Manila Standard - 2019 March 4 - Monday by Manila Standard

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VOL. XXXIII • NO. 21 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PANAGBENGA HIGHLIGHT. The grand float parade, a trademark and the highlight event of the Panagbenga Flower Festival’s 24th edition, features 28 colorful floats of which five are non-competing and three, hall of famers. The participants beat last year’s 21 floats. Peter Paul Duran

Wild fires set off DENR alarm bells Cimatu alerts fieldmen amid El Nino onset By Rio N. Araja

NVIRONMENT Secretary Roy Cimatu on Sunday placed all field offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on alert for forest fires as the country braces for the impact of an El Niño episode.

E Senators, Comelec: Release of narco list premature, unfair By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATORS and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Sunday spoke out against releasing a “narco list” of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade, particularly if it is without evidence and if it comes out before the May elections. “Making it public is unjust and unfair to those who may be delisted later, or worse, after the elections” said Senator Panﬁlo Lacson, noting that such a list could be used to smear candidates running for ofﬁce in May. “This has happened before and it could happen again,” he said.

Makabayan bloc rooting for nine senatorial bets

Senator Richard Gordon added that producing such a list could be a basis for filing a libel case against the government officials responsible. Both senators were reacting to a plan by Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano to release the names of politicians appearing on the narco list as a guide for voters. But Lacson said such a list should be used only for intelligence purposes and to help law enforcement build up a case. He said this has the end view of filing appropriate criminal charges against those on the list. Gordon raised due process concerns.

By Rio N. Araja

China: Loans to PH no debt trap THE Chinese government does not set any debt trap for developing countries when it extends loans to fund infrastructure projects, China’s top political advisory body said Saturday. At a press conference, Guo Weimin, spokesperson of the second session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said extending Chinese loans to developing countries facilitates infrastructure projects that are expected to bring

He also ordered the executive directors of 16 regional offices to conduct a region-wide assessment and update of their forest protection plans in anticipation of an El Niño-induced drought, which could increase the risk of wild fires. “Our teams should always be ready for deployment to suppress incidents of outbreaks, particularly grassfires, to prevent them from crossing over to forested areas and turn into fullblown forest fires,” he said. Field officials have been ordered to give priority to vulnerable sites inside protected areas and those that have been rehabilitated under the enhanced national greening program. Next page

development and boost the economic growth of these nations. “Chinese investments only account for a very small share of their total debt. And our projects are mostly infrastructure, which can support the long-term development of those countries,” Guo said. “Yet some say, this is a great debt trap. But this doesn’t make sense,” he added. In the Philippines, China is ﬁnancing the $62 million Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, which aims to water around 8,700 hectares of agricultural land to beneﬁt more than 4,300 families in the northern part of the country. Next page

Federer weaves magic, wins 100th title ROGER Federer described winning his 100th career title as a “special, magical” achievement on Saturday but the 37-year-old insists he won’t obsess over passing Jimmy Connors’ all-time men’s record of 109. Next page

WILD FIRES. An unseen Air Force Tactical Group jet hovers over Benguet’s Padcal Mountain Range on an assesment mission over the weekend. Forest fires of undetermined origin hit the Cordillera region in the past three weeks. A raging forest fire took the lives of three forest guards in Benguet last week. Dave Leprozo

Rape streamed live from PH—France STRASBOURG―A man has been charged with ordering videos of rapes and sexual assaults, some of them on children, broadcast live from the Philippines, a French prosecutor said on Saturday. The suspect, a 55-year-old former police ofﬁcer, according to L’Est Republicain

newspaper, was being held for conspiracy to commit rape and sexual assault on someone under 15 years of age, Francois Perain, prosecutor in the eastern city of Nancy, told AFP. French ofﬁcials were tipped off by the investigators at the US Department of Homeland Security of the activities of a French national between 2017 and 2018, Perain said. Next page

Charriol killed in France car crash FRENCHMAN Philippe Charriol, founder of the luxury watch and jewellery brand that bears his name, was killed in an car accident at the Le Castellet racing track in southeast France on Wednesday, a circuit Next page official said.

THE leftist Makabayan coalition on Sunday backed at least nine opposition and independent senatorial candidates running for senator. Satur Ocampo, Makabayan president, said they will endorse, support and vote for former representative Neri Colmenares, Bayan Muna chairperson; Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Grace Poe and Nancy Binay; ex-senator Serge Osmeña; human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno; ex-Quezon representative Erin Tañada III; ex-solictor general Florin Hilbay, and Marawi civic leader Samira Gutoc. Aquino, Diokno, Tañada, Hilbay and Gutoc are from the Otso Diretso opposition coalition. Next page

Dengvaxia lawsuits vindication for PAO By Rey E. Requejo THE Public Attorney’s Office on Sunday praised the decision of the Justice department indicting former Health secretary Janette Garin and other health officials over the deaths of children linked to the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine during the previous administration. PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said they saw the the findings on Garin and company’s criminal liability as a vindication of the agency’s pursuit of cases for the victims and their families. Acosta said she believed that the department’s filing of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide had also disproved the insinuations of Garin and Health Next page

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CHR hits out at threats to clergymen By Rio N. Araja THE Commission on Human Rights said Sunday the threat to the life of Caloocan City Bishop Virgilio Pablo David is a “threat to all freedom-loving Filipinos.” The group’s spokesman Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the commission denounces any form of intimidation, harassment or threat to life as an assault to human dignity and freedom. “We cherish our civil rights and freedoms. Those who disagree with the policies and views of elected government leaders should not be cursed or threatened,” she said. “We remind our public servants and our men in uniform to defend and protect our hard-earned human rights to life, liberty and dignity for all.” After receiving multiple death threats, David decided to skip the Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Awarding ceremony in his and Rappler’s Maria Ressa’s honor on Feb. 26 for the sake of his companions. David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, strongly opposes warrant-less arrests and extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. The CHR recognizes that the release of the list of narco-politicians is to ensure that only deserving, law-abiding candidates get elected in government, but “we equally remind the administration that presumption of innocence is a constitutionally guaranteed right,” De Guia said. “And if there is enough evidence for the government to put names in a supposed narco list, then the just way to proceed is to ﬁle appropriate charges against these personalities to make them accountable before our laws. “The last thing that we want to happen is to heighten violence because of the release of such list in an oftentimes already violent period triggered by the election season.”

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Ombudsman’s post up for grabs T Applicants have until April 17 to submit their applications or nominations with acceptance as well as documentary requirements to the JBC’s office at the Centennial Building of the Supreme Court in Manila. “A recommendation or nomination filed in lieu of an application may be given due course only if the recommendee has signified his or her acceptance thereof either in the recommendation itself or in a separate document, and has submitted two complete sets of documentary requirements,” says the announcement signed by JBC exofficio secretary and Supreme Court clerk

of court Edgar Aricheta. Mosquera, who was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2012, will vacate his post on June 1 after completing his seven-year term. His replacement will be the second appointment for President Duterte in the antigraft ofﬁce after Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires who was appointed as Ombudsman in July last year. The seven-man council concurrently led by Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin also set the public interview of the nominees for four vacancies in the Court of Appeals and two vacancies in the Court of

Tax Appeals. The council set the interviews for all 39 applicants in all CA and CTA posts on March 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 and 20. The JBC will no longer interview 22 other nominees for the six different posts due to the previous interviews that are still valid. The council also invited objections from the public to any nomination of any of the 61 candidates. “The public may submit a sworn complaint, report or opposition against any of the aforesaid candidates in 10 legible copies by personal delivery or mail to the JBC… not later than 4:30 p.m. of 13 March 2019,” the council said. The vacancies in the appellate court stemmed from the promotion of Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr. to the high court in August last year and the retirements of Associate Justices Magdangal De Leon, Renato Francisco and Romulo Borja in August and September last year.

Dengvaxia...

partment’s prosecutors would be able to establish the guilt of the accused in court, citing the evidence gathered by her ofﬁce. She disputed Garin’s claim that the direct link of the Dengvaxia vaccine to the deaths of its recipients had not been scientiﬁcally established, which could be the basis for the dismissal of the cases in courts. “That’s not true. There is a medical link and we were able to establish that in the DOJ preliminary investigation,” Acosta said. “A study by the RITM [Research Institute for Tropical Medicine] showed that four deaths were caused by Dengvaxia and 62 percent of the serious adverse effects were caused by the vaccine. “They already knew the high risks in conducting the mass immunization of Dengvaxia without blood tests and screening and yet they still proceeded with it.” However, Acosta did not agree with the

Justice department’s dismissal of the charges against Duque and other health officials and the executives of Zuellig Pharma. “We will file a partial motion for reconsideration of the DOJ resolution with respect to the findings on Duque and Zuellig officials,” Acosta said. “There were over 10 deaths during the term of Duque when he pursued the immunization program in November 2017. He deliberately ignored the documented warnings of the Filipino experts as early as March 2016.” The DOJ resolution released last week, however, only covered eight cases in the first batch of the Dengvaxia cases filed so far by the PAO. The department is expected to release another resolution on the second batch of cases involving eight more deaths, while it is still conducting hearings on 13 other cases.

By Rey E. Requejo

HE Judicial and Bar Council has opened the nomination for the position in the Office of the Ombudsman to be vacated in June by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera.

From A1

Secretary Francisco Duque III that the PAO should be blamed for the public’s vaccine scare that supposedly led to the measles outbreak. “We feel vindicated by the ﬁndings of the DOJ. Our tireless efforts for the families of the victims have paid off,” Acosta said. “This is proof that we did not create the vaccine scare of measles outbreak. It was precisely this criminal liability of Garin, as established in the preliminary investigation of the DOJ, that tainted the public’s trust in vaccines. “It was this indiscriminate mass vaccination and under-distribution of safe vaccines that caused the alleged scare and outbreak.” Acosta said she was conﬁdent the de-

China:...

The two CTA vacancies, on the other hand, stemmed from the retirements of Associate Justices Lovell Bautista and Caesar Casanova in August and September last year. The JBC is led by Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin with Senator Richard Gordon and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra as ex-ofﬁcio members. The current regular members of the council are retired high court Justice Jose Mendoza, lawyer Milagros FernanCayosa from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and retired Judge Toribio Ilao from the private sector. The President has yet to appoint the seventh member representing the academe. Duterte has also to ﬁll the two vacancies in the high court left by the promotion of Bersamin as chief justice in November last year and the retirement of Associate Justice Noel Tijam on Jan. 5. The JBC had earlier submitted the short lists for both positions to the Palace.

Wild ﬁres... From A1

Provincial and city environment and natural resources officers, meanwhile, are to step up their information campaign and coordinate with local government officials down to the barangay level to heighten community awareness and vigilance on preventing or fighting forest fires. On Feb. 20, a forest fire razed around 125 hectares of sloping forestland being rehabilitated by the Philex Mining Co. in Itogon, Benguet. At least five Philex forestry workers perished in the 21-hour forest fire. Also on Sunday, Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez urged government agencies to map out plans to mitigate El Niño’s impact on agriculture and power. She cited the need to consider loans to the affected farmers, even as she expressed alarm over the possible energy shortage once water supply in major dams in Luzon, particularly Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, drops due to reduced rainfall.

From A1

Makabayan...

Data from the Philippines’ Department of Finance (DOF) also showed that the country’s projected debt to China by 2022 will only account for 4.5 percent of the total debt. This is lower compared to the debt to Japan at around 9.5 percent of the government’s total debt by 2022. The DOF also said the Philippines’ stable fiscal condition will be able to pay its obligations. Philippine government data also showed that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio in 2018 was estimated at 41.9 percent, lower than its 42.1 percent target for the previous year. “Actually the debt problem of some developing countries is complicated. It is a product of history,” Guo said. Malacañang on Sunday shrugged off the challenge of Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares to have a debate on the irrigation project deal between the Philippines and China. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said he has “better things to do” than to grant Colmenares’ “desperate” wish to be in the limelight to help his run for the Senate. “Challenging a publicly visible government official to a debate attracts media attention. Surely Mr. Neri Colmenares knows how to grab at a media operation to improve on his fledgling candidacy,” Panelo said in a statement. “He should be commended for that, but I have better things to do than to provide him the forum he desperately needs,” he said. Last week, Colmenares questioned the country’s 20-year loan for the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, saying it was “onerous” in its entirety and highly favored Beijing. Colmenares said a “dangerous component” of the agreement could allow China to take control of the country’s patrimonial properties should the Philippine government fail to pay the loan. Panelo previously said Colmenares was merely “politicizing” the country’s enduring ties with Beijing, arguing that the Duterte administration’s economic managers have carefully studied the agreement. “It is clear that the matter has been studied at length by our economic managers, particularly the DOF, unlike Mr. Colmenares who has only shown himself to be ignorant of the intricacies of finance,” Panelo said. In response, Colmenares hit back at Panelo for accusing him of making a publicity stunt out of the loan agreement. He then challenged Panelo to a debate. Nat Mariano, PNA

From A1

Senators,...

Rape...

Charriol...

From A1

“If they have evidence, they can file a case,” he said. Earlier, DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said the agency was just waiting for the go-signal of President Rodrigo Duterte before releasing the list. Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President would allow the release of the list as long as it has been verified. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, meanwhile, said it would be unfair to release the list during the election period as this would constitute negative campaigning. In an interview on radio dzBB, Guanzon urged the DILG and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to file cases against the politicians who are involved in drug trade instead of releasing the list. She added that if the DILG cannot prove its charges, publishing the list could be considered libel.

They had picked up the trail after equipment seized in a raid on a suspect in the Philippines yielded evidence of the live-streamed sexual assaults. The system involved broadcasting the assaults live and charging people to view them and the victims, some of whom were children, said the prosecutor. Using online chatrooms, clients placed orders specifying the proﬁle of the victim and how they wanted them to be assaulted, and paid $15 to $60. Although some videos are broadcast pre-recorded, others are broadcast live so the person who ordered it can inﬂuence what happens in real time, said Perain. The suspect admitted to investigators that he had paid for such videos, but said very few of them had involved minors, the prosecutor said. AFP

“During a car-racing session that was taking place on the Circuit Paul Ricard... French driver Philippe Charriol was the victim of an accident on the Mistral straight,” circuit director Stephane Clair said in a statement. Despite receiving emergency treatment at the track and being rushed to a hospital in Marseille, the 77-year-old succumbed to his injuries. Charriol, originally from Marseille, had a passion for fast cars and had long frequented major race circuits, said Clair, offering his condolences to the entrepreneur’s family “and to his many friends”. He founded the “Charriol” brand in 1983, specializing in luxury watches as well as jewellery, perfume, and accessories. The company, based in Geneva, has a network of 285 shops around the world, as well as 3,800 sales points. Le Castellet hosted last year’s French Formula One Grand Prix. AFP

On the other hand, Poe, Binay and Osmeña are independent candidates, while Colmenares is the only Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan senatorial bet. “At times like this where there is widespread poverty, oppression and objection to alarming threat of dictatorship, when times that justice is very elusive, and that the system of how we monitor and balance the executive, judicial and legislative is at stake, we need a free Senate that can stand on its own,” Ocampo said. He called on the nine candidates to join them in their ﬁght to suspend the excise taxes on fuel brought about by the government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, promote human rights and due process and protect the country’s sovereignty and rights in the West Philippines Sea. Moreover, Ocampo said they expect those they are supporting to block any move to change the Constitution, and support the resumption of peace talks between the Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The nine opposition and independent senatorial candidates welcomed the Makabayan coalition’s support. Farmers belonging to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas led by its chairperson Danilo Ramos said they welcomed the endorsement of the nine candidates. “We are setting the bar higher for those candidates. Even with the broad unity set, all the more should they prove that they are deserving of the Filipino farmers’ support and votes,” he said.

Federer...

type of ﬁtness. “You can play a great tournament, play a brutal semi, you get unlucky sometimes with the schedule, whatever it may be. He added: “That’s why you have to be ﬁt on many fronts: mentally, physically; you have to be able to beat different types of players: beat them all on successive days.” Connors, who set his record during his glory years in the 1970s and 1980s, took to Twitter to congratulate the Swiss star. “Welcome to the ‘Triple Digit’ tournament victory club @rogerfederer—I’ve been a bit lonely - glad to have the company,” wrote the American. Federer, who remains a long way back from the all-time mark of 167 titles set in the women’s game by Martina Navratilova, said that his two-decade longevity was key to the title century. “It’s a deep satisfaction, an immediate

one. A lot of people always emphasise all the Slams, but I play on the ATP Tour. This is where I’ve won so many of them. Been around for so long,” he added. “I don’t rest between Slams all the time, like people think I might be. I think this number proves that. I think that’s why this was a very exciting week for me.” ‘Magical things going on’ The Swiss star will have little time to contemplate achieving yet another record with Indian Wells in California, next on the agenda for the ﬁrst Masters of the season. “I didn’t come here expecting I was going to win, to be quite honest. I hadn’t played since Australia,” explained Federer who had been defeated by Tsitsipas in the fourth round at the Australian Open in January. “I’m just happy on all fronts how my

game has progressed, how well I played in the final, winning the eighth Dubai title, winning the 100th. “So many magical things going on. I’m very, very happy right now.” Federer’s 99th trophy had come last October at his home event in Basel. He missed out on the century at the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals in London and then at Melbourne. On Saturday, the second seed was untouchable throughout much of the 69-minute final as he gained revenge for his shock Australian Open defeat by the 11th-ranked Greek. Tsitsipas, who will become the first Greek to ever reach the world’s top 10 on Monday, paid tribute to his opponent. “100 (titles) is just completely insane— I’d be happy with 100 wins. Seriously, I’m trying to get there,” he said. AFP

FOR A FIRE-SAFE PH. Senatorial candidate Imee Marcos leads the flag off ceremony for Volunteer Firefighters during the kick-off of the Fire Prevention Month program rally for a fire-safe Philippines at Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Norman Cruz

From A1

Federer reached the landmark with a ruthless 6-4, 6-4 dismantling of Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Dubai Championship final, his eighth trophy at the Gulf event. His 100th title comes 18 years after he captured his first in Milan. Federer, the winner of a record 20 Grand Slam titles, said that he’s not particularly targeting the 109-mark of Connors. “A lot of people always ask me about, ‘Are you going to go for 109?’”, said Federer. “To answer the question is not easy. Winning five matches in six days or five matches in five days, it takes a different

News CDO bishop urges revival of peace gab with Reds By Nash B. Maulana COTABATO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte wants government peace officials to open a “window for the resumption of the peace talks” with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and Catholic clergies are likely to support this Palace move to achieve peace in Northeastern Mindanao. “Nobody wins in a cruel and bloody war. This has to stop.” Archbishop Antonio Ledesma emphasized this in the context of addressing peace issues and security challenges during a forum in Cagayan de Oro City on March 1. The Cagayan de Oro Archbishop is concurrent co-chair of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) which convened the peace forum with Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc. (BMFI) for local representatives of the church, as well as of civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations from Northeastern Mindanao. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) lauded the efforts, as the meeting became a timely venue for these organizations to discuss key peace and security challenges confronting the region and to recommend solutions to address them. OPAPRU Assistant Secretary Dickson Hermoso Duterte said President Duterte wanted the peace agency to open a “little window” for the resumption of peace talks once there is already an “enabling environment.” As in charge of Mindanao Concerns, Hermoso represented Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. at the forum, bearing government assurance the “agency will continue to implement its mandate and carry out the best steps towards attaining peace.” On December 4, 2018, President Duterte issued Executive Order No. 70, authorizing local government units to pursue localized peace engagements with communist guerrilla units in their areas of responsibility. Malacanang earlier said the government was willing to issue a safe-conduct pass to NDFP Consultant Fidel Agcaoili, after he had said he wanted to meet the President for the continuance of the peace negotiations.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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Shabu in Cebu, cocaine in Baler P OLICE on Sunday arrested four suspects , seized 28 kilos of shabu valued at P200 million in in Cebu City and took into custody a package of cocaine in Baler, Quezon, the 12th that washed ashore in Philippine territory, since the first package of the narcotics shipment surfaced on February 10.

PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac said the Cebu operations formed part of PNP’s intensified campaign against high value targets (HVTs) and illegal drug syndicates. Cebu City Police Director, Col. Royena Grama in a report to Camp Crame said the first operation was conducted around 1:30 a.m. resulting in the arrest of Elymar Tampo Ancajas, tagged as HVT of Fatima Homes, Barangay In-

ayawan, Cebu City. Police also conducted another operation against Jocelyn Encila inside Mendero Hospital in Consolacion, Cebu where the suspect was confined due to dehydration. A police poseur-buyer ordered two kilos of shabu from the suspect but since the latter was in the hospital, she asked the buyer to get the illegal drugs from her parents identified as

Marcial and Marilyn Encila in Green Valley Subdivision, Barangay Casili in Consolacion. After getting the drugs fromEncila‘s parents, the police poseur buyer arrested her parents. During clearing operation inside Encila’s house, police recovered four more packs of suspected shabu weighing 10 kilos with street value of PP68 million. The arrested suspects, now detained at Cebu City Police Office, face charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. In Aurora province, a construction worker found another brick of cocaine along the shoreline in Baler. Ariel Gonzales Valenzuela discovered the pack of cocaine floating in

the waters of Barangay Reserva, Baler around 5 a.m. on Sunday and reported the finding to Barangay chairman Michael Guerro Valenzuela. The brick of suspected cocaine was wrapped in black plastic and has the “Lexus” label. The recovered item weighing one kilo was brought to the Baler police station. Banac commended the strong cooperation and vigilance of the public, resulting in the recovery of the floating cocaine in various parts of the country. Fishermen and coastal residents have so far recovered 100 kilos of bricks of cocaine with estimated value of P871 million along the shores of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Island, Davao Oriental, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Aurora. PNA and F. Tuyay

ANGELS WALK. Thousands of Autism advocacy leaders and members converge in the annual ‘Angels Walk for Autism’ on Sunday, March 3, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The annual event is spearheaded by the Autism Society of the Philippines and SM Prime Holdings since it began in 2007 to continue advocating for acceptance, accomodation and appreciation of Filipinos with autism toward an Autism-OK Philippines. Ey Acasio

SSS eases loan rules for 1.2 m Asian Water conference slated for March 14-15; first time in PH pensioners STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) made it easier for its more than 1.2 million qualified retiree pensioners to apply for the Pension Loan Program. It now allows retiree pensioners with at least one month posted regular pension and an active pension status to avail of the loan program. SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said the pension fund continues to find ways to help pensioners in sufficing their short-term financial needs. “Previously, a retiree pensioner must be receiving his monthly pension for at least six months to qualify for the SSS pension loan. But through our new issuance, even if they are receiving their regular monthly pension for only just a month and it is already posted in the system, they are already qualified to avail themselves of the pension loan,” Dooc explained. Further, the new guidelines for PLP applications allow the use of other government-issued identifications cards aside from the Social Security Card or Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) card as a form of identification document. Loan applicants can now present their: Alien Certificate of Registration issued by Bureau of immigration; Driver’s License issued by Land Transportation Office; Firearm Registration, License to Own and Process Firearms, and Permit to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence from the Philippine National Police; National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance; Passport; Postal Identity Card, Seafarer’s Identification and Record Book (Seaman’s Book); and Voter’s ID Card. “In absence of a primary ID Card/ document, filer shall present, submit any two valid ID cards/documents, both with signature and at least one with photo,” the circular read.

IT’S all systems go for the Philippines’ hosting of some 200 international delegates to the Asian Water Council 8th Board of Council (BoC) Meeting, 3rd General Assembly and Elections from March 14-15, 2019 in Manila. This was disclosed by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco who is a member of the AWC BoC headed by K Water President Hak Soo Lee. The event will be hosted by MWSS for the first time together with its concessionaires Manila Water, Maynilad and Luzon Clean Water Development Corporation. “It is an honor for us to be hosting this

event at a time when our government is vigorously undertaking the Build, Build, Build program that includes water infrastructure and the rehabilitation of Manila Bay,” Velasco said. “The country’s hosting of the event will bring in member organizations involved in the water sector industry giving them the opportunity to explore areas where cooperation with MWSS and its concessionaires can be established,” he added. Maynilad fully supports AWC, cognizant of the fact that both share the same goal of providing safe water and sanitation facilities as enunciated in the UN SDGs. “Through the improvement of

water supply and distribution, and continuous improvement in our wastewater facilities, our efforts have contributed to bringing about a better life for our customers,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said. Manila Water President and CEO Ferdinand Dela Cruz welcomes the holding of the AWC activities in Manila as an opportunity for further collaboration between government and the private sector. “Our experience and track record demonstrate the positive results that arise from the productive partnership of government and the private sector,” he pointed out. Meanwhile, Luzon Clean Water Devel-

opment Corporation’s Edgar Dona lauded MWSS and MWSS-RO for hosting the international gathering. “It is indeed an honor for our organization to be co-hosting this event. Being the newest concessionaire of MWSS, this occasion will allow us to interact with other organizations engaged in the water industry sector,” Dona stated. Asia Water Council seeks to address water usage, natural environment protection, and natural hazard mitigation. For its mission, AWC aims to “encourage mutual growth and sustainable development by involving the stakeholders in water through building a cooperative tie with the leading world water organizations.”

Solon duns 14 agencies for rules of rice law

ART OF SELLING. An art painter arranges his works, which he sells for P 2,500.00 to P4,000.00 each , at a Manila park. Ey Acasio

THE 14 government agencies tasked to draft the implementing rules and regulations of the Rice Tariffication Act will do well to work double-time and finish their task within the 45-day deadline set by the law to avoid a repeat of a mistake committed by those who bungled the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Act or Republic Act 11032. The reminder was made by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte on Sunday, adding that the opening of the domestic rice market to private trader will already come into effect by March 5, other provisions of the law needed to be threshed out through the IRRs. Other issues pertain to the need for the National Food Authority to maintain a nationwide rice buffer stock, imposition of special rice safeguards and mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of programs under the rice competitiveness enhancement fund to benefit palay growers, said Villafuerte, a co-author of the rice law (RA 11203). Rio Araja

Opinion

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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A vicious slogan MANY politicians have stated, at one time or another, that we should think and do “The greatest good for the greatest number,” which is one of the most vicious slogans ever foisted on humanity. This slogan has no concrete, specific meaning. There is no way to interpret it benevolently, but a great many ways in which it can be used to justify the most vicious actions. What is the definition of “the good” in this slogan? None, except: whatever is good for the greatest number. Who, in any particular issue, decides what is good for the greatest number? Why, the greatest number!

The greatest good for the greatest number.’

If you consider this moral, you would have to approve of the following examples, which are exact applications of this slogan in practice: fifty-one percent of humanity enslaving the other forty-nine; nine hungry cannibals eating the tenth one; a mob murdering a man whom they consider dangerous to the community. There were 70 million Germans in Germany and six hundred thousand Jews. The greatest number (the Germans) supported the Nazi government which told them that their greatest good would be served by extermi-

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

nating the smaller number (the Jews) and grabbing their property. This was the horror achieved in practice by a vicious slogan accepted in theory. But, you might say, the majority in all these examples did not achieve any real good for itself either. No, it didn’t. Because “the good” is not determined by counting numbers and is not achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. The unthinking believe that this slogan implies something vaguely noble and virtuous, that it tells persons to sacrifice themselves for the greatest number of others. If so, should the greatest number of persons wish to be virtuous and sacrifice themselves to the smallest number who would be vicious and accept it? No? Well, then should the smallest number be virtuous and sacrifice themselves to the greatest number who would be vicious? The unthinking assume that every person who mouths this slogan places himself unselfishly with the smaller number to be sacrificed to the greatest number of others. Why should he? There is nothing in the slogan to make him do this. He is much more likely to try to get in with the greatest number, and start sacrificing others. What the slogan actually tells him is that he has no choice, except to rob or be robbed, to crush or get crushed. The depravity of this slogan lies in the implication that “the good” of a majority must be achieved through the suffering of a minority; that the benefit of one person depends upon the sacrifice of another. If we accept the collectivist doctrine that a person exists only for the sake of others, then it is true that every pleasure he enjoys (or every bite of food) is evil and immoral if two

Too early for self congratulation

T seems premature for the Palace to crow about a three-step improvement in the Philippines’ ranking in the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2019, considering that our rank of 90th out of 126 nations planted us firmly within the bottom third of the pack. Still, a presidential spokesman was elated at the news and quickly credited the improvement to the “tireless work” of the administration. “The Duterte administration has been tirelessly working on these since Day One and we are pleased of the Philippines’ improved global rank in 2019... as a result of our initiatives,” the Palace official said in a statement. The Palace official noted that the World Justice Project defines effective rule of law as reducing corruption, combating poverty and disease and protecting people from injustice large and small. All of these, he added, are embodied in the administration’s fiveyear development plan. Given the Palace’s effusive response to the latest rankings, it may be instructive to see how well the Philippines scored in eight of the factors considered by the sur-

vey: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. The Rule of Law index is a number from zero to one, with one signifying the highest possible score (strong adherence to the rule of law) and zero being the lowest (weak adherence to the rule of law). The country’s overall score of 0.47 is hardly inspiring along this scale. In all eight factors, the Philippines managed to score higher than 0.5 in only three—constraints on government powers (0.53), open government (0.53) and order and security (0.57) It had lower scores in absence of corruption (0.47), fundamental rights (0.42), regulatory enforcement (0.47), and civil justice (0.44). It scored miserably in criminal justice (0.31).

Significantly, this last factor measures the effectiveness of the criminal investigation and adjudication system, the correctional system, the impartiality of the justice system, the absence of corruption or improper government influence in the criminal justice system, and due process of the law and rights of the accused. Sadly, our history is rife with examples—from this and past administrations—of how the justice system has been misused to persecute political enemies and to intimidate or silence the press. The President’s vocal disdain for human rights is also clearly reflected in the survey results. Ranked by the criminal justice factor alone, the Philippines falls to No. 113 of 126, a truly dismal showing. Finally, before the Palace breaks out the champagne, it ought to consider that in East Asia and the Pacific, we are near the bottom, at 13th out of 15, better only than Myanmar and Cambodia. Celebrating a rank of 90 out of 126 countries when it comes to adhering to the rule of law sets the bar much too low. We can and should do better.

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Bong Go: no gentleman POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE THE latest from the loquacious Kris Aquino is her gripe against senatorial candidate Bong Go and his campaign stumper Philip Salvador, who’ve made her relationship with the latter humor fodder for their sorties. I’m no fan of Kris and her penchant for airing her personal laundry in public, but she’s been dealt a low blow by Go and Salvador, who are certainly no gentlemen as they have shown by their behavior. A video circulating on the internet shows Go joking that Salvador sired four children in Davao. He addressed someone offstage, presumably Salvador, saying, “Totoo naman eh. Naloko mo nga si Kris Aquino eh” (It’s true. You even cheated on Kris Aquino.) In the ‘90s, Aquino had a relationship with Salvador and had her eldest son, Joshua, by him. According to Aquino, Salvador has remained mostly mum about their time together until this episode with Go. This prompted the former presidential daughter and sister to say she was deeply hurt by the repartee and to accuse her son’s father of putting Joshua in a bad spot by demeaning his mother. Go apologized to Kris publicly while stumping in San Andres, Manila. He said it was all just a “script” between him and Salvador and that they were just trying to “make the voters happy.” There was no reason at all for Go to make Kris the butt of jokes. In fact, she has spoken well of him in the past. It was with palpable pain that she wrote on social media, “Wala po akong atraso sa inyo SAP Bong Go. I have only had good words for you pero sana sa paglilingkod niyo para sa mga Pilipino bilang senador (I know you are a sure winner), sana priority nyo rin po ang mga kababaihan. “Kris Aquino na ako pero madaling

gawing ‘joke’ na ‘naloko’ ako ng ama ng panganay ko. Nagtrabaho ako, at hindi ako pinabayaan ng pamilya ko. But what about the women without financial security and family?” she added. Aquino raises a good point—if someone with her wealth and high profile in society can be made a laughing stock, then more so the ordinary women who have no such privilege or protection. Go’s mockery of Kris is especially egregious at this point in time, when the #MeToo movement that holds men accountable for their misogynistic behavior has spread worldwide.

Mocking women is not the way to convince people you’re worthy of election to public office.

#MeToo has not gained ground here yet because patriarchy is so deeply embedded in our culture that male privilege under this repressive system is taken as a right. When Go was on that stage, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with taking a woman’s painful life experience and making it fun of it just to get a few laughs. Many netizens were indignant. The Cyclelogist: “Hindi comedy bar tinatakbuhan mo kaya itigil mo na jokes mo. Gusto namin malaman plataporma mo.” Arian Mendoza: “BASTOS KA BONG GO and PHILIP SALVADOR kayo ang klaseng mga lalaki na binabastos ang mga babae mga walang kwentang lalaki sa mundo, tapos sasabihin joke? Sabihin nyo sa nanay nyo at kapatid na babae.” Darkshadesofgray3: “I can see a desperate politician.” Turn to A5

‘Me Too’ long before #MeToo SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Maria Rosa Luna Henson was washing clothes at her home one day in 1992 when she heard the announcement on the radio. Representatives of the Task Force on Filipina Comfort Women were on air, talking about how a South Korean woman had come forward to say she was kept as a sex slave by the Japanese military during World War II. The task force’s members believed

Is coming forward ever really worth it?

that if such systemic abuse happened in one Asian country, it could likely have happened in other countries as well. They realized the uphill battle before them: There was not one historical document that proved the existence of such widespread slavery. At

that time, too, the Philippine government was working hard to build a good relationship with Japan – which in turn had been giving aid, investments, and employment opportunities, not the least of which for Filipino entertainers. When Henson heard the plea to come forward, she stopped doing the laundry and started shaking and crying instead. She had been keeping her secret for more than 50 years. She had gotten married, had children, separated from her husband, and she was now a grandmother. She had been haunted by the ghosts from her horrid

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Opinion Voter decisions BECAUSE it is a midterm election, the 12 senatorial posts up for grabs in May are the most contested and most in the spotlight. Three years after the political winds shifted from the Aquino administration to the populist Duterte presidency, the upcoming contest provides ample opportunity to examine the rationale behind the Filipino voting public’s decisions. In a political briefing for the diplomatic community conducted by the Stratbase ADR Institute, perspectives on the dynamics and players of the upcoming elections was the main theme of the event. The findings from surveys conducted by Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations (SWS) provide us with initial hints. Asked what “qualities of a leader” they look for or deem important, 56 percent of Filipino voters answered “pro-poor,” according to the Pulse Asia poll. This is followed by: knowledgeable in the management of government (48 percent) and fighting anomalies in government (46 percent), able to enforce the law equally on all Filipinos (37 percent), having a deep understanding of economic issues (29 percent) and a clean record as a government official (24 percent). Other traits include having done many things for the country and one’s constituents (21 percent), being hardworking (20 percent), and, finally, being trusted by most citizens and having a vision for the country (both 9 percent). These are more or less confirmed by the SWS survey, which asked more specifically what traits Filipino voters looked for in senatorial candidates. Also topping the list was “pro-poor,” answered by a total of 42 percent of the respondents. Out of this, 22 percent said they prefer those who help the poor while 20 percent said they want those who help people who are in need. While cited in the survey as separate qualities, they referred to more or less similar characteristic: a compassionate, caring attitude toward the needy or marginalized. This was followed by not corrupt (25 percent), with good personal characteristics, including generous, responsible, and fair, (21 percent), trustworthy (21 percent), and able to fulfill campaign promises (14 percent). Disturbing, and again as in the Pulse Asia survey, only 3 percent of the re-

‘Me Too’... From A4

past. Was it time to finally speak up? The decision was difficult. In her mind she battled with her younger self, the 14-year-old girl who was advised by her own mother to keep quiet about her ordeal. No man would want her if he knew. She would not be able to build a family of her own. Young Rosa was adamant about coming forward this late in the day. “Kapag muling binigkas, muling nagkakatotoo, (Talking about something would just make it happen all over again),” the girl told her older self. Speaking out would only make her relive the experience, and would threaten how other people perceived her. In turn, the elder Rosa argued she had been silent for far too long and now wanted to unburden herself. In fact, she occasionally wrote “Ginahasa Ako (I was raped)” on small pieces of paper, throwing them on the road, outside the window – everywhere she could think of – secretly hoping someone would see it, and ask. But no one did. Henson eventually decided to call the task force and tell them her story, and then to go public about what had happened to her and to many other girls during the war. She soon realized coming forward did not magically solve her dilemma. The ghosts remained, and people started judging her. Her granddaughter got into a fight at school in her defense. At a press conference her intentions were questioned, her memory impugned, her true motives scrutinized. How much money did she hope to make, she was asked. She felt like she was being raped all over again. Over the following years, a flurry

spondents wanted candidates who are bright or intelligent, and only 2 percent preferred those with plans for growth or vision for the country. Taken at face value, this is frustrating as they indicate a Filipino voting public that chooses to vote with their hearts and senses instead of through a sensible appraisal of platforms vis-a-vis pressing social issues. It confirms what has been happening in all our elections: Philippine elections remain personality-driven because most voters want their legislators to empathize—or at least appear to empathize—with their plight.

Filipinos want their legislators to empathize—or at least appear to empathize—with Never mind that senators are supposed to intelligently debate on key issues toward crafting impactful laws. Voters are more concerned with character or personality: do they have a heart for the poor? Are they honest and trustworthy? Can they fulfill their campaign promises? Never mind their stance on federalism or same-sex marriage, the lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility or rice tariffication. Never mind if their educational or professional background, if any, have absolutely nothing to do with the law or public service. It is little wonder than that campaign sorties today are still largely dominated by fanfare, often with celebrities and a lot of dancing and singing, instead of a substantive discussion of issues and candidates’ platforms. Visibility, name recall, and catchphrases are paramount, which explains why our landscapes are littered with posters bearing nothing but names in bold letters and smiling faces, why billions of pesos are spent on TV and radio commercials, why our social media feeds are inundated with gimmicky campaigns and black propaganda. Buoyed by the win of President Duterte, more and more candidates had been keen to follow the populist playbook. This sets aside a platformbased campaign in favor of one that is personality-oriented, with a focus on tugging at emotions, at offering radical-sounding, utopian solutions to otherwise complex problems that need real expertise, especially those that lie perennially close to people’s hearts: food, health, education, peace and

of legal activity took place. Henson joined a class suit demanding an official apology from the Japanese government. What resulted from the suit was the Asian Women's Fund from private citizens – not an official allocation, much less an apology. The case was eventually thrown out. Henson died in 1997, unable to see the rightful end to the battle she had begun. In fact, the just end still eludes the handful of the Lolas who are still alive but frail and beaten in their old age and despair. *** This is the story of “Nana Rosa,” staged by the UP Playwrights' Theater, written by Rody Vera and directed by Jose Estrella. It opened on February 27 and will run until March 17 at the Tanghalang Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero at Palma Hall, UP Diliman. The play is an indictment of the government, across various administrations, that has been too feeble in helping the women obtain justice. None of our public leaders have taken up the cause of the former sex slaves – efforts to build their case and help them have only been through civil society. Worse, some politicians just milked the issue for populist support but actually did nothing to advance the cause. It's an acknowledgment of the reality that there are many conflicting issues that must be balanced against each other, and of the sad truth that often, the more practical and pragmatic concerns win. “Nana Rosa” also confirms that coming forward to lend a voice – the very core of #MeToo that swept the globe 20 years after Henson's death— is never easy. The movement is meant to build solidarity among victims of

order, and the like. A perceived affinity with the still-popular President, for instance, seems to be more effective than experience, credibility, and vision combined. All fanfare and charisma, no substance. There is little incentive, it seems, for candidates to flesh out their platforms of government or thoroughly explain their stance on various issues. These things are perceived as not only unnecessary but boring. Easy-to-digest storylines and punchy, memorable slogans are more effective. Debates, which should be logically par for the course because the Senate floor is a site of discourse, are seen as optional, and for some candidates even a liability so many will skip them altogether but are still rewarded with victories. The knee-jerk reaction is to put the blame solely on the majority of the Filipino electorate, who is seen as immature, if not lazy or easily starstruck. But this isolates the problem and does not take into account, for instance, that a discerning mind is a function of a broader education, which in this country is more often than not a privilege that many people don’t enjoy. This translates into a vicious cycle: people elect so-called bad leaders who do nothing to reform the electoral system, which in turn helps recreates the same problem and keeps them in power. But as with any cycle, the first step in disrupting the cycle is to recognize its entrenched, circular quality. The electorate should carefully consider the consequences of their vote with the same seriousness of big personal decisions that will directly affect one’s family. The elections offer a unique opportunity of changing the status quo. There is a concrete link, for instance, between corruption in government and why our hospitals and schools are underfunded, why our transport system is dysfunctional, why the quality of our roads has deteriorated. Changing all these begins with that crucial day in May when for one day, the people hold power over the country’s political destiny. Stratbase ADRi President Dindo Manhit said, “The electorate should be keener and more cautious in choosing the right candidate because they may fall into the trap of sloganeering strategies of many of our populist candidates. Continuous voters’ education and participation are essential to democratizing our electoral contests and reforming our political system. Exercising our power to vote entails political maturity and critical discernment for the voters to choose the right candidates that truly embody the leadership qualities that they aspire for.”

abuse and to remind them that the struggle is bigger than one victim and one perpetrator. Alas, coming forward has made many victims feel even more alone, and wish they never spoke out in the first place. The play is an encouragement that ultimately, in the grander scheme, coming forward is worth it. Henson may not have lived to see the fruits of her decision to come forward, but in the end, people have been made aware of what truly happened. Perhaps in the future, justice will truly come, and the younger generation will correct history and know better than allow the same thing to happen again. Henson is remembered fondly for many things. Like many others who suffered during the war, she was resilient, choosing to live one more day despite being tempted numerous times to end her life. Her valiant fight until the end of her days reminds us that we cannot just sweep the ghosts of our past under the rug. Things do not get better or go away if we keep silent; instead they fester. Henson mustered courage to speak up when no one else here has. Imagine her trepidation at the thought that her children and grandchildren would know about her deep dark secret. Imagine her shame and guilt, her constant doubt whether she somehow played a part in her destiny. Imagine her fear of how the community would view and judge her. It is in speaking the truth – no matter how hurtful, unsavory, ugly, tragic, embarrassing – that we are ever really empowered to deal with our demons. And slay them. adellechua@gmail.com

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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For Russians, growing worries over ‘eternal poverty’ By Marina Koreneva with Andrea Palasciano in Moscow AT A Saint Petersburg cafe, a singer performs Soviet-era tunes for 50 pensioners enjoying a mid-day meal. In the basement of a central apartment block, the cafe offers free food for the elderly—a group particularly hard hit by the economic strains causing growing anger in Russia. Despite icy pavements making crossing the northern city difficult, the Dobrodomik—or "good little house"—is full. Inside, pensioners are served hearty stews and given the chance to have a chat, or even a dance. They are overwhelmingly women. "Prices are rising every day. So this cafe is a very, very good idea," 72-year-old Rimma Antsiferova told AFP. She receives a monthly pension of 10,000 rubles ($150/135 euros). After paying her local taxes and buying medicine, Antsiferova is left with only $45 to live on. "And recently, the price of transport went up," she said. Businesswoman Alexandra Syniak and her husband Yevgeny Gershevich opened Dobrodomik this winter to "thank the elderly." In the evening, it turns into a regular restaurant but between noon and mid-afternoon, pensioners from all corners of Saint Petersburg come to eat a warm meal. 'Never been as hard' Following an oil boom in the 2000s, Russians have seen their purchasing power steadily decline over the last five years. The trend is showing no sign of slowing, despite Russia recovering from a 2015 recession brought on by a fall in oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. When he was re-elected for a fourth presidential term last year, President Vladimir Putin promised to halve Russia's poverty rate. But soon afterwards, his government raised value-added tax and hiked the retirement age for the first time since the 1930s—a hugely unpopular move. "It's never been as hard for people as it is now," said Igor Nikolayev, director of the FBK Strategic Analysis Institute in Moscow. And this anxiety is starting to show in opinion polls. According to a January survey by

Bong Go:... From A4

Politicians should realize that it’s never a good idea to disregard values. While many netizens dislike Aquino and think she’s brought her problems on herself, some of them believe that Go went too far and was bastos, which in our culture goes beyond rude. It means obscene, disrespectful, without shame. Not only was Kris’s sorrow as a partner mocked—naloko siya—but somehow the young boy Joshua was considered as also having been insulted, by the mere fact of his relationship to his mother and father. To Go and other candidates: the

A vicious... From A4

other men want it. But on this basis, a person cannot eat, breathe, or love (all of that is selfish, and what if two other men want your wife?), persons cannot live together at all, and can do nothing except end up by exterminating one another. Only on the basis of individual rights can any good—private or public—be defined and achieved. Only when each person is free to exist for his own sake—neither sacrificing others to himself nor being sacrificed to others—only then is every person free to work for the greatest good he can achieve for himself by his own choice and by his own effort. And the sum total of such individual efforts is the only kind of general, social good possible.

the independent Levada center, 61 percent of Russians "feel shame for the eternal poverty and insecurity" of their country, compared to 56 percent in 2015. Putin's personal approval rating has taken a hit, too. In January, Levada found his approval rating at 64 percent—the lowest Inflation, VAT up Levada's director Lev Gudkov told AFP that different surveys show support for Putin, who has been in power since 1999, falling by a third. "Discontent has spread from urban centers to smaller, industrial towns where the working population is most affected by falling incomes," Gudkov said. "This is linked to the refusal of the state to provide social guarantees, and funds being used for geopolitical projects rather than going on the people," he said. Gudkov said real incomes in Russia have fallen by "around 13 percent" since 2014. "It is painful for people who live on the average salary," he told AFP. The average monthly wage is 42,600 rubles ($650/570 euros). In his state of the nation address last month, Putin announced social aid exceeding 1.3 billion euros, promising an improvement in people's lives "within this year". "Poverty can crush a person," he said. But in the short term, Russians are seeing food prices rise fast— partly caused by the VAT increase from 18 to 20 percent that came into effect on January 1. Inflation rose to five percent last month and even reached 7.3 percent for fruit and vegetables. At the Dobrodomik cafe, former engineer Galina Mikhalina said she sometimes "hesitates to buy bread". The 73-year-old's pension was recently raised by a 1,000 rubles to 12,000 rubles per month. "But prices are rising twice as fast," she said. Mikhalina said she does not "feel comfortable eating charity meals" but has little choice. She points to fellow retirees in the cafe as a sign of how poverty is more widespread than it might appear. "Look around—these people do not look like outcasts." AFP.

best way to “make voters happy” is to present a clear, well-thought out platform of plans and programs. Tell voters how you will serve them and address their pressing problems. Show that you are the best person for the job because you are qualified and have the necessary education, knowledge, and skills. Mocking women is not the way to convince people you’re worthy of election to public office. *** Pro tip for candidates: They don’t write comedy scripts in the Senate— they write laws. / FB and Twitter: @ DrJennyO Do not think that the opposite of “the greatest good for the greatest number” is “the greatest good for the smallest number.” The opposite is: the greatest good he can achieve by his own free effort, to every person living. If you are an individualist and wish to preserve the free way of life, the greatest contribution you can make is to discard, once and for all, from your thinking, from your speeches, and from your sympathy, the empty slogan of “the greatest good for the greatest number.” Reject any argument, oppose any proposal that has nothing but this slogan to justify it. It is a booby-trap. It is a precept of pure collectivism. You cannot accept it and call yourself an individualist. Make your choice. It is one or the other. eric jurado@gmail.com

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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SC penalizes former employee for dishonesty By Rey E. Requejo

HE Supreme Court has found a former executive assistant of retired Associate Justice Jose Perez guilty for less serious dishonesty for his role in luring court employees into investing their hard-earned money in a multi-million business scheme that turned out to be a scam.

In a 29-page en banc decision, the SC, through Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo, penalized Ramdel Rey De Leon in the amount equivalent to his one year salary to be deducted from his benefits considering that he already resigned from the Court on April 30, 2015 and could no longer be suspended. De Leon was also found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, violations of SC Administrative Circular No. 5-88, and Section 5 of Canon III (Conflict of Interest) and Section 1 of Canon IV (Performance of Duties) of the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel. The complaint was filed by former Court

Attorney VI in the office of Justice Perez and now-Pili Regional Trial Court Judge Vivencio Gregorio Atutubo III, Deputy Division Clerk of Court Teresita Tuazon, and Court Attorneys Delight Aissa Salvador and Joevanni Villanueva. The SC ruled that although there was no direct evidence to prove that De Leon was in partnership with his brother Rammyl and Ferdinand John Mendoza, there was still basis to hold him administratively liable for having acted as a recruiter for the “check-rediscounting” business venture. “Indubitably, respondent actively participated in the series of transactions and dealings with complainants, from the time he accepted all the monies and placed it in the account of Mendoza. This constitutes as sufficient evidence to find that respondent had some involvement in the business of rediscounting checks as a ‘recruiter of third-party investors,’” the tribunal stressed. Court records showed that in 2012 De Leon, taking advantage of his close friendship and trust with complainants, enticed them into parting with their money and investing in his

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK 7.3. The “Vehicles” project involves the acquisition of new vehicles, such as bucket trucks, low-bed trailer and prime mover, used for network maintenance and development works. These vehicles are needed for works such as transporting mobile substations, pole erection, installation and line attachments, as well as for transferring and mobilizing power transformer. The project also involves the acquisition of motorbikes for use by field distribution engineers, especially for emergency response activities.

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PROJECTS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2018, WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

8. The total estimated cost of the proposed CAPEX projects for CY 2018 is PhP 1,126,317,180.00, broken down as follows: NETWORK PROJECTS 92,540,371 Hybrid Underground System Phase 3 92,540,371 OTHER NETWORK PROJECTS 960,302,517 Automated Switches 39,310,473 Communication Equipment 21,719,950 Customer Service - Wires and Metering 127,034,357 Equipment Distribution Transformers 359,140,694 Overhead Conductors 66,476,570 Poles and Fixtures 300,929,866 Station Equipment 40,191,085 Power Factor Improvement Proiect 5,499,522 NON-NETWORK PROJECTS 73,474,292 Computers 1,766,725 Tools and Instruments 33,126,307 Vehicles 38,581,260 TOTAL CAPEX 2018 1,126,317,180

ERC CASE NO. 2018-124 RC VISAYAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. (VECO), Applicant. x-------------------------------------------x NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: Notice is hereby given that on 28 December 2018, the Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) filed an Application dated 22 November 2018 (Application) seeking the Commission’s approval of the Capital Expenditure Projects for Calendar Year 2018, with prayer for provisional authority. In the said Application, VECO alleged the following, among others: 1. VECO is a private corporation existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal business address at J. Panis Street, Banilad, Cebu City. It is a duly authorized distribution utility of electric power in the municipalities of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Consolacion and Lilo-an and the Cities of Naga, Talisay, Cebu and Mandaue, Province of Cebu, pursuant to its franchise under Republic Act No. 9339. VECO may be served with orders and other processes of the Honorable Commission through its undersigned counsel at the address indicated below.

2 . The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (“EPIRA”), under Section 23, obligates VECO, as well as other distribution utilities, to provide distribution services and connections to its customers consistent with the distribution code.1

11. Applicant undertakes to comply with the pre-filing requirements under Section 4( e) of the EPlRA IRR, as amended,

3. Thus, VECO, in accordance with Section 20 (b) of Commonwealth Act No. 146,2 hereby applies for the approval of the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Projects for Calendar Year (“CY”) 2018.

12. Public interest and necessity requires the immediate implementation, without delay, of the subject CAPEX projects. The loading and reliability constraints of the current substations are reaching critical levels, necessitating the upgrade and/or construction of the relevant substations. Aside from these, in the event that the CAPEX projects are not immediately implemented, the consumers may suffer from prolonged power interruptions and additional load coming from existing and new customers may likewise not be accommodated. These negative consequences, which are detrimental not only to the economy of the areas covered by VECO, but also to the livelihood and everyday lives of the consumers may be mitigated by the immediate approval of the VECO 2018 CAPEX projects.

10. The detailed explanation, description, economic analysis, justification, alternatives considered, as applicable, and other information on VECO’s CAPEX projects for CY 2018, are discussed in detail in Annex “A” of this Application.

5. The project under the “Network Assets” category is “Hybrid Underground System Phase 3” project. 5.1. The project, which is an underground distribution system that will span along Imus Avenue from Cor. Sikatuna St. to Cor. General Maxilom Ave, will address VECO’s compliance to the statutory requirements of Cebu City Ordinance No. 1894 dated April 25, 2001. Inherently, this underground distribution system would also improve the reliability of the system and the safety of the general public.

Filipino sailors onboard foreign ocean-going vessels sent home a record $6.14 billion through the banking system in 2018, ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III said. The total remittance was 4.6 percent or $270 million higher from the $5.87 billion sent in 2017. “The amount does not include money remitted via non-bank channels as well as cash physically brought home by sailors on vacations,” Bertiz said. By country of origin, Bertiz said the top sources of cash transfers from Filipino sailors last year were the United States at $2.31 billion; Singapore, $563.85 million; Germany, $560.98 million; Japan, $435.82 million; the United

Kingdom, $331.23 million; Hong Kong, $275.53 million; the Netherlands, $259.12 million; Greece, $174.98 million; Panama, $163.62 million; Cyprus, $125.19 million; and Norway, $115.98 million. “We see the demand for Filipino sailors rising steadily in tandem with international merchant ship traffic, as economies around the world continue to expand,” Bertiz said. Filipino sailors serve on bulk carriers, container ships, oil, gas, chemical and other product tankers, general cargo ships, pure car carriers and tugboats around the world. Many Filipinos also provide housekeeping, guest relations, culinary, front office and other maintenance services on cruise ships and floating casinos.

13. Thus, pending final approval, there is an urgent need for a provisional authority for VECO to immediately implement its proposed 2018 CAPEX projects. In support of the prayer for the grant of a provisional authority, attached as Annex “B” is the Judicial Affidavit of Mr. Noel S. Modesto of VECO.

6. The projects under the “Other Network Projects” category are the following:

14. The foregoing CAPEX for CY 2018 are indispensable for the systematic and economic expansion and rehabilitation of VECO’s distribution facilities and ensuring compliance with safety, performance and regulatory requirements. The benefit arising from these CAPEX projects will ultimately redound to the endconsumers in terms of continuous, reliable and efficient power supply.

Automated Switches Communication Equipment Customer Service - Wires and Metering Equipment Distribution Transformers Overhead Conductors Poles and Fixtures Station Equipment Power Factor Improvement Project

PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Commission:

6.1. The “Automated Switches” project involves acquiring automated switches, which include Load Break Switches and Reclosers, that will be used by VECO for 2018. The project will increase reliability of the power system and reduce the interruption time.

APPROVE the proposed Capital Expenditure Projects for Calendar Year 2018; and

Pending trial on the merits, issue an Order granting Provisional Authority authorizing Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) to implement its proposed Capital Expenditure Projects for Calendar Year 2018.

Other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are likewise prayed for.

6.2. The “Communication Equipment” project involves the acquisition of communications equipment to be used by VECO for 2018. These equipment will be used for the proper communication between VECO’s automated equipment in the field or substation to and from VECO’s system operation control center.

The Commission has set the Application for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence on 14 March 2019 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.), at ERC Visayas Field Office, St. Mary’s Drive, Banilad, Cebu City.

6.3. The “Customer Service - Wires and Metering Equipment” project will serve customer request for electric service connection, and for maintenance and new installation of revenue meters

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the instant case may become a party by filing with the Commission a verified Petition to Intervene at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, indicating therein the docket number and title of the case and stating the following:

6.4. The “Distribution Transformers” project involves the acquisition of distribution transformers, according to kVA rating and type, to be used by VECO for 2018. This project will aid VECO in catering to increase in customer demand, refurbishment or replacement of distribution transformers and new customer request applications.

1) The petitioner’s name and address; 2) The nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and

6.5. The “Overhead Conductors” project involves the acquisition of overhead conductors to be used by VECO for 2018. This project will address the yearly requirements of VECO for its supply of overhead conductors needed to serve its consumers.

3) A statement of the relief desired. All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the case may file their Opposition or Comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before Applicant rests its case, subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure. No particular form of Opposition or Comment is required, but the document, letter, or writing should contain the following:

6.6. The “Poles and Fixtures” project involves the acquisition of the needed poles, with compatible accessories/fixtures, to be used by VECO for the year 2018, needed to improve reliability and availability of the overhead distribution network. 6.7. The “Station Equipment” project involves the acquisition of equipment to be used by VECO in its various substations. With the project in place, VECO will be able to efficiently maintain its substation assets.

1) The name and address of such person; 2) A concise statement of the Opposition or Comment; and

6.8. The “Power Factor Improvement” project involves the 2018 acquisition of capacitor banks to be used by VECO to maintain the proper allowable voltage operating range within the distribution system. This project will also alleviate technical system loss through capacity optimization.

3) The grounds relied upon. All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Application may request from Applicant that they be furnished with the same prior to the date of the initial hearing. Applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the Application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the Application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

7. The projects in the “Non-network Projects” category include the following: o Computers o Tools and Instruments o Vehicles

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson and CEO AGNES VST DEVANADERA, and the Honorable Commissioners CATHERINE P. MACEDA, and PAUL CHRISTIAN M. CERVANTES, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 18th day of February 2019 in Pasig City.

7.1. The “Computer” project involves the acquisition of new computer units to replace old computer units. This also includes acquisition and maintenance of computer software for simulation, drawing and testing of the assets in the distribution network. 7.2. The “Tools and Instrument” project involves the acquisition of tools and instruments to be used for monitoring the system power quality and addressing customer issues, maintenance of power metering instruments and substation equipment testing devices and other distribution network tools.

Filipino sailors remitted $6.14-b through PH banks

ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

4. VECO’s CAPEX projects are grouped into “Network Assets”, “Other Network Assets” and “Non-Network Projects”.

o o o o o o o o

The proposed CAPEX for CY 2018 will not have a direct impact on the current rates of VECO until approved by the Honorable Commission as part of VECO’s Regulatory Asset Base in the next applicable Regulatory Period.

alleged business transactions. Based on the scheme as explained by De Leon, Mendoza was into check-rediscounting with suppliers/contractors of San Miguel Corporation. He explained that SMC paid the suppliers of raw materials or other products after 90 days from the date the contract was awarded and/or upon compliance/completion of the contract. These suppliers/contractors would then approach the agents of Mendoza for them to liquidate or sell the value of their contracts at a discounted price, so that they would be liquid and compliant with SMC’s requirements. Thereafter, Mendoza would contact his brother and other people willing to pool in cash to accommodate the said contracts. For all the capital investments, Mendoza would issue three post- dated checks - the ﬁrst check to cover the principal, which would run and mature after 60 days, and the two subsequent checks to cover the ﬁve percent interest per month. On June 18, 2014, the respondent said his brother informed him that Mendoza was already missing and was nowhere to be found.

JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Oversight Commissioner for Legal 1

Section 23 of RA 9136, as implemented by Rule 7, Section 4 of tbe EPIRA Implementing Rules and Regulations (“EPIRA IRR”). Public Service Act (MS-FEB. 25 & MAR. 4, 2019)

CONTRABAND. As the world marks the 6th World Wildlife Day on Sunday, March 3, the Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport seized 1,500 live turtles of different sizes and types concealed in the luggage of an arriving Filipino passenger from Hong Kong. The contraband is estimated to cost P4.5 million. The turtles were turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Norman Cruz

Manila hospital gets latest radiotherapy tech vs cancer By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Manila Doctors Hospital has bolstered its fight against cancer with its acquisition of the VitalBeam Radiotherapy System, the first of its kind in the Philippines. “VitalBeam is a real game-changer that will enable us at Manila Doctors to treat even challenging cases with pinpoint accuracy and precision, making it possible for us to offer our patients fast, targeted treatments,” said Dr. Mario Juco, medical director of Manila Doctors Hospital. The World Health Organization has listed cancer as the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for at least 9.6 million deaths last year. In its 2018 Global Cancer Country Profile for the Philippines, the WHO said more than 80,000 deaths were attributed to the deadly disease with lung, colorectal, prostate, liver, and leukemia as the most common types of cancer in men and breast, cervix, colorectal, lung, and ovarian cancer for women. The latest technology in cancer care from strategic partners Varian and Siemens Healthineers, VitalBeam delivers powerful cancer treatments with pinpoint accuracy and precision. It uniquely integrates imaging and treatment technologies within a sophisticated architecture that makes it possible to deliver imageguided treatments very quickly, opening the door to new possibilities for the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, as well as other cancers that are treatable with radiotherapy. The system is now available at Manila Doctors Hospital’s new Cancer Institute which began operations in January. “Imaging is an essential part of modern-day, targeted radiotherapy,” said Dr. Antonio Villalon, head of the Cancer Institute.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

Commission En Banc; Develop and manage a recording system for all reports, statements, and contracts received by it and to digitize information contained therein; Publish the digitized information of the reports, statements and contracts and make them available online; Develop’ a reportorial and monitoring system; Initiate before the Law Department, filing of election offense cases and administrative exclusions of candidates for violations of campaign finance laws; Inquire into the financial records of candidates and any organization or group of persons, after due notice and hearing; Conduct preliminary inquiry or fact-finding investigation; ..... . ..... “

“SECTION 12. Administrative Penalty for incomplete statements and reports. - An administrative penalty shall be imposed in the amount of One Thousand (P1,000.00) Pesos against candidate, electoral party and contributor for incomplete submission of the required documents.

SECTION 6. Section 3, Rule 2 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

SECTION 13. Administrative Penalty against belated filing by elected candidate and electoral party. - Except in Barangay and Sk, an elected candidate and electoral party who belatedly submitted its SOCE shall be subject to payment administrative penalty:

(e)

TODAY

(f) (g) (h)

Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Manila IN THE MATTER OF FURTHER AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 10446, ENTITLED “RULES AND REGULATIONS ON: (1) THE BAN ON BEARING, CARRYING OR TRANSPORTING OF FIREARMS OR OTHER DEADLY WEAPONS; AND (2) THE EMPLOYMENT; AVAILMENT OR ENGAGEMENT OF THE SERVICES OF SECURITY PERSONNEL OR BODYGUARDS DURING THE ELECTION PERIOD OF THE MAY 13, 2019 NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS,” AS AMENDED.

(i) (j) (k)

ABAS, S.M., Chairman PARREÑO, A.A., Commissioner GUIA, L.T.F., Commissioner GUANZON,M.R.A.V., Commissioner INTING, S.B., Commissioner CASQUEJO, M.S., Commissioner KHO, Jr., A.T., Commissioner

......... . ........ Initiate, before the Law Department, cases for violations of Article XI (Electoral Contributions and Expenditures) provisions of the Omnibus Election Code that are included as election offenses in Section 262 thereof and administrative exclusion; ......................................................“ SECTION 7. Section 1, Rule 6 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 1. Allowable Amount of Expenses for Candidates and Parties; Expenditure limits. - The aggregate amount that a candidate or party may spend for an election campaign shall be as follows:

x---------------------------------------------------x

Promulgated : February 28, 2019

RESOLUTION No. 10504 WHEREAS, the Commission En Banc promulgated Resolution No. 10446 on November 21, 2018; WHEREAS, several amendments to Resolution No. 10446 were adopted by the Commission En Banc in Resolution No. 10496, which was promulgated on February 13, 2019; WHEREAS, there is a need to further amend Resolution No. 10446 in order to clarify certain provisions thereof; NOW, THEREFORE, the Commission, by virtue of the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, Republic Act I Nos. 6646 and 7166, and other election laws, RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to further amend Resolution No. 10446, as follows: SECTION 7. Application for authority to bear, carry or transport Firearms or Deadly Weapons. -xxx xxx f.

“SECTION 3. Campaign Finance Director; Powers, Duties and Functions. - ............... : (a) (b) (g)

For Private Security Services Providers mentioned in Section 6, paragraph K of Rule III: xxx 9. Copy of the Agency’s valid Long Regular Registration and Certificate of License to Own and Possess Firearm for Juridical.”

“SECTION 14. Who may employ, avail or engage the services of security personnel or bodyguards. - When circumstances warrant, including but not limited to threats to their life and security, the foIlowing persons who are not mentioned in Section 12, Rule IV above may be issued CASD and allowed to employ, avail or engage the services of two (2) or more officers or members of the PNP / AFP provided the PNP/AFP allowed or authorized the same or two (2) private security personnel or bodyguards during Election Period from duly licensed private security service providers:

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

....... ; ....... ; ....... ; ....... ; Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan candidates- Five Pesos (P5.00) for every voter currently registered in the constituency where they filed their certificates of candidacy. “

SECTION 8. Section 2, Rule 9 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 2. Preservation and Inspection of Records at the Commission and its offices. - All statements of contributions and expenditures shall be kept and preserved at the where they are filed and shall constitute part of public records thereat for five (5) years after the conduct of election. They shall not be removed therefrom except upon order of the Commission or of a competent court and shall, during regular office hours, be available to inspection by the public, subject to Data Privacy Act, and existing rules and regulations on access to public records.” SECTION 9. Section 3, Rule 9 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 3. Examination of Statements; Parallel Examination by the Field Offices- It shall be the duty of the Commission through the CFO to examine all statements received from candidates and parties to determine compliance with the provisions of these Rules and for this purpose coordinate with other agencies of the government or non-governmental organizations to attain its mandate. The Office of the Regional Election Director for provincial candidates and parties, and Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor for city/municipal candidates and parties, upon receipt of all disclosure statements and reports within its area of responsibility, shall conduct a parallel examination to determine overspending by candidates and parties.

“SECTION 18. Guiding principles for the employment, availment or engagement of services of security personnel or bodyguards. - x x x xxx d. Carrying one (1) small firearm, unless allowed otherwise by the PNP.” “SECTION 24. Conditions. - In addition to the requirements stated above, the following are conditions for the issuance of a CA-TT or authority to transport or deliver Firearms and/or its parts, Ammunitions and/ or its components or Explosives and/ or its components during Election Period: a. The Authority shall be valid only within a prescribed period and shall provi.de the terms and conditions of its grant, on a strictly one-way basis. The validity of the Authority may be extended for a period equal to the period reflected in the new permit issued by the PNP after submission of the following: i. ii.

Letter-request; Original copy of the new permit issued by the PNP, with endorsement from the appropriate officer of the FEO; iii. Copy of the official receipt to prove payment of fee for extension of validity of CA-TT. x x x” “SECTION 41. Records Keeping. - Physical and electronic records of applications received, processed, evaluated and acted upon shall be kept in a dedicated CBFSP office and shall be under the custody of the CBFSP Secretariat. The PNPEU and AFPEU shall be deemed to be in the custody of the physical and electronic records of applications upon endorsement of the same to the said evaluation units and while the same records are in their possession. x x x”

“SECTION 2. When and how to file the SOCE and its supporting documents. - Not later than thirty (30) days after the day of election, or by June 12, 2019, Wednesday, all candidates and parties who participated in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections, regardless of whether they won or lost, must file their Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) and the relevant Schedules and supporting documents. Filing of these campaign finance disclosure reports and statements must be done in person, whether by the candidates and/or party treasurers personally, or through their duly authorized representatives, before the offices listed in Section 3 of this Rules. Duly authorized representatives of candidates and parties must present a written authorization from their principals, using Form SPA-C in the case of candidates and Form SPA-P in the case of parties, before they can submit the campaign finance disclosure statements and reports of their principals. Submissions via registered mail, courier or messenger services shall not be accepted. Except for elected candidate and party-list group, the deadline shall be final and nonextendible. Submissions beyond this period shall not be accepted. COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 9849 and 9873, Minute Resolutions Nos. 13-0775 and 13-0823 are hereby repealed, insofar as they allowed the belated submission, amendment and/or correction of campaign finance disclosure statements and reports and the imposition of late penalties for the 2013 National and Local Elections. In case of special and recall elections, it shall be filed within thirty (30) days from the date of the conduct of elections. “ SECTION 11. Section 3, Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No.9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 3. Where to file statements. - Candidates and electoral parties shall file their SOCE with the following offices:

The Education and Information Department is directed to cause the publication of this resolution in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation, and furnish copies thereof the Regional Election Directors, Provincial Election Supervisors and Election Officers, AFP, PNP and all other law enforcement agencies.

Office Campaign Finance Office

SO ORDERED.

Elective Positions/parties 1. President and Vice President 2. Senators 3. National Political Parties 4. Party-List Groups

Office of the Regional Election Director, National Capital Region (NCR)

1. Members of the House of Representatives in the NCR 2. Regional Political Parties with the entire NCR as their constituency

Office of the Regional Election Director

Regional Political Parties

x---------------------------------------------------x

RESOLUTION No. 10505

Considering that after its implementation in the said elections, there are subsequent important resolutions issued on matters relating to campaign finance, the policy on the Data Privacy Act, and the need to amend provisions and procedure in subject resolution to effectively carryout the Commission’s constitutional mandate;

1. Regional Political Parties with the entire BARMM region as its constituency 1. Members of House of Representatives 2. Provincial Officials; 3. Provincial Political Parties;

(1) ......... ................ , (2) ........ .. ............... , (3) .... .. ................... , (4) ........ ............ .. ... , (5) ......................... , (6) deleted (7) (6) ...................... ;. (b) Schedule of Expenditures - ......... ......... ; (c) Summary Report ofLawful Expenditures - ....... ; (d) Schedule of Unpaid Obligations - ........... ;. Documentary stamp is not required to be attached to any of the forms. “ SECTION 13. Section 6, Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 1. Effect of failure to file SOCE. - No elected candidate shall enter upon the duties of office until he filed his SOCE. The same prohibition shall apply if the electoral party which nominated the winning candidate fails to file SOCE. Except candidates for elective barangay and sk offices, failure to file SOCE shall constitute an administrative offense for which the offender shall be liable to pay an administrative fine in accordance with the Scale of Administrative Fine under Section 11 hereof The fine shall be paid within thirty (30) days from receipt of notice of such failure; otherwise, it shall be enforceable by a writ of execution issued by the CFO against the properties of the offender.

SECTION 1. Section 4, Rule 1 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

The office of an elected candidate who failed to file SOCE shall be considered vacant pursuant to Section 11 of the Omnibus Election Code, until he has complied and submitted his SOCE within six months from proclamation.

SECTION 2. Section 9, Rule 1 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: “Section 9. Efficient Use of Paper Rule and Submission of Soft Copy. .......... .......... For submissions to COMELEC Field Offices, three (3) hard copies are required, which will be used as follows: (1) One (1) copy to be retained at the Field Office to serve as that office’s file copy; (2) One (1) copy to be forwarded to the Office of the Provincial Elections Supervisor or the Office of the Regional Election Director; (3) One (1) copy to be returned to the person submitting the same as proof of submission after the receiving date and time stamp of the COMELEC Field Office has been affixed thereon. In every case, the soft or electronic copy of the submitted form must accompany the hard copy or paper submission, in its final encoded version, in Excel file format, except when the submitted form was generated using the CFORS with a unique document identification number at the upper right-hand corner of the form. Image files showing the scanned or photographed hard copy submission of the forms shall likewise be included in the submission of the soft or electronic copy. This rule shall be without prejudice to any online, web-based or eIectronic filing system that the Commission may develop and use for this same purpose.” SECTION 3. Section 10, Rule 1 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: “SECTION 10. Guidelines for the Submission of the Soft or Electronic copy of the Forms and their Attachments. (a)

How to submit. - Persons required to submit disclosure statements and reports under these Rules may choose to furnish the COMELEC with the soft or electronic copy of their submissions through any of the following means: (1) By storing the files in a portable storage device such as a USB flash drive or optical discs such as compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs); or (2) By e-mailing the files to campaignfinance@comelec.gov.ph or comelec. cfo@ gmail.com”

SECTION 5. Section 1, Rule 2 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991,as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows: “SECTION 1. Renaming of the Campaign Finance Unit to Campaign Finance Office; Powers, Duties and Functions. - ......... . (a) (b) (c) (d)

....... ; ....... ; ....... ; Issue writs and subpoenas in relation thereto and submit reports and findings to the

8,000.00

Members oUhe ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly

7,000.00

Regional Political Parties

7,000.00

Provincial Governors

8,000.00

Provincial Vice Governors

8,000.00

Provincial Political Parties

8,500.00

Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board Members)

7,000.00

House of Representatives - Legislative Districts

7,000.00

Local Political Parties (City/Municipality

7,000.00

City /Municipal Mayors

7,000.00

City /Municipal Vice Mal/ors

7,000.00

Sangguniang Panglungsod/Bayan (City/Municipal Councilors)

6,000.00

Provided, that the SOCE shall be submitted within six months from the date of proclamation. Provided, further, that belated filing in two instances by an elected candidate or party-list group shall be considered to have failed to file SOCE twice. In such case, the violator shall be imposed with administrative fine in accordance with the preceding section and shall be disqualified to hold public office.“ SECTION 17. Rule 12 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, are hereby amended to read as follows: “RULE 12 INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION A. INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION SECTION 1. Preliminary Inquiry and Fact-finding investigation; Concept. Preliminary inquiry and (act-finding investigation are informal and summary processes to ascertain and establish a (act relevant in dispute that will merit a conduct of a subsequent full investigation, action, or proceeding against a candidate, electoral party, or any person, to be filed be ore the Law Department or the Clerk of the Commission. It is a discovery stage where information are gathered, researched, and verified to assemble a report necessary prior to the institution of a formal complaint or action. Preliminary inquiry is based from a complaint, or any other information or documents submitted and supplied by a complainant, informant, or a whistle blower; while factfinding investigation is based from the referral by the Commission. SECTION 2. Complainant and informant defined. A complainant is a person who submitted a sworn written statement charging a candidate or the electoral party of violation of any campaign finance laws. The complainant may be utilized as a witness by the CFO for the prosecution or legal action against the violator. An informant is an unknown person, or whose identity does not want to be known, but provides vital information or submitted important documents as evidence concerning illegal activities against any person, candidate, and electoral party that will constitute violation of campaign finance laws. An informant need not be used as a witness in prosecuting the violator. A whistle-blower is an informant working in or with the public sector who uncovers illegal activities committed by his officers or co-employees in the same office in the government service. It may also mean any individual in ‘the private sector, who reveals wrongdoings and dealings by his officers and co-employees in the company where he is working conniving with any individual in the government service. In both cases, the information pertains to the commission of an act that would violate campaign finance laws. SECTION 3. Conduct of preliminary inquiry and fact-finding investigation- If it is initiated by the Commission, the Campaign Finance Director, or the examining officer, shall conduct the fact-finding investigation immediately against any person, candidate, or electoral party on the basis of the initial findings contained in the resolution. In other cases, where there is a complaint, or information submitted by any person requesting for inquiry, the Campaign Finance Director shall determine and examine whether the complaint or information can be supported by proof or other evidence on records. In all instances, the examining officer may request appearance of the candidate concerned, or a representative of the electoral party, or any person for clarification on certain matter. However, he shall neither disclose the identity of the complainant or the informant nor allow the same to be confronted by the person or the representative of the electoral party under investigation.

City/Municipal Officials and Barangay and SK officials

For the commission of a second or subsequent offense, a higher administrative fine shall be imposed against the offender. In addition, the offender shall be subject to perpetual disqualification to hold public office.

(a) .......... (p) Contractor and Business Firm - refers to any person, natural or juridical, or firm, including but not limited to media entities, internet and social media platforms. advertising agencies, public relations firms, event organizers, talent endorsers and their managers, digital influencers, printing press, to whom any electoral expenditure is made. .......... (t) Mass media - refers to diversified technologies, operating on various platforms, that have for their primary purpose the transmission of information and communication to a large audience. These platforms include broadcast, internet and mobile, print, and outdoor. ‘Mass Media Entities’ refer to individuals and organizations that exercise control over these technologies and determine, whether directly or indirectly, the content being distributed using these technologies. ‘Social media’ is a form of mass media.”

10,000.00

Regional Governor and Regional Vice Governor for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

Office of the City/ Municipal Election Officer

WHEREFORE, the Commission En Banc, by virtue of the powers vested in it by Constitution, Batas Pambansa Bilang 881, Republic Act Nos. 7166, 9006, and other election laws, the Commission on Elections as it hereby to promulgate the following amendments:

“Section 4. Definition of Terms. - Whenever used in these Rules, the following words shall mean:

10,000.00

National Political Parties

If the examining officer finds cause, the Campaign Finance Director shall prepare the appropriate pleading or complaint against the candidate or the electoral party.

(a) Schedule of Contributions Received - ............... :

This pertains to the implementation of COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, entitled “Omnibus Rules and Regulations Governing Campaign Finance and Disclosure in Connection with the 09 May 2016 National and Local Elections and All Subsequent National and Local Elections Thereafter”;

10,000.00

House of Representatives - Party-List Groups

1. Members of the House of Representatives for legislative districts in cities outside the NCR which comprise of one or more legislative districts 2. City officials of cities with more than one Election Office 3. Local Political Parties with constituencies in cities

“SECTION 4, Form and contents of statements. - .....

Promulgated : February 28, 2019

10,000.00

Senators

Office of the City Election Officer designated by the Regional Election Director

SECTION 12. Section 4, (a),(6), of Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby deleted, renumbered, amended, and shall be read as follows:

Chairman Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner

Vice President

The examining officer shall make a report whether there is basis to subject the proceeding to a subsequent action or to undergo a fuII formal investigation. Otherwise, he shall dismiss the complaint or the request, without prejudice for the complainant or the informant to initiate the filing directly to the Law Department or to the Clerk of the Commission.

On the last day of submission, under meritorious circumstances, a candidate or electoral part, may submit directly to CFO. “

Abas, S.M., Parreño, A.A., Guia, L.T.F., Guanzon, M.R.A.V., Inting, S.B., Cascuejo, M.S., Kho, Jr., A.T.,

Amount 10,000.00

1. Members of the House of Representatives of legislative districts in provinces 2. Provincial officials 3. Provincial Political Parties

Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor in BARMM

AMENDMENT TO THE OMNIBUS RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND DISCLOSURE

Elective Position President

Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor of Non-ARMM Province

Bangsamoro Electoral Office (formerly ORED-ARMM)

Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Manila

An incomplete report is a report that does not contain all the required information or does not conform to the prescribed form, shall subject the contributor to the payment of penalty.”

The Office of the Regional Election Director or Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor shall immediately transmit to the CEO the records should a candidate or party overspent.” SECTION 10. Section 2, Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

xxx“

A SOCE is considered incomplete when: 1) any or all the required documents are unsigned or not notarized; 2) it lacks details and entries in any or all the documents; 3) there is a missing document and receipt.

After the lapse of the said period and the candidate failed to assume office, a permanent vacancy occurs for which said office shall be filled-up in accordance with the Constitution or law. “ SECTION 14. Section 9, Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 9. Internal Transmission of SOCEs from field to CFO., Within seven days from the last day of filing of SOCE, the following shall be observed in the collation and submission of SOCE and other documents: a. Office of the Election Officer1. SOCE submitted by candidates, proof of notice/service to candidate and party, record log sheet, Records of Oaths (for Barangay and Sk Elections) to be submitted to Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor. 2. Soft copy and checklist to be submitted to CFO. b. Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor1. Collated SOCE documents from different cities or municipalities; 2. SOCE and other documents submitted by provincial candidates and provincial political parties, proof of notice/service to candidate and party, record log sheet to be submitted to the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor. 3. Soft copy from provincial candidates and electoral parties, and checklist to be submitted to CFO. c. Office of the Regional Election Director 1. Collated SOCE documents submitted by the Offices of the Provincial Election Supervisor; 2. Regional Political Party submission of its SOCE and other documents; 3. Soft copy of the regional political party’s disclosure statements and reports to be submitted to CFO; d.

Office ofthe Regional Election Director of BARMM 1. Collated SOCE documents submitted by the Offices of the Provincial Election Supervisor; 2. SOCE and other documents submitted by regional candidates and political parties, proof of notice/service to candidate and party, record log sheet; 3. Soft copy of the regional candidates and political party’s disclosure statements and reports, and checklist to be submitted to CFO;

e. Office of the Regional Election Director of NCR 1. Collated SOCE documents from different cities and municipality; 2. SOCE and other documents submitted by the regional political parties, proof of notice/service to candidate and party, record log sheet; 3. Soft copy from regional electoral parties, and checklist to be submitted to CFO. f.

SECTION 4. Inquiry into the financial records of candidates and organizations. - The Commission may, motu proprio or upon written representation for probable cause by any candidate, organization or group of persons or qualified voter, conduct inquiries into the financial records of candidate or electoral party, after due notice and hearing. For this purpose, the Commission may enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to seek the assistance of the latter on establishing the procedure for the exercise of the Commission’s enforcement power granted by the Administrative Code of 1987 under Book V, Title I, Subtitle C, and Section 3 (2). B. Complaint and Prosecution SECTION 1. Initiation of Complaint for Campaign Finance Related Election Offenses. - Complaint for election offense in violation of campaign finance laws may be initiated motu proprio by the Commission through the CFO, or upon written complaint by any citizen of the Philippines, candidate, registered electoral party, or any accredited citizens’ arms of the Commission. SECTION 2. Motu Proprio Complaints. - The Campaign Finance Director may file motu proprio complaint before the Law Department for violation of campaign finance laws. COMELEC Field Officers who personally witnessed the commission of election offenses shall report the same through the execution of a complaint affidavit and submit the said affidavit to the CFO. If there is strong evidence to support a finding that an election offense has been committed, the CFO may file a corresponding complaint before the Law Department for preliminary investigation; otherwise a fact-finding investigation maybe conducted bl{ the CFO to gather more evidence to support the complaint. SECTION 3. Form of Complaint and Where to File. -When not initiated motu proprio by the Commission, the complaint must be notarized and supported by affidavits and/or any other evidence. Complaints may be filed with the Law Department, with the offices of the Provincial Election Supervisor in cases involving city/ municipal candidates or with the Regional Election Director in cases involving provincial candidates. SECTION 4. Evidence to Support Complaint.- In addition to the sworn affidavits of witnesses and other traditional forms of documentary evidence, this CFO shall also accept photographic and video evidence, subject to the following conditions: (a) Still photographs taken with the use of a camera must be printed and attached to the complaint; Provided, that such photographs must be identified, explained and authenticated by the person who took the same through the execution of a sworn affidavit attesting to the circumstances under which the photographs were taken. (b) For video recordings, the same must likewise be identified, explained and authenticated by the person who made the recording through the execution ofa sworn affidavit to that effect. The electronic file copies of the photographs or video recordings must be stored in a portable storage medium such as a compact disc and submitted together with the complaint. “ SECTION 17. A new Section after Section 5 of Rule 13 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby added to read as follows: “SECTION 6. Initiation of Petition for Administrative Exclusion. - Upon receipt of Certificate of Finality of the judgment from the Commission which declared a candidate to be perpetually disqualified to hold public office, a Petition for Administrative Exclusion shall be filed before the Law Department to prevent the candidate from running in the elections. The ex parte petition, once approved b1{ the Commission En Banc, shall remove the said candidate from the List of Candidates qualified to run in the elections. “ SECTION 18. Rule 14 is renumbered to Rule 15, the new Rule 14 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby to read as follows: “RULE 14 Administration of Oath SECTION 1. Lack of authority of Officers of the Commission to administer oath. Exception- All officers of the Commission are not authorized to administer oath, even in their capacities as notary public, on any campaign finance disclosure statements except in Barangay and SK elections. SECTION 2. Officers of the Commission authorized to administer oath in Barangay and SK elections.- The following officers, whether in permanent or in acting capacity, are hereby authorized to administer oath, free of charge, in all submissions related to disclosure statements: a) b) c) d) e)

Regional Election Director; Assistant Regional Election Director; Regional Election Attorney Provincial Election Supervisor; Election Officer;

The authority given to said officers shall not be interpreted to render ineffective the authority granted to anI{ person to administer oaths under existing laws. SECTION 3. Record Requirement for Administration of Oaths. - There shall be a ‘Record of Oaths’ to be kept by the authorized officers mentioned in the preceding section, containing the list of all documents they administered in connection with the Barangay and SK elections. “ SECTION 19. Rule 15 and Rule 16 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended are renumbered to Rule 16 and 17, respectively. Let the Campaign Finance Office implement this Resolution. The Education and Information Department is directed to cause the publication of this Resolution and to disseminate the same to all field offices of the COMELEC, and to the presidents or secretary-generals of all parties, candidates, mass media entities and deputized offices. SO ORDERED

Campaign Finance Office 1. SOCE from national candidates and national electoral parties; 2. Collation of all soft copies of disclosure statements and reports, and checklists from all field offices.”

SECTION 15. Section 11, Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “SECTION 11. Administrative Fines. - Failure to submit SOCE in accordance with law and the rules, shall subject the non-compliant candidate or party to payment of administrative fines, depending on whether the failure was its first or subsequent offense, following this Scale of Administrative Fines: ................ Payment of the aforementioned administrative fines does not absolve the candidate or party who were imposed with the fines, as it does not erase the fact that they had failed to submit the required SOCE in relation to an election that they had participated in. SECTION 16. New Sections after Section 11 of Rule 10 of the COMELEC Resolution No. 9991, as amended, are hereby added to read as follows:

(MS-MAR. 4, 2019)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph; sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Southwoods tops Founders’ Division at PAL golf CEBU CITY—Manila Southwoods captured the Founders division of the just-ended 33rd Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub golf team championships Saturday. The Carmona-based squad collected 143 points at the Alta Vista Golf Club for 530 overall, 12 points ahead of Valley Golf Club. Theody Pascual led Southwoods with 52 points and got solid support from Ryan Abdon (48) and Bong Sison (43). Valley matched Southwoods’ ﬁnal round score behind Eddy Manzanares (52), Abraham dela Cruz (46) and Jimmy Dy (45) to edge third placer Riviera Golf by just two points. Riviera managed only 130 points through Chanyeong Gim (46), Efren Alvez (42) and Manuel Salgado (42) to settle for third place, a point ahead of Negros Occidental. It was Manila Southwoods’ ﬁrst win in the second-tier division. “We are happy to win, but we’re still a long way to go to compete with the big boys,” said Thirdy Escano who made his seniors debut with Southwoods. Other members of the Southwoods championship squad are Alexander Ignacio, Judd Roy, Danny Samaniego and John Bayani Fontanilla III. In the Aviator division, Fil-Am Hawaii assembled 481 points to beat Zamboanga Golf (473) and Team Coral Ocean Point (472). The winning team is composed of Jhonito Bajuyo, Reynaldo Cabato, Billy Galindo, Wilfred Pacpaco, Pat Viernes, Gem Matas, Richard Ped and Romeo Pacpaco. The other division winners were Baguio Country Club (441) in the Sportswriter and EZ Par Golf Club (395) in the Friendship. Making up BCC are Mar Bustos, Sammy Diciano, Mars Garcia, Edgar Dirige, Benito Ang, Herr Bautista, Ismael Basabica and Ramon Aldana.

Subic Bay Triathlon set April 27, 28 THE Subic Bay Freeport Zone will once again bustle with triathlon action with its staging of the 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) on April 27 and 28. The latest event of the longest-running triathlon series is one of two international competitions designated as a qualifying event for the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Dec. 1 to 5. Organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines, in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Tourism Department, the annual event will be composed of Standard Distance (1.5 Km swim – 40 Km bike – 10 Km run), Sprint Distance (750M swim – 20 Km bike – 5 Km run) and Super Sprint Distance (500M swim – 16 Km bike – 2.5 Km run) that will take participants around the freeport. As stake in the event sanctioned by the Asian Triathlon Confederation and supported by Philippine Sports Commission, NTT, Philippine Olympic Committee, Standard Insurance, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines and Gatorade are qualifying points for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games triathlon event, plus medals and gift items for the Top 3 categorical winners (age-group and relay). Seeded are the four gold and silver medalists of the 2017 SEA Games namely Nikko Huelgas, John Chicano, Kim Mangrobang and Claire Adorna. Expected to challenge them are 21-year-old Filipino-Spanish triathlete Fer Casares, Edward Macalalad, JC Abad, Mark Hosana, 2018 Asian Games veteran Kim Kilgroe and Junior champion Karen Manayon of Cebu. Already, 500 participants have registered and for the first time ever, triathletes from Sri Lanka have joined.

PH SAILORS READY FOR SEAG. Members of the Philippine Sailing teams are now ready in the 30th SEA Games scheduled this November after the Far East 28R all-Filipino crew members have learned to spin their boats on a dime during the just concluded Standard Insurance Subic Bay International Regatta Race in Subic Bay Freeport. The men’s and women’s teams will be trained for 10 months under the auspices of Philippine Sailing Association, headed by Judes Echauz.

PH captures 2 golds at close of SEA tourney I

LAGAN CITY – Hometown kid Hokket Delos Santos made sure to deliver in front of his Isabelaños, winning the country’s third gold medal to end the 14th Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships with a bang Sunday afternoon here at the Ilagan City Sports Complex.

The 16-year-old Ilagan City pride leaped for 4.20 meters in the boys’ pole vault to prevail over Singaporeans Wee Junn Elliott (4.10m) and Heng Jee Kuan (3.80), who settled for silver and bronze medals, respectively. Delos Santos’ victory came as a surprise as it was his ﬁrst international stint in pole vault, being a basketball varsity player ﬁrst for in Sta. Barbara National High School. “Hindi ko po inasahan kasi bago lang po ako sa sport pero sobrang saya po,” said the 5’11” athlete.

Meanwhile, high jumper Mariel Abuan gifted the Phil- ippines its second gold earlier. T h e 1 4 - y e a rold Abuan, who hails from Zambales, cleared the high jump bar by 1.65 meters to rule the girls’ event in the face of strong

opposition from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. The Vietnamese pair of Thanh Vy Nguyen and Quynh Giang Pham settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively, with 1.61 and 1.58 meters. A ﬁrst timer in the international games, Abuan said that the challenge from heavy favorites pushed her to surpass do her best following a meager

Mariel Abuan

onegold medal tally in the SEA Youth Games opener on Saturday.

Go For Gold skaters begin tough grind Christiana Means

WITH skateboarding approved as a regular event in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the Go For Gold Philippine skateboarding team has started to lay down the groundwork to produce more Filipino skaters of Margie Didal’s caliber. Monty Mendigoria, president of the Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines, said they recently accredited 12 new judges and referees under the tutelage of Asian E x treme Sports Federation technical director Warren Stuart. They will also hold a series of regional tryouts beginning with the Luzon leg

in Iba, Zambales on March 16-17 that will culminate in a national ﬁnals where the winners could earn the chance to compete in the 30th Southeast Asian Games. Buoyed by her recent accolade as Philippine Sportswriters Association athlete of the year, Didal has gained more conﬁdence to perform at her best in the coming Olympic qualifying trips backed by Go For Gold. ``The award by the PSA has motivated me to work harder as I prepare to qualify for the Olympics,’’ said Didal, who rose to instant fame after her gold-medal feat in the Asian Games. Ranked No. 14 among the world’s top 60 skaters, the 19-year-old Cebuana should compete in four more Olympic qualifying meets in London, the United States, China and Japan to maintain or improve her current world ranking.

``We feel that Margie and the skateboarding team will become our bright lights in the Olympics, and hopefully they can bring home our first Olympic gold medal,’’ said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go. Go For Gold will help bankroll the Olympic qualifying trips of Didal and Filipino-American Christiana Means for them to book a ticket to Tokyo. Only the top 38 women skaters after these series of qualifiers will make it to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games with just a single Olympic slot for Asia aside from two automatic spots for Japan as host country. The national qualifier for the Southeast Asian Games is scheduled Aug. 24-25 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna after the most promising skaters from the south take centerstage in the Mindanao leg on May 25-26 in General Santos City.

Subic Bay to host 17 SEAG events By Peter Atencio AREAS within the Subic Bay Metropolitan Freeport are being readied to host a total of 17 events in the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games which the Philippines will host from Nov. 30 until Dec. 11. The Philippine Olympic Committee, which sent a 4-man delegation to Bangkok over the weekend, informed member nations of this development. The delegation, composed of POC president Ricky Vargas, Chairman Abraham Tolentino, Secretary-General Patrick Gregorio and Communications Director Ed Picson, were informed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority that rehabilitation of existing facilities will be done in the first week of March. The panel flew to Bangkok last Saturday to attend a one-day Olympic Council of Asia Congress at the Intercontinental Hotel. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority officials informed the POC that the centerpiece of Subic’s infrastructure development project for the 2019 SEA Games will be the Remy Field, a six-lane track that will be turned into a nine-lane oval, complemented by three practice lanes, as well as shower rooms, dressing rooms and a new, bigger grandstand. Picson said that among the topics discussed in the Congress Sunday were amendments to the OCA Constitution, reports of the various Vice Presidents of the five Asian regions of East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia. Extensive reports were also made by representatives of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Committee, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Committee, the Association of National Olympic Committees, World Anti Doping Association, as well as several OCA Standing Committees such as Athletes’ Commission, Culture, Education, Ethics, Finance, Media, Medical, Rules, Sports, etc. The Philippine delegation also took the opportunity to meet with several Asian National Olympic Committees and to discuss with South East Asian delegates issues pertaining to the Philippine hosting of the SEA Games. Vargas, who is also president of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, also had a brief chance meeting with International Boxing Association President Gofur Rakhimov of Uzbekistan.

Survival of fittest up in The Country Club golf THE Country Club gears up for three days of top-notch shotmaking from a world-class TCC Ladies Invitational ﬁeld but it could also turn into a torture chamber for the competing cast for its length and wind factor that put stern options on precision and mental toughness. “The wind had been unpredictable the past few days and we’re expecting it to whip up during the TCC Ladies week,” said TCC general manager Colo Ventosa, who also heads the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. Meanwhile, for details and res-

ervations for tickets to the TCC Ladies, contact Jocelyn Duque at 09157974751 or email lpgtinvitational@gmail.com. The event, featuring world No. 2 Sung Hyun Park of Korea, the leading campaigners on the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) and the cream of the local pro crop, unwraps Wednesday (March 6) and there is no better course to hold the richest, biggest event on the sevenyear Ladies Philippine Golf Tour than the Tom Weiskoph layout, which boasts of one of the toughest ﬁnishing holes in the region –

the 365-yard dogleg No. 18 with a big pond on the right and menacing bunkers guarding the green. It could actually play longer than its 6461 yardage in the presence of the wind and with the increase in yardage comes a signiﬁcant change in individual hole strategies to take better advantage of the wind as well as the old and new bunkers, lakes and streams. It could also boil down to bucking the subtle terrors lurking on its sleek putting surface that all but guarantees a wild ﬁnish from among the wouldbe contenders.

TCC’s No. 18 could make or break one’s title bid

IN BRIEF

Business

PXP Energy eyes other oil, gas areas PXP Energy Corp. is looking at other oil and gas areas offered under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program. “Of course, we’re looking,” PXP Energy chairman Manuel Pangilinan said if the company was interested in other areas under the PCECP which are near the Recto Bank. “If there’s a deadline, then we will comply with government requirement,” Pangilinan said. PXP Energy, through Forum Energy Ltd., controls Service Contract 72 (Recto Bank) and SC 75 (Northwest Palawan) which are under exploration moratorium amid the territorial dispute with China. SC 72, which covers an 8,800-squarekilometer area west off Palawan, is estimated to contain bigger oil/gas reserves than the Malampaya gas project. The PCECP drew 21 expressions of interest, according to the Department of Energy. “We have 14 pre-determined areas under PCECP. Thirteen have applied for the pre-determined areas and eight nominated for a potential area so actually, PCECP is a hybrid of PECR [Philippine Energy Contracting Round] and application by nomination,” Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos said earlier. Alena Mae S. Flores

Govt vows to tax foreign workers in online gaming T By Julito G. Rada

HE government will make sure that thousands of foreign nationals working in Philippine offshore gaming operations pay their income taxes, the Finance Department said over the weekend.

DICT defends cyber security deal THE Department of Information and Communication Technology said it is open to any investigation on the P512-million Cyber Security Management project. “The Cybersecurity bidding process is above board and can pass any scrutiny. We welcome any investigation on this matter,” DICT acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said. A taxpayer recently ﬁled a complaint before the Ofﬁce of the Ombudsman against the DICT over the CSM Project. The DICT in January 2019 launched the CMSP, the country’s national platform for intelligence sharing to comprehensively monitor threats and defend the country’s cyber infrastructure from cyberattacks. The project is set to be completed in 10 and a half months starting from the issuance of the notice to proceed on Jan. 15. “This kick-off for the CMS project is a great cue for us to keep taking bold action in this gargantuan task of safeguarding our citizens in the cyber realm,” Rio earlier said in a statement. The platform aims to build the resilience of the country as part of the National Cybersecurity Plan 2022. Darwin G. Amojelar

It said it was working closely with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Justice Department, the Labor Department and other agencies to make foreign nationals working in the so-called Pogos comply with the tax laws. Under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 78-2018, all foreign and Philippine-based gaming operators, including those with offshore licenses, are required to register with the BIR as a prerequisite in the renewal of their Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. licenses. The directive mandates the BIR to identify and monitor tax payments, including the remittance of taxes withheld on foreign nationals working for them. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the list of foreign nationals working for service providers of Pogo operators should be consolidated and

reconciled by the various agencies and ofﬁces involved in the screening, providing work permits and registration of foreign workers. These agencies include the Foreign Affairs Department which screens and issues visas to foreign nationals entering the country; the Justice Department which oversees the Bureau of Immigration that grants short-term special work permits to foreigners; the Labor Department which issues alien employment permits; Pagcor which has a list of licensed Pogo operators; the Trade Department which oversees the special economic zones where several Pogos operate and the Securities and Exchange Commission which registers Pogo agents. “If we get all that [information], then it is possible that we can begin to col-

lect taxes, enforcing the law on these foreign workers who are operating here. Isn’t that what we really want to do here, enforce the law?” Dominguez said during a recent meeting he requested with the respective heads of these agencies to find ways of making foreign Pogo workers pay their income taxes. Dominguez said “a good starting point” would be to trace the employers of these foreign workers so that a portion of their salaries could be withheld and turned over to the government as partial payment of their income taxes. He said that aside from ensuring that foreign nationals comply with tax laws, the government should also find out who and where all foreign workers are, given the national security implications of their large presence in the country. Other officials who attended the meeting were Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Pagcor chairperson Andrea Domingo, BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay, BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa, SEC deputy commissioner Javey Paul Francisco and deputy solicitor general Henry Angeles.

PLDT, Smart record fastest network speed PLDT Inc. and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. recorded the fastest ﬁxed and mobile networks in 2018 in the Philippines, according to Ookla, the global leader in internet testing and analysis. Ookla said in its latest report covering third and fourth quarters that Smart achieved a speed score TM of 15.57, with average download speeds of 17.86 Mbps and average upload speeds of 8.61 Mbps, based on 2,186,540 userinitiated tests taken with Speedtest on LTEcapable devices in the Philippines. PLDT achieved a speed score of 18.57, with top download speeds of 52.28 Mbps and top upload speeds of 55.95 Mbps. The ﬁxed network award is based on 27,221,777 customer-initiated Speedtest nationwide for the same period. The Speed Score is a measure that takes into account both upload and download speeds. “We are pleased to award Smart with the award for Fastest Mobile Network and PLDT for the award for Fastest Fixed Network in the Philippines. This recognition is a testament to their exceptional performance in the third quarter to the fourth quarter based on Ookla’s rigorous analysis of consumer-initiated tests taken with Speedtest,” said Jamie Steven, executive vice president at Ookla. Darwin G. Amojelar

PHILIPS-AYALA HEALTHCARE DEAL.

Philips Philippines Inc. signs a memorandum of understanding with Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. to roll out an integrated solution to provide better quality healthcare services to the community. Philips Philippines country manager Ashwin Chari (right) and Ayala Healthcare chief executive Paolo Borromeo shake hands to seal the agreement.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

SM Prime allocates P80b for 2019 capex By Jenniffer B. Austria SM Prime Holdings Inc., the property unit of the Sy family, earmarked P80 billion for 2019 capital expenditures to support the company’s provincial expansion and land banking activities. SM Prime said in a presentation posted on its website this year’s capital spending program would be funded by a combination of local borrowings and internal funds. This year’s spending plan is slightly lower than the P91 billion it spent in 2018. SM Prime plans to open four new malls and complete the expansion of two this year. The new malls set to open this year are SM Center Dagupan with 23,000 square meters of gross floor area, SM City Olongapo Central with 72,000 sqm, SM City Butuan with 48,000 sqm and SM Mindpro Citimall in Zamboanga City with 53,000 sqm. SM Prime will also complete the expansion of SM Baguio to add 32,000 sqm in GFA and SM City Fairview which will add 46,000 sqm. SM Prime said that by the end of 2019, the mall business unit would have 76 malls in the Philippines and seven malls in China with an estimated combined gross floor area of 10.5 million square meters. Meanwhile, the group’s residential business under SM Development Corp. is scheduled to launch 15,000 to 18,000 residential units this year that include highrise buildings, mid-rise buildings and single-detached house and lot projects. These projects are located in Metro Manila and other key cities in the provinces. SM Prime is also set to open two new hotels, Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo and Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa in 2019. Offering 200 rooms, Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo is situated right next to SM City Iloilo in Mandurriao while the 239-room Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa will be connected to SM North EDSA in Quezon City. By 2019, SM Prime will have 2,059 hotel rooms under its portfolio. For office development, SM Prime will launch NU Tower in 2019 with 46,000 sqm of GFA. This will boost the group’s office to nine with total GFA of 681,000 sqm.

Market-driven forces to enable tower Number of Filipina executives plummets to 37% companies to create economic benefits By Othel V. Campos THE Department of Information and Communications Technology said it is at the final stages of preparing the common tower policy for eventual affirmation and signing. The infrastructure policy is a significant move that will enable market-driven forces not only to improve the telecommunication services but also to rationalize the telco industry to the point of yielding sizable economic benefits for the country. The top-of-the-line impact on the country’s economy is the huge investments that the policy will raise. Gross income is estimated to reach $4 billion or about P200 billion. These investments will also impact on the country’s employment prospects by way of thousands to be given jobs. The construction of 50,000 towers is expected to benefit 10 million to 25 million workers, based on about 200 to 500 laborers per tower. Acting DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr.

said he is positive about the rationalization of the telcos which would accrue to the beneﬁt of the millions of subscribers. He said the savings of telcos from shared facilities would instead go to the improvement of services to be realized by the subscribers. The telcos will just lease the shared towers and what they spend on building and equipping towers should be reallocated to their capex budgets for the beneﬁt of the subscribers. Local government units are set to realize additional revenues from the expansion of the towercos situated in their areas. The increased income from the issuance of permits to various taxes applied will be for the good of the populace. The DICT estimated that if the 19,000 towers built by the incumbent telco players already brought in substantial income, the targeted 50,000 towers to be built on different areas of the country would nearly triple the current take.

THE number of female executives in senior management positions at Philippine companies plummeted to 37 percent in 2019 from 47 percent in 2018, according to Grant Thornton International Ltd.’s Women in Business 2019 report. P&A Grant Thornton chairperson and chief executive Marivic Españo said the dip did not take into account the government’s recent measures to provide flexible working arrangements for women. Españo said, however, that Filipino women still play significant roles in their organizations with top three roles of Filipino women in business as human resources director, chief finance officer and chief operating officer. Filipino businesses were observed as taking different measures to improve or preserve the gender balance in leadership teams, according to the report. These initiatives included ensuring equal access to development work op-

portunities, providing mentoring and coaching and enabling ﬂexible working environment. Female executives in the Philippines cited the lack of access to developmental work opportunities, ﬁnding time alongside core job responsibilities, caring responsibilities outside work and lack of access to networking opportunities as barriers that stopped them from acquiring the skills and attributes to be successful in their roles. The percentage of businesses globally with at least one woman in senior management rose to 87 percent, an increase of 12 percent from last year. Based on data from the global survey, publicly owned companies are almost twice as likely to have women in senior management positions. Overall, women now hold 29 percent of senior leadership positions globally. While this was only up 10 percent over the past 15 years of research, half of the increase was achieved in the last 12

months alone. When it comes to the role of the CEO or managing director, only 15 percent of businesses globally have a woman leading the business. “If we want to continue seeing female representation in senior positions, more deliberate action needs to be taken and leaders will play a crucial role. Policies that address equal opportunity in careers, bias in recruitment, and ﬂexible working cannot just be a nice to have,” Españo said. “To achieve meaningful progress, they must be adhered to, enforced, and regularly revisited to assess their effectiveness and, when that is combined with real commitment from senior leadership, you begin creating a truly inclusive culture,” she said. Españo said gender diversity is deﬁnitely right for business as there is compelling evidence of the relationship between diversity of thought and innovation, leading to enhanced business performance.

E-cigarettes more effective than nicotine therapy A MAJOR new study has shown that e-cigarettes or vapes are nearly twice as effective as traditional nicotine replacement therapies in helping smokers quit cigarettes. Conducted in the UK, the yearlong study followed 886 smokers who were randomly assigned to use either e-cigarettes or NRTs, including patches, gums and lozenges. Both groups also participated in at least four weekly counseling sessions. After one year, 18 percent of ecigarette users had successfully quit smoking, compared to 9.9 percent of those using NRTs. In addition, more e-cigarette users reduced their smoking by at least 50 percent; ecigarette users also reported higher satisfaction and rated the device as more helpful than NRTs.

“Despite strict government regulation, high taxes, and extensive public awareness campaigns, smoking remains a major public health issue in the Philippines where almost 1 in 4 Filipino adults are smokers. This landmark study provides the strongest evidence to date that e-cigarettes are a viable smoking cessation tool and should be included in the country’s current tobacco control strategy,” said Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association. “We urge the Department of Health and local legislators and doctors to consider the results of this important study. E-cigarettes can address weaknesses in currently available quit-smoking tools such as nicotine replacement thera-

pies, and help smokers stop cigarette smoking for good,” said Peter Paul Dator, president of The Vapers Philippines. The 2015 Global Adult Tobacco Survey revealed that 23.8 percent of Filipino adults are smokers. The smoking rate among Filipino women (5.8 percent) is among the highest in Asean. The average age of smoking initiation among Filipino daily smokers is 17.8 years according to The Tobacco Control Atlas: Asean region. Study author Dr. Dunja Przulj believes that the study’s ﬁndings could change the way healthcare providers look at e-cigarettes and may help convince them to encourage smokers to try vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

FREE DELIVERY CALLS. Greenwich, one of the biggest pizza chains in the Philippines, now provides free mobile calls to its delivery service using the convenient #5-55-55 number powered by Globe Business, the enterprise information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom Inc. Attending the launching of the service are (standing, from left) Globe Business account manager Jason Garcia, cluster sales head Mike Agustin, vice president for product management Abby Cardino and Greenwich head of marketing Pamela Reyes. Seated are (from left) Globe Business industry sales head Baby Pe, Greenwich channels marketing manager Charisse Pabillore and Greenwich business channels director Tet Basa.

Business

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market likely to extend fall By Jenniffer B. Austria

HARE prices are expected to extend their slide this week after the index plunged below the 7,800-point resistance level Friday on heavy selling.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the market’s close at 7,641.77 signaled further weakness toward 7,500 after the market just dropped below the 7,800 level. “Look to see if 7,500 support levels hold and a bounce occurs,” Ravelas said. The expected lower inﬂation rate in February, however, could provide a boost to the market as it signiﬁes the economy’s stability and growth. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last

week said it expects the February inflation to hover between 3.7 and 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent in January. The government is scheduled to announce the official February inflation data on March 5. Metro Pacific Investments Corp., PLDT Inc, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc. and International Container Terminal Services Inc., meanwhile, are scheduled to announce their 2018 financial performance. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week plunged 4 percent to

7,641.77, while the broader All Shares Index fell 3.2 percent to 4,729.93, as foreign fund re-adjusted their portfolio in the face of the MSCI rebalancing of stocks. All major counters ended in red, led by holding ﬁrms which dropped 4.1 percent, ﬁnancials which declined 4.1percent, and services, which lost 3.8 percent. The property index fell 3 percent while services and mining both dipped 2.9 percent. Foreign investors, however, were net buyers by P3.04 billion, boosted by a block sale related to Japan’s ANA Holdings’ acquisition of 1.1 billion PAL Holdings shares. The average daily value traded stood at P11.1 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.4 billion. Weekly top price gainers were EEI Corp., which rose 8 percent to P8.75,

Megawide Construction Corp., which climbed 3.1 percent to P19.48 and First Gen Corp., which added 1.7 percent to P21.30. Weekly top price losers were DMCI Holdings Inc., which declined 8.9 percent to P11.18, PLDT Inc. which fell 7.4 percent to P1,030, and GT Capital Holdings Inc. which lost 7.2 percent to P930. Global stock markets, meanwhile, rose Friday as investors reacted to a mixed batch of global economic data and appeared confident the US-China trade talks would yield a positive outcome. Asian markets pushed higher, a trend later repeated in Europe and New York. All three major US indices finished solidly higher, although the Dow finished with a slight loss for the week, ending a nine-week winning streak. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 1, 2019 Close Volume Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources China Bank COL Financial Eastwest Bank Ferronoux Holding Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp. PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

58.9 123.70 84.00 2.23 1.34 27.8 18.3 12.12 4.48 8.24 0.65 1.52 800.00 0.460 75.2 1.02 13.98 21.55 49.50 58.5 114.5 185 26.5 162.5 1840.00 61.65 1.13

2,780 22,061,050 9,825,320 58,000 469,000 361,900 227,800 2,331,600 204,000 1,200 365,000 151,000 910 840,000 19,398,190 5,095,000 125,500 100 11,794,370 5,380 260 2,950 675,400 2,075,100 705 48,130 117,000

FINANCIAL 164,368.00 2,865,585,527.00 831,427,202.00 131,120.00 646,620.00 10,026,550.00 4,128,400.00 29,079,974.00 895,040.00 10,200.00 225,810.00 227,670.00 728,000.00 393,600.00 1,491,380,369.50 5,331,970.00 1,754,272.00 2,155.00 585,195,837.00 318,843.00 30,485.00 545,950.00 17,904,980.00 343,886,062.00 1,280,300.00 2,986,019.50 132,630.00

Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cement Corp. Alsons Cons. Basic Energy Corp. Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp. First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp. Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petroenergy Res. Corp. Petron Corporation PH Resorts Group Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza SMC Food and Beverage SPC Power Corp. Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

35 15.8 1.02 1.48 1.46 0.246 98.3 16.52 2.4 15.08 128 29.5 72 74.1 42 1.9 6.04 6.4 11.160 15.96 8.75 7.60 1.66 21.3 74.75 26.95 3.3500 9.19 12.88 1.750 309.00 55.00 4.38 3.79 10.96 27.25 11.86 19.48 0.206 367.00 5.88 1.42 3.80 6.69 5.18 8.88 1.31 11.80 48.45 6 4.65 1.84 2.79 1.39 12.44 100 6.4 0.130 1.05 137 2.7 1.64 16.00 1.27

6,732,700 3,003,000 10,766,000 1,864,000 4,334,000 12,650,000 60 44,000 32,926,000 1,802,900 540 594,200 820 70 138,500 2,267,000 65,100 71,500 11,984,200 841,600 43,178,500 941,700 24,000 7,686,600 576,560 818,400 89,865,000 5,451,600 5,352,800 257,000 4,717,880 130 14,000 216,000 170,000 2,592,700 1,253,900 38,481,200 4,611,610 1,246,550 65,400 37,347,000 557,000 23,845,200 941,700 6,300 24,125,000 1,009,500 1,550,000 410,800 5,257,000 1,813,000 2,000 252,000 2,064,700 4,771,560 1,795,200 1,710,000 2,929,000 4,866,840 3,441,000 10,552,000 800 12,659,000

INDUSTRIAL 237,340,865.00 48,596,432.00 11,091,560.00 2,789,800.00 6,417,790.00 3,063,960.00 5,652.50 728,242.00 79,890,970.00 28,608,352.00 69,120.00 17,575,095.00 58,275.00 5,032.00 5,483,530.00 4,402,300.00 394,920.00 458,442.00 138,624,916.00 13,407,960.00 407,979,179.00 7,137,843.00 42,460.00 161,747,635.00 43,149,129.50 21,689,640.00 308,044,540.00 51,314,602.00 69,159,682.00 442,730.00 1,461,601,378.00 7,150.00 61,540.00 835,730.00 1,888,060.00 70,114,120.00 15,183,792.00 763,983,512.00 2,555,030.00 464,870,500.00 389,339.00 53,326,400.00 2,119,780.00 160,319,326.00 4,749,113.00 56,043.00 31,564,750.00 11,998,784.00 74,688,480.00 2,455,743.00 24,705,440.00 3,317,350.00 5,580.00 345,060.00 25,669,730.00 488,985,167.50 11,505,293.00 221,810.00 3,153,040.00 687,285,706.00 9,342,910.00 17,508,150.00 12,800.00 16,428,500.00

Abacus Cons. À’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor À’ Asiabest Group ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp À’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp. Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings À’ Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. Lopez Holdings Corp. LT Group Mabuhay Holdings À’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica À’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp À’ Seafront À’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Transgrid Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.750 60.00 13.70 0.79 6.61 20.7 1.520 1.510 930 7.7 11.18 4.2 13.70 0.240 930 6.20 65.80 5.5 5.56 0.61 5.12 15.24 0.560 4.57 2.81 0.0410 1.140 2.870 2.59 170.70 2.36 940.00 1.35 0.78 284.800 449.00 0.2450 0.370

56,477,000 6,576,690 39,064,500 841,000 230,500 361,300 64,214,000 14,601,000 1,416,140 7,617,500 28,977,600 100,000 4,285,400 2,010,000 606,180 454,300 17,548,800 15,500 700 1,270,000 5,614,500 6,580,500 748,000 97,071,000 5,000 106,500,000 422,000 7,722,000 7,000 4,872,030 5,000 1,462,580 1,915,000 85,000 151,990 280 9,620,000 151,600,000

HOLDING FIRMS 41,228,720.00 403,992,111.00 543,341,474.00 659,900.00 1,506,129.00 7,679,010.00 94,907,540.00 21,357,680.00 1,321,997,565.00 59,551,500.00 341,392,130.00 420,000.00 59,563,702.00 488,190.00 579,733,562.50 2,835,553.00 1,182,467,163.00 85,343.00 3,892.00 733,590.00 28,820,239.00 101,152,824.00 419,350.00 458,641,700.00 14,050.00 4,357,000.00 489,480.00 22,927,410.00 18,550.00 862,471,156.00 11,950.00 1,391,102,145.00 2,548,050.00 66,300.00 42,598,412.00 126,040.00 2,370,100.00 55,077,800.00

8,617,300 4,194,000 3,800 423,000 8,380,000 49,565,600 3,806,000 2,106,000 120,000 49,092,000 261,000 158,000 78,250,000 4,270,000 7,094,300 1,792,900 11,906,000 10,390,000 41,898,000 9,133,000 89,508,700 46,550,000 13,513,000 290,000 1,090,000

PROPERTY 103,654,830.00 3,358,750.00 39,522.00 812,130.00 7,326,530.00 2,195,054,105.00 9,745,860.00 8,979,120.00 816,973.00 24,282,215.00 227,120.00 143,480.00 20,034,670.00 1,887,250.00 70,180,740.00 38,773,795.00 6,101,390.00 1,335,080.00 62,347,810.00 11,673,040.00 463,182,515.00 19,738,450.00 28,769,990.00 133,200.00 515,150.00

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop À’ Arthaland Corp. Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. À’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. À’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. DM Wenceslao Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil Infradev Phil. Estates Corp. Phil. Realty À’

12.040 0.80 10.22 1.850 0.880 43.200 2.55 4.19 6.85 0.480 0.87 0.920 0.247 0.425 9.700 21.1 0.500 0.130 1.44 1.27 5.15 0.420 2.1000 0.4600 0.470

FEBRUARY 18-22, 2019 Close Volume Value 59.3 129.00 86.05 2.24 1.47 27.45 17.96 12.56 4.5 7.78 0.66 1.49 800.00 0.480 81.4 1.05 13.98 22.20 48.30 59.2 114.6 185.6 26.5 173 1800.00 62.00 1.16

24,580 16,160,190 13,613,780 107,000 317,000 667,100 252,800 2,075,500 591,000 2,100 313,000 149,000 400 660,000 9,628,820 7,892,000 317,300 1,300 1,130,900 23,350 600 2,930 695,900 1,224,760 2,370 30,520 270,000

1,448,647.50 2,108,284,644.00 1,205,326,408.50 238,890.00 453,100.00 18,319,000.00 4,466,924.00 26,275,890.00 2,629,130.00 16,293.00 198,260.00 216,110.00 320,400.00 307,950.00 780,611,103.00 8,740,360.00 4,432,950.00 28,120.00 54,454,005.00 1,377,207.00 68,705.00 545,185.00 18,473,160.00 209,792,283.00 4,266,620.00 1,890,068.50 308,290.00

36.9 16.7 1.05

4,630,300 2,707,000 12,512,000

166,150,405.00 45,107,000.00 13,084,770.00

1.53 0.247 98.3 16.80 2.39 16.2 120.2 29.9 71 71 39.45 1.94 6.15 6.5 11.500 16.1 8.10 7.68 1.65 20.95 74.6 27.20 3.2600 9.43 12.6 1.770 313.20 55.00 4.4 3.69 12.08 27.3 12.2 18.9 0.204 375.00 6.15 1.43 3.75 6.74 5.17 9.30 1.33 11.70 48 6 4.73 1.9 2.78 1.39 12.48 104 6.4 0.136 1.15 149 2.95 1.72 16.00 1.37

6,683,000 37,230,000 110 122,100 57,676,000 6,279,000 1,090 698,200 2,130 40 356,500 1,807,000 27,500 105,900 8,106,100 11,674,700 3,701,600 3,772,600 31,000 13,233,500 1,866,630 938,100 79,810,000 9,560,100 3,124,700 951,000 3,768,690 11,090 64,000 127,000 520,500 1,533,500 1,811,800 42,820,600 7,371,000 982,610 31,400 27,457,000 729,000 76,027,700 1,859,100 64,700 32,419,000 2,373,000 3,153,000 1,260,400 390,000 1,478,000 182,000 501,000 928,500 7,084,260 285,700 4,270,000 9,762,000 3,359,840 1,842,000 15,164,000 2,100 3,883,000

10,401,730.00 9,582,630.00 9,998.00 2,150,152.00 131,346,500.00 99,898,208.00 136,883.00 20,431,970.00 144,264.50 2,840.00 14,559,050.00 3,411,240.00 171,654.00 693,048.00 93,345,204.00 187,338,398.00 29,935,345.00 28,971,477.00 51,590.00 273,538,270.00 119,128,986.00 25,428,335.00 261,830,260.00 90,677,601.00 39,123,648.00 1,639,490.00 1,170,983,448.00 619,493.00 279,120.00 451,670.00 6,410,348.00 41,449,735.00 22,848,996.00 801,162,428.00 1,599,540.00 360,942,168.00 185,682.00 38,337,100.00 2,753,230.00 518,392,504.00 9,474,092.00 576,500.00 42,501,950.00 27,896,872.00 150,223,505.00 7,571,175.00 1,834,340.00 2,784,960.00 510,110.00 685,450.00 11,685,748.00 703,433,628.00 1,821,562.00 558,810.00 11,246,430.00 489,906,206.00 5,704,660.00 25,788,070.00 33,612.00 5,351,450.00

0.710 64.50 14.00 0.82 6.58 23.05 1.370 1.390 942 7.78 12.28

143,085,000 5,078,720 34,206,800 3,929,000 58,700 385,500 32,353,000 4,375,000 1,438,950 6,670,800 16,659,300

107,862,310.00 321,029,034.00 479,807,078.00 3,256,760.00 383,044.00 8,726,330.00 44,751,450.00 6,165,230.00 1,356,295,070.00 51,296,506.00 208,836,612.00

14.02 0.244 1002 6.10 68.50 5.52

6,596,100 10,710,000 472,080 36,300 18,072,510 15,500

91,535,284.00 2,779,950.00 475,426,330.00 222,197.00 1,201,552,441.00 88,775.00

0.61 5.37 15.6 0.570 4.78

1,730,000 6,741,600 10,850,700 1,293,000 52,532,000

1,028,880.00 35,767,236.00 166,581,368.00 731,190.00 250,826,430.00

0.0420 1.200 3.000 2.83 179.00 2.36 980.00 1.38 0.80 285.000 452.00 0.2500 0.355

229,600,000 316,000 33,661,000 313,000 6,744,930 49,000 1,082,430 337,000 280,000 37,350 1,250 10,060,000 202,060,000

9,691,500.00 370,150.00 99,229,000.00 903,100.00 1,180,326,490.00 115,710.00 1,051,724,075.00 458,220.00 221,040.00 10,542,212.00 574,970.00 2,555,150.00 67,708,550.00

12.100 0.81 10.30 1.920 0.900 44.500 2.55 4.23 6.6 0.510 0.91 0.910 0.250 0.425 10.420 22.4 0.530 0.132 1.53 1.27 5.3 0.430 2.1200 0.4700 0.485

41,351,800 2,497,000 21,700 1,314,000 10,288,000 62,786,500 7,293,000 7,874,000 242,700 45,120,000 1,191,000 546,000 31,550,000 3,040,000 6,742,600 4,043,200 6,367,000 5,980,000 29,456,000 18,165,000 106,253,700 51,860,000 23,881,000 1,540,000 1,710,000

501,303,974.00 1,998,660.00 230,172.00 2,470,230.00 9,203,830.00 2,753,748,030.00 18,502,450.00 33,055,360.00 1,569,635.00 22,560,400.00 1,014,510.00 495,260.00 7,936,950.00 1,289,600.00 70,024,836.00 92,323,490.00 3,421,250.00 804,120.00 44,859,030.00 22,659,880.00 562,715,413.00 22,650,200.00 51,194,360.00 717,600.00 808,950.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 1, 2019 Close Volume Value

FEBRUARY 18-22, 2019 Close Volume Value

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Polar Property Holdings Primex Corp. Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

45.50 45 2.89 22.80 2.07 3.13 37.95 1.54 6.71 0.760 7.400

2,300 1,400 767,000 17,717,500 1,337,000 28,000 36,821,700 18,791,000 7,198,400 237,000 140,282,100

101,765.00 62,990.00 2,192,830.00 412,733,405.00 2,734,300.00 87,400.00 1,415,964,870.00 27,974,240.00 50,937,028.00 181,360.00 1,042,088,141.00

47.85

300

14,355.00

2.93 23.90 2.01 3.1 39.10 1.47 6.65 0.790 7.500

2,028,000 19,593,000 445,000 4,944,000 36,410,300 11,955,000 9,863,200 797,000 498,812,100

5,789,320.00 457,277,360.00 897,780.00 15,408,250.00 1,401,821,475.00 16,580,560.00 67,875,928.00 623,650.00 3,718,709,122.00

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. À’ IPeople Inc. À’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp. Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Metro Retail MetroAlliance A MetroAlliance B NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils. Wilcon Depot

12.24 21.35 1.28 0.440 0.048 14.62 2.9 11.32 0.0650 81 7.71 6.01 7.22 2.1 15.10 890 1903 5.72 366.80 9.52 2.88 113 1.91 11.18 7.14 0.129 5.8700 3.19 15.7 3.30 0.89 19.12 16.00 0.630 4.72 2.92 2.02 2.01 2.960 9.38 11.10 3.24 8.5 133.30 3.03 1030.00 1.290 0.970 46.80 86.50 8.30 2.27 0.720 0.44 5.65 0.680 14.400

157,300 489,000 156,000 6,400,000 90,540,000 3,065,300 1,370,000 41,461,400 275,360,000 468,180 8,600 2,500,100 131,600 73,000 509,900 2,440 169,055 544,400 155,960 300 3,224,000 38,872,490 72,000 14,800 12,600 8,010,000 9,033,300 100,000 28,500 1,017,000 750,000 25,888,300 500 31,285,000 470,000 6,908,000 680,000 16,000 5,786,000 56,400 297,600 83,000 400 127,650 3,176,000 970,235 154,699,000 58,344,000 7,842,600 1,453,300 215,900 15,899,000 7,672,000 43,530,000 4,077,900 7,556,000 13,088,100

SERVICES 1,957,486.00 10,780,075.00 203,550.00 2,815,250.00 4,322,420.00 45,540,328.00 3,996,410.00 485,588,334.00 18,508,760.00 39,052,023.50 67,315.00 15,172,945.00 935,512.00 153,550.00 7,730,110.00 2,173,830.00 320,223,310.00 3,114,832.00 61,378,420.00 2,856.00 9,226,140.00 4,540,103,118.00 138,420.00 163,048.00 89,989.00 3,931,300.00 53,181,047.00 309,350.00 449,636.00 3,365,530.00 675,240.00 489,736,532.00 8,000.00 19,976,250.00 2,252,940.00 20,532,940.00 1,374,760.00 32,100.00 17,315,280.00 172,286.00 3,317,106.00 267,700.00 3,400.00 16,732,711.00 9,805,530.00 1,011,205,370.00 201,359,690.00 58,207,620.00 380,001,205.00 126,403,611.00 1,827,708.00 35,907,720.00 5,507,580.00 19,473,250.00 22,857,471.00 5,150,700.00 190,965,136.00

12.86 22.85 1.3 0.445 0.050 15.7 2.95 12.18 0.0710 85.75 8.38 6.19 7.35 2.15 14.94 900 1901 5.73 360.00 10.40 2.95 119.4 1.95 11.14 7.14 0.131 5.9200 3.23 15.26 3.30 0.94 19.58 17.40 0.690 5 3.06 2.09 2.00 3.110 9.26 11.48 3.21 7.47 129.20 3.22 1113.00 1.410 0.980 48.70 87.00 8.90 2.26 0.730 0.445 5.63 0.690 14.200

284,600 655,700 458,000 8,300,000 246,300,000 19,400 2,250,000 53,560,400 367,850,000 403,880 700 4,525,500 99,900 13,000 890,100 90 288,040 1,372,200 1,800 19,600 12,277,000 16,063,730 212,000 39,600 12,000 35,530,000 23,038,700 226,000 39,100 1,910,000 830,000 3,435,400 1,600 51,565,000 219,100 12,260,000 940,000 219,000 9,468,000 69,600 641,800 85,000 3,500 127,750 3,851,000 1,079,785 209,740,000 37,110,000 15,461,700 5,290,580 769,000 40,291,000 36,577,000 42,060,000 1,315,500 11,295,000 19,177,500

3,688,780.00 14,809,310.00 595,030.00 3,692,200.00 11,376,900.00 304,496.00 6,671,030.00 676,929,044.00 25,583,590.00 34,071,971.50 5,866.00 27,863,867.00 734,362.00 28,580.00 13,532,356.00 80,410.00 542,797,145.00 7,868,014.00 643,544.00 212,458.00 36,232,440.00 1,912,881,363.00 430,230.00 431,386.00 85,797.00 4,668,490.00 138,374,805.00 711,330.00 605,404.00 6,269,470.00 740,390.00 67,789,084.00 25,770.00 37,541,560.00 1,050,954.00 37,562,640.00 1,927,700.00 444,700.00 28,260,050.00 645,560.00 7,261,446.00 278,260.00 26,145.00 16,972,632.00 11,978,810.00 1,189,789,590.00 254,612,510.00 35,679,640.00 744,435,525.00 461,381,947.00 6,804,578.00 86,650,830.00 26,428,460.00 18,762,950.00 7,336,968.00 7,937,440.00 278,569,466.00

Abra Mining Apex À’ Atlas Cons. À’ Atok-Big Wedge À’ Benguet Corp À’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto À’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining À’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. À’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex À’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. À’ Phinma Petro Semirara Corp. United Paragon

0.0021 1.52 2.92 13.28 1.2000 2.2 0.300 8.09 1.500 0.285 0.126 0.133 0.009 0.0093 1.09 2.73 1.08 0.6100 0.9500 0.0120 0.0120 4.02 14.88 0.0130 3.1500 21.75 0.0082

MINING & OIL 1,958,000,000 4,105,100.00 4,161,000 6,413,200.00 462,000 1,360,830.00 34,500 462,348.00 118,000 160,110.00 1,725,000 3,784,120.00 720,000 217,300.00 5,900 46,193.00 6,769,000 10,169,620.00 48,860,000 13,666,620.00 4,060,000 515,540.00 600,000 79,800.00 234,000,000 2,180,700.00 25,000,000 232,100.00 500,000 544,420.00 10,467,000 29,437,960.00 772,000 815,080.00 2,778,000 1,731,520.00 3,569,000 3,465,570.00 105,600,000 1,307,000.00 111,100,000 1,333,300.00 5,849,000 23,638,580.00 4,131,500 61,979,810.00 868,400,000 10,535,800.00 158,000 507,290.00 6,061,900 136,120,665.00 250,000,000 2,099,100.00

0.0021 1.50 2.95 13.40 1.3000 2.19 0.315 8.00 1.500 0.280 0.126 0.133 0.009 0.0093 1.09 2.84 1.09 0.6800 1.0000 0.0130 0.0130 4.22 14.70 0.0120 3.4400 22.75 0.0080

2,197,000,000 12,716,000 646,000 15,100 67,000 2,932,000 1,530,000 19,600 39,501,000 16,220,000 11,340,000 2,030,000 124,000,000 106,000,000 1,903,000 20,963,000 400,000 4,264,000 1,243,000 571,200,000 294,700,000 8,834,000 3,417,500 394,300,000 109,000 4,977,700 162,000,000

4,630,700.00 19,612,810.00 1,916,290.00 202,026.00 86,500.00 6,389,320.00 468,800.00 158,015.00 63,112,090.00 4,646,800.00 1,462,870.00 265,970.00 1,147,500.00 996,700.00 2,137,610.00 58,227,050.00 433,990.00 2,928,200.00 1,250,120.00 7,281,800.00 3,681,100.00 37,468,010.00 49,429,386.00 4,904,700.00 356,590.00 91,601,025.00 367,500.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Alco Preferred B Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ DD PREF First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PNX PREF 3A SMC FB PREF 2 SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I Swift Pref

20.05 100 480 490 97 104 450.2 480.2 5.82 900 900 95 0.99 100 971 1000 98.8 966 75.15 76.6 73.4 72.85 74.1 74.5 71 73.5 1.7

134,000 6,220 2,100 3,030 28,380 23,100 130 650 25,000 50 1,370 3,030 154,000 18,280 1,240 90 7,750 100 900 97,450 10 3,240 133,710 34,000 103,100 71,900 9,000

PREFERRED 2,692,320.00 622,000.00 1,005,296.00 1,484,180.00 2,749,559.50 2,372,690.00 58,518.00 312,326.00 143,972.00 45,000.00 1,233,000.00 290,680.00 153,390.00 1,828,000.00 1,210,960.00 90,000.00 780,698.00 97,340.00 67,687.50 7,458,907.00 734.00 236,631.50 9,935,499.00 2,526,300.00 7,429,254.00 5,237,361.50 15,300.00

20.1 100 475 498 97 102 450.2 484 5.82 910 900 90 1 100 985 1000 98.75 980 75.45 76 71.4 73.35 74.5 74 72.25 73 1.75

371,700 20,090 11,170 6,610 41,360 35,600 700 110 136,400 2,180 2,110 21,500 821,000 4,200 80 2,100 2,310 7,500 81,570 315,340 593,580 27,120 163,890 501,950 67,010 665,780 762,000

7,589,475.00 2,009,180.00 5,220,988.00 3,189,000.00 4,011,770.00 3,679,390.00 315,132.00 54,520.00 789,654.00 1,977,700.00 1,898,970.00 1,948,812.00 815,590.00 420,000.00 79,450.00 2,100,010.00 229,744.50 7,375,210.00 6,122,524.50 24,033,148.00 43,673,447.50 1,981,767.00 12,267,082.00 37,144,300.00 4,951,872.50 48,643,695.00 1,371,320.00

LR Warrant

1.910

528,000

WARRANTS & BONDS 1,011,520.00

1.960

263,000

507,770.00

SME 2,900.00 6,572,760.00 82,692,300.00

2.93 4.88 1.51

5,000 2,955,000 209,663,000

14,650.00 14,276,120.00 317,224,610.00

Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

2.9 4.74 1.39

1,000 1,373,000 57,610,000

First Metro ETF

114.1

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 41,720 4,850,272.00

118

33,400

3,930,685.00

10.1 1

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 2,800 28,130.00 67,040 67,040.00

10.04

1,050

10,562.00

USD DMPL A1 USD TECH B2

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Philodrill Corp. À’ Boulevard Holdings United Paragon Manila Mining À’ PremiereHorizon Zeus Holdings Vista Land & Lifescapes Oriental Pet. `B’ Pacifica À’

VOLUME 1,958,000,000 868,400,000 275,360,000 250,000,000 234,000,000 154,699,000 151,600,000 140,282,100 111,100,000 106,500,000

STOCKS I.C.T.S.I. Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Ayala Land `B’ Metrobank Jollibee Foods Corp. SM Prime Holdings SM Investments Inc. Ayala Corp `A’ JG Summit Holdings Vista Land & Lifescapes

VALUE 4,540,103,118.00 2,865,585,527.00 2,195,054,105.00 1,491,380,369.50 1,461,601,378.00 1,415,964,870.00 1,391,102,145.00 1,321,997,565.00 1,182,467,163.00 1,042,088,141.00

PAL earmarks $650m to fund acquisition of aircraft in 2019 By Darwin G. Amojelar PHILIPPINE Airlines has programmed $650 million worth of capital expenditures this year to fund the acquisition of new aircraft. PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said over the weekend the airline was acquiring two Airbus 350, two A321 Neo and two Q400 aircraft this year. He said these aircraft would be deployed to long-haul and domestic flights. PAL flies to 43 international and 35 domestic destinations using 95 aircraft, one of the youngest fleets in the industry with an average age of just five years. ANA HD, the Japanese parent company of All Nippon Airways, earlier invested $95 million for a 9.5-percent stake in PAL parent PAL Holdings Inc. ANA HD acquired the shares from Trustmark Holdings Corp., which is owned by the family of billionaire Lucio Tan and the largest shareholder of PAL Holdings. The investment will increase foreign ownership in the company from 8.77 percent to 18.27 percent. Earlier, PAL Holdings posted a net loss of P3.29 billion in the January-toSeptember period last year from P2.31 billion year-on-year. Total revenues in the nine-month period reached P112.07 billion, up 16 percent from P96.58 billion on year. Expenses increased 17 percent to P115.30 billion last year from P98.56 billion in 2017, led by higher jet fuel prices, aircraft lease charges and flight frequencies. Flying operations expenses increased 26.9 percent to P63.26 billion last year from P49.84 billion a year ago. The company said jet fuel expenses climbed 36.1 percent in the nine-month period as the average price per barrel of aviation fuel soared from $73.92 in 2017 to $92.80 in 2018. The airline earlier announced it was expanding operations in Asia by launching new routes to Hanoi (Vietnam), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and New Delhi (India) from its Manila hub. The latest expansion by PAL creates the first direct air link between the Philippines and the capital of Cambodia, expands PAL’s existing Vietnam network and re-establishes a historic link to India with immense potential for tourism development.

Top PXP Energy position awaiting Meralco’s Reyes By Alena Mae S. Flores MANILA Electric Co. president Oscar Reyes may be transferred to PXP Energy Corp. by May. Meralco earlier announced the appointment of Ray Espinosa as incoming president and chief executive officer of the company, replacing Reyes effective May 28, 2019. “To Philex. He knows about it well so he will put him there. Yes, to PXP... He will dig,” said Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan, who also chairs PXP Energy. Philex Mining Corp., where Pangilinan is also chair, owns stakes in PXP Energy, an upstream oil and gas company incorporated in the Philippines whose shares are listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange. PXP Energy directly and indirectly owns oil and gas exploration and production assets in the Philippines and abroad. Meralco earlier disclosed that Espinosa was appointed as the deputy chief executive officer of the company effective January 28, 2019, reporting directly to the president and CEO. Espinosa has been a director of the company since May 26, 2009. He is also the chairman of the finance committee of the board. “Mr. Espinosa will assume the position of president and chief executive officer after Mr. Reyes leaves Meralco service on May 28, 2019,” the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. Reyes served as director and president and CEO of Meralco since July 1, 2010. Prior to his Meralco stint, Reyes served as the managing director of Shell Philippines Exploration B. V. from 2002 to 2004, and as chairman, CEO, president and adviser of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. from 1997 to 2001.

World

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

US, S. Korea to end joint war exercises

SEOUL―The US and South Korea announced Sunday an end to key annual large-scale military exercises in support of diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. The decision comes days after the conclusion of US President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, which ended without a formal agreement but with both sides suggesting they would keep talking. There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers have

been a perennial target of North Korean fury―with Pyongyang condemning the maneuvers as provocative rehearsals for an invasion. While Trump has ruled out withdrawing the troops, he has repeatedly complained about the cost of the exercises, describing them at a press conference in Hanoi as “very, very expensive”. During a Saturday phone call between South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his US counterpart Patrick Shanahan, “both sides decided to conclude the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle series of exercises”, according to a Pentagon statement. AFP

Lawyer is home ‘but still not free’ BEIJING―A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer has reappeared two days after going missing following his release from a jail sentence for state subversion, his wife said Sunday. Jiang Tianyong―who took on highproﬁle cases including those of Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetan protesters―was one of more than 200 lawyers and activists detained in a 2015 clampdown on courtroom critics of Communist authorities. The 47-year-old had disappeared Thursday after completing his two-year jail sentence, before he ﬁnally reappeared in his hometown of Xinyang, Henan province, said his US-based wife.

Supporters had said police outside the jail he was released from told them he had been “taken away” but did not specify by whom. “After not seeing each other for six years, we were ﬁnally able to talk and video chat,” Jin Bianling told AFP. But even though Jiang has been released from jail, “he is still not free”, she added. “He is living at his parents’ home now, but there are police stationed outside. Wherever he goes, the police follow him,” said Jin. “I am also worried that he could disappear at any time, so I hope he can come to the US as soon as possible to reunite with us.” AFP

OWNER. Shiggy attends 2018 BET Social Awards Dinner at TWELVE Atlantic Station on March 02, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP

Southeast Asia’s fixationwith Nazi emblems BANGKOK―Thai teen idol Namsai feared being booted from her band after a photo of her wearing a t-shirt with a Nazi swastika went viral, but without the uproar she says she would have remained ignorant about the offensive implications of her fashion choices. As Europe battles a surge in anti-Semitism, including the desecration of graves in France, Southeast Asia is wrestling with a lack of understanding about the

IN BRIEF

Ex lead Luiz returns to jail SAO PAULO―Brazil’s ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to prison on Saturday after being allowed to attend the funeral of a grandson who died suddenly at age seven. Early in the day, the popular leftist leader stepped out of his cell in Curitiba―where he is serving two concurrent 12-year sentences for corruption―and then ﬂew in a small plane to Sao Paulo, some 400 kilometers to the northeast. A crowd at the Sao Bernardo do Campo cemetery in a Sao Paulo suburb greeted Lula warmly upon his arrival for the service, shouting “Free Lula” and “Lula, warrior for the Brazilian people.” Young Arthur Araujo Lula da Silva, whose father Sandro is one of Lula’s ﬁve sons, was felled by a sudden bout of meningitis. As dozens of armed military police surrounded the area, the crowd of supporters at the cemetery numbered perhaps 500, including Lula’s successor Dilma Rousseff and Fernando Haddad, the Workers’ Party candidate for president in 2018. Hundreds of supporters wore the red color of Lula’s Workers’ Party. AFP

The 19-year-old is a member of BNK48, one of the most popular girl bands in the country, performing choreographed Jpop-style numbers to adoring crowds. But Namsai, whose real name is Pitchayapa Natha, waded into controversy when she wore a red-and-black top showing a Nazi ﬂag and swastika during a televised rehearsal last month, prompting the Israeli embassy to express “shock and dismay”. AFP

Russians worry over ‘eternal poverty’

India, Pakistan swap border fire NEW DELHI―Tensions between India and Pakistan raged Saturday as heavy firing by their armies killed at least seven people on either side of their fiercely disputed Kashmir border. The nuclear-armed rivals fired mortars and artillery at each other despite the release of an Indian pilot who had been shot down by Pakistan but then sent back as a “goodwill gesture”. In a fearsome 24 hour spell, two soldiers and two civilians died on the Pakistan side, its military said. On the Indian side, a woman and her two children died after their house was pulverized by a mortar shell. Indian army chief Bipin Rawat dashed to Udhampur in his country’s sector of Kashmir on Saturday to review border security. Across the region villagers huddled in makeshift bunkers while police ordered non-essential traffic off roads, an AFP reporter said. At least 12 civilians have been killed on either side of the frontier since the start of the week. The release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to Indian authorities late Friday following 60 hours in Pakistani custody boosted hopes of a de-escalation. AFP

provenance of Nazi paraphernalia that casually creeps into public spaces. From swastika-adorned trinkets on sale at Thai markets to selﬁes with Hitler statues in Indonesia, Nazi symbols are easy to ﬁnd -- a problem critics attribute to ignorance and a misplaced fascination with the fascist regime. “I was shocked,” the contrite singer said of the outcry. “But I felt it was my fault. I wasn’t aware even though I should have known.”

SECOND NIGHT. This photo shows a general view of the “Vai-Vai” samba school performing during the second night of carnival in Sao Paulo, Brasil, at the city’s Sambodrome early on March 3, 2019. AFP

SAINT PETERSBURG―At a Saint Petersburg cafe, a singer performs Soviet-era tunes for 50 pensioners enjoying a mid-day meal. In the basement of a central apartment block, the cafe offers free food for the elderly―a group particularly hard hit by the economic strains causing growing anger in Russia. Despite icy pavements making crossing the northern city difﬁcult, the Dobrodomik―or “good little house”―is full. Inside, pensioners are served hearty stews and given the chance to have a chat, or even a dance. They are overwhelmingly women. “Prices are rising every day. So this cafe is a very, very good idea,” 72-yearold Rimma Antsiferova told AFP. She receives a monthly pension of 10,000 rubles ($150/135 euros). After paying her local taxes and buying medicine, Antsiferova is left with only $45 to live on. “And recently, the price of transport went up,” she said.

Meditation with alcohol REAL CARPIO SO

GREEN LIGHT MEDITATION is better than sitting around and doing nothing. Meditation, according to an oft-cited definition, refers to “a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration.” With roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, meditation requires one to sit still, often just focusing on one’s breathing. In meditation, one pays attention to the present moment. One becomes mindful of “an emotion that surfaces and passes, a mental image, or a sensation in the body.” Without passing any judgment on these random occurrences, one acknowledges that the past is already behind him and the future is yet to come. There is only the present. The rest are just distractions. As a $1.1-billion industry, meditation/mindfulness training has been adopted by major companies such as Google, Apple, General Milling for their employees. Confirmation studies have exhibited that aside from calmness and clarity, participants were later found to experience less stress, to have more focus, higher cognitive flexibility, and lower emotional reactivity. In practice, researcher Andrew Hafenbrack suggests that meditation be used as “on-the-spot workplace intervention.” In “Mindfulness Meditation as an On-The-Spot Workplace Intervention,” Hafenbrack writes about how mindfulness meditation helps lessen escalation of commitment in organizations.

Because mindfulness focuses on the now and the present, participants are less prone to brood about sunk costs. They can easily move on and could offer a more productive course of action. By not dwelling on past issues and not overthinking about the future, they are less likely to be impulsive or engage in retaliatory behavior that might be harmful to colleagues, coworkers, or the organization. They tend to “self-regulate to ﬁt the needs of the situation at hand,” and “are less likely to react automatically to stimuli.” One caveat, though. Participants who underwent mindfulness sessions may be “more accepting of the status quo, think less about outcomes they desire in the future, and thus be less motivated to achieve goals.” Alcohol has been given a bad name. This is primarily because alcohol consumption “frequently co-occurs” with cognitive or mental impairment. Through ﬁve studies, a research shows that “people who simply hold an alcoholic drink in their hand’ are perceived to be less intelligent than those without one.” It is widely known that the use of alcohol can have harmful effects on individuals. In the workplace, the use of alcohol, even in small amounts, can impair “performance, judgment, coordination, concentration, and alertness.” These effects often result in mistakes and accidents that can affect the health, safety, and morale of co-workers and customers. In his research, Professor Andrew Jarosz of Mississippi State University intentionally served “vodka-cranberry” cocktails to one group of his research subjects until their blood levels neared legal intoxication. Then together with a separate group of subjects who are sober, the intoxicated subjects are subjected to a series of word association problems.

Businesswoman Alexandra Syniak and her husband Yevgeny Gershevich opened Dobrodomik this winter to “thank the elderly”. In the evening, it turns into a regular restaurant but between noon and midafternoon, pensioners from all corners of Saint Petersburg come to eat a warm meal. Following an oil boom in the 2000s, Russians have seen their purchasing power steadily decline over the last ﬁve years. The trend is showing no sign of slowing, despite Russia recovering from a 2015 recession brought on by a fall in oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. When he was re-elected for a fourth presidential term last year, President Vladimir Putin promised to halve Russia’s poverty rate. But soon afterwards, his government raised value-added tax and hiked the retirement age for the ﬁrst time since the 1930s -- a hugely unpopular move. AFP

The result? The intoxicated subjects gave more correct answers and arrived at solutions more quickly. While their sober counterparts were analytical in solving the problems, the intoxicated participants were more intuitive. According to “Uncorking the Muse: Alcohol Intoxication Facilitates Creative Problem Solving,” one explanation to these bursts of “creativity” is the alcohol’s effect on one’s working memory. A working memory is the brain’s filtering system. It screens out peripheral information that the mind deems unimportant. This is useful for solving analytical problems. The more working memory one has at his disposal, the higher is the expertise, and the better is one’s performance. However, experts are often caged by their scope of knowledge. They are stumped when the problem needs to be examined from the perspective of a different discipline. To put it simply, one’s ability to think in new and unusual ways can be hampered when he has too much working memory. By relaxing the filters of the working memory, alcohol allows one to include and consider possibilities that were sidelined by the sober self. Despite its popularity, the effects of mindfulness meditation to the human brain remain unclear. Perhaps, participants felt better after each session because most of them practically slept through it. I would have chosen to do the same. Alcohol, on the other hand, is a better intervention. The fact that you’re reading this means that it is definitely worth a shot. Real Carpio So lectures at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. He is an entrepreneur and a management consultant. Comments are welcomed at realwalksonwater@gmail.com. Archives can be accessed at realwalksonwater.wordpress.com. The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

‘Fatherless’ kids numbers grow in Angeles City CLARK FREEPORT—The number of “fatherless” children have reached to an alarming level and might eventually be part of the social problem should the local government fail to address the situation. “’Fatherless’ children is now occurring and most of these kids are offspring of different nationalities who have visited the entertainment district of Angeles City. This is the social cost we have to face and address with haste specially with the current development of the Clark International Airport,” said Barangay Balibago, Angeles City Chairman Rodelio “Tony” Mamac. At present, Mamac said there are more than 800 to 900 fatherless children in Angeles City and nearby areas of Pampanga who were born out of wedlock with foreigner fathers. “This is the social cost we failed to notice but it is being addressed now.” “Some of these “fatherless” children have been loitering the entertainment district obviously neglected by guardians. Some have been involved in criminal activities as young as ten years old, they are now children at risk or child-inconflict-of-the-law” said Mamac. Mamac said 30 percent of passengers arriving at CRK are tourists from Korea, China, Japan, India and other Asia countries not to mention United States and Australia. He said these visitors frequented the entertainment district of Angeles City (Fields Avenue) to have fun and meet new girls and eventually have intimate relationships. Jess Malabanan

1k NV villagers to get jobs via TUPAD project BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—The Department of Labor and Employment and the provincial government here will be employing 1,000 workers in the province this year through the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program. DOLE chief Joseph Sales said the job employment program was funded with P3.6 million by the LPGMA Partylist which will provide P360.00 wage per day for the beneficiaries. He added that the workers will be provided with basic orientations on safety and health, personal protective gears, and enrolment in group microinsurance before their actual work. “This is part of the total project cost of the TUPAD program for our Novo Vizcayanos,” he added. This community-based package of assistance provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed, Sales further said. According to Letty Puguon, Provincial Employment Service Officer, the qualified beneficiaries will be assigned to work in the provincial government’s eco-tourism and forest project sites such as the Lower Magat Ecotourism Park (LMETP). Other areas are the Forest Project Site in Diadi town, Ammungan Park at the Provincial Capitol and the Agricultural Research and Training Center and the Barobbob Reservoir and Spring Site in Bayombong, and various sites of the Grand Ammungan Festival celebration in in May. Ben Moses Ebreo Dasmariñas City Mayor Elpidio “Pidi” F. Barzaga, Jr. (left) and Dasmariñas City Rep. Jenny Barzaga (center) lead the ceremonial blessing and turnover of 75 Hilux Barangay Patrol Units to 75 barangays and two Police Mobile Outposts to PNP at Dasmariñas Integrated High School grounds. Former Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla also attended the event, as Father Gabriel Chiniona administered the blessing.

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

LEAP FOR ‘ANILAG’. Dancers in colorful garb leap in unison during a performance for the Anilag Festival on Saturday. The Province of Laguna has been celebrating the Ani ng Laguna (Laguna’s harvest) Festival since 2004. It has been touted as the ‘Mother of All Festivals’ as it incorporates in its activities facets of the culture and economic assets of all municipalities and cities of the province. Teddy Pelaez

PCSO hits CV police for ‘jueteng’ inaction

By Brenda Jocson

AYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office are at odds with regional police over the latter’s refusal to file charges against operators of the illegal numbers game jueteng across Cagayan Valley. Manuel Fraginal Sr., PCSO Executive Assistant VI and Chief of the Nationwide Inter-Branch Security Monitoring, said the state lottery firm has conducted surveillance in the provinces of Zambales, Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya, leading to the arrest of 100 illegal collectors of Globaltech being nabbed in San Carlos City, Pangasinan. But Fraginal said the Philippine National Police has refused to file criminal

charges against the Globaltech collectors. Instead, he said the police in Pangasinan led by Provincial Director Senior Supt. Wilson Joseph Lopez wants the PCSO to file the charges themselves in court for the violations of Presidential Decree 1602, which prescribes stiffer penalties for illegal gambling. In a statement, Fraginal, a retired Major in the Philippine Marine Corps, said: “Mayors and chiefs of police in towns

and cities who had jueteng operations should be held accountable and liable because these Globaltech operations is used by unscrupulous politicians and scalawag law enforcers.” “In fact, these ‘jueteng’ which they are doing could be a source of finances for the coming elections,” Fraginal added. Sought for comment amid allegations that the regional police were involved in jueteng operations, Senior Supt. Chevalier Iringan of the PNP PRO2 Public Information Office replied with a Bible verse. Quoting Psalm 37:5-6, Iringan texted the Standard: “Commit your way to the Lord; Trust that God will act. And make your integrity shine like the dawn, your vindication like noonday.” He gave no further comment.

BAY CLEANUP.

Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco, together with 250 personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection, fire volunteers and city street sweepers, join hands to clean a part of the Manila Bay at Brgy. Bagumbayan North in the city. Some 21,000 kilos of garbage were collected from the cleanup. Barangays of Navotas also hold weekly cleanups in support of the bay rehabilitation effort. Jun David

Midas Marquez to keynote PAPI gab on PD 1079 By Jessica M. Bacud SUPREME Court spokesman Jose Midas P. Marquez who also heads the SC Office of the Court Administrator, will keynote a Forum on Presidential Decree 1079 organized by the Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc. (PAPI) on March 7 at Hotel Jen along Roxas Blvd., Manila. The forum will have “Upgrading partnerships and mutual support Judicial/Legal Notices publication” for its theme. PAPI president Nelson Santos said, “It aims to spell out issues and queries on judicial and legal notices publication that continually hound publishers of the community newspaper across the country related to the publication of judicial and legal notices as required by law.” Community newspaper publishers from the regions and provinces, as well as countryside journalists will participate in the forum, together with representatives of various government agencies like HDMF, Balikatan and NHMF, and private sector institutions including financing firms and banks, which are involved in judicial and legal notices publication, Santos reiterated. Decreed by then-President Ferdinand Marcos, PD 1079 sets guidelines for revising and consolidating all laws and decrees regulating publication of judicial notices, advertisements for public biddings, notices of auction sales, and other similar government notices. Santos added that SC Court Administrator Marquez has designated Judge, to be the principal forum discussant. A forum discussion on the scope and dynamics of Presidential Decree 1079 and related laws will follow. PAPI Emeritus Chairman Johnny P. Dayang will formally welcome the participants and guests, while former PAPI President Louie T. Arriola will introduce the guest speaker.

Zambales revives community photography through Photolympics tilt OLONGAPO CITY—A group of stakeholders is reviving community photography particularly among young generation in the province of Zambales. “Capturing moments especially those that have impact to our lives is reason

why we are trying to revive community photography,” said Jen Angeles, Photolympics organizer and GamaGen Media Services General Manager. Photolympics is a photography contest documenting the many aspects of Olongapo

City living held at SM Olongapo on Sunday. Aside from SM, Casa San Miguel Museum of Heritage Community in San Antonio town was a major sponsor. “We invited high school photographers aiming to entice young generation

into photography,” she also said. “We intend to conduct Photolympics yearly.” Local singers also provided entertainment during the contest. Some companies inside Subic Freeport Zone also supported the event. Butch Gunio

Dasma turns over 75 patrol cars, 2 outposts DASMARIÑAS City Mayor Elpidio F. “Pidi” Barzaga Jr. led the ceremonial blessing and turnover of 75 Hilux Barangay Patrol Units to 75 barangays and two Police Mobile Outposts on Saturday at the Dasmariñas Integrated High School Open Grounds in Cavite. Father Gabriel Chiniona ministered the blessing ceremony. The turnover was done in the presence of former Governor Jonvic Remulla, Police Provincial Director Senior Supt. William Segun, Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, and the City Chief of Police, Supt. Nerwin Ricohermoso. Along with the City Mayor, the guests were welcomed by Cavite Rep. Jenny Austria-Barzaga, Vice Mayor Raul Rex Mangubat, Board Member Rudy Lara, city councilors, barangay

officials, Kiko Barzaga, Robin Cantimbuhan, and Glenn Malihan. The City Government allotted P83.382 million for the purchase of all the mobile patrol units, and an additional P6.9 million for the two mobile outposts. The mobile outposts will be stationed in strategic locations of the City as determined by the Dasmariñas City Police Station. Just like the two existing outposts stationed in WaltermartDasmariñas and Central Mall-Savemore in Salitran, these will be manned by uniformed City police men. Deterrence of crime has always been the primary mission of the City Government, said Barzaga. Throughout the years, maintenance of public order, peace, safety, and security has been proven central to Dasmarinas’ continued growth and progress.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife

FOOD

@MStandardLIFE MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Foodee relaunches The Food Hall FINE FOOD HALL. The Food Hall at SM Aura features a ‘food theater’ concept with brands including Pound, Hook, Flatterie, and The Grill.

OUR years after Foodee Global Concepts opened Todd English Food Hall at SM Aura, the multi-brand F&B group relaunches the food hall to incorporate its original “food theater” concept and new additions to its lineup of brands.

“We’re relaunching The Food Hall to remind everyone where it all started— Pound, Flatterie, Hook, and The Grill will all be in the roster, to give diners a flexible dining experience that allows them to choose among our high quality and affordable dishes from different cuisines,” said Eric Dee, chief operating officer of Foodee Global Concepts. Dee added, “It’s a concept that is close to our heart because at the core of the company is a passion for introducing new flavors and dynamic restaurant concepts to the public. This time, we’re bringing all the restaurants we love under one roof.” Hook by Todd English is now only available at The Food Hall. Specializing in a seafood menu offered through plat-

ters that come in raw, grilled, and fried, Hook’s must-try dishes include Beer Battered Fish and Chips, Pan Seared Halibut, Spicy Salted Egg Prawns, and Torched Nigiri. Flatterie’s scrumptious Italian menu is available at The Food Hall as well. Crowd favorites include its signature Barbecue Pork Belly, a flatbread exclusive at The Food Hall, and an extensive pasta menu that covers everything from Mac and Cheese to Spicy Flat breads from Flatterie Frutti de Mare. Burger lovers can enjoy Pound’s juicy offerings at The Food Hall, starting with its Double Backyard Cheeseburger, Crispy Chicken Burger, and Pound Foie Gras Burger. The Grill is an exciting new addition to The Food Hall, as well as its hallmark food station offering a wide variety of premium steaks at affordable prices, such as the Petite Rib Eye Steak, Flat Iron Steak, Braised Lamb Shank,

Truffle Fries from Pound

Pound’s Double Backyard Cheeseburger The Food Hall’s The Bomb

Fried Platter from Hook

The F.H. Half Chicken, Braised Beef Cheek, and The F.H. Pork Chop. Fixed lunch sets are also now available on weekdays. Pomodoro Pasta and Classic Margarita or Pomodoro Pasta and Pound x Pound Sliders combo are available for P285. Food Hall Chowder or Caesar Salad, Food Hall Pork Chop with Garlic Rice or Food Hall Chowder or Caesar Salad, Spicy Salted Egg Shrimp with Garlic Rice, is a set menu available for P365.

A group menu good for four persons starts at P995. Guests can select from set menus that include Asian Chicken Salad, Crunchy California Roll, Dynamite Salmon Skin Roll, Classic Margarita Flatbread, Pesto Pasta, and Winglets. First-time diners at The Food Hall are spoiled for choice when it comes to desserts. Highly recommended are the OMG Lava Cake and The Bomb, a white chocolate dome (homemade

Savor summer’s fresh bounty THE summer breeze is starting to waft all over the metro, and with it is the promise of sun-drenched adventures and flavorful food made with the freshest catch and produce. Summer’s fresh bounty gather in Kitsho Japanese Restaurant’s kitchen as Executive Chef Keita Kamimoto whips up the tastiest Japanese dishes for the season. Diners can either enjoy the dishes a la carte or have them all at the buffet selection. They can start their gustatory experience with shrimp or squid tempura then follow it up with Tuna Teppan. Balance the meal with some sautéed vegetables and piping hot bowls of savory miso soup. When appetites start to get whetted, they can then sample some yakisoba dishes with Tori Momo Karaage (fried chicken), on the side. Meat lovers would love the Buta Shogayaki dish, pork meat sautéed in ginger.

But the choices don’t end there as Chef Kamimoto encourages diners to browse through the buffet menu and order every dish that their appetite craves. They will be prepared fresh. Capping every Kitsho meal is an array of sweet ending options including Grilled Banana, Rainbow Delight Cake, and Japanese From left: Yakisoba, Tori Momo Karaage, and Buta Shogayaki. matcha halo-halo. Lunch buffet is priced at P1,356 per person with unlimited iced tea, while the dinner buffet is offered at P1,568 per person person with one round of red or white wine or beer. All meal prices are inclusive of VAT and service charge. This March, diners who come in small or big groups get to enjoy Kitsho’s 5 + 1 promo wherein one guest dines for free for every five paying diners in their company. Call (02) 994-3623 for inquiries and Endings are sweet at Kitsho which serves (from left) Rainbow Delight Cake, Grilled reservations. Banana, and Japanese matcha halo-halo

chocolate brownie, banana, and dulce de leche ice cream cake) poured with melted salted caramel sauce. Foodee Global Concepts has announced its plans to expand this year, opening four more Pound branches and two more Flatterie branches. The Food Hall is located at Level 5, Sky Park, SM Aura, Taguig City. Call 09178633364 or (02) 621-4002 for inquiries.

Life

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Nespresso brunch parties

ESPRESSO has recently introduced its new limited edition coffee blends via chic brunches hosted by three stylish women.

Lovely table set-up at Alicia Sy’s brunch party which featured Turkish/Mediterranean spread and Nespresso’s Café Istanbul.

Paying tribute to the historical roots of coffee houses, the brand introduces Café Istanbul and Caffe Venezia. These special blends carry the vibrant spirit of old-world cafés that gave birth to the most fascinating coffee house cultures. Café Istanbul is as exotic and intense as the coffee houses found in this enthralling city. It’s made of Arabian coffee from Yemen mixed with East Indies and Indian treasures, and carries an intense roasted and black pepper spicy notes. Caffé Venezia, on the other hand, with its elegant and delicate profile, is the perfect muse of Venetian coffee houses. This blend features beans from the ancient Ethiopian city of Harrar mixed with Indian Arabica to create a cup rich with the exotic perfume of the East. Wild and floral notes are combined with a roasted character, making this variant a potent and complex coffee. Town & Country’s home and food expert Alicia Sy, Philippine Tatler Home and Philippine Tatler Traveller editor Mia Borromeo, and style icon Camille Co threw get-togethers to introduce Café Istanbul and Caffe Venezia to their friends. The star of Sy’s brunch was Café Istanbul, and to complement it, a sumptuous spread of Turkish/Mediterranean food was prepared by Happy OngpaucoTiu. As a special treat for her guests, a spices station featuring cinnamon, chili, cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, coriander, cumin, and sumac, was set up from which everyone could choose three different kinds to take home.

Caffe Venezia is the star at Mia Borromeo’s Venetian brunch party.

Camille Co’s brunch party is buzzing with fun, millennial vibe.

The beauty of old world Venice and the Nespresso coffee that it inspired, Caffé Venezia, took centerstage at Borromeo’s brunch. Nespresso coffee was served, paired with classic Italian cuisine that delighted everyone’s palate. To complete the Venetian experience, artist Pete Rich did a live sketch of guests with a styled background featuring different elements that are distinct to the city. A fun, millennial vibe kept the room buzzing at Co’s brunch. Selfies, social media, and endless youthful chatter provided the perfect juxtaposition to the old-fashioned theme of the event, which

featured a spices station, an old-world Europe styled backdrop for taking photos, and a calligraphy station where artist Anina Rubio prepared a calligraphy session for the guests. The new blends can be enjoyed as espresso or black coffee as well as coffee with milk. Cafe Istanbul and Caffè Venezia are available for a limited period at the Nespresso Boutique in Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Makati, as well as through orders from the Nespresso Customer Care Hotline (02) 477-7870 and online at www.nespresso.ph.

Jollibee’s Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich and Egg & Cheese Sandwich

Starting the day with a sandwich JOLLIBEE brings joy to breakfast with its new Breakfast Sandwiches. Available in two variants, the sandwiches are made with the right combination of ingredients to fuel a person for a long and busy morning ahead. The Egg & Cheese Sandwich is made of the timeless combination of sunny-side up egg and cheese in buttered buns. Add a maple syrup for a complete breakfast flavor. The Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich, on the other hand, hits all the right spots for bacon lovers. Crispy, smoky-savory slices of bacon join a sunny-side up egg and cheese sandwiched between warm buttered buns. It is drizzled with maple

syrup for a flavor-packed bite. “Perfect for working Filipinos who need a quick yet deliciously filling breakfast to start their busy days, the new Jollibee Breakfast Sandwiches offer all the goodness of time-tested breakfast food favorites in a meal you can enjoy on the go,” said Mari Aldecoa, Jollibee marketing director for core products. She added, “The Breakfast Sandwiches are not only satisfying for the palate, but also for the budget as prices start at only P39!” The Breakfast Sandwiches are available from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. for dine-in, take-out, and drive-thru in all Jollibee stores nationwide.

SIP

Welch 100 percent Grape Juice is made from Concord Grapes.

A grape juice a day keeps health woes away The World Health Organization recommends a daily intake of 400 grams of fruits—a target that many Filipinos struggle to meet. With the convenience of modern living, there are products now available that help individuals easily consume fruits and reap their benefits, such as Welch’s 100 percent Grape Juice. Extracted from Concord Grapes, each bottle carries real grape goodness—a good concentration of nutrients called polyphenols that promote healthy blood flow, provide anti-clotting effect like red wine, and help maintain blood pressure. It also provides a good source of antioxidants, keeping the immune system strong to fight against viruses that cause common colds and cough. Welch’s juices are available in all leading stores and supermarkets.

Mia Borromeo (second from right) with guests (from left) Ana de Ocampo, Techie Hagedorn, Zelda Kienle, Michelle Tiangco, Lulu Tan Gan, and Maritess Tantoco-Enriquez.

Year-round promos at Number 1 Barbecues

EXCITING promotions await diners at Number 1 Barbecues throughout 2019. Birthday celebrants dining in with any rice meal will get a free mini birthday cake. To avail the promo, celebrants must simply present a valid document or ID with a proof of their birthdate to the dining personnel. This is available until Dec. 31. Meanwhile, throughout the year,

diners at Number 1 Barbecues SM Marikina branch get free unli rice and soup. This promo is also available at SM North Edsa and SM East Ortigas branches until March 31. Love pairing meals? Those who pair Lechon Belly or Pork BBQ with either Lechon Sisig, Chopsuey, or Palabok get to enjoy unli rice and unli soup with iced tea. They can also opt for the

Smoked Pulled US Pork Sandwich and Baked Macaroni or Smoked US Beef Sandwich and Baked Macaroni combo which comes with free French fries and iced tea. Call Number 1 Barbecues SM East Ortigas at 632-1459 or 635-0570; SM North Edsa at 936-8719 or 0917-5631177; SM Marikina at 234-1630 or 0917-1733478 for inquiries and reservations.

Smoked Pulled US Pork Sandwich and Baked Macaroni combo with French fries and iced tea (left) and Smoked US Beef Sandwich and Baked Macaroni with French fries and iced tea

From left: Korean Bulgogi US Beef and Chap Chae, Lechon Belly and Lechon Sisig, and Samgyupsal US Pork and Chap Chae—all come with unli rice, unli soup, and iced tea.

Entertainment

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Simply... From C4

YUGEL LOSORATA

OME DJs may be overrated, particularly those who became one overnight merely relying on sync button and that cool attitude that makes them appear like true musicians even if in truth they can’t carry a tune or play any instrument.

Indian DJ Akbar Sami, who recently gigged at the trendy House Manila, is one deserving of the applause reserved for legitimate talents who have turned this kind of expression into a career. For one, he is credited for having pioneered the DJ music scene in his country, with his critically acclaimed remix albums ensuring his status as one of the most inﬂuential DJs in Asia. “All these equipment make DJ-ing very easy while a lot of them who have nothing to do with music are becoming DJs, which is a bad thing,” argued Akbar who has already toured the US playing in VIP clubs and whose background includes going to London in the early ‘90s to learn the craft straight from the westerners. By that indication alone, one can sense that our Indian fellow is not one ordinary spinner. In fact, he can professionally sing, too. Akbar’s long career is now locked with a new mix after he remade a classic Bollywood ditty called “Kabhi Kabhi,” (Sometimes, Sometimes) which he describes as “a poetry with a lot of love and romance.” By accident he ended up

Singing DJ From left: Indian DJ Akbar Sami, the author, Dream Events CEO Sumeet Ramchandani.

singing the track after the one scheduled to sing the track failed to appear. The record producer felt he had “done justice to the song.” “It may have helped that I am used to teaching vocal parts of songs during recordings,” he humbly mused. This international act is hailed for “artistically spinning together various musical genres such as rap, jazz, rock, and folk, all beautifully infused with Bollywood ﬂavor. “For this year,” he said, “Singing will go along with the kind of music I do when I

play.” DJ Akbar Sami, who started as a dancer in Bollywood movies, is collaborating with Dream Events & Entertainment headed by its President/CEO Sumeet Ramchandani and Vice President Sanjay Bhatia, with Kris Mago serving as VP for Philippines. Dream, which brought him to Manila, also operates in India, United Arab Emirates, and the US. When asked of the extent of the partnership, the reply bordered on “very good plans” and “a lot of new things coming up.”

ARIAS ALWIN IGNACIO FOR sure, no one wants to wear the branded shoes of Kris Aquino nowadays. For someone who does not have a television program and is no longer the Queen of All Media, we cannot deny the reality she is still all over the Philippine entertainment news landscape. Her present scenarios, two of her qualified theft accusations against Nicko Falcis, her former business manager, were junked by the Prosecutor’s Offices of Makati and Pasig City, due to lack of “probable cause.” She is infamous because of the skin flicks starred wherein she showed some of her bare necessities and current its complicated related status. Gretchen Barretto throws thanksgiving parties for Aquino’s legal and personal nemesis. La Greta has given two parties to celebrate the victory of the Falcis brothers. Of late, the embattled mother of two became subject of a dimwitted spiel in a political event. Aquino was agitated because of this and a video in her social media site was made public. Let us set the record straight first, even if the senatorial aspirant already issued an apology, it cannot erase the fact that the joke was most inappropriate and it was indeed callous of this hopeful to use Aquino’s former predicament as the subject of ridicule. May this experience open the eyes of many with regard to the attitude and his sincerity of intentions. For Philip Salvador, may he keep his lips tight, after all, he agreed to the “laugh out loud” moment. Whatever he sees or hears, especially the message of Kris, it is pointless to defend yourself. We are all aware that as far as you and Ms. Aquino are concerned, everything is water under the bridge. You were her first sperm donor, you have served your purpose. Yes, we are indeed a democracy, Aquino has every right to cry foul, speak her mind and pour heart out. However, this time, if she exercised prudence and just swept the “joke” under the

rug, the majority will salute her. She should have weighed how Josh Aquino, her eldest, and biological son of Salvador, will feel about all these unnecessary drama. It made me cringe, listening to her rant as she displayed her dirty linen in public and the sins of Salvador are all old news. If your only fault was being a 23-year-old virgin who fell in love madly with an older fellow, we are ﬁne about it, why cannot you? We have better things to do than to listen to your lamentation which could have been prevented if you use your intelligence choosing the person you love. Krissy, less talk, lesser mistakes so it is best to zip it! Your latest episode, it will not ease the widening gap and value between the peso and the dollar Your latest version of truth will not change the staggering cost of power and water consumption, food, rice, and other commodities. The dirt and viruses are still by the gazillions populating Pasig River, Manila Bay, and Baseco Beach, despite your keening. EDSA trafﬁc is the only constant and might be a forever to all Filipinos. If you and Philip did not have a forever and he was of no assistance, especially of the monetary kind to Joshua, why are you making it such a big deal now when you were able to raise him on your own? And, I cannot help but wonder, why is that your personal crises and dramas, why do you make it appear it is of national importance and it is bigger than all of us? Oh! I get it, Kris Aquino is indeed Kris Aquino. Well, let me just say, by opening all your cans and letting out the worms to crawl, you better know what you are doing, Krissy. In the war employed by the rich and infamous, karma is real, it is a bitch, and yes, it is super digital!

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, March 4, 2019

ACROSS 1 Newsstand buy 6 Bolted 10 Overwhelming quantities 14 Salary increase 15 Folk wisdom 16 Phone 17 Past closing time (hyph.) 19 Pakistan’s language 20 Before marriage 21 Debtor’s letters 22 Outstanding 24 Exams 26 Little rascal 27 Parched feeling 30 Rueful 35 Disprove 36 “Star Wars” heavy 37 Stickum 38 Otherwise 39 Theaters 40 Prune the hedge 41 Brewery product 42 Abode 43 Ms. Witherspoon 44 Head shavings 46 Starbucks orders 47 Colorado tribe 48 Terre —

50 Coziest 54 201, to Claudius 55 Pet shop sound 58 Not do 59 Gold digger of yore (hyph.) 62 Glass square 63 Comics dog 64 Fumble 65 Garden bloom 66 Paved way 67 Intelligence DOWN 1 Baha’i origin 2 Ump’s shout 3 Venue 4 Put into service 5 Most uncanny 6 Break the rules 7 Gehrig of baseball 8 Goes wrong 9 Preordains 10 Work with clay 11 Scruggs of bluegrass 12 “Catch-22” actor 13 Run words together 18 Multitude 23 Kuwaiti leader 24 Not false 25 Language course 27 Take out to dinner

28 Parrot’s word 29 “Peer Gynt” dramatist 31 Perfect place 32 Long-plumed heron 33 Library no-no 34 Huge volumes 36 Intuition 39 Watches over (2 wds.) 40 Chapeau’s place 42 Darling 43 PG and R 45 Hotel offerings 46 “Peanuts” kid

49 Was in a play 50 Kachina maker 51 FitzGerald’s poet 52 Fashion length 53 Hubbub (hyph.) 55 Presently 56 Salespeople 57 Gratis 60 Estuary 61 Intense anger

Being his ﬁrst visit in the Philippines, the multi-talented dude expressed the positive vibes welcoming him prior to his show at Resorts World Manila where the said party house is located. “It’s my ﬁrst time in Manila and the people are nice,” he observed. “It’s a fabulous experience and I hope to do a lot of work here in the future.” His valuable piece of advice for DJwannabes: “I am a perfectionist and want to do things the way it should be done. Be dedicated and keep listening. Pick six to play out of 100 songs.”

‘Style Me Now’ premieres on Diva in May Enough with just putting your best face forward, it is time to put your best life forward! Style Me Now, a new local production from Diva—the women’s entertainment destination channel from NBCUniversal International Networks’ (NBCUIN) —is an exciting new show that will “unbox” the true you. Style Me Now takes each individual on a journey that is more than just your usual run-of-the-mill makeover show. Instead, Style Me Now focuses on creating a mindful experience of self-improvement that celebrates each person’s uniqueness. Viewers will follow individuals as they transform both inside and out through fashion, beauty, and wellness—with a little help from the professionals. In each 30-minute episode, contestants will focus on their wardrobe, their workouts and their beauty regime with the help of our glam squad—including a style guru, wellness expert, and beauty influencer—who will support each contestant as they revamp their looks and lifestyle. Style Me Now aims to empower participants to pursue their passions, and to move forward into the future with confidence. Diva is interested in casting individuals across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to be part of this life-changing experience on Style Me Now. The casting call is open from now until March 8, with further details available on www.redflametv.com/casting. Style Me Now is sponsored by online fashion retailer ZALORA. It will premiere May 20 at 9:00 p.m. exclusively on DIVA. *** More farmers attend mechanization, and rice production training course Sen. Cynthia Villar led the opening of the training course on rice farm mechanization and inbred and rice seeds production at the Villar SIPAG Farm School in Bacoor, Cavite. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said training the farmers how to mechanize farming practices and to produce certified inbred seeds will address the need to lower the production cost of growing palay. “Through this training program, we are preparing our farmers to switch to the modern way of farming and help them to be able to compete against imported rice which will start coming in as a result of the expiration of the Quantitative Restriction on Rice, prescribed by WTO,” Villar said. The training program was conducted for free in partnership with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the Philippine Center for Post-Harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), and the Agricultural Training Institute. Thirty-Five farmers from the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were the participants in this 9-day training program. The First Phase was conducted from Feb. 4 to 7 and the Second Phase on Feb. 11 to 15. After the program, participants are expected to acquire the knowledge that will help improve farm yield through mechanization and production of high-quality inbred seeds. “Once they graduate from the course, the participants are expected to also share their learnings in their respective communities and help us transform more farmers into seed growers engaged in seed production and trade,” Villar said. Under the rice tariffication bill, among the programs that will be funded by the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, is the development, propagation and promotion of inbred rice seeds to farmers as well as farm mechanization programs. Along this line, the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar SIPAG) partnered with PhilRice, PhilMech and ATI to conduct the Training Course on Rice Farm Mechanization and Inbred and Rice Seeds Production. *** Visit www.isah.red for more stories. Follow me on Facebook (@ isahvr), Twitter (@isahvred) and Instagram (@isahvred). ΙR

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

Entertainment

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

Yassi Pressman and Enchong Dee have renewed their ties with Kapamilya network.

Stars choose to remain Kapamilya The cast and director (rightmost) of the newest GMA Network afternoon series, 'Dragon Lady'

Intriguing tale of love and luck

aims to change afternoon viewing landscape

VERY WANG NICKIE WANG

In the series, Janine breathes life into Celestina Sanchez, a young lady who is born with dragon-like features.

ANINE Gutierrez admitted that she’s a big fan of costume transformation videos. Matter of fact, she spends hours watching them online. So, when she’s offered with a role in Dragon Lady that would allow her to transform using prosthetics, she didn’t think twice—it’s one item ticked off her bucket list.

“I am a big fan of costume transformations...those videos on timelapse showing how they transform using prosthetics. I really enjoy watching them,” the 29-year-old actress shared in an interview. In her new soap, Janine prepares for three hours with a team that put together her look—a dragon lady. “It’s a long process, but it’s worth it when it’s all done. The effect is so real,” she gushed. Janine breathes life into Celestina Sanchez, a young lady who is born with dragon-like features. Her physical traits and mystical power unleash the independent and ﬁerce lady boss in her, the dragon lady that she is destined to be. In the series, she is paired with actor Tom Rodriguez who plays the role of a Filipino-Chinese named Michael Chan. The character is an adventurous and a non-conformist, he refuses to meddle with the family business. Forced to prove his mettle to his Chinese family, he allows himself to become instrumental in the downfall of Celestina who later on he falls for so passionately. “The series has an exciting premise. It’s a romantic drama fused with some element of fantasy because of the main character’s appearance. The story itself is deeply rooted on Chinese-Filipino culture, tradition, and superstition— something that’s good for primetime viewing but we are putting it on the afternoon block because we are game changers, we want to change the viewing

habits of the televiewers,” Hazel Abonita, the series program manager, told Manila Standard. Playing vital roles in the lives of Celestina and Michael are James Blanco as Bryan Atienza, Celestina’s father ﬁgure; Diana Zubiri as Almira Sanchez, Celestina’s mother who loves her unconditionally and protects her at all costs; Maricar De Mesa as Vera Lim-Chua, a Chinese heiress who looks down on people not of the same stature as her; Joyce Ching as Astrid Chua, Vera’s daughter who will be Celestina’s greatest rival in business and in love; and Edgar Allan Guzman as Goldwyn Chen, a business tycoon who came from a rich Chinese family who criticizes Celestina’s capability to run a business. Also starring in this fascinating series are Odette Khan as Doray, trusted assistant of the Lim’s; Dexter Doria as Philippa Chua, a formidable Chinese woman and Vera’s mother-in-law; Lovely Abella as Ginger Garcia, funny, free-spirited and loyal best friend of Almira; Julie Lee as Lotus, Vera’s sophisticated friend;DJ Durano as James Liu, right-hand man of Vera. The pilot week of Dragon Lady features Bea Binene as young Almira; Derrick Monasterio as young Charles; and Kristoffer Martin as young Bryan; together with Mr. Leo Martinez as Wilson Lim, Vera’s father and a ruthless businessman who is

'Dragon Lady' top-billed by Janine Gutierrez playing the title with Tom Rodriguez playing the male lead.

a descendant of a family of dragon worshippers; Isabelle De Leon as young Vera; Denise Barbacena as young Ginger; Mosang as young Doray; Carlene Aguilar as young Philippa; and Lorenz Martinez as young Wilson Lim. Rafael Rosell will have a special participation as Matthew Chan, the responsible and hardworking older brother of Michael with a secret of his own. The series highlights that life can be led by luck, hard work and misfortunes. How can a man unlock a woman’s potential and liberate her spirit by unraveling a family’s deeply guarded secret? The series is a product of the visionary mindsofJohnKennethU.DeLeon,Erwin Caezar Bravo (brainstormers); John Borgy Danao, Christine B. Novicio (writers); Renato Custodio, Jr. (head writer); under the tutelage of the Creative Team headed by Ally Adlawan (creative director); Dode Cruz(creative head); Kit Langit (creative consultant); under the capable supervision of the Production team headed by Lilybeth G. Rasonable (SVP For EG), Ms. Redgie Magno (VP For Drama), Cheryl Ching-Sy (AVP for Drama), Ms. Hazel Felizmenio Abonita (Senior Program Manager), James Manabat (Executive Producer). At the helm of this upcoming series is respected ﬁlm and TV director Paul Sta. Ana. He was known for his wellloved ﬁlms such as Oros, Huling Pasada, Mayohan, and #Walang Forever. Direk Paul was the director of the longestrunning soap for 2018, The Stepdaughters. Don’t miss the highly-anticipated world premiere of Dragon Lady today after Eat Bulaga. It airs from Monday to Saturday, on GMA Afternoon Prime. Kapuso viewers from across the globe can also catch their favorite Kapuso shows via GMA’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, and GMA News TV International. For the program guide, visit www.gmapinoytv.com.

ASK any star that is working at ABS-CBN if they’d remain Kapamilya when given the chance, most probably you’d get the same answer: “Yes!” And, recently, six of the most sought after celebrities have chosen to remain Kapamilya. All of them renewed their respective twoyear contracts. The line-up of renewed Kapamilya stars was led by actress Bea Alonzo who is looking forward to the upcoming South East Asian release of her movie Eerie this month. She is also busy cooking up a soap opera with actor Richard Gutierrez. “I feel really blessed to remain a Kapamilya. My heart is so grateful for all the trust that the Kapamilya bosses are giving me,” Bea told members of the press after renewing her contract. Another Kapamilya star that renewed his contract with ABS-CBN is actor Enchong Dee who starred in the Regal Entertainment movie Elise last month. He is also doing another teleserye that is still under wraps. Enchong said that he’s very excited with the line-up of projects that ABS-CBN has offered him. Kapamilya actor JM de Guzman, on the other hand, is busy preparing for a movie and teleserye on ABS-CBN. When asked how he feels that he’s still a Kapamilya, JM shared, “I’m trying to be calm as possible but I really want to celebrate because this is a very special day for me.” Momshie Jolina Magdangal is happy that she will be spending another two years in ABS-CBN. She will still host the morning talk show Magandang Buhay along

with Melai Cantiveros and Karla Estrada. “Sobrang happy maging isang Kapamilya. ISAH V. RED I feel really grateful to ABS-CBN,” Jolina gushed. Yassi Pressman also renewed her contract with ABS-CBN. Her fans will continue to see her in one of the longest-running television series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano. Yassi can’t help but express her gratitude to the Kapamilya network: “Masayang masaya ako that I found home here at winelkam ako ng mga tao with open arms. I just feel very blessed to still be here in ABS-CBN.” Completing the line-up of stars who signed up with ABS-CBN today is Bela Padilla who is busy taping for the new mystery-thriller Mea Culpa. She said it was a dream come true for her to be able to work with Jodi Sta. Maria. Bela also expressed her happiness as a Kapamilya, “I’m very satisﬁed. Being a Kapamilya, opened so many new opportunities for me in the last three years. I was able to write a book, write scripts, and more. I wouldn’t have done that if not for the support of our bosses here.” Present in the signing were ABS-CBN Chairman Mark Lopez, ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak, COO of broadcast Cory Vidanes, TV production head Laurenti Dyogi, head of ﬁnance for broadcast and news and current affairs Cat Lopez, Star Magic head Johnny Manahan, Veronique Corpuz of Viva Artist Agency Inc., and Perry Lansingan, co-manager of Jolina Magdangal. Continued on C3

MayWard surprises fans, PLDT patrons as customer care agents on Twitter PLDT Home Fibr celebrity ambassadors Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber, otherwise known as MayWard.

MAYWARD, the popular onscreen tandem of Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber served as special PLDT customer care agents to help customers with their inquiries on PLDT Home Prepaid Wifi. The overwhelming customer response had #MayWardAtYourService trending on Twitter during the takeover. MayWard took to Twitter to reach out to their fans and personally answered customer queries on the convenience of purchasing the device, ease of use and reloading it. Learning that PLDT Prepaid Home Wifi is available at the stores and retailers near them, customers found it helpful to know more about the device including how easy it is to load online through their Home Wifi dashboard, sari-sari store or any authorized PLDT or Smart retailer, and Pasaload using Smart or TNT mobile number. Perfect for the family’s use at home, customers can also enjoy up to 1GB of data per day for as low as P15. Needless to say, the duo said they enjoyed the entire experience and that they find it fulfilling to be able to answer these questions and receive thank-yous from customers. “I really enjoyed it. It made me miss the time when I was doing on-the-job training, where some kind of customer service was involved. The job of a customer care representative is not easy,” said MayMay in Tagalog. For his part, Edward said, “It’s the first time I was able to do something like this and I have a newfound respect for everyone who does this type of job because it’s really challenging. For one, it’s hard to communicate when you are not face-to-face with the

other person to ask more details about his or her concern. You also have to be careful about using unnecessary words.” Maymay and Edward find the Internet most useful in their work as they turn to social media to constantly update their fans about their activities. “Internet is very helpful in our work. especially that we always update our fans about what’s happening in our lives. It’s been our way to make them happy,” Maymay said. Both Maymay and Edward said they are happy that the Internet has become more accessible for households because of the PLDT HOME Prepaid WiFi. “We shared to the customers how affordable and easy it is to buy PLDT Home Prepaid Wifi. All you need to do is buy the device at the nearest retail store and you can already have fast and affordable Internet connection for your family at home. It’s also convenient to load and you can control your data usage according to your budget because you will just load as needed,” Maymay related. “It’s very accessible. Imagine, you can load for as low as only P15 for one Gigabyte (1GB) of data. It’s also easy to use. You just have to plug it. It’s probably the simplest WiFi that I’ve ever encountered,” Edward said. No more worries about monthly bills, lock-in periods, or even uncontrolled data usage when you get the PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi. Available at PLDT Stores and retailers nationwide for a one-time fee of P1,995, which comes with FREE 10GB data valid for seven days. Visit (https://youtu.be/TMcx2oW21FM) to watch the video. Visit www.pldthome.com and follow PLDT’s official accounts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PLDTHome) and Twitter (@PLDTHome) to know more about PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi.