L

VOL. 518 No. 20

http://www.mb.com.ph

Saturday, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 5 SECTIONS P18.00 IN METRO MANILA

SEEING THE WORLD

THROUGH A PRISM
Streams of colored
water, fired by cannons
from these fire trucks,
form a pyramid over the
Quezon Memorial Shrine,
with the light and water
droplets spawning a
rainbow yesterday at
the Quezon Memorial
Circle in Quezon City. The
spectacular water, color,
and light display was
staged on the occasion
of the Bureau of Fire
Protections turnover of
155 new fire trucks to
various local government
units. (Camille Ante)

WEATHER

Luzon

partly cloudy skies

Binay vows
govt overhaul,
new BIR chief
once elected

Visayas

Mindanao

partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Manila

partly cloudy skies

Temperature Range:
20.4C-30.5C

Sunrise: 6:19 a.m.

Sunset: 6:01 p.m.

Pay hike for 1.53M

state workers OKd
Aquino signs EO to implement first tranche of salary increase
By MADEL SABATER-NAMIT

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO

United Nationalist Alliance

(UNA) standard-bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday
promised to do a reorganization of
several departments if and

resident Aquino yesterday

signed Executive Order (EO)
No. 201 granting the implementation of the first tranche
of the pay increase for some 1.53 million
government employees as provided for

in the proposed Salary Standardization

Law (SSL) 4.
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said President Aquino signed the EO upon his
arrival from California, USA, Friday
morning.
President Aquino has signed an

Tides: High: -Low: 03:39 a.m. -0.07m

LIFESTYLE
Living by
her rules
Accomplished
expatand mom
of threeMarie
Claire Lim
Moore has a
new book and
once again, its
about herfamily

C-1
entertainment
A celebration of
multifaceted films

Executive Order (EO) Modifying the

Salary Schedule for Civilian Government Personnel and Authorizing the
Grant of Additional Benefits for Both
Civilian and Military and Uniformed
Personnel, Coloma disclosed.
According to the Palace official, the
EO provides for the implementa-

The third Singkuwento

International Film Festival
(SIFF)opened yesterday
at the Leandro Locsin
Theater as part of the
National Commission
for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) Arts Month
celebration.

D-1

Duterte
threatens to skip
first debate

business
OFW remittances
reach $25.8B in 2015
BOP reverts to deficit
in January

By BEN R. ROSARIO

Admitting he might be incapable

of speaking his mind in just 30 seconds, presidential candidate Mayor
Rodrigo Duterte might skip the first
of a series of debates of presidential
bets to be held Sunday in Cagayan
de Oro City.

B-1

ON CLOUD NINE President Aquino looks out the window at two FA 50 Golden Eagle jets, which escorted Philippine Airlines PR
001 as it entered Philippine airspace yesterday. The jets, part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization efforts, are
two of a squadron of 12 that have been acquired by the country from South Korea. Story on Page 2. (Malacaang Photo Bureau)

Poe does not

Pope raps
need PNoys
Mayor Junjun, 12 others charged;
popularity PGP Trump over bias Binay camp cries political persecution
against Mexican
immigrants
By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG

By CHARISSA M. LUCI
and HANNAH L. TORREGOZA

CABANATUAN CITY Team

Partido Galing at Puso (PGP)
senatorial candidates lashed out
yesterday at the administration
coalition for claiming that their
standard-bearer Senator

Roxas dares
rivals to bare
sources of funds,
planes, choppers

By AFP and REUTERS

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on

Thursday intervened explosively in the
US election campaign, saying Donald
Trump cannot claim to be a Christian
and also vow to build a border wall to
keep out immigrants.

Dismissed Makati City Mayor Jejomar Junjun Binay Jr. and 12 others
were charged before the Sandiganbayan yesterday afternoon over the
alleged anomalous construction of the
P2.2-billion Makati City Building II.
The Office of the Ombudsman
filed against the son of Vice President
Jejomar Binay two counts of violating
Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-

By MADEL SABATER-NAMIT, AFP and REUTERS

PH, Australia call for restraint

in disputed South China Sea

By AARON B. RECUENCO

Honesty and transparency

of candidates fund are the best
campaign policies, administration
standard-bearer Mar Roxas said
yesterday, daring other presi-

Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and

six counts of falsification of public documents under Article 171 of the Revised
Penal Code (RPC).
It also recommended a bail bond
of P30,000 for each count of graft and
P24,000 for each count of falsification of
public documents to enable the younger
Binay and each of his co-accused to
secure temporary liberty. This means
the former mayor has to post a total
bond of P204,000.

Malacaang yesterday joined Australia in calling on China not to raise

further tensions in the disputed South
China Sea following its deployment
of missiles in the Woody Island in the
Paracel island chain.

http://www.facebook.com/manilabullletin

China said Thursday it had weapons

on one of the islands in the strategically
important region, which US Secretary
of State John Kerry said was evidence
of an increase of militarization and a
serious concern.

@manilabulletin

This issue of the Philippine

Panorama featuring United:
The Power of EDSA 1986 comes
with tomorrows Manila Bulletin.

Pacquiao
doubles down
on gay slurs
By AFP

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm

Turnbull said it was critical for the
regions prosperity that China and the
US used international law to resolve
their disputes.
We urge all claimants in the South
China Sea to refrain from any building
of islands, any militarization of

Boxing great Manny Pacquiao

doubled down yesterday over gay slurs
that have tarnished his reputation and
cost him millions in endorsements,
insisting God was on his side.
The eight-division world champion
smiled and joked through a training session in his hometown of General Santos
City, then told reporters he had no

twitter.com/manila_bulletin

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National News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Aquino returns with fighter jets escorting his plane

By ELENA L. ABEN
and MADEL R. SABATER-NAMIT

fter more than 10 years since

the Philippine Air Force
(PAF) decommissioned the
last of its F-5 fighter aircraft,
the PAF formally resumed yesterday
its traditional role of escorting the
President and other visiting heads of
state while in the countrys airspace.

President Aquinos Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight PR 001 from California, USA, entered Philippine airspace
escorted by two brand new FA-50 fighter
jets of the PAFs Air Defense Wing and
then landed at at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 7:05 a.m.
Colonel Enrico Canaya, PAF spokesman, said the two FA-50PH escorted
PAL Flight PR001 carrying the President and his delegation from an of-

ficial working trip in California for the

ASEAN-US Summit as it entered the
countrys airspace east of Polilio Island,
Quezon province.
The fighter jets took off from Clark
Field air base. They made contact with
the presidential flight at 6:37 a.m., which
eventually landed at 7:05 a.m., said
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
Coloma said having the PAFs new

fighter jets escorting the presidential flight was not a show of force but
deemed proper for Aquino as the Commander in Chief.
This escort honors is a common
practice since the President is also the
Commander-in-Chief. It is also practiced in other states as a way of honoring the head of state when his plane
enters our countrys airspace, Coloma
said in Filipino, dispelling thoughts that

it had anything to do with the territorial

dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
Col. Canaya stated further that the
role of escorting the President and
other visiting heads of state while in
Philippine airspace used to be a common practice by PAFs Air Defense
Wing fighter pilots until its last F-5
fighter aircraft were decommissioned
in 2005. (With a report from Ariel Fernandez)

HEALTH HAZARD
Dramatizing
their protest
against the
hazardous coal
stockpile at
the Port Area in
Manila, activists
from the Kalikasan Peoples
Network for
the Environment and some
children wear
facemasks as
they picket at
the Department
of Environment
and Natural
Resources main
office in Quezon
City, yesterday.
(Camille Ante)

Govt negotiator hits NDFs half-truths

By FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD

The government chief

negotiator for the talks with
the Communist Party of the
Philippines/New Peoples
Army/National Democratic
Front (CPP/NPA/NDF) chided yesterday the head of the
NDF panel for allegedly telling half-truths to cover up
for the NPAs atrocities.
In a statement, GPH
Peace Panel Chief Alexander Padilla belied assertions
that President Aquino rebuffed a peace deal between
the government and the

communist rebels.
Hes not telling the whole story.
There was no peace deal, said Padilla,
responding to NFP peace panel chair
Luis Jalandonis claims that a signed
peace pact was snubbed by the government in 2014.
What Mr. Jalandoni is referring to
was not an agreement. In December
2014, there were reports of peace
talks resuming between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and
the NDF. We clarified then that what
was happening was, a group of private
individuals we consider friends of the
process was shuttling between the two
parties to explore possible parameters
for restarting the talks at the earliest

possible time. It was this private group

that initialed a proposed agreement
subject to approval by the two Panels,
Padilla said.
The government chief negotiator confirmed that the government
was studying that proposal and was
prepared to discuss it with the NDF
Panel in January 2015 until the Mamasapano incident happened.
Padilla explained that the NDFs
usual strategy is to use the negotiations to get as many concessions as it
can from government without giving
anything in return. He said in spite
of this, the GPH continued to pursue
all possibilities for the resumption of
talks.

Include 32-35 cm waistlines Flight risk

in healthy heart goals PHA sets Jinggoy
apart from
JPE govt
By CHARINA CLARISSE
L. ECHALUCE

With a lot more people of

this generation sedentary
as a result of social media
and getting hooked on gadgets, the Philippine Heart
Association (PHA) warned
yesterday that heart disease
has become a major health
concern and urged the public
to set goals for maintaining a
healthy heart.
For the PHA, everyones
goal must be making sure
not to be part of the growing
population of hypertensive,
diabetic, hypecholesterolmic, obese, and couch potato
Filipinos.
Heart experts said that
knowing the numbers is
important. It was noted that

one should have a normal BP which is

120/80; normal sugar level which is less
than 100; normal cholesterol count which
is 200; and a 32-centimeter waistline for
women and 35 centimeters for men.
That is why we dont look at the
symptoms anymore. We look at the
numbers age, genetic predisposition
and other risks which are modifiable
and non-modifiable, said Dr. Raul
Lapitan, PHA vice president and Heart
Month chairman.
To note, modifiable factors are hypertension, high cholesterol and sugar,
smoking and stress, including lifestyle
practices. These can be controlled.
On the other hand, the non-modifiable
factors or the ones that cannot be controlled are culture, sex and age.
People are advised to start having
their blood pressure and blood chemistry checked every year. These will be
the control numbers that will be used
to manage the cardiovascular risks.

BI eyes cutting red tape

By JUN RAMIREZ

The new management of

the Bureau of Immigration
(BI) has revitalized an outfit
that will receive and facilitate
the distributions of all communications in a bid to cut
red tape and corruption.
BI Commissioner Ronaldo Geron said yesterday

the new system will be handled by the

central receiving unit (CRU) which will
be operational next month.
He said all communications received
by CRU will be bar-coded and installed
in the BI computer system to ascertain
accountability, identifying personnel
responsible for such delay.
I used the same procedures in
handling communications when I was
in Malacaang, the BI chief said.

By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG

Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada

has never shown proof that he is not
a flight risk, while Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile
has.
This was one of the points raised
by state prosecutors when they asked
the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to
remain firm in its decision to keep
Estrada and his plunder co-accused,
pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim
Napoles, detained.
With this, the prosecution asked
the Fifth Division to turn down the respective motion for reconsideration
of Estrada and Napoles that sought
the reversal of the courts January 7
resolution that denied them bail in
the non-bailable plunder case involving the senators Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF).
Though Estrada kept citing the
Supreme Court ruling that granted
Enrile bail as basis to be allowed bail,
state lawyers indicated that the High
Court exercised only on the basis
of evidence submitted to the court
since said discretion is directed to the
weight of such evidence. However,
accused Senator Estrada never lifted
a finger to present even a wisp of
evidence that he is not a flight risk,
they said.

PhilHealth hemodialysis fees questioned

By BEN R. ROSARIO

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC)

has been asked to explain
why its new hemodialysis
package still requires members to pay additional fees.
Bayan Muna party-list
Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate
demanded the explanation
as they urged Congress to
conduct an inquiry in aid of
legislation into complaints

aired by end-stage renal disease patients who have been promised 90 free
dialysis sessions by PhilHealth.
Colmenares noted that the staterun medical insurance firm issued
Circular No. 024-2015 providing for an
increase in dialysis benefits from 45 to
90 sessions.
The senior deputy minority leader
said Philhealth released the circular on
Aug. 27, 2015, the same day the House
of Representatives approved on third
and final reading House Bill 5956 which
will increase the coverage for dialysis
treatment of Philhealth members to 90

sessions per year.

Colmenares, together with Reps.
Boy Calalay (LP, Quezon City) and
Leah Paquiz (Ang Nars Party-list),
is among the principal authors of the
bill.
But within months after the start
of the implementation of PhilHealths
new package, Colmenares revealed
reports on increased cash-out in the
form of co-pay mechanisms and noninclusion of injections and laboratory
procedures in the PhilHealth coverage,
even increasing the co-pay charge per
session to between P350 and P750.

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News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

PH, Australia call for

restraint in disputed...
islands, any land reclamation,
Turnbull said in a joint press
conference with his New Zealand counterpart John Key in
Sydney.
While Woody Island is not
covered by the Philippines
maritime entitlement claims,
Presidential Communications
Secretary Herminio Coloma
Jr. cited the joint statement
ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting
in California, USA, that called on
all parties to refrain from raising
further tensions in the South
China Sea.
We are all aware that in the
past years, there had been talks
about maritime entitlements and
those being claimed by the Philippines were filed before the UN
Arbitral Tribunal, he said.
Turnbull said both Australia
and New Zealand wanted to
see a lowering of tensions as
he urged Chinese President Xi
Jinping to resolve all disputes
in the seas through which onethird of the worlds oil passes
through legal means.
President Xi of China has
said that one of Chinas biggest
challenges is falling into what
he calls the Thucydides Trap,
which essentially is where a rising power creates anxiety among
other powers such that conflict
occurs, he said.
If China wants to avoid falling into the Thucydides Trap,
as President Xi describes it,
then resolving disputes in the
South China Sea should be
done through international law,
through all of those mechanisms
that are available to us.
New Zealand Prime Minister

John Key said the two nations

economic relationships with China, an important trading partner,
would allow them to make their
case against escalating tensions
publicly and privately.
While the Philippines and
Australias call were more tempered, the United States directly
accused China of raising tensions in the South China Sea
by its apparent deployment of
surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said commercial satellite imagery suggested
very recent placement of missiles on Woody Island that went
against Chinas pledge not to
militarize the South China Sea.
The Chinese have said one
thing, and yet appear to be doing
another, Kirby told a regular
news briefing.
We see no indication that
... this militarization effort, has
stopped. And its doing nothing
... to make the situation there
more stable and more secure.
In fact, its having quite the opposite effect.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said
the United States would have
very serious talks with China
about militarization of the South
China Sea.
China has offered little specific response to the missile
deployment reports, which first
appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, but has accused Western
media of hyping up the story
and said China had a legitimate
right to military facilities on territory it views as its own.

Roxas dares rivals...

dential candidates to disclose
the sources of their campaign
funds including the private
planes and helicopters they
have been using.
Roxas was particularly specific on the nature of the use of
private planes and helicopters
in the campaign sorties after
reports that he is using a plane
owned by a friend, who is involved in the mining business.
If you have nothing to hide,
why wait until after the elections, said Roxas.
The Liberal party standardbearer was reacting to the
statements of his rivals, Vice
President Jejomar Binay and
Senator Grace Poe, that they
will only reveal the names of
the owners of the planes they
have been using after the elections.
Poe said she will make the
disclosure in the Statement
of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) submitted to
the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) after the polls.

Earlier, Roxas was put in the

bad light over his frequent use
of private plane and helicopters
in his provincial sorties.
Roxas admitted that the
planes and choppers are owned
by businessman Eric Gutierrez
but he emphasized that he has
been renting them.
He said that even when
he was still secretary of the
Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG), he
personally paid for the use of
the aircraft for his provincial
visits whenever needed.
That is how Mar Roxas
works. Even before when I
was not yet a candidate, I paid
for my use of aircraft. I didnt
use taxpayers money for it,
he stressed.
Roxas stressed that his
use of a mining firms private
aircraft is not for free, and is
therefore, not a favor.
I can assure you that the
money I use to pay for it does
not come from public funds,
said Roxas.

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News

Pay hike for 1.53M...

tion of the first of the four tranches provided for in the proposed SSL 2015 law or
SSL 4 that Congress failed to enact.
Authority to implement the first
tranche is given in Republic Act (RA)
No. 10717 or the 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which provides
a budget of P57.9 billion, Coloma said.
The P57.9-billion appropriation will

fully cover the first tranche.

Under the EO, the existing Compensation and Position Classification
System (CPCS) was revised.
Coloma said this was to ensure that
the compensation structure of government personnel is comparable with the
prevailing rates in the private sector,
thereby attracting and retaining compe-

Pope raps Trump over bias...

Anyone, whoever he is, who only
wants to build walls and not bridges
is not a Christian, the pontiff told
journalists during his return journey
from a trip to Mexico. He was responding to a question about the Republican
White House hopefuls anti-immigrant
stance.
Vote, dont vote, I wont meddle. But
I simply say, if he says these things, this

man is not a Christian, Francis said.

We need to see if he really said them
and for this I will give him the benefit
of the doubt.
Despite that qualifier, Franciss
remarks drew swift and angry condemnation from the billionaire tycoon. For
a religious leader to question a persons
faith is disgraceful, Trump said in a
statement delivered on a campaign stop

Mayor Junjun, 12 others...

His co-accused in either all or some
of the cases were city administrator
Marjorie De Veyra, acting city administrator Eleno Mendoza Jr., Bids and
Awards Committee (BAC) vice chairman Gerardo San Gabriel, legal officer
Pio Kenneth Dasal, budget officer
Lorenza Amores, BAC Secretariat head
Manolito Uyaco, BAC technical working
group chairman Rodel Nayve, Central
Planning Management Office (CPMO)
chief Line dela Pena, CPMO civil engineer Connie Consulta, treasurer Nelia
Barlis, and accountant Cecilio Lim III.
Efren Canlas of Hilmarc Construction Corporation is the only private
individual who was charged. He faces
two counts of graft.
The charges were filed upon the
order of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio
Morales who affirmed finding of probable cause in connection with their alleged involvement in the various phases
in the construction of the Makati build-

ing project from 2007 to 2013.

The Ombudsman noted that the
construction of the carpark project
was completed in five phases, plus one
design phase during the terms of the
Vice President and younger Binay as
mayors of Makati City.
Politically calculated moves
Reacting to the charges, the Binay
camp said that these are politically
calculated moves which are part of the
demolition by perception efforts being
waged by the Liberal Party (LP) against
the Vice President.
The Ombudsman is aware that
it cannot file a case against the Vice
President, and they had to file a case
against a Binay. So they filed the case
against Mayor Junjun even if they knew
for a fact that he was not the mayor
when the project started. When he
was elected mayor near the projects
conclusion, he merely performed his

Binay vows govt overhaul... 1

when he becomes chief executive in an
effort to come up with better solutions
to the countrys problems.
Binay, in an open forum with members of the Chinese Filipino Business
Club, Inc.(CFBCI) yesterday at the
Manila Hotel, bared that he is eyeing
the separation of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) into two entities.
With all the problems on the environment like on water, Climate Change
and whatever, I think we should have a
department on environment, he later
expounded in rare chance interview
with reporters.
Binay said the remnant agency the
Department of Natural Resources
would then be handed some tasks that
are currently covered by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The DA is huge. Its functions on

natural resources would be given to
the Department of Natural Resources,
explained the presidential aspirant.
Among the sectors to be covered
by the stand-alone natural resources
department would be mining, Binay
said.
Incidentally, Binay had earlier
vowed in another business forum to
revive the mining industry, saying it
practically stagnated under the Aquino
administration.
The DENR split sounds similar to
what Binay had promised to do with
the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC).
Yes, its too big. There should be
a Department of Transportation. We
need to have a separate department
now on Information and Technology,

Duterte threatens to skip...

Interviewed by the media in Quezon
City, Duterte aired serious doubts he
could explain his stand on issues to be
raised in the debate with a time limit
of 30 seconds, saying that unlike his
bright rivals, he might need more
time.
Previously, Duterte, a lawyer,
threatened to boycott the national debate if local media will not be allowed
to cover the event.
Hindi ako marunong magsalita,
mga bright ang mga kaharap ko, he
said. (Im not a good debater, I will be
facing bright people), he said.

The outspoken local chief executive said the time limit and strict rules
imposed on the debate might work
against him.
Walk out ako sa oras na may time
limit at kung pagsalitain mo ako ng 30
seconds (I will walk out if I will be asked
to talk within a 30-second time limit),
Duterte said.
Running-mate Senator Alan Peter
Cayetano aired the same apprehension
about the time limit rule.
Hindi naman ito labanan ng mga
artista. Hindi ito labanan ng soundbaytes, hindi ito game show(This is not a

Poe does not need PNoys...

Grace Poe is riding on President Aquinos popularity when she expressed
openness to tap the Chief Executive as
her anti-corruption adviser if she wins
in the May presidential poll.
The PGP claims this is impossible
since it is anticipating a double-digit
rise in the popularity ratings of their
standard bearer once the Supreme
Court hands down a favorable ruling on the disqualification cases filed
against the independent presidential

candidate.
PGP campaign manager Cebu Rep.
Joseph Ace Durano said they are bracing for a 10-percentage point increase
in the popularity ratings of Poe once the
SC favorably decides on her disqualification cases.
Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Neri
Colmenares and Atty. Lorna Kapunan
rushed in defense of Poe who recognized Mr. Aquino as an effective anticorruption adviser.

Pacquiao doubles down...

intention of bowing to his critics.
What I am saying is right. I mean I
am just stating the truth, what the Bible
says, said Pacquiao, 37.
Pacquiao, who converted from Catholicism to an evangelical Protestant faith
late in his boxing career, ignited a global
controversy this week when he described

homosexuals as worse than animals.

Its common sense. Do you see
animals mating with the same sex? Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female, Pacquiao told
Filipino television station TV5.
If men mate with men and women
mate with women, they are worse than

Saturday, February 20, 2016

tent and committed civil servants.

The revisions include raising the
minimum salary for Salary Grade I from
the current rate of P9,000 to P11,068; and
bringing the compensation of government
personnel closer to their private counterparts to at least 70 percent of the median
of the market for all salary grades.
The EO likewise eliminated overlaps in between salary grade allocations
of government personnel to recognize
differences in duties and responsibili-

ties of the position.

It also maximized the net take home
pay of government personnel through
the inclusion of additional benefits; and
strengthened the performance-based
incentive system in recognition of government personnel who play a greater
role and carry a heavier responsibility
in attaining performance targets and
delivering results.
The EO also includes adjustment in
the compensation for the military and

uniformed personnel (MUP), including an increased hazard pay from the

current rate of P240 per month to the
following rates: a) starting January 1,
2016, P390 per month; b) by January 1,
2017, P540 per month; c) by January 1,
2018, P690 per month; and d) by January
1, 2019, P840 per month.
Coloma, however, said the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) are not included in the
salary pay hike under the EO.

in South Carolina, which holds its Republican primary this weekend. I am

proud to be a Christian and as president
I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened.
Trump has gained popularity by
claiming Mexico is sending criminals
to the United States, and last week he
accused the Pope of visiting the border
between the two countries at the bidding of the Mexican government.
Francis was speaking after concluding a five-day trip to Mexico, where he

said Mass before 300,000 people near

the US border and decried the human
tragedy of migrants fleeing violence
worldwide.
In a highly symbolic gesture, the
pontiff climbed a ramp facing the Rio
Grande and looked out across the border into US territory, where hundreds
of migrants waved at him.
Trump has vowed to build a wall
on the US southern border to keep
migrants from illegally crossing into
the United States, a pledge that has

caused a firestorm in the presidential

campaign where immigration is a
hot-button issue.
His reaction to the Popes comments was scathing. If and when
the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which
as everyone knows is ISISs ultimate
trophy, I can promise you that the
Pope would have only wished and
prayed that Donald Trump would
have been president because this
would not have happened, Trump
said.

ministerial function. These points were

raised by Mayor Junjun in his motion
for reconsideration but were ignored
by the Ombudsman, said Joey Salgado, the Binay family spokesman and
communications director of the United
Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
The bias and partiality of the
Ombudsman is beyond dispute. It
has played loose with the law and the
Constitution in persecuting the Vice
President and his family and those
in the opposition. On the other hand,
the revelations made by former MRT
general manager Al Vitangcol the other
day exposes the Ombudsmans predisposition to look the other way when
administration and LP personalities, in
this case no less than Mr. Mar Roxas,
are involved. We look forward to facing
these frivolous charges in a fair and
impartial court, lawyer Rico Quicho,
UNA campaign spokesman, said.
No amount of political persecution
and harassment will stop the Vice President from pushing his pro-poor agenda.
He is not new to political harassment.

The Vice President has stood up against

oppression, tyranny, and poverty from
the time he was an activist and human
rights lawyer during martial law and
until today as presidential candidate of
UNA. The fight for the poor continues,
Quicho added.

tion and evaluation of bid proposals in

November, 2007, was conducted with
extraordinary speed as for one hour
only, the Bids and Awards Committee
(BAC) completed the entire negotiation
proceedings where bid proposals of
seven architectural firms that allegedly
participated in this multi-million project
were opened and evaluated.
Also, the Ombudsman cited that
the Commission on Audit Fraud Audit
Offices Initial Evaluation Report found
that the negotiated procurement adopted by the BAC was improper.
Investigation also found that city
officials colluded with Hilmarc to manipulate the outcome of the five public
biddings for the purpose of ensuring
that Hilmarc would be awarded the
contracts.
Apart from this, the Ombudsman
discovered that the construction projects were awarded to Hilmarc despite
the lack of the required publication of
the invitations to bid that left Hilmarc
as the lone bidder in four phases of the
project.

he further said.
Binay also shared a dislike that he
has with the Aquino-created Department of Housing and Urban Development, meaning it could bite the dust
if he ends up in Malacaang after the
May 9 polls.
That department merely used personnel from the Housing and Land Use
Regulatory Board and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
as its own. So same personnel.
Binay served as President Aquinos
housing czar until July, 2015, when
he launched the UNA party. This was
made in preparation for his Palace bid
this year.
Binay, who often boasts of turning
Makati into the countrys wealthiest city
during his 20 years as mayor, said he
doesnt see any problem with the number of Cabinet secretaries growing as a
result of this planned reorganization.
Can we implement similar pro-

grams in Makati nationwide? Yes, with

can, with political will and a vibrant
business sector, he told some 300 CFBCI delegates in his short speech.
I dont just promise, I get things
done, he further said.

Resolutions
In the resolutions released by the
Ombudsman, Morales said that preliminary investigation showed that no
public bidding was conducted during
the term of the older Binay prior when
Mana Architecture and Interior Design
Co. was tapped as project designer.
Also, the Ombudsman alleged that
the procurement process was manipulated to ensure the award of the
contract to Mana and that four payments totaling to P11.97 million were
processed and approved despite the
incomplete submission of deliverables
such as design plans, working drawings,
and technical specifications.
The Ombudsman explained in its
rulings that the purported negotia-

and development to freely say the good

and the bad, the opposition chieftain
further said.
The event was the CFBCIs 9th
Biennial National Convention.

Henares to get axe at once

Apparently, among his promises
to the business sector is the immediate replacement of Kim Henares as
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
commissioner.
After taking my oath as president,
in 30 minutes you will have a new BIR
commissioner, said Binay, whose statement was met with much cheer.
The crowds reaction prompted
Binay to comment, Mukhang favorite
niyo? (Looks like shes a favorite)
I will regularly meet with the business sector to listen to your thoughts
and insights. We shall allow businessmen, our partners in economic growth

Pacquiao gaffe
Meanwhile, Binay defended party
mate, Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao
from criticisms stemming from the latters recent anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) remarks.
Asked by a reporter to comment on
the snowballing public anger against
the Filipino boxing hero, Binay said,
Its not like that. Come on guys. He
has already asked for forgiveness,
come on.
On Monday, UNA senatorial candidate Pacquiao likened gays and lesbians
to something worse than animals.
The boxer later apologized, but
stood firm on his opposition to samesex marriage.

Another reason to boycott

Meanwhile, Dutertes concern

for the local media has not yet been

resolved.
The PDP-Laban chairman had
vowed he would not show up in the
Comelec debates if the local press is
barred or given a few slots to cover
the event.
I will not go there also. Pagka ganun (If its like that) you limit the press
coverage. Why? Duterte reportedly
told media members who covered his
visit to Rev. Apollo Quiboloy last week.
Duterte was reacting to the decision
of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club to
boycott the first leg of the three-stage
Comelec debates in protest of the poll
bodys move to limit the participation of
local press in the debates.

Sweet days ahead

Meanwhile, in Bacolod yesterday,
Duterte vowed to revive and subsidize
the Philippine sugar industry if he wins
the elections in front of a cheering
crowd who depend on the industry.
We can improve production as we
are hopeful that through the governments intervention under my administration, we will revive the glory days
of the sugar industry, Duterte told his
supporters who gathered for the PDPLaban rally.
With the enactment into law of the
Sugarcane Industry Development Act last
year, Duterte said he will make sure that it
is implemented according to its objectives.
(With a report from Alexander D. Lopez)

Colmenares branded the statement

of Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez, spokesperson for the Daang Matuwid coalition, as palusot (excuse).
More than 80 percent of the voters
do not support the candidates endorsed
by President Aquino, Mar Roxas. Baket
naman sasakay si Grace Poe sa isang
Presidente na hindi nya kinikilala,
ineendorso nya?Kaya ang term ko dyan
palusot lang yan. They want to create
intrigues within the ranks, he said in a
press conference at the Harvest Hotel
in this city.
The opposition House leader said

if President Aquino is really popular,

Liberal Party Mar Roxas should rank
first in poll surveys.
Ang tao ayaw nang ituloy ang
Daang matuwid. President Aquino is
espousing Daang Matuwid and Secretary Mar Roxas is espousing the Daang
Matuwid, but more than 80 percent
of the people do not want Mar Roxas.
If people do not want to continue the
Aquino legacy, so why would somebody
ride on the popularity of that unwanted
legacy? (Thats) false premise. I think
Malacaang is just trying to create
confusion but in reality, hindi totoo yan.

Otherwise kung popular si President

Aquino sa botante, their endorsed candidate should be Number 1, instead of
Number 4, Colmenares said.
In Iloilo City, Poe has pledged to
develop Sicogon and Gigantes islands,
two of the most beautiful islands in Iloilo
as the next top tourist destination like
the famed the Boracay Island.
She made the promise during a
campaign sortie in Carles, Iloilo where
she told voters in her hometown that
part of her agenda is to support tourismrelated industries and creating income
opportunities for the locals.

animals.
An even more incendiary quote from
the Bible was posted on his Instagram
account early Thursday.
The quote read: If a man has sexual
relations with a man as one does with a
woman, both of them have done what is
detestable. They are to be put to death;
their blood will be on their own heads.
The post was quickly deleted, but
not before local media outlet ABS-CBN

captured and published a screen shot.

A Pacquiao aide in General Santos
City confirmed the post went on his
Instagram account.
Pacquiao issued an apology on social media on Tuesday, shortly after the
initial controversy broke.
But Pacquiao signalled Friday his
apology was qualified.
What I did wrong was just comparing
the people to animals, but you know what I

am telling is the truth, he told reporters.

I mean I am just telling what the
Bible says. We believe God and then we
should honor the word of God.

contest among movie stars. This is not

about soundbytes, this is not a game
show), Cayetano said.
The rules should reflect the way
that candidates can communicate with
the people, he stressed.
Cayetano, one of the countrys
best political debaters, noted that the
US presidential debates pitting party
nominees for the presidency have allotted more time for the candidates to
air their views.
The mayor wants the rules to be
adjusted. Iyong may mga governance
is not about soundbytes, he said.

Happy with God on my side

Pacquiao also said he was unfussed by
the controversy, and that it had not affected
his training or dampened his morale.
Im happy. Im always happy because God is with me, he said.

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World News
Saturday, February 20, 2016

Contraception can
be condoned in
Zika crisis Pope

BOARD THE PAPAL

PLANE (AP/PNA/Xinhua) Pope Francis
has suggested women
threatened with the Zika virus
could use artificial contraception, saying avoiding pregnancy
is not an absolute evil in light of
the global epidemic.
The Pope unequivocally rejected abortion as a response to
the crisis in remarks Wednesday
as he flew home after a five-day
trip to Mexico.
But he drew a parallel to a decision by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s
to approve giving nuns in Belgian
Congo artificial contraception
to prevent pregnancies because
they were being systematically
raped.
Abortion is an evil in and of
itself, but it is not a religious evil
at its root, no? Its a human evil,
Francis told reporters. On the
other hand, avoiding pregnancy
is not an absolute evil. In certain
cases, as in this one (Zika), such
as the one I mentioned of Blessed
Paul VI, it was clear.
Francis was responding to a
reporters question about whether abortion or birth control could
be considered a lesser evil
when confronting the Zika crisis
in Brazil, where there has been a
spike in babies born with abnormally small heads to Zika-infected
mothers.
UN officials have called on
Latin American countries to
loosen their abortion laws to allow
women to terminate pregnancies
if they fear the fetus may be at
risk of microcephaly, a rare birth
defect that causes brain damage
and may be linked to the virus.
But Francis told reporters,
Taking one life to save another,
thats what the Mafia does. Its a
crime. Its an absolute evil.
The World Bank Group on
Thursday announced that it has
provided US$ 150 million to help
countries in Latin America and
the Caribbean to combat the Zika
virus outbreak. The Washingtonbased global lender said in a
statement that this funding, which
is immediately available, is based

Pope Francis

on current country demands for

financing and the bank stands
ready to increase its support if
additional financing is needed.
The World Bank financing
will support a range of activities critical to the Zika virus
response, including vector surveillance and control, identification of the people most at-risk,
especially pregnant women
and women of reproductive age,
and follow-up and care through
pregnancy and postnatal care
for neurological complications,
the bank said.
Australian scientists have
moved a step closer to preventing the spread of Zika virus, after
they exposed mosquitoes to bacterium that could limit the ability
of the virus to be transmitted to
humans.
The super-infected mosquitoes were exposed to two strains
of Wolbachia, a bacterium which
traditionally reduces the risk
of dengue fever spreading to
humans, but scientists from the
University of Melbourne have
said new applications could help
reduce the risk of humans contracting the Zika virus.
The Health Ministry of Trinidad and Tobago confirmed on
Wednesday the first case of the
Zika virus in the Caribbean country. The virus was found in a
61-year-old woman, who first
exhibited symptoms on Feb. 10.
The blood sample was confirmed
to contain the Zika virus by the
Caribbean Public Health Agency
(CARPHA), Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said Wednesday afternoon.

Obama slaps N. Korea

with new sanctions
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama slapped
North Korea with more stringent sanctions Thursday for
defying the world and pushing
forward with its nuclear weapons program, weeks after it
launched a satellite-carrying
rocket into space and conducted its fourth underground
nuclear test.
Both actions led to worldwide
condemnation of the reclusive
country and fueled fears that it
continues to move toward building an atomic arsenal.

Democratic and Republican

lawmakers, many of whom argue Obama hasnt been tough
enough with North Korea, overwhelmingly approved the bill
last week and sent it to the White
House. The House voted 408-2,
following a unanimous vote by
the Senate.
Obama signed the legislation
away from the news media and
issued no statement. Up until
Wednesday, the administration
had said it didnt oppose the
bill but declined to say whether
Obama would sign it into law.

Japan seeks expanded role in

global defense and security
MOSCOW (PNA/Sputnik)
Despite its pacifist constitution,
Japan plans to play a larger role
in global defense and security.
The move comes amid pressure
from the United States, and likely wont sit well with Japanese
citizens already fed up with the
administrations new military
adventurism.
The world faces growing security international threats and
Japan wants to play a leading
role in combating this, Keiichi
Katakami, Japans ambassador
to the EU, said in Brussels this
week.
Japan and the rest of the
world are facing fresh challenges by those who choose to
use force and intimidation.
Katakamis comments refer
partly to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes recent approval
of a US$ 41.4 billion defense budget. This marks the most Tokyo

has spent on defense since the

end of World War II, when Japan
adopted a pacifist clause into its
constitution.
That money will go toward
acquiring new ship-borne interceptors, and the upgrading
of two of Japans existing Aegis
ships. The government is also
considering buying the landbased Terminal High Altitude
Area Defense (THAAD) system
from the United States.
Japans Ministry of Defense
has also compiled a hefty shopping list of new military hardware. This includes 11 AAV7
amphibious assault vehicles, 17
Mitsubishi SH-60K anti-submarine warfare helicopters, four
Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, three RQ-4 Global
Hawk drones, six F-35A Lightning II fighters, one Kawasaki
C-2 military transport aircraft,
and 36 new combat vehicles.

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Luzon News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Cops kill Bulacans No. 3 top drug target; buy-busts net 8 others
By FREDDIE C. VELEZ

Newsbits
Ilocos N. aims for
rabies-free 2016
LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte The
provincial government of Ilocos
Norte through the Provincial
Rabies Control Council (PRCC),
in partnership with the Provincial
Veterinary Office (PVO) and
international organization Global
Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC),
has eradicated rabies cases in the
province in the last two years and
aims for a national declaration this
year as a rabies-free province.
Rabies, a viral disease that causes
acute inflammation of the brain in
humans commonly spread by dogs,
has seen a steady decline until
zero cases of rabies were reported
in this province in 2014 and
2015. The PRCC had conducted
mass vaccination and registration
of dogs, which has covered
58 percent of the 63,185 dog
population in the province and the
monitoring of 1,063 Bantay Rabies
sa Barangay Volunteers (BRBV) as
of 2015. (Freddie G. Lazaro)

SAN JOSE DEL MONTE CITY, Bulacan The police drug watch lists No.
3 target in Bulacan was gunned down in
a shootout with police when a buy-bust
operation went out of hand in Barangay
Sto. Cristo, this city, last Thursday.
Supt. Charlie A. Cabradilla, city police
chief here, said his men were working
undercover to catch Roger
Passi, whom he alleged as a
top drug peddler in Bulacan,

when the suspect sensed the drug deal

was a buy-bust.
At this juncture, Passi pulled out his
gun opened fire at the lawmen, prompting them to return fire and hit him fatally,
said Cabradilla.
Senior Supt. Timoteo G. Pacleb,
Bulacan Police Provincial Office (PPO)
officer-in-charge (OIC), reported to
Chief Supt. Rudy G.
Lacadin, Police
Regional

Office 3 (PRO3) director, that the buybust operation also led to the arrest of
Passis live-in partner Janet C. Bernabe; Cristoto M. Baloro, 45; Sopronio U.
Longcop, 41; and Marlon E. Robes, 40,
all of this city.
Pacleb said Cabradillas men collected from the scene Passis Armscor .40caliber pistol which was loaded; an extra
magazine also loaded with bullets; bullet
casings; 51 plastic sachets of suspected
shabu; and drug paraphernalia.
Pacleb also reported a separate

CBCP weeps
for victims of
NPA atrocities
By RAYMUND F. ANTONIO
and MAR T. SUPNAD

OMB okays raps

against ex-mayor
LUCBAN, Quezon The Office
of the Ombudsman (OMB)
for Luzon has recommended
malversation of public funds or
property charges leveled against
mayor-turned-Barangay Chairman
Moises Villaseor of this town
over alleged unmetered water
pipelines installed in 2008. The
complaint was filed by Villaseors
political rival and incumbent Mayor
Olivier Celso Dater who alleged
that he tapped from the main
public water reservoir of the Sail,
Auto, Kayla, Bang (SAKA)-Rural
Water and Sanitation (Raisa)
Project to his house in Barangay
Sail. The resolution approved by
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio
Morales found-probable to indict
the former mayor. (Danny J. Estacio)

High-yield seed
facility in Muoz
A new rice seed processing facility
worth US$2 million (about r95
million) was established at the
Philippine Rice Research Institute
(PhilRice) in the Science City
of Muoz, Nueva Ecija, to help
farmers and seed growers in
neighboring provinces have an
access to high-quality seeds. These
seeds have high-seedling vigor,
meaning, they have a good survival
rate and root anchorage, which
leads to a higher yield advantage.
The facility is funded by the Korea
International Cooperation Agency
(KOICA) and will house advanced
equipment that can process up to
two tons of seeds per day. (Ellalyn
B. de Vera)

Olongapo fetes
3 SM guards
OLONGAPO CITY, Zambales
Three security personnel stationed
at the SM City Olongapo were
commended recently by Mayor
Rolen Paulino for returning
valuables left behind by customers
of the mall. Paulino handed out
Certificate of Commendations
to Security-In-Charge Jayson
Pamoleras of the Red Eye 2
returned a wallet containing
identification cards and Saudi
Riyals worth r10,700 last month;
Security Guard (SG) Alvin John
P. Dela Pea, also a Red Eye 2
security guard, recovered r2,000
cash from BDO ATM machine
located on RM Drive on Oct. 20,
2015; and SG Ronnie Jun Manalo,
another Red Eye 2 security guard,
found a cellphone inside a ladies
restroom on April. 8, 2015. (Jonas
Reyes)

PEANUT HAT A woman carries peanuts to sell on her head like a hat that shields her face from the midday sun as she
walks along downtown San Fernando City, La Union, yesterday. (Erwin G. Beleo)

Clark hosts Asia Pacific

forest industry confab
By ELLALYN B. DE VERA

ver 700 government and

forestry officials, representatives of international and
non-government organizations and forest industries from 33
countries are expected to gather at
the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga
for the five-day Asia Pacific Forestry
Week starting Monday to tackle effective integration of forest management
and sustainable development.
Spearheaded by the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the Asia Pacific Forestry
Commission (APFC), in partnership
with the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), the
event will be among the largest and
most important forestry events in the

region in this year.

It will also run in conjunction with
the 26th session of the APFC, which
convenes every two years to review
progress, discuss issues and set new
agendas on forestry.
The selection of the Philippines as
host country for these events is very
timely. We have much to share with
our colleagues from our experience
in implementing the first phase of the
National Greening Program (NGP),
through which we were able to reforest
more than 1.3 million hectares from
2011-2015, DENR Secretary Ramon
Paje said.
We also look forward to learning
from other countries and international
experts on how to improve the roll out
of the expanded NGP and hit our 2018
target of reforesting an additional

7 million hectares of unproductive,

denuded and degraded forestlands,
he added.
In FAOs 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment, the Philippines
ranked fifth among 234 countries and
territories, and first in Asia, with the
greatest reported annual forest area
gain of 240,000 hectares per year from
2011-2015.
This years Forestry Week will run
on Feb. 22 to 26, with primary emphasis on growing our future through
effective integration of forestry with
the other facets of sustainable development.
Patrick Durst, FAOs Senior Forestry Officer for Asia and the Pacific
explains that forestry should no longer be viewed as a separate extractive
renewable sector.

Saddened by the rebel ambush that

killed six rookie policemen in Cagayan,
the Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines (CBCP) is one with
the bereaved families in prayer for
their loved ones who died for a noble
cause.
In a message of sympathy issued
Thursday, CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates
Villegas, along with other bishops,
sent his heartfelt condolences to the
victims and their families for immense
losses of lives.
We, your bishops, are deeply saddened and we extend to the bereaved
families of our departed brothers all
of who were Police Officers 1, hence
new recruits into the police force as
well as to the anxious members of the
families of the wounded our assurances of prayer and solidarity in this
dark hour, they said.
May eternal light shine on our
departed brothers, and may their families find consolation in the promise of
the Resurrection, CBCP added.
The Association of Chiefs-of-Police of the Philippines Incorporated
(ACPPI) also assailed the communists
New Peoples Armys (NPAs) treacherous attack in Baggao, Cagayan, last
Tuesday that resulted in the death of
the cops belonging to the Cagayan
Regional Public Safety Battalion
(RPSB).
Director Generoso Cerbo, Jr.,
national chairman of the ACPPI and
concurrent PNP Director for Intelligence (DI), condemned to the fullest
extent the attack of some 100 heavily
armed NPA rebels in Barangay Sta.
Margarita.
The ACPPI also assailed the NPAs
continuous use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and landmines in
their terroristic activities, which is
banned under the United Nations 1980
Convention on Conventional Weapons
(CCW) Protocol II on landmines and
booby-traps.

DENR takes charge of

San Mateo dumpsite
By ANNA LIZA VILLAS ALAVAREN

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has handed

over the closed San Mateo landfill facility, which had been a waste depository
of residents of the main metropolis
for nine years, to the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR).
The 73-hectare landfill, located in
Barangay Pintong Bukawe, San Mateo, Rizal, was first opened to accept
garbage in 1991.
In 2000, the volume of waste disposed at the land was 17 million cubic
meters of waste.
With the transfer, MMDA Chairman
Emerson Carlos said the DENR is now
responsible for the maintenance of the

landfill, particularly the implementation

of the final closure and post-closure
care procedure of the San Mateo land
fill.
Earlier, the Department of Budget
and Management (DBM) had appropriated R178-million DENRs for the
closure and general upkeep of the old
landfill.
After it was closed, Carlos said the
landfill underwent rehabilitation.
Since then, the MMDA has been
planting thousands of trees with the
help of the agency personnel and those
from various non-government organizations (NGOs) to prevent soil erosion.
To date, more than 150,000 tree
saplings of different kinds including
Narra, Molave and Ilang-Ilang have
been planted in the area.

Explosions topple
2 power towers
CAMP JUAN, Ilocos Norte
Police operatives investigating
the explosions that toppled two
power transmission lines in the
mountainous areas of Barangay
Tadao, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte the
other night. Senior Superintendent
Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., the
officer in charge of the Ilocos Norte
Police Provincial Office (PPO), said
the explosions were reported to
police at 7:25 a.m. yesterday but it
happened between 8 p.m. and 10
p.m. last Thursday. The National Grid
Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)
has yet to confirm as of press time
yesterday afternoon whether or not it
owns the explosion of the destroyed
towers. (Freddie G. Lazaro)

buy-bus Thursday night in Barangay San

Pedro, same city, in which four people
were nabbed after yielding six sachets
of shabu and drug paraphernalia.
The suspects were identified by
Pacleb as Merlinda C. Isidro, Antonio B.
Rivera, Wilfredo G. Tatualia, and Jessie P.
Casauay, all of Barangay San Pedro.
However, the main target of the buybust, Richard Isidro, alias Chekwa
and who is wanted by the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA),
eluded arrest.

GALLANT COP Superintendent Ponciano Zafra (2nd from right), Muoz City chief
of police, is congratulated here by Director-General Ricardo Marquez, Philippine
National Police chief, after being awarded the Medalya ng Kagitingan for the
police operation he led against armed carnappers that resulted in the killing of
five suspects and the recovery of two stolen vehicles in his turf in Nueva Ecija,
recently. (Mar T. Supnad)

Wanted man slain after grenade attack

in Isabela; mayor, SWAT member hurt
By LIEZLE BASA IIGO

BENGUET ARABICA A coffee woman farmer picks ripe Benguet Arabica

beansfrom her backyard farm in Kapangan, Benguet, earlier this week. Her small
farm produces about 250 kilos a year which finds its way to coffee buyers in Baguio
and Manila. The average price for this bean is 380 per kilo. (JJ Landingin)

I L A G A N C I T Y, I s a b e l a A
grenade explosion wounded the
mayor of this city and a member of
the Special Weapons and Tactics
(SWAT) team while negotiating the
peaceful surrender of a wanted man
in Barangay Bliss Village, here, last
Thursday afternoon.
Mayor Josemarie Diaz and
Police Officer 1 Elyson Guillermo
of the SWAT sustained shrapnel
wounds after 36-year- old crime
suspect Honey Hidalgo hurled a
grenade at them around 5 p.m.
Supt. Manuel Bringas, city police chief, said he and Mayor Diaz
were in the middle of convincing
Hidalgo to peacefully surrender

when the suspect hurled one of the

grenades in his hands.
When the first grenade failed to
explode, Diaz and the lawmen ran
away but Hidalgo quickly hurled
the second grenade which went off
and wounded the mayor and the
SWAT member, said Bringas.
At this juncture, police at the
scene opened fire, killing Hidalgo
on the spot. Bringas, contrary to
initial reports, was unscathed in
the incident.
An hour later, City Information
Officer Paul Bacungan told the
Manila Bulletin: Okay naman po
si mayor at kasalukuyan pa rin
na nag-iimbestiga (The mayor is
fine and the investigation is ongoing).

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Visayas News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

2 cops killed in NPA ambush

By Edith B. Colmo

acolod City Two policemen were killed while five

others were wounded in an
ambush staged by suspected
New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels at
the boundary of Barangays Caningay
and Poblacion East in Candoni, Negros Occidental Thursday night.
Police investigators idenfitied those
slain as PO3 Harry Peralta and PO1
Henrey Pacheco, both of the Candoni

Police Station, who were shot pointblank in the head and finished off by a
volley of shots by their assailants.
Wounded were PO2 Jay Arroyo,
PO1 Modesto Vina, Rey Duales, Julius
Miravalles and another civilian who was
still unidentified as of press time.
SPO4 Boyd Mate and PO1 Charlemagne Caballero were also with the
group but escaped unharmed.
According to Candoni Vice Mayor
Diomedes Magada, the police officers
responded to a 9:30 p.m. call for as-

sistance in Barangay Caningay where

there was a reported commotion after
a stabbing incident.
On their way back to the station, the
six policemen were fired upon by unidentified armed men near the bridge.
Their patrol car fell off the creek.
Magada said the nearest army detachment was four kilometers away
from the ambush site.
Troopers have already set up checkpoints and were clearing the streets, he
added. (With a report from PNA)

Lights to go out today in Samar, Iloilo

By Restituto A. Cayubit

Tacloban City, Leyte Power

will be cut off in the whole of Samar Island, as well as some areas in Iloilo, today,
a report from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), said.
This was disclosed by Ma. Rosete
Martinez, NGCP Visayas regional corporate communication and public affairs
officer, in text messages to reporters
yesterday as she said that the 12-hour
scheduled power interruption will occur
in the three provinces of Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar from 6:00
in the morning to 6:00 in the evening.
The NGCP is also set to impose a
nine-hour power interruption in some
areas of Iloilo, the NGCP also said.

Martinez said that the four electric

cooperatives, Eastern Samar electric
Cooperative (ESAMELCO), Samar I
Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO I),
Samar II Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO II) and Northern Samar Electric
Cooperative (NORSAMELCO), will be
affected with the transfer of wires from
Emergency Restoration System (ERS)
Structure to permanent tower along the
138kV Babatngon-Paranas Line 2.
She added that NGCP is exerting all
efforts to restore the line as scheduled
or even earlier to shorten the length of
the power interruption in the whole of
Samar Island.
NGCP said it was also going to conduct the annual maintenance activities
for their 69 KV Dingle-Natividad line that

would affect consumers connected to the

Natividad Substation of Iloilo Electric
Cooperative, Inc. (ILECO) III.

TRIP BACK IN TIME Around 40 mayors and government officials from Spain, Portugal, and Argentina places which were relevant to Ferdinand Magellan, pose
with a model of the explorers Galleon Victoria at the construction site of property
developer Megaworlds Plaza Magellan, a themed mall that would be located at the
30-hectare Mactan Newtown. The mall will feature a replica of the galleon, itself,
which will house a museum. (Juan Carlo de Vela)

DOST installs weather instruments in Ormoc

By Felix N. Codilla III

ORMOC CITY The Department

of Science and Technology (DOST) has
included Ormoc in its program called
Deployment of Early Warning System in
Disaster-Prone Areas by installing two
monitoring instruments consisting of an
automated rain gauge and a water level
monitoring system.
Data that will be gathered by the

instruments will translate to real time

weather conditions that can be accessed
at DOSTs website.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction
Management Office selected the sites
where the instruments were installed,
taking into consideration accessibility
and availability cellular signal.
The automated rain gauge was installed at the view deck of Lake Danao,
being the main source of several tributar-

ies in the eastern part of Leyte particularly Jaro and Dagami towns. The amount
of rainfall at the lake will determine the
rise of water level on the rivers.
On the other hand, the water level
monitoring system was installed at the
at the side girder of the bridge in Lilo-an,
eight kms. from the city center, to check
on the rising water of Pagsangaan River.
The barangay is flood-prone as the river
easily swells during heavy rainfall.

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LLWATCH

Saturday, February 20, 2016

NPC to back Poe-Chiz tandemSotto

By CHARISSA M. LUCI

ABANATUAN CityThe Nationalist Peoples Coalition

(NPC), the countrys second
largest political party is set to
formally announce its support for independent candidates Senators Grace Poe
and Francis Chiz Escudero by the first
week of March.
Poe and Escudero are running as independents for the position of president
and vice president, respectively.
Sen. Tito Sotto III, a stalwart of
NPC who is running for reelection said
the party decision will be handed down
next month, citing the information he

got from NPC chairman Isabela Gov.

Faustino Dy II.
Magkakaroon ng party decision. As
far as I know very soon, ang plano first
week of March, he told reporters.
NPC has around 250 members that
include two senators, 40 congressmen,
and 14 governors.
Majority of NPC members will support Sen. Poe. We are waiting for the
final or official statement that will come
from Gov. Dy or (Isabela Rep. Giorgidi)
Gigi Aggabao (NPC President) for the
announcement, Sotto said.
He explained that it is not the disqualification cases filed against Poe that
delayed the NPC to arrive at a final party

decision on who to support this May 9

polls, but the party members closeness
to so many presidential candidates.
To be very candid about it, it is not
the disqualification cases against Sen.
Poe that is preventing us to make an
early decision on who to support. What
June Dy told me is that they are just
collating the reports that they gathered
from nationwide members of NPC, but
generally ang sense rin niya karamihan
si Grace ang gusto, he said.

Two percent
This is the first time na medyo natagalan ang aming desisyon kung sino
ang aming mga susuportahan. Marami

kasing mga kaibigan, ako lang kaibigan

ko ang lahat ng presidentiables, Sotto
explained.
He said they will respect the decision
of their members who will support other
presidential bets.
Sinusunod namin ang patakaran na
kung dito tayo, dito tayo. Pero mayroon
ring policy kung minsan na hindi ka
makasuporta sa sinasabi ng partido.
Magsabi ka lang at magpaalam ka lang,
Sotto added.
Magiging solid pa rin iyang NPC,
mayroong lamang siguro na isa o dalawa
na hindi susunod. We are just giving leeway to some members. Maliit lang iyun.
Baka wala pang two percent.

Gubernatorial candidate and former

Tarlac Rep. Mark Cojuangco, son of the
NPC founder, business tycoon Eduardo
Danding Cojuangco is supporting the
presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist
Alliance (UNA).
In a press conference, Poe welcomed
the reported support from NPC, but they
will wait for the official word of the NPC
leadership.
Aside from Poe, the NPC also held
consultations with other presidential
bets like former Interior Sec. Mar
Roxas of the ruling Liberal Party (LP),
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte,
and Binay.

All is set for first presidential

debate Comelec
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO

Commission on Elections
(Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said everything is set for Sundays (February 21) debate which
will be held for the first time. Its
all systems go for our first debate
for presidential candidates. This is
the first in our history that a presidential debate will be held outside
Metro Manila and we are happy that
it will take place in Cagayan de Oro,
he said in an interview in Quezon
City, where the poll body conducted
an inspection of confiscated election
campaign materials.
Bautista said all five presidential
candidates Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senators Grace Poe and
Miriam Defensor Santiago, former
Interior and Local Government
Secretary Mar Roxas and Davao
City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte all
agreed to attend the debate, which
will start at 5 p.m.
The poll chief urged everyone to
watch the debate as this would give
the voters an opportunity to know
the candidates better.
It will have a very interesting
format patterned after international

best practices, Bautista added.

The debate will focus on these issues: development, peace and order,
track record and the constitution/
Mindanao issue.
It will be very interesting because while candidates know the
format, the topics, they dont know
the questions that will be asked of
them, Bautista said.
The candidate will be asked a
question and then the second candidate will be asked to respond to the
answer and so on, he explained.
As you know our slogan for this
elections is Tamang Pagboto, Tamang Pagbilang(vote right, count
right). It is the duty of the voter to
vote right that is why they really
need to assess the candidates based
on their platform, track record, and
experience,
Aside from the Mindanao debate
which will be sponsored by GMA 7
and the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
the Comelec is also organizing
two more presidential debates on
March 20 in the Visayas and April
24 in Luzon.
The last presidential debate will
be sponsored by the Manila Bulletin
and ABS CBN.

Leave ballots blank if no candidate

meets your standards Bishop
By CHRISTINA I. HERMOSO

A Church leader has an advice to

voters: leave your ballots blank if no
candidate meets your personal standards
If you are having a difficult time
choosing whom to vote, do not choose
the lesser evil because to vote for lesser
is a vote for evil. Thus, if you think
there is no worthy candidate, leave
your ballots blank. Doing so is part of
our political choice and ardent desire
to bring back the culture of honesty
and integrity in the countrys political
system, said Manila Auxiliary Bishop
Broderick S. Pabillo, chairman of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines -Episcopal Commission on
the Laity, over the Church-run Radio
Veritas.

Let us not be influenced by
hearsays or by what others are saying about a particular candidate. As
we strive to vote wisely, let us not be
deceived. Also, dont sell your vote.
These are part of our commitment to
the Eucharist, he added.
Based on a pastoral statement of
the CBCP on the coming national elections, Pabillo said, the CBCP is urging
the electorate to vote according to
conscience and to make sure that each
vote is counted.
May the Lord be with us in the
coming elections. We continue to hope
that there is hope of glory if we vote
wisely and guard our votes. We also
appeal to the Comelec to equip the
vote counting machines with the necessary security features, the prelate
stressed.

NUMERO UNO Tomas Ang (right) of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Incorporated (CFBCI) make the No. 1 sign along with Vice President
Jejomar Binay, the presidential standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) during the 9th Biennial National Convention of the CFBCI
at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel yesterday. Looking on is William Chua Yap (left). (John Jerome Ganzon)

The Comelec is also organizing one vice-presidential debate in

Metro Manila.
Republic Act 9006 or the Fair

Election Act provides that the

Comelec may require national television and radio networks to sponsor at least three national debates

among presidential candidates and

at least one national debate among
vice-presidential candidates during
the campaign period.

What voters want the next president to address

By BETHEENA KAE UNITE

A recent Pulse Asia survey showed

that 38 percent of voters want their
presidential bet to increase the salary of workers once he/she assumes
office while 36 percent want the next
chief executive to stop the spread of
illegal drugs.
The face-to-face survey was conducted last January 24 to 28 with 1,800
respondents who are registered voters, aged 18 years old and above.
The voters also wanted the next
chief executive to control inflation
(30 percent), fight corruption (30 percent), reduce poverty (29 percent),
and create more jobs (26 percent),
fight criminality (24 percent), and enforce the rule of law (20 percent).
A near majority of people in the
Visayas (47 percent) agreed that their

chosen leader should immediately

increase the pay of workers while 42
percent of those in Metro Manila want
the president to address the drug
problem early on.
In Metro Manila, 36 percent want
their presidential bet to focus on low
workers pay, 34 percent on poverty
and 34 percent on the employment
problem.
The rest of Luzon want their presidential bet to focus first on workers
pay (35 percent), illegal drugs (32 percent), inflation (32 percent), corruption (31 percent), poverty (31 percent),
and employment (28 percent).
In Mindanao, 41 percent want the
next president to act on the issue of
illegal drugs before increasing the
pay of workers (38 percent), and
fighting corruption in government
(34 percent).

Based on the poll result, one in

10 Filipinos said that his/her favored
presidential candidate should promote peace, curb the spread of illegal
gambling, protect the environment,
defend national territorial integrity,
and prepare for disasters and calamities.
The least cited urgent national
concern for the winning presidential
candidate to address are the protection of the welfare of overseas Filipino
workers (seven percent), responding
quickly to the needs of those affected
by calamities (six percent), and preparing to successfully deal with terrorism (four percent).
The recent poll result also showed
that about a quarter of Filipinos (28
percent) prefer a presidential candidate that is not tainted with corruption.

Marcos wants labor

portfolio if elected VP
By Hannah L. Torregoza

COURTESY CALLPDP-Laban presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte pays a courtesy call to Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee
Marcos before hitting the campaign trail yesterday to seek the support of Ilocano voters. (Jun Ryan Araas)

Vice-presidential candidate Senator

Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. is eyeing a role as labor and employment czar if
he wins in the May elections.
Marcos said the Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE) plays a crucial
role in the reintegration of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) into the countrys
labor force and should he win in the race,
he would ask the next president, whoever
wins, to delegate to him leadership of the
labor department and other agencies attached to it.
I would like to serve the DOLE because there are so many things I think I
can do and I can see many problems that
should be fixed like the end of contract
scheme, the massive contractualization,
the 5-5 rule, so many violations which I
think I may be of help, Marcos said in
an interview.
DOLEs role is crucial to OFWs
because it should provide them with a
retraining program that will qualify them
for the jobs available in the market.

It is important that our OFWs get

the right skills and training on what is
available and of course based on their
own experience and interest, Marcos
stressed.
It is just a matter of matching them
and giving them the right tools and that is
what the DOLE should do, he added.
Business directed infra
Marcos said he believes what the
country needs today is a business directed infrastructure program to address
unemployment in the country.
Business directed infrastructure
means more active consultative partnership with the private sector to determine
what kind of infrastructure should be
developed and built in order to improve
their operations.
I like to call it business directed infrastructure na tatanungin ang mga business
sa mga plano nila for the next five to six
years at kung ano ang mga infrastructure
na dapat na ilagay ng gobyerno para maimprove ang kanilang business, Marcos
said.

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Mindanao News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

North Cotabato mayoral

candidate gunned down
By ALI G. MACABALANG
and ALEXANDER D. LOPEZ

IDAPAWAN CITY A former mayor, who is seeking

to regain his post in North
Cotabato, was shot dead
Thursday afternoon by unidentified
gunman while refueling his vehicle at
a gas station in Wao town, Lanao del
Sur, police reports said yesterday.
Floro Gonzales Allado, 55, a former
mayor of Banisilan, North Cotabato,
was shot in the vicinity of a gas station
at sitio Kapigis of barangay Easter in
Wao at about 12:40 p.m., the provincial
police office said in a report furnished
the Bulletin.
Citing initial investigation, the
police office said Allado was driving
his sports utility vehicle and had just
come his Banisilan residence on his
way to Cagayan de Oro City when he
decided to refuel in Wao town.
It was while he was about to pay
for the gas that a gunman, riding a
red Honda motorcycle, approached
him and fired a .45-caliber pistol at
the victim three times, the report
added.
Though wounded, Allada was still
able to scamper to a nearby creek, but
the gunman pursued him and finished
him off with more shots to the body.
The gunman, who fled south in

and will be going up

against his sister-inlaw Betty Allado.
It was not the
first attempt on Allados life. He had
earlier sur vived a
grenade attack at his
home in Banisilan
last year where two
of his cousins were
killed. He blamed his
political enemies for
the bombing attack.
An online report
also said that, in
2006, Allado was indicted and detained
for gunning down
four civilians in his
town while he was
incumbent mayor.
N o r t h C o t a b ato Gov. Emmylou
Lala Talio MenFloro Gonzales Allado
doza strongly conthe direction of the national highway,
demned the killing of Allado, and
was described as about 5-foot-7 in
instructed Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum
height and wearing a black cap, grey
to pursue through investigation and
bonnet, sunglasses, black sweat shirt
bring suspects to the bar of justice.
and black pants.
Tagum sent a team to coordinate
Sr. Insp. Jojie Barotas, police
with probers in Banisilan and Wao
chief of Banisilan town, said Allado
towns and has also urged witnesses
was bidding to make a return to his
to come forward and testify for the
old post as an independent candidate
immediate resolution of the case.

Blood donors test positive for HIV,

other diseases in Surigao City
By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO

SURIGAO CITY Health authorities here have discovered that some

blood donors were positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and
other blood-borne infectious diseases, a
source at the Caraga Regional Hospital
(CRH) revealed yesterday.
The hospital source said that, aside
from the HIV-positive blood donor, there
were others who were tested positive
for Syphilis and Hepatitis.

But the source was quick to add

that medical technologists at the CRH
were already able to discard of the blood
donations after the testing procedures
were undertaken.
The source added that the hospital
has also informed of the donors that
they have been tested for the bloodborne diseases and are now undergoing treatment.
The tainted blood donations were
reportedly from the first batch of donors
who gave blood last month.

Last year, there were 297 cases

two were HIV positive, 22 Syphilis, 17
Hepatitis C and 256 Hepatitis B where
donors were tested positive for infectious diseases out of 5,088 donors, the
source also said.
We have one person per month of
these diseases and its alarming, the
source said.
This developed as health officials
here expressed alarm about the rising
number of HIV cases in Surigao City
and Surigao del Norte.

Grassfires close down

GenSan airport
GENERAL SANTOS
CITY Some one 1,000 passengers, many of whom
were delegates to national
meets in this part of Mindanao, were stranded after
the Civil Aviation Authority
of the Philippines (CAAP),
ordered the suspension
of flights to and from the
General Santos (Gen San)
City International Airport
due to grassfires that broke
out along its runways yesterday.
According to CAAP administrative officer Dante
Fernandez, the grassfire
started at the grassy area
outside the airport premises
Thursday night but later
spread into the runway at 8
a.m. the next day.
Firefighters from the
Bureau Of Fire Protection
and Filipino-Chinese Fire
Volunteers Brigade rushed
to the airport and were able
to control the fire past 11
a.m.
Fernandez said Philippine Airlines flight 454 which
was scheduled to land at
the General Santos airport
at 9:30 a.m. was diverted to
Davao City. The plane came
back to land at the citys airport at around 12:30 p.m.
He said many stranded
passengers were delegates
to the 'Science Nation Tour''
organized by the Department of Science and Technology in Central Mindanao
and National Secondary
Schools Press Conference
in Koronadal City, South
Cotabato.
Another CAAP official

Riza Mae Samperov said

Cebu Pacifics flight 5J-992
was able to depart from the
airport before the grass- fire
started.
But Cebu Pacifics four
other flights, three to Manila
and one headed for Cebu
were affected by the airport
closure.
Samperoy said the airport management immediately suspended the scheduled incoming and outgoing
flights due to the dangers
posed by the grass-fire.
The affected area is the
center portion of the main
runway so it was closed
down for safety reasons,
she said.
Samperoy said fire investigators are still determining the cause of grassfire, which was the second
major incident at the city
airport since last year.
The city and the neighboring areas have been
experiencing intense dry
weather due to the effects
of the continuing long dry
spell triggered by the El
Nio phenomenon.
The wind was strong
that time so it (grass fire)
spread quite fast, she
said.
The airports operations
were suspended for about
two hours in February last
year due to a grass-fire at
a portion of the compound
that affected the visibility of
the runway.
Samperoy added that
three fire trucks from the
airport and the city fire station have been dispatched to
combat the grass-fire.(With
reports from PNA)

Health authorities said

there could still be other
unreported HIV cases as
testing was not a mandatory
procedure in the province.
To avert the spread of
these dreaded diseases,
health authorities encour-

aged Surigaonons, especially those who engage in

risky sexual practices, to
avail of the free medical services, including HIV testing,
from different government
health facilities here and
the province.

By JOSEPH JUBELAG

PCG rescues 2 vessels caught smuggling sugar in Zamboanga City

307 from
shipwreck
By NONOY E LACSON

By JENNY F. MANONGDO

The Philippine Coast Guard

(PCG) reported the rescue of over
300 persons from a ship that ran
aground at Bongao Point in TawiTawi yesterday morning.
MV Lady Mary Joy 1, which is
homeported at Zamboanga City,
reportedly ran aground at about
7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the Coast
Guard District in Southwestern
Mindanao said.
The 671.15 gross ton-ship ran
aground at the vicinity off Tampat
point Bongao.
The Coast guard station in Bongao immediately conducted search
and rescue operations with PNP
Maritime Group, Philippine Navy
PG-28 and ML Azla.
The PCG said all the 307 passengers of the vessel and the ships
38 crew members were safe and
have already been transported to
the shoreline.

ZAMBOANGA CITY The Philippine

Navy intercepted two motor launches
loaded with imported sugar off the coast
of Barangay Arena Blanco in this city
Thursday dawn.
Bureau of Customs (BOC) District
Collector Benhar Arabani said M/L
Alkausar, a wooden vessel, was loaded
with several sacks of imported sugar
coming from Sabah Malaysia, with an
estimated market value of more than
R1 million.
Arabani said the Navy personnel
came just as the boats crew was starting
to unload the smuggled sugar at the coast
of Arena Blanco, which is notorious for
being this citys smuggling haven.
The M/L Fadzramar was also loaded
with an undetermined number of sacks
containing imported sugar and was likewise intercepted by the Navy.
Elements of Task Force Zamboanga
immediately rushed to the site to safeguard the boats until these were towed to
the local port in this city, Arabani said.
After the boat was turned over to the
BOC here, Arabani ordered his men
to conduct an inventory of the seized
imported sugar in the presence of the
military personnel.

BUSTED The M/L Alkausar is moored at the Zamboanga City Port where it was towed after the
Philippine Navy intercepted it with its crew trying to unload its cargo of imported sugar in a nearby
barangay. (Nonoy E. Lacson)
Arabani warned smugglers
and the policemen they are in
cahoots with that their days are
now numbered.
He said the Philippine Navy
is now conducting a full blown
campaign against smuggling in
ZamBaSulTa area (ZamboangaBasilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi) sea
lanes aimed at minimizing the
flow of smuggling activities in

his areas.
I will try to minimize the
entry of smuggled goods in this
city particularly rice, sugar, cigarettes, and grocery goods coming from Malaysia with the help
of the Navy and Task Force
Zamboanga, Arabani said.
It was learned that many
of those engaged in smuggling
activities in this city are police-

men with the blessings of their

superiors and is using the village of Arena Blanco, about 11
kilometers to the city proper as
unloading site.
A source said that the Arcillas Beach in Calarian and
Cawit, which is located 10 kilometers from the city proper,
were also being used in the
smuggling trade.

Book on MILF ex-combatants stories launched Police seize

By Ali G. Macabalang

COTABATO CITY A book essaying

the plight of the initial batch of decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) combatants was launched
last Monday with Government Peace
Panel Chairperson Professor Miriam
Coronel-Ferrer underscoring that it was
a manifestation to the world and the
country that we are serious and we want
peace to become real and permanent.
The book, The Journey of the
MILF s First Ex-Combatants, was
conceptualized and written by historian
Nerea Bilbatua and was launched at the
Bangsamoro Transition Commission
(BTC) office.
The book portrays the journey of
(MILF ex-combatants), (their) experiences of discrimination and injustice,
dispossession and their desires for
better lives for themselves, for their

families, for their communities, for their

homeland, and for their whole country,
said Bilbatua.
These kinds of stories embody the
history of what happened to us as a people, what happened to [Bangsamoro] in
particular. Now that kind of commitment
shows us why it is important for us to
continue peace, said Coronel-Ferrer,
who attended the book launch.
In June 2015, a total of 145 MILF
combatants underwent decommissioning process mandated in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro
(CAB), which the Moro front signed in
2014 the Philippines Government as
basis of the Bangsamoro Basic Law
(BBL) draft.
The initial process entailed the
turnover of 75 crew-served weapons
and high-powered armaments to the
custody of the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB), the MILF said.

The first decommissioning process

was held in symbolic ceremony at the
old provincial capitol complex in Simuay,
Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and attended both by President Aquino III and
MILF Chair Murad Ebrahim.
The event was the first in four
phases of the decommissioning process
proposed to move parallel with the
milestones in the political process of establishing the Bangsamoro autonomous
political entity.
But with the non-passage of the BBL
under the Aquino administration, Ferrer
admitted that the:
In the face of all the challenges, trials, and tribulations, we are not giving
up. We will continue. The first 145 MILF
decommissioned combatants get the
challenge to be the first to show to the
world and the country that were serious
and we want peace to become real and
permanent, she said.

206 motorbikes,
2 grenades in 1 day
KIDAPAWAN CITY In
one fell swoop Thursday, authorities were able to confiscate 206 undocumented motorcycles, two hand grenades
and caliber-.45 ammunition in
Pikit, North Cotabatao.
According to Sr. Supt.
Alexander Tagum, North
Cotabato police director, law
enforcers from the Region
12 Public Safety Battalion,
the provincial police office,
highway patrol group and
police stations of Pikit and
nearby towns conducted the
day-long operation as part of
a Lambat Bitag Sasakyan

campaign.
Our intensified Lambat
Bitag Sasakyan campaign
paid off in a surprise operation
in Pikit town, said Tagum.
He said the group had also
acted on tips from concerned
residents about the proliferation of undocumented motor
bikes in Pikit, some of which
were allegedly being used in
criminal activities.
Of the 206 seized motorcycles, 27 were believed
stolen and subjected to thorough validation by the Land
Transportation Office, Tagum
said. (Ali G. Macabalang)

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

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reflections today

Love of enemies
Matthew 5:43-48

esus said to his disciples: You

have heard that it was said, You
shall love your neighbor and hate
your enemy. But I say to you, love
your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your
heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise
on the bad and the good, and causes rain
to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you
love those who love you, what recompense
will you have? Do not the tax collectors do
the same? And if you greet your brothers
only, what is unusual about that? Do not the
pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
REFLECTION
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. The Gospel
is the sixth antithesis in Matthews Sermon
on the Mount. Jesus quotes a passage from
the Hebrew Scriptures, You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy, then gives a
new interpretation, Love your enemies, and
pray for those who persecute you. Love for
enemies is best expressed in prayer for them.
This is something radical for ancient Jewish

Black

SOURCE: 366 Days with the Lord

2016, ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St.
Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.:
895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@
stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.
ph.

main down. Saudi Arabia has already announced

that it now has a record budget deficit. Russias
economy is in recession. To make matters worse,
Iran, which was unable to export for three years,
has now began releasing its oil to the world market, adding to the glut.
The retrenchment of OFWs in Saudi Arabia is
only the beginning. Saudi has at least a million
OFWs Migrante puts the figure at 2 million.
Many of them, along with OFWs from other
oil-exporting countries, will soon be returning
home.
Malacaang and the Department of Labor
and Employment have said the government is
prepared for a worst-case scenario. President
Aquino has assured that the government has
the capacity to absorb Filipino workers from
the Middle East. Migrante, however, has doubts
about this claim. Most of the governments reintegration program has consisted thus far of loans
and one-time livelihood programs, it said.
There is indeed great need for an emergency
program for the OFWs who will soon be returning
in great numbers from the Middle East. Beyond
such an emergency plan, the government must
review its current policy of encouraging overseas
work and draw up a long-range agricultural and
industrial development program that will provide
decent jobs right here for our people.

Our Daily journey

Covering sinkholes
READ: PSALM 32:1-5
Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

N late May 2010, tropical storm Agatha hit Central America, producing torrential rains and landslides. Once it finished its course, a 200-foot-deep
sinkhole opened in downtown Guatemala City.
This sinkhole caused the ground to collapse suddenly,
sucking land, electrical poles, and a 3-story building
into the depths of the earth.
Though sinkholes can be devastating, the most
universal and damaging sinkhole is the one that happens in the human heart. King David was an example
of this.
The surface of Davids life looked stable; however,
his interior life rested on a fragile foundation. After
his sins of adultery and murder, David thought he had
successfully hidden his treacherous acts (2 Sam. 1112). However, Gods intense conviction after Nathans
confrontation caused him to realize that denying the
presence of sin in his life weakened the foundation

of his spiritual life. To prevent this spiritual sinkhole

from worsening, David acknowledged his sin to God in
repentance (PS. 32:5). As a result, God covered Davids
sin and gave him the joy of forgiveness.
We too will experience Gods grace when he confess
our sins to Him. He will completely forgive and cover
our spiritual sinkholes. MARVIN WILLIAMS
THINKING IT OVER
What habital sins, secret addictions,
or hidden vulnerabilities are weakening
your interior life? Remember,
God longs to give you complete forgiveness.
When we uncover our sins in repentance, God
will cover them.

2015 ODB Ministries, 3000, Kraft Ave SE,

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555-0001, USA. Used by
permission. For this and other materials contact
ODB Ministries at 322 P. Guevarra, San Juan City
(Phils.); Tel.: 722-2010.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

mentality, which considers their enemies as

also Gods. Thus, God threw Pharaoh and his
chariots into the sea (cf Ex 15:2ff).
Jesus changes such mentality by saying
that the heavenly Father makes his sun rise
on the bad and the good, and causes rain to
fall on the just and the unjust. Those who
claim to be followers of Christ should live
beyond the human standards. The model
of any human relationship should be that of
our heavenly Father, who is perfect in loving
and forgiving.
This kind of love is exemplified in Jesus
life, passion, and death. Even as he is dying
on the cross, he prays for his persecutors,
Father, forgive them, they know not what
they do (Lk 23:34). Thus, Paul declares, God
proves his love for us in that while we were
still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).
What is your response to Gods great
love for you?

s we feared last month when world

oil prices started plummeting, thousands of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are now getting laid off in
Saudi Arabia. Migrante International, which
looks after the welfare of OFWs, said at least
50,000 Filipino workers in construction and industrial projects of the Saudi government are
due to be laid off next month. The countrys
biggest national oil company, Saudi Aramco,
has announced it will retrench 25 percent of
its labor force.
All this started when world oil prices fell from
$120 a barrel in 2014 to $52 in 2015, then plunged
below $28 last month. Subsequent minor adjustments brought the price to $29 for United States
benchmark West Texas Intermediate and to $32
for its European counterpart.
There was a brief price surge last weekend as
Russia and Saudi Arabia, the worlds two biggest
producers, prepared to meet this week. They
agreed to freeze their oil output, but further talks
involving Iraq and Iran led to a modification of
the agreement. They agreed to a supply freeze,
but subject to the condition that other major
producers would join the freeze.
In the absence of more decisive action from
the worlds top oil producers, world oil supplies
are likely to stay up and prices are likely to re-

RR

Editorial

10

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Views Features

Saturday, February 20, 2016 11

word alive

Medium Rare

When faith is severely tested

Price of kilig

By Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD

hen I studied at the

University of Leicester
in England, there was a
British lady personnel
named Joan with whom I occasionally talked about religion. I find it
hard to believe theres Someone up
there, she said. What Ive gone
through cant make me accept He
exists.

***
When I was 28 years old, my
husband died in an accident; within
that year, five of my relatives, including my father and grandfather,
died.
I thought it was the end. Just
when I was recovering from the
harrowing experiences, my fatherin-law died.
***
L ast year my new husband
whos a truck driver she paused
and I thought he died, too.
bumped an old man who died on the
spot. (I breathed a sigh of relief.)
The story of Joan is just one of
the many instances when faith in
God is severely tested.
***
When this happens, we long
desperately for a sign that God who
cares is there.
This is what happened at Mt. Ta-

bor when the disciples Peter, James,

and John witnessed the L ords
Transfiguration as narrated in this
Sundays gospel (Lk 9:28b-36).
***
The glorious Transfiguration
was a spiritual boost, strengthening
the faith of His disciples in the days
to come when Jesus their Master
would undergo terrible suffering
and death on the cross.
***
This brings us to the reality of
faith. Faith in God is such that no
matter how faithfully we live Christs
teachings, there will be times when
faith falters. It could flicker and
threaten to be extinguished, like
Joans in the above story.
Faith has peak and low moments,
mountaintop as well as valley experiences.
***
The peak moments of our faith
could be the joy of getting married
or ones ordination to priesthood,
graduation or passing a board exam
or landing a promising job.
On the other hand, the low points
could be the sudden death of a loved
one, a financial failure, a serious
sickness, a marriage that failed.
***
The faith of Abraham (in the first
reading) was severely tested when

God asked him to sacrifice his son

Isaac. It wasnt only a painful command but also absurd because
Isaac was his only son and God
promised to Abraham that he would
be the father of all nations.
***
But Abraham trusted God. With
a heavy heart, when he raised his
hand gripping a knife to slay his
son as human sacrifice, an angel
stopped him and instead led a sheep
to take Isaacs place. For his unswerving faith, God blessed him far
beyond his wildest dreams.
***
ASK YOURSELF: When low
points in life strike, does my faith
in God falter or even overwhelm
me to the point of turning my back
on Him?
In the words of the apostle
James: Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because
when he succeeds in passing such
a test, he will receive his reward
(James 1:12).
***
FAMILY TV MASS aired on
IBC 13 (channel 15 cable) at 7-8 a.m.
every Sunday; also on international
GMA Pinoy TV. Sponsor: Centro Escolar University (CEU), Mendiola,
Manila. Mass celebrant: Fr. Bel San
Luis, SVD.
PRAY WITH US ON TV.

Learnings in Lent

wo Wednesdays ago (February 10) was Ash Wednesday

and thus began the season
of Lent. To many different
people, the Lenten season brings
about a multitude of traditions and
practices, a very common one being
giving up something as a small act
of sacrifice whether that be your
extra cup of coffee per day, dessert,
or on some occasions, meat in addition to abstaining on Fridays and
on certain days that is. Each year,
I tend to join in the bandwagon of
practicing a small act of sacrifice in
these 40 days, rationalizing and constantly reminding myself that it is in
fact nothing compared to what Jesus
sacrificed for us.
As Ash Wednesday was nearing
this year, I found myself contemplating once again on what it was I
wanted to sacrifice, and it was in the
middle of Sunday mass that I all of a
sudden remembered a very moving
letter I had come across a few years
back, that our beloved Pope Francis
wrote. Knowing that the particular
eureka moment struck at mass, it was
undoubtedly the Holy Spirit speaking
to me. I quickly Googled an excerpt I
remembered from that letter when I
got home and re-read it in its entirety.
It was then, that I realized, that sacrifice doesnt always mean giving up
something. In fact, a more substantial
form of sacrifice is practicing a good

deed to benefit others and/or putting

a stop to a habit (such as gossiping)
that can belittle or harm others.
One of the most moving statements from the letter released from
the Vatican in October, 2014, reads:
In this body there is no room for the
indifference which so often seems to
possess our hearts... When we fast
from this indifference, we can begin
to feast on love. In fact, Lent is the
perfect time to learn how to love
again If you want to change your
body, perhaps alcohol and candy is the
way to go. But if you want to change
your heart, a harder fast is needed.
In other words, because Lent is in fact
a time for repentance as well as the
rejuvenation of mind and spirit, we
must look beyond sacrifice as an act
of giving up an indulgence. Because
the most beneficial sacrifice to society and to ourselves is practicing
kindness in our everyday lives and
spreading even the smallest bits of
love to those around us.
So this year, I forego giving up
iced tea or white rice and instead, I
am determined to make an effort to
be more patient with everyone around
me. Whether that means being less of
a micro manager with those I work
with, being less persistent (but still
as consistent) and trusting more; or
increasing my tolerance for mistakes
and processing satisfactory delivery
till it reaches perfection, I hope that
practising patience throughout Lent
grows to become a part of me, and in

turn, a habit that Im able to sustain.

Of course we are just human, and at
times we bend and dent, but when
that happens, we can also apologize
for our behavior. In other words, its
inevitable that we lose our cool from
time to time, but its also inexcusable
to rationalize it and blame it on others
each and every time, if its something
that happens frequently. Introspect
and look within, because its only
when youve come to terms with yourself and your weaknesses that youll
be able to do something about it.
Say thank you and say sorry.
Those are two very valuable words
we often take for granted. But mean
it when you say it. Lend a hand or give
up your seat at mass for the old man
who is standing on the side. Never
underestimate those small gestures
because they do in fact go a long way.
Refrain from gossip, as Pope Francis
always reminds us, especially the
kind that is deceitful and malicious.
At the end of the day, always remember that what we say about others,
says more about us than it does
them. Engage and believe in prayer
and soon enough youll realize how
much it enriches your life. Start with
something small and itll grow without you even realizing it. And when
Easter Sunday comes around the
corner, celebrate because you know
that youve become a better person.
I guarantee you, its more satisfying
than binging in any indulgence you
may have given up.

AWARENESS

Adopt children legally

DOPTION Consciousness
Week is observed every third
week of February, pursuant
to Proclamation No. 72 issued on February 3, 1999, which seeks
to highlight the various issues on
adoption and generate public awareness and support for the legal adoption program. Legal na Ampon Ako:
Anak na Totoo (A Child Finds Worth
in Legal Adoption) is the theme of this
years observance, which runs from
February 15 to February 21, 2016.
The Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) defines
adoption as a socio-legal process
of providing a permanent family to a
child whose parents have voluntarily
or involuntarily relinquished parental
authority over the child. Republic Act
8552, the Philippine Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, established the rules

for adoption, mandating the DSWD to

provide adoption counseling services
for adoptive parents, adoptees, and
biological parents who voluntarily
gave up their parental authority.
The process of legally adopting a
child involves several steps to make
sure the child is placed in a family
that will best serve his or her interest. During Adoption Consciousness
Week, Adoption Help Desks, manned
by social workers and accredited
child-placing agencies, in Metro
Manila malls provide information on
the adoption process, requirements,
benefits and effects.
Neglected, abused, abandoned,
and children with special needs are
legally available for adoption. A child
who has had no parental care for
at least six months is declared an
abandoned child. According to the

housands of words have

been said and written about
the so-called AlDub phenomenon, though one aspect
has hardly been researched, so unless its a state secret, would such an
exercise be tantamount to scratching
the tip of the iceberg?
Unless a monitoring agency has
been keeping track of the TV commercials and billboards featuring
the kilig team of Alden Richards
and Maine Mendoza, we will probably
never guess how financially well-off
the two, individually and as a team,
have become in the last 31 weeks.
(Hard to imagine Kim Henares not
keeping score.) Sen. Tito Sotto, whose
role is that of a kibitzer on Eat Bulaga,
was asked how many commercial endorsements AlDub has/have collected
even before and since they earned 42
million tweets in one day. He narrated
how he asked Alden that same question on the set one day and the answer
Alden gave, coming after several seconds of head scratching, was 35.
That was two weeks ago. At a
conservative estimate of P5 million
for each of the two talents for one TV
spot, one can only arrive at a sum
marked by many, many digits and
commas.

The endless stream of commercials on the show takes up an inordinate amount of time Channel 7 is not
restricted by KBP rules on limiting
commercial air time, the network
having dropped out of the Kapisanan
many years ago but apparently, fans
and viewers dont mind. Unusual, that
as one devotee observed, viewers
dont tune out during the commercial
break; whats more, they are curious
to see what new versions of, say, Zonrox and McDonald spots have been
produced for their entertainment (?)
and consumption. To date, multiple
versions of the burger-chain ad have
been screened.
As a talent, Alden is on loan
from GMA, while Maines manager
is TAPE, producers of Eat Bulaga. In
other words, the talents share their
blessings with their managers. When
it comes to being blessed, the rule on
the show is to protect the talents from
being identified with politicians currently running for elective positions
in the race to May 9, 2016. Theyre not
allowed to endorse or be seen publicly
with any and all candidates not that
candidates have not tried.
As far as is knowable, only one
entity has the option NOT to show
any and all ads featuring AlDub, and
thats the rival network. No business
like showbiz.

Swimming against the Current

Going to the most

basic unit of the
community

its the small things

By Alex M. Eduque

By Jullie Y. Daza

Philippine Orphanage Foundation, it

would be for the best interest of the
over two million children in orphanages and child care agencies if they
could be placed in the care of families legally. Homeless orphans are
most vulnerable to hunger, illness,
and crimes, stunting not only their
physical growth but also their overall
development.
Legal adoption is the best way to
provide a home for orphaned, abandoned, or neglected children who
need the love, care, and protection of
a family. Adoptive parents enjoy the
blessing and happiness of caring for a
child, while birth parents are assured
that the child they give up for adoption
can have a stable family.
Adoption in the Philippines could
be processed through accredited
adoption agencies and DSWD; family

he mission statement of
the city reads as follows:
To build a family-oriented
city with a strong learning
atmosphere that will ensure sustainable development and participatory
governance. This refers to all the
essential elements for attaining the
citys vision: The development and
strengthening of families where responsible and concerned citizens
are formed, grow, and mature; the
emergence of schools and centers of
learning, which bring out the entrepreneurial talents of those that would
give rise to start-ups in various fields
of endeavor, but particularly in the
tech field; ensuring that development
is sustained over the long term; and
governance is a shared responsibility
of all, including public servants and
ordinary citizens.
Not surprisingly, the family is cited
first. After all, it is the basic unit of
the community. If it is strengthened,
and if it can be made to provide a fully
supportive and conducive learning
environment, then much of what the
city aims to achieve will be assured.
Indeed, in study after study, and as
wide experience has shown, the learning on the part of the young is put at
a much higher and a comparatively
more advanced level where parents
get actively involved in supporting the
educational and formative programs
of schools. Where parents encourage
and assist their children in attending
to their learning assignments and
other learning-related school duties,
there those same children thrive, not
only academically but also wholistically.
The city already offers a considerable number of scholarships to poor
but deserving students under the
citys program of providing equitable
access to education. It has a natural
interest in getting the parents of
these scholars participate in parenting seminars so that as parents they
can be very supportive and effective
in enhancing the learning attainment
of their children.
Even for City Hall officers and
employees, seminars on parent leadership are on offer. These seminars

are a natural offshoot of the social dimension in every individuals personal

scorecard: How do I as a parent adopt
governance principles and practices
to my family? Not surprisingly, family visioning and family performance
scorecards are emphasized. These
parent leadership seminars are
already on offer for parents of city
scholars.
Educhild programs, which focus
on spouse-to-spouse relationship,
including in the joint responsibility of
parents in bringing up children, are
now on offer under City Hall auspices.
Moreover, age-appropriate parenting skills, depending on the age and
educational attainment of the children, are taught, and best practices
shared.
Forming small groups of families
to provide mutual support in values
formation and in continuing education
for parents. This has become necessary, especially since association of
families can be critical in promoting
the savings habit and in reinforcing
the huwag maging SAD (the drive
in schools against addiction in smoking, alcohol, and drugs) program
of the city. Through such family associations, small and medium social
(business) enterprises can better
take advantage of the citys business
incubation initiative.
Very naturally, the city has focused
on the family so as to help provide a
supportive and wholesome support
system for pupils and students, who
are in need of being pushed ever
higher into more advanced learning
curves. The city looks upon parents
as critical to better child care and
youth development. Parents also
play a very important role in helping
the city promote a healthy lifestyle
environment such as the Smoke-Free
City and regular physical development programs.
Moreover, the city is beginning to
realize that having strong, healthy,
united, and happy families provides
the backbone for a strong, healthy,
united, and happy city and community.
Families do have a social value by
themselves; and they deserve to be
supported and encouraged in becoming the basic units of good governance
in the City of Balanga.

or relative adoptions; and private or independent adoptions (direct placements).

DSWD warns against illegal or unregistered adoption and simulation of birth
certificates, and discourages direct placement. Direct placement does not prioritize
a childs welfare or value the legal rights of
involved parties, and may be used by some
as modus operandi for making money and
exploiting children, it says.
The DSWD Rapid Family Tracing
and Reunification Program register or-

phaned children, especially victims

of disaster. Families and individuals
taking custody of orphaned children
can become foster families, and can
avail of benefits under RA 10165, the
Foster Care Act of 2012. For adopters overseas, DSWD implements RA
8043, the Inter-Country Adoption Act
of 1995. Inter-country adoption is last
resort only after all means of seeking
domestic adoption for a children have
been exhausted.

By Jesus P. Estanislao

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
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Views Features

12

Pagbabago

Hotspot

For the love

of Norma
By Florangel Rosario Braid

n February 27, at 6 p.m.,

an exhibit-sale of major art
works by several of our wellknown artists will be held at
the Sining Kamalig, Alimao, in Cubao.
The event is an initiative of some 50
artist-friends and members of Church
Caf, a Bible study group, who have
come together to honor pioneering
art gallery owner, art advocate, and
champion of Filipino heritage Norma
Liongoren who is today fighting the
Big C. Norma has spent three decades
of her life supporting and nurturing
young artists during special exhibits
at her Cubao gallery. Now, her friends
feel that it is time to return her kindness and generosity.
In these exhibits, she featured
significant national issues environmental conservation, women empowerment, childrens rights, protection
of our cultural heritage, and support
for our native cultural and herbal
products. As writer Alma Cruz Miclat
noted in a recent feature, Norma lives
and breathes her many advocacies.
Championing Filipino heritage, she
wears clothes of indigenous materialsFor years, the Liongoren gallery
has been the beehive of artistic activities from art exhibits and competitions and musical performances and
poetry readings to forums on social
and community concerns and environmental issues. It has even served as an
evacuation center for typhoon victims,
and for years now, as a regular venue
for Bible study and prayer meetings.
Noted sculptor Julie Lluch describes
her vision as all-embracing: from art
to politics, from environment, cultural
conservation, and dissemination, to
healthcare, feminism, and spirituality.
She is an initiator, instigator, organizer,
social activist, community worker, soul
winner, and culture-hero. Only daughter Hannah, a graphic artist notes: All
her life she is dedicated to finding our
roots and our national identity.
Norma is married to artist Alfredo
Liongoren and mother to art photographer Erik, Indie filmmaker Avid,
and Hannah.
Norma is a good friend and a

Beyond Pacquiao
townmate (we both come from Dagupan City) and we share many similar
passions and causes. I had been to
several of the art exhibits and Bible
study meetings at her gallery. Some
of these meetings were held at my
house where I met several of her artist friends. These get-togethers had
always been pleasurable for besides
being infected with her enthusiasm, I
also get the rare opportunity to speak
in our own language.
During my recent visit with her at
the Kidney Institute, she shared her
dream of reviving a plan to set up a
foundation dedicated to the development of the arts and culture in our
home city. This will be our legacy. Atchi
and I could not agree more as I had
been thinking along the same line.
A deeply spiritual person, she likes
to regard her illness as a challenge as
the period of confinement had given
her time to reflect on what God may
want her to do the rest of her days.
Art lovers can look forward to this
forthcoming exhibit and sale of major
art works of participating artists,
among them, Julie Lluch, Brenda Fajardo, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Yasmin
Almonte, Renato Habulan, Antipas
Delotavo, Pablo Baen Santos, Lito
Carating, Gus Albor, Fred Liongoren, Nestor Vinluan, Gilda Cordero
Fernando, Elmer Borlongan, Egay
Talusan Fernandez, Raul Isidro, Fil de
la Cruz, Lenore R.S. Lim (who is also
donating paintings by Manuel Rodriguez Sr.), and Nik Ricio, Dayong Mendoza, Dansoy Coquilla, Clairelynn Uy,
Jeho Bitancor, Jojo Lofranco, Roberto
Acosta, Katti Santa Ana, Elizabeth
Lolarga, Ambie Abano, Noel El Farrol,
Benjie Torrado Cabrera, June Dalisay,
Lanelle Abueva, Virgilio Aviado, Arlene
Villaver, and Lia Torralba.
These artists have donated their
artworks to be raffled off on a 1:1 basis
with tickets at P5,000 each. There will
be an auction of pieces which will be
chosen online through a website administered by June Dalisay and Sonny
Go, board members of Erehwon Center
for the Arts.

My email, Florangel.braid@
gmail.com

INFORMATION

February is National
Health Insurance
Program Month

EBRUARY is celebrated nationwide as National Health

Insurance Program (NHIP)
Month, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1400 s. 2007.
Leading the month-long observance
is the Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation (PhilHealth). PhilHealth
works in close partnership with the
Department of Health, the Department
of Labor and Employment, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration,
the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration, and the Department of
Foreign Affairs in undertaking activities to mark the celebration. Through
the NHIP, the government aims for
every Filipino to have the chance to
seek medical services without the fear
of financial constraints, particularly
during emergencies.
This year, the various activities
lined up are geared to informing
Filipinos of opportunities to avail of an
affordable health insurance plan from
government corporations. They include press briefings about the health
program; public forums on improved
membership and benefits; and intensive information campaigns through
desks that will be set up in strategic
areas such as shopping malls. Other
usual activities held during the NHIP
Month are medical missions, fun runs,

Saturday, February 20, 2016

photo exhibits, and lectures.

Today, 76.9 million Filipinos are
covered by health insurance: 31.27 million are registered members and 45.63
million are registered dependents. Of
the 76.9 million, 6.1 million are senior
citizens (aged 60 years old and above)
covered by Republic Act (RA) 10645
enacted in 2014 amending RA 9994, the
expanded senior citizen act of 2010.
Prior to the enactment of RA 10606,
the National Health Insurance Act
of 2013, access to health insurance
coverage was limited to government
workers, as well as private sector
employees who pay contributions as
PhilHealth members RA 10606 declared as a policy of the State the adoption of an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development
which shall endeavor to make essential
goods, health, and other social services
available to all the people at affordable
cost and to provide free medical care
to paupers.
The government has therefore
provided comprehensive health care
services to all Filipinos through a socialized health insurance program that
will prioritize the health care needs of
the underprivileged, sick, elderly, persons with disabilities (PWDs), women,
and children, and provide free health
care services to indigents.

By Tonyo Cruz

he world as we know it
wasnt like this years, decades and centuries ago.
When the Spaniards and
Americans came, they felt we desperately needed to be colonized.
They viewed us as inferior to their
race, ignorant, and undeserving of
independence.
Many Filipinos would later outgrow the old belief and discover the
joys of freedom. A revolution would
ensue and rewrite our national history.
Until the early part of the last century, the Philippines viewed women
as mere housewife (or katulong)
material. They didnt have the right
to vote, to education, and to their own
livelihood. They were less valuable
than men and they didnt deserve
equality with men.
Many Filipinos would later outgrow the old belief and discover the
joys of equality. Women would fight
and win the right to suffrage, get to
schools and to their own jobs or businesses, get elected to various posts.
Until the 1980s, television didnt
report the news in the national
languages. The belief was that the
national languages could not credibly and adequately serve TV news
reporting.
Many Filipinos would later outgrow the old belief and discover the
joy of knowing and witnessing news
and current events in our own language.
Today, all major TV newscasts are
in Filipino, with parallel newscasts in
the other national languages.
And yes, Filipino LGBTs were
largely invisible in public life except in
stereotyped roles. Society did not acknowledge them as co-equal citizens,
and LGBTs themselves refused to
claim their rightful place in society.
Many Filipinos in 1994 began to
outgrow the old belief and discovered
the joys of diversity and fairness. That
year, Pro-gay and the Metropolitan
Community Church (yes, a church!)
jointly led the first Pride March in the
Philippines and in Asia. Since then,
LGBTs, their allies, and the rest of the
population have made forward steps
to full equality.
Actually, the Philippines owes
huge debts to Filipino LGBTs. They
have yet to get the promise of the
Constitution and laws for equal rights
and equal protection.
They commit to their duties as

citizens, cast votes, pay taxes, and

abide by the laws. But they get
considerably less in terms of rights,
privileges, and benefits purportedly
due to all citizens.
The one time the LGBTs tried to
avail of their right to participate in the
party-list elections which supposedly seeks to empower marginalized
sectors such as theirs the Comelec
demonized and expelled them. Until
today, these marginalized citizens
are marginalized by the party-list
system.
The LGBTs are not asking for
special treatment. They are only asking for the same rights other citizens
enjoy. Yes, they are asking for the
unfulfilled promise of equality under
the Constitution.
We are supposedly equal under
the law. But some laws are not available to LGBTs. And even if LGBTs
have shown the capacity and commitment to form relationships, the law
does not recognize them, depriving
them of the privileges and protections
given to non-LGBT citizens who get
married.
The LGBTs are not asking Filipinos to change the tradition and laws
on marriage. They are only asking
that they be able to avail of it, just like
other citizens. As Justice Anthony
Kennedy wrote in a historic ruling,
LGBT couples know the symbolism,
value, and obligations of marriage
that they want to be able to experience it too.
The LGBTs do not wish anyone
to change their religious beliefs or to
limit their right to hold them. But LGBTs demand, as they rightly should,
that religious beliefs of whatever kind
not be a factor in the full exercise of
rights. There should not be any religious test before enjoying any of our
fundamental rights.
The separation of church and
state bans any state interference in
church affairs and prohibits having a
state religion. Why? Because we have
experienced for three centuries the
effect of theocracy. When politics and
religion mix, we all lose and suffer.
We are a nation whose most basic
unit is the family. We have lots of kinds
of families. Extended ones with lolos
and lolas, titos and titas, and a whole
army of pinsans. We have singleparent families by choice or by circumstance. We have foundlings and
adopted persons. We have citizens
who have moved abroad and formed
families there.
From this point of view, the LGBTs

cannot be invisible any longer. They

are part of many or most of these
families.
From this point of view, the LGBTs
cannot be discriminated any longer.
They want to be able to get the
same rights and obligations of couples and heads of families.
Christian-majority countries have
done it, granting full marriage rights
to all citizens including LGBTs because it is the right thing to do to all
citizens. Canada, the US, Ireland,
and many other European states and
socialist Vietnam have done it.
The common thread in their decisions is crystal-clear and simple: Society cannot continue to marginalize,
demonize, and discriminate against
some of its productive, law-abiding,
and most active citizens due to sexual
orientation and gender identity.
In other words: Society must
smash the prison walls of inequality
outside the proverbial gay closet.
Our fellow citizens who harbor
certain religious beliefs should not
hold the entire country hostage. They
should not impose their beliefs.
They should not put their beliefs
above the Constitution and our common aspirations of genuine freedom
and authentic democracy.
As the recent episode involving
Manny Pacquiao show, the LGBTs
and their growing coalition of allies
are no longer invisible or defenseless.
Aware of their dignity, rights, and potentials, they are taking a stand and
taking action. We are a better nation
because of them and their dedication
to equality, freedom, and democracy.
Those who wish to deny LGBTs
their fundamental rights are on the
losing and outdated side of history,
and they can no longer justify the
unfair treatment for LGBTs.
LGBTs, meanwhile, remind us of
the most basic promises that remain
unfulfilled: Full equality under the
law, and equal protection under the
law.
But perhaps the coming triumphs
would be less legalistic or political.
The irony for LGBT foes would be
that it would be on moral grounds:
If it were your son, daughter, father,
mother, cousin, tito, tita, lolo, lola,
ninong, ninang, best friend, or idol
who would ask for acceptance and
equality, what would you say?
The answer? #LoveWinsPH

Fo l l o w m e o n Tw i t t e r @
tonyocruz and check out my blog
tonyocruz.com

CELEBRATION

Celebrating the 200-year-old

Bamboo Organ

HE 41st International Bamboo Organ Festival is being

held on February 18 to 24 at
St. Joseph Church in Las Pinas City to revive the musical history
of the Spanish era which reached its
peak in El Siglo de Oro (Golden Age),
when works were mostly secular and
sacred villancicos or Christmas
carols from the Renaissance to the
Baroque age.
This years festival is special, as
it marks the 200th year since Spanish
missionary Fray Diego Cera, an Augustinian Recollect and the first parish
priest of Las Pinas from 1795 to 1830,
made the worlds one and only bamboo
organ. He handcrafted the organ for
eight long years starting in 1816 to
1824. To this day, most of the bamboo
pipes are still the original ones.
Described by international organ
masters as one of the finest organs in
the world, the bamboo organ gives a
truly unique and scintillating sound.
Records say it is the first of its kind
in the country and even in the whole
world because of materials used in

its construction. It is made of 1,031

pipes, of which 902 are bamboo and
the rest metal.
Highlighting the milestone 200
years of cutting of the first bamboo
for the organ in 1816 is a unique encounter; it will be the first time that a
pan flute and the bamboo organ will
be heard together, to be played by
renowned musicians from Switzerland and France. The pan flute is the
earliest ancestor of the pipe organ; it
is even closer to the bamboo organ
because both their pipes are made of
bamboo. The playing of a special local
composition Canas using individual
bamboo flutes, indigenous pipes, and
bamboo percussion is part of the
festival.
Nightly concerts consist of soli,
choir, and instrument featuring the
works of world-famous composers; a
concert under the trees; and open-air
concert; a musical featuring works by
the masters; a recital by an Australian
organist; and performance of recently
discovered 19th century choral pieces
from the Spanish period by the Las

Pias Boys Choir, along with a liturgical childrens choir called Mirabilia
from Betis, Pampanga. Since 1992,
Prof. Armando Salarza has been the
titular organist of the bamboo organ,
and the artistic director of the longestrunning festival.
The bamboo organ was declared a
National Historical Landmark by the
National Historical Commission of the
Philippines on July 15, 2013, and a National Cultural Treasurer by National
Museum on November 24, 2003, for
its uniqueness and historical/cultural
significance, and for being the only
19th Century bamboo organ that has
survived and is still functioning.
In 1880, an earthquake destroyed
the church and organ. Fray Cera, who
was from a family of organ-builders
in Graus, Huesca, Spain, fixed it, but
could not bring back its resounding
music. In 1973, it was brought to Bonn,
Germany, for a massive restoration,
and it returned to the country in good
condition in 1975, when the Bamboo
Organ Foundation started the annual
festival.

nitro zeus

Zero Days director says US government secrecy trend appalling

By Michael Nienaber
and Michael Roddy

ERLIN, Germany The

director of a new documentary outlining US plans for
an extensive cyber attack on
Iran said on Wednesday he was angry

and appalled by the rapidly growing

trend towards secrecy in the US government.
Veteran documentary maker Alex
Gibney was speaking to reporters in
Berlin, where his film Zero Days is
being shown in competition for the
Berlin International Film Festivals top

Golden Bear prize.

The documentary says how the USs
National Security Agency (NSA) developed a cyberwar program dubbed Nitro
Zeus that it hoped would bring Iran to
its knees in the event of hostilities.
I am angry about the incredible
amount of secrecy in the United States

and how it has become a kind of obsession that is damaging our democracy,
Gibney said at a post-screening news
conference.
I think, frankly, that the trend and
the momentum towards greater and
greater secrecy in the US administration is appalling.

The documentary focuses on

Stuxnet, a computer worm developed
by the United States and Israel but
never acknowledged by either government in order to attack Irans nuclear
program and sabotage centrifuges that
were enriching uranium.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

Sports
cycling

Show of force
by Kazakh bets
D
By CHRISTIAN JACINTO

AET, Camarines Norte

Oleg Zemlyakov of Vino
4-Ever SKO did not only overcome the harsh weather and
the rough terrains but also survived the
spirited challenge of two Filipino riders
to rule the Lucena-Daet Stage 2 of the
2016 Le Tour de Filipinas yesterday.
The 22-year-old from Kazakhstan
negotiated the 204.8 kilometer race in
five hours, eight minutes and 48 seconds to win the longest race in the
four-stage event presented by Air21
before an expected huge crowd here.
Thanks to a near-flawless approach
to the race, Zemlyakov zoomed past

his teammate Yevgeniy Gidich, Australian Jesse Ewart of 7-Eleven Philippines and Batmunkh Meal-Erdene
in the final five kilometers to take the
first stage victory of his career.
Zemlyakov finished the race 16 seconds ahead of the three who logged similar clocking of 5:09:04 and one minute
and 15 seconds ahead of top Filipino bet
Marcelo Felipe of 7-Eleven who finished
sixth in the race with a time of 5:10:03.
The first yellow jersey holder now
holds a 19-second lead over Gidich after penalties with an aggregate time
of 9:12:17 including the logged time in
Thursdays stopped race.
The kick off leg was halted with just
30 kilometers away from the finish line

Saturday, February 20, 2016

13

Ronda hits road today

Oleg Zemlyakov celebrates after winning

Stage 2. (Bob Dungo Jr.)

in Lucena City due to uncoordinated

road repairs in Tiaong, Quezon that
caused massive traffic.
Gidisch has an aggregate time
of 9:12:36 while Ewart is 22 seconds
adrift.
Felipe is currently at No. 6 with or
just a minute and 25 seconds off while
Rustom Lim of the national team lies
at No. 10 2:07 behind.

BUTUAN CITY The LBC Ronda

Pilipinas 2016 unfurls today with the
staging of the Mindanao Leg starting
with the 158.32-kilometer Stage One
that will start and finish in front of the
Butuan City Hall here.
Reimon Lapaza, the pride of the
host city who topped LBC Ronda Pilipinas two years ago, and Navy-Standard
Insurance riders headed by team captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Ronald
Oranza, Joel Calderon and Jan Paul
Morales will be the riders to watch in
the annual race considered the biggest
in the country.
We trained hard for LBC Ronda
Pilipinas alone, said Reynante on the
eve of Rondas sixth edition presented
by LBC and LBC Express, sanctioned
by PhilCycling and sponsored by Manny
V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron
and Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp. with Maynilad and NLEX as minor sponsors.
Lapaza and his Cycleline team confirmed months ago that they will join

but surprisingly declared they'll skip

the event Thursday night.
They, however, changed their
minds again yesterday when host
Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand "Jun"
Amante interceded.
"We're here to support not just our
Butuan City riders like Lapaza but
also LBC Ronda Pilipinas as a whole,"
said Amante.
LBC Sports Development head
and Ronda project director Moe Chulani, for his part, was happy with the
development.
"We're expecting a very exciting
race with Lapaza expected to make
Butuan City proud," said Chulani.
Lapaza made a name for himself
for topping the 2014 edition that saw
him pocket the top prize of R1 million.

NBA RESULTS
Washington 103, Utah 89
Cleveland 106, Chicago 95
L.A. Clippers 105, San Antonio 86

FOOtball

Easy wins for

Ceres, Kaya
By JONAS TERRADO
Games Today
(Rizal Memorial Stadium)
6 p.m. Green Archers vs Loyola
8:30 p.m. Stallion vs JP Voltes

League champion Ceres-La Salle and

cup titleholder Kaya primed themselves for
their AFC Cup debuts next week by posting
easy victories Thursday night in the UFL
Cup at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Adrian Gallardo and Stephan Schrock
combined for seven goals as Ceres blasted
Pasargad, 9-0, for its third straight win in
Group B while Kaya beat Agila, 5-1, for its
second victory in three matches in Group A.
OJ Porteria fired two goals while former Azkals captain Aly Borromeo and Joven Bedic found the back of the net to help
Kaya grab the lead in Group A on goal difference.
The victories came before Ceres and
Kaya open their respective AFC Cup campaigns in separate venues next week.
Ceres hosts Malaysian side Selangor
on Tuesday at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod
City while Kaya travels to Hong Kong on
the same day to face Kitchee at Mongkok
Stadium.

basketball

St. Jude, PCC

forge title duel
Games Today
(Uno HS gym)
1 p.m. MGC-NLCA vs JCA
2:30 p.m. PCC vs St. Jude

Saint Jude Catholic School went to

Jared Filipino at crunch time to eke out a
70-66 win over Makati Gospel Church-New
Life Christian Academy and secure a third
straight finals appearance in the Philippine
Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA)
Basketball Championships recently at the
Uno High School gym in Tondo, Manila.
The sweet-shooting Filipino almost
singlehandedly scuttled MGC-NLCAs uprising by scoring seven straight points, including a booming trey, that gave them a
69-59 buffer with still 1:39 left.
The Judenites will face the No. 1 and
unbeaten Philippine Cultural College
(PCC) Seagulls in the best-of-three finals
starting today also at the Uno gym.
Earlier, the PCC Seagulls overpowered
Pace Academy, 78-70, to clinch the first finals berth.
Clashing in a similar best-of-three title
series in the Aspirants division are reigning champion MGC-NLCA and Jubilee
Christian Academy.

basketball

PNP, MMDA in KO
Game Tomorrow
(Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig City)
5 p.m. PNP vs MMDA

With momentum on its side, Philippine

National Police (PNP) goes for a repeat
over Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as they clash in their rubber match tomorrow in the 4th UNTV Cup
at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The PNP Responders forced a sudden
death with the twice-to-beat MMDA Blackwolves after pulling a 77-72 thriller last
week.
Former University of the East player Ollan Omiping and Police Officer 1 Alejandro
Yanquiling III are again expected to lead
the Responders in their 5 p.m. showdown
with the Johnedel Cardel-led Blackwolves.
While it was Omiping who led the Responders with 19 points it was Yanquiling
who delivered the lethal blows, scoring
most of his 16 points at crunch time.

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golf

tennis

Tabuena fires 68, trails

leader by 5 at Maybank
Miguel Tabuena was feeling much
better Friday after a minor scare of
food poisoning early in the week and
kept the pressure on the leader by
firing a solid 3-under-par 68 to share
third place after two rounds of the
Maybank Championship Malaysia.
Tabuena pooled a two-round total
of 134, 8 under par for the tournament,
following a first round 66 at the Royal
Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur
and was five shots behind Nathan
Holman of Australia who padded his
lead after shooting a 6-under-par 65
and was at 13 under at 129.
In second spot was Richard Bland
of England who also shot a 65 while
sharing third with Tabuena were
Danny Willett (69), Soomin Lee (68)
and Jorge Campillo (69).
Tied for seventh place at 7-underpar 135 were Thongchai Jaidee (69)
and Marcus Frazier (69).
Angelo Que, on the other hand,
was not able to follow up on his brilliant 65 first round and finished

3-over-par 74 to drop to a share of

28th place at 3-under 139.
Antonio Lascuna shot a 70 and
made the cut on the number which
is 1 under. But Juvic Pagunsan will
miss the weekend game when he shot
2 over 73 and failed to make the cut.
Although Tabuena fell back from
the lead, he still was happy with his
game considering that he almost
withdrew from the $3-million tournament because he felt so weak from
food poisoning after he arrived in the
Malaysian capital last Monday.
Im really happy with my form so
far considering Im not 100 percent,
Tabuena said after his round which
consisted of three birdies and no bogey.
Just told myself to shoot anything
under par and get back to the hotel as
fast as you can and try to get ready
for tomorrow. Im happy I managed
to get a few under par.
Tabuena, however, was not yet in
top gear and he quickly went back to

Huey, pal
gain semis
By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

his hotel to get some more rest.

I normally will hit a few putts
right after my round but Ive got
to take care of my body. Ive got to
go back to the hotel and take some
rest.
Meanwhile,
Cyna
Rodriguez
missed the cut after scoring a 5-overpar 77 in the second round of the Australian Womens Open Friday. She
shot a 74 in the first round and was
tied for 151st spot.
DING MARCELO

Fil-American Treat Huey and

Max Mirnyi of Belarus continued
their march as they outclassed the
unseeded pair of Australian Bernard
Tomic and Chris Guccione, 6-3, 6-4, in
the quarterfinal round of the Delray
Beach Open yesterday in Florida.
Seeded third in the tournament, Huey
and Mirnyi did not waste time as they dominated their rivals right away with their
brilliant net coverage and solid returns.
The two will face another unseeded
pair of Austrias Oliver Marach and
Frances Fabrice Martin, who scored a
6-4, 6-4 win over Americans Denis Kudla and Donald Young.

MIGUEL
TABUENA

Sports

Editor: DING T. MARCELO

Asst. Editor: REY C. LACHICA

14 Saturday, February 20, 2016

E-mail: sports@mb.com.ph

pba

Blackwater extends Alaskas woes

uaap

NU whips
DLS-Zobel,
nears crown
By JONAS TERRADO

Aces fall sans injured import

Team Standings
Meralco
Phoenix
Blackwater
Globalport
Rain or Shine
NLEX
Mahindra
Tropang TNT
Alaska
Star
Ginebra
San Miguel

W
3
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
x

L
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
x

By TITO S. TALAO
Games Today
(Alonte Sports Arena, Laguna)
3 p.m. Mahindra vs San Miguel
5:15 p.m. NLEX vs Star

Game Friday
(The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. La Salle-Zobel vs NU

Justine Baltazar posted 15 points

and 27 rebounds on his birthday yesterday as unbeaten National University (nu) moved a win shy of regaining the UAAP juniors basketball crown
by crushing De La Salle-Zobel, 78-58,
at the start of their title series at The
Arena in San Juan.
The native of Mabalacat, Pampanga notched his 12th double-double
of the season while adding four blocks
to help the Bullpups close in on their
third title in five seasons.
NU can complete a 16-game sweep
of the season with a win next Friday at
the same venue. The Bullpups gained
an outright finals berth after going unbeaten in the double-round elims.
The Bullpups, who also carry a
thrice-to-beat advantage in the championship series, utilized their height
advantage to frustrate the Junior Archers time and again.
NUs defense also forced La Salles
Aljun Melecio the MVP winner to miss
15-of-21 shots despite finishing with 15
points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
The Bullpups were so dominant
they padded their lead up to 31 points
at one point during the second half.
Marco Sario added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists while MR Romero also tossed in 10 points for the Junior
Archers, who need to win three straight to
capture their first title since 2007.

volleyball

Army, F2 clash
By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Today
(Malolos Sports and Convention Center)
1 p.m. F2 Logistics vs RC Cola-Army
3 p.m. New San Jose Builders vs Foton

Opening day winners RC Cola-Army and F2 Logistics dispute the early

lead in the 2016 Philippine Superliga
Invitational today at the Malolos Sports
and Convention Center in Bulacan.
The three-time champion RC
Cola will be bannered by Rachel Ann
Daquis who along with Honey Royse
Tubino and Jovelyn Gonzaga led the
Lady Troopers to a scintillating 25-17,
25-9, 25-22 victory over Foton on opening last Thursday.
Daquis and company, however, will
have their hands full against F2 Logistics, one of two newcomers in this
prestigious league built around La Salle
standouts Abby Marano and Cha Cruz.
The Cargo Movers had also a
splendid debut last Thursday when
they manhandled New San Jose Builders, 25-23, 25-10, 25-4.
Every game kasi kailangan mong
paghandaan eh, said RC Cola coach
Kungfu Reyes. Hindi ito yung liga na
alam mo na kung sino yung mananalo
after two games. Kaya itong against F2
Logistics, mabigat na laban yan. Marami din silang malalakas na players.

Alaskas Calvin Abueva

attempts a running shot
against Blackwaters MJ
Rhett and JP Erram during
their PBA game last night
at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Blackwater won, 107-101
(Kevin dela Cruz)

he light at the end of the tunnel

continues to elude the Alaska
Aces.
Handicapped even before
they debuted in the Oppo PBA Commissioners Cup last night, the Aces, who
were without import Rob Dozier, fell to
the Blackwater Elite, 107-101, in an ominous start at the Mall of Asia Arena for
the leagues heartbreak kids.
Alaska completed a historic meltdown from a commanding 3-0 lead
over San Miguel Beer in the recent
Philippine Cup Finals by losing Game
7 at this same venue a few weeks ago.
But powered by a returning reinforcement who was instrumental in
helping them capture their 14th PBA
championship three years ago, the
Aces had hoped to start their recovery
against the downtrodden Elite.
Instead Dozier spent Alaskas first
game on the bench, reportedly with a heel
injury suffered in practice a few days ago.
In his absence, the Aces had to scramble
from 15 points down to get a chance before fading against clutch-shooting Carlo
Lastimosa and Reil Cervantes.
Lastimosa led Blackwater with 24
points and Cervantes added 21 off the
bench, including a 3-point shot with 7:26
remaining in the fourth quarter that
gave the Elite a 95-80 advantage. Noted
for their comeback magic, the Aces rallied to within 105-101 with 55 seconds to
go but were turned back by Blackwaters defense on a Jayvee Casio 3-point
attempt that set up two free throws by

Lastimosa with 8.1 seconds left.

It was a breakthrough franchise
victory by Blackwater over Alaska,
and the Elites first back-to-back wins
in two seasons.
Masarap ang pakiramdam, said
Blackwater coach Leo Isaac. It feels
good to achieve this win; we just have
to continue improving.
Asked if Dozier not playing took
away anything from their victory, Isaac
flat out said no.
A win is a win, whether with their import or without their import, he said.
MJ Rhett, the Elites 23-year-old
import, was to have his baptism of fire
against Dozier, the 30-year-old former
Miami Heat player. But with the exMemphis University star hobbled, the
one-time Tennessee State stalwart
had a pass and a triple-double.
In the second game, Globalport
turned to ace scorer Terrence Romeo
as the Batang Pier banged their way to
a 108-101 victory over importless Tropang TNT.
Romeo scored a game-high 33 markers for Globalport, which took advantage
of an all-Filipino TNT squad that sorely
missed Ivan Johnson, who has been
banned by the league.
First Game
BLACKWATER 107 Lastimosa 24, Cervantes 21, Rhett 18, Gamalinda 12, Cortez 10,
Reyes 10, Dela Cruz 6, Canada 3, Erram 2,
Tiongson 1, Golla 0.
ALASKA 101 Manuel 20, Thoss 18, Baguio
16, Abueva 11, Casio 10, Banchero 9, Dela Cruz
4, Racal 4, Eman 3, Jazul 3, Exciminiano 2, Dela
Rosa 1, Vanlandingham 0.
Quarters: 27-23; 51-50; 80-70; 107-101.
Second Game
GLOBALPORT 108 - Romeo 33, Pringle 14,
Sumang 11, Warner 11, Washington 9, Semerad
8, Yeo 8, Mamaril 6, Jensen 4, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 2, Uyloan 0.
TROPANG TNT 101 - Castro 25, Tautuaa
21, Seigle 16, De Ocampo 10, Fonacier 8, Reyes
J. 8, Rosser 6, Carey 3, Ababou 2, Reyes R. 2,
Aban 0, Rosario 0.
Quarters: 19-18, 55-43, 90-71, 108-101.

boxing

Pacquiao intensifies training; sparmates arriving

By NICK GIONGCO

Although the controversy over his

anti-gay remarks continue to take the
limelight, Manny Pacquiao is setting
the stage for the most crucial stage
of his preparation for his April 9 clash
with Tim Bradley.
Two sparring partners are arriving from the US on Monday, according
to Pacquiaos Canadian adviser Mike
Koncz, who has likewise been informed
about details of Team Pacquiaos muchawaited journey to Los Angeles.
First week of March, Koncz said

yesterday afternoon from General Santos City while Pacquiao was sweating it
out at the gym.
Koncz couldnt exactly tell when
the sparring sessions will begin as it
will be the call of Hall of Fame trainer
Freddie Roach, who is presiding over
the training camp since Monday.
Despite the ruckus caused by Pacquiaos scathing remarks towards the
LGBT, something the fighter apologized for later, everything seems to be
normal as he continues to work doubly
hard in training.
Nike, feeling enormous pressure

MANNY PACQUIAO

from the LGBT community and the global backlash, was forced to dump Pacquiao as its brand ambassador even though
the Filipinos contract with the sports apparel giant will run until next year.
Pacquiao has maintained his stand
on the issue of same-sex marriage, citing the Bible as the backbone of his
hardline stance on the delicate issue.
Aside from local celebrities, mostly
gays and lesbians from the entertainment industry, US personages also
threw verbal jabs at Pacquiao for his
stinging statements, including Magic
Johnson.

uaap

Ateneo seeks win No. 23 versus Adamson

By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Today
(Mall of Asia Arena)
2 p.m. Adamson vs Ateneo
4 p.m. UST vs NU

Defending champion Ateneo

looks to extend its impressive winning streak to 23 games when it takes
on struggling Adamson today in the
UAAP womens volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Lady Eagles, who are eyeing
their fifth win for the season, are in no
mood to consider their match against
the Lady Falcons as another sort of

workout despite entering the 2 p.m. as

favorite to produce another convincing
win.
In its four victories, Ateneo dropped
just one set which came against University of Santo Tomas (UST) nearly
two weeks ago.
However, the Lady Eagles are eager to display a more consistent form
before the end of the first round.
You know what Adamson can do,
said Ateneo star Alyssa Valdez. Yung
defense talaga nila, walang palya. Every game, in my four years in the UAAP,
they really give us a good fight.
Valdez is expected to give her le-

gion of fans another impressive show

with Bea de Leon, Jhoanna Maraguinot, Amy Ahomiro, Jia Morado, and
Madeleine Madayag providing support.
Adamson is hoping to snap its
three-game skid at the expense of
the mighty Lady Eagles behind Jema
Galanza and Mylene Paat.
Meanwhile, National University
(NU) eyes its fourth straight triumph
when it faces UST in the second game
at 4 p.m.
A victory would put the Jaja Santiago-led Lady Bulldogs in solo second
behind the Lady Eagles.

ALYSSA VALDEZ

NU won its next four games following its opening day setback to
Ateneo, including a stunning four-set
triumph over La Salle.

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Shipping
Classified Ads
PSE Quotations
BSP Reference Rates
Editor: LORETO D. CABAES
Asst. Editor: BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
B1 Saturday, February 20, 2016

News In Brief
P/$ rate closes
at P47.665/$1
The peso exchange rate
closed lower
at P47.665
to the US
dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.
(PDEx) from P47.58 the previous day. The weighted average
rate depreciated to P47.665
from P47.559. The total volume
amounted to $490 million.

Local shares
close down
Philippine shares ended its fourday winning streak after profittaking ensued. Philippine Stock
Exchange index (PSEi) on Friday
lost 56.81 points, or 0.83 percent to 6,792.06, while the wide
all shares lost 21.74 points,
or 0.55 percent to 3,917.29.
Except for industrial, the rest
of the sectors were all in red as
well. Total value turnover fell
to P6.5 billion, while decliners
beat advancers, 103 to 68. 45
issues were unchanged. (MBM)

Postbank receives
ISO Certification
The Philippine Postal Savings
Bank (Postbank) has been
awarded an ISO 9001-2008 Certification for its Quality Management System by German group
TUV Rheinland, ensuring Postbanks continuing commitment
to quality client services according to global standards. This
ISO certification initially covers
Postbanks main office, six
micro-banking units, and three
branches. The remaining 22
branches of Postbank will undergo the ISO certification process throughout 2016. Postbank
started the process of obtaining
the certification in November
2014, which included preparing
the employees for the certification, as well as documentation
of all processes, explained Ma.
Salome Panzo, vice president
and compliance officer of Postbank. The bank also conducted
internal audit trainings with
staff members to comply with
the ISO certification requirement
of continuous audits. Because
of the ISO certification process,
Postbank has made documents
more available for viewing to the
public as transparency is one of
the key points of ISO certification, explained Panzo.

BPI secures
SWIFT Certification
SWIFT announced that Bank of
Philippine Islands (BPI) has recently been awarded the bankreadiness certification from
SWIFT. In response to on going
corporate needs for seamless
automation and standardization
in their interactions with banks,
BPI will use the SWIFT platform
to enhance their technical capabilities to better serve their corporates customers. BPI said this
is a significant breakthrough for
the bank as it creates a level
playing field with their regional
peers to support the optimization processes for Filipino corporates. Manuel C.Tagaza, Senior
Vice President and Electronic
Channels Group Head, BPI,
stresses the efficiency of the
SWIFT bank-readiness certification for their corporate clients
where, BPI is committed to continuously provide our
corporate clients with bestin-class cash management
facilities. With our SWIFT Bank
Readiness certification, we are
geared to enable businesses
with multi-dimensional transactions to deal through a single
platform built on rigorous international standards. We are
ready to make the best business
happen.

E-mail: business@mb.com.ph

OFW remittances reach $25.8B in 2015

By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN

ash remittances sent via the

formal banking networks
by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amounted to
$25.76 billion in 2015, up 4.6 percent
from $24.63 billion in 2014, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday
reported.
BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said remittances continued
to be a major driver of domestic
demand.
The total remittances accounted
for 9.8 percent of gross domestic
product and 8.3 percent of gross national income.
The BSP had expected a flat four
percent growth because of the dollar
appreciation vis--vis other major
currencies where overseas Filipinos

are located. In the meantime, cash

remittances from land-based and seabased workers amounted to $20 billion
and $5.8 billion, respectively.
For the month of December alone,
cash remittances went up by 4.9 percent
year-on-year to $2.5 billion.
The Central Bank also reported
that personal remittances these are
fund transfers that were not captured
by the banking sector increased by
4.4 percent year-on-year to $28.5 billion as of end-December. The estimate
growth also exceeded the forecast of
four percent.
For just December, personal remittances reached $2.7 billion or up 4.9
percent year-on-year.
The sustained growth in personal
remittances during the year was driven
by the steady increase in remittances
from land-based workers with work

contracts of one year or more (by 4.4

percent) and from sea-based and landbased workers with work contracts of
less than one year (by 5.3 percent), said
Tetangco in a statement.
The BSP reported that deployment
of skilled overseas Filipino workers
remained a key factor to the growth in
remittance inflows.
Data from the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA)
showed that the number of deployed
overseas Filipino workers in 2015
reached 1.8 million.
The POEA also reported that approved job orders totaled 835,247, of
which 45 percent have been processed.
These job orders were intended mainly
for service, production, and professional, technical and related workers
in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong.

BOP reverts to deficit in January

By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN

The Central Bank yesterday reported a balance of payments (BOP)

deficit for the month of January of $813
million reversing the previous months
surplus of $481 million.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP) expects the BOP to remain in
surplus this year at $2.2 billion which
will result in higher gross international
reserves of $82.7 billion. The full 2015
BOP was a surplus of $2.616 billion.
The overall BOP position in 2016
is expected to increase to $2.2 billion,
even with the anticipated lower current account surplus compared to the
2015 forecast as this is expected to
be partially offset by a reversal in the

financial account from a projected net

outflow in 2015 to a small net inflow
in 2016, the central bank explained
earlier.
The BSP projects a current account
surplus this year of $5.7 billion.
The GIR is supported by the
strength of the BOP, especially on
the current account side. Overseas
Filipinos remittances is one of the
main sources of foreign exchange on
the current account segment but for
this year, the BSP said they see remittances growth as slowing slightly to
four percent, lower than the previous
forecast of five percent.
The overall BOP position in 2016
is expected to increase to $2.2 billion,
even with the anticipated lower cur-

rent account surplus (compared to the

2015 forecast) as this is expected to
be partially offset by a reversal in the
financial account from a projected net
outflow in 2015 to a small net inflow in
2016, the Central Bank explained.
A BOP deficit occurs when there
are more imports than exports of
goods, ser vices and capital. The
country is reporting a deficit mostly
because of payments of maturing
external obligations and increased
imports to fuel economic growth.
The BOP tally also includes capital
account and financial account. The
BSPs BOP quarterly report normally
includes these data. It has a direct investment account as well as a portfolio
investment account.

The Central Bank said commercial

banks tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent banks, and branches/representative offices abroad increased in 2015
to 5,424, or higher by 13.8 percent than
the end-2014 level.
The increased presence of banks
abroad and the introduction of new
products and services for the benefit of
overseas Filipinos continued to facilitate
the channeling of remittances to the formal channels, said the BSP.
The data on personal remittances
was included in the press statement in
June 2012 only. The BSP defines personal
remittances as the sum of net compensation of employees (gross earnings of
overseas Filipinos less taxes, social contributions, and transportation and travel
expenditures in their host countries) and
personal transfers which

are all current transfers in

B-14

Market and
Investment

0.83%

Philippine Stock Exchange

PSEi: 6,792.06 (-56.81% pts)

Value: R6.524 billion
Volume: 1.600 billion shares
Gainers: 68; Losers: 103
Unchanged: 45
Composite Index (January/February)

ALI earns P17.6 billion,

sets P85-B 2016 capex
By JAMES A. LOYOLA

Property giant Ayala Land, Inc.

(ALI) reported a 19 percent jump in net
income to P17.6 billion last year from
the P14.8 billion it earned in 2014.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, ALI said consolidated
revenues reached P107.2 billion, 13
percent higher than the P95.2 billion it
posted in the previous year.
The growth was attributed to the
sustained performance of the companys property development and leasing businesses, and improved margins
across its product lines.
"We are pleased with the company's
performance in 2015. Our established
and emerging estates provided the
backbone for our sustained growth
while we continue to introduce new estates that will further contribute to it in
the coming years," said ALI president
Bernard Vincent Dy.

A diverse offering of residential and

commercial products is on the rise in
ALIs masterplanned estates all over
the Philippines and has amplified its
presence in key growth centers of the
country.
The company introduced three new
integrated mixed-use estates in 2015.
These are the 11-hectare Cloverleaf in
Quezon City, the nine-hectare Capitol
Central in Bacolod, and the 700-hectare
Vermosa in Cavite.
Revenues from property development, which include the sale of residential lots and units, office spaces, as
well as commercial and industrial lots,
amounted to P67.9 billion in 2015, 10
percent higher than the P61.8 billion
reported in 2014.
The sale of residential lots and units
generated revenues of P58.4 billion, 12
percent higher than the P52.3 billion
posted in 2014, driven by bookings and
project completions across the com-

panys residential brands namely Ayala

Land Premier, Alveo, Avida, Amaia, and
BellaVita. In addition, reservation sales
reached a total of P105.3 billion.
Meanwhile, ALIs revenues from
commercial leasing amounted to P24.5
billion in 2015, 16 percent higher than
the P21.2 billion recorded in the previous year.
ALIs capital expenditures (capex)
reached P82.2 billion in 2015. It has a
projected capex budget of P85.0 billion
for 2016 to support its planned developments, including new estates.
"The company continues to adopt
a positive view of the property market
given the strong economic fundamentals of the country. This year, we will
remain focused on introducing new
projects that will address market demand and continue to work on achieving our growth targets in line with
the objectives set in our 2020 plan,"
Dy said.

Daikin to double PH sales,

seeks market dominance
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

FIRST SNACKS PLANT IN THE COUNTRY Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc.

(PCPPI) inaugurates its first snacks plant in the country located in Cabuyao,
Laguna which will be producing internationally known brands such as Cheetos.
Witnessing the ceremony are executives from Pepsico, headed by Sanjeev
Chadha (3rd from right), Pepsico CEO for Asia, Middle East and North Africa; and
Lotte headed by Yongsang You (2nd from left), PCPPI CEO. (Story on B3)

Daikin, world's leading air cooling

solutions provider, aims to double sales in
the Philippines to P3 billion this year and
be on track to become the country's number one airconditioning brand by 2020 by
aggressively expanding its market reach,
including mainstream marketing in appliance stores.
Jed Caburian, Daikin Philippines
sales operations manager, said Daikin
posted 150 percent average in compounded annual growth rate from 2011
to 2015.
"We are number 1 in terms of growth,"
Caburian said. The Japanese firm, which
focuses on the commercial and industrial
sector, posted its highest sales growth of
160 percent in 2012.
"We have to maintain our average
150 percent annual growth to become
number 1 in 2020," Caburian said.
The value of the local airconditionimg

industry is estimated at P15 billion to

P20 billion a year. Daikin has an estimated P1-billion sales as the market in
the growing but very new VRV product
segment.
To support its ambitious growth
target, Caburian said the company is
implementing five strategic directions
this year.
Foremost, he said, Daikin will accelerate business expansion by opening
more dealerships nationwide to 270 from
240 at present.
Aside from the industrial and commercial establishments like the BPO
buildings, Daikin is targeting the residential sector to shift to its cost efficient
inverter multi-split-type airconditioning
units instead of the window type model.
Daikin seeks to offer the most affordable VRV model, the next generation of
airconditioning technology that allows
direct refrigerant resulting

in as much as 30 percent

B-14

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Business News

B-2

Quality education
will ensure successful
techpreneurs PhilDev
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

Aside from the issues of financing

and connectivity, promoting technology entrepreneurship in the country
requires an education platform that
will guide startups and become successful.
This was the gist at the IDEA
Global Entrepreneurship Symposium
2016, which is now on its third year after it was established by the Philippine
Development Foundation (PhilDev)
following a multi-year co -funding
from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) in
2013. IDEA has continued to conduct
activities to strengthen a science and
technology-based entrepreneurship in
the Philippines.
Dado Banatao, PhilDev chairman,
and managing partner of Tallwood
Venture Capital, stressed that in the
world of techpreneurship one cannot just start easily thus the need to
come up with good professors to guide
startups.
With USAID, PhilDev has already
sent 5 professors and the plan is to
escalate this pool of teachers to 20,
the only question left now is the implementation. With the huge turnout of
students at the IDEA symposium,
Banatao cited the interest from young
techpreneurs.
There is a good number of startups but we dont want to have casualties, he said noting that 9 out 10 of
technology startups failed. He empha-

sized though that in most cases, the

high rate of failure among startups is
largely due to the fact that they are
there to innovate things that are not
done before.
So the value of knowledge is more
important than money because if the
big issue is only money, then only the
big corporations can take advantage of
the Internet of things, he said.
Quality education is important
to inspire young people to develop
innovative solutions to the countrys
problems, he said. These innovations
can persuade them to go into entrepreneurship where they can have a
powerful, positive impact on national
economic development.
Banatao said that failure among
tech startups is really high because
they are treading in an entirely new
and untested market segment. Thus,
what is important is to resolve local
market problems first and eventually
the global market because the size
of the opportunities in technology is
infinite.
To really analyze our local market
needs, we might need help from the
Asian Institute of Management and
once the analysis on market segments
on innovation then we can partner with
experts so forget about design because
market understanding is the first most
important thing, he said.
He noted a data by Google that
only one percent of the small and medium enterprises in the Philippines is
digitized.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Aged wine tastes the sweetest

up (Feb. 21).
My mom is just really a great fan
of yours.
Best regards,
Hilary

EXPORT ACTION
LINE
NELLY FAVISVILLAFUERTE

any readers of this column as well as my other

column appearing on Sundays (Gentle Breeze) in
this newspaper are fifty (50) years old
and above.
Today, I would like to extend my
special birthday greetings to Mary Ang
of 207 D. Tuazon St., Sta. Mesa Heights,
Quezon City, one of my readers whose
52nd birthday is tomorrow, February 21,
2016. Hilary, Marys daughter wrote me
recently this encouraging letter:Hi Nelly,
I just wanted to write to you to
share that how much my mom loves
your column (health and wellness on
Saturdays and spiritual on Sundays
from what I gathered). She reads them
religiously every weekend and never
fails to take a photo and send the photo
to me, other family members, and her
friends. Last week, she forwarded the
article about the benefits of apple cider
vinegar and asked my sister who lives
in the US to bring some ACV home.
I believe, Mary Ang, my mom, also
wrote to you before when she requested
for the book, God's Final Jubilee, which she loved and
devoured within 2 weeks
despite her busy schedule.
Her 52nd birthday is coming

I am privileged indeed to have

readers of my weekly columns who are
middle age and older people. I am really
blessed. People who are aging gracefully
and joyfully; people who enjoy interacting with others; and who have not lost
their sense of wonderment, curiosity,
enthusiasm and zest for life. They are
still alert. Bless their souls that they are
not suffering from Alzheimers disease.
Instead of counting years, they count and
increase their experiences as they age.
As we all know aging is an inevitable
part of our life. Although we can have an
antiaging regimen based on exercise,
nutrition, dietary supplement and/or
other lifestyle factors to slow down the
aging process. However, we cannot stop
the process of aging.
The good news is that we can have
longer life span than our parents and
grandparents because today we are
more informed and have better access
to better medical treatment; eat more
healthy food; and health benefits of
physical activity and exercise. It is no
longer a surprise that we see eighty or
even ninety years old people who are still
energetic and in good health who are
enjoying life, And more. They look as if
they are in their forties or fifties.
Today, many scientists say that the
maximum life span of human being is 120
years. Other scientists say that this longevity record can be broken anytime in
the same way that runners break earlier
speed records of winning runners.
There is a case of a Frenchwoman
Jeanne Louise Calment who smoked
French cigarettes until she was 122
years old. Indeed, this is an amazing
life span record. Considering too, that

SSS cites improved

collection efficiency
By CHINO S. LEYCO

Contrary to claims by one

lawmaker, state pension fund
Social Security System (SSS)

clarified that contribution collection

efficiency has improved in the past
several years.
Marissu G. Bugante, SSS vicepresident for public affairs, said that

she is a smoker. Probably there must be

something in the life of this French lady
that resulted in her long life span.
Many of us are familiar with the
fabled Fountain of Youth that the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was
looking for. Sadly, to date there is yet no
fountain of youth or elixir of youth or a so
called Youth Pill that will immediately
remove or erase the symptoms of age
as if the process of aging stopped.
Today, there are many theories on
why we age. On why our bodies and
minds deteriorate on a daytoday basis. Whatever theory we adhere to, we
should always remember that the aging
process begins the moment we are born
and continues until we die. Our human
bodies function like a machine with the
difference that the human body operates every second of every minute of
every hour. In the end, the human body
eventually wears out the change of
our physical bodies as we grow older as
well as the deterioration of our internal
organs.
Let me end with a beautiful passage
about growing older:It is the old apple trees that are
decked with the loveliest blossoms.
It is the ancient redwoods that rise to
majestic heights. It is the old violins
that produce the richest tones. It is the
aged wine that tastes the sweetest. It
is ancient coins, stamps and furniture
that people seek. It is the old friends
that are loved the best. Thank God for
the blessings of age and the wisdom,
patience and maturity that go with it.
Old is wonderful!
Beautiful people are acts of nature,
it has been said, but beautiful old people
are works of art. (Reference: Life Support System by Steve Goodier)
Have a joyful day! (For comments/
reactions please send to Ms. Villafuertes email: villafuerte_nelly@
yahoo.com).
their collection efficiency stood at 90
percent as of end-2014, not 40 percent
as computed by Bayan Muna Rep. Neri
J. Colmenares.
According to Bugante, Colmenares
simple calculation is unreasonable as
it did not consider SSS members who
have lost their jobs and those who no
longer have the capacity to pay.
The alleged collection efficiency,
often cited by Congressman Colmenares, is what we call coverage ratio,
computed as the number of actively
paying members at 12 million over the
total members of SSS at 33 million,
Bugante said.
The 12 million refers to the members who regularly pay their contributions while the 33 million comprise
the total membership of SSS, which
includes those who only paid once and
those who pay intermittently, she
added.
Contrary to Colmenares computation, Bugante said collection efficiency
should be defined as the amount of
contributions that SSS has collected
versus the collectible amount.
This is computed by dividing contributions by the collectible amount,
the SSS official said.
In 2013, SSS contribution collections
stood at P103.1 billion against the collectibles of P116.6 billion. Therefore,
SSS collection efficiency in 2013 was at
88 percent.
This ratio improved in 2014, as
contributions further increased to
P120.65 billion from P103.1 billion which
resulted in almost 90 percent collection
efficiency.
This shows that SSS has improved
its contribution collections from members in the last several years, Bugante
claimed.
After 12 years when benefit payments outpaced contributions collected, SSS once more experienced
contribution surplus starting 2012. In
October, 2015, the contribution surplus
amounted to P9.9 billion, Bugante
said.
This indicates that members contributions are more than enough to pay
out benefits and operating expenses
without dipping into the investment
income, she added.
Prior to 2012, contribution collection
alone was not sufficient to pay benefits,
and the SSS had to dip into the investment income to cover the deficit.
We would also like to inform you
that we are seriously pursuing cases
against erring employers to protect our
SSS members from such violations that
prevent them from enjoying the full SSS
benefits due them, Bugante said.
Since 2010, the pension fund sued
over 7,000 employers for failure to report employees for SSS coverage and
refusal to remit the monthly contributions of workers.
Of these, nearly 80 percent settled
their delinquencies with SSS before trial
ensued while 25 were convicted and
were sentenced to a jail term of up to 12
years on top of fines and penalties.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

Business News

Twitter is bullish on PH
T
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA

witter is bullish on the Philippines, one of the companys

fastest-growing markets in
2015, although up to now it
still has no immediate plans to set up
office here.
The Philippines, one of the largest social media markets in the world,
has been an amazing success story for
Twitter in 2015, confirmed Richard Alfonsi, Twitters Vice President of Global
Online Sales.
The company yesterday launched
its #TwitterCityPH in the Philippines,

the first in the Asia Pacific region, at

the Mind Museum in Taguig, Metro
Manila.
The #TwitterCityPH is a temporary
experiential space that shows Twitter
is the live connection to culture and
how Filipinos' passions -- faith, sports,
TV, food, entertainment, politics -- have
been discovered, shared, and enjoyed
more with Tweets.
Last year, Filipinos put out over 3.3
million local Tweets for the Popes visit
in January.
Over 2.7 billion global views of
Tweets related to the Manny Pacquiao
vs Floyd Mayweather fight in May

2015.
More than 41 million global Tweets
dealt with the AlDub charity concert
in October, 2015, in addition to the 1-2
million daily Tweets about the Aldub
social TV sensation.
Yaya Dubs Tweet had over 76,000
Retweets and was viewed nearly 2.4
million times on Twitter.
Nearly 700,000 global Tweets were
recorded for APEC Summit held in
Manila in Nov., 2015.
For Miss Philippines win at the
Miss Universe Pageant in Dec., 2015,
there was over 6.7 million global
Tweets.

DOE may seek CSP exemption

on election-critical power contracts
By MYRNA M. VELASCO

With several power supply agreements (PSAs) getting delayed approvals

due to the mandatory competitive selection process (CSP), the Department
of Energy (DOE) indicated that it may
seek exemption for those that may prove
critical to electricity service during the
election period.
If it is needed, then we will seek
for exemption, but only for contracts
that will be critical to power service in
electoral precincts, Energy Secretary
Zenaida Y. Monsada has noted.
Nevertheless, she qualified this will
be done in coordination with the Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC), which

has now the mandate on the CSP when

it comes to rate regulation.
Monsada stressed that since the
ERC is part of the task force ensuring
stable power supply during the polling
period, it will be correspondingly apprised with the inventory which particular electric cooperatives or distribution
utilities will be affected.
The ERC previously issued to media
the list of various DUs and power generation companies seeking exemptions
on varied reasons.
It has to be culled though that some
of them are batting for exemption for
their short-term power deals as well as
the contracts already nearing expiration if only to sustain supply in their

respective service areas.

Other contracts are those already
signed prior to the November 6 cut-off
date prescribed for the CSP mandate.
The initial response of the industry
regulator is to deny exemption pleas, but
it indicated that price challenge may be
allowed based on a resolution that will
be issued soon.
The CSP is a supply tendering
scheme that intends to inject transparency in the power purchases of DUs,
a policy that both the DOE and ERC
opined to be beneficial for the Filipino
consumers. Given the sudden implementation of the policy though, there are
power supply contracts already getting
affected in the process.

UnionBank taps Lendr to boost retail loans

By CHINO S. LEYCO

UnionBank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has tapped a multi-channel, telcoand bank-agnostic platform to boost
retail loan growth.
Salary, personal, automotive, housing, and other customer loan availments
will soon be within reach through mobile
devices as UnionBank and Voyager Innovations, Inc. (Voyager) collaborated
to offer the banks retail loans portfolio
through Lendr.
Lendr is a fully digital, multi-channel,
telco- and bank-agnostic platform that
financial institutions and credit providers can use to reach consumers planning
to avail themselves of loans through a
single online marketplace."
In the fast-growing digital economy,
innovation is the name of the game, and
we are glad that UnionBank is seeing
the vast opportunity for growth through
digital lending with the help of Lendr,
Manuel V. Pangilinan, Voyager chairman, said.
Voyager is the digital innovations

arm of Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Smart Telecom.
We are excited to work hand in hand
to bring the best of Voyagers FinTech
innovations and UnionBanks robust
lending portfolio together for the benefit of Filipino consumers nationwide,
Pangilinan added.
Through Lendr, UnionBank expects
to boost its retail loans portfolio and
further extend its margins in consumer
lending.
Technology, innovation and partnering have always been at the heart
of UnionBanks DNA, Justo A. Ortiz,
UnionBank chairman and chief executive said.
Banks need to compete with FinTechs but also need to collaborate with
FinTechs, think and act like a FinTech
and even transform into a FinTech
in order to make a difference for our
customers and other stakeholders, he
added.
Considered a blue ocean opportunity for the banking sector, digital lending through online loans marketplaces

like Lendr is fast becoming a priority as

banks look for new opportunities.
In an increasingly digital and mobiledriven banking landscape, partnership
with financial technology or FinTech
innovations is the key to successfully
transitioning to digital banking.
Through Lendr, UnionBank will be
able to reach untapped markets without
having to set aside huge capital outlays
or undergo mergers and acquisitions.
Customers will now be able to see
and sign up for the banks various loan
offerings via SMS, the mobile app, and
online with the help ofLendr.
We are excited to be working with
Voyager, one of the best FinTechs in
town. Collaborating with FinTechs is a
key pillar of Unionbanks digital transformation strategy,said Unionbank
President and COO Edwin R. Bautista.
Lendr is expected to change the
landscape for consumer loan lending
not only in the Philippines but also in key
growth and emerging markets through
this marketplace approach.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng

Saturday, February 20, 2016

B-3

Pepsi starts snacks

production in Laguna
By JAMES A. LOYOLA

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines,

Inc. (PCPPI) has inaugurated its newest manufacturing facility in Cabuyao,
Laguna signalling the companys first
foray into snacks manufacturing in the
country.
We are delighted with this opportunity to produce internationally-renowned
snacks products for the Philippine market, as we move towards our vision of
becoming a premier food and beverage
company in the Philippines, said PCPPI
president Furqan Ahmed Syed.
Construction for the Cabuyao Snacks
Plant started in March, 2015 and is designed to be a world-class foods manufacturing facility, fully compliant with
the quality and safety standards set
internationally by Pepsico.
Located within the Light Industrial

Science Park, the plant has a land area

of 9,800 sqm. It will initially produce
Cheetos branded snacks for the local
market.
The creation of the snacks-andbeverage franchise operations in the
Philippines reflects PepsiCos ongoing
drive to ensure the integration of its food
and beverage portfolio across multiple
platforms, including manufacturing and
go-to-market execution.
Were pleased to share the exciting
variants of Cheetos at affordable price
points and within reach of the snackloving Filipino consumers, said PCPPI
vice president for Corporate Affairs &
Communications Jika Dalupan.
She added that, by pairing our tasty
snacks with our refreshing drinks, we
are bringing together food and beverage brands that truly work better
together.

Lamudi Global allocates

bulk of fresh funding to PH
Lamudi Global, a company backed
by giant start-up incubator Rocket
Internet, has allotted bulk of its fresh
funding to the Philippines, which is
now the groups number one focused
country as it experiences simultaneous
growth in e-commerce and real estate
industry.
Lamudi is an online real estate platform that was brought to the Philippines
in 2014 and has now more than 200,000
property listings.
Jacqueline Van Den Ende, founder
and managing director of Lamudi
Philippines, Inc., said that out of the 34
countries where Lamudi Global is, its
operations in the Philippines will get
most of the fresh funding of $34 million
that the international company had
recently obtained.
Van Den Ende did not say the exact
amount that they got, but she emphasized that the bulk of entire fund was
set aside to grow Lamudis operations
in the Philippines.
We have raised $31.4-million massive funding for Lamudi Global worldwide in 2015. We are now in 34 countries.
This will be invested in marketing, scaling up operations, technology, among
others. Right now, Philippines is the
number one focused country for Lamudi
Global, Van Den Ende said.
According to her, Philippines is the

perfect company to invest in when it

comes to e-commerce business because
the country is now moving online and
there are a lot of real estate companies
that have started to scale up their
investments in boosting their online
presence.
For this year, we want to expand
our dominant position. As of now, we
have already captured 55 percent of total
online real estate market. One of the key
things that we would like to focus on is
to grow our listing base. We want to ensure that every single property for sale
in the country is listed in our website,
Van Den Ende said in an interview with
reporters.
Aside from this, Lamudi Philippines
will also use some of the fresh funds to
strengthen its partnerships with real
estate brokers and companies; to set up
technology and business model innovations; to increase market transparency
through research.
Van Den Ende said the company will
be launching a couple of tech innovation within this year.
Last year, Lamudi Global sealed its
first-ever acquisition and it was done
here in the Philippines.
The company had acquired Get Sold
Corp., which owns real estate classified
website MyProperty.ph.
The acquisition formed part of the
$18-million funding that Lamudi Global
group has received in February, 2015.

Pilipinas, consumer lending has grown

20 percent year-on-year to reach P959.2
billion in the second quarter of 2015.
"We expect more bank and financial
institution partners to come on board

for Lendr as we get ready to offer the

service to consumers this year. Lendr
is making consumer lending 'alwayson' and always-connected, concluded
Villanueva.

By MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

yesterday

Business News

B-4

Saturday, February 20, 2016

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE

FEBRUARY 19, 2016
52 Weeks
HIGH LOW

STOCKS

PAR
VALUE

2012 PREV
EPS CLOSE

OPEN

HIGH

LOW CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

PE
RATIO

****BANKS****
74.8
124.4
107
48.45
27.4
100
20.8
84.5
108.1
175
48
180
71

43
90.5
80
33.5
15.82
67.3
14
43
85
100
29.25
119.5
49.8

8.9
2.82
2.7
17
10.4
2.95
0.88
854
361.2
1,560.00
3.4

1.96
1.11
2.15
13.9
6.12
1.02
0.35
560
232
1,000.00
1.42

2.36
47
9.13
31.3
109
6.4
343.8
32.5
10.64
4.4
2.58
25.5

1.11
38.4
5.14
17.6
50.8
2.25
260.4
20
5.22
2.95
1.65
20.1

5.2
200
20.6
14
23.15
11.9
1.14
229.8
49.35
31.7
209.8
5
6.08
0.237
234
0.84
4.94

1.11
71.55
14.78
9.48
6.77
6.8
0.57
175.5
23.6
12.96
112.1
2.89
3.3
0.128
170
0.55
4.1

15.3
68
3.16
10.78
15.08
8.43
15
2.2
1.6

8.1
30.3
1.15
4.54
12
5.1
10.5
0.8
0.9

3.33
2.89
3.45
6.94
4.5

1.5
1.3
1.69
1.52
1

65.8
7.08
4.18
4.47
3
36

37
4.8
0.43
3.5
1.29
17.4

2.95

1.55

0.495
823.5
59.2
27.95
7.25
1.49
3.13
9.78
15.96
4.92
7.7
0.48
1,455.00
7.5
9.96
76
0.91
9.25
16.98
0.7
6.09
0.058
2.54
1.48
974
78.7
1.1
3.2
148
0.71
0.28
0.355

0.265
600
50.05
12.6
5.81
0.82
0.171
6.35
10.4
2.26
2.73
0.173
1,120.00
5.18
4.9
56.9
0.5
5.03
9.79
0.45
4.2
0.026
0.67
0.97
728
43.5
0.61
2.05
62.9
0.225
0.161
0.2

0.31
41.4
1.53
4.51
1.21
0.166
5.59
0.98
0.66
26
1.02
2.1
1.71
10.5
1.58
1.62
5.94
0.147
0.375
9.44
33.25
0.64
1.86
1.02
23.2
1.75
8.59

0.18
27.2
1.03
2.08
0.55
0.098
4.2
0.4
0.35
7.64
0.67
1.32
0.82
6
1.09
0.81
3
0.069
0.195
5.89
22.8
0.26
1.3
0.64
18.1
0.65
3.54

68.1
7.6
0.79
95.5

53
5.96
0.48
3.1

2,720.00
5.2
3,200.00

1,650.00
1.93
1,886.00

7.4
1.88
0.405
1.29
2.3
28.5
5.2

4
1.11
0.25
0.4
1.4
12.5
1.22

11.6
99.5
114
2.5
6.21
1.97

5.05
74
55
1.8
3
1.1

1.36
0.121
2.05

1
0.036
1.6

12
1,200.00
12.5
0.74

8
830
9.8
0.36

12.42
0.017
21

2.9
0.01
16.52

44.9
44.9
44.8
44.85
7,800
349,550
102
102
99.95
101
2,227,410 224,464,500.50
90.6
90.6
90.35
90.4
1,473,330
133,281,264
36
36.5
36
36
43,700
1,573,300
16.6
16.6
16.5
16.5
70,000
1,158,050
79.4
79.4
78.4
79.05
2,691,200 212,602,586.50
15.1
15.1
15
15
182,200
2,736,670
51.2
52.85
51.2
52.4
36,980
1,915,180
96.9
97.4
96.9
96.9
6,500
629,875
-
-
-
-
0
0
34.3
34.5
34
34.1
40,200
1,376,935
144
144
141
141.7
128,750
18,270,943
56
56
55
55.6
63,140
3,515,774

**** OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
****
**** OTHER
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
****

1.00
0.13
2.9
2.9
2.98
2.89
2.93
132,000
386,090
AG FINANCE
0.55 -0.00009
1.48
1.48
1.48
1.4
1.4
77,000
108,340
BRIGHT KINDLE
1.00
0.23
2.51
2.52
2.7
2.52
2.6
79,000
200,190
BDO LEASING
1.00
0.56
14.18
14.3
14.3
14.02
14.2
27,700
391,500
COL FINANCIAL
1.00
0.38
6.62
6.62
6.65
6.62
6.65
3,400
22,568
FILIPINO FUND
1.00
0.02
1.7
1.74
1.78
1.7
1.78
67,000
118,180
IREMIT
1.00
-0.01
0.48
0.495
0.5
0.48
0.48
910,000
442,750
MEDCO HLDG
0.00
1.82
560
566
566
566
566
20
11,320
MANULIFE
1.00
11.81
272
273.8
275
267
274.6
1,930
527,832
PHIL STOCK EXCH
0.00
115.81 1,325.00
1,350
1,350
1,315
1,315
115
152,325
SUN LIFE
1.00
0.26
1.46
1.47
1.49
1.47
1.49
7,000
10,410
VANTAGE

**** ELECTRICITY, ENERGY,
POWER & WATER **** ENERGY, POWER
**** ELECTRICITY,
&
WATER
****


1.00
0.06
1.46
1.43
1.46
1.42
1.46
427,000
614,280
ALSONS CONS
1.00
2.27
42.55
42.55
43
42.5
42.95
1,629,900
69,923,315
ABOITIZ POWER
1.00
0.62
5.7
5.71
5.94
5.7
5.82
15,911,400
92,858,684
ENERGY DEVT
1.00
0.05
20.3
20.25
21.2
19.52
21.1
13,658,500
286,011,576
FIRST GEN
10.00
10.1
58
58.95
60.1
58.7
59.9
517,530
30,820,780
FIRST PHIL HLDG
1.00
0.19
3.19
3.2
3.2
3.19
3.19
3,000
9,590
PHIL H2O
10.00
16.02
322
321
322
320
320.2
106,780
34,192,550
MERALCO
1.00
2.36
26.5
26.5
26.9
26.5
26.8
436,700
11,693,030
MANILA WATER
1.00
-0.15
8.95
8.94
9.28
8.85
9.2
19,589,000
179,221,411
PETRON
1.00
0.4
3.75
3.73
3.75
3.62
3.75
746,000
2,796,230
PHX PETROLEUM
1.00
0.04
2.1
2.13
2.13
2.1
2.11
1,454,000
3,058,310
TA OIL
1.00
1.32
22.5
22.5
22.5
22.5
22.5
3,000
67,500
VIVANT

**** FOOD, BEVERAGE & TOBACCO
****
**** FOOD,
BEVERAGE &
TOBACCO ****

1.00
-2.01
4.77
4.79
5
4.79
5
4,391,000
21,600,780
AGRINURTURE
10.00
4.29
190
200
200
200
200
90
18,000
CNTRL AZUCARERA
1.00
0.76
17.36
17.34
17.58
17
17.52
192,400
3,354,242
CENTURY FOOD
0.01
1.24
11.52
11.6
11.6
11.38
11.4
57,700
658,434
DEL MONTE
1.00
0.76
8.6
8.6
8.66
8.49
8.5
12,875,900
110,481,895
DNL INDUS
1.00
0.41
7.3
7.3
7.31
7.29
7.3
2,360,600
17,224,656
EMPERADOR
1.00
-0.01
0.69
0.69
0.69
0.69
0.69
98,000
67,620
ALLIANCE SELECT
1.00
5.08
220
220
220
217.6
217.8
1,864,110
406,231,812
JOLLIBEE
10.00
7.46
27.15
27.15
27.15
27.15
27.15
1,300
35,295
LIBERTY FLOUR
1.00
-0.05
15.76
15.76
15.8
15.5
15.5
2,305,600
35,825,276
MAXS GROUP
10.00
16.11
134.5
134
143
134
143
42,210
6,027,308
PUREFOODS
0.15
0.22
3.11
3.15
3.3
3.12
3.25
2,990,000
9,691,290
PEPSI COLA
1.00
0.25
3.78
3.78
3.78
3.75
3.75
60,000
225,390
RFM CORP
1.00
-0.003
0.153
0.153
0.157
0.151
0.151
3,710,000
574,160
SWIFT FOODS
1.00
5.3
190
190
190.1
187
188.2
1,853,070
348,852,551
UNIV ROBINA
1.00
0.21
0.64
0.65
0.66
0.63
0.63
1,836,000
1,163,470
VITARICH
1.00
0.4
4.71
4.88
4.88
4.7
4.7
17,000
80,260
VICTORIAS

**** CONSTRUCTION,
& ALLIED SERVICES
****
**** CONSTRUCTION,
INFRASTRUCTURE & INFRASTRUCTURE
ALLIED SERVICES ****

1.00
-0.003
10.3
10.3
10.3
10.1
10.1
200
2,040
ASIABEST GROUP
10.00
0.56
40
45
55
45
55
400
19,500
CONCRETE A
0.02
-0.002
2.27
2.27
2.29
2.16
2.19
4,381,000
9,624,970
DAVINCI CAPITAL
1.00
0.89
6.5
6.5
6.76
6.49
6.75
1,806,800
12,131,350
EEI CORP
1.00
0.8
13.96
13.9
13.98
13.9
13.98
4,300
60,042
HOLCIM
1.00
0.34
5.8
5.81
5.88
5.8
5.8
31,700
183,912
MEGAWIDE
10.00
0.95
11.48
11.38
11.38
11.38
11.38
1,000
11,380
PHINMA
1.00
-0.23
1.07
1.06
1.06
1.01
1.01
43,000
43,520
TKC METALS
1.00
-0.01
1.03
1.03
1.04
1.03
1.04
68,000
70,150
VULCAN INDL

**** CHEMICALS ****
**** CHEMICALS
****

0.00
1
2.06
2.05
2.06
2.03
2.06
819,000
1,677,700
CROWN ASIA
1.00
0.05
1.79
-
-
-
-
0
0
EUROMED
1.00
-0.01
1.8
1.85
1.9
1.85
1.9
12,000
22,550
LMG CHEMICALS
1.00
0.12
3
3.37
3.37
3.37
3.37
2,000
6,740
MABUHAY VINYL
1.00
0.15
2.82
2.85
2.85
2.7
2.7
772,000
2,136,960
PRYCE CORP

**** ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
& EQUIPMENT ****
**** ELECTRICAL
COMPONENTS
& EQUIPMENT ****


1.00
1.88
39.55
39.1
39.3
39.1
39.3
6,100
239,450
CONCEPCION
1.00
0.75
5.56
5.46
5.54
5.45
5.53
68,400
376,508
INTEGRATED MICR
1.00
0.05
2.35
2.35
2.38
2.3
2.3
1,786,000
4,141,010
IONICS
1.00
0.39
4
3.95
3.95
3.95
3.95
16,000
63,200
PANASONIC
1.00
0.39
1.47
1.48
1.58
1.48
1.56
1,014,000
1,564,590
PHX SEMICNDCTR
1.00
0.89
18.52
18.52
18.72
18.22
18.22
171,100
3,152,060
CIRTEK HLDG

**** OTHER INDUSTRIALS
****
**** OTHER INDUSTRIALS ****


1.00
0.02
2.45
2.46
2.46
2.39
2.4
226,000
542,580
SPLASH CORP

**** HOLDING FIRMS
****
**** HOLDING FIRMS ****


1.00
0.05
0.33
0.345
0.345
0.325
0.325
290,000
94,650
ABACORE CAPITAL
50.00
29.83
695
690.5
695
688.5
693.5
217,310
150,815,215
AYALA CORP
1.00
3.32
57.9
57.95
58.35
57
57.3
827,230
47,735,671
ABOITIZ EQUITY
1.00
1.31
14.62
14.66
14.8
14.6
14.6
9,470,800
138,687,784
ALLIANCE GLOBAL
1.00
1.63
6
6
6.01
6
6.01
1,331,500
7,989,025
ANSCOR
1.00
0.31
1.05
0.95
1.07
0.95
1.07
10,000
9,860
ANGLO PHIL HLDG
0.10
10.3
0.24
0.244
0.244
0.231
0.231
160,000
37,340
ATN HLDG A
1.00
0.54
7.35
7.36
7.43
7.2
7.23
2,382,900
17,348,196
COSCO CAPITAL
1.00
0.81
12
12
12.4
11.98
12.3
5,608,000
68,923,764
DMCI HLDG
1.00
0.4
4.7
4.75
4.75
4.75
4.75
53,000
251,750
FILINVEST DEV
1.00
0.2
5
4.85
4.85
4.85
4.85
14,000
67,900
FJ PRINCE A
1.00
-0.02
0.225
0.236
0.255
0.23
0.232
3,010,000
712,780
FORUM PACIFIC
10.00
52.51 1,265.00
1,270
1,270
1,255
1,260
134,980
170,271,070
GT CAPITAL
1.50
2.01
5.62
5.61
5.61
5.61
5.61
6,500
36,465
HOUSE OF INV
1.00
0.09
9.6
9.5
9.79
9.41
9.79
3,208,000
31,403,730
IPM HLDG
1.00
2.6
69.9
69
69.9
68.5
69
1,358,930
93,776,866
JG SUMMIT
0.10
-0.003
0.67
0.68
0.68
0.66
0.66
15,000
10,050
LODESTAR
1.00
0.88
5.3
5.39
5.63
5.33
5.57
24,062,500
133,163,909
LOPEZ HLDG
1.00
0.41
16.46
16.5
16.5
16.18
16.3
1,751,500
28,554,170
LT GROUP
1.00
0.05
0.485
0.485
0.485
0.48
0.48
100,000
48,050
MABUHAY HLDG
1.00
0.31
5.85
5.85
6.09
5.83
5.9
81,999,000
489,892,482
METRO PAC INV
0.01 -0.00003
0.031
0.03
0.031
0.03
0.03
16,700,000
502,200
PACIFICA
1.00
0.09
2.21
2.21
2.27
2.2
2.22
7,022,000
15,721,170
PRIME ORION
1.00
0.07
1.06
1.06
1.06
1.06
1.06
10,000
10,600
SOLID GROUP
10.00
35.66
845
845.5
850
823
827
209,250
173,764,045
SM INVESTMENTS
5.00
3.61
73.1
71.7
72.2
71.35
71.35
450,140
32,271,702
SAN MIGUEL CORP
1.00
-0.04
0.81
0.78
0.78
0.78
0.78
43,000
33,540
SOC RESOURCES
1.00
0.02
2.3
2.44
2.44
2.44
2.44
1,000
2,440
SEAFRONT RES
1.00
10.17
148
147
147.5
144.9
144.9
102,830
14,980,671
TOP FRONTIER
1.00
-0.002
0.295
0.3
0.305
0.29
0.29
4,130,000
1,211,600
UNIOIL HLDG
1.00
-0.01
0.215
0.21
0.22
0.202
0.202
480,000
99,020
WELLEX INDUS
1.00
-0.0003
0.31
0.31
0.315
0.31
0.31
100,000
31,100
ZEUS HLDG

**** PROPERTY
****
**** PROPERTY ****

0.18
0.04
0.218
0.217
0.217
0.217
0.217
40,000
8,680
ARTHALAND CORP
1.00
1.05
32
31.9
31.9
31.15
31.35
7,551,100
236,897,575
AYALA LAND
1.00
0.04
1.4
1.42
1.43
1.33
1.4
505,000
702,820
ARANETA PROP
1.00
0.22
3.05
3.06
3.1
2.96
3.01
6,875,000
20,767,590
BELLE CORP
1.00
0.001
0.84
0.84
0.89
0.83
0.86
3,968,000
3,461,860
A BROWN
0.10
0.001
0.115
0.117
0.118
0.116
0.116
400,000
46,720
CROWN EQUITIES
1.00
0.28
4.45
4.75
4.75
4.69
4.7
21,000
98,730
CEBU HLDG
0.53
0.19
0.55
0.55
0.57
0.54
0.57
3,320,000
1,849,700
CENTURY PROP
1.00
-0.04
0.435
0.43
0.43
0.42
0.42
660,000
281,000
CYBER BAY
0.10
0.28
24
24
24.1
23.7
23.85
413,200
9,852,530
DOUBLEDRAGON
1.00
0.03
0.83
0.84
0.85
0.83
0.83
222,000
184,380
EMPIRE EAST
1.00
0.19
1.54
1.54
1.55
1.53
1.55
23,193,000
35,740,300
FILINVEST LAND
1.00
0.07
0.92
0.91
0.92
0.91
0.91
930,000
852,090
GLOBAL ESTATE
1.50
0.62
7
6.98
7.06
6.98
6.98
213,000
1,492,513
8990 HLDG
1.00
0.05
1.24
1.24
1.24
1.24
1.24
190,000
235,600
IRC PROP
1.00
0.09
0.96
0.98
1
0.94
0.94
62,000
60,730
CITY AND LAND
1.00
0.67
3.47
3.5
3.5
3.42
3.46
26,767,000
92,791,610
MEGAWORLD
0.20
-0.01
0.091
0.091
0.091
0.087
0.09
1,180,000
103,650
MRC ALLIED
1.00
0.01
0.23
0.23
0.23
0.23
0.23
620,000
142,600
PHIL ESTATES
1.00
0.01
8.39
8.43
8.45
8.39
8.39
21,600
181,815
PRIMEX CORP
1.00
1.16
26
26
26.7
25.45
26
2,548,100
66,861,145
ROBINSONS LAND
1.00
0.02
0.4
0.4
0.405
0.38
0.395
220,000
87,500
PHIL REALTY
1.00
0.26
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.49
1.49
71,000
106,250
ROCKWELL
1.00
0.07
0.76
0.75
0.76
0.75
0.76 100,362,000
75,273,970
STA LUCIA LAND
1.00
0.66
21.4
21.4
21.4
21.05
21.1
8,016,800
169,607,945
SM PRIME HLDG
1.00
0.01
0.97
0.99
0.99
0.94
0.94
1,696,000
1,606,770
SUNTRUST HOME
1.00
0.67
4.4
4.48
4.51
4.39
4.45
4,198,000
18,704,190
VISTA LAND

**** MEDIA ****
**** MEDIA ****

1.00
2.87
54.5
54.5
55
54.3
54.3
53,390
2,908,800
ABS CBN
1.00
0.21
6.81
6.8
6.83
6.68
6.68
86,900
588,446
GMA NETWORK
1.00
0.03
0.56
0.56
0.56
0.52
0.56
17,000
9,480
MANILA BULLETIN
1.00
0.33
29
25.9
25.9
25.9
25.9
4,000
103,600
MLA BRDCASTING

****
**** TELECOMMUNICATIONS **** **** TELECOMMUNICATIONS

50.00
100.6 1,879.00
1,879
1,879
1,835
1,840
51,305
95,331,565
GLOBE TELECOM
1.00
-0.14
4.02
4
4.02
3.9
4.02
679,000
2,684,500
LIBERTY TELECOM
5.00
157.51 2,278.00
2,284
2,312
2,228
2,246
157,245
353,355,980
PLDT

****
****
**** INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
****INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

1.00
-0.74
5.96
5.8
5.9
5.75
5.9
49,300
285,900
DFNN INC
1.00
-0.31
1.22
1.23
1.27
1.18
1.2
4,105,000
4,958,890
ISM COMM
1.00
-0.004
0.255
0.265
0.265
0.265
0.265
180,000
47,700
MG HLDG
1.00
0.03
0.73
0.74
0.76
0.72
0.73
10,711,000
7,973,940
NOW CORP
1.00
-0.03
1.51
1.51
1.51
1.51
1.51
3,000
4,530
TRANSPACIFIC BR
1.00
0.77
27
27
27
26.95
27
36,200
977,390
PHILWEB
1.00
0.01
4.93
4.92
5.02
4.5
4.9
239,000
1,176,890
YEHEY CORP
********TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES ****
**** TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

1.00
0.34
6.45
6.45
6.5
6.45
6.5
51,300
331,483
2GO GROUP
1.00
1.41
83
82
82.95
81.7
82.55
250,600
20,671,576
CEBU AIR
1.00
0.08
58.9
59.9
59.9
58.85
59.35
2,879,830
170,925,130
INTL CONTAINER
1.00
0.09
2.4
2.33
2.55
2.3
2.5
117,000
288,430
MACROASIA
1.00
0.01
4.5
4.6
4.6
4.6
4.6
1,000
4,600
PAL HLDG
1.00
0.21
1.22
1.17
1.19
1.17
1.19
71,000
83,960
HARBOR STAR

**** HOTEL & LEISURE ****
*** HOTEL & LEISURE
****

1.00
0.13
1.17
1.18
1.18
1.18
1.18
6,000
7,080
ACESITE HOTEL
0.10
-0.001
0.051
0.051
0.051
0.049
0.051
36,540,000
1,835,320
BOULEVARD HLDG
1.00
0.16
2
1.48
1.48
1.48
1.48
74,000
109,520
DISCOVERY WORLD

**** EDUCATION
****

* ** EDUCATION ****
1.00
0.81
10
-
-
-
-
0
0
CENTRO ESCOLAR
100.00
62.27
955
957
958
957
958
310
296,680
FAR EASTERN U
1.00
0.93
11.4
11.74
11.74
11.74
11.74
100
1,174
IPEOPLE
0.50
0.07
0.46
0.46
0.475
0.46
0.475
1,640,000
757,200
STI HLDG

**** CASINOS & GAMING ****
**** CASINOS & GAMING
****

1.00
0.38
4.52
4.5
4.58
4.23
4.27
11,045,000
47,800,570
BLOOMBERRY
0.01
-0.001
0.011
0.0097 0.0097 0.0097
0.0097
2,000,000
19,400
IP EGAME
1.00
1.29
18.28
18.08
18.08
18.08
18.08
400
7,232
PACIFIC ONLINE
ASIA UNITED
BDO UNIBANK
BANK PH ISLANDS
CHINABANK
EAST WEST BANK
METROBANK
PB BANK
PHIL NATL BANK
PSBANK
PHILTRUST
RCBC
SECURITY BANK
UNION BANK

10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
20.00
10.00
40.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00

7.8
6.27
4.62
3.08
1.84
7.15
1.1
4.6
9.65
1.01
3.11
11.88
7.94

44.9
101.5
90.6
36
16.6
79.5
15
51.2
96.9
120
33.65
142.8
55.3

World

February 18, 2016 closings

FRANKFURT

5.75
16.11
19.57
10.82
8.71
10.72
10.91
11.39
10.04
118.81
10.96
11.93
7.00
22.62
-15453.07
11.74
25.36
17.50
85.00
-48.00
7.65
22.61
11.44
5.73

0.97%
FTSE
5,971.95
(-58.37)

NEW YORK

PARIS

0.25%
Dow Jones
16,413.43
(-40.40)

0.15%
CAC40
4,239.76
(6.29)

Asia-Pacific

February 19, 2016 closings

BANGKOK

hong kong

0.99%
SET
1,307.35
(12.76)

0.40%
Hang Seng
19,285.50
(-77.58)

kuala lumpur

MANILA
0.83%
Phisix
6,792.06
(-56.81)

0.16%
KLCI
1,677.29
(-2.73)

SEOUL

-1030.00
89.29
1,100.00)
7.53
17.48
17.09
11.98
-4.61
-103.00
0.00
35.80
-180.00
25.00
18.20

LONDON

0.92%
DAX
9,463.64
(86.43)

24.17
18.94
9.42
9.05
5.91
11.07
20.00
11.36
-61.07
9.38
52.75
17.05
-2.45
46.62
23.03
0.19
5.63
17.83
-1.26
42.87
1.21
-311.60
8.88
14.77
15.00
-52.00
33.10
3.14
42.73

shanghai
0.10%
Composite
2,860.02
(-2.87)

0.39%
Kospi
1,916.24
(7.40)

SINGAPORE

SYDNEY

0.01%
Straits T
2,657.28
(-0.29)

20.80
7.28
46.60
10.13
4.00
18.92

0.79%
S&P
4,952.80
(-39.20)

TOKYO

TAIPEI

120.00
6.90
23.28
17.52
11.21
3.69
3.45
0.02
13.54
15.19
11.88
25.00
-11.50
24.09
2.80
104.56
26.58
-226.67
6.32
40.00
9.60
19.23
-1000.00
24.89
-15.14
23.43
19.94
-19.50
115.00
14.36
-144.26
-20.50
-1125.00
5.43
29.90
34.75
13.91
643.94
84.89
15.93
2.95
-10.75
85.00
27.67
8.11
13.14
11.39
24.80
9.49
5.19
-8.70
23.00
843.00
18.92
20.25
5.77
10.86
32.05
94.00
6.64

0.12%
W Index
8,325.04
(10.37)

Top Gainers
STOCKS

PRICE %CHG

CONCRETE AGGREGATES CORP A

MABUHAY VINYL CORPORATION
MANILA MINING CORPORATION A
MANILA MINING CORPORATION B
ALTERRA CAPITAL PARTNERS, INC.
MACROASIA CORPORATION
SAN MIGUEL PURE FOODS CO, INC.
Phoenix Semiconductor Phil Corp.
SEAFRONT RESOURCES CORP
CEBU HOLDINGS, INC.

18.29
-28.71
14.25
-7.97
-3.84
-68.77
24.33
-50.33
35.06
500.00
19.12
58.51
17.82
26.67
490.00
5.67
9.08
-42.50
12.50
12.35
15.35
12.26
6.79
11.24
-11.00
14.02

55.00
3.37
0.013
0.014
3.74
2.50
143.00
1.56
2.44
4.70

37.50%
12.33%
8.33%
7.69%
7.47%
7.30%
6.32%
6.12%
6.09%
5.62%

Top Losers
STOCKS

PRICE %CHG

MELCO CROWN (PHIL) RESORTS CORP 1.94

WELLEX INDUSTRIES, INC.
0.202
DISCOVERY WORLD CORPORATION
1.48
TKC METALS CORPORATION
1.01
BLOOMBERRY RESORTS CORP
4.27
MAKATI FINANCE CORPORATION
2.75
BRIGHT KINDLE RES. & INVEST. INC.
1.40
MARCVENTURES HOLDINGS, INC.
1.81
SBS Philippines Corporation
4.95
SWIFT FOODS, INC.
2.20

-10.60%
-6.05%
-5.73%
-5.61%
-5.53%
-5.50%
-5.41%
-5.24%
-4.81%
-4.35%

Most Active
STOCKS

18.95
31.81
18.12
87.88

1.42%
Nikkei
15,967.17
(-229.63)

VOLUME VALUE

METRO PACIFIC INVEST. CORP

81,999,000
JOLLIBEE FOODS CORPORATION
1,864,110
Pldt COMPANY COMMON
157,245
UNIVERSAL ROBINA CORPORATION 1,853,070
FIRST GEN CORPORATION
13,658,500
AYALA LAND, INC.
7,551,100
BDO UNIBANK, INC.
2,227,410
METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO 2,691,200
PETRON CORPORATION
19,589,000
SM INVESTMENTS CORPORATION
209,250

489,892,482.00
406,231,812.00
353,355,980.00
348,852,551.00
286,011,576.00
236,897,575.00
224,464,500.50
212,602,586.50
179,221,411.00
173,764,045.00

Dividends
SYM
HOUSE
UBP
PSB
TECH
CAL
PF
LOTO
PFP2

TYPE
VALUE
Cash
0.25
Cash
R1.50
Cash
R0.75 PS
Cash (US$ 0.0050) PS
Stock
12%
Cash
R1.20 PS
Cash
R0.60)
Cash R14.14225 PS

**PS - per share

**PCS - per common share
**PPS - per preferredshare
**PSR - per share (regular)

EX-DIV
DATE
Feb 11, 2016
Feb 03, 2016
Jan 27, 2016
Feb 09, 2016
Jan 29, 2016
Feb 15, 2016
Feb 04, 2016
Feb 15, 2016

**RPA - rate per annum

**DRPA - dividend rate per annum
**PDPS- per day per share
**PDPOS- per day per share

RECORD
DATE
Feb 16, 2016
Feb 9, 2016
Feb 1, 2016
Feb 12, 2016
Feb 3, 2016
Feb 18, 2016
Feb 10, 2016
Feb 18, 2016

DATE
PAYABLE
Feb 19, 2016
Feb 19, 2016
Feb 19, 2016
Feb 29, 2016
Feb 29, 2016
Mar 1, 2016
Mar 7, 2016
Mar 12, 2016

**POS - per outstanding share

**POCSS - per outstanding share (special)
**POCSR - per outstanding share (regular)
**STA - subject to approval

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

Business News

Saturday, February 20, 2016

B-5

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE Oil rally halted by US

FEBRUARY 19, 2016
52 Weeks
HIGH LOW
10.82
10.78
1.79
7.63

6.56
1.15
0.435
3.18

5.06
4.49
42
90.1
10.98

3
2.9
29.8
56
2.38

0.88
4.2
0.76
7.63

0.36
2.72
0.375
4.12

16.5
3.2
0.0074
10.12
1.03
1.19
9.65
2.98
0.48
0.34
0.375
0.019
0.016
6.08
4.27
29.7
0.85
2.42
8.5
169.6

9
1.44
0.004
3.9
0.6
0.45
5.28
0.455
0.225
0.138
0.16
0 0.095
0.01
1.36
2
3.3
0.44
0.81
3.75
110.8

0.275
0.016
0.018
5.89
5
12.8

0.18
0.008
0.0085
2.61
1.15
1.68

128
537
115.9
1,064.00
4.5
90
85
80.1
80.9

105
499
101
1,002.00
1.7
78.5
76
76
77.1

70

50

4.9

1.09

106
5.4
10.5
17.46

2.81
2
2.51
8.14

132.2

99.8

LEISURE AND RES

MELCO CROWN
PREMIUM LEISURE
TRAVELLERS

1,561.76
10,939.72
6,436.53
2,734.63
1,568.76
10,912.91
6,844.96
3,937.36

1.00
1.00
0.25
0.10

2012
EPS

PREV
CLOSE

High

0.52
-1.35
0.09
0.35

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

7.7
7.7
7.53
7.6
93,500
705,478
2.17
2.2
1.94
1.94
77,900,000
158,265,670
0.84
0.84
0.78
0.82
41,882,000
33,837,660
3.88
3.88
3.78
3.81
2,481,000
9,454,720

**** RETAIL ****
**** RETAIL
****
1.00
0.35
3.18
3.15
3.18
3.14
3.18
36,000
113,350
CALATA CORP
1.00
0
3.54
3.51
3.54
3.48
3.52
575,000
2,017,830
METRO RETAIL
1.00
1.63
33.7
34.5
34.5
33.9
34.1
1,125,900
38,442,265
PUREGOLD
1.00
2.6
61.5
62.4
63.2
62.4
63
1,302,880 82,026,562.50
ROBINSONS RTL
1.00
0
3.4
3.6
3.61
3.43
3.5
7,327,000
25,773,080
SSI GROUP

**** OTHER SERVICES ****
**** OTHER SERVICES
****

1.00
0.02
0.46
0.5
0.5
0.485
0.495
600,000
293,800
APC GROUP
1.00
0.06
3.26
2.65
2.7
2.65
2.7
11,000
29,200
EASYCALL
0.25
0.08
0.4
0.395
0.395
0.39
0.39
270,000
106,300
PRMIERE HORIZON
1.00
0
5.19
5.22
5.22
4.95
4.95
1,277,500
6,403,888
SBS PHIL CORP
**** MINING ****
**** MINING
****

1.00
-0.01
11.96
13
13
11.3
11.3
400
4,840
ATOK
1.00
-0.18
2.18
2.14
2.2
2.03
2.07
295,000
616,320
APEX MINING
0.01 -0.00005
0.0044
0.0044 0.0045 0.0043
0.0043 130,000,000
569,600
ABRA MINING
8.00
0.92
4.34
4.52
4.52
4.45
4.45
104,000
463,640
ATLAS MINING
1.00
-0.002
0.63
0.44
0.44
0.43
0.43
140,000
60,850
COAL ASIA HLDG
1.00
0.12
0.5
0.6
0.61
0.58
0.61
416,000
247,320
CENTURY PEAK
1.00
-0.09
8
7.39
7.39
7.12
7.25
55,400
395,775
DIZON MINES
1.00
0.24
0.71
0.72
0.72
0.69
0.71
10,867,000
7,619,800
FERRONICKEL
1.00
-0.09
0.29
0.295
0.295
0.29
0.295
220,000
64,850
GEOGRACE
0.10
-0.02
0.31
0.33
0.34
0.3
0.315 323,070,000
104,543,500
LEPANTO A
0.10
-0.02
0.32
0.345
0.35
0.32
0.32
49,450,000
16,582,000
LEPANTO B
0.01
-0.0001
0.012
0.013
0.013
0.012
0.013
148,100,000
1,864,200
MANILA MINING A
0.01
-0.0001
0.013
0.014
0.014
0.013
0.014
210,700,000
2,784,200
MANILA MINING B
1.00
0.46
1.82
1.9
1.92
1.8
1.81
1,048,000
1,909,940
MARCVENTURES
1.00
-0.05
2.43
2.46
2.49
2.4
2.45
96,000
235,290
NIHAO
0.50
2.26
4.76
5.05
5.1
4.88
4.97
11,329,600
56,243,027
NICKEL ASIA
1.00
-0.004
0.55
0.54
0.54
0.54
0.54
1,000
540
OMICO CORP
1.00
0.9
1.33
1.25
1.27
1.22
1.25
212,000
263,690
ORNTL PENINSULA
1.00
0.2
5.65
5.82
6.05
5.75
5.82
4,887,000
28,772,893
PX MINING
1.00
6.42
122.1
123.4
123.4
122
123
374,910
46,135,059
SEMIRARA MINING

**** OIL ****
**** OIL ****

0.25
-0.001
0.211
0.222
0.222
0.215
0.222
110,000
24,210
BASIC ENERGY
0.01 0.00002
0.001
0.0097 0.0097 0.0097
0.0097
1,000,000
9,700
ORNTL PETROL A
0.01
0.002
0.011
0.012
0.012
0.011
0.012
7,700,000
87,000
PHILODRILL
1.00
0.03
3.45
3.5
3.51
3.5
3.51
42,000
147,110
PETROENERGY
1.00
-0.13
1.75
1.85
1.85
1.8
1.81
3,663,000
6,659,200
PX PETROLEUM
1.00
-0.05
2.34
2.45
2.45
2.31
2.35
192,000
454,950
TA PETROLEUM

PREFERRED
**** PREFERRED
****

10.00
0
115.6
118
118
118
118
20,000
2,360,000
FGEN PREF G
50.00
0
522
520
520
520
520
2,000
1,040,000
GLO PREF P
1.00
0
110
112
112.4
112
112.4
11,010
1,233,124
MWIDE PREF
10.00
0 1,035.00
1,028
1,028
1,028
1,028
10,100
10,382,800
PF PREF 2
1.00
0
2.9
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
10,000
22,000
SFI PREF
5.00
0
82.2
82.3
82.3
82.3
82.3
10,400
855,920
SMC PREF 2C
5.00
0
78
78
78
78
78
19,000
1,482,000
SMC PREF 2D
5.00
0
76.5
77
77
76.7
77
103,500
7,953,450
SMC PREF 2E
5.00
0
78.75
79
79
78.4
78.4
229,800
18,031,482
SMC PREF 2F
PHIL
**** PHIL. DEPOSITARY
RECEIPTS ****


0.00
0
53.5
54.9
54.9
54
54
121,970
6,595,006
ABS HLDG PDR

WARRANTS
**** WARRANTS
****


0.00
0
2.49
2.49
2.5
2.37
2.4
328,000
793,720
LR WARRANT

****SMALL, MEDIUM AND
EMERGING****
SMALL

0.05
0.86
3.48
3.48
3.75
3.34
3.74
61,000
223,470
ALTERRA CAPITAL
0.50
0
2.5
2.45
2.48
2.44
2.45
160,000
391,560
ITALPINAS
1.00
0.21
2.91
2.75
2.75
2.75
2.75
2,000
5,500
MAKATI FINANCE
0.10
0
13.8
13.8
13.84
13.5
13.58
246,500
3,348,930
XURPAS

EXCHANG
****E X C H A N G E T R A D
U N D S ****
E D F
0.60
0
110.8
110.7
111.3
110.6
110.6
7,990
887,711
FIRST METRO ETF

SECTORIAL SUMMARY Open

Financials
Industrials
Holding Firms
Property
Services
Mining & Oil
SME
ETF
PSEi
All Shares
GRAND TOTAL

PAR
VALUE

STOCKS

Low

1,561.76
1,548.11
10,966.19 10,902.89
6,469.44
6,396.15
2,734.63 2,691.03
1,575.41 1,543.88
10,995.41 10,709.83
6,844.96
3,937.36

6,789.1
3,915.44

PE
RATIO

7.65
2.17
0.84
3.88

Close

%change Pt. Change

1,553.63
10,956.27
6,396.15
2,698.85
1,546.36
10,765.99
6,792.06
3,917.29

(0.29)
0.17
(0.86)
(1.34)
(1.16)
(0.32)
(0.82)
(0.55)

Volume

Value

(4.54)
8,276,554
604,260,441.55
18.71 101,420,785
1,933,466,021.82
(55.9) 176,933,965
1,775,264,816.79
(36.83)
197,725,129
819,608,972.86
(18.2)
211,702,447
1,110,712,979.65
(34.96) 904,233,022
276,779,463.76

469,999
3,972,664.12

7,990
887,711.00
(56.81)
(21.74)
1,600,769,891
6,524,953,071.55

14.62
-1.44
9.11
10.89
9.09
0.00
20.95
23.65
0.00
23.25
54.33
4.88
0.00
-1196.00
-11.33
-82.69
74.83
-315.00
5.08
-83.89
3.04
-3.22
-15.75
-16.00
-120.00
-130.00
4.09
-49.20
0.75
-141.61
1.48
27.25
19.08
-212.00
10.00
5.50
2.37
-13.31
-45.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.19
0.00
12.70
0.00
0.00

NO. OF ADVANCES: 68
NO. OF DECLINES: 103
NO. OF UNCHANGED: 45
NO. OF TRADED ISSUES: 216

FOREIGN BUYING
R 3,623,738,289.44
FOREIGN SELLING
R 3,347,847,416.78

Companies Under Suspension by the Exchange as of FEBRUARY 19, 2016

ASIA AMLGMATED
AAA
ABC PREF
ABC
AC PREF A
ACPA

EXPORT BANK A
EXPORT BANK B

EIBA
EIBB

FPH PREF
FPHP
FILSYN A
FYN
FILSYN B
FYNB
GOTESCO LAND A GO
GOTESCO LAND B GOB
GREENERGY GREEN
REPUBLIC CEMENT LRI
METROALLIANCE A MAH
METROALLIANCE B MAHB
METRO GLOBAL
MGH
NEXTGENESIS NXGEN

PICOP RES
PCP
PF PREF
PFP
PHILCOMSAT
PHC
PRIMETOWN PROP PMT
PNCC
PNC
GLOBALPORT
PORT
PTT CORP
PTT
SMC PREF 2A
SMC2A
STENIEL
STN
PLDT II
TLII
UNIWIDE HLDG
UW

stockpiles rise, Saudi

stance on cuts

INGAPORE (AFP) Oil

prices fell in Asia Friday
after a sharp rise in US
crude stockpiles and
Saudi Arabias rejection of proposed output cuts shot down a
rally by the battered commodity.
The about-turn came as
the US Energy Department
reported a 2.1 million barrel increase in US commercial crude
inventories, to the highest in
more than eight decades, as well
as sizeable increases in gasoline
and other refined products.
An inventories rise typically
suggests soft demand in the
worlds biggest oil consumer
and is bad news for a market
wallowing in excess supply.
The price rally also fizzled out
after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel
al-Jubeir rejected any reduction
in his countrys crude output.
If other producers want
to limit or agree to a freeze in
terms of additional production,
that may have an impact on the
market, but Saudi Arabia is not
prepared to cut production,
Jubeir told AFP in an exclusive
interview.

At 0630 GMT, US benchmark

West Texas Intermediate for
delivery in March was down 27
cents or 0.88 percent to $30.50,
while Brent crude for April
tumbled 33 cents, or 0.96 percent, to $33.95.
On Wednesday, WTI jumped
more than seven percent while
Brent added 5.6 percent, after
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two
biggest producers in the world,
agreed to limit their pumping but
only if others followed suit.
This sparked hopes the market
would stabilize after prices sank to
near 13-year lows last week.
However, speaking to AFP
over the telephone from Sydney,
CMC Markets chief market
strategist Michael McCarthy
said more market volatility can
be expected.
I dont think anybody seriously believes that anything useful is going to come out of these
discussions between OPEC and
Russia, he said.
Saudi Arabia is regarded as
the de facto leader of OPEC.
BMI Research also said any
output freeze was unlikely.

World Bank sees modest

economic drag from Zika
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)
The spread of Zika will have a
modest drag on economies in
Latin America, with tourismdependent Caribbean nations
most at risk, the World Bank
(WB) said Thursday. It made
$150 million immediately available to help fight the virus.
The World Health Organization has declared a global health
emergency in response to the Zika
outbreak and the US is urging
pregnant women to avoid travel
to the 26 nations and territories
in the Americas where Zika is
present because researchers have
identified possible links between
the virus and rare birth defects.
But despite the scare, the
WB says the impact from the
epidemic is likely to be small.
In a report, it estimates lost
revenue will total only $3.6 billion, or about 0.6 percent of the

region's gross domestic product.

That would come from reduced
travel to the region and sick
employees missing work, while
anti-mosquito efforts will strain
already tight national budgets.
For smaller island-states, the
impact could reach as high as 1.6
percent of GDP, the bank said.
The Bahamas, Barbados and
Antigua, and Barbuda are among
the nations most at risk, it said.
The forecast assumes the
regional and international response to the virus is swift and
well-coordinated.
Our analysis underscores
the importance of urgent action to halt the spread of the
Zika virus and to protect the
health and well-being of people
in the affected countries,'' Jim
Yong Kim, president of the
Washington-based WB, said in
a statement.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

Agriculture News

B-6

AGRI PLAIN TALK

ZAC B. SARIAN

Section Editor: ZAC B. SARIAN

How a polluted
reservoir was
rehabilitated

stagnant and heavily polluted

water reservoir that was not
fit for growing fish has been
rehabilitated and can now be
used for growing freshwater fish and
other purposes.
This is the one-hectare reservoir
at the Quirino State University (QSU)
compound in Diffun, Quirino province
which has been so heavily polluted that
people would not like to eat the fish that
might have survived there. The canal
that feeds the reservoir passes through
heavily populated villages, thats why.
Today, the canal that feeds the
reservoir still passes through the
same villages but appropriate filtration
systems have been installed, thanks to
the collaborative efforts of QSU and the
National Inland Fisheries Enhancement Program (INFEP) of the Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
headed by Director Asis Perez.
To rehabilitate the polluted reservoir, a team headed by Dr. Adelaida
Palma of NIFEP evaluated the site
and did water analysis. This was followed by capacity-building efforts for

the beneficiaries, followed by clearing

and civil works to include rip-rap and
construction of culvert connecting the
canal to the reservoir.
TRIPLE FILTRATION A triple
filtration system was installed consisting of two mechanical filters and
an Aquatic Macrophyte Biofiltration
System (AMBS). First line of filter is
made of gravel screen followed by the
AMBS. The latter is simply a thick
growth of water hyacinth (water lily to
most people) which has been found by
research to be effective in absorbing
toxic substances. The last line, located
within the culvert mouth consists of
pebbles and charcoal.
The project also entailed the planting of fresh water mangroves locally
known as putat (Baringtonia asiatica)
within the banks of the canal. The onehectare reservoir was seeded with 5,000
fingerlings consisting of different carp
species and tilapia during the project
launching on February 7, 2016.
Aside from fish production, the reservoir is also used to irrigate rice fields
nearby. QSU president Samuel Benigno

TRIPLE FILTRATION To rehabilitate the once-stagnant reservoir at the Quirino State

University campus, a triple filtration system was installed. The system consists of two
mechanical filters and an Aquatic Macrophyte Biofiltration System (AMBS). First line
of filter is made of gravel screen followed by AMBS which is simply a thick growth of
water hyacinth. The third line is located within the culvert mouth consisting of pebbles
and charcoal.

BR25 CACAO SEEDLINGS READY FOR PLANTING Cacao is one of the priority crops being promoted by the Department of Agriculture. For planters in Luzon, seedlings of the
BR25 variety that are ready for field planting are now available at a nursery in Teresa,
Rizal. This variety produces high-quality beans that are suitable for export as well as
for local processing. BR25 is a prolific variety that starts bearing fruit as early as two
years from planting in the ground.

LAKBAY ARAL LEADERS Photo shows Jerome Galleto and Eduviges Flores of the
city agriculturists office of San Fernando City in La Union posing with the profuselyflowering pomelo grown in a container at the Sarian Farm in Teresa, Rizal. The two
led a group of farmers and farm technicians from San Fernando City in visiting farms
where they can pick up practical ideas they can implement in their own farms. They
observed practical ways of growing fruit trees in containers, cacao, longkong lanzones,
rimas and many others in Teresa.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

ONCE-STAGNANT RESERVOIR REHABILITATED Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Asis Perez led the seeding
of the rehabilitated water reservoir that was once stagnant and heavily polluted at the Quirino State University campus in Diffun,
Quirino province. Several species of carp and tilapia were stocked. Now, the reservoir can produce different fish species that are
fit for human consumption. Previously, people were afraid to eat fish caught from the polluted waters because they might not be fit
for human consumption.

added that the school constructed cottages at the banks of the reservoir for
recreational activities.
PROTEIN SOURCE BFAR
Director Asis G. Perez revealed that
NIFEP aims to revive inland bodies
of water such as lakes and small farm
reservoirs as these resources offer
potential for fish production and socioeconomic advancement. Currently,
these bodies of water have a very minimal average production of 50 kilos per
hectare per year.
If revived and stocked properly,
we can increase the production to 200
kilos per hectare per year which can
augment the protein requirements,
especially in landlocked and upland
areas, Perez said.
Dr. Adelaida Palma, on the other
hand, explained that stocking entails
proper matching of the natural foods
present in the water body to the type
of fingerlings to be dispersed. That
way, we can maximize the utilization of
natural foods present in the different
water columns.
The NIFEP aims to revive 36 lakes
and 320 reservoirs in the entire country,
including Bangalao Lake in Sta. Teresita, Cagayan. Also included under the
program is the establishment of a gene
bank and breeding of commercially important indigenous fish species.
Quirino Gov. Junie Cua who was
present at the launching said that the
project can be an answer to El Nio
as well as address other concerns of
the provincial government such as
livelihood generation, food production
and environmental protection and
conservation.
On her part, BFAR-02 Regional
Director Milagros Morales said that
she appreciated the support and assistance from the QSU administration
as well as the provincial government.
She vowed that BFAR will continue to
collaborate with the local authorities in
the implementation of fishery projects.
(Excerpted from Max Prudencios
report)

HYBRID RICE IN MALAYSIA Hybrid rice production in Malaysia using the varieties from
SL Agritech is getting a start with an initial pilot testing in Penang and Kedah starting in April this year. This will be followed by commercial production on around 1,000
hectares if the pilot testing is successful. The commercial planting will be spearheaded
by a private company, Titijaya Land Berhad (TLB). A seminar on hybrid rice production
was recently conducted by Dr. Frisco Malabanan for the Malaysian delegation.

TOSTANO KALE VERY RICH IN NUTRIENTS The Tostano kale, an imported variety, grows very well in the Philippines but is little
appreciated because not many local people know how to utilize it. This variety produces warty leaves that are not really attractive
but according to Rowena Bienes of Allied Botanical, the leaves are packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that enhance
good health. This one is particularly suitable for making juice or smoothie. Of course it can also be cooked with other vegetables
in soups and other recipes.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
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Where to stay in

etro
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at the following hotel subscribers of the Manila Bulletin:

Manila Hotel

527-0011

Acacia Hotel Manila

Alabang, Muntinlupa

Century Park Hotel

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Manila Galleria
Ortigas Center

633-7222

Edsa Shangri-La

633-8888

Mandarin Oriental
Manila
Makati
Shangri-La

Marriott
Hotel Manila

New World Makati Hotel

Makati City
Oakwood Premier
Joy Nostalg Center
Manila Ortigas Center

633-7111
750-8888

811- 6888
811- 6777

771-7777

Abra Valley

Abra Valley Grand Hotel

Bangued Abra

Grand Hotel

Acacia Tree Garden Hotel

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Avenue Plaza Hotel

Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City

Bayfront Hotel
Zambales

Canyon Cove Residential

Beach Resort
Nasugbu, Batangas
Baguio Holiday Villas
Baguio City
C Boutique Hotel Baguio
Baguio City
Camayan Beach Resort & Hotel
Subic Bay
Canyon Woods Resort Club
Batangas

CBD Plaza Hotel

Naga City
Casablanca Hotel
Legaspi City
Casablanca Suites
Legazpi City
Crystal Waves
Hotel and Resort
Talavera, Nueva Ecija
Deep Forest Garden Hotel
Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

(052) 480-8334 to 35

Badian Island Beach Resort

Badian, Cebu

ALBA UNO HOTEL

Apas, Cebu City
Alta Cebu Village Resort
Cordova, Cebu

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Pearanda St.,Legazpi City 4500 Philippines Tel No.(052)480-8334 to 35 Fax No.(052)480-8338 e-mail: info@casablancahotel.ph / http://www.casablancahotel.ph

Ananyana Beach
Resort
Panglao Island

Be Resorts
Mactan Island

Bellavista Hotel
Mactan, Cebu
Bohol Beach Club
Bohol

Bohol La Roca Hotel

Tagbilaran City

Bohol Tropics Resort

Tagbilaran City
Bethel Guest House
Dumaguete City
C & L Bay View Inn
G. Teves Street,
Dumaguete City

Castle Peak Hotel

Cebu City
Citi Park Hotel
Cebu City
City Corporate Inn
Iloilo City
Coco Grove Beach Resort
San Juan, Siquijor

Dumaluan Beach Resort

Panglao Island
The Marco Polo-Davao
Davao City
Apo View Hotel
Davao City
1st Avenue Apartel / Inn
Sumpong, Malaybalay

2nd Avenue Hotel

Quirante Ii, Tagum City

Almont Hotel's
Inland Resort
Butuan City
ALU Hotel Davao
corner Padre Faura
Street, Davao City
Amandari Cove
General Santos City
Arnaldo's
Hotel and Restaurant
Digos City
Anisabel Suites
Davao City
Ariano's Inn
And Restaurant
Butuan City
Azienda Meo
Apartelle
Davao City
Bahay-Bakasyunan
Sa Camiguin
Misamis Oriental
Balanghai Hotel / Mazaua Island Resort
Butuan City

ALM NT

BELDENT STAR HOTEL

Beldent Star Hotel

Tacurong City
Big Apple Hotel
Davao City
Bluejaz Beach Resort
and Water Park
Island Garden City Of
Samal, Davao

Blue Velvet
Hotel and Caf
BlueVelvet Hotel and Caf
Davao City
Bonhomie Leisure and Resort
Davao Oriental

PENSION HOUSE

Cabua-An Beach Resort

Mambajao, Camiguin
Camp Anatolia
Kimagango, Midsayap
North Cotabato
Casa De Rosario
Residence Inn
Davao City
Casa Ruby
Pension House
Davao City

Azucena
Casa

Casa Azucena

Cagayan De Oro City

Chali Beach Resort

Zone -3, Cugman,
Cagayan De Oro
Chateau Del Mar
Resort Hotel

Lizada Beach, Davao City

City View Pension Hauz

General Santos City
Cotabato Diamond Hotel
Cotabato City
Country Village Hotel
Cagayan De Oro City

Great Eastern
Hotel-Makati

(632)
318-0788

Vivere Hotel & Resorts

Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Hotel Stotsenberg
Pampanga
Macagang Hotel & Resort
Nabua, Camarines Sur
Venus Parkview
Resort Hotel Baguio City

Garden
Plaza Hotel

637-7888

551-5555

Discovery
Suites
Great Eastern
Hotel

Fersal Hotel
Malakas, Diliman

Greenhills lan
Hotel Modern
Makati Palace
Hotel

771-8181
854-8888

Hotel
Rembrandt
Hotel Kimberly
Manila
Lancaster Hotels
Lido De Paris Hotel
Sta. Cruz
Lotus Garden
Hotel

526-1555
719-8888
371-8282

Fontana Hot Spring

Leisure Parks
Pampanga

(045)
499-0777
(054)
288-3091

EGI Albergo Hotel

Baguio City

(074)
442-5597
442-6452

El Masfino
Resort and Hotel
San Rafael Bulacan
Elegant Star Apartelle
Tagaytay City

(074)
752-8933

(048)
433-0123
(054)
473-9999
(047)
252-1948

Eurotel
Baguio City

Eurotel
Naga City
Camsur
Farmhouse Hotel & Cafe
San Jose City, Nueva Ecija

Naga City

(02)
908-1111

(02) 750-2507
889-7827
(074)442-6679
(074)
619-0158
(02) 945-7777

Filipiniana Hotel
Or. Mindoro
Go Hotels
Puerto Princesa

(047)
252-8000

Grandview Tower Hotel

Angeles City

(632)
521-7878
Fax: 664-6169

Hotel Fleuris Palawan

Puerto Princesa City

Hotel Gregorio
Batangas

(054) 472-0318
(02) 359-7007

Hotel
Gregorio
Batangas

(052)
480-8334
480-8335

Hotel Kimberly
Tagaytay
Hotel La Corona
De Lipa Batangas

(044)
411-0834
09237194074
09204599148
(048) 434-1702
433-3877
09052823129

Hotel Lorita Tuguegarao

(032)
401-3303
to 05

F & C GUEST HOUSE

Canlaon City

(032)
520-5000
505-2111
0917 3205 005

Go Hotels Bacolod

(032)
496-7399
(038)
502-8101

Go Hotels Dumaguete
Go Hotels Iloilo

(6332)
236-8888

Go Hotels Tacloban

(032)
340-7821
(038)
411-5222

Goldberry Suites & Hotel

Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu

Grand Dame Hotel

Iloilo City

(038)
411-3798
411-3179

Grand Regal Hotel

Bacolod City

(038)
411-3510

GT Hotel - Bacolod City

Harbor Town Hotel

Iloilo City

(035)
422-8000
225-2000
422 8011
09176339575

Honeycomb Tourist Inn

Dumaguete City

Hotel Cesario
Mactan, Cebu

(032)
233-1811
(033)
335-0166

09173251292
09399155123
(035)422-9820

Hotel De Mercedes
Cebu City

Hotel Del Rio

Iloilo City

TelNo.:(033)335.1171to74FaxNo.:(033)337.0736

Hotel Essencia
Dumaguete City

(038)
502-9092

Iloilo Grand Hotel

Iloilo City

(082)
221-0888

Cresta Del Rio Splash Resort

Koronadal City

(082)
221-6431to 40
221-2281
(088)
221-3224
09177229850

D'Counter Executive
Davao City
D'leonor Hotel
J. P Laurel
Avenue, Davao City
D'leonor Inland Resort
Buhangin,
Davao City

655-6238

(085)
342-7414

(63 82)
227-5232
226-3756

(083)
554-2654
826-1074
826-1070
(082)
553-3314
553-3411
0999 993 9060

(+6382)
225-8114
(085)
342-7462
225-9431
(082)
284-6689
227-4119
(088)
387-0131
09177212798
(085)
342-3064
345-5864
(064)
200-3698
200-4734
(082) 234-1399
234-1339 Fax:
(082) 234-8459
09199101281
(082)
304-650
Fa x ( 0 8 2 )
300-6327
(082)
300-2000
300-8800
305-2888
09331123067
(082)
284-1847

(088)
387 2103
09197257402
09399168034
09129496400

(043)
757-3178

Hotel Ivory
Tuguegarao City

481-0788
481-0789

(032)
422-8833
422-3388

Eurotel
Angeles City

Angeles City

Dmorvie Suites
Yacapin Branch Cagayan De Oro City
Dmorvie Suites
Capistrano Branch Cagayan De Oro City

Dmorvie Suites
Lapasan Branch Cagayan De Oro City

Dmorvie Suites
C.M. Recto Davao City
Dmorvie Suites
San Pedro Extension, Davao City
Dmorvie Suites Iligan Branch
Iligan City

Davao Fortune Inn

Davao City
Duka Bay Resort
Misamis Oriental
Duka Bay Resort

Medina, Misamis Oriental

(088) 857-5488
09198239094

Driggs Pension House

General Santos City
Eagle's View Hotel
Dalisay Road, Tagum City

Gingoog Mountain Air Hotel & Eastland Restaurant

Gingoog City
(088) 861-1359
8842-7999

Eagles View Hotel

ct
ma Vi orias In
n
Em

El Bajada Hotel
Bajada, Davao City
Embassy
Hotel and Restaurant
Butuan City

Emma Victoria's Inn

Davao City
Enricos Inn and Apartelles
Davao City

Executive Hotel
Ozamis City
Executive Pension
Cagayan de Oro City

(082)
Family Country Hotel
295-9155
Convention Centre
282-4822
FCH
General Santos City
282-4771
(082)
Florotel Gensan
Duka Bay Resort
226-2335
Medina, Misamis Oriental
General Santos City
(088) 857-5488
09189425442
09198239094
(088)
Frances Inn
856-3402
Ecoland, Davao City
09236593973
(088)
Gingoog Mountain Air Hotel
855-2108
& Eastland Restaurant
855-5941
Gingoog City
to 42
(082)
Goat 2 Geder
Hotel & Eastland Restaurant
234-3472 Gingoog Mountain Air
Hotel and Restaurant
Gingoog City
305-8998
(088) 861-1359
Butuan City
8842-7999
235-2516
(083) 552-7337
Grand Men Seng
301-6096
Hotel
303-1588
Davao City
0923 2327 120
GOAT 2

(064)
421 6170
421 5118

858-3004
858-3006

GEDER

Greenstate Suites
Koronadal City
Hannie's Inn
Davao City

The Oasis Paco Park

Royal Bellagio
Hotel
Sir William`s
Hotel
Stone House
Bed & Breakfast

638-7777

526-8088

Copacabana
Apartment Hotel

Best Western Oxford Suites

Makati City

400-0088

Aloha Hotel

813-8888

Manila Manor
Hotel

+632
588-6688
354-4151

526-1212

Citystate
Tower Hotel

988-9999

(02)
312-9999

Manila Pavilion
Hotel

B Hotel
Muntinlupa City
City Garden
Hotel Makati
City Garden Suites

(632)
928-9888
908-7888

Pan Pacific Manila

The Bellevue
Manila
The Heritage
Hotel Manila
Sofitel
Philippine Plaza
Bayview
Park Hotel

The Pearl
Manila Hotel
The Richmonde
Hotel

528-8888

238-8888

Holiday Inn
Manila Galleria
Ortigas Center

Ramada
Manila Central
Binondo

720-2000

Dusit Thani
Manila

F1 Hotel
Global City Taguig

The Exchange Regency

Residence Hotel
Pasig City

Timog, Q.C.

828-8181
828-8585
828-8383

The Sul Riviera

The Copa
Businessmans Hotel
Tri-place
Hotel & Apartelle
24h Apartment
Hotel, Makati City

899-1111
536-1451

708-9600
to 09

Armada
Hotel Manila
Malate, Manila

851-8888

Azotea Suites
Bel Air Makati

426-7308

Best Western Plus

Antel Hotel
Makati City
Brentwoods Suites
Quezon City

522-4835
898-2888

Broadway Court
Apartelle

744-7979

Cocoon Boutique Hotel

Quezon City
Eastwood
Richmonde Hotel
Quezon City
Eurotel
Las Pias
Branch
Eurotel
Araneta
Branch
Eurotel
North EDSA

899-0344
373-3333
521-1888
532-1818
(02) 708-8888
to 91
498-8888 to 91

L uzon

Eurotel
Pedro Gil

522-1515

Hotel Luna
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

(02)
576-6463/9526
(045) 599-5000

Hotel Supreme
Baguio

(074)
424-2620

(02) 5 4 2 - 9 5 3 7
542-9150
924-2443
924-2456
(046)
483-0491
0916 2209934
0928 6844186

Hotel Veniz - Baguio City

Inn Rocio - Baguio City

355 - 0000
(045)
624 - 0229
355-0000
(074)
444-3876

Java Hotel - Laoag City

Kartini Hotel - Kawit, Cavite
La Maja Rica Hotel & Restaurant
Ligtasan, Tarlac City

355-0000

(044)
806-1167
09175367250

Laoag Renzo Hotel

Laoag City

(043)
286-2624
(048)
4340001-03

Lee Boutique Hotel

Tagaytay
Le Monet Hotel
Baguio City
Lendes Tourist Inn - Naga
Almeda Highway, Naga City

(045)
304-1015
892-8555
(048)
434-4338
434-4339

Lendes Tourist Inn - Banasi

Bula, Camarines Sur
Lendes Tourist Inn - Baao
Baao, Camarines Sur
Lendes Tourist Inn - Pili
Pili, Camarines Sur

(043)
757-3178
(078)
844-1275
846-1722

(046)
483-8888
(043)
756-1223

Magallanes Square Hotel

Sta. Rita Road Tagaytay

Moonbay Marina
Villas Zambales

MAGALLANESSQUAREHOTEL,INC.
MagallanesSquareComplex
MagallanesDrive,TagaytayCity
Tel.No:0465440062
FaxNo:0464133918
EmailAdd:magallanessquarehotel@yahoo.com
SunNo:09228043129/09228043125
GlobeNo:09175047820

(078)
844-1390
846-2565

Mountain Lodge
Hotel & Restaurant Baguio City

(035) 4003 368

09175597919
09999953440

Injap Tower Hotel Iloilo

Iloilo City

(035)
522-1100
or 02

Kapis Mansions
Roxas City
Kings Hotel
Bacolod City

(033)
335-0375
335-0249
335-0486

(053)
5230391-93

Lawaan Garden Inn

Roxas City, Capiz

Mango Park Hotel

Cebu City

+63 32
239-0000
+63 32
239-0619

(033)
320-5252
320-5353
(034)
708-5888
432-0888
(034)
432-1888
to 89

Manhattan Suites Inn

Dumaguete City
Maribago BlueWater
Beach Resort
Mactan, Cebu

Montebello Villa Hotel

Banilad, Cebu City

(033)
337-2384

Movenpick Hotel
Mactan Island , Cebu
MVW
Restaurant & Tourist Inn
Roxas, Capiz
Rm Guest House
Dumaguete City

(035)
225-1181
422-3184
09228393435

(032)
340-0211
(032)
253-1105

(033)335-1171
to 74
337-0736
(035)
422 1137
09177007735
09088202123

O Hotel
Bacolod City

Pension Bacolod
Bacolod City
Plantation Bay
Mactan, Cebu

M indanao

(033)
335-1801
to 04
(083)
228 8998
228 7160
(082)
226-2045
221-8651

Radisson Blu
Hotel & Resort
Cebu City

Hill Park Inn

and Restaurant
Midsayap, Cotabato

Hillsview Inn & Inland Resort

Trento, Agus and Del Sur

Hotel Angelo
and Restaurant
Midsayap, Cotabato

(082)
221-1160
(082)
302-6158
302-6152

(088)
856-9080
(082)
852-2015
(082)
856-7197

Hotel De Crisbelle
Davao Del Sur
Hotel De Susana & Restaurant
Valencia City, Bukidnon

Hotel Elena
Davao City
Hotel Esse
Davao City

(082)
221-0075
09425918521

Hotel San Marco

General Santos City
Hotel Sogo
Cagayan De Oro City

(082)
285-3756
(063)
223-3255

(081)
221-0819

(088)
331-2288
0917-483268
(083)
553-0088
09179089731
(084) 655-6115
0929-979-4919
Fax: (084)
655 6114

(082) 221 2729

+63 927 9795179
+63 920 2473002
+63 923 8063887

(085)
342-5883
225-9560

(082)
297-5523

(082)
297-7692
321-1042
09189003792

(088)
521-0360
09177220360
(088)
856-4360
09177004360
(083)
552-8895
to 97
301-0774

(083)
554-0880
(082)
295-6463
301-8549
(088)
861-1359
8842-7999
(085)
341-7871
341-1657

(082)
221-9040
(083)
228-5409
520-1816

(082)
297-3315 to17
297-3485

Hotel Uno
Davao City
H

TAVERN

Eurotel
Makati

Fersal Hotel
Annapolis, Cubao

521-2371

Fersal Hotel
Kalayaan, Diliman

899-5555

Fersal Hotel
Manila

371-4333

Fersal Hotel
P. Tuazon Cubao

Fersal Hotel
Makati
Go Hotels
Mandaluyong

724-7551

924-5051

844-8811

Go Hotel Otis-Manila

(632)
410-4111
410-8658
410-6981

Holiday Inn & Suites Makati

Ayala Center, Makati City

(02)
899-2424

Hostel 1632

355-0000
844-8645

+63(2)812-7477

912-5852
912-2691

Oyster Plaza Hotel

Paraaque City

Paragon Tower
Hotel Manila

924-2689
912-2691
742-7292
912-2691

Raffles and Fairmont

Makati
Makati City

Riviera Mansion
Malate, Manila

912-8000
912-2691
897-9123
912-2691

Robbinsdale Hotel

0922-4646835

San Carlos Mansion

+63 (2)
354-1053

Seda BGC Bonifacio Global City,

Taguig City

Sogo Regency
Hotel, Manila

(632)
909-0888

Southhomes Apartelle
Timog-Q.C.

522-8888

St Giles Hotel
Makati City

(02)
829-1925
826-9610
526-5541
to
526-5547

555-9888

523-4511

716-1262
523-8110
(632)
945-8888

522-7646
928-4647
410-4461
988-9888
988-9883

238-6100

The Bayleaf
Intramuros, Manila

(632)
318-5000

(63 2) 403-0888
403-0808
Fax No. 403-0854
403-7572

Hotel Celeste
Makati City
Hotel H20
Luneta, Manila
Icon Hotel
North Edsa

415-9385

The Contemporary
Hotel

716-8266

927-8888

Jade Vine Executive Inn

Ermita Manila

524-8601
to 05

526 0888
338-0983
898-3695

Apartelle
San Juan City

722-7411
726-2931
(02)
921-2706
to 08

Apartelle
Mandaluyong City

Luxent Hotel

(02)
570-7777

Timog Ave., Q.C.

355-0000
806-7646
355-0000
995-8452
355-0000
376-7096
355-0000
523-5256

Manila Airport Hotel

Paraaque City
Millenia Suites
Pasig City
The Orange Place
San Juan City
The Orange Place
Quezon City

+63 2
373-3333
376-5059

Matabungkay
Beach Hotel Batangas

(074)
443-2016

Nagaland Hotel
Naga City, Camarines Sur

(074)
446-0700

Palawan Uno Hotel

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

887-8080
Be central

531-0173
to
531-0177

Tune Hotel
Aseana City

(02)
922-8888

Tune Hotel
Ermita

(632)
708-9888

Tune Hotel
Makati City

(632)
817-0888

Tune Hotel
Ortigas City

(632)
656-0888

Tune Hotel
Quezon City

(632)
426-0567

Y2 Residence Hotel

(02)
224-3000

854-7549
to 50

(02)
7528552
09088870596

(077)
770-4898
(632)
781-3632

Radiant Star Apartelle

Tagaytay City

(046) 413-2456
544-0050
0926 6977948
09174091514

(054)
228-0018
(054)
066-3239

(054)
477-7644
228-0008

(046)
544-0062

(047) 252-9718
252-1663
250-2099
252-8518

(074)
442-4544

Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel

Subic

Subic Bay Yacht Club

Zambales

THEEXQUISITEHOTELANDBUSINESSMANAGEMENTGROUPCORP.
Bldg.675CanalRoad,SubicBayFreeportZone,2222Philippines

TelephoneNumber:(047)2521888or09178363942Facsimile:(047)2528404Email:customer_service@subicbayveneziahotel.com

Sunlight Guest Hotel, Inc.

Puerto Princesa City,
Palawan

Summer Place Hotel

Baguio City

(054)
473-2111
09177000040
(048)
433-9999
433-0455

Paseo Premiere Hotel

Santa Rosa Laguna
Princesa Garden Island
Resort and Spa
Puerto Princesa Palawan
Queen Margarette Hotel
Lucena City
RK Hotel
Subic Bay Gateway Park

Star Plaza Hotel

Dagupan City
Starview Hotel
Naga City
Subic Bay Hotel Venezia
Zambales
Subic International
Hotel Zambales

Torre Venezia Suites

Quezon City

(632)
4702306-08
Fax: 4702314
(632)
726-6712
726-6713
(632)
926-8985
421-1398

(049)
502-8123 to 27
(02)3105603
to 04
(048)723-1356 to 59
09989753768
(02)744-7979 to 82
0917-8739974

(074) 611-0202
(02)376-5059
09175267049
(054) 472-257
4228-065 7
09258020706

828-4774
(02)
332-1658
to 60
(632)
866-0888

726-2911
726-2916

(02)372-0311
(074)
442-4028
(077)
770-5996
(02)246-1010
(046)
489-8581
489-8582
(045)
611-2053 to
611-2055

SKYLIGHT HOTEL
Puerto Princesa
Palawan
Skyrise Hotel
Apartelle & Restaurant
Baguio City

The Picasso Boutique

Serviced Residences
Makati City

Taal Vista Hotel

Tagaytay City

Tam-awan Village
Baguio City
Terrace Hotel
Subic Bay

(042)
373-7171 to 73
373-4889
Fax: 373-7604
373-6218

The ADC Hotel

Naga City

The Lake Hotel

Tagaytay

(047)
252-9996 to
252-9998

The Lighthouse Marina Resort

Moonbay Marina Complex

(048)
434-7172
to 76
(074)
445-6834 to
445-6836

The Montevista Villas, Academy Lane,

Mimosa Leisure Estate
Pampanga, Philippines

The Starmark Hotel

Peafrancia Ave., Naga City

(075)
523-4888
515-2276
523-4111

Tune Hotel
Angeles City

Villa Caceres Hotel

Naga City

(054)
472-6892
(047)
252-1888
(047)
252-2222
(047)
250-2630
250-7274

Vista Marina
Hotel & Resort
Zambales

(6348) 434-2334

Fax (6348) 434-2003

(632) 242-6638
loc. 175
(02)783-8355
788-8350
(074)
446-5400 to 01
(632) 917-8225
(6346) 413-1000
(63)9178091254

(074)
446-2949
442-5551

(047)
250-2730
to 32

(054)
472-2328 or 26
09052019225
09493617784
(02)584-4470
(046)
413-4680 to 81

(047)
252-5000
(6345)
599-7000
(632) 584-4047
584-4007

(054)
205-0051
(045)
459-0888

(054)
473-6530

(047)
252-3373

(02) 844-5777
(047) 252-5211

Subic Grand Seas Resort

Olongapo

(047)
222-8541
09178447327

Rajah Park Hotel

Cebu City

(032)
412-3337

isayas

Iloilo Midtown Hotel

Iloilo City

+63(34)
441-0506
+63(932)
852-9362

525-9065
899-7888
798-0798

Hotel Tavern
Surigao City

Ice Castle
Experience Hotel
General Santos City
Infinity Suites
Bo. Obrero, Davao City
Innside Room Hotel
Tagum City,
Davao Del Norte
Isla Jardin Del Mar
Gumasa,
Sarangani Province
Iyle Londoners Inn
Province of Davao Oriental
Jade Dragon's Suites
Aurora Jacinto Street,
Davao City
Jovinaj
Traveler's Inn
General Santos City
Jazzy James Country Hotel
Davao City
Jienos Garden Beach Resort
Pantukan, Compostela
Valley
Magnaga Waters
Beach Resort
Compostela Valley
Mallberry Suites
Business Hotel
Cagayan de Oro

Marco Hotel
Cagayan De Oro City
Mergrande Ocean Resort
Davao City
Microtel Inn and
Suites Davao
Davao City

Molave Hotel
Tagum City
My Hotel
Davao City
Maxze Bed & Breakfast
Davao City

(033)
336-6888
(0928)
985-0999

Salamangka Beach and Dive Resort

San Juan, Siquijor

(033)
330-7100

(036)
621-7718
(034)
434-4500

The Bellevue Resort

Panglao Island, Bohol
The Orchard Cebu
Hotel, Cebu City

(036)
621-6255
0917-3121-720
0998-9753-612

Tune Hotel - Cebu City

(032)
233-5695

Yoyongs Travellers Inn

Negros Occidental

(035)
422-8200
(032)
231-3681

(082)
224-1390
224-1391
(083)
303-5314

0923717 0389

(082)
227-0788
305-1847

(0929)
969-0806
(084)2166379
(0917)7191956
(0923)2802018

(088)
855-7999

855-5959
09177027002
(+63-82)
298-4100
(+63-82)
298-4101

(082)
233-2333
(084)
655-6938
655-6939
655-9379

(082)
300-4040
222-2021
(082)
233 0071
09998863306

Boracay
Beach Club

BoracayRegencyBeach
Boracay
Island

(036)2886111/2886777

Boracay Haven Resort

Boracay Island

BoracayHills Hills
Boracay
(036)2883315
Boracay
(036)2883764
Island

Boracay Mandarin
Island Hotel
RedCoconut

Malay,
Aklan
BeachResort
TheBoracayBeachResort

Sitio Bolabog, Boracay Island

Boracay Tropics
Boracay Island
WillysBeachClubHotel
Villas
Cohiba

Boracay Island

(036)2883208
(036)2884288

(036)2883794to97

http://www.cohibavillas.com
sales@cohibaboracay.com
cohiba.villas-boracay
skype:
Tel. Fax: +63 36 288 4792
Mobile No.:+63 9177230649

RegencyLagoonResort
(036)2882828

New Dawn
Pensionne

Cagayan De Oro City

Le Grand Suites
City Heights, General
Santos City

Le Reve Resort
North Cotabato
Marex Beach Resort
Island Garden City Of Samal

(082)
553-5473
553-5970

(087)
388-4615

09267921478
(088)
828 4482

09156189085

(036) 288-3507
Boracay(036)
Ocean
288-3758 Bay Resort
Boracay Island

(064) 229-9436
521-4090
09461911409
09205555049

(083)
893 0032
09197687544
09067652174

BeachHotel

0999 880 4526

0948 788 4255

(084)
216 4553
09228625339

Red Coconut

(064)
229 8550
229 6018
0917721 2813

(082)
285-0001
285-0002
285-0005

(032)
402-9900

(083)
554-4423
826-9026

(63)32
505-9800

(086)
826-3280
(0922)
849-6443

7 Stones Boracay Suites

Malay Aklan
Vista de Boracay
Alta

BoracayGardenResort

(036)2886633
Boracay
Island
ResortandConventionCenter

433-3377
(034)
434-7065

(083)
301-1818
09228217332
(088 )
852-0383
(02) 401-9285
(082)
282-1111
09255111011

(036)
621-2956
621-1216
(035)
422-4000
(034)
433-7401
708-8889

(082)

227-3773
295-3485
09227152573

+63 32
492-7777
+63 02
799-1111

(082)
233-1941

Boracay

(632) 417-5751
(6332)
492-0100

Marianne Suites

A. Luna Streets,
Cagayan De Oro City

NEW ESTRELLA TOWNHOUSE

JulioPacanaSt.Licoan,CagayandeOroCity

Mis.Or.Philippines

New Estrella
Townhouse
Cagayan De Oro City

Orchard Hotel
Bajada, Davao City

Tel.#(08822)745126/(088)8521441

Limketkai Luxe Hotel

Cagayan De Oro City
Palm Residence Inn
Davao City
Paras Beach Resort
Yumbing, Camiguin
Paseo De San Francisco Suites
Agusan Del Sur
Paradise Island
Park & Beach Resort
Samal Island Davao
Park Inn
By Radisson Davao
Davao City
Parkway Hotel
Surigao City
Paulas Hotel
Misamis Oriental
Pearl Farm Beach Resort
Davao City

Pearl Suites
Davao City
Pearlmont Inn
Cagayan de Oro City
Ponce Suites Hotel
Bajada, Davao City
Pryce Plaza Hotel
Cagayan De Oro City
Precious Garden Of Samal

www.precious-garden-samal.com

PTCHostel
Agusan Del Sur
Rhapsody Suites
Cagayan De Oro City

Roadhaus Hotel
Dadiangas City Heights,
General Santos City
Secret Cove Beach Resort
Camiguin Island

Sequoia Inn
Davao City

Seda Abreeza
Davao City
Sonreir Apartelle
Calinan, Davao City

Jony's Beach Resort

Malay, Aklan
La Esperanza Hotel
Kalibo, Aklan

09175886873
(632) 771-8181
(6338)
422-2222
422-2202

(032)
344-1322
(032)
232-0888

(034)
729-3835
09273032166

(036)
288-9888
(036)
288-4853
(036)
288-5729
(036)
288-3315
288-3764

(036)
288-3444
(02)567-1672

(036)
288-1759

(02)
887-0581
812-5821

(036)2883457
(036)2885190

(036)288372830

(02)634358183

(036)2885222

BoracayGardenResort
Lingganay
Boracay
Hotel

(036)2886633
Resort
Malay, Aklan

Nigi-Nigi
Too
Beach Resort
BoracayRegencyBeach
Boracay Island

BoracayGardenResort
ResortandConventionCenter

(036)2886633
One
Boracay Resort
OneMGMBoracayResort
MGM

(036)2886111/2886777
andConventionCenter
and Convention Center

Boracay Island
ResortandConventionCenter
BoracayRegencyBeach

Marzon
Hotel

(036)2886111/2886777

BoracayHills
Aklan
TonglenBeachResort
Kalibo,
(036)2883315

(036)
288-1601

Eurotel
Boracay Island

Boracay Island

(036)2883764
Marzon
Beach
Resort
BoracayHills
(036)2883315
Malay,
Aklan

(036)2883764
Red
Coconut
Beach

Red Coconut
RedCoconut

Resort
BoracayGardenResort
Boracay
Island
Red CoconutBeachHotel RedCoconut
BeachResort
(036) 288-3507
BeachHotel
BeachResort
288-3758
Sea(036)
Wind
Boracay
TheBoracayBeachResort

(036)2886633

BoracayRegencyBeach
(036) 288-3507
ResortandConventionCenter

(036)
(036)2886111/2886777

288-3758

The
TheBoracayBeachResort

(036)2883208

BoracayHills
Boracay
(036)2883208 Beach Resort
(036)2884288

(036)2884288
(036)2883315
Boracay
Island
(036)2883764

Red
Coconut
WillysBeachClubHotel
RedCoconut

WillysBeachClubHotel
BeachHotel
BeachResort
(036)2883794to97
(036) 288-3507
(036)
(036)2883794to97
288-3758

Water Colors Boracay

TheBoracayBeachResort
(036)2883208Dive Resorts

(036)2884288

Boracay Island,

The District Boracay

Malay, Aklan

WillysBeachClubHotel
RegencyLagoonResort
(036)2883794to97
Willy's
Beach Club Hotel

(036)2882828

Boracay Island

RegencyLagoonResort

(036)2882828

RegencyLagoonResort

355-0000
861-8658
(63) 36 2886119
/ 2886274-75
Fax No
(63) 36 2883119

(036)
262-3989
268-9254

(036)
288-5734
(036)
351-4017
994-1145

(036)
288-3728 to 30
(02)634-3581
to 83
(036)
268-2188
268-2184
to 86
(036)
288-3131
09218104433
09159367222

(036)
288-3507
288-3758

416-4010
415-1285

(036)
288-3208
288-4288
(63 36)
288-2324 - 27
288-1448
(063)
288 -6745
to 6746
(036)
288-3794
to 97

(036)2882828

(036)
288-4792

857-1776
09229192806
(083)
301-2289
09173313800
09399062218
09399052343
(0928)
732-1893
302-1460
(088)
880-2123
(08822)
745-126
(088) 852-1441

(082)
300-8855
(88) 880-0000
(02) 779-5240
(082)
305-0505
222-5225
09175684720

(088)
387-9117
09177152285
(+6385)
343-8048
(+63999)
309-1065

(082)
233-0251

(082)
272-7600
272-7601
(086) 231
5116 / 231
5141 to 46
567-1135
09174308131

(082)
221-9970

(082)
282-1294
09301269185
(088)
856-2653
to 55
(082)
227-8161
227-9070
(08822)
726-464
(088) 858-3131

(082)
303-2818
09176347037
09179111252
(088)
857-1101
09328469358
(083) 553-8888
553-5335
Telefax No.
553-1771

(088)
387 9084
387 9184

(082)
300-3636

Southern Tourist Inn

Davao City
Sunflower Hotel
Davao City

Sydney Hotel
General Santos City
Square Suites
General Santos City
T'boli Hotel
and Restaurant
General Santos City

TCC Condo Hostel

Toril, Davao City

The Dynasty Court

Hotel
Cagayan de Oro City
The Farm @ Carpenter Hill
Koronadal City, South
Cotabato

(082)
221-7431
(082)
221-5011
305-3531

(083)
552-5479
552-5480
552-5481

(083) 552-5127
09228362516
09126007323
(083)
302-2648
553-7586
302-6652

(082)
291-3800
(08822)
72-4516
72-7825

(083)
228 1888
228 9010
09189210425

The Manor Hotel

Davao City

(063) (82)
221-2511
to 13

The Metropolis Suites

Davao City

(082)
282-8000
321-2874

The Margarette
Business Hotel
Maramag, Bukidnon

The Old Barracks Suites

Kidapawan City
The Peridot Suites
Davao City
The Pinnacle
Hotel And Suites
Davao City
The Ritz Hotel
at Garden Oases
Davao City
The Vip Hotel
Cagayan De Oro City
Tierra Montana Hotel
General Santos City
Tune Hotel
Cagayan De Oro
Tune Hotel - Davao City
Uptown Condotel
Xavier Estates, Cagayan
De Oro City

Victoria Suites Hotel

Cagayan De Oro

Villa Paraiso Resort

and Apartelle
Mambajao, Camiguin

Uno Business Hotel & Cafe

Hagkol, Valencia City

We R Inn Hotel
City Center, Davao City

Willshire Inn / Will's Place

Cagayan De Oro City
Woodland Tourist Inn
Alunan Highway,
Tacurong City

(088) 238-5236
09066437648
09175498841
09268446952

(064)
288-1299
(082)
305-6530
305-3812

(+6382)
300-1881
300-5885
221-3025

(082)
228-6885
to 87
(0882)
727-360
726-080
(083)
554-7733
553-0553

(088)
880-0888

09178514308
(082)
224-0577 to 78
0916 550 8863

(088)
851-1800
09088881800
(088)
857-4447
(08822)
72-2222
(088) 387-0419
387-0420
09173089293
09999906543

(088)
828-3544

09175395678
(082)
227-9328
09199252808
09228418102

09176320635
09176320650
(064)
477-0488
09429243041

(6382)
322-8888
09477910147
09233327698

Yellow Magenta Cyan

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L
CLASSIFIED BOX ADS RATE
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Sundays - P 370.00 per col./cm.
(All quoted rates are subject to VAT)

CLASSIFIED LINE ADS RATE

Weekdays - P 92.00 per line
Sundays - P 104.00 per line
(All quoted rates are subject to VAT)

B8

Saturday, February 20, 2016

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

B-9

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

B-11

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B-12

Saturday, February 20, 2016

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Saturday, February 20, 2016 B-13

P&G needs to be more

agile, says new CEO Taylor

rocter & Gamble

Co. needs to be
more nimble in its
decision-making,
Chief Executive David Taylor said in his first interaction with analysts after taking the helm in November.
Analysts have said the
world's largest consumer
products company should
split itself up into more manageable businesses so that
regional centers are given
more control.
The management has
also been criticized for being too slow in reacting
to changing trends in key

markets such as China.

"A few years ago we got too central
and global and too slow to address market opportunities. We need more direct
ownership for our regional managers
all the way to the store shelf," Taylor
said at an analyst conference in New
York.
P&G, which has posted declines in
sales for the last six quarters, has been
shrinking its portfolio to focus on fastergrowing brands such as Tide detergent
and Gillette shaving products.
"Taylor's diagnosis is correct and
it is encouraging to hear someone talk
about the root of the problem," said Neil
Saunders, CEO of retail research firm
Conlumino.
"While changing the company's

operations is very challenging, (Taylor)

does instill confidence that he is going
to enact change to bring about a more
nimble company."
Taylor offered few surprises during
the conference but said the company
would not move around talent as often
as it had.
That may help P&G improve its
performance in markets such as China
the world's second-largest economy
where it has lost market share to
nimbler rivals and local players.
"In many ways we looked at China
little bit too much as a developing
market, as opposed to the most discerning consumers in the world," Chief
Financial Officer Jon Moeller said at
the conference. (Reuters)

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B-14

Saturday, February 20, 2016

OECD urges world leaders

to tackle flagging growth
By MICHEL ROSE

PARIS (Reuters) The OECD

poured cold water on any lingering
hopes of a pick-up in global economic
growth this year on Thursday, slashing its forecasts for the United States,
Europe, and Brazil and urging world
leaders to act collectively to strengthen
demand.
The Paris-based Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development, a think tank funded by wealthy
countries, cut its 2016 global growth
forecast to 3.0 percent in its interim
economic outlook, from the 3.3 percent
it forecast in November.
That would mean global growth this
year would be no higher than in 2015,
itself the slowest pace in the past five
years.
Trade, investment and wage growth
remained too weak, the OECD said,

urging world leaders to deploy all policy

levers to stimulate growth urgently.
"Monetary policy cannot work
alone," it said. "A stronger collective
policy response is needed to strengthen
demand," it added, urging countries with
room for fiscal expansion to raise public
investment in infrastructure projects.
The United States and Germany
suffered the biggest downgrades among
major developed economies, with the
OECD slashing its 2016 forecast by half
a percentage point for both countries
to 2.0 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.
The OECD now expects US and euro
zone growth to slow from the previous
year, to 1.4 percent for the latter, and to
pick up only marginally in 2017 to 2.2
percent and 1.7 percent respectively.
The OECD left its forecasts for Chinese growth unchanged for the next two
years, but still expects growth to slow

to 6.5 percent in 2016 and 6.2 percent

in 2017.
In the euro zone, the positive effect
of lower oil prices on activity has been
less than expected, the OECD said,
while very low interest rates and a
weaker euro had yet to lead to sustained
stronger investment.
Across the Atlantic, US growth
slowed in the second half of last year
under the weight of a stronger dollar
which dragged on exports, and the impact of lower oil prices on the country's
large oil and gas industry.
Among the largest emerging economies, Brazil was seen as a major victims
of falling commodity prices, with a
recession expected to be deeper than
feared at -4.0 percent this year.
In a rare bright spot, the OECD
raised its 2016 forecast for India's
growth by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4
percent.

Cameron pleads for credible

deal to keep Britain in EU
BRUSSELS (AFP) British Prime
Minister David Cameron urged his
European counterparts at a Brussels
summit Thursday to reach a ''credible''
deal to keep his country from crashing
out of the EU and settle the issue for a
generation.
A source in his Downing Street office warned it ''could be a long night''
as Cameron pushed for reforms to
Britain's relationship with the 28-nation
bloc in the face of concerns from France
and eastern European countries.
In his first face-to-face meeting with
fellow leaders at the crunch summit,
Cameron said there was ''an opportunity to move to a fundamentally different approach to our relationship with
the EU what some might call a sort
of live and let live''.
He urged them to secure ''a package
that is credible with the British people'',
adding that the issue of Britain's place
in Europe ''has been allowed to fester
for too long'' and that there was now a
chance ''to settle this issue for a generation.''

Daikin to double...
energy savings. Daikin's VRV inverter
model is designed for maximum capacity but will automatically adjust its
usage according to temperature.
Aside from energy efficiency,
Caburian said its VRV inverter technology is also good for the health and
environment.
Daikin will also open two new regional sales offices in western Visayas

B-1

and southern Luzon in the Bicol region

to augment its existing five regional
offices.
It will also launch new product
lines. In fact, it has just launched its
new VRV32 model. It will also expand
its applied products business like the
Daikin magnetic chiller for malls and
airports.
Daikins after-sales division man-

Three years after Cameron announced he wanted to reset Britain's

ties with the European Union, talks are
going down to the wire on his demands
in four key areas.
The British premier wants restrictions on welfare payments to EU
migrants in a bid to curb immigration,
safeguards for non-euro countries like
Britain, increased EU competitiveness and an opt-out from closer EU
integration.
France veto warning
French President Francois Hollande said he wanted an agreement
and that it was ''possible'' but raised
fresh doubts that countries like Britain
which do not use the euro currency
could secure special protections.
''No country can have the right to
veto, we cannot hold Europe back from
advancing,'' Hollande said.
The issue raises particularly sensitive questions around banking regulation as Britain is home to the City of
London, one of the world's leading
financial centers.

OFW remittances...

Cameron won crucial backing

Wednesday from German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, who said Berlin had
shared his concerns ''for many years''.
Arriving for the summit, Merkel said
there were still issues to resolve but she
was ''happy to do everything to create
the conditions for Britain to remain part
of the European Union.''
For her part, straight-talking Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite
punctured some of the summit rhetoric.
''I think everyone will have their own
little drama and then we will agree,''
she said.
European Commission chief JeanClaude Juncker said he was ''quite
confident'' of a deal, but EU president
Donald Tusk warned it was a ''make or
break summit.
Cameron, under pressure from
eurosceptics in his centre-right Conservative Party and a hostile right-wing
press, says he will back a 'Yes' vote in
a referendum expected this June if he
can cut a deal in Brussels.

cash or in kind as well as other household-to-household transfers between

Filipinos who have migrated abroad and

their families in the Philippines.

It is also capital transfers between
households which, according to the BSP,

include the provision of resources for

capital purposes, such as for construction of residential houses, between
resident and non-resident households
without anything of economic value being supplied in return.

ager Augusto T. Quitco also said the

company is set to enter the mainstream
marketing for its products. Quitco
said Daikin aircon units maybe carried
by appliance stores in three months to
reach more retail/residential custom-

ers.
This means Daikin will be training
more people to be able to install the
split type aircon. It will cost between
P4,000 to P5,000 for installation.
Quitco said that while one horse-

power inverter split type Daikin unit

can be 20 to 30 percent more expensive
than the window type aircon, electricity expenses will be cheaper overtime
given the proven energy savings of as
much as 30 percent.

B-1

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

B-15

Retired cop
found dead with
gunshot wound

LABAT, Quezon A
retired policeman was
found dead with a gunshot
wound in the right side of
his head, in his bedroom,Thursday
morning in this town.
The victim, identified as Alex
C. Angulo, 59, married, is a retired policeman and a resident of
Barangay 4.
The responding police said
they found Angulo lying on the
bed and near him was a caliber
.45, Police suspect that Angulo
committed suicide.

His wife had found him in the

same position after coming from
a grandsons place nearby.
Investigation revealed that the
victim had asked his wife to check
the condition of their sick grandson at about 4 a.m. of Thursday.
When his wife went back with the
grandson, she felt uneasy because
she saw her husband lying still on
their bed. She said that since there
was no sufficient light, she went
nearer and was groping when she
felt a gun near the victims head.
(Danny J. Estacio)

2 die, 4 injured
in Isabela accidents
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan Two persons were killed
and four were injured in separate
vehicular accidents involving motorcycles along the road in Alicia,
Isabela province on Monday.
Police Officer 1 (PO1) Inocencio
Dela Cruz, duty investigator of
Alicia towns police station, identified one of the fatalities as Jomar
Tagata,32, resident from Purok
Tres, Barangay Burgos, Alicia, who
was declared dead-on-arrival at
the hospital. He was riding a motorcycle which collided with another
motorcycle driven by Jomar Ca-

mungao, 22, a resident of Barangay

Viga, Angdanan, Isabela.
Camungao and his tandem riders Danny Divina, 22; and Bernie
Pagaduan, 25, were injured and
were rushed to the hospital for
treatment.
In another vehicular accident,
Bryan James Mayo, 10, died after
he was thrown off the motorcycle
when the vehicle bumped a tree in
Barangay Rizal, Alicia town.
The motorcycle driver, Raffy
Mayo, 12, sustained injuries and is
now confined in a hospital. (Freddie G. Lazaro)

Barangay
chairman
killed in
road accident
STA. MARIA, Isabela A barangay
chairman was killed while a driver
was injured when their service patrol
tricycle met an accident at Barangay.
Poblacion 1.
Police identified the victims as
Joseph Callueng, 46, the barangay
chairman of Brgy. Villabuena, who
was pronounced dead on arrival in the
hospital; and Federico Mendoza Jr., 31,
driver of the vehicle, and a barangay
official, who was injured.
Isabela Provincial Police Office said
the incident happened at 10:20 p.m .
of Feb 17, while the victims riding a
Barangay Patrol Tricycle on their way
home. The driver suddenly lost control
and the vehicle overturned, throwing
out both victims. (Liezle Basa Iigo)

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Air France-KLM posts first

annual net profit since 2008
PARIS-- Air France-KLM posted an annual net profit
for the first time since 2008 as its successive costcutting plans have finally yielded results and cheap
jet fuel made its operations more profitable. The
Franco-Dutch airline booked a net profit of EUR118
million euros ($132 million) for 2015 compared
with a EUR225 million net loss the year before. The
companys overall sales rose 2.8% to EUR89.82
billion last year. For the fourth quarter, net profit
fell to EUR276 million, from EUR308 million a year
earlier. (WSJ)

Air
Sea
Land

Shipping Bulletin

Chinas Tianjin Tianhai buying

Ingram Micro for $6 billion
WASHINGTON (AP) Chinese shipping company
Tianjin Tianhai says it is buying US logistics firm Ingram Micro, Inc. for roughly $6 billion. The all-cash
deal amounts to $38.90 per share for Ingram,
which distributes information technology products
and services. Tianjin Tianhai said in a statement
that the combination should expand its geographic
reach as well as its product and service offerings.
It is based in the port city of Tianjin and specializes
in bulk overseas shipments between China, South
Korea, Japan and other Asian countries.

B16 Saturday, February 20, 2016

http://www.mb.com.ph

China COSCO Shipping says

mergers key to riding out downturn

HANGHAI (Reuters) The shipping industry is experiencing its

worst downturn since the 2008
financial crisis, making mergers key to riding out this tough period,
the chairman of China Cosco Shipping
Corporation (COSCOCS) said.
Xu Lirong was speaking to reporters
on the sidelines of an event to launch
COSCOCS, which was formed by a
government-driven merger of former
domestic rivals China Ocean Shipping
(Group) Company and China Shipping
Group that has created one of the world's
largest shipowners.
Maritime consultancy Drewry forecasts that the global container shipping
industry will make a combined loss of $5
billion this year due to factors including
lackluster freight rates and cargo volumes, ship lay-ups and higher operating
costs.

The Baltic Dry Index has been hitting historical lows every day. This is the
most difficult period that we are experiencing since the financial crisis," Xu said,
referring to the index that tracks rates for
ships carrying dry bulk commodities.
Our two firms had similar operations, we did not have many advantages
in the various sectors we operate in and
could not count on economies of scale...
The merger is crucial to the development
of both companies, he added.
With 830 vessels including container
ships, dry bulk vessels and tankers,
COSCOCS will own almost twice as many
ships as rivals AP Moller Maersk and
Mitsui O.S.K Lines combined, according
to data from ship valuation firm VesselsValue which does not take into account
chartered-in vessels.
The merger of the two groups, whose
listed units include China COSCO and

China Shipping Container Lines, involved more than 70 asset swaps worth
60 billion yuan ($9.21 billion), he said.
COSCOCS is the latest firm to
emerge out of a government campaign
to clean-up and raise the global competitiveness of Chinas state-owned firms
through creating what it calls national
champions. To date, Beijing has created
railway giant CRRC Corp and nuclear
producer State Power Investment Corporation.
Besides fulfilling the government's
reform goals, Xu also said that the merger also supports one of the worlds largest
shipping fleets supports Chinas One
Belt, One Road policy to increase trade
and open new markets for its firms.
Meeting the demands of China's
One Belt, One Road policy will not be
possible without a strong shipping fleet,"
he said.

EU court rules employers can claim

airline payments for delayed flight

By STEPHANIE BODONI
(Bloomberg)

Employers of business travelers left

in the lurch by delayed flights can claim
compensation from airlines, the European Unions top court said in another
ruling beefing up passengers rights.
Air carriers cant avoid paying for
losses suffered by employers, the EU
Court of Justice said in a binding judgment Wednesday, referring to the Montreal Convention, an international treaty
that covers air travel. A group of airlines
attacked the ruling.
The concept of consumer under
the convention may include persons
who are not themselves carried and
are therefore not passengers, the
Luxembourg-based EU court ruled.
The convention must be interpreted as
being applicable not only to the damage
suffered by a passenger, but also to the
damage suffered by a person in its capac-

ity as an employer.
The case is the latest in a long line
of rulings on airlines obligations when
schedules arent met. The EU court has
clarified in previous cases, involving carriers such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG
and EasyJet Plc, that passengers who
arrive three hours or more after the
scheduled arrival time have a right to
compensation, except in extraordinary
circumstances. The court in a 2013 decision said the same applies in the case
of connecting flights where passengers
arrive at least three hours late at their
final destination.
The ruling opens a Pandoras box
and creates a new level of uncertainty
despite all the problems we are already
facing with existing EU rules on passenger compensation, said Geert Sciot,
a spokesman for the Association of European Airlines in Brussels.
We urgently call for a revision of
the EU framework, he said. This is

once more an indication that we face a

huge problem resulting in a lot of costs
for airlines.
The case Wednesday concerned
AirBaltic AS and two Lithuanian security
agents who arrived at their final destination more than 14 hours late, due to a
delay on one of their connecting flights
which made them miss the next connection. AirBaltic challenged orders by
the local courts to pay the compensation,
arguing that it is liable only to passengers
who took the flight, and not employers.
The case was referred to the EU top
tribunal by the Supreme Court of Lithuania in 2014. In its answers, the 28-nation
EUs highest court also clarified that
the compensation airlines have to pay
employers in such cases is capped and
cannot in any case exceed the cumulative amount of compensation that could
be awarded to all of the passengers concerned if they were to bring proceedings
individually.

Maersk to change freight rate

announcements after EU probe
A file photo dated
September 18, 2013
showing dockers
pulling the towrope
as the world's biggest
container vessel Mary
Maersk arrives at the
port of Qingdao during
its maiden voyage in
Qingdao city, eastern
China's Shandong
province. Danish
shipping and oil group
AP Moller-Maersk
said February 10,
2016 its full-year 2015
net profit plunged 82
percent due to lower
freight rates and oil
prices and writedowns
of oil assets. The net
profit of 925 million
dollars compared with
5.2 billion dollars in
2014. (EPA)
COPENHAGEN (Reuters)
Maersk Line, the world's largest
container shipping company, said it
would change the way it publishes
price changes following a competition probe by the European Union.
Its announcement confirmed
earlier reports by Reuters that
shipping companies will need to
implement measures that would
essentially cap their price rises.
Maersk Line, part of Denmark's
A.P. Moller-Maersk group, said the
way it would now announce changes
in its freight rates for shippers
wanting to transport goods, would
be more transparent.
The EU Commission said on
Tuesday that the 15 shipping companies under investigation had
promised to be "bound by their price
announcements during their valid-

ity period as maximum prices but will

be free to offer lower prices."
The shipping industry has been
hit by record low freight rates due to
sluggish growth in the global economy,
especially a slowdown in China.
Shipping companies tend to announce General Rate Increases
(GRIs) about a month before they
intend to increase spot prices along
main routes.
However, in the current market
climate these intentions rarely come
to pass as overcapacity and low volumes often forces shipping companies
to accept lower prices than the "GRIs"
they announced.
Nevertheless, the EU Commission
said expressing this intention in public
so far ahead "may allow the parties to
explore each others' pricing intentions
and to coordinate their behavior".

The Commission wants firms to

announce price changes no earlier
than 31 days before the date they are
due to come into effect.
The other companies under investigation are Mediterranean Shipping
Co (MSC) and CMA CGM, Evergreen
Marine , Hapag Lloyd, China Ocean
Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO),
China Shipping, Hamburg Sud, Hanjin
Shipping, Orient Overseas Container
Line (OOCL), Mitsui OSK Lines
(MOL), United Arab Shipping Company, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Hyundai
Merchant Marine and Zim.
Third parties have a month to
provide feedback on the EC proposal
before the Commission can accept the
offer without any finding of wrongdoing or possible fines. The pledge would
be valid for three years for routes to
and from Europe.

US-CUBA AIR AGREEMENT US Secretary of Transportation Anthony R. Foxx

(left) and Cubas Transportation Minister Adel Yzquierdo (right) pose with signed
documents of a memorandum of understanding between the governments of
the USA and Cuba including civil aviation regulations and direct routes between
Cuba and the US for the first time in over fifty years, in Havana, Cuba, February
16, 2016. Direct commercial flights between the US and Cuba could begin in late
2016 under the agreement formally signed on February 16. Up to 20 US flights per
day to Havana and up to 10 flights to each of nine other airports will be allowed
under the deal to be signed by the US and Cuban ministers in Havana. (EPA)

DOTC, LTFRB launch

PWD-friendly buses
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA

To modernize the countrys public utility buses, the Department of

Transportation and Communications
(DOTC) yesterday launched new vehicles for the Point-to-Point (P2P) Bus
Service featuring technology-enabled
and Persons with Disability (PWD)friendly design.
PWDs, senior citizens and pregnant women will have the convenience
of this new class of city buses, with low
floors and foldable ramps, according
to DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya
The high-quality, high-capacity
buses feature low floors for easy access,
hydraulic kneeling function to allow
tilting towards the pavement, retractable or foldable boarding and alighting ramps, tap-and-go card payment
systems, global positioning system
(GPS) devices, on-board close-circuit
television (CCTV) cameras as well as

free wifi.
Buses introduced under DOTCs
P2P Service category must also be
compliant with Euro IV emissions
standards or better and run on clean
alternative fuels.
The P2P Bus Service was conceived
to cut travel time and provide convenient commutes, through fixed stops
and schedules.
Also this week the DOTC, LTFRB, and other government agencies
launched the Airport Bus System at
Ninoy Aquino International Airport
(NAIA) Terminal 3.
This new service provides an alternative means of accessing airport
facilities and to ease long queues for
airport taxi services.
Already, the LTFRB is requiring
all PUBs to install GPS devices so
the government can better monitor
and discipline errant bus drivers and
operators.

Amazon expanding
deliveries by its
on-demand drivers
By MARI SAITO

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) Amazon.com, Inc. is quietly inviting drivers

for its new on-demand delivery service to handle its standard packages,
as the online retailer known for low
prices and razor-thin profit margins
looks to speed up delivery times and
tamp down its growing multi-billion
dollar logistics bill.
The move, which has not been
announced publicly, is the latest sign
that the worlds biggest e-commerce
company wants to control more of its
own deliveries. Media reports have
said the company plans to lease its
own fleet of jets, and CEO Jeff Bezos
eventually wants to use drones to get
packages to customers.
Amazon outlined details of its latest plan over the last few weeks in an
email to contract drivers who deliver
parcels for Amazon Flex, a program
launched last year to handle speedy deliveries of common household goods to
customers using Prime Now, a mobile
app that comes with Amazons popular
$99-a-year Prime membership. They
are not Amazon employees.
If the gambit works, industry
analysts said it could help Amazon
contain its shipping costs, which grew
more than 18 percent to $11.5 billion
last year.
It might also create a logistics
network to compete with United Parcel Service Inc, FedEx Corp. and the
patchwork of local carriers which currently deliver Amazon packages.
An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday that Flex drivers in Texas are already delivering
Amazon.com packages and not just
Prime Now orders. The Seattle-based
company did not go into details of its

plans, but said it will explore new

ways to provide customers with faster
service and delivery partners with
more opportunities.
In a recent earnings call, an Amazon executive said the company was
not trying to replace partner carriers
but rather find ways to handle more of
its own deliveries at peak times.
Amazon Flex works like on-demand
ride-hailing service Uber. Drivers use
the app to sign up for shifts to pick up
packages at small warehouses near
metropolitan areas as opposed to
Amazons massive fulfilment centers
and deliver them to customers doors.
The program is now available in 14
cities including Seattle, Las Vegas,
Phoenix, and Dallas.
Three Flex drivers in northern
Texas told Reuters they received an
email in recent weeks from Amazon
inviting them to take part in a new
opportunity to deliver Amazon.com
orders, separate from existing Prime
Now deliveries.
That could be a huge difference
for drivers. Prime Now is a relatively
niche service with tens of thousands of
items, a fraction of the more than 200
million products on Amazons main
e-commerce site.
This new stream of packages will
create new delivery opportunities,
Amazon wrote in the email to drivers,
which was reviewed by Reuters. The
expansion appears to be limited so
far to select drivers in the Dallas-Fort
Worth area.
In order to qualify, Amazon said
drivers must have a four-door car that
is a mid-sized sedan or larger and
that drivers would be paid an introductory rate of $18 per hour. They can
schedule shifts between 8 a.m. and 4
p.m seven days a week.

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Editor: AA PATAWARAN

@mblifestyle
MB Lifestyle
@manilabulletinlifestyle

Moms&Kids
Section Editor: AMYLINE QUIEN CHING

C1 Saturday, February 20, 2016

mblifestyle@gmail.com

Living
by Her

Rules

Accomplished expatand mom

of threeMarie Claire Lim
Moore has a new book and
once again, its about herfamily

By Regina G. Posadas
Portrait by ENA TEROL

arie
Claire
Lim
Moore looks fabulous for
someone who never turns
down food and claims she
still hasnt quite figured outnutrition or
physical fitness. Smart and svelte in a
sleeveless black dress and toning highheeled shoes, the Filipino-CanadianAmerican bank executive, bestselling
author, wife, and mother of three radiated an undeniable warmth and effervescence,which,come to think of it,areexactly how her books are.
The Yale University graduate has
two certified Amazon hit Dont Forget
the Soap (And Other Reminders from
My Fabulous Filipina Mother) and its
sequel, the recently launched Dont
Forget the Parsley (And More from My
Positively Filipino Family). Though
thevolumes are thin andeasyto read,
theystay in readers minds,effortlessly
pulling in and winning them over with
insightfulness and charm.
I breezed throughMarie Clairessecond bookDont Forget the Parsley, but
not without appreciating its gentle but

On being a working mom

Personally, it was always importanttometo have both.I wanted to have
a fulfilling professional life as well as a
happy family life.I wanted to show my
daughters that you dont have to choose.
I think many Filipino women, including
my mom and my aunt, have proven
that you can have both if you work hard
enoughandthey hadinspired me to do
just that. Theyve been doing it for so
long, and to balance all these demanding obligations and do it relatively quietly, thatsmore inspiring.

On house rules and raising happy

kids in this digital age
I think, for me, the most importantrule is consistency.I wont pretend
to be an expert on this but consistency around schedules, around family
has been working for me so far. As a
working mom, Ive had to do a lot of
integrating of schedules.My weekdays
and weekends are all kind of planned
because sometimes, I work during
weekends and sometimes,Im with my
kids during the week. My kids have a
schedule and I can tell that it makes
them happierwhen they know whatto

Time management iskey.You have

to be very disciplined and efficient
about everything.
precious reminders to readers about
making the most of everything, being
the best you can be, succeeding in your
own terms, and aiming for fulfillment
and integration over having it all.As a
homemaker and a writer who has never
had household help and who is,almost
always, drowning in chores and deadlines, I really liked and identified with
theSheryl Sandberg-inspired adviceto
not let the quest for perfection hold you
back: Done is better than perfect.
I marveled over her parents, particularly their ingenuity and how they
stayed together all these years despite
their contrasting personalities.Theres
a lot more to admire and reflect on in
both books, but the memoirs, undeniably, are affirmations of family, love, values, and other things good and positive
that our troubled world needs substantial doses of.
Here, Marie Claire shares more of
her parenting wisdom and experiences:

expectthat they have time to do art,

outdoor play, and other things. But
we never have rules like no iPad or
screen time on weekdays. What works
best for us is everything in moderation
and everythingconsistent.During the
week, my husband and I, even if were
both working, we have a rule that
one of us should always be at home
tohavedinner with the kids.
Technology does not have to be the
enemy. You can really useitto your advantage, especially here in Manila. You
spend a lot of time here in traffic,
right?For moms who are coming home
from the office and get stuck in traffic
when you want to be home, like when its
dinnertime,just putSkype on, andhave
themput theiPadon the table while the
kids are having dinner.Wedo that. Weincorporate what we can to be consistent.
Yes, its a completely different age
now. The accessthatkids have to everything is astounding. The biggest thing

BEST OF BOTH
WORLDS Clockwise
from top: FilipinoCanadian-American
Marie Claire
Lim Moore with
her kids Carlos,
Isa, and Sofia; A
photo with former
US secretary of
state and now
Democratic
presidential
candidate Hillary
Clinton; Her new
book Don't Forget
the Parsley.

I try to tell my kids while theyre still

young isthis:We can talk about everything. So, even if they hear things in
school, my son will come home and kind
of say, Mom, I think you might not like
this word, but this is what I heard today.I
just want him to feel comfortable talking
to me about everything so that even if I
cant control everything that they hear, I
can have an influenceonhow its framed
and we can go from there.

On getting things done

Time management is key. You
have to be very disciplined and effi-

cient about everything.

The schedule I mentioned with
my kids?That also helps me because
I know exactly when theyre going to
be downstairs or outside so I can play
with them, or when they go to bed, so
my husband and I can go out to dinner
and have time for ourselves.

Her biggest parenting challenge

My kids are still very young.Carlos is five years old, Isabel is three,
andSofiais one year old.But Ihave a
great support network. And thats the
key. My husband Alex and I always

joke about it, that the key is theadultto-child ratio. Were just so fortunate
to have my parents so near. Theyre
often in the Philippines.Were in Hong
Kong now so we do a lot of back and
forth. Of course, we have our helpers. Theyre sisters and theyre very,
very good.And then,we have my husbands mother who comes regularly.I
mean, it takes a villageto really raise a
childand you can see when we travel,
were a big bunch but it keeps things
fun and under control.
Another challenge Ive had as a
parent is just being able to manage a
lot of whats required in school these
days. Even when your kids are still
young, you should really invest your
time and commit to their school work.
Its not just simply saying Do your
homework. Its volunteering in school,
attending meetings, being there for
your kids. I want to be there as much as
the mother whomay not have work obligations.Thats a challenge for me but I
try to do that as much as possible.

On religion
There has to be something
grounding. Its important to
teach my kidshowto be open
and tolerant and to understandthat everyone has their
own way of staying grounded.For some people, its going to a church or a temple,
and for others, its whatever
they might do with their family time or theiralone time
when they meditate. So I
need to be respectful of
that andIwant my kids to
berespectful of that, too.

On traveling with kids

Through the years, Ive
learned quite a bit on how to make
it easy. With our first child, we would
bring everything.Ive learned that most
of the places we travel to have things
that you can ask for beforehand. If we
go to a hotel,for example, Icanask for
the high chair that they use in the restaurant to be in the roomthings that
are not necessarily in the brochure. I
find thatmany places are flexible about
these things so I try to ask to minimize
whatwebring.
Dont Forget the Parsley (And
More from My Positively Filipino
Family) is available at FullyBooked
and Amazon.www.MarieClaireLimMoore.com

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Bulletin Board

C-2

BLUE PALAWAN OPENS ASIA'S FIRST

KITEBOARD TERRAIN PARK
Another first for Palawan,
this year the top wakestyle
Kiteboarders from around
the world gather and compete
at the very first Blue Palawan
Kiteboard Open to formally
launch the opening of Asia's
first world class kiteboarding
terrain park in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan Island. The
Philippines is a world class
spot to practice kiteboarding
because of its strong Amihan
and Habagat winds. Kiteboard
enthusiasts around the world
come for the tropical conditions amidst strong wind,
enjoying sun, warm waters

and kiteboarding in boardshorts. There are a lot of subdisclipines in kiteboarding

and each require a special set
of wind and terrain conditions
combined. Wakestyle kiteboarders look for consistent
winds on flat water lagoons
which is the closest one can
get to cable wakeboarding. The
spot in front of Blue Palawan is
a perfect wakestyle Mecca with
consistent winds, a 1 kilometer
long lagoon protected by a reef
and also sea grass keeping the
water as flat as it can be even
when it's windy. And to top it
off, world renowned kite park

builder Joby Cook from Hood

River, Oregon specially designed three features to make
this place the best kite park in
the world, the only one in Asia,
and the first in the Philippines.
The podium was comprised of
Brandon Schied / USA on 3rd,
Eric Reinstra/USA on 2nd and
Sam Light /UK on First. For
the women's, it's Colleen Carroll/USA on 3rd, Sensi Graves/
USA on 2nd and two time freestyle world champion Karolina
Winkowska from Poland taking
the win. To watch some amazing action. check out fb.com/
bluekiteboarding.

PAFP FAMILY WELLNESS FUN RUN

Dr. Alex Alip, president of the
Philippine Academy of Family
Physicians and Dr. Annie Francisco, overall 55th Anniversary
and convention chairman is enjoining friends and members
to join them on February 21,
Sunday, 5 a.m. at the Liwasang
Ulalim, CCP Complex for the 1st

PAFP Fun Run. Upon registration, participants will be given

a bib and shirt. All finishers will
receive a finishers medal and
will have a chance to win raffle
prizes. Special prizes will be
given to the Top 3 Finishers of
the 10 km, 5 km, and 3 km categories. This 1st PAFP Fun Run

is being held in cooperation with

ADP Pharma Corporation and
the following doctors: Jonathan
Babsapay, Florinela Canuto,
Carolina Reyes, Jonathan Vidal
Molano, Reigel Kent Alcera,
Cherilyn Quezada, Mary Grace
Magtibay, Nenita Lee Tan, Eli
Belormino and Disi Yap Alba.

YUMI OPENS FIRST EXPRESS BRANCH

AT CROSSROAD CENTER, QC

YUMI, the new trendy Japanese restaurant chain recently opened

its first express outlet at the Crossroad Center, an events and
commercial facility in Quezon Citys Scout area.

Labeled as Yumi Express,

it is the first express branch
of Chef Robby Gocos Yumi
Restaurants whose main outlets are in Century City Mall
in Makati and Promenade
Greenhills in San Juan. The
launch was attended by Yumi
Express partners Lorenzo
Yam and Anthony Meehan

of Yumi Concepts Corp., and

Anthony K. Quiambao of
Crossfoods Corp. Japanese
food lovers can now visit
Yumi Express and enjoy its
diverse yet compact menu
of moder n yet affordable
Japanese dishes. The menu
showcases smaller portions
of Yumi Restaurants best-

selling rice bowl dishes such

as the Katsudon, Tori Tekiyakidon, Sukiyakidon, Gyudon,
and Tendon, and Tantanmen
ramen. For those looking for
a business lunch or dinner
set, Yumi Express also offers custom-bento box meals
where diners can choose
from one to three specialty
dishes (US Tenderloin, Chicken Teriyaki, Buta Miso Pork,
Tuna Teppan, Salmon Teppan and Ebi Tempura) with
yakisoba or Japanese fried
rice, miso soup, and drinks.
Yumi Express is located at
G/F Crossroad Center, Mo.
Ignacia St. cor. Scout Reyes,
Brgy. Paligsahan, Quezon
City. It operates from 11:00
am to 10:00 pm daily. In photo
(from left): Rev. Manuel David Diamante from Bread of
Life Ministries, Inc., Yumi
Express partners Anthony K.
Quiambao from Crossfoods
Corp. and Lorenzo Yam and
Anthony Meehan from Yumi
Concepts Corp.

FICTAP HOLDS 17TH CONVENTION MARCH 9-10

The Federation of International Cable TV and Telecommunications Association of
the Philippines (FICTAP) will
hold its 17th annual congress
and exhibit at the historic landmark Manila Hotel on March 9
and 10, 2016.
Now a Comelec-approved
party list candidate in the
coming May elections, the
800-strong group of nationwide
cable TV operators celebrates
its 17th year with the appropriate theme, PROGRESS
TO THE COUNTRYSIDE
THROUGH INTERNET CONNECTIVITY.

As an election participant,
FICTAP is pursuing the advocacy of fleshing out a faster
and cheaper internet service
available to the remotest areas
in the Philippines.
FICTAP National Chair Estrellita Neng Juliano-Tamano and Convention Chair Cecilia La Madrid Dy announced
that this years convention is
an opportunity for the FICTAP
members to unite and work
together to assure the election of FICTAP as a new voice
of the common man in every
barangay especially the youth
and overseas Filipino workers

PUSONG PIONEER DEFINED

At its annual sales conference held last February 2, 2016,
Pioneer Lifes top performing
financial planners had occasion
to define their performances,
motives, and goals based on the
beat of their Pusong Pioneer.
Pusong Pioneer as described
by Pioneer Life President
Lorenzo Chan Jr. as: klaro ang
adhikain, maala bang pagtibok
at makabuluhan ang layunin.
(has a clear goal, beats with
passion, and has a meaningful
purpose). From its inception
in 1954 until today,
Pioneers primary
purpose has always
been to be a dependable partner to the
Filipino through
products that espouse financial preparedness.
At the sales conference, Pioneer investment adviser
Fritz Ocampo, SVP
& Chief Investment

Officer of BDO, revealed his

Market Outlook for 2016, stating that while 2015 had been
a very challenging year for
the world market because of
divergent global trends, the
Philippines remained the least
affected among the ASEAN
countries, displaying robust
2015 earnings that were primarily driven by consumer
demand and investments. Fritz
noted that Pioneers Managed
and Equity funds continue to
be the best performing funds

(OFWs) in the countryside.

Founded in 1999, FICTAP
will continue to serve to its nationwide membership with the
staging of the much-awaited
exhibit, so far, the largest
array of the latest in cable
TV, internet and other Value
Added Service products and
technologies at the Manila
Hotel convention site.
FICTAP active members
and others intending to attend
the latest FICTAP congress
can still avail of the registration benefits like the send
five delegates and get one free
registration.

in the industry, based on their

individual five-year returns. We
stand toe-to-toe with the largest
funds in the market and still do
well, Fritz expressed.
Guest speaker Coach Chot
Reyes shared his valuable insights on the qualities of a winning team, which he discussed
in depth while sharing a video
clip of the last three minutes
of Gilas winning game against
Korea during the 2013 FIBA
Asia semifinals. For Coach
Chot, the Pusong Pioneer
team needs individuals who are
worthy of trust, put in the effort,
and are accountable
and motivated. True
motivation comes
from within. It is a
heart issue, he said,
the heart allows us
to do great things.
In photo, Pioneer Life
President Lorenzo
Chan Jr. enjoins financial planners to
keep their passionate
heart for the Filipino
beating strong.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

CITY GARDEN GRAND PROMISES

LOVE AND LUCK IN FEBRUARY
City Garden Grand Hotel, Makatis newest luxury
property, serves up a double
treat this February offering a unique promotion. It
includes an overnight stay
in City Garden Grands wellappointed Superior, Deluxe
and Premier Rooms, generous buffet breakfast at the elegant Spice Caf, a romantic
set dinner also at Spice Caf,
10% discount on select spa
treatments at La Famosa,
unlimited wi-fi access, and
complimentary use of the gym
and infinity pool as well as
local city calls. All inclusions
are for two persons. Rates
are P6,888 nett for a Superior
Room, P7,388 nett for a Deluxe Room and P7,988 nett for
a Premiere Room. The promo
is valid until February 29 and

applicable only on weekends

(Saturday and Sunday). Call
City Garden Grand at 8888181, mobile 0999-888-8181 or
visit www.citygardengrandhotel.com. Located at the bustling area of Kalayaan corner

Makati Avenue, City Garden

Grand opened in late 2014,
making it Makatis youngest
four-star property, but with
five-star quality of service,
F&B offerings, features and
amenities.

LAS PINAS PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS

Las Pias City announced
the winners in its first photography contest showcasing the
citys Tuluy-Tuloy na Serbisyo program, that grand prize
of which was won by a 25-yearold resident.
The winning photo, captioned, Tuluy-Tuloy ang Kalinisan, with P20,000 prize
was submitted by Caleb John
K. Dicman, a web production
officer of Manuela IV Subd.,
Pamplona 3, Las Pias City.
The second prize winner of
P15,000 went to The Craftsman entry of Mark Aiven H.
Antang and the third top award
with P10,000 was won by Sagipilog Project of Nonilon Reyes.
Fifteen other honorable
mention entries were given
P2,000 submitted by Benjamin
B. Espique; Allan Jay A. Quesada; Apollo Marco C. Bautista;
Edgardo R. Manuel; Jo Benson
Vergara; Casimiro Obillo Jr.;
Bryan C. Ocampo; Maricris
Fabi Carlos; Lara L. Porras;
Vincent A. Erispe; Adoracion F.
Padua; and Aries Christopher
V. Valdez, all residents of Las
Pias City.
The winning photos were

picked from among the 66 entries submitted, with themes

highlighting Las Pias best
practices on good governance,
education and health care
services, environment protection, and livelihood and skills
development.
Other entries also showcased the citys urban renewal
and infrastructure developments, and Las Pias Historical Corridor. Also projected
were the Sagip-Ilog Project and
Water Lily Livelihood Program

of Senator Cynthia Villar.

The competition was an
open category for both amateur and professional photographers and enthusiasts who
are legitimate residents of
Las Pias.
Initiated by the Media Affairs and Public Information
Office (MAPIO), the photo
contest is part of the activities
for the celebration of Las Pias
Citys 109th year founding
anniversary and 19th year of
Cityhood on March 27.

GROW GLOBALLY AND BE PART OF THE PH

DELEGATION IN CANADA
World Trade Center Manila (WTCMM) is the appointed Delegation Leader
of Centrallia 2016. Centrallia
is a multi-sectoral, international business-to-business
forum focused on generating
trade and business development opportunities. To be
held in Winnipeg, Canada on
May 25-27, 2016, Centrallia
is North Americas premier
business match-making event
where 700+ business leaders
from around the world are
expected to converge. Since
2010, Centrallia has been successfully bringing hundreds
of businesses together to help

build connections and foster

business alliances.
The event has been optimized to deliver value and
results by helping businesses
make international connections, connect quickly and
efficiently with potential clients and business partners,
develop international business strategy, learn from international trade experts and
world-class keynote speakers,
and a lot of networking.
WTCMM is now pre-qualifying trade-ready companies
to join the Philippine Delegation. For companies looking
to grow globally, form new

partnerships or explore new

global markets, Centrallia
2016 guarantees participating companies up to fourteen
30-minute meetings with
potential partners of choice.
The full program includes targeted one-on-one meetings,
a conference component, a
trade show, meals and worldclass networking events.
Hurry and avail of our
early bird registration with
special discounted rates if
you register on or before
Febr uar y 29, 2016. Email
lpcailles@wtcmanila.com.
ph or srsantos@wtcmanila.
com.ph.

MALUNGAI LIFEOIL: YOUR DAILY DOSE OF VEGETABLE!

Through years of continuous
research, Manila Natures Link,
Corp. discovered a pure malunggay oil extract food supplement
that is the only combined moringa leaves and seed oil product
in the world the Malungai
LifeOil.
Held at The Blackboard By
Chef Michael, The Podium, 12
ADB Ave., Mandaluyong City
last Thursday, February 11, 2016,
Malungai LifeOil was presented
as an extraordinary food supplement that is trusted when it
comes to health and wellness.
Malungai LifeOil started
from experimentation by Mr.
Andy Lugtu, founder of Manila
Nature's Link, who became very
familiar with the different qualities of natural oils from plants
because of the oil extraction
research he did for a renewable
energy company.
Several personalities attended the event to give testimony to
the benefits of Malungai LifeOil.
One of the countrys top trio APO
Hiking Society singers Danny
Javier, who suffered from multiple health complications which

includes kidney failure, liver collapse, pneumonia, emphysema,

congestive heart failure, hepatitis A and sepsis said that with
regular check up, proper diet
and intake of Malungai LifeOil,
his condition got better.
I was expecting to die, I accepted it. I was okay, and in fact,
I was ready to go. Its just that I
woke up and I realized that Im
still alive. I thought I will not be
cured until I discovered LifeOil.
Now, I can do whatever I want;
I can travel and even play golf,
he said.
Aside from Javier, Philippine
Red Cross Secretary General
Gwendolyn Pang and Basketball
Player Dondon Hontiveros also
shared their life changing experience after taking Malungai
LifeOil.
Malungai LifeOil features
behenic oil which smoothens
skin and enhances sperm motility. Found mainly in the seeds
of malunggay, the fatty acid
absent in powder-filled capsules,
which are made from semi-dried
malunggay leaves, this oil is also
long-chain fatty acid that is filled

with omega-3. It also contains a

wide range of natural nutrients
that are bio-availablemaking
the body absorb more nutrients
more effectively than powder
capsules. Each capsule has a
more potent antioxidant than
powder, making it more stable
and contains active chlorophyll
which is an essential nutrient
that we get from eating fresh,
green leafy vegetables.
The food supplement is manufactured in the Philippines and
was recognized during the 20th
Consumers Choice and Asia
Pacific Excellence Awards as the
recipient of the 2012 Consumer
Choice Best Awardee and 2012
Best Organic Medical Health
Supplement. Also, it received
the 2012 Global Brand Award
and 2012 Best Organic Medicinal Health Supplement Award
during the 14th Global Brand
Asia and Asia Pacific Excellence
Awards.
Malungai LifeOil is available
in Mercury Drug drugstores.
For more details, visit Malungai
Life Oils official website, www.
malungailifeoil.com.

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Lifestyle
PARENTING POSTS

Let the Good

Times Roll

Saturday, February 20, 2016 C-3

birthday corner

After a hectic hell week, every mom

deserves a weekend of treats

Matthew
Miguel O.
Gaspan,
Feb 17

Althea
emeryn A.
Fadallan,
Feb 18

Cassey Alva
Villarosa,
Feb 19

Run.

Start a healthy lifestyle. On March 6, moms and their families and

even expectant couples are invited to celebrate family togetherness,
fitness, and outdoor fun at the 6th Mommy Milkshake Run by Mommy
Mundo. It will be a 3km and 5km run around the Bonifacio Global City
area. Every family member can join. Registration period is until Feb. 21.
www.mommymundo.com/milkshakerun2016

Aiyana Solenn
Caling, Feb 12
Althea Camille
Asilo, Feb 19

Daryl Nicole N.
Dipad, Feb 14

Recharge.

Yasminah Nasser,
Feb 15.

Check out Karada Japanese Body Therapy Center whose signature

treatments are known to have restorative and natural healing benefits.
It focuses on body alignment and improved muscle function thats good
for the mind and the body. The wellness center recently opened two
new branches at Boracay (Nandana Hotel, Station 1) and Mall of Asia.
Other branches are located at Glorietta, Greenbelt Radissons, Serendra,
Alabang, Greenhills, Greenbelt 1, and Eight Forbes Town Branch BGC.
karada.com.ph, Facebook/karadaphilippines

John Gabrielle A.
Maisog,Feb 19

Kyle
Jhefferson
Concepcion
Feb 19

Zoe Chloe
Ong, Feb 14

Travel.

Pack your bags and traipse around the Philippines.

Do it in style with travel gear like Lipault of Paris, whose
products are colorful, ultra-lightweight, luxurious, but
durable. Available at The Podium Mall in Ortigas,
Mandaluyong City.
Visit Huma Island Resort in Palawan
and enjoy relaxing and fun days at the
award-winning destination. Check
out Kapuruan Spa, which offers a
unique glass bottom flooring that
allows views of underwater fauna
and a wide selection of Asian and
Moroccan treatments. Recently
nominated for best luxury resort
spa by the World Luxury Spa Awards
2015, Kapuruan has five treatment
villas built over water. www.humaisland.
com,
Facebook/humaislandpalawan,
Instagram/@humaisland, Twitter/@Huma_Island

Ethan
Joesh S.
Pluma,
Feb 18

Greet your baby on

his or her birthday
and get the chance
to win a gift card
from The SM Store!

Unwind.

Those who dont want to leave the city can go to Dusit Thani Manila in
Makati. Check out its numerous room packages. Have a delightful
buffet breakfast at The Pantry or
try the ambrosial
delicacies
at
UMU
and
Benjarong Royal
Thai Restaurant.
Achieve a peaceful
mind and healthy
body with the
offerings
of
Devarana Spa and
DFiT Fitness Center.
02 238 8888,
dtmnrsvn@dusit.
com

WINNER
Mail your babys photo to Moms&Kids, Manila Bulletin Muralla cor.
Recoletos Sts., Intramuros, Manila, or email to moms_mb@yahoo.
com. Include your name, your baby's name, birthday, age, and contact
numbers and use them as filename. To claim your prize, please contact
527-8121 loc. 384. Prizes not claimed within 60 days will be forfeited.

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Lifestyle

C-4

Saturday, February 20, 2016

My

Girl
Its much too fun having
a daughter

Photos by Stanley Ong

gosh, she is such a GIRL!

And thus it began, our reflex
gender stereotyping.
hen we were
I have to say though that
at the beach
itsure is fun having a girl. As
last weekend,
Ive written before, I solely
we
thought
identified myself as being
Lila would love playing
the mom of boys. That was
in the sand just as our
mycomfort zonerough and
two little boys did. From
the mommy
tumble, high-octave, highthe moment my husband
project
octaneplay.
and I first introduced
AMANDA GRIFFIN
Im also not a really girly
theboysto the beach,they
JACOB
girl and wondered what to do
both couldnt get enoughof
with a girl. Of course,as soon
it. They would fall into a
as I had her, everything fell into place
hysterical state every time we try to
and Ive gotten in touch with my softer,
take them away from the sand. Natmore feminine side. While pregnant
urally, we expected the same thing
with my daughter, I was convinced I
from our daughter. Boy, how wrong
wouldnt buy her many clothes or toys.
we were. Every time wed try to
She could make do with all of herbrothput Lilas little feet on the sand, she
ers hand-me-downs (you know how I
would cringe, yelp, and scream. She
like to be green). Wereceivedsomany
hateditstexture. Shes the same with
pretty outfits, dresses, and too adorgrass. My husband exclaimed, Oh my

The Gold
Treatment

able stuffed toys, however,thatIfound

myself slowly gravitating toward everything pink, soft, andgirlish. Isometimesgo into childrens clothing stores
and lose track of time just browsing
and admiring all the beautiful clothes
and accessories that go with each outfit. Me, really!? Ive suddenly discov-

into anything. She is cautious and calm.

She watches every move I make. My
boys, especially my eldest, Kieran,
would (and still does) just leap beforelooking.No fear.He reminds me of
a little typhoon, obliterating everything
in his path. But hes tons of fun.And so
is his brother.

Ive suddenly discovered an obsession

with tutus. Tutus, for goodness sake!
ered an obsession with tutus. Tutus,for
goodnesssake!
In my experience, it certainly
hasbeen very different having a girl. I
have read that girls are more likely to
be more sensitive to their surroundings. Yup, big time! My little Lila keenly observes everything before jumping

Throughout the years, my friends

with daughters have always told me
that girls love to chat. As early as
now (Shes about to turn one!), Lila
babbles nonstop. Much more than
either of my boys. I can tell she will
be a talker. Girls are quick to acquire
more words in their vocabulary at a

much faster rate than boys.So Icant

waittoseeher asserting herself with
words very early on. I know she will
because she already wants to make
herself heard over her two brothers.
Ive also reconnected with dolls
and stuffed toys. Dont get me wrong,I
make sure Lila plays with cars and her
brothers toys, but nothing makes her
happier than cuddling my old cabbage
patch doll or her soft,furry rabbit. My
sons naturally gravitate towardautomotive items and dinosaurs. This has
brought back some very special nostalgicchildhood memories.
Im so excited for my future relationship with my little girl. I want us to
be the very best of friends.I know she
will teach me so much andIam very
much looking forward to it.
For more of Amandas mummy
musings, check out her blog: glamomamas.com

24K Deep Peeling Gel is designed to polish the skin

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eauty
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metics store at Century
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QUEEN P
Ive read. When a womnourishment, said Marie
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an reaches her 30s, more
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ager of Orogold Cosmetimportance of quality of sleep comes
ics.Our specialistsare all trained to
in.Butwegetbusier with every passexamine the skin before recommending yearandI will admit to beingdeing which products and treatments
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they shouldavail of.I triedto wiggle
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fuss with my hairand haveno timeto
so tamad (lazy) to put products on
memorize what product to put on my
my face. Is there a quick fix? She
face during whatpart of the day. My
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very basic products. A year latsome skin problems.
er,this reluctant user is a believer and

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I was introduced toOrogoldprodSkinLikea Queens

ucts and treatments by a friend.DurAll Orogold products have
ing one of our lunches, I commented
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latest in technology, a new collection has been introduced in the

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The indulgent, pampering regimen includes applications of serums,creams,gold sheets,and facial
massages. After my treatment, my
skin felt refreshed, tight, and baby
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my skin would retain its suppleness even weeks after. You can opt
to have the treatments done at the
boutiques or enjoy an ultimate spa
day at home!

Put a Lemon in It
One thing I seem to have done
right over the years is that Im a big
water drinker. Now, I know that if
we add lemon to water, the benefits
multiply. Nobody wants to grow old

The 24K Vitamin C Cleanser is enriched

with Vitamin C and submicrometersized gold particles. I love the way it
smells on my skin! It removes makeup,
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before their time. Therefore, its a

must that we take care of our bodies regardless of our age, so that we
can put on our best faces every day!
OrogoldCosmetics at G/F of Century
City Mall orL2 MidtownWing, Robinsons Place Manila. OrogoldExclusive is located at G/F Newport Mall,
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Follow me on Twitter, IG and Facebook. Visithttp://thebusyqueenp.
com/for more interesting reads!

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Editor: JOJO PANALIGAN

@Bulletin_Ent
Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online

70-6.&

t
*446&


DECEMBER 2015

Merry Christmas to One and All!

Cold Chain
Project Makes

The

Christmas
F lower

Life Better

for Poor Farm

Families in Caraga

Comes Into
Full Bloom

Problems and Prospects of

D-1 Saturday, February 20, 2016

entertainment.mlabulletin@gmail.com

Free
Academy for

FilipRice
ino

PH Mango Industry

Farmers

NOVEMBER 2015

P85

A celebration of multifaceted films

By Paulyn Abando

the exhibit include the classic Ishmael

Bernal film Himala, Alvin Yapans
Ang Kubo Sa Kawayan, and another
by Ignacios called Child Haus, as well
as Adolf Alixs Kinabukasan, which
stars Nora Aunor and Alden Richards.
Joel Lamangans Sekyu starring
Allen Dizon, Sunshine Dizon and Melai
Cantiveros will close the exhibition.

he third Singkuwento International Film Festival (SIFF)

opened yesterday at the Leandro Locsin Theater as part
of the National Commission for Culture
and the Arts (NCCA) Arts Month celebration.
SIFF aims to give voices to Filipinos both here and abroad as well as
provide a channel for non-Filipinos to
share their impressions of the Philippines and its people.
Starting in 2013 as a non-competition festival, it transitioned to a
public film tournament last year with
four categories including local and
international documentary, short KIKO MATOS and Angela Cortez in Partee
(YouTube)
film and full-length feature.
In an exclusive interview with
Film distributors from Korea and
Bulletin Entertainment a few days
the US are participating in the threebefore the opening, festival director
year-old festival.
Perry Escao promised a bigger and
With the continuous success of
wider celebration this year, noting they
SIFF, Perry hopes they would earn bighave a total of 60 international and local
ger support in the coming years.
film entries, including movies produced
Sana marami pang mag-support
by regional filmmakers.
na audience, producers, and distributors sa independent filmmaking.
Kasi ngayon maraming talented
(filmmakers) eh, kailangan lang talagang ma-discover merong hope
for Philippine cinema naman talaga
na makilala siya sa ibang bansa,
he said.
SIFF runs until Feb. 27 at the
NCCA Theater. There will also be
GABBI GARCIA and Barbie Forteza in Laut
screenings on March 2, 4, 7, and 8 at
(showbizninjaph.blogspot.com)
the UP Film Center.
Para magkaroon naman ng exposure ang ating mga regional directors
dito sa Manila. It is our aim to build an
audience for their film and of course
yung ma-promote yung films nila,
Perry explained.
Some of the regional films came
from Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, and
Davao, among others.
Kung meron mang manalo sa
kanila (from the regional entries),
mai-inspire yung mga regional filmmakers na gumawa nang gumawa
ng films para isali rito sa Manila,
kasi ang aim naman nila is madiscover balang araw, he said.
Perry said most of the entries exhibited more developed storytelling.
He noted, Yung mga idea at attack
nila sa istorya fresh at medyo kakaiba
yung style.
Category winners will be screened
nationwide in public schools through
the cooperation of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
This years SIFF also includes a film
exhibition kicked off by Louie Ignacios
Laut, featuring Barbie Forteza and
Gabbi Garcia.
Other Pinoy films to be featured in

how hard it was to produce the film

given their limited budget.
Almost a year ako nag-ipon para
ma-produce yung pelikula, tapos sa
mga actors tawaran (sa talent fee),
he said.
Though aware of the hurdles inherent to indie filmmaking, Jill persisted
because he wanted to share his vision
to audiences.
Gusto ko yung filmmaking dahil
nakaka-influence ito at nakakapagpamove sa tao. Wala akong pakialam
kahit isa o dalawa lang yung manood,
ang importante may maka-appreciate
ng gawa mo, he said.
Indie actor Kiko Matos, who stars in
both Partee and Sekyu, likes working with mainstream counterparts.

There are some (mainstream)

actors (who) give (you) respect. Sometimes there are mainstream actors who
will admire you, too. Pag may nakakatrabaho akong mainstream na artista,
hindi ko nakikita yung (pagiging
mainstream nila) eh. Ang nakikita
ko ay yung tao at kung sino siya.
They also look at me like Im one of
them as well, he said.
Perry, an indie filmmaker and actor who has appeared in some local TV
series including ABS-CBNs Be My
Lady, shares Kikos sentiments.
Wala akong nakikitang discrimination between indie and mainstream
actors. We treat mainstream and indie
actors equally, he said. (With report
PERRY ESCAO (Photo by Noel R. Amata)
from Jojo P. Panaligan)

Mainstream vs independent
It should be noted most of the films
in this years SIFF star mainstream

A SCENE from the festivals closing film,

Sekyu (showbizninjaph.blogspot.com)
actors, which Perry deems beneficial
to SIFF and the independent film industry.
These mainstream actors, sila
yung magiging instrumento na maconvince yung mga audience natin na
panoorin yung indie films na totoong
quality naman talaga itong mga independent films na ito ang nagbibigay
sa ating ngayon ng mga awards sa
ibang bansa, he said.
One of the finalists in the full-length
category is Jill Singson Urdanetas
Partee, starring Felix Roco.
As first time director, Jill shared

LavDiazcompetesinBerlin

aring Filipino director Lav

Diaz brings his movie house
of pain to Berlin, shooting for
the top prize with an eighthour epic that tests human patience
and endurance.
Diaz weaves the rich revolutionary
history and mythology of his impoverished homeland in A Lullaby To
The Sorrowful Mystery, the longest
film ever to compete at the Berlinale,
but still three hours shorter than his
longest work.
My principle is, the filmmaker
shouldnt struggle by himself... The
viewer must struggle with me. Lets
experience this thing together and be
immersed in this universe, the 57-yearold Diaz told AFP in Manila before he
left for Berlin.
L u l laby chronicles the futile search
by Gregoria
de Jesus
one of the
few women
leaders

of the Philippine resistance against Spain

for the body of her husband, Andres Bonifacio, who was executed on a mountain by
a rival faction of the rebellion.
Diaz weaves into the narrative the
legend of the Filipino Hercules, who is
perpetually holding the edges of two
mountains to keep them from crashing
into each other, and also the Tikbalang,
a cigar-puffing monster with the head of a
horse and the body of a man.
Another strand in the black and white
movie is a retelling of El Filibusterismo,
a politically charged novel written during
the Spanish period by the countrys national hero, Jose Rizal, to rouse nationalist
spirit.
I combined all these threads, and
when you view the film, it is about the
search for the Filipino soul, Diaz said.
Diaz has won numerous international
and local awards. One of his most recent
works, the four-hour-long Norte, The
End Of History, was screened at the 2013
Cannes Film Festival.
This year, a seven-member jury headed
by three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will select the winner of the Golden
Bear, Berlinales top honour. (AFP)

In a report on ABS-CBN, John Lloyd Cruz flew to

Berlin Thursday for the world premiere of Hele
Sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby To The Sorrowful
Mystery), in which he stars with Piolo Pascual.
Napakalaking bagay po nito para sa film industry natin, John Lloyd told TV Patrol. The
actor added, Si Lav Diaz parang bihira ko lang
sinasabi to pero nag-iisa lang siya. Tickets for
the premiere showing reportedly sold out. The
Berlinale awards ceremony happens today.

LAV DIAZ

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Entertainment News

D-2

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Iza for Mother Earth

E
THE CHOICE/*ROOM both PG
ZOOTOPIA (in Dolby Atmos)/*SPOTLIGHT PG/*R-16
DEADPOOL (in Dolby Atmos) R-16
JOY/*DEADPOOL PG/*R-16
THE FORREST R13
ZOOTOPIA (in Dolby Atmos) PG

ROOM //
THE CHOICE

love is blind
// TENDEM
g/ r16

THE FOREST
r13

pg

how to
be single

deadpool

ZOOTOPIA
in atmos

deadpool

R16

r16

joy
pg

IN aTMOS
r16

pg

Feb. 20, 2016

Feb. 24, 2016

One : New Beginning

8:00 PM

Stephanie Reese

8:00 PM

Feb. 27, 2016

Mar. 12, 2016

Arnel Pineda: Love and Rock n Roll

8:00 PM

Rex Navarrete: HellaBlu at the Music Museum

8:00 PM

Feb. 25, 2016

Up Arco

Mar. 11, 16, 18, 2016

ICBB Reading Recital and Move-Up day

Mar. 12, 2016

School of Rock

April 2, 2016

AIM Global

DEADPOOL
01:30|04:10|06:50|09:30
DEADPOOL
02:40|05:20|08:00
ZOOTOPIA
01:55|04:30|07:05|09:40
THECHOICE
02:10|04:40|07:10|09:40
EVERYTHINGABOUTHER
04:25|09:30

nvironmental
solutions-prov i d e r Wo r l d
Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF-Philippines) announced the
appointment of its latest
National Ambassador
multi-awarded actress
and TV personality Iza
Calzado.
Calzado joins the
growing family of celebrities who are helping
spread WWFs solutions
on climate change, conservation, resource protection and environmental education.
W W F- P h i l i p pines President
Joel Palma believes Iza is the
perfect choice.
Iza embodies the empowered
Filipina
who leads
an act i v e ,
healthy
a n d
s u s tainable
lifestyle.
P l u s ,
shes actively involved in
raising
environmental
awareness, he
said.
The ac-

tress is excited to become part

of the organization and hopes to
share WWF solutions plus her
own unique lessons to raise
public awareness on ecological
issues.
Its time for us to give extra
attention to environmental solutions and how we can turn the tide
if we work together, today, said
Calzado.
WWF-Philippines celebrates
its 20th year this 2016. Among its
well-known projects are Earth
Hour, the worlds largest environmental mass-action, the conservation of iconic species like
the whale sharks of Donsol,
plus a vigorous environmental education drive,
which has reached over
700,000 children across
the country.
Were really excited to
work with Iza. We
believe shell
be a great
WWF ambassador in
reaching our
goals
a n d
touching
the hearts
of people,
shared long-time
WWF-Philippines
National Ambassadors Marc Nelson
and Rovilson Fernandez.
Log on to wwf.
org.ph to learn more
about WWFs work
Iza Calzado in the Philippines.

NEW FAMAS OFFICERS. Movie and Television Review

Board (MTRCB) commissioner Francia C. Conrado was elected

President of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences,
Inc. (FAMAS) during its reorganization meeting at the Bay Leaf
Hotel in Intramuros, Manila on Saturday. In the photo, Chairman
Conrado (fourth from left) is flanked by (from left) first vice president Alice Reyes, Board of Trustees member Art Tapalla, PRO
Benedict Abayagar, and Board of Trustees member Ner Jedeliz.
Standing behind them are (from left), Board of Trustees member
Aristeo Garcia, chairman of the board Angelo Padua, second
vice president Efren Montano, and Board of Trustees members
Jun Velasco, Juan Asuncion, Cles Rambaud and Edgar Godin.
Not in photo are Tess
Tan, secretary; Tita
Arcilla, treasurer;
Jun Dadulla, auditor;
Brian Lu and Richel
Dorotan, marshals;
and Diony Bulong and
Ariel Tabag, Board of
Trustees members.

DEADPOOL
01:00|03:40|06:20|09:00

THEFOREST
02:15|04:40|07:05|09:30
ROOM
04:40|09:30
HOWTOBESINGLE
04:05|09:30
JOY
01:20|06:45

LOVEISBLIND
02:05|07:10
TANDEM
02:25|07:15

DEADPOOL
01:00|03:15|03:40|06:20
08:20|09:00
THEFOREST
01:00|05:55
LOVEISBLIND
01:50|06:40
THECHOICE
04:10|09:00

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Entertainment News

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Yellow Magenta Cyan

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Entertainment News

D-4

Saturday, February 20, 2016

BALTIC & CO.

by Roni Santiago

BLONDIE

PUPUNG

by Tonton Young

MOTHER GOOSE & GRIM

IPENUTS

by Felipe de la Cruz

BURUNTONG

by Aldrin Gulapa

MARVIN

NORMANS ISLAND

by Norman Isaac

BEETLE BAILEY

THE Daily Commuter Puzzle

DENNIS THE MENACE

by Hank Ketcham

ZITS

by Dean Young & Jim Raymond

THE BORN LOSER

by Mike Peters

by Scott and Borgman

by Tom Armstrong

by Mort Walker

by Art Sansom

Edited by Jacqueline E. Mathews

TOK & MOL

by William Contreras

YOUR STARS
(saturday, 20 february 2016)
ARIES (March 21-April 20) Not everything will be as you would like
it to be, far from it. However your strength of mind will help you to deal with an
unusual problem. You would do well to seek to be a little more modest and a
little less demanding.
TAURUS (April 21-May 20) Others may be making more progress
than you. However, do not allow this to discourage you; just persevere and
you will soon catch up with them. There is no time to lose if you really want to
achieve the targets you have set yourself.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) There is a tendency to feel rather listless
and it will be difficult for you now to triumph over this feeling. Avoid a temptation
to rush things in order to get them over and done with. Instead plan carefully and
you will be surprised how much more you can accomplish.
CANCER (June 21-July 20) Face up to the truth and avoid hiding
from the facts or trying to use subterfuge. Giving a friend or member of your
family your dedicated support will be very much appreciated. You will find a
way of dealing with an unorthodox problem perhaps not the right way, but
one that works.
LEO (July 21-Aug. 20) You are liable to become fascinated by something relatively trivial and should do your best to refrain from dwelling too much
on it. Instead of waiting for all to become as you would wish it to be make the
best of things as they are now.
VIRGO (Aug 21-Sept. 22) Something you are trying to achieve will
prove very difficult, but that is a reason for trying harder not for giving up. You
will know how to deal with an unusual situation but must be most careful to avoid
creating any confusion.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) You should keep fit not only by exercise,
but also by dieting and trying to avoid tension. Something you had expected to
be rather troublesome will now turn out to proceed quite smoothly. Others will
tend to tell you what to do; do not lose your temper with them but do put them
in their place.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) You are somewhat more liable to lose
your temper and should do all you can to restrain yourself. Have the determination to proceed with what you have decided upon as well as the flexibility to
change course where this is required.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 20) Take care; do not expose yourself excessively to the rays of the sun. You would do well to watch over your
finances curbing a tendency towards extravagance. Before allowing your affections to stray you had best considered carefully what would be the consequences of so doing.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19) There is a greater likelihood of a
disagreement regarding some sensitive issues but you should simply beg to
differ instead of quarrelling violently. There is a minor matter that seems to be
rather wrong. However, you will be able to remedy it in due time.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Do not believe all is as you would
wish it to be to avoid getting into serious trouble. You should try to avoid getting
yourself into a false situation. You will soon see when this is about to happen
and you will have time to forestall it.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Make an effort to solve minor difficulties right away and try to avoid any form of misunderstanding amongst your
colleagues. Though a problem may seem rather complex, think clearly and you
will be able to cope up with them.

VITAMIN D

IMBOY

by Darwin Perez

by Nio Balita

Yellow Magenta Cyan

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TVGuide

Saturday, February 20, 2016

your everyday guide to local television and cable TV.

Local Channels
ABS-CBN 2
4:30 am O
Shopping!
5:30 DZMM
Teleradyo
6:00 Salamat Dok
7:00 Kabuhayang
Swak Na Swak
7:30 Angel Wings
8:00 Why Not
8:30 NBA
10:00 Kapamilya
Blockbusters
12:00 pm Its
Showtime
3:00 Ipaglaban Mo
4:00 SOCO
4:45 Celebrity
Playtime
5:30 Mga Kuwento
Ni Marc Logan
6:00 TV Patrol
Weekend
6:30 Home
Sweetie Home
7:15 Maalaala Mo
Kaya
8:00 I Love OPM
9:15 Pilipinas Got
Talent
10:45 Failon
Ngayon
11:30 Bottomline
with Boy Abunda
12:15 am O
Shopping!
GMA 7

5:00 m Adyenda
5:30 Kapwa Ko,
Mahal Ko
6:00 Pinoy M.D
7:00 The Smurfs
7:30 Kamen Rider
000
8:00 Pac-Man
And The Ghostly
Adventures
8:25 Angry Birds
8:45 Cross Fight
B-Daman
9:10 Detective
Conan
9:40 Maynila
10:40 Sarap Diva
11:25 Del Monte
Kitchenomics
11:30 Eat Bulaga
2:30 pm
Karelasyon
3:15 Wish Ko Lang
4:00 CelebriTV
4:45 Imbestigador
5:30 24 Oras
Weekend
6:15 Pepito
Manoloto
7:15
Magpakailanman
9:00 Celebrity
Bluff
10:00 I-Witness
11:00 Kapuso
Movie Nights

ABS-CBN Sports
and Action
5:00 am Family
Rosary Crusade
6:00 Football Asia
6:30 The Score
7:00 Sabong TV
8:00 RX Plus
Health, Lifestyle
and Leisure
8:30 Sagupaan TV
9:00 Asenso Pinoy
9:30 Ultimate Rush
10:00 Gallants
11:30 Monster Jam
12:00 pm Pinoy
Pride
2:00 UAAP Season
78 Mens Basketball
Replay
6:00 Kaya Mo
Bang?
6:30 NBA 2015 2016
10:30 UAAP
Season 78 Mens
Basketball Replay
TV 5
5:00 am Shop
Japan
5:30 Family
Matters
6:30 Kakaibang
Lunas
7:00 Word Of God
Network

8:00 Henry
Hugglemonster
8:20 Sofia The
First
8:40 Little
Einsteins
9:05 Stitch!
9:30 Hi-5
10:00 ScoobyDoo! Mystery
Incorporated
11:00 Star Wars:
Rebel
11:30 Wonderful
World Of Disney
1:00 pm Movie
Max 5
6:00 Lolabasyang.
com
7:00 Born To Be
A Star
8:00 Tasya
Fantasya
9:00 Movie Max 5
10:30 History with
Lourd
11:00 Kaya
12:00 am Shop
Japan
PTV
5:00 am Panahon.
TV
5:30 PCOO
Documentaries
6:00 FASEAN:
One Vision, One

Identity, One
Community
6:30 Oras ng
Katotohanan
7:30 Pappyland
8:00 Lakbayin
ang Magandang
Pilipinas
9:00 Mag-Agri
Tayo!
10:00 Buhay Pinoy
10:30 Tito the
Explorer
11:00 am - Yan
Ang Marino
11:30 The Garfield
Show
12:00 pm Dexters
Laboratory
12:30 The
Powerpuff Girls
1:00 Ben 10
1:30 Adventure
Time
2:00 Auto Review
2:30 Real Lives,
Real People
3:00 Shakeys Girls
5:00 Halo Halo
House
5:30 The Doctor
Is In
6:00 News@6
9:00 Philippine
Lotto Draw
9:15 Larawang
Kupas

STILL NUMBER ONE

A

BS-CBN started off

2016 on a right note
as it remains the most
watched TV network in the
country, garnering an average
audience share of 43% from
combined urban and rural
homes in January, according
to data from Kantar Media.
ABS-CBN kept a stronghold
of the primetime block hitting

an average audience share of

48% nationwide versus rivals
33%. The stations afternoon
block also garnered a 42%
nationwide rating.
Topping the list of most
watched programs is FPJs
Ang Probinsyano with an
average national TV rating of
39.8%, followed by Pangako
SaYo with 31.4%, tying at

second with weekend topraters Maalaala Mo Kaya and

Wansapanataym. Dance
Kids maintained its good
showing with 29.8% average
rating.
Primetime newscast TV
Patrol continues to be the
choice news source of majority
of the Filipinos, landing at the
fourth spot with an average

10:00 Concert at
the Park
11:30 PCOO
Documentaries
12 :00 mn Oras ng
Himala
ETC ON SBN21
6:00 a.m. Extra
6:30 Insider
7:00 Faking It
7:30 Shop Tv
8:00 Dracula
9:00 American Idol
11:00 Extra
11:30 Insider
12:00 pm TMZ
12:30 My Crazy
Love
1:00 The Flash
2:00 I Zombie
3:00 The Vampire
Diaries
4:00 The Originals
5:00 Finding
Carter
6:00 2 Broke Girls
6:30 New Girl
7:00 Americas
Next Top Model
8:00 The Vampire
Diaries
9:00 The Originals
12:00 am Candidly
Nicole
12:30 My Crazy
Love

1:00 Beauty And

The Beast
4:00 Project
Runway All Stars
5:00 2 Broke Girls
5:30 Candidly
Nicole
2nd AVENUE ON
RJTV 29
12:00 mn The
Ellen Degeneres
Show
1:00 Top Chef
2:00 Donut
Showdown
3:00 The Middle
3:30 Telenovela
4:00 Chef Roble
and Company
5:00 May The Best
House Win
6:00 Life in Pieces
6:30 Modern Family
7:00 Donut
Showdown
8:00 Anthony
Bourdains No
Reservation
9:00 In Her Shoes
9:30 Telenovela
10:00 Madam
Secretary
11:00 Inside
Edition
11:30 ET
12:00 pm The

Ellen Degeneres
Show
1:00 Satisfaction
4:00 Winners And
Losers
6:00 Inside Edition
6:30 ET
7:00 Repeat After
Me
8:00 Mysteries of
Laura
11:00 ET
11:30 Inside
Edition
CNN
PHILIPPINES
6:00 a.m. The
Lead With Jake
Tapper
7:00 CNN Daily
Share
8:00 60 Minutes
9:00 Profiles
9:30 Good
Company
10:00 Something
To Chew On
11:00 Undercover
Boss
12:00 pm CNN
Daily Share
1:00 Agenda
1:30 Medtalk
2:00 Nancy Grace
3:00 Dr. Drew
4:00 Talk Asia

4:30 Global
Conversations
5:00 60 Minutes
6:00 The Best Of
Current Affairs
6:30 Hollywood
Express
7:00 What I See
8:00 STORIES
9:00 The Bogart
Case Files
10:00 60 Minutes
11:00 Weekend
Express
4:00 am Nancy
Grace
5:00 Dr. Drew
IBC 13
6:30 a.m. APEC
WPS Docu 1 /Filipino
Excellence
7:00 El Shaddai
8:30 Tagamend
9:00 Bakbakan Na
10:00 Tukaan
11:00 Sabong
Nation
12:00 pm Value
Vision
2:00 Ez Shop
5:00 Value Vision
7:00 NAASCU
GMA NEWS TV
6:00 am Lifegiver
6:30 Pisobilities

7:00 Jesus The

Healer
8:00 Aha
8:45 Sarap With
Family
9:00 Life & Style
With Gandang Ricky
Reyes
10:00 Home Base
10:30 Turbo Zone
11:00 Alice
Bungisngis And Her
Wonder Walis
12:00 pm
Balitanghali
1:00 Reel Time
1:45 Reel Action
Sabado Kickboxers
Tear
3:00
#Michaelangelo
4:00 Tunay Na
Buhay
4:30 Sarap With
Family
4:45 Sine Totoo
5:30 Pinay Beauty
Queen Academy
6:15 Day Off
7:00 Wagas
8:00 Pop Talk
8:45 Taste Buddies
9:15 Asias Next Top
Model
10:15 Indie Kalibre
12:00mn Diyos At
Bayan

national TV rating of 28.7%.

Two new programs also debuted
strongly in January: Pilipinas Got Talent
Season 5 averaged a rating of 26.6%
while late morning feel-good series Be
My Lady earned a remarkable 18.3%
rating, almost 10 points higher than
competition.
Rated K (24.3%) and Home
Sweetie Home (24.1%) rounded up the
Kapamilya programs in the Top 10.
ABS-CBN also fared better than its
competition in other territories such as
Balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside
Mega Manila) where it scored a national
average audience share of 45%.

Cable Channels
AXN
6:00 am 24: Live
Another Day
7:35 The Blacklist
8:25 Supernatural
9:20 CSI
10:05 24: Live
Another Day
11:50 Wipeout
2:25 pm
Supernatural
3:15 The Blacklist
4:10 EBuzz
4:40 Anacondas
6:30 Cash Cab
Philippines
7:00 Worlds
Wildest Police
Videos
7:55 The Amazing
Race
8:50 Supernatural
9:45 The Amazing
Race
11:35 Hawaii
Five-0
12:30 am CSI
1:25 Quantico
2:20 Hawaii Five-0
3:10 CSI
4:00 24: Live
Another Day
HBO
6:00 am Zeus And
Roxanne
7:35 Seeing Double
9:05 Veronica Mars
10:55 Furious
Seven
1:10 pm Unbroken
3:25 Highschool
Musical 3: Senior
Year
5:15 Wallace &
Gromit: The Curse
Of The Were-Rabbit
6:40 Transformers
9:00 Annie
10:55 Blade: Trinity
12:50 am Horrible
Bosses 2
2:40 With This Ring
4:05 Hollywood On
Set
4:35 Wallace &
Gromit: The Curse
Of The Were-Rabbit
MAX
6:00 am Escape
Plan
9:10 Internal
Affairs
10:50 Eraser
12:40 pm 3 Days
To Kill
2:35 A Haunted
House 2
4:00 Dirty Harry
5:45 Into The Wild
8:05 Hollywood On
Set
8:35 Red: Werewolf
Hunter
10:00 The Knick
S208
10:55 Last Week
Tonight with John
Oliver S108
11:25 Chris Rock:
Kill The Messenger
12:30 am The
Hangover Part III
2:05 Hollywood On
Set
2:30 Runaway
4:05 Oz The Great
And Powerful
STAR MOVIES
12:45 am Jack And
Jill (2011)

2:15 Mr. Deeds

3:50 The Single
Moms Club
5:45 Mortdecai
7:35 Dinosaur
Island
9:10 Home
11:30 Night at the
Museum 2: Battle
Of The Smithsonian
1:20 pm Night
At The Museum:
Secret Of The Tomb
3:05 I, Robot
5:05 The Longest
Yard (2005)
7:05 The Tourist
9:00 X-Men: The
Last Stand
11:00 Godzilla
STAR CHINESE
MOVIES
12:55 am Happy
Ghost 4
2:25 My Dad is Jerk
4:15 Tian Di
6:00 Bleeding
Mountain
7:30 Running on
Karma
9:05 The Chinas
Next Top Princess
10:45 Hello Babies
12:20 pm The Odd
One Dies
1:55 Give Love a
Chance
3:25 Twa-Tiu-Tiann
5:35 Jiang Hu: The
Triad Zone
7:20 Wu Yen
9:30 Running on
Karma
11:05 Mr. Smart
DIVA UNIVERSAL
6:00 am When
Sparks Fly
7:40 Moms Day
Away
9:25 Text to Kill
11:05 I Think I Do
12:45 pm Sweet
Surrender
2:20 Betrayed
3:55 Perfect On
Paper
5:30 Merlin
6:30 The Good
Witch
7:25 Hottest Home
Baker
8:20 My Kitchen
Rules
11:35 The Good
Witch
12:30 am The
Good Witch
1:25 Law & Order
2:15 Definitely
Maybe
4:20 Chasing
Leprechauns
CINEMA ONE
12:00 am Secrets
Of Sarah Jane
2:00 Babae Sa
Bintana
4:00 Pangako Ng
Puso
6:00 Bakit Madalas
Ang Tibok Ng Puso
8:00 Weder-Weder
Lang Yan
10:00 You Are The
One
12:00 pm Born To
Love You
2:00 Cinemanews
3:00 Call Center
Girl

5:00 Sisterakas
7:00 Maria Leonora
Teresa
9:00 The Breakup
Playlist
11:00 Liberacion
CINEMAWORLD
6:10 am On Knifes
Edge
7:40 Why I
Kidnapped My Boss
9:20 The
Unexpected Life
11:15 The List of
My Desires
12:55 pm The
Beast
2:35 Seven Little
Killers
4:10 Incorruptible
5:45 Third Star
7:25 Eva Blond:
The Merry Widows
9:00 La Salada
10:45 The
Scapegoat
12:30 am It
Happened In SaintTropez
2:20 Murdered
4:05 Red Earth
STAR SPORTS
12:00 a.m. Abu
Dhabi Dessert
Challenge
12:30 Inside Grand
Prix
1:00 FIA F1 World
Cship
2:30 Liga Bbva
5:00 Football Asia
5:30 Rebel TV 21
6:00 Swatch
Freeride Tour
7:00 Hot Water
8:00 GS Caltex
Maekyung Open
9:00 Inside Grand
Prix
10:00 Bbva La Liga
Matches
12:00 p.m. Deep
Water
12:30 European
Rally Cship
1:00 FIA F1 World
Cship
4:00 Inside Grand
Prix
4:25 Formula
Friday
4:55 FIA F1 World
Cship
6:00 MotoGP World
Cship
7:00 Planet Speed
7:20 Formula
Friday
7:50 FIA F1 World
Cship
SOLAR SPORTS
12:00 am World
Dart Cship
1:00 2015 FIBA
Basketball Cship
3:00 The Premier
12 WBSC 2015
7:00 Pilates
7:30 Yoga
8:00 X Games
Vault
9:00 D1 Pro Drift
Grand Prix
10:00 Perspectives
11:00 Telefutura
12:00 pm
Sagupaan (Sabong)
1:00 San Juan
Derby Time
1:30 2017 World

Baseball Classic
Qualifier
6:00 NCC 2016
6:30 FIBA
Basketball
Highlights
7:00 Mosconi Cup
8:00 World Combat
Games
10:00 URCC
Rewind
11:00 World Pool
LIFESTYLE
NETWORK
12:00 am LES
2:00 Ultimate
Countdown
3:00 Video Fashion
News
3:30 Video Fashion
Specials
4:00 Chasing Life
Binge
6:00 Rachael Ray
7:00 The
Wahlburgers
7:30 The
Entrepreneurs
8:00 Food Safari
8:30 Rachel Allens
Everyday Kitchen
9:00 Gordons
Ultimate Home
Cooking
9:30 Rachel Allens
Cake Diaries
10:00 Made in Italy
10:30 Beat Bobby
Flay
11:00 Curiosity Got
The Chef
12:00 pm
Foodprints
1:00 Food Safari
1:30 LNS
2:00 Rich Kids Of
Beverly Hills
2:30 VF Specials
3:00 The Taste
4:00 Rachel Allens
Easy Meals
4:30 Rachel Allens
Cake Diaries
5:00 The
Wahlburgers
5:30 The
Entrepreneurs
5:30 The
Entrepreneurs
6:00 LXTV
7:00 Million
Dollar Listing San
Francisco
8:00 Chasing Life
9:00 Beat Bobby
Flay
10:00 LNS
BASKETBALL TV
1:00 am NBA Trade
Deadline
2:00 NBA Regular
Season
6:00 The Starters
6:30 NBA in 30
7:00 Inside The
NBA
8:00 NBA Regular
Season
10:30 NBA Action
11:00 NBA Regular
Season
1:30 pm NBA in 30
2:00 HSN
3:00 NBA Inside
Stuff
3:30 10 Before Tip
4:00 D-League
Game of the Week
6:00 The Starters
6:30 NBA in 30
7:00 NBA Regular

Season
9:30 NBA
Gametime
10:30 NBA Regular
Season
MTV PHILIPPINES
12:00 a.m. The
Playlist
1:00 After Hours
6:00 The Playlist
3:00 p.m. Gimme
10
4:00 The Playlist
7:00 Teen Cribs
7:30 Nitro Circus
8:00 Pranked
8:30 The Playlist
MYX
12:00mn MYX
Back2Back
12:30 MYX
Throwback
1:00 Take 5
1:30 Club MYX
2:00 Star MYX
2:30 First Seen On
MYX
3:00 Rock MYX
3:30 MYX Hit Chart
5:30 Take 5
6:00 MYX
Throwback
6:30 MYX Presents
7:30 My MYX
8:00 Pinoy MYX
8:30 Pop MYX
9:00 Mellow MYX
9:30 MYX
Ambushed
10:00 MYX
Versions
10:30 MYX Movie
Date
11:00 MYX
Throwback
11:30 MYX Hit
Chart
1:30 pm Mellow
MYX
2:00 Pop MYX
2:30 Pinoy MYX
3:00 My MYX
3:30 MYX Live!
4:30 MYX Olympics
5:30 Take 5
6:00 MYX News
6:30 M.I.T 20
8:30 Pinoy MYX
Countdown
10:30 MYX News
11:00 MYX
Back2Back
11:30 MYX
Presents
DISCOVERY
CHANNEL
12:20 am Man,
Woman, Wild
1:10 How Do They
Do It?
1:35 How Its Made
2:00 Deadliest
Catch Specials
3:00 Man, Woman,
Wild
4:00 How Its Made
5:00 The Gadget
Show
6:00 Man, Woman,
Wild
7:00 Big Fish Man
8:00 How Its Made
8:50 The Gadget
Show
9:40 Man, Woman,
Wild
11:20 Big Fish Man
12:10 pm How Do
They Do It?
12:35 How Its

Made
1:00 Deadliest
Catch Specials
2:00 Man, Woman,
Wild
3:00 Big Fish Man
4:00 How Its Made
4:50 The Gadget
Show
5:40 Man, Woman,
Wild
6:30 Worlds Top 5
7:20 The
Challenger Disaster
9:00 You Have
Been Warned
9:50 Running Wild
With Bear Grylls
10:40 Big Fish Man
11:30 Abalone
Wars
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC
CHANNEL
12:00 am Locked
Up Abroad
1:00 4 Babies A
Second
1:50 Evacuate
Earth
2:40 Primal
Survivor
3:30 Locked Up
Abroad
4:20 Animal
Fugitives
5:10 4 Babies A
Second
6:00 Evacuate
Earth
7:00 Primal
Survivor
7:55 Locked Up
Abroad
8:50 Inside
9:45 Secrets of The
Taj Mahal
10:40 How to Win
at Everything
11:35 Challenger
Disaster
12:30 pm Primal
Survivor
1:25 Cesar to the
Rescue
2:20 4 Babies A
Second
3:15 Lawless Island
4:10 Big Fish,
Texas
5:05 King Fishers
6:00 Challenger
Disaster
7:00 Mega
Factories
8:00 Explorer
9:00 How to Win at
Everything
10:00 Beyond
Magic with DMC
11:00 The Border
ANIMAL PLANET
12:00 am
Treehouse Masters
6:00 Big Cat Diary
7:00 My Cat From
Hell
8:00 The Crocodile
Hunter
9:00 Cats 101
12:00 pm Pit Bulls
and Parolees
3:00 Yankee Jungle
5:00 Treehouse
Masters
9:00 Yankee Jungle
10:00 Pit Bulls and
Parolees
11:00 Puppy Bowl
CARTOON

NETWORK
12:00 am The
Amazing World Of
Gumball
12:15 Teen Titans
Go!
12:45 Uncle
Grandpa
1:15 Adventure
Time
1:45 Clarence
2:15 Steven
Universe
2:45 We Bare Bears
3:15 Regular Show
3:45 Turbo FAST
4:15 Tom & Jerry
Show
6:15 Regular Show
7:15 Teen Titans
Go!
7:45 Steven
Universe
8:00 The Grim
Adventures Of Billy
& Mandy
9:00 Ben 10
10:00 Courage The
Cowardly Dog
11:00 Chowder
12:00 pm The
Amazing World Of
Gumball
1:00 Ben 10
2:15 Teen Titans
Go!
2:45 Chowder
3:15 Sonic Boom
3:45 Oggy And The
Cockroaches
4:15 Tom & Jerry
Show
5:15 We Bare Bears
5:45 Turbo FAST
6:15 Adventure
Time Stakes
7:15 Courage The
Cowardly Dog
7:45 Oggy And The
Cockroaches
8:15 CN Popcorn
Monster Beach
9:45 The Amazing
World Of Gumball
10:45 Adventure
Time
11:15 Uncle
Grandpa
11:45 Tom & Jerry
Show
NICKELODEON
12:00 am Penguins
Of Madagascar
2:00 Back At The
Barnyard
4:00 CatDog
5:00 Chalkzone
6:00 The Fairly Odd
Parents
7:00 SpongeBob
SquarePants
8:00 The Fairly Odd
Parents
9:00 Breadwinners
9:30 SpongeBob
SquarePants
10:00 Rabbids
Invasion
10:30 Oggy And
The Cockroaches
11:00 Alvin & The
Chipmunks
11:30 Tobot
12:00 pm Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles
12:30 The Fairly
Odd Parents
1:30 Make it Pop
2:00 Bella & the
Bulldogs
2:30 Henry Danger
3:00 Thundermans

3:30 Nicky, Ricky,

Dicky and Dawn
4:00 Sanjay &
Craig
4:30 SpongeBob
SquarePants
5:00 Alvin & The
Chipmunks
5:30 Oggy And The
Cockroaches
6:30 The Fairly Odd
Parents
7:30 Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles
8:00 Rabbids
Invasion
08:30 Kid vs. Kat
9:00 Legend Of
Korra
10:00 SpongeBob
SquarePants
11:00 Kung Fu
Panda
DISNEY CHANNEL
12:00 am Zig &
Sharko
1:00 The
Replacements
2:00 Stitch!
3:00 Perman
4:00 Fish Hooks
5:00 Phineas &
Ferb
6:00 Sheriff Callies
Wild West
6:30 Miles From
Tomorrowland
7:00 Jake and The
Neverland Pirates
7:30 Miles From
Tomorrowland
8:00 Sofia The First
8:30 The 7D
10:45 Phineas &
Ferb
11:00 The 7D
11:30 Gravity Falls
12:00 pm Star
Wars Rebels
1:00 Boyster
1:30 Chuck Chicken
3:30 Sofia The First
4:00 The 7D
4:30 Wander Over
Yonder
5:00 Penn Zero
5:30 Star Wars
Rebels
6:00 Phineas &
Ferb
7:00 Zip Zip
7:30 Gravity Falls
9:40 Mr. Bean
Action Series
10:10 Phineas &
Ferb
11:00 Ninja Hattori
ANIMAX
12:00 am Naruto
1:00 Space Dandy
2:00 Cardfight!!
Vanguard
2:30 Beelzebub
3:30 Naruto
4:00 City Hunter
4:30 Space Dandy
5:30 Cardfight!!
Vanguard
6:00 Beelzebub
7:00 Little Busters!
8:00 Star Driver
10:00 The World
God Only Knows
11:00 Guilty Crown
11:30 Arpeggio of
Blue Steel
12:00 pm
Assassination
Classroom
2:00 The World
God Only Knows

3:00 Naruto
5:30 Fairy Tail
7:30 Little Busters!
8:30 City Hunter
11:00 Durarara X2
3rd Arc
11:30 Guilty Crown
HERO
12:00 am Initial D
First Stage
2:00 Hero
Theatrixx
3:00 Power
Rangers
4:00 Reborn
5:30 Major
7:30 Digimon
Adventures
8:30 Digimon Xros
Wars
9:30 Daily Life Of
High School
10:00 Major
12:00 pm Power
Rangers
1:00 Cuticle
Detective
2:00 Digimon Xros
Wars
3:00 Initial D First
Stage
5:00 Reborn
7:00 Daily Life Of
High School
7:30 GA
8:00 Hero
Theatrixx
9:00 Power
Rangers
10:00 Major
STAR WORLD
12:00 am Gallery
Girls
12:45 Sex and The
City
1:10 Private
Practice
1:55 Gallery Girls
2:40 Sex and The
City
3:05 Private
Practice
3:50 Gallery Girls
4:35 Sex and The
City
5:00 Private
Practice
5:45 Gallery Girls
6:30 Suburgatory
7:30 Masterchef US
10:15 The Great
Food Truck Race
11:15 Americas
Next Top Model
12:15 pm Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend
1:15 Amazing
Wedding Cakes
4:10 Masterchef US
7:00 Crazy ExGirlfriend
8:00 The Great
Food Truck Race
10:00 Greys
Anatomy
11:00 Sex and The
City
JACKTV
12:35 am Honey
1:55 The Big Bang
Theory S9
2:25 Heroes Reborn
3:20 Empire
4:15 Arrow
5:10 am
Salem
6:05 Minority
Report
7:05 The Last Man
On Earth

7:35 Salem
12:00 pm Grimm
2:00 Brickleberry
2:30 Bobs Burgers
2:55 Family Guy
3:25 The Simpsons
3:50 Cooper
Barretts Guide To
Surviving Life
4:20 Supergirl
5:15 The Flash
6:10 Arrow
7:05 Defiance
8:00 Grimm
8:55 American
Horror Story: Hotel
9:50 8 Heads In A
Duffel Bag
11:40 Supergirl
PBO
1:30 am Miss Gabi
Na
3:30 Sa Harap Ng
Panganib
5:30 Unang Tikim
7:30 Bakit Kay
Tagal Ng Sandali
9:15 Magic
Kingdom
11:15 Rocky &
Rolly
1:30 pm Kung
Kailangan Mo Ako
3:30 Kasangga
Kahit Kailan
5:30 Kung Mahawi
Man Ang Ulap
8:00 Anong Ganap?
8:30 The Main
Event
9:30 Tunay Na
Magkaibigan
Walang Iwanan
Peksman
11:30 Sabado
Nights
VIVA CHANNEL
12:00 am
KaraOkray
1:00 Dobol or
Samting
1:30 Rap Sessions
2:00 Chillin with
Chicser
2:30 Especially 4 U
3:30 Pantaxa
Season 2
4:30 Dobol or
Samting
5:00 Bet Mo Ba?
5:30 Exercise
6:30 KaraOkray
8:30 The Jon
Santos Show
9:30 Sine Sikat
11:30 Especially
4U
12:30 pm Live At
Amerasian
1:30 Dobol or
Samting
2:00 Star Yayey
2:30 Popstar
Diaries
3:00 #JaDine
3:30 Annebishowsa
4:00 Chillin with
Chicser
4:30 Starbiz
5:30 Bet Mo Ba?
6:00 Especially 4 U
7:00 The Jon
Santos Show
8:00 Popstar
Diaries
8:30 #JaDine
9:00 Dobol or
Samting
9:30 Annebishowsa
10:00 Primetime
Goodtime

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

Entertainment News

D-6

Saturday, February 20, 2016

ClubMwahnowonits12thyear
CELEBRITY WORLD
CRISPINA
MARTINEZ-BELEN

lub Mwah is now on its 12th

year and wed like to congratulate its owners
Cris Nicolas and
Pocholo Malillin. In the
last four years, it has
been the recipient of the
Asia-Pacific Excellence
Award for Best Entertainment Theater
something we should
Club & Restaurant. It
all be proud of!
has also received other
Despite its treawards, like the 2015
Club Mwah performers do
mendous success, the
Gawad Amerika award
a spectacular number
owners arent resting on
for Most Outstanding Club
their laurels. Instead, they
Extraordinaire.
continue to mount world-class
Among VIPs whove visited Club
and fabulous Broadway-inspired shows,
Mwah are top figures in both governwhich have become hot topic among
ment and private sectors including Sen.
locals and foreign guests.
Grace Poe and her mom, erstwhile movNote the performers, their costumes,
ie queen Susan Roces. On her first visit
the lights and sounds and choreography
to Club Mwah, Susan was so impressed,
are all done by the multi-talented Cris.
she said, Fabulous place! NapakaCatch Club Mwah shows every Friganda! Ive never seen anything like
day and Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
it anywhere in the Philippines. This is

SEN. GRACE POE with Club Mwah co-owner

Pocholo Malillin and some performers

A very successful GMA blood drive

GMA Network employees, their
families, and hundreds of fellow Kapuso
nationwide took part in the recent 8th
Kapuso Bloodletting Day, yielding a total
of 1,580 (711,000 cc) blood bags.
Held at the GMA Network Center in
Quezon City, the blood drive produced 208
blood bags (93,600 cc); the regional activity, meanwhile, produced 1,372 (617,400
cc) blood bags.
The Director of National Blood
Services for the Philippine Red Cross,
Dr. Christie Monina Nalupta, expressed

her utmost gratitude to GMA Kapuso

Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today,
Foundation as well as GMA employees
Feb. 20, go to Dolly Bohol, Betty Luz
for being part of the drive.
Chua, Ditas Remulla, Chari LaO BagGMA Kapuso Foundation EVP
atsing, Emy Rodriguez, Tita Abiva,
and COO Mel C. Tiangco said, This
Marina Visaya, Amelia Lopez, Enrico
bloodletting drive was the result of
Castelo, Perla Dungo, Prof. Lulu Geslan,
the Networks vision of manifesting its
US-based journalist Tony Antonio and
promise of Serbisyong Totoo right here
Lito Gruet... Feb. 21: Jinky Llamanzares,
at home by instilling it in the heart of
Girlie Guillen, Beth Virtucio, Mike Aluour employees.
nan, Lilia Duldulao, Severiano Velasco,
She added, This activity not only
Gigi Paras, Raki Vega, Doreen Belen of
addresses their welfare, since blood doHawaii, Jim Fernandez, Love Aover
nation promotes a healthy lifestyle, but
and Don Morales of GMA 7, and Tony
it also serves to provide them with the
Gloria of United Pictures... Feb. 22: Lea
opportunity to help firsthand.
Salonga, Yul Servo, Lito Anzures, Dading
The Kapuso Bloodletting Day is an
Clemente, Lourdes Teves, Willie Baun,
annual project of GMAs Corporate AfDr. Jorge Neri, Margot Gallardo, Jamaal
fairs Division, in cooperation with the
Williams, and Rep. Jorge Banal...
Networks socio-civic arm, GMA Kapuso
Foundation and GMA Regional TV in partnership
with the Philippine Red
Cross.
GMA Regional TVs
stations in Ilocos, Dagupan, Naga, Cebu, Iloilo,
Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro,
Davao and General Santos
also participate through
GMAKF and COO Mel C. Tiangco (right) with PNR Director
simultaneous bloodletting
of National Blood Services Dr. Christie Monina Nalupta and
events in their respective
Chairman of PRC-Quezon City Chapter Dr. Hermogenes D. Jarin
areas.

Richard Gutierrez offers best version of self onPanday

honor. You just dont say no to this kind
of project. What you do is get up and
get to work. So, to prepare, I have rewatched all the Panday series. FPJs
shoes are too big to fill in, so I am giving
SCUTTLEBUTT
this my best.
SHIRLEY
Richard also said that his Panday
MATIAS-PIZARRO
will be fresh and new. Apparently, he
helped director Mac Alejandre and
ichard Gutierrez has
other people in the production develop
been named the newthe character. But the Flavio of old
est Panday, playing
will be there so viewers could still
the iconic role in the
relate to our Panday, he said.
TV5 adaptation of the classic
The actor happily noted that
comic series that the King, the
everyone involved in the production
late Fernando Poe Jr., popularized
is focused on a common objecin the 80s.
tive, and that is to make the
With just one look at
series a hit. We are all on
Richard during the launch
the same page. I realized
of Ang Panday, produced
that this is what I do. This
jointly by TV5 and Viva
is where I am happy. This
Communications, Inc., it
is what I am all about,
is evident how much the
Richard said, adding we
actor appreciates the
all should expect the
task set before him.
best version of him on
His physique said
Ang Panday.
it all buffed up but
Ang Panday will
also slimmer in the
premiere on TV 5 on
right places, he
Feb. 29 at 8:30 p.m. It will
was even in cosbe shown weeknights,
tume. Note that
9 p.m. thereafter.
he also hardly

smiled just like his

The latest Nicholas
character in the show.
Sparks movie has kept
Richard revealed he RICHARD GUTIERREZ
the flame of love burning
spent hours in the gym
for his millions of readers
getting physically ready for the role.
with his bestselling novels.
He said he went on a diet to make sure
He has authored 18 books that feahe reached his target weight. And the
ture male characters which he calls Joe
result, we have to say, is excellent he
Average or guys who build furniture,
is the best looking Panday yet.
are high school students, and soldiers.
He said, I am just so happy to be
Yet he makes them stand out because
given this role. Timing is everything. I
of how deeply they fall in love and how
think everyone dreams of being given
strongly they express their feelings
this kind of project. Hindi pa rin ako
through love letters, idyllic dates, and
makapaniwala na ako ang napagtiwaheroic deeds. Meanwhile, the female
laan nila to essay this role. It is truly an
characters usually want to appear

FOREVERMORE. Is there forever

in love? Beauty guru Ricky Reyes seeks the
answer to this age-old question on todays
episode of Gandang Ricky Reyes Todo Na
Toh (GRR TNT), going on to interview Tatay
Juanito and Nanay Josefina, a couple who has
been keeping the fire of their love burning
for some five decades already. Meanwhile,
find out how you could further enhance the
beauty of your home without having to buy
expensive furniture. A respected interior
designer will sit down with Mother Ricky to
demonstrate alternative ideas to improve
the ambiance in your home.

ricky reyes

strong when deep inside they are really vulnerable. And when these women
meet their own Joe Average, attraction,
passion, and love are sure to spark.
Now in cinemas, The Choice is the
11th Sparks movie to hit the big screen.
It tells the story of new neighbors
Gabby Holland and Travis Shaw, who
start off on the wrong foot, but manage
to forge a friendship eventually. Gabby
is preparing to settle down with her
longtime boyfriend Ryan who is a doctor, and Travis is holding on to his belief
that having a girlfriend would cramp
his easygoing lifestyle. An irresistible

attraction between them poses a challenge to their well-planned lives.

The film stars TV and stage actor
Benjamin Walker, Australian actress
Teresa Palmer from I Am Number
Four, and Tom Welling from Smallville.
Distributed by Viva International
Pictures and MVP Entertainment,
The Choice is currently showing.
It is not surprising that film adaptations of Sparks novels are generally box office hits. The Notebook
starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel
McAdams, was produced for only less

than $30 million, but grossed around

$115 million worldwide. Since 2004, it
has remained the top-grossing Sparks
movie in the US, and the most critically
acclaimed. In terms of worldwide earnings, Message In A Bottle, starring
Robin Wright and Kevin Costner, enjoys
the honor of being the highest-grossing
Sparks movie all over the world.
The other Sparks movies are
Dear John, The Lucky One, Safe
Haven, A Walk To Remember,
Nights In Rodanthe, The Last
Song, The Best Of Me, and The
Longest Ride.

Edgar Allan aims to fulfill dreams

By rowena tan

Joel Villanueva who was there during the

interview.
Para malayo naman ako ng konti sa
kung ano ginagawa ko, magluluto ako.
Although marunong naman na akong
magluto pero mas maganda yung may
pormal na kaalaman talaga, he said.
A lot of opportunities opened up for
Edgar Allan after he joined and finished
fourth on YFSF.
He appeared as guest on Daniel Padillas concert last June 13 at the SM Mall
of Asia Arena. He was also able to join his
YSYF co-contestant Jay R as front act
for international R&B superstar Chris
Browns concert last July 21 at SM Mall
of Asia Arena.
More, he was able to stage his
first major concert last Jan. 16 at
the Music Museum.

is career may be on the

upswing, thanks in part
to his successful stint on
Your Face Sounds Familiar
(YFSF) last year, but Edgar Allan Guzman isnt about to just take it easy.
Kung magkakaroon ng opportunity na ipagpatuloy ko ang
pag-aaral ko, why not?
Marami kasi akong
nakikita na mga
bata na nag-a-aral eh,
alam mo yun nakakamiss yung ambiance sa
school, he shared.
The actor was
able to complete
high school
prior to winning on Eat
Bulagas! Mr.
Pogi contest
in 2006. He
now wants
to take up a
culinary arts
course under
the program of
former TESDA
Director General
Edgar Allan Guzman and (inset) Joel Villanueva

Now, the Kapamilya actor is excited

for his upcoming album under Star
Music.
He is also slated to star in the
romantic-comedy film Ill Get Over
You, set for release this year.
The film, helmed by the awardwinning Enrico Santos, marks Edgar
Allans first big screen team-up with
Alex Gonzaga.
Production got stalled a bit to make
way for revisions in the script. Pero
okay na siya, he related. Resume
shooting na kami. We are all excited
for the film.
Edgar Allan is concentrating on his
showbiz career for now, putting other
matters including finding that special
someone on the backburner.
Trabaho muna kasi sayang naman yung opportunity na binibigay
ng ABS-CBN sa akin. Okay na yung
busy ako kasi bread winner din ako,
he said.
A dutiful son, his greatest dream is
to build a house for his mom.
Matagal na kasi dream ng family ko na bumili ng bahay. Buhay
pa ang daddy ko nun. Tapos nung
nag-showbiz ako, sabi ko sa kanila
na magti-tiyaga ako para mabigay
yung bahay, he said.

Robin to Pinoy musicians: Take risks

By Karen Valeza

inger Robin Nievera is doing his

part in helping change the local
music industry starting with his
latest album.
The son of OPM icons Martin Nievera
and Pops Fernandez recently released
Dare, which is under independent label
Homeworkz. It has eight tracks composed
and arranged by Robin. The carrier single
is No More Light. More singles will be
released in succeeding months.
Comparing Dare to his previous album, Robin said, I love rock music. I love
loud music. But this album is very tame.
Its very simple, very easy to listen to. I
tried to make it as international-sounding
as I could. I think music should be different. Music should be the way how people
write it and I want that to come out from
this album.
Robin highly admires the talents of
Filipino musicians. He believes Filipino
singers can compete in the global market
but they just need more push.
I think we can all write good music,
good enough that someone from the
States will listen to it, or someone from
Europe and Korea. If Korea can do it, why
cant we do it? As a country, we need to be
more aggressive with our music, and more
creative. I think we have to change the way
we think, he said.
Citing the recently-concluded Gram-

my Awards as example, Robin shared

his frustration about Filipino artists not
being considered for international awards
wherever eligible.
Every time the year comes by and I
dont hear a Filipino, I get really, parang,
Why isnt Sarah on it? I get really angry
because I think we are the best and the
world doesnt see it. And I dont know
why, he said.
Robin wants his album to inspire other
Filipino singers to take a more aggressive
step in finding a bigger audience for their
music.
I want this album essentially to inspire singers, artistas, for them to know,
there are songs that I think are good that I
want to share and I think they should also
do with theirs, he said.
Robin added, I just believe that music
has changed in every other country. Music
has evolved to whatever it is. For us, every
time we try to change music, we try to copy
another culture, another sound. Theres
nothing wrong with that, but I think its
time for Filipinos to really (shine). Its not
a hard sound to find, its something from
the heart, but because we dont think its
going to work, for me it just breaks off all
the inspiration you put into the song. Its a
risk that I want a lot of us to take.
While other countries have their own
style of music, Robin feels the Philippines
also needs to have its own.
I want us as a country to have a

Robin Nievera
sound. We dont have a sound. When you
go to another country, they think we have
an ethnic sound, which is wrong because
thats Japanese. So, I want to tell people
we need to have a sound, he said.
Being the son of Martin and Pops,
Robin is aware that comparisons are
inevitable. However, Robin takes it positively as he treads his own path in the local
music scene.
I cannot sing in the style of my dad.
I have done a bunch of shows where they
ask me to sing Be My Lady or You Are
My Song. We dont have the same range.
I have my moms voice, which is lower.
You will not hear me sound like any of
my parents because I just dont sound
like them. Its not that I try to move away
from it, I just came into understanding
na I cant sing like them. So I found my
own sound and Im comfortable with
it, he said. (With report from Bhenj
Agustin)

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Black
ymv

DRAW SHOPH'HS
AND WIN TOYS THIS
COMING MARCH!

Odd man out

Submit your drawings via email

(mbfunpage@yahoo.com), Facebook (facebook.com/
Mbfunpage) or snailmail (FUNPAGE, Manila Bulletin,
Muralla Corner Recoletos Sts. Intramuros, Manila)
Include your name, age, school, and contact number!

M~

Masterpieee

Mirror image

Danielle wins an Ugglys Pet Shop 8 Pack toy while Jaira Louise and
Louiane win an Ugglys Pet Shop Gross Home toy.
Please
im your prize at the Manila Bulletin Lifestyle Office, Muralla
Corner Recoletos Sts. Intramuros, Manila. Bring your ID and the
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See your own works here! Submit your artworks, drawings, poems,
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is publisl"1ed by tfie

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run!
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1.

Last year, over 22,000 fans

made history when Monster Jam
entertained Pinoy fans of all ages.
2016 gets even bigger as Monster Jam
returns to the Philippines on
June 18 and 19 at the Mall of Asia
Arena.
This 2016, the action-packed
live event on four wheels is back
due to popular demand with eight
world-class drivers, monster
truck racing, and exciting
freestyle competitions. Monster
J am Manila offers universal
appeal and will feature some of
the most recognizable trucks in

the world including Monster Jam World

Finals Champions Grave Digger and
Max-DTM, along with Alien Invasion,
Dragon, Pirate's Curse, Monster Mutt
Dalmatian, Scooby Doo TM, and Team
Hot Wheels Firestorm.
One of the most unique parts of
Monster Jam is the Party in the Pits.
For the first time in 2015, thousands of
fans got unprecedented access to the
athletes and their trucks. Once again
this June, fans can get autographs,
take photos, and see the trucks up
close at the one-of-a-kind Monster Jam
Party in the Pits. www.smtickets.com.
02470-2222, www.monsterjam.com.ph.

--~'"

I
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Me ~ Made Me-'a.~

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ihi~ a.litt1e deeper.

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Nick Wilde

Juddy Hopps

Chief B090

Mrs.Otterton

Flash

Officer
Clawhauser

Fin

totrlDpia. S0tlrised
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ihi~ a.litt1e deeper.

CAST o F CH

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Nick Wilde

Juddy Hopps

Chief B090

Mrs.Otterton

Flash

Officer
Clawhauser

Fin

Can you
figure out
which of
the four
illustrations
below is the
exact mirror
image of this
illustration?
Answer on
Page 2

I
8

Create Your Own

ce ream

WhcJ wouer! 30U1' lee c,1'eC4.n\ eoo~ ~1

jrlstRuctj~rlS

aatoRjals
1. Scissors
2. Glue
3. Crayons
.
4. Cardboard/Cartohna

1 Tear off this page and cut out the ice

.
cream and cherry templates.
~re~~~::~:~r own i~e cream flavor using crayons.
3 Put together the ice cream and the cone on a
c~rdboard or cartolina using glue.
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4 Add the cream and cherry on top.
Now, you can use your ice cream cone cra
as a bookmark or a room decor.

5:

'JWHAT I LEARNED AT
':'lItE HARVARD MODEL
CONGRESS ASIA
By Audrey Pe, 14
Multiple Intelligence International School

. /}/ .h(( III

H~rv~rd Hodel COhJre55A5"~

I
/0

those four seemingly intimidating words stared back

at me as I stepped into the campus of Seoul National
University. Little did I know that when I leave the
campus, several days after, my brain would be filled to
the brim with amazing experiences and lessons that
would last a lifetime.
At the HMCA newsroom, I met tons of people who
have different interests, culture, and personalities.
Despite those differences, we were one with our passion for writing and covering the news. As member
of the media committee, my fellow delegates and I
worked 'round the clock to publish updates on meetings, delegates, and debates. This did not only challenge our ability to produce quality articles in such a
short time but also tested our interview skills. It also
taught us how to have grace under pressure and be
cool-headed even in the face of deadlines. Being in the
media committee gave me the opportunity to go out in
the field and look into the works of other committees,
watch debates, and share the news with everyone in
the conference immediately.
The 21st century has redefined what it means to
write good and informative news articles. When the
Gutenberg press was invented in 1440, more people,
not just the upperclass, started to have access to the
Bible. In 1844, newsprint was born and it opened the
gates to the field of media, giving people greater and
easier access to information and news. For over a century, people have been taking journalism for granted.
Few are able to understand and appreciate the hard
work, research, and analysis that journalism entails.
It is more than sharing your thoughts but sharing it
in such a way that others can benefit and be better
people.

In the modern world, practically anyone can write

a blog and share their thoughts on social media but not
everyone can call themselves "journalists." Famous
writer Ray Bradbury once said: ''Journalism keeps you
planted in the earth." Reporting current events and
worldwide problems may be one thing, but understanding the issues in our society and striving to find solutions for them is another thing. And I challenge people
to do more than just flipping the pages of newspapers
or clicking on sites. Use our accessibility to media and
information today to contribute to society.
At HMCA, I have learned a lot on how to be a
future-ready leader. On-the-spot writing and doing
introductions are two things that I was able to practice
at the conference. Being surrounded by delegates who
are passionate about society and solving its problems
really inspired me to seek and continue to make a
change in any way that I can. After all,
the aspiring young leaders oftoday may
be the future leaders of tomorrow and

HMCA 2016 Awardees from

the Philippines: Internation
Criminal Court Best Team
Delegate Romeo Mikhail
Rosales, Anica Catarina
Abaquin, and Elisha Janna
Javier, Honorable Mention
for Media Audrey Isabel Pe,
and Honorable Mention
for United Nations Security
Council Jana Mikaela Aguilar

Color this page and play with Stong and his friends.

___ 0

v,.

\\Q,,..... "VI""

..../",..

.~I',.

AMAZING GRACE

r here had been a lot of

rowdy debates abollt
respec.t and they have
pac.ked qllite a pllnc.h.

rome, the 1I1timate

respect is to really listen to
what others have tosay.

=================

by PERCIVAL LUGUE
WhopLlnched
the pack?!

Respect Packs a Punch

Funpage is currently looking for kid writers, 7-14 years old. Review books
and toys, attend cool events, and get invited to movie premieres. Interested
writers can send their sample articles to mbfunpage@yahoo.com. Use the
subject line FUNPAGE WRITER. Make sure that you have your parents'
consent! Writers of student publications are most welcome to join.

~,------------------------------

I
II

/2

STORY ON PAGE 10