Manila Standard - 2018 November 12 - Monday by Manila Standard

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9.8m Pinoys jobless—SWS September poll shows 1 million more lose jobs

Prohibit CPP-NPA for being terror groups—Justice

By Nat Mariano

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice will be “relentless” in its bid for a declaration of over 600 leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorists. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the government will pursue the proscription against the CPP and NPA before the Manila City regional trial court, particularly after both military and police implicated the communist rebels in the killing of nine farmers in Sagay, Negros Occidental last month. “The President has instructed the DOJ to relentlessly pursue the proscription case against the CPP and the NPA,” Guevarra said. He said President Duterte gave the instruction during the meeting of the executive committee of the National Security Council (EC-NSC) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. The Justice secretary said the government considers the massacre in Sagay an “anarchical activity” and a “threat to national security.” The government’s proscription case suffered a setback after Manila RTC Branch 19 Judge Mario Madoza-Malagar declared Satur Ocampo, Rafael Baylosis, Victoria Lucia Tauli-Corpuz, and Melencio Molintas—who were among the 649 individuals listed by the DOJ as leaders and members of CPP and NPA—as non-parties to the case. The case has since not moved for about three months, but Guevarra said it has not been dismissed. “The ruling of the court pertains only to the service of summons. The court

VOL. XXXII • NO. 270 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

VER a million more Filipino adults became jobless in September, the latest Social Weather Stations’ survey revealed even as the Palace assured the public that it “continuously finds ways to improve” the local employment situation.

The September survey found that around 9.8 million Filipinos or 22 percent do not have jobs. This was higher than the previous 8.6 million jobless Filipinos or 19.7 percent record in June this year. Out of the 9.8 million jobless individuals, 4.1 million were retrenched, 3.7 million resigned from their old jobs, and the remaining others were looking for employment for the ﬁrst time. The pollster said adult joblessness includes those who voluntarily left their old employment, those who were retrenched, and ﬁrst-time job seekers. “Adult joblessness stayed the highest in Metro Manila at 26.4 percent from the previous 19.4 percent in June, followed by Balance of Luzon at 22.9 percent from 19.3, Mindanao at 19.7 percent from 21.2 percent, and the Visayas at 19.6 percent from 19 percent,” the SWS said. The SWS also noted that adult joblessness was higher among women at 32.8 percent from 26.1 percent in June, compared to men at 14.3 percent from 15.6 percent in the previous survey. Next page

Red leader’s wife blocks police van, faces charges

Duterte seethes over blackouts in Palawan

By Francisco Tuyay

By Nat Mariano

THE Philippine National Police on Sunday said the arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines Central Committee member Vicente Ladlad was legitimate and said it was considering filing obstruction of justice charges against his wife, Fides Lim-Ladlad. “The confiscation of high-powered firearms and explosives in the possession of Ladlad and two others is a result of a lawful search made by the police witnessed and certified by officials of the homeowners association,” PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said Sunday. At the same time, the PNP has discussed obstruction of justice charges against Mrs. Ladlad who “went wild” as her husband was being taken away in a patrol car following his arrest, and tried to block the car from leaving. Albayalde said what Mrs. Ladlad did was tantamount to obstruction of justice, because it interfered with police procedure. Albayalde said Mrs. Ladlad had made an apology which he accepted it. “I understand her deep concern for the well being of her busband and as a Christian I am inclined to graciously accept her apology,” Albayalde said.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday gave Palawan’s energy cooperative almost a month’s extension to solve the frequent power disruptions in the province. But he warned he would be compelled to expropriate its franchise and get a new electricity operator should officials fail to meet his deadline. Speaking at the first Subaraw Festival in Palawan, Duterte said the six to eight hours of blackouts in parts of Palawan were not acceptable. “You experience blackouts six to eight hours. That is not acceptable to me,” Duterte said in his speech on Saturday night. “I’ll give you [till] the end of the year [to come up with] a new setup so you can provide enough energy,” Duterte indirectly gave the ultimatum to the Palawan Electric Cooperative or Paleco, the distribution franchisee, for its daily blackouts that have been going on for years. He said he would contact a new electricity operator for the province should the officials fail to meet his schedule. “What I would do is look for a wealthy [power operator]. China is very eager to get hold of developments here,” Duterte said. Next page

TOWERING SYMBOL. The Christmas tree is one of the most powerful symbols of the Yuletide season. When decorated and lighted, it is majestic and evokes memories of childhood and represents glad tidings. Firefly LED lights the 71-foot giant Christmas tree decorated with over 40,000 Firefly LED Christmas lights and LED bulbs at SM by the Bay, Mall of Asia in Pasay City. Manny Palmero

Lazada 11.11 shop fest rakes it in By Joyce Pangco Pañares SOUTHEAST Asia’s biggest one-day sale, the 11.11 Shopping Festival, has resulted in 15 days worth of transactions in just 24 hours in the Philippines for online e-commerce platform Lazada. “People visit our app at least 20 times a day during our 11.11 sale. We will do in one day what we normally do in half a month,” said Lazada Philippines chief executive ofﬁcer Juan Pavez in an interview at Lazada’s ﬂagship warehouse in the country in Cabuyao, Laguna. The volume of transactions processed yesterday was no small feat – a prelude, Pavez said, to the 12.12 Christmas sale on Dec. 12. The Philippine e-commerce market is SANTA’S WORKSHOP. Workers in Santa Claus hats rush to pack delivery items expected to grow to $6 billion, a 17 perinside the Lazada warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna which was Santa’s workshop on its busiest day of the year and in time for the 11.11 online shopping festival, signalling what may well be cent year-on-year increase. The number the start of Filipinos Christmas shopping. Norman Cruz becomes even more mind-boggling if

you divide it by the number of days in a year, and Lazada, which is the number one shopping and selling destination in Southeast Asia, has also cornered the lion’s share of domestic transaction value. “We achieved 60 percent of our daily target by 9 a.m.,” Pavez said. “For many Filipinos, our 11.11 sale is the best time to shop for Christmas, with over 50 million deals, including discounts of as much as 99 percent and even one-peso deals.” The Cabuyao warehouse, which has a storage capacity of up to 5 million items, was transformed into a 54,000 square meter Santa’s factory in preparation for the holiday rush. Setting up warehouses across the country – with two more in Mandaue City in Cebu and in Davao City – as well as 50 distribution centers where products land before the so-called last-mile delivery, Next page

Trump, Putin mark WW 1 Armistice PARIS―World leaders gathered in Paris will lead global commemorations on Sunday to mark 100 years since the end of World War I at a time of growing nationalism and diplomatic tensions. Around 70 leaders including US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will mark the centenary of the 1918 Armistice in the French capital. Ceremonies in New Zealand and Australia marked the start of the November 11 memorial events across the world, and huge crowds paid tribute to the more than 80,000 servicemen and women who gave their lives in the Great War. Next page