SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014

ww

w.kuw

aittimes.net

03 04Gym Team organizes firstNon-Instructors Fitness

Training program

Page 04Army, Marines get new M4 rifles

AEGIS concert slated for Oct 3

KUWAIT: Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon sinimulan ng Cebu Pacific ang byahe nito mula Kuwait-Manila-Kuwait, tatlong beses isang linggo,noong Miyerkules. Bilang pasasalamat, ibinigay ni Alex Reyes, General Manager, Cebu Pacific Long Haul Division, kay Ghazi Yousef AbdulLateef Al Abdul Razzak, Chairman of the Caesars Group of Companies ang CEB Airbus model na gagamitin para sa mga biyahe nito sa Kuwait.Ang larawan ay kuha sa Sheraton Hotel noong Huwebes ng gabi. (See Page 2) —Kuha ni Albert Dimaculangan

HANOI: Representatives from 21 member economiesof the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gath-ered in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi yesterday to discussmeasures to strengthen people-to-people connectivi-ty and quality employment through human resourcesdevelopment. The discussion is also the theme of thesixth APEC Human Resource Development MinisterialMeeting which drew the participation of over 100 del-egates. Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung said over the past 25 years,APEC has become an economic forum representingsome 40 percent of the world population and con-tributing 54 percent of the world Gross DomesticProduct (GDP). Human resources play a leading role inmaintaining the dynamic and fast growth of theregion, said the prime minister. —Xinhua

APEC ministers discuss human

resource in Vietnam

MANILA: The Filipino nurse who was thought to havecontracted Middle East respiratory syndrome whileworking in Saudi Arabia never had the virus, Philippinehealth officials said Friday. The attempts to trace all ofthe nurse’s fellow passengers from Saudi ArabianAirlines Flight 870 and Cebu Pacific Flight 997 last weekhave been ordered stopped, Department of Healthspokesman Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy said. The woman wasput under quarantine when she arrived home based oninitial test results thought to be positive, but the healthdepartment spokesman said the confirmatory testscame back negative.

The Saudi hospital where the nurse worked alsoclarified that their tests showed she was free of thevirus. Lee Suy explained the second MERS case wasannounced on Wednesday based on the report of thenurse’s co-worker who flew home with her. She calledthe health department after receiving word from hersupervisor nurse that the first nurse tested positivefor MERS. That nurse and her family were also putunder quarantine but subsequently released fromhospital. Lee Suy said the steps the department tookwere consistent with its “rumor surveillance” proce-dures. “Everything starts with a rumor. What if itturned out to be true? It is up to us to validate,” hetold reporters. —AP

Filipino nurse doesn’t have MERS virus

MANILA: A senior military official yesterday defendedFilipino peacekeepers’ “great escape “ in Golan Heightsagainst criticism from commander of the UnitedNations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Interviewed by India Today, the UNDOF command-er, Indian Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, said that thenon-professional actions of the Filipino troops haveendangered the lives of the Fijian soldiers.

He said the peacekeepers have defied orders at atime when they had negotiated a ceasefire with therebels to ensure that all troops in the conflict areacould exit.

In response to his criticism, Ramon Zagala, publicaffairs office chief of the Armed Force of thePhilippines (AFP), maintained that the actuation of the

Filipino troops were not acts of cowardice. Rather, itwas Singha who was acting as coward for ordering thetroops to surrender their weapons and to raise thewhite flag.

“What we did there is we defended ourselves fromattack,” said Zagala while chastising Singha for notimmediately taking actions to extricate those atPosition 68. “To endanger our troops unnecessarily isthe act of cowardice. Ordering the troops, endanger-ing them unnecessarily by surrendering firearms andraising the white flag, instead of repositioning them, Ithink that’s the act of cowardice,” said Zagala.

Zagala said the military is submitting a report tothe Department of National Defense and to theDepartment of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines a

detailed report on the standoff.Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, on

the other hand, declined to comment on Singha’saccusations that Filipino peacekeepers committed anact of cowardice during the Golan Heights standoff.

“We (AFP) decided that we should just keep oursilence on further discussion about the incident. Wehave asked the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) toreply to all queries about this unfortunate incident,”Catapang said in a text message to reporters.

“We will just submit all the reports as directed bythe president. After saving our troops from being mas-sacred, the last thing we want to do is be involved in ablame game problem,” the AFP chief added.

—AFP, Xinhua

‘Filipino peacekeepers commit no act of cowardice’

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 2Cebu Pacific nagsimula na

ang direct flights to ManilaTatlong beses isang linggo

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataonsinimulan ng Cebu Pacific (CEb) ang byahenito mula Kuwait-Manila-Kuwait, tatlongbeses isang linggo. Nagsimula ang serbisyong Cebu Pacific sa Kuwait noong Miyerkules4:40AM, na pinasinayaan ni PhilippineAmbassador to Kuwait Lamberto Monsanto.

Isang salo-salo ang naganap noongHuwebes ng gabi sa Sheraton Hotel upangpasalamantan ang mga taong naging bahaging pagsisimula ng Cebu Pacific flight saKuwait. Sa kanyang talumpati, malugodnitong pinasalamatan ang Cebu Pacific sakanilang makasaysayang pagpasok sa Kuwaitimarket bilang budget airlines na aniya aymakakatulong sa mga Pinoy sa bahaging itong rehiyon ng mundo. “Congratulations CebuPacific; Filipinos have been waiting for thisgreat moment,” wika ni Monsanto. “Some of uswould have to travel to Dubai or to otherneighboring countries to get the airlines tothe Philippines and back. With your entry,which you promised a direct flight will be veryrewarding to some Filipinos,” dagdag nito.

Siniguro din ni Monsanto na ang pagpa-sok ng Cebu Pacific sa Kuwait ay makakatu-long hindi lamang sa mga Pinoy dito kundihigit sa lahat sa mga Kuwaiti at ibang lahi nagustong bumisita sa bansa. “It will help us inpromoting the Philippines as remarkabletourism destination and in promoting cultur-al and commercial exchanges between thetwo countries,” sambit ng sugo ng Pilipinas saKuwait.

Ang CEb ay magkakaroon ng tatlongbeses isang linggong byahe mula Kuwaithanggang Manila, non-stop, na aalis ng ban-dang 4:40AM (Kuwait time) darating saManila ng 7:20PM (Manila time) tuwingLunes, Miyerkules, at biyernes. Ang mulaManila patungong Kuwait naman ay aalis ng9:30PM (Manila time) at darating dito ng3:10AM (Kuwait time) every Tuesday,Thursday and Sunday.

Ang Cebu Pacific ang kauna-unahang air-line na non-stop ang byahe mula Kuwaithanggang Manila. Gagamitin sa mga byehenito ang brandnew Airbus A330-300 aircraftna designed sa 436 all-economy class seats.

Sinigundahan ni Ghazi Yousef Abdul Lateef AlAbdul Razzak, Chairman of the Caesars Groupof Companies, ang pagbati sa Cebu Pacific sapagpasok nito sa Kuwaiti market. Ayon sakanya, makakatulong ito ng malaki sa pag-enganyo sa mga turistang Kuwaiti na bumisitasa bansa. “Most of the Kuwaitis do not knowmuch about the Philippines as the tourist des-tination; as far as I know there are plenty ofbeautiful resorts over there, but are quite far

from Manila capital. With Cebu Pacific comingto us here it will boost tourism in thePhilippines,” saad nito. “The challenge now isnot about the passengers, we have the sup-port of Filipinos but in fact on how to sell thePhilippines as tourism destination for nonFilipinos. We have lots of chances and possibil-ities to make this happen; we also need thehelp of other travel agencies to make our wishcome true,” dagdag niya. Dahil nga sa budget

airlines ang Cebu Pacific, asahan ng mga pasa-hero na bawat serbisyo nito ay may-hiwalay nabayad tulad ng baggage allowance, seat selec-tion, CEb Air Wi-Fi connectivity inflight at mag-ing pagkain. Para sa karagdagang impormasy-on, bumisita sa www.cebupacificair.com.Dumalo din sa salo-salo noong Huwebes nggabi sina Philippine Consul General Raul Dado,Consul Jabbar Adiong at Vice Consul SheinaTesorero.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Albert Dimaculangan

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 3

KUWAIT: A non-organization group, GymTeam held its second project Fridaymorning at the Radisson blu hotel withfitness training. Termed “Non-InstructorsFitness Training”, the half day programaimed at introducing to fitness enthusi-asts a peek into fitness class, its require-ments and patterns. Three top and highlycertified instructors facilitated the train-ing. Fitness trainer and supervisor at FlexHealth Club and President of FitPro deliv-ered a brief but comprehensive lectureon basic anatomy and muscles identifica-tion. The Gym Team extends its gratitudeto Radisson blu Hotel, Glen Victa. TheMorning Talk and The Times for their kindsupport. The Gym Team also announcersits forthcoming charity “ZumbaMarathon” in October.

Gym Team organizes first Non-Instructors Fitness Training program

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 4AEGIS concert slated for Oct 3

KUWAIT: The Reformed and United Guardians brotherhood International Incorporated(RUGbII), The bicolanos in Kuwait (TbIK) and Filipino Association for Music and Arts(FAMA) with the participation of the Philippine Embassy, Kuwait is organizing afundraising musical event for a “ Cause” entitled “AEGIS LIVE IN KUWAIT” on October 3,2014 from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm at Qadsiya Sports Club, Hawally. This event will be ben-efitting the distressed OFW’s in Kuwait and a part of the proceeds will be donated to theongoing construction of the bahrain Cathedral. Organizing committee leaders includeFROILAN “CNF CAGON” G. CATAQUIS-Charter National Founder, RUGbI, ENGR. EPIFANIOb. bELLEN, JR.—TbIK President, NOEL SILVA, FAMA Chairman. Our gratitude to the fol-lowing sponsors, CO- Host Sponsor 0r Major Sponsor : Swiss - bel Hotel Plaza KWT,boushari Group Company, MediaCom, Filinvest, bahrain Exchange Change, Classic PlazaGroup of Companies, Manyaman Restaurant, ICSA, Open Kitchen Restaurant, DunkinDonuts, RED bull, Vision Express Cargo, For You Restaurant, Santinna Saloon, FaridaSaloon, Aquino Supermarket, Mario’s Restaurant, burgan Agri. Co. WLL., Arleene JoyFashion Gallore.

Pinoy resto opens in Salmiya

KUWAIT: Newly opened Filipino restaurant Chowking was inaugurated on Thursdayat Salem Mubarak street in Salmiya attended by Philippine Ambassador to KuwaitLamberto Monsanto, Consul General Raul Dado, Consul Jabbar Adiong, VC SheinaTesorero. It was officiated by Fr. Ben Barameda & Pastor Jun Nones. ManagingDirector Yacoub Al Hajeri also attended the inaugural ceremony.

MANILA: Philippine Army troopers receive new M4 assault rifles during distributionceremony on Thursday at the army camp of Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province innorthern Philippines. More than 50,000 units of the new 5.56mm M4 assault rifle areto replace the early M-16 and M-16A1 rifles which now becomes the standard issuefor the 250,000 Philippine soldiers as part of its modernization program. —AP

Army, Marines get new M4 riflesMANILA: The Vietnam War-era rifles used by troops finally retired as the military received new M4rifles to the Army and the Marines last Thursday. The military will distribute 50,300 units of 5.56mmM4 rifles to the Army and Marines to boost their security operations. The rifles will replace the anti-quated M-16 and M-16A1 rifles of soldiers, a majority of which were used during the Vietnam Warin the 1960s and the ‘70s. The military admitted many of the rifles are ‘already in poor conditionand need refurbishing or replacement.’ The rifles were delivered in two batches. The first batch of100 rifles was delivered last July 5. The firearms were delivered in advance because they were sup-posed to be used for the ceremonial turnover that was postponed. —The Philippine Star

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 5

ICSA organizes Office Management graduation ceremony KUWAIT: The International Institute of Computer Science & Administration (ICSA) organized on Friday their Office Management Commencement Exercises. About 200 stu-dents mostly from the Filipino community in Kuwait received their diplomas/certificates after months of studies. ICSA is an institute providing learning experience with glob-al prospective through innovative programs in view of creating new job opportunities. Professor Fatima S. Cruz served as their guest speaker.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 6FBC awards winners of 45th & 48th tournament

Mohammed N. Al-Hajery Badminton Tourney to start Sept 12

—Photos by Albert Dimaculangan & Jimmy CarandangKUWAIT: The Filipino badminton Committeeformally awarded the prizes to the winnersof the 45th and 48th badminton Tournamentin a colorful and entertaining ambiance lastFriday. The program was ably hosted by FbCProgram Consultant Susan Reyes who wel-comed the special guests headed by ConsulGeneral Raul Dado together with FZA-KPresident Dolor Suarez, KFbC Pres. Farida AlHalimi and Chelsie Magallanes-Dado.

The program commenced with thesinging of the Philippine national anthemled by Najwa Lacson followed by inspira-tional message from the FbC Chairman Dr.Chie Umandap. Umandap in his messagesaid “I am supposed to give you an inspira-tional message, but the truth is, you are theone that gives me inspiration, thus I wouldrather introduce to you the true inspirationsof the FbC.” He then called on all the officersof the FbC headed by President ReginePanesal. The FCC Movers presented a dance

number followed by Simple Warriors kidsand Shuwaiba Khuraibit rendered a songnumber to the delight of the audience andguests.

Meanwhile, FbC President announced theopening of its 50th badminton Tournamentdubbed as Mohammed N Al-Hajerybadminton Tournament, Alghanim National &Al Muzaini Cup on September 12, 2014. Theproceeds of the said tournament will bedonated to the AbS-CbN Adopt A HometownCampaign Project and will benefit the MabiniElementary School of Zamboanga Sibugay inthe Philippines. Likewise, as an opening salvofor the 50th Tournament on Sept 12, FbC willhold its Level O - One Day tournament thatwill start at 9:00 in the morning. Participantsof the tournament will receive their freewater flask container courtesy of Alghanim.

FbC Technical Committee concluded itspresentation with the championship gamesfor the 49th tournament.

The result are as follows:

Am DoublesChampionJoan Diculin Nilda M 1st Runner Up Rhea Gaite Liezel Colas 2nd Runner Up Crystal Diculin Clarissa b 3rd Runner Up Ferrylyn Reyes Mae Manila

Level AChampionDennis Malay & Doy Viray1st Runner Upbhong bayuca & Lee Williams2nd Runner Up Emman Carpio & Rasheed3rd Runner Up Jimmy Carandang & Johny

Level BChampionAnthony Montero & Mitch Fuerte1st Runner Upben Maglaque & Regine Panesal2nd Runner UpLowella Cayme & Marilou Magdaro3rd Runner UpRussel & Marslede De Guzman

Level CChampionCrystal Diculin & Erick Torno1st Runner UpShiva R & Sandy Rosales2nd Runner UpRaffy Seril & Anites3rd Runner UpEdgar & Mary Jane Luague

Level DChampion Daisy & Mark

1st Runner UpJovely & Sheryl 2nd Runner Up Liezel Sabornido & Agnes3rd Runner Up Marnie Calugtong & Marisol

Team EventChampionVincent Dinculin, Marlon Diculin, MarlonVenturina & Anthony Monteron1st Runner UpSylvain, bhong bayuca, Alma benito &Lowella Cayme2nd Runner UpAriel A., Doy Viray, Russel, Mitch Fuerte3rd Runner up Emman Carpio, Gary Lord, Regine Panesal,Sheen Golena

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014 7

need a pail or a basket that you cannail to a wall and ask for a donation fora ball.” Unlike baseball or football, itdoesn’t need wide open fields, which

are at a premium in a country with asmall land mass and burgeoning pop-ulation.

basketball, like boxing, has become

the road to riches for aspiring collegeplayers seeking to be drafted into theprofessional league where “people areearning in the millions” of pesos (tensof thousands of dollars) Alinea said.

Professional teams recruit NbAplayers to boost their lineups.Pacquiao’s new team is eyeing NbA AllStar Metta World Peace, the formerRon Artest who had stints with theChicago bulls, Los Angeles Lakers andthe New York Knicks. World Peace cur-rently plays for the Sichuan blueWhales in the Chinese basketballAssociation.

Tiu said he is against draftingimports, especially for college teams.He said it would take away opportuni-ties for local players and may deprive“our big men” who play center or pow-er forward from reaching their “fullpotential.”

“When schools seriously recruit for-eigners and give them very attractivepackages, you tend to question theunderlying values of the game and theschool as well. What’s more important?Academics or basketball? Is it alwaysabout winning? Or is it about develop-ing student-athletes?” said the formercollege basketball star.

Imports in the pro league can takeaway livelihood opportunities forFilipinos, he said, but the Philippinebasketball Association has done “adecent job in balancing this” by pro-viding an all-Filipino conference andrequiring only one import per team inthe other conferences. —AP

SUNDAY, SEPTEMbER 7, 2014

FBC awards winners of 45th & 48th tournament

Pages 6-7

MANILA: The Philippines may havebeaten only one of its five opponentsand been eliminated at the groupstage of the basketball World Cup butthey have won over a country that cansense the rapid progress of the sport inthe nation.

The Filipinos defeated Senegal 81-79 in overtime Thursday in their lastgame in Group b to end the tourna-ment on a high, though just qualifyingfor the trip to Spain was satisfyingenough.

“being there is a mini victory for thecountry already,” former captain ChrisTiu told The Associated Press. “It meansthat we belong to the elite of Asianbasketball.”

One of the most successful coachesin Philippine professional basketball,American Tim Cone, shared Tiu’s senti-ments. “What a moment,” he said incommentary on local television as theFilipinos geared for the opening battlelast Saturday against Croatia. “No mat-ter what happens today, just the factthat we are part of this is a phenome-nal thing.”

It has been 36 years since the coun-try played in the world championship,in 1978,; 40 years sinice it last won agame; and 60 years since winning amedal.

The breakthrough win overSenegal was no less than the ‘GilasPilipinas’ deserved after a succession ofnarrow defeats. In the opening game,the forced an extra period againstCroatia, having tied 71-71 and lost 81-78, with some satisfaction that theyhad given one of Europe’s top nationalteams a genuine scare.

“What a message we sent today. Ina word, awesome! I mean, wow!” Conesaid after watching the game inManila.

That was followed by an 82-70 lossto Greece, and 85-81 defeat byArgentina and then a 77-73 reverseagainst Puerto Rico.

Tiu said the undersized team hadplayed with “the biggest heart” and itsperformance “shocked the world bycoming too close to juggernauts likeCroatia, Greece, Argentina, PuertoRico.”

“That to me is our victory,” he said.The Filipino passion for the sport

can be seen in the ubiquitous pres-ence of basketball courts in both poorand wealthy communities - some builtby local residents and others donatedby politicians trying to leverage thesport’s popularity into votes.Neighborhoods that don’t have real

courts would block off the best pavedroads where they hold village basket-ball tournaments.

One of the country’s biggest loversof the sport is boxing icon MannyPacquiao, who plays basketball withhis entourage during breaks in histraining. The country’s wealthiest ath-lete also has joined the professionalleague as playing coach of the newly-formed KIA Sorentos. His team will seeaction for the first time in October.

basketball, along with baseball, wasintroduced by the Americans a centu-ry ago when they arrived to colonizethe country as the Spanish rulers wereclose to total defeat by Filipino revolu-tionaries.

baseball was more popular in theearly days but basketball slowly easedit out with more followers and playersafter the Philippines won Asian com-petitions in the early 50s and early 60s.

Sports analyst Eddie Alinea saidthat basketball is now more popularthan other sports because it is thecheapest game and can be played vir-tually anywhere.

“Even if you are just wearing slip-pers, you can play,” he said. “You only

Philippines’ hoops progress reflects sport’s surge

MANILA: bracing for a tougher outing thistime, the Philippines tries to keep the PeaceCup at home when it faces Southeast Asianrival burma (Myanmar) at Rizal MemorialStadium early last night.

The Azkals, coming off a 5-1 win overChinese Taipei last Wednesday night, seek toextend their mastery of the burmese side inthe 7 p.m. final. Palestine, the AFC ChallengeCup champion, clashes with Chinese Taipei forthird at 4 p.m. The Azkals have won their lasttwo meetings with burma at the senior level,including a 2-0 triumph in the AFF Suzuki Cupin bangkok two years ago.

but the burmese side now has Serbiancoach Radojko Avramovic, who is familiarwith the Philippine side. The Serbian plottedthe elimination of the Azkals while handlingSingapore two years ago in the Suzuki Cupsemifinals. —Inquirer.net

SEVILLA, SPAIN: Philippines’ Japeth Aguilar, left, and teammate Jim Alapag, right, celebrate after win-ning the match against Senegal during the Group B Basketball World Cup match between thePhilippines and Senegal in Seville, Spain, Thursday. The 2014 Basketball World Cup competition willtake place in various cities in Spain from Aug. 30 through to Sept. 14. —AP

PH Azkals stake Peace Cup against Burma

MANILA: The Philippines’ Jason De Jong (6) is challengedby Taiwan’s Weng Wei-pin (15) and Chiu J-huan (7) duringthe Peace Cup 2014 soccer friendly match Wednesday, atthe rain-soaked Rizal Memorial Football Stadium inManila, Philippines.—AP