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Carter: 5 US planes now stationed in PH

VOL. XXX � NO. 62 � 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 � FRIDAY : APRIL 15, 2016 � www.thestandard.com.ph � editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Cebumayor’ssuspensiondeferred

‘DOLE RECIPIENTSFORCED TO RALLY’

Live fire. Two V-22 Osprey aircraft hover above armored personnel carriers of the Philippine Army and US Marines during a live-fire exercise as part of ‘Balikatan’ joint US-Philippine military exercise at Crow Valley, in Capas, Tarlac on Thursday. An advanced long-range missile system was also tested at the firing range. AFP

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Award-winning. SM Prime Holdings Inc. took home seven awards during the recent Philippines Property Awards. The awards included best commercial development, best retail development and best retail architectural design for SM Seaside City Cebu. Story on B1

“We have received information that 4Ps members in Manila are being required to attend a ‘unity walk’ for Mar Roxas in Luneta un-der the guise of the monthly Fam-ily Development Session of the

4Ps [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program],” said Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.

The group said the 4Ps members are being threatened with a P500

A LEFTIST group  on Thursday  said the Liberal Par-ty is coercing beneficiaries of a government dole pro-gram to join a “unity walk” rally at the Luneta  Friday  for administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II.

deduction from their monthly support should they fail to attend.

“This is a shameless use of pub-lic funds for a partisan political activity. It is illegal and immoral at the same time,” Reyes said.

Bayan also threatened to file charges against the administra-tion and the Liberal Party officials.

“Should they push through with the Luneta event  tomorrow  with Mar Roxas, government officials and candidates involved should be

slapped with violations of election laws as well as violations of the An-ti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“The CCT [conditional cash transfer] funds are not the cam-paign funds of the LP. They should not be used to promote the candi-dacy of individuals,” Reyes said.

Earlier, opposition candidate for president Vice President Jejomar Binay earlier accused a Palace of-ficial whom he did not name of us-ing the P64.7-billion CCT funds to

buy votes, in the guise of recruit-ing poll watchers.

“The recruitment of poll watch-ers is happening already. A Cabi-net official is involved. They are using public funds, particularly 4Ps or CCT funds to buy votes,” Binay said.

Binay also accused the Liberals and the Cabinet secretary of using scare tactics that said Binay would stop the 4Ps program if he were elected. Next page

THE US said  Thursday  it has launched South China Sea patrols with the Philippines and will tem-porarily deploy 275 troops and five warplanes in the country, height-ening its presence here amid the country’s territorial dispute with China.

“In the South China Sea, China’s actions in particular are causing anxiety and raising regional ten-sions,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said during a visit to Ma-nila.

The joint naval patrols, which began last month, “contribute to

the safety and security of the re-gion’s waters,” Carter said after meeting with President Benigno Aquino III.

China claims most of the strategic and mineral-rich sea, and has built artificial islands also claimed by neighbors including the Philippines to enforce its sovereignty, while re-jecting international arbitration.

The US said 275 American troops, among about 5,000 mili-tary personnel taking part in an-nual war games in the Philippines, are to stay behind after the exer-cises end  on Friday.

Five A-10C Thunderbolt ground attack planes and four other air-craft will also remain until the end of the month, he said.

Some 200 are to train Fili-pino soldiers until the end of the month, while the remainder will be stationed at a Manila military base on an unspecified “rotation-al” basis to form a “command and control” unit to support increased activities between the two allies, Carter added.

A critic of the administration voiced concern over Carter’s an-nouncement.

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NEWS

Carter: ...

Standard founder Rod Reyes, 80

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‘US access to 5 bases willboost territorial defense’

‘DOLE...From A1

In Dipolog City, Binay also denounced the coercion of 4Ps beneficiaries to attend the Roxas rally  on Friday.

“It is detestable that the LP is using the defenseless poor and government resources for cam-paigning and electioneering,” Bi-nay said. “They are desperate in trying to boost Mr. Roxas’ rating at the expense of the poor.”

He said President Benigno Aquino III, the LP and Roxas would be guilty of electioneering for using government resources for campaigning.

This is the second time in as many days that the Liber-als tried to mount a “loyalty check” and project a “show of force” after a huge crowd of lo-cal officials were made to show up purportedly backing Roxas’ presidential bid at Club Filipi-noThursday.

Some 4Ps members said dur-ing meetings called by the De-partment of Social Welfare and Development that the organizers of the unity walk told them that they must participate to show Roxas their support.

“We were told that we have to show many of us wanted to con-tinue the program and by the show of force, we can convey to Mar Roxas our desire that we support his promise to continue the program,” a member of 4Ps told The Standard in Filipino.

The DSWD officials, she said, kept on warning them that should Roxas lose the elections, other candidates would scrap the program.

But the 4Ps member said the parent-recipients accepted Bi-nay’s reassurance that he would continue the program and in fact expand it to include senior citi-zens aged 60 to 64.

Roxas, in his political ads, said the Daang Matuwid has man-aged to help more than 4 million households under the 4Ps.

Binay vowed those who un-fairly used the poor would be made to account for their actions under his administration.

On Thursday, a sea of yellow shirts led by the President filled the Club Filipino in Greenhills to support Roxas and his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

The LP members and allies chanted “Roxas, Robredo” af-ter Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista introduced the two to a packed Kalayaan Hall.

LP political leaders from dif-ferent provinces vowed to deliver votes for the administration bets.

Both Roxas and Robredo vowed to continue the 4Ps pro-gram.

Aquino, who was the guest of honor, said many LP candidates in the provinces were running unopposed, and that this would nail the victory for the adminis-tration ticket.

Roxas also vowed to continue Aquino’s program of “Daang Matuwid.”

The LP rallies come in the wake of recent opinion surveys showing Davao City Mayor Rod-rigo Duterte ahead in the presi-dential race, and Senator Ferdi-nand Marcos Jr. leading the vice presidential race. With Sandy Araneta

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said Carter’s announce-ment that US military activity in the Philippines will reach “new levels” not seen in decades was a return to the country’s past as a colony of the United States.

“This new level of US military ac-tivity that Secretary Carter is trum-peting is tantamount to the full return of US military supremacy in the Philippines, in a level not seen since the Commonwealth days. To say that this is alarming will be a gross understatement,” Ridon said.

Ridon lambasted Washington for exploiting the West Philippine Sea dispute to forward its “rebalancing” agenda in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The threat that Beijing poses for our national security is real and significant, yet it does not nec-essarily mean that we should allow US military forces unprecedented entry to our military bases and facilities. Claiming to defend na-tional sovereignty from one bully by surrendering it to another bully is simply illogical,” Ridon said.

He added that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that the country signed in 2014 put it at a disadvantage.

“Little by little, Edca is being ex-

posed as nothing but a flimsy ex-cuse to hand over our sovereignty to the US in a silver platter.

“Our countrymen do not de-serve this new travesty against our national sovereignty. The Aquino administration keeps harping about how this new pact would supposedly shield us from Chinese incursions in our seas, yet a deeper analysis would reveal that such agreement would only advance Washington’s economic and po-litical interests, especially its bid to finally secure China’s support and allegiance,” Ridon said.

At a meeting in Thailand, the Phil-ippine Permanent Representative to Association of Southeast Asian Na-

tions said that respecting the rule of law and arbitration is an important factor for settling territorial disputes over the West Philippine Sea.

Ambassador Elizabeth Buen-suceso made the statement dur-ing a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to Asean and the High Representa-tive of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Pol-icy in Thailand.

In a statement, Buensuceso ex-pressed Manila’s appreciation for a recent EU statement on the need to maintain a legal order for the seas and oceans based on the principles of international law.” Maricel V. Cruz, Vito Barcelo, AFP

By Florante S. Solmerin

THE commander of the US Marine Corps in the Pacific said  Thursday  the five Philippine military camps that the US will gain access to through the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement will boost the country’s territorial defense amid a worsening territorial dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.

“We’re still figuring out exactly what we want to do to improve some of these former bases to better support the territorial defense objectives of the Philippines,” said Lt. Gen. John Toolan, commander of the US Marine Forces in the Pacific and director of the US-Balikatan joint military exercises.

The five major camps are Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, home of the Western Command facing the West Philippine Sea; the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pam-panga and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, also close to the WPS; Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao; and the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

Toolan said the exercises also underscore the implementation, effectiveness and efficiency of a “higher level of command and control” in handling and manipulating technological war-fare tactics and operations.

“What you saw here today are small unit leaders working very closely together in operat-ing on Himars [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System], they are operating armored vehicles and amphibious assault vehicles. But at the higher level, we’ve been working together to try and tie the command and control of forces throughout the entire Philippines a little bet-ter, setting up network and making them work,

and I think we made a lot of progress there,” Toolan told reporters.

PH-Balikatan co-exercise director Vice Ad-miral Alexander Lopez, also Western Com-mand commander, said the Himars could be deployed anywhere in the country not only on the western side of the country since the rocket systems are highly mobile.

“We can deploy the Himars in any part of the Philippines…against any threat,” Lopez said.

The Himars is similar to the P6.5-bil-lion Shore-Based Missile Systems that were scrapped from the Armed Forces’ moderniza-tion program.

Toolan explained that the Himars has a reach of 300 kilometers and can be launched from land or sea.

“The Himars has also the capability that we’re going to test—to shoot from the deck of a ship,” he said.

Toolan said the US Armed Forces is always open to share technology with allies such as the Philippines if needed.

Lopez said the Philippines needs this kind of defensive capability, and that its acquisition should not be delayed.

Asked if the US is open to deploying the Himars in all the 5 bases set by Edca, Toolan said, “Not necessarily, but obviously the mobil-ity of the Himars you could use anywhere.”

“This is something new, actually, in the pro-curement system and even our items for con-sideration. I know the authorities would like to have a good look at it… We have seen the capability, highly mobile, and lethal. So I think that’s one of the capability that we want to have,” Lopez said.

During the live-fire exercise, Lopez said De-fense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said they were impressed by the Himars’ capability.

Glowing projectiles lit up the sky from the advanced US long-range missile system  on Thursday.

The Himars was the star of a simulated as-sault exercise by 5,500 US and Philippine sol-diers, unleashing six missiles at distant targets

from a dry riverbed three hours’ drive from Manila.

US Marine Cobra attack helicopters and Philippine S211 jets also buzzed over the Crow Valley training range as Filipino and US troops acted out the capture of imaginary enemy-held territory.

The exercises were staged in the shadow of a festering dispute between the poorly equipped US ally and regional giant China over islands, reefs and waters in the resource-rich South China Sea.

“The truth of the matter is we are allies and as allies, we need to work together,” Toolan said, referring to the missile system.

“I think we will be more than happy to share,” he said when asked if the US would de-ploy Himars to the Philippines in the case of armed conflict over the South China Sea.

China claims most of the South China Sea, even waters and rocks close to the coasts of sev-eral neighbors that overlap with their claims.

Beijing has reclaimed several reefs claimed by Manila and built structures on them that the Philippines alleges were designed for military use—a charge China denies.

Although the United States has not taken a stand on the conflicting claims to the South China Sea, it has opposed China’s efforts to claim the waters and has stressed freedom of navigation in the vital sea lane.

Toolan said the two-week maneuvers dis-played the capability of both armies to deploy rapidly across the Asian archipelago.

The truck-mounted missile system had been flown aboard a giant military transport plane to an airport near the Crow Valley firing range earlier in the day from the western Philippine island of Palawan.

The Philippines has been improving its de-fense ties with the United States to help up-grade its capability to defend its territory.

The Philippines has allowed American forces to rotate through five Philippine bases includ-ing one on Palawan and another in the north, both close to the South China Sea. With AFP

FORMER two-time press secretary Rodol-fo T. Reyes, the first publisher and editor-in-chief of the Manila Standard, passed away early last night at the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa City. He was 80.

A top journalist and news executive for almost 50 years, Reyes started his ca-reer in the pre-martial law Manila Times and served in various capacities in several newspapers before he put up the Manila Standard in 1987.

He is best known for an exposé on heroin addicts in 1961, for which he was

acclaimed Journalist of the Year. Reyes was also chosen one of Ten Outstanding Young Men and received a Presidential Award from President Carlos Garcia and a Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University.

He served former Presidents Fidel V. Ra-mos and Joseph Estrada as press secretary and was also appointed de facto ambassa-dor to Taiwan.

Reyes is survived by his wife Vivina, children Theresa Alvarez and Jun Jun and six grandchildren.

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NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

Mayor’s suspension deferred

Meeting. Senator Grace Poe shares a light moment with former President Fidel V. Ramos during her courtesy call on the former leader on April 13.

Poe: I sought no endorsement

Binay to jail killers of children, journalists

Comelec Chairman Andres Bau-tista said the commission decided to honor its resolution that no one may be suspended during an election pe-riod.

Malacañang had ordered Rama, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, and 12 city councilors suspended over the release of P20,000 each to city gov-

ernment officials and employees.It claimed the officials and em-

ployees were not victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake and Super Typhoon “Yolanda” that devastated Cebu in 2013, and therefore did not deserve the as-sistance.

“There is a preference for the

“I WILL jail the killers of chil-dren and journalists,” presiden-tial candidate Jejomar Binay said Thursday, referring to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who earlier threatened to put him be-hind bars if he was elected presi-dent in the May 9 elections.

He made the statement even as Liberal Party spokesman Ed-gar Erice accused Duterte of get-ting “huge financial support” from at least eight companies that, he said, had been exploiting Mindanao’s natural resources. Erice also challenged Du-terte to speak up about his deal-ings with businessmen Manuel Zamora and Dennis Uy, the top officers of several mining firms operating in Mindanao

“Duterte has been boasting that he will not receive financial contributions from big business in order to avoid being beholden to them if he wins the presiden-cy,” Erice said.

Binay on Thursday said he would order an immediate in-vestigation into the summary ex-ecutions allegedly perpetrated by the Davao Death Squad, which had been accused by the United Nations, Amnesty International and other human rights groups of killing of thousands of civil-ians including minors.

Binay said the probe would also look into the criminal liabil-ities of Duterte who, he said, had

promised summary executions nationwide should he become president.

He said if elected president he would make sure the members of the Davao Death Squad, includ-ing Duterte, were sent to jail. But he would give Duterte due pro-cess.

“I will create an independent commission for the investiga-tion of summary executions and for those who committed human rights abuses,” Binay said.

“But because we respect the rule of law, we will give Mister Duterte and the DDS a chance to defend themselves.”

Binay said it was terrifying to imagine the DDS spreading na-tionwide and becoming the Du-terte Death Squad.

“He’s [Duterte] the real execu-tioner of children and the poor. It is very dangerous if DDS gets the license to kill and without due process,” he said.

Binay also slammed Duterte for targeting only the poor as he belied Duterte’s claims that he went only after criminals.

He took Duterte to task for the unsolved murders of three Davao journalists.

He asked why the DDS killed Jun Pala, Ferdie Lin-tuan and Rene Galope who allegedly exposed Duterte’s illegal activities. Vito Barcelo and Maricel V. Cruz

THE Commission on Elections on Thursday deferred the suspension order issued by the Office of the Presi-dent against Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and 13 other city officials until after the May 9 elections.

status quo since the only exception provided in the law is if it is a viola-tion of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act,” Bautista said.

He was referring to their Minute Resolution 16-0222 dated March 29 in which the Comelec acceded to the recommendation of the Comelec Law Department not to act on a request for an exemption to the election ban to suspend an official.

“The Commission resolves to approve with modification the foregoing recommendation of the Law Department to defer actions

on requests for authority to sus-pend local elective officials until after the May 9 national and local elections,” the resolution says.

Comelec Resolution 9981 pro-hibits the suspension of any elective local official during the election pe-riod, which this year runs from Jan. 10 to June 8.

But Bautista said the Comelec would still deliberate on the case of Rama and other Cebu officials after the May 9 elections.

“We decided to honor our exist-ing resolution, so we deferred action on the request until after May 9,”

Bautista said.In Cebu, Rama ordered some of

the doors of City Hall closed start-ing Wednesday, a day after the Of-fice of the President issued its sus-pension order.

Rama said he wanted to protect the seat of government against his opponents until the elections on May 9. He said his opponents want-ed him out of City Hall.

“Our opponents are particularly ferocious, atrocious, vicious, mali-cious and obsessed. They want to come in and run City Hall,” Rama said. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Grace Poe sought no endorsement when she met with former President Fi-del Ramos at the RP Development Building in Makati City Wednes-day night —or a little over three months before the May 9 elections.

“It had nothing to do with any endorsement,” the senator said. She said all those seeking the presidency usually sought Ra-mos’ advice on the issues con-fronting the nation.

Poe said she and Ramos al-ways talked since Ramos was

also from Pangasinan like her adoptive father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.

She said she remembered Ramos telling her that, as a former presi-dent, he really did not favor giving endorsements.

“I mean, he’s no longer in a position to immediately make a choice,” Poe said.

She said Ramos gave her a book and then told her stories about her adoptive father. He also gave her a jacket.

She said yes when asked if she

would get Ramos as an adviser. She said she would also appoint

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Du-terte, another presidential candi-date, as her “crime czar” if she was elected president.

“He has the capacity to solve crimes within three to six months,” said Poe when asked if she would offer any position to Duterte in exchange for his plan to appoint her secretary of either Social Welfare or the Transport Department if he was elected president. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Championship belt. Manny Pacquiao shows his championship belt after his successful fight against American Timothy Bradley. Pacquiao arrived with his family in Manila on Thursday. DANNY PATA

A4editorial@thestandard.com.ph

FR I DAY: APRI L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

NEWS

LP, De Lima hitover Napoles bail

US: Daesh rebranding globally

Lawyers want raps vs farmers quashed

Substantive justice. A member of the women’s group Gabriela holds up a placard at a picket line in front of the Department of Justice in Manila as the group demanded that the DoJ review the cases filed against drought-stricken farmers who were protesting government inaction on their request for food aid. DANNY PATA

‘We will win.’ President Benigno Aquino III speaks before Liberal Party members who attended a caucus at the Club Filipino on Thursday over the presidential campaign of standard-bearer Mar Roxas. MANNY PALMERO

By Christine F. Herrera and Sandy Araneta

DIPOLOG CITY —United Nationalist Alliance presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday assailed President Benigno Aquino III and Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II for giving suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles continued special treatment while persecuting their opponents and his allies.

By Florante Solmerin

UNITED States Defense Secre-tary Ashton Carter said many extremist groups around the world, like the Abu Sayyaf, are trying to affiliate themselves with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Daesh, by staging attacks in the name of the Islamist group.

“It is a worldwide phenom-enon,” Carter said of groups that are staging terror attacks in

sympathy for ISIS. “That maybe what we are seeing here in the Philippines, that would be con-sistent with a pattern you’ve seen around the world.”

“That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important that ISIS be destroyed in Syria and Iraq, which I am confident we will do with our coalition partners. That will demonstrate that there is no such thing as an Islamic State based upon this hateful ideology,” Carter added.

The US official made the remark after ISIS claimed re-sponsibility for clashes between Abu Sayyaf militants and gov-ernment troops that led to the death of 23 people.

But the military dismissed the claim as “mere propaganda.”

“I’d like to say that this is not true,” military spokesman Briga-dier General Restituto Padilla said of Daesh’s claim that it detonated seven trucks filled with soldiers, leading to the death of 23 soldiers.

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Public Attorney’s Office has sought the dismissal of the crimi-nal cases filed against Kidapawan farmers involved in the violent clash with policemen last April 1.

PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acos-ta disclosed that their local public attorneys representing 52 of the more than 70 detained farmers filed before the Kidapawan munic-ipal trial court a motion to quash the charges for direct assault, frus-trated murder and illegal assembly filed against them by local police.

According to her, the PAO law-yers questioned the validity of the arrest and filing of the case against the farmers, which included three pregnant women, six senior citi-zens and several minors.

Because of this, Persida stressed that local PAO lawyers, led by Or-lando Daño, also sought the sus-pension of the court proceedings pending judicial determination of probable cause but Judge Rebecca de Leon denied both motions in a

hearing yesterday afternoon.She also lamented that most of

the farmers remained in jail de-spite being granted bail, amount-ing to P6,000 each, by the court.

Acosta said only three of their clients were able to post bail, while the 49 others remained in deten-tion for lack of any identification card or proof.

“Only three farmers were re-leased [Wednesday]. The rest were not released due to lack of IDs. I instructed the local PAO to get barangay certificates of residency, but their barangay is very far from the city. We hope to secure the cer-tificates within today [Thursday],” she said, in an interview.

Various sectors have called for the release of the detained Kidapawan farmers.

Militant groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan alleged that the arrest was illegal, citing findings in Senate inquiry that the farmers were deceived by the Phil-ippine National Police before they were arrested.

On the other hand, the work-ers group Bukluran ng Mang-gagawang Pilipino and multi-sectoral coalition Sanlakas blamed former Justice secretary Leila de Lima for the bungled handling of the plunder cases against Napoles, Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon Lanete and former Apec party-list con-gressman Edgar Valdez, after they were allowed to post bail.

Members of the BMP San-lakas held an indignation rally at the Justice department after the Sandiganbayan granted bail to alleged pork barrel master-mind Napoles, Lanete and Val-dez last Wednesday.

Though the granting of bail is not indicative that Napoles, Lanete and Valdez are guilt-less, the Sandiganbayan ruling gives us a sneak preview of the final verdict of their plunder cases. This as well is a revela-tion of how lethargic and neg-ligent De Lima and her staff were in their performance of their duties, h De Guzman estimated.

Leila De Lima is now the peo-ple fs dilemma. Because of her the chances of recovering the loot has dimmed further. Her gross incompetence makes her deserving to be cellmates with Napoles, h said BMP leader

Leody de Guzman.De Guzman argued that if the

court fs ruling is indeed reflec-tive of De Lima fs performance then the Filipino people stands to lose a total of P166.19 million for the 11 counts of graft cases filed against Lanete and the sev-en counts of graft against Valdez alone.

At the same time, Binay said he believed the granting of bail on Napoles’ plunder case was the handiwork of Malacañang and the ruling Liberal Party.

On the other hand, Binay said the President, through Execu-tive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., had UNA candidates reelection-ists Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, and 12 city councilors suspended over the release of P20,000 calamity fund for city hall workers who were among those seriously hit by Super Ty-phoon “Yolanda” in 2013.

Rama is pitted against Palace and LP-backed former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, head of Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswa-gan, a Liberal Party ally.

Leila bungledplunder raps,says Sanlakas

25 more charged in pork barrel mess

A coAlition of cause-orient-ed groups  on thursday  ac-cused former Justice Secretary and senatorial candidate leila de lima of deliberately bungling the plunder charges against Janet lim napoles and two other lawmak-ers, which prompted the Sandi-ganbayan to grant them bail for temporary liberty.

in a rally in front of the Depart-ment of Justice, Sanlakas pinned down De lima’s strategic role in making the criminal charges against napoles,  dismissed Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon-lanete, and former Association of Philippine Electric coopera-tives party-list Rep. Edgar Valdez weak.

leody de Guzman, first nomi-nee of Sanlakas to the party-list election, said De lima was “in-competent” as justice secretary because she failed to tighten the pieces of evidence so that the Sandiganbayan would not allow napoles and lanete to bail out.

Sanlakas members who partici-pated in the protest asserted that “De lima has no moral authority to become a senator due to fake crusade against graft and cor-ruption and justice for victims of state terror.”

on Wednesday, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division approved napoles’ and Valdez’s bail petitions due to weak pieces of evidence.

the court’s fourth Division, in a separate decision, also granted the bail petitions of napoles and lanete since the pieces of evidence presented by the government law-yers at the Sandiganbayan, which were originally prepared by DoJ, were not strong enough to prove the supposed guilt of the two.

napoles, however, could not get temporary liberty since she was convicted by a Makati city Regional trial court on April 15 2015 for the crime of serious ille-gal detention.

lanete posted a total of P830,000.00 bail (P500,000 for the plunder case and P330,000 for the 11 counts of graft).

Valdez posted P1.7 million bail for his temporary freedom.

the plunder charges against napoles, lanete, and Valdez are connected with the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund.

Lakas goes for Marcos. Vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (middle) is officially endorsed by stalwarts of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats during a special meeting of senior officers and local leaders headed by Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado Revilla (3rd from left) and former Surigao Rep. Butch Pichay in Makati City. EY ACASIO

By Rio N. Araja

THE Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday filed graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against 25 individuals including a former congressman and a former regulator—all linked to the alleged pork barrel scam whose alleged brains, Janet Lim Napoles, was also included in the charge sheets.

the ombudsman’s office of the Special Prosecutor accused Davao del Sur’s former Rep. Marc Douglas cagas iV and former Energy Regulatory com-mission chairperson Zenaida Ducut of violating the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.

the ombudsman charged ca-gas with two counts of violation of the anti-graft law and anoth-er two counts of malversation of public funds.

the other respondents were former officials and employees of the technology Resource center, Budget department and state-run national AgriBusiness council.

they were former tRc di-rector general Antonio ortiz, former deputy director general Dennis cunanan, former man-agers Maria Rosalinda lacsama-na and Francisco Figura, former budget officer consuelo lilian Espiritu and former chief ac-

countant Marivic Jover.the charge sheet also included

former Budget and Management undersecretary Mario Relampa-gos, budget specialist Rosario nuñez, and administrative as-sistants Marilou Bare and lalaine Paule; former national Agri-business corp. president Alan Javellana and former employees Victor Roman cacal, Romulo Relevo, Maria ninez-Guañizo, Ma. Julie Villaralvo-Johnson and Rhodora Mendoza.

included in the charges were businesswoman Janet lim na-poles, driver and bodyguard John Raymond de Asis, and private in-dividuals Jesus castillo, Margarita Guadinez, ireneo Pirater, Jocelyn Deiparine and noel Macha.

the office of the Special Prosecutor said cagas allocated P7.550 million from Priority De-velopment Assistance Fund in

2008 to two napoles-linked fake foundations.

the first allocation was made in January 2008 involving P2.7 million worth of cagas’ pork barrel fund for agricultural pro-duction packages for the farmers in Davao del Sur.

the fund was supposedly dis-bursed to the People’s organiza-tion for Progress and Develop-ment Foundation inc.

the second allocation involv-ing P4.850 million of cagas’ pork barrel fund was released in May 2008 to Social Development Pro-gram for Farmers Foundation inc.

cagas was accused of per-sonally choosing PoPDFi and SDPFFi to implement his PDAF-funded projects without a public bidding.

Ducut was cagas’ agent, the ombudsman said.

Romualdez pushes wage hike By Maricel V. CruzSEnAtoRiAl candidate and leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez  on thurs-day  batted for a decent wage for all Fili-pino workers to allow them to cope with rising prices and feed their families. 

Romualdez made the statement follow-ing the filing of a petition by the trade Union congress of the Philippines seeking a P154 across-the-board increase in their daily take-home pay. 

“the government claims that the econo-my has been doing very well in the past six years. But why is it that it has been deny-ing workers a fair wage commensurate to what they contribute to the growth of the economy?” Romualdez asked.

last year, workers filed a formal petition seeking a P136 across-the-board increase in the daily wage of workers in Metro Manila, but the Regional tripartite Wage and Pro-

ductivity Board in the region only granted a P15 wage hike for minimum wage earners.

“i know that government must strike a balance between the demand of workers for a wage hike and the need for business enter-prises to maintain their viability for the long term,” Romualdez said.

“But we should also give our workers the means to survive from day-to-day. last year’s P15 minimum wage increase is good only for buying a half-kilo of the cheapest nFA rice,” he added. 

Government, Romualdez said, should show malasakit or compassion for our workers who keep the economy going at full throttle but find it increasingly difficult to cope with the rising cost of living especially in Metro Manila.

Workers are saying that the current wage level in Metro Manila fell by 24 percent since January as a result of the rising cost of living in the region, so based on their computation, every worker needs an increase of P154 in their daily pay.

A5f r i D AY : A p r i l 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

Indignant. Members of labor groups hold an indignation rally in front of the Department of Justice after the Sandiganbayan granted bail to alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon Lanete and former Apec party-list representative Edgar Valdez. DANNY PATA

A6F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

Manila dad hits anti-Erapcampaign

Voting 6-1, the com-mission en banc decided with finality to accept the donations of Smartmatic, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said.

However, Comelec Com-missioner Rowena Guan-zon opposed the decision, fearing that the poll body by accepting the offer might be violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“I have the lone dis-

senting opinion. It might violate the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. But all the commission-ers are lawyers and have their own interpretation,” Guanzon told reporters af-ter the Comelec special en banc meeting.

Guanzon said the Come-lec must report the dona-tion to the CoA as part of its requirements.

“I just want to emphasize

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elections on Thursday decided to drop the public bidding for the purchase of P85.8 million worth of thermal paper after the Smartmatic-Total Informa-tion Management offered to donate 1.1-mil-lion rolls of thermal paper and 2-million marking pens.

Comelec OKs Smartmatic offer

SENATE President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Thursday made an appeal to Malacañang to download at the soonest time the billions of pesos in Calamity Fund and Quick Response Fund to provinces facing the wrath of the El Niño phenomenon, saying pre-emptive measures are needed to avert a national crisis caused by widespread drought.

“The dry spell is real. Now is the time to release the funds approved by Congress to shield the country from the wrath of El Niño. Tomorrow maybe too late,” Recto said.

“We do not need to wait for the provinces to declare a state of calami-ty in their localities before download-ing the funds. A national crisis is just around the corner,” he added.

“Dry spell plus drought of funds.

That’s the formula for more Kidapa-wans. That should not happen be-cause national government has the money to help local governments and farmers,” he said.

The senator again sounded the alarm bells on El Niño after the entire province of Cebu this week (April 11) joined the growing list of provinces that had declared a state of calamity due to dry spell.

Last week (April 7), the neighbor-ing province of Bohol was also placed under a state of calamity.

Recto noted that even the Philip-pine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administra-tion had predicted that more than 30 provinces in the country may experi-ence severe drought this April.

According to the weather bureau, more than 30 percent of the country

will experience drought for three consecutive months with below normal rainfall.

Pagasa enumerated the follow-ing provinces under threat of severe drought:

• (Luzon): Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan;

• (Visayas): Negros Oriental, Bo-hol, and Siquijor;

• (Mindanao): Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Mis-amis Occidental, Misamis Orien-tal, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, South Cota-bato, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Maguindanao,

Lanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi. Pagasa has already identified the

most vulnerable areas. They should receive the El Niño funds ASAP, Recto said.

For this year, according to Recto, P38.9 billion has been allocated as National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund in the na-tional budget.

However, P18.9 billion of this amount is earmarked for Yolanda reconstruction, “which means only about P19 billion can be dis-posed for other calamities, like the El Niño.”

A lump sum fund, this Calam-ity Fund covers aid, relief, and re-habilitation services to areas hit by man-made and natural calamities. It also funds pre-disaster projects and operations.

that there are CoA require-ments that have to be met. If there is a donation, we have to report it. We have to re-port it because it is consid-ered as an asset, of which we have to declare the worth,” she explained.

The Comelec Law De-partment, on the other hand, issued a four-page memorandum, reminding the en banc that they should properly document and record the said donations to “ensure transparency and accountability.”

On Wednesday, Smart-matic International Voter’s Education chief Karen Ji-meno announced that the company was offering to donate the entire 1.1-million thermal paper rolls for use as vote receipts.

Jimeno said that the move is meant to help the

Comelec address the “bur-densome” requirements of the Government Procure-ment Act.

“Smartmatic has inter-nally decided to donate 1.1 million rolls of thermal papers that would meet all the requirements for the issuance of the voter re-ceipts and that would also address the problems of the very burdensome re-quirements of the Govern-ment Procurement Act,” she said.

Bautista, on the other hand, explained that the General Appropriation Act of 2016 says that Comelec may accept the donation that would help in the per-formance of its duties. Bautista said that going through with the public bidding may cause a delay in deploying the thermal

paper on time.He said that with the do-

nations, the Comelec will be able to speed up their prepa-rations for the automated elections.

He said that the donation gave the poll body P49-mil-lion savings.

Meanwhile, former Come-lec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal called on the poll body to reconsider its deci-sion allowing a voter to re-place his/her ballot in the event it is rejected by the vote counting machine.

Larrazabal wrote the Comelec, saying that the Comelec may ran out of bal-lots during Election Day.

But Bautista allayed the fears believing that there will be no shortage of ballots since it would be impossible that 100 percent of voters will vote on Election Day.

Download El Niño funds, Recto urges

SAYING he was being used in a desperate misinformation campaign by the “alliance” of former mayor Alfredo Lim and outgoing Rep. Amado Bagatsing, a veteran Manila city councilor has denied betraying his long-time ally, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

Third District Councilor Bernie Ang said Lim and Bagatsing have been using him, through the media, in an attempt to create a mis-impression that Mayor Es-trada is slowly losing his po-litical hold of Manila.

Ang particularly referred to the story “Bagatsing, Lim ex-pose Estrada spending spree” which appeared on The Stand-ard’s April 12, 2016 issue.

Ang was quoted in the newspaper report as saying that Mayor Estrada is “losing the support of the masses” and that the mayor’s only answer to this impending de-feat “is to flood, literally, the city with plenty of money.”

Ang strongly denied mak-ing such statements. He said he remains a top ally and supporter of Mayor Estrada.

“Sabi, ako daw ang support-er ni Mayor, eh bakit ko sasa-bihin yun [newspaper report quotes]? Common sense dic-tates that you will not say that, ‘di ba? Halatang-halata na they twisted the whole thing,” the councilor pointed out.

Ang explained, “Ang inter-view sa akin is, kung si Mayor Erap ay para sa mahihirap bakit maraming mahirap sa Maynila… Ang sagot ko, yung mga nakikita niyong nagrerek-lamong mahihirap, hindi taga-Maynila. Dahil yung mga taga-Maynila mayroon tayong record at yung mga yan inaalagaan na natin. Ang mga programa ni Mayor siguro nakikita nila puro tulong sa mahihirap. Sabi nila spending spree. Yun ay mga pro-poor program natin. Mga pagbibi-gay ng wheel chair, tulong sa mga senior citizen. Sa mga livelihood program, capital as-sistance program, free hospital are, crematorium, mga walang trabaho para may makain man lamang sila. Maraming mga pro-poor program.”

“Yung mga nakikita na pinamimigay natin, it’s not a sign of desperation. Obligasy-on natin yun. Ngayon, siguro na-fi-feel nila na receptive ang communities. Ngayon, bina-baligtad nila, tini-twist nila.”

Such malicious story, Ang said, is a “good sign” that it is actually Lim and Bagatsing who are fearful of their fate in the coming May elections.

“By their action, they’re acknowledging that Mayor Erap is the man to beat. Desperate iyan. Gagawa at gagawa ng mga intriga iyan,” Ang added.

Visitors from Nepal. Senator Loren Legarda, chairman of the committee on climate change, presides over the learning visit of Nepal officials on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the Senate building in Pasay City.

A7editorial@thestandard.com.ph

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

NEWS

CAAP closes Kalibo airport

THE Department of Health said this week that it had vaccinated 81,665 school children aged nine years old against dengue under its free immuniza-tion program in public schools in three regions in the country.

The program targets 1 million grade 4 school chil-dren in the National Capi-tal Region, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon.

The vaccination is be-ing conducted through a school-based immuniza-tion program through the cooperation with Depart-ment of Education and the

Department of the Interi-or and Local Government.

The first dose was given April 4 upon the pro-gram’s launch in Parang Marikina Public School. Health Secretary Janette Garin led the event.

The following day, the same program was launched in Iba, Zambales with Garin and President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The anti-dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia) is composed of three doses to be injected within six months of each other.

The vaccine was made available to the “poor chil-

dren” as one of President Aquino’s goal of reducing the “gaps” between the rich and the poor in terms of accessing “hard to af-ford” cost of vaccines that can help reduce vulner-ability to vaccine-prevent-able illnesses.

The vaccine was pro-cured at a discounted price by the DoH through the corporate social respon-sibility program of Sanofi Pasteur.

The anti-dengue vaccine was procured at P3.5 billion for the one million targeted grade four school-children from public schools. PNA

DoH vaccinates 81,000children against dengue

By Eric B. Apolonio

THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has temporarily closed the Kalibo International Airport after an Airbus A320 aircraft landing gear burst Thursday afternoon.

There were no re-ported injuries among the 151 passengers on board.

CAAP’s Operation Rescue and Coordi-nating Center report-ed that Seair f light SGD3091 with registry number RP-C5323 was stalled at Runway 05 due to a tire that had burst. The tire needs to be replaced before it can be towed to the air-port’s parking bay.

Several domestic and international flights have been affected by the runway closure.

The flight was car-rying 151 passengers including four children and three infants. The pilot was identified as Capt. Edmond Packett. There were four crew members.

Passengers was de-planed on the runway and were ferried to the arrival passenger hall.

Airport manager Mar-tin Tere said that they ex-pected to resume normal operations 9 p.m. on the same day.

EUROPEAN Union Am-bassador Franz Jessen and the Romanian Char-gé d’Affaires, a.i. Mihai Sion and German Depu-ty Ambassador Michael Hasper are going to Gui-maras Island from April 15-16, 2016.

Jessen and his colleagues will meet with Gov. Dr. Samuel Gamarin, Iloilo City Administrator Nor-lito Bautista, Jordan Mayor Cresente Chavez Jr., mango

industry stakeholders, the press and other local gov-ernment officials in West-ern Visayas.

The ambassador said “The EU is looking for-ward to participating in “Sikaran” (bike tour) as a pre-Earth Day advo-cacy initiative to call on all stakeholders to help in countering climate change and to meet with mango industry stake-holders to see how to

further boost EU-Philip-pines’ trade particularly to increase access of Gui-maras mangoes to inter-national markets by way of adherence to intellec-tual property rights and to geographical indica-tions’ standards.”

The diplomats are join-ing “Sikaran” in Jordan, Guimaras on April 16 in their bid to reiterate envi-ronment advocacy of the European Union. The par-

ticipation to the bike tour is also in keeping with the 25th year anniversary of the EU Delegation in the Phil-ippines.

“Sikaran” is a bike tour covering up to 25 kilome-ters organized by the Jor-dan municipal government together with Guimaras Provincial Government and John B. Lacson Founda-tion Maritime University. It is being held in conjunc-tion with the “Manggahan”

Mango Festival.The EU recently com-

mitted to lowering carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. This binding com-mitment forms part of the EU package implemented in the framework of the first-ever universal global climate deal which 195 na-tions, including the EU and the Philippines, adopted at the Paris Conference last December 2015.

EU diplomats to meet Guimaras mango industry players

My name is Jazz. This labrador is now a fixture at the Surigao Airport. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines manager for Region XII Evangeline Daba took the dog in at the airport to shelter it during a typhoon. Now there is an entire K-9 unit at the airport. ERIC APOLONIO

Street dance. These dancers are from Tribu Katbalaugan in Catbalogan, Samar. They will compete in the street dance competition to be held in Manila this weekend. DANNY PATA

Seair A320 gear bursts upon landing; all passengers safe

A8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Thin power reserve

Rising electricity demand as a result of soaring temperatures is testing the limits of the country’s power generating plants. With the contribution of the hydro-electric plants to the power supply mix almost negligible during the dry season, other facilities run-ning on coal, geothermal, natural gas and renewable sources of energy are being relied on more frequently to meet the increased electricity demand.

The reduced contribution from hydro-electric dams and oil-based plants, however, has trimmed the power reserve level and made the Luzon grid vulnerable to a break-down of just one major operating station. Customers of Manila Electric Co. on Mon-day got a glimpse of how a thin power re-serve could easily disrupt electricity supply.

Meralco customers suffered a 15-minute rotating blackout Monday, after 2,196 mega-watts of power capacity in the Luzon grid went offline amid soaring temperature.

One coal-fired power plant in sual, Pan-gasinan tripped, resulting in a loss of 647 megawatts of supply to the Luzon grid. The breakdown prompted Meralco to declare briefly a “yellow alert” on the power supply situation. A yellow alert means the grid had a limited or thin reserve power, explains En-ergy secretary Zenaida Monsada.

The shutdown of the sual plant occurred when more than 861 MW of capacity were on scheduled planned outage, while other stations went on unplanned shutdown.

Luzon, according to authorities, had a forecasted demand of 9,179 megawatts amid high temperature, although the actual de-mand reached only 8,808 MW, while avail-able capacity stood at 9,885 MW. in all, Lu-zon had a mere contingency reserve of just 647 MW when the sual plant conked out.

The power situation in Luzon is no differ-ent in the Visayas and Mindanao, where fre-quent brownouts occur. But the government could have prevented, or at least minimized, the power outages had it been closely moni-toring the demand-supply-reserve outlook on a daily basis.

Energy management under the current administration, as in other services, is inef-ficient and does not fit the demands of an expanding economy.

lowdown

jojo a. robles

The coverup sTarTs

The fix is in, apparently. And if no lawmakers —except political foes who will refuse to help administration candidates win in the coming elections—are convicted in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scandal pulled off by Janet Lim Napoles, you’ll know exactly what went down.

Two days before Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete was granted bail by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, on April 12, the wife of a presidential candidate was in Masbate to attend a popular rodeo festival. In front of some local residents, the would-be president’s wife congratulated Masbatenos over the impending release of their jailed governor.

Why did this presidential wannabe’s wife know about the Sandiganbayan ruling

in advance? And what reason would she have for making the announcement, if she did not want to take credit for the governor’s release—and convert the expected goodwill that will follow into votes for her spouse?

The granting of bail to Lanete and her co-accused, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Napoles (or “Ma’am Jenny,” as Mar Roxas calls her) is significant. That’s because I think it set the template for the clandestine bid to absolve the political allies involved in the sensational scandal, just weeks before the May 9 elections.

Of course, the approval of the bail petition will have no effect on Napoles herself. Ma’am Jenny is, after all, serving time for her conviction on the charge of serious illegal detention involving her cousin, whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

Napoles will actually remain in the Correctional

Institute for Women in Mandaluyong even if all the plunder complaints against her are dropped. It’s the politicians implicated with her for handing over their Priority Development Assistance Fund who are the intended beneficiaries of what appears to be a massive coverup in the manner of Lanete—with the approval of

Malacañang Palace and the cooperation of the Sandiganbayan.

To those advocating for the prosecution and conviction of the lawmakers who stole their pork funds, the approval of the bail petition of Napoles’ co-accused Lanete, a Liberal Party member who was charged together with the alleged mastermind for the supposedly non-bailable offense of plunder, sends a clear message. The allies of the administration who have been linked to the scam will soon be exonerated—and those who aren’t allies will also be made similar offers, if they agree to make the LP

candidate win.The template is simple.

The governor, who was charged, arrested and detained for allegedly handing over her pork to Napoles’ fake non-government organizations, was granted bail after the court found that the evidence presented against her was “weak.”

The allies of the

administration who have been

linked to the pork barrel

scam will soon be exonerated.

opinion

Continued on A11

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

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OPINIONf r i D AY : A p r i l 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A10lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

For very good rea-son, present Com-mission on Higher Education and voluntary accredi-tation agencies demand research on the part of higher education institutions. In consequence, there is a mad scramble for research output and, as so often happens in our insalubri-ous climes, the result is a perversion of what is in-tended to be a lofty venture.

With a promotion in professorial rank dangled before them as an incentive, teachers plagiarize articles from little-known publications or un-published theses, appropriating even the research projects of their students, themselves a collage of m a t e r i a l e xc e r pt e d from mot-ley sourc-es. Much of what is now made to pass for r e s e a r c h in differ-ent colleges and uni-versities is either plain and unat-t e n u a t e d r u b b i s h , or criminally infringed material from disparate sources. research methodology taught by in-structors who have published hardly a respectable line in any journal of passable decency is partly to be blamed. Contributory as well is the persistence of that discredited method of delivery that is pre-dominantly narrative—a teacher droning through a set of notes, reading them aloud for students to copy, with hardly any cogitation taking place in either teacher or student. I have long maintained that long class hours do not necessarily translate into better taught students. There should be more eagerness for those methods long tried in leading universities. These include independent readings and problem-based approaches that demand of the student assiduous research.

I find it utterly execrable, in fact a prostitution of the very concept of scholarship, for authors to have to pay for the publication of their output. And of course, the professor, eager to meet the requirements of CHED, accrediting agencies and institution, eagerly shells out what publishers de-mand. I suggest that institutions shun those pub-lications that require their paper writers or article authors to pay, for their articles to see print. When you publish because someone pays, how different is that from the practice of the world’s oldest pro-fession? It is publishers who search out readable, creditable and reputable articles or books to pub-lish, and for the writers to enjoy the benefits at-tending copyright. But it is not so any longer, or so it seems in respect to many higher education institutions in the Philippines. researchers—or frauds masquerading as researchers—must pay for their articles to see print. That, to me, is as absurd as an artist having to pay an audience to appreci-ate her performance!

Then there is the evolving criterion of “frequen-cy of citation.” Someone with enough clout to write rules for others conjured the silly idea that

The perversiTy ThaT passes

for research

an article counts only because it is cited. How stu-pid can we get! Aside from the fact that history has lessons aplenty of articles and books snubbed by the intelligentsia of an age only to be hailed as embodiments of intrepid thought and trial-blaz-ing perspicacity by a more thoughtful time. Much besides, how often will a philosopher be cited? Popularity is one thing—whether it be the popu-larity reckoned by the applause of the hoi poloi or the popularity tallied by the frequency of citation.

There may be much noise about research these

days, and hardly a college or university will be found that does not have a research center. Sadly, however, that does not always mean that there is a consistent advance in the frontiers of knowledge and understanding, or a confrontation with criti-cal questions, taking place in what pass for centers of learning!

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

This is a prostitution of the very concept of

scholarship.

freedom To obTain pension informaTion

THE two presidential debates in Cagayan de oro and Cebu provided leading candidates Mayor Digong Duterte and Senator Grace Poe the opportunity to commit them into enacting to law the long-awaited freedom of information bill.

For us senior citizens, those commitments were the best things that came out from those debates. We are now assured of the passage of the FoI bill if either one— especially the maverick and more results-driven Mayor Digong—is elected president.

An FoI law would enable us to know and understand the happenings and developments at the Social Security System, the Government Service Insurance System and PhilHealth.

Without enough information, how could we agree with the continuing grant of SSS officials to themselves of performance bonuses while they turn a deaf ear to our cries for a pension increase?

Without yet publishing its 2015 accomplishments, SSS has again asked the Governance Commission for Government-owned or -Controlled Corporations for a performance bonus as if it had met its 2015 targets.

The highlights of these targets —which were published in the GCG Website only recently—are its P38-billion net income and 6-percent return on investments.

No wonder SSS officials had stubbornly resisted rep. Neri Colmenares’ P2,000 pension increase—granting it would have wiped out its 2015 net income and thus disqualify its commissioners, officials and employees from receiving a performance bonus!

Worse, it did not set any target amount in pension and benefit payments, which is an unforgivable snub of the institution’s most important goal.

GSIS definitely underperformed in 2015. Its net income dropped to P48.85 billion from P140.22 billion in 2014 while its financial assets lost P2.51 billion in value.

Conveniently, its 2015 performance targets were not published in the GCG Website.

Neither has PhilHealth disclosed

its 2015 targets. It has reported, nonetheless, that its actual benefit payments exceeded premium collections by P1 billion despite massive government subsidies.

Due to rapid increase in highly subsidized beneficiaries, PhilHealth’s annual benefit payments have grown almost threefold to P97 billion since 2011. Yet its benefits to contributing members have remained stagnant.

It is the same for the SSS pension system. With more underfunded informal sector members being covered, huge subsidies are being diverted toward them to the detriment of current pensioners.

SSS isn’t disclosing to us this significant policy of providing huge subsidies to newly retiring pensioners from the informal sector and none for the pension adjustment of current pensioners.

of course, all these may sound speculative without the actuarial studies that are mandated by law but which our social protection institutions deny us.

Indeed, we as contributors and beneficiaries of their programs must know everything that happens at these institutions. In that way, we won’t have to constantly and unfairly demand for adjustments in our benefits while we refuse to add to our contributions.

Ideally, we should be contributing to these institutions unmindful that we aren’t receiving any benefit from them because we are confident that we would receive our pension and hospitalization benefits in the future.

In fact, some of us could be receiving benefits without having contributed any because we are the dependents, widows or widowers of a contributor.

In the case of PhilHealth, we could be benefitting from its hospitalization program by simply being senior citizens. We or our relatives need not have contributed a single centavo to it.

These things don’t imply that

we don’t have a right to know what officials of SSS, GSIS and PhilHealth do inside their walled and air-conditioned offices.

They should still account to us their recent performances and outline their immediate and long-range plans.

SSS and GSIS could do this by complying with their charters’ provisions to submit to the President and to Congress public reports about their activities in the administration and enforcement of their programs, including information and recommendations concerning broad policies for the development and perfection of these programs.

SSS and GSIS have to submit annually their reports not later than April 30 and June 30, respectively. As of today, GSIS has published its unaudited financial statements in its Website but not SSS.

The PhilHealth law is more specific on what must be reported—“status of the National Health Insurance Fund, its total disbursements, reserves, average costing to beneficiaries, any request for additional appropriation, and other data pertinent to the implementation of the Program.”

It must also “publish a synopsis of such report in two newspapers of general circulation.”

But for unknown reasons, PhilHealth’s charter has omitted the deadlines for such submission and publication.

A model for us to emulate is the American Social Security Administration, which makes available to the general public through various media its annual performance plans, financial reports, strategic plans and actuarial studies.

It does this to comply with its FoI Act that was signed into law on July 4, 1966. Very straight-forward, its objectives are “to promote transparency and prevent agencies from having secret policies.”

Senator Poe must have been thinking about this FoI Act while she was sponsoring at the Senate the passage of its Philippine version.

filipinopensioner

horacioTemplo

pensees

fr. ranhilio callanGan

aQUino

A11f r i D AY : A p r i l 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

OPINIONlettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

chong ardivilla#failocracy

Amid falling poll numbers for its standard bearer, presidential candidate manuel Araneta Roxas ii, the Liberal Party tried to regroup yesterday. Party top guns led by its titular head, President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino iii, were in full force at their Club Filipino reunion.

Based on videos from television and the photos taken by the BizNewsAsia photographer, i cannot readily say the Matuwid na Daan (Straight Path) party is in panic mode. The mood was gung-ho and buoyant. But i am sure above their brave faces, deep in their hearts, the LP stalwarts are demoralized and beleaguered.

The augury of an impending disas-trous defeat is there. About 80 per-cent of Filipino voters do not want Matuwid na Daan. They do not want a BS Aquino iii administration, Part ii. They want to bury it six feet un-der the ground, along with its haugh-tiness, arrogance, self-righteousness, insensitivity, vindictiveness, incom-petence and corruption. The recent five-hour blackout at the Naia Ter-minal 3 which Aquino’s cousin, the airport general manager, blamed on bad luck, and the massacre of farm-ers and soldiers in mindanao (more cases of “malas” or bad luck?) should drive the last nail on the Yellow cof-fin of unlamented governance.

Six months ago, after mar Roxas was anointed by his patron, BS Aquino, the name duterte was unheard of in metro manila, the national capital, which has 12 million people, six million of them voters. digong, “The Punisher,” was quite happy cursing and cannibalizing criminals in his native davao, a city of 1.4 million in the Philippine south.

Today, Roxas is last, nationwide, among the four leading presidential c a n d i d a t e s , languishing with 18 to 19 percent poll ratings. duterte is first in the mind of voters in metro manila (32 percent), first among elite ABC (41 percent), and first among lower middle income d voters (31 percent), according to the Pulse Asia survey of march 29-April 3, 2016.

Considering that the mayor was ranged against two manila-based rivals who were the previous frontrunners, duterte’s poll numbers are astounding. Four of every 10 moneyed voters and three of every 10 metro manila and d voters prefer him over his better-known rivals. What began as a joke and charade became a serious and the leading contender.

in the Social Weather Stations survey of march 29-April 3, if elections were held early this month (April), only 18 out of every 100 voters would choose mar Roxas, 59, No. 4 in a field of five presidential candidates. No. 1 would be the davao City mayor of 22 years, duterte, 71 with 27 percent. No. 2 would be former American girl turned Philippine politician Senator Grace Poe, 48, with 23 percent; and No. 4 would be long-time makati mayor and Vice President Jejomar Binay, 74, with 20 percent. These are the ratios in the latest (march 30-April 2) survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS). Coming from 11 percent in the SWS survey of Sept. 2-5, 2015, duterte’s voter support has tripled. in fact, in three months, his voters increased

3.45 times, from 11 percent to 38 percent by the time of the Nov. 26-28, 2015 SWS survey. it has plateaued today at less than 30 percent, still a magnificent

showing.Grace Poe was No. 1 in September

2015 with 26 percent and battled with Binay for leadership in the race until march 30, 2016 when she broke away with 34 percent. After the march 8 Supreme Court ruling allowing her to run for president (after concluding she is statistically a Filipino and her apparent lack of 10-year residency was “an honest mistake”), Senator Poe gained seven percentage points, from 27 percent in the march 4-7, 2016 SWS survey.

in the same march 30, 2015 SWS survey, Binay, with 17 percent, was dislodged by duterte to secure second place, with 31 percent.

But then Poe’s “surge” turned into a slack. Her 23 percent today is even lower than her 26 percent on Sept. 2-5, 2015 when duterte was languishing at 11 percent, less than half of her voter support.

Between September 2015 and this April, duterte gained 16 percentage points or almost seven million votes. during the same period, Poe stagnated, gaining just 400,000 votes.

is there still space for duterte to grow? Yes. in Pulse Asia, the mayor already has 55 percent of mindanao. A home region usually goes 85 percent for its local boy, as in the Solid North of Ferdinand marcos, and up to 98 percent as in Bicol which elected four senators in one election.

mindanao has more than 10 million voters. About 45 percent of that means 4.5 million votes, the number that are waiting to go-duterte. The tough-talking, gun-ready, expletive-prone mayor already has 5.5 million of the votes from the Philippines’ second largest island. Still, he should be able to snatch at least two million more votes, since mindanao is predominantly Cebuano, his spoken and native language.

mar Roxas currently dominates in the Visayas with 34 percent while duterte has only 25 percent, which is 2.5 times his previous 10 percent in the march 15-20, 2016 Pulse Asia survey.

Visayas is predominantly Cebuano and the duterte clan comes from Cebu. Thus, duterte should do as well as, if not better, than the ilonggo mar’s 34 percent. Visayas has a voter turnout of 11.31 million. duterte should be able to gain at least a million Visayas votes in the next three weeks.

So two million more votes from mindanao plus one million more from the Visayas is three million. duterte currently leads Poe by 1.7 million votes—11.72 million vs. 10 million (per SWS). duterte should be able to pad that lead to three million to eke out a convincing, if not a landslide, victory and silence his naysayers (not with a bullet though).

Conclusion: duterte should give up metro manila and the Balance of Luzon to Poe and Binay. The victory votes are lying idle in the Visayas and mindanao—both duterte’s home regions. Cebuanos wake up. The Palace by the Pasig is yours to occupy.

biznewsasia@gmail.com

Where Duterte can get victory votes

the coverup ... From A8

The anti-graft court put forth interesting arguments to arrive at the conclusion that Lanete must be granted bail. Here are some of those arguments:

First, the court said that because Lanete was never proven to have met Napoles in person, she could not have been working with the scam mastermind. it did not seem to matter to the court that Lanete’s chief of staff, a government employee who reports directly to the governor (who was a congresswoman at the time) was the one who repeatedly received money from Napoles, according to the prosecution’s evidence and witnesses’

testimony.Secondly, the court broke up the

amounts supposedly received by Lanete and arbitrarily ruled that she was being charged only for giving P10 million in her congressional pork to Napoles. Witnesses’ testimony, on the other hand, said that, over the period of 2007 to 2009, Lanete engaged in P100 million worth of transactions with Napoles and received kickbacks based on that bigger amount, which is double the P50 million minimum that constitutes plunder under the law.

Finally, the Sandiganbayan said that because it found that the supposed “ghost projects” implemented by Napoles NGOs

that Lanete did business with were actual projects and not imaginary, she could not be charged with plunder. in other words, the court didn’t even consider the possibility that even if an actual project was implemented, a huge portion of the funds allocated for it could still have been stolen by Napoles and a percentage of that kicked back to Lanete.

* * *malacañang, through its spokesmen,

has neither praised nor criticized the Sandiganbayan for granting bail to Napoles and Lanete. All it said was that the court was a part of the judiciary and not subject to the influence of the presidential palace.

But that doesn’t mean that the presidential candidate’s wife didn’t say in masbate that Lanete was about to be freed, two days before everyone else knew about it. Or that there really isn’t a full-scale coverup involving the pork barrel scam.

Ambassador Del Rosario’s column will resume soon.

BAcK chANNeL

ALeJANDro DeL roSArIo

Djokovic falls in shocking upsetA12

sports@thestandard.com.ph

Fr i day: apr i l 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco – Novak Djokovic lost only his second match of the season as he fell to Czech Jiri Vesely 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to exit the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

“This is a proof that no-body’s unbeatable. It happens so many times in my career that I lose a match. It’s not a first time,” Djokovic said. “It’s not easy to lose the match and accept it right after exiting the court.

“But I have to congratu-late my opponent. I think he played very solid.

“He was serving very big. He was playing tactically good and aggressive.

“There are a very few things I could take out from today’s match as a positive – I was playing really, really bad.”

The second round loss in just over two hours, Djokovic’s opening match of the tourna-ment, nonetheless left the Ser-bian with an impressive 28-2 win-loss record in 2016. He was also beaten when he had to quit a Dubai quarter-final two months ago with an eye infection.

The reigning champion had not lost in 22 Masters 1000 matches since going down in the 2015 Cincinnati final and had won his last 14 matches on the ATP circuit heading into this week.

He last went out in an opening match three years ago in Madrid when he was beaten in the second round by Grigor Dimitrov.

“It’s disappointing to lose the first match playing at home in a way,” Djokovic said. “I practice here in these courts.

“I’ve lived here for the last eight, nine years. It’s defi-nitely not something that I wished and not something that I wanted. But in sport you’ve got to accept it.

“Time off will serve me well – mentally mostly. It’s been a tough four or five months. I need time to kind of recharge.”

Vesely was stunned by his first success in nine attempts against a top 10 player.

“I fought for every point,” said the Czech.

Djokovic saved a match point in the final game but it was not enough as Vesely earned two more and con-verted on the first of those when the seed fired wide.

Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal both booked spots in the third round with the pair starting their spring sea-sons in contrasting form to Djokovic.

French Open champion Wawrinka began perhaps the most important clay sea-sons of his career with a 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 defeat of Philipp Kohlschreiber. AFP

Vegetarian strongmaneyes 3rd Olympic gold

ALMATY, Kazakhstan—Raised in the far-flung steppes of Kazakhstan, Ilya Ilyin wants to become the most successful weightlifter in history and he has already made his mark as probably the first vegetarian beefcake to win a world title.

The 27-year-old is now training to win a third Olympic title at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August which would entrench his reputation as Kazakhstan’s most successful athlete of all time.

Ilyin gave up eating meat after the London Olympics, when he had spoken about the benefits of eating chicken and horse meat.

He admits that his coaches had misgivings, but said: “I just have much better feeling in my body. It is not easy for me to digest meat.

“I waste too much energy in digesting meat and that’s why I get my proteins from other products.

“I like beans and and other legume plants very much. I need a lot of ‘live’ products such as fruit and vegetables.

It has become a very important aspect in my preparations.”

Ilyin, who has a worldwide following, had already given up meat when he won the men’s 105kg title at the 2014 world championships in his native Kazakhstan.

The IWF said that many Indian lifters are vegetarians “nobody has yet been able to name a vegetarian who ever won a world title.”

“My main goal is to become the most successful weightlifter in history,” Ilyin told a recent press conference.

“I also promised our president that I would win at the Games and I’m set on keeping my word.” AFP

Day wants to hike lead over SpiethLOS ANGELES – World num-ber one Jason Day heads into this week’s PGA Tour RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, South Carolina, hop-ing to put even more distance be-tween himself and second-ranked Jordan Spieth.

The 28-year-old Australian shot back into the top spot after consecutive victories last month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the World Golf Champion-

ships Match Play.He followed that up by finish-

ing tied for 10th at the Masters on Sunday.

Spieth, meanwhile, is taking this week off after a back nine melt-down at the Masters which saw him go from a five-shot lead to fin-ishing in a tie for second.

“Just thinking about it, I’m just try-ing to work and trying to get better each and every week,” said Day.

“I know that winning takes care of everything else. The big-gest thing for me is just trying to extend that gap between one and two, and if I can do that I’ll stay ahead of the game.

“But if you want to become a dominant player you have to be consistent, but you also have to consistently win.

“And showing that over the half of last year and early on this year,

as well, but I want to make sure that I keep that level of play up.”

Day didn’t do as well as he had hoped at The Masters, but he emerged from the first major of the year feeling there were no real problems with his game.

“If you’re out of position at Au-gusta National, it’s very difficult to get any sort of momentum,” he said. “I just really couldn’t get any-thing going on the last day. AFP

Fury derides JoshuaLONDON—Tyson Fury has branded Anthony Josh-ua a “pumped up weightlifter” in the latest spat be-tween the two British world heavyweight boxing champions.

Wednesday also saw Fury warn Wladimir Klitsch-ko he is in for “another hiding” in their re-match later this year.

Fury, the World Boxing Association and World Box-ing Organisation heavyweight champion, beat Klitsch-ko on points in Germany in November and will face the Ukrainian again in Manchester on July 9.

London 2012 gold medallist Joshua’s quick stop-page of defending champion Charles Martin to win the International Boxing Federation version of the heavyweight crown in London on Saturday has sparked calls for a unification bout with Fury.

It was Fury’s decision to seek a rematch with Klitschko that prompted the IBF to strip him of their version of the title.

And in the meantime, Joshua’s second-round stop-page of Martin left Fury decidedly unimpressed. AFP

Solid hit. Artem Anisimov (15) of the Chicago Blackhawks is checked into the boards against the St. Louis Blues in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scottrade Center on April 13 in St. Louis, Mis-souri. The Blues beat the Blackhawks 1-0 in overtime. AFP

Eyes on the ball. Mumbai Indians batsman Parthiv Patel plays a shot during the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on April 13. AFP

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Fri day: apri l 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

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PBA players back Romero

GILAS Pilipinas main-stays Jason Castro and Ter-rence Romeo and two-time PBA MVP James Yap are endorsing the candidacy of 1Pacman Party-list No. 1 nominee Mikee Romero for a congressional seat in the coming elections.

“Malaki kasi paniwala ko na maraming magagawa si Boss Mikee para sa sports, at ‘yung pinaka-importante, maraming kabataan ang matutulungan nya. Kung mananalo ‘yung 1Pacman, malaking bagay hindi lang sa basketball, kunGdi sa buong sports,” said Castro, who played for Romero’s amateur team that broke several records in the PBL. “Sana ‘yung mga fans na-min, hindi nila makalimu-tan ang adhikaim ng 1Pac-man Party-list.”

Romeo, who is play-ing for Romero’s team in the PBA – the Globalport Batang Pier – said Philip-pine sports need 1Pacman, especially Romero.

“Boss Mikee is not only a sportsman, he’s also a fi-nancial expert that’s why the Congress needs 1Pacman party-list,” said Romeo.

“Sports, edukasyon at tra-baho, ‘yan ang adhikain ng No. 1 nominee ng 1Pacman Party-list,” added Romeo, who saw for himself Rome-ro’s concern for the indig-enous like the Aetas of Zam-bales during the team’s team building.

Through his vast con-nections, 1Pacman’s No. 1 nominee had also helped mi-norities in Zamboanga, pro-viding livelihood projects for them and doing medical missions regularly.

If elected, Romero’s main agenda is the establishment of Department of Sports which he said is very impor-tant in the country’s bid for en elusive gold medal in the Olympics.

Yap, on his part, said: “Sana mabigyan ang 1Pac-man ng pagkakataon kasi tiwala akong malaking tu-

Asia PacificSports Unionsigns by-lawsTHE Asia Pacific University Sports Union held its first Executive Committee Meeting on April 2 in Bangkok, Thailand, with an eye on helping promote university sports in the region.

During the meet, newly elected APUSU Pres-ident Alvin Tai Lian of the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines and Secre-tary General Mustaza Ahmad of the Malaysian University Sports Council signed the APUSU Constitution and By-Laws during a simple cer-emony at the Eastin Sathorn Hotel.

Present during the signing were observers from different countries and universities, in-cluding lawyer Maria Luz Arzaga-Mendoza, a member of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) legal committee, and APUSU CEO-Treasurer Graham C. Lim.

Bou Chumserey of Cambodia’s Ministry of Education Youth and Sport, Indonesian Dr. Eko Sukarso of Asia University Basketball Federa-tion, and others dignitaries also witnessed the signing ceremony.

Representatives of the APUSU’s corporate sponsors from the Philippines namely retired Colonel Ariel Querubin (San Miguel Corpora-tion); Ruel Daba (Bestank Corporation); Danilo Madlansacay (Megaworld Property Corpora-tion); and Home Sport (Thailand)’s Suda Sansa-na were also present.

Other officials who showed up for the sign-ing ceremony were Andi Wiyono and Di-mas Dharnurukma of Narotama University of Surabaya; Korea’s Park Hyun Mo; Denver Pagonzaga of the Philippine College Founda-tion; Felix Tiukinhoy Jr. of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.; and University of Cebu College of Law Dean Baldomero Ezten-zo, who was elected as one of the APUSU Vice Presidents, along with Malaysia’s Prof. Dato Abdullah and Japan’s Dr. Mitsunami.

A copy of the APUSU Constitution and By-Laws has been sent to the representatives of other countries that were invited to join the APUSU, including the United States University Sports Federation, Fiji University Sport Associa-tion, Guam University Sport Federation and Ca-nadian Interuniversity Sport, and to take part in the succeeding editions of the Asia Pacific Uni-versity Games.

More information about the APUSU can be obtained from the National Secretariat, led by Professor Robert Milton Calo and/or Cecille Sarmiento at apug.secretariat@gmail.com.

Newly elected APUSU President Alvin Tai Lian of the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines and Secretary General Mustaza Ahmad of the Malaysian University Sports Council shake hands after leading the signing the APUSU Constitution and By-Laws during a simple ceremony at the Eastin Sathorn Hotel. RAMON BOADO

Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao, his business manager Eric Pineda and businessman/sportsman Mikee Romero displays a 1Pacman shirt.

Tugade, Cacueva lead HEAD net winnersVINCE EJ Tugade, Jessica Mae Cacueva and Andre Kenny Sing led all win-ners in the second leg of 18th HEAD Junior Tennis Satellite Circuit by bagging two titles each over the weekend at the Eco-1 Ten-nis Center in Davao City.

Tugade secured the boys’ 18-and-under singles’ crown after winning over Edgar Gio Quinones, 6-4, 6-2, in their final duel, be-fore dominating Earl John Casal, 6-2, 6-3, in his sec-ond final stint to bag later on the boys’ 16-and-under singles’ title for his second trophy.

Carcueva grabbed the

girls’ 16-and-under singles’ trophy by beating Clar-riza Leah Caorte, 6-1, 6-3, in the final round before clinching her second tro-phy with an easy 6-0, 6-0 win over Cielo Caorte dur-ing the final round of girls’ 14-and-under singles’ cat-egory.

Sing, for his part, claimed the boys’ 14-and-under singles’ crown, outscoring Dominador Calamba in the finals and then defeating John Roderick Litang, 6-0, 7-6 (8), to bag the 12-and-under boys’ title for his sec-ond trophy.

The annual competition attended by more than 100

entries all over the regions of Mindanao was supported by HEAD, Chris Sports, Toal-son, 92.5 FM Aksyon Sports, Reach Magazine, Philippine Tennis Association, Pilipino Mirror, ANC, Impact Maga-zine, Podcast.ph.

In other championship round results of the annual tournament organized by Dynamic Sports to pro-mote grassroots tennis, Reyman Saldivar blasted Poula Taketomi, 4-1, 4-1, to cop the 10-and-under unisex crown and Poula Taketomi trounced Arthea Julianne Lu, 6-3, 6-1, to win the 12-and-under girls’ trophy.

Manny Pacquiao is shown with 1Pacman Partylist No. 1 nominee Mikee Romero (center) along with Nick Enciso (left) and Eric Pinena prior to his fight with Tim Bradley in Las Vegas last Sunday.

A TWO-WEEK Palawan Pawnshop-Pala-wan Express Pera Padala tennis festival, fea-turing the best of the best from the junior ranks and the Open category, kicks off Sat-urday at various courts in Bicol.

Closer to 300 players from M’lang, Co-tabato, Lucena, Agoo, La Union, Iriga, Su-rigao, Roxas City, Iloilo City, Legazpi City, Gen. Santos City, Mindoro, Sultan Kuda-rat, Davao del Sur and National Capital Region gear up for a battle royale in the Group 2 age-group tournament presented by Slazenger set at Lingnon, DPWH-Res Camp, Ola and Binitayan courts and Cler-gy Tennis Club.

Koranadal’s Jangus Ringia, Sultan Kuda-rat’s Wilfred Bentillo, Klyde Lagarde from Gensan, and NCR-Alabang ace Marcus del Rosario head the cast in the boys’ 16- and 18-and-under divisions while Carlyn Guarde from Sultan Kudarat, Jazelle Madis from M’lang, Cotabato, Lucena City’s Kaye Alcala and Iriga’s Patricia Corporal banner the girls’ 16- and 18-U rosters.

“This is going to be an exciting two-week festival where we expect surprises, rever-sals and new faces to emerge,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Bicol tennisfestival set

long siya sa sports. Kaya nga sinusuportahan ko ang 1Pacman.”

Aside from Castro, Yap and Romeo, fellow Gi-las member Marc Pingris is also endorsing 1Pac-man, saying: “ Malaki kasi paniwala ko na maraming magagawa si Boss Mikee para sa sports, and maram-ing kabataan ang matutu-lungan nya. Kung manana-lo ang 1Pacman, malaking bagay hindi lang sa bas-ketball, kungdi sa buong sports,” said Pingris.

Also backing 1Pacman

Party-list are Ginebra star LA Tenorio, two-time MVP James Yap and volleyball star Aby Marano.

A self-confessed Crispa fanatic, 1Pacman’s No. 1 nominee earned raves in the early 1990s when he made Tenorio and La Salle star Jo-seph Yeo play for his team in the PBL.

Aside from Romero, other nominees of 1Pacman are Manny Pacquiao’s business manager (endorsements) Eric Pineda and Nick En-ciso, the fighter’s associate from Los Angeles.

EJ Tugade makes a forehand return.

A14F R I DAY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 16

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NCR swimmer bags 5th Palaro goldBy Peter Atencio

LEGAZPI City, Albay—A pair of gold medals landed in the hands of swimmer Maurice Sacho Ilustre, who broke another record and became the most bemedalled athlete after Day 4 of the 2016 Palarong Pambansa here.

First, he snagged the gold in the secondary boys’ 100-meter butter-fly action in 58.04 seconds, with Andrae Pogiongko as his pacer at the poolside of the Bicol Uni-versity-Albay Sports and Cultural Complex.

Then, as third swimmer of the National Capital Region team,

Donaire Sr. wants to help in search for Olympic goldBy Ronnie Nathanielsz

DODONG Donaire Sr., the trainer/father of five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, believes he can help the Philippines win its first gold medal in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.

“I hope to help bring our country a gold medal. We have good talent to be able to accomplish that goal. We have the talent,” Donaire Sr. told The Standard.

Donaire Sr. chose lightweight Charly Su-arez as a top choice in the gold-medal quest.

“Hopefully, welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial can also qualify and win a gold (in Rio),” he said.

The accomplished trainer said it is also his dream to help win the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal in boxing.

“We have lots of time to go through our drills,” Donaire Sr. said.

The elite trainer said that during a recent training stint in the US, the boxers “got good sparring in Las Vegas.”

His son, Nonito Donaire Jr., who was training for his title defense against former 2004 Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak, also helped out.

“The boxers looked impressive in spar-ring with the Mexican and American op-ponents, who were very tough and gave the Filipinos a lot of good sparring,” the veteran trainer said. “All the Filipinos are

really good, but we need to continue to work with them.”

ABAP executive director Ed Picson described the US training camp as very productive.

“The the sparring sessions were lively and competitive and while our boxers impressed, there were some close skirmishes which can only serve them well as facing different op-ponents every time builds their resilience and confidence,” said Picson.

Donaire also said that his son, the WBO super bantamweight champion, has “no problems and is training hard and looking fine” as they get ready to leave for Cebu on Saturday to check out the environment at the Cebu Sports Center.

Pacman arrives to warm welcome, insists he’s retiredEIGHT-DIVISION world cham-pion and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao arrived early Thursday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila aboard a Philippine Airlines flight from Los Angeles to a rousing welcome by count-less media people and fight fans, who wanted to congratulate the ring icon on his dominating win over Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley in their third encoun-ter at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last April 9.

Pacquiao, who underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff injury, which was aggravated in the fourth round of his “Fight of the Century” against unbeaten pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a disappointing showdown

last May 2, scored two knock-downs against Bradley, one in the seventh and another in the ninth round to coast to identi-cal 116-110 scorecards turned in by all three judges.

The 37-year-old Pacquiao insisted that his third fight against Bradley, which was the 66th of his career, would be his farewell bout.

He wants to focus on his po-litical career as the two-term congressman from Sarangani province seeks a seat in the senate in the national elections next month.

Latest surveys show Pacquiao, who is ranked No. 7 to 10, al-most certain to win.

There are many, though, in-cluding Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and Hall of Fame trainer

Freddie Roach, who believe that Pacquiao will return to the ring especially if he can land a lucra-tive rematch with currently re-tired welterweight Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao has earned over $500 million in his career, in-cluding $150 million from the first Mayweather fight alone.

When asked whether he planned to stay retired, Pacqui-ao replied: “I think so. I’ve made a commitment to my family that I’m going to retire after this (Bradley fight). Maybe I enjoy being a retired man, serving the people, helping the people.”

In a farewell message to his fans, Pacquiao said: “Thank you to all the fans in boxing, espe-cially the Filipino people. I’ve really appreciated all your help and support.”

Pacquiao landed some solid combinations throughout the bout against Bradley and al-though he wasn’t as explosive as in the past against fighters like Ricky Hatton, Oscar de la Hoya, Miguel Cotto, David Diaz and Antonio Margarito, he often had bursts of speed and power to overwhelm Bradley.

After the fight, Bradley paid tribute to Pacquiao. “I fought really good tonight, but I don’t know what was going on. He always seemed to be in the right spot. He was a step ahead of me when I was supposed to be a step ahead of him. He used his experience against me, his ability and he won the fight tonight...I was in there with a special man, Manny Pacquiao.” Ronnie Nathanielsz

D-League champion. Players, management and supporters of Phoenix-Far Eastern University display the Accelerators’ PBA D-League championship trophy. Phoenix edged Cafe France in overtime, 88-81, in Game 5 of the Aspirants’ Cup final on Thursday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. They are joined here by PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa.

he helped the Big City bets clock 1:41.45 in the 4x50 meter freestyle for his second gold for the day and fifth overall. Their clocking broke the year-old mark of the Calabar-zon team (1:42.11).

Ilustre is expected to grab two more on the final day in an effort to become the meet’s Most Valu-able Player for another year.

“Yes, I’m on target. I’m at my peak, and there’s two more,” said Ilustre.

Meanwhile, Henry Dagmil is fi-nally reaping the fruits of his labor. This time, not as an athlete, but as a coach.

The retired national athlete has encouraged seven kids to carry Re-gion 12 to three golds, three silvers and two bronzes in the secondary and elementary division of the ath-letics competitions.

“Masaya ako dahil nakita ko ang improvements ng isang region, at hindi lang sa Manila. Na-adopt na nila ang technology sa paghahan-da sa competition,” said Dagmil, who moved back to South Cotaba-to with his family after he retired from the national team last year as a long-jump specialist.

Overall, Region 12 now has five golds, three silvers, and nine medals, a big improvement after their ath-letes got only one silver during the annual meet in Tagum last year.

Their two other golds came from James Michael Exclamador, who topped the 60m and 50 m dis-tances with scores of 323 and 310.

Feberoy Kasi, the son of a ha-bal-habal driver in T’boli, South Cotabato, led Region 12’s charge when he clocked a hand-timed

10.74 seconds on Wednesday in the 100-meter dash.

It could have been considered a new course record after it sur-passed Jomar Udtohan’s old time of 10.8. But track officials said the electronic timing device was not working properly the moment Kasi crossed the finish line.

So timing officials considered rounding off the hand-timed re-sult. As a result, Kasi ended up matching Udtohan’s clocking, which he established in 2014.

If the electronic result was con-sidered, meet official Claro Pellosis felt that it would equaled the na-tional junior mark of Daniel Noval in 2014.

Tenth grader Marjun Sulleza of Koronadal City contributed a gold in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 16.4 seconds, and he was close to Patrick Unso’s record (54.1 seconds) when he made it in 54.5 seconds.

Sulleza took a silver in the 400-me-ter run in 50.06 seconds, with Ilong-go bet Jan Vincent Alejandro taking the gold in 49.59 seconds.

Trisha Aranador, 12, took the elementary girls’ 100-m hurdles honors in 17.02 seconds, which is 8/10ths of a second close to the meet record.

Meanwhile, Ludovice de la Cruz bucked an ankle injury, is now close to the meet record in the sec-ondary boys’ 100-meter hurdles af-ter taking the gold in 14.99 seconds for Region 1.

James Darrel Oduna claimed the 5000-meter run gold in 15 min-utes, 55.79 seconds while Yllana Sulit of Region 3 took the gold in the elementary girls high jump.

A15F R I DAY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 16

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

Malaysian snatches 1-shot lead with 65CARMONA, Cavite —Malaysian Gavin Green birdied the � nal hole to � re a six-under 65 and got past Mhark Fernando, American John Jackson and � ai Pijit Petchkasem in a topsy turvy second round of the ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship ADT at the Legends course here yesterday.

Gavin’s final hole birdie capped his 33-32 card in gathering dusk and shoved him to the lead of the elite field at 131, one ahead of Fer-nando, who kept his bogey-free run with a 67, Jackson, who sizzled with a 64, and Petchkasem, who carded a second 66, for 132s.

Fernando slowed down a bit de-spite an early start after firing a six-under 65 in tough conditions late Wednesday but remained on target all day, hitting four birdies from close range to stay in contention.

Petchkasem joined the duo at second with a solid 66 in one of the late flights before play was sus-pended due to darkness with 11 flights to finish play early Friday.

American John Michael O’Toole bounced back from an even par first round with eight birdies with three more holes to play.

Fernando, the former national champion seeking to snap a long ti-tle spell, also emerged the lone Fili-pino in the Top 10 as the rest of the local bets failed to keep up with the foreign aces’ torrid shooting.

Miguel Tabuena did fight back with a 66 after a so-so 72 but the reigning Philippine Golf Tour Or-der of Merit champion remained six strokes behind at 138 at joint 16th while Tony Lascuna, who could only match par 71 in the first round, tried to make a run at the back with three birdies when play was stopped.

But Fernando proved he’s up to the task, churning out a flaw-less round for the second straight day in a surprising rebound from a missed cut at the ICTSI Luisita Championship two weeks ago and a mediocre joint 22nd finish at Anvaya Cove Invitational last February.

Fernando, however, braces for a tougher challenge in the final 36 holes, starting with today’s pivotal round as they jockey for position for the top $10,500 purse in the $60,000 championship sponsored by International Container Ter-minal Services, Inc. and co-sanc-tioned by the ADT and PGT.

P0.0 M+

P0.0 M+

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00

6/42 00-00-00-00-00-006 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-003 DIGITS 00-00-00

P0.0 M+6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00

3 00-00-00

6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00

2 EZ2 00-00

LOTTO RESULTSM+M+

Beermen shoot for twice-to-beat edgeBy Jeric Lopez

WITH the quarterfinal cast complete, the final playdate of the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup is now about the second and last twice-to-beat incentive and the final placings.

San Miguel Beer (7-3) can take the top ranking and the last twice-to-beat edge in the quar-ters when it takes on Talk ‘N Text (6-4) at 7 p.m. today at the Smart

Araneta Coliseum in the elimination round’s final game.

Prior to that, an equally crucial tiff takes place between Alaska (6-4) and NLEX (5-5) at 4:15 p.m. to open the show.

The Beermen can avoid com-plications as a win will give them the top spot and the last twice-to-beat advantage avail-able, while making Meralco, which is already assured of a

Top 2 finish, No. 2.However, should

they lose, that’s where all complica-tions start.

If San Miguel loses, that will open up the No. 2 seed and it will be up for grabs depend-ing on the quotient of the teams involved. In that scenario, there’s a possibility that San Miguel, Rain or Shine, Barangay Ginebra, Alaska and Talk ‘N Text may end up in a five-way tie for second place at 7-4.

Should that happen, or at least another deadlock scenario oc-curs, the quotient will come in to play to determine the Top 2 teams in a logjam. Then, a play-off for No. 2 will take place in that case.

A win will also give San Miguel the No. 8 seed Star as its opponent in the quarters.

The Aces and the Tropang Texters likewise need to win to keep their chances alive for the last twice-to-beat berth.

UP Lady Maroons backedHIGH-ENDURANCE athletes attest to surges of power and speed, thanks to dietary sup-plement CardiMax. In a media briefing at Trampoline Park in Mandaluyong City, sea-soned athletes, including the UP Women’s Volleyball Varsity Team, revealed that the L-Car-nitine-based supplement helped raise their energy levels and im-prove their performances.

The UPWVVT emerged as one of the UAAP’s top squads this season, marking a breakout year for the team.

Lady Maroons Vice Captain Nicole Tiamzon said that the supplement helped her team warm up, train and play harder during their UAAP matches.

“It’s hard for our bodies to warm up in big, heavily-air con-ditioned venues, but it became easier for us to work up a sweat after CardiMax. It also helped us play with more intensity,” Tiamzon shared.

L-Carnitine, a non-toxic, natu-ral amino acid that helps convert

fat to energy, makes these energy boosts possible. Though L-Carni-tine primarily treats people with heart-related conditions, it also helps in metabolism, weight loss, muscle building, and recovery, which are essential for high-per-formance athletes.

“With sufficient amounts of L-Carnitine, athletes are able to perform at a higher level,” said Katheryn Feliciano, Integrated Pharmaceutical, Inc.’s VP for Operations. “Because CardiMax does not have adverse side effects, it is ideal for athletes doing in-tense activities over long periods of time.”

CardiMax is available in Mercury Drug and select drug-stores. Some athletes mix it with their drinks, while some take it straight from the bottle before an intensive activity. A teaspoon is recommended to be taken in the morning or afternoon.

For more information about the supplement, send an email to cardimax@integrated.com.ph or call (63-2) 241-8501 to 04.

An NBA...From A16

game, making him the only Warrior in history other than Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry to hit that mark.

Curry also handed out six assists and four rebounds as the Warriors im-proved to 39-2 at home.

“Congrats to Steph, and more impor-tantly, congrats to the other 14 guys in the locker room,” said Curry’s backcourt team-mate, Klay Thompson, whose 16 points included four three-pointers. “We fought hard and didn’t take a night off all year. It’s hard to do for 82 games.”

The Warriors had barely edged the Grizzlies 100-99 in Memphis four days earlier to keep the quest for 73 wins alive. Their last-four must-win games included two victories against powerhouse West-ern Conference rivals San Antonio.

They roll into the Western Confer-ence playoffs as the top seed and in the first round will face the eighth-seeded Houston Rockets in a rematch of last season’s conference finals.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant delivered a Holly-wood ending as the curtain came down on his glittering 20-year NBA career on Wednesday in a blockbuster finale.

On a night of searing emotion at a packed Staples Center, the 37-year-old signed off with a mammoth 60 points, including a final burst of scoring to in-spire a 101-96 comeback victory over the Utah Jazz.

A galaxy of A-list celebrities—from Jack Nicholson to David Beckham— roared their approval from courtside as Bryant exited with a perfectly scripted final act.

“Man, I can’t believe how fast 20 years went by, this is crazy,” Bryant told his adoring fans. “What can I say? Mamba out.”

A sell-out crowd of 19,060 fans had packed into the Staples Center to watch Bryant lace up for the 1,566th and last time.

“Tonight was trying to go out, play-ing hard and putting on a show as much as I possibly could. It felt good to be able to do that one last time,” Bryant said.

“The coolest thing is that my kids ac-tually saw me play like I used to play.”

Tickets for the game were the most expensive in basketball history, accord-ing to online exchange StubHub.com, which sold one pair of courtside seats for a staggering $27,500 each.

Lakers legend Magic Johnson had acted as master of ceremonies for a lengthy pre-game tribute that featured video messages from some of the NBA’s most recognizable figures.

Games Today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)4:15 p.m. - NLEX vs. Alaska

7 p.m. - San Miguel vs. Talk ‘N Text

American John Jackson (left panel) studies the line of his birdie putt on No. 2 while Mhark Fernando goes over his short putt for birdie on No. 11.

F R I DAY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 16

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

REUEL VIDALA S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

OAKLAND—� e Golden State Warriors blazed to a record 73rd victory of the NBA season on Wednesday, thrashing the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104 to eclipse the 72-win campaign of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

NBA Most Valuable Player Ste-phen Curry scored 46 points as the reigning champions broke the mark that seemed unassailable when it was set two decades earlier by that Mi-chael Jordan-led Bulls team.

With their 73-9 record in hand and the confetti falling at a raucous Oracle Arena, the Warriors were al-ready turning their attention to the playoffs and their larger quest for a title repeat.

“Now, let’s go get this champion-ship,” Draymond Green exhorted the delirious crowd.

Green had been a vocal support-

er of the race for the record, urg-ing his team-mates toward the feat even as some questioned whether the exhausting pursuit could cost them in the post-season.

“It’s a great way to finish off what was an amazing regular season,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a guard on that Bulls team 20 years ago. “I’d never in a million years have guessed that that record would ever be broken. I thought it was like (Joe) DiMaggio’s hit streak. Really. And I was wrong.”

NBA icon Jordan and US Presi-dent Barack Obama offered their congratulations.

AN NBA NIGHT FOR THE AGES

Turn to A15

Key Dubs moments

RECORD STARTTHE Warriors crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 111-77 to bring up their first record of the season, advancing to 16-0 to better the previous record for the best start to a cam-paign of 15-0 held by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols.

COMING UP SHORTThe Warriors recorded their

28th straight regular season victory with a dramatic over-time win over the Boston Celt-ics, on December 11, prevailing 124-119 with Curry scoring 38 points and eight assists.

BUZZER-BEATERThe record may have been

clinched in the final game, but the Warriors would never have been in a position to seal win number 73 had it not been for Curry’s miraculous perfor-mance against the Oklahoma City Thunder in February. Curry poured on 46 points in a 121-118 overtime victory, be-fore launching a buzzer-beating three-pointer from 35-feet to seal a remarkable victory.

LONG RANGE KINGCurry cemented his reputa-

tion as the greatest long-range shooter the NBA has ever seen with another epic three-pointer against the Jazz in March, find-ing the net with a 55-footer at the halftime buzzer.

TOO HOT FOR SPURSA late-season wobble saw

the Warriors beaten twice in three games in early April with a shock 106-109 defeat to the Celtics at the Oracle Arena followed four days later with another unexpect-ed reverse, a 124-117 loss at home to the Wolves. Those reduced the drive for 73 to a simple goal: win the last four games. Given that two of those games matches with the Spurs, the odds looked to have lengthened. But the Dubs showed their champion pedigree by beating the Spurs in Oakland before traveling to Texas to shatter their foe’s dream of an unbeaten season at home to claim a record-equalling 72nd win. AFP

SPORTS

Dubs win no. 73; Kobe scores 60 in final game“I want to congratulate the War-

riors on their amazing season,” Jor-dan said in a statement. “The game of basketball is always evolving and records are made to be broken. The Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs.”

Obama, an avowed Bulls fan, tweeted his congratulations.

“Congrats to the @Warriors, a great group of guys on and off the court. If somebody had to break the Bulls’ re-cord, I’m glad it’s them,” he posted.

The chase for the record was launched by the Warriors’ 24-0 start to the season—achieved with inter-im coach Luke Walton at the helm as Kerr recovered from complications from back surgery.

But it came down to the final game of the campaign and fittingly saw Curry reach yet another once un-thinkable milestone as he surpassed

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers walks off the court after the game against the Utah Jazz on April 13, 2016 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. At right, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scores on a layup in the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies. AFP

400 three-pointers for the season.Curry, who had already become the

first player to make 300 three-pointers in a single season back on March 8, drained 10 from beyond the arc to take his total to the season to 402—shat-tering his own previous single-season record of 286 from last season.

Curry on fireSix of Curry’s three-pointers came

in the first quarter, when he ex-ploded for 20 points and almost out-scored Memphis single-handedly as Golden State took a 37-23 lead.

The Grizzlies never got the defi-cit below 11 points from there and Curry, who put up a career-high 19 three-point attempts, had the luxury of resting the entire fourth quarter.

Curry’s 41st point of the night, late in the third period, ensured he would finish the season with a scoring average above 30.0 points per

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

FRIDAY: APRIL 15, 2016

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

IC threatens to close LoyolaBUSINESS

San Miguel forms railway holding company Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, April 14, 2016

Foreign exchange rateCurrency Unit US Dollar PesoUnited States Dollar 1.000000 45.9830

Japan Yen 0.009152 0.4208

UK Pound 1.420100 65.3005

Hong Kong Dollar 0.128941 5.9291

Switzerland Franc 1.034982 47.5916

Canada Dollar 0.780275 35.8794

Singapore Dollar 0.740631 34.0564

Australia Dollar 0.765200 35.1862

Bahrain Dinar 2.653224 122.0032

Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266759 12.2664

Brunei Dollar 0.737898 33.9308

Indonesia Rupiah 0.000076 0.0035

Thailand Baht 0.028555 1.3130

UAE Dirham 0.272287 12.5206

Euro Euro 1.128100 51.8734

Korea Won 0.000874 0.0402

China Yuan 0.154392 7.0994

India Rupee 0.015042 0.6917

Malaysia Ringgit 0.258398 11.8819

New Zealand Dollar 0.691300 31.7880

Taiwan Dollar 0.030920 1.4218 Source: PDS Bridge

7,357.2816.28

Closing April 14, 2016PSe comPoSite index

48.00

46.00

45.00

44.00

43.00

HIGH P46.150 LOW P46.310 AVERAGE P46.256

Closing April 14, 2016PeSo-dollar rate

VOLUME 694.500M

Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng PilipinasBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

oilPriceS today

P400.00-P620.00LPG/11-kg tank

P30.00-P39.32Unleaded Gasoline

P19.25-P22.75Diesel

P34.55-P39.15Kerosene

todayP30.00-P39.32

P19.25-P22.75

P34.55-P39.15

PP400.00-P620.00

8300

7840

7380

6920

6460

6000

P46.230CLOSE

SM Seaside wins awards. SM Prime Holdings Inc. took home seven awards during the Philippines Property Awards 2016 on April 7 at Fairmont Makati. The awards included best commercial development, best retail development and best retail architectural design for SM Seaside City Cebu. SM Prime also received best hotel development, best hotel architectural design and best hotel interior design awards for The Conrad Manila. Shown above is the SM Seaside City Cebu, which is a part of SM Prime’s 30-hectare complex at the South Road Properties. Accepting the awards are architect Fides Hsu (inset, left), vice president for engineering and design, and Steven Tan, senior vice president of SM Supermalls.

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE Insurance Commission on � ursday threatened to shut down pre-need company Loyola Plans Consolidated a� er its thrust fund fell short to serve the claims of 100,000 plan holders.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

DIVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp. formed SMC Mass Rail Transit 7 Inc., a P10-billion company that will hold its controlling interest in the P63-billion Mass Railway Transit Line 7 project.

� e incorporation papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed SMC Mass Rail, formed by San Miguel Hold-ings Corp., would have an autho-rized capital stock of P10 billion, divided into 10 billion shares with a par value of P1 per share.

San Miguel said of the P10 bil-

lion, at least 25 percent or P2.5 billion was subscribed by SMHC and at least 25 percent of the total subscription or P625 million was paid in cash.

� e primary purpose of the the newly formed unit is “to engage in and carry on a development and contracting business involving railways and railroads; intermo-dal transport terminals; tollways, its facilities, interchanges, roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, water-works, water utilities and systems.”

It will also be engaged in infra-structure works and other related public works; all iron steel work, mechanical and electrical, and

earth construction and excavation and related works, including opera-tion and maintenance thereof; and the acquisition, lease, occupation, use of development of real property, and other related activities.

San Miguel said in February it was now ready to start the con-struction of MRT 7 a� er com-pleting the funding package for the project, seven years a� er the original proposal was presented.

Universal LRT Corp. BVI Ltd., the MRT-7 concessionaire con-trolled by San Miguel, said it had fully complied with the � nan-cial closure requirements of the P62.7-billion project that would

involve the construction of a 22.8-kilometer rail system from North Ave. at the corner of Edsa in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.

Financial closure refers to the process of completing all � nancial transactions related to the project.

San Miguel president and chief operating o� ce Ramon Ang ear-lier said the groundbreaking for the vital infrastructure project that would serve some two mil-lion commuters in the northern parts of Quezon and Caloocan cities and the towns of Bulacan province, was expected to happen this month.

IC said it gave Loyola Plans until Monday to explain why it should not be placed under con-servatorship and why it should not be ordered to stop opera-tions. The agency served Loyola Plans a show-cause order dated April 11 and gave the company five working days to respond to the order.

Loyola Plans, one of the pio-neers in the pre-need industry

controlled by the Puyat family, provides educational and me-morial plans.

A number of Loyola plan holders complained on social media that the company failed to service their educational claims this year, after the com-pany reportedly registered a thrust fund deficit.

Loyola Plans has major in-vestments in real estate, such

as memorial parks. It had total assets of P3.75 billion as of end-2015.

“Loyola Plans should explain to the commission within five days from receipt explaining why it should not be placed un-der conservatorship and why it should not be ordered to cease and desist from engaging in pre-need business,” the order stated.

IC said it received 95 informal complaints from Loyola Plans’ policyholders as of March 31, 2016.

Insurance Commissioner Em-manuel Dooc warned that if Loyola Plans failed to comply with the show cause order by Monday, he would assign a con-servator to liquidate the assets of the company and find ways

on how to rehabilitate it.“We will also issue a cease and

desist order to stop them from doing business,” Dooc told The Standard.

IC said the company should submit its plan on how it would cover its trust deficiency of around P238 million.

“We have to give Loyola Plans a chance to respond. Other companies have gone through these procedures as well. We au-dit them and we write to them when there are deficiencies,” IC media relations officer Joann Castro said.

Castro said most of the time, pre-need companies involved in trust fund deficiency issues could comply. She said in the case of Loyola Plans, a number

of claimants came forward to complain that they were not able to get their claims.

Castro said Loyola Plans was expected to come up with a proposal by Monday on how it could cover up its deficiency.

“[The next steps] would really depend on the action of Loyola Plans,” Castro said.

Prior to the show-cause, IC sent a letter to Loyola Plans to explain how the company in-tended to fund its deficiency. Loyola Plans submitted an ex-planation, but IC was “not satis-fied” with the response, accord-ing to Castro.

IC did not renew Loyola Plans’ license to operate this year. Loyola Plans could not be reached for comment.

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSFRIDAY: APRIL 15, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Thursday, april 14, 2016

FINANCIAL7.88 2.5 AG Finance 3.43 3.43 3.31 3.36 -2.04 227,000 75.3 66 Asia United Bank 46.65 46.7 45.15 46 -1.39 32,300 1,167,625.00124.4 88.05 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 105.00 105.00 104.20 104.20 -0.76 1,584,930 1,844,969107 88.1 Bank of PI 90.00 90.20 89.65 89.75 -0.28 737,380 -7,804,075.0056.5 45.45 China Bank 39.7 39.75 39.55 39.55 -0.38 21,100 2.49 1.97 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.98 3.00 2.82 3.00 0.67 1,116,000 4.2 1.68 Bright Kindle Resources 1.51 1.60 1.51 1.55 2.65 1,170,000 65,790.004 8.7 Citystate Savings 10 10 10 10 0.00 200 17 12.02 COL Financial 14.2 14.3 14.2 14.2 0.00 1,000 30.45 19.6 Eastwest Bank 15.8 15.86 15.66 15.78 -0.13 151,600 -100,380.0010.4 6.12 Filipino Fund Inc. 7.46 7.60 7.46 7.55 1.21 8,800 890 625 Manulife Fin. Corp. 585.00 595.00 595.00 595.00 1.71 250 119,000.001.01 0.225 MEDCO Holdings 0.640 0.660 0.620 0.620 -3.13 1,821,000 19,200.00100 78 Metrobank 84.85 85.3 84.8 84.9 0.06 2,656,100 -55,141,656.501.46 0.9 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01 0.00 10,000 30.5 17.8 PB Bank 15.00 14.88 14.76 14.88 -0.80 78,600 -59,520.0075 58 Phil Bank of Comm 25.00 25.50 24.95 25.00 0.00 37,600 91.5 62 Phil. National Bank 52.40 53.80 53.05 53.60 2.29 126,160 -2,044,391.50361.2 276 PSE Inc. 275 275 271 271 -1.45 1,300 -271,394.0057 41 RCBC `A’ 31.95 32.4 31.95 32.05 0.31 613,700 -278,435180 118.2 Security Bank 191.4 192 189.2 189.3 -1.10 2,975,330 42,410,195.001700 1200 Sun Life Financial 1370.00 1370.00 1365.00 1370.00 0.00 150 54,800.00124 59 Union Bank 57.55 57.90 57.50 57.55 0.00 1,290 3.26 2.65 Vantage Equities 1.6 1.57 1.57 1.57 -1.88 46,000

INDUSTRIAL47 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp. 43.5 44.75 43.85 44.4 2.07 2,758,500 73,073,620.005 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 4.96 5.22 4.96 5.09 2.62 3,180,000 -6,387,280.001.46 1.01 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.75 0.9 0.74 0.9 20.00 5,367,000 152,400.002.36 1.86 Alsons Cons. 1.38 1.41 1.38 1.4 1.45 2,804,000 89 40.3 Bogo Medelin 51.65 60 55 55 6.49 550 20.6 15.32 Century Food 18.82 19.12 18.82 19 0.96 1,372,000 -4,355,876.00125 62.5 Chemphil 165 166 166 166 0.61 80 85 20.2 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 329 345 312 321 -2.43 1,270 36 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 19.32 19.48 19.14 19.14 -0.93 164,000 115,200.0065.8 29.15 Concepcion 47.95 47.7 47 47.05 -1.88 2,800 2.97 1.5 Crown Asia 2.39 2.42 2.38 2.4 0.42 240,000 4.14 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 6.02 6.2 5.8 5.85 -2.82 2,956,700 118,350.0021.5 10.72 Del Monte 11.26 11.32 11.28 11.3 0.36 113,700 -722,230.0021.6 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 9.500 9.540 9.480 9.520 0.21 10,963,800 -7,550,164.0011.96 9.04 Emperador 7.81 8.16 7.90 8.00 2.43 10,049,600 -43,900,021.009.13 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.90 5.97 5.90 5.92 0.34 16,989,300 1,384,433.0011.8 8.86 EEI 7.44 7.50 7.40 7.50 0.81 191,100 -371,026.002.89 1.06 Euro-Med Lab 1.8 1.85 1.8 1.84 2.22 5,000 31.8 20.2 First Gen Corp. 22.25 22.7 22.45 22.5 1.12 1,888,000 7,531,910.00109 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 70.1 71.95 70.15 71 1.28 125,530 -3,856,460.0020.75 13.86 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 13.80 17.98 14.14 15.70 13.77 150,500 -4,242.0015.3 13.24 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.76 13.96 13.76 13.80 0.29 49,600 -404,756.009.4 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.79 5.8 5.79 5.8 0.17 208,500 -751,170.000.98 0.395 Ionics Inc 2.670 2.800 2.690 2.720 1.87 6,196,000 -69,920.00241 173 Jollibee Foods Corp. 230.00 230.00 227.60 228.80 -0.52 551,560 -51,849,718.00 LBC Express 10.64 1.06 10.62 11.06 3.95 7,300 3.95 2.3 LMG Chemicals 2.18 2.2 2.18 2.2 0.92 43,000 4 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 4.01 4 3.7 3.8 -5.24 18,000 74 33 Macay Holdings 40.50 41.00 39.60 41.00 1.23 600 33.9 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.7 26.85 26.6 26.75 0.19 3,270,000 -79,250,420.0090 17.3 Maxs Group 22.1 22.5 21.8 22.5 1.81 223,500 191,300.0013.26 5.88 Megawide 6.53 6.75 6.51 6.59 0.92 23,200 -53,926.00293 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 328.80 335.00 328.00 332.00 0.97 504,220 55,570,220.005 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.29 4.50 4.40 4.40 2.56 2,000 5.25 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.8 3.88 3.8 3.83 0.79 272,000 -271,400.0012.98 8.45 Petron Corporation 10.88 11.16 10.84 11.14 2.39 10,709,400 9,973,898.006.75 3 Phil H2O 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 0.00 10,000 15 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.64 11.50 11.56 0.52 72,700 550,832.007.03 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 4.36 4.43 4.39 4.40 0.92 359,000 3.4 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.66 1.67 1.62 1.65 -0.60 512,000 4.5 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.9 2.9 2.75 2.75 -5.17 124,000 6.3 4.02 RFM Corporation 4.23 4.23 4.20 4.20 -0.71 20,000 7.34 5.9 Roxas Holdings 4.61 4.7 4.65 4.65 0.87 12,000 46,500.001450 801 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 196 199 196 197.2 0.61 19,990 2,963,005.005.5 4.1 SPC Power Corp. 4.18 4.31 4.11 4.12 -1.44 90,000 42,000.003.28 1.55 Splash Corporation 2.91 3.02 2.76 2.84 -2.41 3,062,000 71,540.000.315 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.168 0.170 0.161 0.163 -2.98 9,810,000 2.18 1.02 TKC Steel Corp. 1.26 1.27 1.27 1.27 0.79 27,000 2.65 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 2.78 2.95 2.80 2.90 4.32 25,371,000 -985,910.00234 152 Universal Robina 215.4 216.8 213.8 214 -0.65 2,374,570 -244,149,370.005.28 4.28 Victorias Milling 4.75 4.9 4.8 4.8 1.05 557,000 2,684,250.001.3 0.640 Vitarich Corp. 1.14 1.23 1.08 1.1 -3.51 82,620,000 -370,890.0026 10.02 Vivant Corp. 32.00 31.00 31.00 31.00 -3.13 500 2.17 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.30 1.35 1.29 1.34 3.08 1,512,000

HOLDING FIRMS0.59 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.365 0.370 0.365 0.365 0.00 180,000 59.2 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 64.45 64.60 63.40 64.55 0.16 2,286,260 12,852,225.5030.05 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 16.70 16.82 16.70 16.70 0.00 4,493,700 -43,655,130.002.16 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.16 1.19 1.19 1.19 2.59 11,000 7.39 6.62 Anscor `A’ 6.10 6.10 6.10 6.10 0.00 20,000 3.4 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.320 0.320 0.300 0.310 -3.13 1,510,000 3.35 0.23 ATN Holdings B 0.320 0.315 0.310 0.315 -1.56 150,000 823.5 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 774 780 772 780 0.78 471,060 32,676,040.0010.2 7.390 Cosco Capital 8.04 8.54 8.05 8.54 6.22 9,093,700 4,106,256.0084 12.8 DMCI Holdings 12.72 13.02 12.72 12.76 0.31 6,858,700 -44,332,680.003.35 2.6 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.12 5.46 5.08 5.2 1.56 322,800 4.92 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 5.20 5.36 5.16 5.34 2.69 1,436,600 1,855,261.001455 837 GT Capital 1414 1423 1415 1418 0.28 113,320 12,657,300.007.5 5.3 House of Inv. 6.40 6.50 6.30 6.50 1.56 30,100 IPM Holdings 9.73 9.73 9.60 9.73 0.00 1,430,000 76 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 82.30 83.05 81.80 82.30 0.00 2,027,420 11,159,335.006.66 3.52 Keppel Holdings `B’ 4.8 5.01 5.01 5.01 4.38 1,000 9.25 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp. 7.27 7.32 7.03 7.3 0.41 5,022,200 -1,656,592.000.85 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.67 0.68 0.66 0.66 -1.49 750,000 17.3 12 LT Group 15.78 16.2 15.8 15.92 0.89 7,276,600 -54,846,384.000.71 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.490 0.490 0.480 0.490 0.00 130,000 5.53 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 6.1 6.15 6.04 6.14 0.66 50,038,100 149,460,491.009.66 3 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.44 3.45 3.45 3.45 0.29 5,000 17,250.000.0670 0.030 Pacifica `A’ 0.0350 0.0360 0.0340 0.0340 -2.86 67,000,000 2.31 1.23 Prime Media Hldg 1.370 1.360 1.320 1.360 -0.73 13,000 1.61 0.550 Prime Orion 1.950 1.950 1.930 1.930 -1.03 589,000 2.99 2.26 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.7 2.75 2.7 2.75 1.85 46,000 84.9 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 76.30 76.50 75.60 76.00 -0.39 148,520 -3,415,159.00974 751 SM Investments Inc. 963.00 970.00 960.00 965.00 0.21 337,160 -98,235,085.001.66 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.22 1.23 1.20 1.20 -1.64 292,000 1.39 0.93 South China Res. Inc. 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.00 40,000 390 170 Transgrid 205.00 206.00 195.00 206.00 0.49 60 156 80 Top Frontier 185.000 185.500 180.000 180.000 -2.70 15,260 9,100.000.710 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3200 0.3250 0.3150 0.3250 1.56 3,800,000 0.435 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.2100 0.2040 0.2030 0.2040 -2.86 270,000 0.510 0.310 Zeus Holdings 0.290 0.280 0.280 0.280 -3.45 760,000

P R O P E R T Y10.5 6.74 8990 HLDG 7.740 7.850 7.740 7.780 0.52 79,800 1.99 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.52 1.55 1.44 1.48 -2.63 9,259,000 668,250.001.75 1.2 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.460 1.550 1.390 1.500 2.74 317,000 0.375 0.192 Arthaland Corp. 0.228 0.228 0.228 0.228 0.00 100,000 41.4 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 35.700 35.950 35.650 35.950 0.70 10,854,100 -57,289,800.005.6 3.36 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.17 3.2 3.12 3.2 0.95 1,913,000 2,796,360.005.59 4.96 Cebu Holdings 5.18 5.2 5.17 5.2 0.39 10,300 1.44 0.79 Century Property 0.550 0.57 0.550 0.560 1.82 996,000 5,600.00

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

Trading SummarySHARES VALUE

FINANCIAL 16,202,463 1,313,368,593.75INDUSTRIAL 208,237,543 1,826,503,681.37HOLDING FIRMS 171,709,643 1,972,412,001.63PROPERTY 143,329,923 1,094,202,691.14SERVICES 257,830,329 1,651,584,163.472MINING & OIL 564,722,474 177,927,873.49GRAND TOTAL 1,365,830,727 8,108,774,809.052

FINANCIAL 1,652.30 (DOWN) 6.26INDUSTRIAL 11,952.83 (UP) 37.78HOLDING FIRMS 7,255.37 (UP) 24.28PROPERTY 3,036.57 (UP) 13.86SERVICES 1,550.20 (UP) 9.08MINING & OIL 10,847.68 (UP) 29.04PSEI 7,357.28 (UP) 16.28All Shares Index 4,335.45 (UP) 17.19

Gainers: 126; Losers: 77; Unchanged: 39; Total: 242

STOCKS Close(P)

Change(%)

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 27.05 -22.27

Discovery World 1.72 -9.47

SSI Group 3.90 -6.02

Mabuhay Vinyl 3.8 -5.24

Pryce Corp. `A' 2.75 -5.17

Transpacific Broadcast 1.81 -4.74

City & Land Dev. 0.96 -4.00

NOW Corp. 2.200 -3.93

Vitarich Corp. 1.1 -3.51

Zeus Holdings 0.280 -3.45

Top LoSerSSTOCKS Close

(P)Change

(%)

Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.9 20.00

TA Petroleum 3 14.50

Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 15.70 13.77

Manila Mining `A' 0.0120 9.09

Philodrill Corp. `A' 0.0130 8.33

Melco Crown 2.66 8.13

Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.300 7.14

Bogo Medelin 55 6.49

Cosco Capital 8.54 6.22

Keppel Properties 4.67 6.14

Top gainerS

1.97 1.1 City & Land Dev. 1.00 0.96 0.96 0.96 -4.00 4,000 1.48 0.97 Cityland Dev. `A’ 0.970 1.030 1.000 1.000 3.09 133,000 0.201 0.083 Crown Equities Inc. 0.131 0.130 0.128 0.128 -2.29 540,000 0.69 0.415 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.550 0.550 0.530 0.540 -1.82 4,691,000 55,000.0010.96 2.4 Double Dragon 38 38 37.5 37.9 -0.26 389,300 -1,654,610.000.97 0.83 Empire East Land 0.850 0.870 0.850 0.850 0.00 76,000 0.305 0.188 Ever Gotesco 0.161 0.161 0.161 0.161 0.00 50,000 2.22 1.15 Global-Estate 1.09 1.13 1.08 1.10 0.92 10,832,000 -1,144,240.002.1 1.42 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.88 1.91 1.86 1.89 0.53 11,794,000 558,280.001.8 1.27 Interport `A’ 1.35 1.33 1.31 1.32 -2.22 56,000 8.4 3.1 Keppel Properties 4.40 4.99 4.66 4.67 6.14 11,000 5.94 4.13 Megaworld 4.08 4.19 4.12 4.13 1.23 64,036,000 -67,254,670.000.180 0.090 MRC Allied Ind. 0.090 0.095 0.092 0.094 4.44 6,720,000 0.470 0.290 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.2650 0.2700 0.2480 0.2650 0.00 230,000 0.72 0.39 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.550 0.550 0.500 0.540 -1.82 119,000 27 23 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 34.80 40.00 27.05 27.05 -22.27 4,500 -15,800.008.54 2.69 Primex Corp. 8.55 8.57 8.57 8.57 0.23 10,000 31.8 22.15 Robinson’s Land `B’ 28.80 29.35 28.85 29.20 1.39 2,509,200 -882,515.002.29 1.6 Rockwell 1.59 1.61 1.58 1.61 1.26 178,000 183,890.004.9 3.1 Shang Properties Inc. 3.19 3.15 3.08 3.15 -1.25 50,000 21.35 15.08 SM Prime Holdings 22.90 23.05 22.80 22.85 -0.22 8,970,800 -70,231,405.001.06 0.69 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.87 0.88 0.86 0.88 1.15 1,265,000 7.56 3.38 Starmalls 6.36 6.74 6.2 6.74 5.97 16,800 21,120.001.62 0.83 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.160 1.200 1.160 1.160 0.00 2,655,000 8.59 5.73 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.810 4.870 4.830 4.850 0.83 1,149,000 -161,540.00

S E R V I C E S10.5 1.97 2GO Group’ 7.17 7.4 7.2 7.37 2.79 45,500 -21,750.0066 35.2 ABS-CBN 58.6 59.3 58.8 59.1 0.85 94,260 1.44 1 Acesite Hotel 1.3 1.31 1.3 1.3 0.00 11,000 1.09 0.63 APC Group, Inc. 0.610 0.620 0.600 0.600 -1.64 1,517,000 14.88 10.5 Asian Terminals Inc. 11.02 11.12 11.12 11.12 0.91 5,000 55,600.0015.82 8.6 Bloomberry 4.70 4.89 4.70 4.76 1.28 9,363,000 4,747,940.000.1430 0.0770 Boulevard Holdings 0.0640 0.0650 0.0630 0.0650 1.56 10,610,000 5.06 2.95 Calata Corp. 3.09 3.12 3.06 3.09 0.00 2,104,000 3,100.0099.1 56.1 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 90.8 91.75 90 91.05 0.28 389,720 -3,459,174.5012.3 10.14 Centro Esc. Univ. 9.9 9.8 9.7 9.7 -2.02 20,300 2.6 1.6 Discovery World 1.9 1.9 1.72 1.72 -9.47 490,000 7.67 4.8 DFNN Inc. 7.08 7.09 6.97 6.97 -1.55 182,900 212,302.001700 830 FEUI 1000 1000 1000 1000 0.00 10 2720 1600 Globe Telecom 2104 2160 2110 2112 0.38 68,815 -3,544,890.008.41 5.95 GMA Network Inc. 7.27 7.27 7.22 7.24 -0.41 219,900 1.97 1.23 Harbor Star 1.21 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.65 10,000 119.5 102.6 I.C.T.S.I. 67.35 68.6 67.8 68 0.97 669,510 -17,332,718.007 3.01 Imperial Res. `A’ 16.48 17.56 15.60 16.50 0.12 89,400 12.5 8.72 IPeople Inc. `A’ 11.7 11.3 11.3 11.3 -3.42 500 0.8200 0.041 Island Info 0.305 0.310 0.290 0.295 -3.28 19,710,000 8,800.002.2800 1.200 ISM Communications 1.5200 1.5700 1.5100 1.5500 1.97 2,941,000 77,000.005.93 2.34 Jackstones 2.25 2.3 2.23 2.3 2.22 14,000 12.28 6.5 Leisure & Resorts 7.68 7.65 7.58 7.61 -0.91 182,600 3.32 1.91 Liberty Telecom 3.90 3.95 3.86 3.91 0.26 92,000 15,640.002.53 1.01 Lorenzo Shipping 1.23 1.19 1.19 1.19 -3.25 10,000 3.2 1.95 Macroasia Corp. 2.85 2.80 2.80 2.80 -1.75 2,000 1 0.650 Manila Bulletin 0.610 0.610 0.590 0.600 -1.64 57,000 15.2 6 Melco Crown 2.46 2.66 2.46 2.66 8.13 44,007,000 20,213,090.00 Metro Retail 4.14 4.17 4.05 4.14 0.00 6,830,000 -61,830.000.62 0.335 MG Holdings 0.290 0.290 0.285 0.290 0.00 420,000 1.040 0.37 NOW Corp. 2.290 2.390 2.150 2.200 -3.93 37,362,000 877,870.0022.8 14.54 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 17.58 17.58 17.5 17.5 -0.46 7,976,000 4 2.28 Paxys Inc. 5 5.1 5 5.1 2.00 1,000 185 79 Phil. Seven Corp. 111.00 111.00 110.00 110.00 -0.90 1,290 127,600.0022.9 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 21.95 22.00 21.80 22.00 0.23 81,500 -43,900.003486 2748 PLDT Common 1900.00 1914.00 1888.00 1896.00 -0.21 126,055 -26,925,400.000.760 0.435 PremiereHorizon 0.480 0.490 0.470 0.475 -1.04 10,510,000 9,400.002.28 1.2 Premium Leisure 0.870 0.890 0.870 0.880 1.15 35,573,000 -24,182,380.0046.05 31.45 Puregold 39.40 41.00 39.20 41.00 4.06 9,240,800 51,692,505.0090.1 60.55 Robinsons RTL 78.00 79.10 78.00 79.10 1.41 1,280,220 37,760,970.00 SBS Phil. Corp. 6.41 6.95 6.36 6.75 5.30 7,968,000 -607,815.0011.6 7.59 SSI Group 4.15 4.04 3.85 3.90 -6.02 30,556,100 5,349,330.000.85 0.63 STI Holdings 0.620 0.650 0.620 0.620 0.00 13,869,000 248,000.002.95 1.71 Transpacific Broadcast 1.9 1.82 1.8 1.81 -4.74 27,000 -36,340.0010 5 Travellers 3.64 3.69 3.64 3.68 1.10 2,501,000 -3,221,010.000.490 0.315 Waterfront Phils. 0.330 0.335 0.330 0.335 1.52 20,000 1.9 1.14 Yehey 5.280 5.250 5.000 5.110 -3.22 232,100

MINING & OIL0.0098 0.0043 Abra Mining 0.0045 0.0045 0.0044 0.0044 -2.22 293,000,000 4,400.005.45 1.72 Apex `A’ 2.08 2.20 2.04 2.18 4.81 335,000 -319,370.0017.24 6.47 Atlas Cons. `A’ 4.26 4.26 4.25 4.26 0.00 448,000 -903,050.000.330 0.236 Basic Energy Corp. 0.250 0.260 0.250 0.250 0.00 4,210,000 12.7 6.5 Benguet Corp `A’ 7.4100 7.45 7.05 7.4500 0.54 50,600 12.8 5.11 Benguet Corp `B’ 7.7900 7.8000 7.4000 7.8000 0.13 41,600 -44,400.001.19 0.85 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 0.75 0.78 0.74 0.75 0.00 1,827,000 42,440.001.62 0.77 Coal Asia 0.590 0.620 0.570 0.580 -1.69 7,014,000 269,000.009.5 5.99 Dizon 8.19 8.20 7.96 8.20 0.12 500 4.2 1.17 Ferronickel 0.870 0.910 0.880 0.890 2.30 40,356,000 -2,302,480.000.48 0.305 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.280 0.315 0.275 0.300 7.14 7,050,000 0.420 0.2130 Lepanto `A’ 0.265 0.265 0.255 0.260 -1.89 23,460,000 0.440 0.2160 Lepanto `B’ 0.280 0.300 0.285 0.285 1.79 3,280,000 0.022 0.013 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0110 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 9.09 32,700,000 0.023 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.00 96,200,000 8.2 3.240 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 2.21 2.25 2.17 2.18 -1.36 498,000 41,400.0049.2 18.96 Nickelasia 5.33 5.55 5.28 5.28 -0.94 5,455,300 -1,905,456.004.27 2.11 Nihao Mineral Resources 2.47 2.55 2.48 2.52 2.02 58,000 1.030 0.365 Omico 0.5500 0.5800 0.5600 0.5800 5.45 53,000 3.06 1.54 Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.3000 1.3100 1.3000 1.3000 0.00 136,000 -98,230.000.021 0.013 Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0100 0.0100 0.0099 0.0100 0.00 1,000,000 7.67 5.4 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 3.79 3.94 3.80 3.90 2.90 191,000 12.88 7.26 Philex `A’ 5.48 5.51 5.44 5.50 0.36 990,500 -159,070.0010.42 2.27 PhilexPetroleum 2.47 2.60 2.44 2.50 1.21 6,019,000 -333,940.000.040 0.015 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 8.33 33,700,000 133,200.00420 115.9 Semirara Corp. 127.50 127.90 127.30 127.40 -0.08 380,630 -30,993,218.009 3.67 TA Petroleum 2.62 3.09 2.67 3 14.50 6,248,000 -3,563,920.00

PREFERRED70 33 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 59.45 60 59.45 60 0.93 152,570 -794,659.50553 490 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 525 525 525 525 0.00 20 525 500 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 521 526 521 526 0.96 8,010 515 480 GLOBE PREF P 520 520 520 520 0.00 100 8.21 5.88 GMA Holdings Inc. 7.1 7.1 7.08 7.08 -0.28 74,100 -139,290.00111 101 MWIDE PREF 108.1 110 110 110 1.76 260 1047 1011 PF Pref 2 1014 1014 1014 1014 0.00 3,245 -3,042,000.00 PNX PREF 3A 103.7 103.7 103.7 103.7 0.00 1,180 -122,366.0078.95 74.5 SMC Preferred B 78 77.5 77.5 77.5 -0.64 300 84.8 75 SMC Preferred C 80 80 78.5 80 0.00 12,530 SMC Preferred E 75.5 76 76 76 0.66 290 22,040.00 SMC Preferred F 76.95 76.65 76.65 76.65 -0.39 1,600 SMC Preferred G 77.5 77 77 77 -0.65 14,000 SMC Preferred H 75 75 75 75 0.00 285,620 -37,500.00 SMC Preferred I 75 75 75 75 0.00 98,460 -37,500.00

WARRANTS & BONDS6.98 0.8900 LR Warrant 3.350 3.490 3.300 3.380 0.90 94,000

S M E Alterra Capital 4.08 4.04 3.94 4.04 -0.98 33,000 15 3.5 Makati Fin. Corp. 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 0.00 12,000 Italpinas 3.19 3.26 3.18 3.24 1.57 123,000 12.88 5.95 Xurpas 19.5 19.94 19.4 19.8 1.54 3,625,900 36,759,706.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS130.7 105.6 First Metro ETF 120.5 120.7 120.2 120.7 0.17 4,430

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSFRIDAY: APRIL 15, 2016

B3

Puregold opening more stores

Stock market advances;Puregold, Megaworld up

LightIT’S the second week of April 2016, approxi-mately three weeks before the Philippine na-tional elections. Although the most recent SWS survey shows Duterte and Marcos taking sole lead in preferences for president and vice president respectively, the numbers are still very close. In other news, customers of Loyola plans have taken to social media to raise con-cerns about unpaid claims. Closer to home, my youngest reported that a professor of hers wished her luck finding a man who would be ok with the assumption that it wouldn’t always be the woman who stays home when a child is ill.

Across the country today, many people sim-ply cannot move forward.

LeadershipIt is thirty years since the first EDSA revolu-

tion, the one that unseated Ferdinand Marcos and paved the way for Corazon Aquino to take the presidency. With quite astonishing irony, the Pulse Asia survey taken during the week of the EDSA revolution 30th anniversary actually put the junior Marcos (tied with Escudero) in the lead in the vice presidential race.

The most recent SWS polls cover the period March 30 to April 12, a period that includes the day of the vice presidential debates (10 April), during which opponents focused not on the capabilities of Bongbong, the Marcos who is actually running, but rather on the sins of his deceased father.

In an interview following the debates, Liberal party vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo

was asked about her reaction to the exhorta-tion to stop looking back and to begin moving forward together. She prefaced her answer with a comment that there are special circumstanc-es. Essentially, she argued that the Philippines is unique. Robredo, many news stories report, seems to believe that Bongbong Marcos must apologize for his father’s sins, insisting that a fail-ure to apologize somehow means that the atroci-ties of the past can be repeated. Marcos counters with a comment that he cannot apologize for other people, he can only apologize for himself.

There are those who take the position that Robredo’s comments belittles the efforts of all of the legislators and policy makers who crafted laws and institutions in order to prevent precise-ly the horrors that Robredo refers to. But there are many who support her, especially because of whose widow she is.

Dynasties and dead relativesIt is an old theme in Philippine politics. As

loudly as we proclaim that we must evaluate on merit and that we should eschew dynasties, we seem to gravitate to brothers, sons, daughters, and widows of dead politicians.

Liberal party standard bearer, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, was pursuing a career as an investment banker in New York before he returned to the Philippines following the death of his brother, Capiz repre-sentative Gerry (Dinggoy) Roxas jr. in 1993. In a piece in Rappler, Bea Cupin reports “Dinggoy was being groomed to be the politician in the family, following the footsteps of their father, for-mer senator Gerry Roxas and their grandfather, former president Manuel Roxas.”

Former frontrunner Grace Poe is the adopted daughter of Fernando Poe Jr., close friend of for-mer president Joseph Estrada, who ran for presi-dent in 2004. Poe married husband Llaman-zares, dual citizen of the US and the Philippines

in 1991 and moved to the United States, giving birth to son Brian in the US in 1992 and daugh-ters Hanna and Anika in the Philippines in 1998 and 2004. Poe’s family reportedly began to make arrangements to come home to the Philippines after her father died in 2004. Poe’s residency and citizenship continue to be questioned but the Su-preme Court, in a highly controversial decision, ruled in her favor.

In the vice presidential race, all of the front-runners have ties to politicians. Bongbong is the son of the much vilified former president Ferdi-nand Marcos. Escudero is the son of Salvador Escudero, former Sorsogon representative. Leni Robredo is the widow of Jesse Robredo, former mayor of Naga city, who was tragically killed in a plane crash in 2012. Alan Peter Cayetano is the son of the late Senator Rene Cayetano.

All of this begs the question: who are we re-ally voting for? And also, why are we voting for them? Are we operating on the assumption that capability and character is carried in the genes? Or can be absorbed by osmosis?

As the many anti-Marcos voices point to the far past, and the anti-LP voices point to the re-cent past, what we all really need to decide is this: Who is best equipped to bring us to the future? And what can we live with?

FutureFor the customers of Loyola plans, recent

events have brought back the nightmares of previous pre-need company closures. We must remember that this is happening only 3 years after the failure of Prudentialife Plans in 2013. At the time, the number of pre-need companies had sunk to 20, from over 200 in the years prior to the Asian financial crisis.

Calls for increased vigilance had been sounded much earlier by many analysts. In fact, in 2008, the Actuarial Society of the Philippines had issued guidance in reaction to a circular from the Securi-

ties and Exchange Commission, which actuaries believed, could lead to substantially undervaluing pre-need liabilities. This was particularly worri-some in view of then recent changes in asset valu-ation methodology. Essentially, companies would have had the ability to take gains in their asset values without having to recognize the associated increases in liability values. This exacerbated the then regulatory practice of continuing to renew corporate licenses to sell new plans in spite of defi-ciencies in trust funds. The closures of many com-panies were not a surprise to the people who were reading the reports and following the numbers.

After 2013, the government acted to put safety measures in place to protect the public. As we watch events at Loyola plans unfold, this question will be asked: Could this have been prevented? And, more importantly, what recourse will the planholders have?

ForwardThe reality, of course, is that Robredo is at

least partly right. If we fail to learn, then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. How-ever, what those of us who care about the future need to think about is this: How much of our time should be spent on witch hunts and assigning blame? What is the real goal? Are we after apolo-gies or change? Is all of this just politics as usual? At what point does taking the past into account simply become about holding on to baggage?

In a class where you are trying to teach students how their pre-conceptions affect their judgment, how ironic is it that your own pre-conceptions color your reaction to your student’s reality?

If we can only shine the light of reason on other people’s errors, and not on our own, how are we to move forward?

Readers can email Maya at integrations_ma-nila@yahoo.com. Or visit her site at http://inte-grations.tumblr.com.

One-stop-shop. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., units Smart Communications and Sun Cellular, and Manila Electric Co. Bayad Center lead the launch of the new one-stop-shop facility at the Bacoor Government Center to serve the various transaction requirements of city residents and neighboring areas in Cavite. At the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, opening and blessing of the brand new facility are (from left) Bayad Center president and chief executive Manny Tuason, Meralco senior vice president and head of corporate makreting and communications Al Panlilio, Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla, Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla and PLDT Home operations head Oscar Reyes Jr.

PLDT changingcorporate name

By Jenniffer B. Austria

PUREGOLD Price Club Inc., the second largest grocery operator in the Philippines owned by billionaire Lucio Co., plans to increase net sales by 12 percent to 15 percent in 2016, with the opening of more stores and acquisitions.

Puregold said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would open 25 more Puregold stores and two S&R Shopping Membership outlets this year. The company also remains on the lookout for acquisitions and new geographic locations.

Puregold reported a net income of P5 billion in 2015, up 10.6 per-

cent from P4.52 billion in 2014.“This was principally driven by

the continuous expansion of the group both organic as well as stra-tegic acquisitions and investments and combined management strat-egies and programs to boost rev-enue contributions from both the base stores, as well as new stores

complement by operating efficien-cies and strategic cost controls on operating expenses at it current levels,” Puregold said.

Consolidated net sales in-creased 15 percent to P97.17 bil-lion in 2015 due to the strong consumer demand from existing Puregold, S&R and S&R New York Style Pizza stores as well as newly-opened outlets.

Puregold said new stores put up in 2014 that were fully operational in 2015 boosted the company’s con-solidated net sales.

Income from operations roawe to P7.15 billion in 2015, up 10 per-cent from P6.48 billion a year ago.

“Strong consumer demand has

driven Puregold only same store sales growth of 3.8 percent in 2015 which is the highest SSSG growth in the last four years. We look for-ward to sustain or achieve higher same store sales growth in 2016 giv-en that the same stores sales growth in the first two months of 2016 has been in the 7 to 8 percent.” said Puregold president Vincent Co.

The Puregold group had 298 stores nationwide at the end of 2015. These include 255 Puregold, 10 S&R and 16 S&R New York Style stores, and 17 outlets of NE Bodega and Budgetlane Super-market acquired during the year.

Share price of Puregold on Thursday gained 4.q percent to P41.

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Tele-phone Co. will change its corporate name to PLDT Inc. as its sources of revenues were no longer mainly from the long distance business.

PLDT said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange its board approved the change in corporate name.

The country’s largest telecommuni-cations company said the current cor-porate name reflected the traditional fixed line business that it engaged in for several years following its incorpo-ration in 1928. Darwin G Amojelar

THE stock market extended a ral-ly Thursday, on positive prospects on the economy and gains in Wall Street overnight.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 16.28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,357.28 on a value turnover of P8.1 billion.

Puregold Price Club Inc. of ty-coon Lucio Co. advanced 4.1 per-cent to P41. Puregold, the second largest grocery operator in the Philippines, plans to increase net sales by 12 percent to 15 percent in 2016, with the opening of more stores and acquisitions.

Megaworld Corp., the third-biggest property company, rose 1.2 percent to P4.13, while Aboitiz Power Corp. climbed 2.1 percent to P44.40.

Security Bank Corp., the fifth-lagest lender in terms of capital, retreated 1.1 percent to P189.30.

After Wednesday’s rally fuelled by rising oil prices and strong Chi-nese trade data, regional investors returned to trading floors to news that JP Morgan had posted fore-cast-beating first-quarter earnings.

The banking giant also said the US economy, the world’s big-gest, was on a solid footing and dismissed the prospect it would go into recession this year. The news provided strong support for the financial sector, with all three main New York indexes ending more than one percent higher.

“The fact that investor appetite for the heavily weighted bank-ing sector looks to be returning could help see an even stronger day,” Angus Nicholson, a markets analyst in Melbourne at IG Ltd., told clients.

Hong Kong was up 0.9 percent while Shanghai ended 0.5 per-cent higher. Sydney climbed 1.3 percent and Seoul shot up 1.8 percent.

Tokyo led the gains, with the Nikkei flying 3.2 percent. Japa-nese exporters were the big ben-eficiaries of another drop in the yen against the dollar. But in early European trade London dipped 0.3 percent, Frankfurt added 0.2 percent and Paris was down 0.1 percent. With AFP

B4

GDP likely grew 6% in 1st quarter—Abad

FRIDAY: APRIL 15, 2016

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESS

IN BRIEF

16 fi rms self-generating 166-MW from biomass energy – Zubiri

AN increasing number of private companies are learning the wisdom of generating their own supply of electricity using stored energy from farm waste, former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri disclosed.

The 48-year-old Zubiri, who authored the Renew-able Energy Law of 2008, said some 16 large corpora-tions—mostly integrated sugar producers and inten-sive hog growers—have put up biomass power plants with a combined installed capacity of 166.18 mega-watts for their own use.

That’s certainly good news considering the tight supply of energy, what with the hot summer months that require more electricity as people need to cool down with their electric fans and air cons. After all, no one wants to die of heatstroke—a scary but big possibility with the weather bureau registering tem-peratures of 51 degrees in places like Nueva Ecija and Metro Manila also feeling feverishly hot with 38 to 39 degrees.

“These businesses are not only realizing substantial electricity cost-savings, they are also providing addi-tional income to small planters and creating new farm jobs,” said Zubiri, who is also running for a senate seat in the upcoming May elections.

For sure, the move of these companies to self-gen-erate their power needs will also free up grid-supplied electricity for other industrial, commercial and resi-dential consumers, the former solon pointed out.

According to Zubiri, the biggest biomass energy producer for its own use is packaged food and bev-erage giant Universal Robina Corp., which has four bagasse-fired power plants with an aggregate in-stalled capacity of 24.65 MW. Apparently, URC has biomass power generators in Piat, Cagayan (5-MW); San Enrique, Iloilo (7.5-MW); Manjuyod, Negros Oriental (9.4-MW); and Sta. Catalina, also in Negros Oriental (2.75-MW).

Recognition must certainly be given to the other companies that have put up their own biomass power

plants to produce energy for their own use, and these are Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc. in Nasugbu, Batangas (25.52-MW); Busco Sugar Milling Co. Inc. in Quezon, Bukidnon (24.4-MW); Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar Milling Co. Inc. in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental (19.5-MW); Central Azucarera dela Car-lota Inc. in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental (18.5-MW); Hideco Sugar Milling Co. Inc. in Kananga, Leyte (11-MW); Lopez Sugar Corp. in Sagay City, Negros Occidental (10-MW); Capiz Sugar Central Inc. in President Roxas, Capiz (5.8-MW); Sagay Cen-tral Inc. in Sagay City, Negros Occidental (4.2-MW); Roxol Bioenergy Corp. in La Carlota City (4-MW); Sweet Crystals Integrated Sugar Mill Corp. in Porac, Pampanga (2.8-MW); Amley Natural Energy Corp. in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental (2.5-MW); Bayani-han Feed Products Inc. in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija (2.25-MW); Cavite Pig City Inc. in General Trias, Cavite (1-MW); and Marcela Farms Inc. in Cortes, Bohol (0.56-MW)—and to prove that Happy Hour is an equal-opportunity column—Central Azucarera de Tarlac Inc. in Tarlac City (9.5-MW).

Zubiri added that Cavite Pig City runs a modern, 12,000-head capacity hog farm, while Marcela pro-duces meat and poultry products, milkfish, prawn, tilapia, rice, fruits and feeds.

Many recognize that Zubiri’s authorship of the Renewable Energy Law, which seeks to lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels, has fast-tracked the development of the country’s “green” energy re-sources, which has also contributed to driving jobs growth in the countryside. According to the Renew-able Energy Management Bureau, more than 2.9 mil-lion jobs—mostly in construction and engineering services—have been created by the boom in biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro power projects.

Aside from the private firms’ 166-MW biomass power production for their own use, the senatorial candidate also disclosed much earlier that 18 biomass

power plants, which can produce a total of 241.27-MW of electricity for grid use, can power up more than 300,000 households.

You have to hand it to Migz—who served in the Senate for four years and nine years in Congress with a perfect attendance at that—because he is re-ally passionate about his advocacy for renewable en-ergy. Zubiri had floated the idea of sending out in the future “floating wind turbines” to the West Phil-ippine Sea to harness the abundant wind resources in the area to produce energy.

Although the Philippines and China continue to be locked in a territorial dispute in several areas en-compassing the Spratlys, the idea is worth mulling over since advances in wind power generation tech-nology allow the deployment of drifting wind farms that are well-suited to the West Philippine Sea to ac-commodate fishing and shipping lanes, Zubiri said.

The former senator says the Philippines can learn from the experience of Denmark that pioneered the development of commercial wind power, building vi-able wind farms out at sea where wind resources are stronger and more consistent. Denmark now produc-es 43 percent of its electricity from mostly offshore wind farms, and the Danish government aims to in-crease this to 50 percent by 2020 and 84 percent by 2035, Zubiri said, adding that the next administration should push for stronger cooperation with Denmark in developing the Philippines’ vast wind reserves for power generation, and explore the feasibility of put-ting up offshore wind farms that could prove to be far more potent than those based onshore.

You certainly can’t argue with that.

For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/happyhourmanilas-tandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

Schneider’s anniversary. Schneider Electric celebrates 20 years in the Philippines with unveiling of a modern customer lounge in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The lounge is designed to showcase the company’s leading-edge technology and provide a glimpse into the future of energy management and automation. Shown during the ribbon-cutting ceremony are French Ambassador to the Philippines Thierry Mathou (left) and Schneider Electric Philippines country president Claude Mazallon.

Hot money hits $482mFOREIGN fund infl ows surged in March, as investors re-

turned to the stock market on renewed optimism, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

Bangko Sentral said foreign portfolio investments or ‘hot money’ posted a net infl ow of $482 million in March, the high-est in 13 months, on renewed investors’ confi dence.

The March fi gure was a sharp reversal of the $22-million net outfl ow registered in the same month last year. It was also a signifi cant improvement from the $58-million net infl ow in February.

Foreign portfolio investments are overseas funds that are temporarily invested in local stocks, government se-curities and money market. These are called ‘hot money’ because of the ease they are invested in and taken out of the local markets.

Total infl ows in March reached $1.689 billion, lower than $2.1 billion a year ago, while gross outfl ows also eased to $1.2 billion from $2.104 billion. Julito G. Rada

BPI denies merger talksBANK of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender

in the country, denied any ongoing merger discussion with other banks.

BPI chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said dur-ing the bank’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Makati City Thursday that consolidation was the trend now in the global and local banking industry.

“At this point in time, we want the bank to grow organi-cally... But if an opportunity comes up, we can perhaps look at it and see if it is positive,” Zobel said.

Ayala, however, said “we showed over time that we are partner of choice,” BPI survived six mergers over the years.

“Consolidation has been taking place in banks globally and locally over the years. This opportunity comes in a spe-cifi c point in time when stockholders of both sides see it as a good proposition,” Ayala said. Julito G. Rada

SSI books P810-m profi tSSI Group, Inc., the country’s largest specialty store re-

tailer, said net income in 2015 fell 18.8 percent to P810.7 mil-lion from P998 million in 2014, as the company faced a more competitive environment.

SSI Group’s share in the net losses of convenience store FamilyMart and department store Wellworth increased to P228.3 million from P144.9 million in 2014.

“SSI faced a more competitive environment during the second half of 2015. However, we remain focused on grow-ing our market share and on optimizing the effi ciency of our store network. SSI continues to be in a strong competi-tive position given the breadth and relevance of our brand portfolio and our store network,” SSI Group president An-thony Huang said.

SSI Group said revenues increased 15 percent to P17.4 billion last year, as new stores were added to the group’s network. As of end-2015, the group was operating 792 specialty stores covering more than 147,000 square me-ters. Jenniffer B. Austria

Zamboanga co-op up for saleMANILA Electric Co. and Aboitiz Power Corp. expressed

interest to participate in the privatization of Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative Inc. or Zamcelco.

National Electrifi cation Administration administrator Edita Bueno said preparations for the privatization process for Zamcelco was now underway.

“The TOR [terms of reference] for Zamcelco’s IMC is still being done by Zamcelco’s consultant. Once formalized, the same will be submitted to NEA by coop board for ap-proval. Once approved, the process will begin. We expect this to be done within this year and before the year ends,” Bueno said.

Alsons Consolidated Resources Corp. executive vice presi-dent Tirso Santillan Jr. confi rmed Meralco and Aboitiz Pow-er’s interest in the electric cooperative.

Santillan said Alsons Consolidated Resources Corp. was building a 105-megawatt coal plant in Zamboanga within the franchise area of Zamboanga. Alena Mae S. Flores

Bemac Electric to invest P5bTHE Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines said

investments in the emerging electric vehicle industry are ex-pected to reach as much as P5 billion in the next fi ve years.

EVAP president Rommel Juan told reporters at the Philip-pine Electric Vehicle Summit 2016 that Bemac Electric Trans-portation Philippines already infused bulk of the projected investments this year.

Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan and local partner Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc. won a contract for the supply of 3,000 units of electric tricycles under Asian Develop-ment Bank-funded energy effi cient electric vehicles project.

Bemac offi cials said the company and its partner already invested P500 million to initially set up production line iand another P1 billion to supply the 3,000 e-trikes.

“Yes, [it may reach P5 billion over fi ve years]…And that’s what we want, from the very start of the EV summit, we wanted to bring in foreign investors to the Philippines to help catalyze the industry and to also help us with the tech-nology,” Juan said. Alena Mae S. Flores

Swiss Challenge resetTHE Public Works Department has deferred the Swiss

Challenge for the proposed expressway linking the north and south of Manila to July 29 from July 5.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the agency deferred the submission of proposals for the Swiss Challenge of North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Con-nector Road Project because “we are waiting for approval of fi nal concession agreement from Finance Department and Offi ce of Solicitor General.”

The Public Works Department sent an invitation on April 1 to local and international companies to submit competi-tive proposals under a Swiss Challenge bidding process to fi nance, design, construct, operate and maintain the NLEx-SLEx project under a 37-year concession agreement.

Metro Pacifi c Tollways Development Corp. and subsid-iary Manila North Tollways Corp., the original proponent of the project, already signed a joint certifi cation with the Public Works Department signifying the completion of successful negotiations to build the connector road as an unsolicited proposal. Darwin G. Amojelar

MPIC plans Indonesia project METRO Pacifi c Investments Corp. is looking at expanding

toll operations to Malaysia and Indonesia.“We are looking at one in Indonesia and Malaysia, but

very preliminary,” Metro Pacifi c chairman Manuel Pang-ilinan said.

MPIC has a 29.45-percent stake in Don Muang Tollway Public Company Limited, a major toll road operator in Bangkok, Thailand.

The concession for DMT runs until 2034 for the operation of a 21.9-kilometer six-lane elevated toll road from central Bangkok to Don Muang International Airport and further to the National Monument, north of Bangkok, Thailand.

MPIC through Metro Pacifi c Tollways Corp. also owns a 44.9-percent interest in CII Bridges and Roads , which has various road and bridge projects in Ho Chi Minh City.

Darwin G. Amojelar

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE Philippine economy likely grew 6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, on robust infrastructure and election spending, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Thursday.

“We expect GDP [gross do-mestic product] to settle at 6 percent for the first quarter,” Abad told The Standard.

He said higher government spending on infrastructure probably boosted growth in the first three months of the year. The gross domestic prod-

uct expanded 5 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

“We should have good first-quarter growth bolstered by the high obligation rate of the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] and by election spending,” Abad said.

The economy posted a

weaker-than-expected growth in the first quarter of 2015, dragged down by govern-ment’s underspending, before growth settled at 5.8 percent for the whole 2015.

Data showed DPWH obli-gated 44 percent or P211-bil-lion of its P479-billion allot-ment in the first quarter, an increase of 12 percent from the 32-percent obligation rate over the same period last year.

The agency also utilized 98 percent of its cash allocation in the first quarter of 2016, resulting in disbursements of P55 billion.

“We laud DPWH’s success-ful efforts to ensure the con-

tinuity of their projects before the election ban took effect. These promising figures for obligations and NCA utiliza-tion rates suggest that public construction will continue to drive growth upwards in the first quarter of 2016 as it did last year,” Abad said.

“I also want to emphasize that the P205 billion—or 65 percent of the total allot-ment—was obligated for re-gional projects before the start of the election ban. This means that DPWH will continue to improve local infrastructure uninterrupted throughout the year,” he said.

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

B5CESAR BARRIOQUINTOE D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Procession. Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, follow a ceremonial procession after arriving at the tshichodzong to meet the King and Queen of Bhutan in Thimphu on April 14, 2016. AFP

In Gaza. A Palestinian street vendor fills a balloon with air next to the beach in Gaza City on April 13, 2016 AFP

WORLD

Germany to integrate refugeesAdvocacy group slamsTaiwan’s fishing sector

‘Support for Trump annoys Muslims’

WASHINGTON —US police have killed people at a rate of more than two a day this year, The Washington Post reported Sunday, using its own tally for lack of complete federal statistics.

The federal gov-ernment must rely

The deal, hammered out in six hours of late-night talks between Merkel’s conservative Christian Union bloc and the Social Democrats or SPD, also included plans for new anti-terror legislation.

The integration bill would take a carrot-and-stick approach, providing subsidized courses to help newcomers find their way in German life but, in some cases, denying residence permits to those who fail to take up the offer.

“Germany now has an integration law, 50 years after the start of immi-gration,” tweeted the leader of the SPD’s parliamentary group, Thomas Oppermann.

He was referring to postwar Germany’s program to invite Turks and other “guest workers” to fuel its economic miracle which was criti-cized for failing to provide millions

of immigrants and their descendants a stake in German society and a path to citizenship.

Under the new pact seen by AFP, federal funds would be used to cre-ate 100,000 jobs for asylum seekers receiving benefits. 

Those facing imminent deporta-tion would be excluded but asylum seekers taking part in job training would be shielded from expulsion for the length of the program.

Refugees who abandon state-as-signed housing would face unspeci-fied consequences, but waiting peri-ods for acceptance courses teaching German language and customs are to be slashed to six weeks from three months currently.

“Learning the language is also necessary for temporary stays in Germany,” the document states.

DOHA—A leading Islamic scholar has claimed Muslims are “annoyed” by the level of sup-port among Americans for US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Ali Qara Daghi, secretary-seneral of the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, told AFP late Wednesday that Trump was also using the “attacks on Islam” to try and secure his bid for the White House.

“This is really annoying us so much that he has these levels of support,” he said.

“We do not want this for the

American people or America, which was founded on democracy, freedom and pluralism.

“His remarks are not consistent with common sense or moral val-ues because he is not honest and exploits attacks on Islam in or-der to gain access to power,” Qara Daghi added.

The IUMS is an influential but controversial organization based in Doha.

It is headed by Yusuf al-Qa-radawi, considered a spiritual guide to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, who were ousted from power in

the North African country in 2013 and later blacklisted.

During his campaign, Trump notably called for Muslims to be banned from entering the US amid concerns over security.

He initially made the proposal following the San Bernardino at-tack last December, when Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in California before they died in a shootout with police.

Despite widespread condem-nation, Trump’s contentious pro-posal has not affected his electoral chances. AFP

TAIPEI—Environment advocacy group Greenpeace on Thursday said Taiwan’s fishing industry was “out of control”, with shark fin-ning still rampant as well as labor and human rights abuses.  

Taiwan has one of the world’s big-gest tuna fishing fleets and the new Greenpeace investigation is just the latest criticism of its practices.

The European Commission warned Taiwan last October that it would face economic sanctions if it did not tackle illegal fishing within six months.

The Greenpeace report comes as that time period is running out. 

“These investigations paint a comprehensive picture of an in-dustry in crisis,” Yen Ning, cam-paigner at Greenpeace East Asia, said. 

“Despite talking the talk,

Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency appears incapable of monitoring the out-of-control tuna industry,” Yen said.

“Our investigations reveal dev-astating impacts on marine life and people’s lives.”

The report is a result of a year-long probe into Taiwan’s distant water tuna fisheries.

The crew on Taiwanese ves-sels—which include as many as 160,000 migrant workers—en-dure “horrendous” working con-ditions and physical abuse, the report found, as well as withheld payments and exploitation by re-cruitment agents.

And despite the warnings against illegal shark fishing, Greenpeace said its investigation discovered 16 cases of shark fin-ning in just one Taiwanese port over a three-month period. AFP

BERLIN—German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s rul-ing coalition agreed Thursday on tough measures to spur the integration of migrants and refugees, includ-ing sanctions for failing to take part in programs such as language classes.

The right-left coalition also agreed to give more funding, personnel and powers to security forces to combat terrorism.

A significant new provision would allow federal police to deploy under-cover officers for attack prevention as well as criminal prosecution.

It would also allow the secret ser-vices to step up cooperation with their counterparts from partner states in Europe and NATO as well as Israel.

The draft law is to be completed on May 24 and then presented to parliament, where the so-called grand coalition has a large majority.

Merkel and her coalition partners were to hold a news conference on the agreement at 1000 GMT.

Germany took in more than one million asylum seekers in 2015 and Merkel has faced mounting criticism from skeptics, particularly from within her conservative camp, argu-ing that Europe’s top economy is ill-equipped to cope with the influx.

The closure of the so-called Balkan route taken by many migrants has led to a sharp decline in new arrivals in recent weeks. AFP

B6 CESAR BARRIOQUINTOE D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

Ruling party reels from shock defeat

WealthyChinesebuy jetsas a hedge

Bengali New Year. Revelers attend a rally in celebration of the Bengali New Year or ìPohela Boishakhî in Dhaka on April 14, 2016. AFP

New year. In this photogaph taken on April 13, 2016, Myanmar children take part in wet celebrations marking Thingyan, a water festival which brings in the countryís new year, in Yangon. AFP

Germany to integrate refugees

Street kids strugglefor survival in Kenya

SEOUL—South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s ruling conservative party was reeling Thursday from a shock electoral defeat that broke its 16-year parliamentary majority and threatened its chances of retaining the presidential Blue House in 2017.

Voters punished the party for its economic record, analysts said, with high levels of youth unemployment accounting for particularly high dissatisfaction among the younger people.

The crushing defeat leaves Park, who has less than two years left of her single, five-year term, as a lame duck leader and will weaken her abil-ity to push through her conservative agenda, including labor reforms.

Pollsters had forecast an increased majority for the Saenuri, saying its hawkish stance towards North Korea would provide an electoral boost at

a time of surging military tensions with North Korea.

But provocations by Pyongyang, including a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later, appear to have had little effect at the ballot box.

“This is the voters’ judgment against President Park. All the pent-up anger they had about the worsen-ing economy and widening inequal-ity exploded in this election,” said Choi Chang-Ryul, a politics profes-sor at Yongin University.

Political power in South Korea is firmly concentrated in the presidency and Park has fallen short on most of her key economic promises, a failure she puts down to legislative inaction.

But critics accuse her of skewed priorities, poor decision-making and a dogmatic style of leadership.

Wednesday’s defeat saw Park’s

Saenuri Party win just 122 seats in the 300-member chamber, sharply down from the 152 it held in the last parliament.

It marked the first time since 1999 the conservative party has lost con-trol of parliament, with the three liberal opposition parties garnering a combined 167 seats.

The main liberal opposition Minjoo Party was the largest group-ing, with 123 seats.

Losing the majority would mean projects such as labor reforms that critics have said would make it easier for businesses to fire workers would likely lose steam, said Jeong Han-Wool, senior fellow at the East Asia Institute.

“This miserable poll result will also greatly hurt the party’s prospect for the 2017 presidential election,” he added. AFP

NAIROBI—Ragged, hungry and re-jected by society, thousands of street children abandoned by nearly all live in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

There is no official figure on the number of home-less children in Kenya, a sign of the lack of interest by Kenyan authorities of the problem.

One estimate, by the Consortium of Street Children, an international charity, suggests the num-ber of street children could be as high as between 250,000 and 300,000 throughout Kenya, including 60,000 in Nairobi alone.

In the district of Mlango Kubwa in central Nairobi, a former landfill is a refuge for street children, who call it “the base”.

Here they sleep on the hard floor, close to the rub-bish dumps where they scavenge for scraps to make some profit, but at least the place is safe from outside eyes.

A few hours after dawn, some children are still ly-ing on the ground, the plastic bottles from which they sniff glue beside them. Other spaces are empty, with those youngsters having headed off to work, begging on the streets.

“When people see some of these kids, they do not take them as human beings,” said Moha, himself a former street child, who escaped the tough life, and ekes out a living now dancing alongside bands. “When people see them sniffing glue and dirty, they beat them or insult them.”

Some children are pushed onto the street follow-ing the death of parents—sometimes due to HIV/AIDS—or after running away from violence at home. Others live on the street simply because their families are too poor to look after them.

“It is quite difficult to describe the situation... you find if they sleep outside someone’s shop, in the morn-ing, instead of the owner waking them up gently, they kick them or even pour water on them,” Moha said.

Many leave their rural areas—where traditional community ties have loosened—for cities, where they have more chance of surviving by begging, finding odd jobs, scavenging rubbish sites, or prostitution.

Abandoned by the state, several charities offer help. Alfajiri is one of them, a project set up by Australian artist Lenore Boyd, who offers drawing lessons.

“It’s just to invite the kids, to get them to create. It’s not to teach them, it’s not to impose anything on them,” Boyd said. “It’s to say: ‘Tell your story’. They’re very focused and they do lovely work... they tell the stories in their heart and they just enjoy themselves.”

When Boyd walks the streets of the slum, children throw themselves at her, finding friendship and love they otherwise lack. AFP

SHANGHAI—Some of China’s wealthier investors are buying pri-vate jets to secure a mobile, dollar-denominated hedge against volatile financial markets and a declining yuan currency, an industry analyst said, although the overall aircraft market is struggling.

China’s benchmark Shanghai stock index surged 150 percent in the 12 months to June before crash-ing, while the yuan or renminbi has depreciated since July, leading to a flight of capital from the country.

The state of financial markets has seen investors “cashing out, mone-tizing that stock increase if you will and pouring it into an aircraft pur-chase”, Asian Sky Group managing director Jeff Lowe said on the side-lines of China’s premier business jet show, which ends Thursday.

“It allowed them the opportunity likewise to get out of RMB and get into US dollars. It’s a movable as-set,” he said.

China’s slowing economy and corruption crackdown have clipped the wings of its once-soar-ing market for business jets, as yet another sector feels the pain of weaker growth in the Asian giant.

The number of business jets in mainland China grew just 3.8 per-cent to 300 planes in 2015, far weak-er than the 16 percent annual growth in 2014, according to Asian Sky, an aviation services provider which re-leases an annual fleet report.

It estimates that Chinese opera-tors took delivery of 17 new business jets and 13 used ones last year, but at the same time 19 planes left the country—implying a net gain of 11.

“It’s not shrinking, but it’s grow-ing at a pace which is less fast than before,” Chadi Saade, vice president commercial for Airbus Corporate Jets, said at the show.

China’s economy—the world’s second largest—expaded 6.9 per-cent last year, the weakest in a quarter of a century.

Since President Xi Jinping took the helm three years ago, the government has doggedly pursued a campaign against graft and enforced an auster-ity program, which has hurt the over-all climate for business jets. AFP

B7mst.daydesk@gmail.com

RAMON L. TOMELDANE D I T O R

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

MOTORING

Subaru Forester holds Bangkok bash DRIVING is a way of life, whether

it’s taking the kids to school, doing the grocery run or going to work; being behind the wheel is an es-sential part of our personal, family and work life. It can be enjoyable and pleasant, but at times can also be stressful and dangerous with fatal consequences. Majority of car crashes usually involves one driver.

In an effort to promote driver dis-cipline and defensive driving, Mo-tul, the country’s only 100 percent fully synthetic performance engine oil is introducing its Corporate So-cial Responsibility campaign.

The CSR campaign was borne out of the frustrations of the eve-ryday driver. More than a decade ago, the traffic situation was far safer and driving along EDSA was stress-free. These days, it is chaotic out there, with every driver having

a free-for-all, as each one fights for every inch of space almost every-day. Road rage incidents are com-mon, and hopefully, this Drive Right campaign will remind eve-rybody out there that the roads are for everybody and we must learn to share it with discipline and inspire goodwill among fellow drivers.

To avail of “Drive Right” car stickers, register your name and e-mail address. It is Motul’s small contribution to making our roads a safer place enjoyed by disciplined and safety-conscious drivers.

Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo, III

PRIOR to its launch in Manila, Motor Image, the exclusive distributor of the Subaru brand in the Southeast Asian region, invited members of the motor-ing media to a ride and drive event in Thailand. The event was organized for the regional media to experience the re-freshed Forester.

“Together with the launch of the Forester, Subaru is excited to roll-out a brand new campaign to high-light the traits of the Forester, an unstoppable vehicle that can turn any challenging terrain into an exciting adventure. The campaign name is “Is there anything you can’t do”, which reminds the people that they can achieve anything they have set their eyes on, and the Subaru Forester will accompany them throughout their adventure,” said Glenn Tan, Executive Director of Tan Chiong International Limited.

The 2016 version comes with a redesigned front end, tail lights and wheels, plus a refreshed cabin with a new premium head-unit and an LCD cluster display. Motor Image also organized a drive for the media which highlighted the X-mode, an onboard computer which coordinates throttle response, transmission and the S-AWD which aids the driver to safely drive through any difficult terrain.

Subaru designed the Forester as a go-anywhere SUV that can withstand any terrain or weather thrown at it. The development concept for the For-ester has remained unchanged for nearly a decade, which is constantly being improved every year based on the requirements of adventure-loving customers,” adds Tan.

Maxliner introduces new product lineAlso making a splash at the 37th staging of the

Bangkok Motor Show is Maxliner, one of the World’s biggest outfitters of SUV’s and pick-ups. Their mas-

sive booth at the Bangkok show showcased the com-pany’s latest products such as the Maxsports bar, Maxcover, Maxtray, Maxstylish bar and the latest compact Maxbox.

“Maxliner is the largest supplier of OEM products in Thailand, USA and in Europe. Their product line encompasses almost every pick-up variant manufac-tured and sold by Ford, Isuzu, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Chevrolet,” states Erwin Versoza of Maxliner Ph.

Designed and built to ISO 14001 BVQI standards, Maxliner bed liners are made of High Density Poly-Ethylene (HDPE) material for high impact strength and makes your truck’s bed water and corrosion resistant. Maxliner bed liners have also undergone stringent testing in harsh environments to meet the demands of a global market to conform with global ISO standards.

Maxliner bedliners are also easy to install and fits most pick-up models such as the Isuzu D-Max, Toy-ota Hi-Lux, Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi Strada and the Ford Ranger. Based in Thailand, Maxliner is an OEM certified supplier of global brands such as Toyota, Isu-zu, Honda, Ford, Nissan General Motors, and Tata.

FASTLANE

NISSAN Philippines Inc. (NPI) confirmed its participation in the upcoming Nissan GT Academy 2016, which will be launched later this year. This was announced dur-ing an exclusive screening of the Nissan GT Academy reality show, produced by NPI’s broadcast part-ner ABS-CBN, last April 1, 2016 at the Bonifacio High Street Cinema.

A virtual-to-reality racing com-petition, the Nissan GT Academy gives aspiring race cars drivers a chance to fulfill their dream of participating in a professional in-ternational race.

“The Nissan GT Academy is Nissan’s way of democratizing motorsports, to make it more ac-cessible to the general public.” said SJ Huh, NPI General Manager for Marketing “By doing this, we help

fast-track the dreams of more po-tential Filipino racers to reach the international racing arena.”

First launched locally in March 2015, the Nissan GT Academy saw over 13,000 aspiring racers partici-pate in over 20 live events held in key cities in the country within a four month period. Twenty players with the best race time in the game then advanced to compete in the National Finals, where they were subjected to physical, driving, me-dia, and virtual challenges to deter-mine the top six contenders.

From the 20 finalists, Luis Cach-ero, Rafel Lesaguis, Terence Lal-lave, Joward Policaprio, Joel Agojo, and Daryl Brady were selected to join the Race Camp at the Silver-stone Racing Circuit in the United Kingdom in August 2015.

Motul’s ‘Drive Right’ campaign

Nissan all set for GT Academy

Glenn Tan, Executive Director of Tan Chiong International Limited beams proudly with the new Forester

Maxliner displayed their truck and SUV accessories at the show.

MOTORING

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

B8RAMON L. TOMELDAN

E D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

The WTC lobby area showcased the familiar names in aftermarket industy. Concept One Wheels, the company behind Black Rhino and

Saffiro Tires displayed a custom-ized Jeep Rubicon that has been upgraded with Black Rhino wheels and off-road lights from PIAA of Ja-

MIAS POSTSCRIPT

Smart technology goes mobile

CUSTOMERS hoping to own one of the all-new Ford GT ultra-high-performance supercars can officially place their applications at FordGT.com

The limited production of the all-new Ford GT in-spired Ford Performance to create a unique, customer-focused experience to help select potential owners for the new supercar.

Approved applicants will work with the new Ford GT Concierge Service for a person-alized purchase experience.

“The purchase process for the Ford GT is as unique as our all-new supercar,” said Henry Ford III, global marketing manager, Ford Performance.

“We understand GT cus-tomers are strong ambassa-dors for Ford Motor Com-pany and we look forward to providing them a service as distinct as the car itself.”

The Ford GT is the most advanced Ford production vehicle ever, featuring the latest in lightweighting, aer-odynamics and EcoBoost engine technology – an in-novation showcase for the Ford brand.

Anyone interested in purchasing the Ford GT is encouraged to apply. Ap-plicants in the Philippines will be advised which deal-ers will be supporting their purchase and, if approved, will complete their pur-

FORD GT TAILOR-MADE FOR YOU

chase with the help of the dealer and the new Ford GT Concierge Service.

Accepted applicants from around the world will be contacted by the concierge and provided a tailored expe-rience – not only through the ordering and delivery, but through years of ownership.

The new Ford GT website offers a configurator allow-ing consumers their first chance to build theFord GT of their dreams, and eas-ily share their dream con-figuration with the world through social media.

The configurator fea-tures a breakdown of color combinations, wheels and materials for the Ford GT,

including details on the in-terior themes.

The Ford GT is available in eight exterior colors in-cluding the highly sought after Liquid Blue, along with four interior themes. The eight exterior colors can be paired with one of seven dif-ferent stripe colors, giving the Ford GT customer many choices to keep their vehicle as unique as themselves.

Certain combinations from the configurator may not be available when pro-duction of the Ford GT begins at the end of this year, but the tool offers en-thusiasts the most flexibil-ity when creating their own virtual Ford GT.

Text and photos by Genevieve Tiu

FROM April 7 to April 10, 2016, car enthusi-asts formed a beeline to the World Trade Center in Pasay City for this year’s staging of the Ma-nila International Auto Show. Arguably one of the biggest automotive shows in the country, an impressive count of attendees turned out for the f lour-day extravaganza, set off by the curtain raising Thursday ceremonials.

pan. Motul, the specialist brand for engine oils and lubricants displayed an array of iconic Lotus race cars, along with its “Drive Right” cam-paign. Red Rock Travel, on the other hand, had a racing simulator built by famed bodykits builder Atoy Llave of the Singapore GP that allowed par-ticipants to try their hand at driving through the different conditions on the Marina Bay Circuit. New kid on the block, CTEK, the Swedish brand of smart battery chargers, displayed its full selection of consumer and professional chargers, alongside crowd favorite, the BMW M4.

The main hall was where all the action took place. First day high-lights kicked off with Ford and its introduction of new variants to

the EcoSport (dubbed, the EcoS-port Black Edition) and the Ever-est (with a new Titanium 2.2 4x2 A/T Premium version). Subaru of-ficially unveiled the 2016 Forester and positioned on centerstage the Viziv concept car, flown all the way from Singapore. Hyundai occupied two categories: one for trucks and another for passenger vehicles, in-troducing the sporty Veloster hatch-back and the new Santa Fe.

At the hall’s center, comeback kid Ssangyong unveiled the first three models for the Philippine market: the Rodius, Korando, and Tivoli; which was prior to the opening of its first dealership. Foton officially entered into the passenger category with the Toplander, displaying three

units of the model SUV. And despite last year’s issues, Mitsubishi Motors put on pedestal the 2016 Montero Sport and, surprise, the new Mirage. What made the automotive displays visually appealing were the roof ac-cessories from the Outdoors Club, which equipped the vehicles with Rhino roof racks and Montblanc luggage boxes from Sweden.

Other highlights had the new Chevrolet Sail, the carmaker’s entry into the entry-level passenger car category, the Peugeot 307 GTI, the new KIA Sportage, and the Mer-cedes NGCC generation of compact cars. The biggest attraction still re-mained to be the well-attended Russ Swift Stunt Drive Show, under the helm of Motor Image’s Subaru.

Motul displayed a rare collection of Lotus race cars

Wheel Gallery’s customized Jeep Rubicon shod with Black Rhino wheels was a star at MIAS

Wheel Gallery’s customized Jeep Rubicon shod with Black Rhino wheels was a star at MIAS INNOVATIVE BATTERY CAR CHARGER CTEK OF SWEDEN SHOWCASED

THEIR PRODUCTS WITH A BMW M3

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LIFE

TATUM ANCHETAE D I T O R

BING PARELA S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNASW R I T E R

ST Y L E & BE AU T Y

l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

Every woman has a different hair issue from thinning to frizziness, dryness and other problems as a result of endless styling and use of

hair products. For half a century, Kérastase Paris has been at the center of caring for a woman s crowning glory. With continuous advancements in hair care technology, the company has maintained a strong identity as a leader in the hair care category, making its products almost synonymous to luxury.

For Kérastase, it’s really about magnifying and beautifying a woman s nicest asset which is beautiful hair, shares Jean Philippe Thomassin, L’Oreal Philippinesgeneral manager for professional products division, during the launch of their latest product innovation Kérastase Fusio-Dose. This new advancement in Kérastase poses a solution to multifaceted hair problems with the combination of two products, a concentrate and a booster, to solve multiple hair needs at a single treatment. The concentrate formula acts on the hair’s primary concern like dry hair, damaged hair, fine or thinning hair, while the booster acts on the hair s secondary needs to supplement the main problem like nutrition for softness, reconstruction, shininess, anti-frizz, and volume.

The summer season puts the hair in need of protection and reconstruction from harmful heat waves. While many women still experiment on the right

treatment and waste money trying to get the right fix for their hair problems, Kérastase Fusio-Dose answers this with 20 tailor-made combinations for your next salon treatment. During the launch, five celebrated Filipinas shared their hair woes and represented each formula that fits their specific hair needs.

Stylist and lifestyle blogger Jenni Epperson s hair color needs lasting shine and vibrancy, so she recommends Fusio-Dose  Réflection  Booster for women with the same hair type as hers. Fusio-Dose Résistance Booster is used by celebrated TV host and model Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, which revives her hair from continuous hairstyling which is what her job calls for. Model Bea Soriano shares Fusio-Dose Nutritive Booster for women like her whose hair are always under stress from hair styling and from all her travels in cold and tropical places that surely take their toll. Fashion designer Vania Romoff used Fusio-Dose Discipline Booster for her wavy locks as it helps make them flow in natural motion but at the same time makes her tresses look polished and disciplined. Meantime, celebrity mom and TV star Ruffa Gutierrez recommends Booster Densifique to volumize her thinning hair and make it look thicker and more lush.

Kérastase Fusio-Dose treatment is now available at selected salons. To see the results for the many women who have tried it and to keep updated, use the hashtags #myhairtransformation and #kerastasefusiodose on Instagram.

KéRASTASE FuSIO-DOSEKérastase harnesses the power of two with its latest innovation

in hair care product

Kérastase business unit manager Maureen Abenoja, Jenni Epperson, Ruffa Gutierrez, Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, and Vania Romoff toast to beautiful hair during the launch of Kérastase Fusio-Dose

Kérastase Fusio-Dose product launch at The Valkyrie Nightclub

Kérastase Fusio-Dose Boosters Résistance, Réflection, Nutritive, Discipline, and Densifique

Kérastase Fusio-Dose Concentrate formula

combined with boosters

C2F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

LIFE l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

Basic skin care comes in a three-step process: Cleanse, moisturize and protect. But many often neglect, if not completely forget, step 3 especially since putting on sunscreen is regarded as a thing done only when staying for a long period under the sun.

Even actress and host Anne Curtis admits to never applying sunscreen on a daily basis.

“Before, the only time I think of putting on sunscreen is when I go to the beach,” she reveals. “But Dr. Vicki Belo helped me realize that I need to use sunscreen everyday.”

The skin doctor to the stars posits that sun exposure damage is cumulative and cunning – like a computer virus that enters the body whenever the opportunity presents itself.

“Little by little, it destroys your DNA. And when the effects on your skin start to

be obvious, it may already be late. The sun has UV rays that cause sunburn, premature aging and skin darkening,” says Dr. Belo.

Bottomline, when the skin is not properly protected, the sun may just be its greatest threat.

Dr. Belo asserts that using sunscreen daily is a must, especially when fighting aging. “Sunscreen everyday keeps the wrinkles away,” she reiterates.

As part of its continuous innovation in creating expertly formulated sun care products, the Belo Authority proudly introduces Belo SunExpert Tinted Sunscreen.

Belo SunExpert Tinted Sunscreen is rated SPF50 and PA++++ for broad spectrum protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays. It also features Tone Adapt Technology that evens out skin

tone and conceals fine lines, wrinkles and other skin imperfections. To top it all off, the tinted sunscreen is also packed with Cell Protect that’s responsible in defending against skin aging.

Belo SunExpert’s new product offers superior sun protection while providing skin coverage.

Curtis shares that Belo SunExpert Tinted Sunscreen has now become her daily sun protection and quick makeup fix in one.

“Now I can have both sun protection and that perfect no makeup look in just 15 seconds! And I love how my skin instantly achieves a natural flawless finish,” she enthuses.

Belo SunExpert Tinted Sunscreen is available in department stores, supermarkets and drugstores nationwide.

A protective coverageBelo SunExpert’s new tinted sunscreen offers sun protection and quick makeup fix

The Philippine fashion industry is alive and growing, thanks to the individuals who contribute to the country’s achievements and

developments in this arena. And in a bid to further boost the local fashion scene, Zalora Philippines, in celebration of its fourth anniversary, recognized five Filipino fashion talents in its first ever Zalora Style Awards.

Zalora Philippines aims to recognize individuals for their achievements and contribution in the fashion industry as well as inspire future fashion players to pursue a career in the industry.

“We at Zalora Philippines believe that fashion is a great enabler and we are committed to strengthening the local fashion community and supporting the next generation of fashion talents through events like the Zalora Style Awards,” said Zalora Philippines co-founder and chief executive officer Paulo Campos.

The recently concluded Zalora Style Awards recognized five Filipino fashion key players. Mark Bumgarner won the Fashion Designer of the Year award, Martine Cajucom was named the Fashion Game Changer of the Year, Vince Uy for Male Style Star of the Year, Janine Gutierrez for Female Style Star of the Year, and the Fashion Stylist of the Year awards was bagged by Qurator by Pam Quinones.

Seasoned fashion experts in the creative field and respected personalities in the

OnLInE REtAILER FEtES FILIPInO FAShIOn kEY PLAYERS

Anne Curtis swears by Belo's Tinted Sunscreen

fashion industry picked the winners in this year’s Zalora Style Awards. The Board of judges was composed of former Preview magazine editor-in-chief Pauline Suaco Juan, SoFA Design Institute founder and executive director Amina Aranaz-Alunan, Philippine Star Y Style and SUPREME creative director David Milan and MEGAstyle.ph editor-in-chief and MEGA magazine managing director Sarah

Santiago together with Zalora Philippines executives Gigi Mabanta, (head of Buying), Regine King (head of Marketing) and Vince Flores (head of Public Relations).

The Zalora Style Awards is one of Zalora Philippines’ efforts that aim to contribute to the growth of the local fashion industry. Also launching this April is Make Me a Zalora Model, a regional model scouting competition via selfies on Instagram.

Zalora Philippines is also partnering with Manila Fashion Festival to allow consumers to shop for the latest looks right as they appear on the runway.

Follow the official hashtags #ZALORAStyleAwards and #ZALORA4You on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for the latest happenings about the company. For

more information, visit www.zalora.com.ph.

Zalora Philippines' first Zalora Style Awards winners together with the panel of judges

Zalora Style Awards' Designer of the Year Mark Bumgarner with his collection

C3LIFE l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

Summer is traditionally associated with light, airy days, with images of sunshine everywhere. There’s a “darker” side to summer however – bared by the design team of Uno de 50 that invites one to feel free and defy the conventional.

The jewelry pieces churned out by the Spanish brand beckon one to discover a different facet of summer, where night takes over day. Go out when the sun has gone down and enjoy just before the dawn breaks out, seems to be the message from Uno de 50’s Spring/Summer collection consisting of handmade jewelry pieces – all spectacular, surprising, and original creations that range from alternative to casual, to the most sensual and daring looks that evoke images of a night of abandon in the city.

Metal pieces display fluidity, combined with the sophisticated aura lent by Swarovski crystals and the elegance of pearls – resulting in a mysterious enchanting look. Each piece seems to vibrate with special energy – whether from the casual line where chatons are combined with pieces of smooth metal, or the more sophisticated line utilizing pearls on pieces made with delicate proportions.

The pieces conjure images of underwater bubbles, the fluidity of water, and encounters with iridescent fish, as the light from above enters the dark world of the seabed. Silver plated rigid metal necklaces decorated with stones, choker style necklaces, eye-catching earcuffs, midi rings in a ground breaking

articulated design, with a marked health-goth and glam look, are only some of UNO de 50’s compelling new pieces.

Through its creativity, unique style, bold spirit, and 100 percent Spanish handcrafted pieces, UNO de 50 is truly set apart from the rest, with the brand espousing the original and exclusive philosophy of creating only 50 units of each design, hence, the trademark name.

UNO de 50 has more than 50 shops in Spain and over 25 in some of the world’s top fashion capitals such as New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Milan, Rome, and Amsterdam.

In the Philippines, Uno de 50 is located at the Second Level of SM Aura Premier, the Third Floor of SM Megamall’s Mega Fashion Hall, at the Second Level of the SM Mall of Asia's Main Hall, at the Ground Floor of SM Makati, and at the Ground Floor of SM Store’s Branded Accessories Section in SM City Cebu. Visit and like UNO de 50’s Facebook page at unode50.es

Eyeglasses with grades have always been worn for medical reasons – unless you’re a fashionista who just likes to sport the latest eyeglass spec

for no reason at all aside from looking hot, sexy, trendy, and a little smart looking. All eyes are on the four eyes especially if their spectacles make them look chic and sophisticated, and that is exactly what eyewear brand Theo brings to the market.

Known for unique and avant-guarde designs, Belgian brand Theo is known globally in the fashion industry and is worn by spectacle-loving celebrities like Elton John. If you want to stand out from the rest and look sleek wearing your glasses, then Theo is the brand for you. Not only does it bring out your personality, the spectacles are also instant conversation starters.

During the launch of Theo’s Spring Summer 2016 collection, Mik Somers, head of international sales and marketing for Theo and son of Wim Somers (one of the founders of the brand), talked about the history and the heart of Theo. Born from the minds of opticians Wim Somers and Patrick Hoet 20 years ago in Antwerp

Beligium, the brand now has 1,300 stores across 50 countries globally.

“My father has always been driven by consumers and customers,” shares Somers. He recounts that his father was always

looking for glasses that were unqie and would stand out from the normal medical looking glasses. “They wanted something different and more unique and they couldn’t find it,” he discloses. So his dad and friend Patrick Hoet started to design their own frames and went around in a briefcase to showcase the pieces in fashion shows in Milan. Somer says, “there’s these two crazy guys with their glasses in their briefcase, the new kids on the block trying to show everyone their designs. But soon people in the fashion world took notice because they had something special that stood out from the normal.”

“Theo” is a pretty regular name in Belgium, with easy recall and even sounds like your friend next door, but today, it has become known as an avant-garde brand that pays no attention to trends and combines technology and creativity to make fashionable spectacles.

For Spring Summer 2016, the brand presents the new Islands collection, the new James models with reinvented acetate frames, and Theo’s latest Shuffle collection. The Islands collection is now infused with

the latest technology, a new hinge patented by the brand. The sleek thin frames come in new models – Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina, Stromboli and Vulcano. From the last collaboration of Theo and Belgian furniture designer James Van Vossel came the James eyewear with a unique design that makes the nosepiece less visible. The upgraded versions of the designs are now in acetate, very light frames, available in eight colors. Meanwhile, the new Shuffle collection models Move, Change, Slide, Shift and Adapt feature optical frames with the earpiece ends in a round tip that’s sliced in two and overlapped.

Branded Lifestyle, Inc. is the official distributor of Theo Eyewear in the Philippines together with other international eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban, Prada, Miu Miu, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari, Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Persol, Tory Burch and many others. Theo is available at Eye Society, 48 Jupiter St., Bel-Air Makati City; Eye Society Bonifacio Global City and Eye Society SM Aura Premier.

Photos by star sabroso

EYE on thE FouR EYES

the darker side of summerSpanish brand uno de 50 bares surprising creations in its new collection

James eyewear in acetate Theo eyewear brings out funky designs that are instant conversation starters

Mik Somers, head of international sales and marketing for Theo

Glam-and-goth: Choker-style short necklaces, ear cuffs and midi, multiple-finger and knuckle rings

OSTRAS (OH! MAN) adjustable bracelet is elegant and rebellious

at the same time

ALTEREGO (SUPER-EGO)

silver plated ring with two glasses

and SWAROVSKI® ELEMENTS

crystals embedded in an original diagonal

arrangement

EGO silver-plated metal earrings with blue crimped Murano glass

ALGA ASI (ALGA SEA) bracelet

made up of silver

plated metal rings that

evoke a bold and

outgoing spirit

CALIFORNICATION original keychain

entirely handcrafted in Spain

C4 LIFE l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

F R I D AY : A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

pop-up beautyBy jigs mayuga

Throughout the years, makeup artists have been the silent heroes at shoots and events, working behind-the-scenes with stylists,

photographers and production teams to ensure that their clients look their absolute best. It may all seem glamorous when people look at the end product on their TV screens or on the pages of those glossy fashion magazines, but what fans don’t realize is that it’s a lot of hard work. The makeup artists have to be there before the rest of the crew gets to the set. We set up our lights, our chairs and lay out our arsenal. We work while standing for long

hours and then stay for touchups to make sure that every shot is perfect.

Stylists and photographers have been honored and lauded in the past for their achievements at events that celebrate their craft. As the hub for all things beauty, SM knew that behind every gorgeous goddess is a makeup maven to make her more beautiful. Thus, the SM Beauty Ball came into fruition, an event to honor makeup experts for their contribution to beauty, the way designers are recognized in the fashion industry, and held recently at the Rizal Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La.

The glamorous event kicked off with a red carpet welcome for all makeup professionals who were invited to the ball. A sumptuous dinner was served and the ballroom was decked in classic black and gold tones to complement the fashionable mood of the evening. Industry pioneers Fanny Serrano, James Cooper and Jesi Mendez were honored onstage for their outstanding achievements as pillars of the beauty industry. Makeup artists young and

old were inspired by the words of wisdom that the three senior artists imparted in their speeches.

The 2016 Makeover Masters were also introduced at the beauty ball. They are sought-after makeup experts who were chosen based on talent, clientele, and professional excellence. They walked down the red carpet like stars, escorted by their celebrity muses-turned-friends: Cristine Duque with Denise Laurel, Jake Galvez with Vice Ganda, Denise Ochoa with Jodi Sta. Maria, Robbie Pinera with Anne Curtis, and Mickey See with Jolina Magdangal and yours truly with Cheska Garcia-Kramer. It was an exhilarating experience to be honored with esteemed colleagues from the industry.

Witnessing the awarding were other top makeup artists from different fields like film, fashion, commercial, bridal, and more, amounting to around a hundred experts in attendance who have made beauty their business. Each one received a PRO-Card, which entitles the bearer to

discounts and perks from the store. The SM Beauty Section is the first and only retailer to offer such a privilege to these professional artists.

After holding the Beauty Ball for the pros, SM will hold the SM Beauty Makeover Event for every makeup fan. To be held this coming 7th and 8th of May, anyone can grab the full beauty experience at the biggest makeover event in the country. Drop by the SM Megamall Fashion Hall on these days for free makeovers and beauty discounts. A beauty show will be held in the evening, featuring the craft of the 2016 Makeover Masters.

Whether you’re an amateur beauty buff or an expert makeup maven, SM will help you achieve the perfect makeover. Dive into all the beauty SM has to offer and join the SM Beauty Makeover Event this May. Don’t forget to check their Facebook (www.facebook.com/smbeautyph) and Instagram page (@smbeautyph) for more details.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @jigsmayuga. 

a Night of Beauty

Honoring industry pioneers Fanny Serrano, James Cooper and Jesi Mendez

The glamorous set-up at the Makati Shangri-La Vice Ganda with Jake Galvez

This columnist with Cheska Garcia-Kramer

Mickey See with Jolina Magdangal

Denise Laurel with Cristine Duque

Robbie Pinera with Anne Curtis

Denise Ochoa with Jodi Sta. Maria

C5ISAH V. REDE D I T O RSHOWBITZ

f RIDAy : A pRIl 15, 2016

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The thrilling espionage movie Crimi-nal starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones tracks the story of the

right man in the wrong body. In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative’s memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into an unpredictable and dan-gerous death-row inmate in hopes that he will complete the operative’s mission.

Criminal delves into the inner workings of the mind when CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) tragically disappears in the middle of an urgent, top-secret mission. He’s been tracking the brilliant hacker known as “The Dutchman” (Michael Pitt), who, while navi-gating the lawless Dark Web, has uncovered the means to take charge of the entire weap-onry of the U.S. military’s Central Command.

With Pope’s death, every vital piece of in-formation he’s discovered about “The Dutch-man” and his whereabouts is wiped out for-ever. Dead men tell no tales. Or do they? As Kevin Costner who plays Jerico in the movie says: “It used to be dead men went to the grave with their secrets but as we unlock the inner workings of the brain, and as science progresses, we know it may soon be possible to transfer the memories of one person to an-other – and the implications are vast.”

That is why the CIA’s relentless London chief, Quaker Wells (Oldman), embarks on

an unprecedented medical intervention – an experimental surgery that might implant Pope’s DNA directly into the synapses of another man’s brain. He recruits the maver-ick neurosurgeon, Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), who in turn finds the one person who might be able to absorb Pope’s memories: a treacherously unhinged death-row con-vict named Jerico Stewart (Costner), whose childhood brain damage makes him unpre-dictable yet an ideal candidate. Left without empathy or emotions, Jerico might provide a blank slate for taking on Pope’s memories.

At first, it appears the operation has failed. Wells and CIA agents Esteban Ruiza

(Amaury Nolasco) and Marta Lynch (Al-ice Eve) get nowhere with Jerico. But Jer-ico, unsure of what has happened to him and in fear for his life, escapes and finds himself on the run.

At large in London, Jerico begins to ex-perience memories that are clearly not his own – memories that take him into an overwhelming world of family, love and re-sponsibility that he’s never known.

Deluged by memories he doesn’t know what to do with, Jerico is drawn like a mag-net to Pope’s old house and to his widow Jill (Gadot) and their beloved child – even as the CIA begins to trace his moves. When

the ruthless anarchist Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Molla), intent on controlling the U.S. nuclear arsenal to advance his own agenda, kidnaps Pope’s family to get to “The Dutch-man” first, Jerico is helpless against the overpowering urge to save them.

But time is of the essence, for Jerico has learned from Dr. Franks that the effects of the brain surgery are only temporary. Soon, his sense of Pope’s innermost thoughts will be-gin to fade and Jerico will lose the memories that now mean everything to the future of the civilized world and to Jerico himself.

Criminal opens April 13 in cinemas to be released by OctoArts Films International.

Hollywood star and Australia’s tourism ambassador Chris Hemsworth kicked off the recently concluded Hong Kong Sevens, which brought together some of the world’s most talented rugby teams.

The 32-year-old actor made a surprise appearance at Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, where he showcased his skills by kicking-off the event at the iconic Vanessa Harbour with Hong Kong Island’s spectacular skyline as a backdrop.

As always, the Hong Kong Sevens, one of the most popular and premier sporting events in Asia, saw a num-ber of the best players from around the globe engage in fast and furious rugby action at the magnificent Hong Kong Stadium. The 2016 Cathay Pacific/Hong Kong Sevens presented an amazing three-day extravaganza of international rugby revelry with 28 teams competing in front of 120,000 spectators.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) with the Hong Kong Rugby Union and Hong Kong Tramways also launched the first ever Hong Kong Sevens Bar Tram, which picked up registered tourists and rugby fans for a free ride with complimentary drinks as part of the festivities.

For more information, log on to www.DiscoverHong-Kong.com.

Chris Hemsworth makes surprise appearance at Hong Kong Sevens

Hemsworth shows off his skillful rugby kick-off by the iconic Victoria Harbour with Hong Kong Island’s spectacular skyline as the backdrop

Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth makes a surprise appearnce at Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal

BRIllIanT hackER wanTED In EspIOnagE acTIOn ThRIllER ‘cRImInal’

absolutely “criminal.” American actor Kevin Costner (left) plays an unhinged death-row convict named Jerico Stewart in the action thriller directed by Ariel Vromen

Tommy lee Jones as Dr. franks Kevin Costner is up against the law in new thriller shot entirely in london

C6 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

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f RIDAy : A pRIl 15, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ACROSS1 Trawler trailer5 Lovely to the

touch10 Bottle top14 Mountain goat15 Used a crowbar16 NCAA Bruins17 It may be spliced18 Approves19 Homily-spouting

detective 20 More turbulent 22 Split to join 23 Narrated 24 Heavy volume 26 Lead Chipmunk 29 Most sheer 33 The good dishes 34 Ahoy, —! 35 — -tzu 36 Install a door

37 Seeds’ needs 38 Fictional rafter 39 PC button 40 Vowed solemnly 41 Silly 42 How the refined

eat 44 Zones 45 Arizona city 46 Tentlike dwelling 48 Street sign 51 Crowding together 55 Mixed bag 56 Technical details 58 Peter Gunn’s girl 59 “Silent Running”

star 60 Ease of mind 61 Offer for money 62 Graph lines 63 Perfume base 64 Tie-dyed garmentsDOWN 1 Hairpieces 2 Help a crook 3 Vegas game 4 Trying hard 5 Go bad 6 Vexed 7 Yarn spinner 8 Pocket jangler 9 Fabric meas. 10 Where protons are 11 Yodeler’s answer

12 Applaud 13 Batman creator 21 “— Lisa” 22 Tube trophy 24 Championship 25 Bullfight bravos 26 Felt sore 27 Tibet’s capital 28 Leonardo da — 29 Baby-tooth taker 30 Privileged few 31 End-of-year temp 32 Broadway awards 34 Dough 37 Emulate fish 38 Most remote 40 Beefcake model 41 DEA operative 43 Quick-dry fabrics 46 Joshua tree,

for one 47 Bobby of Indy fame 48 “Star Wars” guru 49 Holly, to a botanist 50 Limerick locale 51 Rhythm 52 — fixe 53 Cairo’s river 54 Firms up 56 Workout facility 57 Guinea pig, maybe

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe

cROsswORD puzzlE FRIDAY,APRIL 15, 2016

Traffic stood still as the parade of forty lovely candidates of Bb. Pilipinas 2016 passed by around the streets of Araneta Center on Saturday, April 9.

More than the press presentation, tal-ent competition and the national costume show, much awaited by the public is the annual parade of beauties where 40 comely Binibinis rode on vintage Miata cars and wore summer-themed rainbow-colored bi-kinis designed by Domz Ramos.

The parade of beauties drew a size-able crowd and if the public could be the judge, votes would go to the most crowd-pleasing and genuinely approachable candidates, which for this year’s batch, are aplenty.

The candidates, like Maria Gigante, Ni-cole Manalo, Paula Rich Bartolome, Faith Garcia and Angelique de Leon, were so overwhelmed by the crowd’s warm recep-tion which they said have helped take away the pressure and boost their morale. They were also proud to see small children wait-ing to see the parade while they expected the usual admiring men to come and take selfies with them.

The annual parade, which was joined by the reigning queens Miss Intercontinen-tal 2015 1st runner-up Christy McGarry,

Miss International 2015 Top 10 Janicel Lubina and Miss Supranational 2015 semi-

finalist Rogelie Catacutan, is the last of Bb. Pilipinas preliminary-activities prior to the

exciting grand coronation night to be held on April 17 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, telecast live on ABS-CBN.

Reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, who has just been hon-ored by the Philippine Postal Corpora-tion with the issuance of special com-memorative stamp featuring her own image, is expected to return from New York in time for her scheduled press conference on April 14. Wurtzbach could not wait to see who would inher-it her title as the Philippine representa-tive to the 2016 Miss Universe pageant. That lucky girl could come from this list, based on the candidates’ perfor-mance during the press presentation, fashion show and parade of beauties: Maxine Medina, Nicole Manalo, Nicole Cordoves, Kristine Estoque, Paula Rich Bartolome, Kylie Verzosa, Maria Gigan-te, Dindi Pajares, Apriel Smith, Jennifer Hammond, Angelica Lopez, Maria Lina Prongoso, Jennyline Malpaya, Angelica Alita and Sheena Dalo.

Dark horses are Joanna Eden, Edje-lyn Gamboa, Faith Garcia, Sarah Bona, Vina Openiano, Kimberlie Penchon, Angelique De Leon, and Angela Fernan-do. - Eton B. Concepcion

BB. pIlIpInAS 2016 pARADE gIVES glImpSE of pIA WuRtzBAcH’S WoulD-BE SuccESSoR

There is a reason why Regine Velasquezis known to possess the Midas’ Touch. It seems that whatever the Asia’s Songbird lays her hands on simply turns to gold.

Take for example the wildly success-ful partnership she took on recently with PLDT Home, where Regine is still a most esteemed ambassador. Her endorsement of the Regine Telset Series generated such overwhelming patronage from the public, making this campaign one of the most suc-cessful so far. Such is Regine’s touch.

The brains behind the campaign, PLDT VP and Home Marketing Head Gary Dujali said, “The success was unprece-dented that’s why we are bringing it back. I remember how fast our stocks ran out within days after the launch. It is truly an

honor for us to have Ms. Regine Velas-quez and help spread the great news ap-propriately named after her - the Regine Series that offers new landline Telsets plus the best NDD and IDD call packages.”Regine’s success in PLDT actually negated the pervading mindset that landlines were already a thing of the past.

“What Regine accomplished shows us that this is the new landline, the force that actually powers your broadband. In this re-gard, let it also be said that subscribers can upgrade to any of the existing PLDT Home DSL plans that will best suit their family,” Dujali added.

The telco executive also noted the great response of the public towards Regine’s concert series at the malls. “We are hum-

bled by the gesture of the public and their unprecedented support. We want to spread goodwill and propagate world-class music in our own little way by bringing a world-class talent like Ms. Regine where she can reach more of her audience.”

And so, the vibrant partnership contin-ues. Regine Series Mall Tour 2016 edition kicked off last April 10 at SM Bacoor and will be held subsequently at select malls thereafter. Ten PLDT Home subscribers who avail of any of the telephone sets in the Regine Series will win two VIP seats each to any of these mall shows.

Last year’s five-week mall run brought the Songbird closer to her public. In the free shows, Regine performed her top hits and well-loved classics before thousands of

her avid followers.The Regine Telset Series is a set of lim-

ited edition landline phones available at the very affordable cost of P99 per month. For more information about the Regine Telset Series, visit pldthome.com/landline.

Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid holds new series of mall tours

Binibining pilipinas 2016 candidates

Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid with plDt Vpand Home marketing Head gary Dujali

C7ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

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f RIDAy : A pRIl 15, 2016

SHOWBITZ

TV host and comedian Vic Sotto officially declared his support for Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Francis

“Chiz” Escudero, who are run-ning for president and vice pres-ident, respectively. 

Sotto, who is popularly known as “Bossing” in the top-rating af-ternoon show Eat Bulaga, joined the campaign rally of the Poe and Escudero when the tandem, along with the senatorial slate of Parti-do Galing at Puso, barnstormed Cebu on April 5. 

This is the first time that the 61-year-old Sotto has openly ex-pressed support for the candida-cies of Poe and Escudero, both frontunners based on various pre-elections surveys. 

Sotto, along with wife Pau-leen Luna, took the center stage during the campaign rally held in Lapu-lapu City to the delight of an estimated crowd of 8,000 people chanting “Bossing! Boss-ing! Bossing!” He even exchanged banter with Dabarkads co-host

Eleven years since he passed away, Sen. Grace Poe’s father, Fernando Poe, Jr., still has a strong influence up to this day.

Widely known as the King of Philippine Movies or simply “Da King,” most of FPJ’s works have been adapted for televi-sion. Take for example ABS-CBN’s FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano and TV5’s reimagining of Ang Panday. Both series are mak-ing waves on television being two of the top-rating programs on primetime.

Indeed, FPJ had inspired a generation of television and

movie actors including the star of the indie film Star na si Van Damme Stallone, Paolo Pingol.

In an interview for ANC documentary “Mukha,” the young actor even tried to im-personate the late actor and action star and said that he likes watching classic action movies especially those that star his idol.

Paolo Pingol, born with Down syndrome, had this life-long dream of becoming an actor. He can be recognized as the boy in a McDonald’s com-

mercial. Despite his condition, his dream came true when he’s cast in the indie movie directed by Randolph Longjas.

Paolo was nominated best actor in the recently concluded 2016 CineFilipino Film Festival for his role in Bida na si Van Damme Stallone, which give a closer look to the life of people with Down Syndrome and the struggles they face.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace’s mother Susan Roces is very proud of the public’s contin-ued patronage of FPJ’s works and movies.

Everyone knows that bamboo is the primary material used in mak-ing huts and other helpful materials. But on Tuesday (April 12) in My Pu-hunan, everyone witnessed that the symbol of Filipino people, the bam-boo, can also be used to make bikes.

My Puhunan host Karen Davila tried the bamboo bike or “bambike,” which has become an increasingly popular ride among tourists inside the walled city of Intramuros. Developed by Fil-Am Bryan McCleland, the “bambike” is not simply beautiful to look at and environ-

ment-friendly, it also gives farmers and former fishermen in Victoria, Tarlac another source of income as they are the ones who cut, form, and treat the materi-als McCleland uses.

My Puhunan airs every Tuesday after Bandila on ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167), and DZMM Teleradyo at 9:30 p.m. Catch up via or iwantv.com.ph or skyonde-mand.com.ph for Sky subscribers. For updates, follow and visit www.facebook.com/MyPuhunan or www.twitter.com/MyPuhunan.

VIc Sotto SuppoRtS GRAcE-cHIz tIckEt

Ruby Rodriguez. “Kung si Chiz may Heart, ako

may P,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience. 

Sotto even took a selfie with

the crowd as his background, and shouted “Grace-Chiz kita! (Grace-Chiz tayo!)” 

Elated by the TV host’s support, in his Instagram account, Escudero

posted a photo with Sotto back-stage. “With Bossing at our rally at Lapu-lapu City, Cebu… Maram-ing salamat poe sa paniniwala at pagtitiwala,” the senator said. 

Vic Sotto is the latest celebrity to join the long list of showbiz figures who have openly declared their support for the Poe-Escude-ro tandem.

Sen. chiz Escudero with Vic Sotto Selfie. Vic Sotto takes a group photo with the crowd as their background

After teasing their next Selfie Expert since a week ago, OPPO Philippines has revealed that it will be launching the F1 Plus to-morrow, April 16.

The OPPO F1 Plus has been making rounds online, especial-ly now that its global rollout has started after successful launches in key markets such as India.

The images posted on their social networks imply that the F1 Plus’ front shooter doubles the pixel count of the previously launched F1 at 16 megapixels. That’s the highest recorded pixel count for a smartphone front camera thus far.

The global electronics brand also promises a bigger

screen, narrow side bezels, and a premium metal body for the new device.

There’s much in store for ea-ger followers of the brand, as the new handset has been dubbed “the bigger, better Selfie Expert.” Stay tuned to their official page for news regarding its availabil-ity and local price.

‘Bida na si Van Damme Stallone’ star looks up to fpJ

oppo f1 plus coming soon to the philippines

karen Davila goes around Intramuros

in a ‘Bambike’

“My puhunan” host karen Davila with “bambike” developer Bryan Mccleland

Eco-friendly bambikes are becoming increasing popular among tourists in Intramuros

paolo pingol (left) in a scene from the indie film “Star na si Van Damme Stallone”

C8i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

SHOWBITZ

f riday : a pril 15, 2016iSaH V. rEd

E D I T O RNiCKiE WaNG

W R I T E R

pEOplE¼ are talking about ¼ are not talking about

Manny pacquiaoPeople didn’t agree with what he’s been saying of late. And they’re unapologetic,

calling him homophobic and unfit to be a lawmaker. But it’s a different story when he enters the ring – he’s a hero, a different man. He makes the whole world look at the Philippines not as a poverty-stricken nation but as a country that unites to sup-port the person who carries its flag. Boxing will never be the same without Manny and it’s a sad thing because leaving boxing means he will have more time being a politician and a religious fundamentalist.

Jessica SanchezSocial network was ob-

sessed with her performance on American Idol finale. The Fil-Am singer, who was just a runner-up in the reality talent show’s 11th edition, stole the show with her rendition of Celine Dion’s “The Prayer.” Viewers around America and those who tuned in on Fox to watch the show’s farewell sea-son thought “she’s belatedly crowned as an AI winner.” Jessica’s performance was the particular highlight of the en-tire two-hour show.

Ruru MadridHis current claim to fame

is being the guy who always plays a friend to the lead male star in TV series or movies . Hence we are glad that he’s being given an-other project, in which he’s not going to play second fiddle. When we learned that he got the plum role in the upcoming political-romcom Naku, Boss Ko!, we know we are getting a big star performance.

Kris AquinoA few weeks after she made a lengthy and emotional social media post about

her leaving showbiz, the televsion host is back in town, in tinseltown that is. Just when we thought we have completely gotten rid of Kris, she’s back from a three-week vacation in Hawaii and started working on a project with a food and bever-age company immediately. You see, she’s like an unappreciated girlfriend seeking attention. Next time she says she’s taking a hiatus from showbiz, expect that she’ll be back in a matter of days.

Xian limHe kissed Kim Chiu while they

were on stage during the latter’s concert that celebrated her 10th anniversary in showbiz. Xian told Kim, “I love you so much. Nothing can take that away.” At the backstage though, when he was cornered by the press, Xian admitted that they’re still not in a relationship and every-thing still depends on Kim. So, what we saw was a publicity stunt similar to what James Reid did the Araneta Coliseum except that Xian’s version was a bit off and didn’t elicit any positive feedback.

Baron GeislerThe actor has been getting a

lot of attention on Facebook of late. If that was his real intention, then we think he’s glad that he succeeded. Baron posted a video that calls people to unite for peace and for the love of God. Whatever prompted him to share this rather unusually amusing video, we are perfectly sure that he’s not in his proper mind. Nonetheless, we wel-come this positive gesture, which is actually a first from the actor.