of working for the poor.”

Reports say Robredo, the widow of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, is “in deep spiritual reflection” on whether or not to run for vice president.

Robredo had earlier said she was not yet ready for a higher position. Maricel V. Cruz

He said those charges were frustrating the op-position as he pushed for a moratorium on the filing of corruption cases at least a year before the elections.

In his speech during the National Unity Party’s con-vention at the Sofitel Hotel, Binay described the Aquino administration’s lack of sympathy for the poor and its selective justice.

He made his statement even as Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. slammed the administration for its ad-versarial stance, vindic-tiveness and politicking.

“Instead of unifying the country, what is happen-ing is a divided nation and bickering,” Marcos said at the NUP convention.

“They’re still politick-ing.”

Marcos made his state-ment even as Manuel Rox-as II, the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate, presented the “straight path” as the party’s focus to members of the NUP.

Roxas highlighted “re-spect” as the guiding prin-ciple that the administra-tion coalition would follow in their continuing part-nership with the NUP.

The NUP, the third larg-est political party, has yet to make a commitment on who to support among the three presidential candi-dates in the 2016 elections.

House deputy Speaker Roberto Puno, the party chairman, and Bataan Governor Albert Garcia, the party president, said the party had asked its 500-strong members from all over the country not to commit to any presidential or vice presidential candi-date until the start of the 2016 election campaign period.

“We would encourage our party mates not to de-cide this early and wait for the party decision to show

we are united,” Garcia said.Binay said the corrup-

tion complaints were being prematurely filed before the Ombudsman and be-ing hastened to elevate it to the Sandiganbayan so that an official could be placed under preventive suspen-sion ahead of the elections.

“To prevent the notion as part of a political propa-ganda, there should be a moratorium in the filing of cases against political candidates at least one year before the elections,” Binay said.

Binay himself and his son, suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, are facing corruption charges for the allegedly overpriced Makati building II. He said as the election neared, can-didates were being charged with many cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“They want them sus-pended so they could not campaign,” he said.

Only Binay, Marcos and Roxas attended the NUP convention but arrived separately, while Sena-tor Grace Poe, the newest Pulse Asia survey leader, snubbed the event.

Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte, who ranks fourth in the most recent survey, was not invited since he had repeatedly announced he no longer would seek a higher post.

Marcos said there ap-peared to be a policy for adversarial form of govern-ance in the current admin-istration.

Binay lamented the poor state of infrastructure in the country and the Aqui-no administration’s vin-dictiveness.

He said the adminis-tration was doing its best to block his presidential bid in 2016. Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-araneta, john Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz

VICE President Jejomar Binay lashed out at President Benigno Aquino III’s allies on Monday for intimidating political candi-dates with graft charges.

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Comelec starts reshuffleBy Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elections has begun identifying field officers who may be affected by the organization re-shuffle that the poll body announced last month “to avoid the appearance of a cozy relation between election managers and political players.”

“Reshuffling is done periodically when elections are near. That is not new,” Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said in a telephone interview. “We are doing that for the exigencies of service.”

Jimenez said it is possible that the reshuffle may affect “all levels of the organization.”

“Meaning, no one is unreshuffable,” he said. “One of the reasons for the reshuffle is to avoid the appearance of a cozy relationship between election managers and the political players.”

“For some levels, that means increased efficiency. Also there have been some retirements in between elections and for the most part, some have been placed in an acting capacity,” he said, adding that a reshuffle will also address deaths of personnel.

He noted, however, that there are some positions that may not be reshuffled although he did not say which.

“Sometimes, some people will not be included in the reshuffle because they have just been transferred. Sometimes, they are already doing well so they can stay in their position,” he explained.

At any rate, Jimenez said there is no prohibition to an organizational reorganizations at this time.

According to Comelec Resolution 9981, or the calendar of activities for the May 9, 2016 elections promulgated last Aug. 18, the election period was designated to last from Jan. 10, 2016 (Sunday) to June 08, 2016 (Wednesday).

But there are already some pre-election prohibitions, particularly the transfer, promotion, extension, recall or any other movement of officer or member of the foreign service

corps, which will last from May 10, 2015 to Aug. 7, 2016.

During the election period, it will be illegal to transfer, move or suspend officers and employees in the civil service as well as bear or transport firearms or other deadly weapons, employ bodyguards or organize reaction forces or strike forces.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ricardo Marquez said it will adopt the best security practices it learned from the papal visit last January and the series of meetings for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

The security plan include the number of policemen to be deployed, the areas of deployment, and coordination with all concerned government agencies in the events as well as coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

During the election period, the PNP is one of the government agencies deputized by the Comelec to secure the polls.

Marquez also assured the public that the entire police organization would remain apolitical during the polls.

“I want to assure our countrymen that their national police force remains non-partisan as it focuses only on serving and protecting the community at all times,” Marquez said.

With nine months before the May 2016 elections, Marquez said the PNP is now working on security measures.

“We are back on our toes as we affirm our commitment to protect our democratic institutions and ensure that our countrymen are able to exercise their right to vote without fear of violence and harassment from lawless elements,” Marquez added. With Francisco Tuyay

Seismic damper. Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino confers with project engineer Alexandre Gros before workers install a seismic damper under the Ayala Bridge in Manila which can protect the bridge during a strong earthquake. DANNY PATA

Reyeses’ hospital arrest rejectedBy Rey E. RequejoTHE Department of Justice has vowed to oppose the plan of former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes to seek hospital arrest while they are being tried for their alleged involvement in the murder of broadcaster and environmentalist Gerry Ortega in 2011.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima disclosed that she instructed prosecutors handling the case to vigorously oppose any move by the Reyes camp before the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court, Branch 52, for hospital detention.

“First of all, there is no basis

for that hospital detention or arrest. Also, that move has been abused many times. That should stop already,” De Lima said, in an interview.

“There are a lot of ordinary prisoners, whether in detention or convicted prisoners, with health problems also but are not accorded hospital arrest. Only a privileged few are granted that. Enough of that because it is making a mockery of our justice system,” De Lima added.

She also stressed that the DoJ will strongly oppose moves of the Reyes brothers to delay the trial or seek bail.

“If there are moves on the part of the counsels to derail, delay or

postpone the arraignment, our guidance to the prosecutor is to oppose such moves,” De Lima said.

As to the bail issue, De Lima pointed out that “murder is a non-bailable offense… Almost all accused in non-bailable cases apply for bail, but it has to go through the right process. Bail cannot be granted without sufficient basis.”

De Lima also revealed that the RTC has set the arraignment of the Reyes brothers on Oct. 2, at 8:30 a.m.

The Reyes brothers, who were accused of masterminding the murder of Ortega, were arrested in Thailand last week after three years in hiding.

Investment environment. Vice President Jejomar Binay expounds on the investment environment in the country during the 2nd Asean Fixed Income Summit held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. LINO SANTOS

MNLF offers help in rescue By Francisco TuyayTHE Moro National Liberation Front said it is willing to help rescue the three foreigners and Filipina who were kidnapped by still unidentified men in Samal Island last week, provided the government officially asks for its assistance.

MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said the group can help find the victims and their abductors if it is true that they are now in Sulu, the group’s primary stronghold.

“[But] we will not move to recover the victims unless authorities ask,” Cerveza said, noting that any action on their part may be misinterpreted by the government with whom they signed a peace agreement in 1996.

At least eleven armed men abducted Canadians John Ridsel and Robert Hall, Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad and a Filipina only known as Marites from the Ocean View Resort Hotel in Samal Island at 11:30 p.m. Monday and taken to a still unknown destination.

The military launched search-and-rescue operation, but has so far failed to pinpoint the location of the armed group and their captives.

Cerveza said they do not want to intervene in the military operations “if there’s no request from the military,” adding that the important matter is to really determine the location of the kidnap victims.

MNLF commander Rolando Ulamet, based in Davao province, had earlier expressed

willingness to find the victims and is now in Jolo trying to find out if the kidnappers and their victims really arrived in Parang, Sulu last Friday as reported.

Former government negotiator Jesus Dureza has also volunteered to help find vital information, but Cerveza asked Dureza to first identify who perpetrated the kidnapping because everyone is still facing blank wall.

“We are hearing several information that the victims are already in Sulu, but we considered it raw data,” Cerveza said.

The MNLF has many members in Davao City which they said is one of their controlled areas aside from Sulu and several locations in Maguindanao.


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House plenary startsdebate on budget bill

As the P3-trillion budget took centerstage in the House, another Palace-backed measure known as the draft-Bangsamoro Basic Law was placed in the back burner. Congress-men would devote the two remain-ing weeks of session to discuss the proposed spending measure, said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte . “ The 2016 budget bill is our priority,” Bel-monte stressed.

In his sponsorship speech to House Bill 6132, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, expressed confidence that with the “collective wisdom” of lawmakers, they will pass the measure on time, as they did in the past five years.

“The congressional power of the purse comes with the responsibility not only of ensuring that every public

peso is spent within means, in the right priorities, and with measurable results particularly in fostering inclusive de-velopment but also of passing the bud-get bill on time delaying the passage of the budget bill will mean delaying our country’s forward move towards the achievement of our national develop-ment goals,” Ungab added.

Ungab said the proposed 2016 budget is 15.2 percent or P396 bil-lion more than the 2015 expenditure program. It corresponds to 19.5 per-cent of The Gross Domestic Product, increasing from 18.7 percent of GDP in 2015.

Of the P3.002-trillion obligation budget, Ungab said new general appro-priations which they proposed Con-gress to authorize amount to P2.139 trillion, consisting of P2.071 trillion

in Programmed New Appropriations and P 67.5 billion in Unprogrammed Appropriations which may only be uti-lized if revenues exceed targets or new loans be secured.

He said the programmed new appropriations of P2.071 trillion, together with the P930.7 billion in Automatic Appropriations, which is outside the purview of this Gen-eral Appropriations Bill, will provide for the appropriation cover for the P3.002-trillion budget.

Ungab said the proposed budget has been shaped by financial management reforms that include the two-tier bud-geting approach, the GAA-as release document policy, the performance informed budgeting, the unified ac-counts code structure, and the bot-toms-up budgeting process.

Tax court orders Cedric Lee’s arrestBy Rio N. Araja

BUSINESSMAN Ced-ric Lee and his estranged wife, Judy Gutierrez, are ordered arrested by the Court of Tax Appeals on charges of evading P194.47 million in tax.

“Let a Warrant of Ar-rest be issued against the remaining accused, Judy Gutierrez Lee and Ce-dric Lee, and the bail bond for their provisional liberty is set at P20,000 for each accused,” the tax court said on Monday.

“This court finds the ex-istence of probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest

against the accused.”The couple has been

charged with four counts of tax evasion cases.

The tax court, however, lifted its arrest warrant on a co-accused —John Ong, chief operating officer of Izumo Contractors Inc.—after he posted a bail of P80,000 for four counts of the tax cases. Lee is the president of Izumo Contractors Inc.

Last July, in a 13-page res-olution, the Department of Justice approved the filing of tax evasion cases against the Lees and Ong for the under-declaration of the company’s income by 1,602 percent from 2006 to 2009.

DoJ rejected Lee’s “flim-sy defense” that it was the firm’s accountant who pre-pared its income tax return.

Assistant state prosecu-tor Stewart Allan Maria-no the indictment of the three accused which was a proved by senior assistant state prosecutor Susan Da-canay and prosecutor gen-eral Claro Arellano.

Based on the certifica-tions secured by the Bu-reau of Internal Revenue from the clients of Izumo, the company was able to earn P302.63 million, but only declared a shared income of P76.22 mil-lion from 2006 to 2009.

Private eye. Eleven civilian- informants have received P2.6 million in cash rewards under the PDEA Operation: Private Eye ,an incentive scheme designed to encourage private citizens to tip off authorities on illegal drug activities in their community.

Another CA justiceopts out of Binay case

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE House of Representatives on Monday began its plenary discussions on the proposed national budget for 2016 after almost two months of scrutiny of the bud-gets of the various government departments and agen-cies at the appropriations panel in the Lower House.

Timely reminder. Cause-oriented groups picket the House of Representatives in Quezon City to remind the lawmakers that now is the time to pass the Freedom of Information Bill with barely six months remaining before the 2016 national elections. EY ACASIO

By Rey E. Requejo

THE resolution of the second suspension case of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. is expected to be further delayed af-ter another magistrate of the Court of Appeals has recused himself from participating in its proceedings.

Associate Justice Franchito Diamante has been assigned as one of the two addition mem-bers of the CA’s Special 9th Division to resolve Binay’s petition assailing his second suspension by the Office of the Om-budsman, in connection with the allegedly over-priced construction of the Makati Science High School building .

However, Diamante opted to inhibit from the case since he is a mem-ber of the internal com-mittee of the CA tasked to investigate the brib-ery allegations of Sena-tor Antonio Trillanes against two fellow jus-tices who handled the first preventive suspen-sion order of the Office of the Ombudsman-against Binay.

Diamante was the fourth CA justice to in-hibit from the case. The first three were Associ-ate Justices Celia Librea-Leagogo, Priscilla Balta-zar—Padilla and Ramon Paul Hernando.

Because of this devel-opment, a raffle was con-ducted yesterday where Associate Justice Rome-ro Barza was picked to take Diamante’s place in the case.

The other magistrate to join the special divi-sion of five is Associate Justice Socorro Inting.

[email protected]

newsA6t u e s d ay : s e p t e m b e r 2 9, 2 0 1 5

Romualdez: Draft BBL dead

Joson brothers sued over Alabang road rage

Ayala Bridge repair faces more delays

At the same time, Romual-dez said that the filing of charges against 90 members of Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front, Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters and private armed groups in connec-tion with the Mamasapano mas-sacre would not help speed up the passing of the BBL in the House.

“The filing of charges won’t help salvage the passage of the bill. What is important now is justice

for the victims and survivors of the Mamasapano carnage eight months ago,” said Romualdez.

The Leyte lawmaker conceded that BBL is dead due to lack of material time.

“The BBL must be constitu-tionally-compliant, otherwise we are just giving people false hopes,” said Romualdez as he stressed that the BBL should not be passed without allowing lawmakers to

further review, study and scruti-nize the peace measure.

The House of Representatives ended recently its session allotted for the approval of vital measures as the two-week marathon ses-sions that will begin next week are exclusively devoted for the passage of the P3.002-trillion General Ap-propriations Bill.

“The peace process is always an issue of trust. Congress should not be threatened. All of us here sup-port peace, but we need sincerity to end the armed conflict and en-sure that we will pass a constitu-tional and not a half-baked BBL,” said Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Con-

stitution Association. House Bill No. 5811, which is in

substitution for HB 4994 (An Act Providing Basic Law for Bangsam-oro Autonomous Region), is still in the period of interpella-tion. The measure seeks the abo-lition of the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the creation of a more autono-mous Bangsamoro region.

Originally, the House of Repre-sentatives eyed the passage of the measure on third and final read-ing last Sept. 20 or before the pro-posed GAB for next year reaches the plenary.

Romualdez said the new De-cember 2015 deadline set by

Malacañang for the BBL’s passage was an admission that the Aquino administration could no longer have the measure approved.

Romualdez made the statement even as The National Anti-Pov-erty Commission recently urged the leaders of the Lower House and the Senate to ensure the pas-sage of a BBL that conforms to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Constitution.

“Lawmakers need more time to study the BBL because we want to guarantee that what we would be passing will be legal and compli-ant with every provision of the 1987 Constitution,” Romualdez concluded.

HOUSE independent bloc leader and Leyte (1st Dis-trict) Rep. Martin Romualdez said he was aiming for peace in Mindanao but maintained that there should be no pressure from Malacañang to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Fire prevention. When firemen are slow to respond, citizens take matters into their own hands as exemplified by a Valenzuela resident who empties a pail of water on his house to pre-vent fire from eating it up in Abalos Bukid Street, Marulas, Valenzuela City. ANDREW RABULAN

By Joel E. ZurbanoCRIMINAL charges were filed against four members of Joson clan residing in Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City in connection with the road rage that resulted in the injury of a 26-year-old man two weeks ago.

Charged with frustrated mur-der, grave threat and child abuse before the Muntinlupa City Prosecutors Office were Joson brothers—Christian and An-gelo, and their parents Crisolito and Patricia.

The victim, Karlo Alfonso Santiago, was accompanied by his father Alfonso and sister Kay in filing the case last Monday.

Santiago said they include the suspects’ parents in the case because they were aboard the Joson’s vehicle when the inci-dent happened around 9 p.m. last Sept. 18 in Ayala Alabang.

n their complaint, Santiago’s father told investigators that he and his son and three-year-old grandson were onboard a golf cart on their way out of the sub-division when the Joson brothers on board a white Toyota Prado (XLU-831) appeared.

The Joson brothers shouted

invectives at them for blocking their path, Santiago said, add-ing that he tried to intervene but he ended up being beaten by the brothers.

The victim was rushed to and confined at the Asian Hos-pital and Medical Center in Alabang for two days.

Lawyer Arianne Mae Goro-sin-Garcia said they filed the frustrated murder charges be-cause of the injuries Karlo sus-tained while the grave threat charges was for the serious threat received by the victim from the suspects.

“The three-year-old boy also sustained an injury on his right knee after one of the men pushed Mr. Alfonso, who was at that time carrying his grand-son,” said Garcia.

Meanwhile, Alfonso said he appreciated the gesture of former Nueva Ecija Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson con-demning the violent act of the Joson brothers.

The former vice governor said the family could just be distant relatives from Bataan. “They do not own a house or any other property in Nueva Ecija,” he said.

Palace exerting pressure on lawmakers won’t work

A WEEK-LONG closure of Ayala Bridge in Manila has begun after a foreign con-sultant suggested further improvement of the pave-ment to ensure the integrity of the bridge.

The move, according to Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino, would further de-lay the project. He said Public Works officials told him that the contractor vowed to fin-ish the rehabilitation work by Dec. 23.

“They didn’t consult us for the closure and we want the French consultant for the project to explain on this mat-ter,” said Tolentino. “If they are saying the repair will be finished by December, we are afraid that this would affect

the APEC [Asia Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation] meeting this November.”

The MMDA chief said the repair of the bridge was supposed to be completed by July.

Alexandre Gros of Freys-sinet International Manila Inc., the French consultant for the project, in behalf of the foreign firm, apologized for not consulting both the MMDA and the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways for the sudden full close of the bridge.

“We apologize for it and we promise we will open [partial-ly] the bridge after one week,” said Gros during a press brief-ing at the construction site.

DPWH-National Capital Region project engineer Ri-

cardo de Vera said Freyssinet, through its licensee Frey-Fil Corp., is responsible for the rehabilitation design of the bridge.

He added that one lane of the bridge will be opened to light vehicles by Oct. 1.

Early this year, the MMDA approved the request of the DPWH to complete the repair works of the bridge in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Areas to be affected by the bridge closure until October include major thoroughfares such as Quezon Boulevard, United Nations Avenue, Taft Avenue, Legarda Street, Quirino Avenue, Recto Av-enue, Magsaysay Boulevard and Roxas Boulevard.

Joel E. Zurbano

Pet control. Members of an animal rights group, Pet, collect stray dogs and cats, and castrate them to prevent their overpopulation. DANNY PATA

[email protected]

t u e s d ay : s e p t e m b e r 2 9, 2 0 1 5

news A7

Another Nueva Ecija barangay chief shot

Indigents’ commission allows parking project to continue

By Ferdie G. Domingo

STA. RoSA, Nueva Ecija—An incumbent barangay captain in this province is in critical condition after two suspects aboard a motorcycle shot him as he was driving home Sunday afternoon.

Barangay Talipapa chief Apolinario dela Cruz y Villan-ueva, alias Paul, sustained gun-shot wounds on his neck and chest after being shot numer-ous times as he was driving his SUV to his home in Barangay

Burgos in this town. He was immediately rushed to

Doctors Hospital.Supt. Ricardo Villanueva, chief

of Provincial Public Safety Com-pany, headed the team that ar-rived at the crime scene after the

Army closer to declaring Negros, Panay insurgency-free areas

By Dexter A. See

BANAUE, Ifugao—The Re-gional Hearing Office of the National Commission on In-digenous Peoples has denied the petition of concerned residents of this municipality seeking to extend the 72-hour temporary restraining order it had earlier issued on a parking facility project here.

The commission said the petitioners failed to prove their allegations that the area where the seven-story parking lot will be erected is the same area for cultural activities.

The NCIP-CAR also said in a resolution that the pro-posed site for the pay park-

ing is part of the municipal-ity’s trade center.

The commission, howev-er, mandated the local gov-ernment to continue con-sultations with concerned stakeholders relative to the implementation of the P55- million project, a major development project of the local government for local residents and visitors alike.

The 72-hour temporary re-straining order earlier issued allowed concerned stake-holders to ventilate the issues for or against the construction of the pay parking facility.

Mayor Jerry C. Dalipog considers the latest NCIP-CAR ruling denying the

request of the petitioners to extend the TRO as a victory for the people in favor of the project and who wanted to improve the image of the town before visitors.

Dalipog also belied the re-peated insinuations of the pe-titioners that the construction of the town’s seven-story pay parking facility will affect the rice terraces which has been declared a world heritage site.

Despite suffering a set-back, however, the petition-ers are now studying the next step that they would take to stop the project.

Sources disclosed those opposing the project are the mayor’s political opponents.

BACOLOD CITY—The 3rd

Infantry Division of the Phil-ippine Army remains on track in their objective of declaring Negros and Panay Islands “in-surgency-free” by next year, its top official said.

Major General Rey Leonar-do Guerrero, commander of the 3rd ID based in Jamindan, Capiz, said this in a statement while admitting that they fell short of their target to re-duce the New People’s Army’s strength and firepower in the third quarter of 2015.

Guerrero said they were able to reduce the NPA strength in Negros to about 147 members, with the same numbers also in Panay. At the same time, they were able to clear 49 rebel-affect-ed barangays in both islands.

Last year, the military es-timated that there were still about 200 rebels operating in the hinterlands of Negros.

The 3rd ID aims to further reduce the NPA strength and firepower by 25 percent by the end of the year, he added.

While there is a lull in vio-lent activities of the NPA, Guerrero admitted that there is also an increase in non-violent activities of the rebel group, such as recruitment of new members, mass-based buildup, and foraging of logis-tical requirements.

He, however, said the reb-els are facing difficulty in their expansion activities due to the presence of Army Bayanihan Teams in rebel-affected areas.

For as long as the Baya-nihan Teams are present in those areas, the movement and expansion attempt of the NPA remnants will be re-stricted, Guerrero said.

Records of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command showed that 11 of the 16 provinces in the Visayas region have been declared insurgency-free, in-cluding the two provinces of Negros, Iloilo, Northern Sa-mar and Capiz. PNA

shooting. They are tracking down the suspects and identifying pos-sible motives for the shooting.

The shooting of Dela Cruz took place nearly two weeks af-ter the Sept. 14 shooting of the captain of Barangay General Luna in Cabanatuan City who died in the incident, and other shootings earlier this year.

Cesar Baltazar was talking to his mother in front of the barangay hall when two men aboard a mo-torcycle shot him at close range.

Baltazar was dead when he was brought to the Good Sa-

maritan Hospital. On June 7, the captain of Ba-

rangay Camp Tinio, Roger Pas-cua, was killed by two men on a motorcycle as he was drinking coffee in his house. The shooting was captured by a closed circuit television camera.

Yet another barangay cap-tain, Herminigildo Catacutan, was shot dead by an unidenti-fied assailant in front of the ba-rangay hall in Dampulan, Jaen. Catacutan was a former police-man before getting elected cap-tain of the barangay.

Basket of goods. A farmer from Tabuk, Kalinga shows off freshly harvested rambutan. DAVID CHAN

True faith. Devotees board their boats as they follow the statue of the Miraculous Lady of Peñafrancia in the Bacnotan River in La Union. CHRISTINE JUNIO

So what has changed for the Candidate Who Is So Close To Crying Wolf? Piñol thinks the rally convinced Duterte that he may just have what it takes to win it all.

“There are three scenarios in play here,” Piñol explained. “Duterte may not run, and he will go down in history as the provincial politician who could have been the best President we never had. He may run and lose, in which case he becomes the provincial politician who ran for President and lost.

“Or he may run and win, for which history will judge him as the provincial politician who could just be the best President we ever had,” Piñol continued. “I think he’s now ready to go for the

OPINIONA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

REFUSING TO OPEN UP

A9ADELLE CHUAE D I T O R

T U E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 5

OPINION

I’VE been around for some time and I’ve never seen anything like it. Twenty thousand people ask-ing a reluctant candidate to run —and not one of them paid to do so by the candidate himself, who didn’t even put in an appearance.

I guess it’s safe now to say that Davao City Mayor Rodri-go Duterte is going to seek the presidency. That’s what friends of mine in his camp tell me, es-

pecially after last Saturday’s pro-Duterte rally at the Rizal Park.

I’ve always hesitated to predict what Duterte will or will not do in the elections in May, given the feisty mayor’s record of declaring and then denying his intentions for the presidency. But according to former North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol, one of Duterte’s closest friends and biggest boost-ers, last Saturday was the game changer.

The gathering was, after all, the same one that Duterte plead-ed with his backers not to attend last week. Piñol relates that the mayor personally asked him not

to go, but that he turned Duterte down.

“I said, look, we’re friends,” Piñol said. “But you’re not about to tell me what I can and cannot do, and you’re not going to stop me from going.”

Duterte did allow another friend of his, former armed forces chief of staff retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., to read a statement he had prepared for the rally. In it, the mayor thanked his supporters for keeping the faith, but he once again declared that he was just not going to run, citing his health, his age and his family.

HE’S GOING TO RUN

POPE Francis has just finished his pas-toral and state visits to Cuba and to the United States. What an amazing week for our American brothers and sisters, and even for us who watched and listened from afar. I borrow and paraphrase the words Fr. James Martin SJ used to describe the Bish-op of Rome, words that comes from scrip-ture actually: Pope Francis does all things well; he is all things to all people. This is how Jesus was described, so apt too these words for the Vicar of Christ. Yes, indeed, as Fr. Martin exclaimed, what a beautiful man!

In the next few columns, I will share highlights of the Pope’s speeches in Cuba and the United States. They have had a pro-found impact on me and on many others, including the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, who decid-ed to resign the day after the Pope’s address to Congress.

I begin with what is clearly the approach of Pope Francis in engaging with the world. In his encounter with the Bishops of the United States in Washington DC, he ex-plained this with clarity: “Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the elev-enth hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16) . . . Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor, it has no place in his heart; although it may mo-mentarily seem to win the day, only the en-during allure of goodness and love remains truly convincing.”

In his speech before the US Congress, Pope Francis framed his words around four great Americans that he chose to provide a unifying structure to weave his speech around. One cannot go wrong with Abra-ham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton: “Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God. Four representatives of the American people.”

Pope Francis elaborated on this fur-ther: “A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Lu-ther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.”

In that same speech, Pope Francis ar-ticulated so well the goal of politics in its original noble sense. His words reminded me of how Aristotle first framed the pur-pose of politics as a logical and necessary extension of ethics. In the Ateneo School of

DIALOGUE WORKS IN POLITICS

third and last scenario.”* * *

The latest Pulse Asia “Ulat sa Bayan” survey may have also convinced Duterte to throw his mayor’s hat into the presi-dential ring. The newest poll, after all, continues the trend of Duterte’s strong showing—including his runaway leader-ship in the whole of Mindanao (where Piñol says there are 15 million votes) with 29 percent and his strong third-place showing in vote-rich Metro Ma-nila, where the mayor’s 21 percent is good enough for a statistical tie with the

two others ahead of him (Senator Grace Poe, 29 percent, and Vice President Jejo-mar Binay, 22).

And Duterte is also a strong third in the economically significant A, B and C class-es. Not bad, overall, for a candidate who’s not even declared that he’s running yet.

Indeed, because Duterte is so easily differentiated from the other three ma-jor candidates with his attractively tough law-and-order platform and his strong, steady provincial (meaning non-Ma-nila) base, he may well morph into the real alternative candidate in the com-

ing elections. Even politically, Duterte has no history of being aligned with the current Aquino administration, which is sure to attract the protest vote that is tired of the incumbent’s unrelenting in-competence and compulsive lying.

If Duterte declares for the presi-dency, the predicted tight, three-way race for the highest post in the land can be expected to get even tighter. And Duterte’s outlier status will certainly give the others a run for their money, popularity and organization.

ON THE surface, it is confounding why this government, which claims to champion transparency and accountability, would deny the request of United Nations representatives to look into killings and other human rights abuses committed against tribal communities—lumad—in Mindanao.

Two lumad leaders and a teacher were killed recently, and in a fashion indicative of hatred and intolerance.

A human rights group has decried the killings, claiming they were carried out by paramilitary groups created by the military to help it in its anti-insurgency drive. The lumad are suspected of sympathizing with the New People’s Army.

As a result of the killings, thousands of lumad people have fled their homes in Surigao del Sur for fear of their lives. They are cramped in a sports complex; children are not going to school.

In the meantime, leaders in imperial Metro Manila are preoccupied with something more immediate to their interests: the elections.

Meetings were initially set as if to humor the human rights advocates and the families of the victims. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was supposed to meet with them last week, but cancelled at the last minute because of a supposed meeting with the President.

The administration believes that “internal processes” can get to the bottom of the issue. The victims and the rights advocates do not buy this, though, since De Lima herself is on her way out of the Justice Department —to appease the Iglesia, to run for the Senate, or conveniently both.

The spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs also expressed confidence that any investigation is best conducted by relevant authorities.

We deplore this refusal to shed light on what really happened—what continues to happen—to the lumad down South. We have had our share of internal investigations conducted by this administration—in the 2010 hostage crisis in Luneta, and the Mamasapano killings in January this year. Both do not inspire confidence.

The only way Mr. Aquino can show good faith and claim to champion the good of all Filipinos is to allow the investigation of the violence inflicted on an indigenous group who cannot defend themselves. That it has slammed the door on any international probe leads us to think there is something to hide, something Mr. Aquino does not want us to know.

Duterte may morph into the real alternative candidate in the

coming elections.

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES

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Continued on A11

EAGLE EYES

DEAN TONYLA VIÑA

Continued on A11

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of the Movie & Television Ratings and Classification Board.

* * *I cannot predict the stand

of the six senator-members of the SET, but as I said earlier, it could go either way. Loren Legarda for sure will go where the law takes her; Nancy Binay is predictable; Bam Aquino may go where the Constitution takes him; Cynthia Villar may go where the Nacionalista Party goes; Pia Cayetano may go

against Poe if her brother Alan Peter is chosen as Mar Roxas’ running mate; and Tito Sotto will certainly go for the “senadora” being a member of the entertainment industry. It could be a split decision either way. All these are speculative. But, considering the impact of Poe’s citizenship on public and natural interests, it should not be taken with a shrug .

* * *In my over 65 years as a

journalist, I have never seen

a situation like now where we seem to be scrounging for leaders to lead us for the next six year from 2016.

My wife and I will certainly vote for a President who will unify the country and head the political wounds of the past.

The reason we have not moved forward is that almost every elected president tries to undo what has been done by his predecessor and blames him for the challenges he or she is facing. All these were made

worse by a vindictive president like President Aquino who went to the extent of filing plunder cases against his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and bribed Congress to impeach and convict former Chief Justice Renato Corona. This, so that Mr. Aquino would have a poster girl and a poster boy in his “Daang Matuwid” mantra.

We need a unifying President to save us from this pattern.

OPINIONT U E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 5

A10

A FRIEND who is about as old as I am complained to me that when he reads the front pages of newspapers he feels like reading editorials, opinion columns and analyses instead of news.

I explained to him that journalism has evolved through the years from what we deemed objective reporting of the five Ws- who, what, where, when and why. Now, it’s all about interpretative journalism where the biases of journalists and their newspapers come in.

When I got my feet wet as a journalist in the 50s, I dutifully observed what was called objective reporting, like in the killing of Mister X. I reported who was murdered, what happened, when he was killed, when it happened, and why if possible. It was factual reporting.

With the evolution of journalism, newspapers readers want to go beyond reading facts. They want to know what the motive is, how it happened, why, and what the ramifications are.

That’s the reason issues of the day are found in the front pages of newspapers. It depends on what newspapers they are found in, who write the stories, and what their prejudices are.

Negativism sells; good news doesn’t. That’s the reason why opinion pages of newspapers are often read more than the front pages of national broadsheets. In my over 65 years as a journalist, having gone full circle in print, radio and television, I know full well that people want to know what’s behind the news.

* * *The issue of citizenship of

presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares continues to be the topic in board rooms, coffee shops and cocktail parties. Is she or is she not natural-born Filipino?

Santa Banana, even justices have come out with their own interpretations of the Constitution, just as legal luminaries and opinion columnists are divided on the issue.

My gulay, can you imagine if Poe were to be found by the Senate Electoral Tribunal as not a natural-born Filipino? She could be unseated as a

senator and banned from becoming a president. On the other hand, grating without assuming that she becomes president, and found not qualified for the presidency, what would be the repercussions?

The citizenship of Senator Poe should be resolved the soonest possible time by the Senate Electoral tribunal. Whatever the result, the case will certainly be elevated to the Supreme Court. And will the High Court be able to decide before the May 2016 elections?

And if Poe gets elected, and the Supreme Court hands down a decision adverse to her, what will happen?

* * *Let’s rewind a bit and look

at which way the SET will go in deciding the citizenship issue. The tribunal is composed of nine members —three incumbent justices of the Supreme Court and six sitting senators of different political persuasions. The three Supreme Court justices are Antonio Carpio, chairman, Teresita Bernabe

Castro and Arturo Brion.We now know the

opinion of the SET chairman, but we still don’t know how the other justices will rule considering all the documents presented by the petitioner—Lito David told SET that Poe is not natural born and that she lied before the notary public when he reacquired her Filipino citizenship under Republic Act no. 9225, called the Dual Citizenship law. In a document, she said she was born of the marriage of Ronald Allan Kelly Poe, a Filipino, and Jesusa Sonora Poe, a Filipino citizen, when we all know that Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces were childless. Grace herself claimed she was a foundling left at the baptismal font of an Iloilo City church and adopted later on by FPJ and Susan Roces.

This blatant lie was made worse by documents showing she travelled twice to the US using her American passport despite the fact that she had already reacquired her Philippine citizenship under the Dual Citizenship law and had become the chairperson

IMPACT OF THE CITIZENSHIP

ISSUE

The tribunal must decide soon, because

the case is almost certain to go up to

the Supreme Court.

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TO THE POINT

EMIL P. JURADO

NOT JUST ABOUT NUMBERS A FRIEND who lives abroad sent me a message over the weekend, basically expressing amusement tinged with a bit of dismay that Filipinos were about to break another world record, this time for the number of tweets about a single event. Like many other Filipi-nos, he was closely observing the mass hysteria over the Aldub phenomenon. I empathized with him. I told him he was in a better place compared to many others who got hooked into ei-ther hating, defending, or justifying their addiction to the Aldub phenom-enon.

I am not sure if Eat Bulaga was successful last Saturday; but if not, I am sure it will just be a matter of time before they succeed in break-ing into smithereens whatever exist-ing record there is on Twitter. The phenomenon is just heating up and I am sure they intend to bring the couple to the altar in a grand wed-ding ceremony in the coming weeks or months. I wasn’t really sure what benefits—other than bragging rights—could be derived from hit-ting a gazillion mark on Twitter. At the same time, I did wonder if peo-ple saw the possibilities and oppor-tunities in the phenomenon.

For people who are still doing mental acrobatics trying to make sense of the Aldub phenomenon, check out the mass hysteria over the Nida-Nestor, Guy-Pip, Sharon-Gabby, and other similar pairings in the past. I think I was in high school when the reunion movie of Nora Au-nor and Tirso Cruz III was shown—and I still have vivid memories of the pandemonium that attended the screening of the movie. They had to close streets because of the sheer number of people who turned up. Of course the manner in which people express their adulation has already changed; fans no longer hold vigils and descend in full force at movie events to show their support—there are now social networking sites avail-able. Nevertheless, the world that we live in may have changed dramati-cally in the last 20 years, but we’re still basically the same deep down inside—we’re still a people who

goes gaga over love teams that defy social conventions. We’re still big-time suckers for good old-fashioned romance, particularly those that in-volve Filipino cliché situations such as an attendant strict or authoritarian parent, class or economic divide, etc.

To consider the whole preoccu-pation shallow, or lacking in depth or substance is to mock Pinoy pop culture. Many major events and movements in the world have been sparked by “shallower” stimulus. It can even be argued that the whole phenomenon is yet another reflec-tion of the inherent inventiveness of Filipinos. It’s basically improvisation at work, and those in the know are aware that improv is the most diffi-cult form of comedy. I also think that the set-up actually triggers higher-level thinking. Unlike in a soap op-era where audiences are required to suspend disbelief, the Aldub portion in Eat Bulaga goes to town with all its on-the-spot improvisation—the characters fumble their cues and ev-eryone makes jokes about the kind of effort they make in stretching things too far. The Saturday editions of the show basically happens in the vicinity of the Broadway Centrum in Quezon City and while the production people try to make it appear as if the charac-ters run around and travel through a wide geographic area, the hosts make punch lines about how silly they all look because everyone knows they are in the same area, anyway.

As I wrote in a previous column, a major reason why people are hooked on the Aldub romance is because ev-eryone is in on the whole charade. We all know the various complica-tions are made up and we all know that the people behind the show are basically pulling everyone’s leg—we all know we’re all just having fun. Of course there are those who hope and pray that sparks do fly between

the two characters and that Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza really do get attracted to each other in the process. But most people are aware of the realities of the show, and move on with their lives after 2:30 p.m. The madness is kept to a tight schedule.

But I do concede that there is a part of me that indulges in some wishful thinking; I do wish that the people behind the show see the im-mense responsibilities that come with the rare gift or privilege of hav-ing millions of Filipinos as followers. I do wish that the people behind Eat Bulaga (or for that matter, Showtime which has a similar portion involv-ing a broken-hearted girl who also got her five minutes of fame in so-cial networking sites) find the moral courage to use that power and influ-ence constructively.

What is not being discussed is that the Aldub phenomenon has filled a need among Filipino audiences and it is up to the Eat Bulaga people to provide direction, and more meaning into the whole experience.

So yes, while I do think that the current phenomenon is not necessar-ily lacking in depth, I think that per-petuating the same over time with-out any effort to channel it towards a loftier purpose is a monumental waste of opportunity. Just imagine, for example, what 25 million tweets on responsible voting, or saving the environment, or even reducing vio-lence against women and children can do. This cannot be all about rat-ings. There is more to business than just cornering a lion’s share of the audience.

Similarly, I understand that the Iglesia Ni Cristo has also sent word that they intend to break the existing world record on the number of spec-tators gathered for a single movie screening event when they unveil Fe-lix Manalo, the biopic on the founder of the religious sect, next month. I personally smell politics behind the whole effort, but there must be more to breaking records than just getting the numbers. Otherwise, it’s a mean-ingless exercise; like gathering dumb driven cattle.

I certainly wouldn’t be surprised, for instance, if the dirty tricks de-partment of Mar Roxas decides to train its well-paid guns on Duterte sometime soon. After all, if he has learned anything from his 2010 vice presidential debacle, Roxas must now be wary of losing in Mindanao (which he basically abandoned to Binay) and of focusing on the wrong target (Loren Legarda).

Of course, Duterte has repeat-edly declared that he has no money to spend in a presidential election and that he will not accept campaign funds from anyone simply because he is not going to run. But when he decides to finally join the race, I am sure there will be no lack of funding for his drive, simply because the usu-al bankrollers cannot ignore the fact that he just might win.

I told Piñol that Duterte re-minds me of the character of Gen-

eral Antonio Luna in the current hit movie: a brash, self-possessed and no-nonsense leader who stands out among the compro-misers and political operators of his time. And that I hope Duterte runs, if only because he will pro-vide a real alternative to Manila-based politics-as-usual.

So give ‘em hell, Mister Mayor. Your country needs you to leave Davao for the biggest stage of all— the entire country.

HE’S GOING... From A9

ARE WE THERE YET?

BONG C. AUSTERO


OPINION

NATURAL-BORN CITIZENSHIP,DISCRIMINATION AND FOUNDLINGS

THE legal arguments relating to the citi-zenship issue currently confronting Sena-tor Grace Poe-Llamanzares has triggered numerous comments which do not have any sound legal foundation.

One comment has it that a foundling should not be disqualified from running for public office because it isn’t one’s fault that one is a foundling. Another posits that disqualifying a foundling from elective public office amounts to discrimination, which, in turn, makes the foundling a sec-ond-class citizen in his or her own country. Others insist on reading something in in-ternational agreements which isn’t there to begin with.

As pointed out by Supreme Court Jus-tice Antonio Carpio, a foundling cannot have the status of a natural-born citizen of the Philippines because the 1987 Constitu-tion reckons natural-born citizenship from one’s birth. By definition, a foundling is one who is abandoned at infancy and whose biological parents are unknown. If the infant’s biological parents are known from the start, then the infant is not a foundling. Since the circumstances surrounding the birth of a foundling are likewise unknown, the foundling’s citizenship cannot be reck-oned on the basis of his or her birth. To do so will be purely speculative. It may also amount to a felony because the Revised Pe-nal Code penalizes the simulation of births.

Philippine jurisprudence holds that adoption does not confer upon the adopted the citizenship of the adopting parent or parents. To allow otherwise is to make it easy for unscrupulous aliens to circumvent Philippine laws on citizenship by using

adoption as a vehicle for obtaining Philippine citi-zenship. Adoption only confers upon the adopted the status of a legitimate child of the adopting par-ent or parents.

If international cov-enants are to apply to the Philippine situ-ation, and not all of them are applicable, the foundling may be considered a Filipino citizen, but not a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, because, as mentioned ear-lier, the 1987 Constitution reckons natural-born citizenship on the basis of one’s birth. International agreements, no matter how well-meaning, cannot modify or amend the Constitution.

For the same reason, international agreements cannot dictate that a foundling in the Philippines must be considered, or at least presumed as natural-born citizens of the Philippines. To allow that is to per-mit international agreements to amend or modify the 1987 Constitution. That is not permissible, and the Constitution itself says so.

A foundling who is considered a Fili-pino citizen may run for public office, ex-cept those which the 1987 Constitution re-serves exclusively for natural-born citizens. This may seem like discrimination against foundlings, but it is what the fundamental law of the land mandates. Thus, when the state enforces the Constitution’s defini-tion of who a natural-born citizen of the Philippines is and who is not, it is unfair to conclude that the state is discriminating against foundlings, or that foundlings are

treated as second-class citizens in the country.

No person can be compelled to run for public office. There-fore, if one wants to run for public office, it is as-sumed that he or she does

so voluntarily. It is also assumed that he or she is willing to comply with the laws gov-erning the election. One such law is the 1987 Constitution—the supreme law of the land. In other words, if one wants to join a competition, one must abide by its rules.

Supporters of Senator Poe’s bid for the presidency argue that the delegates to the 1934 Constitutional Convention which drafted the 1935 Constitution of the Phil-ippines intended to treat foundlings as natural-born citizens of the Philippines, but they did not find it necessary to put this precept in the text of the charter. Thus they argue that Poe must be considered a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.

That argument is specious. First, if it were really the intention of the delegates to treat foundlings as natural-born citizens, then their intention should have been writ-ten in the text of the 1935 Constitution. What they argued in words, should have been reduced to writing. Second, when the 1935 Constitution was ratified by the Filipino people, there was no such provi-sion in the text which favored foundlings as natural-born citizens. How can some-thing which was not in the text of the 1935 Constitution be binding on the people who did not see it in the charter? Jurisprudence dictates that in the interpretation of the

Constitution, the construction given by the delegates who drafted the charter cannot prevail over the construction given by the people who ratified it. After all, the Con-stitution draws its force and effect from the people who ratified it, and not from the delegates who drafted it.

At any rate, since Poe is running for a public office governed by the provisions of the 1987 Constitution, she must abide by its provisions, including its definition of a natural-born citizen of the Philippines— which she is not. Poe cannot invoke the 1935 Constitution to justify her bid for an office governed by the 1987 Constitution.

Poe supporters insist that in the disqual-ification case currently pending against her before the Senate Electoral Tribunal, petitioner Rizalito David has the burden of proving that Poe is not a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. Actually, that burden was discharged by Poe because of her own admission that she is a foundling. As pointed out above, since a foundling cannot be considered a natural-born citi-zen of the Philippines, Poe has the burden of proving that the provisions of the 1987 Constitution do not apply to her.

There is no presumption that one is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. One who wants to serve the people in a public office reserved for natural-born citi-zens must convince the electorate that he or she meets the citizenship requirements therefor. If there is such a presumption, then why does the Commission on Elec-tions require candidates for national office to submit documents to prove their qualifi-cations for the public office they seek?

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HAIL TO THE CHAIR

VICTOR AVECILLA

Government, where many of our students are politicians, we emphasize how politics is the highest form of charity.

Sharing what he thought was the reason for being for Congress, the Pope pointed out how each legislator “has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.” He ex-plained that their responsibility was “to en-able this country, by your legislative activ-ity, to grow as a nation.” According to Pope Francis: “You are the face of its people, their representatives. You are called to de-fend and preserve the dignity of your fel-low citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk.

Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been in-vited, called and convened by those who elected you.”

Finally in the speech to Congress, Pope Francis cited the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” According to the Pope: “This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and com-passion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibili-ties which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want se-curity, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”

This reminder about the golden rule, something that Speaker Boehner alluded to when he announced his resignation,

is timely for us in the Philippines as our election season begins. I would caution, for example, many who are posting nega-tive things about candidates to look at their own lives and see if they have not done anything wrong too, or have some-thing to be ashamed of. If they have—and I certainly have in decades of legal, politi-cal and governance work—one might be kinder to others. That is why I have de-cided I would never use negative informa-tion about the candidates and their fami-lies, including supporters of candidates that some want attacked or shamed. As a person with a public life myself, I want to practice the Golden Rule so that others will also treat me kindly.

After listening to the Pope’s speech in the US Congress, I also decided that I will no longer repost or respond to negative Facebook posts about Poe, Bi-nay, Roxas or Duterte. Personal attacks do not enable dialogue; on the contrary

they create a state where people are em-bittered and are not able to move on even after the elections. I will only post posi-tive things about the candidates and start hiding negative posts or even blocking the people that are consistently posting negative posts. Debate and differences on national issues shall of course still be highlighted in my social media platforms and I will try to shift the election discus-sion to these issues once all the platforms of government are released.

Dialogue works in politics. When Pope Francis went before the US Congress. He spoke uncomfortable truth to power, but he did not use harsh words or divisive lan-guage. People listened and responded be-cause of that. He did what his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi had exhorted his brothers: “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.”

Facebook page: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylavs

CHONG ARDIVILLA#FAILOCRACY

DIALOGUE... From A9

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t uesday : sept emb er 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

sports

$10-m man Spieth back as no. 1

ATLANTA—Jordan Spieth believes the mental toughness he has acquired over a rollercoaster season of remark-able highs and occasional lows can help him stay near the top of the golfing world for the next 20 years.

The 22-year-old Texan capped a superb year on Sunday by clinching

victory in the season-ending Tour Championships at East Lake in At-lanta, a win that saw him pocket the $10 million bonus on offer to the winner of the FedEx Cup.

The victory took Spieth’s earn-ings for 2015 to an incredible $22 million -- $1 million for every year

PHILADELPHIA—The Atlanta Hawks, fresh off a victory over LeBron James and Cleveland, saw their six-game win streak snapped Saturday by the NBA’s second-worst team, Philadelphia, while the Cavaliers ripped Phoenix.

Villamor:Viloria canbeat rival

Life withoutMessie startsfor Barcelona

Li thrills fans at Wuhan arena openingJapanese climberwith one finger

climbs Everest again

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

ALA Gym head trainer and former world title chal-lenger Edito “Ala”Villamor believes two-division world champion Brian Viloria has a good chance against unde-feated World Boxing Council flyweight champion and re-cently installed pound-for-pound No.1 Roman “Choco-latito” Gonzalez of Nicaragua when they clash in a title fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 17.

Villamor has watched Viloria train at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach, who is also helping the Pagara brothers, light welterweight No. 2 ranked Jason and un-beaten International Boxing Federation International su-per bantamweight champion Prince Albert, together with undefeated IBF Youth champi-on Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo who will also see action on Oct. 17 at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California.

“Viloria is in fine condition and moving well,” Villamor told The Standard/boxing-mirror.com. “He has shown great focus and determination and has demonstrated a great left hook with lots of power.”

This gives Villamor the feeling that while it’s a big fight, “Brian has a good chance against Gonzalez.

Villamor disclosed that WBO light flyweight cham-pion Donnie Nietes will arrive in Los Angeles with trainer Edmund Villamor on Oct. 1 and will have time to spar with Viloria, with Brian’s manager Gary Gittel-sohn indicating it would help both fighters as they prepare for their crucial fights on the same night.

MADRID—European cham-pions Barcelona begin a two-month stretch without Lionel Messi when Bayer Leverkusen visit the Camp Nou on Tues-day hoping to take advantage of the Argentine’s absence.

Messi suffered a torn left knee ligament as Barca squeezed past Las Palmas 2-1 at the weekend.

Luis Suarez carried the mantle after Messi’s departure with a double to ensure the Catalans got back to winning ways after being hammered 4-1 by Celta Vigo in their pre-vious outing.

And much more will be need-ed of Suarez and Neymar in the coming weeks as Barca’s stretched and injury-ridden squad faces up to eight games without Messi.

“He is the best in the world and logically we will miss him a lot,” said midfielder Sergio Busquets. AFP

he has been on the planet -- and saw him return to the top of the world rankings as number one.

Spieth, who won the Masters and the US Open this season and finished tied for fourth at the British Open and runner-up at the PGA Cham-pionship, said his ability to return to form after disappointing displays was one of the main takeaways of the year.

“It’s the greatest season I’ve ever had, obviously,” he said.

“But it’s one where I believe we took our game on course and off course to a level that I didn’t think would be possible at different times in my life.”

Spieth revealed he had been bit-terly disappointed at his failure to make the cut at The Players Cham-pionship in May following his as-tonishing victory in the Masters the previous month.

However, he recovered from that setback to win the US Open the fol-lowing month and set up his ulti-mately unsuccessful tilt at a golfing Grand Slam in the same year.

“What this season did is it proved that we can maintain that high level throughout the year, even when a couple weeks get off, you can get it back quickly,” Spieth said. AFP

Former tennis player Li Na of China (right) speaks to the public during the opening ceremony of the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wu-han, China’s Hubei province. AFP

WUHAN—China’s two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na opened a new 15,000-seat stadium at the Wuhan Open in central China Sunday to huge cheers from her hometown fans.

The new stadium has been built on the back of Li’s career success—she was the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles—that saw the popularity of tennis surge in China.

Huge applause echoed through the stadium as Li, now retired, stepped onto the court wearing a red dress and was joined by the tournament’s defending champi-on Petra Kvitova to open the new stadium officially.

Similar in capacity to Wim-bledon’s centre court, the new stadium is dwarfed only by the US Open’s Arthur Ashe stadium which has a capacity of 23,000. It has a retractable roof and a metal and glass structure reminiscent of the iconic “bird’s nest” stadium in Beijing, the centrepiece of the

KATHMANDU, Nepal—A Japanese climber with only one finger, who failed on the weekend to reach the top of Mount Everest in his latest attempt, will try again within days, expedition organisers said Monday.

Nobukazu Kuriki, who lost nine fin-gers to frostbite in 2012 on Everest, is the only climber trying to summit the world’s highest mountain this year af-ter a quake-triggered avalanche killed 18 people at base camp.

The April disaster saw hundreds of climbers abandon their bids to ascend the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak, marking a second spring season with virtually no one reaching the summit.

An avalanche in 2014 that killed 16 Nepali guides also sparked a shutdown that year.

The 33-year-old Kuriki, who was on his fifth attempt to climb Everest, de-scended in the early hours of Sunday fearing he would not return alive if he kept climbing. AFP

2008 Olympics.Czech Kvitova, the world number

four, won the inaugural Women’s Ten-nis Association (WTA) Wuhan Open last year, and is joined for the 2015 edi-

tion by 18 of the world’s top 20.“I am very happy to be here again

and the stadium looks wonderful and I will try my best to fight for the title,” Kvitova said. AFP

Jordan Spieth of the United States poses on the 18th green after winning both the TOUR Championship By Coca-Cola and the FedExCup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, AFP

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t uesday : sept emb er 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Marapara a toughchallenge for field

Dennis: Button staying at McLaren

Lim, Patrimonio bagPCA tennis crowns

Rough and tumble. Running back Carlos Hyde (28) of the San Francisco 49ers is tackled in the end zone for a safety during the third quarter of the game NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. AFP

Men’s singles champion Alberto Lim Jr. and ladies’ singles’ titlist Clarice Patrimonio are shown with Philippine Columbian Association Open Organizing Committee Chairman Raul Diaz, PCA President Philip Ycasiano, and Cebuana Lhuillier Bank President Leo Escano.

SOUTHWOODS-Masters will try to stave off all-comers for the fifth straight year starting Oct. 8 over a layout that provides an entirely different challenge for the talented field in the 10th Philippine Airlines Ladies’ Interclub set in bustling Bacolod City.

ALBERTO ‘AJ’ Lim is nearly half Patrick John Tierro’s age, but he showed more maturity on the court as he seized the men’s singles’ title on a 6-3, 7-6 (5) vic-tory in the 34th Philippine Co-lumbian Association Open-Ce-buana Lhuillier Wildcard Event at the PCA Open clay courts in Paco, Manila.

On the ladies’ side, Clarice Patrimonio reached a milestone as she disposed off Maia Balce, 6-4, 6-3, to take home her first PCA crown after two runner-up finishes.

The 16-year-old Lim, who had to put a stop to Tierro’s late charge, is now the youngest PCA men’s champion in the event supported by Cebuana Lhuillier, Puma, Dunlop, The Philippine Star, Head, Babolat, Compass/IMOSTI and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao. He edged out 1982 winner Manny Tolentino by two months.

It got a little testy in the second set, admitted Lim.

“Sobrang pressured po ako dahil mabigat na kalaban si PJ. Nu’ng second set, talagang ibinuhos ko na lahat, nag-step up talaga ako and I am happy na na-kuha ko ang panalo,” said Lim,

who had a tough route to the fi-nals having to go through eight-time PCA champ Johnny Arcilla and before that Australian Open juniors’ doubles’ champion Fran-cis Casey Alcantara.

It was a different story for Patrimonio, who conducted a clinic in the second set to thwart Balce’s efforts.

“It wasn’t an easy game. Me-dyo marami akong errors sa first set, du’n siya nakakakuha ng puntos kaya I started minimizing my errors in the second set then pina-spin ko lang ‘yung serve ko,” said the beaming Patrimo-nio. “Sobrang sarap ng feeling na finally mailalagay na ‘yung pangalan ko sa Hall of Fame wall ng PCA. May Patrimonio nang nakalagay ‘dun kaya sobrang thankful ako.”

Patrimonio took home P20,000, while Balce bagged P10,000 in the tournament sup-ported by Whilpool/Fujidenzo, Broadway Motor Sales Corp. Coca-Cola Femsa Philippines, Tyrecorp Incorporated, Pearl Garden Hotel, Metro Global Holdings Corporation, Avida, PVL Restaurant, Mary Grace Foods, Inc., Seno Hardware and Wire Rope Corporation.

The Negros Occiden-tal Golf and Country Club, known formerly as the Marapara, is one of the toughest layouts there is in the coun-try and is expected to push everyone to the limit because of its tight fairways and tree-lined make up.

SW-Masters, which rallied to pip Cebu Country Club by a point last year at ravine-laden Alta Vista in Cebu, will be shooting to keep its domination of the field yet again, but this year’s venue gives no one an

edge and would require sharpness from every player.

Unlike Alta Vista, Marapara, which is relatively short by in-ternational standards, will punish shots that stray just a little off the fairways as its greens are much smaller, making approach shots difficult to stop with imperfect hits.

There will be a total of 19 teams seeing ac-tion in the three-day event where titles in the Championship, Found-ers, Sportswriters and

Friendship divisions are at stake.

Aside from Masters and CCC, the other par-ticipating clubs are the Alabang Country Club, Apo Golf and Country Club, Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club, Bacolod Golf and Country Club, Manila Golf Club, Iloilo Golf Ladies Club, Manila Southwoods Masters Team, Negros Occidental Golf Club, Pueblo de Oro Gold Team, Rancho Palos Verdes Golf Club, Val-ley Golfer and Country Club, Victorias Golf and

SUZUKA—Britain’s Jenson But-ton looks set to stay with McLar-en next season despite specula-tion of a rift with team boss Ron Dennis over contract talks.

The 35-year-old’s Formula One future was the subject of intense scrutiny at the Japanese Grand Prix over the weekend after sug-gesting he had fallen out of love with the sport.

But Dennis insisted after Sun-day’s Suzuka race -- where Button finished 16th a lap behind race winner Lewis Hamilton as the team’s woeful season continued -- that he had told Button he would be driving for McLaren in 2016.

“Yes (he will he here),” Dennis

told reporters. “Jenson has a two-year contract. I should have taken away any doubt of our commit-ment to him earlier than I did.

“I did not speak to him until Thursday,” added Dennis. “But at the end of the day it would have been more constructive if he had known I had no intention to exercise our op-tion to terminate his contract.”

The 2009 world champion But-ton had been linked to a move to the World Endurance Cham-pionship and even a new career in the media as presenter of the BBC’s motoring show Top Gear.

He joined McLaren in 2010 af-ter winning the title with Brawn and finished runner-up behind

Sebastian Vettel a year later.However, he has not reached

the podium since his last victory at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012 and has col-lected just six points in a night-mare 2015 for the Honda-pow-ered team.

Dennis, who only showed up in the Suzuka paddock on race day after struck down by a virus, also had to deal with a tantrum by Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard’s frustration boiled over after finishing out of the points in Japan, saying on team radio “it’s embarrassing, very embarrassing” as cars passed his underpowered McLaren on the straights. AFP

Country Club, Mactan Island Golf Club-Team B, Wack Wack Golf and Country Club,Del Mon-te Golf Club, Eagle Ridge (Ladies Group), Davao City Golf and the Club Lady Eagles Australian Golfers, the only foreign-based squad.

The Molave point sys-tem will be used for the event, according to tour-nament director Henry Arabelo.

A team captains’ meet-ing will be held on Oct. 7 to be followed by the ceremonial tee-off and captains’ tournament.

The event will be sponsored by Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Travelife, Business Mirror, Air-bus, Splash Philippines, Wealth Inc. and East Gate Publication.

A14T UESDAY: SEPT EMB ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

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Arum has been in talks with Khan’s handlers, while Koncz and Pacquiao, who met the World Boxing Coun-cil welterweight Silver cham-pion earlier this year in a London Gym and agreed to fight sometime this year, be-fore the lucrative Mayweath-er fight came along, have in-dicated a fight against Khan sometime in the first quarter of next year, is likely.

Arum, however, has one condition before a deal is done--Pacquiao must be checked out by the doctor, who operated on a torn ro-tator cuff in his right shoul-der last May 7, with the doc-tor giving him the clearance to fight.

Pacquiao himself has made it clear his injury is fully healed even as he continues

to play basketball to prove his injury had healed completely.

According to Koncz, the second choice is Interna-tional Boxing Federation champion Kell Brook.

Whoever the opponent is, the the fight will take place in Las Vegas, although Dubai has been mentioned as a possible venue.

Pacquiao and Khan used to train under Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Gym in Los An-geles and also in the Phil-ippine summer capital of Baguio City and have even sparred against each other, although there is a differ-ence of perception on who got the upper hand, with Roach insisting it was Pac-quiao, while Khan disputes the claim.

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

BOTH eight-division world champion Man-ny Pacquiao’s promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum and his longtime adviser Michael Koncz, agree that Britain’s Amir Khan is the best choice for the Filipino boxing icon’s re-turn to the ring following his disappointing May 2 loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Donaire-Quigg still possibleFIVE-DIVISION world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire is still in the picture for a possible title fight against World Boxing Association champion Scott Quigg, according to Sky Sports in Lon-don.

At the same time, Donaire’s manager Cameron Dunkin and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum have vir-tually given up on making the title, with Arum claiming that Quigg was asking for too much money, even though Donaire has told Arum not to wor-ry too much about his purse because he wants the fight.

Dunkin informed The Standard/boxing-mirror.com that he is

working on a possible clash for the vacant World Boxing Orga-nization title between Donaire, who is ranked No. 2, and the No. 1-ranked Cesar Juarez of Mexico.

Sky Sports reported that while new issues have cropped up in the negotiations to finalize a title showdown between Quigg and Internation-al Boxing Federation champion Carl Framp-ton, Donaire had been lined up as an alterna-tive opponent for Quigg, who opted not to defend his World Boxing Asso-ciation title in Novem-ber, while negotiations continue, and Frampton is yet to decide on a pos-sible clash with manda-tory challenger Shingo Wake.”

Quigg’s manager Eddie Hearn when asked about the re-maining obstacles for the fight, told Sky Sports: “We are slowly jumping over them, but it doesn’t mean we are there. But there is certainly a desire from both sides to make this fight happen. Originally Carl stated he would be happy to take a 60-40 split in Manchester, but now they have said it has to be a neutral venue.”

Meantime, manager Barry McGuigan, who handles Frampton’s ca-reer with his sons, had been non-committal about the Quigg fight, but Hearn remains optimistic about an agreement. Ronnie Nathanielsz

Khan is Pacman’s likeliest next foe

Bullpups, Junior Tigresses stay on topDEFENDING girls’ champion National University and Uni-versity of Santo Tomas opened their second-round campaigns on a winning note to stay on the joint leadership in the UAAP Season 78 high school volley-ball tournament over the long weekend at the Adamson Gym.

The Bullpups fashioned out a 25-18, 25-21, 21-15 victory over De La Salle-Zo-bel Sunday, while the Junior Tigresses on Friday made quick work of UP Integrated

School, 25-14, 25-10, 25-15.Boosting their respective

Final Four bids, NU and UST rose to 6-1, while La Salle-Zo-bel dropped to third place with a 5-3 mark.

The Alabang-based spikers began the second round with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-21 decision over Far Eastern University-Diliman.

University of the East, meanwhile, drubbed UPIS, 25-11, 25-6, 25-15, to bounce back from last Friday’s 22-25,

17-25, 15-25 loss to Adamson University.

The Junior Lady Warriors hold a 4-4 record in fourth place, a full game ahead of the Baby Falcons and the Baby Tamaraws, who are sharing fifth spot at 3-5.

In the boys’ division, NU streaked to its seventh straight win via a 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21 decision over FEU-Dili-man Sunday.

UE remained in second with a 6-1 slate following an easy 25-

9, 25-13, 25-13 win over UPIS Saturday.

The Baby Tamaraws, who opened the second round with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 win over the Junior Archers, are running third with a 5-3 mark.

Last season’s runner-up At-eneo posted twin victories against UST, 25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-12, and La Salle-Zobel, 25-17, 26-24, 25-14, to level its record to 4-4. The Blue Eaglets joined the Tiger Cubs in fourth place.

Chess champ. Genesis Mateo Borromeo (center) of Diaz College, Tanjay City displays his trophy and prizes as he poses with (from left) Shell Social Investment and Social Performance Manager Melanie Bularan, runner-up Dale Bernardo of Far Eastern University, top female player Jesca Docena of Wesleyan College of Manila and FIDE Master and Shell Active Chess alumnus Randy Segarra during awards rites of the 23rd Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship grand finals at SM Megamall recently. Bor-romeo won the juniors’ crown in his very first stint in the Shell Active Chess.

The Philippines’ eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao waves to his supporters upon his arrival at the “Philippine Festa” in Tokyo. Pacquiao said he would open a gym in Tokyo. AFP

Gilas...From A16

naturalized star An-dray Blatche still con-tributed heavily, scor-ing 18 points with seven rebounds and four steals for the Phil-ippines’ cause.

Just like what they’ve been doing consistently throughout the tourna-ment, Gilas’ newcom-ers and rising stars Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva again provided the needed

support, scoring 15 and 13 points, respectively, off the bench.

The win was a sweet revenge for the Philip-pines since Iran handed a textbook beatdown on the Filipinos in their clash for the championship two years ago in Manila.

The low-post de-fense of the Filipinos on Iranian star Hamed Haddadi finally clicked as they limited the for-mer NBA player to only 10 points.

Nikkah Bahrami led Iran with 21 points.

A15T UESDAY : SEPT EMB ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

[email protected]

Eagles a tough act to follow

“We didn’t really expect to score a sweep, we just want to gain experience from participating,” said Almandro moments a� er his Eagles brought down the National U Bulldogs, 25-23, 25-21, 38-40, 25-19, for the second straight time to complete a 13-game sweep at � e Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

“I guess we just made history and we hope this would last for a time,” he added.

Part of that feat was Marck Espejo, whose conference-long exploits netted the crisp-hitting Eagle the Finals MVP and Con-ference MVP honors.

But Espejo has opted to down play his role, saying it was total team effort from stat to finish.

“I couldn’t have won any of these individual awards without the help of my coach and the whole team. � is championship was won by the whole team, not

ATENEO coach Oliver Almadro believes the Eagles’ amazing 13-game sweep of the inaugu-ral Spikers’ Turf Collegiate Conference crown will last for years given the level of competition in the country’s men’s volleyball.

Perpetual triesto move closerto Final 4 berthBy Peter Atencio

THE University of Perpetual Help Altas seek a step closer to at least a tie for a Fi-nal Four berth when they battle the San Sebastian Stags at 2 p.m., today, even as the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers try to improve their chances for a spot in the Final Four against lowly Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates in today’s crucial doubleheader in the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the San Juan Arena.

Aric del Rosario said the Altas, who are currently at third with an 11-5 card, are looking to put a lock on a win that would give them a � rm grip on a berth in the Final Four a� er they were derailed by the loss to the Bombers, 60-62, last Fiday.

“We blew our chance in the last game. Hopefully, this time we can do it,” said del Rosario

� e Altas actually are second behind the San Beda Red Lions and the Letran Knights, who share the same 12-4 card for the lead.

Perpetual’s top gunner, reigning MVP Earl Scottie � ompson, is expected to go all out following a lackluster performance against the Heavy Bombers.

In that game, � ompson was held to just 12 points on a nightmarish four-of-15 shooting clip, but still came four assists short of another triple-double e� ort with 11 rebounds and six dimes, a� er registering a league record seven triple-doubles in the tournament.

Jose Rizal is currently tied with Mapua and Arellano at no. 4 on 10-6 marks and a win in their 4 p.m. duel with LPU would keep its Final Four hopes alive.

“We consider all our remaining games as do-or-die games,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses.

P0 M+

P0 M

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00

6/45 00-00-00-00-00-004 DIGITS 0-0-0-03 DIGITS 0-0-0

P0 M6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00

3 DIGITS 0-0-0

4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0

2 EZ2 0-0

LOTTO RESULTS

Abad sizzles in Pikit netfestYOUNG Danna Abad racked up three victories in straight-set fashions to emerge the winningest player in the Palawan Pawn-shop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis tournament at the Pikit Tennis Club in Pikit, Cotabato yesterday.

� e 14-year-old Abad upended top seed Ma. An-gelica Novis, 6-0. 6-2, to nail the girls’ 14-and-under crown, trounced Jazzelle Madis, 6-1, 6-2, for the 16-U title before the ris-ing Davao star rolled past Minette Bentillo, 6-0, 6-1, to claim the premier 18-U diadem.

“Danna has developed into one mean player by competing regularly in the Palawan Pawnshop circuit and we hope to produce

more young talents and in-spire more players through our series of tournaments nationwide,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castrol.

Kidapawan’s Je� erson Alqueza shared the spot-light by winning two titles in the boys’ side of the tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop in tight fashions, repulsing Mer-win Estrellado, 6-1, 5-7, 10-5, for the 18-U crown and turning back Kyle Ma-caraeg, 4-6, 6-4, 13-11, for the 16-U title in the tour-nament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Asso-ciation headed by president and Parañaque Mayor Ed-win Olivarez.

Eric Comendador, also of Kidapawan, took the boys’ 14-U plum with a

6-0, 6-0 romp over Rod-ick Litang, while younger brother JV Comendador pocketed the 12-U title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Kurt Haro.

Malita’s Ma. Angelica No-vis topped the girls’ 12-U class with a 6-1, 6-1 romp over M’lang Tenielle Madis, who stunned top seed Ce-dric Pamplona, 6-2, 6-0, to claim the 10-unisex crown in the tournament held in conjunction with the prov-ince’s 66th founding anni-versary celebrations.

“� is tournament is an eye opener for all of us and the province of Pikit and its LGUs thank Palawan Pawn-shop for bringing the circuit here for the � rst time not only to promote the sport but also to help develop our youth,” said Mayor Muhyryn

just by myself,” he said.Almadro agrees.“It’s not about individual ef-

forts, it’s about the team. � is is what’s good with this team, there are no superstars, we treat each other equally,” he said.

Almandro also cited the team’s resiliency as key to their domi-nant run.

“I’m very proud of the players. We would lose a set but my play-ers would make sure they would come back. � ey’re very resil-ient,” he said.

A� er the Spikers Turf, the Ea-gles set their sights on defending the UAAP crown they won also at the expense of the Bulldogs last season.

But Almadro cautioned his wards of complacency and that

the UAAP is an entirely di� erent arena.

“I told the players not because we won here, we would win the UAAP. We still have to work hard and play and pray hard,” he said. “Of course, our Spikers’ Turf will be a big help when we go to battle in the UAAP.”

But one thing is certain, the Eagles’ Spikers’ Turf romp, not to mention their last year’s title win, has made them the team to beat in the coming UAAP vol-ley wars.

“We will of course have the psychological edge against NU and the other UAAP teams be-cause of our win here,” said Es-pejo. “But it will still require hard work and determination for us to score a repeat.”

Sultan-Casi.� e tournament also

wrapped up the Mindanao swing of the nationwide circuit with action shi� ing to the Negros region start-ing with the Pontevedra leg

on Oct. 9-12, the Masskara Tennis Festival on Oct. 15-19 and the Pinta� ores Festi-val Open and Juniors tour-nament in San Carlos City on Oct. 23-Nov. 2.

JV Comendador and

Pamplona headline the cast in the boys’ 12-U section.

For details, call Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP or-ganizer and sports program development director at 0915-4046464.

Davao’s Danna Abad (center) holds her three trophies after a dominant campaign in the PPS-PEPP age group tennis tournament in Pikit, Cotabato. With her are (from left) coach Danny Catito, PPS-PEPP’s Myraflor Gavino, Mayor Muhyryn Sultan-Casi, and Pikit sports coordinator Michael Tobias.

Members of the Ateneo Eagles, led by coach Oliver Almadro (left) and MVP Marck Espejo (15) pose after completing their sweep of National U and the Spikers’ Turf Collegiate Conference crown last Sunday.


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

By Jeric Lopez

FINALLY, Gilas Pilipinas got the breakthrough win it was looking for.

TURN TO A15TURN TO A14

Pacman’snext foecould beKhan

Ateneo, NUassess chancesin volley finals

ATENEO and National University assess their chances in the coming sudden death for the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Con-ference crown as they banner the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum today at Shakey’s Malate.

Ateneo assistant coach Parley Tu-paz and NU mentor Roger Gorayeb will appear in the public sports fo-rum along with their respective key players to talk on their keenly await-ed Game 3 on Sunday.

Organizing Sports Vision presi-dent Ricky Palou will also grace the forum.

Also on hand are BEST Center founder and president Nic Jorge and Veronica Cruz, vice president for consumer marketing of Milo ready to drink, will appear in the public sports program to talk on the Best Center 3x3 basketball tournament, touted as the biggest 3x3 meet for the youth in the country.

The other half of the forum aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 and presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., will showcase the Powervit Agi-las as the newest Philippine team competing in the coming Asean Basketball League.

Representing the Agilas in the 10:30 a.m. session are Powervit pres-ident Dick Balajadia, team manager Sergei Bien Orillo, and coach Zaldy Realubit.

Eaglesa toughact tofollow

Jayson Castro was in his finest form, explod-ing for 26 points, three assists and three steals to spearhead the Philippines to a resounding 87-73 drubbing of erstwhile unbeaten defend-ing champion Iran in the second round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at the Changsa Social Work College’s Gymnasium in Chang-sa, China yesterday.

Facing its long-time tormentors in inter-national play and a legit powerhouse squad, Gilas played with a lot of fire and urgency to send a huge statement to Iran and other

SPORTS

Gilas brings downmighty Iran squad

countries vying for the Asian dia-dem.

As a result, Gilas now sits at the top of Group E after a fourth straight victory, carrying a 3-1 slate to tie Iran.

The Philippines will conclude its second-round campaign today against India at 2:30 p.m. in the same venue and can clinch the top seed in the group should it register a fifth straight victory.

The win also formalized Smart Gilas’ en-try to the next round and allowed the Phil-ippines to avoid a quarterfinal clash against Group F against likely top seed and another Asian powerhouse China.

Down by 10 points early in the third, Smart Gilas didn’t get rattled and instead rose to the occasion with a blistering third-

quarter surge that turned the tides around completely.

After trailing, 37-47, with more than eight minutes left in the third, the Philippines exploded to manufacture a pivotal 28-13 blast

to end the period and enter the fourth with a 65-60 advantage.

With momentum on its side, Smart Gilas used a 15-7 run to open the fourth and build a comfortable double-digit lead, 80-67, after Castro’s basket with just 3:12 remaining.

That proved to be the closing blitz as Gilas Pilipinas held on to list the impressive win, while Iran was unable to put a threat any-more in the waning minutes.

Despite playing with a minor ankle in-jury and being saddled with two early fouls,

Game today (2nd Round - Changsa Social Work College’s

Gymnasium)2:30 p.m. - Smart Gilas

Pilipinas vs. India

Continued on A14

Iran’s Hamed Haddadi (left) attacks the basket and gets fouled in the process by fellow former NBA star Andray Blatche of the Philippines in a FIBA game won by the Filipinos, 87-73. FIBA.COM

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

TUESDAY: SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

[email protected]@gmail.com

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

SMC plans more hydro projectsBUSINESS

Ongpin: Meralco shares sale to Global 5000 a ‘great deal’

Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasMonday, September 28, 2015

Foreign exchange rateCurrency Unit US Dollar PesoUnited States Dollar 1.000000 46.9020

Japan Yen 0.008302 0.3894

UK Pound 1.520500 71.3145

Hong Kong Dollar 0.129029 6.0517

Switzerland Franc 1.022704 47.9669

Canada Dollar 0.750694 35.2090

Singapore Dollar 0.701557 32.9044

Australia Dollar 0.702001 32.9253

Bahrain Dinar 2.651113 124.3425

Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266667 12.5072

Brunei Dollar 0.699105 32.7894

Indonesia Rupiah 0.000068 0.0032

Thailand Baht 0.027609 1.2949

UAE Dirham 0.272309 12.7718

Euro Euro 1.121100 52.5818

Korea Won 0.000840 0.0394

China Yuan 0.156878 7.3579

India Rupee 0.015122 0.7093

Malaysia Ringgit 0.228050 10.6960

New Zealand Dollar 0.636618 29.8587

Taiwan Dollar 0.030261 1.4193 Source: PDS Bridge

6,815.59101.96

Closing September 28, 2015PSe comPoSite index

43.50

44.60

45.40

46.20

47.00

HIGH P46.770 LOW P46.865 AVERAGE P46.818

Closing SEPTEMBER 28, 2015PeSo-dollar rate

VOLUME 465.660M

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 Pilipinas

oilPriceS today

P435.00-P640.00LPG/11-kg tank

P36.00-P43.95Unleaded Gasoline

P25.05-P28.40Diesel

P34.55-P39.15Kerosene

P20.75-P21.75Auto LPG

todayP25.05-P28.40

P34.55-P39.15

P20.75-P21.75

PP36.00-P43.95

8000

7700

7400

7100

6800

6500

P46.785CLOSE

SME ministerial meeting. Trade Secretary and chairman of the Asia-Pacifi c Economic Cooperation Small and Medium Enterprise Min-isterial Meeting Secretary Gregory Domingo and other SME ministers pose on Sept. 25, 2015 at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City. Domingo said he looks forward to discussions endorsing the Iloilo Initiative, which will provide a bigger voice and better opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

STRATEGIC Power Development Corp., a unit controlled by conglomerate San Miguel Corp., plans to put up more pumped storage hydro power projects with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts in Luzon.

� e company received approval from the Energy Department to conduct a grid impact study for the planned pump storage proj-ects in Itogon, Benguet province.

� e projects include the San Roque Upper East Pumped Stor-age hydropower with a capacity of 600 MW and the 400-MW San Roque Upper West Pumped Stor-age hydro power.

Strategic Power also received approval to conduct a grid impact study for the San Roque Optimi-zation Hydropower project in San

Manuel, Pangasinan that will add another 400 MW of capacity.

The impact study to be con-ducted with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines will deter-mine the capability of the grid to absorb the additional power capacities.

Records from the Energy De-partment earlier showed that Strategic Power, the independent power producer administrator of the 345-MW San Roque hydro project in San Manuel, Pangas-inan, was conducting “ongoing

study and permitting” for the 400-MW San Roque West Pump Storage hydro project.

Strategic Power trades the elec-tricity output of the San Roque hydro facility, while San Roque Power Corp., the joint venture of Marubeni Corp. and Kansai Elec-tric Power Co. Ltd., operates the plant.

� e San Roque hydro plant, de-signed as a build-operate-transfer project, holds a 25-year power purchase agreement with Nation-al Power Corp.

San Miguel won the right to manage the supply contract of the San Roque plant in 2009 with a $450-million bid. � e company has been expanding its portfolio of hydro power projects.

San Miguel holds a 60-percent stake in the 218 MW Angat hydro power plant in Bulacan.

San Miguel, through Strategic

Power, plans to establish a 200-MW pumped storage hydro proj-ect in Aklan. It is also pursuing a 500-MW pumped storage hydro power project in Aurora province. Strategic Power has sought the approval of the Energy Depart-ment for the 500-MW Dingalan pumped storage hydro plant in Dingalan, Aurora.

� e project is a part of the com-pany’s plan to develop up to 3,000 MW of hydro power projects in the country, a source said.

San Miguel is currently build-ing coal power projects in Bata-an and Mindanao which are in various stages of development. It plans to build coal plants in Cebu and Panay.

� e Energy Department ap-proved last year the application of Strategic Power for a 200-MW pumped storage hydro project in Aklan.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

BUSINESSMAN and former trade minister Roberto Ong-pin said the controversial sale of government shares in Ma-nila Electric Co. was a “great deal” for the government � -nancial institutions.

Ongpin in a statement ques-tioned why he was being sin-gled out among the 20 individ-uals being investigated by the O� ce of the Ombudsman over the P9-billion Meralco deal.

“It is patently uncalled for and unfair,” Ongpin said.

Ongpin said the market price of Meralco was P57 when the GFIs sold their stake to Global 5000 in 2009,

Global 5000, however, of-fered to acquire the shares at P90 apiece, or a 57.8-percent premium over the stock’s cur-rent market price.

“Moreover, the cost of ac-quisition of these shares by the GFIs was less than P20. So they were happy to do this transac-tion which enabled them quin-tuple their investment. It was obviously a great deal for the GFIs,” Ongpin said.

He clari� ed Global 5000 was not “an Ongpin company,” but rather an investment vehicle of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and � ve others directors that was formed to acquire the Meralco shares held by the GFIs.

Other Global 5000 directors were Ongpin, businessman Iñigo Zobel, condiments king Joselito Campos Jr.,and two other San Miguel representa-tives.

“There is nothing irregular about a major acquiring com-pany to use an acquisition ve-

hicle; it is standard practice. As a matter of fact, the own-ership of PLDT [Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.] and MPIC [Metro Pa-cific Investments Corp.] in Meralco, which is now the controlling shareholder group, is held by a similar acquisition company called Beacon,” Ongpin said.

Ongpin said the GFIs did not doubt the � nancial capa-bility of Global 5000 because they knew it was a San Miguel acquisition vehicle.

“At no time did I bene� cially

own a single share of Meralco. I was only acting on behalf of San Miguel in being a director of Global 5000 as well as Iñigo Zobel, Joselito Campos Jr. and two other San Miguel nomi-nees,” Ongpin said.

� e O� ce of the Ombuds-man last week said it would investigate Ongpin and sev-eral of his associates as well as former executives of the GFIs involved in the Meralco deal for anti-gra� practices in con-nection with the block sale of Meralco shares to Global 5000 in 2008 to 2009.


BUSINESSTUESDAY: SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Monday, SepteMber 28, 2015

FINANCIAL7.88 2.5 AG Finance 2.55 2.64 2.43 2.62 2.75 78,000 100.0075.3 66 Asia United Bank 69 69.25 69 69.1 0.14 6,850 466,343.00124.4 88.05 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 103.00 103.30 101.00 102.00 -0.97 2,819,540 25,607,095107 88.1 Bank of PI 82.50 83.40 80.05 80.05 -2.97 1,295,770 -48,358,516.0056.5 45.45 China Bank 41.95 41.95 41.8 41.8 -0.36 31,000 -145,640.002.49 1.97 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.40 2.50 2.48 2.50 4.17 50,000 4.2 1.68 Bright Kindle Resources 1.29 1.37 1.37 1.37 6.20 1,000 17 12.02 COL Financial 15.7 15.7 15.2 15.2 -3.18 3,800 30.45 19.6 Eastwest Bank 19.32 20 19.34 19.84 2.69 22,300 0.92 0.74 First Abacus 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.64 -1.54 24,000 1.01 0.225 MEDCO Holdings 0.650 0.770 0.630 0.700 7.69 29,374,000 20,100.00100 78 Metrobank 81.5 81.9 80.25 80.25 -1.53 876,630 -44,567,078.5030.5 17.8 PB Bank 16.68 16.70 16.58 16.60 -0.48 136,900 -1,662,480.0075 58 Phil Bank of Comm 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 0.00 200 91.5 62 Phil. National Bank 50.15 51.45 50.00 50.00 -0.30 65,430 -2,618,595.50137 88.35 Phil. Savings Bank 100 104 101 104 4.00 5,770 102,000.0080 52 Philippine trust Co. 150 175 175 175 16.67 10 361.2 276 PSE Inc. 295 295 294.8 295 0.00 610 57 41 RCBC À’ 30.9 31.2 30.9 31.15 0.81 64,300 -540,575180 118.2 Security Bank 137.6 140.2 138 139 1.02 183,800 6,700,784.001700 1200 Sun Life Financial 1430.00 1430.00 1415.00 1415.00 -1.05 225 124 59 Union Bank 51.20 52.00 51.10 51.10 -0.20 6,110 -84,315.003.26 2.65 Vantage Equities 2.95 2.95 2.95 2.95 0.00 1,000

INDUSTRIAL47 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp. 43.5 43.75 42.2 42.2 -2.99 1,435,000 -35,493,790.002.36 1.86 Alsons Cons. 1.7 1.67 1.56 1.57 -7.65 2,540,000 15.3 7.92 Asiabest Group 10.6 11 10.6 10.7 0.94 24,900 20.6 15.32 Century Food 16.76 16.8 16.56 16.62 -0.84 341,300 2,774,536.0036 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 25.75 26.1 25.1 26 0.97 577,000 65.8 29.15 Concepcion 41.6 41.6 41.6 41.6 0.00 1,100 2.97 1.5 Crown Asia 2.79 2.88 2.7 2.85 2.15 1,647,000 155,000.004.14 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 1.65 2.34 1.62 2.13 29.09 28,592,000 -265,570.0021.5 10.72 Del Monte 9.99 10 9.99 10 0.10 73,200 9,990.0021.6 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 10.460 10.480 10.2 10.200 -2.49 8,242,800 -11,949,826.0011.96 9.04 Emperador 8.00 7.91 7.71 7.75 -3.13 393,900 260,848.009.13 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.89 6.14 5.65 5.65 -4.07 17,277,500 -42,846,460.0011.8 8.86 EEI 7.68 7.80 7.65 7.70 0.26 37,200 70.002.89 1.06 Euro-Med Lab 1.97 1.96 1.94 1.94 -1.52 15,000 17 8.61 Federal Res. Inv. Group 13.48 12.98 12.2 12.98 -3.71 29,400 31.8 20.2 First Gen Corp. 22.6 22.75 22.05 22.05 -2.43 1,297,500 -25,253,055.00109 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 66 68 65.75 66 0.00 92,450 -2,857,743.5020.75 13.86 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.50 12.50 12.50 12.50 0.00 5,200 15.3 13.24 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.00 13.00 12.10 12.90 -0.77 26,500 -257,412.009.4 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.72 5.73 5.65 5.65 -1.22 442,700 1,387,982.000.98 0.395 Ionics Inc 3.120 4.180 3.190 3.780 21.15 86,187,000 886,780.00241 173 Jollibee Foods Corp. 187.00 188.30 186.10 188.00 0.53 323,130 -21,350,414.003.95 2.3 LMG Chemicals 2.2 2.3 2.08 2.1 -4.55 59,000 4 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 5.34 5.4 4.7 5.3 -0.75 112,400 33.9 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 21.75 22.3 21.75 22.2 2.07 634,200 -2,905,675.0090 17.3 Maxs Group 21.7 21.75 21.2 21.75 0.23 49,200 13.26 5.88 Megawide 5.51 5.6 5.51 5.51 0.00 19,600 293 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co À’ 293.00 299.00 290.00 290.00 -1.02 536,260 68,229,032.005 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 3.83 3.83 3.82 3.82 -0.26 3,000 5.25 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.1 4.1 4.08 4.09 -0.24 3,740,000 188,560.0012.98 8.45 Petron Corporation 6.90 7.05 6.88 7.05 2.17 1,777,700 2,693,213.0015 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.34 11.34 11.34 11.34 0.00 500 7.03 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.34 3.34 3.20 3.34 0.00 59,000 3.4 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 2.10 2.03 1.96 1.96 -6.67 273,000 -35,340.004.5 1 Pryce Corp. À’ 2.1 2.15 2.08 2.08 -0.95 254,000 6.3 4.02 RFM Corporation 4.03 4.06 4.02 4.02 -0.25 849,000 2,068,340.007.86 1.65 Roxas and Co. 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 0.00 55,000 7.34 5.9 Roxas Holdings 5.48 5.48 5.48 5.48 0.00 500 238 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 132 139.8 134 136 3.03 24,910 158,863.005.5 4.1 SPC Power Corp. 3.81 3.9 3.9 3.9 2.36 5,000 3.28 1.55 Splash Corporation 2.28 2.25 2.16 2.25 -1.32 880,000 34,880.000.315 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.145 0.150 0.142 0.143 -1.38 5,960,000 155,780.002.18 1.02 TKC Steel Corp. 0.91 0.98 0.91 0.91 0.00 70,000 -4,900.002.65 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 1.89 1.93 1.84 1.87 -1.06 2,270,000 2,515,150.00234 152 Universal Robina 192 188 185.5 186.3 -2.97 1,950,420 -58,431,681.005.28 4.28 Victorias Milling 4.62 4.62 4.62 4.62 0.00 66,000 254,100.001.3 0.640 Vitarich Corp. 0.68 0.7 0.66 0.7 2.94 3,840,000 476,000.002.17 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.04 1.06 1.04 1.06 1.92 133,000

HOLDING FIRMS0.59 0.44 Abacus Cons. À’ 0.430 0.430 0.430 0.430 0.00 30,000 59.2 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 57.9000 58.2000 56.5500 57.5500 -0.60 551,420 1,694,589.5030.05 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 18.14 18.20 16.54 16.96 -6.50 15,907,500 -96,826,104.007.39 6.62 Anscor À’ 6.39 6.40 6.01 6.40 0.16 56,400 3.4 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.235 0.236 0.232 0.232 -1.28 880,000 3.35 0.23 ATN Holdings B 0.255 0.23 0.233 0.233 -8.63 340,000 823.5 634.5 Ayala Corp À’ 740 750 743 744 0.54 139,880 -66,637,575.0010.2 7.390 Cosco Capital 6.79 6.95 6.8 6.89 1.47 602,500 1,996,610.0084 12.8 DMCI Holdings 12.40 12.32 11.80 11.80 -4.84 2,526,800 -16,298,930.000.66 0.152 Forum Pacific 0.224 0.226 0.215 0.217 -3.13 730,000 1455 837 GT Capital 1235 1280 1251 1260 2.02 131,065 -18,866,430.007.5 5.3 House of Inv. 5.95 5.97 5.95 5.95 0.00 43,600 139,825.0076 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 68.70 70.15 68.85 69.75 1.53 1,332,190 -7,256,754.509.25 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.95 5.9 5.67 5.8 -2.52 2,506,500 3,031,481.000.85 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.69 0.73 0.67 0.7 1.45 1,067,000 17.3 12 LT Group 11.6 11.6 10.78 10.86 -6.38 5,500,300 -3,334,840.000.71 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings À’ 0.56 0.54 0.54 0.54 -3.57 109,000 5.53 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.98 4.98 4.89 4.9 -1.61 33,080,000 -48,800,860.006.55 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 8.2 8.2 7.81 8.2 0.00 1,518,600 -109,340.000.0670 0.030 Pacifica À’ 0.0350 0.0360 0.0340 0.0350 0.00 23,600,000 47,600.001.61 0.550 Prime Orion 1.730 1.740 1.710 1.720 -0.58 4,447,000 84.9 59.3 San Miguel Corp À’ 50.75 48.40 46.00 46.35 -8.67 355,330 -12,070,051.003.5 1.5 Seafront À’ 3.02 2.90 2.88 2.88 -4.64 34,000 974 751 SM Investments Inc. 880.00 885.50 855.00 860.00 -2.27 158,750 -69,336,795.001.66 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.18 1.19 1.18 1.19 0.85 147,000 156 80 Top Frontier 84.950 79.000 69.000 70.000 -17.60 169,290 -9,667,762.000.710 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3350 0.3750 0.3300 0.3500 4.48 21,230,000 -58,500.000.435 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.2210 0.2210 0.2020 0.2190 -0.90 580,000 0.510 0.310 Zeus Holdings 0.270 0.275 0.260 0.260 -3.70 690,000

P R O P E R T Y10.5 6.74 8990 HLDG 6.550 6.780 6.550 6.550 0.00 86,600 -15,427.001.99 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.62 0.62 0.60 0.61 -1.61 290,000 140.001.75 1.2 Araneta Prop À’ 1.100 1.100 1.100 1.100 0.00 36,000 41.4 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 34.00 34.65 33.15 33.15 -2.50 7,425,900 -64,749,070.005.6 3.36 Belle Corp. À’ 3.03 3.03 3 3.02 -0.33 860,000 135,920.005.59 4.96 Cebu Holdings 4.8 4.95 4.95 4.95 3.13 4,000 1.44 0.79 Century Property 0.57 0.59 0.55 0.56 -1.75 9,346,000 -3,938,790.000.201 0.083 Crown Equities Inc. 0.100 0.101 0.099 0.100 0.00 9,670,000 0.69 0.415 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.435 0.430 0.425 0.425 -2.30 700,000 97,750.0010.96 2.4 Double Dragon 21.15 22.15 20 21 -0.71 1,719,100 -11,906,805.000.97 0.83 Empire East Land 0.780 0.780 0.760 0.760 -2.56 1,145,000

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

Trading SummarySHARES VALUE

FINANCIAL 39,364,256 961,114,103.232INDUSTRIAL 173,278,143 1,356,023,517.49HOLDING FIRMS 120,446,307 1,327,609,944.28PROPERTY 85,638,499 623,554,268.08SERVICES 147,570,452 1,219,284,791.81MINING & OIL 387,890,856 141,270,012.824GRAND TOTAL 959,691,963 5,712,892,863.712

FINANCIAL 1,524.26 (DOWN) 18.91INDUSTRIAL 10,568.19 (DOWN) 183.54HOLDING FIRMS 6,366.67 (DOWN) 82.38PROPERTY 2,795.59 (DOWN) 27.94SERVICES 1,685.21 (DOWN) 20.43MINING & OIL 10,951.21 (DOWN) 46.00PSEI 6,815.59 (DOWN) 101.96All Shares Index 3,952.45 (DOWN) 38.63

Gainers: 60 Losers: 116; Unchanged: 43; Total: 219

STOCKS Close(P)

Change(%)

Keppel Properties 3.60 -25.00

Top Frontier 70.000 -17.60

IRipple E-Business Intl 62 -11.43

TA Petroleum 2.35 -10.31

IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.010 -9.09

San Miguel Corp À' 46.35 -8.67

ATN Holdings B 0.233 -8.63

Melco Crown 4.2 -8.50

Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.660 -8.33

Bloomberry 5.51 -7.86

Top LoSerSSTOCKS Close

(P)Change

(%)

Da Vinci Capital 2.13 29.09

Ionics Inc 3.780 21.15

Philippine trust Co. 175 16.67

Dizon 7.00 7.69

MEDCO Holdings 0.700 7.69

Acesite Hotel 1.18 6.31

Bright Kindle Resources 1.37 6.20

Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3500 4.48

BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.50 4.17

Phil. Savings Bank 104 4.00

Top gainerS

0.305 0.188 Ever Gotesco 0.170 0.167 0.165 0.165 -2.94 210,000 2.22 1.15 Global-Estate 1.03 1.03 1.01 1.01 -1.94 1,802,000 -206,040.002.1 1.42 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.74 1.76 1.73 1.75 0.57 5,216,000 204,320.001.8 1.27 Interport À’ 1.33 1.38 1.24 1.35 1.50 3,066,000 8.4 3.1 Keppel Properties 4.80 3.60 3.26 3.60 -25.00 3,000 5.94 4.13 Megaworld 4.25 4.35 4.27 4.34 2.12 29,657,000 49,176,770.000.180 0.090 MRC Allied Ind. 0.092 0.102 0.092 0.092 0.00 890,000 0.470 0.290 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.2850 0.2850 0.2850 0.2850 0.00 370,000 0.72 0.39 Phil. Realty À’ 0.3850 0.3850 0.3850 0.3850 0.00 10,000 8.54 2.69 Primex Corp. 8.35 8.24 7.66 7.97 -4.55 1,247,900 310,788.0031.8 22.15 Robinson’s Land `B’ 28.55 28.50 27.85 27.85 -2.45 2,723,500 27,182,830.002.29 1.6 Rockwell 1.55 1.58 1.55 1.55 0.00 28,000 4.9 3.1 Shang Properties Inc. 3.15 3.16 3.16 3.16 0.32 14,000 21.35 15.08 SM Prime Holdings 19.84 20.35 19.90 19.96 0.60 3,542,300 17,383,246.001.06 0.69 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.72 0.00 462,000 7.56 3.38 Starmalls 8.37 8.3 7.8 8.3 -0.84 900 1.62 0.83 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.720 0.700 0.660 0.660 -8.33 308,000 8.59 5.73 Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.150 5.180 4.890 5.080 -1.36 4,799,800 -4,565,820.00

S E R V I C E S10.5 1.97 2GO Group’ 8 8.15 8.06 8.14 1.75 137,500 66 35.2 ABS-CBN 60 60.25 59.9 60 0.00 60,930 1.44 1 Acesite Hotel 1.11 1.18 1.18 1.18 6.31 3,000 1.09 0.63 APC Group, Inc. 0.560 0.560 0.540 0.540 -3.57 309,000 200.0015.82 8.6 Bloomberry 5.98 5.95 5.47 5.51 -7.86 16,965,700 -7,970,083.000.1430 0.0770 Boulevard Holdings 0.0580 0.0600 0.0550 0.0550 -5.17 43,570,000 5.06 2.95 Calata Corp. 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.6 0.00 91,000 99.1 56.1 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 86.5 88.5 86.5 87.2 0.81 111,450 -1,448,818.5012.3 10.14 Centro Esc. Univ. 10 10 10 10 0.00 3,500 2.6 1.6 Discovery World 1.8 1.79 1.79 1.79 -0.56 1,000 7.67 4.8 DFNN Inc. 5.00 5.05 4.85 4.85 -3.00 303,200 -14,940.002720 1600 Globe Telecom 2380 2402 2330 2370 -0.42 105,925 -56,799,090.008.41 5.95 GMA Network Inc. 6.30 6.35 6.28 6.35 0.79 17,900 1.97 1.23 Harbor Star 1.26 1.31 1.22 1.22 -3.17 106,000 119.5 102.6 I.C.T.S.I. 77 78.5 76.15 76.7 -0.39 2,008,790 -19,412,055.0012.5 8.72 IPeople Inc. À’ 11.94 11.4 11.4 11.4 -4.52 20,000 0.017 0.011 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.011 0.010 0.010 0.010 -9.09 11,600,000 17,000.000.8200 0.041 Island Info 0.191 0.192 0.182 0.186 -2.62 11,770,000 9,200.002.2800 1.200 ISM Communications 1.4200 1.4500 1.3900 1.4200 0.00 1,288,000 -113,600.005.93 2.34 Jackstones 2.15 2.31 2.05 2.05 -4.65 21,000 12.28 6.5 Leisure & Resorts 8.60 8.60 8.30 8.35 -2.91 205,800 852,192.003.32 1.91 Liberty Telecom 2.87 2.96 2.80 2.82 -1.74 549,000 159,000.002.53 1.01 Lorenzo Shipping 1.15 1.17 1.16 1.16 0.87 18,000 3.2 1.95 Macroasia Corp. 2.26 2.26 2.20 2.24 -0.88 37,000 1 0.650 Manila Bulletin 0.600 0.580 0.580 0.580 -3.33 17,000 2.46 1.8 Manila Jockey 2.06 2.05 2.05 2.05 -0.49 1,000 15.2 6 Melco Crown 4.59 4.56 4.15 4.2 -8.50 1,852,000 -2,441,340.000.62 0.335 MG Holdings 0.310 0.315 0.310 0.310 0.00 60,000 1.040 0.37 NOW Corp. 0.495 0.500 0.470 0.480 -3.03 310,000 -45,000.006.41 3 PAL Holdings Inc. 4.60 4.60 4.51 4.52 -1.74 26,000 -45,020.00185 79 Phil. Seven Corp. 96.00 95.80 95.80 95.80 -0.21 70 22.9 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 18.70 18.70 18.10 18.68 -0.11 23,200 -16,796.003486 2748 PLDT Common 2270.00 2272.00 2228.00 2228.00 -1.85 116,630 -57,790,330.000.760 0.435 PremiereHorizon 0.570 0.570 0.550 0.570 0.00 2,098,000 2.28 1.2 Premium Leisure 1.070 1.070 0.980 1.020 -4.67 26,687,000 -1,384,420.0046.05 31.45 Puregold 30.80 32.00 31.20 31.50 2.27 595,900 2,185,115.0090.1 60.55 Robinsons RTL 71.90 72.95 72.50 72.95 1.46 610,280 2,859,596.00 SBS Phil. Corp. 7.11 7.34 6.88 6.94 -2.39 7,334,800 81,317.0011.6 7.59 SSI Group 6.34 6.50 6.20 6.21 -2.05 1,913,800 -5,936,046.000.85 0.63 STI Holdings 0.49 0.50 0.48 0.49 0.00 7,480,000 -2,518,300.0010 5 Travellers 3.45 3.49 3.38 3.4 -1.45 6,844,000 -406,160.000.490 0.315 Waterfront Phils. 0.355 0.375 0.345 0.345 -2.82 160,000 1.9 1.14 Yehey 2.710 2.700 2.600 2.700 -0.37 242,000

MINING & OIL0.0098 0.0043 Abra Mining 0.0055 0.0057 0.0054 0.0057 3.64 303,000,000 5.45 1.72 Apex À’ 2.31 2.30 2.30 2.30 -0.43 165,000 17.24 6.47 Atlas Cons. À’ 4.73 4.95 4.71 4.84 2.33 28,000 58,220.0025 9.43 Atok-Big Wedge À’ 10.30 10.96 10.00 10.70 3.88 800 0.330 0.236 Basic Energy Corp. 0.188 0.187 0.187 0.187 -0.53 40,000 12.7 6.5 Benguet Corp À’ 6.9500 6.9400 6.8900 6.9400 -0.14 5,000 1.19 0.85 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 0.75 0.75 0.71 0.75 0.00 691,000 1.62 0.77 Coal Asia 0.66 0.66 0.62 0.62 -6.06 226,000 9.5 5.99 Dizon 6.50 7.30 6.50 7.00 7.69 32,300 4.2 1.17 Ferronickel 1.01 1.04 1.01 1.01 0.00 6,839,000 -2,830,450.000.48 0.305 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.300 0.305 0.295 0.300 0.00 810,000 0.420 0.2130 Lepanto À’ 0.181 0.182 0.180 0.180 -0.55 6,610,000 0.440 0.2160 Lepanto `B’ 0.190 0.187 0.186 0.187 -1.58 530,000 0.022 0.013 Manila Mining À’ 0.010 0.010 0.0095 0.0100 0.00 23,000,000 0.023 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.00 21,900,000 3,600.008.2 3.240 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 2.1 2.1 2 2 -4.76 259,000 -93,590.0049.2 18.96 Nickelasia 7.18 7.19 6.86 7.06 -1.67 2,898,000 -161,159.004.27 2.11 Nihao Mineral Resources 2.9 2.95 2.89 2.9 0.00 609,000 1.030 0.365 Omico 0.6000 0.6300 0.5900 0.5900 -1.67 249,000 -59,000.003.06 1.54 Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.3500 1.3300 1.3100 1.3200 -2.22 41,000 7.67 5.4 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 3.86 3.86 3.78 3.78 -2.07 27,000 12.88 7.26 Philex À’ 5.00 5.000 4.920 4.95 -1.00 1,037,300 69,083.0010.42 2.27 PhilexPetroleum 1.38 1.380 1.340 1.35 -2.17 565,000 65,940.000.040 0.015 Philodrill Corp. À’ 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 0.00 15,300,000 420 115.9 Semirara Corp. 134.70 135.20 132.40 134.80 0.07 712,480 5,342,160.009 3.67 TA Petroleum 2.62 2.75 2.32 2.35 -10.31 1,713,000 3,280.00

PREFERRED70 33 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 59.9 60.35 59.95 60.35 0.75 36,240 110,187.50553 490 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 528 530 528 528 0.00 9,100 525 500 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 530 537 525 537 1.32 17,040 -6,801,305120 101.5 First Gen G 118.2 118.1 118.1 118.1 -0.08 400 515 480 GLOBE PREF P 527.5 528 521 527 -0.09 18,200 8.21 5.88 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.45 6.5 6.49 6.5 0.78 200,000 12.28 6.5 Leisure and Resort 1.1 1.11 1.11 1.11 0.91 100,000 111 101 MWIDE PREF 110 110 109 109 -0.91 16,000 1060 997 PCOR-Preferred A 1080 1080 1080 1080 0.00 30 PCOR-Preferred B 1100 1100 1100 1100 0.00 2,500 1047 1011 PF Pref 2 1025 1035 1030 1035 0.98 100 84.8 75 SMC Preferred C 81.2 81.5 81.2 81.2 0.00 174,600 SMC Preferred D 78 78.55 78 78.55 0.71 82,330 SMC Preferred E 77.5 78.5 77.5 78.5 1.29 247,840 9,967,938.00 SMC Preferred F 78.65 78.65 78.3 78.5 -0.19 894,480 559,574.501.34 1 Swift Pref 1.8 1.9 1.83 1.83 1.67 31,000

WARRANTS & BONDS6.98 0.8900 LR Warrant 3.040 3.010 2.880 2.900 -4.61 446,000

S M E15 3.5 Makati Fin. Corp. 3.48 3.4 3.36 3.36 -3.45 6,000 80.0088 13.5 IRipple E-Business Intl 70 71 60 62 -11.43 14,920 12.88 5.95 Xurpas 13.7 14.6 13.92 14.22 3.80 5,433,600 28,999,606.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS130.7 105.6 First Metro ETF 113.1 113.6 112.5 112.5 -0.53 48,930 9,048.00



B3

Stocks tumble; URC,Alliance Global drop

PLDT setto launche-cards ontoll roads

Globe pushes for all-inclusive peering arrangement with Internet firms

Asean forum speaker. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima speaks (seated left) in the Milken Asia Summit Panel forum moderated by Michael Milken. Purisima discussed how Asean integration and developing internal regional markets will help insulate the region from the market reforms in China and stressed that governments should keep macro fundamentals strong. Purisima is joined by Luhut Panjaitan, Indonesian chief of staff to the president and coordinating minister for security and political affairs

THE stock market tumbled Monday as inves-tors weighed the timing of an increase in US interest rates and Chinese industrial compa-nies’ profits slumped.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 101.96 points, or 1.5 percent, to P6,815.59 on a value turnover of P5.7 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 116 to 60, with 43 issues unchanged.

The likelihood of higher US rates could lead to capital out-flows from emerging markets, while the weak Chinese data clearly shows its economy is not on the road to recovery just yet, said Norico Gaman, head of re-search at Jakarta-based PT BNI Securities. However, with stock prices and valuations already hav-

ing dropped severely, investors with long-term investment hori-zon may start selectively buying

Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, skid-ded 3 percent to P186.30, while Alliance Global Group Inc. of ty-coon Andrew Tan lost 6.5 percent to P16.96.

Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, fell 3 percent to P80.05, while Bloomberry Resorts Corp. tumbled 7.9 percent to P5.51.

Shanghai, meanwhile, re-couped early losses despite more

disappointing China data.Dealers will closely watch the

release of key US data this week, including employment, that will provide a better idea of when the central bank will announce lift-off.

Thursday will also see the Bank of Japan release its Tankan survey of business confidence, with analysts forecasting a dip in reaction to China’s growth slow-down which has rattled global markets.

St Louis Fed chief James Bul-lard on Friday raised the prospect of a lift in US borrowing costs when he said he would “like to get going.” His comments reinforced the view that monetary policy would be tightened before 2016.

Fed boss Janet Yellen said

Thursday she expects a hike by year-end, pointing to recent strong data.

On Friday, the Commerce De-partment said the US economy grew 3.9 percent in April-June, up from the 3.7 percent originally stated thanks to a boost in invest-ment and consumer spending.

Attention will now turn to next Friday’s non-farm payrolls results, with a strong figure likely to rein-force calls for an early rate move.

On forex markets, the dollar rose against most emerging cur-rencies. The Malaysian ringgit lost 0.45 percent, Taiwan’s dollar shed 0.29 percent and the Thai baht was 0.31 percent lower. However, the Indian rupee and Indonesia’s ringgit edged up slightly from morning selling. With AFP

By Darwin G. Amojelar GLOBE Telecom Inc. is pushing for an all-inclusive Internet Pro-tocol peering among major Inter-net service providers in the coun-try to boost local Internet speed.

“From a technical perspective, localization is optimization. Any amount of traffic localized will contribute to access improvement and cost savings. However, given that around 80 percent of access content is foreign, there is mini-mal impact on Internet speed,” Globe lawyer Froilan Castelo said.

“What we need is an all-in-

clusive IP peering arrangement among all ISPs. Peering of PLDT clients with government sites won’t cut it,” he said.

The remaining 20 percent is Philippine traffic. This means domestic traffic originates in the Philippines and terminates in the Philippines.

However, of this 20 percent sup-posedly local traffic, up to 70 per-cent is routed outside the country, such as Asia, US and Europe, before returning to the Philippines.

Instead of getting routed direct-ly between origin and destination locally, traffic is routed outwards

through others networks, incur-ring additional IP transit costs, before the data is routed back to its target destination, thus causing delay in data transmission and ef-fectively slowing internet connec-tivity, Castelo said.

Globe issued the statement after rival Philippine Long Distance Tele-phone Co. signed an agreement with the Department of Science and Technology, which allows its clients to peer directly with govern-ment Web sites through the Philip-pine Open Internet Exchange.

PLDT’s arrangement with PHOpenIX does not require the

dominant carrier to exchange traffic with other ISPs via the lo-cal Internet exchange.

“Still, competition’s decision to connect with PHOpenIX is a step towards the right direction. At the end of the day, anything that will boost local internet speed is ben-eficial for the entire industry and we will be supportive of such ini-tiatives,” Castelo said.

Maintained by DOST ASTI (Advanced Science and Technol-ogy Institute), PHOpenIX is the only exchange in the Philippine Internet industry operated by a neutral institution that allows the

exchanges of Internet traffic in a free-market environment among local Internet and data service providers.

Globe, according to Castelo, was open to have IP peering ef-fected with its main competitor, whether by mandate of the gov-ernment or through a bilateral ar-rangement.

“Peering offers a variety of ad-vantages for our customers. As more and more of our customers shift to a digital lifestyle, we want to deliver as much traffic as possi-ble in a way that provides optimal user experience,” he said.

THE Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Group plans to launch an electronic payment card for north and south express-ways.

“Most likely in tollways by end of this year and retail trade next year,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said when asked about the company’s next move after of-fering PayMaya VisaCard for LRT and MRT3.

PayMaya Visa card with beep is a physical Visa card with a built-in beep wallet.

The three-in-one combination enables the public to enjoy the same benefits of the regular con-tactless beep card deployed under the Automated Fare Collection System for the country’s light railway transport system plus the convenience of getting an instant virtual Visa card for online shop-ping via the PayMaya mobile app and a physical card for transac-tions in any Visa merchant.

Introduced last August, Pay-Maya comes with a mobile app that can instantly provide a vir-tual Visa card that can be used for online payments, anytime, any-where—regardless of of one’s mo-bile operator and even if he does not have a bank account.

It also comes with a physical Visa card that can be used for purchases at any of the over 30 million establishments worldwide accepting Visa.

PayMaya is also strengthen-ing partnerships with eCom-merce sites, like Zalora, AirBNB and Philippine Airlines as well as face-to-face shopping with estab-lishments like SM and Robinsons Malls.

PLDT president and chief ex-ecutive Napoleon Nazareno said revenues in the third quarter would be “better” than last year.

“The trend in the past two months of the quarter is slightly better than last year,” he said.

Nazareno said both wireless and fixed-line businesses were expected to drive growth in the third quarter.

The country’s largest telecommu-nications firm earlier reported a net income of P18.9 billion in the Janu-ary-to-June period this year, down from P19.8 billion year-on-year.

Darwin G. Amojelar

B4

Q4 borrowing capped at P135b

Philip Morris pursues Thailand tax claims

Energyupbeat on gaspipeline

CCA-Miriam partnership. The country’s premier school for professional culinary education, the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila, and Miriam College sign an exclusive partnership agreement to cultivate the culture of excellence and innovation through solid academic foundation. Sealing the agreement are (from left) CCA chancellor for education Veritas Luna, chief executive Marinela Trinidad and president Susana Guerrero, Miriam College president Rosario Lapus, Dean of the Department of Entrepreneurship Antonio Lopez and Department of Entrepreneurship chairperson Maria Lusa Gatchalian. CCA, Manila will provide the culinary component to the new curriculum of Miriam’s BS Entrepreneurship Program.

By Othel V. Campos

THE Philippines may file a trade complaint against Thai-land for refusing to imple-ment a World Trade Organi-zation ruling on a case filed and won by Philip Morris In-ternational Fortune Tobacco Corp. in 2011.

WTO panelist and chief ex-ecutive of T/A Trade Advisory Center Inc. Anthony Abad said the Philippines can complain on Thailand’s inaction about the WTO decision instruct-ing Thailand to create reforms on its customs valuations and taxes. T/A Trade is the local counsel of Philip Morris in the Philippines.

“The Philippines has not act-ed on the implementation case yet. If [it] feels within a reason-able period that the decision is

not yet implemented, the mem-ber can file an implementation case at the WTO,” he said.

He said the Philippines could tap diplomatic channels to help Philip Morris follow up on its tax claims with the Thailand customs and valuation agency.

The Trade Department, meanwhile, is giving Thailand time to implement the WTO ruling.

The WTO ruled in favor of the Philippines on a cigarette excise tax case filed in Thai-land.

Abad said the hesitation for filing an implementation case might stem from Bangkok’s re-luctance to foot the bill.

“The Philippine government can initiate on its own but usu-ally driven by the private sec-tor. The case was a Customs case filed by Thailand against

Philip Morris, which is a case of discriminatory excise tax,” said Abad.

The WTO said the excise tax imposed in imported cigarettes should have similar rates im-posed in Thailand.

The Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO ruled with finality in 2011 that Thailand unfairly treated cigarette im-ports from the Philippines between August 2006 and September 2007. The Philip-pines filed a complaint with the WTO on behalf of Philip Morris Philippines in 2008 after the Thai government unfairly treated imported cigarette brands, especially in terms of the customs valu-ation practices, excise tax, health tax, TV tax, value-added tax regime, retail li-censing requirements and im-

port guarantees imposed on cigarette importers. A Philip-pine official said the action of Thailand to indict Philip Morris officials may not conform with nor it was an implementation of the WTO decision compensating Philip Morris Philippines. He said while Thailand might have complied with recommen-dations of the DSB, a crimi-nal case invoking entries of cigarette imports covered by the WTO ruling would in ef-fect negate the recommenda-tions of the world body. He said all member-states must adhere to the WTO rules, cit-ing that Thailand so far com-plied with nine out of the 10 recommendations set by the WTO ruling in favor of ciga-rette imports from the Philip-pines.

THE Bureau of Treasury said Monday it will keep a domestic borrowing cap of P135 bil-lion in the last quarter of the year.

The agency said in a notice posted in its Web site it main-tained the fourth-quarter local borrowing ceiling through the auction of treasury bills and bonds in October to December 2015 to finance this year’s bud-get deficit.

The government plans to sell P20 billion worth of 91-, 182-, and 364-day debt papers on Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 9. It will also sell P25 billion worth of treasury bonds through auc-tions on Oct. 22, Nov. 20 and Dec. 17.

The auction of the vari-ous debt paper with short and

long tenors were the same as programmed in the first three quarters of the year.

The government is keeping a borrowing mix of 14 percent foreign and 86 percent domes-tic in 2015.

The government plans to borrow about P95 billion from the international market and P605.1 billion from domestic sources.

The government in 2014 bor-rowed P369 billion—the low-est amount since P275 billion in 2002. The gross borrowings last year were also 33.5 percent lower than P555 billion in 2013.

Meanwhile, outstanding debt papers issued by the national government slightly declined to P3.855 trillion in the January-to-August period from P3.858 trillion recorded a month ago, as more treasury bonds matured.

Government debt increased P160 billion or 2.9 percent over a 12-month period to a record P5.84 trillion in July, as the Treasury issued more securities and the weak peso inflated the value of foreign currency debt.

Data from the Treasury showed outstanding govern-ment debt jumped P160 billion from P5.68 trillion in July 2014.

Both domestic and foreign debt climbed, as borrowings continued to outpace debt pay-ments. Domestic debt rose 2.7 percent in July to P3.86 tril-

lion from a year ago. It also in-creased by P19.56 billion from the end-June figure due to the net issuance of government se-curities amounting to P19.36 billion and upward adjustment of P200 million in the peso val-ue of onshore dollar bonds.

Foreign debt rose 3.2 percent year-on-year to P1.99 trillion, on the back of weaker peso which inflated the value of dol-lar debt by P17.49 billion, the Treasury said.

“This was tempered by the downward revaluation of third currency debt against peso equivalent to P6.73 billion. Net availment for the month though not significant contributed to P0.68 billion increase in exter-nal debt,” The Treasury said.

Gabrielle H. Binaday

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Energy Department is op-timistic the bidding and award for the 100-kilometer Batangas-Manila natural gas pipeline will push through during the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

“The ideal is within this ad-ministration it will be awarded. So we can complete the pic-ture for a balanced energy mix with [renewable energy], coal and natural gas. Nat gas can-not move without the necessary infrastructure,” Energy officer-in-charge Zenaida Monsada told reporters.

Monsada said the previously approved Bat-Man natural gas pipeline design by the National Economic and Development Board-Investment Coordinat-ing Council carried certain provisions which had to be clarified.

The energy official said the approved design included right-of-way concerns since the line was proposed to go all the way to Navotas from Sucat.

“There are also possible con-flicts to the expansion of PNR [Philippine National Railway],” she said.

Monsada said the Neda-ICC would have to review the Bat-Man project once the depart-ment submitted report on the study of Rebel Group Interna-tional B.V., which was tasked by the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines.



BUSINESS B5

HSBC trims growth forecast

The $9 computer

Call center firms bullish on employment

WHAT can you buy for $9 (or about P420)? You could get a New York’s Fin-est pizza from Yellow Cab or two up-sized Whopper meals at Burger King. Or you could buy CHIP, the world’s first $9 computer, which began shipping this month.

To fund production of CHIP, the Next Thing Co. launched a Kick-starter campaign back in May with a modest goal to raise $50,000 in 30 days. By the time the funding period ended on June 6, almost 40,000 backers chipped in $9 or more to raise $2 million—more than 40 times the company’s original target.

This month, the first batch of CHIPS were shipped to Kickstarter backers, and a second batch is scheduled to go out in October.

The tiny (2.3-inch by 1.5-inch) computer comes with a 1GHz All-winner A13-compatible system on a chip; a separate graphics process-ing unit (GPU); 512 megabytes of DDR3 RAM; 4 gigabytes of flash storage; and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. CHIP also has a Micro-USB and a standard USB port.

CHIP uses a built-in composite video port that enables you to con-nect it to a TV, but Next Thing has also designed adapters for VGA and HDMI monitors. It isn’t clear, however, when these adapters will be available or how much they will cost. It would certainly seem to defeat the purpose of designing a cheap computer if the adapters cost more than $9.

CHIP draws power from an attached lithium-ion polymer battery, runs on wired 5V DC input power, or can be powered through the same Micro-USB port that is used for battery charging.

To connect a keyboard and a mouse, Next Thing suggests attaching a USB keyboard with an accessory USB port on it for a wired mouse. Another option would be to use a wireless (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) mouse.

The computer has its own tiny power or reset button and a status LED on the board itself.

CHIP comes installed with a fast-boot Debian-based Linux oper-ating system with the latest Linux kernel, as well as dozens of open source applications and tools, including LibreOffice. Because CHIP is a fully functional Linux computer, you’ll also be able to download and install whatever else you need from the thousands of free applications, tools and games available from the open source community.

Designed without a case, CHIP is an exposed circuit board, much like the Raspberry Pi.

“Not having a case for CHIP is one of the ways were were able to keep our costs down,” Next Thing says on its Kickstarter page FAQ.

But the company is also making the effort to go beyond the Rasp-berry Pi’s geek following.

“As makers, we’re excited to introduce people to the physical com-ponents of computers and show them that electronics aren’t scary, they’re fun!” they write.

They also introduce CHIP as a tiny computer that’s versatile and easy to use.

“CHIP does computer things. Work in LibreOffice and save your documents to CHIP’s onboard storage. Surf the web and check your e-mail over Wi-fi. Play games with a Bluetooth controller. With dozens of applications and tools preinstalled, CHIP is ready to do computer things the moment you power it on.

“CHIP is a computer for students, teachers, grandparents, children, artists, makers, hackers, and inventors. Everyone really,” it adds.

CHIP is also more powerful than the Raspberry Pi.“At 1Ghz and with 512MB of DDR3 RAM, CHIP. is powerful

enough to run real software, and handle the demands of a full GUI just as well as it handles attached hardware. Best of all, CHIP runs mainline Linux, which means it’s easier than ever to keep teaching it new tricks without inheriting a pile of kernel patches,” the company says.

If you weren’t among the Kickstarter backers, you can reserve your own CHIP at the company’s website (http://nextthing.com). The com-pany says it can ship anywhere in the world, but given CHIP’s low pricetag, its likely that shipping will cost more than the computer it-self. On the upside, how much tax can Customs slap on a device that costs $9?

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

New Airbus arrival. Budget carrier Cebu Pacific accepts the delivery of its 32nd brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on September 26, 2015. The plane is the third of four Airbus A320 aircraft that the airline is set to receive this year. The brand-new Airbus A320 is the Cebu Pacific’s 13th aircraft that comes equipped with Sharklets, or 2.4-meter wingtip devices that enable airlines to reduce fuel burn by up to 4 percent on longer sectors. With an average age of 4.82 years, CEB’s aircraft fleet is one of the youngest in the world.

By Julito G. Rada

British banking giant Hong Kong and Shang-hai Banking Corp. cut again its growth fore-cast for the Philippines this year to 5.5 per-cent from the previous estimate of 5.6 percent made in July on the back of sluggish global trade, especially that of China.

Despite the revision, the Philip-pines’ growth trajectory was still seen as one of the highest this year, even outperforming those of neighboring countries in South-east Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thai-land.

The Sept. 25 forecast of HSBC showed that the Philippines’ fore-cast this year was higher than Indonesia’s 4.7 percent, Malay-sia’s 4.6 percent, Singapore’s 1.7 percent, and Thailand’s 2.6 per-cent. Vietnam’s was the highest in Southeast Asia at 6.3 percent.

HSBC saw the Philippines’ growth forecast slightly improv-ing to 5.6 percent in 2016.

“Well, skeptics might still argue that it is China’s weakness that’s infecting everyone else, boomer-anging back to the mainland in the form of weaker exports. But that can’t be the entire explanation,” HSBC said in its latest report titled “Don’t Just Blame China.”

“Let’s face it: for all their recent swagger, developed markets are hardly firing on all cylinders. So, don’t just blame China. Every-one’s got a role to play in keeping

the world economy right side up,” the bank said.

HSBC in July reduced its growth forecast this year to 5.6 percent from 6 percent earlier on the back of sluggish global demand and anemic fiscal expenditures.

HSBC said weak global de-mand dragged net exports in the first quarter of the year by almost 2 percentage points. It said the contraction in net exports offset strong growth in private con-sumption, resulting in a slower-than-expected GDP growth of 5.2 percent in the first quarter.

The government later revised downward the first-quarter ex-pansion to 5 percent due to lower growth estimates for public ad-ministration and defense, mining and quarrying, and agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing.

Economic growth rebounded in the second quarter, expanding by 5.6 percent. This brought the first-half average to 5.3 percent, well below the government’s 7 to 8 percent target range this year.

By Othel V. CamposTHE call center sector is confi-dent employment by companies in the Philippines will remain on the higher end of the growth target range of 18 percent in 2015.

Contact Center Association of the Philippines said of the 1 million employment generated by the information technology business processing outsourcing industry, the contact center sec-tor remained the single highest contributor at 700,000

“Right now, we have around 700,000 direct ly employed. This f igure continues to grow, despite the huge base, especial ly if the BPO is big,” CCAP president Benedict Hernandez said Monday at the sidelines of an industry

forum held at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City.

Industry groups led by the Information Technology Busi-ness Processing Management and the CCAP signed an agree-ment with universities and the government to create a joint secretariat that will oversee col-laboration.

“This a way to make sure that we continually scale up. The net-working side is to identify how we can partner in terms of cur-riculum, internship and employ-ment,” said Hernandez.

At least 50 universities and dozens of BPO companies at-tended the forum.

The cooperation will help the industry reach targets and set goals as well as maintain the country’s prominence as the leading global ITBPO destina-

tion.Meanwhile, industry develop-

ments point to the contact center sector keeping its previous fore-cast of generating revenues of $13.5 billion in 2015, 13.3 percent higher than $11.7 billion in 2014.

Employment in 2015 is expect-ed to reach 790,000 from 686,000 in 2014.

While Australia and New Zea-land are emerging as a growth area for voice operations, the US continues to be the top market.

Customer service dominates call center operations with 36 percent of the market. This is fol-lowed by information technology help desk, financial and health-care language.

The Philippines remains the top destination for voice and call center operations in the English language.



B6

The greeningof PH buildings

More investments scams bared

Nation poised to reap demographic dividends—Bangko Sentral

Red Bull support. Maryland Distributors Inc. officials Gino Baltao (left) and Abel Manliklik (right) turn over Energy Drinks to Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao in a ceremony at Camp Crame in Quezon City. Maryland is the exclusive distributor of Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink. Red Bull joined other companies in providing support for HPG traffic enforcers. The donation aims to keep the traffic enforcers energized and alert while being deployed on the streets to manage metro traffic for at least 10 hours a day.

ON JUNE 25, 2015, the Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine Green Building Initia-tive, the World Bank and the bank’s affiliate, International Finance Corp., launched the GB Code, the referral code of the National Building Code (Presidential Decree No. 1096). PDBI is composed of accredited organizations as-sociated with the construction industry.

The GB Code is primarily intended to improve the structural and operational efficiency of buildings for the protection of people from the effects of climate change.

The Code embodies standards for the enhancement of environ-mental and resource management. The standards cover the effective countering of harmful gases, efficient use of materials, first-class site selection, planning, design and construction and high-level opera-tion, occupancy and maintenance of buildings.

Those who are covered by the GB Code will be helping the govern-ment counter the costly effects of climate change. The professionals involved—architects, designers, contractors, building owners and property managers—will do so by efficiently planning, designing, constructing and managing buildings.

Covered by the GB Code are residential condominiums with a minimum TGFA (total gross floor area) of 20,000 square meters, mercantile malls with a minimum 15,000 sq. m. of TGFA, office buildings with a minimum 10,000 sq. m. of TGFA, school buildings with a minimum TGFA of 10,000 sq. m., mixed-occupancy buildings with a minimum 10,000 sq. m. of TGFA and hotels and resorts with a minimum 10,000 sq. m. of TGFA.

The GB Code sets standards and construction-industry best prac-tices for air-conditioning and energy use, solar heat and glazing, day time lighting, WWR (wall-to-window ratio), natural ventilation, roof insulation, cooling systems, water fixtures, non-toxic building materials, materials recovery and indoor-environment quality. The Code’s approach to “green building” in this country is incremental in character.

Implementation of the GB Code is reviewed periodically by the National Building Code Development Office, which reports to the Secretary of Public Works and Highways.

If implemented faithfully, the GB Code will benefit the construc-tion industry (through being required to construct sturdy, safe and efficient edifices), building owners (through the construction of high-quality buildings), building occupants (through enhanced safe-ty and comfort), the power industry (through reduced load demand) and, last but not least, the government (through greater public safety and more efficient use of scarce resources).

Is observance of the GB Code mandatory, and if so, are there pen-alties for non-observance? In the literature I have read about the Code, I have seen no mention of penalties.

Neither have I seen any mention of the local government units. The LGUs should be closely involved in the implementation of the Code. Most local governments are lax in the monitoring and supervi-sion of the construction industry within their jurisdictions.

And how about the Department of Environment and Natural Re-sources? Since the Code speaks of such things as energy use and ma-terials recovery, shouldn’t the DENR be closely involved as well?

The launching of the GB Code is undoubtedly a big step forward in the effort to rationalize the construction, use and maintenance of buildings in this country. The next step forward is faithful implemen-tation of the Code. That looks like an even bigger step.

E-mail: [email protected]

By Julito G. Rada

THE Philippines is poised to reap the potential demographic dividends in the long term as the government continues to increase investments in human capital development that improves the quality of labor force.

The Investor Relations Office of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement over the week-end the Philippines had a shot at becoming a major economic powerhouse in the coming years with rising investments in hu-man capital development comple-menting the increasing number of the young population.

Investor Relations Office ex-ecutive director Editha Martin said the government’s growing budget for human capital devel-opment showed the intention to further improve the quality of workforce and make the econ-omy reap the potential demo-graphic dividends.

“Consistently rising invest-ments in health and education will help ensure that the Philip-pines does not miss out on the opportunity offered by its entry to the demographic window,” Mar-tin said.

The Philippines starting this year until 2050 is considered to be within the “demographic

window,” loosely defined as a period when a great majority of the population are of working age.

Because the number of work-force far outweigh that of depen-dents, the increase in incomes may accelerate. But this can only happen if there is good quality of labor force.

Data showed that under the Aquino administration, the budget allocations for educa-tion and health increased sub-stantially year after year. The budget of the Education Depart-ment stood at P367.1 billion for this year, up 18.6 percent from last year’s. That of the Health

Department was set at P108.2 billion for this year, up 19.2 per-cent from last year’s.

The budget for the Condi-tional Cash Transfer program, which encourages school atten-dance among children from poor households, meanwhile, is high in the government’s agenda. Its bud-get of P62.3 billion this year is six times the P10-billion allocation in 2010.

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stressed in a statement the need to sustain the trend of rising investments in hu-man capital development.

“We need to understand that having a fast growing working-

age population is a boon for the economy, but only if we do two things: invest more and more in human capital development and make sure the job opportunities match the skills of the people,” Balisacan said.

The country’s chief economist cited the need to make educa-tion more accessible and inten-sify measures that will make the country’s investment climate more attractive.

The country’s working-age population of between 15 and 64 years old this year accounts for 66.6 percent of the total popula-tion of 101.6 million, according to an official projection.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

THE Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday warned the investing public against three companies engaged in illegal activities.

The SEC in an advisory posted on its Web site warned investors against dealing with Starnet Lifestyle General Trading Inc., Alliance of Networkers of the Philippines Organization Inc. and Bridge Team Effort Network and Marketing Corp.

The SEC found the three com-panies based on an investigation were selling securities not regis-tered with the corporate regula-tor, which is a violation of the Se-curities Regulation Code.

“In view thereof, the public is hereby advised to exercise cau-tion from investing their money into such investment scheme and to take necessary precautions in dealing with the above corpora-tions,” the SEC said.

Bridges Team is a Cebu-based firm engaged in unauthorized sell-ing of unregistered securities by

offering Internet-based software to the public. A buyer can purchase the software for P13,000 and be-comes an investor by recruiting two more persons who then become the buyer or investor.

Starnet Lifestyle, meanwhile, is a networking company that offers personal care and wellness prod-ucts to the public. The company encourages investors to buy three packages of personal care and wellness products for P23,644, equivalent to three accounts.

The SEC, however, said Starnet was not authorized to solicit invest-ments. The company’s articles of incorporation filed with the SEC showed it was formed to operate as trader of “tech products.”

The SEC said it also found ANPO accrediting several cor-porations engaged in legitimate

business operations.“The public is hereby informed

that ANPO is not recognized by the commission as an accredited self-regulating organization and the commission is not bound by its issuances or accredit ions is-sued in favor of several corpora-tions and entities,” the SEC said.

The corporate watchdog SEC earlier said several illegal invest-ment-taking activities had re-cently proliferated in the country duping many Filipinos.

Some of these investment scams have tapped the social me-dia, like Facebook and Twitter, to lure local investors and migrant Filipino workers as well.

To check the registration and licenses of these companies that are trying to sell investment se-curities, the SEC urged the public verify the names with the SEC’s Registration and Monitoring De-partment, Markets and Securi-ties and Regulation Department and Corporate Governance and Finance Department first before making any investment.

B7CESAR BARRIOQUINTOE D I T O R

[email protected]


WORLD

Rare astronomical eventas ‘blood moon’ emerges

Talibanfi ghtersattack key city

In attendance. Tony Bennett attends the Clinton Global Citizen Awards during the second day of the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers on Sept. 27, 2015 in New York City. AFP

Rare event. A so-called “blood moon” can be seen behind a statue during a total lunar eclipse in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on Sept. 28, 2015. Stargazers were treated to a rare astronomical event when a swollen “super moon” and lunar eclipse combined for the fi rst time in decades, showing Earth’s satellite bathed in blood-red light. AFP

Crowds back in Centrala year after mass rallies

Putin, Obama in showdown

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACKManila

StandardTODAY

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of AgriculturePhilippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippineswww.philmech.gov.ph

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of AgriculturePhilippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippineswww.philmech.gov.ph

(TS-SEPT. 23 & 29, 2015)

INVITATION TO BID

SUPPLY OF LABOR AND MATERIALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION AND COMMISSIONING OF AGRICULTURAL TRAMLINE SYSTEM IN SAN NICOLAS, PANGASINAN

1. The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) through its General Fund intends to apply the below specified sums, being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) as indicated herein to payments under the contract for the Supply of Labor and Materials for the Construction, Installation and Commissioning of Agricultural Tramline System in San Nicolas, Pangasinan. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at Bid opening.

2. The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization now invites bids from eligible contractors with at least Small B PCAB license with experience on cabling system for the Supply of Labor and Materials for the Construction, Installation and Commissioning of Agricultural Tramline System in San Nicolas, Pangasinan:

PROJECT ABC CONTRACTDURATION

Supply of Labor and Materials for the Construction, Installation and Commissioning of Agricultural Tramline System in San Nicolas, Pangasinan(1,122 m cable span) Double track cable with 3 intermediate towers

PhP 3,889,484.48 150 CD

Bidders should have completed 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.

3. Biddng 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 proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4. Interested Bidders may obtain further information from the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of PhP 5,000, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB. The method of payment will be in cash. The Bidding Documents shall be received personally by the prospective Bidder or his authorized representative. Only those who have purchased the Bidding Documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarification.

6. The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization will hold a Pre-Bid Conference open to all interested parties on October 2, 2015, 1:30pm at Executive Lounge, PHilMech Main Office, CLSU Compound Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

7. Bids and eligibility requirements must be delivered on or before October 16, 2015, 1:30pm at Executive Lounge, PHilMech Main Office, CLSU Compound Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid security in the form and amount stated in the Bid Data Sheet or an equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency. Late Bids shall not be accepted.

8. Bid opening shall be on October 16, 2015, 1:30pm at Executive Lounge, PHilMech Main Office, CLSU Compound Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the bid documents.

9. The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization 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.

PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR POSTHARVEST DEVELOPMENT AND MECHANIZATION(Formerly BUREAU OF POSTHARVEST RESEARCH AND EXTENSION)

Main Office :CLSU Cmpd., Science City of Muñoz, Nueva EcijaTel. No. (044) 4560287 / 4560213 FAX No. (044) 4560110

Liaison Office : 3F ATI Bldg., Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon CityTel. No. 9274019 / 9274029 FAX No. 9268159

(SGD) RAUL R. PAZ BAC Chairman

K U N D U Z , A f g h a n i s t a n —Hundreds of Taliban � ghters launched a bra-zen attack on the north-eastern Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday, trading heavy � re with police and soldiers in their third attempt this year to capture the pro-vincial capital.

� e siege came a day a� er a bomb attack on a volleyball match killed 13 and the Islamic State group carried out coor-dinated strikes against police in the country’s east, ending a brief lull in violence during the Muslim festival of Eid.

“� e Taliban launched an attack on Kunduz city from several directions,” Kunduz provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini told AFP.

“So far 20 Taliban in-surgents were killed in the � ghting in di� erent parts of Kunduz, and four Afghan security forces were con� rmed wounded,” Hussaini said.

“Right now, heavy � ghting is ongoing between our forces and the Taliban in Khanabad, Char Dara and Imam Sahib, the main entrances into the city of Kunduz,” he said, adding that “security forces are repelling” the militants.

Earlier the Taliban had seized several se-curity checkpoints near the city, an AFP jour-nalist in Kunduz said, though it was unclear if they had held on to their gains. AFP

Putin and Obama are due to make compet-ing speeches before the UN General Assembly in New York, and will come face-to-face for their � rst o� cial meet-ing in over two years at a time of high tension.

In the run-up to the showdown, Putin�iso-lated by the West over the crisis in Ukraine�has dramatically thrust himself back into the

spotlight with a light-ning push on the 4.5-year con� ict in Syria.

Moscow has put Washington on the back foot by dispatch-ing troops and aircra� to the war-torn country and pushing reluctant world leaders to admit its long-standing ally Bashar al-Assad could cling to power.

� e Kremlin strong-man called in an inter-

WA S H I N G T O N —Stargazers were treated to a rare astronomical event Monday when a swollen “super moon” and lunar eclipse com-bined for the � rst time in decades, showing Earth’s satellite bathed in blood-red light.

� e celestial show, visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Paci� c, was the result of the sun, Earth and a larger-than-life, extra-bright moon lin-ing up for just over an hour.

Images from France, Argentina and the United States, among others, capture the pro-gression of the lunar eclipse to a striking red � nale.

In Brooklyn, New

York, crowds of people gathered on plazas and sidewalks, gazing up at the sky and trying to take photos with their smartphones—though in other cities, includ-ing Washington, cloud cover hid much of the spectacle.

While the phenom-enon was not visible in any major Indian cit-ies, stargazers equipped with telescopes were able to catch a glimpse of the eclipse in the country’s remote north-east.

� e event also led to speculation about an impending apocalypse among certain followers of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

� e fears are believed to have been stoked

by a statement from Mormon author Julie Rowe, who regularly speaks to audiences about upcoming world-wide calamities.

Church o� cials were forced to issue a state-ment warning against panic, saying that while members should be “spiritually and physi-cally prepared for life’s ups and downs” they should avoid “being caught up in extreme e� orts to anticipate cat-astrophic events”.

� e “blood moon”—which so far has had no apocalyptic conse-quences—appeared in stages across the planet as the satellite reached its closest orbital point to Earth, called perigee, while in its brightest phase. AFP

UNITED NATIONS—Russian President Vladimir Putin squared up for a titanic clash Monday with his US rival Barack Obama at the United Nations as the Kremlin leader pushes for a new co-alition against the Islamic State.

view ahead of the UN summit for “a com-mon platform for col-lective action” against Islamic State jihadists that would supersede a US-led coalition and in-volve Assad’s forces.

On the ground, Russia seems to have already started putting the pieces together by agreeing with Iraq, Syria and Iran that their o� -cers will work together in Baghdad to share in-telligence on IS.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that, despite the sharp disagreements, he saw that Moscow and Washington shared a “desire to work to-gether” on Syria af-

ter a meeting with his American counterpart John Kerry on Sunday.

But the US has ex-pressed deep concern over Russia’s maneu-vering in Syria and in-sists Obama will not let Putin o� the hook over Ukraine a� er he shat-tered ties with the West by seizing the Crimea peninsula and allegedly fueling a separatist con-� ict.

“We’re just at the be-ginning of trying to understand what the Russians’ intentions are in Syria, in Iraq, and to try to see if there are mutually bene� cial ways forward here,” a se-nior State Department o� cial said. AFP


B8 cESAR BARRioqUinToE D I T O R

[email protected]

7,000 fleeas ‘Dujuan’ bears downon Taiwan

Defenseless against Korean intruders

Anniversary. Pro-democracy demonstrators and activists gather outside the government headquarters building to mark one year since the start of mass pro-democracy rallies calling for fully free leadership elections in the semi-autonomous Hong Kong on Sept. 28, 2015. The 2014 Occupy protests began after China’s central government claimed it was offering a compromise of sorts by allowing a popular vote for Hong Kong’s leader in 2017 but insisted candidates were vetted. AFP

The flight goes on. Migrants and refugees wait to board a train near Gevgelija in southern Macedonia after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border on Sept. 27, 2015. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers and migrants—many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia—entering the country every day. AFP

world

Crowds back in Centrala year after mass rallies

TAIPEI—More than 7,000 people were evacuated in Taiwan as ‘super typhoon’ Dujuan swirled towards the island Monday, gathering strength as it bore down on the east coast.

Torrential rain and high winds are forecast across Taiwan from Monday afternoon, with an earlier landfall now predicted—around 0900 to 1000 GMT—as the storm speeds up.

Crashing waves were already battering the northeastern coast by midday and fishing boats have been called back to shore.

Panicked visitors to the island’s east—many of whom had headed there for the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend—crammed onto trains away from the coast before rail services there were suspended.

High-speed rail services in the west were also canceled.

Authorities have warned that coastal areas could be particularly dangerous as tides are affected by the current “super moon”—a rare astrological event in which the moon appears brighter and larger.

This is because the moon has reached its closest orbital point to Earth and therefore has a stronger gravitational pull than usual.

The storm intensified as it ap-proached Taiwan, with gusts of 227 kilometers per hour.

Taiwan’s weather bureau up-graded Dujuan to a “strong ty-phoon” Sunday, while other re-gional weather bureaus, including the Hong Kong Observatory, cat-egorize it as a “super typhoon”.

“The whole of the island should heighten vigilance against se-vere winds and torrential rains,” a spokesman for Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said.

Almost 3,000 people were evac-uated Sunday from Taiwan’s Green Island and Orchid Island, which is popular with visitors.

More than 4,000 were moved Monday ahead of the storm.

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu said they were from vulnerable ar-eas, including the hot spring town of Wulai, just outside Taipei.

“In areas that could become isolated during the typhoon, suf-ficient rescue and communica-tions equipment will be deployed in advance. We hope residents can cooperate with us,” said Chu. AFP

But numbers were small in the early afternoon and with no con-cessions on political reform from authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong, disheartened campaigners say they do not plan to start more mass demonstrations.

Around 100 protesters gathered at the “Lennon Wall”—an outdoor staircase near the government headquarters that was plastered with thousands of multi-colored paper notes expressing support during the rallies.

Rows of yellow umbrellas—symbol of the pro-democracy

movement —several tents and a huge banner reading “I Want Universal Suffrage” lined the pave-ments.

At the height of the protests, thousands of tents sprawled across the major highway which runs past the Lennon Wall in the financial district of Admiralty.

One couple soon to be married posed for pre-wedding photos at the former protest site, the bride-to-be wearing a strapless white wedding dress with a construction helmet -- often worn by protesters during the rallies.

NANPING, China—A three-meter barbed wire fence and the winding Tumen River are all that separate Nanping in China from North Korea, and after a spate of murders—allegedly by frontier-crossing intruders—frightened villagers are increasingly keen to leave, fearing neither the water nor the barrier are enough to protect them.

Over the past year at least 10 people have been killed by North Koreans—mostly soldiers—at-tempting robberies in the area, according to Chinese officials and state-controlled media reports.

Food security is a perennial issue

in North Korea, raising the specter of individuals driven by despera-tion to attack their wealthier neigh-bors in China.

Officially Nanping’s population is more than 6,000, but in reality it is becoming a ghost town. Most houses and buildings have been abandoned for years, many with broken windows and overgrown gardens.

Its people are ethnic Koreans and the younger generation’s mul-tilingual abilities give them far bet-ter employment opportunities with South Korean firms elsewhere.

All have left, leaving only the elderly and a small Chinese mili-

tary contingent, along with local Communist Party secretary Wu Shigen, who is in his 30s and said he was by far the youngest person in the village.

He has a two-pronged plan for keeping the peace: a voluntary cur-few and an information blackout.

“I tell all the residents not to go out at night, and to pay attention to their safety,” Wu said―although most of those killed were mur-dered in their homes.

“There are no witnesses for any of these attacks and we don’t tell the residents much,” he added. “The less people know, the less they will be afraid.” AFP

HONG KONG—Yellow umbrellas and makeshift tents were back in central Hong Kong Monday as protesters gathered a year to the day since huge pro-democracy rallies brought parts of the city to a standstill.

Couples in the city frequently have commemorative photos tak-en ahead of their weddings.

“The photos will be shared with our kids and grandkids and will show them what was happening in the city at the time of our mar-riage,” said groom Issac Kan, 29.

Monday’s events were billed by activists as a time for reflection as they struggle to breathe new life into the movement.

Occupy Central was launched a year ago, calling for fully free lead-ership elections in the semi-auton-omous city, following more than a week of student protests.

Thousands joined the already large crowds after police fired tear gas in the afternoon of September 28 last year, a move that shocked the public and galvanized the Umbrella Movement -- named af-

ter the umbrellas protesters carried to shelter from sun, rain, tear gas and pepper spray.

For more than two months the center of the city became an en-trenched rally camp.

The main anniversary rally is due to start in Admiralty mid-afternoon and there will be a mo-ment of silence at 5:58 pm (0958 GMT)—the time when the tear gas was fired.

Pro-Beijing groups were also due to march Monday afternoon and police will deploy around 3,000 officers to protest areas, local media reported.

Democracy rally organizers have not given turnout estimates, but commemorative events held over the weekend drew small crowds.

Those who attended voiced belief in the pro-democracy cause. AFP

As part of the 150th Anniversary of Florence, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo holds an exhibition at the Palazzo Spini Feroni to

commemorate the 150 years since Florence was named capital of the Kingdom of Italy (1865-1870) and to celebrate the building’s history since it became the city hall in 1865.

The exhibition will include historical works of art and documents from other museums and private collections such as the Florentine Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti and Galleria dell’Accademia, the Parisian Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and many more. The items to be exhibited weave the story behind the palace and the people who resided in it, bringing to light the history of the Palazzo Spini Feroni – which the Ferragamo family has painstakingly restored for the city – as a magnificent example of Medieval architecture.

Curated by Art History experts Stefania Ricci and Riccardo Spinelli, the intricate and powerful exhibition is designed by stage designer Maurizio Balò. The exhibit, which opened last May, will run until the 3rd of April 2016 and will be housed in different exhibition rooms. Going inside the exhibition is like traveling through time, going through the many phases of Palazzo Spini Feroni through the years. The journey begins with the world of Salvatore Ferragamo, who chose this palace in 1938 to be the place where he could receive his local customers. Ferragamo's fine artisanal products were complemented by the magnificence of the unique and historical place. Since he bought the place, he started to use the imagery of the palace in his product branding, on the company’s letterhead and the front of shoe boxes, advertisements and on the first Ferragamo silk scarf. Today, the palace remains as the company’s headquarters and a symbol of the

brand. The exhibit on the first room is told through photographs, film footage and the shoes on display – 650 evening styles and 264 daytime styles designed by Salvatore Ferragamo and his daughter Fiamma from the 1950s to the 1960s.

The second exhibition room tells the story of The palace was built in 1289 as commissioned by Geri Spini from the family of the owners of one of Europe’s most influential banks, the Spini family. The room is designed with two large chests holding works of art and documents such as the painting from a private collection showing the Spini family tree, scrolls attesting to the wealth of the family and other collections and engravings including two scale models of the palace specifically created for the exhibition.

The third room houses artworks that tell the story of The Palace between the 1600s and 1700s. The next room is dedicated to the revered poet, Dante Alighieri, and his love Beatrice. One of the highlights of this section is the painting of Dante Gabriele Rossetti (painter and founder of the pre-Raphaelite school) loaned by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The scene on the

painting shows the Santa Trinita bridge, at the corner of Palazzo Spini Feroni, by the well where Beatrice drew water.

The next exhibition room contains Girolamo Segato and his “marvelous petrifactions.” Girolamo Segato is the most eclectic resident of Palazzo Spini Feroni who was fond of mummification of bodies, and the exhibit includes some of his works such as the ivory-colored petrified breasts of a woman. Room six showcases Palazzo Spini Feroni in the nineteenth century. Another room features artifacts of the palace, Florence, the Middle Ages and the current day including a video installation of a 24-hour day inside and outside the palace. Room eight recreates the renowned library Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario Vieusseux, which was located on the ground floor of Palazzo Spini Feroni from May 1873 to 1898. Room nine features the palace in the twentieth century depicted in the photograph displays including photographs of Palazzo Spini Feroni’s interiors and exteriors, shot specifically for the exhibition by the photographer Arrigo Coppitz. The last exhibit is The Luigi Bellini Gallery, inspired by the first art show organized by Luigi Bellini (11th generation dynasty of antique dealers) in 1932. It showcases different works displayed in the palace during those years.

During the inauguration of the exhibition, Salvatore Ferragamo’s boutique, located on the palace’s ground floor, was dressed like the unique windows of Palazzo Spini Feroni for two weeks, the windows giving a glimpse of what goes on inside the fashion house.

For more information about the exhibit visit www.ferragamo.com/museo. In the Philippines, Salvatore Ferragamo is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., a member of SSI Group, Inc., and is located at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, Greenbelt 4, Power Plant Mall, Newport Mall and Alabang Town Center. Visit www.ssilife.com.ph for more information.

C1T U E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 2 9 : 2 0 1 5

A RTS, CU LT U RE & T ECH

TATUM ANCHETAE D I T O RBING PARELA S S O C I AT E E D I T O RBERNADETTE LUNASW R I T E R

l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

LIFE

A PALACE AND THE CITYThe new exhibition at the

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Italy Workers in the Ferragamo footwear workshop in Palazzo Feroni, Florence, 1937. Archivi Alinari, Florence

The Ferragamo footwear workshop in Palazzo Spini Feroni, 1937. Archivi Alinari, Florence

Photographs taken in January and February 2015 by Arrigo Coppitz with some interior and exterior shots of Palazzo Spini Feroni

In the late 40s, Salvatore Ferragamo commissed Pietro Annigoni to produce a painting (now lost) with the view of the building from Piazza Santa Trinita. For years, this image was used on the company’s headed paper, and on Ferragamo shoe boxes and carrier bags. Photo Arrigo Coppitz. Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence

Enrico Pazzi, Head of Dante, before 1865, plaster. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Florence

94 Ivory-coloured petrified breasts with dark-brown

nipples, wooden case, glass and fabric from

Museo di Storia Naturale dell’Università di Firenze,

Biomedical Section (Anatomy), Florence

The emblem of the exhibition is inspired by a 360° view of Florence from the

turrets of Palazzo Spini Feroni originally engraved by Ramsay Richard Reinagle

for the 1806 publication of “Journal des Luxus und der Modern”.

C2TUESDAY : SEPTEMBER 29 : 2015

LIFE l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

Philippine musical excellence takes center stage as the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra presents five shows featuring world-class Filipino soloists for its 15th Crystal Anniversary Concert Season.

MMCO, the country's premier orchestra, has tapped Raul Sunico, Jose Artemio Panganiban III, Albert Tiu, Abelardo Galang II and Cristine Coyiuto together with her daughter Caitlin to perform under award-winning conductor-composer Prof. Josefino Chino Toledo.

Opening the stellar concert series last September 18 at the Meralco Theater in Pasig City was world-acclaimed pianist Raul Sunico. In his show, titled "The Power of Prokofiev," the University of the Philippines and Juilliard-trained pianist performed the Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.

Coming up next on October 21 is "The Amazing Brahms" featuring renowned pianist Jose Artemio Panganiban III. The concert will see Panganiban performing German luminary Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 for Meralco Theater's audience.

The classical music of Russian composer Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky will fill the Meralco Theater on November 30 as Cebu-born classical pianist Albert Tiu does Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 in his solo show "The Incredible Tchaikovsky."

Continuing the series next year is "The Enchanting Ravel and Rodrigo" featuring the mother-daughter tandem of pianist Cristine Coyiuto and flutist Caitlin on January 8 at the CCP Little Theater. Cristine, considered one of the top pianists in the Philippines, will perform French composer Maurice Ravel's Ravel Concerto in G, while Caitlin will showcase her rendition of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo's Rodrigo Fantasie para un Gentilhombre.

For the final installment of the concert series, ace pianist Abelardo Galang II will perform his version of Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff 's Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 in his "The Magnificent Rachmaninoff " show on February 5, also at the CCP Little Theater.

For tickets and inquiries, contact MMCO at (02) 216-6487 or (639) 17-5335747, or email [email protected]

A STELLAR CONCERT SERIES

The Metro Manila Concert Orchestra stages 5 shows featuring

world-class Filipino musicians

No question about it – Filipinos can really go ga-ga over selfies, posting their #blessed and #thankful moments with friends and family every opportunity they get, with every single life event treated as an occasion worthy of celebration.

The Philippines is known as the selfie capital of the world, with selfies becoming the medium by which stories are told and memories are preserved. Nevertheless, even the best attempts could still fall short, with a post-worthy selfie requiring a great deal of time and effort to take the right angle, the right lighting and then selecting a filter before hitting the share button.

Recognizing the g r o w i n g t r e n d , Samsung Electronics has introduced a device that offers the best-in-class upgraded selfie experience with a selfie-ready, selfie-friendly smartphone: the Galaxy J Series. With a 5MP front camera equipped with LED Flash, multiple J-Fie features and large super AMOLED screen, the 5.0” Galaxy J5 and 5.5” Galaxy J7 definitely

set the bar high in the selfie arena. The days of so-so selfies will soon be over as the new Samsung Galaxy J Series ushers in the new age with an upgraded J-Fie experience.

The special J-Fie features make it effortless to achieve a flawless shot whenever and wherever. You can take your J-Fies in dark conditions with the LED Front Flash, make the whole gang fit with the wide angle selfie feature, make sure that no fingers are blocking the photo and that challenging angles are made easy by using the palm selfie feature, and instantly touch up and look fab by simply sliding various beauty face options. Out in the sun or inside a cave, during a party or while at a workout session, the Galaxy J Series will yield

nothing but exceptional J-Fies. Check out the new Samsung Galaxy J

Series at the nearest Samsung Experience Store. Get updates on products and launches through Samsung Mobile Philippines on Facebook, @samsungph on Twitter, or visit www.samsung.com.ph.

Crazy over #selfie with Samsung

THE GISTBY ED BIADO

THE NATION'S INTERNET CONNECTION WOES

It's been reported everywhere that out of 22 countries surveyed in Asia, the Philippines has the 21st fastest Internet speed. We're at

the bottom of the list, right above Afghanistan. According to the list, Singapore has the top speed in the region at 122.43 Mbps. Compare that to our measly 3.64 Mbps.

Recent reports say that the government set a minimum speed

of 256 kbps, which is hoped to be a step in the right direction in setting standards for Internet service providers and phone companies. By having a defined minimum, proponents claim, consumers will be able to get the speeds they were promised upon signing up for broadband plans.

One can argue that 256 kbps is still very low, even for a minimum, because modern websites are heavy. Anything under 500 kbps means that loading them would take a long time. Slow loading rates would then translate to failure in launching some elements of the page, such as high-resolution images and animations, which deprives the user of the complete experience.

Streaming – one of the most

popular activities online – cannot be fully enjoyed when speeds are low as videos would buffer for a long time and sometimes stop loading altogether. For people who require using the Internet for work, especially to send and receive big files, a slow connection eats into their productivity and this results in time and money lost.

The Philippines' slow Internet situation is apparently such a big deal that hacktivists have had enough. Last week, Anonymous Philippines, the local arm of the international network, hacked and defaced the website of the National Telecommunications Commission in protest of the issue.

“We, Anonymous Philippines, are sympathizing with our fellow Filipino netizens whose battle

cries are the 'OVER PROMISED, UNDER DELIVERED' system of our internet service providers; it is the neigh direct proportionality of our Internet speeds and bandwidths in relation to price,” part of the hackers' message reads.

Currently, speeds can fluctuate so drastically and crash to as low as 10 kbps. Regular speeds for plans that promise 1 Mbps, on the other hand, average around 400 to 600 kbps.

Slow Internet speed is not the country's only connectivity problem. Another hot-button issue is the so-called fair use policy covering “unlimited” data promos offered by mobile service providers, which are essentially not unlimited since speeds are

lowered to dial-up modem levels when subscribers reach a daily or monthly data cap – something that Anonymous Philippines is also fighting against.

Subscribers are not asking for Singapore levels speeds. We realize that it's wishful thinking to hope for the ability to surf at over 100 Mbps in this country. But we certainly believe that we deserve more than the third-world kind of service currently being offered by telcos. Unfortunately, we suspect that the telcos and maybe even the NTC don't share that belief. Perhaps for them, this is all we Filipinos are entitled to. And that is where the problem lies.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

TECH TALK

Samsung Galaxy J5

C3LIFETUESDAY : SEPTEMBER 29 : 2015


ARTS AND CULTURE ROUNDUPWhat’s on in theaters and galleries this week

EXHIBITS

For the fifth "evolution" of the Artery Portal, the Razzle Dazzle group exhibition highlights the latest artwork of Far Eastern University-educated contemporary artist Gene Paul Martin.

In his current series, Martin transitions from abstract images into compositions taking shape. Through his creations, he explores how space can be a point of awe and terror when orientation is uncertain: flat surfaces become textured, colors run wild, objects abstracted from the usual – altogether creating worlds far from the reaches of imagination.

For more information on this ongoing solo feature and on the group show, visit www.arteryartspace.com

Learn traditional Chinese painting techniques using water and ink (Shui Mo). Calm your mind, meet new friends and unleash your inner artist in this 10-session workshop led by instructor Arsenia Lim (Pieh Tsai Shiu-Yuin).

Shui Mo is a freestyle technique to create paintings using a brush dipped in ink and water and onto rice paper. In this workshop, which is open to 15 years old and above with prior experience in Chinese or Western painting, subjects to be covered include lily, butterfly, hibiscus, carp and poinsettia.

Workshop fee is P6,500 excluding materials. Supplies can be purchased from the instructor on the first session. For more details, contact Elma Abrina at (02) 889-1234 or email [email protected]

When art comes from craftwork, the individuality of the artist/craftsman arises such as these three artists' craft-based works on display at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

In this exhibit, artists Steph Palallos, Carmel Lim-Torres and Josephine Turalba showcase diverse art highlighting the very nature of handmade. Contrary to the global tendencies of crafts, their creations express personal experience instead of giving voice to a collective social message. Turalba uses leatherwork to re-imagine landscapes, while Palallos constructs garments that expose the ailing body. Lim Torres' installation of paper, ceramics and wood expresses hope amid ecological peril.

This exhibit is open to all. For more information, call CCP Visual Arts & Museum Division, Production & Exhibition Department at (02) 832-1124 local 1504/1505, (02) 832-3702, (639) 204700690, or email [email protected]

In this solo exhibition, Renato Orara presents the recent additions to his nearly three-decade-old series Ten Thousand Things that Breathe. Since the series began in 1989, it has steadily expanded and branched out to the Drawer Drawings, Library Bookworks, Blood Works and The Iraq War Memorial.

For the latest incarnations, Orara presents ballpoint pen drawings of objects in his surroundings or those he encounters beyond his home. The exhibition also features eight works from his series Library Bookworks, which is composed of books that feature his intervention with pen drawings of human ears.

Visit www.silverlensgalleries.com for more details on this exhibit.

THEATER PLAYS

WORKSHOPS

Wallflowers: Gene Paul MartinArtery Portal, Artery Art Space, Quezon CityOngoing until October 7

Romeo and JulietAliw Theater, Pasay CityOctober 2 and 3

Shui Mo: Chinese Painting (Intermediate)Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza, Makati CityOctober 3, 10, 17, 24; November 7, 14, 21, 28; December 5 and 12

Love comes alive in graceful movements as Ballet Manila stages Paul Vasterling's "Romeo and Juliet" as the company's second offering for its 20th performance season.

Vasterling will be in Manila to personally oversee the staging, which also happens to be its Asian premiere. Vasterling will take charge of the interpretative choreography, while the Manila Symphony Orchestra, with Maestro Alexander Vikulov as the guest conductor, plays the musical score by Sergei Prokofiev. Katherine Barkman will play Juliet with Abigail Oliveiro and Joan Sia as her alternates. Playing Romeo are Rudy de Dios, Brian Williamson and Elpidio Magat.

After officially hanging up her pointe shoes last year, Lisa dons them once again as she portrays Juliet's mother, Lady Capulet, opposite Nonoy Froilan who plays Lord Capulet.

Tickets are available at all Ticketworld outlets, online at www.ticketworld.com.ph, or call (02) 891-9999.

HandmadeCCP Little Theater Lobby (Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco)Ongoing until October 18

Renato OraraSilverlens Galleries, Makati CityOngoing until October 24

Chronicles of a Journey: Gerardo Diego and Julio Palacios in the PhilippinesSecond Floor Function Room, Ayala Museum, Makati CitySeptember 30 to October 27

Get a chance to embark on a journey to the Philippines during the ’30s through the impressions of Spanish poet Gerardo Diego and scientist Julio Palacios as the Instituto Cervantes of Manila, Embassy of Spain, Ayala Museum and Fundación Gerardo Diego present this exhibit in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the first Cultural Embassy between Spain and the Philippines after the signing of the Paris Treaty.

Sent by the Spanish government, the two professors visited the country in 1935 to deliver a series of master lectures at the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas. During this period, they witnessed the vibrant Manila scene and the formation of Filipino identity. The selection

of documents, press clippings, audio recordings and photographs courtesy of Fundación Gerardo chronicle everything they saw, heard and experienced along their journey.

Admission is free. For inquiries and reservation, contact (02) 759-8288 local 10 or email [email protected]

For several decades now, Pioneer – an established life and non-life insurance company – has been supporting the artistic community and Filipino talent.

It has always been inclined to the arts through sponsorships, coverage, and promotions of cultural events, covering theater plays such as Miss Saigon, The Little Mermaid, and Trumpet’s N.O.A.H.

Last year, Pioneer rolled out the Stories of Friendship Video Competition that encouraged participants to share their take on friendship through a three-minute video, with Ateneo de Davao’s My Friends Who Ran taking home the first prize.

This year, Pioneer continues to show its support for the arts with the launch of the Pioneer Stories of Hope Playwriting Competition.

The writing tilt paves way for fresh ideas from young, aspiring playwrights who have ‘hope-full’ stories to tell about Filipino resilience or being positive despite challenging situations.

“Pioneer has always been inspired by the arts and with this, we are honored that Tanghalang Pilipino, CCP and Writer’s Bloc, Inc. have partnered with us in our Stories of Hope campaign,” said Pioneer Marketing Head Len Pozon.

“Through this partnership, we want to spark the curiosity and understanding of the theater community, as well as heighten the appreciation of Filipino culture among students,” she added.

College students nationwide are invited to share these stories of hope through a one-act play in English, Filipino, or Taglish. Submission of scripts will be open until November 06, and the winner will be announced on December 14. A P25,000 cash prize plus insurance coverage from Pioneer await the winning entry. For complete details of the competition, visit www.storieslab.ph.

C4 LIFET U E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 2 9 : 2 0 1 5


FINALLY, A SECOND RUN FOR BITUING WALANG NINGNING: THE MUSICAL

Art comes to life at the Proscenium

PIONEER LAUNCHES STORIES OF HOPE PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

Pioneer marketing head Len Pozon with Tanghalang Pilipino director Fernando “Tata Nanding” Josef

VLF playwrights

Pioneer and partners

Rockwell Land’s newest residential address is holding a series of performances entitled “Embodied” at the premises of Power Plant Mall. The performances tackle the symbolism of what residents can expect from different aspects of living in Proscenium.

The performance is a choreographed presentation of dancers adorned in intricately designed body paint by artist Alfred Galvez, with the artworks representing Proscenium’s nature, lifestyle and artistic inclinations. Rockwell Land has always been known for its tributes to art, having named most of the residential towers after the country’s most respected artists like Hidalgo, Manansala, Joya, and Edades. With The Proscenium at Rockwell, the developer not only pays tribute to art but brings out arts to the lifestyle of its residence.

The property is positioned as the hub for arts and culture in the city. The 3.6-hectare development will house the residential towers, retail and dining facilities, a performing arts theater and the venue for the new Lopez Museum.

“The Proscenium is a truly unique development where residents will just be a few steps away from live theater performances, a few doors down from masterpieces and a short walk from a hectare of outdoor amenities,” said Valerie Soliven, Rockwell Land senior vice president for High End Residential.

“Embodied” performances were held for the entire month of September but will have a few more rounds by October 4 at P1 Concourse Level, Cinema and Proscenium Sales Lounge.

"You're nothing but a second-rate, trying hard copycat!" So goes the famous line that got everyone stirred up on the first run of the controversial Bituing Walang Ningning: The Musical. For those who didn’t get to catch it, finally here’s your chance. Resorts World Manila and VIVA Communications, Inc. are now gearing up for the second run of the play this October 8.

Bituing Walang Ningning first came out in serialized comics after which it was adapted into a movie, then remade into a TV series. When Viva turned it into a musical play, it marks the first time that a contemporary drama has crossed over to Filipino mainstream media. It may be the first play that opened possibilities for classic Filipino movies to grace the theaters.

Bituing Walang Ningning: The Musical was born when RWM engaged VIVA honcho Boss Vic Del Rosario to come up with a worthy production that will truly

champion Filipino talent. RWM president Kingson Sian then sat with Full House Theater Company Entertainment and Productions artistic directors Michael Williams and First Lady of Philippine Theater Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo who all decided to pick one classic material. After much deliberation, the concept to resurrect Bituing Walang Ningning as a musical was born.

“Bituing Walang Ningning: The Musicalis perfect as it is geared up as a musical and it is about music and performance. We’re hoping to make more projects like this with VIVA,” Yulo said.

With a successful first run, fans are just ecstatic to discover what new elements will come into the play on its return.

For more information and to get updates on the play visit www.rwmanila.com or call the Tourist/Visitor Hotline at (02) 908-8833. RWM is located across Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

SHOWBITZi s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

C5ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

The new film by Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis, The Walk – 3D, will be pre-

sented at the 10th Rome Film Fest (Oct. 16-24).

Antonio Monda is the filmfest’s director under Fondazione Cine-ma per Roma, chaired by Piera Detassis.

The brilliant co-creator and di-rector of the Back to the Futuretrilogy, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, and Cast Away brings to the screen the true story of Philippe Petit, a French tight wire walker who amazed the city of New York by walking across a steel cable strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center.

As in his previous films, Ze-meckis reconciles the classic forms of storytelling with a powerful use of avant-garde technology - in this case IMAX®3D - to create a mov-ie that captures audiences with its spectacular storyline and imagery.

The star of the film, in the lead-ing role of Petit, is Joseph Gor-don-Levitt, one of the finest actors of his generation, equally at ease in major productions (Inception and The Dark Knight Rises by Chris-topher Nolan, Lincoln by Steven Spielberg) and independent pro-ductions (Brick and The Lookout). Academy award-winner Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List, Shutter Island, and Hugo Cabret),

Charlotte Le Bon (Asterix & Obe-lix , Yves Saint Laurent), and James Badge Dale (24, The Pacific) are also in the film.

The Walk – 3D is based on Philippe Petit’s To Reach the Clouds (Faber and Faber).

“When I first heard this story, I thought, ‘My God, this is a movie that A: should be made under any circumstance, and B: should be ab-solutely presented in 3D,” explains Zemeckis. “When you watch a wire walker, you always have to watch by looking up at him. You never get the perspective of what’s it like to be on the wire. Our film will fol-low Petit’s story but will ultimately put you on the wire, walking with Philippe, and by presenting it in 3D, it is going to be spectacular and very emotional. I love the idea of a guy – a performance artist – who pulls off this great caper. The caper is ille-gal, it’s dangerous, but it doesn’t hurt anybody. It seemed like something out of another time – you don’t real-ly see stuff like that anymore. It was almost like a fable.”

Rome Film Fest Artistic Direc-tor, Antonio Monda, declared: “Yet another magnificent film by a great director who can truly be an auteur while making incredibly spectacu-lar films. Zemeckis’ cinema is, hap-pily, both art and industry.”

The 10th Rome Film Fest will also dedicate a complete retrospec-tive to Chilean director, screen-

writer, and producer Pablo Lar-raín. The retrospective, curated by Mario Sesti, artistic coordinator of the Selection Committee, will take place at the MAXXI – National Museum of the XXI Century Arts, which is producing the event in collaboration with the Embassy of Chile. “The Rome Film Fest is es-pecially proud to be the first inter-national festival to pay tribute to a filmmaker whose cinema seems to cut deep and with astonishing self-possession, like the scalpel of a prodigious surgeon, into the viscera of life. We have worked on this retrospective with the collabo-ration of the Embassy of Chile and

of the MAXXI, the partnership with which is once again renewed and strengthened”.

The 39 year-old Chilean auteur, a remarkable talent with the ca-pacity to imagine and create tru-ly unique cinema, which has led him to become, with five films to his name, one of the most inter-esting filmmakers of his genera-tion, will be in Rome to meet the audience of the Auditorium and to present his work.

In a trilogy with rare visual and emotional impact, Larraín adopted original perspectives to tell the story of the rise and fall of Augusto Pino-chet’s dictatorship. A parabola that

went from Tony Manero (2008), presented at Cannes and winner of the Best Film Award at the To-rino Film Festival, to Post Mortem(2010), in competition at the Venice Film Festival, to No (2012), starring Gael García Bernal, nominated for the Academy Award for Best For-eign-Language Film.

His outstanding ability to pro-voke aversion and empathy, dismay and entrancement, in the characters and spaces of his films, emerged early in his debut film, Fuga (2006) and remained unchanged through El Club (2015), which won the Sil-ver Bear in Berlin this year and will represent Chile at the next Oscars®.

T UES DAY : S EPT EMBER 2 9 : 2015

‘ThE WAlk – 3D’ AT RoME FilM FEST

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in The Walk -3D

that will be screened in Rome Film Festival

Gordon-Levitt plays a tightrope walker in the new Robert Zemeckis film

Charlotte Le Bon and Gordon-Levitt in a scene from The Walk-3DChilean filmmaker Pablo Larraine is given a retrospective at the Rome Film Festival

SHOWBITZC6i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m


ACROSS 1 Domain 6 Snake eyes 10 Catherine — -Jones 14 Aluminum giant 15 Hindu attire 16 Matinee — 17 Kind of pool 18 Leisure (2 wds.) 20 Cul-de- — 21 Well-practiced 23 The ones here

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 TUESDAY,

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

24 — one’s teeth 25 That yacht 26 Arctic canoes 29 Big-hearted 34 Where Pisa is 35 Vows venue 36 Do something 37 Stadium noise 38 Point of an antler 39 Ancient colonnade 40 Sierra Madre gold 41 High-IQ group 42 Blew a paycheck

43 Breaks the rules 45 Dairy machinery 46 MGM motto word 47 “The Ghost and Mrs. —” 48 Gravy no-no’s 51 Pick up 53 Dernier — 56 OK in hot water 58 In a fog 60 “Chicago” actor 61 Natural impulse 62 Banal 63 Skippers’ OKs 64 HI or AK, once 65 Pita treats

DOWN 1 Wharf denizens 2 Director — Kazan 3 “Moneytalks” group 4 Mauna — 5 Foolish talk (var.) 6 Portfolio item 7 Dogpatch creator 8 Q.E.D. part 9 Edmund Hillary’s title 10 Dulcimer, e.g. 11 McClurg of sitcoms 12 Male cats 13 Helm position 19 Early anesthetic

22 Bad-mouth 24 Hoedown partners 25 Glitch 26 Bolshoi rival 27 Video-game pioneer 28 Google rival 29 Type of varnish 30 Lava spewer 31 Movie with a posse 32 Storrs sch. 33 Box-score info 35 “Rosamond” composer 38 Dogs and hamsters 39 Prod 41 Bog 42 Big bash 44 Slip-ups 45 Mongrel 47 Manufacturer 48 Links org. 49 Heavy hydrogen discoverer 50 Only 51 Entice 52 RR employee 53 Tyrant 54 Casino city 55 Fateful date 57 Dull routine 59 Even one

Cignal TV has proven its leadership in the Philip-pine Pay TV market by being the first and only

pay TV service provider to reach over one million subscribers as of August 2015. As a way of thanking its industry partners and friends, Cignal held a thanksgiving party on Sept.23 to mark this historic milestone --- not only for the com-pany but for the entire television industry as well.

Cignal’s foray in the pay TV are-na six years ago has literally shook the television landscape with its su-perb direct to home (DTH) satel-lite technology that ushered in the era of HD quality sight and sound never before seen on local TV broadcasts. Customers have taken a liking to this newest pay TV pro-vider and have made Cignal no.1 in its class --- having exceeded one million subscribers; way ahead of its competitors which have been in the industry for decades now.

According to Cignal Presi-dent and CEO Emmanuel C. Lorenzana, ‘’We owe it to our subscribers who have made us the no.1 pay TV provider in the country, to deliver the best view-ing experience possible and to continue to expand and enrich our channel offerings. It is our firm commitment for Cignal to

take the lead in finding innova-tive ways to improve its services and to meet the changing de-mands of the Filipino viewer’’.

Cignal’s achievements rest squarely on its quality of ser-vice, having been the first in the industry to offer superior 100 percent digital pay TV service, and built-in HD plans. These are some of the industry innovations that brought Filipino viewers to the awesome viewing experience that they enjoy today.

As to how Cignal is going to maintain its no. 1 status, “The King of Pay-TV” still has a lot to offer as it charts its course for the future. “The Philippine pay TV market is still in its infancy com-pared to our Asian neighbors, like Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, so there is ample room to grow and we see a trend towards more diversity in television choic-es as people’s incomes increase and lifestyles continually change. Cignal will continue to lead the industry in both content diver-sification and best in class infra-structure. All thanks to our links with PLDT and the MVP Group which give us access to the lat-est developments in digital and telecommunications technology,’’ Cignal Chief Operating Officer Oscar A. Reyes Jr. stressed.

Cignal thanks million subsCribers

SPaniSh FiLm FEStivaL at GREEnbELt 3

From Oct. 8 to 18, Pelícu-la-Pelikula, the Spanish Film Festival, will fea-ture the best of contem-

porary Spanish cinema at the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas.

The 2015 edition will screen around 30 films.

Since its conception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, the Film Festival has been an annual at-traction at the Ayala Cinemas with the best of Spanish and Latin American cinema.

Película-Pelikula is a com-bination of the Spanish word “película”, which means film, and its Tagalog derivation “pe-likula”, echoing the cultural ties shared by Spain and the Philip-pines. By putting the two words together, it highlights the unique characteristics of this 2-week event as the biggest Spanish film festival in Asia.

The Festival has traditionally been graced by the presence of foreign filmmakers. On Oct.12, at 9:30 p.m., Spanish journalist

Ramón Vilaró will present his film, De aliados a masacrados(2014), a documentary about how the Filipino-Spanish popu-lation of Manila was decimated during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during the Sec-ond World War. On the following day, Oct. 13, the Czech filmmaker Lenka Kny will present his com-edy Milagro en Praga (2013), and will have an open forum after the screening. The romantic com-edy film is about two families, a Mexican family and a Czech family, who cross paths in Prague over the Christmas holidays. The screening is co-presented by the Embassy of Mexico and the Em-bassy of the Czech Republic.

Aside from those mentioned, the line-up of films shows a list of genres ranging from romance and comedy (Ocho apellidos vascos, Tres bodas de más, Gente en sitios) to documentary (Paco de Lucía, La plaga), suspense (Relatos salvajes) and drama (Hermosa juventud, Artico).

The Festival will have a second leg made possible by Intramuros Administration and the Nation-al Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in Intramuros, from Oct. 19 to 25. It is during this time that the exhibit entitled “Spanish Cinema in 20 Posters” will be displayed at the NCCA Building, alongside the film screenings. The exhibit will let you explore Spanish cinema by means of the posters of some of its most emblematic films, from the 1953 film Bienvenido Míster Marshallto the 2012 film Blancanieves, encouraging one to reflect on its history and to be inspired by the beauty of the advertising graph-ics, illuminating the visual style of the different cinematic periods.

And thanks to the collaboration of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), a se-lection of films shown in the Ma-nila leg of the Festival will travel to other cities in the Philippines, namely Baguio, Iloilo, Zamboan-ga and Davao.

Cignal's one millionth subscriber Rinaldi Lastima (second from left) with his family receiving 55-inch curve TV and a 5.1 Home Entertainment System courtesy of Dolby. Also in photo are Cignal TV's VP for Marketing Guido Zaballero (leftmost) and Cignal TV's Manager for Prepaid Marketing Vito Villariba (rightmost)

Pelicula-Pelikula postcard

SHOWBITZ C7i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m


Child actress Ryza Mae Dizon of Eat Bulaga, merited the Gold-en Globe Awards

for Business Excellence and Filipino for Entertainment. She received her trophy on Sept. 19 at the Manila Hotel.

Also awarded was Lanao Del Norte’s first Muslim female may-or, Eleanor Dimaporo Lantud, 47, in the field of public service.

Her foray into the male-dom-inated world of local politics is already a great achievement. As mayor of Pantao Ragat, Bae Eleanor believes that education is the way to progress. Early on, she put up day care cen-ters that provide education in the municipality. In the past, teachers found it inaccessible to reach Pantao Ragat. Hence, Bae Eleanor tapped local graduates and gave them work by letting teach in these day care canters.

She also facilitated the con-struction of a school building that was funded by the Department of Education and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Using her people skills, Bae Eleanor gathered local leaders, datus, bais and the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to improve the peace and order situation in Pantao Ragat.

Planning for candidacy as governor under the Liberal Par-ty, she recently finished a general education course under the De-partment of Education’s Alterna-tive Learning System (ALS).

“I want to widen my knowl-edge even if I was not able to get a college degree. Lack of academic credentials should not be a barrier to achieving

one’s ambitions,” she says in Ta-galog. She topped the batch of 50 graduates who attended the rites in Baroy, Lanao del Norte.

Bae Eleanor hopes she can pursue her political dreams to further serve the public. She envisions the expansion of in-frastructure, the provincial jail and the establishment of centers for abused women and children, a provincial library and sanita-tion and hygiene programs.

In her three terms, she be-came skillful at steering the po-litical waters of the municipal-ity and has been committed to accountability. In public work, for instance, Eleanor says pro-vincial engineers should give priority in providing equip-ment for provincial projects instead of renting them out to private contractors.

Lantud has shown success in her family and religious life. Married to Vice Mayor Lacsonfor 33 years and blessed with seven children, she reminds members to pray five times and to share their good fortune.

Another reason for effective leadership is her maturity, hav-ing learned from the lessons in life. “This has given me a better grasp of the effects of my ideas and actions. I more conscien-tious in making major deci-sions,” she says.

Bae Eleanor is admired for her integrity, putting the wel-fare of the municipality first above herself. She also has the humility to listen and welcome the ideas from colleagues.

“It’s not easy to be the Mother of the Municipality,” she says. “I always ask the punong bayan if there are problems. Communi-cation is very important.”

Ryza Mae Dizon wins awaRD

by AyunAn GrAnde GuntinG

MeGAn younG’s first tApinG-dAy jitters

“iwas very nervous,” re-veals Miss World 2013 Megan Young when asked about her expe-

rience during the first live episode of the newest season of Starstruck.

“When I heard the heartbeat sound, it remembered when I was on the same stage when I was among the other contestants and we were holding each others’ hands while telling myself I could be sent home,” added the former Starstruck Season 2 Avenger.

Despite having “first taping jitters,” Megan is very delighted to work as the co-host of Ding-dong Dantes, who she described as “someone we looked up to.”

“It’s a different kind of hosting. I’m a bit nervous everyday, but I’m really excited and looking forward to the weeks to come. It’s great hosting with Kuya Dong. When we’re on stage together I still observe and I am glad that I’m learning along the way even by just observing.”

After the first elimination last Friday, more excitement and revelations await viewers as the remaining 22 Starstruck hope-fuls offer emotional performanc-es. Viewers will definitely get to know more of them as they re-member their pains and difficul-ties and the people whom they dedicate their performances.

Starstruck airs weeknights be-fore 24 Oras on GMA.

HHHHH

pAellA key to Chiz’sreConCiliAtion with in-lAwsSo, it was paella that brought Senator Chiz Escudero and his in-laws together.

Escudero shared the story be-hind the much talked about rec-onciliation after years of Heart Evangelista’s parents’ initial refusal to accept her daughter’s relationship with the senator.

Now, Heart’s mom, Cecile Ong-pauco, and along with her sisters are openly supportive of Chiz’s bid for the second highest office in the land. They were all there when the senator accepted, at ClubFilipino, Senator Grace Poe’s invitation to be her running mate in 2016.

Heart’s father was unable to at-

tend as he was under the weather.“Dasal, pagluluto at siguro may

mga bagay-bagay lang na hindi mo na kailangang pag-usapan pa o pagkuwentuhan. Sa pagdaloy la-mang ng panahon, anumang sugat naghihilom (Prayer, cooking or things that you normally don’t talk about..time heals the wounds that scarred our lives,” sais Chiz when asked what he did to make Heart’s parents finally accept him.

“Paella,” Chiz said when asked what softened Heart’s parents’ hearts.

Chiz showed off his cooking skills on TV when he made an appearance in Sarap Diva host-ed by Regine Velasquez-Alcasidon GMA7.

Apart from paella, the sen-ator is also proud of his adobo rice with crispy adobo flakes, his twins’ favorite.

from C8

Chiz and Heart with her parents

Megan Young Ryzza Mae Dizon and Eleanor Dimaporo Lantud

C8 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

The songbird is going to The The-atre at Solaire in November.

“This is a show that expresses my gratitude to PLDT,” says Regine Ve-lasquez- Alcasid who a couple of months ago did a highly successful Regine Series Mall Tour to promote the telephone company’s new prod-uct called the Regine Series.

The Regine Series is PLDT’s campaign to rekindle interest on the landline phone system that seems to have been overtaken with

the advent of the mobile devices. It offers new designs of telephone units that at best are excellent ac-cents on the table at the living room, in the office or bedroom.

Velasquez is dedicating Regine at the Theater to her loyal fans, especially to PLDT HOME sub-scribers that make the Regine Se-ries campaign a big success.

Coming on the heels of the high-ly successful Regine Series Mall Tour for PLDT HOME subscrib-ers recently, Regine is ready for her much-anticipated concert come-back, Regine at the Theater on Nov. 6, 7, 20 and 21 at The Theatre at Solaire.

And just like in the Regine Se-ries Mall Tour, PLDT HOME

subscribers get the first shower of good tidings. During a meet and greet session with the OPM icon on Sept.24, lucky Regine Series subscribers were given free concert tickets. More free concert tickets for the Nov. 20 play date will be raffled off to PLDT Landline subscribers who upgrade to one of The Regine Series Telset from Oct.1- Nov. 9.

Regine says in her usual hum-ble self, “I’d like to say thank you to them who made the mall tour successful and the PLDT HOME Regine Series campaign an even bigger success. I was very happy because they told me units even went out of stock and subscrib-ers have to line up to wait to get

my favorite, the red classic phone unit. Who would have thought of this reaction to the landline?”

PLDT VP and Home Marketing Head Gary Dujali said, “With no less than the Asia’s Songbird as our ambassador for our landline cam-paign, it was only fitting to shine the spotlight on her by letting her do what she does best—delight au-diences with her remarkable live performances. We look forward to sharing more of these musical ex-periences with our subscribers.”

Earlier this year, Regine capped a successful five-week mall concert tour presented by PLDT HOME to help promote the Regine Series line of limited edition landline phones, launched last Mother’s Day, featur-ing the Classic and Corded models at P75 per month, and the Cord-less unit at P99 per month. PLDT HOME continues to bring new of-fers that creates the strongest con-nections at HOME.

Subscribers of the telset series can also opt for the One Philippines Call Plan for unlimited PLDT-to-PLDT NDD calls and P10/call to

Smart and Talk ‘N Text for just P75 per month. Those with loved ones abroad can choose the One World IDD Call Plan, which, for only P50 per month, includes 15 free IDD minutes to select international des-tinations and only P2 per minute in excess of the monthly allocation.

For more information about the Regine Telset Series, visit pldth-ome.com/landline.

HHHHH

GMA Network’spArtNership with Miss world philippiNesPromoting beauty with a purpose, GMA Network and Miss World Philippines continue their quest in finding the Filipina beauty that can encourage the world to make a difference as they signed a part-nership deal last week, Sept.23, at the GMA Network Center.

From left are Arnold Vegafria, Miss World Philippines Nation-al Director Cory Quirino, GMA First Vice President for Program Management Jose Mari Abacan and GMA Senior Program Manag-er Mitzi Garcia.

SHOWBITZ


reGiNe VelAsquez At the theAtre At solAire

I was very happy because they told

me units even went out of stock and

subscribers have to line up to wait to get my favorite, the

red classic phone unit. Who would have thought of

this reaction to the landline?

– Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, singer

and PLDT’s Regine Series ambassador

ISAH V. RED

➜ Continued on C7

Arnold Vegafria, Miss World Philippines National Director Cory Quirino, GMA First Vice President for Program Management Jose Mari Abacan and GMA Senior Program Manager Mitzi GarciaRegine Velasquez-Alcasid

Regine with Gary Dujali and Patrick Tang

i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

The Standard - 2015 September 29 - Tuesday

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Transcript of The Standard - 2015 September 29 - Tuesday