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Noy backers: ‘Tanim-bala’ hatched to make Mar lose

‘Dinky lying about Yolanda rehab progress’

VOL. XXIX � NO. 263 � 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 � MONday : NOVEMBER 2, 2015 � www.thestandard.com.ph � editorial@thestandard.com.ph

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Remembering the dead. A relative of a victim of Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ visits the graveyard in Tacloban City on Nov. 1, almost two years after the howler killed more than 7,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Mel Caspe

By Rio N. araja

A GROUP of Typhoon “Yolanda” sur-vivors on Sunday slammed Social Wel-fare Secretary Corazon Soliman for ly-ing about the progress of rehabilitation work in Eastern Visayas.

“Dinky is a liar,” People Surge sec-retary-general Marissa Cabaljao said,

referring to Soliman by her nickname.People Surge, an alliance of the ty-

phoon survivors in Eastern Visayas, said Soliman deliberately deceived the public when she said there would no longer be any bunkhouses in Tacloban City by the end of October.

“This is far from reality,” Cabaljao said in a statement. “On the last day of

October, People Surge visited the IPI [International Pharmaceutical Inc.] bunkhouse at Caibaan, one of the bunk-houses in Tacloban. What we witnessed were more or less 400 families still living in bunkhouses. Dinky Soliman broke another promise to the hundreds of families who have long been waiting for permanent shelter.”

By Joyce pangco pañares

SUPPORTERS of the Aquino ad-ministration accused the political opposition of planting bullets in the luggage of travelers at the air-port to embarrass the government and to discredit the Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II.

Singer and Black and White Movement co-convenor Leah Navarro described the scam which has victimized tourists and overseas Filipino workers as a “project” to shame the Aquino administration.

“Whoever is behind this ‘tanim-bala’ project: remember, you don’t just shame the admin, you shame all Filipinos, including yourselves,” Navarro said in her Facebook account.

“And then there are those WW2 memo-rabilia collectors [smugglers?]. Could they

be adding to a growing hysteria over laglag-bala?” she added.

Another administration supporter and actress Cynthia Patag said the growing scandal over an extortion syn-dicate at the airport was nothing but a “cheap trick” aimed at bringing down the ratings of President Benigno Aquino III and Roxas.

“Can’t you tell? Dagdag-bala is a demo-lition job by THE MALEVOLENT MIN-IONS ordered by their demonyo leaders to

discredit the Aquino administration, ulti-mately the LP’s presidential candidate Mar Roxas. C’mon,” Patag wrote in her Facebook account.

But lawyer Jong de Guzman, whose sister fell victim to the scam, posted a rejoiner to Patag and Navarro.

“I do not know you, Ms. Cynthia Patag, but apparently we have mutual friends mostly from the LP [Liberal Party], includ-ing the President himself. I take exception

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National shame. The Aquino administration continues to gain negative publicity for the long-running bullet-planting controversy at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

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Militants blast PNoyspokesman on prices

The Aquino administra-tion vowed to build and complete permanent shel-ters for the victims since January 2014 in just a span of six months, she noted.

“Six months passed and another six months came to pass. Two years since Yolan-da, what they got were only empty promises and false hopes,” Cabaljao said.

People Surge said Soliman was deliberately covering up the sorry state of the ty-phoon survivors.

On Nov. 8, 2013, Yolanda flattened Eastern Visayas and killed more than 6,000 people.

Citing data from the Na-tional Housing Authority, Cabaljao said only 534 per-manent houses out of the targeted 13,801 houses had been built as of September 2015.

“Soliman is insensitive to the plight of bunkhouse residents, especially to Gina Supang, mother of eight-month-old Baby Grajane May ‘Iday’ Supang who died because of too much heat in the bunkhouse. False hopes, slow and inefficient rehabili-tation murdered a child,” she added.

“We call for justice for Baby ‘Iday’. We call for justice for the Yolanda survivors who, up until now, suffer in

bunkhouses and temporary shelters. We hold Dinky Soliman accountable for her false hopes, chronic lies and negligence. Ultimately, we hold President Benigno Aquino III accountable for his gross incompetence and criminal negligence,” she said.

Last week, Soliman said there would no longer be any families living in bunk-houses by Oct. 30.

“By... Oct. 30, there will be 1,000 families who will be removed. There won’t be any bunkhouse in Tacloban and all of those in transitional shelters will be transferred to permanent shelters,” Soli-man told The Standard.

“We are assuring [the public] that by the end of October, there will be no more bunkhouses in Ta-cloban. These aren’t safe so we’ll remove them,” Soliman added.

At a recent Senate hear-ing, however, NHA general manager Sinfroso Pagunsan confirmed that the govern-ment had built fewer than one-tenth or 16,000 of the 205,128 homes that were supposed to be built for Yolanda survivors.

Pagunsan said 73,000 housing units were under construction, and that of these, 45,000 units would be completed by December 2015, while the remaining units would be finished by July 2016.

By Christine F. Herrera and Macon Ramos-Araneta

A MILITANT youth group on Sunday lam-basted Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lac-ierda and dared him to take a closer look at government statistics before mouthing off about how the government was compas-sionate about the people.

Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said official govern-ment statistics show that the prices of basic commodities such as rice—as well as for water and rent—have shot up nationwide but income taxes have remained at a high of 32 percent, while the daily minimum wage has been stuck at P456, belying Lacierda’s assertion that the government looked out for Filipinos, particularly the poor.

Citing figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Hicap said prices of rice increased about 17 to 29 percent from 2010 to 2014.

The consumer price index based on 2006 prices showed rentals in January 2012 were up 113.7 percent for the whole country, 112.8 percent for the National Capital Region and 114.1 percent outside Metro Manila.

In September 2015, he said, rental rates further shot up to 125.5 percent nationwide, 122.1 percent for NCR, and 127.3 percent outside NCR.

The cost of water and other related services rose 146.5 percent and 185.8 percent respectively in 2012, and 158.4 percent and 199.7 percent respectively in September 2015.

“You tell Lacierda and President Aquino, where is the compassion there?” Hicap said.

Lacierda on Saturday lashed out at senatorial bet and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and his cousin, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., for saying that the Aquino administration lacks compassion for Filipinos, who are among the most heavily taxed people in Southeast Asia, yet who suffer substandard public services.

“They should never, ever say that the government has no heart, that the government has no malasakit [compas-sion],” Lacierda said in an interview on government-run Radyo ng Bayan.

“In the six years of our government, everything will be done to help those who are at the fringes of society,” he said, adding that opposition leaders were only making po-litical appeals for votes in next year’s elections.

Marcos, the son of former President Ferdinand Marcos, is running for vice president while Romualdez, the son of former Ambassador Benjamin Romualdez, is seeking his first term in the Senate.

Lacierda hit Marcos and Romualdez for claiming that

the Aquino administration does not want to push a tax cut bill in Congress because they don’t care about the suffer-ings of Filipinos.

Hicap on Sunday hit Lacierda and said the “inclusive growth” and ratings upgrade that the government had been boasting about were empty slogans, because grass-roots Filipinos have yet to feel the benefits of economic growth.

“I dare Lacierda to look at government’s own statistics and prove his claims that the government has since been doing its job to deliver social services and show malasa-kit. Where is malasakit in this government? Why do the people not feel it? The government’s own statistics prove Lacierda’s claims were false,” Hicap said.

On Sunday, Senator Francis Escudero said the govern-ment should make tax payment easier for small entrepre-neurs and self-employed Filipinos, who comprise the sec-ond largest class of workers in the country.

“I believe all income-earning Filipinos would want to pay taxes because it makes them feel they are part of na-tion-building, but the high tax rates and the tedious pay-ment system are discouraging compliance,” said Escudero, who is running for vice president next year.

“How can your regular taxi drivers or tiangge stall own-ers afford to pay accountants just to comply with Bureau of Internal Revenue regulations?” he said.

Escudero, who has been pushing the 16th Congress to legislate tax reforms, said the tax issue is not just about lowering tax rates but simplifying tax payment procedures to encourage compliance among micro, small and medium enterprises and self-employed professionals, who make up 99 percent of all businesses in the country.

Self-employed Filipinos—meaning, employers, own-account workers and members of cooperatives—account for 26.2 percent of all workers in the country, the second biggest labor category after wage and salaried employees, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Escudero noted that many self-employed workers do not register with the BIR because the process is so tedi-ous. Registration alone requires mayor’s business permit, occupational permit, Occupational Tax Receipt (OTR) or Professional Tax Receipt, contract of lease, proof of regis-tration of business name, barangay certificate and at least four other documentary requirements that may apply, de-pending on the nature of business.

BIR registration would compel self-employed workers to file tax returns monthly, quarterly and annually.

“We want to encourage Filipinos to become entrepreneurs. But the truth is, it is hard to start and sustain your own company here, especially if you operate only on a small-scale, which is what 99 percent of business owners do,” Escudero said.

“A small start-up or a struggling company would not hire people or put up an accounting division just to comply with BIR rules. We have to simplify our rules,” he said.

to this statement implying that my sister, a victim of this so-called ‘laglag bala’ scheme [to me it’s plain robbery-extortion], is a mere pawn to discredit this administration. Big accusation. Where’s your evidence?”

“You do not know what she went through during and after that incident—to be threatened with imprisonment or to lose everything she worked for just to get the green card. How dare you! You do not know her. I do. So who’s the minion now?”

Patag drew flak from oth-er Facebook users, who re-posted a screen grab of her and De Guzman’s Facebook walls.

De Guzman also chal-lenged Navarro’s state-ment. “What project? All I know is that there are crimes going on at the airport and not much has been done to curb [them]. There need not be a po-litical angle to it. You’re giving too much credit to your opponents. Stop fin-ger-pointing,” he said.

But artist Rock Drilon, a cousin of Senate President Franklin Drilon, said poli-tics is behind the “tanim-bala” scandal.

“Laglag-bala is a dirty op and politically motivated to embarrass the government and the ruling party/candi-dates,” Drilon wrote in his

Facebook wall.President Aquino has al-

ready ordered an investiga-tion into the scam, which has been picked up by in-ternational news agencies such as the BBC and Time magazine.

Pictures of passengers with their bags wrapped in plastic—one even had a handwritten note which read: Mahal ko aking pamilya, Di ako tanga, Bagahe ko walang bala (I love my family, I am not stupid, my luggage has no bullet)—have gone viral on various social media platforms.

Over the weekend, Com-munications Secretary Her-minio Coloma Jr. played down the scam, saying the incidents were not that many.

“Let us put this in the right context. Several pas-sengers use our airports, and there were only a few who were apprehended for carrying bullets. We are investigating all these in-cidents while giving due respect to the human and legal rights of all involved,” Coloma said.

On Sunday, a 65-year-old grandmother was appre-hended at the Ninoy Aqui-no International Airport Terminal 3 for allegedly carrying a live .9mm bullet inside her shoulder bag.

Incensed, Nimfa Fon-tamillas of Cavite shouted at members of the aviation security: “You people don’t just plant. You’re magicians, too!”

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Candidates in Tokyo. Miss International contestants Miss United Kingdom Sophie Loudon, Miss Sri Lanka Angela Jayalissa, and Miss Philippines Janicel Lubina pose on the observation deck of the Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo on Nov. 1. The Miss International pageant will be held on Nov. 5. AFP

Light traffic. Traffic is light at the usually congested Nagtahan Bridge in Manila on Sunday, All Saints’ Day, as thousands of people have flocked to the cemeteries to visit their dead. Ey ACAsio

Duterte ally: Mayor willstill run, despite denials

‘Indigent seniors not getting pensions’

Team GP is most star-studded

AN OPPOSITION lawmaker and close friend of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday he believes Duterte will run for President next year de-spite his assertions he is not in-terested in running.

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III predicted Duterte will substitute for Martin Diño, na-tional chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption who recently withdrew his presi-dential bid under Demoktratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

“I’ve known him [Duterte] for a very long time. He will always tell us that he already made a decision, but later he overturns himself. His style is like that,” Bello said.

“As a long time friend of Du-terte, I have this strong feeling and belief that he will run for President, so let’s wait and see.”

Bello said the political land-scape would change once Du-terte joined the race.

“I would say that at least three presidential candidates [Manuel Roxas II, Grace Poe and Jejomar Binay] will be affected by his [Duterte’s] entry in the presiden-tial race because their allies in Mindanao will shift their sup-port to the Davao City mayor,” Bello said.

Diño filed his candidacy for President but later withdrew his bid after PDP-Laban passed a resolution naming Duterte as his substitute. Rio N. Araja

THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday said 55,496 indigent senior citizens in Metro Manila, Bi-col, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Soccsksargen and Caraga did not re-ceive their pensions totaling P335.738 million in 2014.

“The failure of the Department of Social Welfare and Development to distribute the funds to our senior citizens defeated the purpose of the program called Social Pension for In-digent Senior Citizens, which was sup-posed to help make life better for our elders who are very close to the Vice President’s heart,” Binay spokesman Joey Salgado said.

He said that in the Commission on Audit’s 2014 report on the department, 48 percent of the beneficiaries did not get the government assistance.

Of the 116,637 SPISC beneficiaries,

55,496 failed to claim their pension amounting to P335.738 million, the commission reported.

Salgado said Binay was urging the department to improve the system to ensure the immediate release of cash grants to senior citizens for their medi-cal and other needs.

“The delayed delivery of cash grants to the intended senior citizens resulted in the accumulation of unliquidated funds from the multiple cash accounts of the Divisions Office for Social Pen-sion as of Dec. 31, 2014,” Salgado quot-ed the commission as saying.

The agency said that of the 116,637 senior citizens, 55,496 or 48 percent failed to claim their pensions totaling P335.738 million as of Dec. 31, 2015, due to the delays in the sending reports of validation of the list of beneficiaries by the central office to the regional office.

In the National Capital Region, 17,180 of 40,102 beneficiaries failed to claim their cash grants amounting to P14.404 million.

“The significant amount of unclaimed benefits was mainly due to the confusion of concerned officials in the inclusion of non-National Household Targeting System beneficiaries in the payroll based on the list submitted by the LGU coun-terparts in compliance with the newly issued Administrative Order No.4, but most of the qualified beneficiaries were not informed on the schedule of the pay-out,” the commission said.

“Some already have gone home to their respective provinces or were ad-mitted in institutions for temporary shelter.”

In Bicol, no beneficiary received the cash grant despite a P64.892-million fund allotment.

Presidential aspirant Sena-tor Grace Poe, a foundling abandoned in Iloilo, is an adopted daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and actress Susan Roces. Her running mate, Senator Fran-cis Escudero, married Evan-gelista last February.

More than half of the GP candidates for senator are in show business or once were in it. These candidates in-clude reelectionist Vicente Sotto who is married to re-tired actress Helen Gamboa and is father to Ciarra Sotto.

Poe, the frontrunner among the candidates for President, says it was Sotto who helped her when she became the first woman head of the Senate Public Order and Dangerous Drugs committee.

Another member of the movie industry is actor and TV host Edu Manzano.

Despite being estranged from his wife, actress-turned- politician Vilma Santos-Rec-to, Manzano has vowed to strengthen Filipino families. They have a son, Lucky Man-zano, who is also in showbiz.

Poe says she first met Man-zano when he was president of the Kapisanan ng mga Artista ng Pelikulang Pili-pino. He also served as chair-man of the Optical Media Board.

Santos-Recto, who won as governor of Batangas for three terms, is seeking a con-gressional seat in the prov-ince.

She is married to Senator Ralph Recto with whom she has a son, Ryan Christian, who represented him in the GP senatorial slate launch at Club Filipino in Greenhills,

San Juan.Recto is running under the

Liberal Party led by standard bearer Manuel Roxas II and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo.

In choosing Recto as Guest Candidate in their senatorial lineup, Poe acknowledged his being one of the “brightest” in the Senate and an econo-mist.

Santos-Recto and FPJ ap-peared in the hit “Batya’t Palu-Palu” in 1974, which earned for them the “Box Of-fice King and Queen” award. The other hit films they did were “Ikaw ang Mahal Ko” at “Bato sa Buhangin.”

Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, Francisco Domagoso in real life, was a member of the de-funct youth-oriented variety show “That’s Entertainment” of German Moreno.

Poe says Moreno is a “shin-ning example” of how pov-erty is not a hindrance to success.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares,   who wanted to be known as “Fighter ng Bayan sa Senado,” is an uncle of actress Angel Locsin.

Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, who comes from a family of public servants, being the grandson of Carlos P. Romulo and son of former Senator Alberto Romulo, is the husband of former Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad.

Soledad was a former co-host of Willie Revillame in the popular daily noontime show Wow-Wowee. She was also a former girlfriend of President Noynoy Aquino.

Returning Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri was a former boyfriend of singer-actress Vina Morales.

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE Partido Galing at Puso is the most star-studded political team in the May 2016 elections, having a presidential candidate who is the daughter of two actors and a vice presidential candidate who is the husband of another actress, Heart Evangelista.

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Lumad hit Noy’s ‘foreign bias’

Datu Jomorito Goaynon, Ma-nilakbayan 2015 spokesperson, said the President showed his in-sensitivity to the lumads when he boasted that as “salesman-in-chief,” he had brought in foreign fine-din-ing restaurants, imported designer clothes retailers and other foreign investments.

Goaynon accused irresponsible multinational companies that were allowed by the Aquino administra-tion to invest in mining and vast

plantations, particularly in Mind-anao, have intruded in their ances-tral domains.

He blamed the President for the massive militarization in the coun-tryside perpetrated by the armed forces and paramilitary groups.

Goaynon, a Higaonon, was joined by the militant Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikul-tura in denouncing the Presi-dent’s statement to the 17th Asia Pacific Retailers Convention

By Christine F. Herrera

SOME 1,000 lumad who are in Manila for the month-long Manilakbayan protest caravan on Sunday said they were not amused by President Benigno Aquino III’s “foreign fine-dining options” while they continue to denounce the killing of their fellow tribesmen.

Cops huntkillers ofvolunteerradio man

Kidnapped South Korean dies in captivity

THE Quezon City Police District said Sunday that the motive and identities of two suspects in the fatal shooting Saturday evening of a volun-teer of radio station dwIZ re-main unclear.

QCPD director Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio said he ordered investigating offi-cers under his command to coordinate with the Alab ng Mamahayag media group to gather evidence that would lead to the killers.

The victim, Jose Ber-nardo, was standing in front of a fast-food restau-rant in North Olympus, Barangay Kaligayahan in Novaliches district around 7 p.m. when two men rid-ing a motorcycle stopped in front of him.

The suspect riding be-hind the one driving the motorcycle suddenly opened fire on the victim.

Tinio said it was too early to tell if Bernardo’s killing was related to his being a volunteer journalist.

Bernardo was rushed to the Bernardino Hospital but attending physicians declared him dead on ar-rival. He sustained bullet wounds in the head and other parts of his body.

Police said Marlon Donio, an employee of the fast-food restaurant, was also hit by a stray bullet and is now recuperating.

Tinio said investigators were examining the foot-age from a closed-circuit television camera and will be issuing an official an-nouncement later.

Meanwhile, senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romual-dez called on the Aquino administration to put an end to media killings.

and Exhibition.“The lumad, Moro people and

other marginalized groups from Mindanao have traveled far to seek justice, but President Aquino and his Cabinet have the gall to jest about their opulent lifestyle, imported designer clothes and high-end restaurants. The Presi-dent gloats that the arrival of well-known foreign brands is among his administration’s achievements on the economic front,” said UMA secretary general Ranmil Echanis.

“The entry and expansion of new foreign brands may have made President Aquino and his Cabinet secretaries very happy with their current dining options, but the lumad and agricultural workers are clearly not amused with his tasteless banter,” Echanis said.

He said children were dying in evacuation centers and the lumad and peasants who are victims of corporate land-grabbing and haz-ardous working conditions in plan-tations are succumbing to hunger and disease.

Militarization and plunder were the most pressing issues put for-ward by the protest caravan Ma-nilakbayan ng Mindanao, he said.

UMA, and other peasant work-ers’ groups and church organiza-tions established the network Re-sisting Expansion of Agricultural Plantations in Mindanao or the REAP Mindanao Network to ad-dress various issues linked to the unbridled entry and expansion of plantations controlled by giant multinational agri-corporations especially in peasant, lumad and Moro areas.

Sniffers. Valenzuela City policemen use bomb-sniffing dogs to inspect vehi-cles inside the Karuhatan Cemetery to ensure the safety of visitors on Sunday. ANDREW RABULAN

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Man overboard. A boatman jumps from his motorized boat after it tilted due to waves while unloading newly made wooden fishing boats at the coastal village of San Jose in Tacloban City on Sunday, a week before the second anniversary of the arrival of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ on Nov. 8. The Philippines has not done enough to rebuild after Yolanda, as thousands remain in shanties without power or water for nearly two years, a United Nations representative said in August. AFP

A SOUTH Korean kidnapped by Muslim bandits in Sulu last January has been found dead, police and military officials said Sunday.

The hostage, Hong Nwi-Seong, 70, was discov-ered in Patikul town on Saturday, more than nine months after he was seized by members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, said Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, commander of a special anti-terror task force.

Arrojado said the victim was not killed but that the Abu Sayyaf had brought his body to the area “af-ter the subject’s death due to severe illness.”

The type of illness was not disclosed but local military spokesman Capt. Antonio Bulao said the South Korean had been reported to be sick for the past few weeks and had died three to five days ago.

The victim was seized from his home in Baran-gay Poblacion, RT Lim town, Zamboanga Sibugay last Jan. 24 by armed men and was later reported to be in the hands of Abu Sayyaf commanders, the military said.

Details of his confinement and efforts to free him were kept quiet to avoid endangering the hostage.

His body had been transferred to Zamboanga City and would be flown to Manila, the authorities said.

A South Korean foreign ministry official, who declined to be identified, had earlier confirmed the death, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

It identified the victim as a “74-year-old... surnamed Hong,” adding that “if the body turns out to be our na-tional, we will investigate with the Philippines authori-ties on how he died and in what circumstances.”

South Korean Embassy spokesmen in Manila could not be contacted for comment.

Founded in the early 1990s with seed money from Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, the Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for the Philippine’s deadliest terror attacks including the kidnapping for ransom of for-eigners, some of whom they killed. AFP, PNA

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Romualdez warns of half-baked BBL

Palace bats for witness protection bill as UN weighs in

Solons hit delay in climate fund

Grim reminder: Tacloban City residents convert a ‘Yolanda’ shipwreck into a memorial park to serve as a reminder of nature’s fury. MEL CASPE

By Christine F. Herrera

LEYTE Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday cautioned his colleagues against hastily passing an infirmed Bangsamoro Basic Law as Congress listed the pet bill of President Benigno Aquino III as a priority measure.

As Congress resumes its sessions  on Tuesday, the House leadership will con-tinue with its plenary debate on BBL, in-tending to pass it on second reading by December alongside the ratification of the P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016.

“We support peace, but any agreement should be in consonance with the Con-stitution and existing laws. This will help prevent a half-baked peace measure and not give false hopes,” Romualdez pointed out.

Romualdez said the House should not allow to get pressured by Malaca-ñang to hasten the passage of the BBL this December without making law-makers review, study and scrutinize the peace measure. 

“Our colleagues need more time to study the BBL because we want to guaran-tee that what we would be passing will be legal and constitutional,” said Romualdez,

a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, the oldest and respectable association of legal luminaries in the country.

The Romualdez-led Philconsa filed be-fore the Supreme Court a 26-page petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional the Framework Agreement on the Bangsam-oro and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that the government has entered into with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Bolet Banal, a stal-wart of the ruling Liberal Party, said the House will resume the plenary debates on the peace measure and ratification of next year’s P3.002-trillion General Ap-propriations Bill upon resumption of sessions.

“We will prioritize the ratification of the national budget next year and to continue

the interpellation and debate for the BBL and other important matters,” Banal said.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., LP chairman, vowed to pass the BBL by the end of December despite the expected pestering problem of a lack of quorum.

Belmonte said the quorum problem is “alarming” considering that the campaign season was about to start. 

“I am still confident that the BBL can still be passed by the House. I am ap-pealing to my colleagues to attend the sessions,” said Belmonte, campaign man-ager of LP’s Coalition of Daang Matuwid, whose standard bearer is Manuel Roxas II.

You Against Corruption and Poverty Rep. Carol Jane Lopez, a stalwart of the House Minority Bloc supporting the pres-idential bid of Roxas, echoed Romualdez’s position for the House to fully scrutinize the BBL.

“My position stays that this is con-stitutionally flawed. And so many pro-visions had either been inserted or left out, without undergoing thorough scru-tiny and study.  What we don’t want is a measure that will be shot down by the Senate and the Supreme Court. With Congress busy in budget deliberations and also with the campaign season, the chances for a BBL passage looks slim,” Lopez pointed out.

AS THE country marks the second year since be-ing hit by one of the most devastating typhoons in its history, a party-list representative on Sun-day decried the government’s “lack of urgency” in its response to the the threats posed by climate change, adding that “it appears that our current leadership has not truly learned from the lessons of Yolanda.”

Two Bicolano lawmakers, Senator Francis Es-cudero and party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe ex-pressed desire for immediate release of the funds intended to carry out the provisions of the law that will address climate change.

Batocabe, House of Representatives Special Committee on Climate Change made the state-ment in light of the admission of Deputy Presi-dential Spokesperson Abigail Valte that the ab-sence of guidelines to enforce Republic Act No. 10174 caused the delay in the release of the Peo-ple’s Survival Fund.

The law, meant to mitigate the impact of cli-mate change, was signed by President Benigno S. Aquino III in August 2012.

“The threats of climate change are real, and it is ironic that while our officials are actively participating in international discussions on climate change abroad, back home they appear to be taking their sweet time in making con-crete steps to address these threats,” said Bato-cabe of Ako Bicol party-list. “The gravity of the problem requires a response commensurate to the dangers posed by it. You would think that after Yolanda our government would take this problem more seriously.”

According to the Bicolano native, as Chair-man of the Special Committee on Climate Change he had repeatedly called the attention of the Climate Change Commission to imme-diately formulate and publish the implement-ing rules and regulations of RA 10174 and guidelines for accessing the PSF. “However, the responses to my pleas have been ambiguous. I have even been accused of being overly inter-ested in the PSF, which I do not deny because Bicol is one of the regions greatly affected by climate change. If there are people who can benefit from this fund, it is Bicolanos.”

Batocabe added that the administration took notice of the issue when Escudero questioned the withholding of the release of the PSF amounting to P1 billion.

By Sandy Araneta

MALACAÑANG is push-ing for the passage of the “Whistleblower Protection Act” amid a statement from the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights criticizing the way the Aquino administration has been handling witnesses un-der state protection.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the sta-tus of the pending bill before the Senate will have to be verified. “Let me apologize   in advance because   I’m not aware of this. We will ask the DoJ,” Lacierda said. “Well, we will ask DoJ Secretary   Ben Caguioa.”

Lacierda was reacting to a report that the Philippine

government, which prides itself in its protection of in-formation sources and whis-tleblowers, did not make any submission on the matter to the UN Special Rapporteur David Kaye, who issued a re-port on Oct. 20.

Kaye stressed that sources of information and whistle-blowers deserve the stron-gest protection in law and in

practice.In February 2014, the

House justice committee ap-proved bills strengthening the witness protection pro-gram and installing a whis-tleblowers’ protection act.

The House justice panel, chaired by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., moved to approve the proposed measures for plenary debate.

A6m o n D AY : n o v e m b e r 2 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

CA clears way for UCCP damage suitBy Rey E. Requejo

The Court of Appeals has paved the way for the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to hear the P5.4-million damage suit filed by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in connection with the alleged extrajudicial killings of five of its members and the abduction of another priest from 2003 to 2006.

Respected criminal defense lawyer sigfrid Fortun  on sun-day raised doubts on whether the cases filed against leaders of the Iglesia ni cristo would pros-per, saying both the Justice de-partment’s complaint and the supreme court writs of amparo and habeas corpus petitions suf-fer from glaring legal infirmities that weaken the cases.

INc officials are facing seri-ous illegal detention charges at the department of Justice after former minister Isaias samson Jr. alleged that he and his family were harassed and detained upon their orders.

the INc leadership will also face the court of Appeals on tuesday after the sc ordered the cA to hear the petitions for ha-beas corpus and amparo origi-nally filed with the sc on behalf of dismissed minister Lowell Menorca II.

“As regards the doJ complaint, any lawyer worth his salt knows that you file a serious illegal de-

tention charge because it is non-bailable, and thus can be misused to embarrass and oppress no matter how flimsy the accusation may be,” said the renowned liti-gator.

“the gulpe de gulat factor is strong when you file a serious illegal detention complaint, but the challenge is to be able to fac-tually prove in court whether all elements of the offense exist; that is, if you first hurdle the doJ or prosecutor’s level where you es-tablish probable cause a crime had indeed been committed,” Fortun explained.

“the key elements of serious illegal detention, the ones that make it serious, are simulation of public authority, inflicting seri-ous physical injuries or issuing threats to kill the complainant. clearly they will be hard pressed to establish these elements in these complaints,” added Fortun.

According to Fortun, while the matter has attracted media cover-age, “at day’s end, it will be a very

difficult charge to prove beyond reasonable doubt.”

As for the habeas corpus and amparo petitions, Fortun opined that Menorca’s televised interviews may have helped him score publicity points, but it may have cost him the case that will now be heard by the court of Appeals.

“the only question is whether Menorca is entitled to the reliefs he seek, that the bodies be pro-duced, so to speak, for habeas corpus; and that they be protect-ed as far as amparo is concerned.”

Fortun further explained that the writ of amparo must be ju-diciously issued as “it’s an ex-traordinary remedy available only in extreme cases such as extrajudicial killings or en-forced disappearances. Obvi-ously, Menorca is alive and well, and his loved ones know where he is, and they are even all to-gether now. these could effec-tively render the petitions moot and dismissible.”

Cases against Iglesia weak, says criminal defense expert

Natural gas betterthan coal—solonBy Rio N. Araja A pARty-LIst lawmaker   on sunday  expressed sup-port for a new energy devel-opment strategy to increase the share of natural gas in the country’s fuel mix for power generation.

Rep. Arnel ty of the Lique-fied petroleum Gas Market-ers’ Association called on power producers to rely more on electricity from cleaner natural gas in the years ahead than on dirtier coal.

“the faster we reduce our dependence on coal for power, the better, “ he said.

citing Us energy In-formation Administration figures, ty said coal   is emitting 228.6 pounds of

carbon dioxide per mil-lion British thermal units of energy produced, while natural gas releases only 117.0 pounds of cO2 per million BtU.

“coal is even dirtier than diesel fuel, which churns out only 161.3 pounds of cO2 per million BtU, and gasoline, which yields 157.2 pounds of cO2 per million BtU,” he added.

“We are all for the ag-gressive development of the country’s natural gas resources for power gen-eration. In fact, we want the department of energy to allow private contractors to resume their search for new gas deposits in Northwest palawan.”

Enterprising. Melted candles are precious commodities for these children who sell them for P10 per kilo in Tugatog Cemetery, Malabon City. ANDREW RABULAN

In a 16-page decision, the cA’s seventh division through Associate Justice Victor Isabel paredes denied the petition filed by Mrs. Ar-royo seeking the reversal of the decision issued by the Qc Rtc in January 2012 deny-ing her motion to dismiss the civil case.

the appellate court stressed that based on its perusal of the complaint, its shows that it sufficiently states a cause of action: (1) victims of extrajudicial kill-ings, who are members of the Uccp and family members of its leaders, have a right against forcible abduction, illegal arrests, detention and torture; (2) it is the duty of the petitioner to respect such right; (3) petitioner violated such right when she ordered the implementation of OBL, which led to the extrajudicial killings, disappearances and other illegal acts.

“since it is apparent that evidence has yet to be pre-sented before the Rtc and any question   of fact resolved through stipulations, the Rtc’s denial of the motion to dismisss on the ground of lack of cause of action was proper,” the cA ruled.

According to the appellate court, Mrs. Arroyo’s defens-es can be passed upon and threshed out in a full-blown trial on the merits and not in a motion to dismiss. 

“clearly, the Rtc’s de-nial of petitioner’s motion to dismiss and motion for reconsideration, were nei-

ther whimsical nor capri-cious. petitioner, in pray-ing for the issuance of the writ of certiorari, has failed to discharge the bur-den of proving grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Rtc in accord with the definition and standards set by law and jurispru-dence,” the cA ruled.

Associate Justices Mag-dangal de Leon and elihu ybañez concurred with the ruling.

the Uccp earlier claimed that Mrs. Arroyo was liable for damages as she failed “either by commission or ommission, ei-ther by manifest negligence or by culpable acts” to fulfill her duties as president and com-mander-In-chief.

the Uccp represented by Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza who joined six Uccp families as plaintiffs claimed that during her term, Oplan Bantay Laya, an opera-tion and counter-insurgency plan was conceived.

Under OBL, the Uccp were among the society and church organizations identified as front organizations of the communist party of the phil-ippines, and thus, targets for neutralization by the military.

In the course of the imple-mentation of OBL, the prot-estant church said several pastors, leaders and members were either liquidated, har-assed, unlawfully detained, or tortured by alleged mili-tary agents who were under her control and command responsibility. 

A7m o n D AY : n o v e m b e r 2 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

Yolanda victims’ relatives honor dead in mass graveBy AFP, PNA and John Paolo Bencito

Millions of people in the Philippines made their annual pilgrimages to family gravesites on sunday in a tradition that combines fervent Catholic faith with the country’s penchant for festivity.

But while many people in Manila’s sprawl-ing cemeteries treated the event like a giant picnic, in the central city of Tacloban, which is still suffering the devastation of Super Ty-phoon Haiyan, the mood was mournful and somber.

Many of the mourners had to visit a mass grave where more than 2,400 bodies were in-terred after Haiyan, the strongest typhoon ever recorded to hit land, ravaged the city in Novem-ber 2013.

The city government has covered the mass grave with scores of small white crosses and families have taken to labeling the crosses with the names of their deceased loved ones.

Rebecca Gonzales Daa, 56, was one of the many who brought flowers and candles to the mass gravesite for her late husband, Raul, one of more than 7,350 people left dead or missing by the storm’s tsunami-like waves.

“We had evacuated, my mother and other siblings fled to my uncle’s apartment but my husband went home. He was worried about

our pigs and our belongings,” she recalled tearfully.

“We found his body with a large wound on his head later. He must have been hit by a piece of floating debris,” she told AFP.

In the aftermath of the disaster, with piles of bodies lining the streets and funeral parlors de-stroyed, Tacloban authorities resorted to bury-ing the dead together.

“We used to visit the graves of my father, my brother on All Saints’ Day. I would bring snacks. It wasn’t so sad because I would see my family. It was like a reunion,” Daa recalled. 

“Now, it is a sad occasion. I tell [my husband], we are left alone with no one to watch over us,” she said.

Ricka Joy Quisay, 17, lit candles in front of the Tacloban cemetery because she isn’t even sure her mother is in the mass grave.

Quisay fled to an evacuation center before the storm struck but her mother, Rebecca, 59, did not believe Haiyan would be that strong.

“The next day, we saw her body just placed

alongside the road. It lay there for two weeks till it got bloated and was finally carried away by a truck,” she said.

“Before, All Saints’ Day wasn’t sad. My moth-er would light candles in front of our house. But now, my mother is the one we are lighting can-dles for,” she said.

But while most came to honor their dead, en-terprising individuals like pedicab driver Jomar Aure, 26, took the opportunity to earn. Aure and two of his friends offered labeling services using black paint.

“This is an easier way to earn money. At an average, I earn P250 daily from driving pedicab, but today, we got P1,000 from labeling,” Aure said.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking Cardinal called on Catholics that the appropriate day to remem-ber the dead is on Nov. 2, or All Souls Day. 

“What is happening is that, we many Filipi-nos and dioceses have emphasized All Saints’ Day as the time of blessing the dead and blessing the grave. I think that’s a wrong one,” Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo said in an interview over Radio Veritas. 

Quevedo added that Catholics should not use the opportune time as “picnics” or “family gatherings.”

“We go to cemeteries to remember them and their good deeds, not for picnics and not for re-unions,” Quevedo said. 

Remembering. Tacloban City residents visit the cross-marked graves of their loved ones who died nearly two years ago due to Typhoon ‘Yolanda.’ AFP

Authorities nab man over kilo of shabu

Manhunt on for killers of city employee, wife

COTABATO CITY—Police have launched a manhunt for unidentified gunmen who am-bushed and killed a Cotabato City government employee and her husband  Saturday  evening in Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

According to Chief Insp. Lendsy Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat town police chief, the victims were on board a Toyota Avanza on their way home when the gunmen carried out the ambush in Barangay Sema at 6:15 p.m.

Killed on the spot were George Busque, retired city government Human Resource and Manage-

ment Office chief, and his wife, Marilou, current head of the Cotabato City government Public Employment Services Office.

Police said the ambush oc-curred near a gasoline station in front of the Southern Philippines Development Authority housing project, where the victims reside.

Police remained clueless as to the motive and identities of the at-tackers.

It was the second ambush inci-dent in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in a week.

Last Monday, Oct. 26, an ambush in Barangay Dulangan of the same town left five persons dead. PNA

CEBU CITY—Police intel-ligence branch operatives on Saturday  arrested a man who has served time for conviction in robbery and seized from him a pack of one kilo of shabu worth P11.8 million on Tres de Abril St., Barangay Labangon, Cebu City.

The Dangerous Drugs Board set the value of shabu at P11,800 per gram.

Superintendent Romeo Santander, chief of the City In-telligence Branch of the Cebu City Police Office, said Genes Joven Ermitanio, 20, tried to run away from a midnight transaction with an undercov-er policeman, but police offic-ers managed to trap him on the other side of the road.

Santander said Ermitanio had been elusive for the last two months, changing his meeting place with a client in every transaction.

“We never thought the drug would become bigger in this transaction. It’s too much,” Santander said.

Ermitanio, who turned 20  on Sunday, said he was trying to raise money for his birthday but spent his time in a jail cell instead.

Ermitanio was convicted for robbery in 2013 after an anti-robbery police team had ar-rested him after he was found to be a member of a motorbike-riding robbery group operat-ing in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

It was the second largest amount of shabu confiscated in Cebu this year, following the seizure of P24 million worth of the drug from a woman in San Remigio in northern Cebu last May.

Santander said charges for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act are being against Ermitanio for filing in court on Monday. PNA

Closing in. Elite Special Forces of the Army and local police secure a coastal village in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao where five people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed last week. MARK NAVALES

opinionA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Bullet to the head

A9lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

ADELLE chuAe d I t o R

M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

opinion

Et Eos in lumen vultus tui admitte... and admit them into the light of your countenance. Thus are the departed remembered at mass. The Church prays as it believes... lex orandi, lex credenda  and therefore if our believing community begs God to admit our departed into his presence,

they must be present.  They who are no longer in our midst, they whom our quotidian activities confine to “remembering”, consign to “memory” are present. Of zombies and ghosts we shall not bother. Of that kind of presence, all of us would prefer to have none.

There is first of all the presence that will be found in the death-defying protests of all who love. To love sincerely is, Gabriel Marcel writes, to insist

The amphibology of presence

A bulleT is planted, and a fusillade    of criticisms is reaped. A bad few may have done the planting, but it is the good many who are now at the receiving of the  broadsides from a nation gone ballistic.

That’s the situation at the airport front. Instead of guilty individuals being singled out, whole institutions are being bombarded, razing the reputation of the innocents.

They are now lumped together as “taga-airport,” a sort of scarlet letter    which invites scorn even if their job is not to X-ray luggage nor heave bags into carousels. 

Never mind if one works in a tower, landing a tight procession of planes at a pay a fraction of what ex-colleagues who had migrated to other countries get. Never mind if one is a blue guard who works rain or shine to untangle the endless gridlock of cars.

Never mind if one is a Customs man, the honest breed who automatically waves through overseas Filipino workers with their stacks of balikbayan boxes, and even greets them “Magandang gabi po” with a smile. Never mind if one is a minimum wager who scrubs the dirt off decades-old tiles of toilets built a generation ago.

For a public whose anger can never be nuanced and whose condemnation can sometimes be wholesale, they all belong to the same rotten institution.

Rage can sometimes blind. but if one only sees red, reality is the first one that gets blurred.

Yes, our anger must reach boiling point over the hurt done to the Oppressed Filipino Worker who didn’t know that she had a munitions factory in her bag, but  not to the point that it    melts reason that every porter we now see is a mulcter, every baggage inspector a planting enthusiast, every guard in cahoots with a taxi with the fastest meter in town.

I can imagine how hard it is for frontline airport workers who are in their stations at the break of dawn only to be met by suspicious glances and conspiratorial whispers simply because they have been profiled as “taga-airport.”

We may not know it but to be suspected of being part of a syndicate by people you honestly serve is one emotional injury at the workplace that is hard to repair.

from The same

roTTen insTiTuTion

matter that we try to deny this, and the optic from which we view life is largely theirs.  They are present in us, as are others, like teachers and friends, who figure prominently in the narratives by which we identify ourselves.

It has been many years now that he left us, but whenever I sit at the piano, I remember my grandfather sitting not too far away, the ever-present “audience,” even if it was

only to hear me running through the scales and arpeggios. He memorized the pieces lined up for my premier recital, and could whistle their melodic lines. I still remember the sound of that whistle. That is how vivid our memories of those we love can be. If God is he who is unsurpassable in love and in the capaciousness of his memory, then more vivid yet, more alive is the way he remembers us all. The

limits to our memory are explained by the finiteness of our memory and our own personal lives, but if these limits are not to be found in God, then the “memories” that God has of our loved ones must not be mere shadowy recollections of persons passed in ages gone by, but truly admitting into the light of his countenance those we no longer behold!

Continued on A11

DeSPITe the feeble attempt by the Palace to play it down, the bullet-planting scandal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is spinning out of control, embarrassing us as a nation, putting our tourism industry at risk, and exposing as a lie this administration’s claim to following the straight path.

Amid mounting evidence of a syndicate planting bullets in luggage at the airport to extort local and foreign travelers, a spokesman for President benigno Aquino III urged the public to put the reported incidents “in the right context.”

“Thousands [of passengers] are using the airport terminals [each day] and only a few were found in possession of bullets. All of these incidents are being investigated based on law,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said. “And authorities recognize the human rights as well as legal rights of those [found] carrying [bullets].”

but much as the President may wish it, this problem will not go away with a simple dismissal.“This is becoming an international embarrassment,” Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin

Gatchalian, a member of the House committee on tourism, told the bbC last week.Senator  Miriam Defensor Santiago said the scandal could hurt tourism, a major job-

generating industry, by sowing fear among foreigners using Philippine airports and eroding public trust in law enforcers.

The media have so far reported six cases in which bullets were “found” in the luggage of travelers, who were then told to pay  up  or face jail time for the illegal possession of ammunition.

The latest victim of the bullet-planting scam was a Filipina, Revelina Combis, 68, who was arrested before she could take off for her dream vacation in boracay on Oct. 29 for having a single .45 caliber bullet in her luggage. Four days earlier, airport security also detained Gloria Ortinez, 56, a domestic worker bound for Hong Kong; and a Japanese tourist, Kazunobu Sakamoto, 33. Only Sakamoto was able to post bail for P80,000.

earlier, airport personnel also tried to shake down an American missionary who spent six days in jail until he was able to post bail of P40,000, and a wheelchair-bound American woman who said she had to give a member of the Office of Transportation Security P500 so she could fly back to California.

Now the Palace would have us believe that these are isolated cases and do not add up to a serious pattern of abuse. logic indicates otherwise.

Clearly, there is no plausible explanation why any of these travelers would have tried to smuggle one or two bullets through their luggage. That a wheelchair-bound woman, an American missionary, a Japanese tourist, or a domestic helper flying back to Hong Kong would even think of packing a bullet or two in their luggage defies all logic. That bullets were “found” in their luggage casts suspicion, not on the travelers, but on the airport workers.

but the suspicion goes beyond the airport and extends to the police and the courts that process these cases because their participation makes the threat of jail time credible.

Amid the growing public outrage over the bullet-planting scam, both the Senate and the House have called for congressional investigations.

Given the grave abuse of authority and the damage that this scandal can do to the nation, this is the minimum we demand.

That Mr. Aquino has not already sacked the airport general manager and his feckless Transportation secretary is a bullet to the head of his administration’s credibility—and is indisputable proof that the straight path exists, not in this government, but only in the President’s mind.

to one who is loved: “You shall not die,” and though such a bold proclamation cannot postpone the hour of bereavement, it is heroic insistence that love will not be parodied as a time-bound liaison, ultimately destined for oblivion. Whether in the form of repeated references to the departed in stories, or fond reminiscences, or regular visits to the cemetery or even a reserved place at table, there is the refusal to “let go.” Of this kind

of a clinging, there is no pathology.  To suggest to one suffering from bereavement that he “let go,” that she “move on” is to provoke a response, very likely visceral, to what can only be taken as thoughtless and vulgar! 

There is also the presence of that which consists in the fact that  past occasions, past actualities inevitably go in the constitution of  the present.  We bear the physical features of our parents; we think in many ways like they did, no

to love sincerely is, Gabriel Marcel writes, to insist to one who is loved:

‘You shall not die.’

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Continued on A11

opinionA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Bullet to the head

A9lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

ADELLE chuAe d I t o R

M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

opinion

Et Eos in lumen vultus tui admitte... and admit them into the light of your countenance. Thus are the departed remembered at mass. The Church prays as it believes... lex orandi, lex credenda  and therefore if our believing community begs God to admit our departed into his presence,

they must be present.  They who are no longer in our midst, they whom our quotidian activities confine to “remembering”, consign to “memory” are present. Of zombies and ghosts we shall not bother. Of that kind of presence, all of us would prefer to have none.

There is first of all the presence that will be found in the death-defying protests of all who love. To love sincerely is, Gabriel Marcel writes, to insist

The amphibology of presence

A bulleT is planted, and a fusillade    of criticisms is reaped. A bad few may have done the planting, but it is the good many who are now at the receiving of the  broadsides from a nation gone ballistic.

That’s the situation at the airport front. Instead of guilty individuals being singled out, whole institutions are being bombarded, razing the reputation of the innocents.

They are now lumped together as “taga-airport,” a sort of scarlet letter    which invites scorn even if their job is not to X-ray luggage nor heave bags into carousels. 

Never mind if one works in a tower, landing a tight procession of planes at a pay a fraction of what ex-colleagues who had migrated to other countries get. Never mind if one is a blue guard who works rain or shine to untangle the endless gridlock of cars.

Never mind if one is a Customs man, the honest breed who automatically waves through overseas Filipino workers with their stacks of balikbayan boxes, and even greets them “Magandang gabi po” with a smile. Never mind if one is a minimum wager who scrubs the dirt off decades-old tiles of toilets built a generation ago.

For a public whose anger can never be nuanced and whose condemnation can sometimes be wholesale, they all belong to the same rotten institution.

Rage can sometimes blind. but if one only sees red, reality is the first one that gets blurred.

Yes, our anger must reach boiling point over the hurt done to the Oppressed Filipino Worker who didn’t know that she had a munitions factory in her bag, but  not to the point that it    melts reason that every porter we now see is a mulcter, every baggage inspector a planting enthusiast, every guard in cahoots with a taxi with the fastest meter in town.

I can imagine how hard it is for frontline airport workers who are in their stations at the break of dawn only to be met by suspicious glances and conspiratorial whispers simply because they have been profiled as “taga-airport.”

We may not know it but to be suspected of being part of a syndicate by people you honestly serve is one emotional injury at the workplace that is hard to repair.

from The same

roTTen insTiTuTion

matter that we try to deny this, and the optic from which we view life is largely theirs.  They are present in us, as are others, like teachers and friends, who figure prominently in the narratives by which we identify ourselves.

It has been many years now that he left us, but whenever I sit at the piano, I remember my grandfather sitting not too far away, the ever-present “audience,” even if it was

only to hear me running through the scales and arpeggios. He memorized the pieces lined up for my premier recital, and could whistle their melodic lines. I still remember the sound of that whistle. That is how vivid our memories of those we love can be. If God is he who is unsurpassable in love and in the capaciousness of his memory, then more vivid yet, more alive is the way he remembers us all. The

limits to our memory are explained by the finiteness of our memory and our own personal lives, but if these limits are not to be found in God, then the “memories” that God has of our loved ones must not be mere shadowy recollections of persons passed in ages gone by, but truly admitting into the light of his countenance those we no longer behold!

Continued on A11

DeSPITe the feeble attempt by the Palace to play it down, the bullet-planting scandal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is spinning out of control, embarrassing us as a nation, putting our tourism industry at risk, and exposing as a lie this administration’s claim to following the straight path.

Amid mounting evidence of a syndicate planting bullets in luggage at the airport to extort local and foreign travelers, a spokesman for President benigno Aquino III urged the public to put the reported incidents “in the right context.”

“Thousands [of passengers] are using the airport terminals [each day] and only a few were found in possession of bullets. All of these incidents are being investigated based on law,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said. “And authorities recognize the human rights as well as legal rights of those [found] carrying [bullets].”

but much as the President may wish it, this problem will not go away with a simple dismissal.“This is becoming an international embarrassment,” Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin

Gatchalian, a member of the House committee on tourism, told the bbC last week.Senator  Miriam Defensor Santiago said the scandal could hurt tourism, a major job-

generating industry, by sowing fear among foreigners using Philippine airports and eroding public trust in law enforcers.

The media have so far reported six cases in which bullets were “found” in the luggage of travelers, who were then told to pay  up  or face jail time for the illegal possession of ammunition.

The latest victim of the bullet-planting scam was a Filipina, Revelina Combis, 68, who was arrested before she could take off for her dream vacation in boracay on Oct. 29 for having a single .45 caliber bullet in her luggage. Four days earlier, airport security also detained Gloria Ortinez, 56, a domestic worker bound for Hong Kong; and a Japanese tourist, Kazunobu Sakamoto, 33. Only Sakamoto was able to post bail for P80,000.

earlier, airport personnel also tried to shake down an American missionary who spent six days in jail until he was able to post bail of P40,000, and a wheelchair-bound American woman who said she had to give a member of the Office of Transportation Security P500 so she could fly back to California.

Now the Palace would have us believe that these are isolated cases and do not add up to a serious pattern of abuse. logic indicates otherwise.

Clearly, there is no plausible explanation why any of these travelers would have tried to smuggle one or two bullets through their luggage. That a wheelchair-bound woman, an American missionary, a Japanese tourist, or a domestic helper flying back to Hong Kong would even think of packing a bullet or two in their luggage defies all logic. That bullets were “found” in their luggage casts suspicion, not on the travelers, but on the airport workers.

but the suspicion goes beyond the airport and extends to the police and the courts that process these cases because their participation makes the threat of jail time credible.

Amid the growing public outrage over the bullet-planting scam, both the Senate and the House have called for congressional investigations.

Given the grave abuse of authority and the damage that this scandal can do to the nation, this is the minimum we demand.

That Mr. Aquino has not already sacked the airport general manager and his feckless Transportation secretary is a bullet to the head of his administration’s credibility—and is indisputable proof that the straight path exists, not in this government, but only in the President’s mind.

to one who is loved: “You shall not die,” and though such a bold proclamation cannot postpone the hour of bereavement, it is heroic insistence that love will not be parodied as a time-bound liaison, ultimately destined for oblivion. Whether in the form of repeated references to the departed in stories, or fond reminiscences, or regular visits to the cemetery or even a reserved place at table, there is the refusal to “let go.” Of this kind

of a clinging, there is no pathology.  To suggest to one suffering from bereavement that he “let go,” that she “move on” is to provoke a response, very likely visceral, to what can only be taken as thoughtless and vulgar! 

There is also the presence of that which consists in the fact that  past occasions, past actualities inevitably go in the constitution of  the present.  We bear the physical features of our parents; we think in many ways like they did, no

to love sincerely is, Gabriel Marcel writes, to insist to one who is loved:

‘You shall not die.’

pensées

fR. RanhIlIocallanGan

aquIno

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Jojo A. Robles Editor-in-Chief Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Francis Lagniton News Editor Joyce Pangco Pañares City Editor Adelle Chua Senior Deskman Romel J. Mendez Art Director Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

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pluMBlIne

pastoR apollo

quIBoloY

Continued on A11

OPINIONM O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

A10lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

should be great for domestic tourism, or even just going back to the hometown for the Filipino reunion. We hardly do serious work during the entire Holy Week anyway.

Then another extended holiday season from Dec. 24 all the way to Jan. 1, or make it 10 days even, to begin Dec. 23 each year. To that long vacation break, charge Cry of Balintawak and National Heroes Day/Bonifacio Day, All Saints’ Day and Rizal Day, or whatever else falls within the period. The Muslim Eid al Adha and Eid al Fit’r need not be national holidays, a special dispensation given to them for their work absence on such annual commemorations. The Christian Good Friday and Christmas Day are already covered by the two annual long breaks.

People can save for these annual breaks; managers

will � nd schedules predictable and productivity targets will be enhanced. We hardly put in serious work during these periods anyway. As early as the second week of December, we have parties instead of work in our o� ces. And on Holy Week?

Provincial resorts will sprout, modest perhaps, because they will be at peak earnings only seasonally, but enough to give small scale entrepreneurs enough bonanza to sustain their operations. Domestic tourism will � ourish.

* * *But I would take exception with Freedom Day.

Commemorated June 12, I would be willing to make it a three-day break so we could come up with a meaningful commemoration.

As a young student, I recall how we all trooped to

TOO bad All Saints’ Day fell on a Sunday, and All Souls’ Day has not been declared a holiday. Nonetheless, expect so many absences on

the � rst working day of November, just as there must have been plenty who skipped work last Friday to be able to travel to their hometowns and enjoy a three-day communion with the living who commemorate their dead through reunions with kith and kin.

It is a very Filipino tradition, imported from Mexico (through which we were governed by Spain for more than three centuries), where Dia de los Difuntos is a major religious and cultural event capped with a street procession where � gures similar to the “higantes” of Angono are paraded. But while we do not have such a colorful procession during the Dia de Todos los Santos, better known as “Undas” in Tagalog patois, what we have are family reunions, more like a � esta, where people congregate in cemeteries, eat there, discuss politics and AlDub, even play a game of cards underneath makeshi� tents. Trust the Filipino extended family to make a celebration of life anywhere, even in the kingdoms of the dead.

If I had my ‘druthers, as American politicians say, I would propose that we troop to the cemeteries and columbaria, not on Nov. 1 and 2, but on the birthdays or death anniversaries of our beloved departed. � at way, there won’t be tra� c (foot and motor) congregating towards singular directions and making a mess of everything. � ere won’t be the usual spike of prices for � owers and candles, which up until now is a major news item reported by our television anchors.

Instead, we would have very private moments of prayer and memories with our loved ones. No hustle and bustle. No port or airport jams, no bus terminal hustling for rides. No inane radio music from the visitors of the “neighbors.” And � owers would need no peak season or low season.

Practical? Of course it is. But how do you � ght tradition?

* * *I have always been fascinated about the sense, if

any, of too many holidays interspersed throughout a 365-day year. In some countries, the US of A in particular, they move the celebration of holidays to the nearest Friday or Monday, excepting the fourth of July, � anksgiving (which, being a � ursday, is declared a four-day break), and Christmas as well as New Year’s Day.

� e whole idea of movable holidays makes eminent sense. From a labor productivity point of view, it adheres to the law of inertia. Break the workweek through a holiday in the middle, say Tuesday or Wednesday, and expect productivity to decline. Have a � ursday holiday, and expect people to be absent come Friday. Or for those who cannot a� ord to be absent (and millions upon millions cannot a� ord to lose a single day’s pay), productivity su� ers, whether in the factory or the o� ce.

* * *Again, if I had my ‘druthers, I would propose a

“crazy” idea. What if government were to bunch the celebration of all national holidays from Jan. 2 up to June 10 each year into the entirety of Holy Week? Thus, instead of Feb. 25 and April 9 and May 1, and whatever else, charge all these holidays to the period from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, or even Monday after Easter? Thus, everyone will have 9 days of glorious no-work holidays. That

HOLIDAYS ‘MUDDLING THROUGH’

I propose these ‘crazy’ ideas.

A HOTEL ballroom full of businessmen, congregating for their regular monthly assembly. Guests talking about the attributes of the ideal Filipino leader. � ere is agreement, and enthusiastic applause, but also dissension and unending questions. In the end, everybody leaves the room with some foreboding, aware of just how big and how complex this nation’s problems really are. � ere are hints of solutions here and there, but it’s obvious nobody’s really got it all � gured out. Even these men and women who run their own corporations—pro� table, global and at the forefront of their respective industries—are at a loss as to why we’re still here, still only here, given the richness of our resources and the potential of our people.

Such was the scene during the General Membership Meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines held Tuesday 27 October at � e Peninsula Manila. � e topic of the forum, “Bayan o Sarili,” was li� ed from a line out of the � lm “Heneral Luna.” In the movie, the general angrily asked his colleagues in government whether they would choose their own interest over the country’s. � ey had been “cooperating” with the Americans to preserve their own businesses.

And since the country is in the process of choosing its next leader, would it not be good if he or she could champion “bayan” (nation) over “sarili” (self), so that we could � nally get rid of our problems and then take o� .

Professor Clarita Carlos of the Center for Policy Research and Development of the University of the Philippines does not think, however, that one must choose between the self and the nation. “� ey are not choices,” she said. “� e individual is nothing without the state.” She said we had long been con� ned to the idea of the nation state and it is time to break out of that.

So is the idea of pitting personalities versus issues as the basis for choosing whom to vote for. � ere will always be a consideration for the kind of people candidates are; this cannot be divorced from the kind of

leader they would eventually be. One personality trait, for

instance, is being morally upright. To be not corrupt is necessary, she said, but not enough. Furthermore, what is sorely lacking from all the candidates, is a national strategy and vision.

Rex Drilon II, chairman of the Management Association of the Philippines’ National Issues Committee, agreed. “� e � rst thing any elected president should do is to design a road map for the country.” It sounds commonsensical—too, when you get behind the wheel of your vehicle, you have to know exactly where you are going so you can � gure out the best way to get there.

Drilon talked about two kinds of surveys that established the ideal attributes of a would-be President. According to a MAP research, the � ve attributes are navigator/ strategist, mobilizer, servant leader, captivator and guardian of the national wealth and patrimony. Meanwhile, according to the Movement for Good Governance, the three adjectives that would describe a good leader are e� ective, empowering and ethical.

If we put these ideal qualities in a matrix and assign values for each of the candidates (and even the current chief executive), then we would be able to have empirical basis for our choices—still not foolproof, perhaps, but in� nitely better than going by how we like the candidates’ faces, or the sound of their voice, or the prominence of their last name. Drilon said that although these two matrices are two distinct tools altogether, they would likely validate each other’s results.

Malyn Molina of the EON Stakeholders Group said that according to her team’s survey of 1,500 respondents, government still enjoys a relatively low trust rating among the people with only 12 percent of respondents. Trust drivers for government leaders

are their ability to listen to people, their strong political will and genuine concern for the plight of the common citizen.

For all that we have seen and experienced, Dr. Carlos said, do we now want somebody who does not muddle through the job? At � rst blush we would, but she reminded the audience that the presidency is a position of constant decision making, and decision making is always a process of muddling through.

� e di� erence is that good Presidents muddle through intelligently.

� ey must have the strength of character and go beyond cute platforms. And be an able decision maker in crisis situations. Enabling business to lead economic development is the government’s role, but it must create favorable conditions for it. Bureaucratic reform is key. Without this, genuine, long-term development will not come.

* * *As we count the days before we

cast our votes next year, we should free ourselves from the thinking that we have to choose between extremes: � e nation or the self, personalities or issues, pure integrity versus pure competence.

� e truth is, it’s always a continuum. � ere is no such thing as black or white, and pure good and pure evil. People—government leaders included—are complex, strong in some areas while weak in some, sincere in some aspects but also have connections and relationships that have the potential of coloring their judgments.

How, then, to � nd the perfect leader? He or she does not exist. Finding good leaders we can live with would be enough. � is is why we continue to read up, to react, to question, to hope. � is is why we still muddle through, and try to do so intelligently. We owe it to ourselves.

Otherwise, we would be su� ering from poverty of the spirit—an act of resignation, and giving up altogether. � is is what will doom us, as individuals and as a nation.

adellechua@gmail.com

CHASING HAPPY

ADELLECHUA

SO I SEE

LITOBANAYO

Continued on A11

A11M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

OPINIONlettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

chong ardivilla#failocracy

A11

it is for the likes of them, and i believe that they are    the rule than the exception,    that authorities should get to the bottom of things,    where, by the way, low-lifers reside, and name and charge tanim-bala practitioners.

By ridding our airport of them, we also cleanse whatever stain which has bled into the lily-white reputation of the far greater many.

But removing the bad requires uprooting the conditions which tempted them to prey on the hapless in the first place. Scratch the surface of a government racket and there’s always an incredulous law    beneath it.

Extortion industries breathe through legal loopholes

in the case of the tanim-bala, Sen. ralph recto said the gap could be a provision of ra 10591, or the comprehensive firearms and ammunition regulation act.

Possession of one bullet or a truckload of bullets carry the same punishment: six to 12 years in jail. as recto explained, a jeepney driver who was found to have displayed a live bullet as an ornamental hood and a jeepney driver who transported thousands of rounds face the same penalty.

“So how can this be refined to accommodate gradations in the gravity of the offense to include a policy of reprimand kung isang bala

lang?” recto said.    in his view, decriminalizing the possession of one small calibre bullet removes the source of temptation.

i think rep. roilo golez has a very commonsensical answer. While recto prescribes the lengthy route of amending the law, golez says airport screeners can just be ordered to adopt a “seize-and-go” rule.

if it’s one bullet found in a luggage then throw it into the trash bin and let the passenger pass, according to the golez solution. But what about a solitary live bullet displayed as souvenir in a sari-sari store shelf? can the owner get a get-out-of-jail pass, too?

if there’s one good thing

about the tanim-bala contro-versy, it is that it has planted into our collective consciousness the need to improve our airports. The bullets-in-bags issue has opened Pandora’s box.

Social media are crowd-sourcing the cures. There are calls to festoon airports with ccTvs. others have pointed to other festering ills like the lack of taxis or the abundance of ones with f1-fast meters. What about the luggage being opened or when opened lack missing items? That’s one re-curring thread.

another area of concern is the traffic to the airport, meaning cars, not to mention the traffic on the airspace above. is a new airport on the horizon? Where? So we can shift the national

conversation from bullets in bags to bullet trains to wherever it will be built.

in the meantime, let us focus on the doables, like the spare-no-one investigation ordered by the President, the suggestion to a put up a presidential complaints desk at naia, the protocols to be observed when opening a suspicious luggage.

and not to forget the stern warning to policemen that planting bullets is rewarded with a lifetime vacation to the Bilibid country club.

government should do these fast so that when the throng of balikbayan arrive for the holidays, they would not bring bags tightly wrapped like christmas gifts.

fROM THE... From A9

Crimes against journalists By robert Harland

ThE international federation of Journalists is to launch a global campaign today, nov. 2—the Un day of action—to end impunity for crimes targeting journalists. The campaign and related events will continue around the world until  Monday, nov. 23.

The Un day marks the anniversary of the killing of two radio france internationale reporters, ghislaine dupont and claude verlon, murdered in Mali in 2013.  nov. 23  commemorates the date in 2009 when at least 32 journalists lost their lives in the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines.

“all attacks targeting journalists that remain unpunished must be

denounced,” said an ifJ spokesperson. “The month of november is the time when journalists and media workers have an opportunity to speak out and actively support the End impunity campaign.”

in the past decade, 700 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public: on average one death every week. in nine out of 10 cases, the killers go unpunished.

impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and justice systems. Unesco warns that impunity damages whole societies by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption, and crime. 

governments, civil society, the

media, and everyone concerned to uphold the rule of law are being asked to join in the global efforts to end impunity. 

The Un urges member states to do their utmost to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability, bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.

it further calls upon states to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference.

Robert Harland is a British expatriate living in Bacolod City.

EvERyManThere is a charming character

in antoine de St. Exupery’s “The little Prince”—the fox. he warns the little prince that it will take time and patience to tame him, The fox also teaches  the Prince  the valuable lesson that “you are forever responsible for one you have tamed.” god tamed the chaos of primordial nature to bring us forth. he will forever be responsible for us!

rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.phrannie_aquino@csu.edu.phrannie_aquino@yahoo.com

THE aMpHibOlOgy... From A9

OuT Of THE bOx

RiTa lindav. jiMEnO

atty. Jimeno’s column will resume next week.

the luneta for a grand parade with the president delivering a stirring message to the nation and his people. There was a parade of military hardware (we had good hardware at the time), the Blue diamonds

jet squadron would fly overhead, instilling a sense of pride and nationhood among all of us.

now June 12 is just a no-work day. nobody even gets any sense of national pride when the flag is hoisted by the President or other officials in any of the commemorative locations.

The President and commander-in-chief issues a tawdry, cut-and-paste statement which hardly resonates in the hearts and minds of the people. and there are no longer any grand parades capped by magnificent fireworks at the luneta. Sad.

Shouldn’t at the very least, all

government employees and officials be at the commemoration of freedom day? When and how can we instill national pride, develop a sense of national purpose, and march together in disciplined manner towards national greatness?

Maybe not in this lifetime.

HOlidays... From A10

A12sports@thestandard.com.ph

mo nday: no vemb er 2 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Royals near World Series title

Salvador Perez and Mike Mousta-kas capped a three-run rally in the eighth inning with singles to plate the winning runners as the Royals seized a 3-1 lead in Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven final.

The Royals could capture the crown for the first time since 1985 with a victory in game five Sunday while the Mets, who have not won the World Series since 1986, must win to send the series back to Kan-sas City.

“It feels great,” Moustakas said.

“We’ve got to come back to work and find a way to beat these guys again, but it’s nice being up 3-1.”

No team has rallied from 3-1 down to win the World Series since the 1985 Royals.

“We’re in a tough situation but we’re not dead yet,” Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Kansas City, which lost last year’s World Series in seven games to San Francisco, also came from behind to win the first two games of this year’s World Series and in all have fought

NEW YORK—With a trademark late-game come-back, the Kansas City Royals reached the brink of their first World Series crown in 30 years by defeat-ing the New York Mets 5-3 Saturday.

NCR betsdominatejuniorgolf meet

Hingis, palwin doubles

Gatorade beefs up roster with White Lightning

MANILA-based teams dominated action as ex-pected with Navy and Orchard cornering the Division 1 and 2 team titles, respectively, in the ICTSI Mindanao Junior Open golf cham-pionships co-hosted by the Apo Golf Club and the Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club in Davao recently.

Josh Jorge, Sean Ramos, Joaquin Gomez and Sean Granada joined hands to give Navy a 20-point win over Apo in Division 1 of the tourney conducted by The Junior Golfers League that drew 85 players from eight golf clubs.

Navy totaled 415 for three days (Round 1 at Apo and Rounds 2 and 3 at Rancho Palos Verdes) against the 395 of Apo. Navy 2 finished third at 369 while Apo and Pueb-lo de Oro tied for fourth at 364.

Behind the steady play of Eagle Ace Superal, Or-chard roared to an uncon-tested win in the Division 2 battle of the event spon-sored mainly by the ICT-SI Foundation and also sponsored by Maxe Bed & Breakfast, Golf Depot, PacSports and Inquirer Golf.

Superal teamed up with Joaquin Hernandez, Zach-ary Castro and Santino Magtalas for 432 points and left Apo (327) and Eastridge (316) eating their dust.

The Mindanao bets matched the five wins of the NCR players in the individual compe-tition. AFP

SINGAPORE, SINGA-PORE—Swiss veteran Martina Hingis and In-dia’s Sania Mirza won the WTA Finals doubles title on Sunday with a lopsided 6-0, 6-3 win over Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.

Hingis and Mirza, who formed their partnership only in March, have now won nine titles including Wimbledon and the US Open, and swept all their matches at the season fi-nale in Singapore.

The top seeds took just 66 minutes to beat the Spaniards, who were seed-ed eighth.

back after trailing in seven of 10 play-off triumphs this year.

“It’s a group of guys that have the utmost confidence in themselves,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They are going to go out and they’re going to find a way to win.

“We feel like if we can keep the game close, we’re going to find a way to win it. If we find a little crack, they’re going to make something happen. It’s amazing how they do that. It’s just a phenomenal group.”

The Royals’ six playoff rallies to win from two or more runs down this October ties a major league record set by the 1996 New York Yankees.

“It’s experience. It’s character. It’s a group of really talented players. But a lot of it I think is a mindset,” Yost said.

“They never panic because they’ve been through it before and they know that they’re capable of doing it again.”

The Mets were leading 3-2 in the eighth inning when relief pitcher Tyler Clippard walked Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain, prompting Col-lins to insert closing 26-year-old Dominican right-handed relief ace Jeurys Familia.

But Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer chopped an infield ground ball that went under the glove of Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy for an error that scored Zobrist to make it 3-3.

Moustakas followed with a single that plated Cain and Perez then smacked a single to right, his third hit of the game, to score Hosmer with the final run. AFP

AFTER a historic stroll down memory lane in celebration of its golden anniversary, Gatorade is all set to pave the way for greatness.

The world’s favorite sports drink beefed up its roster with the official launch of its newest variant—the orange-and-grapefruit-flavor based White Lightning.

With the new variant comes a powerhouse line-up of ambassadors who are among the top local athletes of this generation—UAAP volleyball superstars Alyssa Valdez from the Ateneo Lady Eagles and Mika Reyes from the De La Salle Lady Spikers together with basketball hotshots Chris Banchero of the Alaska Aces and Jeron Teng of the De La Salle Green Archers.

“Coming from our 50th anniversary wherein we celebrated Gatorade’s legacy of fueling local and international sports’ greatest moments, we now want to focus on empowering a new breed of athletes and game changers,” Pepsico Philippines Marketing Manager for Hydration Tony Atayde said. “Alyssa, Mika, Chris and Jeron are top athletes who know the value of working hard to stay in peak form and understand that games aren’t won on the court but in the gym and practice venues. We’re excited to see them inspire more people to pursue active lifestyles and understand the value of proper hydration.”

Gatorade believes that greatness begins with hard work—the kind with no shortcuts, the kind that’s relentless and that will make you ache and sweat. Whether the goal is to finish a 21K half marathon, climb a mountain peak, or just feel physically stronger overall, preparing yourself in the gym

and constantly working to improve your game is key to winning on game day.

And with this kind of hard work, proper hydration is crucial to be able to push forward and grow stronger.

With a refreshing, light orange-grapefruit flavor, White Lightning is formulated with non-carbonated water that does not cause stomach discomfort; 6% carbohydrates which research has shown to be the optimal level in promoting absorption and providing energy to working muscles; electrolytes for rapid rehydration and minerals to help prevent cramps.

By Peter Atencio

FOR San Beda veteran Art de la Cruz, it’s time to move on.

The 6’4” De la Cruz, one of the key players in the Red Lions’ title- retention bid in Season 91 of the National Colle-giate Athletic Association cagefest, feels that their loss to Letran is hard to accept.

But he has decided to move on as he looks forward to other things in life.

San Beda’s versatile forward said it is time for him to think about his career now that the season is over.

“It’s hard to move on lalo na’t last year mo na. Pero kailangan mag-move on na to the next chapter of your life,” he said.

De la Cruz is Blackwater’s top pick in this year’s PBA draft.

He did not have a disappointing performance when he finished with a team-high 15 points on 8-of-12 shoot-ing and 13 rebounds in Game 3.

He could have been the MVP after coming up with big numbers in the elimination round.

Dela Cruz readyfor the pro league

Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals hits an RBI single in the sixth inning against Steven Matz of the New York Mets during Game Four of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. AFP

Gatorade White Lightning ambassadors (from left) Mika Reyes, Chris Banchero and Alyssa Valdezwith Pepsico Philippines Marketing Manager for Hydration Tony Atayde (second from right) during the launch of Gatorade’s new orange-grapefruit variant.

A13sports@thestandard.com.ph

mo nday: no vemb er 2 , 2 0 1 5

sports

PH Le Tour 2016 heads to Bicol,Southern Tagalog

Canillas stuns PH champ Labao

Arcilla clips Joven, bagsPintaflores tennis title

Johnny Arcilla (center) holds his twin trophies after topping the PPS-PEPP Pintaflores Festival Open Tennis Championship in San Carlos City. With him are, from left: organizer Criston Carmona, PPS-PEPP manager Daisy Agnes, San Carlos Tennis Association president Martin Raymund Carmona and Pintaflores Foundation president Mario Ledesma.

THE Le Tour de Filipinas goes down south of Luzon for its seventh edition in 2016 with the race kicking off from Antipolo City and finishing with the majestic Mayon Volcano as backdrop in Legaspi City.

Juico to spearheadAAA’s youth bodyTHE 83rd Asian Athletics Association Council Meeting concluded recently with definite resolutions aimed at advancing athletics in the continent.

The high profile continental assembly, held at Solaire Resort and Casino, was at-tended by 20 athletics heads representing 20 countries and territories across Asia.

The hosting highlighted the re-ascen-dance of the Philippines in the Asian ath-letics stage since Governor Jose Sering blazed the trail by spearheading the formation of the then 4A’s in 1973 and staged the first Asian Athletics Champi-onships at the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina.

“All AAA officials in attendance led by president Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar has expressed admiration on how the meet-ing was organized. This is a huge honor for the country because once again the Philippines was given the distinction as a prime mover in athletics in Asia,” ac-cording to Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Philip Ella Juico.

This was the fourth time the Philip-pines has hosted the council meeting. The second and third Philippine hosting

JOHNNY Arcilla took control early and never gave Ronard Joven room for a comeback, scoring an emphatic 6-4, 6-2 victory to nail the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Pintaflores Festival Open Tennis Championship crown at the San Carlos City Tennis Club in Ne-gros Occidental over the weekend.

Arcilla broke Joven right in their opening game, taking the next three points after a 15-all count. Arcilla, who is a many-time PCA Open winner, eased out Fritz Ver-dad in the semis of the event held in conjunction with the host city’s Pintaflores Festival celebrations. He went on to trade serving turns with his doubles partner Joven, in-cluding a romp in the 10th game.

Joven, who survived Leander Lazaro in three to gain a crack at the crown, held serve in his first two turns in the second game but Arcilla wore him down and broke again in the fifth and sev-enth games. Arcilla hit back-to-back aces to start the eighth game en route to victory in the event sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and hosted by Mayor Gerardo Valmayor Jr. with Criston Car-

mona as organizer.Arcilla, also a Davis Cup veteran,

took the top P40,000 purse while Jo-ven settled for P20,000 in the week-long tournament backed by Vice Governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson and Rep. Julio Ledesma.

“Arcilla continues to be an in-spiration to our young players with his talent and discipline, staying in shape through all these years,” said Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Meanwhile, action in the PPS-PEPP age-group tennis tourna-ments shifts to Capiz on Nov. 5-8 at the Dumalag Tennis Club also held as part of the Dumalag Fes-tival. Registration is ongoing. For details, call Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP organizer and sports program development director at 0915-4046464.

Arcilla tallied twin victories. He and Joven ruled the doubles event with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Vicente Anasta and Arvin Ruel. The Ar-cilla-Joven pair held off Roel Ca-pangpangan and Kim Saraza in the semis, 6-1, 7-5, while Anasta and Ruel toppled the Leander Lazaro-Verdad tandem, 6-4, 6-2.

The four-stage race starts on Feb. 18 from the hills of Antipolo and will traverse the so-called backdoor to the south through Laguna and Quezon and will finish in bustling Lucena City.

According to Donna Lina of the organizing Ube Media Inc., Stage Two of the annual race on the Asia Tour of the International Cycling Union (UCI) will bring the continental team-laden entourage to Daet, Camarines Norte, on Feb. 19.

Stage Three on Feb. 20 will be a long ride from Daet to Legaspi City where the riders get their first look at enchanting Mayon before finishing in the Albay capital of Legaspi.

The final stage on Feb. 21 will circle Mayon

Members of the Asian Athletic Commission are shown after their 83rd Coucil Meeting recently. They are (Back Row, Standing, from right) Dr. Talib Al-Saffar (IRQ), Loh Lin Kok (SIN), Alexey Kondrat (KAZ), Maurice Nicholas (SIN), Maj. Gen. Muhammad Akram Sahi (PAK), Nasser Sultan As Al-Maamari (UAE), Ching Cheng Wang (TPE), Ahmed Al-Kamali (UAE), Mohammad Jumah (KUW), Hiroshi Yokokawa (JPN), Maj. Gen Palitha Fernando (SRI), Karim Ibrahim (MAS), Gavin Yang (CHN), (Seated) Ruqaya Manssor Ebraham Al-Ghasara (BRN), Dr. Lalit Bhanot (IND), Engr. Suhail Al Zawawi (KSA), Gen Dhalan Al Hamad (QAT), Dr. Philip Ella Juico (PHI) and Mala Sakonhninhom (LAO).

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

ARJAN “Spartan” Canillas scored a stunning, lopsided 10-round decision over Philippine lightweight cham-pion Rey Labao at a fight card held in the Davao Civic Center, yesterday.

Canillas was dropped in the 2nd round, but got off the canvas to hammer the veteran Labao with all three judges scoring the bout for the 22-year-old Canillas who is ranked No. 3 by the Games and Amusements Board.

Arnie Najera had Canillas ahead, 97-92, Teddy Alivio saw it 96-93 and Edwin Barrientos had 98-91.

With the win, Canillas improved to 12-0-2 with

nine knockouts while Labao dropped to 27-8 with 18 knockouts.

Canillas was coming off two noteworthy stop-page wins this year. He forced Balweg Bangoyan to retire in the 4th round of a scheduled ten-round bout on June 6 and earlier scored a 4th round knockout of Indonesia’s Stevie Ferdinan-dus in a scheduled eight-round bout last Feb. 7.

Labao, on the other hand, dropped a unani-mous twelve-round decision in an IBO Inter-continental welterweight title bout against Rico Mueller last June 12 in Germany after registering a 2nd round TKO over Japan’s Masao Nakamura in Osaka Dec. 12, 2014.

took place during the term of Go Teng Kok in 1993 and 2003, respectively.

The meeting saw the formal designation by the AAA President of Juico as Chairman of the School and Youth Commission and the confirmation by the Council of Juico’s appointment.

Event partners were PCSO, Toyota, Asia Brewery, RC Cola, Footzone Foot Reflexol-

ogy, PNB, Foton Motors, and BMW.The commission, with Juico at the helm,

shall provide the AAA with general advice regarding all aspects of school and youth participation in Athletics worldwide and develop up-to-date policies for appropri-ate Athletics programmes for school and youth athletes across Asia. The Philippine athletics chief also got the official nod of

the council to head the working group that is to review the 2013-2017 Strategic Plan of the AAA. The election of a new International Association of Athletics Fed-erations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe is expected to trigger adjustments in the ex-isting plan. Karim Ibrahim of Malaysia was approved by the council as the Asian Area Representative to the IAAF Council.

Volcano passing by the geothermal power plants in Tiwi on an out-and-back course also in Legaspi City.

Fifteen teams, including at least 12 continental teams from five continents, will be racing for the 2016 edition of the only UCI race in the country. The race will cover an approximate distance of 600 kilometers.

“It’s about time that we bring the LTdF down south, this time in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions to spur awareness on cycling not only as a competitive sport, but more importantly as a form of physical fitness,” Lina said.

The first six editions of the LTdF were raced up north with the Cordilleras posing as the biggest challenge to the cyclists.

Two Filipinos—Baler Ravina (2012) and Mark Galedo (2014)—won the LtDF. Ireland’s David McCann topped

the 2010 inaugurals, followed by Iran’s Rahem Emami in 2011. Former Asia No. 1 Ghader Mizbani prevailed in 2013 while Frenchman Thomas Lebas, riding for Japan-based Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team, ruled the 2015 edition.

LiNa

A14mo nday: no vemb er 2 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTS

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

sports@thestandard.com.ph

Filipino pugs topbill WBC convention

Filipino MMA star Kellytakes on Vietnamese bet

Lady Troopers gain semifinals

By Peter Atencio

FILIPINO Mixed Martial Arts fighter Edward Kelly is ready to fight again.

The 31-year-old product of Team Lakay, who has trained with world-class talents in the high altitudes of Baguio City, will clash with Martin Nguyen in one of five exciting new bouts which have been added to ONE: PRIDE OF LIONS.

Kelly, who is skilled in both striking and grappling as part of his wide range of abilities, takes on Nguyen on Nov. 13 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

He is going for his second straight win after defeating Jimmy Yabo by submission in his last fight last April.

The 5’9” Kelly holds a 6-2 record and is looking forward to replicating his success against Nguyen, who is known as a solid fighter.

Their showdown is an undercard to

the highly-anticipated two main bouts which are both rematches.

The main event will be a showdown between ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren and challenger Luis Santos.

On the other hand, Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke will defend his ONE Strawweight World Champion-ship against Yago Bryan of Brazil in the evening’s co-main event.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui said that 2015 has been a monu-mental year thus far and it wouldn’t be complete without a phenomenal fight card at home in Singapore.

“We have added five exciting new bouts to round out an already spec-tacular evening of world-class mixed martial arts. Fans should get ready for another unforgettable night as our ONE Championship superstars take the stage,” said Cui.

UP’s Isabel Molde (10) hammers in a kill against PLDT’s Gretchel Soltones and Sue Roces during their Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Rein-forced Conference showdown at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Troopers didn’t play any tricks on the Lady Sailors on All Saints’ Day eve but simply showcased their terrific all-around game to domi-nate their rivals and com-plete a 66-minute romp that secured their place in the Final Four of the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

Honey Royse Tubino and Jovelyn Gonzaga combined for 33 hits, including 23 kills, as the Lady Troopers produced 38 attack points, 14 more than the Lady Sailors. Gonzaga also foiled three of Navy’s attacks as the fancied team came through with eight blocks against their rivals’ one.

Army, runner-up to ab-sentee Cagayan Valley here last year, also pummeled Navy’s token reception and came away with eight aces while holding their foes with-out an ace with their solid de-fense on the other end.

The lopsided win was third straight for Army, lining itself for a possible sweep with victories over struggling Coast Guard on Nov. 8 and against contend-er University of the Philip-pines on Nov. 11.

The loss dropped Navy to solo fourth at 2-2, al-lowing Coast Guard (1-3) and even winless Kia Forte (0-3) to stay in the semis race in the tourna-ment presented by PLDT Home Ultera and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Pau Soriano struggled for nine hits while Lilet Mab-

IT’S going to be a busy week for the World Boxing Council as it gathers the biggest names in boxing in Kunming, China, the capital of Yunan Province for the 53th an-nual convention of the world’s oldest box-ing organization.

Chinese top promoter, Liu Gang, is largely credited for bringing the convention in his hometown. Liu is the man to be thankful for why China is making headway in profes-sional boxing. He was responsible for giv-ing China its first-ever world champion in Xiong Zhao Zhong, who became the WBC minimumweight champ in 2012. He eventu-ally lost the title to Mexican Oswaldo Novoa after two successful title defenses, including against Filipino Denver Cuello.

The WBC successfully penetrated the rich Chinese market through Liu Gang’s promo-tion.

And now other boxing organizations like the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization are coming in as well.

What’s more interesting though is Liu’s deep ties with the Filipino boxing commu-nity. His closeness to Filipino promoter Brico

Santig enabled his Zowi Boxing Internation-al Promotion to prosper in terms of talent development.

Liu’s promotion employs Filipino trainers who are responsible for enhancing the skills of the Chinese boxers. In acknowledging the constant support from Brico, Liu always in-cludes Filipino boxers in his promotion in China and Australia.

“That’s the beauty of exchanges in interna-tional boxing. We foster the transfer of tech-nology and in return, our Filipino fighters get to fight abroad,” Brico told this corner.

**** This friendship between the two makes

the WBC Convention very relevant to Philippine boxing as three Filipino pugs will headline the boxing promotion that will serve as the highlight of the weeklong event that will last until Nov. 7.

The WBC Convention will not only put together the bigwigs in boxing but will also gather the best technical brains to talk about the latest in medical advances, host judging and refereeing course and the discussion about the status of the world rankings.

Most of the guests and delegates are ex-pected to arrive tomorrow for the formal start of the convention that will be high-lighted by a pair of championship fights featuring Chinese prospect Wei Qian Xian (8-4-1) and Rex Wao (11-1-0) of the Phil-

ippines for the WBC Asian Boxing Council featherweight title.

The other title match pits Filipino Michael Dasmarinas (21-2-0) against Wisanlek Sithsaithong of Thailand for the WBC Youth World superflyweight belt. Another Filipino, Dennis Padual, sees ac-tion in the welterweight fight against Bai Shan Bo. The rest of the fightcards are all-Chinese tiffs.

****Leading the impressive list of VIPs is

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. In attendance in the ranking meeting

are the President of the Australian Com-mittee Frank Quill, Luis Medina, WBC Rankings Secretary, Bob Yalen from the US, Victor Cota from Mexico, Belgium’s Daniel Van De Wiele, Bismark Morales, from Nicaragua; Dean Lohans, Nicolas Hidalgo, from Venezuela and Germany’s Malte Mueller-Michaelis.

Of course, the Philippines’ Games and Amusement Board chairman Juan Ramon Guanzon and the Boxing Division chief Dr. Nasser Cruz will carry the torch for the Phil-ippines as officials of the Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation, which is a regional or-ganization under the umbrella of the WBC.

Let’s see what sort of good news we can derive from the two top boxing officials when they get back home.

ARMY put away Navy in three with its power game, superb blocking and awe-some serving, fashioning out a 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 victory to clinch the first semifi-nal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City late Saturday.

Wilson backs AJ Lim. After his record-setting victory in the 34th Philippine Columbian Association Open-Cebuana Lhuillier Wildcard Event, fast-rising tennis star Alberto “AJ” Lim paid a courtesy visit to Wilson and Sports Resources Inc. to personally thank them for their unwavering support. The 16-year-old Lim defeated Francis Casey Alcantara in the quarterfinals, ace veteran Johnny Arcilla in the semis and title defender Patrick John Tierro to become the youngest men’s singles champion in PCA history. Lim now ranks 25th combined in the International Tennis Federation junior players’ standing. In photo with Lim (center) are SRI President/CEO Rodolfo Claudio (2nd from right), SRI Brand Management and Product Development Manager Liza Enciso-Labrador (left), Wilson Brand Manager Errol Cajefe Elicanal (right) and Coach Martin Misa (2nd from left). As a leading international brand with a proud tradition of bringing out the best in emerging and professional athletic talents, Wilson has been actively supporting promising Filipino players in various sporting endeavors for many years. Equipping athletes and enthusiasts alike with a full-range of top-notch sport essentials for elevated training, competition performance as well as recreational fun, Wilson products, exclusively distributed by SRI in the Philippines, are available in all Toby’s Sports and other sporting goods stores nationwide.

Game Nov. 712:45 p.m. – PLDT vs Navy

Standings

Army 3 0UP 2 1PLDT 2 1Navy 2 2Coast Guard 1 3KIA Forte 0 3

bayad groped for five points for Navy, which rebounded from an open-ing game loss to UP with back-to-back victories over Coast Guard and Kia Forte before bowing to the pow-erhouse Army side.

Earlier, Coast Guard fought back from a 1-2 deficit with a sweep of the last two sets, includ-ing the decider as it eked out a thrilling 12-25, 25-22, 14-25, 25-23, 17-15 victory over newcomer Kia Forte to snap out of a three-game skid.

The Lady Dolphins lost in all scoring skills, 49-59 (spikes), 2-6 (blocks) and 4-7 (serve) but leaned on their experience in the last two frames to pound out the two-hour, nine-minute win.

PLDT Home Ultera also stopped UP’s two-game run with a 25-12,22-25, 25-15, 25-17 victory to tie its victim at second at 2-1 heading to another week-long break in the league where it all started and organized by Sports Vision.

Action resumes Nov. 7 with PLDT, which expects top hitter Alys-sa Valdez back, tak-ing on Navy in a lone match before Army and Coast Guard clash and UP and Kia Forte tangle on Nov. 8.

LOCKErrOOMrANdY

CALuAG

A15sports@thestandard.com.ph

MO NDAY: NO VEMB ER 2 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTS

Triple Crown heroPharaoh bows out

Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter takes on two Barako Bull defenders.

LOS ANGELES—American Pharoah, who electri� ed US racing with his run to the � rst Triple Crown sweep in 37 years, capped his career with an emphatic victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in Kentucky on Saturday.

Tigers, Eagles, Altas advance in Fr. Martin Cup

Banal: Barako 5 hassomething to prove

Before a frenzied crowd at Keeneland, in Lexington, Ken-tucky, American Pharoah set the pace in the $5 million classic and pulled away in the � nal straight to beat E� nex by 6 1/2 lengths.

It was the ninth win in 11 ca-reer starts for the three-year-old colt -- a record that included the � rst sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes since A� rmed achieved the treble in 1978.

“What can I say? What a horse!” said owner Ahmed Zayat. “He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse. � is race was only about Ameri-can Pharoah and we wanted him to go out a winner.

“It was so emotional. I didn’t even see the � nal eighth (of a mile) because I had my eyes closed the whole time.”

A� er piloting American Phar-oah to one last win, jockey Victor Espinoza said he was happy to see the horse heading into retirement.

“He’s run so many times this year and I think it’s time for him to step out and have a nice life,” Espinoza said.

� e two-day, 13-race thor-oughbred extravaganza provided no fairytale ending for European superstar Golden Horn.

Found, the � lly trained by Ireland’s Aidan O’Brien denied Golden Horn in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf to spoil the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe win-ner’s swansong.

Golden Horn was the star of a strong European contingent, coming o� victories at the Epsom Derby and Eclipse Stakes as well as the Arc.

But trainer John Gosden wor-ried the loose, sand-based turf course at Keeneland wouldn’t suit him and he was right.

Although Golden Horn was the � rst to get past early pace-set-ter Shining Copper in the 1 1/2-mile race, jockey Ryan Moore had Found perfectly positioned and the � lly came out on top in a dramatic stretch duel.

With the win Found turned the tables on Golden Horn a� er � nishing runner up to him at the Irish Champion Stakes and at As-cot on Champions Day.

“She really deserved this,” said Moore.

Gosden was relieved that the race produced a European one-two, a� er stunning disappoint-ment for the trans-Atlantic raiders in the $2 million Mile. AFP

By Peter Atencio

THE University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, the Ateneo De Manila Blue Eagles, the University of Perpetual Help Altas and the Infant Jesus Academy Blue Wolves turned back separate rivals to claim the re-maining quarter� nal and semi� nal berths in the 13th Fr. Martin Division 2 Cup bas-ketball tournament.

Miguel Hizon hit 12 points for the

Growling Tigers as they beat Diliman Col-lege, 70-68, to � nish the elimination round with their fourth win in seven games in Group B, Sunday at the Far Eastern Uni-versity gymnasium in Morayta.

� is put the Growling Tigers in the quar-ter� nals, and they are set to meet the Blue Eagles on Nov. 7 at 12:30 p.m. at the Arel-lano University gym in Legarda Manila.

� e Blue Eagles earlier waylaid the San Sebastian Stags, 67-57, with CJ Perez lead-

ing with 16 points, and they have a 6-1 slate at no. 2 position in Group A.

� ey were joined in the quarter� nals by the San Beda-B Red Lions, with their 4-2 card, top entry Arellano University (5-1) and fourth placer AMA Computer Uni-versity (3-4).

Commissioner Robert de la Rosa said the semi� nals of the senior division is on Nov. 14 while the championship matches will take place the following day on Nov. 15.

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Marvelous no more

THE sadly wayward ways of former World Boxing Or-ganization super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona has ruined what was clearly a very promising career and an opportunity for our country to have another world champion.

But the curse of the “barka-da” phenomenon has eroded Sonsona’s values and has enticed him to drink, move around with women and abandon a sport that could have given him so much.

Fighters need to realize that discipline is a corner-stone to success in the ring

and there could be no better example than eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao whose relent-less training for a fight has amazed Hall of Fame train-er Freddie Roach.

The other sterling exam-ple of a disciplined fighter is reigning WBO light fly-weight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion.

Donnie is small even for a light f lyweight and the older he gets, the harder he trains which is the hallmark of his suc-cess in the ring.

Regrettably, Marvin Son-sona has failed to follow the

example of his General San-tos colleague Pacquiao or even Nietes.

The sad part is that Sonsona is an unbeliev-ably talented fighter, who is a southpaw, tall, young, quick-footed and with hand-speed and punching power—all the elements in-herent in a great fighter.

Unfortunately, his lack of discipline, the tendency to follow a wild and woolly path, which reminds us of another great champion who squandered his career and indeed his life – former world junior lightweight champion Rolando Navarette.

The pity of it all is that in-ternationally known promot-

er and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz and his Filipino partner Sammy Gello-ani have given Marvin all the chances in the world to mend his ways, bending backwards to accommodate his every wish, with Lewkowicz lin-ing up some worthy oppo-nents and fight purses that were more than most fighters would earn considering their standing.

Both Sampson and Sammy realized the inher-ent talent in Sonsona and while it is a given that if his career progressed like it could have —and should have—they too would enjoy their fair share of financial benefits and a

chance to share in the spotlight.

But Marvin threw it all away and failed in a very un-Filipino fashion to discard the virtue of gratitude for all that his promoters had done for him, far beyond what they needed to do.

A prime example was when Lewkowicz, in order to free Sonsona of any dis-tractions or concerns while training in Las Vegas, spent more than half-a-million pesos for Marvin’s mother’s urgent kidney operation at the National KIdney Insti-tute in Manila and didn’t even think of deducting the amount from Sonsona’s purse from his last fight.

Marvin’s constant post-ponement of his departure for Las Vegas and his habit of always asking for advanc-es on his fight purse have finally turned off Lewkow-icz and Gello-ani, as well as the powerful Al Haymon, who has also invested in Marvin’s career. They have warned of serious legal im-plications should any pro-moter fall prey to Sonsona’s efforts to promote his fights.

At one time, Marvin Sonsona was “Marvelous” but that monicker has been painfully erased by his attitude, utter lack of discipline and worst of all his ingratitude.

What a crying shame!

INSIDE SPORTS

RONNIE NATHANIELSZ

A15S AT U R DAY : O C T O B E R 24 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

VemosaSpeedfeston Sunday

Magnaye, Francisco advanceJOINT third-ranked Peter Magnaye and Jessie Francisco fought back strong from an opening set setback and turned back Joper Escueta and In-donesian Keshya Hanadia, 13-21, 21-19, 21-18, to barge into the semi� nal round of the Open mixed doubles of the Bingo Bonanza National Open Badminton Tournament at Glorietta 5 Atrium in Makati City yesterday.

Magnaye and Francisco proved steadier in a back-and-forth second set duel then weath-ered Escueta and Hanadia’s rally in the decider with clutch smash-es and drop shots to pound out the 45-minute victory for a Final Four clash with No. 2 and fellow PBA-Smash Pilipinas bets Alvin Morada and Alyssa Leonardo.

Morada and Leonardo com-bined well from start to finish and dominated Carlos Cayanan and

Alyssa Geverjuan to complete a 21-12, 21-14 victory in just 25 minutes in the event sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and backed by official equipment Victor PCOME and official sports drink Gatorade.

Ronel Estanislao and Indone-sian partner Marissa Vita posted the event’s biggest reversal late Thursday when they stunned top seed Paul Pantig and Thea Pomar, 21-12, 21-14, to clinch the first semifinal berth. The Estan-

GEAR up for a thrilling sports adventure as Vermosa launches Vermosa Speedfest, a Motocross Challenge on Sunday.

Open to professional riders, Vermosa Speedfest is expected to draw more than 200 motorcycle enthusiasts, who will be vying for 18 categories. Participants of this exciting race will be one of the first to experience the newly launched Ver-mosa Motocross Tracks. Designed by 15-time Philippine MX champion and 2003 Asian Motocross Series champion Glenn Aguilar, Vermosa MX Tracks features a variety of challenging terrain to work with that that both beginners and expe-rienced riders can appreciate.

Aside from the exciting motocross race, families and racers can look forward to leisure and insight from other activities lined up like learn to ride tutorials and refresher courses, motorcycle safety lec-tures, onsite motorcycle sales including parts and mechanics, motorcycle wash, and remote control races, copters, crawl-ers, and off road RCTs.  

Vermosa, a sprawling 700-hectare estate that is master-planned to offer fundamen-tal mixed-use components, is envisioned to be a modern suburban community that integrates healthy and active lifestyle with everyday living.

Among its many components is the Ver-mosa Sports & Lifestyle Complex, a pre-miere destination for athletes and wellness enthusiasts that aims to cater the Filipinos’ demand for an increasingly active lifestyle. 

The Vermosa Motocross Tracks is one of the many sports amenities that the public can experience in VSLC. This world-class sports facility will also in-clude an Olympic size pool, oval track, the country’s first purpose-built bike skills trail, and the most advanced and complete Sports Science Laboratory in the Philippines to be completed next year.

Interested participants for Vermosa Speedfest: Motocross Challenge may register on-site starting today.

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islao-Vita pair, however, will face defending champion Paul Vivas and Eleanor Inlayo for a crack at the championship.

Vivas and Inlayo primed up for their defense of the crown by sub-duing the other third seeded pair of Christian Bernardo and Joella de Vera, 21-11, 21-11.

The Estanislao-Vita pair and Vivas-Inlayo tandem dispute the first finals berth today (Saturday) starting at 11 a.m., also at Glori-etta, while the Magnaye-Francis-co team slugs it out with Morada and Leonardo for the other cham-pionship slot.

Victor-PCOME’s Danica Bolos and Jennifer Cayetano of Air Force also pulled off a 12-21, 21-16, 21-18 reversal over No. 4 Descka Calim-lim and Fatima Cruz of Meralco to book the first semis berth in the Open women’s doubles.

Meanwhile, second seed Mark Al-

cala of Allied-NVBA trounced Alvin Morada, 21-12, 21-11, also late Thurs-day to set up a semis duel with No. 4 R-Jay Ormilla, who bundled out fifth seed Jason Obaob, 21-14, 21-19, in the Open men’s singles of the event organized by EventKing Corp. and sanctioned by the Philippine Bad-minton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay and sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez.

Also on tap are the Open wom-en’s singles semis pitting the surg-ing Mariya Sevilla against No. 4 Airah Albo and defending cham-pion Gelita Castilo battling it out with second seed Sarah Barredo.

Alcala, on the other hand, tries to re-assert his mastery over Ormilla, whom he beat to cop the crown last year, in their 1:20 p.m. showdown while top seed Kevin Cudiamat and No. 8 Frell Gabue-la dispute the other finals berth in the Open men’s singles.

Jessie Francisco (center), shown with teammate Peter Gabriel Magnaye (right), makes a forehand return to Philip Joper Escueta and Keshya Hanadia during the 2015 Bingo Bonanza National Open Badminton Tournament in Glorietta, Makati City. LINO SANTOS

WE have always been fascinated by the lessons re� ected in the bibli-cal story of David and Goliath and the rami� cations inherent in our life both as a community and as a nation where the eternal struggle between the terribly disadvantaged poor and the rich in our midst is a daily testa-ment to the inequalities of life that are o� en perceived as failures or wrongdoing by those in power.

Even in the wonderful world of sports, where the media and fans of-ten refer to the seemingly weaker in-dividuals or teams as the underdogs, there are stories of triumphs that fortify the hopes and li� s the spirits of the so-called underdogs.

One such glowing example was the recent NCAA championship victory of the Letran Knights over the San Beda Red Lions, reinforced by an awesome import in Ola Ad-eogun in a sudden-death overtime thriller in the best-of-three � nals.

Knights have always been sym-bols of courage and tenacity and are surrounded by an aura of glory. In-deed in the championship series, the Letran Knights displayed incredible courage, the coolest of tempera-ments under extreme pressure and a

spirit that bristled with a deep con-viction that they could overcome the odds and eventually triumph as they eventually did.

It was a combination of grim de-termination and a sense of playing for one another that was a philoso-phy taken from the storied pages of Gilas Pilipinas.

Laban! Puso! had been the con-stant cry of our Gilas national team against almost insurmountable odds. And this mantra, if you will, was embraced by the Letran Knights as though it was their very own.

For sure, San Beda was beaten but hardly disgraced as the Lions clawed back as only lions could do. But this was no jungle. It was a basketball court, where the ultimate � nesse of the Knights prevailed in an epic se-ries that was dutifully capped by the heroics of the little guard with an impish smile Mark Cruz and the � re and ice that mirrored the qualities of Kevin Racal.

� ey were the ultimate archi-tects of the heroism of the Knights molded into a unit by rookie coach Aldin Ayo, whose ties with his alma mater when he was a member of two championship teams gave him an added impetus to achieve what on the surface and in the minds of the pundits was a near impossible task.

� e fact that eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao identi� ed with the Knights was most appropriate because he too was the knight in shining armor,

who beat the odds and some notable opponents en route to redeeming our country’s stature in the world of boxing and inspiring a genera-tion of young � ghters from among the ranks of the poor to look at their poverty not as a burden but as a challenge.

� e Letran Knights were not even expected to make the Final Four, let alone enter the � nals and win the championship in an unbelievable overtime classic. But then, the sooth-sayers had apparently forgotten what little David did to the giant Goliath.

We were pleased to be part of for-mer Letran Knight Senator Freddie Webb’s Saturday a� ernoon show, “Fastbreak” with Boyet Sison, on dzMM Teleradyo, prior to the � nals and were struck by the con� dence shown by Cruz and Racal who glowed with the spirit that Knights somehow exude.

� ey were nice kids who were the type you’d wish would succeed. � at they did was a tribute to their resolve.

We were quite honestly happy for them because we have always been against the use of imports in the collegiate leagues that somehow give the richer institutions a decided advantage. It didn’t work this time which, in a sense, further glori-� es the achievement of the Letran Knights.

As my longtime friend Senator Freddie Webb shouted out – Arriba Letran!

By Jeric Lopez

Games Wednesday (Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City):

4:15 p.m. - Blackwater vs. Meralco7 p.m. - San Miguel vs. Rain or Shine

BARAKO Bull has something to prove.

At least that’s what Energy coach Koy Banal and his players have in mind as they embark on another journey in this 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup to try and prove that they belong among the league’s best teams.

A� er Barako Bull came back from 21 points down to turn back powerhouse Barangay Ginebra, 82-79, last Saturday night. Banal admits that his wards are playing with a lot of � re as they try to show that they can go toe-to-toe against the teams who are considered as title contenders.

‘’Everyone is extra pumped up every time we play strong teams. We are so eager to prove something,’’ said Banal.

Now holding an even 1-1 slate a� er that morale-boosting win against the Gin Kings, Banal said his players are excited to get their game going to avoid a sluggish start in the tournament.

‘’Medyo excited kami now that we found our bearings. Credit goes to our players. � ey really prepared themselves emotionally and psychologically for this season,’’

he said.One particular player that is

strutting his stu� early for Barako Bull is national team member JC Intal.

According to Banal, the improvement on Intal’s overall game is evident. It is one reason Barako Bull is feeling con� dent it has a chance to do well this tournament.

� e Energy’s go-to guy led his squad with a team-high 22 points against the Gin Kings.

‘’JC’s (Intal) stint with Gilas gave him a lot of confidence and that really helps his game. He is helping us really well right know. His game has improved in all aspects.’’

Analyzing what his team needs to do in order to keep in step with the rest of the squads, Banal gave an emphasis on one aspect of the game they need to focus on.

‘’We need to continue doing a good job on the defensive end. We were last in that department last season. We need to keep reminding the boys that everything starts on the defensive end,’’ said Banal. ‘’Our defense eventually starts our good o� ense.’’

Armed with this early con� dence, Barako Bull is looking to start a winning run to position itself well as the tournament heads deeper into its schedule.

‘’We just want to have a winning run and get as many wins as we can early to have good position and a good chance of making the playo� s,’’ said Banal.

Symbols of courage

sportssports@thestandard.com.ph

mo nday: no vemb er 2 , 2 0 1 5

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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The Pelicans had no answer for Curry’s swagger as the reign-ing league MVP picked up right where he left off last season. His 118 points through the first three games is the most since Michael Jordan bagged 118 in 1989.

It was the third straight NBA win for the Warriors and the third consecutive double-digit loss for the Pelicans, who were playing their home opener at

Smoothie King Center.“When nights like tonight

happen, you find shots and they keep going in,” Curry said. “I was just trying to be aggressive, was able to get in the paint a good amount, knock down some threes and keep them honest, and kind of open the game up. So it was really fun.”

Two of the Warriors wins have come against New Orleans, in-

NEW ORLEANS (AFP)--Stephen Curry continued his explosive start to the season, scoring 53 points to lead the undefeated Golden State Warriors to a 134-120 win over New Orleans Saturday.

Curry’s 53 points fuel Dubscluding a 111-95 season opening victory on Tuesday in which Cur-ry scored 40 points, including 24 in the first quarter.

Curry scored 28 points in the third quarter Saturday, helping the Warriors convert a 65-64 halftime deficit into a 105-91 lead.

Curry was 10 of 13 from the field in the quarter. He even add-ed a rare four-point play that gave Golden State a 105-89 lead.

Draymond Green scored 21 points, Klay Thompson 19 and Harrison Barnes 11 for the Warriors.

Anthony Davis rebounded

from a sluggish start to lead the Pelicans with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 22 points, Ryan Anderson 19 and Toney Douglas 17 for New Or-leans.

New Orlean’s led 65-64 at the half, their first lead after any quarter this season. The Pelicans outscored the Warriors 11-1 in second chance points and had an 11-2 advantage in offensive re-bounds.

Curry and Thompson com-bined for 31 first-half points, with Thompson scoring 16 points and Curry 15.

Holiday had 13 points in the

first half, including 11 in the first quarter, for the Pelicans.

The Pelicans were playing without forward Quincy Pon-dexter and guards Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans who were out with injuries.

Elsewhere, Derrick Favors scored 18 points to lead six Utah players in double figures, and the Jazz outscored the Indiana Pacers 55-27 during the second half en route to a 97-76 win.

In Washington, Carmelo An-thony carried New York with 37 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks defeated the host Wizards 117-110.

Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against Luke Babbitt #8 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center on October 31, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. AFp

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

MONDAY: NOVEMBER 2, 2015

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

WB: Rules stifle investmentsBUSINESS

PAL workers saystrike bid illegal

Nickel Asia buysgeothermal firm

A GROUP of active Philippine Airlines employ-ees formally sought the dismissal of a ‘notice of strike’ filed by former workers, saying they are misrepresenting themselves as union officers of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association.

PAL employees Renato Ebio, Danilo Hermoso, Mercedes Ines, Teodoro Jordan and Arnel Man-galindan said the purported PALEA officers led by former president Gerardo Rivera “have no le-gal power and authority to file a notice of strike as they could not constitute a quorum to validly exercise the association’s powers, functions and authority.”

The petitioners told the National Conciliation and Mediation Board that except for one Eugene Soriano, all the other individuals occupying the positions of president, vice president, secretary and auditor of PALEA had ceased to be employ-ees of PAL, having been “outsourced” since 2011.

As non-employees, they consequently lost their bona fide PALEA membership based on the union’s own by-laws, the group said.

The group added a notice of strike, a strike vote and a actual work stoppage, were major decisions of a union and required approval through a reso-lution of the association’s board of directors.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Board of Investments approved a change in the ownership of Biliran Geothermal Inc., giv-ing Emerging Power Inc. of Nickel Asia Corp. a 60-percent interest in the geothermal company.

Orka Energy of Iceland will retain a 40 percent ownership in Biliran, which is developing a 50- to 100-MW geothermal power project in Biliran.

The BoI’s legal department in a recent allowed Biliran Geothermal to proceed with the transaction.

Prior to the transaction, Filipino company Filtech Energy Corp. owned 60 percent of the shares of Biliran Geothermal while Orka Energy held 40 percent.

Orka Energy is owned by Chandler Corp. that has investments in energy, financial services, con-sumer and healthcare globally.

Orka Energy has developed 1,500-MW geo-thermal capacity in the last 30 years.

Emerging Power, meanwhile, is majority owned by Nickel Asia, which earlier announced that it would guarantee up to P3 billion of the loan of Emerging Power over a three-year period to fi-nance its renewable energy projects.

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE World Bank said the Philippines will at-tract an additional P5 billion to P10 billion worth of investments annually, if business reg-ulations are simpler.

“We are seeing anywhere from at least P5 billion to P10 billion in new investments that can come in, if we have simpler regulations,” World Bank country economist for the Philippines Karl Kendrick Chua said over the weekend.

“These indicative estimates suggest that the high cost of do-ing business is clearly a toll on the country’s inclusive growth agenda. When taking all other doing busi-ness indicators into account, for

instance, securing construction permit, getting electricity and trading externally, the overall cost of doing business, both direct cost and opportunity cost, could be several times higher,” Chua said.

The World Bank said in the re-cent Philippine Economic Update the country was losing P40 billion worth of potential investments, as people who could have started a business decided not to do so, be-cause the cost of starting a busi-

ness was “not reasonable.”“Probably, we’ll see a much big-

ger change [in the economy if people are not discouraged to start businesses]. We don’t have exact numbers, these are indicative es-timates, but simplifying business regulations can unleash the poten-tial of the private sector,” Chua said.

The World Bank estimated that small businesses were paying fees equivalent to 17 percent to 36 percent of per capita income, or around P21,000 to P45,000, when starting a business.

Chua also said this could ac-count for foregone employment of around 60,000, or equivalent to about 5 percent of new labor force entrants every year.

“In particular, small and micro businesses are important contrib-

utors and beneficiaries of inclu-sive growth. Business regulations tend to be cumbersome, they limit the growth of innovative en-trepreneurship and investments, contribute to large scale informal-ity, which cover 75 percent of em-ployment, and hence prevent the country from creating more and better jobs that can reduce pov-erty at a faster rate,” he said.

Chua said that aside from the fees small businesses needed to pay in starting a business, they also spent considerable amount of time moving from one agency to another, and waiting in line to process documents.

“[This is] often resulting in sig-nificant loss of productive time and income,” Chua said.

Another P100 billion was lost

annually in the form of foregone income, taxes and spending, ac-cording to the World Bank.

“There are close to one mil-lion corporations and sole pro-prietors who have to go through the system every year, through the renewal process, paying taxes almost every month, compared to only around 50,000 entrants ev-ery year, of which around 5,000 to 10,000 are corporates.

So in terms of the first number, the P100 billion, the impact is very small, around less than P5 billion, because the bulk are already in the system, going through the process every year,” Chua said.

“Reforms to reduce these costs would free up substantial resourc-es to make growth more inclu-sive,” he said.

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSMONDAY: NOVEMBER 2, 2015

B2

OCTOBER 26-30, 2015 OCTOBER 19-23, 2015STOCKS Close Volume Value Close Volume Value

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW

FINANCIALAG Finance 2.96 1,589,000 4,824,020.00 2.7 265,000 720,010.00Asia United Bank 48.35 1,261,800 60,414,850.00 70.1 145,260 10,129,767.00Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 101.70 15,658,420 1,620,037,226 107.50 12,608,070 1,313,593,738Bank of PI 84.60 10,214,440 871,148,931.00 84.30 7,530,860 627,347,325.00China Bank 40 258,500 10,407,405.00 40.4 627,200 25,143,750.00BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. 2.49 105,000 256,350.00 2.50 85,000 212,110.00Bright Kindle Resources 1.96 24,879,000 48,351,300.00 1.26 162,000 207,580.00COL Financial 15.7 70,900 1,104,744.00 15.74 188,500 2,925,178.00Eastwest Bank 19.82 224,300 4,467,326.00 19.82 136,400 2,683,678.00Filipino Fund Inc. 7.58 8,500 64,720 7.70 600 4,620First Abacus 0.65 920,000 598,000 I-Remit Inc. 1.83 85,000 150,730.00 1.73 391,000 709,180.00Manulife Fin. Corp. 745.00 510 386,550.00 750.00 3,620 2,693,000.00MEDCO Holdings 0.570 5,658,000 3,326,070.00 0.600 11,901,000 7,278,210.00Metrobank 85.05 12,987,890 1,121,424,043.00 83.25 8,018,480 663,511,867.50Natl Reinsurance Corp. 0.98 610,000 588,450.00 0.98 2,877,000 2,741,190.00PB Bank 18.78 1,793,100 33,991,644.00 18.42 792,100 14,589,914.00Phil Bank of Comm 24.00 80,200 1,928,025.00 23.50 72,000 1,679,760.00Phil. National Bank 53.00 276,290 14,875,736.50 54.00 436,970 23,306,378.00Phil. Savings Bank 104 7,160 731,897.00 103.9 6,120 648,486.00PSE Inc. 306 105,250 31,507,958.00 299.6 3,930 1,167,876.00RCBC `A’ 31.05 1,114,100 35,022,935 30.55 663,000 19,963,905Security Bank 142.1 2,216,980 315,998,488.00 142.9 2,067,050 295,880,554.00Sun Life Financial 1555.00 1,230 1,902,550.00 1560.00 2,630 4,029,585.00Union Bank 57.00 526,900 30,028,959.00 57.00 144,940 8,255,689.00

INDUSTRIALAboitiz Power Corp. 42 8,832,900 373,876,390.00 42.6 20,640,500 852,296,330.00Agrinurture Inc. 1.84 468,000 824,060.00 1.65 87,000 132,690.00Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.9 1,298,000 1,167,890.00 0.9 966,000 867,480.00Alsons Cons. 1.58 1,799,000 2,882,070.00 1.61 1,703,000 2,715,530.00Asiabest Group 10.6 8,600 95,700.00 11 19,300 229,090.00C. Azuc De Tarlac 95.00 730 69,653.50 95.00 290 27,967.00Century Food 17.3 4,762,400 82,539,458 16.98 3,743,600 63,522,680Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 24 2,136,300 49,708,385.00 24.9 3,736,000 93,965,885.00Concepcion 46.5 769,500 34,470,135 43 897,500 37,422,955Crown Asia 2.54 4,531,000 11,425,310.00 2.58 16,009,000 41,802,930.00Da Vinci Capital 1.64 5,176,000 8,842,150.00 1.76 11,705,000 20,498,770.00Del Monte 11 1,112,900 11,230,788.00 9.98 261,100 2,607,277.00DNL Industries Inc. 9.750 81,667,700 842,147,947.00 10.200 104,405,600 1,020,555,709.00Emperador 8.30 19,953,600 161,296,718.00 7.70 13,454,600 101,698,277.00Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.64 53,083,700 363,190,680.00 6.97 82,997,800 569,403,796.00EEI 7.53 2,495,600 19,152,696.00 7.61 1,635,900 12,619,649.00Euro-Med Lab. 1.66 62,000 103,590.00 1.69 17,000 28,800.00Federal Res. Inv. Group 11.78 36,400 431,004.00 12.46 90,300 1,073,712.00First Gen Corp. 25.3 8,244,000 214,056,840.00 26.7 13,356,800 344,341,455.00First Holdings ‘A’ 70.65 1,649,300 120,240,391.50 72.2 3,111,830 220,667,947.50Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 11.70 24,500 291,410.00 11.76 6,600 76,632.00Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.20 109,700 1,526,116.00 13.02 929,700 12,086,810.00Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.94 340,600 2,028,869.00 5.96 425,700 2,533,879.00Ionics Inc 2.270 18,868,000 45,262,930.00 2.610 27,859,000 74,857,030.00Jollibee Foods Corp. 206.00 2,147,230 581,657,676.00 207.60 4,622,530 954,959,364.00LBC Express 12.9 25,000 324,678.00 Liberty Flour 35.55 4,700 172,715.00 34.00 200 6,800.00LMG Chemicals 1.98 118,000 236,640.00 2.13 147,000 320,490.00Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 3.5 149,000 543,990.00 3.99 56,000 227,160.00Macay Holdings 40.00 23,300 941,150.00 41.50 39,000 1,644,075.00Manila Water Co. Inc. 23.8 10,471,100 252,905,170.00 24.3 11,657,000 282,345,560.00Maxs Group 24.3 766,100 18,699,385.00 25 1,295,200 32,085,310.00Megawide 7.3 1,044,100 7,043,678.00 6 8,372,400 50,209,188.00Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 325.00 3,821,340 1,231,755,318.00 320.00 2,590,750 816,607,766.00Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 3.86 48,000 184,880.00 3.93 57,000 223,630.00Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.2 8,840,000 36,862,950.00 4.4 2,366,000 10,302,120.00Petron Corporation 8.10 22,737,400 178,963,192.00 7.25 5,026,800 36,951,243.00Phil H2O 4.81 132,000 626,700.00 4.5 397,000 1,854,720.00Phinma Corporation 11.60 162,300 1,852,274.00 11.50 16,500 189,090.00Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.70 1,245,000 4,550,900.00 3.57 951,000 3,306,040.00Phoenix Semiconductor 2.04 2,203,000 4,417,350.00 2.00 1,714,000 3,401,210.00Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.46 22,110,000 65,516,570.00 2.6 4,176,000 10,339,590.00RFM Corporation 4.11 14,400,000 59,169,550.00 4.09 11,603,000 47,177,920.00Roxas Holdings 5 51,000 254,930.00 4.93 125,500 629,195.00San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 138 48,230 6,764,668.00 141.5 52,100 7,400,379.00SPC Power Corp. 4.09 160,000 619,150.00 Splash Corporation 2.1 503,000 1,070,730.00 2.24 3,102,000 6,551,370.00Swift Foods, Inc. 0.157 34,420,000 5,669,200.00 0.171 320,400,000 58,837,080.00TKC Steel Corp. 1.27 391,000 477,330.00 1.22 1,354,000 1,686,610.00Trans-Asia Oil 2.20 10,620,000 23,425,540.00 2.23 16,310,000 35,578,940.00Universal Robina 200.6 10,986,250 2,244,306,427.00 204 7,960,550 1,592,926,258.00Victorias Milling 4.73 26,000 119,300.00 4.55 47,000 214,140.00Vitarich Corp. 0.67 2,989,000 2,002,080.00 0.68 2,554,000 1,786,500.00Vivant Corp. 22.80 1,200 27,360.00 23.00 1,000 23,000.00Vulcan Ind’l. 1.18 1,237,000 1,491,060.00 1.15 970,000 1,091,630.00

HOLDING FIRMSAbacus Cons. `A’ 0.390 2,220,000 882,650.00 0.410 2,110,000 842,100.00Aboitiz Equity 56.0000 6,753,360 384,787,330.00 57.7500 5,034,290 290,575,997.50Alliance Global Inc. 18.24 30,271,400 560,594,834.00 18.00 28,444,400 515,315,592.00Anglo Holdings A 1.12 5,000 5,600.00 1.12 24,000 26,630.00Anscor `A’ 6.50 74,200 477,056.00 6.48 33,700 218,144.00ATN Holdings A 0.247 4,270,000 1,061,050.00 0.255 37,090,000 10,068,010.00ATN Holdings B 0.250 290,000 73,200.00 0.255 5,260,000 1,449,950.00Ayala Corp `A’ 780 2,178,430 1,705,347,505.00 774 863,960 659,108,360.00Cosco Capital 7.45 6,505,800 49,274,816.00 7.45 10,677,900 78,606,458.00DMCI Holdings 12.40 27,109,400 343,884,622.00 12.60 23,650,200 296,494,228.00F&J Prince ‘A’ 3.8 315,000 1,271,980.00 4.06 293,000 1,146,070.00F&J Prince ‘B’ 4 61,000 251,940.00 3.65 22,000 78,530.00Filinvest Dev. Corp. 3.90 26,000 101,130.00 3.80 351,000 1,360,590.00Forum Pacific 0.250 2,970,000 757,450.00 0.260 6,090,000 1,587,650.00GT Capital 1314 538,210 724,760,025.00 1322 541,610 715,140,020.00House of Inv. 5.84 104,000 603,630.00 5.81 515,800 2,992,264.00JG Summit Holdings 71.40 12,312,600 906,363,902.00 73.00 4,969,220 357,789,211.00Jolliville Holdings 3.9 55,000 215,840.00 4.02 196,800 955,110.00Keppel Holdings `A’ 4.76 4,600 21,688.00 Keppel Holdings `B’ 6.78 19,376,200 134,604,240.00 6.89 13,860,400 91,070,799.00Lopez Holdings Corp. 0.81 31,893,000 25,676,350.00 0.86 6,802,000 6,026,330.00Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 12.5 22,343,700 279,805,040.00 12.34 66,110,200 769,831,396.00Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.52 2,041,000 1,081,940.00 0.53 9,164,000 5,095,020.00Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.22 179,103,000 952,908,036.00 5.23 115,463,400 599,311,079.00Minerales Industrias Corp. 9.44 11,278,100 102,973,021.00 8.8 7,476,900 64,459,725.00MJCI Investments Inc. 2.8 3,000 8,400.00 3.79 4,000 14,180.00Pacifica `A’ 0.0300 393,300,000 12,375,400.00 0.0340 765,300,000 26,807,700.00Prime Orion 1.930 4,137,000 7,944,040.00 1.920 47,097,000 95,400,830.00Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.82 225,000 621,850.00 2.84 99,000 277,360.00San Miguel Corp `A’ 48.00 2,175,940 107,633,982.00 48.50 2,878,400 138,904,990.00Seafront `A’ 2.69 43,000 117,600.00 2.93 41,000 112,900.00SM Investments Inc. 875.00 1,590,880 1,405,346,640.00 885.00 1,547,960 1,356,064,265.00Solid Group Inc. 1.19 502,000 600,940.00 1.20 819,000 984,240.00South China Res. Inc. 0.78 1,940,000 1,530,340.00 0.81 11,570,000 10,966,660.00Transgrid 170.00 1,860 327,770.00 179.00 40 7,160.00Top Frontier 105.400 2,078,100 220,249,074.00 107.800 572,910 61,350,361.00Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3250 20,220,000 6,833,250.00 0.3300 23,010,000 7,847,050.00Wellex Industries 0.2350 1,510,000 345,440.00 0.2330 2,510,000 582,140.00Zeus Holdings 0.320 5,420,000 1,741,600.00 0.330 19,370,000 6,389,400.00

P R O P E R T Y8990 HLDG 6.500 8,243,800 53,383,101.00 6.520 1,837,800 11,890,602.00Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 8.18 3,100 25,178.00 7.60 4,200 31,920.00A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.75 23,321,000 17,314,630.00 0.70 11,047,000 8,170,290.00Araneta Prop `A’ 1.170 81,000 91,910.00 1.170 533,000 580,340.00Arthaland Corp. 0.201 630,000 130,460.00 0.225 120,000 27,000.00Ayala Land `B’ 35.850 57,721,200 2,098,579,315.00 35.300 58,298,400 2,055,030,615.00Belle Corp. `A’ 3.46 8,306,000 29,071,000.00 3.49 10,828,000 36,299,100.00Cebu Holdings 5.08 154,900 794,743.00 5.05 319,200 1,616,366.00Centennial City 0.61 17,940,000 10,772,090.00 0.59 35,248,000 20,808,500.00City & Land Dev. 0.99 17,000 16,340.00 0.99 1,653,000 1,524,280.00Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.03 18,000 18,600.00 1.02 319,000 322,620.00Crown Equities Inc. 0.125 19,310,000 2,450,770.00 0.130 101,320,000 13,353,450.00Cyber Bay Corp. 0.485 98,626,000 52,079,145.00 0.550 407,100,000 235,163,890.00Double Dragon 20.85 4,632,200 98,656,345.00 21.5 10,984,500 228,540,201.00Empire East Land 0.900 4,625,000 4,176,300.00 0.890 2,968,000 2,661,330.00

OCTOBER 26-30, 2015 OCTOBER 19-23, 2015STOCKS Close Volume Value Close Volume Value

Ever Gotesco 0.180 780,000 129,360.00 0.162 5,010,000 920,540.00Global-Estate 1.12 20,554,000 23,930,260.00 1.13 15,708,000 17,887,980.00Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.74 141,140,000 245,097,610.00 1.73 77,892,000 134,432,640.00Interport `A’ 1.30 611,000 787,630.00 1.31 1,825,000 2,348,300.00Keppel Properties 4.50 10,000 45,560.00 Megaworld Prop. 4.69 155,823,000 513,822,680.00 4.73 129,872,000 587,405,630.00MRC Allied Ind. 0.091 6,040,000 539,940.00 0.090 89,780,000 8,993,280.00Phil. Estates Corp. 0.2900 760,000 221,500.00 0.2950 1,020,000 305,650.00Phil. Realty `A’ 0.4500 560,000 253,700.00 0.4550 310,000 135,250.00Primex Corp. 8.42 536,500 4,525,713.00 8.66 902,800 7,647,151.00Robinson’s Land `B’ 30.60 49,714,800 1,549,180,665.00 30.05 20,824,500 619,207,710.00Rockwell 1.52 1,202,000 1,842,870.00 1.53 11,503,000 18,391,700.00Shang Properties Inc. 3.24 71,000 227,600.00 3.1 21,000 64,440.00SM Prime Holdings 21.60 75,751,300 1,680,900,100.00 22.65 70,615,600 1,559,872,405.00Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.75 25,643,000 20,097,570.00 0.72 5,555,000 4,027,210.00Starmalls 8.18 99,800 817,664.00 8.47 27,700 227,079.00Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.990 21,437,000 22,542,020.00 1.080 25,085,000 27,063,010.00Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.570 37,452,600 213,105,214.00 5.470 23,804,000 129,867,546.00

S E R V I C E S2GO Group 8.2 369,600 3,069,590.00 8.21 418,700 3,365,289.00ABS-CBN 65.6 249,020 16,206,482.50 64.65 223,770 14,417,897.00APC Group, Inc. 0.570 2,671,000 1,511,280.00 0.590 5,269,000 3,094,260.00Asian Terminals Inc. 11.26 59,300 670,494.00 11.34 6,400 72,234.00Berjaya Phils. Inc. 27 11,400 303,300 28 4,100 114,890Bloomberry 6.15 35,593,600 233,251,815.00 6.69 19,812,800 131,412,128.00Boulevard Holdings 0.0560 242,820,000 13,852,200.00 0.0540 133,470,000 7,374,040.00Calata Corp. 3.62 2,517,000 9,370,540.00 3.75 8,149,000 31,823,190.00Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 89.2 3,086,740 269,979,942.00 86.75 1,427,160 121,497,009.00Centro Esc. Univ. 9.99 11,000 104,990.00 9.51 2,000 19,028.00DFNN Inc. 6.04 5,346,800 31,700,629.00 5.93 3,524,100 20,540,823.00Easy Call “Common” 3.53 222,000 770,580.00 FEUI 955 3,880 3,731,000.00 955 2,340 2,229,550.00Globe Telecom 2280 294,725 683,499,760 2328 231,440 534,701,810GMA Network Inc. 7.40 3,114,500 22,337,914.00 6.86 1,292,200 8,745,697.00Harbor Star 1.25 95,000 117,170.00 1.20 482,000 581,500.00I.C.T.S.I. 82.5 6,261,040 534,957,151.50 81.3 7,617,900 598,690,549.50Imperial Res. `A’ 4.70 1,000 4,700 IPeople Inc. `A’ 11.4 24,000 273,950.00 11.4 75,300 896,636.00IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.012 29,500,000 326,500.00 0.011 26,400,000 281,500.00Island Info 0.183 10,340,000 1,876,930.00 0.184 10,070,000 1,849,800.00ISM Communications 1.4000 4,574,000 6,390,430.00 1.4200 1,921,000 2,712,870.00Jackstones 2.19 45,000 100,830.00 2.16 24,000 53,330.00Leisure & Resorts 8.85 2,588,200 22,953,866.00 8.78 1,845,100 15,828,269.00Liberty Telecom 3.90 11,576,000 45,454,660.00 3.48 4,719,000 16,302,650.00Lorenzo Shipping 1.15 47,000 56,490.00 1.25 37,000 47,220.00Manila Broadcasting 32.00 132 3,500.00 31.50 4,800 142,810.00Manila Bulletin 0.610 299,000 178,220.00 0.610 406,000 255,640.00Manila Jockey 1.99 53,000 105,850.00 2 130,000 259,900.00Melco Crown 3.68 72,448,000 289,191,980.00 4.01 77,888,000 309,868,740.00MG Holdings 0.280 10,860,000 3,116,200.00 0.295 26,110,000 8,090,900.00NOW Corp. 0.860 121,245,000 109,604,700.00 0.970 207,397,000 205,155,620.00Phil. Racing Club 8.92 100 892.00 9.5 408,900 3,842,870.00Phil. Seven Corp. 100.20 715,280 71,529,298.00 99.90 1,180 113,964.00Philweb.Com Inc. 20.15 629,000 12,589,957.00 20.35 805,400 16,331,012.00PLDT Common 2200.00 767,690 1,781,817,660.00 2364.00 358,220 820,926,760.00PremiereHorizon 0.570 5,472,000 3,084,210.00 0.570 3,385,000 1,942,700.00Premium Leisure 1.140 28,844,000 33,709,440.00 1.200 104,260,000 125,430,750.00Puregold 36.00 11,459,800 413,935,090.00 35.95 16,317,700 568,685,605.00Robinsons Retail 76.90 5,438,870 421,708,512.00 76.00 1,628,870 121,114,316.00SBS Phil. Corp. 6.40 25,504,000 162,242,928.00 6.52 14,126,700 92,555,552.00SSI Group 5.31 52,329,300 293,315,072.00 5.40 56,758,300 301,672,049.00STI Holdings 0.47 58,700,000 27,965,050.00 0.46 51,600,000 23,454,950.00Transpacific Broadcast 1.51 57,000 86,160.00 1.51 53,000 80,380.00Travellers 4.6 65,122,200 298,172,496.00 4.34 20,791,000 85,256,050.00Waterfront Phils. 0.370 1,020,000 353,400.00 0.350 710,000 252,900.00Yehey 4.090 3,834,000 15,465,580.00 4.150 6,421,000 27,121,970.00

MINING & OILAbra Mining 0.0048 933,000,000 4,557,300.00 0.0051 938,000,000 4,611,200.00Apex `A’ 2.21 1,199,000 2,764,070.00 2.33 10,363,000 22,810,610.00Atlas Cons. `A’ 5.65 1,121,700 6,776,359.00 5.90 626,600 3,713,600.00Atok-Big Wedge `A’ 11.78 100 1,178.00 11.78 400 4,356.00Basic Energy Corp. 0.225 1,430,000 318,960.00 0.205 300,000 61,500.00Benguet Corp `A’ 6 2,800 16,800.00 5.8 12,700 73,660.00Benguet Corp `B’ 5.8600 700 4,083.00 5.8000 1,006 6,000.00Century Peak Metals Hldgs 0.74 4,939,000 3,807,350.00 0.81 22,931,000 18,045,620.00Coal Asia 0.67 14,770,000 14,496,424.00 0.64 5,280,000 3,469,640.00Dizon 9.08 1,424,100 13,185,890.00 8.63 168,400 1,478,582.00Ferronickel 0.9 266,964,000 254,927,420.00 1.03 158,000,000 160,039,870.00Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.315 19,150,000 6,452,650.00 0.320 6,490,000 2,030,200.00Lepanto `A’ 0.193 31,390,000 6,126,750.00 0.193 11,750,000 2,259,960.00Lepanto `B’ 0.206 6,260,000 1,288,390.00 0.208 2,740,000 561,780.00Manila Mining `A’ 0.0100 1,359,400,000 14,585,500.00 0.0100 129,100,000 1,360,200.00Manila Mining `B’ 0.012 151,300,000 1,768,400.00 0.011 22,900,000 252,000.00Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 2.8 18,839,000 53,038,570.00 2.28 2,933,000 6,739,840.00Nickelasia 7.95 31,562,400 266,542,829.00 8.77 48,153,100 390,567,817.00Nihao Mineral Resources 3.07 3,253,000 10,323,560.00 3.25 25,290,000 77,137,730.00Omico 0.5900 807,000 488,120.00 0.6400 542,000 346,450.00Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.5100 2,344,000 3,629,670.00 1.4100 579,000 811,180.00Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0110 67,900,000 713,200.00 0.0100 149,400,000 1,494,100.00Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0110 6,000,000 61,000.00 0.0100 6,000,000 60,000.00Petroenergy Res. Corp. 3.88 109,000 433,770.00 4.00 20,000 78,150.00Philex `A’ 5.40 5,948,500 32,830,252.00 5.37 2,254,000 11,857,889.00PhilexPetroleum 1.50 45,768,000 77,765,780.00 1.38 1,399,000 1,906,570.00Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.0140 345,100,000 4,511,900.00 0.0130 242,400,000 3,201,400.00Semirara Corp. 133.90 1,436,190 191,992,085.00 133.50 5,413,640 705,716,313.00TA Petroleum 2.41 9,326,000 25,051,380.00 2.37 891,000 2,077,930.00United Paragon 0.0090 94,000,000 819,200.00 0.0083 5,000,000 40,600.00

PREFERREDABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 67.6 1,822,740 120,562,387.00 66 313,550 20,810,053.50Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B1’ 513.5 2,210 1,135,900.00 515 5,470 2,828,220.00Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 525 320 168,000 525 8,000 4,200,000First Gen G 116.5 70 8,155.00 115.6 11,950 1,382,840.00GLOBE PREF P 528 90 46,720.00 518 15,130 7,854,360.00GMA Holdings Inc. 7.15 387,600 2,728,643.00 6.75 162,100 1,062,279.00Leisure & Resort Pref. 1.13 185,000 209,050 1.12 473,000 529,180MWIDE PREF 109.5 61,800 6,768,532.00 109 393,420 42,882,994.00PCOR-Preferred B 1090 1,010 1,097,100.00 1050 1,920 2,016,000.00PF Pref 2 1030 200,825 206,849,750.00 1035 2,535 2,599,725.00SMC Preferred B 79 1,500 118,500.00 78.2 26,970 2,103,864.00SMC Preferred C 82 191,000 15,753,152.00 82.75 1,037,870 85,573,833.50SMC Preferred D 79.2 1,007,870 79,722,461.00 79.2 109,070 8,619,040.50SMC Preferred E 78.5 1,550,490 121,724,294.00 79 319,900 25,263,230.00SMC Preferred F 80.1 1,593,270 127,472,842.00 79.95 1,544,830 123,566,588.00Swift Pref 2.8 23,000 55,980.00 2.9 524,000 1,600,300.00

WARRANTS & BONDSLeisure & Resort Warr. 2.980 477,000 1,423,670.00 3.000 561,000 1,641,590.00

S M EMakati Fin. Corp. 2.8 477,000 1,333,160.00 2.97 394,000 1,123,320.00Ripple E-Business Intl 56.7 15,240 887,257.50 61.35 21,110 1,305,887.50Xurpas 16 15,066,000 240,620,788.00 15.7 13,237,800 199,084,776.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDSFirst Metro ETF 117 82,100 9,673,146.00 118.2 87,870 10,309,265.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS VOLUME

Manila Mining `A’ 1,359,400,000Abra Mining 933,000,000Pacifica `A’ 393,300,000Philodrill Corp. `A’ 345,100,000Ferronickel 266,964,000Boulevard Holdings 242,820,000Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 179,103,000Megaworld Prop. 155,823,000Manila Mining `B’ 151,300,000Filinvest Land,Inc. 141,140,000

STOCKS VALUE

Universal Robina 2,244,306,427.00Ayala Land `B’ 2,098,579,315.00PLDT Common 1,781,817,660.00Ayala Corp `A’ 1,705,347,505.00SM Prime Holdings 1,680,900,100.00Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 1,620,037,226Robinson’s Land `B’ 1,549,180,665.00SM Investments Inc. 1,405,346,640.00Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 1,231,755,318.00Metrobank 1,121,424,043.00

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSMONDAY: NOVEMBER 2, 2015

B3

Jollibee expandingto UK, Italy, Oman

Korean firm poised to repair Czech trains

Q3 earnings to dictate market movement

Smart partner. Wireless leader Smart Communications is the exclusive partner of Ultra Mega during its yearly expo, gathering all its members nationwide at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. Ultra Mega, which has 20 branches nationwide selling Smart load and SIMs, has been a key distributor account of Smart since 2013. Shown are (from left) Brezhnev Tero and Dhing Pascual of Remitbox; Julie Lim, Ultra Mega owner and vice president for operations; Joy David, head of key accounts for Smart; Buddy Sta. Ana, key account sales manager/modern trade channel for Smart; James Javier, Smart key account manager handling Ultra Mega; Karla Roxas of Smart trade marketing; and Jojit Uy, Smart trade marketing manager.

A KOREAN company and its four Filipino partners have emerged as the only group that qualified for a three-year contract to reha-bilitate and maintain the Czech-made trains running at the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 along Edsa.

This became apparent after the Transportation Department’s ne-gotiation team disqualified the groups of DMCI and CommBuild-ers and Transport Corp. and their European partners in the nego-tiation under the emergency procurement mode. Busan Transport Corp. of South Korea and its four Filipino joint venture partners—Edison Construction & Development Corp., Tramat Mercantile, TMI Corp. and Castan Corp.—were on their way to clinching the P4.25-billion contract to overhaul 43 light rail vehicles and main-tain the MRT 3 facilities for three years, after the negotiation team junked the documents of two other groups.

A losing group, however, is not giving up without an appeal. The German-Filipino joint venture of Schunk Bahn und-Indus-trietechnik and Comm Builders & Technology Philippines filed a motion for reconsideration, after it was disqualified allegedly on the grounds of failure to meat the deadline.

SBI-CBT claimed there was no specific time set on the deadline for the submission of compliance documents on Oct. 28, 2015, during the negotiation meeting on Oct. 21. “The negotiating team as well as the offerors have not fixed nor discussed the time for the submission of the compliance documents on Oct. 28, 2015,” SBI-CBT representative Roehl Bacar said, in a letter to Transportation Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco. Limcaoco leads the emergency negotiated procurement to select a contractor that will undertake the P4.25-billion major, three-year MRT systems rehabilitation project. Roderick T. dela Cruz

Uniqlo aims to be No. 1 clothing brand Popular Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo has set a target of be-

coming the number one apparel brand in the Philippines by 2020, with a total of 120 stores nationwide.

This will not be an easy task for Uniqlo Philippines chief operating of-ficer Katsumi Kubota, given the influx of foreign brands in the country as well as the aggressive expansion of local brands such as Bench and Penshoppe, amid the increasing consumer spending of Filipinos.

Kubota said Uniqlo was not only targeting to have the most number of stores in the Philippines or having the most number of sales among local clothing brands. He said it was also aiming to be the number one, in terms of affinity to the Filipino people.

In order to do this, Kubota said the company is setting its sights on the growing middle-class Filipinos.

“I really have to touch the middle class. I cannot only focus on the upper class. I want to cater from A, B, C and all the way up to the middle-class people. That’s what we want to do here, because this is the mass of this market,” Kuboto said.

Since opening its first store in the Philippines in 2012, Uniqlo has grown its network to 25 stores, including the recently opened first store in Cebu. Jenniffer B. Austria

PLDT, Globe see faster broadband speedBroadband speed in the Philippines will likely improve next year,

as the two major telecom providers are “hopeful” to finally end the dispute over the so-called Internet protocol (IP) peering.

“In fairness to them, they’re also desirous to close a peering ar-rangement with us so that we can together, as leading telcos in the country, elevate Internet customer experience,” Eric Alberto, ex-ecutive vice president of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said, referring to rival Globe Telecom Inc.

When asked if this is in preparation for the entry of Telstra in the Philippines, which promises to offer high-speed broadband services, Aberto said: “It has nothing to do with that.”

“It’s actually the clamor. It’s everyone’s desire to try to improve and help uplift the quality of the Internet experience in the coun-try,” he said.

Alberto said PLDT was open to free peering, if both carriers would have equal traffic. “At a certain point, if somebody pulls more traffic from the other, there are internationally acceptable peering models that are widely practiced and accepted now that we should look at,” he said.

Gil Genio, Globe’s chief operating officer of Globe, earlier said the proposal of PLDT would not go far enough, even to meet the definition of peering. “We are hoping any bilateral arrangement with PLDT would effectively reduce latency of local intent and im-prove Internet speed. As is, PLDT’s proposed peering agreement won’t be effective in improving the country’s Internet speed as it doesn’t allow Globe customers to directly access content and ap-plications hosted by the PLDT group without exception,” he said.

About 20 percent of Internet traffic is local. This means that do-mestic traffic originates in the Philippines and terminates in the Philippines. However, given the current peering limitations, up to 70 percent of this local traffic needs to be routed outside the country, such as in Asia, the US and Europe, before returning to the Philippines. Darwin G. Amojelar

By Jenniffer B. Austria

FASTFOOD chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. is expanding its global footprint by bringing its flagship store Jollibee to five new markets next year, including the United King-dom, Italy, Canada, Malaysia and Oman.

SHARE prices are expected to consolidate within the 7,000 to 7,200 level this week, as investors look for the release of third-quar-ter earnings for market direction.

“The market has recently reversed its course from last week’s strong performance. Some companies have started releasing third-quarter earnings, with most companies coming in line with our forecasts. Earnings results to be released in the coming weeks will likely dictate the market’s direction,” RCBC Securi-ties analyst Angelie Wee said.

Among the listed companies scheduled to release their third-quarter results this week are market heavyweights SM Prime Holdings Inc., SM Investments Corp., Philip-pine Long Distance Telephone Co.,

International Container Terminal Services Inc., GMA Network Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc.

F. Yap Securities investment an-alyst Jason Escartin said investors would also watch the develop-ments in China, after its surprise move to reduce the benchmark borrowing and lending rates by 25 basis points on Oct. 23.

“The near-term downside risk so far is on the renminbi’s weak-ness vis-à-vis the greenback, which is being shielded by talks of the currency’s inclusion in IMF’s Spe-cial Drawing Rights basket. Also, China’s manufacturing data will be released early this week, as the na-tion struggles to meet its 7-percent GDP growth target,” Escartin said.

The PSEi, the 30-company

benchmark index of the Philip-pine Stock Exchange, last week closed lower by 1.4 percent to 7,134.26, while the broader all-share index went down by 1 per-cent to 4,119.28, on renewed fears of a US interest rate hike this year.

The market hit as high as 7,377.48 at the start of the week, on renewed positive outlook, un-til concerns over US interest rate hike pervaded again.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief invest-ment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said profit-taking took place, fol-lowing tepid corporate earnings and renewed fears of a US rate ad-justment, after the Federasl Re-serve issued a hawkish statement during the October FOMC meet-ing. Jenniffer B. Austria

It also plans to open Jollibee stores in Australia and Japan in 2017, a company executive said over the weekend.

Jollibee vice president for inter-national operations Dennis Flores said in an interview at the recent 41st Asia Pacific Retailers Con-vention and Exhibitions the com-pany’s move to venture into new markets was in line with its thrust to make Jollibee a global brand.

“At present, Jollibee is present in two continents but in the next two years, we will see Jollibee in four continents,” Flores said.

The company said its first two stores in Europe would be located in London and Milan while the company’s first store in Canada would be in Toronto.

Flores said with the company’s

venture in Oman, Jollibee would be present in all areas in the Mid-dle East.

Jollibee’s aggressive expansion over the past years propelled the company to be ranked first in Asia and 10th in the world in terms of market capitalization among publicly listed quick-ser-vice restaurants.

Flores said Jollibee also contin-ued to expand in existing markets such as Vietnam and Brunei.

Jollibee currently has 69 stores in Vietnam and plans to add 20 new stores while there are 12 Jol-libee stores in Brunei, with 12 more slated for opening over the next six months.

Jollibee last week also complet-ed the acquisition of a 40-percent interest in US-based burger chain

Smashburger for $99.47 million.The acquisition will make Jol-

libee’s presence in the US more significant and will make US one of Jollibee’s growth drivers of long-term growth, along with the Philippines, China and Fili-pino markets abroad.

The fast-food giant also has an option purchase up to an addition-al 35 percent of Smashburger be-tween 2018 and 2021 and the bal-ance of 25 percent between 2019 at the earliest and 2026 at the latest.

Jollibee has a network of 3,013 stores globally, including 2,384 in the Philippines and 629 out-lets overseas.

It also has a 50-percent interest in joint ventures Highlands Cof-fee (Vietnam, Philippines), Pho24 (Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Korea) and 12 Sabu (China).

International unit Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. and its part-ner Jasmine Asset Holding Ltd. also formed Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. to be the main franchisee of the Dunkin’ Donuts brand in China.

Jollibee earned P2.7 billion in profit in the first half, out of P47.9-billion revenues.

B4

Meralco readies 3new power plants

Air Asiaset to flyto Japan next year

Albay receives CEO challenge destination award

GMA-Viber deal. Viber, the leading messaging app in the country, signs up as a partner of GMA 7’s extensive election coverage of GMA Eleksyon 2016 news. GMA Network Inc. chairman and chief executive Felipe Gozon and Commission on elections chairman Andres Bautista witnessed the signing of partnership agreement at GMA Network’s headquarters in Quezon City. Joining the election coverage deal ar representatives of PLDT-Smart Communications, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Inquirer.net; Catholic Media Network, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MERALCO PowerGen Corp., a unit of Ma-nila Electric Co., is set to start next year the construction of three coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of up to 2,255 megawatts, company officials said over the weekend.

LEGAZPI CITY—Albay has bagged the Pacific Asia Travel Association first-ever, $1-mil-lion 2015 CEO Challenge’s Top Destination Award con-firming once again its global standard tourism program.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda is set to formally receive the award during PATA’s Aligned Advocacy Dinner in London on November 2. The province won the award in Region’s/State/Province category, along with Thekkady, Kerala, In-dia, which bagged the Second and Third Tier Cities category. UN World Tourism Organization Sec-retary General Taleb Rifai will be guest of honor at the ceremony.

As part of the prize, Albay will work with leading inter-national travel Web site and PATA’s Top Destination awards partner TripAdvisor to develop and create digital marketing campaigns, valued at $500,000, that will showcase its destina-tions to a global audience

“It was difficult to choose only two winners, as we received some excellent submissions from destinations both near and far. All the submissions had unique stories that every traveler should get to know and experience,” said PATA chief executive Mario Har-dy in announcing the winners.

Hardy said the winners “had

the most authentic, culturally di-verse, and innovative offerings” and needed the most assistance in helping promote their assets. Albay hosts PATA’s New Tour-ism Frontiers Forum 2015 on November 25 to 27 here.

Salceda said Albay was finally reaping the fruits of years of its hard work in promoting its tour-ism wealth. Salceda is preparing to personally receive the award at the London rites.

Salceda said “the issue is not about being the best but about what can be done together,” and that all the awards and accolades their province reaped “are the products of Albayanos’ unity of

purpose and vision.”Salceda has been the driv-

ing force behind Albay’s strong tourism program for the past eight years, introducing many innovations which transformed the province’s sedate travel en-vironment into a world-class and bustling tourist destination.

The Tourism Department has declared Albay as the Philippines’ fastest growing tourist destina-tion, posting a sustained tourism growth of 47 percent in 2012, 66 percent in 2013 and 52 percent in the second quarter of 2014 and a dramatic increase in foreign tour-ist arrivals from 8,700 in 2006 to 339,000 in 2014.

The projects include the 455-MW plant of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. in Quezon province, 600 MW by Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. in Subic and 1,200-by MW Atimonan One Energy also in Quezon.

“Participation in power gen-eration is highly strategic for Meralco. Without any generating capacity, Meralco would effec-tively be only a price-taker and a supply-taker. We look forward to building a portfolio of highly fuel efficient, highly reliable power generating facilities of up to 3,000 MW in joint venture with strategic partners,” Meralco

president Oscar Reyes said.The San Buenaventura coal

project is a joint venture between Meralco PowerGen and New Growth B.V., a unit of The Elec-tricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand.

San Buenaventura, in which MGen has a significant interest, has started work on plant site preparation before proceeding to a financial closing and the actual construction job.

The supercritical coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon, is expected to begin commercial operations by the first half of 2019, with construction slated in

the first half of next year.“We are doing site preparation

[in San Buenventura] and by the first half we will turn over to the EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] contractor,” Meralco senior vice president Angelito Lantin said.

Meralco PowerGen also has a majority stake in RP Energy, the developer-owner of the 600-MW circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant in Subic, Zam-bales.

Lantin said RP Energy was in talks with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for the trans-mission line requirements of the power plant.

RP Energy has not made a fi-nal decision whether to construct the entire 600-MW capacity of reduce it to 300 MW due to the transmission line constraints.

RP Energy is also pursuing the completion of preliminary works before starting with the construc-tion of the power plant.

It expects to finalize the terms of the project financing agree-

ment by the first quarter of 2016 with construction to follow. Projection completion is ex-pected in 2019.

RP Energy is a joint venture among Meralco PowerGen, Therma Luzon, Inc., a subsid-iary of the Aboitiz Power Corp., and Taiwan Cogeneration In-ternational Corp.–Philippine Branch Office.

Lantin said the government last month issued the environmen-tal compliance certificate of the 1,200-MW coal fired power plant of Atimonan One, also major-ity controlled by Meralco Pow-erGen.

He said the EPC tender pro-cesses started with responses ex-pected by end of 2015.

Meralco PowerGen will se-lect the preferred EPC contractor for the Atimonan project by mid 2016.

“Early works target to start ear-ly 2016 such as site access road and resettlement site construc-tion. Target completion of unit 1 is late 2020,” he said.

By Darwin G Amojelar

PHILIPPINES Air Asia plans to expand its operation to Japan by late next year, its top executive said over the weekend.

“We are able to get new en-titlements to Japan. Maybe by late next year we will fly to Ja-pan because in the first half I will be focused on the China routes,” Philippines AirAsia chief execu-tive Joy Cañeba said.

Philippines Air Asia operates a fleet of 12 aircraft serving do-mestic destinations such as Ka-libo (Boracay), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Tagbilaran (Bohol), Cebu, Davao and Tacloban. They also fly to China and Korea.

Cañeba added stockholders approved an increase in the au-thorized capital stock to up to P5 billion from P2 billion.

“We already have discussion, so I think first quarter of next year we will have it in place. It will be in tranches, I don’t see all the additional increase will come in one tranche but it will be suf-ficient to cover the growth expan-sion next year,” Cañeba said.

She said the existing share-holders were willing to infuse fresh capital into the company.

Malaysia’s Air Asia, through AA International, owns 40 per-cent of Philippines’ Air Asia Inc., while Filipinos Marriane Honti-veros, Michael Romero, Antonio Cojuangco and Alfredo Yao hold the balance of 60 percent.

Cañeba said the company planned to lease five A320 air-craft from Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad, which will be deployed in China and South Korea.

“If you look at the yield, they [Chinese and Koreans] have the purchasing power to actually pay for a travel going to the Philippines. Our China and Korea markets are doing very well,” said Cañeba.

She added the company’s planned initial public offering would be moved to the first quar-ter of 2018 from the original tar-get of 2017.

IT isn’t just “more fun” in the Philippines, it is more responsible, too, particularly where governance is concerned. Thus, in this country, you can find islands of good tourism and adventure, as well as islands of good governance.

Last October 20 and 21, the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), a public gover-nance reform advocacy group founded by Dr. Jesus “Jess” Estanislao, held a Public Governance Forum together with the In-stitute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the National Competitiveness Council Philippines at the Philippine International Convention Center. During this Forum, 12 public sector institutions were named the very first Philippine “Islands of Good Governance” to acknowledge the reforms that they have undertaken through trans-formative and sustainable good gover-nance programs.

The awardees from the national gov-ernment agencies were the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Army (PA), the Philippine Navy (PN), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the National Electrification Administra-tion (NEA), the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pili-pinas (BSP). For the local governments,

the awardees were the city governments of Balanga, Bataan; Butuan, Agusan Del Norte; Dipolog, Zamboanga Del Norte; and Talisay, Negros Occidental.

Truly these awardees, through their progress reporting in this bi-annual fo-rum, have shown the real initiative need-ed towards genuine reform where gover-nance is concerned.

Dr. Estanislao, who also heads the ICD, had served under the administration of the late President Corazon C. Aquino as Fi-nance Secretary, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and Director-General of the Na-tional Economic Development Authority. His current thrust towards building not just good public governance but also corporate governance is nothing less than heroic, to say the least. Dr. Jess also sits as the Chair-man of the National Police Commission Advisory Council on Transformation where I am also a board member.

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

BUSINESS B5Islands of good governanceTelstra offers

to fix PH woes

32-story Vista Suarez Cebu rising

Philippine Heart Center executive director Dr. Manuel Chua-Chiaco Jr.; ISA chairman Dr. Francisco Duque III; ISA president Francisco Eizmendi Jr.; AFP Deputy Chief LtGen Edgar Fallorina; Navy Rear Admiral Leopoldo Alano; DTI Undersecretary Nora Terrado; ISA chairman emeritus Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao; Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes; Army MGen Demosthenes Santillan; BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.; Claremont University professor Dr. Robert Klitgaard; NEA Administrator Edita Bueno; Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr.; Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario; Dipolog City Mayor Evelyn Uy; Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III; and Talisay City Mayor Eric Saratan

ISA chairman Dr. Francisco Duque III ISA chairman Dr. Francisco Duque III; DTI Undersecretary Nora Terrado; DTI director Mary Jean Pacheco; Claremont University’s Dr. Robert Klitgaard; DFA Undersecretary Laura del Rosario

This columnist acted as master of ceremonies

Navy Captain Armil Angeles and Navy Rear Admiral Leopoldo Alano

Col. Adriano Perez Jr., Brigadier General Benjamin Madrigal, Major General Demosthenes Santillan and Dr. Robert Klitgaard

BSP director Helen Montalbo, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., ICD chairman Francis Estrada, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.; Claremont University’s Dr. Robert Klitgaard and DFA Undersecretary Laura del Rosario

Vista Land Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. chairman Manuel Villar Jr. leads the launching of Vista Suarez Cebu, a 32-story, twin-tower development, the most ambitious vertical project yet of Vista Residences in the Visayas.

VISTA Residences Inc., the vertical development arm of Vista Land & Lifes-capes Inc., is taking Cebu to new heights literally with a 32-storey, twin-tow-er development right in the heart of Metro Cebu.

Vista Suarez Cebu, the most ambitious verti-cal project yet of VRI in the Visayas, will rise on Gorordo Avenue, right in the middle of the metro’s key hubs—Fuente Osmeña Circle, the Cebu provin-cial capitol and the Cebu Business Park—making its location extremely acces-sible.

Vista Residences in 12 short years has become one of the top five in the industry. The group carries with it Vista Land’s four

decades of experience in developing properties and creating master planned communities—integrat-ing into every project an unparalleled expertise in space planning, and flair for finding accessible and attractive locations.

Designed for both work and sanctuary, Vista Suarez Cebu stresses space. It of-fers a minimal 27 units per floor in Tower 1, and only 14 units per floor in Tower 2. This will allow more privacy, much less crowd-ing in the public areas and more breathing space—a huge premium in condo-minium living. Its unique L-shape was created to make sure every single unit share in the incredible views of the city and the

mountains that fringe the Visayan metropolis.

At the street level, the building will house retail and commercial shops and restaurants for the resi-dents’ and guests’ conve-nience and enjoyment. The next two levels will be al-lotted for offices and busi-ness centers.

A fascinating concept in maximizing a condo-minium’s capability, Vista Suarez will both be a hotel and a residential develop-ment. The sixth to the 14th floor will be run as a hotel. The rooms—offering both studio and one-bedroom selections—will be outfit-ted and run with the same professionalism, expertise, and customer care as are the world’s top hotels.

By Darwin G Amojelar

TELSTRA Corp., the biggest telecommunication company in Australia, said San Miguel Corp. is a “very strong” partner in the Philippines to fix the “lousy” telecommu-nication and broadband ser-vices in the country.

“We’re doing a lot of work there and supporting San Miguel to date in terms of the design and the network rollout if that were to go ahead,” Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said during the company’s In-vestor Day, which uploaded in the Austra-lian Securities Exchange Friday.

Penn said the Philippine mobile market was “interesting” because there are only two incumbent players and “the EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes deprecia-tion and amortization] margins in the Phil-ippines, have been relatively strong.”

The two biggest telecommunication companies in the Philippines are Philip-pine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. with a combined rev-

enue of P264 billion in 2014.PLDT and Globe earlier said they were

unfazed with the possible entry of Telstra in the Philippines.

“The partner is a very strong partner both from the perspective of its business interest in the market and also its spectrum holdings as well,” Penn said, referring to San Miguel.

San Miguel has four telecommunica-tions companies under its portfolio, name-ly Express Telecommunications Inc., East-ern Telecommunications Philippines Inc., Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc.

“... and frankly, let’s face it, go to the Philippines, experience for yourself the sort of lousy service you get from the in-cumbent operators and you will see that the opportunity there for a new operator to provide a much better quality service over an LTE network over the better spec-trum...,” Penn said.

The planned joint venture between San Miguel and Telstra would see the local conglomerate holding a majority stake, in compliance with the 1987 Constitution, which limits the foreign ownership of util-ities to a maximum of 40 percent.

“We would be restricted to a 40 percent shareholdings for regulatory reasons,” Penn said.

business@manilastandardtoday.comextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSMONDAY: NOVEMBER 2, 2015

B6

Robinsons Land investing P17bThere is business

in death

Isuzu plans to enroll in Cars program

DARLY F. QUINCO

GREEN LIGHT

BURIAL is a part of the Filipi-no customs and traditions when someone dies. � is is an event that, although sorrowful, is an opportunity for reconciliation, reunion and a gathering of friends, acquaintances and strangers alike in one place.

I am thirty-eight years old but I have not experienced partici-pating directly in the burial traditions and preparations that come with the event of death until October of last year, when my mother died at the age of sixty � ve. � e whole family was devastated with her passing. Amid the sadness and total loss we felt—because a pillar of our home was permanently taken from us—we also felt anxious about the activities that we had to attend to make sure that we gave our beloved mother the best burial we could a� ord.

Entrepreneurial opportunityIn all the activities that we had to undertake to attain our wish

for her, we had to talk to business providers of goods and services to achieve our plans. � is made me realize that death as an event in life is a source of entrepreneurial opportunity.

First, Wi-Fi connection and gadgets like Ipads and smart phones are technological changes that create an opportunity for funeral homes to have value-added services. Together with these tech-nological changes are the social and demographic changes in the preferences of the people to pass the time. � us, during vigils, it is more appreciated when the funeral home o� ers Wi-Fi access to mourners to help keep them awake and connected the entire night.

Moreover, there is a need for prepared foods to be served dur-ing the vigils and the entire duration of the wake. As it is more convenient to have the wake in a funeral home, it is inevitable that home food preparation and cooking is highly out of the question. It is tradition and good gesture to continually feed the people who would o� er prayers and company to the bereaved family during this sad time. Caterers and food suppliers can look into this cus-tomary practice as a market prospect where they can introduce innovation.

A� ordability is keyOn the other hand, the co� n and the funeral home would

look bare without � owers. Friends and relatives show sympathy with the family by giving wreaths of � owers with sashes and condolence notes and prayers. � ese � owers normally cost a lot. � e � ower shops could cater to this need in many other ways of � ower arrangements, using indigenous materials to make it more a� ordable.

Tradition and practice do not allow for a dead body to be bur-ied anywhere. � us, sacred spaces like graveyards and crematori-ums are established. Public cemeteries charge rents for burial lots while private cemeteries sell the said lots. Prices of burial lots vary according to the size of the lot, number of corpses and the kind of structure that will be built on the property. On the other hand, crematoriums o� er cremation services for the bereaved family but at an expensive price.

Preparing for deathDeath, like other events that we Filipinos spend on, requires a

lot of funds. But unlike other occasions, death is an event that we do not prepare and save for. If one is to celebrate a happy occasion like birthday, wedding, anniversary or � esta, one saves money in order to spend for it. Our superstitious belief is that, if we � nan-cially prepare ahead for death, it is like a curse that will hasten the coming of death.

But this belief has changed over time. Because of the costs in-volved when one dies, people are now open to the idea of paying a premium for death, preparations like having insurance and me-morial plans.

� is is the reason why life insurance and memorial plans are selling in the market. Financial cooperatives are also being pa-tronized by people because they o� er mutual death bene� t for their saving members. � is is something that the � nancial market can look into in terms of how to disrupt the current selling system of life insurance coverage in order to create disequilibrium that will open new markets for opportunities.

I grew up believing that death is both a certain and an uncertain event. It is bound to happen but no one knows when it will be. But when my mother died, it made me realize that aside from death being certain to occur, business in death is also a certain thing.

Daryl F. Quinco is an Assistant Professor in the College of Accountancy of La Salle University Ozamiz City.

� e views expressed above are her own and does not necessarily re� ect the o� cial position of De La Salle University, its administration and faculty.

Constellation contract. Constellation Energy Corp, a US-based energy company, and Vestas, an international wind energy corporation and specialist, conclude the contract for a 49.5-megawatt Pamplona wind power plant in Pamplona, Negros Oriental. Shown during the ceremonial signing at the recent Pow-ertrends International Exhibition and Conference are (from left) Vestas executive Jacob Rasmussen, Vestas senior director and head of business development Naveen Raghavan Balachandran, Constellation Energy president and chief executive Jose Leviste III and Constellation Energy chairman Jose Leviste Jr.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

ROBINSONS Land Corp., the property de-velopment arm of the Gokongwei group, will maintain its capital spending at P17 billion for � scal year 2016 to � nance the construc-tion of new shopping malls, residential towers and o� ce buildings, a top executive said.

By Othel V. Campos

ISUZU Philippines Inc. plans to enroll its truck line into the Comprehensive Automotive Re-surgence Program or Executive Order No. 182, which provides incentives for vehicle manufac-turers.

Isuzu Philippines senior vice president Arthur Balmadrid said the company would wait for the Cars implementing group to re-view the measure.

“� ere is a provision in the EO that states it will subject the mea-sure to a review six months a� er its implementation. � is is to al-low others a chance to also join Cars. We are hoping that the re-

view period will be the cue for us to submit our proposal,” he said.

Balmadrid said the proposal on trucks was one of the several op-tions the company was looking at to join the program.

He said as the third slot under the program was still open, Isuzu might persuade the government to create a di� erent set of criteria for trucks to qualify for the program.

“Since there are only two par-ticipants eligible for the program, the government may allocate the third slot for medium players like us. � at’s how eager we are to join Cars,” said Balmadrid.

Among Isuzu’s truck line, the four-ton N series is the most salable.

Balmadrid said the company was interested in the incentives program, as the incentives would go a long way to improving com-pany sales and advance corporate research and development.

Under the program, quali� ed companies should produce at least 600,000 units in six years, with each of the three companies churning out 200,000 units dur-ing the life of the program.

Cars program o� ers P27 billion worth of time-bound and perfor-mance-based � scal and non-� scal incentives to support new invest-ments in � xed capital expendi-tures in new parts making capa-bility and to encourage large-scale production in vehicle assembly.

Robinsons Land president Frederick Go said in a recent in-terview the 2016 spending pro-gram would be on top of the budget for the purchase and de-velopment of an 8.5-hectare prop-erty in Chengdu, China.

“Our capital expenditures for the Philippines is estimated around P16 billion to P17 billion, excluding China,” Go said.

Robinsons Land said last week it acquired an 8.5-hectare lot in Chengdu for $200 million. � e property is intended to be used for the development of residen-tial projects with a minor com-mercial component, the com-pany said.

Go said the company expected higher contribution from residen-tial development for � scal year 2016, as it started selling Westin

Residences in Ortigas business district.

Go said the 500-room, high-end residential development would have an estimated sales value of P6 billion.

“We will have signi� cant con-tribution from residential busi-ness for 2016 because of new residential launches, including Westin Residences. Last year, we did not launch any new projects,” Go said.

Go said the company remained cautious about the residential business, amid sti� competition from other property developers.

� is why Robinsons Land is focused on building its recurring income businesses, particularly its shopping malls, hotels and of-� ce developments, he said.

About 50 to 80 percent of net

income comes from recurring in-come, he said.

Go said for 2016, Robinsons Land planned to open � ve new shopping malls and would expand two existing commercial centers.

� e � ve new malls are located in Tagum (Davao), Jaro (iloilo), Iligan City, Cebu and General Trias (Cavite). It would also ex-pand malls in Ilocos Norte and Tacloban City.

� ese new shopping centers are expected to increase the com-pany’s gross leasable space by as much as 11 percent.

Robinsons Land, currently the second largest shopping mall op-erator and developer, has one mil-lion square meters of total leas-able space.

It is also one of the largest BPO landlords with 10 o� ce build-ings with gross leasable space of 275,000 square meters.

For its o� ce development, the company aims to have 450,000 square meters of leasable space by 2018 and plans to increase the number of hotel rooms to 2,887 by 2017 from 1,896 as of end 2014.

Robinsons Land is targeting to double its net income to P9.4 billion by 2019 from P4.7 billion in 2014.

B7CESAR BARRIOQUINTOE D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

WORLD

Turks vote in crucial elections

North Korea urged:Avoid provocations

InvItatIon to BId for THE CONTINUATION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BUILDING PHASE IV (LUNA CAMPUS)

Activities Date Time and VenueAdvertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid/Request for Expression of Interest

November 02-23, 2015

Issuance and Availability of Bidding Documents November 09-23, 2015

Office of the BAC Secretariat, Accreditation Room, North Apayao CampusNovember 02-23, 2015 from 8:00 A.M to 5P.M from Monday to Friday.

Pre-bid Conference November 09, 20151:30 PM @ ICT Room, (near the DSS office, North Apayao Campus)

Submission and Receipt of Bids November 23, 2015

1:00 P.M @ the Office of the BAC Secretariat, Accreditation Room, ASC North Apayao Campus

Bid Evaluation/Opening of Bids November 23, 20152:00 P.M @ ICT Room, (near DSS office) ASC North Apayao Campus

Post Qualification November 24-25, 2015 Approval of Resolution/Issuance of Notice of Award November 26, 2015

Contract Preparation and Signing November 27, 2015Approval of Contract by Higher Authority November 29, 2015

Issuance of Notice to Proceed December 01, 2015

Bid document shall be available only to a prospective bidders or their duly authorized representative with Special Power of Attorney (SPA) including valid I.D upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Php 25,000.00 at the Cashier’s Office, ASC North Apayao Campus.

The Apayao State College assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnity bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bid.

Approved:

(SGD) REYNALDO P. GAYO, JR. Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee (Luna Campus)(TS-NOV. 2, 2015)

Republic of the PhilippinesAPAYAO STATE COLLEGE

Official website: www.asc.edu.phEmail add: asc_op@yahoo.com

Republic of the PhilippinesPROVINCE OF CAVITE

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEEGOODS AND SERVICES (BAC-A)

InvItatIon to BId for Delivery of Rice (8,685 [50kg.] sacks of Sinandomeng Variety) to be

distributed to different cities/municipalities in the Province of Cavite 1. The Provincial Government of Cavite, through its General Fund for calendar year 2015 intends

to apply the sum of Nineteen Million Nine Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Five Hundred Pesos [p19,975,500.00] being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Delivery of Rice (8,685 [50kg.] sacks of Sinandomeng Variety) to be distributed to different cities/municipalities in the Province of Cavite . Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. The Provincial Government of Cavite now invites bids for Delivery of Rice (8,685 [50kg.] sacks of Sinandomeng Variety) to be distributed to different cities/municipalities in the Province of Cavite. Delivery of the Goods is required in Thirty (30) Calendar Days. Bidders should have completed, at least Two (2) Years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project, of at least 50% of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from BAC Secretariat and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below (Item No. 11) during Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.;

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders, direct owners or duly authorized representatives, to the BAC Secretariat at the address below and upon and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for each Bidding Documents in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (p25,000.00)

6. The Provincial Government of Cavite will hold the Pre-Bid Conference on November 05, 2015, at 10:00am at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, 2nd Floor, Capitol Building, Trece Martires City, which shall be open to all interested parties, who have paid the Bid documents and Supplier Registry Fees;

7. Bids must be delivered on or before November17, 2015 at 10:00am, at 2nd Floor Capitol Building, Office of the BAC Secretariat. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late Bids will not be accepted.

8. Bid opening shall be on November 17, 2015, at 10:30 a.m. at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, 2nd Floor, Capitol Building, Trece Martires City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ duly authorized representative/s who choose to attend at the address below;

9. In any case of the above dates is declared a special non-working holiday, it will automatically be reset on the next working day.

10. The Provincial Government of Cavite 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.

11. For further information, please refer to: Engr. Glenn Miller B. Leyva, Secretariat Office Bids and Awards Committee, 2/F Capitol Bldg., Trece Martires City, Tel. No. (046) 419-1181 and 419-1919 loc 110.

(SGD) ALVIN S. MOJICA, MAED, MPA BAC Chairman(TS-NOV. 2, 2015)

Republic of the PhilippinesOFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Section I. Invitation to BidThe Commission on Higher Education, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites Bidders to apply for eligibility and, if found eligible, to bid for the following contract:

Contract Name

Refurbishment of Modular Partitions and Purchase of Furniture for the Administrative, Financial and Management Service (AFMS) Office

LocationG/F HEDC Building, C.P. Garcia Ave., UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City

Approved Budget for the Contract

Two Million One Hundred Seventeen Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Five Pesos & 15/100 [Php 2,117,875.15]

Delivery Period:

• Purchase of furniture• Installation of the refurbished modular partitions

• Delivery on the purchase of furniture is on the 45th day after receipt of the Notice to Proceed (NTP)

• Installation will commence on the 15th day after receipt of the Notice to Proceed (NTP)

The BAC will conduct this public bidding in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.

To be eligible to bid for this contract, Bidders must meet the following major criteria: (a) Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138; (b) should have completed, within 3 yearsfrom the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project; (c) Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC) equal to the ABC, or credit line commitment/cash deposit certificate at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use a non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the Eligibility Check, Preliminary Examination of Bids, Evaluation of Bids, Post –Qualification, and Award. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

The times and deadlines set for the major procurement activities are shown below:

1. Issuance of Bidding DocumentsPeriod: from November 2 to 22, 20158:00am-5:00pm (Monday(s) to Friday(s)

2. Pre-Bid Conference Time: 10:00 am Date: November 11, 2015

3.Receipt of Bids: Deadline:Time: 9:00 am Date: November 23, 2015

4.Opening of Bidsa. First Envelope Eligibility/ Technical Componentb. Second Envelope Financial Component

Time: 10:00 am Date: November 23, 2015

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Commission on Higher Education, BAC Secretariatand inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours between 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on November 2- 22, 2015 from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 5,000.00:

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before 9:00 AM of November 23, 2015. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

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

The Commission on Higher Education reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.For further information, please refer to:

MS. VIOLETA GALO BAC Secretariat Head Bids and Awards Committee Secretariat, Commission on Higher Education Ground Floor, CHED – Higher Education Development Center C.P. Garcia Avenue, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon CityTelephone/Facsimile Number: +63 2 441 1171/408 7253Website Address: www.ched.gov.ph

ATTY. JULITO D. VITRIOLO Bids and Awards Committee Chairman(TS-NOV. 2, 2015)

Telephone/Facsimile Number: +63 2 441 1171/408 7253Website Address: www.ched.gov.ph

ATTY. JULITO D. VITRIOLOBids and Awards Committee Chairman

On a brief trip to the heavily mined area that for 60 years has been a bu� er between the Koreas, Carter and South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-Koo stood atop a hill known as Observation Post Ouellette—the closest post to the demarcation line between the two nations.

Carter later said the United States re-mained committed to the six-party talks process that seeks the denuclearization of the peninsula.

“� at remains our policy,” he told report-ers. “We remain com-mitted to achieving that negotiated outcome with North Korea, and believe that they should be on the path of doing less—and ultimately zero—in the nuclear � eld, not to be doing more.”

North Korea has car-ried out three nuclear tests and has explicitly indicated its intention to carry out a fourth.

It abandoned the six-party talks, which also grouped South Korea, China, Russia, the US and Japan, in April 2009.

“We continue to call on North Korea to maintain peace and stability on the penin-sula, avoid provoca-tions, avoid adding to tensions on the pen-insula and to take the steps that are called for in the six-party talks to denuclearize the pen-insula,” the Pentagon chief said.

Carter, wearing a ca-sual black jacket and hiking shoes, spent about 10 minutes peer-ing at the fence and wooded area that leads into North Korea.

He then went to the nearby Joint Security Area, where soldiers from either side of the border stand facing each other only yards apart.

At one point, a pair of North Korean soldiers marched to within a short distance of their side of the border and made a show of photo-graphing visitors across the way.

DEMILITARIZED ZONE, South Korea—US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Sunday visited the Demilitarized Zone divid-ing the Korean peninsula and renewed calls for North Korea to avoid provocations and step away from its nuclear program.

“Being here shows you up close just how dangerous this part of the world is,” Carter said. “� at’s why our alli-ance with South Korea is iron-clad and strong.”

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea and the two forces have very close military ties. AFP

M O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

B8 cEsAR BARRiOquiNtOE D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Promotional event. Miss International contestants Miss El Salvador Eugenia Avalos, Miss Dominican Republic Irina Peguero, Miss Ecuador Daniela Armijos, and Miss Costa Rica Melania Gonzalez pose as they take part in a promotional event for Japanese rice wine at a shopping complex on the foot of the world’s tallest free-standing broadcasting tower, the Tokyo Skytree, in Tokyo on November 1, 2015. The Miss International beauty pageant 2015, with representatives from 70 countries and regions, will be held in Tokyo on November 5. AFP

Inspection. This undated picture released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on November 1, 2015, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a catfish farm in Pyongyang. AFP

world

Turks vote in crucial electionsHollande flies to Chinaahead of climate talks

Murder conviction eyed on Pistorius

The poll is the second in just five months, called after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party or AKP was stripped of its parliamentary ma-jority in June for the first time in 13 years and then failed to forge a coalition government.

Opinion polls are predicting a replay Sunday, leaving the strate-gic Muslim-majority nation of 78 million at risk of further instability just as it faces what some warn are existential threats.

Around 385,000 police and gen-darmes have been mobilized na-tionwide, with security particularly high in the restive Kurdish major-ity southeast, where armored ve-hicles and police were seen outside polling stations.

The political landscape has changed dramatically in Turkey

since June and the country is even more polarized on ethnic and sec-tarian lines.

Turks are fearful of a return to all-out war with outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK rebels after fresh violence shattered a 2013 truce in July, just a month after a pro-Kurdish party won seats in parliament for the first time, de-nying the AKP a majority.

The threat of further jihadist violence is also overshadowing the poll after a string of attacks blamed on the Islamic State group, includ-ing twin suicide bombings on an Ankara peace rally last month that killed 102 people—the worst in Turkey’s modern history.

“All I want is peace and brother-hood, we have suffered too much lately,” 43-year-old Kiziltoprak Mahmut told AFP in the main

J O HA N N E S B U R G — O s c a r Pistorius has hunkered down un-der house arrest, but South African state prosecutors will on Tuesday appeal in court for a murder con-viction that would send him back to jail for years.

The disgraced Paralympic sprinter was found guilty last year of culpable homicide—a charge equivalent to manslaughter—after shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

At the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, state prosecutors will try to convince the judges that Pistorius should be found guilty of murder and sentenced to a mini-

mum of 15 years in prison.At his trial, the 28-year-old was

sentenced to five years, and he was released two weeks ago after just a year behind bars to spend the re-mainder of his term at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria.

Pistorius said he thought there was an intruder in his house when he blasted four bullets through the toilet door of his bedroom, killing Steenkamp.

According to court documents, prosecutor Gerrie Nel will argue that Pistorius intentionally meant to shoot whoever was behind the door early on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

The state lawyers have described the sentence as “shockingly light, inappro-priate” and said “not enough emphasis was placed on the horrendous man-ner” in which Steenkamp died.

A panel of five judges will hear the arguments from the state and defense, with the proceedings scheduled to last one day.

The judges are expected to an-nounce a future date to deliver their ruling.

Pistorius, who has not been seen in public since his release on October 19, will not attend the hearing, family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess told AFP. AFP

PARIS—French President Francois Hollande heads to China on Monday to try and persuade Beijing, a key country in the fight against global warming, to give a decisive push to negotiations ahead of a key climate conference in Paris.

China alone produces about 25 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the big-gest polluter on the planet and a major player in the fate of the coming UN climate change con-ference that begins in the French capital on November 30.

The main aim of Hollande’s trip is to secure a strong joint state-ment from his Chinese coun-terpart, Xi Jinping, ahead of the crunch talks in Paris to secure a global climate pact. 

The conference, which will be attended by at least 80 world lead-

ers including Xi and US President Barack Obama, seeks to unite all the world’s nations in a single agreement on tackling climate change, with the goal of capping warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Ahead of Hollande’s visit, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who will chair the Paris summit, and China’s climate change en-voy Xie Zhenhua have engaged in lengthy discussions over the draft of the joint declaration.

Talks have largely stalled over the mechanism for following up on commitments by the 195 countries attending the confer-ence: France is calling for a “le-gally binding” mechanism with a review every five years, while China has ruled out any kind of punitive system.  AFP

ANKARA—Turkey voted Sunday in one of its most crucial elections in years, with the country deeply di-vided in the face of surging Kurdish and Islamic vio-lence and concerns about democracy and the economy.

Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.Turnout is expected to be high

among the 54 million registered voters and there were early queues at polling stations.

Erdogan’s conservative, Islamic-leaning AKP is tipped to take be-tween 40 and 43 percent, paving the way either for a shaky coalition with one of the three other partiles likely to win seats, or yet another election.

“We are calling on our people to demonstrate their will and turn this day into a democracy feast... no matter what the outcome,” said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose own job could be at risk if the AKP fails to secure an outright victory.

The vote could also determine the future of Erdogan, the divisive figure who has dominated Turkey’s politi-cal scene for more than a decade.

The June result wrecked—at least temporarily—his ambition to expand his role into a powerful US-style executive presidency that opponents fear would mean fewer checks and balances on a man seen as increasingly autocratic. AFP

Batangas Bulalo

Crispy Kare-KareSisterfields Burger

Longganisa and Quesong Puti Potato Corn and Bacon Chowder

Sisig Express Grilled Chicken Quesadillas

Pork ChopSticky Baby Back RibsPenne With Longganisa

Ifirst came across the concept of mindful eating in 2012, at a yoga retreat in Bahay Kalipay, Puerto Princesa, Palawan. I

understood mindfulness in eating as being completely present in the process of eating, knowing where the food came from, understanding and appreciating the process through which the food was prepared, and absorbing the loving energy with which it was handled.

I was in that retreat with Audi Guerrero, son of Annie Guerrero, matriarch and founder (together with daughter Badjie Trinidad) of The Cravings Group (TCG). It is the brand behind the dining concepts Cravings, C2 Classic Cuisine, Lombardi’s, Casa Roces, Lucia (at Hotel Celeste), Epicurious, The Coffee Beanery, and Wicked. They also operate the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila in Katipunan, Quezon City.

Fast-forward three years: I was sent on assignment by LIFE at The Standard to Summit Ridge Tagaytay, for the introduction of their newest restaurant concept based on Annie Guerrero’s philosophy on sustainability: “a kitchen and a lifestyle in harmony with nature.”

This newest restaurant concept is called Sisterfields, and it is all about ethical, fair trade, and sustainable dining: farm-to-fork, pasture-to-plate, and crop-to-cup.

FAMILY FAVORITES“There are a lot of produce in Tagaytay and around the Taal area, and it’s undeniably very family friendly,” says Trinidad, TCG’s chief executive officer. “We have the perfect farm-to-table family restaurant for the atmosphere of this vacation hotspot.”

Guests of Summit Ridge and day travelers to Tagaytay can enjoy Sisterfields’ breakfast offerings: deli hams, sausages, bacon; fresh croissants, morning sweet breads, whole grain breads, and pastries; cereals and muesli; Tagaytay pineapple, banana, papaya, and watermelon; and omelets, pancakes, and waffles.

Breakfast favorites like congee, champorado, and fried tawilis are also available, as well as organic juices and the artisan coffee blend Pahimis, a Cavite popular brew.

“Apart from freshness, diners can expect a lot of familiar flavors but done entirely in surprising renditions,” says Trinidad.

At the helm of Sisterfields’ menu is Chef Noel dela Rama, an acclaimed New York-based personal chef currently a visiting chef-instructor at CCA, Manila. “I want Sisterfields to be known for simple, well-cooked, straightforward dining,” he says.

Among the entrees in the Sisterfields menu are: Tinapa Spring Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce; Crispy Tawilis with Kaffir Lime Aioli; Chopped Salad with Green Goddess Dressing; Mango,

Kamias, Pako, and Jicama Salad with Bagoong Balayan Vinaigrette

Potato, Corn, and Bacon Chowder; Corn and Tomato Chowder with Crispy Longganisa Hubad; Longganisa and Quesong Puti with Pico de Gallo; Roasted Vegetables with Tagaytay Goat Cheese; Garden Tomatoes with Fresh Mozzarella and Prosciutto; Sticky Barbeque Baby Back Ribs with Coleslaw.

Ice cream fans will rejoice in Sisterfields’ homemade offerings: Ube Macapuno, Pineapple Taragon, and Kapeng Barako.

A PERFECT PARTNERSHIPSummit Ridge is under the Robinsons Hotels and Resorts group. It is situated in the highest point of Tagaytay, along Km. 58, Gen. Aguinaldo Highway. Their sister hotels include Summit Circle in Cebu and Summit Hotel in Magnolia.

Summit Ridge celebrated its 6th anniversary this 2015. It is a moderately sized, 4-star hotel with 108 rooms. This includes 18 two-bedroom suites and nine different function rooms.

The Cravings Group is Summit Ridge’s partner for food and beverage. They have been at it for five years.

“They are creating a new concept in dining which provides an experience of freshness, using indigenous ingredients readily available in the area,” says Pops del Rosario, Summit Ridge hotel manager. “It’s something tried and tested, anchored on the belief of their founder, Miss Annie Guerrero, that everything should not be complicated but simple and straightforward.”

Sisterfields stays true to TCG’s EMS (Environment Management System) policies and ISO 14001 certification. It is an environmentally responsible restaurant, operating according to Annie Guerrero’s “green lifestyle” advocacy – sourcing local ingredients through ethical farming, and teaching the values of eco-sustainable practices.

“Making dish items based on locally-sourced produce has significant benefits for farming communities in Tagaytay,” says

CEO Trinidad. “We are, in a way, empowering farmers by giving them sustainable sources of livelihood, helping promote the use of locally-grown ingredients in the professional or commercial kitchen.”

Summit Ridge, for its part, is also committed to walking the sustainability talk. “We are currently improving our facilities. We are reprocessing wastewater. We make sure everything is properly segregated,” says del Rosario.

PESTICIDE-FREEChef Dino Florendo, TCG executive chef, attests to the effectiveness of Annie Guerrero’s ethical farming practice, done mainly through the Bokashi method of composting.

Colleen Vanderlinden, organic gardening expert, defines “Bokashi” as “Japanese for fermented organic matter.” It is done with layering kitchen scraps with an inoculant combined with effective microorganisms. The layered pile is left to sit for up to 10 days during which it ferments. After fermentation, it can be added to the garden or compost pile.

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E AT, DRINK , T R AV EL

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

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LIFE

SUSTAINABLY YOURS: SISTERFIELDS PH AND THE PROMISE OF SUSTAINABLE CUISINEThis new restaurant in Summit Ridge Tagaytay guarantees farm-fresh offeringsBY KAI MAGSANOC

Continued on C3

THE HENRY MANILA RECEIVES TOP AWARDS FROM LUXURY TRAVEL GUIDE

TGIFridays Philippines’ Rizza Umlas competed against other bartenders in six other countries that included Guam, Australia, Dubai, Korea,

Japan and Taiwan, and won TGIFridays Asia-Pacific Championship held in Taipei, Tawain. Every year, TGIFridays Philippines has long been a training ground for many bartender greats who have won in regional and world bartending events like Eric “El Terrible” Martinez who was named 2006 grand champion at the TGIFridays World Bartender Championship. This year was extra special because Umlas is the first Filipina and female bartender who won in the male-dominated competition.

“This is such a huge and significant victory not only for TGIFridays Philippines but for the whole country as well because we made history in the

world of bartending,” shares Jean Paul Manuud, The Bistro Group COO. “It was one tough competition but we had an exceptionally talented representative in Umlas who showcased once again that Filipino bartenders – whether male or female – are some of the best in the region.”

Umlas won the compulsory round, a skill test that involved technicalities and speed and accuracy of pouring drinks. She also topped the freestyle category with flipping, tossing, juggling, and catching bottles and

shakers with flair and precision. She bagged the coveted trophy, cash prize, and a round-trip ticket to New York for TGIFridays’ 50th year celebration last October. TGIFridays Philippines is excited for their bartender as next year she will represent Asia-Pacific in the World Bartender Championship in March 2016 in Dallas, Texas. This global event will feature the toughest and the fiercest bartenders in the world who will all compete for the much-desired title (and bragging right) of King (or Queen) of the Bar.

“Umlas’ success inspires us as we pursue our journey into another decade in the restaurant industry, bringing to the public world-class dining experience and the best bartenders,” Manuud said.

To know more about TGIFridays, check out its social media sites: TGI Fridays Philippines on Facebook and follow @tgifridaysph on Intsgram and Twitter. Visit their website on www.fridays.com.ph.

FILIPINA BARTENDER BESTS MALES TO WIN TGIFRIDAYS’ ASIA-PACIFIC

CHAMPIONSHIP IN TAIWAN

The TGIFridays Philippines team with their champion. (From left) April Sy, TGIFridays Phils. director for operations Stelton, Rizza Umlas, TGIFridays Phils. director for operations Sarah Masigla and TGI Fridays International director for operations Donald McQueen

Umlas showing off her bartending skills

Rizza Umlas performed with flair and precision

The Henry Hotel Manila exudes a rustic charm that makes it a haven in the Metro

C2MONDAY : NOVEMBER 2, 2015

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It’s hard to believe that an oasis-like enclave could exist right in the heart of a highly urbanized Metro Manila with its frenetic pace – until one

gets to experience the haven that is The Henry Hotel Manila.

Well-known for its repurposed Liberation style residential structures, the boutique hotel fuses elegance and graciousness of 20th century living with modern amenities that take into consideration the comfort of its guests during their stay, such as wi-fi and flat screen television.

No wonder then that the hotel recently won the Luxury Boutique Hotel Category for the Philippines in the international Luxury Travel Guide Awards. Every year, the awards program recognizes and celebrates excellence across all sectors of the affluent travel and tourism industry. A team of experts travels extensively to different regions to check on the range of products and

services being provided, and identify the winners to coincide with the release of each respective Luxury Travel Guide.

The Henry Hotel Manila is noted for its implementation of “adaptive reuse,” and the 32-room boutique hotel has gained recognition for its architectural design, as well as the excellent services and unique experience it offers as a hotel like no other. Among its features include a charming garden designed by the late National Artist for Landscape Architecture Ildefonso Santos, adding to the rustic and old-world appeal of the property.

Experience The Henry Manila at 2680 FB Harrison St. Pasay City. For reservations, please contact +632-807-8888; email reservations.manila@thehenryhotel.com or log on to www.thehenryhotel.com. Follow The Henry at www.facebook.com/TheHenryHotel and @thehenryhotel on Instagram.

WINE TRAINING BY THE BAY

Pot du Creme

Tres Leches Cake

I was looking b a c k t o my sordid past when I wrote the last column (Halloween). I realized that the month  was over and I

didn’t even get to write about the month-long beer celebration of Oktoberfest. Bad alcohol columnist, bad (imagine me slapping my wrist as you read that). So I thought that I’d give a bit of a wrap-up of what’s been going on. 

HOW DID IT START?First, a bit of a background of how this booze festival started. The first Oktoberfest can be tracked back to the wedding of King Ludwig I (then prince) of Bavaria, to Princess Therese of Saxony- Hildburghausen (try saying that really fast five times) on October 12, 1810. The King invited thousands of guests to celebrate the happy nuptials. What began as basically a really big wedding reception eventually became an annual festivity in the entire country of Bavaria. The copious

amounts of food and beer have been a staple ever since and is one of the highlights of the modern festival. 

I’ve actually been lucky enough to go to the celebration in Munich. The aroma of pretzels, sausages and beer – everyone was just ready to drink and party. Everyone just had this unspoken goal, drink as much beer as you can in a single day! Or if you’re lucky you can drink and celebrate for 16 days on binge drinking. I had so much to drink then, I only have 50 percent of my memory intact, lol.

HOW HAS IT BEEN CELEBRATED IN THE PHILIPPINES? Being a nation that loves its food and alcohol, and will take up any excuse to indulge in one or the other (but in most cases, it’s both), it’s hardly surprising that we have also come to celebrate this German tradition in our sandy shores. Apparently, Oktoberfest in the Philippines has been around for some 75 years and has become associated with the month-long beer festival usually sponsored by the two biggest beer corporations in the country: San Miguel Corporation and Asia Brewery. 

The Oktoberfest in the Philippines usually consists of concerts and rave parties with

abundant beer held in bars  and other venues around major cities like Manila, Cebu and Davao. 

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?  With the bar and cocktail culture getting more sophisticated, beer culture is also following suit. Last October 17 saw the growing annual (it has definitely grown!) Brew Fest. Held at the Circuit Makati, this was a venue for the several local breweries we have, as well as stores and bars that specialize in bringing in craft beer from all over the world.

I was in awe at how big and organized the Brew Fest was, proud of how far the Philippines has grown. Music, brews and a community of people who love their craft is just awesome. Finally, we have an Oktoberfest we can be proud of! A very long line up of Filipino craft beers, supported by imported brands. We now have something to look forward to every year and potentially an international event we can share with the world. This is the future.

C3LIFEMONDAY : NOVEMBER 2, 2015

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TIPPLE TALESBY ICY MARIÑAS

You probably had a glass of wine or two (or more, we’re not judging) during the Halloween weekend. Most of us just know red or white

and some basic knowledge of how New World and Old World wine taste like. But to really know what you put in your glass and to appreciate it, one might benefit by learning a thing or two about the aging process of wine and what makes it special.

On November 7, New World Manila Bay Hotel will hold Wine Training by the Bay at The Fireplace. Be your own sommelier and get introduced to various wine varieties and the art behind its taste with the help of wine connoisseurs and trainers from Titania (the largest global importer of fine wines in the Philippines since 1982). Learn sophisticated wine training and knowledge application at the multi-awarded grill house that showcases premium steaks to be paired with their collection of fine wines. The event will feature

lectures on the five different types of wines and grape varieties, and tackle the importance of New World and Old World appellations for the quality and commanding price power of wines. The session will also brush on the kinds of wines from France, Spain, Italy, US, Argentina, Chile and Australia. Most importantly, they will teach how to pair the best wine with the food.

Indulge with crab duo, wood-fire grilled CAB Ribeye steak and green tea tiramisu following the wine training. The class will have a special rate of P5,000 instead of the regular P6,000. The wine class will entitle the guest to a  wine training booklet, training certificate, a complimentary bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, a complimentary Titania membership card, and the skill to enhance your next dining experience with friends and family.

For inquiries and reservations, please call +63 2 252 6888 extension 7291.

OKTOBERFEST

“You could see the difference in terms of the quality and plumpness of the vegetables,” says Florendo. “Ma’am Annie always believed in growing vegetables the right way, without the use of pesticide. You could taste the difference.”

Florendo admits he used to be a skeptic until he started working with the ingredients produced through Bokashi technology, something he shares with students of CCA, Manila, whose graduates are found in the Sisterfields kitchen.

“Knowing the source of these ingredients makes you respect these ingredients a lot,” he says. “We not only purchase ingredients; we grow them (and) we produce them. If (the CCA, Manila) students understand the way these ingredients are produced, they could come up with better ways of cooking it, too.”

Sustainability in the Sisterfields kitchen is practiced not only through Bokashi but also through avoiding food wastage. “We only prepare what we need and maximize the use of all ingredients,” says Florendo. “Waste is converted to Bokashi. Juice from it is used to fertilize our vegetables. It comes full circle.”

Sisterfields is all about mindfulness – from producing ingredients to working with local grassroots industries to preparing dishes for guests to enjoy. For them, sustainability is not only a concept but a way of doing business and a way of life. This translates to food that is truly comforting, the only star in a dining destination that is easily within reach.

For more information on Sisterfields, call 240-6888 or visit facebook.com/Sisterfields and www.summithotels.com. Check them on Instagram: @SisterfieldsPH.

SUSTAINABLY YOURSFrom C1

AWESOME SUNDAY BRUNCH IN SPECTRUM

Not too long ago, I was asked by my good friend, former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, to speak at the Global Youth Forum which she organized through her International School of Sustainable Tourism, together with the Department of Tourism (DoT), Philippine Tourism Promotions Board, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, the three-day event had the theme Youth On The Move, which was in support of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s theme: One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities. The event was designed mainly to create awareness among today’s youth of the many opportunities in the Tourism Industry.

The topic assigned to me was “Getting Our Graduates Ready for Tourism Jobs.” Here are the highlights of what I presented to the audience which was composed of approximately 700 students and faculty members from around 55 schools all over the country, and some industry practitioners.

A research done more than a decade ago revealed the top three common concerns of tourism establishments all over the country when they hire fresh graduates for

various positions: the graduates don’t have enough of the required competencies; they have difficulty expressing themselves in English; and they have poor work attitude.

The various Tourism and Hospitality Management (THM) schools in the country are aware of these problems and have adopted measures to produce graduates that match up to the requirements of the Industry. I’d like to share what one school has done along this line, which has earned for itself the distinction of being a Center of Excellence for Hotel and Restaurant Management Education, a Center of Development for Tourism Education, and the first and only full accreditation as International Center of Excellence for Tourism and Hospitality Education.

The Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU)-Manila Campus prides itself with having the aforementioned tags of excellence, which could explain why it is now the biggest THM school in Asia. Aware of the concerns aired by various establishments in the industry, the university crafted its curriculum after consultations with the DoT, the Technical Education and Skills Development Association (TESDA), Council of Hotels and Restaurant Educations of the Philippines (COHREP) and the Tourism Industry Board Foundation Inc. (TIBFI).

It also took into consideration the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the ASEAN integration, the accrediting agencies, and the industry. In fact, the university has gone the extra mile – even if CHED requires

students to render only 600 hours of on-the-job training (OJT), LPU demands 1,000 hours of its students. To further close the gap between industry requirements and the graduates’ competencies, the university created an Advisory Board composed of representatives from the different sectors of the industry – hotel, airline, travel agency, tour operator, cruise line, culinary, etc. These representatives meet with university officers every year to continuously update the latter with new trends and new requirements of the industry towards making the university’s curriculum always relevant and current.

LPU also partnered with Dusit Thani College, the most prestigious THM school in Thailand, to further “internationalize” its curriculum, especially with the onset of ASEAN integration where our country’s graduates will now be competing with those of other ASEAN countries.

As for the concern on English communication, LPU students are required to pass the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), and are also given the opportunity to enroll online in some courses of the American Hospitality Academy.

Another important tool which the university has is its Center for Career Services and Industry Relations. Aside from networking with and placing students in leading establishments in the Industry, the

unit’s Best Practice is the Gold Slip interview. This is conducted one-on-one with each student looking for OJT placement. The interview determines three qualities the student must have: English communication skills, emotional maturity (which dictates work attitude) and basic competencies required by the establishments.

Successful interviewees are issued a Gold Slip which entitles them to the university’s official Recommendation Letter, a pre-requisite of establishments accepting students on OJT. Those who fall short on any of the three “must-have” qualities fail the interview, and may try again, and again, until such time that they measure up to all three standards.

All these procedures are in line with the university’s focus on outcomes based education which embodies

the idea that once the end goal or outcome is determined, the strategies, processes, and other means are put into place to achieve such desired goal, in this case, competent graduates who will excel in the tourism and hospitality industry.

With such techniques the university has put in place, it’s not surprising that when I visit a tourism or hospitality establishment here in Metro Manila, I often meet some of its graduates, happily making their mark in the Industry. They should count themselves lucky because the many new hotels set to open soon will increase their chances of going up the job ladder quicker. Even luckier are the upcoming graduates, as they will now have many employment opportunities to avail of.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

C4 LIFEM O N D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5

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MERCURY RISINGBY BOB ZOZOBRADO

TOURISM JOBS AND THE YOUTH

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE:David is finally engaged and is excited to show off his new bride. “Ma,” he said to his mother, “I’m going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one my fiancé is.” Twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls following him. “It’s that one,” immediately said his mother without blinking an eye. “Holy cow,” exclaimed David, “how in the world did you know it was her?” “I just don’t like her,” she replied.

A fter a successful first run, Awesome Sunday Brunch is back in Spectrum at Fairmont

Makati. This time, it’s made more fun with the incorporation of LEGO-made Philippine landmarks that kids and the young at heart can revel at when they go inside the restaurant.

From 12 noon to 3 p.m., families can spend Sundays indulging on international cuisine from live culinary theaters which include Spanish, Middle

Eastern, Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese and Filipino dishes. The dessert buffet is not to miss, as it is laid with a whimsical spread of desserts tailor-made for the event by Spectrum’s team of pastry master chefs. Enjoy Awesome Sunday Brunch 2 at P2,777 net per person. Children from six to 12 years old get 50 percent off on the buffet price; those aged four to 14 can enjoy the separate play area where LEGO bricks, play tables, and movies await them. Revel

at the impressive, seven-foot tall Rizal Monument and other striking scenic spots and cultural festivals found in the Philippines all made with LEGO blocks.

For inquiries and more information, please call Raffles and Fairmont Makati’s Restaurant Reservations at 7951840 or email dining.makati@raffles.com. Visit fairmont.com for more information or follow them on Facebook at Fairmont Hotels.

The video backdrop of the event Sharing what I know about tourism jobs for the youth

Part of the 700-strong audience from 55 THM universities all over the country

My co-speakers and I (from left): Homestay Philippines president Rose Libongco, Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Rosanna Fores, and Department of Tourism Assistant Secretary Alan Canizalt

SHOWBITZi s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

C5ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

M ONDAY : NOV EMBER 2, 2015

Arecord breaking estimate of 10,000 cheering OTWOLis-tas packed Market! Market! on Oct. 25 as they witnessed

James Reid and Nadine Lustre to-gether with the cast of the hit teleserye spreading and showing the love in On the Wings of Love Spread The Love Tour.

Spread The Love Tour is the hit te-leserye’s way of saying thank you to the legions of fans religiously watch-ing the series, making it a consistent top-rating nationwide since it aired.

In the mall show, the entire cast showcased stunning magpasikat per-formances to raise funds for “Show The Love, Kapamilya,” a relief drive for the benefit of typhoon Lando victims.

Wild shrieks erupted inside the ven-ue as James and Nadine performed their rendition of “On the Wings of Love” and “Say You’ll Never Go,” while they interacted with the crowd. The shrieks even doubled when the lead stars shared two sweet kisses on the cheek due to public demand.

OTWOListas also witnessed a heart-piercing live spoken word po-etry performance from Juan Miguel Severo (Rico), an artist and play-wright who has successfully penetrat-ed the mainstream audience for his beautifully written pieces that turn vi-ral because of “On the Wings of Love.”

The crowd went wild as well in a special dance showdown of cous-ins turned rivals Clark (James) and Jigs (Albie Casino) and during the thrilling ‘kilig’ song number from Tiffany (Bianca Manalo) and To-layts (Nico Antonio).

Even child star Nhikzy Calma(Gabby) wowed OTWOListas with his superb Michael Jackson dance number.

Cherry Pie Picache (Tita Jack), Nanette Inventor (Lola Pachang), Ja-son Francisco (Cullen), Andrei Gar-cia (Jordan), Laiza Comia (Jenny), Joel Saracho (Mama Lulu), Kapitana (Geraldine Villamil), Benj Manalo(Axl), and Rafael Sudayan (Paeng) also took part in spreading the love to OTWOListas as they participated in a game with select fans from the crowd.

Directors Jojo Saguin and Antoi-nette Jadaone were also placed in the hot seat as they answered ques-tions from OTWOListas about how the story will develop in the upcom-ing months.

Nadine also celebrated her 22nd birthday at the Spread The Love Tour, wherein she took time to appreciate fans who patiently waited in line even before the mall’s opening.

Meanwhile, James and Nadine also led the launch of otwolista.com, the of-ficial website for OTWOListas where they can see first-hand never-be-fore-seen photos and videos, special facegram entries of Clark and Leah, and exclusive treats and activities.

According to The ABS-CBN Store, sales of the “On the Wings of Love” merchandise and official scrapbook also doubled and exceeded their ex-pectations due to the overwhelming response from thousands of OT-WOListas.

JAmes And nAdine leAd lAunch of new website

A group photo of the cast and directors of OTWOL

Nadine interacts with OTWOListas

James and Nadine led the Show The Love Kapamilya, a relief drive for the benefit of typhoon Lando victims

James Reid

James gives a kiss on the cheek to Nadine due to public demand

James Reid and Nadine Lustre at the OTWOL Spread The Love Tour

A sweet kiss from Nadine and James

A packed Market Market during the OTWOL Spread The Love Tour

SHOWBITZC6i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

M ONDAY : NOV EMBER 2, 2015

ACROSS 1 Koh-i- — diamond 5 Ciao, adios, etc. 9 Murky 12 Humerus neighbor 13 Diameter halves 15 Guru’s practice 16 Hull bottom 17 In — — (briefly) 18 River near Stonehenge 19 Core 21 Places for bulbs

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 MONDAY,

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

23 Froze over 24 Weeks per annum? 25 Tropical fruits (var.) 28 Vitamin B1 33 Far East nannies 34 Desert st. 35 Where Mongolia is 36 Sleep phenom 37 Movie part 38 — Lingus 39 10-4 buddy 41 Urban map

42 — — against time 44 Settles an argument (3 wds.) 46 Cut thin 47 Luau welcome 48 Clever remark 49 Electrifies 53 Gumshoes, often 57 “— — Old Cowhand” 58 Blake of jazz 60 Almond-shaped 61 The simian King 62 Ocean trenches 63 Solar plexus 64 Is, to Fritz 65 Lemon peel 66 Gunslinger’s dare

DOWN 1 Microwave 2 Cheers for toreros 3 Teller’s stack 4 Elizabethan knight 5 Props up 6 Wobbled, as a rocket 7 Ancient Tokyo 8 Gentlemen 9 Swooped down 10 — — way too much to do! 11 Watches the phone 14 Hero-worship

15 City near Mount Rainier 20 Two-stripers 22 FBI counterpart 25 Spring month 26 Invisible swimmer (var.) 27 Appoints 28 Pick up the tab 29 Drop a clue 30 Mr. Asimov 31 Sister’s girl 32 Bunnylike 34 Rights org. 37 Went bad 40 Ticking off 42 Et — (and others) 43 Parachute part (2 wds.) 45 Util. bill 46 Most certain 48 Sticks in a cabinet 49 Heyerdahl’s “Kon- —” 50 Med. plans 51 Diatribe 52 Lesseps’ canal 54 Constantly 55 Pro — (in proportion) 56 Did in the dragon 59 Pollen spreader

Novak Djokovic is on top of the tennis world. After bursting on to the scene almost a de-

cade ago, he now has 10 Grand Slam titles under his belt – three of which he won this year alone - placing him at the top of the ten-nis rankings above heavyweights Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. And he’s showing no signs of slowing down, driven by a burning passion and his de-

termination to stay on top.This month in Talk Asia, CNN’s

Andrew Stevens hits the court with Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters to discuss his best season yet, his childhood in Serbia and his revitalized take on life.

“I’m very grateful for the op-portunity to play the sport that I love. And I keep going and Grand Slams are the ones that motivate me the most - no ques-tion about it but that doesn’t

mean that I’m not giving my 100% on the other tournaments that are there on the tour. So - I’m fully committed but I try to take, as you said, one match at a time…but I do visualize myself and I do dream of and kind of set my goals to winning grand slams,” says tennis’ no. 1 player.

CNN Talk Asia with Novak Djokovic airs Nov. 5 in Manila at 5:30 p.m. with replays until Nov. 15.

Novak DjokoviC iN CNN’S ‘Talk aSia’

Headlining the new GMA show titled Dangwa sans reel and real life partner Elmo Magalona, Janine Gutierrez sees this de-velopment as a challenge. “Yes, this is really something new specially that I’m used to working with Elmo. My biggest primetime offerings were with him namely, Villa Quintanaand More than Words. This time though, I’m paired with Mark Herras and Aljur Abrenica. I know that it’s experimental but certainly, it’s for my growth as an actress,” she says.

At first, the pretty Kapu-so actress reveals she also felt scared.

“That’s true…and a bit sad as well. I guess it’s just a normal reaction. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, this is an opportunity for me to widen my horizon, and Elmo’s as well. JanElmo fans for sure will not like this idea since they will see less of us together on screen but seeing the positive

side, it’s good for our craft. At least, we get the chance to work with other stars. “

Despite their separate career path at present, Janine stress-es that her relationship with Elmo remains intact.

“Of course,” she avers. “Even if we do separate stuff at present, we still support each other. We have different endeavors to at-tend to now but what’s import-ant is that we boost each other’s confidence and morale. I’m hap-py that the support Elmo and I give each other doesn’t end in our being a love team.”

Apart from Aljur and Mark, the beauteous young actress gets to collaborate with other Kapuso stars in Dangwa.

“That’s why I consider this project a blessing. The sto-ryline is interesting: it’s about some mystical flowers which change the lives of the people who buy them from the popu-lar flower market, leading to a chance at love in the most un-expected place and time. It’s a fresh concept and I’m hats-off to our writing team for coming up with the story.

“Two of the stars who play important parts in the show in-clude Barbie Forteza and Ruru

Madrid. Others who will ap-pear in the upcoming episodes are: Geoff Eigenmann, Rhian Ramos, Miguel Tanfelix, Bi-anca Umali, Pauleen Luna, Gerald Napoles, Rafael Roselland Carla Abellana. I’m simply glad and proud because it’s not every day that you get to share the screen with these illustrious screen luminaries.”

It makes Janine real proud that for the lead role, she was handpicked by the GMA man-agement.

“It’s just unbelievable…a real humbling experience. I’m touched of their faith in my capacity. They believe that I can deliver. That’s why I’m doubly inspired to give it my best shot so as not to disap-point them,” she ends.

HHHHH

Aljur Abrenica points to lack of funding as the foremost rea-son why his supposedly entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival was recently pulled out.

“Yes! The title of the movie is Hermano Puli and is under the helm of Direk Gil Portes. It’s really sad that it won’t be ex-hibited during the annual film fest. Direk and I actually talked. Both of us did our best to look

for a financier or a producer.“I talked to some potential

people myself. It’s just sad that nothing materialized out of said talks. We weren’t able to close any concrete deal. Yes, it’s kind of frustrating but defi-nitely, it was a fun and enrich-ing experience,” he avers.

What setback he has in the film department is compensat-ed by his television career as he is part of the latest GMA offer-ing titled Dangwa.

“This project is special be-cause it signals my comeback in the boob tube scene. It’s been more than a year since I had a regular soap. I’m ex-cited and thrilled because it’s my first collaboration with Janine Gutierrez. I really ad-mire her when it comes to her dedication to her craft. She’s determined and focused. No wonder the management has strong faith in her.”

The handsome hunk is hap-py to be visible in the showbiz scene once again.

“I feel blessed and thankful to the journey I took. Finally, I’m here again. Actually, I was never really out. In spite of what happened, GMA remained sup-portive of me,” Aljur states.

JaNiNE SaNS ELmOJOSEPh PEtER

GONZaLES

Andrew Stevens hits the court with Djokovic Novak Djokovic

Aljur Abrenica

Janine Gutierrez

SHOWBITZ C7i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

M ONDAY : NOV EMBER 2, 2015

Almost 60,000 AlDub (Al-den Richards-Yaya Dub or Maine Mendoza) fans trooped to Marilao,

Bulacan to catch the nation’s phe-nomenal love team at the Philip-pine Arena.

Eat Bulaga’s “Tamang Panahon” event proved to be the perfect time for admirers to finally witness Al-

den Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza together.

Since the kalye serye started in July, Alden and Yaya Dub were kept apart by Lola Nidora,

Yaya Dub’s boss always says everything happens at the right time. Many times they kept the fans hanging as they “almost” got together, only to be “caught” at

the last minute.The suspense was finally over

as Alden and Maine swept the Filipinos off their feet on Oct. 24 in this astonishing event.

The AlDub fever has been called a “global phenomenon” by Twitter Asia Pacific and Middle East Vice President Rishi Jaitlyafter the hashtag #AlDubEBfor-

Love gathered 39 million tweets. The Philippines is now known as the AlDub Nation.

At the middle of the lovebirds is equally famous Lola Nido-ra (Donya Nidora Esperanza Zobeyala vda. De Explorer) played by Wally Bayola, whose comeback from an ugly con-troversy has completely turned

around his career.Wally thanks the manage-

ment and viewers of Eat Bulaga for accepting and forgiving him. He has played quack doctor Dra. Dora de Explorer in the segment Juan for All, All for Juan before portraying Lola Nidora, who is so much like the late comedi-an Babalu.

PhiliPPines high with AlDub fever

Months after his first concert stint with Daniel Matsunagaand JC de Vera in

the Dreamboys concert, Mat-teo Guidicelli  goes solo in his first solo  concert entitled  MG1 on Nov. 28, 8 p.m. at the Music Museum with special guests Mo-risette  of The Voice First Season and the Comedy Concert King

Martin Nievera. Strike while the iron is hot is

what heartthrob Matteo believes as he decides to pursue his pas-sion in singing apart from his usual extreme life as a triathlete and actor.

Actor, model and racer Matteo considers singing something he loves to do outside his comfort zone.

“It’s like participating in an

extreme sport, exciting and nerve-wracking yet fulfilling”, Matteo adds.

Apart from his indie film Tupang Ligaw and Cinema One’s Single Single Season 2, he is also launching his self-titled album under Star Records.

Matteo admits that he is nervous and excited with MG1 concert but he would definitely be giving his

best to his audience. He will per-form ballad songs and medleys plus surprise production numbers with his special guests.

Produced by Hills&Dreams Events Concepts Co, MG1 is under the musical direction of Marvin Querido and directed by Frank Lloyd Mamaril. Tickets are available in Ticketworld out-lets or may call at 891.9999.

MAtteo Guidicelli Goes solo From c8

HHHHH

coco MArtin’s reAl identityABS-CBN’s top-rating prime-time teleserye Ang Probinsyanogets even more thrilling and ac-tion-packed as the true identity of Cardo (Coco Martin) was re-vealed last Friday. Ever since Car-do came home as Ador, Carmen (Bella Padilla) and Lola Flora (Susan Roces) have been observ-ing drastic changes in his actions. Even his colleagues have noticed that he has been acting differently. 

Ang Probinsyano airs week-nights after TV Patrol.

For more information, log-on to www.abs-cbn.com or follow ABS-CBN on Facebook and Twit-ter (@abscbndotcom).

HHHHH

new in it’s showtiMeABS-CBN’s noontime show It’s Showtime recently launched its newest segment “Hulanino” where the hosts play charades with a twist as they act out titles of popular movie titles using only their shadows.

The game gets more exciting as the studio audience have the chance to steal and win instant cash when the hosts fail to guess the movie titles they picked.

Aside from “Hulanino,” viewers can continue to watch and support their favorite tomboy in the ongoing semi-finals of “That’s My Tomboy.”

Last Saturday, seven contestants were selected and proceeded to the grand finals.

HHHHH

PokeMon: Xy, Airs on GMA this noveMber Join Ash and Pikachu as they move on to a new journey in Pokemon the Series: XY.  In this new adven-ture, he will meet new friends Ser-ena, Fennekin, Pancham, Clem-ont, and Bonnie as well as new rivals and brand new Pokemons that can help him achieve his goals of becoming part of the Kalos League. With his dream to be part of this prestigious elite, Ash must complete the eight Gym badges, which he can acquire by winning different Pokemon battles. 

Pokemon the Series: XY airs 7:35 a.m. on GMA Astig Authority.

HHHHH

ninGninG shows the love For tyPhoon lAndo victiMsKapamilya child actress Ningning (Jana Agoncillo) together with Macmac (John Steven de Guz-man), tatay Dondon (Ketchup Eusebio), kuya Johnny (Nyoy Vo-lante), teacher Hope (Ria Atayde), and Maris Racal the Kapamilya star who will be joining the series, toured schools and raised funds for “Show The Love, Kapamilya,” the relief drive of ABS-CBN for the benefit of typhoon Lando victims.

The Ningning cast visited Sta.

Ana Elementary School and Bless-ed Sacrament Catholic School to showcase their ‘magpasikat’ song and dance performances.

In return, the cast encouraged teachers and students to extend donation they can give for the af-fected families of typhoon Lando.

They also collected other relief goods offered by the schools they visited.

Ningning aims to promote goodness and good values in ev-eryday life among its viewers. For more information, visit the offi-cial Facebook account of Ningn-ing (Facebook.com/Ningning).

by robbie PAnGilinAn

Matteo-Guidicelli

Macmac collecting donations for Show The Love, Kapamilya

(L-R) Nyoy Volante, Maris Racal, Ria Atayde, Ketchup Eusebio, John Steven de Guzman, and Jana Agoncillo for Ningning's Show The Love, Kapamilya

Coco Martin

Eat Bulaga Sa Tamang Panahon

Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza

C8 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

SHOWBITZ

M ONDAY : NOV EMBER 2, 2015

Ten years is a good round number to wrap up an era. For its first ten years, Cinema One Originals has produced some of the most unique, diverse, adventurous independent films in Philippine cinema.  On its eleventh year, it is ready to level up.

Welcome to Cinema One Orig-inals Mark 2.0. As exemplified by its new tagline “Kakaiba Ka Ba?” Cinema One Originals continues to uphold diversity and uniqueness in Philippine Cinema, an exhortation and an affirmation for both filmmak-ers and film-goers. This year marks the first of another ten years and be-yond and promises more of the same only bigger, better, bolder.

Starting everything off are our nine Originals 2015. Joel Ferrer’s cross-generational screwball rom-com Baka Siguro Yata, which stars Valerie “Bangs” Garcia, Dino Pas-trana, Ricky Davao, and Cherie Gil. 

Sheron Dayoc’s religious horror gothic Bukod Kang Pinagpala fea-turing real-life mother and daughter Bing Pimentel and Maxie Eigen-mann as a mother and daughter in the grip of sinister forces.

Ivan Andrew Payawal’s come-

dy about suicide and celebrity The Comeback features Kaye Abad as a fading star whose life takes an unex-pected turn. Sari Dalena’s Dahling Nick, an experimental docu-fiction hybrid that celebrates the life and work of Nick Joaquin with Ray-mond Bagatsing in the title role.

Bor Ocampo’s Dayung Asu, featur-ing Ricky Davao and Junjun Quin-tana as a father and son enmeshed in a life of crime, is homage to Pinoy action set in a unique milieu.

Ralston Jover’s Hamog blends neo-realism and magic realism with Zaijan Jaranilla and Teri Malvar as street children.

Carl Joseph Papa’s fully animated Manang Biring is the touching sto-ry of a terminal patient and her es-tranged daughter with Erlinda Vil-lalobos in the title role.

Raymond Red’s Mga Rebeldeng Walang Kaso is a look back at the early days of the first wave of Phil-ippine independent cinema with Fe-lix Roco, Epi Quizon, Earl Ignacio, and Nicco Manala.

And lastly, Ara Chawdhury’s Miss Bulalacao introduces performance artist Russ Ligtas in his first film role, a comedy about a young drag queen whose life is changed by a strange encounter.

Aside from the nine Originals 2015, there will a Special Presenta-tion of Cinema One’s production of

Sherad Sanchez’s found footage hor-ror film Salvage, with Jessie Mendiolaas a reporter lost in a haunted jungle.

There will also be an impressive program of films showcasing the best of world cinema, including Miguel Gomez’s Arabian Nights, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s The Assassin, Hong Sang Soo’s Right Now Wrong Then, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, and Roy An-dresson’s A Pigeon Sat On A Branch.

This year’s Filipino Classics will be highlighted by a restoration of Ishmael Bernal’s Ikaw Ay Akin with no less than Nora Aunor and Vil-ma Santos, as well as restorations of Lino Brocka’s Insiang and Marilou Diaz Abaya’s Karnal.

In the spirit of commemorating rev-olutionary cinema, Cinema One Origi-nals 2015 will pay tribute the first wave of Pinoy indies, the short filmmakers from the 80s led by Raymond Red, Nick De Ocampo, Rox Lee and Joey Agbayani, the pioneers of alternative cinema. As an auxiliary program, there will be also a showcase of 10 short films from the Philippines, New Zealand and Iran. Here is the form’s glorious past and it’s glittering future.

From Nov. 9 to17, cinemas at Trino-ma, Glorietta, Resorts World and SM Megamall will be haven for discerning cinephiles as Cinema One Originals once again celebrates cinema with a difference. “Kakaiba ka ba?”

Cinema One Originals COunts 10 years

ISAH V. RED

➜ Continued on C7 Bangs Garcia is part of Joel Ferrer's Baka Siguro Yata

Ms. Tessie Tomas is also part of Ara Chawdhury's Miss Bulalacao

Mon Confiado is part of Ara Chawdhury's Miss Bulalacao

Raymond Bagatsing is part of Sari Dalena's Dahling Nick in the Cinema One Originals 2015 festival

Cinema One channel head Ronald Arguelles (Rightmost) with the Cinema One Originals 2015 festival filmmakers

i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m