Presidentiables' Face Off: Speaker Hopes For Favorable Hague Ruling, Talks With China

L
VOL. 518 No. 22
http://www.mb.com.ph
MONday, FEBRUARY 22, 2016 7 SECTIONS P18.00 IN METRO MANILA
Cops kill
4 hired guns
in shootout
in QC
Snorkeling,
diving ruin
boracay
coral reefs
WEATHER
17
Visayas
Luzon
partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

rainshowers and/or thunderstorms
partly cloudy to at times cloudy

w/ rainshowers
Mindanao
partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

rainshowers and/or thunderstorms
Manila
partly cloudy to at times cloudy

w/ rainshowers
Temperature Range:
22C-31C
Tides: High: 9:24 p.m. 1.02m

Low: 12:51 p.m. 0.31m
Sunrise: 6:18 a.m.

Sunset: 6:02 p.m.
Presidentiables face off
ROUND 1 All five presidential candidates (from left in screen grab) Vice Mayor Jejomar C. Binay, Sen.
Miriam Defensor Santiago, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares, and former
Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas are watched by Filipino televiewers as they face
off in the first of three Comelec-sponsored presidential debates in Cagayan de Oro City, yesterday.
(Richard Vias, Ali Vicoy, and Manny Llanes)
Barbs exchanged in 1st round of debates

By ISABEL C. DE LEON, BEN R. ROSARIO, HANNAH L. TORREGOZA, JONATHAN SANTES, and ANNA LIZA VILLAS-ALAVAREN
ith poverty at the center

of all their campaigns, the
five presidential candidates
faced off yesterday afternoon in Cagayan de Oro City, in a debate
that was alternately funny and heated.
The first presidential debate, under the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) PiliPinas campaign,

sponsored by GMA-7 and the Philippine
Daily Inquirer in Cagayan de Oro City,
saw on stage for the first time the five
contenders for the presidency in the
May 9, 2016 national elections Vice
President Jejomar C. Binay, Senator
Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Davao City
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace

Poe-Llamanzares, and former Interior and Local Government Secretary
Manuel Mar Roxas III.
The debate, moderated by TV anchors Mike Enriquez and Jessica Soho,
started off with opening statements from the five candidates
16
L.P.G. FIRE
Fire rages at
the liquefied
petroleum gas
(LPG) storage
facility at the
industrial park in
Barangay Salong,
Calaca, Batangas
on Saturday night.
The fire has been
contained as of
yesterday but
local fire officials
say it may still
rage for a couple
of days. Story
on Page 14. (Jun
Aranas)
buSiNESS
buSiNESS
Wb okays PHs $450-M
loan for CCT
Job skills mismatch to
dampen PH growth study
ASEAN+3 sets up financial
surveillance system
b-1
Speaker hopes
for favorable Hague
ruling, talks with China
By CHARISSA M. LUCI
Speaker Feliciano Sonny Belmonte Jr. is hoping for a favorable ruling

from the international arbitral tribunal
based in The Hague on the Philippines
initiative against Chinas nine-dash-line
claim over the South China or West
Philippine Sea.
LifESTyLE
Going in
different
directions
Art in the
Philippines
doesnt
believe in
trends and
pushes for individuality and
originality
He said after winning its arbitration

case, the Philippine government may
start resolving the territorial dispute
with China through bilateral talks.
At the end of the day, we need to
talk with China. But, we have no cards.
If we win the arbitration, our hand will
be strengthened with the international community behind
13
By ROCKY NAZARENO
ENTERTAiNMENT
James Reid, Nadine Lustre

now a couple in real life 13
quoted his daughter as saying that all

but summed up why he
For a two-term senahas such a burning passion
tor, former food security
for agriculture at the conczar and full-time farmer,
clusion of his round-table
Francis Kiko Pangilinan
discussion with Manila Bulfound the ultimate wisdom
letin (MB) editors last Friin all his years advocating
day at the MB Integrated
agriculture in the words
Newsroom.
of his daughter, Frankie,
Imagine that from a 10when she was still 10 years
year-old? At that age, she
old.
already had a clear grasp
We should treat our
of how important our farmPANGILINAN
farmers the way we do our
ers are, Pangilinan, who
parents. Because like paris seeking a third
ents, our farmers feed us, Pangilinan
term at the Senate, said.
http://www.facebook.com/manilabullletin
16
@manilabulletin
By NICK GIONGCO
and BEN R. ROSARIO
The full interview of Manny Pacquiaos TV interview about same-sex

marriage is making the rounds and it
has apparently become clear that the
Filipino boxing star, who has been heavily criticized for his anti-gay remarks,
did not have an intention to hurt the
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community after all.
The first version that went
on air, courtesy of TV5, en-
13
Poe wants
PNoy, FVR
to be her
ambassadors
of goodwill
By CHARISSA M. LUCI
If fate hands her the presidency,

Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares said
over the weekend that she would make
ambassadors of goodwill out of President Aquino and former President Fidel
V. Ramos in a bid to fortify the countrys
international ties.
The standard-bearer of Partido
Galing at Puso (PGP) said she plans
to tap Aquino and Ramos to further
promote the Philippines interest in
the international landscape
following their years-long
16
Robin Padilla, Basti campaign

for Duterte in Hong Kong
By JONATHAN A. SANTES
Actor Robin Padilla arrived in

Hong Kong, along with Davao City
Mayor Rodrigo Dutertes son Basti,
to meet with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there and campaign for
the mayor, the presidential candidate
Pangilinan finds wisdom in

daughters respect for farmers
E-4
Full video shows Pacquiao had

no intention of hurting LGBT
of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino

(PDP)-Laban.
Padilla and Dutertes son arrived
Saturday and met with organizers
of the whole day event of OFWs on
Chater Road in Hong Kongs central
business district.
Organized by the Global
16
Roxas vows to provide more

job opportunities as president
By AARON B. RECUENCO
If people still doubt his capability

to create more jobs, administration
standard-bearer Mar Roxas dared his
critics and doubters to take a look at
the countrys Information TechnologyBusiness Processing Outsourcing
(IT-BPO) sector.
The start and boom of the IT-BPO
in the country, which now employs
some 1.3 million Filipinos, is being
attributed to Roxas who started the industry when he was still the secretary
of the Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI).
16
twitter.com/manila_bulletin
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News
17th Congress
to tackle
alternative
voting system
Monday, February 22, 2016

tance to Comelec to help ensure the reliable, orderly and honest conduct of the
May 9, 2016 polls.
We are willing to help the Comelec
achieve honest, peaceful, and credible
and trustworthy elections, Pimentel

said, citing the slowly improving performance of the poll body in addressing
the glitches in preparation of the general
polls in May.
By CHARISSA M. LUCI
en. Aquilino Pimentel III is leaving

the discussions on the proposed alternative voting system to the 17th
Congress.
The chairman of the Senate Committee
on Electoral Reforms assured that all proposals on the so-called automated canvassing
election system or a combination of manual
and automated elections would be tackled
during the next Congress.
The proposed alternative voting system
will be entertained
during the next 17th
Congress. These are
policy proposals and
will be presented
and discussed in the
regular Committee,
Pimentel said.
For now magautomated elections
tayo. That is provided
under the law. The
policy is automated
election system, he
said.
In the House of
Representatives, progressive legislators
have been prodding
the Commission on
Elections (Comelec)
to require the automation of the canvassing
of votes, while allowing manual voting at
the precinct level.
Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares explained
that the current election laws on automation provides for both
the use of automated
system and manual
system. While Republic Act 9369 provides
for the automation
of elections in many
of its sections, it likewise provides for a
manual system under
Section 31 to 43.
He said many
countries including
Netherlands, Ireland,
Switzerland, and Germany have abandoned
automation because
it essentially violates
the right to suffrage.
Colmenares said
their proposed automated canvassing election system
would only cost the
government some R4
to R5 billion.
Pimentel admitted
that he cannot yet give
his full trust to the
Comelec even as he
challenged all poll officials to maintain their
independence from the
Executive and from
political parties.
Nevertheless, he
extended his assis-
People Power
museum tour
Emphasizing the
importance of knowing
and understanding the
history of the 1986 People Power Revolution,
Malacaang on Sunday
called on young Filipinos who were either
born or were growing up at the time of
the historic protests in
EDSA in 1986 to visit
the People Power experiential museum on
the parade grounds
of Camp Aguinaldo in
Quezon City..
Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. issued the call as the
nation gears up for the
30th commemoration
of EDSA People Power
Revolution this week .
The People Power
experiential museum is
open all day this Thursday and Friday, February 25 and 26, from
8 am until midnight.
(Roy C. Mabasa)
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National News
PNP warns public vs carrying

firearm replicas amid gun ban
Newsbits
Feast of the Chair
of Saint Peter
The Catholic Church
commemorates today the
Feast of the Chair of Saint
Peter (Cathedra Petri), in
commemoration of the
teachings and authority
of Saint Peter, the leader
of the twelve apostles of
Jesus Christ, as the first
supreme pontiff of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Traditionally celebrated as a
day of prayer and union with
the Holy Father, Eucharistic
celebrations are traditionally
held by the hour at the St.
Peters Basilica in Rome, Italy,
concluding with the Mass of
the Canons of St. Peter at the
Holy See, which means Holy
Chair. In the Philippines,
Church officials encourage the
faithful to pray the Way of the
Cross particularly since the
feast falls within the Lenten
season and to pray for the
intentions of the Holy Father
Pope Francis. (Christina I.
Hermoso)
By AAROn B. ReCuenCO
he Philippine National Police

(PNP) advised yesterday the
public to refrain from carrying gun replicas outside
their residences, stressing that the
items are also among those included
on the list of prohibited items in the
implementation of gun ban.
Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor, PNP
spokesman, made the appeal following the arrest of 1,307 violators since
the implementation of the nationwide
gun last January 10.
We have confiscated a total of

50 gun replicas so far and those who
were carrying them were arrested,
too, said Mayor.
The official explained that gun
replicas were included since like
the real guns, it can also sow terror
among the public and in fact, some
of the criminal elements are carrying gun replicas in their illegal
activities.
So far, a total of 1,205 firearms
have been seized, 438 of them are
pistols and 313 are revolvers. The rest
are either rifles or shotguns.
Those who yielded revolvers and

shotguns, according to Mayor, are
mostly security guards who are not
aware of the gun ban implementation.
A total of 19 security guards have
been arrested so far.
Of the total number of gun ban
violators arrested, 1,258 of them are
civilians while the rest are policemen, soldiers and even government
officials.
Mayor said reiterated that with
the implementation of the gun ban,
all privileges to carry firearms were
cancelled, except those who secured
Drilon bats
for GOCC
employees
pay hike
By HAnnAH L. TORReGOzA
BOC rice auction

on March 1
In a bid to raise more
revenues for the government,
the Bureau of Customs (BOC)
is set to dispose and sell on
March 1 what it claims to be
its biggest haul of illegally
imported rice for the year.
According to BOCs Auction
and Cargo Disposal Division
in the Manila International
Container Port (MICP), where
the rice shipments were
seized, there would only be
two lots for the bidding of the
118 containers of white rice
from Thailand. MIPC-ACDD
chief Gerardo Macatangay
said the auctions proceeds
will be held in trust by BOC
since the imported rice is still
subject of ongoing cases. For
the first lot, the MICP will sell
22,000 bags of long grain
rice at a price of P1,100 per
bag and the round grain
rice packed in 6,000 bags for
P1,680 per bag. The other
lot to be bid out in the Manila
port is the 31,000 bags of
long grain rice, also from
Thailand. These would be sold
for P1,100 per bag. (Raymund
F. Antonio)
FVR book launch

The Ramos Peace and
Development Foundation
(RPDEV) launched last Friday a
book which compiles selected
essays, articles and other
writings of former President
Fidel V. Ramos (FVR). Entitled
2030: One World, One
Community, One Family, the
book was written with the
coming 30th Anniversary
of the EDSA People Power
Revolution in mind, within the
context of the forthcoming
national elections and the ongoing threat of international
terrorism. Ramos said reading
the book will remind us that
as Filipinos, we do believe
that the best way to promote
the Spirit of EDSA is for
everyone of us, as concerned
citizens, to pull together, uplift
the common life, and raise our
country to a position of dignity
and admiration the Philippines
deserves in the community of
nations. (Francis T. Wakefield)
Latest Lotto
jackpot winner
A lone Lotto bettor who placed
a bet in Valenzuela City hit the
Mega Lotto 6/45s P15.2million jackpot. The Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes Office
(PCSO) said yesterday the lone
winner correctly guessed the
winning combination of 2340-01-42-18-25. One of the
winners two bet combinations
matched 6/45s drawn
numbers that had at stake a
total of P15,293,772. Mega
Lotto is one of the five major
online lotteries of the PCSO.
The other Lotto games are
Ultra Lotto 6/58, Grand Lotto
6/55, Super Lotto 6/49, and
Lotto 6/42. Winners have a
year to claim their prizes from
the time of the draw date.
(Edd K. Usman)
exemptions from the Commission on

Elections (Comelec).
For policemen, soldiers, security
guards and even other law enforcement agencies, Mayor said they are
only allowed to carry guns if they are
on duty and on proper uniform. For
those in intelligence works, a specific
document is required to justify the
carrying of guns.
Aside from criminal charges, government officials who were arrested
will be slapped with administrative
charges wherein the penalty includes
dismissal from service.
HAPPY SunDAY The youthful exuberance of children with Down Syndrome is shared by uS Ambassador to the Philippines
Philip Goldberg and SM groups Hans Sy at the culmination of the annual Happy Walk for Down Syndrome at the SMX Convention
Center at the Mall of Asia complex yesterday morning. (Ali Vicoy)
No letup in bid to override

SSS pension hike veto
By CHARISSA M. LuCI
An opposition lawmaker has filed a

resolution calling on the Lower Chamber to stand up and cross partylines
to override the presidential veto on the
proposed P2,000 increase in the pension
of 2.15 million Social Security System
(SSS) retirees when Congress resumes
session on May 23.
Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, who
heads the House Independent Bloc filed
House Resolution 2638 pressing on the
SSS to bare its current and real financial
standing.
To date, the SSS has not released
any documentary basis or proof to support the supposed financial incapability
and possible bankruptcy, he said in
filing the resolution.
These alibis come on the heels
of multi-million salaries and bonuses
to top SSS officials and expos of the
Systems receivables and actual funds,
Romualdez said.
President Aquino vetoed the SSS
pension hike bill following claims by the

SSS of financial incapability and possible
bankruptcy as early as 2029.
The continued failure of the SSS
to come out in public with their financial records could not mean anything
else but its refusal to grant the P2,000
monthly pension despite the fact that it
will be a big help in easing the plight of
its pensioners, Romualdez said.
The opposition lawmaker assured
the SSS pensioners that the move to
override the presidential veto remains
when Congress resumes session on May
23 for the presidential canvassing. Congress will convene as a national board of
canvassers for the presidential polls.
Our collective hope of having it
put to a vote is not fading because we
feel this is just and right. All we need is
to show a strong political will with our
sincere desire to serve public interest,
Romualdez said.
We have to continue the fight
to override the presidential veto because this is the most patriotic thing
BI chief refutes looming revamp

By Jun RAMIRez
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ronaldo Geron has denied

reports of an impending major revamp
which will result in the transfer of officers associated with former BI chief
Siegfred Misonto remote posts in Palawan and Mindanao.
On the contrary, Geron said he has
not asked the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) for exemption from the election ban on the movement of government personnel which will give him the
blanket authority to hire, transfer and
promote rank-and-file workers in the
bureau.
Geron said he is against exercising
the authority to reshuffle personnel during the election period as it would put him
at a disadvantage and mercy of powerful
politicians, friends and even relatives
who would lobby for the appointment of
their relatives and friends in the bureau

to key and sensitive posts.
The BI chief disclosed that this early,
an incumbent provincial executive had
asked him to transfer out of his turf the
head of the BI office assigned there for
being a supporter of his political rival.
He did not identify the politician.
Geron clarified that what he had
asked from the poll body was the authority to reassign a few employees to
certain positions for disciplinary and
operational purposes.
He added that he also asked Comelec
for permission to act on the request
of some immigration officers to be
returned to their old posts in Metro
Manila and other key cities to be near
their families.
Gerons predecessor had transferred
many immigration officers to far areas
in Mindanao and Palawan on suspicion
of being involved in corruption.
to do. Whatever the outcome will be,

the people will see that Congress has
tried its very best to champion their
interests and thats very important,
he stressed.
About 75 lawmakers, including
Romualdez signed the resolution filed
by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri
Colmenares seeking to override the
presidential veto.
To override the presidential veto,
they need a two-thirds vote of the entire
membership, or 192 of 287 members.
Romualdez said all possible options
to provide financial relief to SSS retirees
should be explored.
Senate President Franklin Drilon yesterday insisted that employees

working in Government-Owned andControlled Corporations (GOCCs) also
deserve a salary increase as GOCCs
are capable of funding salary adjustments.
Drilon said it is only timely and
proper that the compensation scheme
for state-run agencies be adjusted to
competitive levels.
The Senate leader earlier urged
Malacaang to also include GOCCs
under the coverage of Executive Order
201 that President Aquino has signed
to buffer the stalled proposed Salary
Standardization Law IV (SSL IV) that
aims to increase the salary of government employees.
Drilon assured the Palace the government would not be burdened by the
proposed increase since the funds wont
be sourced from the national coffers,
but from the income of the GOCCs.
From being the milking cows of
unscrupulous bureaucrats, our GOCCs
are now active and effective revenue
source which contributed to the countrys sound and stable financial condition throughout the administration of
President Aquino, said Drilon, author
of the landmark Republic Act No. 10149
or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.
The P68.13-billion dividends that
were remitted by the GOCCs to the
government from 2012 to 2014 helped
fund critical government projects and
services, the Senate chief stressed.
He said the GOCCs would need
approximately P6-billion for the salary adjustment, which they can fund
from their own earnings. He noted that
GOCCs revenues are consistently and
significantly increasing each year.
Our GOCCs today are capable of
financing any increase in their compensation package given their remarkable
performance in the past years, which
was made possible by the reforms that
we initiated in 2011, Drilon reiterated.
DOJ backs Anti-Hazing

Law amendments
By LeOnARD D. POSTRADO
Stressing that the current law does

not actually prohibit acts of hazing,
the Department of Justice (DOJ) has
backed the proposed amendment of
Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing
Law.
In a three-page legal position submitted to the Committee on Public
Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired
by Senator Grace Poe, the DOJ has
expressed support to any move by the
legislative branch to further enhance
the Anti-Hazing Law due to numerous
reported incidents of death among
neophytes which the present law
failed to curtail.
The DOJ, through undersecretary
Zabedin Asis, has pushed for the enactment of several bills, which sought to
amend the Anti-Hazing Law, such as
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 97 or An Act
Amending Section 4 of RA 8049, otherwise known as An Act Regulating
Hazing and Other Forms of Initiation
Rites in Fraternities, Sororities and
other Organizations and Providing
Penalties Therefore.
In addition we reiterate our sug-
gestion to consider hazing, which has

been defined under the proposed legislative measures as including both the
infliction of physical and psychological
harm to neophyte, as a prohibited act,
the DOJ pointed out.
Notably, the present law merely
regulates hazing and does not exactly
make the act criminal, it added.
Azis said the DOJ supports the
objective of the authors of the said bills
to impose stiffer penalties against hazing in fraternities, sororities and other
organizations.
The justice department also noted
that the Supreme Court, in its previous rulings on hazing cases, cited the
implication of the presence of alumni
in initiation rites.
The Court suggested the amendment of the Anti-Hazing Law to include the fact of intoxication and the
presence of non-resident or alumni
fraternity member during hazing as
aggravating circumstances that would
increase applicable penalties.
The legislative power of Congrrss
grants them the power, among others,
to define crimes and provide for their
punishment, the DOJ stressed.
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Cloudy skies, scattered rains due over PH

Metro Manila and a large portion
of the country will experience cloudy
skies with isolated rain-showers
or thunderstorms, the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and As-
tronomical Services Administration

(PAGASA) said yesterday.
The state weather bureau added
that cloudy skies and light rains will
prevail over Cagayan Valley, Batanes,
Ilocos Region and the Cordilleras.

PAGASA weather forecasters said
moderate to strong winds blowing
from the northeast will prevail over
Northern Luzon and its coastal wa-
ters will be moderate to rough.

In other parts of the country, winds
will be light to moderate coming from
the east to northeast with slight to
moderate seas.
Strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the areas of the northern and eastern seaboards of Northern
Luzon where rough to very rough sea
conditions will be experienced off Batanes, Calayan and Babuyan Islands
and the northern coast of Ilocos Norte.
(Chito Chavez)
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4 hired guns slain in QC shootout

By AAron B. recuenco
he leader of a gun-for-hire
group and his three cohorts
were killed during a shootout
with the police and before
hitting a target at dawn yesterday in
Quezon City.
Chief Supt. Victor Deona, director of
the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said the operation
stemmed from a tip-off received by their
Metro Manila unit about the plan of a
small-time gun-for-hire group to liquidate somebody in the Katipunan area.
Deona said coordination and planning were immediately carried out
with the local police and the Highway
Patrol Group for the interception of
the gunmen.
Senior Supt. Ronald Lee, CIDG-
National Capital Region unit chief, said

they were able to track down the location of the gunmen in Cubao.
When the police tried to flag down
the vehicle along the service road of the
South-bound lane of Katipunan Avenue,
the gunmen allegedly opened fire.
Based on our report, they are going
to liquidate someone in a restaurant
somewhere in Katipunan, said Lee.
Lee said three of the suspects were
killed during the ensuing gun battle
while another one succumbed to serious gunshot wounds while undergoing
treatment at a hospital.
Chief Insp. Elizabeth Jasmin, CIDG
spokesperson, said one of the suspect
was identified through an identification card as Recto Piadozo, a native of
Talavera, Nueva Ecija.
Jasmin said a background check
revealed that Piadozo led a small group

of gun-for-hire men operating in Metro
Manila and nearby provinces.
The three others remain unidenti-
fied.
Recovered from the fatalities were
two .45 pistols, one .9mm pistol, a grenade, a knife and a Honda Accord sedan
with license plate USH-888.

Quoting information from their
asset, Lee said the group of Piadozo
accepts a hit for as low as P5,000.
MMDA crackdown set vs vehicles

with tampered license plates
By AnnA LizA ViLLAs-ALAVAren
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will go after

vehicles with tampered or dilapidated
license registration plate numbers in
preparation for the re-implementation
of the no-physical contact apprehension
of traffic violators.
Having legible and clear plate
numbers are crucial in detecting and
tracking down private and public utility
vehicles involved in traffic violations
during the enforcement of no contact
policy that would be revived next
month.
"It will be difficult for the CCTV cameras (closed circuit television cameras)
identify vehicles with tampered or dirty
plate numbers," said MMDA chairman
Emerson Carlos.
According to Carlos, there are some
motorists who intentionally tamper or
conceal license plates to evade apprehension for number coding and other
violations.
Erring motorists and drivers would
be flagged down and receive traffic
violation ticket.
Just last week, Metro Manila mayors voted for the No Contact apprehension scheme through the use of CCTVs,
digital cameras and other technologies
being used in capturing images.
The traffic scheme shall cover moving violations of erring drivers along
major thoroughfares in Metro Manila,
especially along Edsa and C-5.
He said that the No Contact policy
has been shelved during the time of
former MMDA chief Bayani Fernando
because apprehended motorists have
to first pay the fine before their side is
heard during adjudication.
But with the new guidelines, we allow motorists to contest the violations,
Carlos said.
PDEA inks
medical aid
accord with
Filipino Chinese group
By FrAncis t. WAKeFieLD
The Philippine Drug Enforcement

Agency (PDEA) and the PhilippineChinese Charitable Association, Inc.
(PCCAI) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the
comprehensive medical assistance
extended by the association to PDEA
agents assigned in Metro Manila
and nearby PDEA Regional Offices
namely, Regional Office III and Regional Office IV-A.
The MOA signing was held Friday
at the Chinese General Hospital and
Medical Center (CGHMC),
The main signatories were PDEA
Director General Undersecretary
Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr. and Dr. James
G. Dy, President, Honorary Chairman
and President of PCCAI.
The event was witnessed by key
officials and personnel from PDEA,
CGHMC and PCCAI.
Under the agreement, PCCAI
shall provide medical aid and treatment at CGHMC and diagnosis, including surgery and major operations
as well as the use of its medical equipment and facilities, from admission
to release, to all PDEA operatives in
Metro Manila and nearby provinces
who sustained injuries while in the
line of duty.
INC to
dedicate 5
new chapels
in US, Canada
By chito A. chAVez
Executive Minister Bro. Eduardo

V. Manalo of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC)
is scheduled to visit and dedicate four
chapels in the United States and one in
Canada from February to March this
year, INC spokesman Edwil Zabala said
in a statement issued at the INC Central
Headquarters in Quezon City.
Were very excited, but perhaps not
as much as the members themselves in
the localities where the new houses of
worship will be opened and offered. Our
brethren in North America have been
requesting for these churches for some
time now, and were glad that with the
INC leaderships guidance, were finally
doing it, Zabala said.
Zabala noted that the new American
churches are spread geographically all
over the continental US, from the West
Coast to the East Coast.
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News
DOLE to employers:
Follow pay rules for
EDSA Day, Feb. 25
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
he Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reminded

employers on the applicable pay
rules during the observance of the
30th EDSA People Power Revolution on February 25, a special non-working holiday.
The rules for pay on special days shall
apply on Feb. 25, 2016 throughout the country, Labor and Employment Secretary
Rosalinda Baldoz said in a statement.
President Aquino on July 8, 2015, issued
Proclamation No. 1071 declaring Feb. 25, 2016
as a Special (Non-Working) Holiday throughout the country to mark the 30th anniversary
of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
Based on DOLE Advisory No. 08 Series
of 2015, the following pay rules shall apply: If
the employee did not work, the no work, no
pay principle shall apply, unless there is a
favorable company policy, practice, or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting
payment on special day.
For work done during the special day,
the workers shall be paid an additional 30
percent of their daily rate on the first eight
hours of work. The Daily rate x 130% plus

COLA scheme will be observed.
For work done in excess of eight hours
(overtime work), the workers will be paid
an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate
on said day. The computation will be: Hourly
rate of the basic daily wage x 130% x 130% x
number of hours worked.
For work done during a special day that
also falls on the workers rest day, they shall
be paid an additional 50 percent of their daily
rate on the first eight hours of work, thus, the
Daily rate x 150% + COLA computation
will apply.
For work done in excess of eight hours
(overtime work) during a special day that
also falls on the workers rest day, they shall
be paid an additional 30 percent of their
hourly rate on said day, or a computation of
hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 150% x
130% x number of hours worked.
We are issuing this Advisory to guide as
early as possible our employers, especially in
the private sector, and update our workers of
the benefits due them. Keeping our workers
rightly informed is also one way of empowering them, said Baldoz.
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World News
We will continue to test China

over disputed islands Obama
OSCOW (PNA/Sputnik)
The US has declared that
they will push China on the
issue of disputed islands,
promising to test China while accusing them of abusing their might.
President Barack Obama said in
an interview with Channel News Asia
that his administration will continue to
test Beijings pledge to not militarize
the disputed South China Sea.
He accused China of abusing their
power in the region by placing mis-
siles on islands in the disputed Parcel

archipelago.
We think China is resorting to the
old style of might makes right, as opposed to working through international
law and international norms to establish claims, and to resolve disputes,
Obama said.
The US President made the comments following a summit of Southeast
Asian nations and after reports that
included satellite imagery purporting
to show missile systems being set up
Indonesia arrests
'dozens of suspected
Islamic radicals'
JAKARTA (AFP) Indonesian police have arrested dozens of suspected
Islamic extremists on Java island,
most of whom were allegedly carrying
out military-style training on a remote
mountain, police and reports said
Saturday.
Around 30 were reportedly detained
late Friday on Mount Sumbing as they
took part in the training, while another
five were arrested the same day in raids
in the city of Malang.
It was not clear whether they were
linked to the gun and suicide attacks in
Jakarta last month which left four civilians and four assailants dead, and were
claimed by the Islamic State group.
A member of Indonesia's elite antiterror police, speaking anonymously,
confirmed there had been a "raid on an
arms training session" taking place on
a mountain.
Local media reported that the group
of around 30 was from Islamic extremist
group Jamaah Ansharus Syariah and
the training was on the slopes of Sumbing, in Central Java province.
The arrests came after local villagers reported hearing gunfire, MetroTV
reported, citing provincial police spokes-
man Liliek Darmanto.

Air guns, knives, religious books
and flags were seized at a house where
some of the participants had stayed en
route to the mountain, the report said.
In the separate raid in Malang, five
alleged Islamic radicals were seized by
police backed by officers from the elite
anti-terror squad, said local police chief
Yudho Nugroho.
"The five are still being held," he
said, adding that police had been "monitoring them for a while".
The attacks in the capital centered
around a Starbucks outlet and were
the country's worst terror incident in
seven years, prompting police to launch
a nationwide crackdown.
Authorities said last week that 33
people from radical Islamic groups who
were plotting attacks against the airport
and other targets in the near future had
been arrested, with around half directly
linked to the Jakarta attacks.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, suffered
several major bomb attacks by Islamic
radicals between 2000 and 2009, but a
subsequent crackdown weakened the
most dangerous extremist networks.
10 dead in caste riots in north India

ROHTAK, India (AFP) Ten people
have died in caste protests which triggered widespread arson and looting in
a north Indian state, police said Sunday,
as New Delhi faced a water crisis after
mobs shut down a key supply.
Thousands of troops with shoot-onsight orders were deployed on Saturday
in Haryana state, a day after week-long
protests turned violent with rioters setting fire to homes and railway stations
and blocking highways.
Ten people have been killed and

about 150 injured in the state since
Friday when officers fired on rioters,
Haryana police chief Yash Pal Singal
told a press conference, updating earlier estimates of five dead.
The Jat caste is leading the protests,
demanding quotas for government jobs
and university places, saying they are
struggling to find employment and
education opportunities despite India's
strong economic growth.
on the islands.
China and other nations including
Vietnam and Taiwan all claim islands
in the region but China has argued that
the chain belongs exclusively to them.
According to China Cheat Sheets,
the Chinese Defense Ministry called
reports about the missile deployment
hype by certain Western media outlets, adding that it has controlled the
Paracels since the end of the Vietnam
War. However, Taiwan and Vietnam also
claim parts of it.
OUT OF THE RACE Former
Florida governor Jeb Bush
- brother and son to two US
presidents dropped out
of the White House race
after a disappointing
showing in South
Carolina's Republican
p r i m a r y .
"Tonight, I am
suspending
my campaign,"
Bush said on
Saturday,
fighting back
tears. "I'm
proud of the campaign that we have run
to unify our country." (AFP)
Uganda's
Museveni
wins fifth term
KAMPALA (AFP) Uganda's
President Yoweri Museveni won a
fifth term on Saturday, extending his
three-decade rule in a vote rejected
as fraudulent by an opposition leader
under house arrest and criticised by
the international community.
The veteran 71-year-old won 60
percent of the vote in the sometimes
chaotic elections, far ahead of the
35 percent garnered by detained opposition chief Kizza Besigye, whose
house was surrounded by dozens of
armed police in riot gear.
Large numbers of police and
troops have been deployed on the
streets of the capital Kampala, which
appeared calm immediately after the
widely expected victory for Museveni
was declared.
Besigye slammed the results as
a fraud, saying in a message to the
international community: "Should
you ratify the results of these sham
elections, at least have the courage to admit that you do not care
about democracy or human rights
in Africa."
The US criticized "irregularities"
in the vote, including accusations
of vote buying and rigging, which a
State Department spokesman said
Trump wins decisively in South

Carolina, Clinton clinches Nevada
LAS VEGAS/COLUMBIA (Reuters) Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump rolled
to victory on Saturday in South
Carolina in a contest that saw
former Florida Governor Jeb
Bush drop out, while Democratic
hopeful Hillary Clinton beat back a
strong challenge from Bernie Sanders
in Nevada.
The victories by Trump, who is running as an anti-establishment outsider,
and Clinton, a preeminent political
insider, solidified their positions as
the front-runners to win their parties'
respective nominations ahead of the
Nov. 8 presidential election.
The night's most prominent ca- Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary
sualty, Bush suffered a distant fourth Clinton and her husband former President
Bill Clinton wave to supporters after she was
place finish in the Republican contest projected to be the winner in the Democratic
and announced he had suspended caucuses in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Reuters)
his campaign, ending his dream of
becoming a third Bush president after
By winning both South Carolina
his father and brother.
and New Hampshire and holding leads
"The people of Iowa, New Hampin 13 states that hold Republican conshire and South Carolina have spoken,
tests on March 1, Trump was arguably
and I really respect their decision," an
on track to win the nomination, an
emotional Bush said in Columbia. He
outcome that seemed astounding to
finished far out of the running in each
contemplate when he entered the race
of the first three states.
last summer.
Colombia reports 37,000

Zika cases, over 6,300
in pregnant women
BOGOTA (AFP) Colombia has
now registered more than 37,000 cases
of people infected with Zika, including
more than 6,300 pregnant women, the
country's National Institute of Health
reported Saturday.
The latest count, based on data
reported as of February 13, reflects
an increase of 5,456 cases of the
mosquito-borne virus in the last week
for which data is available.
The rapid spread of the virus has
raised alarms in Latin America because it has been tentatively linked to
a serious birth defect known as microcephaly in babies born to women who
became infected while pregnant.
Microcephaly is an irreversible
condition in which a baby is born with
an abnormally small head and brain.
The Institute said 6,356 of the
37,011 Zika cases recorded so far involve pregnant women.
Laboratory tests have confirmed
the presence of Zika in 522 of those

cases.
Clinical exams were used to identify 30,148 Zika cases in Colombia.
Laboratory tests confirmed infections
in 1,612 cases, and 5,251 were listed as
suspected Zika infections.
Colombia has reported the largest
number of cases in Latin America
after Brazil, where the outbreak was
first detected last year and where
1.5 million Zika cases have been reported.
Health authorities project that
more than 600,000 people will be infected with the Zika virus this year
in Colombia, and expect there will be
more than 500 cases of microcephaly if
trends seen in Brazil are borne out.
The Colombian health ministry
also has reported three deaths from
Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that is also suspected of
being linked to the virus.
was "deeply inconsistent with international standards and expectations

for any democratic process".
Inter national obser vers also
raised the red flag, warning that
Uganda's electoral commission
lacked transparency and accusing
the police of heavy-handed treatment

of the opposition.
Local election officials appealed
for calm, with Election Commission
chief Badru Kiggundu calling on
Ugandans to "be prepared to exhibit
more tolerance".
Yellow Magenta Cyan
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World News
Six killed
in random
Michigan
shootings
MICHIGAN (Reuters) Six people

were shot and killed and several others
wounded in Michigan on Saturday night in
a series of apparently random shootings,
according to authorities who said they had
the suspected gunman in custody.
We seem to be dealing with a worstcase scenario, someone driving around
shooting, Kalamazoo County Undersheriff
Paul Matyas told NBC News earlier. At least
three people were wounded in the attacks.
Matyas also told a Fox News affiliate

the threat to the public is over. We now
have our suspect. The suspect was not
identified, but media reports, citing police,
said he was aged 45, from Kalamazoo.
The public safety department earlier
described the gunman as a white male in
his 50s who was believed to be driving a
dark colored Chevy HHR SUV with chrome
wheels, adding that the vehicle may have
been damaged.
Police said the man who was arrested

was driving a black HHR and had a weapon
in the vehicle.
According to local media, four people
were shot dead at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township, and two more died
at a Seelye Kia dealership in Kalamazoo.
The carnage began early Saturday
evening when Matyas said police were first
called to a Kalamazoo County apartment
building where a woman was shot multiple
times before later being listed in serious

condition.
Hours later, they were called to the car
dealership where two people were shot and
killed, and a third was wounded.
Four people were killed at a third shooting scene in the Cracker Barrel parking lot,
where the gunman opened fire on people
in their cars after a brief conversation. A
fifth person there was critically wounded,
Matyas said.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
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Editorial
LL
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P. O. B O X 7 6 9
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CRIS
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Business Beat
Collateral damage
By Melito Salazar Jr.
n his latest trip to the United States,

President Benigno Simeon Aquino
III again campaigned for his chosen candidates for president and
vice president to an assembly of Filipino
Americans. Fortunately, unlike previous
encounters, he did not dwell too much on
his perceived negative perceptions of the
other candidates. Hopefully, as the election
period nears, the President will be more
moderate in his support to the Liberal Party
candidates and transform into a statesman
as he ends his term. There are a lot of initiatives and reforms in the areas of transparency, accountability, and good governance
that, having been planted firmly, should be
continued by the next administration even
if it will not be headed by his anointed. The
Presidents successor will be expected to
continue the good done and change those
that have not worked. More importantly,
many areas left unaddressed because of a
teka-teka leadership in some government
departments will be speedily attended to.
What I am fearful of is given that the
President has become more of a campaigner
than the unifying leader of the nation, a
Black
hen United States President

Barack Obama met with the
leaders of the Association of
Southeast Asian nations (ASeAn) in California last week, world attention
was focused largely on the ongoing dispute
of several ASeAn countries with China on
rival claims in the South China Sea.
Reports that China had deployed a surfaceto-air missile system on one of the disputed
islands made headlines. President Obama
reiterated that the US would stand by its
allies in the area and help strengthen their
maritime capabilities. He also declared that
the US would continue to fly and sail wherever
international law allows in the area, rejecting Chinas claim to most of the South China
Sea.
The two-day US-ASEAN Summit ended
Tuesday with the issuance of a declaration
which, however, avoided any direct reference to China. It did not refer directly to the
case filed by the Philippines with the United
Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in
The Hague. It was hoped, however, that the
California Summit had sent a subtle message
to China that the US intends to maintain an
important presence in the region.
Hardly noted in reports on the Summit
was President Obamas announcement of a
package of measures aimed at boosting the
economies of the ASEAN countries. In what he

called the US-ASEAN Connect, Obama said
the US will set up a network of three centers
in Southeast Asia in Singapore, Jakarta,
and Bangkok to coordinate US economic
engagement in the region and connect with
entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses. It
will have four organizing pillars Business
Connect, Energy Connect, Innovation Connect, and Policy Connect.
The US plan includes technical assistance
to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand to
prepare them to join a vast Trans-Pacific Partnership, which already includes Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Among other
things, the Trans-Pacific Partnership among
Pacific Rim countries will draw up agreements
in agriculture, intellectual property, services,
and investments.
The US-ASEAN Summit may have drawn
considerable attention in the light of the ongoing South China Sea maritime dispute with
China. But the economic plans discussed
at the Summit, particularly the US-ASEAN
Connect, may have been the most important
important part of the two -day Summit in
California last week. Along with the ongoing ASEAN integration process, the new US
economic initiative could help bring about the
long-awaited inclusive growth that will touch
the lives of the masses of our people.
to each barangay will be used to implement one or two

projects they have identified. Already the DBM has
started consultations with barangay captains to engage
them in the discussion of the rationale, objectives, and
mechanics of the Barangay BuB. This will be followed
by capacity building sessions and project preparation for
the first batch of bvarangays that will pioneer Barangay
BuB. As stated by DBM Secretary Butch Abad, The first
12,000 barangays will receive funding from the national
government in 2017.
It is this flurry of activities in the midst of the election period that has injected a political flavor to what
would otherwise be a simple and easily understandable
preparation for the launching of an essential program for
the masses. If President Aquino had not identified a successor, actively campaigned for him, and even lambasted
the other contenders, no one would even consider BuB
as a campaign exercise. It is a sad reality that when one
engages in partisan political activities, all other actions
will be suspect.
The process of participation in BuB to me is a nonpolitical and non-partisan exercise. To participate in the
program, each barangay leagues city and municipal
president must orient all punong barangays within their
area of jurisdiction on the Barangay BuB not later

than January 31, 2016. Afterwards, every punong
barangay must convene a Barangay Development
Council (BDC), for orientation, conduct a planning
workshop with the BDC and formulate a list of priority projects for submission to the Development
Academy of the Philippines (DAP), which will develop
criteria for the ranking and selection of brarangays.
The Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan (UBAS) a
partnership of local Catholic churches, the Liga ng
mga Barangay ng Pilipinas (LBP), and the DILG for
the observance of good governance principles at the
community level will monitor the proper implementation of the projects.
For the sake of the good governance programs
and their continuity in the next administration President Aquino may want to consider putting himself
above the political fray, let the accomplishments of
his administration speak for themselves, and stop
pushing a successor who up to today cannot connect
with the Filipino voter. Anyway, it is sure that the
next president will have to meet the benchmark of
integrity President Aquino has set or suffer another
EDSA power.
ymv
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Yellow Magenta Cyan
number of the worthy programs will suffer

collateral damage as they will be viewed
more as vote-getting measures rather
than essential elements in the process of
transforming the government system. One
of these is the Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB)
program of the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM). Looking at it objectively and without the colored lenses of a
political agenda, this program can be seen
as the cornerstone of People Empowerment
that we all want to continue after EDSA.
Since its implementation in 2013, at least
1,590 local government units have participated in the BuB program. Of a total of 42,221
BuB projects reported in the open BuB portal, 13,712 projects have been completed. For
2016, 14,325 local poverty reduction projects
have been allocated P24.7 billion.
The expansion of the BuB program into
Barangay BuB gives communities at the
barangay level, opportunities to chart their
development paths and improve their economic status. The program is expected to
aid barangays in better formulating poverty
reduction action plans and monitoring the
delivery of basic services in the communities. Covering 42,036 barangays nationwide
by next year (2017), a subsidy of P1 million
US launching new
economic initiative
with ASEAN countries
RR
10
ymv
Views Features
speaking Out
Honoring the young writers

of Muntinlupa and environs
By ignacio r. Bunye
heerS to the young essayists, poets, and story

tellers from Muntinlupa and
environs. They received last
week their appropriate recognition
during the 10th Cesar S. Tiangco
Memorial Literary Awards.
The young writers were chosen
from high school and college student
participants from the cities of
Muntinlupa, Las Pias, Pasay, Taguig,
Pasig, Makati, and the municipality of
Pateros.
The Cesar S. Tiangco Memorial
Literary Awards annually gives cash
prizes and medals to winners in the
following categories: Essay, poem,
and short story. Teacher-endorsers
of the awardees receive certificates
of appreciation.
All winning entries will be
published in Tiangco Memorial
Literary Awards Anthology 2011-2015.
An earlier anthology published the
winners from 2007 to 2010.
The annual award was conceived
by his former students to honor the
memory of Cesar Sioson Tiangco, the
pioneer principal of the Muntinlupa
National High School. Tiangco served
as principal from 1945 to 1976 . He was
a writer and novelist. His early works
were published in the pre-war Sun
Tribune, Agricultural-CommercialIndustrial Life, Philippine Free Press,
Mr. and Ms. and Womens Magazine.
His novel Message of the Apparition
was posthumously published in
2007.
A for mer student, Romeo P.
Virtusio (retired public relations
professional and himself a prolific
writer) had fond memories of Tiangco.

He wrote other things than short
stories poems, plays, essays while
he was running a school, raising a
family, helping the community. He was
the best kind of hero, the unsung one,
who, unmindful of reward or renown,
goes on with his work, quietly.
Lawyer Rolando Justo and
engineer Romy Navarro, chair and
executive director, respectively, of
the annual literary awards, said
the winners were chosen by a panel
consisting of Juaniyo Arcellana,
Placido Parcero, Ma. Shiela Abejo,
and Rolando Justo.
Professor Ramila Cruzado,
president of the University of
Makati (represented by UMak
Communications Director Cynthia
Jose), keynoted the award
ceremonies.
The awardees for the different
categories were the following:
high SChOOl DiviSiOn
essay (english)
1st Chelsea Mikaela E.
Quiambao (Southernside Montessori
School); 2nd Lyca Joy Alba (St.
Bernadette School); Joint 3rd
Rexcel del Rosario (Sto. Nio School
of Muntinlupa), Raphael Matthew
Aquino (Southernside Montessori
School), and Ma. Lourdes E. Tonido
(Muntinlupa Science High School).
Tula
1st Robert Juan del Rosario
(Muntinlupa Science High School);
2nd Bea Amir Abrique (Pedro
E. Diaz High School; Joint 3rd
Jennalyn A. Cruz (Rizal High School),
Janine L. Ape (Muntinlupa Business
High School), and Alexander de Villa
(Pedro E. Diaz High School).
Maikling Kuwento
1st Adrielle S. Dollison (Pedro E.
Diaz High School) Schizophrenia;
2nd Kathleen Mae Tagal (Muntinlupa
Science High School) Beinte-singko
Sentimos; 3rd Florie O. Otanez
(Rizal High School) Estrangherong
Mangingibig; Joint 4th Alyana
Marie Soriano (Southernside
Montessori) Dalawang Mukha ng
Kasinungalingan, Mark Christian
Hachero (Sto. Nio School)
Bentilador.
COllege DiviSiOn
essay
1 s t J o h n M a n u e l Pa d r e
(University of Makati); 2nd Alfonso
Inigo Yusingco (Pamantasan ng
Lungsod ng Muntinlupa); 3rd
Berna Lisa Carpio (St. Bernadette
College).
Fiction
1st Rome Allisandra Sigua
( Pa m a n t a s a n n g L u n g s o d n g
Muntinlupa); 2nd Rodela Mariz
Padin (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng
Muntinlupa); 3rd Hanna Grace San
Esteban (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng
Muntinlupa)
Poetry
1st Amina A. Tan (Pamantasan
ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa); 2nd
Alfonso I. Yusingco (Pamantasan
ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa); 3rd
Deborah L. Edos (Pamantasan ng
Lungsod ng Muntinlupa).
This years event was hosted by
Muntinlupa National High School
Batch 1966 led by Evangeline
Woldemariam, Norma Polon, Benita
Macabeo, and Normalita Nofuente.
note: You may e-mail us at
totingbunye2000@gmail.com
eRgO
Will we get a
teleserye president?
By leandro dd coronel
eeP Jojo Binay and Sen.

Grace Poe have been playing
musical chairs at the top of
the surveys. Mar Roxas and
Rodrigo Duterte do the same for the
Number 2 spot.
Sen. Miriam Santiago trails badly,
with only a single-digit share of the
poll numbers. She should seriously
consider dropping out, if only for her
healths sake. But I think shes too
proud to give up.
The closeness of the surveys explains that the Filipinos are paying
attention to and are engaged in the
presidential campaign.
What is tickling the peoples interest? Some observers say its the
teleserye lives of the contenders.
Immediately after Binay signified
his intention to run for president,
charges of corruption greeted him
and have been raining on his parade
since. He is accused of amassing
whopping amounts of illegal money
from when he was mayor of Makati
City.
Poe has also been in the news every day because of her troubles with
the Comelec, which has disqualified
her from running over her questioned
natural-born citizenship and failing
to meet the requirement of 10 years
residency in the Philippines. The
Supreme Court is poised to rule on

the upstart Poes DQ cases soon, if it
hasnt already by the time this column
appears.
Duterte has been Mr. Controversy
himself, equally troublesome as Binays problems. Duterte swears as
if curses were running out of style.
Duterte must have stocked up on
curse words when they went on sale.
My question remains: What kind of
person addresses Pope Francis thus:
Put..g ina ka Pope...?
And then theres Roxas who cant
seem to extricate himself from the
label of being a teka, teka manager,
meaning he is indecisive. People, or
at least Roxas detractors, want a
quick-action type of leader, not Roxas
deliberative management style.
I will just say here that Santiago, as
I see it, is past her prime. She has been
seriously ill. She claims shes cured
of cancer. But she walks visibly slow.
She has even lost her previously feisty
nature. She tries to be her former self
but even the casual observer can tell
shes not the same. Shes now just a
shadow of her combative self.
According to some pundits, people
are drawn to candidates who have
drama in their real lives, like Poe,
Binay, and Duterte. They dont like a
plain-vanilla candidate like Roxas.
Of course, when a candidate is in
the news practically every day, then
she or he remains embedded in people

minds. And so when the poll canvassers come around, the names of the
more dramatic politicians jump out
of peoples memories.
But are the dramatic personalities the right people for the presidency? Can they be effective leaders
once theyre in Malacaang with the
panic buttons in front of them in case
of emergencies, contingencies, and
crises?
The closeness of the preference
surveys and the absence of a clear
leader with an overwhelming percentage of those surveyed convey the
message that the people are divided.
If the trend continues and the final
winner only gets a plurality of the
votes in May, that should be alarming because we will then get another
minority president.
As Ive written in the last column,
having a minority president one
who doesnt garner a vote of at least
50 percent plus one vote is dangerous. Thats because having a minority
president means that more people
voted against him or her. That is not
majority rule.
Even in boxing, the winner must
get a majority decision of the judges.
Unless he scores a TKO or a clear
knockout.
In politics, that means a landslide.
MeRRY-gO-ROunD
Make peace not war

By Floro Mercene
FAirlY educated person

with a little common sense
can conclude that Chinas
colossal reclamation in the
contested area in the South China
Sea is aimed at militarizing Asias
maritime heartland.
Why would China spend probably
billions of dollars bringing dozens of rigs,
suction dredges, mechanical excavators, and probably dynamite to far-flung
islands to blast the undersea corrals?
The logistical and financial cost of
such undertakings is enough to bankrupt a small country like us.
What are the strategic and military
reasons behind such move?
The claim that China wanted to build
weather stations, scientific research,
and other infrastructure to provide
more public goods and services to the

international community, simply does
not wash.
UNCLOS says that even if islands
are built on top of features that lie
beneath the sea, those islands are not
entitled to a 200-kilometer exclusive
economic zone (EEZ).
China said it will not recognize the
UNCLOS ruling.
After China has admitted that they
have surface-to-air (SAM) missiles on
Woody Island in the Paracels, what
would prevent them from installing the
same SAMs in the reclaimed lands in
the Spratlys?
Someone said that when missiles
are put on Mischief Reef, the missiles
cannot be destroyed, because that
would endanger the Filipinos in Palawan, which is nearer to Mischief Reef
than China.
We will be Chinas human shields,

protecting its missiles against those
who can take it out. And China can use
those missiles to control navigation in
the South China Sea.
To engage in a costly militarization
to confront the giant to the north would
be foolish.
This is simply a gun-and-butter
issue. We needed the money to promote
development and to feed our people and
not to buy arms.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos
said the Philippines should always side
with peace and not with war.
We are one world, one community,
one family. And we in the Philippines are
for that, Ramos said.
He said out policy towards China
and the US should be such that they will
take care of our advantage as being in
between the two superpowers.
11
BeLOW tHe Line
Le Tour or
Detour Filipinas?
By JoS aBeto zaide
nlY in The Ph. The 7th

Le Tour Filipinas kicked off
the first leg of the 148.9
kilometer Antipolo-Lucena
race only to end 30 km short because
of rough and narrow roads and the onslaught of an incoming traffic jam.
There are 75 riders forming 15
teams from 12 countries in this years
race. The lead group of 10 riders was
ahead one minute over the trailing
peloton, only to be slowed down by
building traffic which allowed the rest
to join and swell the lead group to 31
men. With the second wave about to
catch up, Chief Commissionaire Peter
Tomlinson decided to cut short the
race the first time in its seven-year
history of Le Tour Filipinas.
The organizers had inspected the
first stage route four times, with the
last inspection six days before the
opening. But repairs on the road were
unexpected and not coordinated with
the organizers. And so the first stage
was stopped short to the chagrin of
riders. Traffic!
le TOUr FOr TOUriSM? The
race organizer Ube Media, Inc., has
placed high on the list sports cum
promotion of tourism on the fourstage cycling spectacle. Some of the
countrys tourist attractions provide
the backdrop for the 2016 Le Tour de
Filipinas.
Le Tour Chairman Donna Lina
said, In the sixth edition of the Le
Tour, the attractions of Central and
Northern Luzon were promoted intensely by the race. This time, we are
headed down south where Southern
Luzon and Bicol would be at center
stage, featuring different yet equally
picturesque attractions. (Hinulugang
Taktak in Antipolo City, Bagasbas
Beach in Daet and Tatlong Eme in Atimonan in Quezon Province, Magnetic
Hill at Km. 155, and Mayon Volcano in
Legazpi City in Albay.)
ShOrT TiMe. The Milo 10K
Marathon finals on Dec. 6 at Clark,
Pampanga, surprised the runners with
their best time ever only to discover
that their 10K run was only 8.6K.
Running in the Over 60 category,
Michael Keon, whose track program
in the late 70s and early 80s produced
track icons Lydia de Vega and Isidro
del Prado, said he noted the discrepancy when he clocked what he said
was an unbelievable time of 45.18
minutes, about five minutes faster than

his personal best of 51.11.
Race organizer Rio dela Cruz initially denied any inaccuracy, claiming
the distance was certified by the Association of International Marathon
(AIM). But he later owned to the fact
that the marshals got confused because of the rains and misdirected the
runners, one way 600 meters (short),
the other way another 600, for a shortage of 1.2 kilometers.
FAll in line. Nineteen (19) uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police exchanged marriage vows
with their brides in mass wedding rites
last February 11 at St. Joseph Chapel,
Camp Crame, QC. PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez said the mass
wedding rites are an annual event
hosted by the PNP Chaplain Service to
allow police personnel the opportunity
to legitimize relationships with their
partners consistent with the standards
of morality, and decency espoused by
the PNP that emphasizes high regard
for family life and value of marital fidelity and sanctity of marriage.
Now, they can do legally what they
have been doing illegally.
MeDiA MileAge? Manny Pacquiaos off-handed comment, which
raised the hackles of LGBT, may yet
serve as his best promoter for the national elections because of extensive
free mileage in media. If the LGBT
dont mean to help him win big, instead
of hair-pulling, they should just let it
fade away.
lOST & FOUnD. If elected president, Sen. Grace Poe will take her oath
at the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral,
where she was abandoned when she
was still an infant 48 years ago.
DOUBle TAKe. While we enjoy
the cheapest petrol in our tank in a
decade, thousands of OFWs are returning after losing their jobs in the
Middle East.
Suzuki takes over Toyota Motor
Phils. Headline. Thats only our
Manila Bulletin editor punning on Satoru Suzuki, former general manager
of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, Middle
East & North Africa Region, replacing
Michinobu Sugata, as president and
chief executive officer of Toyota Motor
Philippines Corp. (TMP).
FeeDACK: joseabetozaide@
gmail.com
if sYMptOMs peRsist
Battered senior
By JoSe PuJalte Jr.
Pity the sorrows

of a poor old man,
Thomas Moss (1740-1808),
english minister and poet
The Beggar (1769)
hAve written about the battered child but unfortunately,

at the other extreme is its (less
known) equivalent, the battered
elder. The Merck Manual defines
elder abuse as the physical or
psychologic mistreatment, neglect, or
financial exploitation of the elderly.
So its clear that there are so many
more layers of abuse possible in the
old. In fact, abuse takes many forms,
according to the US Administration
on Aging:
Physical abuse inflicting physical pain or injury on a senior. For example, slapping, hitting. or restraining
by physical or chemical means.
Sexual abuse non-consensual
sexual contact of any kind.
Neglect the failure of the responsible to feed, provide shelter or
health care, or protection of the vulnerable elder.
Exploitation the illegal taking,
misuse, or concealment of funds, property or assets of a senior for someone
elses benefit.
Emotional abuse humiliating,
threatening, intimidating, inflicting
mental pain and anguish or distress
on an elder person through verbal or
non-verbal acts.
Abandonment desertion of a
vulnerable elder by anyone who has
assumed responsibility or custody of
that person.
Self-neglect the failure of a
person to perform essential, self-care
tasks, and that such failure threatens
his/her own health or safety.
Signs of Abuse. Sadly, statistics

reveal that up to 85% of elder abuse is
inflicted by their own relatives. This
could be a spouse, child, or younger
sibling that was left the responsibility
for the care of the elder. Obvious signs
of physical abuse are bruises, broken
bones, burns. Examine for broken dentures or eyeglasses. Joint swellings are
not necessarily just arthritis but could
be sprains or dislocations. Bedsores,
poor hygiene, unattended medical
needs, and weight loss may be signs of
neglect. Abused old people are usually
withdrawn and will not want to talk
about his or her suffering in an attempt
to sometimes protect the provider.
Complex situation. Most of the
time, elder abuse is the expression
of problems from both the victim and
the perpetrator. An old person with
cognitive impairment from dementia
(Alzheimers disease) may be aggressive and disruptive. Caregivers may
become frustrated and lose patience.
Perpetrators can have a history of
violence, drug abuse, alcohol addiction
making it easier for them to hurt the
vulnerable old. In the Philippines, add
the overarching burden of poverty.
What to do. If a victim seen at the
Emergency Room is in immediate
danger, consider admitting the patient
and informing the police. This is also
reportable to the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD)
(632)931-81-01 to 07; DSWD website
http://www.dswd.gov.ph
A US 13-year longitudinal study
shows that abused elderly people are
at a higher risk of death compared
to the non-abused. The abused had a
survival rate of 9% versus 40% for the
non-victimized. Lets open our eyes to
this hidden shame. We should love our
old, not hurt them.
e-mail: jspujalte@yahoo.com
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
Views Features
12
neVeR On a sunDaY
page tWeLVe
Lost peace and

order condition
By atty. rene eSPina
Former Senator
AM fortunate in the sense that

when I was a young man, I was
appointed as Central Visayas coordinator of the Students Magsaysay for President Movement (SMPM).
Ramon Magsaysay was President
Elpidio Quirinos secretary of national
defense. As such secretary, he was quite
successful in defeating the Hukbalahap Hukbong Magpalaya sa Bayan
Laban sa Hapon. The Huks were the
then prevailing communist insurgents
who controlled many areas of Luzon.
Magsaysay was later prevailed upon
to join the Nacionalista Party (NP) by
Senators Jose Laurel and Claro Recto,
to become the NP official candidate for
president against President Quirino
(LP). Magsaysay defeated Quirino
with an overwhelming majority vote.
During Magsaysays short term of office, the Huks were wiped out as a red
rebel force.
Years later, a new communist Maoist ideology was founded inside an
hacienda in Tarlac. Jose Ma. Sison, a
UP professor, became the leader of the
Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP). Since Sison did not have an army
to start the revolution, a former Huk
was appointed as the commander of the
New Peoples Army (NPA). His nom de
guerre was Commander Dante. His real
name was Bernabe Buscayno. He was
also a former driver of a famous lady
who is already deceased. The secretary
general of the CPP-NPA was a former
Kabataang Makabayan leader who is
now a bishop of a Christian sect. Later
this group was expanded to include
other groups named for maximum
propaganda effect as the National
Democratic Front (NDF). Jalandoni, a
former priest, became the NDF head
so the whole new insurgency group is
now known as the CPP-NPA-NDF.
During the Martial Law period almost all of the principal Maoist Communist leaders were captured and imprisoned. However after the revolutionary
government was installed, post-EDSA
revolution all of the captured communists were released. The reason they
were released by those in power, we
were told, was that it was a confidencebuilding action. What was left unsaid
was that the Communists supported the
Infighting among candidates

wrecking their parties
candidacy of the presidential candidate

of the opposition party against President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Thus the
CPP-NPA-NDF was again resurrected
in parts of Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Samar,
and mostly in Northeastern Mindanao
because of the amnesty.
During the Martial Law regime,
the insurgency in the Muslim Mindanao area subsided because of the
Tripoli Agreement plus the creation
of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM). In the original
Autonomous Region, there were in
effect two seats of government. To my
recollection, one was in Cotabato City
for the Central Mindanao area. Another
ARMM government center was in Zamboanga City for Western Mindanao,
Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Sulu. The areas
had their own elected representatives
and governors. Relative peace and
order began to prevail in the ARMM.
However, when a new insurgent group
calling themselves Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) seceded from the
original Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF), a new series of firefights between the MILF and AFP erupted. The
MILF established several camps in the
interior areas of the ARMM. Their main
headquarters was Camp Abubakar.
When Joseph Estrada became president, he tried his best to persuade the
MILF to give up the armed struggle and
return to the peace agreement already
being implemented with the MNLF.
When all peaceful efforts failed, President Estrada had to resort to the use
of force. All the MILF camps, including
Camp Abubakar, were captured by the
AFP. Our Armed Forces had to pay the
price in the blood of our heroic soldiers.
The MILF leaders fled to Malaysia, the
country that has been instigating, training, and supplying arms to the armed
Muslim rebels in Mindanao.
Again, when GM Arroyo became
president, she returned all the camps
that were captured from the MILF. It
was said again that this was a confidence-building measure. Thus the
rebellion again regained the momentum that it lost. If you were a member
of the AFP, or just a plain Filipino
citizen, would you be happy with the
kind of leadership that our country has
or had?
rene.g.espina@gmail.com
puncHLine
Jobs available,
says PNoy;
more changes
presidentiables
plishments or legacy...
By Fred loBo
reSiDenT Aquino says

many job opportunities are
up for grabs because the
economy is on a roll.
Go find a job. Or roll with the
punches.
***
As this develops, the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) asks businessmen anew to honor the planned
price rollback for basic goods owing
to low oil prices.
Reasonable pricing or greed?,
the agency asks.
***
The President proudly declares in
his working visit to the US that jobseekers may find their ideal employment
back home.
Perhaps the best answer is: Look
at the classified ads every Sunday of
the Manila Bulletin, the President
says before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
***
PNoy adds that job opportunities
are increasing back home and that
companies have posted advertisements
urgently needing skilled workers.
See how many people are needed
for not very menial jobs or very heavy
jobs and the demand is again, normally,
very urgent, an indicator of opportunities for you, Aquino says.
***
The President reiterates the countrys success story, from registering
strong economic growth to the return
of transparency and accountability in
government.
PNoy talks proud of his accom-
***
The economy definitely is growing, there are so many opportunities,
but, of course, its a market place, the
needs and the skills the supply and
the demand really have to interact
whether or not youll get the job, PNoy
explains.
No to mismatch. Yes to employment!
***
Meanwhile, the DTI asks manufacturers to lower prices but the latter
insist they cannot rollback prices of
basic goods because logistics costs still
remain high.
Time to break the pricing stalemate.
***
They still insist they cannot roll
back suggested retail prices, but based
on our computation, there must be a
rollback in suggested retail prices,
says DTI Undersecretary Victorio
Mario Dimagiba.
Time to assert governmental powers for the benefit of consumers.
***
The National Price Coordinating
Council (NPCC) adds that data gathered show that prices of raw materials
such as skimmed milk, whole milk, butter milk, tin, meat and chicken, wheat,
and coffee robusta have significantly
gone down this year by an average of
4.78% to 29.56%.
Figures speak. Price rollback is
in order.
***
On the political front, presidential
candidate Sen. Grace Poe says that
By elinando B. cinco
OliTiCAl candidates are

notoriously characterized by
ugly insinuations since the
first national elections after
the country gained independence in
1946.
Derogatory charges like doubledealing, personal vengeance, intrigue,
and downright treachery co-exist with
politicians and, consequently, are
hurled against each other.
But none of those indictments
became much uglier than what happened when an internal strife ignited
within her PDP-Laban party last
Feb. 9.
The entire 12-man senatorial slate
was jettisoned by the hierarchy of the
party.
Never in the history of Philippine politics has its chosen Senate
aspirants been tossed out from a
political party that is not only struggling to thrust its presidential and
vice-presidential tandem out front, but
is also experiencing difficulty in scouting around for big-time campaign
contributors.
Sen. Koko Pimentel, party chairman, said the decision was a group
agreement during the leaders meeting in Davao City Feb. 8.
The official explanation was that
the 12-man slate was physically a
hindrance in keeping up the fastpace campaign sorties. Mabigat
dalhin, both logically and figuratively
speaking, said the partys campaign
managers.
Arranging and scheduling of provincial meetings always pose a problem to political parties and this is more
apparent in PDP-Laban where there is
a shortage of homegrown partymates
to handle out-of-town coordination.
But party insiders have another

story. All of the 12 aspirants are slow
in plunking in cash to the party kettle.
Almost always its war chest is dry, it
is reported.
It is a common arrangement
among political parties that each candidate has a contribution quota and
from that common fund expenses for
logistics are sourced.
The seemingly chronic fund shortage PDP-Laban suffers most.
Another confidential tale is told
that Sen. Koko was not comfortable
with Migz Zubiri around. Although
it happened two national elections
ago, the Cagayan de Oro lawmaker is
still bitter how the latter was cheated
during the regional tally, with some
Mindanao votes going to Migz rather
than to Koko.
Eventually, in 2013, the SET declared Senator Koko the real winner
for the Senates 12th slot in the 2010
election. Migz resigned even before
the hallmark decision was promulgated.
Now, as if the puzzling junking
of the senatorial lineup was not psychologically frustrating to an already
laboring PDP-Laban, two of its jettisoned aspirants have splashed vinegar on their partys wounds.
Sandra Cam, the anti-illegal gambling advocate, aired her grievances
in social media. It turned out that she
was not allowed to speak at the party
proclamation rally in Tondo Feb. 9.
Her griping added to the party sullen
state.
Susan Ople, an OFW-vigilante,
revealed in a media statement that
she was approached by what she suspected as a representative of a survey
firm, allegedly to include her name in
the possible Magic 12 winners in their
next public opinion survey. However,
she did not mention the firm nor the

name of the man who approached
her.
As it appears now, Nabitin tuloy
ang 12 na nagbabalak maging senador!
STill On PArTY WrAnglingS. Rep. Manny Pacquiao
stirred the proverbial hornets nest
when he called proponents of samesex marriage worse than animals
last Feb. 16. He scorned the LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-gender)
community.
Almost abruptly, well-known showbiz gays Boy Abunda and Vice Ganda
ganged up on the GenSan Hero.
He apologized the following day. Also
hurting was the Ladlad party-list
group which threatened to scratch
Pacquiaos name from the list of
would-be senators they will support
in the May, 2016, polls.
But the Pacman found an ally in
the person of still-growing-strong Sen.
Johnny Ponce Enrile. Pacquiao did
not say anything wrong in his earlier
statement. Those who go for same-sex
marriage can do it on Mars, he said.
WASTe OF PreCiOUS AirTiMe. In the afternoon radio talk
show Pasada 630 last Tuesday, Feb.
16, co-anchor Karen Davila (with Vic
de Leon Lima) spent the second-half
hour of the program vigorously defending Grace Poes son Bryan who
had allegedly bought a P900,000 of
commemorative pair of Nike rubber
shoes, as shown in his blog.
It was only worth P10,000. Even
our drivers here at ABS-CBN can well
afford to buy a pair, she said.
The 30-minute exoneration was
clearly a waste of precious airtime that
her listeners did not deserve. Karen
could have finished her defense in
five minutes.
RefLectiOns tODaY
Peters confession about Jesus

MattHeW 16:13-19
hen Jesus went into

the region of Caesarea
Philippi He asked His
disciples, Who do people
say that the Son of Man is? They
replied, Some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah, still others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. He said to
them, But who do you say that I am?
Simon Peter said in reply, You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus said to him in reply, Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh
and blood has not revealed this to
you, but My heavenly Father. And so
I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build My Church, and
the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it. I will give you the
keys to the Kingdom of heaven. What-
ever you bind on earth shall be bound

in heaven; and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven.
reFleCTiOn
WhO DO PeOPle SAY ThAT
The SOn OF MAn iS? As Jesus
continues His ministry in the region
of Caesarea Philippi, He poses this
question to His disciples. There are
different responses: Some suppose
the Son of Man to be John the Baptist,
others Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the
prophets. It is Simon Peter who gives
Jesus right identity. For Peter, Jesus
is the Christ [Christus in Greek renders the Messiah or Anointed One in
Aramaic], the Son of the living God.
Son of Man refers not only to the
humanity of Jesus but also to His
divinity.
Jesus praises Peter, then explains
that such an insight is not of human

origin but given by the heavenly
Father. Peter is then entrusted with
the keys to the Kingdom of heaven,
with the right to bind and to loose
on earth, meaning, the ministry of
reconciliation.
The gospels are the proclamation
of the early Christians faith. To have
the right insights on Jesus, we need to
read and meditate on the gospels and
at the same time pray to God.
ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ (St. Jerome).

SOUrCe: 366 Days with the
lord 2016, ST. PAUlS Philippines,
7708 St. Paul rd., SAv, Makati City
(Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 8957328; e-mail: books@stpauls.ph;
Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
OuR DaiLY jOuRneY
Bolt on Blake
read: HeBreWS 10:19-25
Let us consider one another in order
to stir up love and good works. v. 24
SAin Bolt and Yohan Blake

of Jamaica made history
when they finished first and
second respectively in both
the mens 100-meter and 200-meter
race in the 2012 London Olympics.
Despite their rivalry on the track, Bolt
paid tribute to Blake as a training partner: Over the years, Yohan has made
me a better athlete. He really pushed
me and kept me on my toes. Its clear
that the two spurred each other on to
greatness on the track.
As believers in Christ, we have the
the countrys next leader should be a

unifying force.
Time for a stronger leadership and
more changes, says Grace.
***
Vice President Jejomar Binay, a
presidentiable, vows to help the poor
through the allocation of P65 billion for
subsidized education and scholarships.
More government assistance for the
poor, Nognog suggests.
privilege and responsibility of encouraging one another in our faith. The

writer of Hebrews said. Let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works (Heb. 10:24).
The church is not just an institution or a mere social club. It is where
we, who have been brought near to
God and washed from sin, can help
one another grow in Christlikeness.
The purpose of meeting together as
a corporate body is to exhort and encourage one another (vv. 19-25).
No believer can function alone. To
live as our Lord Jesus wants us to, we
need the community of believers. As
you meet with other believers, think
of who you can come alongside and
***
Presidential candidate Davao
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte calls for a better handling of the South China Sea
problem, aside from tough handling of
criminality.
Peaceful settlement of PH-China
dispute. Rest in peace (RIP) for criminals, Digong prescribes.
***
Presidentiable Sec. Mar Roxas
encourage by your words and actions

to be more like the Christ we love and
serve. C.P. HIA
Before our Fathers throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.
A healthy church is the best
witness to a hurting world.
2015 ODB Ministries, 3000,

Kraf t 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.
proposes continuity of economic programs and expansion of governmentprivate sector cooperation.

Daang Matuwid must prevail and
economy must be enhanced, he says.
***
Presidential candidate Sen. Miriam
Defensor Santiago strongly calls for
no corruption policy in government.
And no stupid forever in Philippine society, she says.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
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News
Full video shows...

raged members of the LGBT here and
abroad, prompting sports apparel giant
Nike to sever its ties with the celebrated
fighter.
Pacquiao, whose answers during the
interview were mostly made in Filipino,
came under fire for comparing members
of the LGBT to animals, which Nike later
described as abhorrent.
As the issue became viral, Pacquiao
immediately issued an apology to the
LGBT, but maintained that he continues
to support moves not to legalize samesex marriage.
The interview that first appeared,
however, was edited as it did not include
Pacquiaos statements immediately after
his scathing remarks about acts involving members of the same sex.
Pacquiao stressed that while he
doesnt agree with same-sex marriage,
he is not denouncing people who belong
to the LGBT community, since he also
have friends, and even relatives, who
are gay.
Pero, I am not condemning them.
Yung marriage lang, yung committing
sin against God, said Pacquiao, a BornAgain Christian, in the same interview
that is being spread around on the
Internet.
Mike Koncz, Pacquiaos Canadian adviser, also admitted to have been shocked
by his bosss remarks but stressed that
Pacquiao just didnt use the right term
when he was trying to prove his point.
It was just the statement comparing
them to animals, said Koncz.
Pacquiao was heavily criticized by
local celebrities such as comedian Vice
Ganda, talk show host Boy Abunda and
former child star Aiza Seguerra and
by Magic Johnson and other marquee
names in the US for his below-the-belt
remarks.
But Pacquiao insists he was just basing his statements on the Bible.
What I am saying is written in the
Bible, said Pacquiao, who is in the
middle of training for an April 9 fight
against Tim Bradley at the MGM Grand
in Las Vegas.
While the controversy is still raging, the issue is beginning to subside
as evidenced by the emergence of the
complete version of the interview.
NPC, KBP to TV5:
Release entire video
The National Press Club (NPC) has
joined a former head of the Kapisanan ng
mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas (KBP) in
asking TV5 networks Bilang Pilipino
program to release to the public the full
video of the controversial Pacquiao interview, following accusations that the uploaded segment had been cherrypicked
and thus, had sparked LGBT outrage
against the senatorial candidate.
Interviewed by Manila Bulletin, NPC
president Joel Sy Egco said TV5 will help
clear the air about the interview if it will
respond positively to calls by netizens
to upload the over 60-second portion of
Pacquiaos response to the interviewers
question about his stand on same-sex
marriage.
Earlier, ESPN sports anchors Skip
Bayless and Stephen A. Smith chided
what they described as shoddy journalism after learning that they have
deceived into believing that Pacquiao
posted a Bible quotation that tended to
espouse violence against homosexual
persons.
They were apparently referring to
an article by Granville Ampong and a
viral social media post that Pacquiao
picked a Book of Leviticus verse to back
his religious stand against same-sex
marriage.
Ampong denied anything to do about
the article while the social media post
turned out to be false. Bayless and Smith
admitted that information they received
is false.
I believe that is the right thing to do.
This will help clear the air about the controversy, Egco said. To better appreciate the context of Pacquiaos remarks
with regard to the same sex marriage
issue, I think it would be best to play the
entire interview, he stated.
The NPC chief stressed that fairness requires that Pacquiao, official
senatorial candidate of United Nationalist Alliance, should be given the same
airtime right to show the before and after
he made the comment.
Egco also called on Pacquiao to be
more circumspect in his public statements, pointing out that the Filipino boxing icon is a public figure and an elected
congressman of the land.
Earlier, Snow Badua of the sports
website Spin.Ph wrote that former KBP
president Mario Garcia accused TV5 of
malicious splicing of the video that
showed Pacquiao explaining his stand
against same-sex marriage.
The viral 28-second video was reportedly posted on TV5s YouTube account although Pacquiaos supposedly
discussion of his view ran for nearly one
minute.
In the allegedly missing portion,
Pacquiao was quoted as saying: Hindi
talaga pwedeng magpakasal ang lalaki.
Pero I am not condemning them, yung
marriage lang, yung committing sin
against God.
In the article, Badua said the Saranggani lawmaker also stated: Pero
kung mahal naman ng dalawa na parehong kasarian, walang
problema dun, mahalaga
mabuti kayong tao at
simpleng pamumuhay
lang, pero wag na lang
magpakasal, ipakita na
lang na mahal nila ang
isat isa, sapat na yun
para magsama pero ang
magpakasal pa ang parehong kasarian ay hindi na
dapat dahil against law of
God yan.
According to the article, Garcia assailed those
behind the abridged video
segment of maliciously
editing Pacquiaos full response to the question.
ited in good faith and with reasonable

care. There was no intention to change
the context or misrepresent the essence
of Mr. Paqcuiaos statements, the official
TV5 statement said.
The network explained that Pacquiao
received the full raw video of the interview on the same day it was posted.
Moreover, the video of Mr. Pacquiao
s interview was likewise broadcast in
its entirety on TV5, on the primetime
newscast of Aksyon on February 16,
2016, said TV 5.
Ang Ladlad speaks
Sought to comment on the issue,
broadcast commentator and university
professor Danton Remoto, president of
Ang Ladlad party-list, said the LGBT
communitys anger for Pacquiao has
remained high despite the boxing greats
offer of apology.
Pacquiao is a public official whose
salary is paid for by government funds.
LGBTs pay their taxes, part of which go
to him. There is a separation of Church
and State and he should follow that,
said Remoto, who hosts a regular program in TV5 networks radio station,
Interaksyon.
A little knowledge is a dangerous
thing. Mr. Pacquiao has the right to free
expression, but he should ground it in
context and a deeper sense of knowledge, Remoto told Manila Bulletin.
US sports gear giant Nike joined the
fray by declaring it has decided to end
contractual ties with Pacquiao which
his camp said actually ended two years
ago when the Filipinos boxing career
plateaued.
Lakers superstar Earvin Magic
Johnson, who retired from professional
basketball after being infected with HIV,
and now retired professional wrestler
Dave Batista also ganged up on Pacquiao.
The Mindanao solon said he was misquoted but just the same apologized.
UNA behind Pacman
The Vice President Jejomar Binayled United Nationalist Alliance (UNA)
party will not leave the side of its embattled senatorial bet.
James Reid, Nadine Lustre

now a couple in real life
By CES DIMALANTA
n-screen love team James

Reid and Nadine Lustre, collectively known as JaDine,
are now officially a couple,
as revealed in an interview after their
JaDine in Love concert at the Smart
Araneta Coliseum last Saturday night.
Fans were also surprised when
James uttered a sweet I love you
to Nadine during their sold-out concert.
News broke out when ABS-CBN
News reporter MJ Felipe posted about
the relationship status of the young
Kapamilya stars on Twitter, saying
the two have carried their onscreen
romance in real life since Feb. 11, 2016,
as revealed by James.
THIS JUST IN: Its OFFICIAL
- James and Nadine are officially a
couple. The official date is FEBRUARY
11, 2016, stated Felipe via Twitter.
VIVA Artists Agency, which handles
the actors, also said in an Instagram
post that JaDine In Love is not just a
title of their concert but the two are
truly in love.
Yesterday morning, Nadine uploaded a video of their sweet moment

on stage through her official Facebook
page with the caption Such a magical
moment #JaDineInLove.
Fans took to Twitter to send their
well wishes to the couple, using the
hashtag #TeamReal.
Ang love na nag-grow can windstand everything esp kung ang foundation ay friendship. Hail to the power couple #TeamReal #ASAPOTWOLDay
Kristine (@tinyme0218)
OMG! Cant get over. JaDine is
official. <3 #TeamReal D (krizellecarino)
ITS OFFICIAL JAMES AND
NADINE ARE NOW REAL COUPLE.
Goodbye #TeamHopia Hello #TeamReal #JADINEISREAL NICS (NicoNicReid)
So happy for the power couple
#TeamReal #ASAPOTWOLDay Not
so paragon (princesophie_)
Halatang hindi natulog ang mga
JaDines ah. Hahah. Lets give them
our support. We love Jadine. #ASAPOTWOLDay #VoteJamesFPP #KCA
#TeamReal Jill (@jillcruz_)
Kailangan kasi sa isang partido,

nagtutulungan sila. Nagbubuhatan
kayo sa isat isa... I think mas kinakailangang tulungan si Manny (In
a political party, the members should
help each other. I think Manny needs
to be helped), said UNA Spokesman
and Provincial Coordinator Mon Ilagan
said in press briefing on Cagayan de
Oro City.
Members of the LGBT community
have harshly criticized Pacman as a
result, to a point that the boxers association with UNA might be hurting the
party.
However, Vice President Binays

daughter, Senator Nancy Binay bared
that the opposition party is determined
to stick it out with Pacquiao during this
challenging phase of his campaign.
I guess the true test of character
for a person is when a person is down at
hindi mo iniiwanan (you wont leave him).
Yun ang totoong tao. Kumbaga hindi
lang sa ligaya kasama pati, kung bagsak
ka (Thats a true person. Theyre with
you through the good and the bad),
Sen. Binay said during the same press
briefing. (With a report from Ellson A.
Quismorio)
TV5 statement
In a statement released by Orly Lirio
Magnata, TV5s public
relations consultant, the
broadcast network admitted that the video posted
online was indeed edited
but not spliced as claimed
by Garcia.
The video that was
posted online was not
spliced but minimally ed-
Speaker hopes for...

us, Belmonte said.
Our arguments and the facts of
history favor us. I am confident the tribunal will favor us. Otherwise, smaller
countries will be at the mercy of bigger
countries, Belmonte said.
Belmonte was part of the high-level
delegation of executive and legislative
officials to the Hague in October last
year.
Outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary
del Rosario had earlier said if The
Hagues ruling is in our favor, the Philippine government may initiate bilateral
talks with China because we already
have a platform by which we can solidly
approach the negotiating table.
He said the UN court may rule on
Manilas case against Beijing before
May.
China claims sovereignty over most
of the South China Seas 3.5 million
square kilometers, part of which includes Philippine territory. China also
has overlapping claims with Vietnam,
Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei.
China had declared that it would
not accept a judicial arbitration and
insisted that the territorial spat be
settled bilaterally.
Belmonte earlier said the West
Philippine Sea issue cannot be resolved
bilaterally, explaining that sovereignty
is a non-negotiable matter.
People have been telling us why
dont you negotiate. For the record,
we have been negotiating, exchanging
views with China for years. But their
stance has always been that they can
talk about anything but they cannot
talk about sovereignty, meaning to
Monday, February 22, 2016 13
say, sovereignty is a
non-negotiable matter.
Amin ito, ika nila. How
can you agree to that,
he said.
Belmonte, campaign
manager of the Liberal
Partys Koalisyon ng
Daang Matuwid, urged
all national candidates
vying for positions in
the May, 2016, general
polls to take a stand on
the South China Sea
issue.
Id like to see all
candidates in that election say where they
stand on that issue.
Where do you stand on
the issue of the South
China Sea, he said.
We are all great
admirers of China. It
has affected the economies of many nations,
but at the same time,
w e d o n t w a n t t h a t
some people can run
roughshod over us because they are big and
mighty, he said.
The Philippine government has argued Chinas territorial claims in
the South China Sea
violate the countrys
maritime rights under
1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
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Luzon News
CALACA, BATANGAS
14
Fire at LPG storage facility contained, but

By MARICEL BURGONIO
Newsbits
Bagac installs tidal
wave alert gadget
BAGAC, Bataan The Department of
Science and Technology (DOST) has
installed a tidal wave alert system in
a privately-owned beach resort in the
coastal village of Saysain, Bagac for
effective and efficient monitoring of
seawater movements in the locality.
Bagac Municipal Administrator
Nick S. Ancheta said from detecting
regular sea water data in the West
Philippine Sea, the gadget would
supply advance information to six
coastal villages of Bagac to become
aware of an imminent threat from
the rising of seawaters possibly due
to underwater seismic activity. (Mar
T. Supnad)
ire that broke out at a liquefied

petroleum gas (LPG) storage
facility in Calaca, Batangas,
last Saturday continued to
rage through yesterday, with local officials evacuating around 65 families
in the vicinity and declaring a state of
emergency while firefighters estimated
the blaze to last up to two more days

despite being contained.
The storage facility for LPG stock at
the industrial park in Barangay Salong,
Calaca, is owned by South Pacific Inc.
(SPI) and not by Phoenix Petroleum
Inc., as earlier reported.
Lawyer Raymond Zorilla, spokesman of Phoenix Petroleum, made this
clarification as he explained that SPI is
TOBACCO
PASSION At
77, Florentina
Oldinado still
bears the
passion for
farming as
she carefully
skewers tobacco
leaves ready for
sale in a stick
in Barangay
Calungbuyan,
Balaoan, La
Union, last
Saturday. (Erwin
G. Beleo)
Online gambling
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro
Five Chinese nationals, mostly
in their 20s, were arrested by the
local police for allegedly engaging
operating an on-line gambling
den at a rented house owned by
one Rommel de Torres in Block
4, Barangay Pachoca, here last
Wednesday. Supt. Jonathan P.
Paguio, city police chief, identified the
suspects as Wang Hang, 22, female;
Run Xiao Hui, 26, female; Wang Xin
Hui, 20, female; Wang Yu Dong, 21,
male; and Wu Xin, 20, male. Judge
Cyrus B. Goco, of Municipal Trial
Court in Calapan City, sanctioned
the raid which resulted in the seizure
of 14 computer sets, nine mini iPad
units, 15 cellphones, 48 USB keys,
and other gadgets allegedly used in
online gambling. (Jerry J. Alcayde)
a locator in Phoenixs industrial park

that operates the LPG storage facility.
Zorilla, in a statement, said SPI
is a locator engaged in the LPG industry within the industrial park, and
is separate and distinct from Phoenix
Petroleum. As of this morning (Feb.
21, 2016), fire is contained [but] fire officials decided to allow the burning of
remaining LPG in the tanks while also
spraying water on the affected tanks

and areas.
Our [Phoenix's] storage facilities are
safe. It was the storage facility of SPI, a
very new company, an importer of LPG,
that [was affected by the fire]. We dont
have an LPG product, Zorilla said.
Phoenix Petroleum has temporarily
stopped its operations. [Phoenix's] depot, on the other hand, has been under
continuous water hosing to prevent
heat accumulation, said the company
spokesman.
The local government of Calaca has
declared a state of emergency following the fire and has moved 65 families
directly affected by the disaster to a
safer relocation site.
Village officials said up to 115 families in Barangays Salong and Camistilisan may need to be evacuated. So
far, no one has been reported hurt as a
result of the fire and 16 fire trucks were
at the scene to battle the flames.
Phoenix Petroterminals and Industrial Park Corp. (PPIPC) is the landowner and developer of a 94-hectare
industrial park which spans the three
barangays of in Calaca Batangas
barangays Salong, Puting Bato West
and Lumbang Calzada. For its part,
SPI operates a 6,000-metric ton LPG
storage facility on the 4-hectare leased
property within the park. (With a report
from Danny J. Estacio)
Ex-mayor seeks graft case dismissal based on exceptional circumstances

By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG
A former mayor of Pangasinan has

asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division
to dismiss the graft charges against him in
connection with the questionable rental of
equipment for garbage clearing operations
from 2011 to 2013 that amounted to more

than P2 million.
In a motion to quash, former Binmaley
Mayor Lorenzo Cerezo prayed that the
court quash all 21 counts of violation of
Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 (AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act) filed
against him.
His counsel, lawyer Edgar Avila who
prepared the motion, explained that the
dismissal is based on the ground that the
charges do not constitute the offense since
the elements of the crime are incomplete.
These matters, if duly considered,
render the elements of the
crime charged therein incomplete, and which accordingly renders the subject Informations liable for
quashal on the ground that
the facts alleged therein do
not constitute an offense,
he told the court.
In filing the case, the
Ombudsman indicated that
Cerezo hired the services of
the MTAC Merchandise for
the rental of dump trucks,
payloaders, and backhoes
even though the proprietor
is a relative of the accused
and that no required public
bidding was made.
The lawyer noted that
the services of MTAC was
used for garbage clearing operation during his
incumbency in response to an unfolding

crisis of uncollected garbage and debris
brought about by typhoons that devastated
the municipality.
Prior to entering into contract with
MTAC Merchandising, Accused-Movant
sought an opinion from Atty. Jose F. Martinez, Jr., the legal Consultant for the Office of
the Mayor of the Municipality, with respect
to the procurement of services from MTAC
Merchandising. Upon his perusal of the
contract referred to him for review, the
Legal Consultant made a finding that there
is no legal obstacle to the said contract,
he cited.
The lawyer admitted that under the
implementing rules and regulations of the
Government Procurement Act a resolution
is required from the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) if there is a deviation from the
required mode of procurement.
However, the counsel said that the
accused relied on the letter of the BAC
Chairman that constitutes substantial
compliance with the said requirement
and compelled by the exceptional circumstances arising the calamitous effects of
the typhoons that needed to be acted upon
with dispatch lest the health and life of his
constituents be placed in jeopardy.
Battle vs hypertension,
diabetes launched at
BHW Congress 2016
HEALTH CONGRESS 2016 Health Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin (second from

right) receives from Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado (center) a plaque
of appreciation during the Barangay Health Workers Congress 2016 staged
at the Hiyas ng Bulacan Convention Center in Malolos City, recently. Others
in photo are (from left) Board Member Ramon Posadas, Vice Gov. Daniel R.
Fernando, and Board Member Therese Cheryll Ople. (Freddie C. Velez)
By FREDDIE C. VELEZ
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan

The annual Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) Congress staged in this
city last week focused on combating
dengue, the launching of the Provincial Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus
Control Program and TSeK-AP (Tamang Serbisyo para sa Kalusugan
ng Pamilya), and the recognition
of village health workers as the
frontliners in ensuring and healthy
citizenry.
Department of Health (DOH)
Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin
called the BHWs the bayani ng
kalusugan (heroes of health) while
Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado
praised them for their untiring dedication in securing the health of every
citizen.
Alvarado cited the work of BHWs,
along with the DOHs information
campaign, as the key in the decrease
in dengue cases in the province and

the destruction of breeding sites
of disease-carrying mosquitoes in
Bulacan.
Dr. Maila Rostra of the DOHRegion 3 also explained the establishment of the DOH Hypertension and
Diabetes Club and advised BHWs to
help encourage the public to visit to
health centers or primary health care
facilities to undergo assessment,
screening and management for hypertension and diabetes for free.
I urge everyone to make use of
these health opportunities and be
part of the DOH Hypertension and
Diabetes Club, said Alvarado.
He and Garin also thanked the
Gerry Roxas Foundation, represented by Paolo Roxas, for donating
medical kits to the different BHWs
in the province. Others attending the
congress were DOH Region 3 Director Leonita Gorgolon, and Frances
Ann Petilla.
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LLWATCH
15
41 towns, cities placed under election watchlist

By MAR T. SUPNAD
CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga The

Philippine National Police (PNP) has
placed 41 towns and cities in Central
Luzon under its election watchlist.
These are: Dingalan, Baler, and
Maria Aurora in Aurora; Mariveles
and Limay in Bataan; and Doa Remedios Trinidad, San Jose Del Monte,
San Miguel, San Ildefonso, Baliwag,
and Meycauayan in Bulacan; Bongabon, Cabanatuan, Jaen, Aliaga, Quezon, Licab, Zaragoza, San Leonardo,
Muoz, Pantabangan, Sto. Domingo,
Gapan, Cabiao, Talavera, General
Tinio, San Antonio, and Talugtug in
Nueva Ecija; Arayat, Masantol, and
Mexico in Pampanga; Bamban, Pa-
niqui, San Jose, Capas, San Manuel,

Tarlac City, and Mayantoc in Tarlac;
and Botolan, Castillejos, and Masinloc
in Zambales.
There is heightened security
preparation in these areas such as
deployment of more personnel, intensified police operations, mobile patrol,
and additional checkpoints, Police
Regional Director P/Chief Supt. Rudy
Lacadin said during the 1st Regional
Joint Security Coordinating Center
Conference which was attended by
officials from the Commission on
Elections, PNP, and Army 7th Infantry
Division.
A total of 199 checkpoints have
been put in place in Central Luzon
since January 10.
Aside from apprehending violators, the checkpoints have also been

proven effective in the anti-criminality
and gun control campaign of the PNP
particularly against syndicated crime
groups, local insurgents, and holders
of loose firearms in the previous elections, Lacadin said.
Simultaneous dragnet operations
will also be carried out to test the efficiency and response time of all police
stations in responding to eventualities, Lacadin added.
In Bataan, Sr. Supt. Rhodel Sermonia, Bataan police director, said
he expects the coming election to
be more peaceful in Bataan since
most candidates are running unopposed.
Comelec to set up medical

assistance stations in voting centers
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
Medical assistance stations will

be set up in voting centers all over
the country during the May 9, 2016
national and local elections.
Commission on Elections
(Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista recently met with Department
of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette
Garin to discuss plans for the set-up
and operation of the medical assistance stations.
The poll chief explained that the
proposed medical assistance stations will provide basic first-aid and
essential medicines to voters and
government personnel performing
election-related duties in voting
centers where health risks are considerably higher due to long lines and
exposure to heat during the summer
month of May.
"As you know, summer has probably kicked in by May. The heat
combined with the throng of people
in the voting centers can cause heat
stroke, among other illnesses. We just
want to have quick-response teams in
place in case we need first-aid medical care, said Bautista.
He said the initiative is also part
of their effort in improving the voting
experience.
According to Bautista, the DOH
will be covering the costs of the setup and operation of the proposed
medical assistance stations.
He said this includes the hospitalization expenses of any government

personnel who may succumb to illness or serious injury in their line of
work on Election Day.
There will also be link-ups between the medical stations and
nearby hospitals and health centers
will also be established to send emergency medical response units should
the need arise.
"This is the first time the Commission is partnering with DOH so
we are really grateful for the support
of Sec. Garin," said Bautista.
The Commission and health
agency will sign a Memorandum of
Agreement before the end of February on this partnership.
Precincts exclusively for

senior citizens, PWDs urged
By CHARISSA M. LUCI
An opposition House leader is calling on the Commission on Elections

(Comelec) to ensure a hassle-free voting for all senior citizens and persons
with disabilities (PWDs) by setting up
precincts exclusively for them as provided under the law.
House Deputy Minority Leader
and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri
Colmenares reminded the poll body to
fully implement the three-year old Republic Act No. 10366, otherwise known
as "An Act Authorizing the Commission
on Elections to Establish Precincts
Assigned to Accessible Polling Places
Exclusively for Persons with Disabilities and Senior Citizens."
"I am urging the Comelec to fully
implement RA 10366. It was signed
into law in 2013, sana maimplement
na 'yan ngayon (we hope it will be fully
implemented," the Partido Galing Puso
(PGP) senatorial candidate said.
Colmenares, the principal author of

the law said separate polling precincts
intended only for PWDs and senior
citizens should have been established
as provided for by RA 10366.
"The Comelec should fully assist
elderly and PWDs by providing them
voting centers with assistive devices
and personnel because it is provided
under the law," he said.
He noted that Congress passed the
law to address the concerns of PWDs
and senior citizens on election day.
The law, which was signed by President Aquino on Feb. 15, 2013 provides
that the PWDs and senior citizens will
be assisted in filling the ballot. Those
who are allowed to assist them are
their relatives, either relative by consanguinity or affinity, within the fourth
civil degree, or by the Board of Election
Inspectors (BEI).
RA 10366 tasks the Comelec to conduct a sensitivity training program for
those who will perform electoral duties
including field officers, members of the

BEI and accredited citizens' arms to be
sensitive to the needs of the elderly and
the PWDs.
During the Joint Congressional
Oversight Committee hearing last
week, Comelec chairman Andres Bautista said senior citizens and persons
with disabilities (PWDs) would be given
priority lanes on election day.
Bautista assured that the elderly
and PWDs will be considered in the setting up of accessible polling precincts.
We are looking at accessibility audit
and we will improve the signages so that
voters wont get confused, he said.
He assured that the voters, particularly the senior citizens and the PWDs,
will be properly notified should there be
changes in their polling precincts and
should they decide to vote in malls.
We want to enhance the voting
experience, he said, citing that notices
were sent out and public hearings have
been conducted.
GRACE-CHIZ IN
CABANATUAN
Partido Galing
at Puso (PGP)
presidential
candidate Sen. Grace
Poe (center) and
her running mate,
vice-presidential
candidate Sen. Chiz
Escudero (2nd from
right) with senatorial
aspirants (from
left) Juan Miguel
Zubiri, Manila Vice
Mayor Isko Moreno,
and Rep. Samuel
Pagdilao espouse
poverty alleviation
and jobs generation
during their recent
campaign sortie in
Cabanatuan, Nueva
Ecija. (Ali Vicoy)
No to candidates favoring MNLF

By NONOY E. LACSON
ZAMBOANGA CITY Zamboangueos were cautioned yesterday by City Mayor Maria Isabelle
Climaco not to support national candidates favoring the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) whom she
blamed for the attack in this city in
September 2013 and displaced over
160,000 people.
Those who favor Misuari must
not be voted, Climaco said after receiving reports that some aspirants
for national positions in the May
9 elections has issued statement
favorable to the MNLF founding
chairman Nur Misuari.
The chief executive reminded the
Zamboangueos about the MNLF
siege in this city that resulted in the
deaths of innocent civilians, including
children, police and military officers,
and the thousands of internally dis-
place persons.
Even up to now, we are very
sensitive on matters that affect the
security of the city. Never again can
we allow any atrocities like that by
the MNLF, and we hold the MNLF
leadership accountable for the losses
and destructions we suffered during
the siege, Climaco said during her
weekly press briefing in City Hall, the
mayor here said.
She believes that the MNLF
REP. MANNY PACQUIAO
No move to DQ
Pacquiao Comelec
By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO
AGUINDINGAN, Misamis Oriental Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman

Andy Bautista on Saturday
said there was no move to disqualify
Sarangani Representative and boxing
hero Manny Pacquiao from his senatorial bid.
This was disclosed by Bautista in a
chance interview after getting off his
Philippine Airlines Flight (PAL) flight
PR 2525 that he shared with Manilabased reporters.
"Wala pa, hindi kami mag-iinitiate
na mag-file ng disqualification (We are
not initiating the filing of a disqualification case). Someone has to file it or
else we'll be accused of discrimination,"
Bautista said.
The Comelec official is in town for
the first in a series of debates among
presidential aspirants in this year's
polls.
Boxing superstar-slash-politician
Pacquiao has a scheduled bout against
American pugilist Timothy Bradley on
April 9, or a month before the elections
take place.
The fight is supposedly the last in
"Pacman's" storied career as he eyes a
Senate seat under the opposition United
Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party.

But some are saying that Pacquiao's
fight is illegal based on election rules,
since the televised bout would give the
aspiring senator an unfair advantage
over his rivals in terms of media coverage and airtime.
On Thursday morning, Bautista was
interviewed on ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) and was quoted as saying: "I
have already asked one of our lawyers
to look into that issue."
The purported illegality of the Bradley fight came up amid the hailstorm
caused by the two-term congressman's
disparaging remarks on the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
community.
As for Pacquiao, he reportedly told
ANC on Saturday that he was willing to
cancel his farewell bout against welterweight Bradley to clear all hurdles to his
senatorial bid.
However, this is easier said that
than done as the promotional campaign
for the tiff is underway with both fighters already deep in training.
Meanwhile, Bautista in the same
interview said that a battalion of police
and military was tapped to secure the
five presidential hopefuls in yesterdays first presidential debate held in
Cagayan de Oro City.
Seeres party can

still field a substitute
The Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka Workers and
Peasants Party (PMM-WPP),
the political party of the late
OFW Family Club party-list
Rep. Roy Seeres can still field
a substitute candidate for the
May, 2016 elections.
Comelec Chairman Andres
Bautista said the party can still
field another substitute since
there is no prohibition under
their rules for another substitute to be nominated.
Based on Comelec rules,
a substitute for a candidate,
who died or is disqualified
by final judgment, may file a
COC (certificate of candidacy)
up to mid-day of Election Day
provided that, the substitute
and the substituted have the
same surnames; and that the
candidate belongs to, and is
nominated by, the same political party.
But Bautista said this does
not mean that the Comelec will instantly accept the COC for President
of the substitute candidate as they
still need to deliberate on it.
The Comelec cannot just accept
the substitution... we still need to
deliberate on it, he said.
Last week, the en banc denied the
COC for president of Apolonia ComiaSoguilon as substitute of Seeres
citing their different surnames.
The Comelec earlier revealed the
names of the six presidential bets

that were included in the official ballot, which include Seeres.
Bautista said the name of the late
Rep. Seeres was included on the
ballot because under the law he can
still be substituted up to mid-day of
Election Day.
"We also received a letter from the
party and family of Amb. Seeres saying he might be substituted... that's
why we left his name on the ballot,"
he said. (Leslie Ann G. Aquino)
members, who came to Zamboanga

to stage the attack, were duped by
Misuari.
They fought the battle for Misuari and now they are the ones
languishing in jail, while he (Misuari)
is enjoying freedom at the cost of the
lives of innocent civilians, she said.
The city government has charged
Misuari and more than 200 of his followers with rebellion and violations
of the International Humanitarian
Law in connection with the 2013 Zamboanga siege.

The case is still pending at the
Pasig Regional Trial Court, while the
accused MNLF members are locked
up in Taguig jail.
Climaco further called on the
Zamboangueos not to forget the
sufferings of the Filipino soldiers and
policemen, who risked their lives in
defense of Zamboanga and liberated
us from the MNLF attackers.
SEERES
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News
16
Poe wants PNoy...

FIREWORKS AT
THEIR BEST A
fireworks entry
from Italy is
showcased in the
7th Philippine
International
Pyromusical
competition at the
seaside SM Mall of
Asia on Saturday
night. (AP)
Presidentiables face off...

most of which focused on the problem of
poverty in the country, except for Roxas
who clearly offered himself as a better
alternative to the four other contenders.
Binay said: Poverty remains our
biggest problem, and describing himself
as man raised and born to poverty, he
vowed to focus his leadership on poverty
alleviation.
Santiago described the country as rich
in natural resources, people resources, but
year after year, we remain as one of the
poorest countries. Why are we so poor?
Because everybody wants the money of the
government in his pocket. There should be
a sense of shared destiny.
Duterte, for his part, blamed criminality, the flooding of illegal drugs into the
country, and corruption as the reasons why
lifting people out of poverty remains unattainable. There is so much corruption in
government. Give me three to six months
and I will get rid of criminality, drugs and
corruption and deliver economic growth.
Poe devoted her opening statement
to espousing development for Mindanao,
promising 30 percent of the national budget
to development efforts in the region.
Poe lamented that after all the years,
the previous administrations have failed
to address Mindanaos needs.
Pinopropose namin, 30% ng aming
budget at mapupunta dito sa Mindanao
para sa agarang solusyon ng development, she said.
Binays estate
During the first round of the debate,
Binay was asked about his real estate
acquisitions, to which he replied that most
of these he inherited both from his mother
and father and bought by himself and his
children.
Santiago, asked to rebut this, called Binay vice mayor and said all government
officials should bare his/her assets.
I have never said that all my properties
were inherited. Some of those, I bought,
we are capable of also buying them, as he
explained how he amassed his wealth.
The UNA standard-bearer also denied
owning lots of properties, some of them
were from his mother and father.
I have practiced law while my wife is
a doctor, he said.
Binay noted that he even bought some
of his properties before being a public
servant in 1986.
Miriams health
Asked about her medical condition and
her absence in the Senate from the year
2013 when she filed for a medical leave for
chronic fatigue syndrome, Santiago replied:
Ang sakit tumataas, bumaba. There is no
constitutional provision that prohibits anyone who is sick not to run for office. Hindi
nga ako pinatay ng guardian angel ko eh.
(Sickness comes and goes. My guardian
angel did not even see it fit for me to die.)
She added that she wants to serve
out the rest of her life in public service
rather than in a sickbed. I feel sorry for my
country because corruption has become
endemic.
Duterte, provided comic relief when he
said: I do not see Sen. Santiago passing
away in the next 20 years.
Duterte had referred to himself and
Santiago as the two most qualified to run
this country as president. Both Duterte
and Santiago are lawyers.
Santiago seemed to return the favor
when she said that many leaders have
been outspoken in fighting corruption but
it seemed only Duterte who has a record
of combating it.
Duterte and women
He again gave witty replies when asked
about his penchant for cursing and the alleged acts of lasciviousness that he committed. Most of it are not true. Criminals, I will
go after them. When I become president, it
will be bloody. On his reported girlfriends,
Duterte said: Hiwalay ka sa asawa, ano
gagawin mo? Its biology. (I am separated
from my wife so what do I do?)
Poe praised Duterte for being respectful to his mother and batted for respect for
people of all genders.
Poe for respect
Poe vowed that under her administration, the government will respect and fight
for the rights of women, men and even
members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) community.
Poe said this in response to Duterte,
who was asked about his being a woman-
Pangilinan finds wisdom...

Full-time farm work beckoned after
two terms at the Senate ended in 2013 and
he had to take a three-year break before
he could mount a return. For a year and a
half, he tended his familys three-hectare
farm in Alfonso, Cavite.
Then in May 2014, he accepted the
post of Presidential Assistant for Food
Security and Agricultural Modernization until he tendered his resignation in
September last year.
Those three years spent on-theground and at the helm of a game-changing government agency for agriculture,
backstopped by 12 years in the Senate
where he espoused the development of
the countrys agricultural sector, Pangilinan is seeking a return to Congress with
solid plans for the Filipino farmer.
On top of his agenda would be the
formation of an Agriculture and Fisheries Calamity Fund that would provide
dependable financial aid to farmers and
fisherfolk during times of natural or manmade disasters.
Every time a calamity or disaster
happens, 80 percent of those affected
come from the agriculture sector, Pangilinan said.
He said he will also seek amendments
in Republic Act 8435, the Agriculture and
Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA),
that would bolster its capabilities to
provide more credit to farmers and fishermen and funding for post-harvest facilities, markets and irrigation.
Pangilinan said these were just the
first steps in helping farmers move
away from subsistence farming and
prepare them for the more viable farm
enterprises or communities that he has
envisioned.
About 80 percent of our farmers are
engaged in mono-crop farming. And that
earns them an average of only P15,000
a year. But with marketing and valueadding, and the help of the farm enterprise, our farmers could earn as much
as P200,000 a year, he averred.
It is this poor state of Filipino farmers
that tugs at the heart of Pangilinan.
Uplifting the farmer
Pangilinan lamented that farmers
only have an average annual income of
P23,000 each when, given proper support
by the government, this could easily
triple that would be enough for them to
climb out of the poverty line.
The average age of farmers is 56
years and educational attainment of
Grade 4, which Pangilinan considers
as indicators of neglect and abandonment.
We did not put priority on our farmers. Actually, its our fault. Napabayaan
natin sila (We neglected them), he said.
Pangilinan traced it all to a colonial
mindset which had spawned disdain
for everything related to tilling the soil,
which actually translates to hampaslupa
(tramp), through all those centuries
under foreign rule.
There is so much bias versus farming that (derogatory) phrases like nagingitlog, pupulutin sa kangkungan,
or nangangamote are usually used to
demean others, he rued.
And yet, in other countries like Thailand, the farmer is considered as a hero,
the pillar of their economy, the former
Senate majority leader said.
He marveled at how the Thais regard the farmer as the epicenter of a
country-wide thrust to spur agriculture
development.
Because of this, (Thai authorities)
are able to confidently set targets on, say,
keeping wastage at post-harvest facilities
down, or setting the mark for self-sufficiency in rice, Pangilinan noted.
izer but defended his actions saying he is a

single person and having been separated
from his wife.
The tough talking mayor also defended
his tendencies to cuss, making him a bad
example for the youth. Duterte said it all
boils down to biology.
The mayor has a strong appeal, he is
irresistible to most women. But I know he
loves his mother, so I can only ask him to
restrain his acts a little bit, Poe said. Because as the saying goes, a child believes
something is right if it is being done by an
adult, she said.
Both of us are not perfect, but I will
always push for respect whether you are a
woman, a man or a member of the LGBT.
All of us should have a little respect for each
of us, Poe said.
Roxas bites
Roxas and Poe engaged in a heated
exchange of veiled accusations on the
question that Poe, being the newbie, has
the least experience in governance.
I dont deny it. I am the newbie but
there is no truth to the yarn that the longer you are in government, that makes
you a better leader, Poe said, and mentioned Roxas stints in the Transportation and Interior and Local Government
departments as not enough to address
the problems plaguing the countrys
public transportation system.
Roxas, however, was undeterred
and took a jibe at Poe by saying: Ang
pagiging pangulo ay hindi OJT (on the
job training). Its not a joke. Theres a
right time for everything. Experience is
still the best teacher.
Poe was quick to react: Alam ko naman kung binobola ako o hindi. (I know
when I am being taken for a ride.)
She reiterated her belief a long public
service portfolio should not be the requisite for running for president but the
quality of ones service in government.
Poe also rejected attempts by her
rival to downplay her anti-poverty
programs saying she believes there
is hope for the country to address the
needs of about 2.5 million Filipinos who
go hungry.
Poe said the country needs a leader
who has fresh perspectives to cure
hunger prevalent among the poorest
sectors of society.
He likewise pointed out that, as in the
Thai model, Filipino farmers could also
become the focal point for viable farm
enterprises, where in whole communities are molded around their capabilities
to churn out particular agricultural products, like rice, corn or coconut.
This way, you keep costs of marketing, technology, wastage and irrigation,
while creating a community-support
group for the farmer and look beyond
farming as merely the act of planting,
Pangilinan underscored.
With the Thai strategy, Pangilinan
said he was confident that the Philippines
could achieve full self-sufficiency in rice
that would cover even the bumper stock
needed to tide us through during times
of calamity.
But then again, it will take more time
to do it, he conceded.
That is why Pangilinan said there
was a need for a change in mindset, a
paradigm shift, on how Filipinos look at
agricultural work and the farmer.
And perhaps Filipinos could learn
much from what Frankie had to say about
the farmer when Pangilinan asked her
what she thought of them.
Eh di ba nga ang nagpapakain sa
atin, mga magulang natin? Kaya di ba,
dapat parang magulang ang tingin natin
sa kanila (Isnt it that our parents feed
us? So we need to look at them like our
parents)? Frankie had explained to her
father.
For Pangilinan those words were
enough to also explain to her the value
of the Filipino farmer.
If my 10-year-old daughter could
have so much respect, and could be
aware of the role the farmer has in our society at such an early age, how else could
anyone, much less I, not be spurred to act
with more resolve for the development of
the agricultural sector? he maintained.
Oversight function
If he succeeds in his bid to return
forged friendship with other world

leaders.
Ang ating Pangulo pwedeng maging Ambassador of Goodwill, kasama
ni FVR. Kahit papaano marami na rin
syang nakilala sa ibang bansa (Our
President could be the Ambassador of
Goodwill, along with FVR. He met a lot
of people abroad), she said.
Poe said she will seek the advice of
Ramos in setting up her Cabinet if she
wins as the countrys 16th President.
Ngayon si President Fidel V. Ramos
isa siya sa mga pangulo na ang galinggaling pumili ng mga Gabinete. Pwede
rin siyang mahingang ng opinyon ukol
dito, papaano niya bibigyan ng pagkakataon ang mga taong ito at ano ang
mga naging criteria nya para sa kanila?
(President Fidel V. Ramos is among
those Presidents who carefully chose his
Cabinet. We could ask his opinion about
this on how he will give chance to these
people and we will ask the criteria on
how he chose them), she said.
Poe said she is willing to adopt the

good reforms of the current Aquino
administration, particularly its anticorruption reforms.
Importante na ang tamang ginawa
ng nakaraang administrasyon ay ipagpatuloy pero ang mga hindi tamang
ginawa dapat baguhin at alisin (It is
important that right things done by the
past administration will be continued,
but bad things should be changed and
removed), she said.
Hihingan natin ng advisory role
ang ating Pangulo (Aquino) kasi mayroon siyang nagawa, halimbawa na
lamang sa pakikipaglaban sa corruption (We will give advisory role to the
President because he has done something, especially in his fight against
corruption), she said.
Poe was earlier accused of riding on
President Aquinos popularity following
her readiness to tap the Chief Executive
as her would-be anti-corruption adviser
if she becomes president.
Robin Padilla, Basti...

Alliance in coordination with the Duterte Alliance the two were met by about
5,000 OFWs in the busy autonomous
territory of China who were on their traditional Sunday day-off for the week.
Chater Road has become the traditional congregation place for OFWs
every Sunday and events along the road
are booked well ahead of time.
Elmer Estrella, an OFW from
Tagum City now a permanent resident
of the territory, said 80 percent of the
Filipinos working in Hong Kong are supporting and will be voting for Duterte in
the May elections.
Estrella said the OFWs find in the
Davao City mayor, the last chance for
the Filipinos for a real change.
He said he had been daring other
Filipinos to debate with him on their
choice of Duterte.
Isa lang ang sabihin ko sa kanila
(I have only one argument). Exhibit A
is Davao City, he told the 10-man delegation of Duterte while driving his van
for a 30-minute ride from the airport to
central Hong Kong.
A singer, Estrella now owns and
operates an employment agency in
Hong Kong.
Jenny, a resident of Antipas in North
Cotabato who considers herself a domestic worker and is the secretary of
Duterte Alliance, said they will be campaigning with their relatives and friends
back home to vote for Duterte.
Hong Kong is home to the largest
concentration of OFWs in the world
with over 180,000 Filipinos working in
the territory.
Meeting with leaders of the Duterte
Alliance at the hotel lobby in Hong
Kong, Padilla told them that the Davao
City mayor is our last card.
Lahat ng dumaan na presidente,
pareha-pareha lang. Si Duterte ang
naiiba. Siya ang ating huling baraha,

the action star said. (All previous presidents are the same. Only Duterte is
different. He is our last card.)
Sebastian, youngest son of the
Davao City mayor, is making his first
trip abroad to campaign for his father.
Basti as he is called, is expected to
read a message from his father who
cannot make it because of the live debate yesterday afternoon.
In Cagayan de Oro City, Duterte
admitted getting jitters at facing four
well prepared rivals as they share one
stage for the first leg of the nationwide
presidential debates yesterday even if
it is in Mindanao, his own turf.
I am nervous because I know they
are good, Duterte was quoted in a
press release issued by his camp.
The press statement issued by Peter Lavina, the PDP-Laban standard
bearers spokesman, said Duterte
stayed late up to 3 a.m. yesterday, apparently to support the mayors claim
of uneasiness barely 15 hours before
the debate to be conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
It is not known whether Duterte
received tips to hone his debating skills
from his running mate, Senator Alan
Peter Cayetano of Nacionalista Party.
While both are lawyers trained as
law students to argue during mock
court sessions, Cayetano is easily
the better public speaker for his good
command of Filipino and English
languages.
Cayetano has had verbal scrimmages in both Congress plenary floors
against elderly and more seasoned
politicians that included former Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte in the
House of Representatives and Senator
Juan Ponce Enrile in the Senate. (With
a report from Ben R. Rosario)
Roxas vows to...
We saw the potential of the BPO

industry and we are now reaping the
fruits since it now provides our people
with well-paying jobs, said Roxas.
Jobstreet, the biggest online employment agency, said the BPO industry offered the biggest job prospects,
with 260,278 or a third of the total
781,766 available jobs advertised on
its website last year.
It also reported that the IT industry continued to provide the highestpaying jobs.
Based on the assessment, the ITBPO industry has become one of the
biggest profit-generating sectors in
the country.
One of the positive sides of the
IT-BPO sector, according to Roxas, is
that it needs not to be established in
Metro Manila alone like other jobs.

In fact, he said, a lot of cities
outside Metro Manila, which include
Visayas and Mindanao, have their
own IT-BPO.
During his visit to Negros Occidental, Roxas said more than 20,000
local residents have been employed
in IT-BPO and the number is continuously increasing.
In the same way that the call
center industry has provided Negrenses with good jobs, I will continue
to promote good employment opportunities throughout the country,
said Roxas.
Our people need jobs and that is
what I am focused on. We will provide
more job opportunities for our people, he added. (Aaron Recuenco)
to the Senate, Pangilinan intends to

continue his agricultural programs by
helping in its oversight functions on the
agriculture sector.
For example, in the (National Food
Authority), we were able to bring down
import pricing by as much as on average, $120 per metric ton, during our
watch. And simply, we rejected bids, he
said. What we did was we put in place a
government-to-government transaction
that was competitive.
Agricultural production, according
to Pangilinan, is not only about selfsufficiency, but also on preparing for
calamities and emergencies. To help
ensure agricultural supply, wastage must
be minimized, and proper handling and
storage must be observed.
Our milling efficiency is only at
65 percent. I understand Thailand has
(around) 70 percent. So thats another five
percent efficiency, Pangilinan added.
Because our cost of production is
expensive, rice from other countries
is cheaper, and could lead to greater
incomes. So, if we improve on our rice

production output, then we will be able
to minimize and lessen the incentive to
smuggle, he said. But we really have
to invest in enforcement.
Juvenile welfare
On another front, Pangilinan believes
that child delinquency is a function of
poverty.
Local governments must establish local councils for the protection of
children, which involves public-private
partnerships, because that must give
support to the implementation of the
[juvenile welfare] law, he said.
Among the objectives of Republic Act
No. 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and
Welfare Act, which he authored, is to
separate young offenders from hardened
adult criminals.
Pangilinan added that law enforcement officers must prioritize hunting
down heads of syndicates more rather
than children who were merely recruited.
(With a report from Monch Mikko E.
Misagal)
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Visayas News
Monday, February 22, 2016 17
Diving, snorkeling ruin Boracay coral reefs study
By TARA YAP
LOILO CITY Previous assessments

that coral reefs at the world-famous
Borocay Island in Malay, Aklan, are
being ruined by diving and snorkeling
have been validated recently by a government study on the impact of such underwater activities by tourists.
Boracay coral reefs have been disturbed
and damaged by these diving activities, said
Jim Sampulna, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Western Visayas.
Two separate coral reef assessments by
DENR Region 6 (DENR-6) in SeptemberOctober, 2015 and January, 2016 validated
independent assessments that Boracay
corals reefs are dying.
The DENR-6 team, led by Dennis Piosa
of the regional Biodiversity Partnerships
Project, assessed seven Boracay coral reef
sites: Coral Garden, Angol Point, Fridays
Rock, Laurel Island, Channel Drift, Bulabog
Reef, and Yapak.
In a report obtained by the Manila Bulletin, the DENR-6 found how there were
too many divers in one particular day at the
Coral Garden site.
This means that the divers there are
beginners and are assisted by expert divers, which tend to disturb and damage the
corals, the DENR-6 report said.
The numbers of divers, which reached
approximately hundreds of individuals

in a single day, affects the regenerative ability of corals and the carrying
capacity of the area that results to
bio-capacity deficit, the DENR-6
report added.
Aside from warmer water temperature, unregulated underwater diving
is another cause of coral bleaching in
Boracay or how the corals can die.
The microscopic and photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae and

corals depend on each other to survive.
The algae are primary source of food
for corals, Sampulna explained.
Under stressed condition, the
algae leaves coral tissues. When
the stressed condition is prolonged,
the corals losses its major source of
food. The corals then turn white or
bleached. The corals can be more

susceptible to disease and eventually
die, Sampulna emphasized.
Last year, the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) released
the findings of the 2010-2015 study
that found 70 percent of Boracay coral
reef covers perished between 1988
and 2011.
Environmental group Sangka-
likasan Producers Cooperative also

released findings of its December, 2015
underwater assessment that found
the continual degradation of Boracay
corals.
Meanwhile, both DENR-6 and
Sangkalikasan Producers still found
that some coral reef sites are slowly
and naturally regenerating. (With a
report from Jun Aguirre)
Aklan now
free of red
tide BFAR
KALIBO, Aklan (PIA-6) Aklan has
maintained its status as being free from the
red tide toxin, according to the latest Shellfish
Bulletin released by the Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) here.
The BFAR Shellfish Bulletin No. 5 dated
last Thursday, stated that the coastal waters
of Batan Bay and its tributaries in the province Altavas, Batan and New Washington
are now free of the red tide toxin.
Thus, it is now safe to gather, harvest,
market or sell and eat all types of shellfish and
Acetes sp. or alamang from the said areas.
Pilar and Sapian Bay in Capiz, including
Barangays Mambuquiao and Camanci of
Batan, Aklan, are also free of red tide.
Barangays Mambuquiao and Camanci,
Batan are situated opposite Sapian Bay.
In declaring areas in Aklan as red-tide
free, the BFAR said negative results were
obtained by testing shellfish samples from
the coastal waters of the towns for three
consecutive periods.
The province was first declared red-tide
free February 1 of this year through Shellfish
Advisory No. 2.
Because of this favorable development,
fisherfolk can now heave a sigh of relief, and
get on with their lives, as they are dependent
on the shellfish and other aquatic products they
gather from the areas for their livelihood.
Japan cites
completion
of 3 projects
for Leyte
By ROY C. MABASA
Japan has turned over to the Philippine

government this week three projects for
typhoon Yolanda affected areas in Leyte.
The Japan-funded projects include
a reconstructed one-unit, two-workshop
and one-unit four-workshop buildings of
Balangiga National Agricultural School;
a reconstructed two-unit two-classroom
school building of Camire Elementary
School; and a paved access road to Dulag
Slaughterhouse.
These were all funded through Japan-funded
Quick Impact Projects under the Urgent Development Study on the Project on Rehabilitation and
Recovery from typhoon Yolanda.
According to the Japanese Embassy
in Manila, the workshop buildings at the
Balangiga National Agricultural School and
classroom buildings at the Camire Elementary School have been reconstructed as
buildings with disaster resilience.
Through the reconstruction, local engineers obtained disaster resilient construction technologies. Through the pavement of
the access road, the function of the slaughter
house, which was also previously reconstructed through the Quick Impact Project,
has been upgraded and the municipal
capacity for disaster-resilient construction
management has been improved.
The embassy said Japan, as the top official development assistance (ODA) donor
to the Philippines as well as a disaster-prone
country itself, has supported the Philippines
disaster mitigation efforts by sharing its
experiences and lessons learned from past
natural disasters.
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Mindanao News
18
Lumads join DENRs forest protection,

secures school for kids in Agusan del Sur
Newsbits
By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO
P19B infra projects

DAVAO CITY A total of P19
billion was allocated for Davao
region for the 752 approved
infrastructure projects. DPWH11 regional director Mariano
Alquiza said 605 of the projects
have been published and 509 of
them are up for bidding. Adding
that 95 of the projects are now
waiting for the issuance of Notice
to Proceed (NTP). Once the notice
is issued the implementation will
soon proceed, he said.Alquiza
expressed optimism the project
will further boost the development
of Davao region with most of
them involves road and bridge
improvements that will provide
more access to market centers
and tourism sites in the area.
(Alexander D. Lopez)
P1.4B for ARMM

roads, bridges
ZAMBOANGA CITY The
Department of Public Works and
Highways in the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) will implement some
P1.4 billion worth of infrastructure
projects in the provinces of
Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur
and Basilan.The funding is part
of the P10.1 billion approved
budget for the rehabilitation,
construction or repair of local
roads, bridges, seaports, and
other infrastructure projects in
the five provinces. DPWH-ARMM
Secretary Don Mustapha Loong
said each province will get more
than P200 million worth of
projects for implementation this
year.DPWH-ARMM is targeting to
construct 485.726 kilometers of
roads, 46 bridges, 14 flood control
structures, 12 drainage canals, 54
water supply systems, 25 seaports
and 41 other projects across the
region. (Nonoy E. Lacson)
Big-time drug
trader arrested
COTABATO CITY Twenty-seven
persons allegedly involved in
the illegal drug trade have been
arrested by joint police and
anti-narcotics agents here and in
North Cotabato over the weekend,
officials said. Police said Anwar
Esmael alias Orly Marco, one
of those arrested is allegedly
connected to a Manila-based
big time illegal drug ring. He was
arrested by agents of the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) during
a raid Friday in Ummah Village,
Barangay Upper Capiton, Datu Odin
Sinsuat, Maguindanao on the basis
of an arrest warrant issued by the
court. Agents seized 50 grams of
suspected shabu worth P200,000
and drug paraphernalia. A PDEA
agent said Esmael transported the
illegal drugs to Mindanao by land.
(PNA)
Raid yields gun,

drugs; 9 nabbed
BUTUAN CITY A combined police
force seized drugs, a gun, and drug
paraphernalia from nine suspects
in a raid last Saturday in Barangay
Poblacion, Prosperidad, Agusan
del Sur. Chief Supt. Rolando B.
Felix, Police regional Office 13
(PRO 13) director, identified those
arrested as Allan Kimilat Amoguis,
Melvin Mainit Cabusao, Benjamin
Numeron, Arvin Fernandez, Junie
Suazo, Felix Jaojao Deloso, Juvel
Andajao, Jupet Sumampong, and a
minor. The police also confiscated
13 sachets of suspected shabu
weighing 4.27 worth P50,386 from
the suspects. A .22 caliber revolver
and assorted drug paraphernalia
were also yielded by the suspects.
(Mike U. Crismundo)
Grenade blast
KIDAPAWAN CITY A
fragmentation grenade was lobbed
on the road near a gasoline station
at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, injuring
a bystander. Superintendent
Bernard Tayong, spokesman for
the Cotabato Police Provincial
Office (PPO) identified the victim as
Muslimin Panga, 19, of Barangay
Batulawan, Pikit, Cotabato. Tayong
said the victim was walking
along the national highway in
Kabacan when a still unidentified
perpetrator on board a motorcycle
hurled the grenade. The victim
sustained several shrapnel wounds
and was rushed to the hospital.
Investigators have yet to find out
the motive behind the latest blast.
(Malu Cadelina Manar)
IBAGAT, Agusan del Sur Who

would have thought that by
planting trees, children of the
lumad tribe will be given the
chance to learn basic education?
Being located in a far flung community with the nearest school located
some 80 kilometers away via a challenging trail, not to mention the lack of
money to spend, families are unable to
send their children to school, leaving
them illiterate.
But through the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
(DENRs) national greening program,
lumad people are seeing a better future.
Forest poachers
turn protectors
This lumad (Manobo) tribe organization which has 612 families or 7,000 individuals made a complete transformation
after the government approved their
community-based forest management
agreement (CBFMA) and their certificates of ancestral domain titles (CADT)
for them to cultivate their own ancestral
lands was issued.
Datu Subang said I joined the National Greening Program (NGP) of the
DENR and formed the Tribal Returnees
Community Development Association,
Inc. (TRCDAI.) Our decision of joining
the NGP paved the way to a lot of opportunities for our organization.
TRCDAI has 612 members, 69 of
which are NGP beneficiaries.
He related that peoples organizations were approved of their CBFMA
covering an area of 1,204.60 hectares.
Of the total, 471 hectares have been developed. In 2013, the 289 hectares were
planted with coffee, falcate, rubber and
fruit tree plantation while another 182
hectares were again planted with the
same species in 2014.
LUMAD KIDS Lumad children now enjoy free education in their wooden
four-room school building built by the Manobo tribe in their highland
community in Padiay, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. (Mike U. Crismundo)
From the time I joined the NGP, I

always set aside a portion of the budget
for the construction of our primary
school which we called NGP Primary
School. This is an initiative of our organization which aims to give the children
of our community a chance to learn basic
education without spending so much,
Datu Subang said.
At the height of illegal logging activities in the region, the members of the
federation used to be forest poachers,
which was their livelihood.
We cut those trees inside our ancestral domain and we felt bitter when EO
23 or the Anti-illegal Logging Campaign
was imposed by the DENR because we
could no longer trade freely the trees we
harvested. But now, we could already
see the bad effects of our actions. The
financial freedom brought by money
from timber poaching is only temporary.
The NGP has made us realize that the
forest could offer more than just logs, if
only we would take care of it and use it
correctly, Datu Subang said.
The NGP has drastically changed
our lives, he said.
Establishing a school
For the residents of highland communities in Agusan del Sur, education is
priceless. Most of them were not given
the chance to attain formal education.
Going to school is a day to day struggle
since the nearest school is about 80 kilometers away from their highland communities, not to mention the challenging
trail that they have to pass through.
Education, even the simplest skill
of reading and writing is a far reality
but not long until the lumads organized
themselves, forming the Sibagat Tribal
Community Agro Farmers Development
Association, Inc. (SIFTRICAFARDA),
a group of 21 peoples organizations in
Barangay Padiay, Sibagat, Agusan del
Sur led by Arnold M. Acebido also known
as Datu Subang
This tribe with their respective
elders took the initiative to establish a
school in their community.
They built the one-storey school
building with four classrooms thru
bayanihan with the support of the
DENR. Lumads attend school for free
and the P5,000 salary of the teachers are
Troops thwart NPA landmine attack

BUTUAN CITY Government
security forces engaged New Peoples
Army (NPA) guerrillas in an hour-long
gunbattle in the outskirts of Barangay
Iba, Cabanglasan, Bukidnon, last Friday
and thwarted a landmine attack planned
by the rebels, the 8th Civil Military Operations (8thCMO) reported yesterday.
Our field troops preempted the attack of the NPA targets after our field
troops seized bomb materials detonating wires and radio communication,
said Capt. Norman M. Tagros, 8th CMO
commander.
Tagros said combat maneuvering
troops of the 8th IB under Lt. Col. Lennon
G. Babilonia engaged rebels belonging to
the SDG Dario of Section Committee 89
of the CPP-NPA North Central Mindanao
Regional Committee (NCMRC) allegedly
led by Noel Gabute, alias Commander
Cesar.
The firefight happened after the
soldiers responded to the reports of local
residents on the presence of unidentified armed men who were seen laying
Improvised Explosive Device (IED)
along the road where a government
road-concreting project is being done,
Tagros said.
He said the NPAs withdrew after
sensing that they were outnumbered,
bringing with them their wounded or
killed comrades.
Our ground troops believe that there
are casualties on the enemy side as evidenced by the globs of blood found by our
troops at the site. Tagros said.
Hundreds of 5.56 mm ammunitions and
several backpacks and anti-government
documents were also found in the area.
Meanwhile, forces from the Bukidnon
Police Public Safety Company who are

supporting the operations of the 8th IB
also clashed with the retreating NPA
rebels around 2 p.m. of that same day at
kilometer 25, Barangay Iba.
Col. Babilonia said the incident
portrayed the value of cooperation and
collaboration of the security forces and
the peace-loving people of Bukidnon in
thwarting and preempting terroristic
plans of armed groups.
We have received reports that NPA
bandits will continue to resort to bombings and burning of properties in order to
fuel their extortion activities. There is an
on-going road-concreting project of the
government and we believe that these
rebels are out to burn heavy equipment
in the construction site when they were
encountered by our troops. (Mike U.
Crismundo)
ARMM sports
meet kicks off
in Maguindanao
By ALI G. MACABALANG
PARANG, Maguindanao Hundreds

of students from nine-school divisions
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao are now slugging it in various
sports and athletic games in this years
ARMM Athletic Association (ARMMAA)
Meet that kicked off in this coastal town
Saturday.
Some 5,000 delegates composed of
athletes, coaches and officials from the
schools divisions of Maguindanao I and
II coming from Marawi City, Lanao del
Sur I and II, Lamitan City, Basilan, Sulu
and Tawi-Tawi are joining the Palarong
ARMM 2016 that opened in Saturday
until Wednesday, Muslim Mindanao Information Bureau Director Amir Mawallil
said.
Participating athletes belonging to
Muslim, Christian and Lumad sectors
will compete in basketball, volleyball,
football, athletics, boxing, wushu, arnis,
wrestling, taekwondo, archery and other
athletic events with the hope of producing
another Mona Solaiman and Tukal Mukalam, who won gold medals in national
Olympics in the 1960s, Mawallil said.
At the opening of events Saturday,
ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman and
host Provincial Governor Esmael Toto
Mangudadatu took turns in echoing calls
for promotion of sports and athletics not
only as a requirement for regional representation to the national palaro but as a
means of fostering peaceful and constructive coexistence to contain squarely
intermittent conflicts in the region.
ATHLETIC MEET Some 1,500 elementary and high school students in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao line up for the opening ceremony
of the ARMM Athletic Association (ARMMAA) Meet in Parang, Maguindanao
over the weekend. The region hopes to gain a better place in the Palarong
Pambansa this year in Legazpi City after placing 14th in last years games.
(Ali G. MAcabalang)
Solon pushes declaration of

Feb. 1 as National Hijab day
By BEN R. ROSARIO
A partylist congresswoman has

sought the declaration of the first day
of February of each year as National
Hijab Day.
Anak Mindanao Rep. Sitti Djalia A.
Turabin-Hataman said House Bill 5443
will coincide with the World Hijab Day
that was launched in 2013.
Hijab as a veil that covers the head
and chest which is particularly worn by a
Muslim female beyond the age of puberty
in the presence of adult males outside
of their immediate family. It can further

refer to any head, face or body covering worn by Muslim women (Hijabis)
that conforms to a certain standard of
modesty.
It is our aim to raise awareness and
to put a stop to all sorts of discriminations,
including discrimination against Muslim
Women, Turabin-Hataman said.
The lady-lawmaker expressed strong
confidence that her bill would help foster deeper respect and understanding
among and between Filipinos of varying
cultures and faith toward national unity
paid by the association.

As of today, the school started operation in 2013 with lumad children enrolled
from grades 1 to 4.
While the school is yet to be accredited
by the Department of Education (depEd),
the parents are thankful that their children are learning how to read and write,
even if they do not have money.
Through this initiative, we believe
that we could inspire the younger generation to strive harder and hopefully
secure a brighter future, he said.
We are hoping that in the future,
DepEd will recognize this school and
will even fund the expansion of the infrastructure and provision of funds for
additional teachers.
Community members who were
lucky enough to finish a degree in education are the ones teaching in the school,
Datu Subang pointed out.
Lifestyle change
DENR 13 Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo expressed his
appreciation for the efforts done by the
group of Indigenous Peopls.
I am happy to note that the NGP
was able to change the behavior and attitude of a group of IPs known for their
involvement in illegal logging activities,
Tamayo said.
The regions top DENR official assured the organization that the agency is
willing to extend its help to the federation
especially when it comes to the NGP.
Datu Subang said that the members
of the organization are fully convinced
of the NGP program because it is not
only for livelihood but also for global
warming and climate change mitigation.
We are waiting for the right season to
harvest coffee. By that time, most of
the members of the federation will be
millionaires.
Through the NGP, we learn to
dream and make those dreams come
true he added.
Ex-MNLF
commanders
nephew
kidnapped on
Valentines Day
released
By ELENA L. ABEN
A nephew of a for mer Moro

National Liberation Front (MNLF)
commander who was seized by
gunmen on Valentines Day was released unharmed by his captors in
Patikul, Sulu, the military reported
yesterday.
Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group
Sulu, identified the victim as Omar
Carlo Masdal, 20, a student of Sulu
State College.
He was released around 11:20
a.m. Saturday in Barangay Latih,
Patikul town through negotiations
facilitated by unidentified MNLF
commanders, added the JTGS commander.
Masdal was allegedy mistaken by
the group of Dela Cruz as a member
of a wealthy family.
Asked if ransom was paid, Arrojado replied, Walang ransom,
relative ng MNLF commander kaya
hindi talo sa kanila (There was no
ransom since the victim is a relative
of an MNLF commander).
Masdal is said to be a nephew of
former MNLF Commander Ustadz
Habier Malik who led the bloody
Zamboanga siege in September,
2013. Months after the attack in Zamboanga City, Malik, who was also the
right hand of MNLF founding chair
Nur Misuari, was reported to have
died of diabetes.
and peace.
While reports of discriminations
against women wearing hijab has yet to
be received, she said that some universities prohibit its wearing in the school.
Some of these students are forced
to remove their hijab to comply with the
schools rules and regulations. Some are
forced to drop out and transfer to other
institutions. These are clear violations
of the students freedom of religion, she
pointed out.
The lady lawmaker did not identify
the said educational institutions.
Turabin-Hataman said the hijab day
initiative is aimed at fostering social
awareness about why Muslim women
wear hijab and wipe the stigmas attached
to wearing the hijab.
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Sports
cycling
gOlF
BUTUAN CITY Ronald Oranza and Jan Paul Morales of NavyStandard Insurance continued their
dominance in the Mindanao leg of the
LBC Ronda Pilipinas yesterday after
completing a 1-2 finish for the second
straight day in a criterium race here.
Oranza topped the 3.71-kilometer
criterium in one hour, 17 minutes and
59.32 seconds, his second straight
stage win after winning the 158-kilometer road race last Saturday, while
Morales finished second 0.17 seconds behind to maintain the overall
lead with 29 points.
He leads fellow Navyman and team
captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante for
the symbolic red jersey by six points.
Reynante finished seventh in the stage
at 1:23:09.58.
Fifteen-time champion Luisita has

added three new faces in its bid to unseat Canlubang in the 30th Philippine
Airlines Seniors Interclub golf team
championships which begin Wednesday at the Mimosa Golf and Country
Club in Clark, Angeles, Pampanga.
Luisita will miss long-time mainstay Francis Gaston, Seve Roxas-Chua
and Rudy Amata their spots taken by
Jingy Tuason, Benjie Sumulong, and
Chito Laureta.
Returning for the Tarlac-based
squad are last years individual champion Eddie Bagtas, Richie Garcia, Pepot Iigo, Minieng Maravilla, and Bong
Sison.
I believe we have a solid 8 team
that can give Canlubang a good fight,
said Luisita non-playing team captain
Jeric Hechanova in a text message.
Last year in Cebu City, Luisita
Luisita out to dethrone

Canlubang in PAL Srs.
Navy bets dominate

second stage of Ronda
Oranza is in third with 20 points
in the overall race that is using a new
scoring system based on equivalent
points garnered from the sprint, King
of the Mountain and stage positioning.
Teammates Daniel Ven Carino,
Rudy Roque and Joel Calderon completed Navys dominance by jumping
to third to fifth places, respectively,
with clocking of 1:17:59.84, 1:17:59.88
and 1:18:00.25, respectively.
John Mark Camingao, who wears
the MVP Sports Foundation yellow jersey as the top Mindanao cyclist, came
in sixth at 1:22:01.65 despite being
troubled by his gear-shifter.
The 1-2 finish came despite Morales figuring in a spill in the last 20
minutes of the required one-hour loop
after he hit the rear wheel of Oranza in
19
Ronald Oranza celebrates another stage win.

(Ernie Sarmiento)
one of the turns.

The 31-year-old Morales, who hails
from Calumpang, Marikina, suffered
contusions on his right shoulder and
thigh but was able to catch up with Oranza in the end to claim a podium finish.
Morales insisted that that it was an
accident while the Villasis, Pangasinan native Oranza apologized for the
accident.
started hot, but faded in the last three

days, losing to Canlubang by 17 points.
Tommy Manotoc, who lost to Bagtas in the individual contest via countback, will spearhead Canlubangs titleretention bid. He will be backstopped
by holdovers Dave Hernandez, Rolly
Viray, Mari Hechanova, Rene Unson,
and Tony Olives.
Former national seniors champion
Abraham Avea and Zaldy Villa are
the teams new addition.
Canlubang and Luisita have dominated the seniors event since 2000,
each winning eight crowns.
The PAL Interclub is sponsored by People

Asia, Travelife, Mareco Broadcasting Network
(Crossover), Manila Broadcasting Corporation,
Airbus, Business Mirror and Philippine National
Bank.
Other supporters: Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Inquirer.net, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa,
Tanduay Distillers,Asia Brewery, Splash Corporation, RFM Corporation, Goldilocks, Eastgate
Publishing Corporation, Robinsons Land and
Rolls-Royce.
PBA
Meralco extends win streak to 4

By TITO S. TALAO
games wednesday
(Smart Araneta coliseum)
4:15 p.m. Star vs Blackwater
7 p.m. Tropang TnT vs Alaska
Kazakhstans Oleg
Zemlyakov, shown
celebrating after winning
Stage 2 in Daet, clinched
the Le Tour de Filipinas title
yesterday after another
courageous performance in
the fourth and final stage
that ended in Legazpi City.
(Bob Dungo Jr.)
Kazakh riders finish...

Its very hot, in my country, its winter.
-20 (degrees in temperature) but here
its almost 30. Its very difficult and tiring, he added.
Not even a mechanical problem
from a faulty rear-wheel sprocket and
a malfunctioning brake in the final 30
kilometers could stop Zemlyakov in his
quest of conquering the Philippines after finishing 5th last year.
The team pretty much controlled
the peloton from the get go and kept
a close eye on their closest pursuers
in Jesse Ewart of 7-Eleven and Batmunkh Maral-Erdene of Terangganu
Cycling.
20
This allowed the Aussie duo of

Timothy Guy and Cameron Bayly of
Attaque Team Gusto to finish 1-2 in the
final lap,
Maral-Erdene finished third overall with a time of 17:36:44, 21 seconds
behind Zemlyakov while Ewart settled
with a fourth place finish with a time
of 17:36:45.
Marcelo Felipe of team 7-Eleven
emerged as best Filipino performer
by finishing fifth with a total time of
17:37:45. Rustom Lim, a member of the
PH team, was the only other local rider
in the top 10 after placing ninth, 2:04 off
the winner.
BASkETBAll
PCC draws first blood

games Today
(Uno hS gym, Tondo, Manila)
5:30 p.m. Mgc-nlcA vs JcA
7 p.m. Pcc vs St. Jude
Host Philippine Cultural College

(PCC) moved one win away from
capturing the juniors division title in
the 3rd Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) Basketball Championships by downing defending champion St. Jude Catholic
School, 72-61, at the start of their title
series on Saturday at the Uno High
School gym in Tondo, Manila.
Center Daniel Manalang waxed
hot for the second straight game,
scoring 14 of his team-high 22 points
in the payoff period as the Seagulls
outscored the Judenites, 30-16m to
take the opening of their best-of-three
title series.
The Seagulls, who extended their
winning streak to 10 games since the
elims, also got significant contributions from Kimson Chen who had 13
markers 9 of them in the final quarter and 13 boards while John Patrick
Garcia and Michael Manansala added
17 and 8 points, respectively.
The PCC Seagulls, who beat Pace
Academy in the semis, 78-70, can clinch
the title with another win today at 7 p.m.
also at the Uno High School gym.
Meantime, defending champion
Makati Gospel Church-New Life
Christian Academy drew big games
from Ike Jordan Lim, Shane Tan
and McNeil Jason Si to edge Jubilee
Christian Academy, 62-60, in Game 1
of their own title series in the aspirants division.
Winners and participants in the third leg of the ICTSI Philippine Kiteboarding Tour Season 3 pose
during awards rites in Anguib, Sta. Ana, Cagayan Valley recently. They include Twin Tip Masters
champion Atte Kappel of Sweden, Twin Tip rulers Jing Gajisan and Doque delos Santos, Freestyle
champions Julia Castro of Spain and Slovenian Jaka Komocar and novice winner Sboy Garcia.
he Meralco Bolts gave Phoenix two chances to end their

streak, but the Fuel Masters
gave both back.
Two missed free throws by Anjo
Caram with 11.6 seconds left and a
third by rookie Chris Newsome in the
last 4.2 left the door open, but Phoenix
couldnt convert and Meralco dodged
the bullet, 90-87, for its fourth straight
win in the Oppo-PBA Commissioners
Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Anjo is actually a pretty good free
throw shooter, said Bolts coach Norman Black. I guess the situation just
got the best of him.
After Caram clanged his foul shots
to leave Phoenix within, 89-87, Rodney
Brondial came down with the rebound
and the Fuel Masters drew a play that
had RR Garcia driving from a high pick
'n roll and dishing off to cutting import
Kenny Adeleke.
The pass was a little high, however,
and Adeleke traveled, giving possession back to Meralco. Phoenix trapped
the receiver after the inbounds pass
but instead sent Newsome to the line.
He split his charities and the Fuel Masters had a final shot which Josh Urbiztondo took and was swatted by Bolts
reinforcement Arinze Onuaku.
At 4-0, Meralco is one away from
matching a franchise best start in
FOOTBAll
Stallion nips
JP Voltes
Unbeaten Stallion boosted its bid
to secure the first quarterfinals berth
in Group A after beating JP Voltes, 2-1,
Saturday night in the UFL Cup at the
Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Goals by Ashley Flores and Samuel Bonney in the first 47 minutes
were enough to give Stallion its third
straight victory to remain on top of
Group A with nine points.
Flores broke the ice inside 20 minutes before Bonney doubled the lead
two minutes after the restart.
Takashi Odawara reduced JP
Voltes deficit in half with a 61st minute
goal but Stallion tightened its defense
the rest of the way to secure the full
three points.
JP Voltes absorbed its first defeat
in three matches to fall behind in third
place with six points.
Earlier, the depleted Loyola Meralco Sparks won their second straight
game after beating Green Archers
United, 4-2, in Group B.
Jonas Terrado
TriAThlOn
PNG: Chicano,
Adorna triumph
Triathletes John Chicano and Ma.
Claire Adorna stamped their class
anew to rule their respective divisions
in the Philippine National Games
(PNG) yesterday at the Subic Bay
Freeport Zone.
Chicano leaned on a good start
in the final 10K run to beat Jonard
Saim and Mark Anthony Hosana for
last seasons Commissioners Cup, a

streak that took them all the way to the
best-of-5 semifinals where they were
upended by Rain or Shine after their
import Josh Davis got injured. The
Bolts face Globalport on Feb. 28.
It feels good to win a game where we
couldnt shoot straight, said Black. Fortunately our defense held up. Also, Arinze
took care of a lot of our weaknesses.
The wide-bodied Onuaku led Meralco with 17 points, 18 rebounds and
four blocked shots, mostly on driving
layups by Garcia, who waxed hot in the
first quarter for Phoenix but was 1 of
14 from the floor the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Othyus Jeffers battled
severe back spasms that needed periodic
stretching in scoring 38 points and grabbing 20 rebounds as Barangay Ginebra
San Miguel turned back Rain or Shine,
103-92, for its first win in three games.
The RoS Elasto Painters, 1-2, replaced the injured Wayne Chism with
former NBA player Antoine Wright,
who couldnt shake off, however, the effects of jet lag after flying in at 3 in the
morning, debuting with 16 points on 4
of 16 shooting.
First Game
MERALCO 90 Onuaku 17, Newsome 16,
David 13, Dillinger 10, Amer 8, Hodge 8, Bono
4, Hugnatan 4, Nabong 4, Al-Hussaini 2, Caram
2, Faundo 2.
PHOENIX 87 Garcia 15, Adeleke 13,
Baracael 13, Brondial 12, Wilson 10, Urbiztondo
9, Lanete 8, Monfort 5, Intal 2, Pennisi 0.
Quarters: 19-23; 40-47; 67-67; 90-87
Second Game
GINEBRA 103 Jeffers 38, Slaughter 16,
Devance 13, Aguilar 10, Ellis 7, Thompson 5,
Caguioa 4, Mercado 4, Tenorio 3, Marcelo 2,
Cruz 1.
RAIN OR SHINE 92 Quinahan 21, Wright
16, Chan 13, Cruz 10, Ahanmisi 8, Belga 8, Ibanes
3, Almazan 2, Ponferrada 2, Tiu 1, Trollano 0.
Quarters: 28-23; 53-44; 82-70; 103-92.
wncAA
CEU retains
cheer title
Miriam College accounted for five
of 24 championships but it was Centro Escolar University (CEU) which
emerged the biggest winner in the
46th WNCAA which concluded another successful season over the weekend.
Aside from extending its reign in
mens basketball to five years, CEU
also retained its senior cheerleading
title over the weekend at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
It also bagged the senior swimming title last month.
Rizal Technological University
and De La Salle-Zobel plucked four
titles apiece.
Also winning three titles are St. Paul
College Pasig and Assumption College while getting at least one title are
Chiang Kai Shek College and Poveda.
Miriam ruled junior softball for the
third straight year and junior volleyball for the second consecutive year
while also topping junior and senior
badminton and midget swimming.
RTU kept its senior volleyball and
taekwondo crowns and likewise dominated senior futsal and table tennis.
DLSZ was midgets basketball
winner for the fifth straight year and
added the junior futsal, swimming and
table tennis titles to its collection.
PBA D-lEAgUE
CafFrance eyes win

No. 6 versus Tanduay
By JONAS TERRADO
games Today
(The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. Phoenix-FEU vs BDO-nU
4 p.m. Tanduay vs cafFrance
Reigning Foundation Cup champion CafFrance tries to stretch its

unbeaten run to six games when it
battles streaking Tanduay today in the
PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at The
Arena in San Juan.
The back-to-back title-seeking
Bakers are favored to continue their
hot streak against the Rhum Masters
in their 4 p.m. showdown after winning
most of their previous five games with
a nary a trouble.
Coach Egay Macaraya, however,
warned that his team is still far from
the title favorites many have labeled
on them, especially against a Tanduay
team that won its last three games following a 0-2 start.
Masyadong malakas din na team
ang Tanduay. Unpredictable sila kasi
the title in the event organized by
the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) and Chili Grass in
cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
He finished the 1.5K swim-40K
bike-10K run contest in 2:00.33 for his
second PNG title. Saim wound up second with a time of 2:03.44 while Hosana
took third in 2:06.19.
Adorna, on other hand, was never
threatened in her title bid although
she was still recovering from a leg
injury. Her clocking of 2:30.21 proved
too much for national teammate Vicky
Deldio who clocked 2: 43.50. Kriska Sto.
anytime, they can

have a good game,
said Macaraya following CafFrances
106-73 beatdown of
Wangs Basketball
last Tuesday.
Macaraya is focused on making CafFrance maintain
its commitment, with
EGAy MACARAyA
Rod Ebondo and veterans Mar Villahermosa, Paul Zamar
and Carl Bryan Cruz leading the fort.
The only key here is to keep doing
the same thing which made us successful: execute on the team defense
and make stops, he said.
Winners of three straight games,
Tanduay, though, is on a roll of its
own.
Meanwhile, UAAP rivals PhoenixFEU (3-1) and BDO-NU (1-5) meet
in the 2 p.m. opener with both teams
eyeing to rebound from respective
losses last week.
Domingo was third in 2:46.45.
In the mini-sprint competition,
Joshua Alexander Ramos of Baguio
City and Lauren Plaza of Laguna
topped their respective divisions while
Andrew Remolino and Marga de Los
Reyes ruled the sprint race for 16-19
years-old division.
Other winners: James Decayanan (18 to

24) , Lawrence Macalinao (25 to 29), Jonathan
Arellano (35 to 39), Dan Brown (40 to 44), Neil
Ong (45 to 49) , Marcus Antonius Andaya (50 to
54), Eduardo Francisco (55 and over) and Sipag
Pilipinas (team relay)
Other sponsors: ACEA Subic Bay, Asian
Centre for Insulation Philippines, Gatorade,
Century Tuna, Harbor Point Ayala Mall, Ocean
Adventure, Camayan Resort and Lighthouse
Marina Resort, RaceDay, SBR.ph, Kikay Runner,
and PinoyFitness.com.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
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Sports
gOlF
Editor: DING T. MARCELO

Asst. Editor: REY C. LACHICA
20 Monrday, February 22, 2016
E-mail: sports@mb.com.ph
cycling
Kazakh riders finish 1-2 in Le Tour

By CHRISTIAN JACINTO
LEGAZPI CITY Le Tour de Filipinas officials were right for handing

the Best Young Rider Award to Kazakhstans Oleg Zemlyakov last year.
The gritty Kazakh rider lived up to
his vast potential as he produced another courageous performance to capture the overall title yesterday here.
Zemlyakov completed the fourstage competition with an aggregate
time of 17 hours, 36 minutes and 23
seconds to join the elite club of cham-
pions in the event presented by Air21.

After winning the killer leg, the
204.8 kilometer stage 2 race from Lucena to Daet, the 22- year-old Kazakh
played his cards right and never relinquished his yellow jersey as he cruised
smoothly to victory after the 160.2 km
Legazpi-Legazpi final stage race won
by Aussie Timothy Guy.
Yevgeniy Gidich completed a remarkable 1-2 finish by Team Vino 4Ever by helping compatriot Zemlyakov
scuttle the uprising of their closest
rivals.
Gidich, who was just 19 seconds behind also took home the white jersey
for being the best young rider of the
tournament.
As expected, Team Vino also took
home the team general classification
with an overall time of 52:53:02, beating
7-Eleven Philippines by five minutes
and 16 seconds.
We just control the riders. Control
the team gap. Keep the time and control, said Team Vino team manager
Sergey Danniker.
Its difficult winning this.
19
Tabuena ties
for 2nd, bags
R11.8 million
I
t was probably not the kind

of finish Miguel Tabuena envisioned when he started his
opening round in the $3 million Maybank Championship Malaysia last Thursday.
He nearly quit because of food
poisoning. He suffered stomach
pain and rushed to the toilet four
times in the first round. In the second round, he felt so weak he did
not stay for post-round practice.
But four days later, he is joint
runner up in one of the

richest events of the
Asian Tour and winner
of nearly P12 million in
prize money.
I cant complain
with the way I played.
Not being 100%, no
complaints at all,
Tabuena said.
MIGUEL TABUENA
A closing round
3-under-par 68 did it for the small built 21year-old Filipino star who placed second,
along with Soomin Lee of South Korea, two
strokes behind champion Marcus Fraser
of Australia.
Fraser took care of business with a
bogey free 3-under-par 68, finishing at 15
under par 269 at the Royal Selangor Golf
Club in Kuala Lumpur. But Lee, who led by
three shots at the start of the day, and five
shots over Tabuena, threw it all away on
the last three holes where he gave up four
strokes on two double bogeys for a 73.
He and Tabuena tied for second at 271,
13 under par, and each won $260,568 (P11.8
million) while joint fourth one stroke further at 272 were Frances Julian Quesne
(68) and Spains Jorge Campillo (69) who
finished 12 under par.
Antonio Lascuna finished the tournament in style, shooting a 68 to tie for 31st
and winning $24,060 (P1.24 million) while
Angelo, who was in second place after the
first round, carded a 69 and tied for 40th
and pocketed $18,300 (P869,250).
But it was Tabuena who turned heads
at the event jointly sanctioned by the European Tour.
He shot all four rounds in the 60s (6668-69-68) as he continued his vast improvement since winning the Philippine Open
last December which was his first Asian
Tour win since turning pro four years ago.
Then he tied for fourth in the Singapore
Open a few weeks ago.
Tabuena tried to chase Fraser who was
two strokes ahead of him at the start of the
round, but his rally was undone by three
bogeys, the most costly on the 17th when
he missed the green
In all, Tabuena had six birdies for the
round, a testament to his consistent teeto-green play and accurate putting. The
most important probably was his birdie
on the 18th where many players met their
doom, including fourth leader Lee who
shot a double bogey there, allowing Fraser
to grab the championship.
Tabuenas tie for second moved him
up to second place in the Asian Tour Order of Merit race $310,000 behind Fraser
who stormed ahead with his $500,000 winners purse.
DING MARCELO
269 Marcus Fraser (AUS) 66-69-66-68

271 Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 66-68-69-68; Soomin
Lee (KOR) 66-68-64-73
272 Julien Quesne (FRA) 70-69-65-68; Jorge
Campillo (ESP) 65-69-69
vOllEyBAll
La Salle beats
UE in 3 sets
By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
La Salle regained solo second yesterday after dumping winless University of the
East (UE), 25-10, 25-13, 25-21, in the UAAP
womens volleyball tournament at the Mall
of Asia Arena.
The stunning loss by National University to University of Santo Tomas the other
day, gave the Lady Spikers an added energy as they turned the game into a virtual
workout with coach Ramil de Jesus allowing his seldom-used players to see action in
the game that lasted just 71 minutes.
Nagbigay lang ako ng confidence sa
ibang bata, said De Jesus.
Mika Reyes led the way with 10 points
as La Salle improved to 4-1, but rival Ateneo remains on top after winning its first
five games.
Ara Galang and Mary Joy Baron chipped
in nine and eight points, respectively, for
the Lady Spikers.
La Salles win also extended the woes
of UE, which suffered its 50th consecutive
defeat dating back to 2012.
UEs last win came on Jan. 28, 2012
when it defeated NU in five sets at The Arena in San Juan.
In the second game, Bernadeth Pons
and Toni Rose Basas scored 21 points
apiece as Far Eastern University downed
University of the Philippines, 27-25, 21-25,
25-22, 20-25, 15-12, to tie NU for third place
at 3-2.
NBA RESULTS
Milwaukee 117, Atlanta 109, 2OT
Miami 114, Washington 94
New York 103, Minnesota 95
Golden State 115, L.A. Clippers 112
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PSE Quotations
BSP Reference Rates
Editor: LORETO D. CABAES
Asst. Editor: BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
B1 Monday, February 22, 2016
News In Brief
P/$ rate stands
at P47.665/$1
The peso
exchange
rate stands
at P47.665
last Friday at
the Philippine Dealing & Exchange
Corp. (PDEx). The weighted average rate stand at P47.665.
Thai tourism
revenue seen
at $66B for 2016
BANGKOK (Reuters) Thai tourism revenue is forecast at 2.4
trillion baht ($66.12 billion) in
2016, Thailands tourism minister said on Monday, up from an
earlier projection of 2.3 trillion
baht. Tourism accounts for about
10 percent of the countrys GDP
and has been one of the few
bright spots for Southeast Asias
second-largest economy. This
year we expect to make 2.4 trillion baht from the previous target
of 2.3 trillion baht. We will focus
on domestic and ASEAN markets, Tourism Minister Kobkarn
Wattanavrangkul told reporters,
referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Thailands tourism ministry
says it expects 32 million visitors
to Thailand this year.
E-mail: business@mb.com.ph
WB okays PHs $450-M loan for CCT
By CHINO S. LEYCO
he World Bank (WB) has approved a fresh loan of $450

million for the governments
conditional cash transfer
(CCT) program, which includes a
cash dole-out to the poorest 4 million
households with 11 million children in
the country.
In a statement, the Washingtonbased lender said it approved a new
$450-million financing package to
support the continued implementation
of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program, the Philippines CCT program.
The $450-million Social Welfare
Development and Reform Project
II (SWDRP2) will contribute to the
governments financing of health and
education grants for CCT beneficiaries
nationwide from 2016 to 2019, covering
about seven percent of the total cost of
the programs implementation.

The CCT, or the Pantawid Pamilya, is
a social safety net program implemented
by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) that helps ensure
children grow up healthy and stay in
school.
Under the program, poor pregnant
mothers receive regular health checks.
By targeting poor and vulnerable households, the program also helps protect
them from the impact of economic
shocks, natural disasters and other crises. It currently benefits more than
four million poor families with 11 million
children.
Pantawid Pamilya, as a long-term
investment helps reduce the vulnerability
of families to sudden economic difficulties
and contributes to breaking the intergenerational poverty by helping todays
children become productive members
of society, DSWD Secretary Corazon
Soliman said.
Dubais DP World
CEO retires
DUBAI (Reuters) DP Worlds
long-serving chief executive officer
(CEO) Mohammed Sharaf has
retired with immediate effect, the
Dubai-based port operator said on
Wednesday. Sharaf had been CEO
for 11 years and worked for the
company for 23 years, a statement
to the Nasdaq Dubai bourse said.
DP Worlds chairman Sultan bin
Sulayem will carry out the CEOs
duties on interim basis, it said. The
company has a portfolio of more
than 65 marine terminals across
six continents, according to its
website. DP Worlds market capitalisation is $14.3 billion, making
it Dubais largest listed company
by market value.
Yahoo hires
investment banks
to mull possible sale
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Yahoos
board has hired three investment
banking firms to evaluate potential
bids for its Internet operations
in the clearest sign yet that CEO
Marissa Mayer may not have
much more time to turn around
the struggling company. The move
announced Friday comes 2 1/2
weeks after Yahoo disclosed it
would consider strategic alternatives while Mayer cuts costs
through mass layoffs, office closures and a purge of unprofitable
products. Mayer believes the overhaul will boost profits and sharpen
Yahoos focus on mobile apps and
other services most likely to revive
the companys revenue growth
after years of decline.
growth that works for the poor, she

added.
The governments CCT program
has grown into one of the largest and
best-targeted social safety net programs in the world, with 82 percent
of the benefits going to the bottom 40
percent of the countrys population.
The Aquino government increased
the CCT budget by 3 percent in 2015 to
P64.7 billion from P62.6 billion to benefit
around 4,000 families with no permanent address, 7,000 homeless street
families and 116,000 indigenous people.
It expects that in 2015, 50 percent or 2
million families under the CCT will be
uplifted from survival to subsistence,
and another 6 percent, or 300,000 families, will transition from subsistence to
self-sufficiency.
Globally, more than 1.9 billion
people in 136 low- and middle-income
countries benefit from social safety net
programs like the CCT.
Job skills mismatch to dampen PH growth study

and educated unemployment
people of working age.
The first level of mismatch
occurs where there is a shortage of skilled, qualified and
competent workers for certain
occupations and industries;
workers do not have enough
education to enable them to
learn and acquire technical
competencies and specialized
skills.
The second level of mismatch occurs when educated
workers join the labor force
but there are not enough
jobs for them. The skills they
acquired through education
Malaysias auto
sector faces
rough road
Malaysias automotive sector is
expected to face a rough road
ahead as total industry volume
likely contracts further this year
amid a challenging operating
environment, says Kenanga. The
rising cost of living coupled with a
series of subsidy rationalizations,
higher car prices relative to the
lower disposable income will further weigh on the pallid auto sales
growth, the Kuala Lumpur-based
brokerage says in a note to clients.
Coupled with the intensifying
competition in this highly saturated automotive market, we believe
margin compression will continue
to be seen among the automotive
players, it adds. (WSJ)
After only a few years of implementation, we are already seeing its tangible
benefits to poor Filipinos. With continuing support from development partners
like the World Bank, we can sustain our
momentum toward reducing poverty and
inequality, she added.
Recent studies showed that the program has reduced the total poverty and
food poverty among CCT beneficiaries
by up to 6.7 percentage points. At the
national level, estimates show the program reduced both total poverty and food
poverty by up to 1.4 percentage points
in 2013.
The World Bank is steadfast in its
commitment and support for the CCT
because we believe it contributes to reducing extreme poverty and inequality,
World Bank Acting Country Director
Cecilia Vales said.
Combined with high and sustained
economic growth, CCT as a social safety
net provides an equitable foundation for
are not the skills demanded by the

economy.
As of July 2014, unemployment rate
stood at 6.7 percent or 2.8 million Filipinos. One of the main reasons or causes of
unemployment is the mismatch between
the needs of demand of the business sector and the skills of the labor force.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in its 2014 study asserted that job skills mismatch is a major
cause of youth unemployment (standing
at 15.7 percent) and accounts for half
of the country's total unemployment (7
percent). Nationally, 1.456 million youth
ages 15 to 24 are unemployed, accounting for 49.8 percent of all
unemployed people.
B-11
Top three human resource concerns by industry

(MB file photo)
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
Job skills mismatch has been identified as critical concern affecting the
Philippines and the growing demand for
skills is becoming a constraining factor
for the growth of the economy, according
to a study.
A study entitled Policy Framework for Improving Labour Market
Efficiency Through More Effective Job
Skills Matching in the Philippines by
the International Labour Organization,
Bureau for Employers Activities (ACT/
EMP) and the Employers Confederation
of the Philippines (ECOP) revealed that
job skills mismatch in the country is more
pronounced in manufacturing, electronics/semiconductor and tourism three
areas identified by the Philippine Devel-
opment Plan as primary job generators

for the country.
There are indications that demand
for skills has kept on growing, suggesting
that skills are becoming a constraining
factor for the growth of the economy,
the study said.
Job skills mismatch occurs when
education and training institutions teach
skills that employers no longer demand
or when competencies of graduates do
not meet the requirement of industries.
The job skills mismatch is manifested
in hard or technical skills as well as in soft
skills referring mainly to communication,
interpersonal management skills and
values formation.
According to the study, mismatch occurs at two levels and impacts two groups:
Unemployed youth or out of school youth;
Lagardes ease
in winning new IMF
term belies harder road
For Christine Lagarde, winning a
second term heading the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) was the easy part.
Now come challenges ranging from a
lackluster global recovery to dealing
with financial hot spots including Greece
and Ukraine.
Lagarde, 60, was reappointed by
consensus Friday to a second five-year
term as managing director of the IMF
said in a statement. Her tenure will run
through July 2021. The Funds executive
board, which represents 188-member
countries, said last week that no one else
was nominated to oppose her as head of
the lender.
Getting policy makers to step up
efforts to help the global economy
may prove a tougher sell. Lagarde has
repeatedly warned that the world may
be on the verge of a new mediocre of
underwhelming growth unless officials
take stronger action. The confirmation
removes any doubt about Lagardes status as she heads to Shanghai next week
for Group of 20 discussions expected
to touch on this years wave of market
6%
Poaching from local

competitors
CHRISTINE LAGARDE
turmoil.
The global economy is undergoing a
number of important transitions and we
are focused on helping our membership
navigate them successfully, Lagarde
said in a statement on Friday. The
Fund remains committed
to its fundamental goal of
B-11
18%
9%
Lack of supply
15%
9%
Job skills
mismatch
6%
Poaching from
overseas
High minimum wage/
high labor costs
3%
Low employee
productivity
15%
15%
24%
49%
21%
46%
18%
42%
18%
39%
12%
6%
6%
6%
21%
9%
Automotive
21%
Electronic
Hotels
Total
Source: ECOP, 2015, Job Skills Mismatch Survey
ASEAN+3 sets up financial

surveillance system
By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN
The ASEAN+3 has officially put in

place a surveillance system in support
of the regions $240-billion liquidity facility which serves as buffer against all
threats to Asias financial stability.
ASEAN+3 includes the 10 original
members of the trade bloc plus Japan,
South Korea and China. In 2014, the regional grouping agreed to establish the
ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research
Office (AMRO) which is a treaty to
convert AMRO from a company to an
international organization to enable
AMRO to function as an independent
surveillance unit in the region. The
treaty took effect last February 9,
2016.
During the AMRO opening in
Singapore over the weekend, its director Dr. Yoichi Nemoto, said they
will enhance and improve AMROs
surveillance activities in support of
the $240-billion Chiang Mai Initiative
Multilaterialization (CMIM) Agreement, a currency swap arrangement
among the ASEAN+3 countries.
With the agreement, AMRO can
effectively discharge its primary mis-
sion of contributing towards ensuring

the macroeconomic and financial
stability of the ASEAN+3 region, a
statement from AMRO, attributing to
Nemoto, said.
In 2014, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. was one of the Central Bank
chiefs that approved and signed the
establishment of AMRO as an organization to promote objective economic
monitoring. AMRO was initially created as a company in 2011.
Tetangco said that AMRO will
conduct objective sur veillance for
the regions financial stability as the
risk-detecting unit of the CMIM. The
Philippines has a $9.1-billion commitment under the CMIM.
AMRO as an international institution has immunities and privileges to
allow it to perform its function as a
regional surveillance unit and to help
implement the CMIM in crisis prevention or resolution.
Last year, the regional central
banks, including the BSP, has also
renewed a $2-billion ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA), its fifth
supplemental agreement,
B-10
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Profiting from Year of Mercy

(Part II)
BuSINESS AND
SOcIEty
BERNARDO M.
VILLEGAS
t may be useful to review the

steps that one takes in preparing for a good confession.
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church outlines the three essential
acts. First, there is Contrition. This
is sorrow of the soul and detestation
for the sins committed, together with
the resolution not to sin again. This
resolution is the purpose of amendment that vouches for the authenticity

of this sorrow. If the contrition arises
from the love by which God is loved
above all else, it is called perfection
contrition, or contrition of charity.
This contrition obtains immediate
forgiveness of mortal sins as long as
it includes the firm resolution to go to
confession as soon as possible. If the
contrition, on the other hand, arises
from a consideration of sins ugliness
or the fear of punishment, it is called
imperfect contrition, or attrition.
This contrition would not directly result in the pardon of sins, but it is still
a gift of God and is sufficient for the

valid reception of sacramental absolution. We should foster contrition by
preparing well for the Sacrament with
a careful examination of conscience.
It must be pointed out that this contrition is rooted in the will, not in emotion
or feeling.
Then the next step is Confession,
which consists in telling our sins to the
priest. It is absolutely necessary that
the penitent mention all the mortal
sins he committed since his last good
confession. A generic reference does
not suffice: He should, as far as he is
able, specify what kind of sins they
were, as well as the number
of times he committed them.
A mortal sin involves grave
matter, full knowledge and
full consent. To illustrate,
it might be useful to reflect
on why Pope Francis replied Who am I to judge?
when he was asked what he
thought of gay people. He
was only applying the moral
principle about a mortal sin.
Only when one is certain
that someone with same-sex
attraction is actually engaging in homosexual acts can
one say that he is doing
something evil because, as
the Catechism says every
homosexual act is intrinsically evil and is always a
grave matter. There is no
way, however, that the Pope
or anyone else can know
that a gay person is actually engaging in homosexual
acts. Only a confessor who
is told by a penitent that he
has, with full knowledge and
full consent, committed a
homosexual act can judge
about the evil nature of the
act. By replying Who am I
to judge, the Pope has not changed

the teaching of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church that every homosexual act is intrinsically evil.
The penitent has to as soon
as possible perform the penance
imposed by the confessor. This is
called Satisfaction, which consists of
some meritorious act, such as saying
a prayer or doing some corporal or
spiritual work of mercy. This is not to
be confused with the duty of making
reparation done to our neighbor, such
as returning a stolen good or repairing the damage done by a calumny.
There are priests who give very light
penances because they take it upon
themselves to do the harder penances
for their penitents.
One of the spiritual benefits during
the Jubilee Year of Mercy is the plenary indulgence that can be obtained
by crossing the holy door of one of
the Jubilee Churches declared by the
Bishop of the Diocese. As a reminder,
an indulgence is a remission before
God of the temporal punishment
due to sins whose guilt has already
been forgiven, which the faithful
Christian who is duly disposed gains
under certain prescribed conditions
through the action of the Church. If
these temporal punishments have not
been removed while one is on earth
(through performing acts of penance
or complying with certain conditions
such as visiting a specific Church), a
soul has to spend time in Purgatory if
one dies in the state of grace. These
punishments can be removed by indulgences. An indulgence is partial or
plenary according as it removes either
part or all of the temporal punishment
due to sin. Indulgences may be applied to the living, including oneself,
as well as to the dead.
In the Metro Manila area, some
of the Churches one can visit to gain
the plenary indulgence are the Manila
Cathedral, the Sacred Heart Church

in Makati or the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao. To gain the
plenary indulgence, one must pass
through the Holy Door, recite a prayer
(say, Our Father) for the Holy Father,
go to communion on the same day and
go to confession a week before or after
the pilgrimage. An indispensable condition to gain the plenary indulgence
is to make an act of perfect contrition,
declaring hatred even for any deliberate venial sin.
If one is unable to make this perfect act of contrition, the indulgence
earned is only partial. A practical
consequence of earning a plenary
indulgence is that if one should die
immediately after, he goes straight
to heaven. If one applies the plenary
indulgence to a loved one who has
already gone to the next world and is
still suffering in Purgatory, that soul
is immediately sent to heaven. Those
souls we help to shorten their Purgatory will be eternally grateful to us and
will do everything possible to help us
also go to heaven.
One should go to confession immediately after committing a mortal
sin. But as mentioned above, frequent
confession (even if the soul is in the
state of grace) is advisable in order
to receive the sacramental grace
that acts as spiritual nourishment
strengthening the soul for the neverending struggle to be holy. I compare
frequent confession to recharging
ones spiritual battery. The added
benefit is the spiritual mentoring we
receive from our confessor. Once we
develop the habit of frequent confession, it is advisable to avoid routine:
varying the mode of examination of
conscience from time to time; invoking of the Holy Spirit; fostering ones
sorrow beforehand.
For comments, my email address
is bernardo.villegas@uap.asia.
DOE to set stricter standards on coal plants

By MYRNA M. VELASCO
Having been thrown at

the receiving end of criticisms for gracing a coal
plant inauguration with
President Benigno Aquino
III, Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada has told
reporters that they are now
imposing stricter standards
on capacity installations of
such technology type.
We are meeting with
the coal plants operators
and generators our mandate is: We have to be more
strict with standards, especially on the emissions,
the fuel quality and even
on their coal storage, she
said.
In a downcast tone, Monsada averred that once and
for all, she wants to give
the governments side of
the stor y why they continued to allow coal plant
investments for the sake
of keeping sustained and
affordable power supply for
the country.
I would like to take this
opportunity to explain because there

are groups saying why are you inaugurating coal power plants despite
the countrys commitment in COP-21
(21st Conference of the Parties) the
task of the DOE is to ensue sufficient
and reliable power, but not just any
kind of power, she expounded.
COP21 is in reference to the recently concluded global diplomatic
talks on climate change issues with
the United Nations in the lead. In
that gathering of world leaders and
experts, coal had been bedeviled as
the number one assault to the planet
given its massive contribution to heattrapping emission that intensifies
global warming.
Monsada added that it just happened that the power plants being
inaugurated now are coal plants
because that was the preference of
the private investors based on the
countrys power supply problems
because they can be built base load at
sizeable capacity and also a cheaper
option.
It is her wish though that the
power mix will eventually re-balance,
with private investors also looking ultimately at cleaning their generallylabeled dirty acts.
The energy chief added that they
Filipinos fit to work

in other ASEAN countries
By MADELAINE
B. MIRAFLOR
Despite regulatory challenges and some regional

barriers, the rosy economic
prospects of the Philippines
and the increasing sophistication of its private sector were
still able to produce highly
skilled Filipino workers that
are fit to work and compete
in other Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)
countries.
In its recent investment
guide, R.G. Manabat & Co.,
Philippine member firm of
KPMG International, emphasized that Filipino workforce
has brilliant minds and a
strong sense of ASEAN culture.
The rosy economic prospects of the Philippines and
the increasing sophistication
of the private sector would
herald a buoyant labor market, the research specified.
Although currently, the ASEAN

is among the most restrictive trading
blocs when it comes to services trade,
especially in the case of professional
services, a number of national government agencies and professional associations are already working double-time
to fast-track the opening up of the labor
market, it added.
However, the audit, tax and advisory firm noted that the Philippines is
still considered restrictive in sending
workers abroad and accepting foreign
employees to work here. But it also
noted that despite the presence of some
barriers, some Filipino professionals,
especially high-skilled ones, still found
opportunities to work in other ASEAN
countries because of their valuable
skills, insights and contributions to the
business community.
In terms of labor supply and demand, the numbers are already in our
favor with a young population and a
growing workforce, the company said,
emphasizing that the jobs that will be in
demand are those requiring sophisticated knowledge and skills.
As for the sectors, Bernardo Ville-
are also undertaking inventory of

the entire power system to re-assess
what the sector just actually needs
in terms of base load capacity, midmerit, or peaking facilities.
We have to explore a lot of options. In the Power Development
Plan, we are categorizing power
plants based on baseload, mid-merit
and peaking we cant have all baseload plants, we need to balance thats
why the mix will eventually correct
itself, she stressed.
DOE director Irma Exconde
added that modified planning and the
proposed enforcement of stricter coal
technology standards is now in the
cards for the departments fortified
policy crafting.
Our technical people are reviewing the parameters that we should
be looking at in terms of structure
like what technology the coal plants
are using, the kind of coal fed into the
plants and the added buffer installed
to protect nearby communities, she
said.
The department indicated that
there are now roughly 20 coal plants
operating around the country; and the
technologys share in the Philippine
power mix is already at a high of 40
to 45 percent.
gas, a professor from the University of
Asia and the Pacific, emphasized that
the sunrise industries or sectors that
will provide more job opportunities will
be agribusiness, telecommunications,
transportation, tourism, health care,
infrastructures of all types, education,
logistics, and the creative industries.
Highly skilled engineers and scientists and other youngsters who are
comfortable with mathematics and
data analysis will also be needed in the
so-called knowledge industries IT and
software, biotechnology and material
sciences, the three areas that will define
the technological breakthroughs in the
twenty first century, he added.
Aside from acquiring the knowledge
and skills needed in the fields mentioned, Villegas said the young Filipino
workforce also has to remember that
opportunities are not limited to national
companies anymore, their decisions on
career prospects will already be influenced by regional demand.
They also have to prepare in terms
of soft skills because the decision to work
in another ASEAN country means having to deal with people with a different
set of beliefs and customs. Although
learning other ASEAN languages may
not really be necessary, learning more
about the history and culture of other
ASEAN countries could help, KPMG
further said.
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BPIs 2015 earnings flat at P18.23 billion
By JAMES A. LOYOLA
ank of the Philippine Islands

(BPI) ended its 2015 flat with
profit inching up 1.1 percent
only to P18.23 billion last year
from the P18.04 billion in 2014 as expenses
almost equaled revenues.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock
Exchange, the bank said its total rev-
enues rose by 6.4 percent to P59.36 billion,

driven by net interest income, which rose
11.0 percent to P38.64 billion.
However, BPI said its comprehensive
income was P16.69 billion, down 7.1 percent. The Banks trading performance
weathered a volatile year, with foreign
exchange and securities trading marking
gains of P2.86 billion. Non-interest income
was P20.72 billion, down 1.2 percent.
On the other hand, operating expenses grew to P31.87 billion, or 6.4 percent,
the same pace as revenues.
The banks cost-to-income ratio remained at 53.7 percent. Return on assets
was 1.3 percent, down 0.1 percent from
the prior year; return on equity was 12.3
percent, down 1.4 percent.
Both total loans and total deposits
grew to record levels in 2015. Total loans
stood at P872.86 billion, up 9.1 percent on

a 78 percent-22 percent corporate-retail
mix.
Gross 90-day non-performing loans
were 1.6 percent, up slightly from 1.5 percent. Loan loss cover was 110.2 percent,
not counting the value of collateral.
Total deposits stood at P1.28 trillion,
up 8.5 percent year-on-year. Current account and savings account ratio at the
ALI winds down China business, optimistic in ASEAN, PH

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI)
expects to be completely out of China
in a year as it looks forward to brighter
prospects in the Philippines despite some
concerns over demand easing in certain
sectors of the real estate market.
In an interview, ALI chief finance
officer Jaime Ysmael said China, were
exiting as you know. We just try to sell the
remaining residential units in Tianjin.
There is only a few left so it should be sold
in the next year.
Our stake is one third. It is small. I
dont know exactly how it will work but
well probably just liquidate the company
and distribute whatever remains as capital, said Ysmael.
He added that ALI just broke even
on its China investment and we already
gave up on other sites that was allocated
for us. Its very difficult in the current
market.
Ysmael explained that, obviously

it was triggered by what happened in
China. We felt it will be very difficult to
continue. Not right now in China, were
focusing more on ASEAN [Association
of Southeast Asian Nation].
Meanwhile, ALI senior vice president
and strategic land bank management
group head Meann Dy said they are
very happy with their investment in
Malaysia.
As you know, we increased our stake.
Its a small but rapidly developing company. It is meeting our expectations in
terms of the growth, she said.
While the Malaysian market has
its share of challenges, Dy said their
company serves the affordable segment
which has been quite resilient these past
few months. We are quite happy with the
way that partnership is shaping up.
Ysmael said ALI continues prospect-
SSS to sell 48 condo

units in Mandaluyong
By CHINO S. LEYCO
State-owned Social Security System

(SSS) will sell several condominium
units and parking slots in Mandaluyong
City in April this year to provide additional funding for the pension fund.
In a published invitation to bid, SSS
expects to raise at least P353.73 million from the sale of 48 condominium
units and 50 parking slots located at
Pioneer Highlands Condominium in
Mandaluyong City.
Based on the document, SSS will
bid out 31 residential condominium
units with parking slots at Pioneer West
Highlands and Pioneer Madison Suites.
Floor area of the properties ranges from
94.84 square meters to 236.56 square
meters with a 12.5 square meter parking space each. Minimum bid price for
the residential condominium was set
between P4.742 million and P22.265
million.
The pension fund is also selling 22
office condominium units at Pioneer
Corporate Center and Globe Telecom
Plaza with 12.5 square meters parking

slots and floor area of 71.66 square meters to 206.8 square meters.
Floor price for the bidding of SSS
office condominium units was set at
P4.01 million to P11.58 million.
SSS, likewise, plans to sell two 12.5
square meter tandem parking slots for
a minimum bid of P550,000 each.
Under the terms of payments, interested parties may submit cash or
installment bid with at least 10 percent
deposit, and the sale is on an as-in,
where-is basis.
Interested bidders may secure
terms of reference for the properties
until April 8 this year from the Acquired
Asset Disposal Committee (AADC)
secretariat at SSS headquarters on
East Avenue in Quezon City. There is a
P10,000 non-refundable fee.
The last day for the submission of
the accomplished eligibility documents
shall be on the date of the opening of
eligibility documents on April 12, 2016
not later than 10 AM at the Executive
Lounge, 2nd Floor, SSS Building, East
ing in the region but it depends on the

opportunity that comes. We really have
to be careful in terms of evaluating the
right project. Were very particular about
the partners.
In general, Ysmael said the company
remains optimistic about the local property market, noting that they were still
able to grow sales by 4 percent last year
and they have prepared for more growth
in the future.
We are confident of hitting our 202040 plan of hitting P40 billion in net income
by the year 2020, he said noting that all
the firms business are expanding and
even growing their margins.
For this year, Ysmael said ALI is allotting a capital expenditure budget of
P85 billion with residential development
still getting the lions share of
around 40 percent.
Malls will account for 16
end of the year was 72.3 percent.

Total assets ended at P1.52 trillion,
4.6 percent or P66.16 billion above that
of last year.
Investment securities closed at
P295.18 billion, a 6.7 percent increase
year-on-year. The banks investment
securities was mostly held-to-maturity
(HTM), at P244.81 billion.
Capital, net of all cash dividends declared at year-end, was P150.28 billion, up
4.3 percent. CAR ended at 13.6 percent;
CET1, 12.7 percent.
percent, offices at 8 percent, hotels

and resorts at 4 percent, estate development at 5 percent, and other
investments at 9 percent.
Ysmael said land acquisition
will represent 18 percent or roughly
P15 billion, lower than what ALI
spent in the past for land acquisition.
The bulk (of capex) will now be
for completing the projects that we
have started across all the business
lines that we are in, he explained.
ALI has already accumulated
almost 9,000 hectares for its landbank in 55 areas which it has identified as growth centers nationwide
where the market is primed for
more growth. (JAL)
East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, SSS said.

A pre-bid conference
among interested bidders
was held last March 18, 2016
at 10 a.m., while opening of
bid proposals is on April 20
this year.
Earlier, the Commission
on Audit (COA) said SSS
could have earned at least
P198.1 million in additional
income in 2014 if only it was
able to rent out its idle assets
worth P17.956 billion, including more than 100 unused
condominium units.
COA records showed
SSS idle properties include
102 condominium units in
seven condominium buildings, 44,000 square meters
of store or office spaces,
16 houses and 169 parking
slots.
At end-October 2015, SSS
said that revenues from investment income reached
P24.213 billion. Of the sum,
only about P415.89 million
or 1.7 percent came from
the lease or sale of its real
property holdings.
Traffic grows market

for halfway houses in PH
By MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR
Traffic in Metro Manila is growing

the market for halfway houses, appearing to be more of a new growth
driver now than what used to be a challenge for real estate developers.
Julius Guevera, director at real
estate services firm Colliers Philippines, said that since it makes more
sense now for people to move closer
to their office than go through the horrendous Manila traffic on a daily basis,
the market for halfway houses is also
growing.
Halfway houses is a term normally
used when renting a place near to his
office or school but still regularly goes
home to his permanent home, usually
outside the central business districts
(CBD).
When asked how the traffic is
changing the trend in the real estate
sector, Guevara said well, it makes

more sense now for people to be close
to their office, school, and business.
If the traffic situations continue to
worsen, CBDs will continue to grow because more and more people will move
within or closer to it, Guevara said in
an interview with reporters.
It [traffic] is one of the growth
drivers of the real estate sector. More
people are now leasing. It makes more
sense for people. It has become a huge
new driver. More apartment developments will be catering to this unserved
demand because the amount that people pay for transportation is equivalent
to renting a space, he further said.
Guevara also said that in general,
the rental rates in the CBDs, especially in Makati, will continue to decline
because more and more supply are
expected to be delivered in the next
few years.
Pagudpud wind plant

disconnected from the grid
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
The 81-megawatt Pagudpud wind

farm has been disconnected from
Luzon power system since Thursday
(February 18) due to the tripping of
the interconnection facility supporting
its operations and wheeling of capacity to the grid.
In a statement to the media, project operator North Luzon Renewables
has noted that the technical glitch in
the transmission facility was just uncovered Friday (February 19).
It was determined in the early
morning of Friday that two of its trans-
mission towers in Barangay Tadao in

the municipality of Pasuquin, Ilocos
Norte has toppled.
The project firm stated that initial
investigation established that explosives were used to take down the
transmission towers.
Apparently, this is the first major
attack reported on a wind farm; and
also considerably a preliminary one
for Luzon grid as assaults with the use
of explosives mostly targeted transmission towers in Mindanao.
Nevertheless, North Luzon Renewables qualified that no one has
claimed responsibility at this time
[In 2015], residential

rental rate growth slowed
down on average to 1.1 percent for all major areas
Colliers maintains its outlook
that if the 13,500 units scheduled for 2016 are indeed completed, rental rates may drop
by an average of 5 percent
by the end of the year due to
the increase in competition
for tenants, Colliers Philippines said in a research.
It was also emphasized
that residential capital value
growth is decelerating.
Because of the softer
outlook on the residential
market, capital values may
decline slightly over the next
12 months, the property
services company pointed
out.
referring to the incident.
The company added
there were no fatalities or
injuries related to the incident, and the company has
not also given timeframe as
of press time, on when the
wind farm can get back to
normal operations.
It just specified that it
will continue to work with
local and national law enforcement agencies, as well
as the local government, to
continue investigating this
incident.
T h e Pa g u d p u d w i n d
plant is included in the firstmover projects incentivized
with feed-in-tariff amounting to P8.53 per kilowatt
hour.
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PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE

FEBRUARY 19, 2016
52 Weeks
HIGH LOW
STOCKS
PAR
VALUE
2012 PREV
EPS CLOSE
OPEN
HIGH
LOW CLOSE
VOLUME
VALUE
World
February 19, 2016 closings
PE
RATIO
FRANKFURT
****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
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
44.9
102
90.6
36
16.6
79.4
15.1
51.2
96.9
34.3
144
56
44.9
102
90.6
36.5
16.6
79.4
15.1
52.85
97.4
34.5
144
56
44.8
99.95
90.35
36
16.5
78.4
15
51.2
96.9
34
141
55
44.85
101
90.4
36
16.5
79.05
15
52.4
96.9
34.1
141.7
55.6
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
****
**** OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
**** OTHER
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ****
AG FINANCE
1.00
0.13
2.9
2.9
2.98
2.89
2.93
BRIGHT KINDLE
0.55 -0.00009
1.48
1.48
1.48
1.4
1.4
BDO LEASING
1.00
0.23
2.51
2.52
2.7
2.52
2.6
COL FINANCIAL
1.00
0.56
14.18
14.3
14.3
14.02
14.2
FILIPINO FUND
1.00
0.38
6.62
6.62
6.65
6.62
6.65
IREMIT
1.00
0.02
1.7
1.74
1.78
1.7
1.78
MEDCO HLDG
1.00
-0.01
0.48
0.495
0.5
0.48
0.48
MANULIFE
0.00
1.82
560
566
566
566
566
PHIL STOCK EXCH
1.00
11.81
272
273.8
275
267
274.6
SUN LIFE
0.00
115.81 1,325.00
1,350
1,350
1,315
1,315
VANTAGE
1.00
0.26
1.46
1.47
1.49
1.47
1.49
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
**** ELECTRICITY, ENERGY,

POWER & WATER **** ENERGY, POWER
**** ELECTRICITY,
ALSONS CONS
1.00
0.06
1.46
1.43
1.46
ABOITIZ POWER
1.00
2.27
42.55
42.55
43
ENERGY DEVT
1.00
0.62
5.7
5.71
5.94
FIRST GEN
1.00
0.05
20.3
20.25
21.2
10.00
10.1
58
58.95
60.1
FIRST PHIL HLDG
1.00
0.19
3.19
3.2
3.2
PHIL H2O
10.00
16.02
322
321
322
MERALCO
1.00
2.36
26.5
26.5
26.9
MANILA WATER
1.00
-0.15
8.95
8.94
9.28
PETRON
1.00
0.4
3.75
3.73
3.75
PHX PETROLEUM
1.00
0.04
2.1
2.13
2.13
TA OIL
1.00
1.32
22.5
22.5
22.5
VIVANT
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
**** FOOD, BEVERAGE & TOBACCO

****
**** FOOD,
1.00
-2.01
AGRINURTURE
10.00
4.29
CNTRL AZUCARERA
1.00
0.76
CENTURY FOOD
0.01
1.24
DEL MONTE
1.00
0.76
DNL INDUS
1.00
0.41
EMPERADOR
1.00
-0.01
ALLIANCE SELECT
1.00
5.08
JOLLIBEE
10.00
7.46
LIBERTY FLOUR
1.00
-0.05
MAXS GROUP
10.00
16.11
PUREFOODS
0.15
0.22
PEPSI COLA
1.00
0.25
RFM CORP
1.00
-0.003
SWIFT FOODS
1.00
5.3
UNIV ROBINA
1.00
0.21
VITARICH
1.00
0.4
VICTORIAS
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
**** CONSTRUCTION,
& ALLIED
**** CONSTRUCTION,
INFRASTRUCTURE & INFRASTRUCTURE
ALLIED SERVICES ****
1.00
-0.003
10.3
10.3
10.3
10.1
ASIABEST GROUP
10.00
0.56
40
45
55
45
CONCRETE A
2.29
2.16
0.02
-0.002
2.27
2.27
DAVINCI CAPITAL
1.00
0.89
6.5
6.5
6.76
6.49
EEI CORP
1.00
0.8
13.96
13.9
13.98
13.9
HOLCIM
1.00
0.34
5.8
5.81
5.88
5.8
MEGAWIDE
10.00
0.95
11.48
11.38
11.38
11.38
PHINMA
1.00
-0.23
1.07
1.06
1.06
1.01
TKC METALS
1.00
-0.01
1.03
1.03
1.04
1.03
VULCAN INDL
3.33
2.89
3.45
6.94
4.5
1.5
1.3
1.69
1.52
1
**** CHEMICALS ****

CROWN ASIA
EUROMED
LMG CHEMICALS
MABUHAY VINYL
PRYCE CORP
65.8
7.08
4.18
4.47
3
36
7,800
349,550
2,227,410 224,464,500.50
1,473,330
133,281,264
43,700
1,573,300
70,000
1,158,050
2,691,200 212,602,586.50
182,200
2,736,670
36,980
1,915,180
6,500
629,875
0
0
40,200
1,376,935
128,750
18,270,943
63,140
3,515,774
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
132,000
77,000
79,000
27,700
3,400
67,000
910,000
20
1,930
115
7,000
386,090
108,340
200,190
391,500
22,568
118,180
442,750
11,320
527,832
152,325
10,410
22.62
-15453.07
11.74
25.36
17.50
85.00
-48.00
7.65
22.61
11.44
5.73
1.46
42.95
5.82
21.1
59.9
3.19
320.2
26.8
9.2
3.75
2.11
22.5
427,000
1,629,900
15,911,400
13,658,500
517,530
3,000
106,780
436,700
19,589,000
746,000
1,454,000
3,000
614,280
69,923,315
92,858,684
286,011,576
30,820,780
9,590
34,192,550
11,693,030
179,221,411
2,796,230
3,058,310
67,500
24.17
18.94
9.42
9.05
5.91
11.07
20.00
11.36
-61.07
9.38
52.75
17.05
5
200
17.52
11.4
8.5
7.3
0.69
217.8
27.15
15.5
143
3.25
3.75
0.151
188.2
0.63
4.7
4,391,000
90
192,400
57,700
12,875,900
2,360,600
98,000
1,864,110
1,300
2,305,600
42,210
2,990,000
60,000
3,710,000
1,853,070
1,836,000
17,000
21,600,780
18,000
3,354,242
658,434
110,481,895
17,224,656
67,620
406,231,812
35,295
35,825,276
6,027,308
9,691,290
225,390
574,160
348,852,551
1,163,470
80,260
-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
& WATER ****

1.42
42.5
5.7
19.52
58.7
3.19
320
26.5
8.85
3.62
2.1
22.5
4.79
200
17.34
11.6
8.6
7.3
0.69
220
27.15
15.76
134
3.15
3.78
0.153
190
0.65
4.88
5
200
17.58
11.6
8.66
7.31
0.69
220
27.15
15.8
143
3.3
3.78
0.157
190.1
0.66
4.88
4.79
200
17
11.38
8.49
7.29
0.69
217.6
27.15
15.5
134
3.12
3.75
0.151
187
0.63
4.7
200
400
4,381,000
1,806,800
4,300
31,700
1,000
43,000
68,000
2,040
19,500
9,624,970
12,131,350
60,042
183,912
11,380
43,520
70,150
-1030.00
89.29
1,100.00)
7.53
17.48
17.09
11.98
-4.61
-103.00
2.06
1.9
3.37
2.7
819,000
0
12,000
2,000
772,000
1,677,700
0
22,550
6,740
2,136,960
0.00
35.80
-180.00
25.00
18.20
37
4.8
0.43
3.5
1.29
17.4
**** ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

& EQUIPMENT ****
**** ELECTRICAL
COMPONENTS & EQUIPMENT ****
1.00
1.88
39.55
39.1
39.3
39.1
39.3
6,100
CONCEPCION
1.00
0.75
5.56
5.46
5.54
5.45
5.53
68,400
INTEGRATED MICR
1.00
0.05
2.35
2.35
2.38
2.3
2.3
1,786,000
IONICS
1.00
0.39
4
3.95
3.95
3.95
3.95
16,000
PANASONIC
1.00
0.39
1.47
1.48
1.58
1.48
1.56
1,014,000
PHX SEMICNDCTR
1.00
0.89
18.52
18.52
18.72
18.22
18.22
171,100
CIRTEK HLDG
239,450
376,508
4,141,010
63,200
1,564,590
3,152,060
20.80
7.28
46.60
10.13
4.00
18.92
1.55
**** OTHER INDUSTRIALS ****

1.00
SPLASH CORP
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
**** HOLDING FIRMS ****

ABACORE CAPITAL
AYALA CORP
ABOITIZ EQUITY
ALLIANCE GLOBAL
ANSCOR
ANGLO PHIL HLDG
ATN HLDG A
COSCO CAPITAL
DMCI HLDG
FILINVEST DEV
FJ PRINCE A
FORUM PACIFIC
GT CAPITAL
HOUSE OF INV
IPM HLDG
JG SUMMIT
LODESTAR
LOPEZ HLDG
LT GROUP
MABUHAY HLDG
METRO PAC INV
PACIFICA
PRIME ORION
SOLID GROUP
SM INVESTMENTS
SAN MIGUEL CORP
SOC RESOURCES
SEAFRONT RES
TOP FRONTIER
UNIOIL HLDG
WELLEX INDUS
ZEUS HLDG
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
2.95
**** CHEMICALS ****

0.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1
0.05
-0.01
0.12
0.15
2.06
1.79
1.8
3
2.82
2.05
1.85
3.37
2.85
2.06
1.9
3.37
2.85
2.03
1.85
3.37
2.7
2.45
2.46
2.46
2.39
2.4
226,000
542,580
120.00
0.325
688.5
57
14.6
6
0.95
0.231
7.2
11.98
4.75
4.85
0.23
1,255
5.61
9.41
68.5
0.66
5.33
16.18
0.48
5.83
0.03
2.2
1.06
823
71.35
0.78
2.44
144.9
0.29
0.202
0.31
0.325
693.5
57.3
14.6
6.01
1.07
0.231
7.23
12.3
4.75
4.85
0.232
1,260
5.61
9.79
69
0.66
5.57
16.3
0.48
5.9
0.03
2.22
1.06
827
71.35
0.78
2.44
144.9
0.29
0.202
0.31
290,000
217,310
827,230
9,470,800
1,331,500
10,000
160,000
2,382,900
5,608,000
53,000
14,000
3,010,000
134,980
6,500
3,208,000
1,358,930
15,000
24,062,500
1,751,500
100,000
81,999,000
16,700,000
7,022,000
10,000
209,250
450,140
43,000
1,000
102,830
4,130,000
480,000
100,000
94,650
150,815,215
47,735,671
138,687,784
7,989,025
9,860
37,340
17,348,196
68,923,764
251,750
67,900
712,780
170,271,070
36,465
31,403,730
93,776,866
10,050
133,163,909
28,554,170
48,050
489,892,482
502,200
15,721,170
10,600
173,764,045
32,271,702
33,540
2,440
14,980,671
1,211,600
99,020
31,100
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
0.217
31.15
1.33
2.96
0.83
0.116
4.69
0.54
0.42
23.7
0.83
1.53
0.91
6.98
1.24
0.94
3.42
0.087
0.23
8.39
25.45
0.38
1.49
0.75
21.05
0.94
4.39
0.217
31.35
1.4
3.01
0.86
0.116
4.7
0.57
0.42
23.85
0.83
1.55
0.91
6.98
1.24
0.94
3.46
0.09
0.23
8.39
26
0.395
1.49
0.76
21.1
0.94
4.45
40,000
7,551,100
505,000
6,875,000
3,968,000
400,000
21,000
3,320,000
660,000
413,200
222,000
23,193,000
930,000
213,000
190,000
62,000
26,767,000
1,180,000
620,000
21,600
2,548,100
220,000
71,000
100,362,000
8,016,800
1,696,000
4,198,000
8,680
236,897,575
702,820
20,767,590
3,461,860
46,720
98,730
1,849,700
281,000
9,852,530
184,380
35,740,300
852,090
1,492,513
235,600
60,730
92,791,610
103,650
142,600
181,815
66,861,145
87,500
106,250
75,273,970
169,607,945
1,606,770
18,704,190
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
54.3
6.68
0.52
25.9
54.3
6.68
0.56
25.9
53,390
86,900
17,000
4,000
2,908,800
588,446
9,480
103,600
18.95
31.81
18.12
87.88
1,840
4.02
2,246
51,305
679,000
157,245
95,331,565
2,684,500
353,355,980
18.29
-28.71
14.25
0.05
29.83
3.32
1.31
1.63
0.31
10.3
0.54
0.81
0.4
0.2
-0.02
52.51
2.01
0.09
2.6
-0.003
0.88
0.41
0.05
0.31
-0.00003
0.09
0.07
35.66
3.61
-0.04
0.02
10.17
-0.002
-0.01
-0.0003
0.33
695
57.9
14.62
6
1.05
0.24
7.35
12
4.7
5
0.225
1,265.00
5.62
9.6
69.9
0.67
5.3
16.46
0.485
5.85
0.031
2.21
1.06
845
73.1
0.81
2.3
148
0.295
0.215
0.31
0.345
690.5
57.95
14.66
6
0.95
0.244
7.36
12
4.75
4.85
0.236
1,270
5.61
9.5
69
0.68
5.39
16.5
0.485
5.85
0.03
2.21
1.06
845.5
71.7
0.78
2.44
147
0.3
0.21
0.31
0.345
695
58.35
14.8
6.01
1.07
0.244
7.43
12.4
4.75
4.85
0.255
1,270
5.61
9.79
69.9
0.68
5.63
16.5
0.485
6.09
0.031
2.27
1.06
850
72.2
0.78
2.44
147.5
0.305
0.22
0.315
**** PROPERTY ****

ARTHALAND CORP
AYALA LAND
ARANETA PROP
BELLE CORP
A BROWN
CROWN EQUITIES
CEBU HLDG
CENTURY PROP
CYBER BAY
DOUBLEDRAGON
EMPIRE EAST
FILINVEST LAND
GLOBAL ESTATE
8990 HLDG
IRC PROP
CITY AND LAND
MEGAWORLD
MRC ALLIED
PHIL ESTATES
PRIMEX CORP
ROBINSONS LAND
PHIL REALTY
ROCKWELL
STA LUCIA LAND
SM PRIME HLDG
SUNTRUST HOME
VISTA LAND
0.18
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.10
1.00
0.53
1.00
0.10
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.20
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.04
1.05
0.04
0.22
0.001
0.001
0.28
0.19
-0.04
0.28
0.03
0.19
0.07
0.62
0.05
0.09
0.67
-0.01
0.01
0.01
1.16
0.02
0.26
0.07
0.66
0.01
0.67
February 19, 2016 closings
BANGKOK
53
5.96
0.48
3.1
**** MEDIA ****

ABS CBN
GMA NETWORK
MANILA BULLETIN
MLA BRDCASTING
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
2.87
0.21
0.03
0.33
2,720.00
5.2
3,200.00
1,650.00
1.93
1,886.00
**** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ****

50.00
GLOBE TELECOM
1.00
LIBERTY TELECOM
5.00
PLDT
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
****
**** INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
****INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ****
1.00
-0.74
5.96
5.8
5.9
5.75
DFNN INC
1.00
-0.31
1.22
1.23
1.27
1.18
ISM COMM
1.00
-0.004
0.255
0.265
0.265
0.265
MG HLDG
1.00
0.03
0.73
0.74
0.76
0.72
NOW CORP
1.00
-0.03
1.51
1.51
1.51
1.51
TRANSPACIFIC BR
1.00
0.77
27
27
27
26.95
PHILWEB
1.00
0.01
4.93
4.92
5.02
4.5
YEHEY CORP
5.9
1.2
0.265
0.73
1.51
27
4.9
49,300
4,105,000
180,000
10,711,000
3,000
36,200
239,000
285,900
4,958,890
47,700
7,973,940
4,530
977,390
1,176,890
-7.97
-3.84
-68.77
24.33
-50.33
35.06
500.00
11.6
99.5
114
2.5
6.21
1.97
5.05
74
55
1.8
3
1.1
********TRANSPORTATION
**** TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
1.00
0.34
6.45
6.45
2GO GROUP
1.00
1.41
83
82
CEBU AIR
1.00
0.08
58.9
59.9
INTL CONTAINER
1.00
0.09
2.4
2.33
MACROASIA
1.00
0.01
4.5
4.6
PAL HLDG
1.00
0.21
1.22
1.17
HARBOR STAR
6.45
81.7
58.85
2.3
4.6
1.17
6.5
82.55
59.35
2.5
4.6
1.19
51,300
250,600
2,879,830
117,000
1,000
71,000
331,483
20,671,576
170,925,130
288,430
4,600
83,960
19.12
58.51
17.82
26.67
490.00
5.67
1.36
0.121
2.05
1
0.036
1.6
**** HOTEL & LEISURE ****

ACESITE HOTEL
BOULEVARD HLDG
DISCOVERY WORLD
1.18
0.049
1.48
1.18
0.051
1.48
6,000
36,540,000
74,000
7,080
1,835,320
109,520
9.08
-42.50
12.50
12
1,200.00
12.5
0.74
8
830
9.8
0.36
* ** EDUCATION ****
CENTRO ESCOLAR
FAR EASTERN U
IPEOPLE
STI HLDG
957
11.74
0.46
958
11.74
0.475
0
310
100
1,640,000
0
296,680
1,174
757,200
12.35
15.35
12.26
6.79
12.42
0.017
21
2.9
0.01
16.52
**** CASINOS & GAMING ****

1.00
BLOOMBERRY
0.01
IP EGAME
1.00
PACIFIC ONLINE
4.27
0.0097
18.08
11,045,000
2,000,000
400
47,800,570
19,400
7,232
11.24
-11.00
14.02
0.217
31.9
1.42
3.06
0.84
0.117
4.75
0.55
0.43
24
0.84
1.54
0.91
6.98
1.24
0.98
3.5
0.091
0.23
8.43
26
0.4
1.5
0.75
21.4
0.99
4.48
0.217
31.9
1.43
3.1
0.89
0.118
4.75
0.57
0.43
24.1
0.85
1.55
0.92
7.06
1.24
1
3.5
0.091
0.23
8.45
26.7
0.405
1.5
0.76
21.4
0.99
4.51
**** MEDIA ****

54.5
6.81
0.56
29
54.5
6.8
0.56
25.9
**** TELECOMMUNICATIONS ****

100.6
-0.14
157.51
1,879.00
4.02
2,278.00
1,879
4
2,284
1,879
4.02
2,312
1,835
3.9
2,228
*** HOTEL & LEISURE ****

1.00
0.10
1.00
0.13
-0.001
0.16
1.00
100.00
1.00
0.50
0.81
62.27
0.93
0.07
1.17
0.051
2
1.18
0.051
1.48
1.18
0.051
1.48
**** EDUCATION ****

10
955
11.4
0.46
957
11.74
0.46
958
11.74
0.475
**** CASINOS & GAMING ****

0.38
-0.001
1.29
4.52
0.011
18.28
4.5
0.0097
18.08
4.58
0.0097
18.08
4.23
0.0097
18.08
MANILA
0.83%
Phisix
6,792.06
(-56.81)
0.16%
KLCI
1,677.29
(-2.73)
SEOUL
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)
0.79%
S&P
4,952.80
(-39.20)
TOKYO
TAIPEI
0.12%
W Index
8,325.04
(10.37)
1.42%
Nikkei
15,967.17
(-229.63)
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.
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
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
SERVICES ****
6.5
82.95
59.9
2.55
4.6
1.19
0.40%
Hang Seng
19,285.50
(-77.58)
KUALA LUMPUR
STOCKS
55
6.83
0.56
25.9
hONG KONG
0.99%
SET
1,307.35
(12.76)
**** PROPERTY ****

0.218
32
1.4
3.05
0.84
0.115
4.45
0.55
0.435
24
0.83
1.54
0.92
7
1.24
0.96
3.47
0.091
0.23
8.39
26
0.4
1.5
0.76
21.4
0.97
4.4
0.39%
CAC40
4,223.04
(-16.72)
Asia-Pacific
**** HOLDING FIRMS ****

1.00
50.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.10
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
10.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
0.10
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.01
1.00
1.00
10.00
5.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
PARIS
0.13%
Dow Jones
16,391.99
(-21.44)
**** OTHER INDUSTRIALS ****

0.02
0.36%
FTSE
5,950.23
(-21.72)
NEW YORK
SERVICES ****
10.1
55
2.19
6.75
13.98
5.8
11.38
1.01
1.04
LONDON
0.80%
DAX
9,388.05
(-75.59)
BEVERAGE & TOBACCO ****

4.77
190
17.36
11.52
8.6
7.3
0.69
220
27.15
15.76
134.5
3.11
3.78
0.153
190
0.64
4.71
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
PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE

FEBRUARY 19, 2016
52 Weeks
HIGH LOW
PAR
VALUE
STOCKS
2012
EPS
PREV
CLOSE
OPEN
7.65
2.17
0.84
3.88
7.7
2.17
0.84
3.88
10.82
10.78
1.79
7.63
6.56
1.15
0.435
3.18
LEISURE AND RES

MELCO CROWN
PREMIUM LEISURE
TRAVELLERS
1.00
1.00
0.25
0.10
0.52
-1.35
0.09
0.35
5.06
4.49
42
90.1
10.98
3
2.9
29.8
56
2.38
**** RETAIL ****

CALATA CORP
METRO RETAIL
PUREGOLD
ROBINSONS RTL
SSI GROUP
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.35
0
1.63
2.6
0
0.88
4.2
0.76
7.63
0.36
2.72
0.375
4.12
**** OTHER SERVICES ****

APC GROUP
EASYCALL
PRMIERE HORIZON
SBS PHIL CORP
1.00
1.00
0.25
1.00
0.02
0.06
0.08
0
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
**** MINING ****

ATOK
APEX MINING
ABRA MINING
ATLAS MINING
COAL ASIA HLDG
CENTURY PEAK
DIZON MINES
FERRONICKEL
GEOGRACE
LEPANTO A
LEPANTO B
MANILA MINING A
MANILA MINING B
MARCVENTURES
NIHAO
NICKEL ASIA
OMICO CORP
ORNTL PENINSULA
PX MINING
SEMIRARA MINING
1.00
1.00
0.01
8.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.10
0.10
0.01
0.01
1.00
1.00
0.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
-0.01
-0.18
-0.00005
0.92
-0.002
0.12
-0.09
0.24
-0.09
-0.02
-0.02
-0.0001
-0.0001
0.46
-0.05
2.26
-0.004
0.9
0.2
6.42
11.96
2.18
0.0044
4.34
0.63
0.5
8
0.71
0.29
0.31
0.32
0.012
0.013
1.82
2.43
4.76
0.55
1.33
5.65
122.1
0.275
0.016
0.018
5.89
5
12.8
0.18
0.008
0.0085
2.61
1.15
1.68
**** OIL ****

BASIC ENERGY
ORNTL PETROL A
PHILODRILL
PETROENERGY
PX PETROLEUM
TA PETROLEUM
0.25
0.01
0.01
1.00
1.00
1.00
-0.001
0.00002
0.002
0.03
-0.13
-0.05
0.211
0.001
0.011
3.45
1.75
2.34
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
PREFERRED
FGEN PREF G
GLO PREF P
MWIDE PREF
PF PREF 2
SFI PREF
SMC PREF 2C
SMC PREF 2D
SMC PREF 2E
SMC PREF 2F
10.00
50.00
1.00
10.00
1.00
5.00
5.00
5.00
5.00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
70
50
PHIL
ABS HLDG PDR
1.09
WARRANTS
LR WARRANT
106
5.4
10.5
17.46
2.81
2
2.51
8.14
SMALL
ALTERRA CAPITAL
ITALPINAS
MAKATI FINANCE
XURPAS
0.05
0.50
1.00
0.10
132.2
99.8
EXCHANG
FIRST METRO ETF
0.60
4.9
SECTORIAL SUMMARY Open

FInAnCIALS
InDUSTRIALS
HOLDIng FIRMS
PROPERTY
SERVICES
MInIng & OIL
SME
ETF
PSEI
ALL SHARES
gRAnD TOTAL
1,561.76
10,939.72
6,436.53
2,734.63
1,568.76
10,912.91
6,844.96
3,937.36
CLOSE
VOLUME
VALUE
PE
RATIO
HIGH
LOW
7.7
2.2
0.84
3.88
7.53
1.94
0.78
3.78
7.6
1.94
0.82
3.81
93,500
77,900,000
41,882,000
2,481,000
705,478
158,265,670
33,837,660
9,454,720
14.62
-1.44
9.11
10.89
3.18
3.54
34.5
63.2
3.61
3.14
3.48
33.9
62.4
3.43
3.18
3.52
34.1
63
3.5
36,000
575,000
1,125,900
1,302,880
7,327,000
113,350
2,017,830
38,442,265
82,026,562.50
25,773,080
9.09
0.00
20.95
23.65
0.00
0.485
2.65
0.39
4.95
0.495
2.7
0.39
4.95
600,000
11,000
270,000
1,277,500
293,800
29,200
106,300
6,403,888
23.25
54.33
4.88
0.00
13
2.2
0.0045
4.52
0.44
0.61
7.39
0.72
0.295
0.34
0.35
0.013
0.014
1.92
2.49
5.1
0.54
1.27
6.05
123.4
11.3
2.03
0.0043
4.45
0.43
0.58
7.12
0.69
0.29
0.3
0.32
0.012
0.013
1.8
2.4
4.88
0.54
1.22
5.75
122
11.3
2.07
0.0043
4.45
0.43
0.61
7.25
0.71
0.295
0.315
0.32
0.013
0.014
1.81
2.45
4.97
0.54
1.25
5.82
123
400
295,000
130,000,000
104,000
140,000
416,000
55,400
10,867,000
220,000
323,070,000
49,450,000
148,100,000
210,700,000
1,048,000
96,000
11,329,600
1,000
212,000
4,887,000
374,910
4,840
616,320
569,600
463,640
60,850
247,320
395,775
7,619,800
64,850
104,543,500
16,582,000
1,864,200
2,784,200
1,909,940
235,290
56,243,027
540
263,690
28,772,893
46,135,059
-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
0.222
0.0097
0.012
3.51
1.85
2.45
0.215
0.0097
0.011
3.5
1.8
2.31
0.222
0.0097
0.012
3.51
1.81
2.35
110,000
1,000,000
7,700,000
42,000
3,663,000
192,000
24,210
9,700
87,000
147,110
6,659,200
454,950
-212.00
10.00
5.50
2.37
-13.31
-45.00
118
520
112
1,028
2.2
82.3
78
76.7
78.4
118
520
112.4
1,028
2.2
82.3
78
77
78.4
20,000
2,000
11,010
10,100
10,000
10,400
19,000
103,500
229,800
2,360,000
1,040,000
1,233,124
10,382,800
22,000
855,920
1,482,000
7,953,450
18,031,482
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
54
54
121,970
6,595,006
0.00
2.37
2.4
328,000
793,720
0.00
3.74
2.45
2.75
13.58
61,000
160,000
2,000
246,500
223,470
391,560
5,500
3,348,930
0.19
0.00
12.70
0.00
7,990
887,711
0.00
**** RETAIL ****

3.18
3.54
33.7
61.5
3.4
3.15
3.51
34.5
62.4
3.6
**** OTHER SERVICES ****

0.46
3.26
0.4
5.19
0.5
2.65
0.395
5.22
0.5
2.7
0.395
5.22
**** MINING ****

13
2.14
0.0044
4.52
0.44
0.6
7.39
0.72
0.295
0.33
0.345
0.013
0.014
1.9
2.46
5.05
0.54
1.25
5.82
123.4
**** OIL ****

0.222
0.0097
0.012
3.5
1.85
2.45
**** PREFERRED ****

115.6
522
110
1,035.00
2.9
82.2
78
76.5
78.75
118
520
112
1,028
2.2
82.3
78
77
79
118
520
112.4
1,028
2.2
82.3
78
77
79
**** PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ****

0.00
53.5
54.9
54.9
**** WARRANTS ****

0.00
2.49
2.49
2.5
****SMALL, MEDIUM AND EMERGING****

0.86
0
0.21
0
3.48
2.5
2.91
13.8
3.48
2.45
2.75
13.8
3.75
2.48
2.75
13.84
3.34
2.44
2.75
13.5
****E X C H A N G E T R A D E D F U N D S ****
High
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
110.8
Close
110.7
111.3
110.6
%change Pt. Change
1,553.63
10,956.27
6,396.15
2,698.85
1,546.36
10,765.99
(0.29)
0.17
(0.86)
(1.34)
(1.16)
(0.32)
(4.54)
18.71
(55.9)
(36.83)
(18.2)
(34.96)
6,792.06
3,917.29
(0.82)
(0.55)
(56.81)
(21.74)
110.6
Volume
Value
8,276,554
101,420,785
176,933,965
197,725,129
211,702,447
904,233,022
469,999
7,990
604,260,441.55
1,933,466,021.82
1,775,264,816.79
819,608,972.86
1,110,712,979.65
276,779,463.76
3,972,664.12
887,711.00
1,600,769,891
6,524,953,071.55
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
ABC PREF
AC PREF A
AAA
ABC
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
B-5
Top stocks for the week
Bets on industrial
and property firms
By MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR
hile the property

sector is generally
vibrant, another
sector is looking
good in the local stock market
and that is industrial. This, as the
country grows its manufacturing sector and more economic
zones are being established and
registered.
In its latest data, listed brokerage firm COL Financial Philippines, Inc. highlighted some
stocks in the industrial and
property sectors.
As for industrial alone, it
maintained a buy rating for
construction firm EEI Corporation for having a strong local operations to offset the weakness of
its Saudi Arabia operations.
In the recent data made by
real estate services firm Colliers International, it was also
emphasized that out of all the
sub-sectors in the entire property sector, industrial is the most
promising for this year.
Meanwhile, in the property
sector, the positive outlook for
listed real estate firms such as
Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC)
and SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
(SMPH) was maintained.
COL Financial particularly
advised investors to hold their
RLC shares because it just
had a positive first quarter 2016
earnings, while it reiterated that
outlook remains positive for
SMPH shares.
Moving toward this shortened trading week, Justino
Calaycay, Head of Marketing
and Research at A&A Securities,
Inc., said the market will cling on
to external news as well as fourth
quarter earnings releases.
The market requires additional impetus to sustain the
momentum it was starting to
build as it makes a bid to breach
the 6850-mark. With the end
of February fast approaching,
attention should begin to shift
away from externalities [for the
moment] as focus will be on 4Q
earnings, Calaycay said.
We would also be in the lookout for positive developments
in the ongoing talks among oil
producers in hammering out
a scheme to stem the, until
recently, unabated drop in the
commoditys prices, he added.
Philippine shares ended its
four-day winning streak last
week after profit-taking ensued
on Friday.
Despite a weak Friday, this
proved to be a good week for
local stocks, posting its second
best period advance since the
week ending-January 29th. The
market booked gains of 2.07
percent in a week marked by
four straight days in the fly,
Calaycay said.
On Thursday, the Philippine
Stock Exchange will pause trading activities in observance of
People Power Anniversary.
China to replace securities

regulator head state media
BEIJING (AFP) China will
replace the head of its securities
regulator, state media reported
Saturday, as the country struggles to curb volatility in its stock
markets. The ruling Communist
Party has decided that Xiao Gang
will be ''dismissed'' from the top
position at the China Securities
Regulatory Commission, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Liu Shiyu, the current head of
Agricultural Bank of China -- one
of China's top four banks -- will
replace Xiao, it said. In mid-2015,

Xiao oversaw a rout on China's
exchanges, with the benchmark
Shanghai index plummeting by
almost a third, wiping trillions of
dollars from market valuations
and jolting global markets.
The plunge was triggered
when regulators changed the
rules on traders' use of borrowed
money, bursting a debt-fuelled
bubble that had seen the Shanghai index surge 150 percent in the
year to mid-June.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
A HISTORICAL LANDMARK BUILT IN 1912

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LIKE
NO
OTHER
IN
THE
WORLD
OVERLOOKING RIZ AL NATIONAL PARK AND MANIL A BAY

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BEHIND SOUTH HARBOR, INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER AND CARGO TERMINALS.
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Tel.: (632) 527-0011 Connecting all departments
Fax: (632) 527-0022 to 24
Where to stay in
etro
anila
at the following hotel subscribers of the Manila Bulletin:

Manila Hotel
527-0011
Acacia Hotel Manila

Alabang, Muntinlupa
Century Park Hotel

Crowne Plaza
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 Hot el
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
GoHot elsD umaguete

Go Hotels Iloilo
(6332)
236-8888
GoHot els 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
(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
Butuan City
Emma Victoria's Inn

Davao City
Enricos Inn and Apartelles
Davao City
Executive Hotel
Ozamis City
Executive Pension
Cagayan de Oro City
(088)
387 2103
09197257402
09399168034
09129496400
(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
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
GOA
(064)
421 6170
421 5118
858-3004
858-3006
DER
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
HotelSup reme
Baguio
(074)
424-2620
( 0 2 ) 54 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
GoHot elO tis-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 Plac e Hot el

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
SKYLIGHTHO TEL
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
(036)2886633
One
Boracay Resort
OneMGMBoracayResort
MGM
(036)2886111/2886777
andConventionCenter
and Convention Center
Boracay Island
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
(036)2886633
BoracayRegencyBeach
(036) 288-3507
(036)
(036)2886111/2886777
288-3758
The
(036)2883208
BoracayHills
Boracay
(036)2883208 Beach Resort
(036)2884288
(036)2884288
(036)2883315
Boracay
Island
(036)2883764

Red
Coconut
RedCoconut
BeachHotel
BeachResort
(036)2883794to97
(036) 288-3507
(036)
(036)2883794to97
288-3758
Water Colors Boracay

(036)2883208Dive Resorts
(036)2884288

Boracay Island,
The District Boracay

Malay, Aklan
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
Black
ymv
L
CLASSIFIED BOX ADS RATE
Weekdays - P 315.00 per col./cm.
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)
B7
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
B-8
Classied Ads
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
Classied Ads
B-9
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
Classified Ads
B-10
PSALMs okay
needed in NGCPs
fiber optic-anchored
IT investment
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
ASEAN+3 sets...
and it took effect last November 17.
The ASA is a short-term foreign
exchange liquidity support for ASEAN
member countries that experience
balance of payments (BOP) difficulties.
The Philippines has committed
$300 million to the swap arrangement
which would allow the country to draw
up to $600 million if needed.
B-1
The Philippines has a strong

foreign exchange buffer, boosted by
remittances from overseas Filipinos,
exports and earnings from the business process outsourcing sector. As of
end-January this year, it has a gross
international reserves (GIR) amounting to $80.69 billion.
While the BSP just reported a BOP
deficit of $813 million in the same
month, officials project a full-year

BOP surplus of $2 billion.
Our external position is robust
and offers buffers against possible
external shocks, with a BOP surplus
($2.6 billion end-2015), healthy level of
GIR that could pay for over 10 months
worth of imports of goods and services, and remittances through banks
from overseas Filipinos that continue
to grow year after year, Tetangco
told the banking community earlier
this year.
Certainly, we are not immune
to adverse external developments
(but we) will have to deal with their
ramifications, the bumps on the road,
so to speak.
Transmission firm
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines
(NGCP) has been invited
by a government entity
to co-invest in an internet backbone using its
fiber optic cables (FOC),
but without complying
with the mandates of its
concession agreement
with the Power Sector
Assets and Liabilities
Management Corporation, it is not going to
happen.
If the company will
plunge into an added venture as
a co -investor in the internet-forall-project of the Information and
Communications Technology Office
(ICTO), Section 8.03 of the Concession
Agreement provides that the Concessionaire (NGCP) shall not, without
PSALMs prior written consent,
enter into any business other than
the activities required and permitted
under this Agreement or undertaken
in connection with any other related
business.
Section 10.04 of their concession
deal further states that: the concessionaire shall maintain separate
audited accounts for each related
business, kept as if the Concession-
aire carried on such related business

as a separate company, so that such
accounts separately identify the revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities
and reserves reasonably attributable
to each related business in the books
of the Concessionaire.
As defined, related business shall
refer to any business which maximizes the utilization of the transmission assets.
The ICTO of the Department of
Science and Technology (DOST), in its
project briefer, has clearly stated that
it has been inviting NGCP to co-invest
in an infrastructure build-up that shall
enable the use of its fiber optic cable as
internet backbone for the country.
The project will serve as an expansion of what the ICTO has already
started as network for the countrys
internet connectivity.
The agency further stipulated
that it wants to engage NGCP for a
partnership on the upgrade on fiber
infrastructure and equipment.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has facilitated the meeting
between ICTO and the transmission
firm-concessionaire to advance talks
on this particular undertaking.
As further stated, NGCP is being
tapped not only to co-invest in the
information technology infrastructure but will also be involved in the
operation and maintenance (O&M) of
the project.
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Classified Ads
Monday, February 22, 2016 B-11
OPEC in disarray,
US now a global
energy exporter
UKs Cameron wins deal

for special status in EU
BRUSSELS (AFP) British Prime
Minister David Cameron on Friday
sealed a deal for special status in the
European Union (EU) after a marathon
summit, paving the way for him to campaign to stay in the bloc in a historic
referendum.
The unanimous agreement came after two days and nights of intense negotiations in Brussels, despite European
leaders digging in their heels on all the
major reforms Cameron sought.
Cameron will hold an emergency
cabinet meeting on Saturday as he
embarks on the difficult process of
selling the deal at home ahead of the
referendum, expected on June 23.
Ive negotiated a deal to give the
Job skills...
The study also showed that 39.4
percent of unemployed youth have invested time and resources in at least a
post-secondary or tertiary degree and
almost half completed high school (49.3
percent).
Across the automotive, hospitality
and electronics sectors, the job skills
mismatch is considered one of the top
three human resources concerns.
Forecasted employment impact of
each sector for the period 2013-2016, the
tourism sector is expected to create 2.5
million jobs; IT-BPO 1.3 million; electronics 350,000; food processing 144,000;
chemicals 83,000; garments 36,000; automotive 24,000; iron and steel 11,000; and
minerals processing 2,000.
While the automotive sector provides lower jobs contribution, the study
also noted that other data sources
showed that in 2013, the industry is
know to have employed 68,000 people
in vehicle manufacturing and another
350,000 in supporting industries.
The study confirms that the mismatch is more pronounced in the
manufacturing (automotive, electronics/
semiconductor) sector where technical
and professional graduates require additional training to become productive.
In contrast the job skills mismatch
in the hotel sector is observed in terms
of English language proficiency both
written and verbal skills.
Within the context of the automotive,
hospitality and electronics sectors, the
job skills mismatch is observed in low,
medium and high skills positions. It almost equally affects both genders.
UK special status in the European

Union, Cameron told a press conference.
I will be campaigning with all my
heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed
European Union that we have secured
today.
He said the deal contained a sevenyear emergency brake on welfare
payments for EU migrants and meant
Britain would be permanently out of
ever closer union.
While Britains place in the EU now
rests in the hands of the British public,
the deal removes one major headache
for the bloc as it faces the biggest migration crisis in Europes history.
B-1
The study has also identified three
factors as the main causes of the job
skills mismatch. These are weak labor
market information systems, a vicious
cycle that affects both demand and
supply; inadequate training; and weak
support for science and technology.
The December 2015 study, which
was presented at the recent ECOP
forum, offers a comprehensive set of
initiatives to address job skills mismatch
ranging from reforming basic education
to setting national standards of competencies in both technical and vocational
skills and in higher education.
It recommended that the ECOP, the
countrys largest employer association,
focus initially on the manufacturing sector for two reasons.
First the contributing factors to the
job skills mismatch in that sector are
more extensive, and second manufacturing has greater potential for future
value creation.
The study also proposed three
options to the problem of job skills
mismatch. First is to institutionalize a
market-oriented educational system
and training. This recommendation calls
for the inclusion of ECOP as member of
the PQF Philippine Qualification Framework National Coordinating Council
Second, enhance the existing vacancy database (PhilJobsNet) to create
fluid labor market information. Third,
establish a strong innovation culture by
reviving the countrys R&D capability.
While the Philippines is making improvements in its innovation capacity,
according to the Global Competitiveness
EU president Donald Tusk the

man who brokered the deal said the
unanimous agreement strengthens
Britains special status in the EU
and was legally binding and irreversible.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
Europes most powerful leader, said the
accord was a fair compromise.
I do not think that we gave too
much to Great Britain, she said.
French President Francois Hollande meanwhile insisted that the
British deal contained no exceptions
to the rules of the EU.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the first to break the news
of the agreement, meanwhile tweeted
Drama over.
Yet the drama is only just beginning
for Cameron as he battles eurosceptic
members of his own Conservative Party
and a hostile popular press calling for
Britain to quit the EU.
Index, but the study noted that maintaining this momentum will depend on many
factors and skills have a key role to play
to support the growing service sector,
help improve the competitiveness of
the manufacturing sector and enhance
the long-term ability of the country to
innovate, adapt and assimilate new
technologies.
To better provide policy advice to
the government and related education
and training institutions in the Philippines, the study said it is necessary to
understand enterprise skills needs and
to assess the required skills and competencies in selected major sectors in the
country, particularly manufacturing and
services, excluding the BPO industry.
The study further noted the 2013
World Bank Philippines Development
Report, which states that the central
policy challenge facing the Philippines
is how to accelerate inclusive growth to
create more and better jobs and reduce
poverty.
So far, inclusive growth has been
elusive mainly because of the countrys
long history of policy distortions that
have slowed the growth of agriculture
and manufacturing for the past six
decades. Instead of increased agricultural productivity paving the way for
the development of a vibrant laborerintensive manufacturing sector and
subsequently of a high-skill services
sector, the converse has taken place in
the Philippines, the study noted.
Agricultural productivity has remained depressed, manufacturing has
failed to grow sustainably and a lowproductivity, low-skill services sector
has emerged as the dominant feature
of the economy, it added.
he Saudis may go public, Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC)
in disarray, the US is suddenly
a global exporter, and shale drillers
are seeking lifelines from investors as
banks abandon them.
Welcome to oils new world order,
full of stresses, strains and fractures.
For leaders gathering in Houston next
week at the IHS CERAWeek conference often dubbed the Davos of the
energy industry a key question is:
what will break first? Will it be the
balance sheets of big US shale companies? The treasuries of Venezuela and
Nigeria? The resolve of Saudi Arabia,
whose recent deal with Russia to
freeze output levels offered the first
hint of a rethink?
After watching prices crash
through floor after floor in the worst
slump for a generation, the industry
is eager for answers. Insiders say its
not too hard to visualize what markets
might look like after the storm say
five years down the line, when todays
cost-cutting creates a supply vacuum
that will push up prices. But its what
happens in the meantime thats got
them scratching their heads.
This is a weird thing for a market
analyst to say because its usually the
opposite case, but I have more conviction in my five-year outlook than my
one-year outlook, said Mike Wittner,
head of oil market research for Societe
Generale SA. Maybe Im letting my
head get turned upside down by the
last couple months.
Seeking clarity at closed-door

sessions, cocktail hours and watercoolers in Houston will be some of the
industrys biggest players, from Saudi
Petroleum Minister Ali al-Naimi to
Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive
Officer Ben Van Beurden.
In a less volatile year, the long-term
viability of fossil fuels might have been
high on their agenda after Decembers
breakthrough climate deal in Paris.
But within the industry, that debate
has fallen into the abyss of $27 oil,
said Deborah Gordon, director of the
Carnegie Endowment for International
Peaces energy and climate program.
It seems like its never a good
time, she said. You cant have these
conversations when oil is $125 because
then you cant get it out of the ground
quickly enough. And you cant have
it at $27 because youre just trying to
survive.
US shale drillers had a key role in
bringing prices that low, by adding 4
million barrels a day in less than four
years almost like a new OPEC member materializing overnight. Natural
gas has mirrored the pattern, with
surging output and plunging prices.
Now the companies are victims of
their own success. As many as 74 face
significant difficulties in sustaining
debt, according to Moodys Investors
Service.
The effective yield of the Bank of
America Merrill Lynch High-Yield
Energy Index rose to more than 21
percent on Feb. 11, the most since it
was created in 1997. (Bloomberg)
Lagardes ease...
helping to ensure global economic and
financial stability through international
cooperation.
Speaking to reporters in Washington
after the announcement, Lagarde said
that global coordination is needed now,
especially to address the spillovers from
monetary policies among economies,
though the situation isnt as dire as in
2009.
Besides the world growth challenge,
Lagarde will face tough decisions on
whether to offer Greece a new bailout,
and to release the next loan installment
to Ukraine amid renewed concerns
about corruption. The IMF may also
receive fresh demands for its resources
from commodity-dependent nations
around the world suffering from a bust
in prices.
Replacing Strauss-Kahn
She took over as head of the IMF
in 2011 when Dominique Strauss-Kahn
resigned after a hotel maid accused him
of sexual assault. Prosecutors dropped
a criminal case amid inconsistencies in
her testimony; Strauss-Kahn reached
an undisclosed civil settlement with
the woman.
Lagarde is the first woman to lead
the IMF, which was conceived during
World War II to coordinate international
B-1
monetary policy and lend to countries

facing balance-of-payments shortfalls.
She has sought to give emerging markets such as China more of a voice at
the IMF, while putting greater emphasis
on issues including climate change and
income and gender inequality, helping
to broaden the funds image beyond its
reputation as an advocate of budget
cuts and policies to liberalize countries
economies.
During turbulent times in the
global economy, Ms. Lagarde strengthened the funds ability to support its
members with policy advice, capacity
building, and financing, Aleksei Mozhin, dean of the IMFs executive board,
said in a statement Friday. She has
also played a critical role in revitalizing
the funds relations with its global membership, including its emerging market
and developing members.
She easily won a second term despite legal troubles in France. A French
court said in December she will stand
trial for negligence in relation to a
settlement the French government
reached with businessman Bernard
Tapie during her time as finance minister. Lagarde has repeatedly stated her
innocence, and she promised to appeal
the decision to try her. (Bloomberg)
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Asia-Europe container
freight rates fall 23%
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) Shipping freight
rates for transporting containers from ports
in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 23 percent
to $332 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the
week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The current
level is widely seen as a loss-making for
container shipping companies that transport
everything from flat-screen TVs to sportswear
from Asia to Northern Europe.
Air
Sea
Land
Shipping Bulletin
Asia tankers-VLCC
rates to hold steady
SINGAPORE (Reuters) Freight rates in Asian
trades for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are set
to hold steady around current levels next week,
after hitting a near four-week high on Thursday, as
tanker supply matches cargo demand. I cant see
the market crashing, or spiking. There are enough
ships - there is no real shortage of tonnage, a Singapore-based supertanker broker said on Friday.
Around 32 VLCC cargoes have been fixed for loading in the Middle East in the first 10 days of March
with 6 to 12 charters still to be agreed, he said.
B12 Monday, February 22, 2016
Asian countries eye stronger maritime surveillance
INGAPORE (Reuters) The

market for spy planes and
surveillance platforms is buoyant in Southeast Asia, where
countries are facing off against China
and each other in the resource-rich
South China Sea, industry insiders at
the Singapore Airshow said.
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have
all been seeking information from
suppliers, trade sources said, as maritime patrol aircraft and intelligence
gathering platforms become more of
a priority.
Some of the kit is needed for traditional activities such as counterpiracy, fisheries protection or disaster
response, but Chinas growing asser-
tiveness in the regions seas is looming

increasingly large in the thinking of
defence planners.
They did not know that China was
building artificial islands, said one
industry source who regularly talks to
the regions navies. They did not know
that it had built a runway or put in missile launchers. They want to fix this.
China has been building runways
and other infrastructure on islands it
controls in the South China Sea, where
it has a series of overlapping territorial
claims with its neighbors.
The rising tensions in the region are
fuelling demand for advanced radars,
sensors and other equipment known in
defense jargon as ISR intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance.
Bangkok airport
a safety risk report
BANGKOK (Reuters) The International Air Transport Association (IATA)
has warned that Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi Airport is a safety risk, with
"serious" overcrowding soon to become
a critical issue, and urgent expansion
needed, the Nation daily reported on
Friday.
Thailand is under pressure to improve its aviation standards after the
US Federal Aviation Administration
downgraded the country's safety ratings
in December last year. "There are also
safety concerns on the airport's tarmac,
taxiways and apron area because of soft
spots," IATA director-general and chief
executive officer Tony Tyler said.
Aircraft get stuck in the soft surface
due to substandard materials, he told
the newspaper in an interview in Bangkok, after returning from the Singapore
Airshow. Thailand's aviation industry is
under scrutiny after the UN's International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO)
downgraded the country in June 2015,
giving it a red flag for missing a deadline
to tackle safety concerns.

This week, the Thai civil aviation
authority said a review by ICAO was
likely to be delayed until early 2017 because it needed more time to improve
the qualification of Thai auditors. Tyler
said the airport, which handles 52 million
passengers each year, had a significant
regional and global role but needed urgent expansion of its terminal capacity,
the Nation said.
It was designed to handle 45 million
passengers annually, but it exceeds that
today and traffic is still growing at an
annual 10 percent rate, he said.
Overcrowding is a serious issue that
will become critical quickly," Tyler said.
The IATA represents almost 260
airlines, accounting for 83 percent of
global air traffic. Thai airport operator
Airports of Thailand said it was aware
of the problems flagged by IATA and has
readied several measures to improve
runways using concrete and expand
capacity, which are awaiting government
approval.
Japan, US agree on new

slots at Haneda Airport
By TIM KELLY and JEFFREY DASTIN
TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters)

Japan on Thursday said it agreed to
add new landing and take-off slots at
Tokyo's crowded Haneda airport on
routes to the United States, allowing
daytime flights across the Pacific by
both nations' carriers for the first time
in decades.
Aviation officials from Washington
and Tokyo agreed in talks in Japan to
give Japanese and US carriers five
slots each between 0600 and 2300 and
cut the number of slots between 2200
and 0700 from four to one, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism said in a news release.
The earlier flight times are expected to attract more visitors to Haneda
and boost airline profits on Haneda
routes, allowing for flight connections
that were previously impossible when
travelers landed late at night.
"It will increase choice for travel-
ers, and it will help promote competition," said US lead negotiator Tom
Engle, deputy assistant secretary for
transportation affairs at the US State
Department, in an interview.
The daytime flights are expected to
start as early as the fall.
Haneda is much closer to central
Tokyo than the city's main international
airport at Narita, which Delta Air Lines,
Inc. uses as a hub for flights to other
parts of Asia. Narita is 80 km (50 miles)
east of the city, while Haneda is some
21 km (13 miles) away.
Delta had earlier pushed back
against the deal, warning that lower
demand could force it to scrap all its
direct Narita flights over time.
It also said rivals American Airlines
Group, Inc, and United Continental
Holdings, Inc. would benefit from their
partnerships with Japanese carriers
that have extensive Haneda connections, Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. and ANA
Holdings, Inc., respectively.
People dont trust their neighbors, resource and territory claims

require a keen knowledge of what the
other guy is going, and military operations other than war demand strong
situational awareness, said Richard
Aboulafia, vice president of analysis
at Teal Group, a US-based aerospace
consultancy.
And of course, societies, militaries, and non-state armed groups are
electronically more noisy than ever,
meaning countries need ISR to keep
tabs on them.
LEAN BUDGETS
Manufacturers displaying their
wares in Singapore included traditional
players such as Airbus and Boeing,
alongside newcomers from Indonesia

and Japan.
Swedens Saab unveiled its Swordfish maritime patrol and anti-submarine system, which can be based on a
Bombardier business jet or a turboprop
aircraft, at the show.
Lean defense budgets, however
mean that many countries are after a
lower-cost option.
Boeing offers a stripped-down
version of its P-8 Poseidon the most
advanced marine spy plane on the
market called the Maritime Surveillance Aircraft, which is based on a
Bombardier business jet.
PT Dirgantara Indonesia, the
countrys state-owned aerospace firm,
offers a maritime patrol version of the
Casa CN235 military aircraft that is

produces under licence from Airbus.
Several are in service with the
Indonesian navy, which is expected to
acquire more, and talks have been held
with Malaysia and other countries in
the region.
The company is working with
French firm Thales to provide maritime surveillance and anti-submarine
capabilities, but it is open to countries
customising their requirements.
We are not selling any of the equipment, said Ade Yuyu Wahuna, vice
president of business development
and marketing at the company. We are
the integrators and if anyone wants to
choose their own kit, we can integrate
that onto the aircraft.
In PH, Vietnam
AirAsia CEO: Cheap oil paves

way to revive expansion plans
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) With
low oil prices reducing its operating
costs, AirAsia Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Tony Fernandes said the budget
carrier was ready to start expanding
again in southeast Asia and was eyeing
Vietnam and the Philippines.
Fernandes, speaking to reporters
on the sidelines of a US-ASEAN trade
conference here on Wednesday, said
the pace of expansion would depend on
securing approvals for new routes and
airport access.
"We're going to start expanding
again in different parts of ASEAN,"
Fernandes said.
While some benefits of the collapse
of oil prices have been swallowed up
by a decline in currencies in its major
markets, Fernandes said he viewed
the lower fuel costs as "an opportunity
to expand, to regrow, to put capital investment in."
In November, AirAsia reported a
consolidated third-quarter net loss of
ToNY FERNANDES
406 million ringgit ($96 million), versus
a year earlier net profit of 5.4 million
ringgit. It blamed foreign exchange
losses and a writedown at its Indonesian affiliate.
The company also had said its ma-
jor shareholders were evaluating

"all strategic options" after Reuters
reported that Fernandes was sounding out investors to take the company
private in the wake of a steep fall in
its shares.
Fernandes said the two Southeast
Asia markets that excited him most
for expansion were the Philippines
and Vietnam, calling the latter "the
last piece of our jigsaw puzzle."
But securing route approvals was
a problem, and lack of available takeoff and landing capacity at Manila's
Ninoy Aquino International Airport
needed to be resolved, he said.
Clark International Airport could
be a good alternative solution, Fernandes said, but this would require
the government to invest in a new
high speed train into Manila.
Fernandes also said he hoped to
win approval for flights to Hawaii this
year, but could not predict when that
might occur.
Flanked by Etihad Airways cabin crew are, from left: Hareb Al Muhairy, Senior Vice President Corporate and International
Affairs; Karen Walker, ATW Editor-in-Chief; James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer; and James Rigney, Chief
Financial Officer.
Etihad wins Air Transport Worlds

China shipper COSCOCS Airline of the Year 2016 Award
to keep alliances for now
SHANGHAI (Reuters) China

Cosco Shipping (COSCOCS), China's
biggest shipping line, plans to carry
out a careful selection of its future
vessel-sharing alliance partners, but
will maintain its two current alliances
for the moment, the company said on
Friday.
Analysts have said the global network of vessel-sharing alliances on
container routes could be shaken up by
recent deals, including the formation of
COSCOCS through the merger of China
Ocean Shipping (Group) Company
(COSCO) and China Shipping Group.
China COSCO, a unit of COSCO,
is part of the CKYHE alliance with
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Yang Ming
Marine Transport, Hanjin Shipping and
Evergreen Marine, while China Ship-
ping Container Lines, a unit of China

Shipping Group, CMA CGM and United
Arab Shipping Co. make up the Ocean
Three alliance.
The new group will choose its future partners carefully, and is committed to building a strong and competitive
alliance, a spokeswoman for COSCOCS
said in an email to Reuters.
To ensure continued and stable
services, the company will maintain
operations in the two alliances until the
alliance reorganization is complete.
These sorts of alliances were formed
to combat a downturn in the shipping
industry, which has been battling overcapacity since the 2008 global financial
crisis. Tough business conditions forced
operators to look for ways to become
more efficient.
Etihad Airways was last night presented with the coveted Airline of the
Year 2016 award by US-based aviation
industry publication Air Transport
World (ATW).
The accolade acknowledged Etihad Airways strong executive leadership team in developing a profitable strategy of organic growth and
unique equity partnerships; introducing
ground-breaking products and services;
creating the foundations for building a
motivated workforce; and engaging in
a diplomatic, dignified defence of its
business model in the wake of fierce
opposition by US carriers.
Etihad Airways was chosen for the
top honor by ATWs distinguished editorial board in a highly contested competition, with entries from more than 100
airlines around the world.
The award was presented at a Gala
Dinner attended by industry peers at
the 42nd edition of the annual ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards on
the eve of the Singapore Air Show.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways
President and Chief Executive Officer,
said: This award recognizes what
we set out to do as an airline 13 years
ago to be safe, profitable and simply
the best.
It is a reflection of our strengths a
robust business model and innovative
products and superior service delivered
by our 27,000 dedicated employees. I am
delighted to accept this award on their
behalf. As an airline, we have offered
a unique proposition to the travelling
public and expanded our business to
help shape the changing global aviation
landscape.
To earn the top accolade, ATW said
an airline must demonstrate exceptional achievements and capabilities across
its operations, financial performance,
customer service, safety and employee

relations. The executive leadership
team must also clearly show innovation and strategic thinking that sets the
company apart.
Karen Walker, Air Transport World
Editor-in-Chief, said: Etihad Airways
is clearly an airline apart from the pack
and one that sets its own course. It is a
pleasure to celebrate the achievements
of the Etihad Airways team at the 2016
ATW Airline Achievement Awards in
Singapore. Etihad is highly deserving of
our top award, Airline of the Year. James
Hogan puts it best it's not about being
the biggest, it's about being the best."
Etihad Airways was recognized
by ATWs editorial board for fast but
thoughtful growth, consistently delivering against its targets and always
thinking ahead. The airline was also
applauded for its excellent numbers
on financials, cargo and safety.
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Editor: BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
WHAT'S INSIDE
Two tales of bitter sweet
recoveries of Japan SMEs
mb.businessagenda@gmail.com
C1 Monday, February 22, 2016
There are jobs in PH

ob openings are becoming

aplenty in the country as new job
specializations opened up new
opportunities. The abundance of
new job offers are both from the private
and the public sector. Not only that, salary
rates are also improving to its highest level
in three years.
C-3
from at least 2 to 12 percent).

The total number of job advertisements
posted in 2015 increased by at least 20%
compared to ads posted in 2014.
Aside from being the highest paid, IT
jobs account for a third of total job offers.
Other industries providing the most
jobs are retail and manufacturing.
Junior executive
1 to 4 year experience
New job categories that enter in the
junior level are banking, finance and
business development.
There are also four new job

specializations that enter in the managerial
level. These are corporate strategy,
actuarial science, armed forces/security
and training and development. Journalism
and public relations jobs have fallen out of
the top ten most hired workers.
Gioca said that in its 15 years of
Renewed sense of interest

in public service cited
ive gover nment agencies

received an influx of
applications after partnering
with recr uitment startup
Kalibrr: 11,273 applications from 8,743
jobseekers to 552 job posts within the
month of January, proving yet again that
public service is in strong demand.
We are overturning conventions
in recruitment. The more than 500%
turnaround in applicant per position ratio in
the BLGF [last December 2015] is inspiring
as we aim to infuse additional talented
blood in the organization. This is proof
that good governance ideals supported
by technology and social media could
jumpstart a renewed sense of interest in
public service, especially in an agency
whose mandate is to supervise treasury
and assessment operations in the local
governments, said OIC Executive Director
Jocelyn T. Pendon of the Department of
Finance-Bureau of Local Government
Finance (DOF-BLGF).
Kalibrr has done its part to match
high-quality candidates for the BLGF, and
we will now fast-track the next steps in
recruitment so that successful applicants
get on-board before the appointment ban
on March 25, Pendon added.
Wi t h t h e a s s i s t a n c e o f t h e
Bagumbayani Initiative, the
memorandum of agreement (MOA) was
officially signed last Dec. 21, 2015, and
is the second partnership agreement
between the the Philippine-based startup
and the government.
The second batch of government
agencies signing on to Kalibrr are
D O F- B L G F; t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f
Education (DepEd); the Department
of Transportation and Communications
(DOTC); the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD); and
the Public-Private Partnership Center
(PPPC).
Salary rates grow

highest in 3 years
Salary rates in the country have
increased by 7 percent on the average
across all job levels in 2015, the highest
salary increase in the past three years,
an online talent and employment
marketplace.
Philip Gioca, country manager of
Jobstreet.com Philippines, said the results
of its National Salary Report showed the
increase in salary rates in 2015 averaged
7 percent with the IT industry posting the
highest growth at 10 percent growth.
"This is the highest growth in the past
three years," Gioca said.
Gioca said the significant rise in salary
rate is attributed to the good economy,
lowest unemployment rates in years, and
the resulting competitive play in the job
market.
Results of its study are based on
job postings from 22,000 companies/
employers. As the country's largest
online employment platform since 1999,
Jobstreet.com has 6.9 million candidates
on its database and between 180,000 to
200,000 job offers.
Based on its survey, the IT field
continued its 3-year trend of providing
the highest paying jobs across all position
levels.
The BPO industry continues to post
the highest prospects for jobseekers in
general.
The IT field led all other specializations
in terms of salary offering, and covering all
the major ranks namely, junior executives
(R38,189), supervisors (R63,485) and
managers (R86,550).
Salaries, especially for junior
executives (employees with 1-4 years work
experience) and supervisors (employees
with 5-9 years work experience), increased
operation, JobStreets report on job trends

had allowed multiple benefits, namely:
Benchmarking of ones own salary
against the highest paid in their category;
awareness of jobs in demand; guiding
not only jobseekers but also providing
career guidance counsellors, facts on job
marketplace.
This time around, the BLGF fielded

the most applications in one month
among the five agencies, with the agency
receiving 6,773 applications from 3,792
jobseekers.
As stipulated in the MOAs, Kalibrr
will be providing these agencies sourcing,
assessment, and candidate management
services for free for one year, with a
possibility for extension. The startup will
also be providing government employees
training and consultation on the use of
the recruitment platform.
The first batch of government
partners signed on to Kalibrr last
August 2015 after receiving over 20,000
applications within one month during a
trial period. The agencies that were part
of the first partnership were the DOF,
the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR),
the Department of Budget Management
(DBM), the Civil Service Commission
(CSC), and the Department of Tourism
(DOT).
The partnership for the 10 partner
agencies has since generated 42,012
applications for 2,717 job vacancies,
making government job vacancies more
than 15 times oversubscribed. And as of
December 2015, at least 779 applicants
are now scheduled for examinations, 94
applicants are scheduled for Selection
Board approval, and at least 25 people
have already been hired through the
partnership.
Kalibrr Technology Ventures, Inc.
is a Philippine recruitment startup
founded by CEO Paul Rivera and COO
Dexter Ligot-Gordon in 2012. Since the
official launch of its recruitment platform
in April 2015, Kalibrr has amassed a
database of nearly 300,000 jobseekers and
has provided its recruitment solutions
to over 6,000 companies including San
Miguel Corporation, Ayala Corporation,
and Philippine Airlines.
Higher dissatisfaction over Internet speeds
8 of 10 Filipinos check their smartphones upon wake up
ore Filipinos are connected

or becoming slaves of their
smartphones.
Within 15 minutes of
waking up, 79 percent or nearly 8 out
10 Filipinos have already checked their
smartphones, compared to more than
half of mobile phone users in Southeast
Asia. Filipinos also glance at their screens
repeatedly, using their phones most
frequently when commuting on public
transport. Its also worth noting that
compared to other SEA countries, in the
Philippines there is a significant proportion
of users 31 percent who listen to online
radio via their smartphones.
This is according to Deloittes
Global Mobile Consumer Survey, which
was released by Navarro Amper &
Co., the local member firm of Deloitte
Southeast Asia Ltd. Conducted in the
third quarter of 2015, the survey covered
49,500 consumers across 31 countries to
reveal some of the trending attitudes and
behaviors of todays mobile consumer. In
Southeast Asia, 6,000 respondents from
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines
(1,000 respondents), Singapore, and
Thailand were polled.
The study also showed that Filipinos
are relatively digitally well-connected.
Eighty-two percent of Filipino respondents
said they use Wi-Fi at home, in the
workplace, or their place of study; only 25
percent of Filipino respondents use Wi-Fi
in public places.
The survey also showed that in
Southeast Asia, Instant Messaging
(IM) has emerged as the most popular
messaging tool, with IM usage increasing
and SMS decreasing across the board,
except in the Philippines.
Filipinos still prefer to use SMS (73
percent), but those who use IM (33 percent)
turn to Facebook Messenger instead of
pure Over-The-Top (OTT) IM services to
communicate: 94 percent of Filipino IM
users use Facebook Messenger, an app
that has been downloaded three times
more than Skype and 10 times more than
WhatsApp in this country.
The popularity of IM will continue to
hold in the region, with Filipinos finding

it a convenient option for chatting with
friends and family overseas.
Telecommunication operators
can take advantage of this situation to
increase revenues from data usage,
said Greg Navarro, Managing Partner
& CEO of Navarro Amper & Co. They
can, for example, tailor chat packages to
specific IM applications that are widely
used in their respective local markets.
When it comes to Internet speeds,
consumers in Southeast Asia are
generally satisfied with their service
providers but they want greater data
volumes in their plans.
In the Philippines, more people are
dissatisfied with their Internet speeds.
The satisfaction rating has dropped to 39
percent in 2015 from 49 percent in 2014.
This is not surprising considering
the country reportedly has the second
slowest Internet speed in the Asia Pacific
region. And only 38 percent of Filipino
consumers are satisfied with their data
volumes, an increase from last years
31.2 percent.
The survey also revealed that Internet
network reliability is the top consideration
for Filipinos when choosing a mobile
operator, followed by price package
and 4G/LTE network availability. Even
consumers who are satisfied with

their Internet connection may change
operators for either of these factors, which
makes sense considering how reliant
consumers are on their phones.
Again, theres an opportunity here

for telecom operators to monetize WiFi for consumers on public transport
facilities, said Navarro. And with the
governments project to provide free Wi-
Fi in underserved areas of the country,

it will be interesting to see how these
statistics and behaviors change over the
next few years.
Another capability worth exploring
for telcos is mobile payment. Across the
Southeast Asian countries polled, majority
of respondents are willing to use mobilebased, in-store payment solutions in the
Philippines, 62 percent of respondents are
willing to give it a try but these respondents
say there is a lack of availability of such
solutions, and when it is available, it entails
slower processing times compared to cash
or credit card transactions.
Telecom operators that want to
take advantage of this functionality need
to offer solutions that enable simple
and quick transactions. They also need
to improve payment security, so that
consumers can be comfortable using
mobile payments even for big ticket
transactions, and expand the number of
point-of-sale terminals that accept mobile
payments, said Navarro.
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Business Agenda
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Five easy ways

to a healthier you
Japanese govt turns over school

buildings Yolanda-affected areas
he government of Japan turned

over a reconstructed one unit,
two workshop and one unit
four workshop buildings of
Balangiga National Agricultural School,
a reconstructed two units, two classroom
school building of Camire Elementary
School and a paved access road to Dulag
Slaughterhouse to the Government of
the Philippines in ceremonies held on
February 16 and 17, 2016 in the Municipality
of Balangiga, Eastern Samar and the
Municipalities of Tanauan and Dulag,
Leyte for the Japan-funded Quick Impact
Projects under the Urgent Development
Study on the Project on Rehabilitation
and Recovery from Typhoon Yolanda.
Mr. Hiroyuki Enoki, First Secretary of
the Embassy of Japan, attended the
ceremonies. The Balangiga National
Agricultural School workshop buildings
turnover ceremony was also attended
by the Secretary/Director General of

TESDA, Ms. Irene M. Isaac, the Regional
Director of TESDA Region 8, Ms. Cleta
M. Omega and the Mayor of Balangiga
Municipality, Mr. Viscuso de Lira. The
Camire Elementary School classroom
buildings turnover ceremony was also
attended by the Provincial Director of
TESDA Leyte Province, Ms. Loreta D.
Banario. Lastly, the turnover ceremony
for the paved access road to Dulag
Slaughterhouse was also attended by a
member of Dulag Municipality Council,
Mr. Vicente Petilos, Jr.. In each ceremony,
the representatives of the recipients
expressed their deepest appreciation.
The turned-over workshop buildings
at the Balangiga National Agricultural
School and classroom buildings at the
Camire Elementary School have been
reconstructed as buildings with disaster
resilience. Through the reconstruction,
local engineers obtained disaster

resilient construction technologies.
Through the pavement of the access
road, the function of the slaughter
house, which was also previously
reconstructed through the Quick
Impact Project, has been upgraded
and the municipal capacity for disasterresilient construction management has
been improved.
Japan, as the top ODA donor to
the Philippines as well as a disasterprone country itself, has supported
the Philippines disaster mitigation
efforts by sharing its experiences and
lessons learned from past natural
disasters. This project, with itspolicy
of Build Back Better, is expected to
further foster the strategic partnership
between the two countries and serve as
a model for other disaster-prone areas
of the Philippines.
ummertime is just around the

corner. As you are planning your
much-awaited trips, wouldnt it
be nice to accomplish not just a
summer bod but a healthier, stronger
body?
Maintain a positive attitude and the
enthusiasm to stick with your health
resolutions through thick and thin all
throughout the year. These are five
practical tips you can do to achieve a
healthier you:
Eat and drink right. This year, make
healthy food choices. It doesnt mean
that you have to follow a strict diet. You
can start by getting wheat bread instead
of chocolate-dipped cookies; water as a
replacement for soda; or an apple over
cheese-coated chips. Dont forget the
basics like eating your greens, cutting back
on carbohydrates and taking it slow on the
sugar. Remember, you are what you eat.
Take your vitamins. You may not
be getting the Recommended Daily
Allowance of vitamins and minerals
necessary for you to stay in good health.
These include vitamins such as Vitamin
C (Lemon Cee), Vitamin B Complex
(Neuroplex), Zinc (TGP-ZN), and Iron
(Ferlum). Vitamins and supplements
may help prevent health problems such
as cancer and heart disease.
The Generics Pharmacy (TGP), the
countrys largest drugstore chain with
over 1,800 branches nationwide, offers
wide array of vitamins and supplements
for as low as R1 per tablet. TGP also has
licensed pharmacists who can help you
decide which vitamins and supplements
are best to take.

Stretch and sweat. Aside from
weight loss, exercising also lowers
your risk of having diabetes and high
blood pressure. Try jogging for at least
30 minutes every day or take the stairs
instead of using the elevators. Also, opt
to skip the cab if your destination is just a
15-minute walk. Plus, youll feel happier
because of all the endorphins released
in your body when you exercise.
Dont skip the medicines. Its
tempting to ignore a throbbing
headache or fever thinking it will
go away in the morning only to find
yourself feeling even worse. To avoid
this, make sure to have a stack of
common medicines and dont forget to
take them when necessary. TGP also
offers wide selection of over-the-counter
medicines like TGP paracetamol and
maintenance medicines for the heart,
cholesterol and, high blood pressure
among others, that will keep you safe
from health risks.
Get done with the vaccines. Dont
leave yourself vulnerable with the
diseases. Knock them before they knock
you by getting immunization shots.
Vaccines stimulate your immune system
and protect you from diseases. Theyre
among the reliable and convenient
healthcare measures. Better safe than
sorry, right?
Sticking with your New Years
Health Resolutions can be really
challenging but with over 1,800 branches
nationwide, TGP will help you achieve a
healthier self.
The Turf Company cites

robust business with
upscale golf estates
he Turf Company, the countrys

leading and most trusted
distributors of ir rigation
systems, precision mowing
equipment, golf cars, and other utility
vehicles, cited its robust business as the
countrys upscale golf estates innovate
and improve their facilities.
Company President and COO Mario
Lopez said the companys continuous
innovation and desire to be the best in
the industry over the years have been
rewarded with the addition of new
customers to its roster of clients.
Lopez revealed the company has
sealed multiple deals with the country
golf estates.
These partnerships are a testament
of The Turf Companys perseverance
through the years and to be associated
with companies of such status is both
a great honor and motivation for us to
keep on improving our services and
product range, said Lopez.
Recently, it sealed multiple deals
with some of the countrys upscale golf
estates, designating the company as the
official supplier of Club Car golf carts
and Orec Mowers of these exclusive
properties which feature world-class
championship golf courses, breathtaking
terrain, and topnotch facilities. Another
important client of The Turf Company is
City Service Corporation which provides
maintenance and cleaning services to
various companies in the country.
Included in the deal are the purchase
of 10 units of Club Car i2 Precedent 48V
by Mount Malarayat Golf and Country

Club; 20 units of Club Car i2 Precedent
Gas for Pinewoods Golf & Country
Club Estates; 30 units of Club Car i2
Precedent 48V by Tagaytay Highlands.
City Service Corporation., meanwhile,
uses Orec AM72/B and SP851 while
Orec AM71/B is being used at Dona
Pepita Eco Park and Golf Course.
Club Car, exclusively distributed by
The Turf Company, produces the finest
golf, utility and transportation vehicles
in the industry. Its utility vehicles have
been repeatedly recognized for their
toughness, reliability, and superior
performance driven by the companys
100-year-old tradition of technological
innovation.
Mowers, meanwhile, is known for
its outdoor power equipment which
are also the most innovative in the
fields of green maintenance, private
vegetation, agriculture, and gardening.
Its competitive edge lies not only in the
quality and durability of its products
but also in its reasonable price that
gives a whole new meaning to value
for money.
Since its founding in 1988, The Turf
Company has maintained its status
as one of the countrys leading and
most trusted distributors of irrigation
systems, precision mowing equipment,
golf cars and other utility vehicles. Aside
from providing end-to-end solutions,
Turf is also proud of its excellent aftersales service and reliable technical
support. (BCM)
Live pain-free without drugs
he revolutionary Medsonix
Acoustic Resonating Therapy
System from the US is now
in the Philippines. Clinica
Manila at SM Megamall is now doing
empirical tests on the device. Once
done, there will be an announcement
to the public about the availability of
the procedure.
The Medsonix Acoustic Resonating
Therapy System integrates a medical
device that uses low frequency sound
waves to increase blood flow and
mobility, reduce inflammation, and pain
and relieve symptoms of many diseases
and disorders.
The system uses a medical device
that is registered with the US Food and
Drug Administration as Class A and
was granted three US patents.
It is non-invasive, drug-free, safe
and effective for Filipinos suffering from
arthritis, migraine, sciatica, back and
joint pain and other medical conditions.
It can also relieve pain caused by carpal
tunnel syndrome, multiple sclerosis,
bursitis, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia,
diabetic neuropathy, and peripheral
vascular disease.
The therapy system was developed
10 years ago by Alphonse Cassone,
based in Las Vegas, Nevada, US who

experimented with sound waves for 15
years.
Two pilot studies conducted at the
School of Nursing and Physical Therapy
in the University of Nevada Las Vegas
in 2000 showed that the Medsonix
Acoustic Resonating Therapy System
improved the mobility of patients
and reduced the pain in 85 percent
of patients. The studies were later
published in an international medical
journal in 2002.
Cassone said immediate and
sustained pain relief has been
experienced by many patients after
only one session, although four to six
therapy sessions, are normally required
to gain maximum benefit.
Prof. Eric Soriano III, who helped
Cassone bring the therapy system to
the country, is confident the system
will be embraced by Filipinos who want
immediate relief from pain caused by
many diseases and disorders.
This will help improve the quality
of life of many patients who have tried
almost everything to get rid of pain,
said Professor Soriano, who teaches
global marketing and real estate at the
Ateneo Graduate School of Business.
PLATINUM CERTIFICATE Panelist Olivia Limpe-Aw [third from right], president and chief executive officer of
Destileria Limtuaco and Co., Inc. is shown in photo receiving the 'Platinum' certificate for the company as honorary
member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (The CHAMBER) from Chamber Chairman Emeritus
Ramon Pedrosa in 'recognition of its invaluable contribution to the development of Philippine economy.'The
certificate was given during the 'Family/Business Succession Planning and Implementation' forum held recently
at the Manila Golf and Country Club, Forbes Park, Makati City. In photo from right are Chamber President Jose
Luis Yulo Jr., Chairman Benigno Ricafort and Board of Directors Quintin Tan, Arsenio Tanco and Asia Yulo-Blume.
Similarly conferred as honorary members were SEAOIL Philippines, Inc. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. which
were represented by CEO Francis Glenn Yu and Consultant Stephen Paradies, respectively and who served as
panelists at the forum.
RE/MAX opens new franchise
tarting the year on a high

note and looking for ward
to a great year ahead, RE/
MAX Philippines opened its
newest franchise in Alabang in a
clear indication of the booming real
estate business in the country.
Baring Olafsson, president and
CEO of RE/MAX United, said the
new franchise is located at the
Madrigal Business Park, Alabang,
in Muntinlupa City. The move
affirmed the companys growing
presence in the country.
I think RE/MAX is all about
having great brokers and agents so
if you have great people and great
connections around the Philippines
and in the world, that would help
you create a fantastic brand, said
Olafsson.
The newly launched RE/MAX
United mainly focuses on, but is
not limited to, listing and selling
previously owned properties around
Metro Manila. Olafsson explained
that with peoples heavy reliance on
the Internet, most of the inquiries
and potential buyers they get
learned about them online.
We convince people to list
properties with us because we
have a state-of-the-art computer
technology and we utilize our

w e b s i t e s , Fa c e b o o k , a n d a l l
other social media platfor ms,
said Olafsson. I understand that
75 to 80 percent of leads from
buyers come from these property
portals so we need to be the best in
information technology and have a
good presentation of the properties
we have.
RE/MAX has been credited for
institutionalizing the local real
estate brokerage system since
it launched its operations in the
Philippines in 2012. With the recent
establishment of its 18th branch,
RE/MAX takes pride in recognizing
its professional and hardworking
agents and the brands ability to
utilize the power of social media for
its long line of successes.
Olafsson, who was an executive
of a leading beverage company
f o r 2 5 y e a r s , j o i n e d R E / M AX
because he wanted to work with the
worlds number one in real estate
industry.
He affirmed that being number
one gives them a very competitive
advantage as people instantly
recognize the brand. Building trust
is likewise easy since a lot of clients
are inclined to share their good
experience with RE/MAX.

I went with RE/MAX because
of the brand recognition and the
support system a number one brand
brings to the market. The training
and incredible support we get
empower us to share the industrys
best practices throughout the
company, which is made possible
by the RE/MAX system, Olafsson
said.
Now that Filipinos are familiar
with RE/MAX and how it works,
Olafsson believes that the brand
has changed the landscape of the
local real estate industry and has
brought an impressive level of
professionalism into play.
RE/ MAX de mo nstrate s
a huge capacity for practicing
professionalism in this industry. For
this reason, the brand enjoys a high
level of trust in the market. I believe
RE/MAX will influence the market
in a big, big way, Olafsson said.
The company's developer
partners in the Philippines
i n c l u d e Fe d e r a l L a n d , G r a n d
Hyatt, Rockwell Land, Vista Land,
Horizon Land, Megaworld, Filinvest
Land and SMDC. Property portal
partners include Lamudi, Property
24, Persquare, and Property Asia.
Cassone and a group of Filipino

investors have formed a joint venture,
Medsonix Philippines, with office at
Unit 1110 Raffles Corporate Center, F.
Ortigas Jr. Rd., Ortigas Center, Pasig
City.
A pioneering comprehensive
healthcare facility in a mall, Clinica
Manila has been providing quality

healthcare with personal touch for
20 years. Aside from SM Megamall,
it now has two branches in Pasig and
Quezon City.
Each Medsonix pain therapy session
lasts for 30 minutes and can be done
while reading, listening to music or
checking emails. No need to disrobe

but those undergoing the therapy will
be required to wear sound reduction
headphones as he/she is enveloped
with low frequency sound waves,
often feels a warm, tingly sensation
throughout the body or around the
affected area.
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Business Agenda
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Is Grace Poe good for business?
n the Pulse Asia sur vey

conducted between January
24 to 28, Grace Poe broke away
from the pack with a sevenpoint lead over Binay and a tenpoint margin over Roxas. Having
achieved this despite the specter of
being disqualified speaks volumes
about her mass appeal and how she
resonates with the electorate.
W h y i s G r a c e Po e s u c h a
compelling candidate to many? I
have thought about it in earnest and
have put it down to five propositions
she offers:
1. As a candidate running under
an independent ticket, Grace offers
independence (and freedom) from
the political agenda of the major
political parties.
2. She offers a continuation of
Daang Matuwid but without the
same cast of incumbents who are
either downright incompetent or
operate for the interest of their
political benefactors.
3. She offers a fresh perspective
in gover nance. Her education
abroad coupled with experience
working for Fortune 500 companies
(CSC Scientific and US Geological
Survey) gives her a point of view
markedly different from those who
spent the better part of their careers
as government bureaucrats.
4. She offers dignity. Backhanded
offensives are forbidden in her
campaign. So far, she has waged
a venerable crusade, refusing to
engage in black operations, mud
slinging and black propaganda.
5. Her spouse, Neil Llamanzares,
is a big part of the equation. Neil is
a quiet, hard working corporate
man with a honorable background.
A power player, bully or entitled
political spouse, he is not. From what
I know of him, Neil is supportive of
his wife but has no intentions of
building a political dynasty.
These attributes are unique to
the lady senator which explains her
upper hand in the polls.
But while good intentions
and an upright character is a plus,

competence and savvy in the realm
of economics is another conversation
altogether. The business sector would
like to know will Grace be good for
the economy? The stakes have never
been higher given that the favorable
economic momentum we enjoy today
is still on its tentative stages. Illadvised policies could easily negate
the gains we have made in the last six
years. So the question on everyones
mind is Does Grace has a grasp
of the economic issues that face the
country or is she running blind? Is
she prepared with her own economic
agenda or will she simply rely on
the council of her advisors? Does
she has the wherewithal to make a
good economic leader or is she just
winging it?
Last week, I got a chance to speak
to the presidential aspirant when
she visited our offices in this paper.
Without being insolent, I tried to pry
into her grasp of economic affairs
and how she intends to steer the
economy should she be elected as
the nations Chief Executive. This is
what I found out:
Poeconomics
At the heart of Graces economic
plan are three objectives: The
development of the industrial sector
by eliminating the impediments to
foreign investments; the development
of agriculture through intensified
government support; and the
development of the service sector
by climbing the value chain.
The development of the industrial
sector is crucial since it is the sector
with the greatest capacity to create
jobs, asserted the senator. It offers a
logical migration point for agricultural
workers seeking to make a transition
from low-wage agricultural jobs to
higher paying factory work.
Attracting our fair share in
foreign direct investments (FDIs)
is key to unlocking the full potential
of our industrial sector, said Poe.
Lamentably, the Philippines attracts
the least FDIs among the ASEAN 6.
To put context, in 2014, the Philippines
attracted a mere $6.2 billion while
Vietnam and Indonesia attracted
$9.042 billion and $25.685 billion,
respectively.
Certain impediments prevent
foreign investors from choosing
the Philippines over its neighbors.
Poe cited the restrictive economic

provisions of the Constitution,
infrastructure bottlenecks, ease in
doing business and transparency as
the major obstructions.
Fortunately, Poe is able to view
the Constitution for what it is without
sentimentality towards Titas Cory
version of the nations Charter. The
economic provision of the Constitution
were written for another era, hence, it
has become deeply flawed in this day
and age. It contains a vast negative
list of sectors where foreigners are
precluded from participation. Among
them are businesses relating to mass
media and professional practices like
architecture, engineering, chemistry,
medicine, education and law. The
preclusion of foreign professionals in
these specialized fields has stunted
the infusion of new technologies
among our people. This is one of the
reasons our technological quotient
remains low in comparison to say,
Singapore or HongKong.
Exacerbating matters is that
foreigners are not allowed to own
more than 40% equity in businesses
engaged in public utilities, land
development (when land is owned)
and Build Operate and Transfer
deals requiring public franchises.
This, she explains, is the reason why
our telecommunications industry
operates under an inefficient duopoly,
why PPP deals are won by the same
conglomerates over and over again
and why our power cost is the most
expensive in the region.
If anything, our misguided
economic laws have only succeeded
in strengthening the oligarchical
class at the expense of Juan dela
Cr uz. Grace is categorically in
favor of economic Charter change
particularly in opening up equity
restrictions, but not towards land
ownership.
As far as infrastructure
bottlenecks are concer ned, she
stated her intention to build upon the
PPP programs of this administration
and the many projects already in
the pipeline. To scrap them, at this
juncture, will be a waste of time, she
said. Her intentions are to expedite the
process by being more decisive, more
proactive and more practical. The
goal, she declared, is to spend 7% of
GDP on infrastructure development.
This is 2 percentage points more than
the regional average. Among the
projects she would like to initiate is

an underground subway for Manila,
an LRT system for Cebu and a
railway system for Mindanao.
As for curbing corruption and
taming the bureaucracy, she asserts
that civil vigilance is both our best
offense and defense. This is why the
passage of the Freedom of Information
(FOI) Bill is cr ucial to national
development. Poe co-authored the
FOI Bill and nursed it to passage at
the Senate. Unfortunately, it did not
pass Congress, presumably for fear of
exposing too much dirty laundry.
If it were enacted, the FOI
law would allow the citizenry to
complete access to infor mation
relating to public concerns including
gover nment officials statement
of assets and liabilities; budgets,
revenues and expenses of government
agencies; projects for public bidding;
contracts and agreements entered
into and how loans, grants and
development assistances are used,
among others. Naturally, certain
matters must remain guarded like
issues relating to national security.
Poe vows to champion the FOI Bill to
full implementation if elected.
We spoke about the service sector
briefly and Grace applauded this
administration for nurturing the
IT-BPO industry to the $21.3-billion
business it is today. However, she
reiterated the need to climb the
value chain. She explained that
while call center operators generate
jobs by the hundreds of thousands,
it is considered the lowest wrung of
the IT-BPO field with average daily
wages pegged at just $20 a day. The
challenge is to bring this up to Indias
level of $45 a day. This can be done
by engaging in fields with higher
technological inputs. Grace cited
big data analytics, animation and
engineering process outsourcing as
key areas of diversification.
Poe laments that our agricultural
sector has long been neglected
despite the fact that the majority
of our countr ymen derive their
livelihood from it. Agriculture must
be considered a priority given its
ripple effect towards alleviating
poverty, she declared. Its importance
must be reflected in the national
budget.
Unbeknownst to many, the last
time soil analysis was done on a
national scale was back in the 80s.
This is fundamental in knowing

what crops to plant and where to
plant them. In addition, while the
nations true requirement of farmto-market roads is 28,000 kms, the
national budget only provides for
700 kms a year.
Poe plans to channel a
substantial chunk of the budget
towards filling supply chain gaps
in the agricultural sector. Apart
from allocating funds for roads,
irrigation and technology transfers,
she also plans to initiate a program
to build food terminals across the
country through a Public-Private
Partnerships. These food terminals
can help farmers by providing
common use equipment as well as
assistance in logistics, distribution
and marketing.
The Original Question

So going back to my original
question will Grace Poe be good
for business? Let me answer it this
way. Over our 90-minute chat, it
was obvious to me that Grace has
a good grasp of the strengths and
weaknesses of the economy and a
sensible plan to move it forward.
But does she has all the solutions
to all our economic woes? No, she
does not.
But it doesnt matter. Because in
the end, a good economic leader is
one able to sell a vision of greatness
and inspire us all to get on board;
one who stretches the nation to
achieve more than the low-lying
fruit; one who consistently acts
with urgency and decisiveness; one
willing to listen to various points of
view and weed out the good from the
banal; one able to empathize with
the stakeholders of our industries;
and most importantly, one with a
morale compass pointed towards
the good, the honorable and the
exemplary.
Is Grace Poe that person? The
majority think so.
Andrew is an economist, political
analyst and businessman. He is a
20-year veteran in the hospitality
a n d t o u r i s m i n d u s t r y . Fo r
comments and reactions, e-mail
andrew_rs6@yahoo.com. More of
his business updates are available
via his Facebook page (Andrew
J. Masigan). Follow Andrew on
Twitter @aj_masigan.
Two tales of bitter sweet recoveries of Japan SMEs

he world has witnessed how the

Great East Japan Earthquake
devastated Japans small
and medium enterprises
(SMEs). But with all-out and quick
government response, SMEs were also
quick to recover. Two Japanese SMEs
Mizuno Suisan Co. Ltd. and Yamamoto
Strawberry Farm are real examples
of businesses becoming bigger and
stronger after a storm.
Mizuno Suisan Co. Ltd., on of Japan's
leading fish paste cake (Kamaboko)
manufacturers, was among those
heavily damaged facilities in the Miyagi
prefecture.
With its main office and production
facilities located near the pier in
Shiogama City, the company can never
be spared from the wrath of the Great
East Japan Earthquake and its ensuing
tsunami. Had it not for some barriers
and small islands, the area could have
sustained heavier damages.
Still, a 2-meter tsunami managed to
barge into the area including Mizunos
building. Built to withstand a tsunami,
the Mizuno building was among the
very few buildings that survived in
that area.
Company president Nobutake
Mizuno told visiting ASEAN reporters
they lost $6 million from damaged
equipment and machineries and $20
million in production cost.
But the government was quick to
provide all the support to put the fishery
industry back on its foot again, Mizuno
reported.
According to Mizuno, the fish
paste cake industry group got $200
million worth of financial subsidy
from the government depending on a
per companys needs. Mizuno got $2
million. It also got some funds from its
insurance cover.
But it just took a month and a half to
start operations, initially at 30 percent.
A year after, the company was already
operating at 60 percent.
In one year and half we were back
to normal operations, we recovered
quickly, he said. One reason is that
their customers sympathized with them

that they resumed to post new orders
immediately to help them recover.
Now, the companys sales have
increased to $3.5 million a year. Its
five conveyor belts can produce 3 tons
of fish paste cakes in an hour. Orders
are delivered within the same day as
the company has adopted the just in
time manufacturing concept of most
Japanese firms. At least 5 percent of
its production is exported to the US, all
the rest is served locally.
The company, which was founded by
Mizunos grandfather in 1930, imports
10 tons of minced fish meat a day. Half
of its ingredients (fish) is imported
from Alaska, Indonesia and other
countries.
There are now 23 fish paste cake
manufacturers in Miyagi from what
used to be 100 in Shiogama City.
We have better quality products and
there is boom in Japanese products, he
said. Fish paste cake is made of fresh

fish meat, vegetables, and starch to
make the fiber solid.
Kamaboko is defined as a type of
cured surimi, a Japanese processed
seafood product. Kamaboko has been
made in Japan since the 14th century
and is becoming popular worldwide
because of its healthy attributes.
Another example of an industry
that has already recovered and has
gone past the challenges of radioactive
contamination is the strawberry fields
of Yamamoto town.
Ta k a s h i I w a s a , p r e s i d e n t o f
Yamamoto Strawberry Farm, recalled
the great sorrows that befell his town,
which sustained the second highest
death ratio vis a vis its population.
The Yamamoto strawberry farm,
which is just 1.5 kilometers away
from the shore, was not spared from
the 2-meter tsunami as it ravaged
whosoever on its way stretching up to
3 kilometers from the shore.

Iwasa said there were 129 farms
them of which 124 were swept away
leaving only five survivor farms. The
Miyagi prefecture is 10th largest
producer of strawberry in Japan.
But we got help from the
government to reconstruct the farms,
he said.
Gathered together by grief, the
farmers formed a corporation to be
able to avail of huge subsidy from the
government.
The recovery was also fast. On June
8, 2011 they established the corporation
and got the approval two months after
enabling them to start rebuilding their
facilities in September.
In one and a half years, we were able
to reestablish ourselves, Iwasa said.
They started to plant in November.
That was pretty quick, he said.
Aside from the government financial
assistance, Takashi said the farmers
were able to recover because they have

a motivation to rebuild.
For a 2.5 hectare strawberry farm,
Iwasa said they need an investment of
$4 million. He has 4.5 hectare farm now
and greenhouses and he plans to add
another hectare and a winery.
They have also elevated the plots
from the previous ground-level planting
to address the issue of soil contamination
from the nuclear disaster. The company
imports palm tree barks from Indonesia
as part of the soil for the strawberry.
There was a time when consumers
do not want to buy from us because
of the harmful radiation, but thats
not real. Japans agriculture products
are totally safe and people should not
be worried as we have guaranteed
safety by using this kind of cultivation
process, he said.
Now, they are harvesting 11 to 13 tons
of strawberries for 2,160 square meter
greenhouse. It now exports to Russia.
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Business Agenda
C-4
Invest in higher education

for inclusive growth study
A
s the economy is undergoing

renewal and demand for skills
increase, the government
must sustain its investments in
improving colleges and universities and
expanding access to higher education.
This was stressed in a study entitled
Investing in Human Capital for Inclusive
Growth: Focus on Higher Education by
PIDS (Philippine Institute of Development
Studies) Fellow Dante Canlas.
Without denying the importance
of quality basic education for inclusive
growth, investment in higher education,
particularly in scientific and technical
education, is critical to technological
progress. In particular, one possible
answer to the question of what the
Philippines needs to do to transform
itself from a middle income economy to
a newly industrializing one is to build
and increase the stock of highly educated
labor. This could be one major factor why
convergence is not or is slow in occurring,
Canlas said in his study.
According to Canlas, developed
economies are able to invest in
technological progress through, say,
deliberate investments in advanced
education and R&D, diminishing marginal
productivity does not set in.
In contrast, if less developed economies
do not invest in advancing their technological
capacities, but rely only on increases
in labor and capital, growth cannot be
sustained over a long period of time. Once
diminishing marginal productivity sets
in, growth slows down. The theory and
corresponding evidence from endogenous
growth theory supports the importance of
investing in higher education to bring about
long-run growth.
There is evidence showing that
economic payoffs to higher education and
skill acquisition are positive and increasing.
The rates of returns, for example, to high
school and college graduates are rising,
accompanied by a widening of the gap
between them. Similarly, wage ratios
between the top and the lowest occupation
groups in selected industry sectors and
subsectors where higher education is vital
have widened.
The Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA), meanwhile, reported the results
of its survey on agriculture, industry
(especially, manufacturing), and services.
In subsectors therein, the occupations
range from the professionals and
executives at the top to the unskilled at
the bottom rung of the ladder. In food
manufacturing, for example, the monthly

wage of food technologists is about twice
that of unskilled workers. In wholesale and
retail trade, the wage ratio for professionals
to unskilled workers is more than twice. In
computer programming, the wage ratio for
electronics engineers to unskilled is about
four to seven times.
Old occupations are also extinguished
as new high quality jobs emerge. These
new activities are commonly seen, for
instance, in call centers and BPO or
business process outsourcing, which are
newfound growth areas in the so-called
digital age.
SUBSIDY SCHEMES
Investing in college education is an
economic decision of households that
takes into consideration costs and stream
of future earnings from having a college
degree. Direct costs come mainly from
tuition fees and other charges, while the
indirect costs are the earnings foregone
from choosing college, instead of entering
the work force immediately after high
school. Household decisions, however, may
be influenced by public policy.
If financing college education comes
largely from the pockets of households,
the government may intervene by setting
up financial assistance programs to
compensate for missing credit markets to
finance college education, Canlas said.
It can also introduce tax-and-subsidy
schemes that support decisions of
households to send their children to
college. Job search after graduation is also
costly; the government can step in to ease
costs of job search. In short, public policy
can design incentive structures geared to
investing in college education.
Banks are the most prominent
financial institutions in many countries;
they accept deposits and create loans. That
is they engage in financial intermediation.
Borrowers, however, differ in their default
risks. Some have lower probability of
repaying their loans (the high risk) than
others (the low risk).
The absence of credit markets
for college education is traceable to
asymmetric information. At the loanapplication stage, students have no credit
history with banks.
In the pursuit of inclusive growth,
the CHED can exert an influential role
in at least four activities: (1) designing
student-loan and other financial-aid
programs; (2) determining the budget
allocations of SUCs by region; (3) setting
content standards in core courses and

subjects in all colleges and universities;
and (4) devising standardized tests for
determining compliance with content
standards of both public and private HEI.
LOAN PROGRAM
FOR COLLEGE EDUCATION
The demand for college graduates is
increasing over time and parents respond
by choosing to enroll their college-age
children. Furthermore, tuition fees are
likely to increase from inflation and from
the drive for quality improvements in all
aspects of college education.
In this environment, student loans
and other forms of financial aid assume
great and critical importance. Since
the caps on student loans will have to
be standardized, financial aid to needy
students must thus include scholarships
grants and work-study programs. One of
the empirical regularities in the economics
of education is that the rate of return from
college education exceeds the weighted
average cost of capital. Investment in
college education is remunerative, which
the graduate is able to capture through the
increase in his or her stream of lifetime
earnings after.
Moreover, it is seen that the income
gap between college and high school
graduates has been widening as a result
largely of increasing labor-market demand
for skills. Investment in college education
is thus a worthy undertaking. But since
households finance college education out
of their own pockets, in the absence of
PNoy inaugurates school building by Pagcor
tate-owned Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corp.
(Pagcor) has turned over a
brand-new three-storey, 18classroom school building to Pavia
National High School (PNHS), the only
public high school in the Municipality
of Pavia, Iloilo.
According to Pagcor, the new school
building will benefit 3,500 students of
PNHS who are currently holding some
classes in cramped learning spaces,
occupying the school offices, laboratory
rooms or two gymnasiums. About 65
students also occupy the schools old
classrooms.
The additional school facility
will also address the need for
more classrooms to accommodate
senior high school students, as the
implementation of the K-to-12 program
comes to full swing.
Inaugurated by President Benigno
S. Aquino III, the turn-over of new
classrooms was made possible through
the Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan
project of Pagcor and its partnersthe
Department of Education (DepEd) and
the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH).
Aside from being spacious and wellventilated, the new Pagcor classrooms
also have comfort rooms in each floor
for male and female students.
In his speech, President Aquino
acknowledged the vital role that
Pagcor plays in providing a healthy
learning environment for the students
by building decent classrooms in
communities where they are needed
most.
Makaka-asa po kayo na tinutugunan ng inyong gobyerno ang mga
pangangailangan sa basic education.
Hindi natin hahayaang magtiis muli
ang mga mag-aaral sa kulang-kulang
na, gutay-gutay pa at mali-maling
classrooms, the President said.
For his part, Education Secretary
Armin Luistro, cited that over 100,000
classrooms had been constructed
under the Aquino administration.
He said that this is a true testament
of the governments noble effort in
uplifting the quality of education in the
country.
L i m a n g
taon bago po ang
panunungkulan ng
Presidente Aquino
ay humigit-kumulang
14,000 classrooms lamang ang naitayo.
Sa limang taon naman ng Aquino
administration, mahigit isandaang
classrooms ang nai-tayo, Luistro
stated.
Pagcor chairman and chief executive
Cristino L. Naguiat, meanwhile, noted
that the new schoolbuilding in Iloilo is
just one of thousands of classrooms
that PagcorR and its partners have
built since 2011.
The school building project has
been our greatest legacy to the Filipino
youth. Thats why every time we
witness the completion of a new
Pagcor building, we are motivated
to keep on exceeding our previous
accomplishments, Naguiat said.
Every new building gives a new
sense of hope to many students who
have held classes outdoors or in
dilapidated classrooms that are no
longer safe to use, he related.
PNHS Principal Delorah Cecilia
Fantillo said it has been her long-time
wish to provide their students with
comfortable and spacious classrooms.
But it was only recently that her dream
was realized.
We have always wanted to give
them a venue that is conducive to
learning. Having better classrooms

help us in providing our students
with the quality education that they
deserve. I am grateful that my prayers
were answered, she said.
Fantillo added that apart from
using the new classrooms for academic
purposes, the new Pagcor building
will also be used as evacuation center
during calamities.
It will likewise be utilized as venue
for community cultural activities of
the local government unit. The new
building donated by Pagcor has given
us extra space where we can hold
some of our programs or host some
important activities. Napakalaking
ginhawa talaga ang hatid sa amin ng
biyayang ito, she added.
To date, Pagcor has already
allocated a total funding of R12 billion
for its nationwide schoolbuilding
project.
As of December 2015, a total of
2,129 classrooms in 439 sites had
already been constructed nationwide.
Meanwhile, 1,644 classrooms in
260 sites are under construction while
1,105 in 100 sites are undergoing
procurement. Thousands more are still
undergoing evaluation.
credit markets for higher education, only

the ones with initial wealth endowments
can afford college education.
The government has a warranted role
to play amid absent markets for collegeeducation loans. Some needs are not met,
with foregone human welfare.
The national government can also
institute a fiscal policy regime whereby
the interest paid on student loans is
admissible as tax credit or a deductible
expense in paying personal income
taxes. The government can also put up
scholarship programs for college-eligible
but financially needy students. Work-study
programs in the university can definitely
help in this regard. Private foundations
and philanthropic alumni could be sources
of research grants, professorial chairs, and
academic buildings with naming rights.
One major task of the national
government is to design a student loan
program that minimizes loan defaults.
This entails instituting caps on what the
student can borrow per year for tuition
support, and requiring parents to be
comakers. Options for loan repayment
must be incorporated in the design, taking

into consideration the ability to pay of the
individual over his or her life cycle.
Canlas said that a national loan
program will need to be legislated and
the CHED must lead in drafting the bill. A
matching grant mechanism must be built
into the design whereby regional SUCs,
for instance, that are able to institute a
loan program with minimal loan defaults
can be rewarded with additional grants.
At the same time, if some SUCs incur loan
defaults that exceed some established
thresholds, eligibility of those SUCs for the
loan program will have to be withdrawn
or suspended. The national loan program
may also include the option of accrediting
private lending institutions, say, banks, to
participate.
Loan guarantees and subsidy schemes
will have to be extended to incentivize
lending institutions to join the program.
To do this, consolidation is necessary, and
may entail transforming some existing
SUCs that do not meet standards of
excellence into community colleges.
In conclusion, Canlas said the
Philippines is reaping the benefits from the
various economic and social policy reforms
that have been ushered in since 1986. The
high growth rate in real GDP in recent
years is one proof of this transformation
going on in the economy. The labor market
is demanding highly skilled workers, and
the payoffs to these skills are increasing
likewise. At this point, however, the country
has a narrow base in relation to labor with
higher and scientific education.
Building a stock of highly educated
and scientific manpower is critical for
technological progress, the major source
of long-run growth. However, in an
environment with liquidity-constrained
households and absent credit markets for
higher education, and amid rising returns
to skills, income inequality is likely to
persist. How to achieve sustained growth
without exacerbating income inequality
is a major challenge that policymakers in
government face, he said.
Red Ribbon builds public

school for Zamboanga City
ed Ribbonone of the
leading bakeshop chains in
the Philippines together
with Apl.De.Ap Foundation
(ADAF) recently turned over a twostorey classroom building to Talon-Talon
Elementary School in Zamboanga City
to help bring the youth back to schools.
The ADAF is a non-government
organization founded by Allan Pineda
(aka Apl.De.Ap) of the Grammy Awardwinning group Black Eyed Peas. Pineda
attended the turnover ceremony along
with a few representatives from Red
Ribbon and Habitat for Humanity.
A total of 14 classrooms were built
inside the schools premises; these
classrooms are to be occupied by new
elementary school pupils on top of its
existing 64 students.
The first seven new classrooms
are set for the use of SPED Gifted
and Talented classes starting from
kindergarten to grade six, with one
advisory class per grade level. Twenty
eight students that need SPED are
expected to occupy each of these
classrooms.
The eighth classroom will be used
by the 41 students who fall under its
SPED Non-Graded category, seated as
one class and under the responsibility
of three SPED teachers. The remaining
six classrooms are intended for the use
of third graders, each accommodating
53 students.
According to Zinnia Rivera, general
manager of Red Ribbon, it was timely
for Talon-Talon Elementary School to
receive these new classrooms since the
number of its students spiked from 6,169
in SY 2014-2015 to 6,412 this SY.
There was a need for a conducive
place for learning in Talon-Talon
Elementary School. Now, with the new
classrooms in place, we will be able to
provide better learning and teaching

experiences to both students and
teacher, Rivera said. On top of this,
we will be more capable of addressing
the need for an improved learning
environment to children who need
special education.
She added, Red Ribbon is one with
other governing bodies in encouraging
the youth to go back to school and mold
their own future. By giving them more
venues to acquire knowledge, we are
also giving them more opportunities to
discover their own strengths and learn
from their experiences. Our partnership
with different organizations made this
possible. As we move forward, we
will continue to engage in strategic
partnerships that not only strengthen
our vision but also help in nationbuilding.
Habitats Chief Operating Officer
for Disaster Response, Tots Escalada
thanked Red Ribbon and ADAF for
their efforts in helping the children of
Zamboanga go back to school.
Schools are childrens second
homes. In Habitat, we want to help
them have a more conducive place to
learn, play and enjoy their childhood.
We are very grateful to our partners for
helping us give them that oppprtunity,
Escalada said.
This is part of Red Ribbons
Macaroons for a Cause initiative
where the brand sold its best-selling
macaroons nationwide for R50. For
every pack of Macaroons for a Cause,
Filipino consumers were able to allocate
14 percent or R7 directly to the ADAF
who will fund the project.
Aside from the combined efforts of
Red Ribbon and ADAF, the program
was also supported by Jollibee Group
Foundation and Habitat for Humanity
Philippines.
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L
Section Editor: Art Samaniego, Jr.
www.facebook.com/TechnewsMB
Twitter: @mb_technews
Instagram: mbtechnews
D1 Monday, February 22, 2016

Samsung Galaxy S7 (left) and the Galaxy S7 Edge (top).
also eagerness to see and know what

was true and what was not about the
much-awaited flagship phone.
Without further ado --- Samsung finally revealed the Samsung Galaxy S7
and the S7 Edge, plus of course a few
more surprises.
The Grain of Truth

in Every Rumour
B
By Len AmAdorA
arcelona, Spain --- Rumors

spread like wildfire especially when people are enthusiastic about something.
For months, mobile aficionados have
been clinging on to whatever rumor
that may spread about what Samsung
has on its sleeve for the Mobile World
Congress 2016. And with all the gos
gossips and leaks, one thing was certain,
all these made Samsung the center of
the mobile world.
The highly anticipated Samsung
Unpacked 2016 held just hours before
Con
the opening of the Mobile World Congress sparked off not only thrill but
Get first dibs on these

InnoFest treats from LG
G Electronics owned the

stage with their newest line
of products. Fresh from Innovest 2016 Asia, LG introduced SIGNATURE, their premium
product line. Of the showcased electronics, three caught our eyes the
most. The OLED TV, the washing machine, and the air purified.
Starting in the entertainment
line, LG showed off the SIGNATURE
OLED TV, which highlights a Pictureon-Glass design.
Only at 2.57mm OLED panel, the
TV features a front and back sound
bar system, which are integrated in
the glass design. The speakers are
located within the TVs stand, which
provides a more minimalistic approach that would give a more immersive experience while viewing movies
and TV shows.
The SIGNATURE washing ma
machine has some of the coolest features
we have seen thus far from LG. The
Twin Wash gets a revamp with a 24inch front load washing that is more
durable.
It also features a mini-wash section where users can just toss in their
smaller clothes such as handkerchiefs
for a quick clean up that doesnt require using the entire washing machine. Bringing the future closer to
home, the washing machines glass
door features a touch panel called
the Quick Circle User Interface.
Next in the lineup is the Air
Purifier. The SIGNATURE Air Purifier uses a transparent panel, which

provides a visual experience on the air
cleaning process through the AquaCyclone feature. This allows users to
witness water filtering chemicals and
contaminants from the air, which also
brings the room to a decent humidity
level. The unit is equipped with LGs
Semi-Permanent Filter System.
New to LG is its new refrigerator, which sports an Auto Door Open
feature, which pops open the door as
the user nears within the refrigerators proximity. It also now features
a Knock-On, where knocking on the
door would reveal its contents through
a glass screen.
LGs wide range of mobile accessories, along with their fitness wearables, are ready for shipping and
should be in your wish list.
Aboard the flagship

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are
both bigger than their predecessors
now sporting a 5.2-inch and a 5.5-inch
quad HD super AMOLED display
respectively. Honestly, it felt like dejavu with the S7. Except for a modest
change in screen size and a slightly
curved back for better grip as opposed
to its usual flat back; physically, the S7
didnt have much difference with its
predecessor. The S7 Edge, on the other hand, seem to sport a thinner, narrower bezel from the illusion of having
a slightly larger curved screen size in
front and a curved back. Both devices
are dust and waterproof with an IP68
code in 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.
Samsung has always impressed us
with its impeccable camera features.
From the outside, both devices now
exhibit a more recessed back camera
- instead of a 1.33 height protuberance,
now it is only at 0.46 making the back
surface of both devices appear seamless, smooth and continuous.
The
front camera is still at 5 megapixels.
Low light conditions have always
been a concern in most cameras and
this time Samsung tackled this issue
head on. Although having been reduced to 12-megapixels, the camera
on both devices now comes with a
dual pixel sensor and an f/1.7 aperture resulting to an auto-focus at an

impressive speed of 0.2 seconds. With
this, Samsung promises to deliver exceptional photos even on low light.
Both devices guarantee longer battery life with the S7 having 3000mAh
battery while the Edge at 3600mAh
battery. I appreciate the power of nostalgia as Samsung brings back the micro SD card; but this time seamlessly
incorporated in the pull out hybrid SIM
tray. In addition to better battery life
and the microSD comeback, other key
features worth mentioning include: an
expandable memory (microSD) up to
200GB, an always ON display, faster
wireless charging, Android Marshmallow 6.0 operating system, optimized gaming experience with the
Vulcan API, octa-core processor with
4G RAM and is compatible with Gear
VR. With reference to S7 Edge, it now
features an improved and more useful Edge UX brought by a larger edge
panel bringing in a task edge and a
third party edge in addition to people
and apps edge. Both devices are fully
compatible with Samsung Pay which
Samsung PH is actively exploring.
Both will be available on March 19.
Pre-order starts on March 4 until the
16th. And there is more --- those who
are pre-ordering get a FREE Gear VR
for every pack of the S7 or the S7 Edge!
Incidentally, the Gear VR will be available in the market on February 26.
Eager to know more? So do I! So,
watch out for an in-depth review soon.
Signing off, temporarily, from Barcelona.
Fast. Super Fast.

Huawei Mate 8
By edGArd A. HILArIo
uawei Technologies Philippines allowed Manila

Bulletin TechNews an
exclusive sneak peek of
the upcoming Huawei Mate 8 -- a polished gem which many tech experts
are claiming to be the fastest smartphone on the planet.
Hot on the heels of the highly successful Google Nexus 6P, which is
considered by critics as the King Of
Android phones and 2015 Smartphone
of the Year, Huawei understandably
rolls out a winner that combines
speed, style and functionality.
Made for the new young business
elites, Huawei Mate 8 is a productivity-driven device that features the
worlds most advanced smartphone
technology ever -- a new benchmark
of amazing performance, finger print
scan security, fast charging and
long battery life.
With this fast, impeccably
designed smartphone, users
can work more efficiently and
free up valuable time to spend
with friends, family and on personal pursuits, said Kevin Ho,
President, Handset Product Line,
Huawei Consumer BG.
The Mate 8 is the first device
to use the latest Kirin 950 chipset,
16 nm FinFET plus chip technology, and an ARM Cortex-A72 processor.
Featuring the most advanced
chipset in the market
today, the Kirin 950
strikes the perfect balance between high
performance and low
power consumption.It
is the first smartphone
in the industry to adopt
the 4 x A72+4 x A53 Big.
LITTLE architecture
and the first to use the
ARM Cortex A72 SOC
processor.
With the Kirin950,
the Mate 8s boosting
power increases by 100
percent and a processing capability that is
1.25 times higher compared to the Kirin925.
Equipped with a 4000 mAh highdensity battery, the Mate 8 delivers

industry-leading power efficiency offering over two days of normal usage.
And with rapid charging technology,
the phone is able to charge a days
worth of power in just 30 minutes,
which is 105 percent faster than the
Apple iPhone 6s Plus.
Running on Huaweis EMUI 4.0,
based on Android Marshmallow 6.0,
the Huawei Mate 8 offers hundreds of
user experience tweaks and improvements, including a built-in automatic
defragmentation servicethat continues optimizing system performance.
The metallic unibody design is
made from aerospace-grade aluminum and the devices body is meticulously crafted through 52 processes
in addition to leveraging the diamond
cutting technology and precision procedure of a computer numerical control machine.
The sleek look of the Mate 8 is

achieved with the ultra-fast diamond
glass cutting technology. With this
technology, the 2.5D diamond cut
glass and metal are joined together
seamlessly at 35,000 rpm.
The side of the Mate 8 is designed
with great precision with a drawing
process. On the rear surface, Huawei
uses a sandblasting technique to create a texture with a dignified appearance.
Despite its 6-inch screen the
Huawei Mate 8 remains as the most
compact smartphone yet with an 83
percent screen-to-body ratio.
The Mate 8 adopts the revolutionary, all-new Sony 16MP IMX298, increasing the sensor size by 23 percent
for breathtaking images. The Mate 8
has several camera features including: slow motion, continuous capture
mode, and professional mode.
And theres more, a lot more.
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Monday February 22 2016
Flash 2 Mica White

smartphone now available
in select stores nationwide
C
raving for a posh yet value
for money smartphone that
perfectly fits in your hand?
Look no further because
Flashone of Asias up and coming
lifestyle and smart device developer
makes the Mica White version of the
bestselling Flash 2 available in select
stores in nationwide.
The Flash 2 smartphone, which
was launched Q4 of 2015, is one of the
hottest t-selling product in Southeast
Asia because of its powerful camera
features and superior performance.
In fact, the first batch of the Flash 2
was sold out in just ten minutes after
its launch.
The Flash 2 smartphone is ergonomically designed to give you access
to all useful applications using just one

hand. Its curved back and contoured
sides give balance to the phone, preventing unwanted slips when in use.
The Flash 2 is equipped with an
LED flash autofocus front camera
that makes it your professional selfie
tool when going outdoors or when
staying at home. With its 25 percent
larger sensor size and 27 percent bigger pixel size, the phone is ready for
all kinds of lighting conditionsall set
for your selfie-worthy moments.
Aside from its enhanced selfietaking features, the new Flash 2 has
an even powerful main back camera
that gives you the advantage of capturing your own view of the world.
Capture the images just the way you
Hitachi spearheads
Social Innovation Forum
see and experience them, or tweak

them according to your own demands
by using its enhanced photography
creative tools. You can test your mobigraphy skills in manual settings,
shoot time lapse videos and capture
panoramic scenes using the front
camera.
If you want to enjoy all of these
features with an added touch of elegance, then youd be glad to know that
the Flash 2s Mica White phone color
offers a lucid and rich overall feel that
match what you are looking for in refined beauty. The silky smooth layer
provides an overall pearl -like luster,
complementing your taste for finesse
and sophistication.
Get the feel of the Flash 2 Mica
White smartphone from

our authorized sellersBest Contact, Into Gadgets, Primehub and Tekpone.
The Volcanic Grey version
is also available in the following
stores - Accent Hub, Accent Plus
, Aerophone, Best Contact, Cellplus, Cellplus Fonshop, City Light,
Comworks, Ctytel, Dialog, Gaisano
Interpace, Hello, IECC Computers,
Into Gadgets, Jollicom, Martzone,
Megaone, Moderna Gadgets, Novo 7,
Oxvor, Pacific Prime, Primehub, Progressive, Ramlay, Tech-Mao, Tekpone
Digital Lifesyle Shop,Top Gadgets and
Gear Hub,Wow and Zanstel. (Carl Rogel Inocentes)
2016: The Emergence of Virtual

Reality in the Eyes of a Visual Artist
Photo shows (from left) Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman & CEO of

Hitachi Ltd., with Mitsuhiko Shimizu, General Manager of Hitachi
Asia Ltd. Philippine Branch.
itachi Asia Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., hosted the Hitachi Social
Innovation Forum in the
Philippines recently. The aim of
the forum was to discuss the need
for sustainable solutions to address
the challenges facing the Philippines and the region.
Arnel Paciano Casanova, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Philippines Bases Conversion and Development Authority
(BCDA), graced the event as guestof-honor.
Through hosted exhibition and
business seminars, the forum showcased a broad range of solutions in
Hitachis Social Innovation Business, which combines infrastructure and advanced information
technologies. Customers, business
partners, and major stakeholders in
the Philippines will be able to have
a better understanding of Hitachis
key business fields such as information and telecommunication systems, power systems, healthcare,
and transportation.
The Social Innovation Forum
provided an opportunity to discuss
technological answers to various
societal issues particularly in the
Philippines. The keynote speech by
Mr. Hiroaki Nakanishi,Chairman
& CEO of Hitachi explored global
mega trends that require Social In-
novation and how Hitachis expertise can drive these opportunities.

Delegates was also be able to
hear from Hitachi speakers Mr.
Mitsuhiko Shimizu, General Manager of Hitachi Asia Ltd. Philippine
Branch, Mr. Alistair Dormer, Global
CEO of Hitachi - Rail and Chairman
of Hitachi Rail Europe, and Mr. Alireza Aram, Senior Vice President of
Energy Solutions Company. They
shared their views on the Philippines market growth and upcoming challenges, and introduce some
of Hitachis solutions to meet the
market needs of urbanization from
the view of Energy Management,
Urban City Development, and Public Transportation supported by
Information Communication Technologies.
This was the third Hitachi Social Innovation Forum to be held
in Southeast Asia (SEA), following
successful events in Singapore in
2014 and Myanmar in 2015. Hitachi
is placing increasing emphasis on
SEA as it aims to increase its overseas sales ratio from 45% in FY2013
to over 50% in FY2015 under its
2015 Mid-term Management Plan.
Asia is one of the most important
markets for the Hitachi Group, and
the Company is aiming to increase
its revenue in Asia (excluding China) from 989.9 billion yen in FY 2013
to 1,100.0 billion yen in FY2015.
hris Milk, an accomplished

visual artist and founder
of virtual reality companies Vrse and Vrse.works,
shares his views on the emergence of
virtual reality.
The main hurdles that we spend a
lot of time thinking about are inspiring mass adoption, creating great content, and continuing the discovery of
what VR is capable of.
Widening the consumer base is a
top priority. VR can (and will) be a revolutionary platform for gaming and
entertainment, but weve been seeing firsthand just how far the medium
can reach. We now have the power to
traverse great distances in no time at
all and walk a mile in another mans
shoes. VR has the power to transform
how people feel about one another.
How can VR continue to reshape journalism and news? How can VR affect
education and learning? Every new
revolutionary technology, be it the cell
phone or the laptop, is pushed to the
limits by humanity. How do we use
this thing in a way where our lives are
greatly improved? VR is no different.
2016 will see the continued push to
explore how VR can transform existing modes of communication, bring
people closer together, and make our
lives more streamlined.
Next, creating great content. I
think were entering a period of rapid
experimentation and exploration. I
think over the course of the next year
well see a lot more narrative exploration in VR. Storytellers are already
retraining their brains to think in 360,
and so many great VR experiences already exist. I believe that great storytellers can tell a great story using anything. As more and more companies
and studios invest in VR, were going
to see some really great narrative experiments. Were still at the infancy of
this new art form. It took cinema decades to invent the close-up. Even longer to invent the match-cut. So on and
so forth. As technology grows more
widespread and the creation of VR
experiences becomes democratized,
were going to hear from new voices.
The simplest way we arrive at
compelling content in VR is to imagine what would be compelling to experience in real life. In a lot of ways, VR
is the closest weve come to inventing
a teleportation device. You can take

anyone from anywhere and transport
them into moments, experiences, and
stories. VR can eliminate the proximity between people, places, and things
in a way that I havent seen done before. Its helpful to think about what
kinds of characters you want your
audience to interact with, and how
youll want the audience to remember
them. Thats really what the storytelling goal should be: to create memories. Once youve got that in mind, you
can reverse engineer everything else.
Were going to start seeing stories
that take us to faraway and impossible locations, and stories that blur
the lines between our world and the
virtual one.
Nissans self-parking technology

takes the center Okamura seat
he Japanese carmaker
Nissan recently unveiled
its Intelligent Parking
Chair, an offshoot of its
self-parking technology derived
from its cars experimenting with
automatic steering.
Using modified Okamura chairs,
these office seats automatically orient themselves and return to their
assigned desks neatly, triggered
only by a clap of the hands. These
chairs are shown turning 360 degrees, and are tracked with the help
of cameras placed in the rooms ceiling, generating a birds eye view on a
computer that wirelessly transmits

the chairs position and its route to
its destination.
While it is a novel demonstration of its self-parking technology,
Nissan, as the leader in autonomous driving technology, has already implemented this system in
its X-Trail hybrid model and other
Nissan vehicles a step closer to
delivering a fully autonomous driving experience.
You can view the technology in
action at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=O1D07dTILH0&feature=
youtu.be.
Waze Transport SDK for on-demand, transport companies
aze recently unveiled its

newest initiative - the
Waze Transport SDK
(Software Developer Kit)
to empower on-demand and transport
companies to improve their services
and grow their businesses with Waze
ETA, turn-by-turn navigation and preferred routing displayed in their native applications.
The Transport SDK will bring unprecedented insight and data to partners, enabling easy implementation of
navigation services and reducing the
friction of swapping between applications. The diverse inaugural partners

that are powering their business with
the Waze Transport SDK are Lyft,
Genesis Impulse, JustPark, Cornershop, Cabify, and 99Taxis.
One of the benefits in the partnership is that Waze can assist to grow
the partners businesses by providing better optimized routes, meaning
more customers will be served and
eventually leading to more robust services. The new feature will make their
application even better, as real-time
information will be shared, for example seeing a delivery driver on a map.

This initiative is also beneficial for
the customers because passengers
will experience rides that are faster,
more efficient and likely safer too. On
top of that, customers can have the
peace of mind when they see their
cabs location or know the exact minute their delivery will arrive directly
from the application.
Waze Transport SDK is capable of
supporting any partner where Waze
has a presence.
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Tech News
Monday February 22, 2016
New Western Digital NAS storage gives pros

the power to multi-task and easily share files
estern Digital Corporation has updated its prosumer solutions with

My Cloud EX2 Ultra, a
high-performance, two-bay network
attached storage (NAS) system. The
My Cloud EX2 Ultra NAS is designed
from the ground up for creative professionals and prosumers that need
to automatically sync content across
computers, easily share files and folders and enjoy multiple backup options
so they can create their own personalized digital library with ease.
We know our My Cloud users, especially creative professionals, need
comprehensive solutions as digital
storage needs continue to soar as
well as the need for ongoing streaming capability, said Jim Welsh, executive vice president, WD Branded
Products.
With the My Cloud EX2 Ultra,
creative professionals are able to
combine high performance with
multi-tasking optimization and data
protection to create a NAS system
that simplifies their workflow and
provides peace-of-mind.
My Cloud EX2 Ultra has been
upgraded with a powerful 1.3 GHz

dual-core processor enabling users
to get ultra-fast transfer rates for
high performance and smooth video
streaming.
Users also have access to 1 GB
of DDR3 memory, allowing them to
multitask with ease and leverage applications for HD media streaming,
surveillance and much more. Several
data management and security features allow users to select a preferred
method for managing and protecting
their movies, photos, music and digital files.
Drive management options include
RAID 0, RAID 1; JBOD and spanning
modes, while data protection options
include NAS to NAS, USB, cloud or
LAN/WAN backup. The My Cloud
EX2 Ultra NAS comes preconfigured
in RAID 1 mode to help protect data
right from the start and is easily configurable into other data protection
modes.
From unpopulated to 12 TB capacities , the My Cloud EX2 Ultra provides
several capacity options for customers to choose from. Additionally, customers can attach compatible USB
X-COM 2: Recharged Tactical Moves
hen the rebooted XCOM: Enemy Unknown

launched
about
four
years ago, both fans of the
series, new and old, acclaimed how
the game made them think and suffer. The trend continued with the introduction of an expansion, adding to
the customization and intensity of the
vanilla game. But the people wanted
more. When X-COM 2 was teased, everyone grabbed the handles of their
seats and waited with baited breath.
Now, X-COM 2 is out and is currently
garnering good reviews, but is it really
that good?
X-COM 2 takes an alternate path
from the first X-COM. The defense of
Earth has failed and the world has accepted their extraterrestrial conquerors. Consequently, humanity then became a slave in their own planet, with
their alien captors lying and promising
cure for all diseases in exchange for
something immensely great. X-COM,
now a guerilla organization, vows to
expose the true plans of the aliens, retake the world, and drive the invaders
out for good.
For the uninitiated, X-COM 2 is a
game that is rooted under two categories: micromanagement and tactics.
The first one is made apparent in the
command center of XCOMs flying
ship, the Avenger. In this segment,
the player must decide on upgrades
to pursue, which rebel outpost to help,
and which threat to counteract. Decisions are the driving factor here and
3.0 hard drives to the USB expansion

ports on the My Cloud EX2 Ultra to instantly expand their storage capacity.
The populated My Cloud EX2 Ultra features the award-winning WD
Red hard drives, specifically built for
NAS systems to provide non-stop performance within 24x7 environments.
WD Red drives are powered by NASwar 3.0 technology, improving drive
reliability and minimizing data corruption in the event of a power loss or
disruption.
With simplified file and folder sharing, users can send customized, private links that allow recipients read/
write access to particular files on the
users My Cloud EX2 Ultra. Whether
on a photo shoot, or editing
at home, saving creations
at full fidelity and sharing
with your entire network
is a breeze. The My Cloud
EX2 Ultra features an intuitive dashboard, so user
accounts can be created,
features customized and
storage can be monitored
with ease. (Carl Rogel Inocentes)
ing a VIP, defending a besieged outpost, or turning off an alien transmitter. There are also times wherein the
player must finish the mission for a set
number of turns. Since most missions
are a guerilla affair, the player is often
given the advantage of stealth, allowing for careful placement of troops before the fireworks start.
To conclude, X-COM 2 is a great
game. It continued to use the formula that worked for its predecessor,
dressed it with newer clothes, and
introduced new concepts for the better. Its a new game that welcomes
both veterans and would-be fans of
the franchise. The added mod support
also lengthens the games lifespan.
Sadly, it couldve been perfect if it
did not suffer from technical hiccups.
(Jose Gamaliel Felongco)
Travel safe,
Travel Light
acpower Markering
and Pioneer Insurance teams up for
a therapy bundle.
Whenever customers drop by between March 2-6 in the Pioneer
House Makati. There will be up
to 50% discount from Macpower
Marketing products such as MB
Quarts and the Impact Protection shield. Pioneer has launched
Travel Light, a new travel insurance product that caters to frequent travelers abroad. Pioneer
has laos launched the InsureShop,
a website carries other insurance
products such as the Travel Buddy, Travel Buddy Adventure, and
MediCash. Check out Pioneers
shop.pioneer.com.ph to see these
products.
Smart expands video, digital

arsenal with Warner Bros. Pictures
making wrong moves can end the

game. Juggling through each of them
makes the game unpredictable and
there is always that lingering threat of
having an emergency scenario to deal
with. To add pressure, the game is
time-restricted as the aliens are constructing a doomsday device to end of
all of human life.
Once a mission is chosen, the player can decide which soldiers to field.
The game then transports the player
into the battlefield with him/her acting as the commander of the troops.
The good thing that makes X-COM 2
better than its predecessor is that the
levels are now randomly generated,
meaning that no battlefield looks or
feels the same. From here, the player
is given a variety of objectives to accomplish. Missions range from rescu-
D3
olstering its thrust in providing Filipinos with the

widest breadth of video
and digital content via its
full-packed mobile data offers, unrivaled mobile leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has partnered
with Warner Bros. Pictures to offer
awesome digital and real-life experiences inspired by the epic adventure
Batman v Super: Dawn of Justice.
As part of the partnership, Smart
takes the lead in taking the Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice beyond
the film into the digital realm at the
fingertips of subscribers through exciting mobile content, such as videos
and interactive online challenges on
its dedicated portal at www.smart.
com.ph/batmanvsuperman.
Smart is giving subscribers a
chance to live like Heroes in all-expense-paid trips in Japan and Hong
Kong, as well as win premium items
and special movie passes for every
registration to Big Bytes 50, Smarts
biggest mobile Internet offer yet.
We are thrilled to partner with
Warner Bros. Pictures as the official
mobile partner on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in the Philippines, which further widens our lead
and effectively boosts our already
extensive digital arsenal that is now

coupled with larger-than-life perks
and super-sized treats, which our
subscribers can get a chance to experience every time they subscribe
to our data offers, said Ariel P. Fermin, Executive Vice President and
Consumer Business Head at PLDT
and Smart.
Now boosted to give all subscribers the best mobile video experience
on top of other digital content, the
new Big Bytes 50 comes with 350MB
for surfing and access to top social
media apps and games, plus 600MB
of videos and music from YouTube,
Vimeo, Skype Qik, Daily Motion,
Spinnr and iflix all valid for three
days for just P50. Smart subscribers
can register to Big Bytes 50 by simply dialing *121# - the all-access portal for all Smart promos.
With Big Bytes 50, Smart subscribers are able to bring the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceinspired experience at their fingertips: by watching exclusive videos on
Smarts dedicated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice portal, checking out trailers on YouTube, sharing
reviews on Facebook, debating who
will win on Twitter and even uploading inspired photos on Instagram.
DOST project to narrow digital divide in PH
he 2016 national elections are

coming and the clamor for
making the right choices
is steadily rising. In the Philippines, taking a swing at politicians
for not delivering on promises once
elected is just as common as pinning
the blame on the nearest voter for not
making the expected wise vote.
According to a study by the Institute of Philippine Culture of the Ateneo de Manila University, the poor has
more or less the same criteria for voting as the middle and upper class have.
The study showed that the urban and
rural poor of the country do not necessarily favor the rich and the powerful.
Instead, they consider a candidates
piety, helpfulness, loyalty, sense of responsibility and intelligence as top
characteristic considerations among
all others mentioned in the study.
When one thinks about who to vote
for, they can only use the information
at their disposal. The same study suggests that among the poor, the most
important sources of information in
choosing a candidate are media, family, church and political parties, in descending order of influence.
The media may not always succeed
in painting an accurate picture of each
candidate, while the other mentioned
influences are susceptible to bias
and personal preference, making the
right choice for people a lot more difficult to make.
The rest have the Internet. The
convenience of finding information in
the Internet allows people to harness

significant amounts of information almost simultaneously alongside their
daily functions.
To include everyone, a constant Internet connectivity is needed. In 2014,
a solution to bridge this divide was
conceptualized and is now on its initial
phases of implementation.
The Juan Konek Free Wi-Fi Internet Access in Public Places Project
under the Digital Empowerment Program aims to narrow this divide and
eventually eradicate it. In this project,
the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through its Information and Communications Technology
Office (ICT Office) targets to provide
7,118 free wi-fi hotspots in 43 major cities and 967 municipalities across the
archipelago.
1.5 million Filipinos

working online
By the end of 2015, an estimated 1.5
million Filipinos had found work online
through the Internet, earning dollars
without leaving the country.
Among the jobs Filipinos excel in
are writing, graphic and web design,
desktop publishing, audio and video
editing, software development and virtual assistants.
These 1.5 million Filipinos earn an
average of $3 per hour and $250 per project. Income rates depend on the jobs
level of difficulty as well as the workers
online reputation, gained from ratings
given by previous online employers.

Online jobs can be found through
job portals such as UpWork.com, Freelancer.ph and OnlineJobs.ph. Employers are usually small to medium-sized
companies or individuals abroad who
choose to outsource certain jobs and
functions in order to be cost effective.
The only thing an online worker
needs is a computer with Internet access as well as the necessary skills to
do the job.
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office of the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is promoting Online Jobs
or Impact Sourcing to Filipinos in the
provinces as an alternative means of
earning income. The ICT Office regularly conducts Rural Impact Sourcing
(RIS) workshops at various provincial
locations promoting RIS to students
and fresh graduates.
For 2015, the ICT Office conducted
eight workshops in the following locations: Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte;
Manila; Iriga City, Camarines Sur;
Odiongan, Romblon; Tacloban, Leyte;
Pulilan, Bulacan; Calapan, Oriental
Mindoro; and Tagbilaran, Bohol.
Filipinos are known worldwide for
their technical skills and communications skills as well as customer service
orientation, said DOST Secretary
Mario G. Montejo. This is why the
Philippines is regarded as the Contact
Center capital of the world. Online jobs
are an extension of this, but for smaller
businesses instead of big ones.
(From left) Ariel P. Fermin, Executive Vice President and Consumer

Business Head at PLDT and Smart; Chaye Cabal-Revilla, Smart Chief
Financial Officer; Sionee Lagman, Warner Bros. Pictures Marketing
Director; Kathy C. Carag, Smart Masterbrand Department Head;
Francis Soliven, Warner Bros. Pictures General Manager; and Ramon
R. Isberto, PLDT and Smart Public Affairs Head
PDRF, private sector partners

broaden access to quality
healthcare in Haiyan-hit areas
he Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF)

and its private sector partners Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), the Makati Medical
Center Foundation (MMCF) and
Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart)
unveiled pioneering units of e-health
facilities in the Haiyan-hit areas of Tacloban, Leyte and Biliran Province.
Using a telemedicine and video
conferencing platform, these e-health
units target to serve communities
within the disaster-stricken region by
offering daily free medical check-ups,
diagnosis, and early treatment of diseases.
As the lead implementing partner, PDRF President Rene S. Meily
explained that this endeavor successfully marries HPs cloud-based infor-
mation systems, Smarts connectivity

services and MMCFs pool of top-tier
physicians and medical specialists.
After Haiyan hit the Philippines
in 2013, several private sector players
have come together and pledged support to immediately restore damaged
health facilities and help sustain public access to medical care.
Among them are companies like
HP and Smart which have both been
active in leveraging technology to
bridge gaps in healthcare access,
especially within disaster-hit and resource-poor locations.
The availability of quality healthcare is an important part of the whole
rebuilding process, and is definitely
instrumental in ensuring the overall resilience of these disaster-prone
communities.
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Tech News
D4
Monday February 22, 2016
Toshiba introduces the new Portg

R30-C and Tecra A40-C series
oshiba Singapore Pte Ltd,

the Asian Headquarter for
Mobile Computing Solutions
and Devices, recently announced two new additions to its business Portg and Tecra ranges the
Portg R30-C and Tecra A40-C. In
keeping with Toshibas Portg and
Tecra values and benefitting from 30
years of laptop development, the new
models offer a customizable experience for all businesses with easy IT
manageability. Utilizing all Toshibas
in house engineering expertise, the
13.3-inch Portg R30-C, 35.6 cm (14)
and 14-inch Tecra A40-C offer an advanced blend of security, performance,
protection and manageability.
For simple integration into businesses and their existing IT infrastructure, the new Portg and Tecra models provide a common image
and platform stability to make it easy
to deploy new and current models
across the range with minimal manageability required. Common docking
throughout all models makes it easy
for professions to connect to everyday
peripherals and for businesses to enable hot-desking with the same equipment needed regardless of the laptop.
All round confidence
For peace of mind, all models have
passed rigorous and independent
H.A.L.T (Highly Acclerated Life Test)
testing by independent German test
institute, TV Rheinland to withstand the pressures of everyday working life. Additional quality standards
met to protect a companys assets
and data include both drop testing up
to 76cm and a spill resistant keyboard
of up to 30ml1 in case of any accidental knocks and spillages. To enhance
security, all models have the option
of a fingerprint reader, dedicated
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0,
and smartcard reader making it ideal
for business users to prevent unauthorized access to the device and the
data on it. With Toshiba creating and
controlling its own BIOS on all Tecra
and Portg models, additional security reassurance is provided as it significantly reduces the chances of im-
Get crafty and organized

with kawaii Hello Kitty labeling
machine from Brother
rother International Philippines Corp. (Brother

Philippines) is pleased to
introduce the Hello Kitty
labelling machine, PT-D200KT. An
addition to its roster of electronic labellers, the PT-D200KT has built in
Hello Kitty symbols and frames to
make labeling more fun and creative.
Two
well-loved
Japanese
brands, Brother and Hello Kitty,
come together to create a functional
and creative gadget:the Brother
Hello Kitty labeling machine. This is
perfect for the season as a gift, or for
use in crafty gift tags, said Brother
President Glenn Hocson.
The PT-D200KT electronic labeller can print on a wide variety of
tapes, widths of 6, 9 or 12mm, and
colors. A Hello Kitty-designed tape
is available as well. Labels can be
created easily and quickly using
built-in fonts, symbols and frames
on durable and high quality Tze laminated tapes. The PT-D200KT comes
with built-in 97 frames, with 22 Hello
Kitty layouts, and 651 symbols with
34 Hello Kitty designs.
Hello Kitty enthusiasts may

get organized and create labels for
home, office or school with their
favorite Japanese character. Photo
albums, books and other items can
be clearly and neatly labelled for
easy storage, or school and office
supplies may be personalized.Even
in the kitchen, the labeling machine
may be used to organize ingredients
and items, as well as to keep track of
food freshness using time and date
labls.
Transcend launches high endurance

microSDHC/SDXC Memory Cards,
the best companion for car video
recorders and security cameras
ranscend has announced

the launch of its High Endurance
microSDHC/
SDXC memory cards for
write-intensive applications, such as
car video recorders, security cameras, and IP cameras. Transcends
High
Endurance
microSDHC/
SDXC memory cards are verified
to not only withstand up to 12,000
hours of video recording, but also
pass stringent environmental tests.
Transcends High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC memory cards are
temperature proof, waterproof, static proof, and shock resistant, making them the best companions for
recording devices subject to harsh
conditions.
Manufactured using high-quality MLC flash chips with optimized
firmware, Transcends High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC cards provide greater durability and better
stability to fulfill the write-intensive
requirements of surveillance devices, such as car video recorders,
security cameras, and IP cameras.
For example, a 64GB Transcend
High Endurance microSD card can
withstand up to 12,000 hours of Full
HD video recording, ensuring critical moments are clearly logged and
securely saved.
Due to the harsh environments
in which surveillance devices are
commonly installed, Transcends
High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC
cards must pass stringent environmental testing to withstand constant
exposure to sunlight and rain, heat

and cold when being used in a car
video recorder or outdoor surveillance camera. Transcends High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC memory cards are temperature proof,
waterproof, static proof, and shock
resistant. In addition, Transcends
High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC
cards with Class 10 speed rating provide impressive transfer rates of up
to 21MB per second.
Transcends High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC cards feature builtin Error Correction Code (ECC) for
extra protection to help detect and
correct potential transfer errors, effectively preventing data loss or corruption.
Transcend
microSDHC/SDXC
cards come with an exclusive RecoveRx software which is free to download from Transcends website. With
just a few clicks, users can easily recover virtually any type of digital files
including photos, documents, music
and videos. Moreover, RecoveRx
supports memory card formatting
and data protection functions, providing users with the ultimate convenience for managing their memory
cards.
Transcends High Endurance microSDHC/SDXC memory cards are
available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB
capacities, and carry Transcends
Two-year Limited Warranty. All
Transcend memory cards undergo
extensive testing to assure the utmost level of quality.
proper access and if an

attack is identified, it can
prevent the laptop from
booting up to restrict infor
information being accessed.
Designed with the business
user in mind, every detail has
been taken into account to optimize performance and productivity.
All models feature up to 6th gen Intel Core vPro processors to deliver
the optimal combination of perfor
performance and battery life with hardware
enhanced security. When working outside or in offices with bright lights, a
non-reflective display is feature on all
models to maximize visibility and reduce glare.
True mobility to optimum
productivity
The Portg R30-C allows users
to truly rediscover what it means to
be mobile while they work weighing
from just 1.27 kg in a unique 13.3-inch
black magnesium chassis body with a
full working day battery life of up to 8
hours3. The 14-inch Tecra A40-C offers
a larger display size for users

who prefer increased screen sizes or
are more desk based while still providing up to 8 hours3 battery life for
time away from a power source.
Tailored connectivity for
professionals
All new models in the new Tecra
and Portg range enable professionals to remain fully connected regardless of their location. Premium Intel
Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 enables
fast connections and transfers for

greater productivity when working
online. A host of full size slots including 3 x USB 3.0 ports, 1 x HDMI, 1 x
SD card slot and an RGB and GBit
LAN port allow for full connectivity
and easy transferring of information.
The addition of Intel Wireless Display technology removes the hassle
of wires when paired with compatible
equipment.
Be the selfie expert with the

stylishly crafted OPPO F1
lobal electronics and technology service provider OPPO

locally launched their first
phone of the year, the OPPO
F1. Boasting an amazing front camera,
the F1 has been dubbed the Selfie
Expert, thanks to its mix of hardware
and software working together to make
every selfie fantastic. This was emphasized during the launch, with the event
setup designed similar to that of a photography studio as guests were given
free use of the F1.
Built-in Styling Team
At 8 megapixels, the OPPO
F1s front camera has an 84-degree-wide angle camera lens with
f/2.0 aperture, and a -inch sensor that allows 40 percent more
light to enter the camera than an
f/2.4 aperture lens.
It comes with Beauty 3.0+
and eight various filters, which
brighten the skin and remove
blemishes, and a display that
can double as flash in low-light
environments. Both the cameras
hardware and software work together as if the OPPO F1 has a
built-in styling team that will glam
the user up in no time.
The rear camera is equally amazing, with a 13-megapixel sensor, f/2.2
aperture lens, Pure Image 2.0+ features, and a number of customizations to fit the users photo needs.
Exquisite Design and Reliable Performance
The first in OPPOs new
camera-focused F series,
the F1, was designed
with the elegant aesthetic and quality that
has become the brands
staple.
Available in two colors,
Gold and Rose Gold, the F1s
design offers durability and style.
The fine and delicate smoothening
of zircon and sand blasting create a
back cover that has a velvet-like softness despite being made of metal. The
5-inch HD screen is protected by a
2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass coating and
aluminum housing.
Under the hood is a power-packed
octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616
SoC with four cores at 1.7GHz and four
cores at 1.2GHz, Adreno 204 GPU, and
3GB RAM that runs OPPOs ColorOS
2.1 as smoothly as possible.
Below are the OPPO F1s specs
Operating System: ColorOS2.1,
based on Android 5.1
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon
616, Octa-core
GPU: Adreno 405
RAM: 3 GB
Storage: 16 GB (Expandable up to
128GB)
Battery Capacity: 2,500mAh
Screen Size: 5 inches
Display Type: IPS TFT
Resolution: HD (1280x720 pixels)
Rear Camera: 13-megapixel
Front Camera: 8-megapixel
SIM Card Type: Dual-SIM (microSIM card and nano-SIM card)
The F1 is available at OPPO concept stores and authorized dealers nationwide.

New Brand Endeavors for 2016
Besides the F1, OPPO Philippines
also announced major partnerships
with several organizations.
This year, the company is the title
sponsor of the PBA Commissioners
Cup.
After collaborating with Home
Credit last year to bring the OPPO Neo
7 to more consumers in the country,
OPPO has also once again partnered
with the global consumer-finance provider to offer Filipinos more options
to buy the F1. From February 19 to
March 31, 2016, even consumers who
dont have credit cards can purchase
the new camera phone for as low as
P1,299 every month for six months at
0 percent interest rate. The promo is

available in 245 partner stores nationwide, in all areas serviced by Home
Credit.
OPPO is likewise proud to announce that their phones will now be
offered by Philippine telcos.
For example, the F1 will be available under Smart Communications
All-in Plan 1200. The postpaid plan is
fully consumable and customizable
with FlexiBundles. For prepaid users,
each purchased F1unit comes with a
free Smart SIM that offers a generous
50MB worth of free data every month
for six months, and P150 worth of load
for every P250 accumulated top up per
month for six months.
The OPPO Neo 5s will also be available under Sun Cellulars Best Value
Plan 450, which includes unlimited Sun
calls and texts, 250MB of data, and 250
texts to other networks.
Meanwhile, Home Credit Philippines brings an exciting new offer for
those seeking to buy OPPOs latest
smartphone, the OPPO F1. Through
installments provided by Home

Credit, customers may purchase an
OPPO F1 at 0% interest rate and
even without a credit card starting
from February 19, 2016, until March
31, 2016.
The OPPO F1, which retails at
P11,990, was recently launched by
global electronics and technology service provider OPPO with the support of
Home Credit Philippines and OPPOs
first local ambassador, Sarah Geronimo.
In partnership with OPPO, Home
Credit makes shopping for the OPPO
F1 affordable and convenient. To apply
for a loan, a customer needs to present at least two IDs and an initial cash
payment. The loan is approved in less
than 30 minutes, and the customer
may leave the shop with the purchased
good in less than an hour. The payment
term is 6 months, with a monthly payment of as low as 1,299, based on 35
percent initial cash payment.
The OPPO F1 features a premium
metal body with velvety metallic feel; a
5-inch 2.5D-arc-edge
screen
protected
by Corning Gorilla
Glass 4; and a 13megapixel camera.
It is powered by a
Qualcomm Snapdragon
616 octa-core processor
with 3GB of RAM and 16 GB
of storage, which you can extend up to 128GB. But an even
more important advantage of the
phone is its 8-megapixel front camera, which allows for taking amazing
beautified selfies.
David Minol, CEO of Home Credit
Philippines, said, This latest joint
promotion with OPPO Philippines
provides a quick and simple way for
consumers to purchase such products
with no additional charges. Regarded
as OPPOs Selfie Expert smartphone,
the OPPO F1 can be enjoyed by many
even if they dont have access to banking services and credit cards.
According to Garrick Hung, operations manager at OPPO Philippines, payment options are crucial
for consumers. Its always important
to give consumers options that will
enable them to enjoy the things that
they want. Our partnership with Home
Credit is definitely significant in terms
of making our products more affordable and accessible especially to those
who might not have access to credit
cards or enough cash at the point of
purchase.
The promo is available in 245 partner stores nationwide, in all Home
Credit-serviced areas, including OPPO
concept stores, Rulls Cellphones and
Accessories, Silicon Valley, and Wellcom. The full list of the stores is available at Home Credits official website,
www.homecredit.ph.
The partnership of OPPO and
Home Credit Philippines proves to be
successful. For December 2015 and
January 2016, Home Credit contributed more than 50,000,000 of additional
sales of the OPPO Neo 7.
For more information about the
OPPO F1, go to http://www.oppo.com/
ph/smartphone-f1/.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
Editor: AA PATAWARAN
@mblifestyle
MB Lifestyle
@manilabulletinlifestyle
Arts & Culture

E1 Monday, February 22, 2016
mblifestyle@gmail.com
Flying Marvels and Feathered Acrobats

Bird watching at Manila Bay and in Singapore
sometimes wake to bird sound,

fly back. Thousands still winter in Mamaya (Eurasian tree sparrow)
nila Bay, although the theoretically
awaiting the handful
protected coastal lagoon is
of birdseed I toss out
in danger of disappearing.
my windowtheyre quiet
Despite declarations to the
when an ambushing cat
contrary, nature and enviwaits. The occasional gray
ronment seems low in govbatu-bato (Zebra dove)
ernment priorities.
joins in, as does a couple
Singapores Jurong Bird
of white and black Maria
Park is the nearest place
Capra (Pied fantail) that
where knee, pulmonary,
drink and bathe in a waterand visually-challenged sefilled earthenware dish.
niors like me can go to get
WALA LANG
Internet browsing reacquainted with the flying
DR. JAIME C. LAYA
veals that far more birds
marvels. Its a forested area
are among us. Haribon
where some 5,000 feathered
Foundation and Wild Bird
friends of 400 species fly,
Club of the Philippines, for example,
roam, and swim as if they were in their
support environmental conservanative African jungle, Antarctic glacier,
tion and do birdwatching in the Las
Caribbean lagoon, wherever.
Pias-Paraaque coastal lagoon, U.P.
The largest of the parks four aviDilimn, and elsewhere. At the inviaries is the equivalent of a 13-story
tation of Ayala Land, Wild Bird Club
building occupying two hectares and
birders visited Bataans Anvaya Cove
containing a 30-meter-high waterfall.
and identified 81 species, including the
There are over 600 colorful birds in the
magnificent Luzon hornbill and lawin.
large cage.
From September to March, some
The Penguin Coast is a panoramhalf-million migratory birds fly through
ic aquarium-terrarium where some
or stay in the Philippines to escape
100 penguins of five species are in their
Northern Hemisphere cold. Manila
accustomed freezing-cold surroundBay, Pampangas Candaba swamp,
ingslike hovering tuxedoed waiters
Mindoros Lake Naujan, the Agusan
on the ground or scuba divers when in
and Cotabato marshes, have been fathe water.
vorite destinations, where they breed
At the King of the Skies show,
and rear their young until its time to
trained birds of preyfalcons, eagles,
hawks, and owlsswoop down on signal to snatch juicy bait. The flamingo
lake has hundreds of the rose-pink
beauties and the Window on Paradise aviary is filled with Papua New
Guineas gorgeous birds of paradise.
There is a demonstration of an old
Pinoy fishing technique. Before dynamite and cyanide, the lot of fishermen
was made easy by pelicans, large fisheating birds with pouches under their
bills now extinct in the Philippines.
They would fly down and dive deep to
snag a target fish. Fishermen would
tie pelicans necks so they could bring
home the hardworking (and frustrated) birds catch.
A mid-19th century watercolor by
Jos Honorato Lozano shows a pair
of sarus cranes mingling with workers
pounding and winnowing palay. Now
extinct in the Philippines, the cranes
lived in marshy areas and could be
tamed and trained to dance to a certain
tune. Jurong has some of these large
(five-foot-high) birds.
Who would have thought that we
can rediscover some of our vanished
avian heritage at Singapore.
Note: We may have up pelican
fishing from the Chinese, who also
did the same.
Comments are cordially invited,
addressed to walangwala888@gmail.
com
BIRDS IN PARADISE Singapores Jurong Bird Park (clockwise from the right):
Waterfall Aviary, Penguin Coast, and Flamingo Lake.
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
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The 2pt Baguio Flower Festival
PANAGEENGA 2016
Bless the Children with Flowers
Traditional Events
DATE
EVENT
VENUE
February 1 n 8:00 am
Panagbenga Park - Session Road - Magsaysay

Avenue - Harrison Road - Ath letic Bowl
SM Events Center
Lake Drive, Burnham Park
City-Wide
Melvin Jones Grandstand and Footba ll Grounds
February 19 - 21
Grand Opening Parade: Drum & lyre Dance CompetitionElementary Division

Opening Concert featuring Trifecta
Baguia Blooms Exhibition and Exposition
Chinese Spring Festival
Handog ng Panagbenga Sa Pamilya Baguia
let a Thousand Flowers Bloom
Panagbenga 2016 Kite-Flying Challenge
Panagbenga Variety Show
Fireworks Display
School-based landscaping Competition (Judging)
Floral Arrangement Competition for Elementary and
High Schoo l (Judging)
Flower Tee: Golf Tournament for a cause
PMA Grand Alumni Homecoming
Grand Street Dance Parade
February 28 n 8 :00 am
February 27 - 28
February 29 - March 6
March 5
March 6
Grand Float Parade

Sponsors' and Exhibitors' Day
Session Road in Bloom
Pony Boys' Day
Panagbenga Closing Ceremonies and Grand Fireworks Display
February 1 n 7:00 pm
February 1 - March 6
February 9
February 15 - 17
February 19
City Schools
Baguio City National High School
Baguio Country Club
PMA, loakan Road
Panagbenga Park - Session Road - Magsaysay
Avenue - Harrison Road - Ath letic Bowl
DILG - Session Road - Harrison Road - Melvin Jones
Melvin Jones
Session Road
Wright Park
Athletic Bowl and various areas over Baguio's CBD
CommunitY-Led Events
February 4-5
2nd International Tourism and Hospitality Students' Convention

and 5th National League of Tourism Students
Million Volunteer Run (MV3)
February 6
February 8-24
Department of Tourism-CAR Open Photo Competition

Theme: Rev-Bloom Baguio
Fall in Love Again Featuring Raul M. Sunico
February 18-20 n 6:15 pm, Tradisyon: Baliktanaw sa mga Katutubong Sayaw ng Fi lipino: A
Philippine Folk Dance Concert of the SLU Dance Troupe
Feb. 22 n 10 am / 2 pm
Panagbenga 2016 National Dart Tournament
February 19-21
Warriors' Legacy Tournament
University of Baguio and CAP Convention Center

Melvin Jones - BCNHS . GSIS lake Drive - Abad
Santos Drive
City-Wide. Submission of Entries at DOT-CAR Office
Front Tee Verandah, Bagulo Country Club
SlU CCA Theatre
Brgy. Engineers Hill Covered Court
Bagulo Convention Center
By Philippine Full Contact Martial Arts Council
Panagbenga Costume Contest
SM Rambakan Drive
By Jol/ibee Kids Club
22 n 8:00 am
25
February
February
February
February
February 26-27
February 26-28
Boyce Avenue Concert

Conference on SUstainable Farming and Tourism
Mr. Panagbenga 2016 Muscle Showdown
Department of Tourism Presents: "A Day and a Ufe in Baguio"- A
Photography Workshop by Mr. George Tapan
5MB Panagbenga 2016: A Music Festival
Uve Traditional-Acoustic Indian Musical Presentation
Pacific Extreme Combat Laban MMA Baguio 4
February 27
March 1-2 n 9:00 am
March 2 n 6:00 pm
March 5 n 1:00 pm
March 5 n 4:00 pm
March 5 n 5:00 pm
March 5-6
March 6 n 5:00 pm
ABS-CBN Kapamilya Karavan

Brida l and Fashion Fair
The Baguio Fashion Awards Oshare Magazine Launching
Panagbenga Princess Pageant
Handog Pasasalamat ng Bombo Radyo at Star FM Free Concert
Litte Miss Panagbenga 2016
14th Panagbenga Open Scrabble Tournament
Tambalang Saya sa Panagbenga 2016
26
26
University of Baguio Gym

Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet
Bagulo Convention Cente r
SM Atrium Event Center
Rose Garden
By International Socety for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON)
By Team Lakay Tap Team Inc.
Biking Area, Burnham Park

Amb. FVR Hall, Baguio Country Club
w.e. Forbes Ballroom, Baguio Country Club
Session Road in Bloom Stage
Bagulo City Museum
By ECarta Media Productions and Promotion s
~~p~~
Ii
SAN MIGUEL
BREWERY I NC.
Globe-@
" IUbsKloaty or san M~ Ootporauon
~ pepsi ~"
l:atl PIXELI:!UB
'!it..
MANILA
-BULLETIN
---
VICTORY LINER. INC ~
~.~~_ (~e JOII
{e~
The p~ f.a;,.,~.
through the Baguio Flower"Festival Foundation Inc. (BFFFI),

is a proud member of t he
_
I ftsIinb &1" " ' _
The Premiere Association Supporting and Enabling
Festival & Event Professionals Worldwide
I relefaJC'~(~""_
+63)(74)4414315
Monday, February 22, 2016 E-3
A Holiday Like No Other

L
-ooking for a holiday that you and all in your family can enjoy?
One that plays to the passions and interests of the members?
And allows for bonding with one another through memorable s hared experiences? Singapore, with its innume rable attractions, serves up endless offerings of activities from which Mom,
Dad, Ate, Kuya and Bunso will all bring back wonderful memories.
Fun Learning
The family will be in endless awe at the ArtScience

Museum, discovering how Art and Science continuously
weave together to create such an amazingly wonderful world.
The architecture of the museum itself is one great proof.
Take a trip back in time at the Lee Kong Chian Natural

History Museum, which boasts of a large collection of
historical and research specimens. Be awed by the three
diplodocid sauropod dinosaur fossils displayed which date
from as fa r back a s 150 million years ago. Everyone will leave
the place with new knowledge and an appreciation of the world
from pre-historic times.
The kids will be very happy at the Pol'oro Park. First
in Southeast Asia, this is the largest character-themed

educational indoor playground in Singapore. Named after
''Pororo the LilLIe Penguin", children get to learn vital social
skills while indulging in various interactive activities designed
to capture the essence of play and enrichme nL
With so many new things to see and do, there's some
thing for every family me mber to enjoy in Singapore. For
more attractions and activities for your family in Singapore,
visit www.yoursingapore.comJph A r t S c : lenc:e Mu um
Unlve r.al Studio. S inga pore
Adventure-Packed
Experience movie magic at Universal
Studios Singapore with a myriad of

rides a nd attractions that bring the joys
of the s ilver screen to life! Immerse
yourselvesin the world of dinosaurs at The
Lost World ' or join hands with Sesame
Street super heroes at the Sesame Street
Spaghetti Space Chase. Don't miss
the Lake Hollywood Spectacular show
which occurs after sunset on Saturdays,
and witness fireworks and mus ical
performances that are bound to take
your breath away.
Vis it Asia's first and only river-the med
wildlife park, River Saf;lri, where you
can experience traversing in the Nile,
Mississippi, Mekong and Amazon and
other famou s rivers in the world. Don't
forget to meet Kai Kai and J ia Jia for an
overload of Panda cuteness.
Featuring one of Asia's most extreme
zip lines, the MegaZip Adventure Park
is one of the hottest spots in town for an
ultimate adrenaline rus h. Race your kids
in this exhilarating, breathtaking race
from the jungle canopy of Imbiah Hill to
the white sands of Fox Finish Point on
Sentosa Island.
Rive r Sa far i
Out of the Ordinary

At Gardens by the Bay, the whole
family can marvel at the s tunning city
skyline of Singapore from atop the
Supertree Grove and check out the Cloud
Forest, a misty and mys terious world of
plant life from the tropical highlands.
The Far Eas t Organization Children's
Garden allows kids to run around the
water fountains for hours on e nd, having
a splas hing great time.
Pose in various mind-boggling
optical illus ions once you step ins ide
the Trick Eye Museulll, where 3D
artworks suddenly come alive. Ha rd to
believe? Snap away for unique and fun
family photos.
Always wanted to have a selfie with
Michael Jackson or Lady Gaga? Bring
out your cameras and have your photo
op mome nts at l\fada me Tussauds
Singapore. Be the envy of allyour friends,
showing off your best poses with lifesized wax fi gurines of these celebrities
and many more.
VISIT 4 PARKS WITH 1 PASS

Celebrate Singapore Airlines'
50'~
year in the Philippines.
All-in round trip promo fare 10 Singapore starts from USD15D.

Booking period: 1 - 29 February 2016
Travel Period: 3 February - 31 December 2016
For booItings. caU 756-8888 or visit Sif9aPore AIrlInes Tlckel 0I!ice.
Vksit singaporeaIr.com lor more Io:1formatlon and 10 book W!\h
promo code 253932552.
Garden. by the Bay
Allows admission 102,3 or 4 of Singapore's favourite

nature-themed parks - River Safari, Night Safari,
Singapore Zoo and Jurong Bird Park.
VIsIt www.WI.S.com.SWadventure20t5Iotmore lnformaliorland 10 purchase your tickets.
51noAPORe:
Terms & cood~ions apply
Enjoy multi-park savings with the Park Hopper SpeCialS.
AIRunES
Lifestyle
E-4
Going in Different Directions

Art in the Philippines doesnt believe in trends and pushes for individuality and originality
Gabriel Barredo
By ANGELO G. GARCIA
Images by PINGGOT ZULUETA
ike the arrows on the floor

of the parking space that
are pointing to different directions, the variety in this
years Art Fair Philippines is staggering. As a platform to the best of modern Filipino art, the event showcases
the works of young artiststhe future
of Filipino art.
Using the top two floor parking
lots of The Link building in Makati
City, the urban space became a haven
for the creatives and art enthusiasts
for five days.
Displayed were artworks that provided a glimpse of the very active art
scene in the country, from the psychedelic pigs of Felix Bacolor (Galleria
Duemila) to the thought-provoking
paintings of Winner Jumalon (Yavuz
Gallery). The different body of works
of the artists did not categorize local
art under one trend but instead, showcased individuality and originality.
Other galleries like MO_Space
displayed conceptual works Yasmin
Sison, Monica Delgado, Nilo Ilarde,
Kawayan de Guia, Christina Quisimbing Ramilo, and Carina Santos,
all their works revolving around the
table as an object of art and where art
could be created. J Studio, on the other hand, featured different interpretations of the iron chair from artists like
Leeroy New and Daniel dela Cruz.
Then theres the fascinating yet
phobia-inducing work of US-based
Filipino artist Mark Justiniani. Exhibited by The Drawing Room, Marks
works uses mirrors that create illusions of endless pits and spaces. It appeared infinite the longer you looked
at it. There was also the detailed work
of artist Dexter Sy from the Michael
Janssen gallery. Using gel pens, he
created very detailed works on canvas. Dexters wife LJ Ablola-Sy, on
the other hand, mixed painting and
paper cutting in her work. Turning
everyday images of city life in Manila
into art, she painted, cut, and sewed
in threads that created a three-dimensional feel to her works.
Sculptor Daniel dela Cruz also
had a solo exhibit at the Art Cube Gallery booth that showcased his His
Only Son collection, which featured
metal sculptures depicting the Catholic world from the different interpretations of the Seven Deadly Sins to
the different faithfuls sitting on pews.
Love Marie Ongpauco Escudero
Bryan Teves
paid homage to the art of Alfonso Ossorio in Meditations+Mediations.

Galerie Anna featured a variety of
artists, including the beautiful sculp-
Displayed were artworks that provided a glimpse

of the very active art scene in the country, from the
psychedelic pigs of Felix Bacolor to the thoughtprovoking paintings of Winner Jumalon
The booth was dark and resembled a
church replete with haunting church
music and the tolling of church bells.
Two galleries, on the other hand,
paid tribute and showcased the works
of older Filipino artists. Galeria Cayon featured the paintings of Fernando Zobel while Salcedo Private View
Alfonso Ossorio
Winner Jumalon
tures of Ferdinad Cacnio.

There was also no shortage of foreign works, exhibited were the likes
of Japanese artist Takahiro Hirabayashis Phantom Pain series displayed by Yod x Kogure of Japan, as
well as a beautiful painting of Korean
artist Hong Soun from 1335 Mabini.
Anton Mallari
Jordin Isip
Jose Tence Ruiz
Yellow Magenta Cyan
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Editor: JOJO PANALIGAN

@Bulletin_Ent
Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online
F-1 Monday, February 22, 2016
entertainment.mlabulletin@gmail.com
A more mature KimXi bounces back on TV

A
By Paulyn abando
fter hitting it big with their

last TV project in 2012, Kim
Chiu and Xian Lim are returning to the small screen
via The Story Of Us.
At a press conference, Xian expressed how excited he is to reunite
with Kim.
Nung unang araw namin (ng
taping) sabi ko, Kim ang tagal nating hindi nagka-trabaho (sa TV
series) at ibang-iba ang ginagawa
natin ngayon. Maraming adjustments, he said.
Their tandem, KimXi, is onto
more mature roles here.
Iba po ang atake dito ni Sir
Richard (Somes, director), hindi
na yung mga eksenang may malalaglag na ballpen tapos pupulutin
namin at magkakatinginan kami
tapos may tutunog na music
talagang real life issues na ang
tina-tackle namin, Xian said.
The two will have their firstever love scene. She may have
thought it awkward at first but
maintained, hindi siya sobra,
hindi malaswa.
Kaya rin naman ako napapayag na gawin ito (love
scene) dahil hindi lang
naman bast a, Uy,
gusto kong maging matured. Gusto
kong magka-love
scene. Kasama
siya sa kwento
at sa journey
ng characters
namin, she
added.
Their love
scene is special
as it was shot
somewhere unusual on a roof
top of an old building in Manila.
According to Richard, his idea was to
make the scene remarkable.
Gusto ko magkaroon
ng larger than life na love scene

and I really felt na wag sa kwarto
gawin, so I decided to put them sa
lumang building na may malaking
billboard at maraming ilaw at may
sirang couch lang, he said.
The Story Of Us follows the
stor y of childhood-bestfriendsturned-sweethearts, Tin (Kim) and
Makoy (Xian). Their relationship
will go downhill as Tin has to go to
the US to look for her estranged
mother.
The two stars could relate well
to their characters.
Yung pagka-passionate at pagkagutom ni Makoy na magkaroon
ng mas magandang kinabukasan
talagang nasa akin po yun, Xian
said.
While Kim added, I work for
my family and family naman po
talaga ang una kong priority,
and ganun din si Tin. Inuuna niya yung pamilya
niya bago siya.
According to Richard, the series is not
your run-ofthe-mill
love story. It also tackles the hardships some Filipinos endure working abroad.
The Story Of Us reflects how

yung malaking mundong iniikutan
natin sa Pilipinas, pagdating dun
sa abroad lumiliit, Richard said.

The series also stars Zsa Zsa
Padilla, Aiko Melendez, Gardo Versoza, Susan Africa, and John Arcilla,
among others.
It premieres Feb. 29 on
ABS-CBN.
F-6
Xian Lim and Kim Chiu
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
r
Entertainment News
F-2
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 THE CHOICE
3 ZOOTOPIA/ HOW TO BE SINGLE
4 JOY
5 EVERYTHING ABOUT HER / LOVE IS BLIND
2016 GRAMMY NOMINEES

& WINNERS REVISITED
DADDY'S HOME
7 DEADPOOL
8 THE FOREST
9 ROOM
10 TANDEM
l OVE IS BLI ND
ZOOTOPIA
THE FOREST
THE CHOICE
TANDEM / ROOM
DADDYS HOME / JOY
DEADPOOl
ZOOTOPIA
TANDEM I DAD DY'S HOME
LOVE IS BLIND
JOY
ROOM
DEADPOOL
THE FOREST
THE CHOICE
Movie Schedule
cl",m'~E~
Cinema
Cinema
1 ZOOTOPIA I JOY
2 LOVE IS BLIND
3 THE CHOICE
4 DEADPOOl
2 TtlE FOREST I OAODrS HOME

3 JOY / THE CHOICE
4 DEADPOOl
fancy way of saying " R&B mixed

with hiphop."
The album also features Ed
Sheeran'S "Thi nking Out Loud,"
which won the Song of The Year and
Best Solo Peliormancc honors.
The rest of the tracks are: "Sugar" by Maroon 5, "Ship To Wreck"
by Florence + The Machine, "Don't
Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes,
"Really Love" by D'Angelo and The
Vanguard, "Alright" by Kendrick Lama r, "Traveller" by Chris Staple ton,
"Girl Crush" by Little Big Town,
"See You Again (feal Charlie Puth)"
by Wiz Khalifa , "Lips Are Movin" by
Meghan Trainor, "Should've Been
Us" by Tori Kelly, "Take Your Time"
by Sam Hunt, "Hold Back The River" by James Bay, "Pedestrian At
Best" by Courtney Barnett, "Little
Toy Guns" by Carrie Underwood,
"Burning House" by Cam, "Chances
Are" by Lee Ann Womack, and "John
Cougar, John Deere, John 3: 16" by
Keith Urban.
The best thing about this compilation is that it introduces us to a
handful of really great acts that we
wouldn't have heard of otherwise.
Among our favorites is Alabama
Shakes whose lofi coolness, exemplified in " Don't Wanna Fight," led
them to win the Best Rock Recordingplum.
We've heard of Florence + The
Machine before but we like it that
they were able to break into a whole
new level musically with "Ship To
Wreck."
Last but not the least is Lamar,
who was a revelation at the Grammys with his thought-provoking
and highly visual performance of
'\<\Iright." Mixing improv-jazz, fun k,
hip hop and rap, the 28-year-old
Compton, California native had 11
nominations and took home five , including Best Rap
So ng and Performance for
''Alright,'' and
Best Rap Album fo r UTo
Pimp A Butterfly."
a Grammy
high, we re-
visit some of the winning

songs as well as those of
the nominees contained
in the compilation album
"2016 Grammy No mi -
nees."
Cinema
Everybody who 's
turned on a radio , or
s treamed a so ng, or
viewed a video on You-
Cinema 5 JllEfCaUf _I1J
1 ZOOTOPIA
i t h eve r yo ne s ti ll on
Cinem a
Tube would be famil iar

with a lot of the songs
in th is set. There's
Bruno Mars and Mark
Ronson's Record Of
The Year coll abora1 ZOOTOPIA
2 DADDYS HOME / THE FOREST
3 JOY / THE CHOICE
1 ZOOTOPIA
t ion " Uptown FUnk."
2 JOY I lOVE IS BLIND

3 THE CHOICE
4 DEADPDOl
4 DEADPOOl
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 THE FOREST
3 THE CHOICE / JOY
The re's also Taylor

Swift's "Blank Space,"
one of the songs that
helped her win Album
Of The Year for "1989."
She was darn proud
of the feat, too. She
was, after all, the first
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 JOY I LOVE IS BLIND
3 THE CHOICE I THE FOREST
4 DADI'OO<
woman ever to win the

award twice - a fact she
seemed to have high-
4 DEADPOOl
lighted in her speech

light of Kanye West
dissing her on his song
" Famous," where he
took credit for making
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 JOYI LOVE IS BUND
3 THE CHOICE
4DEADPOOl
1 ZOOTOPIA / JOY
2 lOVE IS BLIND
3 THECHOICE
4 DEAOPOOl
her famous.
Another biggie in
this collection is The

Weeknd's "Can't Feel
My Face," taken from
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 JOY I DADDY'S HOME
1 ZOOTOPIA
2 JOY I lOVE IS BLIND
3 lOVE IS BLIND
his debut "Beauty Behind The Madness,"

that won Best R&B
Album and Best Urban
Contemporary Album.
Just in case yo u' re
wondering,
" urban
contemp rary"
is just
4 THE FOREST I ROOM

5 THE CHOICE
6 DEADPOOl
3 THE CHOICE / THE FOREST
4 DEADPOOl
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HIRE
FEBRUARY 15 ONWARDS
MOAARENA MARINA BOX OFFICE
10:00AM - 6:00PM
~~-
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2 LOVE I S BLIND I GIRLFRIEND "-OR H.RE
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GET YOUR MADONNA: REBEL HEART TOUR

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Card kit Includes:
1 Girlfriend for Hire card

1 Girlfriend for Hire movie ticket
1 complimentary movie pass
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SUPERMALLS
Entertainment News
F-4
BALTIC & CO.
by Roni Santiago
BLONDIE
PUPUNG
by Tonton Young
MOTHER GOOSE & GRIM
IPENUTS
by Felipe de la Cruz
CALLOUS
by Carlo Jose San Juan MD
NORMANS ISLAND
THE Daily Commuter Puzzle
by Norman Isaac
DENNIS THE MENACE
by Hank Ketcham
ZITS
MARVIN
BEETLE BAILEY
THE BORN LOSER

by Dean Young & Jim Raymond
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
VITAMIN D
by Darwin Perez
YOUR STARS
(monday, 22 february 2016)
ARIES (March 21-April 20) Try to relax a little and feel much more
at ease; then you can attend to personal matters and feel more confident about
the outcome. Try not to bring about physical or mental strain. Have more faith
in yourself and do not excessively mistrust others.
TAURUS (April 21-May 20) Make yourself a tight schedule, but not
to the extent of setting yourself impossible targets. In any given situation, make
it a point to weigh up as many as possible if not all of your options before deciding what to do.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Try not to allow others to get in your way,
nor should you resort to extreme measure to be able to do so. No matter how
hard youve tried to put things together and to communicate to the best of your
ability, the truth is not everything will go your way.
CANCER (June 21-July 20) You should guard against saying one
thing and then doing something quite different. There will be some unanticipated difficulties but with attention and perseverance you will be able to deal with
them. You should try to spend a bit more time at home with your family.
LEO (July 21-Aug. 20) You will tend to be preoccupied and worried
by a matter of little importance. Try to think of other more important matters. It
may be better to seek a way of steering around an obstacle than trying to face
it head on. Seek to discard things you are leaving for later but are unlikely to
touch again.
VIRGO (Aug 21-Sept. 22) A problem that cannot be solved right now
is best put to one side while you deal with other matters. Try to look at things
from a different perspective and do not become too subjective about them. You
have excellent intentions, but do your utmost to bring your willpower to bear
upon them.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Try your best to moderate your reactions
and seek not to get into an argument. A divergence of views and interests between you and a close friend will occur, yet that is no reason to terminate the
friendship.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Guard a tendency to confuse what is
new with what is good. However, do not try to keep things as they are in the
illusion that what has worked in the past will continue to do so. If a small difference of opinion within your family is not dealt with right away, it will give rise to
a considerable discord.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 20) Though at first you will seem to
be making no progress at all, there will be an unexpected breakthrough. One
good rule about investment is that you are not the only one buying or selling to
make a profit, so leave a bit for others.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19) If you are not sure about a highly
sensitive matter, it is best that you wait until you are. If the situation permits,
try to confirm in writing something you have arranged verbally with a business
associate. This is no time for extremes, so do your best to keep within safe
and proper limits.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) The prospects all the way down are
good. However, do not take success for granted; it will have to be worked for.
Instead of engaging in too much social activities, try to concentrate in finishing
up a pending home project or get ahead with some of your work schedules.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Once you have decided to make do
with some changes, do not make do with half-changes; go the whole way. You
have the capacity to deal with an obstacle, but you must get on with it the right
way. You will get what you deserve though it might not appear to be so at the
time.
IMBOY
by Nio Balita
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
TVGuide
Monday,F ebruary22,2016
your everyday guide to local television and cable TV.
Local Channels
ABS CBN 2
4:00 am O
Shopping
5:00 am Umagang
Kay Ganda
7:30 KrisTV
8:45 Inazuma
Eleven
9:00 Mr. Bean
Animation
9:30 Kapamilya
Blockbusters
11:30 Be My Lady
12:15 pm Its
Showtime
2:40 Doble Kara
3:25 Tubig at Langis
4:10 And I Love
You So
5:00 Deal or No
Deal
5:45 Pasion de
Amor
6:30 TV Patrol
7:40 Ang
Probinsyano
8:25 Dolce Amore
9:10 On the Wings
of Love
9:55 Youre My
Home
10:40 Aquino &
Abunda Tonight
11:00 Bandila
11:40 Mission
Possible
12:20 am O
Shopping!
GMA 7
12:30 am Shop Tv
5:00 Unang Hirit
7:30 PokeMon
7:55 Christmas
Cartoon Festival
8:25 Ring Ni Kakero
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9:20 Dragon Ball
Z Kai
9:50 Someone Like
You
10:30 Ice Adonis
11:00 Princess In
The Palace
11:30 Carmina
12:00 pm Eat
Bulaga
2:40 Wish I May
3:40 Buena Familia
4:30 Destiny Rose
5:20 Alisto
5:50 The Producers
6:30 24 Oras
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8:30 Little Nanay
9:15 Thats My
Amboy
10:00 Because Of
You
11:15 Saksi
ABS-CBN Sports
and Action
5:00 am NBA 2015
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Max 5
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The Agents of
S.M.A.S.H.
2:15 Marvels X-Men
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S.H.I.E.L.D.
3:30 The Vampire
Diaries
4:00 Movie Max 5
6:15 Aksyon
7:00 Movie Max 5
9:00 Bakit Manipis
ang Ulap?
9:30 Baker King
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10:45 Aksyon
Tonite
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9:30 NBA Action

10:00 AFC U23
Championship Qatar
2016 QF
12:00 p.m. Ako
Ang Batas Gen.
Tomas Karingal
2:00 UAAP Season
78 Mens Basketball
6:00 Dodong
Armado
8:00 NBA 2015 2016
10:00 The Score
10:30 UAAP Season
78 Mens Basketball
TV 5
5:00 am Aksyon Sa
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6:30 Teachers Pet
7:30 Jake and The
Neverland Pirates
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Cunningham: 9th
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PTV
5:00 am Panahon.
TV
5:30 West
Valley F./ASEAN
Documentaries
6:00 RadyoBsiyon
7:00 Good Morning
Boss!
8:00 Fun with Math
In pursuit of love
t seems that actor Renz

Fernandez is all too serious
with his pursuit of actress
Kris Bernal, his co-star in the
hit series Little Nanay.
At this point, he is sending
Kris flowers with utmost
regularity, a matter which
the latter appreciates.
She said in an Instagram
post, What you do every single
day for me is consistency.. The
most admirable and attractive
12:00 mn Oras ng
Himala
ETC ON SBN21
6:00 am Scream
Queens
7:00 Reign
8:00 Pretty Little
Liars
9:00 Supergirl
12:00 pm Project
Runway All Stars
1:00 Finding Carter
2:00 Faking It
2:30 Insider
Weekend
3:00 Reign
4:00 Dracula
5:00 Insider
5:30 Extra
6:00 Supergirl
7:00 2 Broke
Girls8:00 Project
Runway All Stars
9:00 Reign
10:00 The Vampire
Diaries 7
11:00 TMZ
11:30 Insider
12:00 am 2 Broke
Girls
1:00 Project
Runway All Stars
2:00 Reign
3:00 The Vampire
Diaries
4:00 Finding Carter
5:00 2 Broke Girls
8:30 Physics in
Everyday Life
9:00 Chemistry in
Action
9:30 ShopJapan
10:00 Chemistry in
Action
10:30 English High
School
10:30 Thomas &
Friends
11:00 Bananas in
Pyjamas
11:30 Gawayn
12:00 p.m. Baby
Looney Tunes
1:00 News@1
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Philippines
3:30 Oras ng
Katotohanan
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Fairytale Detective
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Wonderland
5:30 Here Comes
Mr. Oh
6:00 News@6
7:00 PTV Sports
8:00 Bara Bara:
Anything Goes!
8:30 Be Alive!
9:30 Philippine
Lotto Draw
9:45 NewsLife
11:00 Gabay at
Aksyon
of all..@renzmarionf.
Renz shared in an interview that
he is willing to wait for Kris even if
it takes forever. He also promised to
love her with all his heart.
On Little Nanay, Kris plays a
mentally challenged young mother
while Renz plays a lawyer.
Also part of the cast are Nora
Aunor, Bembol Roco, Mark Herras,
Hiro Peralta, Juancho Trivino, Gladys
Reyes, Kempee de Leon, Winwyn
Marquez, and Christopher de Leon.
2nd AVENUE ON
RJTV 29
12:00 am
Restaurant Man
1:00 Repeat After
Me
1:30 Life in Pieces
2:00 Mysteries of
Laura
3:00 May The Best
House Win
4:00 The Middle
4:30 Inside Edition
Weekend
5:00 Anthony
Bourdains No
Reservation
6:00 ET Weekend
7:00 The Ellen
Degeneres Show
8:00 Top Chef
9:00 Chef Roble
and Company
10:00 Inside Edition
Weekend
10:30 In Her Shoes
11:00 ET Weekend
12:00 pm The Ellen
Degeneres Show
1:00 Winners And
Losers
2:00 HSN
3:00 Donut
Showdown
4:00 May The Best
House Win
f the stars of Because Of You

are happy and excited about
the success of the series, more
so its director Mark Reyes.
Masaya talaga ako dahil sa
tuloy-tuloy ang pagtangkilik ng
Kapuso viewers sa Because Of
You. Bukod sa very light at feelgood ang serye, kilig na kilig ang
manonood sa mga eksena nina
Carla Abellana as Andrea at Gabby
Concepcion as Jaime or Boss
Yummy, Mark said.
He added, Ang daming fans
ni Boss Yummy at tuwing nagpopost siya ng photos sa kanyang
5:00 Top Chef

6:00 Telenovela
6:30 Modern Family
7:00 The Ellen
Degeneres Show
8:00 Fireflies In The
Garden
10:00 Winners And
Losers
11:00 Repeat After
Me
11:30 Married
CNN PHILIPPINES
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3:00 CNN Morning
Express with Robin
Meade
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6:00 am
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Katotohanan
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5:30 Ez Shop
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10:30 Byahe Ni
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11:30 Balitanghali
12:45 pm Shakeys
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10:15 Bawal
Ang Pasaway Kay
Mareng Winnie
11:00 Overseas
Filipino Witness
12:00mn Adyenda
12:30 Legal Forum
Happy for success

social media accounts
ay ang daming
kinikilig kay Gabby.
Napatunayan niya
na Gabby is still
desirable to play a
role like Boss Yummy
sa Because Of You.
Catch more of the
fun on Because Of
You weeknights on
GMA.
RENZ FERNANDEZ
Cable Channells
AXN
6:00 am Hannibal
7:00 Supernatural
7:50 Hannibal
8:40 CSI
9:30 Wipeout
10:20 Chrome
Shelled Regios
10:50 Supernatural
11:40 CSI: Cyber
12:35 pm Cash Cab
Philippines
1:35 Wipeout
2:25 Chrome
Shelled Regios
2:55 Supernatural
3:45 American Ninja
Warrior
4:35 CSI
5:30 Chrome
Shelled Regios
6:00 Wipeout
7:00 American Ninja
Warrior
7:55 Robot Combat
League
8:50 CSI: Cyber
9:45 Quantico
10:40 CSI: Cyber
11:35 Total Blackout
12:30 am Quantico
1:30 Wipeout
2:30 CSI
3:30 American Ninja
Warrior
4:30 Hannibal
5:30 Chrome
Shelled Regios
HBO
6:00 Hard Eight
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10:00 Vinyl S101
11:55 Furious Seven
2:10 pm Hollywood
On Set
2:35 Rudderless
4:20 The Theory of
Everything
6:25 Stranger Than
Fiction
8:15 Non-Stop
10:00 Vinyl S101
12:00 am The
Imitation Game
2:00 Lucky Numbers
3:50 A Knights Tale
MAX
7:00 Copperhead
8:30 Oz The Great
And Powerful
10:40 Home Sweet
Hell
12:20 pm
Transcendence
2:15 Jack Ryan:
Shadow Recruit
4:00 The
Underwater City
5:15 Stick
7:00 Fletch Lives
8:30 Alien Siege
10:00 Judge Dredd
11:35 Last Week
Tonight with John
Oliver S107
12:05 am The Knick
S207
1:00 Hollywood On
Set
1:25 Runaway
3:05 Red: Werewolf
Hunter
4:30 Hollywood On
Set
4:55 Forbidden
Island
STAR MOVIES
1:45 am The Mask
of Zorro
4:00 Belle
5:50 Thelma and
Louise
7:55 Captain
America: The Winter

Soldier
10:15 X-Men: First
Class
12:30 pm Pirates Of
The Caribbean: On
Stranger Tides
2:50 Real Steel
5:05 28 Days Later
7:05 The Clown
9:00 The Woman
In Black: Angel Of
Death
10:55 Universal
Soldier: The Return
STAR CHINESE
MOVIES
12:30 am Mr.
Vampire 2
2:00 Wonder
Women
3:40 My
Troublesome Buddy
5:30 The Greatest
Lover
7:30 Honesty
9:15 All About Love
11:00 To Be Number
One
1:15 pm Long and
Winding Road
3:05 Funny Triple
4:40 The Lion Men
6:40 Code of Honour
8:15 The Phantom
Lover
10:00 Honesty
11:45 Dreams of
Glory A Boxers Story
DIVA UNIVERSAL
6:00 am Its a
Wonderful Life
8:25 My Kitchen
Rules
10:40 Liar Liar
12:25 pm Top Chef:
Texas
1:25 Home Free
2:25 Final Recourse
4:05 Say Yes to the
Dress: Atlanta
5:05 Suits
6:00 Just for Laughs
7:00 Home Free
8:00 Knife Fight
9:25 The Good Wife
10:25 Ferris
Buellers Day Off
12:20 am Home
Free
1:15 Suits
2:10 Signed, Sealed,
Delivered 2: Truth
Be Told
3:55 My Gal Sunday
CINEMA ONE
12:00 am Scorpio
Nights
2:00 Paalam Bukas
Ang Kasal Ko
4:00 I Love You
Mama, I Love You
Papa
6:00 Cinemanews
7:00 Anak Ng
Demonyo
9:00 Got 2 Believe
11:00 Ang Cute Ng
Ina Mo
1:00 pm My Funny
Valentine
3:00 Maybe This
Time
5:00 Watcha Wearin
7:00 Tuhog
9:00 Dahas
11:00 The
Adventures Of
Pureza
CINEMAWORLD
CARLA ABELLANA with Gabby Concepcion and Rafael Rosell

6:00 am Love Is
The Drug
7:40 Borning
9:10 Incorruptible
10:45 The Cherry
On The Cake
12:05 pm Pack of
Queens: Queen of
Spades
1:50 The Devil of
Milan
3:25 El Alamein The Line of Fire
5:20 Eva Blond: The
Merry Widows
6:55 3 Meters Above
The Sky
9:00 Counter
Investigation
10:30 On Knifes
Edge
12:05 am Borning
1:35 Dangerous
Students
3:10 The Cherry On
The Cake
4:30 Eva Blond: The
Merry Widows
STAR SPORTS
12:00 am NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
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6:00 Reebok Crossfit
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7:00 GP3 Series
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To Normandy
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7:00 Sea Master
Sailing
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Cship
8:00 Tiger Street
Football
8:30 Snowdonia
Slateman Triathlon
9:00 Formula
Masters China Series
9:30 FIM Motocross
World Cship
10:00 NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
11:00 NASCAR
Nationwide Series
SOLAR SPORTS
12:00 am World
Darts Cship
1:00 2015 FIBA
Basketball Cship
3:00 The Premier 12
WBSC
7:00 Pilates
7:30 Yoga
8:00 X Games Vault
9:00 HSN
10:00 Weber Cup
11:00 2015 FIBA
Basketball Cship
1:00 pm Sporting
Paradise
1:30 WTA Tour
4:00 Fit to Hit Beach
Volleyball
6:00 NBA Action
7:00 ISTAF
Sepaktakraw
8:00 World Combat
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10:00 Boxing
Monday Fight Night
LIFESTYLE
NETWORK
12:00 am Curiosity
Got The Chef
1:00 Rachel Allens
Easy Meals
2:30 Made in Italy
3:00 Live Here, Buy
This
3:30 LXTV: Open
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5:00 The Taste
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7:30 LXTV: Open
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8:00 Martha Stewart
Bakes
8:30 Food Safari
9:00 Listed
9:30 Foodprints
10:30 Food Safari
11:00 Rachel Allens
Easy Meals
11:30 VF Specials
12:00 pm LNP
2:00 Curiosity Got
The Chef
3:00 Made in Italy
3:30 Food Safari
4:00 Bollyblast
4:30 Rich Kids Of
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5:00 Dance Moms
6:00 The Doctors
7:00 The
Wahlburgers
7:30 The
Entrepreneurs
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8:30 VF Specials
9:00 Enjoy Cruise
Japan
9:30 Foodprints
10:30 Food Safari
11:00 Juliettes City
Guides
BASKETBALL TV
12:00 am NBA
Regular Season
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11:30 NBA TV
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1:30 pm NBA Action
2:00 HSN
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7:00 NBA Regular
Season
9:30 NBA Gametime
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11:00 Dunk Contest
MTV PHILIPPINES
12:00 mn The
Playlist
1:00 a.m. After
Hours
6:00 The Roll Out
7:00 The Playlist
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9:30 The Playlist
2:30 Time Out
3:00 The Playlist
4:00 Disaster Date
4:30 Pranked
5:00 The Fave Five
5:30 The Playlist
9:00 Disaster Date
9:30 Pranked
z10:00 The Playlist
MYX
12:00 am Myx
Backtrax
12:30 Myxellaneous
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3:00 Pinoy Myx
Countdown z
5:00 Take 5
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Myxposed
4:00 Myx Daily Top
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5:00 Take 5
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6:00 Pop Myx
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9:00 Myx Mobile Top
Picks
10:00 Star Myx
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11:00 Mellow Myx
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Hits
DISCOVERY
CHANNEL
12:20 am Incredible
Engineering Blunders
2:00 How Its Made
3:00 Worlds Biggest
Ship
4:00 Belief
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With Bear Grylls
6:00 Manhunt with
Joel Lambert
7:00 Revealed
8:00 Deadliest Catch
9:40 River Monsters
Goes Tribal
10:30 Pacific
Warriors
11:20 Belief
12:10 pm Running
Wild With Bear Grylls
1:00 Ghost Asylum
2:00 Big Fish Man
3:00 Mythbusters
4:00 Belief
4:50 Worlds Biggest
Ship
5:40 Deadliest Catch
7:20 Man, Woman,
Wild
8:10 How Its Made
9:00 Belief
9:50 Man, Woman,
Wild
10:40 How Do They
Do It?
11:05 How Its
Made
11:30 Incredible
Engineering Blunders
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC
CHANNEL
12:00 am Lawless
Island
1:00 Big Fish, Texas

1:50 Buried Secrets
of The Buddha
2:40 Megastructures
3:30 Lawless Island
4:20 Monster Fish
6:00 Buried Secrets
of The Buddha
7:00 Megastructures
7:55 Lawless Island
9:45 Worlds
Toughest Fixes
10:40 Prospectors
11:35 Inside The
Mega Twister
12:30 pm How to
Win at Everything
1:25 80s
2:20 Worlds
Toughest Fixes
3:15 Lawless Island
4:10 Primal Survivor
5:05 Rebuilding
Taiwan
6:00 80s
7:00 How to Win at
Everything
8:00 Buried Secrets
of The Buddha
9:00 Lawless Island
10:00 Primal
Survivor
11:00 A World
Unseen
ANIMAL PLANET
12:00 am Finding
Bigfoot
2:00 TBD
3:00 North Woods
Law
5:00 Finding Bigfoot
6:00 Orangutan
Island
6:30 Escape to
Chimp Eden
7:00 Big Cat Diary
8:00 The Crocodile
Hunter
9:00 My Cat From
Hell
10:00 Animal Cops
12:00 pm Pit Bulls
and Parolees
2:00 North Woods
Law
5:00 Yukon Men
CARTOON
NETWORK
12:45 am Regular
Show
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8:00 The Grim
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& Mandy
9:00 Ben 10
10:00 Courage The
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11:00 Chowder
12:00 pm The
Amazing World Of
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1:00 Ben 10
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2:45 Chowder
3:15 Oggy And The
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11:45 Sonic Boom
NICKELODEON
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8:30 Peppa Pig
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10:00 Wallykazam!
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1:00 Rabbids
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6:30 SpongeBob
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7:30 Get Blake
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8:30 Rabbids
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Wild West
6:30 Miles From
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7:00 Jake and The
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7:30 Doc Mcstuffins
8:00 Sofia The First
8:30 Miles From

Tomorrowland
9:00 The Little
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9:30 Phineas & Ferb
10:00 Sleeping
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11:30 Mr. Bean
12:00 pm Ultimate
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12:30 Marvel Disk
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1:00 Phineas & Ferb
2:00 Kick Buttowski
2:30 Chuck Chicken
3:00 Zip Zip
3:30 Penn Zero
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4:30 The 7D
5:00 Randy
Cunningham
5:30 Boyster
6:00 Star Vs. The
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6:30 Wander Over
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7:00 Penn Zero
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9:30 Mr. Bean
10:00 Penn Zero
10:30 Pac-Man
And The Ghostly
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11:00 Ninja Hattori
ANIMAX
12:00 am Naruto
1:00 Space Dandy
2:00 Cardfight!!
Vanguard
2:30 The Hentai
Prince and the Stony
Cat
3:30 Naruto
4:00 City Hunter
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5:30 Cardfight!!
Vanguard
6:00 City Hunter
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7:00 Arcana
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8:00 Star Driver
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9:30 Bleac
10:30 Naruto
11:00 Arcana
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12:00 pm Star
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1:00 Cardfight!!
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1:30 The File Of
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2:00 City Hunter
2:30 Naruto
3:00 Arcana
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4:00 Star Driver
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6:00 The File Of
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6:30 Bleach
7:30 Cardfight!!
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8:00 Beelzebub
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10:00 Space Dandy
11:00 Beelzebub
HERO
12:00 am Chaika
12:30 Naruto
Shipudden
1:00 Kyo Kara Maoh
1:30 Hakkenden
2:00 Haikyu
2:30 Aquarion
Evolution
3:00 Vampire Knight
3:30 Kuroko No
Basket
4:00 Yowamushi
Pedal
4:30 Major
5:00 Power Rangers
RPM
5:30 Reborn
6:00 Chaika
6:30 Naruto
Shipudden
7:00 Kyo Kara Maoh
7:30 Hakkenden
8:00 Haikyu
8:30 Aquarion
Evolution
9:00 Vampire
Knight
9:30 Kuroko No
Basket
10:00 Yowamushi
Pedal
10:30 Major
11:00 Power
Rangers RPM
11:30 Reborn
12:00 pm Chaika
12:30 Naruto
Shipudden
1:00 Kyo Kara Maoh
1:30 Hakkenden
2:00 Haikyu
2:30 Aquarion
Evolution
3:00 Vampire
Knight
3:30 Kuroko No
Basket
4:00 Yowamushi
Pedal
4:30 Major
5:00 Power Rangers
RPM
5:30 Reborn
6:00 Chaika
6:30 Naruto
Shipudden
7:00 Kyo Kara Maoh
7:30 Hakkenden
8:00 Haikyu
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Entertainment News
F-6
Ryan Reynolds on being a superhero and a dad

HoLLywood
BuLLETiN
JANET susAN
NEPALEs
OS ANGELES Ryan Reynolds waited 11 years before his

dream project, Deadpool, was
made.
The actor shared, Eleven years ago,
I was given the comic, and the guy that
sent them over said, You are Deadpool.
I said, I dont know what Deadpool is. Is
it a Clint Eastwood movie? And he said,
If they ever make a movie about Deadpool, you are Deadpool. So I read these
comics and one of the first ones I opened
up, there is a panel in the comic where
Deadpool says, and this is in 2004, I look
like a cross between Ryan Reynolds and
a Shar Pei.
And I just thought, wow, thats a little
meta and weird... So I started reading
the rest of the comic books and I was
referenced a few more times in there,
just me as a person. I just loved that. I
also loved that it broke every traditional
rule that comic books or comic book
movies have.
The 39-year-old actor explained
further that he did everything he could
to have the film done but it made no impression at all. I had every door slammed
in my face.
Then we made a test footage and it
was accidentally leaked onto the internet
by some person involved in criminal behavior, which I do not condone, and that
then transfers into this just overwhelming
tsunami of feedback for the studio and
thats what did it. The fans got the movie
made, not me or anyone else. The fans
overwhelmed the studio. So within 24
hours of that, we got a green light.

Directed by Tim Miller, the superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics
character of the same name. Recently, it
broke all records with an impressive $135
million opening.
In the movie, Ryan portrays Wade
Wilson, a mercenary who spends his
time protecting teenage girls from wouldbe stalkers in New York City. Later, he
discovers he has terminal cancer and is
approached by a recruiter for a secret
program to cure his cancer. Instead, something happens and
he gains some super powers.
He becomes Deadpool.
We asked him how much
fun he had doing the character and how much did he
assimilate into the character.
Its sort of the chicken and
the egg kind of thing, 11 years
trying to make this movie,
so the line between
Ryan and Wade
are somewhat
blurry, at least
my wife (Blake
Lively) believes
that. And so its
been a hell of
a journey, and
once we actually got to set
and the mo ment where we
actually got to
start filming this
thing, it was like
a dream come
true for me.
Ryan also
shared, I produced this movie
RYan REYnOLDS
exclusively to pro(Photo by Janet
tect Deadpool, to
nepales/HfPa)
protect the origin
Movie with a twist
lot of people have expressed

excitement over Echorsis:
Sabunutan Between Good
And Evil, af ter its official trailer was released online last
week.
Lead stars John Lapus, Kean
Cipriano, and award-winning independent film actor Alex Medina received
overwhelming praise from netizens.
Acceding to persistent requests
that the movie be shown in cinemas as
soon as possible, the film, written by
Jerry Gracio and directed by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Lemuel Lorca

for producer Chris Cahiligs Insight
360, will open on April 13 a week
ahead of its original schedule.
Echorsis revolves around a
gigolo Carlo, played by Medina, who
is possessed by a gay demon after he
deceived his closeted gay lover Kristoff (Lapus). Exorcising the devil out
of Medinas character is Father Nick,
portrayed by Cipriano.
The other cast members are Alessandra de Rossi, Chokoleit, Kiray Celis, Mich
Liggayu, Ruby Ruiz, Negi
Negra, Bekimon, Nico
Antonio, Francine Garcia,
Odette Khan, and 1:43s
Yuki Sakamoto, Anjo Resurreccion, Gold Aquino,
and Yheen Valero.
The movie is supported by BellaVita Land
Corp. and McJim Classic
KEan CiPRianO plays father nick who sees the devil
Leather.
story of Deadpool, to protect the canon

of Deadpool, and just to make sure that
what we put on screen is the most authentic version of Deadpool that could ever be
represented on screen. I have been down
the road before where it wasnt and I was
never going to let that happen again.
Asked how similar he was to Deadpool, Ryan confessed, I have a tendency
to be able to turn this thing on that is sort
of like a non-stop meme machine, and
then on the other end of the spectrum, it
could just be like this corrosive, acerbic
wit. I was lucky, because I grew up in a
family with three older brothers and
I had to rely on my mouth more than
I could rely on my fists. So I culti
cultivated these certain aspects of my
personality that I can sort of choose
to turn on and off. In interviews like
this I try to keep it contained and
answer questions normally, but when
I put the big, red costume on, its
go time.
a SCEnE from Deadpool
on with it all and we wouldnt have it any

other way.
But as for Deadpool being a dad,
that would make for a hell of a movie.
He wouldnt watch his language. So you
would have this little cussing infant... or
something. Deadpool loves his compound
swear words as we have learned. So I
dont know, we will see.
Now that they are parents, Ryan revealed that Blake and he dont work at the
same time. He said, If I am shooting, she
is with me and the baby; if she is shooting,
I am with her with the baby.
His favorite time with his daughter?
I like that time in the morning when she
wakes up laughing and funny. That time
in the morning is really cool and I usually
wake up a couple of hours earlier just so I
can devote all that time to her.
As for his wifes first reaction when
she saw him in the Deadpool costume,
Ryan pointed out, Oh, my wife is not going to complain about too tight. She is fine
with that. She is great, she loved it and she
knew it was an 11-year dream of mine to
bring this to the screen, to do it the right
way. So she loved it. My baby didnt. When
she saw the scar make-up, my daughter
just cried. Every time she saw the scar
make-up she started crying. She heard
my voice, but I looked like a deep fried
(body part). So yeah, it was tough. It was
very, very tough for her.
So what character traits would he like
his daughter to inherit from Blake and
from him, we asked. From Blake, I really want her to inherit her sincerity, he
said. And from me, I would imagine just
unblinking violence and sarcasm. I want
her to be able to defend herself.
Bridging nations through music

By Regina Mae PaRungao
he Philippine International
Jazz Festival (PIJazzfest)
continues to grow in stature
with even more acts than
before from around the world joining
in on the fun through their respective
embassies.
PIJazzfest President and Chairman Sandra Lim-Viray divulged that
since the inception of the event in
2005, they have already developed a
healthy rapport with other nations
that have been sending the best representatives from their respective
countries to the festival.
She also noted how their efforts
served to establish strong cultural
ties among nations.
Hadass Nisan, the Deputy Chief
of Mission in Israel told Bulletin
Entertainment that the Philippines
is now actually close to their peoples
hearts. She shared that some areas
in Israel feature booths selling Fili-
pino handicrafts and foods, as well as

traditional Filipino music and dance.
On its 11th year, the PIJazzfest is
poised to reach more people as it features almost 50 local and foreign artists
doing roughly 40 sets of performance
in different venues in and outside
Metro Manila.
Among those participating in the
17-day festival are respected artists
from Germany, Israel, Norway, India,
and USA.
Israeli singer Ravid Kahalani
and his band Yemen Blues will hold
a concert commemorating IsraelPhilippines friendship on Feb. 25 at
the 12 Monkeys Music Hall and Pub.
Joining him is local singer Nicole
Asensio.
German pianist and composer
Florian Ross is also slated to serenade jazz lovers. Local jazz artists
Colby dela Calzada (bass) and Michael Alba (drums) will perform Ross
at the Caf Hyatt City of Dreams on
Feb. 25 and at the Palacio de Maynila
on Feb.27 and 28.

Other Filipino acts participating
in the festival are Emcy Corteza,
Margaux Salcedo, Annie Brazil and
Jerome Rico.
RaviD KaHaLani (facebook)
PH-based Korean artists Headline KCCs art exHibit
S
MOST TRUSTED. Respected veteran actress Susan Roces renewed her
ties with RiteMed recently. Note the Queen of Philippine Movies emerged as the
most trusted endorser of pharmaceutical products in a survey conducted by AGB
Nielsen in 2015. For the last five years, she has launched five campaigns that
effectively raised the awareness of Filipinos about the availability of high quality
and more affordable line of medicines in the market. Shown in photo with Susan
are (left) Vincent L. Guerrero, general manager of RiteMed, and (right) Jose Maria
A. Ochave, senior vice president of United Laboratories, Inc.
Now a father to one-year-old daughter James (named after his father) with
Blake, Ryan was recently chosen by
People magazine as this years Sexiest
Dad Alive.
So what does he think Deadpool
would change if ever the character
became a dad and what did he have to
change himself when he became a dad,
we asked.
You change everything when you
become a dad, he admitted. I never
imagined I would be doing the things
that I am doing. The other day, I changed
a diaper that was so bad, I thought we
would have to move to another town. I
just opened the diaper and there were
gang signs in there. So obviously there
are things that changed, but I love it,
and I love being a dad and I love having a
baby. I always knew I would love that part
of it. But everything, like the tough stuff,
I like the tough stuff, and I like the easy
stuff. So my wife and I are pretty hands
By JonaTHan M. HiCaP
ome 19 Korean artists residing

in the country will be featured
next month in the art exhibition
mounted by the Korean Cultural
Center (KCC) in the Philippines.
It will be held for free from March 3 to
May 27 at the KCC exhibition hall.
It will showcase the artists perception of the world based on their
experiences and adventures while living
abroad, the KCC explained.
Through the artists representation
of Korean culture that mirrors what
people see in their daily lives, they will
recognize the beauty of the world in the
unexplored sceneries, it added.
The exhibit will display 42 pieces of
art work by artists from the two nations
that bring out the profound blend of
eastern and western arts.
The participating Korean artists
are Jang Hyesook (Carla Kim), Kang
SeungJoo, Christina Cho, Lee So Jung,
Jung Miae, Seo Yoonah, Park Shin
Faye Lai will also take part in the display

Young, Jang Mi Young, Han Hyang
as guest exhibitors.
Ran, Natalie Lee, Lee MiJin, Park Hyun
Jung, Jeon Seungmi, Lim Kyungwon,
Lee Sunyoung, Anne Joo, Kim
Sookyung, Julianne Kim, and
Chun JeongHwan.
Filipino artists Jacqueline
Lhuillier Hess, Connie Quirino
and Yueh Faye Lai will also
take part in the display as guest
exhibitors.
According to Carla, the exhibit is an honest and affable
exhibition composed of easily
represented visualizations with
simple meanings.
Before the launching of the
art exhibit, KCC will host the
Artist Talk on March 3, a special event where the artists
will gather and deliver their
respective pieces on art. Guests
are invited to interact with the
participating artists.
Filipino artists Jacqueline
Hess, Connie Quirino and Yueh SOmE Of the artworks to be featured at the exhibit (KCC)
A more mature...
Challenge accepted
After starring in several romcoms like Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng
Crush Mo, Past Tense, and Bride
For Rent, it was a challenge for Kim
to do heavy drama.
Nung first time naming nagshooting pinapa-shrug off nila sa
kin si Kim nahirapan akong
tanggaling yung pagka-kwela at
pagka-bubbly ko, she said.
But she is thankful to the shows
director for being patient with her.
Uulitin talaga niya yung eksena
kung hindi siya naging okay. Tapos
kung hindi pa rin okay after nun,
magpapa-music sila para (ma-internalize) yung emotions, she said.
F-1
She also has good words for

Xian.
Si Xian sobrang nag-grow as an
actor. Sobra akong proud sa kanya
rito sa The Story Of Us. Dito pinakita
niya na deserve niya ang ganitong
role, she said.
She even related, Hindi mo si
Xian maiistorbo ng umaga kasi nagbabasa na siya ng script. Pag umarte
na kaming dalawa, parang ang dami
niyang luha, parang umurong yung
luha ko sabi ko, Ang galing mo na,
Xi.
It also helps that the cast has
maintained good camaraderie, making
work a lot easier.
Xian recalled being inspired by a
one for all, all for one moment the

production team shared.
Meron kaming isang eksenang
kinunan around 12 a.m., kahit sobrang lamig na kailangan naming
lumangoy sa tubig nung tatalon
na kami nina Gardo Versoza sa dagat,
hindi lang kami ang tumalon, buong
staff tumalon para lang ipakitang
sama-sama tayo rito (sa proyektong
ito), he shared.
As part of their immersion, Xian
and Kim underwent swimming training.
Nag-training po kaming (lumangoy) binigyan po kami ng halos isang
linggo na training. Nag-train kami
before sa swimming pool pero iba pala
pag sa dagat na walang gear na
kasama, were open sa lahat ng mga
hayop dun, Xian said. (With report
from Jojo P. Panaligan)
Yellow Magenta Cyan
Black
ymv
INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY
In collaboration with
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Copyright 2016 The New York Times
Texts Sent
From a War
Stop as City
Falls to ISIS
By ANNE BARNARD
and HWAIDA SAAD
BEIRUT, Lebanon Ours was an

unusual, sometimes operatic, correspondence that unfolded over more
than a year. Abu al-Majd, a Syrian
police officer who was being deployed
more and more often like a soldier, texted at all hours, sending news from the
front lines and grumbling about boring, sunbaked patrols, his complaints
sometimes punctuated by expressions
of terror, pride or doubt.
For us, it was a window into the war
in Syria that we were too often forced
to follow from afar. For him, it seemed,
as much as anything, about having a connection
to people who
lived outside the
claustrophobia of war, yet
cared about what
he was going
through.
On May 19 last
year, Abu al-Majd sent a pair of
snapshots. One
showed him in fatigues, smoking a
water pipe and starting to smile, as if
a friend had just walked in; two cups
of Turkish coffee, still foamy, stood on
a table.
He was about to board a bus to Palmyra, the Syrian desert city that was
in the process of falling to the Islamic
State. Many government troops had
fled, but Abu al-Majd and a few dozen
others had been ordered to fight what
he believed to be a doomed battle.
He had taken the photos specially.
These, he texted, might be the last
pictures.
We did not hear from him again. Six
Staying
in touch
en route
to a battle,
without
weapons.
Continuedo nP age5
JONATHON ROSEN
The Dreams of the Dying

By JAN HOFFMAN
ONE EVENING LAST fall, Lucien Majors, 84, sat

at his kitchen table, his wife Jan by his side, as he
described a recent dream.
Mr. Majors had end-stage bladder cancer and was
in renal failure. As he spoke with a doctor, he was
alert but faltering. In the dream, he said, he was in
his car with his great pal, Carmen. His three sons,
teenagers, were in the back seat, joking around.
Were driving down Clinton

Street, said Mr. Majors, his watery, pale blue eyes widening with
delight at the thought of the road
trip. We were looking for the
Grand Canyon. And then they saw
it. We talked about how amazing,
because there it was all this time,
the Grand Canyon was just at the
end of Clinton Street!
Mr. Majors had not spoken with
Carmen in more than 20 years. His
sons are in their late 50s and early

60s.
Why do you think your boys
were in the car? asked Dr. Christopher W. Kerr, a palliative care
physician outside Buffalo, New
York, who researches the therapeutic role of patients end-of-life
dreams and visions.
My sons are the greatest accom-
Continued on Page 4
INTELLIGENCE
WORLD TRENDS
MONEY & BUSINESS
ARTS & DESIGN
The need for big and

bold projects. PAGE 2
Seeking respect in Year

of the Monkey. PAGE 3
China moves to ensure

food security. PAGE 10
In Creed, Rocky shows

vulnerability. PAGE 16
THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY
MANILA BULLETIN
O P I N I O N & C O M M E N TA RY
Since the first of the year, North
Korea has conducted another nuclear weapons test and launched
a satellite on a rocket. Both acts
further advance North Koreas
quest for the ability to fire a nuclear-armed missile, while serving as
a reminder of the worlds failure to
shut the program down.
Especially striking has been
Chinas impotence. President Xi
Jinping has repeatedly urged
North Korea to show restraint. At
the same time, he has refused to
endorse tough international sanctions that might have an impact on
the North Korean leader, Kim Jongun. Beijing recently agreed to work
on new United Nations sanctions,
but there is no indication that those
sanctions would go far enough.
The Chinese are probably right
when they say they have less in-
On any given day, painters are

repainting some part of the [Golden Gate] bridge. They use 10,000
gallons of paint a year. It is crazy
that people repaint a bridge all year
The Golden Gate Bridge, which
is orange, is the best-known and
best-loved bridge in the world. It is
best known because it is bold and
courageous and unusual and even
strange. It is best loved because it is
bold and courageous and unusual
and even strange.
Dave Eggers,
This Bridge Will Not Be Gray
This new book, a collaboration
between Mr. Eggers and the artist
Tucker Nichols, who created the
deceptively simple paper cutout
illustrations, is a love letter to infrastructure. Mr. Eggerss proclamation that the Golden Gate is
beloved because its outrageous
and weird may fly in the face of just
about everyones attitude about infrastructure, but it also gets at what
we should be feeling about bridges
and tunnels.
Awe.
American infrastructure is deferred home maintenance on a
massive scale. We just keep putAllison Arieff is a writer on
architecture and design.
Send comments to
intelligence@nytimes.com.
E D I TOR I A L OF TH E TI MES
The North Korean Threat

fluence over Mr. Kim than many
people think. But as the Norths
only ally and economic lifeline for
food and fuel oil, China has more
leverage than any other country to
steer Mr. Kim toward a less hostile
course. Beijing is understandably
concerned that tough sanctions
could cause people to flee North
Korea for China. But even modest
gestures, like preventing Mr. Kim
from obtaining whiskey and other
luxuries, could force him to think
twice about continuing North Koreas provocative behavior.
The New York Times International Weekly

620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
employs thousands of North Koreans, was underwriting the Norths

weapons program. South Korea also has agreed to discuss deploying
an American missile defense system that could track North Korean
activities and to increase security
coordination with Japan.
Such steps are needed to calm
anxious citizens in South Korea
and Japan while persuading China
to be more constructive in helping
to find a solution to the North Korean threat. The North is believed to
have produced 10 to 16 crude nucle-
INTELLIGENCE/ALLISON ARIEFF
Where Are the Great Projects?

ting it off until something major
happens, and then it ends up costing twice as much as it would have
had we taken care of it. This is a bad
strategy yet its the strategy that
seems to define United States infrastructure.
There is no awe. There are issues
of structural integrity. There are
mind-blowing cost overruns. Accidents. Sinkholes. Problems with
bolts.
The first design proposed for
the Golden Gate was, writes Mr.
Eggers, the strangest, most awkward and plain old ugly bridge anyone had every seen ... people compared it to an upside-down rat trap.
The public demanded something
better and got it.
A century later, weve lost our
faith in the power of great projects
like the Golden Gate, not to mention
our trust in the government to fix a
pothole on time and on budget, let
alone create an inspiring bridge.
How can we restore that faith in
possibility?w
Lets take some inspiration from
Atlanta yes, Atlanta! which is
putting the finishing touches on the
Atlanta BeltLine, one of the largest,
INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY
NANCY LEE Executive editor
TOM BRADY Editor
ALAN MATTINGLY Managing editor
While China temporizes, others are acting. The United States

Congress approved sanctions intended to limit the Norths ability
to finance warheads and missiles.
They are likely to be felt acutely
by Chinese companies, which are
most involved with the North. President Barack Obama should sign
the measure into law.
South Korea increased the
pressure by closing the Kaesong
industrial complex, run jointly
with North Korea. South Korean
officials said the venture, which
EDITORIAL INQUIRIES:
nytweekly@nytimes.com
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nytweeklysales@nytimes.com
THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY AND INTERNATIONAL REPORT

AND GAZETA DO POVO, BRAZIL THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, TORONTO STAR
REPUBLIC SDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, GERMANY PRENSA LIBRE, GUATEMALA
EL DIARIO, MEXICO AND UNITED STATES ZASGIIN GAZRYN MEDEE, MONGOLIA
most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs currently underway in the United States.
The BeltLine is a nearly 40-kilometer loop of old railroads encircling downtown Atlanta that
connects 45 neighborhoods. The
project repurposes this historic rail
corridor as a new transit greenway,
featuring streetcars that connect
to existing rail and 20 kilometers
and counting of trails for running,
walking and biking. Mostly underutilized industrial properties
surround it. These are now becoming perfect sites for new mixed-use,
dense projects, including 5,600
units of affordable housing.
The Atlanta BeltLine began as a
masters thesis project. Ryan Gravel, a designer and planner, graduated from Georgia Tech in 1999 and
went to work at an architecture
firm that was involved in urban
development and master plan projects. He brought his thesis project
up at a meeting, and to his surprise,
his co-workers were intrigued.
The more people we talked to, the
more people wanted to talk about
it, he said.
Mr. Ryan and his expanding
group of partners were able to develop an unprecedented community-oriented grass-roots movement
around the project, which got the
attention of other elected officials,
regional planners and developers.
With their support, the project took
on a life of its own, expanding beyond transit, trail and economic
development to include new parks,
affordable housing, an arboretum
and more. This further empowered

political leaders, who then enabled
the creation of a tax increment finance district in 2005 and a new
agency assigned to build it.
The timing and politics were
right. Atlanta, which had been losing population until the 1990s, was
growing faster than any of the suburban neighborhoods. People saw
the change coming, saw new apartments coming, saw it was bringing
a better economy to the city, so they
were excited about the project, Mr.
Gravel said.
BeltLine was a compelling vision, he said. It wasnt just a trail,
wasnt just a transit line. It was a
catalyst. Everybody could be part
of it. It tapped into the ambition that
the city had for itself, that it could
be a great city.
This level of enthusiasm seemed
utterly foreign to me, living as I
do in the San Francisco Bay Area,
which is having trouble coming to
any agreement on how to manage
growth and address change (and
the success or failure of that growth
has a lot to do with investing in not
just new, but the right, infrastructure). Mr. Gravels description of
working together toward a common goal was enviable so full of
awe, so short on arguing.
I described This Bridge Will Not
Be Gray to him, emphasizing Mr.
Eggerss observations about infrastructure needing to be bold and
courageous and how that certainly
wasnt how infrastructure was being conceived of today. We agreed
that needs to change. Mr. Gravel
ar weapons since 2003. The more

weapons it produces, the more
likely it is to try to sell them to earn
hard currency. Tougher sanctions
alone are not enough, however.
The Iran nuclear deal showed that
sanctions can be a useful tool only
in negotiations toward some mutually acceptable end. President
Obama, Mr. Xi and the leaders of
Japan and South Korea have erred
by not crafting a proposal that can
induce the North into serious talks.
North Koreas full disarmament
is unrealistic. To have any chance
of success, the negotiations must
aim for constraint. That means persuading the North to end all testing
and to forsake technology transfers to other parties. This is a formidable challenge, but neglecting it
only guarantees that the threat will
get worse.
just wrote a book on it, Where We

Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of
Cities, in which he makes a passionate case for infrastructure as
catalyst.
Its an added layer of beauty to
the BeltLine that it is built on railroad, Mr. Gravel said. Atlanta is a
railroad town, its why it exists. Its
a loop, it ties people together across
divides, and theres something
beautiful about it.
Yet engineers, planners and policy makers tend to focus on stuff like
percentage of parkland per person.
You dont move to one city because
it has 35 percent more parkland per
person than another city. You move
there because you fall in love with
it, or with someone there, or you get
a job there, or your family is from
there. We need to make cities that
we love.
Los Angeles, a seemingly even
more unlikely candidate to bring
awe to infrastructure, is nevertheless doing it, with a dazzlingly
ambitious transportation plan
(the citys mayor, Eric Garcetti, has even publicly crooned for
road improvements), and also by
rediscovering the long-neglected
(and abused, frankly) river it was
built around. Now, the once largely
paved-over 80-kilometer L.A. River, like the BeltLine, has taken on
this mantle of the future again.
People dont love the physical
thing of the BeltLine, Mr. Gravel
said. They love that its changing
the city. It allows us to look beyond
the shortcomings of the city and
look ahead to the future.
This all might sound awfully reductive, even nave. But keeping
our eye on whats possible is certainly as important as fixating on
what isnt.
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MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
In Taiwan, Goodbyes
Come Decades Too Late
By PAUL MOZUR
time on this paper. I fear you cant

imagine what its like, alas. To face
this moment and be unable to see
you once, to hug you once, to kiss
you once ... I am heartbroken. My
regret is unending.
Ms. Chang said her mothers response to the letter has not changed
since the first time she read it:
From the first word, she starts
crying.
While Taiwans government has
reckoned with some of the traumas
of its past, researchers say far fewer resources have been devoted to
chronicling the decades of political
repression under the rule of Chiang
Kai-sheks Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party that ruled
Taiwan as a one-party state from
1945 until Taiwans first democratic presidential election in 1996.
After receiving the photocopied
letters, Ms. Changs family pushed
the government to return the
originals. In 2011, with
the help of the Taiwan
Association for Truth
and Reconciliation, the
original letters were
finally given to her
family. The Taiwan association, a nongovernmental organization in
Taipei, collects letters
and personal effects
donated by relatives of
those executed. Among
BILLY H. C. KWOK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
the mementos are family photo albums that
A photo album made in prison by Liu
once belonged to exeYao-ting, a victim of Taiwans political
cuted prisoners.
repression from 1947 to 1987.
In some cases, the
letters have reopened
emotional debates. Some scholars
ical repression known as the White
argue people like Ms. Guos father
Terror. From 1947 to 1987, tens of
were not unjustly persecuted, in
thousands of Taiwanese were imhis case because he joined a Comprisoned and at least 1,000 were
munist group at a time when the
executed, most in the early 1950s,
Kuomintang was emerging from a
after being accused of spying for
decades-long war against the ChiCommunist China.
nese Communist Party. Ms. Guo
The lost missives are painful sousays that his Communism had no
venirs from decades of authoritarconnection to China, and that it was
ian rule in Taiwan. President-elect
a reaction to Kuomintang represTsai Ing-wen has vowed to do more
sion. Either way, she says, the most
to chronicle and right the injustices
important thing is for records to be
of Taiwans authoritarian past.
cataloged, released and discussed.
The letters were uncovered only
For some families, such discusby chance in 2008, when a young
sions are impossible. Ms. Changs
woman requested information
grandmother died before she could
about her grandfather from Taisee the letter from her husband.
wans main archive. The woman,
In a book about the letters, Ms.
Chang Yi-lung, was given more
Changs mother contemplates the
than 300 pages of photocopied docunknowable loss of a message nevuments. Within those pages, she
er delivered:
discovered letters her grandfather
Six years a married woman, 56
had written to her aunt and uncle
years a widow. For her whole life,
and to her mother, who had not yet
my mother never saw the letter
been born when he was killed.
and she never remarried. History
To her mother, he wrote:
has no ifs, but if the letter got to my
Before long I will leave this
mother the year it was sent, would
earth. I am trying to stay calm, to
she have had the same life?
talk with you for the first and last
TAIPEI, Taiwan The month

before he was executed, in April
1952, Guo Ching wrote letters to
his mother, wife and children to say
goodbye. The letters had only 230
kilometers to travel, but they would
take 60 years to be delivered.
When his daughter finally received her fathers farewell after
a protracted negotiation with the
government, she was in her 60s,
twice his age when he died.
I kept crying, because I could
now read what my father had written, said the daughter, Guo Sujen. If Id never seen his writing, I
would have no sense of him as a living person. His writing makes him
alive again. Without it, he would
live only in my imagination, how I
picture him.
The letters were among 177 uncovered in the past decade that
were written by victims of the polit-
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON LEE/REUTERS
Monkey Year Lets Chinese Buskers Hope

By CHRIS BUCKLEY
BEIJING The performing

monkey masters of Xinye County prayed at their Monkey King
shrine that the Lunar New Year,
which brought in the Year of the
Monkey on February 8, will also
bring back good times for their
disappearing vocation.
Hundreds of buskers from this
rural part of Henan Province in
central China roam the country
to perform street shows with
chattering macaques that wear
red vests and impertinent scowls.
Their masters hope that the Year
of the Monkey will encourage new
respect and audiences for their
centuries-old tradition, which has
been hounded to the margins of
society by the police, city inspectors and disdainful urbanites.
Things are looking up, said
Zhang Junran, the president of the
Xinye County Macaque Arts and
Breeding Association. Many,
many zoos and tourist sites have
been calling to make bookings.
Audience attitudes have clearly
changed. They used to see us as
beggars and grifters, something
shameful. Now theyve begun to
see us as part of a glorious tradition.
For the macaques, however,
their turn on the Chinese zodiac
cycle of 12 animals may not be an
unmitigated blessing.
These days, they are trained to
ride little bicycles, shoot hoops,
strut on stilts, brandish knives
and generally make lovable monkeys of themselves through a
tough regimen that has caused
animal rights advocates to complain about physical abuse and
Animal rights advocates have condemned Chinas performing

monkey tradition. Reacting to a drink; top, a troupe on break.
mental distress. Photos from
Xinye show macaques chained
and huddled in barren cages.
Even Mr. Zhang said trainers had
to end their old, harsh ways to win
over new audiences.
There are opinions about the
best way to train a monkey, he
said. In Xinye, many buskers are
poorly educated and have lacked
awareness of animal welfare, so
we need to improve the monkeys
conditions and treat them in a
more civilized way.
But several trainers in Xinye
said outsiders were wrong to believe that monkeys were prepared
for the rigors of life on the road
through beatings and berating.
To train a monkey to perform
complicated tricks, above all
you need patience, said Zhou
Chengyu, a monkey master from
Xinye. We treat them as more
important than our children. If

our monkeys dont eat and are unhappy, then our children cant eat,
either.
The monkey show tradition was
nearly obliterated under Mao, before reviving in the 1980s.
Now, under assault from urban
administrators, police officials,
and animal rights activists, the
number of buskers from Xinye
has fallen to about 600, down from
10,000 or more in the 1990s, Mr.
Zhang said.
But Mr. Zhang brimmed with
ideas about how to use this year
to renew what he considers an art
form. He suggested uniforms and
gentler language.
We must bring in the new while
preserving our traditions, he
said. Time is precious, he said. In
less than 12 months, it will be the
Year of the Rooster.
MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
Dreams of the Dying

May Aid in the Leaving
and colleagues.
Often when we sedate them, we
are sterilizing them from their own
dying process, he said. Theyll
say, You robbed me I was with
my wife.
Complexities of Dreams
Continuedf romP age1
plishment of my life, Mr. Majors
said.
He died three weeks later.
For thousands of years, the
dreams and visions of the dying
have captivated cultures, which
imbued them with sacred import.
Anthropologists, theologians and
sociologists have studied these socalled deathbed phenomena. They
appear in medieval writings and
Renaissance paintings, in Shakespearean works and set pieces
from 19th-century American and
British novels, particularly by
Dickens.
Such experiences have been noted by psychologists, social workers and nurses. But doctors tend
to give them a wide berth because
we dont know what the hell they
are, said Dr. Timothy E. Quill, an
expert on palliative care medicine at the University of Rochester
Medical Center in New York State.
Some researchers have surmised
that patients and doctors avoid reporting these phenomena for fear
of ridicule.
Now a team of clinicians and
researchers led by Dr. Kerr, an internist who has a doctorate in neurobiology, are seeking to demystify
these experiences and understand
their role and importance in supporting a good death for the
patient and the bereaved.
These events are distinct from
near-death experiences, such as
those recalled by people revived
History is not discarded easily.

But people are trying.
The marquee moment in America, last summer, was the removal
of the Confederate battle flag
from the South
LENS
Carolina State
House. The
flag, a relic of
the Civil War,
has long divided those who
see it as either
an emblem
of Southern
pride or a reminder of slavery. The
state finally pulled it down after a
gunman killed nine members of an
African-American church.
Similar soul-searching continues. We are in a purge moment,
David Greenberg, a professor
of history at Rutgers University
in New Jersey, told The Times.
For comments, write to
nytweekly@nytimes.com.
in intensive care units, said Pei C.

Grant of the research team. These
are people on a journey towards
death, not people who just missed
it.
Mainly Comforting Visions

For their primary study, published in The Journal of Palliative
Medicine, the researchers conducted multiple interviews with
59 terminally ill patients admitted
to acute care at Hospice Buffalo, a
facility furnished in warm woods,
with views of fountains and gardens. Nearly all the patients reported having had dreams or visions. They described most of their
dreams as comforting. About one
in every five was associated with
distress, and the remainder felt
neutral.
The dreams and visions sorted
into categories: opportunities to
engage with the deceased; loved
ones waiting; unfinished business. Themes of love, given or withheld, coursed through the dreams,
as did the need for resolution and
forgiveness. In their dreams, patients were reassured that they
had been good parents, children
and workers. They packed boxes,
preparing for journeys, and often
traveled with dear companions as
guides. Many patients said they
rarely remembered their dreams,
but these they could not forget.
A 76-year-old patient said he
dreamed of his mother, who died
when he was a child. He could smell
her perfume and hear her soothing
BRENDAN BANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Dr. Christopher W. Kerr, a palliative doctor, researched the

therapeutic role of patients end-of-life dreams and visions.
voice saying, I love you.
An older woman cradled an invisible infant as she lay in bed. (Her
husband told researchers it was the
couples first child, who had been
stillborn.)
A 54-year-old woman dreamed
of a childhood friend who had
caused her great pain decades
earlier. The friend, who had since
died, appeared as an old man and
said, Sorry, youre a good person,
and If you need help, just call my
name.
Other research suggests that
dreams seem to express emotions
that have been building. Tore
Nielsen, a dream neuroscience
researcher at the University of
Montreal, surmised that at the
end of life, such a need becomes
more insistent. Troubled dreams
erupt with excessive energy. But
positive dreams can serve a similar purpose. The motivation and
pressure for these dreams is com-
ing from a place of fear and uncertainty, he said. The dreamers are
literally helping themselves out of
a tough spot.
In the time before death, the
dreams of the patients in the study
tended to occur with greater frequency, populated with the dead
rather than the living. The researchers said such phenomena
might have prognostic value.
I was an aggressive physician,
always asking, Is there more we
can do? Dr. Kerr said. There
was a patient who I thought needed to be rehydrated, and we could
buy him some time. But, he said,
a nurse, familiar with the patients
dreams, cautioned: You dont get
it. He is seeing his dead mother. He
died two days later.
Dr. Kerr said he was simply
advocating that health care providers ask patients open-ended
questions about dreams, without
fear of recrimination from family
The Weight, and Costs, of History

There are so many of these things
going on now that they ought to be
looked at collectively.
Amherst College in Massachusetts recently divorced itself from
its unofficial mascot, Lord Jeffery
Amherst. Students had risen up
against Lord Jeff, a colonial military commander who favored using blankets infected with smallpox to wipe out Native Americans.
But some alumni were angered,
The Times reported, by what they
saw as an affront to tradition and
a rush to judgment on the legacy
of a man who lived more than 250
years ago at a time of war.
We think of ourselves as Jeffs,
and we always will, said Donald
MacNaughton, who graduated
from Amherst in 1965.
Similar arguments have been
going on across the Atlantic, where
Institutions struggle
with the symbols
of their pasts.
a group of students at Oxford recently failed in an effort to topple a
statue of Cecil Rhodes. Though the
students likened Rhodes to Hitler
for his imperialist role in southern
Africa, the monument will stand.
R. W. Johnson, an emeritus fellow of Magdalen College at Oxford,
told The Daily Telegraph that the
campaign to remove the statue
was akin to the actions of Al Qaeda
and the Islamic State. They are
destroying historical artifacts and
defacing them. I think you have
got to respect history.

But respect costs money. When
officials in South Carolina stopped
flying the Confederate flag, they
decided it should be placed in context, in a museum. Consultants offered a plan that would expand the
South Carolina Confederate Relic
Room and Military Museum and
include an electronic display of the
names of those from the state who
died in the Civil War.
The cost: $5.3 million.
Lawmakers on both sides of the
flag debate squawked, finding
common ground at last. The plan
was scaled back, the price tag
whittled to $3.6 million. Legislators are considering it.
It wouldnt have cost anything
to keep it where it was, said Representative William M. Chumley,
who had voted against removing
Many in hospice suffer from delirium, which can affect up to 85

percent of hospitalized patients at
the end of life. In a delirious state,
brought on by fever, brain metastases or end-stage changes in body
chemistry, circadian rhythms are
severely disordered, so the patient
may not know whether he is awake
or dreaming. Cognition is altered.
Those who care for the terminally ill are inclined to see end-of-life
dreams as manifestations of delirium. But the researchers say that
while some patients slipped in and
out of delirium, their end-of-life
dreams were not, by definition, the
product of such a state. Delirious
patients generally cannot engage
with others or give a coherent, organized narrative.
Yet the question remains of what
to make of these patients claims of
dreaming while awake, or having visions and the phenomena of seeing deceased relatives or
friends hovering on the ceiling or in
corners.
Donna Brennan, a nurse with
Hospice Buffalo, recalled chatting
on the couch with a 92-year-old patient with congestive heart failure.
Suddenly, the patient looked over at
the door and called out, Just a minute, Im speaking with the nurse.
Told no one was there, the patient
smiled, saying it was Aunt Janiece
(her dead sister) and patted a
couch cushion, showing the visitor where to sit. The patient cheerfully turned back to Mrs. Brennan
and finished her conversation.
the flag.
Perhaps South Carolina can find
a third way, as Whitesboro, New
York, is doing. People in that village have been having their own
argument over a historical symbol: the town seal.
The towns official history says
that in 1784, a settler named Hugh
White proposed a good-will wrestling match with a Native American chief, an event commemorated
on the seal. But some object that it
looks like a white man throwing an
agonized Indian to the ground.
The town recently voted to keep
the seal, but after much derision
online, officials reconsidered and
asked the Oneida Indian Nation to
discuss the creation of a new one.
Ray Halbritter, the tribes representative, told The Times, We are
happy to work with anyone who
wants to make sure the symbols
they are promoting are honoring
and respecting all people.
ALAN MATTINGLY
MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
In her notes, Mrs. Brennan described the episode as a hallucination, a red flag for delirium. When
the episode was recounted to Dr.
Kerr and Dr. Anne Banas, a Hospice Buffalo neurologist and palliative care physician, they preferred
the term vision.
Is there meaning to the vision
or is it disorganized? Dr. Banas
asked. If there is meaning, does
that need to be explored? Does it
bring comfort or is it distressing?
We have a responsibility to ask that
next question.
Dr. William Breitbart of the psychiatry department at Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in
New York said a teams response
must consider caregivers: These
dreams or visions can be interpreted by family members as comforting, linking them to the legacy of
their ancestry.
But if people dont believe that,
they can be distressed. My mother is hallucinating and seeing dead
people. Do something about it!
Reliving Trauma
Not all end-of-life dreams soothe
the dying. Researchers found about
20 percent were upsetting. Those
who had suffered trauma might revisit it in their dying dreams. Some
can resolve those experiences.
Some cannot.
When should doctors intervene
with antipsychotic or anti-anxiety
medication, to best allow the patient a peaceful death? For the Buffalo team, the decision is made with
input from the family.
Without receiving sufficient information from the family, a team
may not know how to read the
patients agitation. One patient
seemed tormented by nightmares.
The team interviewed family members, who reluctantly disclosed
that the woman had been sexually
abused as a girl. The family was
horrified that she was reliving
these memories in her dying days.
The team chose to administer anti-anxiety medication, rather than
just antipsychotics. The woman relaxed and was able to have a powerful exchange with a priest. She
died during a quiet sleep, several
days later.
Solace for the Living

The researchers have found
these dreams offer comfort for the
dying, and for their mourners.
Kathleen Hutton holds fast to the
dream journals fastidiously kept
by her sister, Rosemary Shaffer,
78, a former schoolteacher. In one
dream, Ms. Shaffer saw flowers at a
funeral home, which reminded her
of those her daughter painted on
handmade scarves. She felt loved
and joyful.
I was glad she could talk about
dreams with the hospice people,
Ms. Hutton said. She knew it was
her subconscious working through
what she was feeling. She was
much more at peace.
Syrian Officers Texts Stop as ISIS Arrives

Continuedf romP age1
weeks later, his parents received
a call from a man who identified
himself as a soldier and warned,
Dont be hopeful. Then he hung
up.
They went to a security office,
where a bureaucrat handed them
a piece of paper that said: Missing.
We had met Abu al-Majd more
than a year before, on a reporting
trip to Palmyra in April 2014. We
were among the last international journalists to visit the city and
its imposing ancient ruins, some
since blown up by the Islamic
State. He was then 24, part of an
entourage assigned to guard us
and monitor us.
Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, had lost its main livelihood,
tourism. Islamic State militants
were just a few kilometers east,
while Syrian Army tanks occupied the medieval citadel above
the ruins.
Some of our escorts were jumpy.
Junior officers like Abu al-Majd
were more playful, clambering
over huge slabs of limestone, striking poses.
A month later, Abu al-Majd
texted just to say hello. Later he
opened up, talking about things
he missed, like pomegranates
and grapes from the volcanic soil
of his familys ancestral village in
the Golan Heights. As the conversations grew deeper, he seesawed
between pride in his national duty
and fear, boredom, even anger at
the injustices and incompetence
he saw.
Abu al-Majd grew up in Yarmouk, the bustling Palestinian
refugee camp in southern Damascus, where many Syrians also live.
He was a loyalist the son of a retired, low-ranking army officer.
He joined a regular police unit at
least a year before the uprising,
chasing drug dealers and prostitutes. But Abu al-Majd was later
deployed to front-line checkpoints
and patrolled for insurgent activity east of the central city of Homs,
around Palmyra.
With supplies scarce and the
Syrian pound plummeting in value, he joked that his salary, around
$100 a month, was barely enough
to keep him stocked with his favorite apple-flavored tobacco. He
was secretly in love with one of his
cousins, but now worried that he
could never afford to marry her.
The isolation ate at him.
Please, tell me the latest news,
he wrote in September 2014. We
dont have TV here, no electricity,
Im living in exile. Im dead, dead.
When he got leave, Abu al-Majd
went home to cosmopolitan Damascus. He was jealous of troops
serving in the capital who could
we learned.
On May 19, about 60
officers and soldiers had
boarded unarmored buses bound for Palmyra,
with flak jackets but no
weapons. Abu al-Majd
was terrified to go.
He kept calling all the
way from the bus, Were
going to die, repeating
those words, a fellow officer recalled. I told him
to give the driver any excuse, like he wants to buy
cigarettes, and then run
away, but he never listened to me.
The bus dropped the
men at the military airport on the outskirts of
Palmyra, which was attacked that night. Many
were killed; the others
SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
fled. Abu al-Majd hid in
A soldier at the ancient Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria, in March
the house of a family he
2014, before the Islamic State blew up the site.
knew.
He called Damascus
daily from the land line, speaking
But the next day he decided to go
drink and go out with women and
softly, begging friends to send a
back out. He soon learned his unit
enjoy relatively regular electricicar. His father told him not to surwould be sent to Palmyra.
ty, he once said, as if they are in
render; his uncle advised him to
Im committing suicide, Abu
Europe.
read the Quran.
al-Majd told us. Im walking on
Once, he told us, he dreamed
But the Islamic State was
my feet toward death, but I cant
that the Islamic State had arrestthreatening to kill anyone who
do anything. Dont ask me what
ed him. Soon after, the group atharbored a government fighter.
time Im leaving; I hate this questacked security posts in the nearAfter eight days, Abu al-Majd felt
tion. I wish I wouldnt wake up toby Shaer gas field, killing several
he could no longer endanger his
morrow.
of his friends. In November, he
hosts, and fled in a borrowed robe
May 16: He shared a Facebook
wrote that he was at a cold, rainy
and loose pants, trying to pass for
post from a friend: O God, homepost surrounded by militants,
a resident.
waiting five days for reinforceland, your heroes are living in
He went unnoticed until the
graves, and your thieves are in
ments.
call to prayer. The Islamic State
castles.
If I die, he asked, would you
requires men to attend prayers,
May 17: He reached Homs, and
say, God bless his soul?
so he entered a mosque. Inside, a
went to a fortune teller. She saw
Abu al-Majd felt that one
fighter approached and asked Abu
him moving to a pleasant place,
shouldnt turn against his governal-Majd if he was with the police.
green, with trees all around.
ment whatever they do.
He said, Yes, Im here and Im
Paradise?
Theres nothing called with
praying and I didnt do anything,
May 18: A reprieve. Land mines
or against Bashar, he exrecalled a Palmyra resident who
on the road to Palmyra had forced
plained, referring to the president.
was there.
his bus to turn back.
Theres something called patrioThe fighter responded, Now,
May 19: The last snapshots.
tism, nationalism, loyalty someyou remembered to repent?
Then: nothing.
thing called we are Syrians and
On the street outside, the miliA police officer we had met in
we should defend our nation. You
Palmyra told us he walked for a
tants announced his arrest, using
are either with the state or with
day and a half across the desert.
his full name.
the terrorist groups.
Before fleeing, he said, he had
I saw 10 Daesh fighters with
He said he wished he would
seen Abu al-Majd at the military
their horrible faces, one holding
wake up in his old house to find the
airport, wounded in the leg and
the sword, a local woman told us
war had been a dream.
shoulder.
later. They beheaded him in front
Last March, he picked a fistfight
Abu al-Majds social-media
of my eyes.
with aid workers in Damascus,
status was frozen at I am in TadThe body lay in the street for
who he said were hoarding or misdays, according to witnesses. Last
mur, or Palmyra, followed by a
directing food.
month, family members said sefrowny face. Precious, dont be
Theyre giving two families
curity officials had told them they
sad for me. We are from God and
one portion, he told us later. Not
had a video of the killing, but did
to God we return.
only that, they are saying dirty
not share it.
It was July 23 when we heard
words to people, as if the civilians
As we were investigating Abu
from Abu al-Majds family that he
are beggars.
al-Majds death, the Islamic State
was officially missing. Presuming
Abu al-Majd was on leave in Dastarted destroying antiquities in
him dead, they received mournmascus as the extremists reached
Palmyra. In August, they blew up
ers.
the edge of Palmyra. His mother
the sites grandest structure, the
We needed to know more.
tried to keep him there by hiding
Temple of Baal.
We reached two police offihis ID card. He debated asking for
It is where we remember Abu
a transfer.
cers who had stayed in touch
al-Majd. In our pictures, the stone
Im not a coward, but Im a huwith Abu al-Majd to the end and
is glowing golden, and he is grinthree Palmyra residents who had
man being who sometimes gets
ning and playing on the rocks.
witnessed his fate. This is what
scared, he said.
MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
SILAO JOURNAL
Spiritual Journey,
With Reins in Hand
By PAULINA VILLEGAS
MAURICIO LIMA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
A brain scan of a baby with microcephaly, an abnormally small head, at a hospital in Recife, Brazil.
Zika Alters Brazils Abortion Debate

By SIMON ROMERO
RECIFE, Brazil The surging

medical reports of babies being
born with unusually small heads
during the Zika epidemic in Brazil
are igniting a fierce debate over
the countrys abortion laws, which
make the procedure illegal under
most circumstances.
At the same time, Zika has
spread to more than 25 countries
and territories in the Americas,
some with abortion laws as strict
as Brazils, if not more so.
Legal scholars in Braslia, the
capital, are preparing a case to
go before Brazils highest court,
saying pregnant women should be
permitted to have abortions when
their fetuses are found to have abnormally small heads, a condition
known as microcephaly that researchers say is linked to the virus.
A judge in central Brazil, Jesseir
Coelho de Alcntara, has taken the
rare step of publicly proclaiming
that he will allow women to have
legal abortions in cases of microcephaly, though he acknowledged
that the issue was complex.
Here in Recife, the Brazilian city
hit hardest by the increase in microcephaly and the brain damage
that often comes with it, abortion
rights activists are seizing on the
crisis to counter conservative lawmakers who have long wanted to
make Brazils abortion laws more
restrictive.
The scientific link between Zika
and infant brain damage has not
yet been proved.
Some Brazilian doctors are
encountering women seeking
abortions because of the spike in
Difficult choices
with a diagnosis of
microcephaly.
microcephaly cases. Dr. Artur
Timerman, an infectious-disease
specialist in So Paulo, said two
patients had spoken with him in
recent weeks about ending their
pregnancies because they had tested positive for the Zika virus.
They come to my office and ask,
Is there a chance for my baby to
have microcephaly? he said. We
need to inform them there is.
Later, he said, both patients
told me they had abortions.
The push to relax abortion restrictions in Brazil raises difficult
issues. The most severe cases of microcephaly can usually be detected with ultrasound scans around
the end of the second trimester, or
roughly 24 weeks. Supporters of
Brazils abortion laws contend that
such late-term abortions intensify
an already wrenching decision.
With microcephaly, the child is
already very much formed, and the
parents are conscious of this, said
Dr. Lenise Garcia of Brazil Without
Abortion, a group against easing
the abortion laws.
Even when microcephaly is detected before birth, doctors often
cannot say what the effects will be.
Some children with severe-appearing brain malformations seem
to be relatively unaffected, said
Dr. Hannah M. Tully, a neurologist
at Seattle Childrens Hospital. Yet

others with relatively minor structural problems may have profound
disabilities.
In Brazil, abortions are allowed
only in cases of rape or anencephaly, a serious birth defect in which
parts of the brain or skull are missing, or when the mothers life is in
danger. Until recently, conservative lawmakers had been seeking
to make legal abortions harder to
get, reflecting the influence of Roman Catholic leaders and the increasingly powerful preachers at
the helm of a growing evangelical
Christian movement.
Brazilian scholars estimate that
as many as 850,000 abortions are
performed illegally on an annual
basis. And while Brazils abortion
laws are less stringent than those
in other Latin American countries in El Salvador, for instance,
abortion is not allowed under any
circumstances , illegal procedures are not treated lightly. One
Brazilian woman was handcuffed
to a hospital bed and arrested after
she sought medical attention for a
botched abortion.
Debora Diniz, an anthropologist
and researcher at Anis, an abortion
rights group planning to file a lawsuit seeking to legalize abortion in
cases of microcephaly, likened the
Zika crisis to the long struggle to allow abortion in cases of anencephaly, which lasted about a decade.
We have an epidemic, an emergency, and the public health sector
is not properly caring for womens
rights, she said. We have constitutional rights at risk, the right to
health care and human dignity.
SILAO, Mexico Sheathed

in colorful woolen ponchos
and wearing crisp white hats,
the cowboys rode their horses
through green fields and blond
meadows, holding banners of
Christ the King and the Virgin of
Guadalupe.
They were in the midst of a
three-day pilgrimage in January
through the central highlands
of Guanajuato, a 135-kilometer
trip to the mountaintop statue of
Christ the King, among the tallest and most sacred in Mexico.
The first pilgrimage took place
more than 60 years ago, when
an ailing cowboy set out to seek
salvation at the feet of the statue.
Though the region has changed
since then, with family farming
giving way to manufacturing,
this tradition has grown. This
year, the pilgrimage drew more
than 3,000 people.
As with any pilgrimage, the
journey meant many things to
many people. Some sought the
comfort of religious purpose,
while others were drawn to the
adventure.We use our faith to
survive, to overcome the bitterness of life, said Jos Reyes,
who helps oversee the annual
journey, which he has made for
40 straight years. This journey
makes me feel alive.
The trip was a somber affair,
the silence broken intermittently
by the neighing of horses and the
rare bit of conversation. Along
the route, the riders passed a
General Motors factory. At night,
they gathered around fires,
sharing stories of past trips.
The pilgrimage dates to 1954,
when a young cowboy named
Nicols Garca set off to visit the
statue. Suffering from nervous
breakdowns, anxiety and hair
loss, Mr. Garca was told by doctors that his condition was terminal, his son said.
Seeking help from above, Mr.
Garca climbed the 2,700-meter

hill known as Cubilete to pray
before Christ the King.
Mr. Garca recovered from
his afflictions after the trip. The
next year, a handful of friends
and relatives from his small
town near San Miguel de Allende
joined. By the following year,
there were 80 people.
On his deathbed, he asked me
not to let that tradition die, said
his son Miguel Angel Garca.
The 23-meter statue of Christ
with open arms replaced a smaller version that was destroyed in
1928 during the Cristeros War,
which was incited by the
antichurch policies of President
Plutarco Elas Calles.
The final Mass of the pilgrimage was celebrated beneath the
statue, the cowboys attending
on horseback, hats in hand. The
priest told them that the pilgrimage was a sign of how much they
needed God to withstand the
pressures of modern life: crushing debt, illness, the violence of
drug cartels and unemployment.
Even for those who no longer
lived in Mexico, who had gone to
the United States in search of a
better life, the message resonated. Joaqun Villafranco, who left
more than 40 years ago to settle
in Austin, Texas, has never failed
to return for the pilgrimage.
Coming back every year, he
said, is a way to show gratitude
for the opportunities he has
found in America.
Just before the Mass, Mr.
Garca positioned himself near
the front, amid the jostling horses. The days of grueling travel
were over. No more sleeping outside. No more long rides.
He sighed. This is it, he said,
clutching the reins of his horse.
The moment where all that cold,
heat, hunger and fatigue are
worthwhile.
The moment you feel Christ
close to your heart.
MEGHAN DHALIWAL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Cowboy pilgrims rode for three days through the central

highlands of Guanajuato, Mexico, covering 135 kilometers.
MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
REPORTERS NOTEBOOK
West Bank Settlers List Getaways on Airbnb

By STEVEN ERLANGER
HAVAT GILAD, West Bank

The studio house offered recently for $111 a night on Airbnb is
a breeze-block building slightly
apart from its neighbors in this
illegal settler outpost deep in the
occupied West Bank. There are
several rooms, sparely furnished
and not completely finished, and a
lot of junk outside, including empty
ammunition crates used for storage. The views over the hills are of
a Palestinian village, Farata, and
another hilltop Israeli settlement,
Ramat Gilad.
Ilana Shimon welcomed me and
a photographer when we arrived
in Havat Gilad, west of the city of
Nablus, for an overnight stay. She
and her husband, Yehuda, had
planned a dinner, and visits with
some 30 families.
But as we chatted with Mrs.
Shimon in her kitchen, a member
of the regional settlers council
called and told her not to let us
stay. Intimidated by the intervention, Mrs. Shimon apologized.
What can I do? We need to respect our leadership.
Unwilling to create difficulties
for her in such a small and passionate community, we left, with
a deeply unpleasant taste of the
controversy surrounding Airbnb
in recent weeks for allowing West
Bank settlers to post places for
rent on its global website, with no
mention that these settlements are
considered illegal by most of the
The Airbnb listings from

the West Bank include this
isolated home in Havat Gilad,
an illegal outpost near Nablus.
RINA CASTELNUOVO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
world.
The Palestinian Authority
has condemned the company for
effectively promoting the illegal
colonization of occupied land.
Settler groups, naturally, have
fought back, encouraging more
residents to list their homes on the
site as a new platform to promote
their intention to expand the state
of Israel beyond its pre-1967 lines,
and guiding journalists on tours of
carefully selected properties.
Most of these are rented by
Israeli families for weekend getaways, or by Christian tourists
from Europe and, increasingly,
Taiwan and South Korea. While

Airbnb has been the focus of the
attacks by critics of Israel and its
occupation, many of the properties
are also listed on other sites, like
Booking.com and TripAdvisor.
Some are in suburban-style settlements near Jerusalem that most
Israelis and many international
experts expect to be incorporated
into the Jewish state under any
future peace deal, but the listings
include places in far-flung and unauthorized outposts way beyond
these so-called blocs, like Havat
Gilad.
Named for a murdered settler
security chief, Gilad Zar, this

outpost was established in 2002
and has resisted intermittent and
sometimes violent efforts by the
Israeli Army to demolish it. The
ideological mission is clear on Havat Gilads website: Our presence
here is meant to underscore our
right to live in the Land of Israel,
to let the people of Israel and the
whole world know that all attempts to weaken and discourage
us will fail.
Some Havat Gilad residents
have been arrested on charges of
vandalizing Palestinian property, and last month, Israeli troops
killed one Palestinian and wounded another as they planned to

throw a firebomb on the dirt road
leading to the outpost, the military
said.
The settlers see Airbnb as a
counterpoint to the mounting
boycott movement against Israeli
businesses in the West Bank, especially in a period when a wave
of Palestinian attacks on Israelis
have dampened tourism. Our
people have taken this as a challenge and have listed themselves
on Airbnb, said Miri Maoz-Ovadia, a spokeswoman for the settlers council that organized tours
for journalists.
Among those we visited was
Maanit Rabinovich, 34, an artist in
glass who is offering an unforgettable getaway in Kida for $104 per
night. Her Airbnb listing describes
Kida, which has about 60 families
and is also unauthorized, simply
as north of Jerusalem.
Davidi Perl, the council head in
Gush Etzion, a stretch of settlements south of Jerusalem, said he
expected the Airbnb affair to fade.
With the Internet, people see a
nice area, its cheap, lets go, they
dont care, he explained. Its a
global world now, and nothing will
stop people coming.
Britain Wants to Strengthen Its Cities in the North

By KIMIKO DE FREYTAS-TAMURA
LIVERPOOL, England London churns out so much wealth that

its annual economic output is equal
to Saudi Arabias. No other city in
Britain comes close.
It has eight times the population
of the second-largest city, Birmingham, and 18 times that of Liverpool,
which once flourished as the most
important trading hub of the British Empire.
Now, the British government is
scrambling to link cities like Liverpool and Manchester to counteract
Londons ever-growing dominance
and correct a growing imbalance
that many say is unhealthy for Britains economy.
There are no second-tier cities
like in other European countries,
said Max Steinberg, who founded
the International Festival for Business in Liverpool. After London, it
drops straight to third-tier cities,
and London is a different beast altogether.

Under a Northern Powerhouse
plan led by George Osborne, the
chancellor of the Exchequer, the
government has pledged to build
more roads and railways, invest
in technology and research hubs,
and appeal to Chinas development
bank for funds. The central government also passed a law in January
granting cities new powers on taxes and spending, as well as the freedom to elect their own mayors.
There is only one catch: With
public spending cuts initiated to
reduce the national deficit, the
amount of money transferred
from the central government is
dwindling. Decades-long local rejuvenation efforts in cities like Liverpool, which have attracted private investment, created jobs and
stemmed a brain drain to London,
are at risk of being undermined.
Were doing all we can, but the

government is just hellbent on reducing funding, said Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool.
Mr. Anderson said he supports
devolution and self-sufficiency, but
the austerity program is undermining efforts to build businesses and
retain investment. The city, still
fighting social deprivation, has lost
58 percent of public funding since
2010, he said.
London contributes 24.5 percent of Britains economic activity,
measured as gross value added,
compared with 13.3 percent for
the entire north, according to the
Centre for Cities, an urban policy
research group. The government
has pledged 13 billion pounds
(about $19 billion) in infrastructure
spending and about 450 million in
funding in scientific and computing research centers in and around
Manchester.
Part of Mr. Osbornes vision is

to complete a high-speed rail link
connecting London, Birmingham,
Leeds and Manchester, with another possible connection between
Liverpool and Hull. But the gap between north and south will not be
closed anytime soon.
Until now, cities like Liverpool
have made efforts to close that
divide. Liverpool, with a population of 466,000, is trying to attract
new people, not least by the lure
of cheap rent. Some houses in the
derelict Kensington ward are being sold for 1 each. Similar houses
in Kensington, the most expensive
borough in London, cost an average
of about 4 million.
David Pichilingi runs Liverpool Sound City, an annual music
festival that is now also regularly
staged in China, the United Arab
Emirates and South Korea.
Everything that devolves pow-
ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Rejuvenation efforts in
Liverpool include clearing
slums and creating housing.
An area set to be renovated.
er from London is a good thing,
he said. Part of our mission is to
give confidence to young people
that you dont need to go to London
anymore.
MANILA BULLETIN
WORLD TRENDS
Steady Tide of Migrants

At Sea and in Graves
By CEYLAN YEGINSU
IZMIR, Turkey City workers

shoveled dirt over the two coffins
as an imam, in plaintive tones, sang
prayers in Arabic.
Our Lord, forgive us our sins
and remit us from our evil deeds,
he said.
The solemnity of the occasion
was made more so for what was absent tears, loved ones or even the
names of the dead, identified only
by a number.
Etched on one slab of wood:
42453. And on the other: 42454.
For hundreds of thousands of
refugees who fled wars in the Middle East for safety in Europe, this
coastal city has been a place of departure. But for hundreds of others,
it has become a final resting place.
We are now faced with entire
families drowning at sea, with no
one left to claim them, said Ahmet
Altan, the imam at Dogancay Cemetery, which has put aside land to
bury the unknown migrants who
die at sea.
As NATO dispatches warships
to the Aegean Sea in a new effort
to contain the flow of refugees,
the deaths keep piling up: at least
400 so far this year, according to
the International Organization for
Migration. Already in 2016, more
than 76,000 people have arrived in
Greece from Turkey.
Karam Shoumali contributed
reporting.
Increased patrols by the Turkish

coast guard, plummeting temperatures and stormy seas all factors
that officials believed would lead to
fewer crossings have seemed to
have little effect.
If anything, there has been a
surge in departures in recent
weeks, as desperate refugees have
taken advantage of the lower prices that smugglers typically charge
during winter, when the journey is
riskier than it is in summer. Those
numbers could rise further, with a
new wave of what Turkish officials
say is now at least 100,000 refugees
fleeing heavy Russian bombing
raids and a government offensive.
We have no choice but to leave
now, said Mahdi, 36, a Syrian refugee and former teacher preparing
to leave with his wife and two children, ages 11 months and 3.
On a recent day here, Bilal, 35, a
Syrian refugee, set out for Greece
on a rickety boat with his wife and
three children, ages 10, 8 and 6.
When they set off, the boat, which
he said had a capacity of 30 people,
held 36 adults and 15 children.
The motor couldnt handle the
weight, and halfway into the journey it stopped working, Bilal said.
The next thing we knew, the boat
had capsized and we were all in the
freezing cold water.
His wife grabbed on to two of
their children and attached their
life jackets to his. He took the other
child, but the strong current caused
A migrant
being
buried
in Izmir,
Turkey.
The
hardest
part of
this job is
receiving
the
children,
a morgue
official
said.
BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
them to drift away from one another, he said.

We were in the water for over
two hours before the coast guard
came, and one by one, the people
around us died.
Bilals son, Ibrahim, 6, started
vomiting blood and his daughter
lost consciousness, but the family
survived. His cousins three young
children, also on the boat, were
among the 18 passengers who died.
Death has become our destiny,
said Kholoud, Bilals wife. Either
you die in Syria from shelling or
you die at sea.
The full extent of the humanitarian crisis can be seen at Izmirs
largest morgue, which recently exceeded capacity and is expanding
to make more room. Pictures of the
deceased migrants show a majori-
ty of the victims to be children.

The hardest part of this job is
receiving the children, a morgue
official said. They are at the age
when they should be splashing
about in the sea and playing, but instead their lifeless bodies are being
washed up ashore.
He explained that once the bodies of drowned migrants arrive at
the morgue, they are kept for 15
days to allow families time to claim
them. If they are not identified
within that period, the forensics
department carries out an autopsy
and records the DNA.
Each body is bathed and shrouded, in line with Islamic rites, before
being sent to the cemetery where
the imams carry out a full Islamic
funeral.
We decided to give the migrants
their own cemetery to make the

identification process as easy as
possible, even after the bodies are
buried, Mr. Altan, the imam, said.
We have a whole system in place
for the families to identify the bodies for up to 100 years.
The four imams who work at the
cemetery carry out an average of
five funerals each a day, for Turkish citizens and migrants. They
say that they are haunted by the
number of burials of unidentified
migrants they have carried out in
the past year.
I broke down when I buried a
3-month-old baby, Mr. Altan said.
I couldnt help myself. Its hard
to accept, because these deaths
can be prevented by politicians,
but they wont stop and its getting
worse.
Fears as Marathons Expand in Africa

By KEN MAGUIRE
DAK AR, Senegal Samba

Fayes training for an inaugural
marathon here included runs along
Dakars scenic coastal road, where
there had been a noticeable increase in armed security at upscale
hotels and shopping areas after recent terrorist attacks in Burkina
Faso and Mali.
But Fayes concerns are his pace
and hydration. He says he is not
sweating security.
There wont be any problems,
said Faye, 29, one of Senegals best
distance runners, who, like other
Muslims, sprinkles hopeful statements with the Arabic term inshallah, meaning God willing.
The authorities will take the necessary measures.
In January, 30 people were killed
at a hotel and cafe in Ouagadougou,
the capital of Burkina Faso. At least
19 people were killed in a Novem-
ber hotel siege in Bamako, the capital of neighboring Mali. Islamist

militants claimed responsibility in
both attacks.
Marathons worldwide have been
on alert after the deadly Boston
Marathon bombing in 2013, but the
challenges of securing a roughly
40-kilometer course in West Africa
are substantial.
Even though Senegal, with an
overwhelmingly Muslim population, enjoys political stability,
heavily armed police flagged down
motorists and searched vehicles in
the capital ahead of the countrys
first official marathon.
Yet even with all the challenges
in West Africa, which in addition to
safety include poverty and unemployment, marathons are popping
up all over, as organizers dream of
gaining international prestige and
inspiring a new generation of distance runners.
The Lagos City Marathon, billed

as Nigerias first in 30 years, attracted more than 20,000 runners
recently to the streets of one of
Africas largest cities, with no security problems reported. A new
marathon was held last fall in Ivory
Coast, and Gabon, farther south,
hosted its third annual marathon
in November.
Africa is following the global
trend, said Sbastien Bottari of
Everest Media, the Swiss-based
company that organizes and markets the Marathon of Gabon. Its
spreading more and more every
day. It doesnt cost much. It doesnt
require tons of infrastructure.
A smaller-scale marathon in Sierra Leone is in its fifth year and
raises funds for the British charity
Street Child. A Liberian half-marathon celebrated resilience after an
Ebola epidemic. The Accra International Marathon in Ghana annually
STEFAN HEUNIS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE GETTY IMAGES
More than 20,000 runners competed in the recent Lagos City

Marathon. Security concerns hover over the events.
draws several hundred runners.
But security remains a concern.
In Lagos, plainclothes police officers worked the crowds, and the
start and finish lines were heavily
protected, according to a marathon
spokesman, Olukayode Thomas.
Boko Haram, the militant group
that allied itself with the Islamic
State, is active mostly in northeastern Nigeria, not Lagos, though the

city has serious crime problems.
For the Gabon race, marathon
organizers imported bomb-sniffing dogs from Paris, Mr. Bottari
said. We took it very seriously, he
said. The government took it very
seriously.
MANILA BULLETIN
MONEY & BUSINESS
Demand
is high
for stories
about
financial
misdeeds.
George
Clooney
on the set
of Money
Monster,
with the
director,
Jodie
Foster.
Start-Ups Use Retreats

To Reinvigorate Workers
By MARTHA C. WHITE
Joshua Reeves, a founder and

the chief executive of the payroll
and benefits management startup Gusto, rented a house for a
week in 2013 with his roughly 10
colleagues for what he called a
workation.
One part reward for the long
hours they worked, one part
brainstorming marathon, the
retreat allowed the group to cook
together, hike and plan the companys next steps.
The two main goals we had
were to bring the team together, take a step back and have a
chance for community time and
connection, Mr. Reeves said.
Physically going somewhere
else can actually be a great catalyst for introspection.
Recently, Gustos human resources department took a four-
Maybe happier
employees; surely
happier hotels.
in human resources management

to reward more while paying
less. Im seeing more off-sites
that fall under the category of
culture-building and team-building, said Paul McDonald of the
recruiting firm Robert Half.
Although labor data show wages slowly creeping up in the United States, many companies see
an advantage to giving employees bonuses or other rewards because this lets them avoid adding
a fixed amount to their bottom
line, as pay raises would.
Like many other aspects
of both corporate culture
and business travel, the
growth of retreats and the
evolution of incentives are
being driven by Generation
Y, people like Mr. Reeves of
Gusto: young people with
the mentality of a Silicon
Valley start-up.
They really like to feel
like theyre part of something, and thats why were
seeing the increase, Mr.
McDonald said.
Millennials expect that,
Ms. Taylor said. They want
to have that interaction with
the C-level executives, and
incentives are a very nice
way to do that, to make
Employees from Gustos human
them feel included.
Christine Lawson of
resources at a Disneyland retreat.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants said her hotels have
long catered to the high-tech inday trip to Los Angeles and Disdustrys casual, quirky meeting
neyland.
style.
Today, even companies not
Tech has always come into our
generally given to the start-up
hotels in jeans and T-shirts and
corporate culture are using rewanted their room to have beantreats to get people to relax and
bags and couches, she said.
to work harder.
Recently, other industries have
Over the last 18 months, weve
started following suit forgoing
been seeing a really encouraging
the suits and boardroom presenuptick in reward and incentive
tations for more intimate sestravel, including retreats, said
sions.
Alison Taylor of Starwood Hotels
While this might be new terri& Resorts Worldwide .
tory for groups in fields like insurAnd by all accounts, that busiance and financial services, even
ness is growing especially
start-ups can take time to get
among younger workers. We
the hang of it. At Gustos first redefinitely have seen the reinvesttreat in 2013, Mr. Reeves recalled
ment of corporations back into
bringing in the components of
those, said David Peckinpaugh,
workstations: desks, tables, PC
president of Maritz Travel Commonitors. They went unused.
pany and Experient. Last year,
As it turned out, everybody
he said, his company had roughly
spent the whole week on the
30 percent more corporate incencouches with their legs up, he
tive programs.
said.
The trend dovetails with a push
ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA
Financial Disaster as Entertainment

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
The people are once again paying

for the 2008 financial collapse.
This time, though, its willingly.
Entertainment industry executives and publishers say there
is a growing audience for movies,
plays, television shows and novels
about the financial crisis of eight
years ago.
The Big Short, based on a
nonfiction best seller by Michael
Lewis, has earned more than $100
million at the box office worldwide.
Accordingly, there are movies in
development with titles that pretty much give away their plots:
Smoke and Mirrors, All We
Had and Straight to Hell.
These projects are not operating in a vacuum, said Len Amato,
president of HBO Films. HBO has
a movie about Bernard L. Madoff,
who swindled investors out of billions of dollars, coming out in 2017.
You can see whats happening
in the political process both parties are dealing with grass-roots
movements standing up against
the shrinking of the middle class
and the rise of income inequality,
Mr. Amato said. Audiences are not
only ready to take that on in television and movies, they very much
want to understand how we came
to this point.
In Money Monster, a thriller set for release in May, George
Clooney plays a hyperbolic host
of a financial cable show. Held at
gunpoint by a viewer who lost all
his savings in a market plunge, Mr.
Clooneys character is forced to investigate a financial conspiracy.
Im telling you its rigged,
the gunman says in the trailer.
Theyre stealing everything from
us, and theyre getting away with
it, too.
The movies anti-Wall Street

theme echoes across popular culture. The market crash threatens to
destroy a publishing house run by
the hero of Jay McInerneys latest
novel, Bright, Precious Things,
to be published later this year.
Last October, the Irish author Paul
Murray published a satirical novel,
The Mark and the Void, about the
Irish banking crisis. In the novel
Fixers, by Michael M. Thomas, a
former partner at Lehman Brothers, a cabal of power brokers rigs
the election in favor of a Barack
Obama-like candidate and steers
him away from reforming Wall
Street and sending bankers to jail.
In March, the Public Theater
Audiences spend
money to relive losing
so much of it.
in New York will host the debut of
Dry Powder, a sardonic take on
private equity shenanigans that
stars John Krasinski (The Office) and Claire Danes (Homeland).
A few years ago, there was less
appetite for art that delved into
the inner workings of the financial
industry. There were nonfiction
books about the disaster and documentaries like the 2010 film Inside
Job, but by and large entertainment executives seemed to doubt
that audiences would spend money
to relive how they lost so much of it.
We were like a depressed
Catholic family avoiding the
subject at dinner, said Adam
McKay, who directed and co-wrote

The Big Short, which is nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Picture. But people are realizing
that all those problems that caused
the crash are still around.
Film historians liken this lag to
the ones that followed the Vietnam
War and the 1929 stock market
crash.
Movies were made about those
events in real time, but the most
powerful ones came years later.
The Deer Hunter and Coming Home were released in 1978;
Apocalypse Now came out in
1979.
After a cataclysmic event, it
takes a while for the collective unconscious to bubble to the surface,
said Brian Koppelman, one of the
creators of Billions, a new Showtime series about a hedge fund titan
under investigation.
The Big Short, which stars
Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Steve
Carell, looks like a sure thing now,
but Mr. McKay said it took a few
years to persuade the studio to approve it.
They worried that the material
was too esoteric and wonky, but
they were more open once we found
a way to make it entertaining, he
said.
It also helped that Wolf of Wall
Street was a success, he added,
referring to Martin Scorseses 2013
film about a stockbroker played by
Leonardo DiCaprio.
The culture has become much
more attuned to the financial
world, said Sandy Climan, president of Entertainment Media Ventures, a movie and digital media
investment company in Los Angeles. Creators are now dramatizing
what people were already thinking
about.
10
MANILA BULLETIN
MONEY & BUSINESS
China Buys Farm Giant to Solidify Its Food Security

This article is by Alexandra
Stevenson, Chad Bray and Amie
Tsang.
Americas biggest pork producer
and a major agricultural commodities trader have been among Chinas prized acquisitions in recent
years.
Now, the state-owned China
National Chemical Corporation,
known as ChemChina, has clinched
a deal to buy Syngenta, a giant in
farm chemicals and seeds, for $43
billion, underscoring Chinas desire to secure a sustainable food
supply for its population of 1.4 billion people.
As in deals for energy and other
natural resources, Chinese companies have shown themselves willing to put up larger sums of money to acquire foreign agricultural
counterparts and expertise.
The background here is that
China is very sensitive to dependency on foreign food, said Derek
M. Scissors, an economic policy
fellow at the American Enterprise
Institute in Washington.
Government regulators in China
have struggled to control and main-
tain the nations food supply chain

in recent years. Food safety scandals for example, when dairy
producers sold milk formula laced
with melamine, putting 300,000
babies in the hospital and killing
six have produced embarrassing
headlines for Beijing. At the same
time, as the average income of Chinese families has risen, their taste
preferences have changed.
How to meet this growing demand has been a priority for many
in Chinas food production industry. By 2018, 300 million Chinese
will be consuming Western foods,
according to estimates.
China produces nearly one-third
less wheat, corn or other grains per
hectare than the United States, according to United Nations data. A
smaller portion of its land is arable
because of overcrowding, pollution
and a harsh environment in the
countrys western region.
Even within its farmland, China,
with its legacy of industrialization,
fast growth and lax regulatory enforcement, has struggled: In 2014,
the authorities said nearly one-fifth
of its arable land was polluted.
Those factors have spurred Chi-
na to rely increasingly on imports,

stoking concern among some officials in Beijing about dependence
on foreign supplies of food.
Still, the timing of the deal was
in ChemChinas favor. Six months
ago, Syngenta said no to a $47 billion takeover attempt from Monsanto. But things have changed.
Commodities prices have slumped,
Lengthening a list
of agribusinesses
owned by Beijing.
decreasing the chances of a big
payday for Syngenta.
When ChemChina offered to buy
Syngenta but leave Syngentas
Swiss headquarters and management in place the answer was an
enthusiastic yes. Under terms of
the deal, ChemChina will pay $465
a share and a special dividend of
five Swiss francs, or about $4.90,
upon closing.
Barbie, Now in Short and Curvy

By RACHEL ABRAMS
When it comes to Barbies body,

it will no longer be one size fits all.
Last month, Mattel unveiled
curvy, petite and tall versions of
its iconic fashion doll whose unrealistically thin shape has attracted
criticism for decades. The three
body types will also be sold in an
assortment of skin tones, eye colors
and hairstyles.
The move is about more than
just making Barbie look different.
While Barbie was once Mattels
powerhouse brand, sales have
plummeted in recent years as the
doll has struggled to remain relevant to little girls who do not look
like her and who play with toys other than dolls.
Barbies latest makeover began
last year, when Mattel released
a broad assortment of dolls in a
greater number of skin tones, eye
colors and even facial structures as
part of its Fashionistas line.
I think today, frankly more so
than any other time, Barbie is truly
representing what girls see, said
Richard Dickson, who is Mattels
president and chief operating officer and the executive in charge of
Barbies reinvention.
But some industry experts have
long doubted that cosmetic changes can revive the popularity of the
57-year-old Barbie, whose sales
have been declining by double-digits in recent years.

Executives like Mr. Dickson have
been optimistic, pointing to signs
that Barbies in-store sales began
picking up last year.
Still, third-quarter sales in 2015
the most recent figures available showed that Barbie sales
declined 14 percent from the same
period a year earlier.
The slumping sales may also be
partly attributed to the shift toward electronics in recent years.
Mr. Dickson has been steering
Mattels marketing campaign
to focus more on Barbies career
ambitions than her body image.
A new Imagine the Possibilities
ad features little girls picturing
themselves as teachers, coaches,
and other professionals. Barbies
aspirations have translated to
Mattels products: Hello Barbie,
the interactive talking doll, asks
children about what they want to
be when they grow up a far cry
from the Barbie who once claimed
that Math class is tough.
I think as a woman its about
time, and as a physician, I strongly
support that, said Dr. Kelli Harding, assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who has
a background in body dysmorphic
disorder. For a little girl, its im-
Barbies who are petite, tall and

portant to have diversity in what
theyre playing with.
A more full-figured Barbie doll
is part of a broader shift at Mattel,
where executives have been trying
to transform the company into a
But the deal is not just about Chinas demand for food security. It is
also part of a bigger trend of Chinese companies, often with government encouragement, seeking to
take a seat at the table with global
corporate chieftains.
ChemChina is yet another in
a long line of Chinese companies
which say: We want to be a global
player, said Andy Rothman, an
investment strategist at Matthews
Asia, an Asia-focused asset manager in the United States.
Syngenta will remain mostly
independent and will be run by its
existing management, according
to the deal, which requires at least
two-thirds of Syngentas shareholders to agree to sell their stock.
The easiest way to say it is that
Syngenta will remain Syngenta,
Michel Demar, Syngentas chairman, said in a video on the companys website.
The discussions between our
two companies have been friendly,
constructive and cooperative, and
we are delighted that this collaboration has led to the agreement
announced today, Ren Jianxin,
ChemChinas chairman, said of
the deal. We will continue to work

alongside the management and
employees of Syngenta to maintain
the companys leading competitive
edge in the global agricultural
technology field.
Syngenta, based in Basel, Switzerland, is one of the worlds largest
producers of agricultural chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and seeds. The
company reported sales of $13.4 billion in 2015 and employs more than
28,000 people in over 90 countries.
It was created in November 2000
by the merger of the agribusinesses
of Novartis and AstraZeneca.
The ChemChina deal is likely to
face significant regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe and the
United States. Some observers
expressed skepticism that it would
take place at all.
ChemChina and Syngenta are
highly complementary businesses
with relatively limited overlaps in
products, Mr. Ren, the ChemChina
chairman, said in a video. We will
work closely with all of the regulatory agencies involved, and we are
confident that we will receive regulatory approval.
can be as tech-savvy as
its competitors.
Barbies new shapes
also coincide with a progressive cultural shift
already underway in
stores and the toy aisles.
Parents and health experts have complained
that too many dolls,
models and clothing
companies conform to
an extremely thin body
type and have pressured corporations to
offer a broader variety
of sizes to give girls and
boys more confidence in
their own body shapes.
And some parents,
concerned about negative gender stereotypes (a racecar for a
son, a princess doll for a
daughter), have pushed
retailers into more gender-neutral territory.
The Disney Store decided to label all of its
childrens Halloween
costumes as for kids,
as opposed to for boys
or girls. Amazon has
curvy will join original-size Barbie.
banished gender distinctions for toys. And
21st century toymaker. A little over
last year, a Barbie commercial feaa year ago, it created its Toy Box ditured a boy.
Dr. Harding said, I think that
vision to fast-track new products,
this is bigger than Barbies shape,
like Hello Barbie and the virtual
because this really gets at gender
reality View-Master, two products
inequality.
Mattel has used to showcase that it
MANILA BULLETIN
11
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Trying a New Trick

To Control Lampreys
The Brains
Unique
Music
Channel
By RACHEL NUWER
Scientists fight a
pest by deceiving its
sense of smell.
By NATALIE ANGIER
Whether to enliven a commute

or relax in the evening, Americans
listen to music nearly four hours a
day. In international surveys, people consistently rank music as one
of lifes supreme sources of pleasure. We marry to music, graduate
to music, mourn to music. Every
culture ever studied has been found
to make music, and among the oldest artistic objects known are slender flutes carved from mammoth
bone some 43,000 years ago.
Given the antiquity, universality
and popularity of music, researchers had long assumed that the human brain must be equipped with
some sort of music room, a distinctive piece of cortical architecture
dedicated to detecting and interpreting the dulcet signals of song.
Yet, scientists failed to find any
clear evidence of a music-specific domain through conventional
brain-scanning technology.
Now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised a radical new
approach to brain imaging that
reveals what past studies had
missed. By mathematically analyzing scans of the auditory cortex
and grouping clusters of brain cells
with similar activation patterns,
the scientists have identified neural pathways that react almost
exclusively to the sound of music.
It may be Bach, hip-hop or sitar.
A listener may relish the genre or
revile it. No matter. When music is
played, a distinct set of neurons inside a furrow of a listeners auditory cortex will fire in response.
Other sounds, by contrast a
dog barking, a toilet flushing
leave the circuits unmoved.
Nancy Kanwisher and Josh H.
McDermott, professors of neuroscience at M.I.T., and their colleague Sam Norman-Haignere
reported their results in the journal Neuron. The findings offer researchers a new tool for exploring
the contours of human musicality.
Why do we have music? Dr.
Kanwisher said. Why do we enjoy
it so much and want to dance when
we hear it? How early in development can we see this sensitivity to
music, and is it tunable with experience? These are the really cool
first-order questions we can begin
to address.
Dr. McDermott said the new
method could be used to compu-
No alien species has wrought

greater havoc on the Great Lakes
of North America than the sea
lamprey. The vampirelike parasite cost many millions each year
in depleted fisheries and eradication efforts.
Wildlife managers have long
own young.
used lampricide the lamprey
Weiming Li, a physiologist at
version of pesticide with mixed
Michigan State University, beresults. Now an innovative congan by searching for chemical
trol program seeks to improve
differences in water samples takon that method by using pheroen from tanks holding immature
mones to trick the bloodsuckers
and mature male lampreys.
into voluntarily corralling themOne compound later identiselves in designated areas, to
fied as the pheromone 3kPZS
then be trapped or poisoned.
stood out. Dr. Li and his team puLampreys look like the stuff of
rified the mystery compound and
horror films: a slithering, tubular
found that, when it was applied to
body topped with a suction-cup
lamprey noses, electrodes regmouth ringed with row upon row
istered activity in their sensory
of hooked yellow teeth. A sea lamtissues.
prey anchors to its fish prey and
Finally, they confirmed that
uses its rasping tongue to drill
females responded to the syntheinto the victims flesh. It remains
sized pheromone in field experthere for up to a month, feeding
on blood and body fluids.
Even if a fish survives
the attack, the gaping
wound left behind often
results in death.
In their natural ranges, lampreys are important components of food
webs. The problems begin only when they shift
from native to invader.
Sea lampreys slipped
into La ke Onta rio
JOS MANUEL RIBEIRO/REUTERS
through the Erie Canal
Methods other than pesticides
in the mid-19th century. By 1940, lampreys
are being deployed to reduce the
had colonized the entire
population of sea lampreys.
Great Lakes system.
Biological disaster eniments. We could actually see
sued. Harvests of lake trout fell
the animal move upstream as the
from around 8 million kilos a year
odor was being pumped into the
to less than 140,000 kilos; other
water, then drifting downstream
species, especially whitefish, also
when we stopped, Dr. Li said.
took significant blows.
The researchers hope this sucCanada and the United States
cess will pave the way for other
in 1955 established the Great
synthetic lamprey pheromones,
Lakes Fishery Commission. Its
eventually letting them concoct
researchers tested nearly 7,000
several biological perfumes conchemicals on lamprey to identify
vincing enough to fool wild lamone that would kill the invaders.
Were trying to move away
preys.
from brute-force techniques like
The same technology may
serve as a conservation tool in
pesticides and achieve the most
environmentally friendly control
other parts of the world inof lampreys possible, said Micluding Western Europe and the
West Coast of the United States
chael Wagner, a fish ecologist at
where native lampreys are in
Michigan State University.
precipitous decline because of
Like salmon, lampreys spawn
dams and habitat degradation.
in rivers and streams, but inBut these strategies ultimately
stead of returning to the place of
depend on the researchers abilitheir birth, they use the scent of
ty to tease out the fishs biological
current larvae which burrow
secrets.
into the muck and remain there
Animals are always more soaround four years before metaphisticated than we think, said
morphosing into parasites and
Jim Miller, an entomologist at
moving into open water to deMichigan State.
termine where to deposit their
MARCOS CHIN
A pathway dedicated
to tuneful stimuli,
whether liked or not.
tationally dissect any scans from
a functional magnetic resonance
imaging device, or F.M.R.I. the
workhorse of neuroscience and
so may end up divulging other
gems of cortical specialization. As
proof of principle, the researchers
showed that their protocol had detected a second neural pathway in
the brain for which scientists had
evidence this one tuned to the
sounds of human speech.
The M.I.T. team demonstrated
that the speech and music circuits
are in different parts of the brains
sprawling auditory cortex, where
all sound signals are interpreted,
and that each is largely deaf to the
others sonic cues, although there is
some overlap when it comes to responding to songs with lyrics.
The idea that the brain gives
specialized treatment to music recognition, that it regards music as
fundamental a category as speech,
is very exciting to me, said Josef
Rauschecker, director of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience
and Cognition at Georgetown University in Washington.
In fact, Dr. Rauschecker said,
music sensitivity may be more

fundamental to the human brain
than is speech perception. There
are theories that music is older
than speech or language, he said.
Some even argue that speech
evolved from music.
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis,
the director of the Music Cognition
Lab at the University of Arkansas,
said that when previous neuroscientists failed to find any anatomically distinct music center in the
brain, they came up with any number of rationales.
The story was, oh, whats special about music perception is how
it recruits areas from all over the
brain, how it draws on the motor
system, speech circuitry, social
understanding, and brings it all together, she said. Some researchers dismissed music as auditory
cheesecake. This paper says,
no, when you peer below the cruder level seen with some methodologies, you find very specific circuitry that responds to music over
speech.
The researchers have yet to determine which acoustic features of
music stimulate its dedicated pathway. The relative constancy of a
musical notes pitch? Its harmonic
overlays? Even saying what music
is can be tricky.
Its difficult to come up with a
dictionary definition, Dr. McDermott said. I tend to think music is
best defined by example.
12
MANILA BULLETIN
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Single Cell Sheds Light

Into How Cancers Form
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Unearthing Mystery of Villages Demise

The ruins of a village
razed by a fire shows
what life was like 3,000
years ago in England.
The remains of a house,
above, and a pot.
By STEPHEN CASTLE
WHITTLESEY, England No
one knows why a catastrophic
fire tore through the small settlement that rose by a river channel.
Yet answers are emerging, some
3,000 years later.
The Must Farm archaeological
site here in Cambridgeshire is
considered so rich that it has been
compared to Pompeii, the Roman
town buried by the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.
Must Farm occupies raw terrain with smokestacks towering
in the distance. But its treasures
beckon. On a recent day, from the
soggy earth, a charred wooden
bowl and a ceramic vessel protruded. A couple meters away, the
unmistakable shape of a human
skull jutted from the sediment in
which it had been encased since
the Bronze Age.
The Pompeii analogy that
keeps being talked about with
this site is true, and its also false,
said Mark Knight, the site director. There is no volcano in this
landscape; this wasnt some natural disaster. But an event, like
a big fire, basically caught their
everyday life, dropped it into our
channel and sealed it there for us
to excavate.
For Mr. Knight and his team
from Cambridge University, this
is an exhilarating, yet unsettling,
experience. This doesnt feel like
archaeology, he said, this feels
intrusive. We have sort of turned
up after some tragedy, and we are
able to pick through the remains,
and get some indication of what
was going on in this settlement
3,000 years ago.
The excavation seems as much
a modern-day crime scene investigation as an exploration of

prehistory. Among those working here is a fire forensics expert.
Clues advance the narrative: a
bowl with an unfinished meal
suggests whoever lived here left
in a hurry. The timbers and the
items that have been unearthed
were preserved by the silt and
the water in the soil. The way the
A settlement from
the Bronze Age,
preserved in silt.
wooden posts fell should make it
possible to reconstruct what the
structures looked like.
We deal with absences, said
Iona Robinson, a project supervisor, we are so used to working
with 50 percent of the evidence and
now here we have this fantastic window into the full picture.
During the Bronze Age, in this
boggy environment, waterways
formed the only reliable means of
transport (nine ancient log boats
were found near here in

2011), so the site may have
been at a sort of crossroads.
From the items recovered,
it seems that those who lived here
were at the high end of their society and established themselves
above the waterway because of
trade or other opportunities it
afforded. That suggests this was
a bustling nexus of their world,
rather than an outpost at its margins. The community here had
much that was available in prehistoric Britain: textiles, ceramics,
spears and a beautifully crafted,
sickle-shaped chopping tools. All
of which makes the question of
how this community met its end
more intriguing.
One possibility is an accidental
fire. Another is that it was deliberatel destroyed by its occupants.
However, the fact that so many
possessions were left argues
against this. The third possibility
is an attack by neighbors, and the
skull is the first sign, Mr. Knight
said, that people may have died violently here. But he cautions that
Bronze Age Britons sometime
kept skulls of ancestors. Digging
will soon show whether it is attached to a skeleton.
Must Farm was never destined
to become a permanent archaeological site. Once the artifacts
have been removed, this old settlement will become a roadway.
By GINA KOLATA
ma by creating it in zebra fish, tiny
transparent creatures that allow
It was just a tiny speck, a single
researchers to see cells and organs.
cell researchers had marked with a
The researchers put human BRAF
green dye. But it was the very first
and P53 genes in every pigmented
cell of what would grow to be a melskin cell of the fish. If genes were
anoma, the deadliest form of skin
all that was needed for cancer, the
cancer. Never before had researchfish would explode with melanoma.
ers captured a cancer so early.
But they found only one to three per
It was a cell that had reverted to
fish. That told us there has to be an
an embryonic form. As it began to
additional event, Dr. Zon said.
divide, cancer genes took over and
The pigmented skin cells that
the cell became a massive tumor.
became cancerous had turned on
Those were the findings of Dr.
a gene, crestin, normally activated
Leonard Zon of Boston Childrens
only in cells that are part of the neuHospital, Dr. Charles K. Kaufman,
and their colleagues, in a study
ral crest, a group of cells pinched off
published last month in the jourearly in embryonic life. These can
turn into a variety of cells. Once
nal Science that offers insight into
cells develop into their mature
how cancers may develop. The retissue type pigmented skin cell,
searchers set out to solve a puzzle
bone or tooth, for example the
that has baffled researchers: Why
crestin gene shuts down. Those
do many cells that have cancer
pigmented skin cells in the fish that
genes never turn cancerous?
had an active crestin gene had reThe work was in fish that had
been given human genes, but the
verted to that primitive state.
investigators found the same geThe investigators marked cells
with an active crestin gene with a
netic programs in human melanomas, indicating that they
too started when a cell
reverted to an embryonic state. Researchers say
the result can help them
understand why melanomas and possibly other
cancers form, and potentially prevent them.
The prevailing idea
about the development
of a cancer is that genes
randomly mutate in a
healthy cell, perhaps
from sun exposure, perSHIHO FUKADA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
haps from bad luck. The
Using zebra fish, Dr. Leonard Zon and
mutated genes drive
others studied why many cells with
aberrant cell growth,
and the growing mass of
cancer genes never turn cancerous.
cells accumulates more
and more mutations that
drive it to grow faster and spread
fluorescent dye, enabling them to
until, finally, a cancer is formed.
spot the cells. Then they observed
Yet researchers keep finding canit. Every time a cell lit up green it
divided and turned into a cancer.
cer genes in healthy cells that nevThat makes sense, Dr. Polyak
er turn malignant.
said, because such primitive cells
One of the things weve known
are more proliferative and more
about moles is that the vast majoriable to spread in the body. That is
ty never will become melanomas,
their role during development.
said Dr. Keith T. Flaherty, a melBut it also gives rise to a host of
anoma expert at Massachusetts
questions. These include why melaGeneral Hospital. Yet almost evnomas with BRAF mutations evenery mole contains one of two potent
tually become resistant to drugs
gene mutations that are characthat block the BRAF cancer gene.
teristic of melanomas, BRAF or
Could it be, Dr. Flaherty suggests,
NRAS, he added, and a third also
that the drugs prune off only the
harbor another cancer gene, P53.
melanoma cells that grew from the
More and more data suggest
original seed cell?
that just having mutations is not
And Dr. Polyak asked, What is
sufficient to cause cancer, said Dr.
the stimulus that allows a single
Kornelia Polyak of the Dana-Farcell out of millions to become canber Cancer Institute in Boston.
cerous?
You need the right context.
With the zebra fish model, Dr.
That was where Dr. Zon and his
Zon says, we have the ability to
colleagues began 10 years ago.
ask.
They were investigating melano-
MANILA BULLETIN
13
STYLES
Board-game
cafes have
become
popular
gathering
places in
Toronto and
are drawing
global
attention.
The Bampot
Bohemian
House of Tea
and Board
Games.
Hot Spots in Toronto

Put Games on Menu
By LYNN FREEHILL-MAYE
Even on a sunny afternoon at

Snakes & Lattes Annex, many Torontonians didnt mind acting like
kids inside. An elderly man traded
pawn moves with a girl. A cluster
of millennials dug into the German-style strategy classic Carcassonne. Up front, where board
games are sold, an Ottawa entrepreneur held a stack of boxes as he
checked on what to stock in his own
board-game cafe.
In walkable Toronto, every major street seems to offer a space
for playing old-fashioned tabletop
games, with drinks and snacks on
the side.
Shareable plates are a constant
across the game cafes. Each serves
up its own drink, whether tea, beer,
wine or espresso. But walk into any
and youll hear fast talk, laughter
and rolling dice. And the one thing
youll rarely see is the glow of a
smartphone screen.
There are so many of these game
rooms in Toronto that the popular
metro culture site BlogTO named
its top 20 local board-game cafes
two years ago, and commenters
have been noting new ones ever
since. Toronto has become a model
of how popular these games can be-
come across a single city. At least a

dozen have popped up in America.
Entrepreneurs in Thailand,
South Africa, England, India and
Mexico have called or visited Toronto to learn how these pay-toplay cafes operate. Many of the
Canadian cafes charge several
dollars a person (as well as a food
and drink minimum). They manage game inventories, thousands
of pieces, and offer staff experts to
teach the rules.
More than the Canadian winters
fuel the cafes ubiquity here. Certainly nerd culture has grown more
mainstream. The TV blockbuster
Game of Thrones and its board
game variations play a role. European strategy games like the Settlers of Catan have carved inroads
into the North American market.
And the irreverent Cards Against
Humanity has become such a runaway hit that its stock at Snakes &
Lattes Annex takes up an entire
sales wall. The cafe hosts monthly
game developer nights so creators
can test the next big things. Weve
seen the evolution in Canada, said
Aaron Zack, a Snakes & Lattes
partner. Its literally about having
fun with your friends.
Torontos scene started rolling
ROBERT WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Cafes where tabletop

strategy trumps
anything digital.
when the French-born Ben Castanie opened Snakes & Lattes Annex
in 2010. He named it after a favorite
Canadian game called Snakes &
Ladders. We just thought it would
be cool to put board games on a
shelf, Mr. Castanie said.
He and two business partners,
Mr. Zack and Aaron Slade, pared
their selection to 1,000 games. They

sorted the game menu into categories like Party, Strategy and Trivia.
With three-hour wait lists on busy
nights, the Snakes & Lattes Annex
has been a hit. Its cafe serves endless coffee and panini to the immigrants and college students who
live in the immediate Koreatown
area and the bordering Annex
neighborhood, from which it gets
its name.
After a 2014 attempt at an intimate, date-ready cafe called
Snakes & Lagers, the partners last
fall replaced the cafe with the much
larger Snakes & Lattes College, a
lively 700-square-meter space in
the nearby Little Italy neighborhood. It features 16 wines and craft

beers on tap.
At one of Torontos more laidback board-game spots, Bampot
Bohemian House of Tea and Board
Games, the air is suffused with
peppery chai spices, and no alcohol
is served. Hookahs and 150 looseleaf teas are available, along with
vegetarian surprises like poutine
soup. Mark Newell, a Scottish former burlesque dancer, opened the
cafe in 2014.
We have people who come for
board games, for tea, for shisha,
Mr. Newell said. Its very diverse.
Thats the beauty of it.
In a Yoga Parody, Egos Get a Scathing Workout

By HANNAH SELIGSON
The opening scene of the fictional web series Namaste, Bitches

starts with some very un-yogic behavior. Sabine, a yoga teacher and
recent transplant to Los Angeles, is
driving on the freeway and is cursing repeatedly at her GPS while
smoking a cigarette hardly a
model of Zen healthy living.
The show is meant to both expose
and parody the multibillion-dollar yoga industry. Conceived and
produced by Summer Chastant,
a former yoga teacher herself, the
series, she said in a phone interview, is a heightened version of her
own experience. She taught in New
York and Los Angeles at studios
including Kula Yoga Project and
Pure, from 2007 to 2013, and apparently saw some things.
Sabine, a teacher played by Ms.
Chastant, snorts lines of cocaine,
sleeps with a student (in the studio)
and calls another teacher a slutty
bitch to her face.
One may think it is insensitive to
parody the yoga world after two of
its titans, John Friend and Bikram
Choudhury, were accused of sex-
Instructors obsessed
with Instagram and
pricey outfits.
ual misconduct by their students.
But the series has struck a nerve,
perhaps because the yoga teacher
behaving badly here is a woman.
The first seasons six five-minute episodes can be seen across a
number of online platforms since
it was released in November. Ms.
Chastant, 36, said she had been approached by producers about taking the series to television. Whether or not such a deal materializes,
she takes satisfaction in having become a confidante for yoga enthusiasts who relate to her portrayal.
Ava Taylor, founder of YAMA
Talent, an agency for yoga teachers
in New York City, said: I think the
show is resonating because its almost an expos. People are realizing their yoga teachers are human.
Is there anything in that show Ive
never seen a yoga teacher do? No.

Ms. Chastant, who made the series on a budget of $20,000, also
shines a light on the competition
for business in a growing industry.
There are now 4,000 studios in the
United States registered with Yoga
Alliance, a nonprofit association of
yoga studios, up from 2,500 in 2012.
In one episode, Radhe (pronounced Rod-hay), the owner of
the fictional studio Namaste Yoga,
applauds Sabine for tearing up the
flier of a new studio that is opening
two blocks away.
Through Namaste, Bitches,
Ms. Chastant and her cast members, some of them real yoga
teachers, examine many of the
paradoxes and tensions that have
come with the Westernization and
commercialization of the ancient
physical practice.
On one hand, Radhe encourages
Sabine to be very goal-oriented.
Her mantras are Build your following and Have you thought
about branding? But she also
encourages teachers to practice
abhyasa, the Sanskrit word for nonattachment to the outcome.
The web series

Namaste,
Bitches
features yoga
instructors
engaging in unyogic behavior,
like swearing.
SUBJECT TO CHANGE PRODUCTIONS
W hat Na maste, Bitches

strives to highlight about contemporary yoga culture is how far it
has strayed from its core tenet:
conquering the ego. Todays practitioners, far from renouncing their
earthly possessions the way previous generations of yogis did, now
pose in pricey designer togs, sharing online photos of themselves and
tagging them #yogiselfie.
The ancient guru-shishya relationship in India was meant to
offset inappropriate behavior,
said Eddie Stern, a veteran New
York-based yoga instructor who
has a long list of celebrity students,
including Madonna. Without the
system of checks and balances that
the teacher, or guru, is supposed to

provide, the student can become
proud, and that feeling of pride
leads to the subtle idea that I am
free to behave as I want, which is
not spirituality, but hedonism.
Pride and ego are everywhere in
Namaste, Bitches. Social media
is portrayed as the new holy grail in
yoga, not ones ability to recite the
sutras. And Ms. Chastant thinks
this is a shame.
Teachers in the Western world
are increasingly hired by the number of Instagram followers they
have, she said. That is kind of
the antithesis of yoga, which is all
about being selfless and being of
service.
14
MANILA BULLETIN
STYLES
Some Equate CrossFit

With Religion or a Cult
By MARK OPPENHEIMER
Ali Huberlie, a 27-year-old education consultant in Boston,

awakens at 4:45 every morning to
go to her CrossFit box, or gym,
where she spends two hours.
When she and her boyfriend,
whom she met through CrossFit,
went apartment-hunting, they
chose a neighborhood near their
box. And when Harvard Divinity
School researchers were studying spaces other than churches
that function as spiritual communities, they interviewed Ms.
Huberlie.
CrossFit is family, laughter,
love and community, Ms. Huberlie told the researchers, who
quoted her in their study, How
We Gather.
A for-profit, high-intensity
strength and conditioning gym
franchise founded in 2000 that
now has 13,000 licensed opera-
A gym offers a
sense of community
and a hard workout.
local CrossFit enthusiasts than

ministerial students.
Mr. Glassmans remarks
at times sounded religious
Were the stewards of something, he said and salvific,
even messianic. Were saving
lives, and saving a lot of them.
Three hundred fifty thousand
Americans are going to die next
year from sitting on the couch.
Thats dangerous. The TV is dangerous. Squatting isnt.
He said he has refrained from
marketing his own gym equipment because that would hurt
his existing suppliers,
which would be a sin.
For Joseph L. Price,
who teaches religion
and popular culture
at Whittier College
in California, the key
criterion of whether
something is a religion
is if a given activity establishes a worldview.
To what extent is
the worldview of the
CrossFitters determined by their practices, their aspirations
for the perfect body, or
for the most fit male or
ADAM GLANZMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
female in the world?
CrossFit is family, laughter, love and
Professor Price said
in a recent interview.
community, said Ali Huberlie of
Does their aspiration
Boston, 27, an education consultant.
for fitness shape their
view of how their world
is ordered and organized?
tors serving at least two million
Mr. ter Kuile offered other criexercisers, CrossFit like teleteria.
vision, sports fandom and health
What really struck us was the
fads has become the focus of
way in which people were bringresearchers trying to pinpoint
ing their kids to their box, he
what constitutes religiosity.
said, or the way different workMs. Huberlie speaks about her
outs of the day were named after
box as others might speak about
soldiers who had died in battle.
a church or synagogue commuSo theres all of these things you
nity.
would expect to see in a church
The same is true of some
remembering the dead through
12-step program members, and
some sort of ritual, and intergendevoted college-football fans. In
erational community.
an increasingly secular society,
Ms. Huberlie described the
all sorts of subcultures provide
CrossFit experience as an intithe meaning that religious commate, supportive one, in which
munities did in the past.
cheering for one another to meet
Casper ter Kuile and Angie
fitness goals was expected.
Thurston, the Harvard DivinThere is something raw and
ity School students who wrote
vulnerable that happens to you
How We Gather, were hosts of
when you go into the CrossFit
a talk last autumn, CrossFit as
gym, Ms. Huberlie said. A
Church?! with Greg Glassman,
workout can bring you to your
co-founder of CrossFit. About 100
knees, so to speak.
people attended, far more of them
Tiny Homes
You Can
Collect
ABOVE, FUJIMOTO; BELOW, MARMOL RADZINER
By PENELOPE GREEN
Made of aluminum and steel,

and designed by Zaha Hadid with
Patrik Schumacher, a dining pavilion sprouted like a kind of Martian
flower over a molded timber table
and chairs at Art Basel Miami
Beach in December. An art pavilion was a 32-square-meter white
box sheathed in laminated plywood
and designed by Gluckman Tang.
These structures and other bespoke, architectural collectibles,
as their developer, Robbie Antonio,
called them, were for sale through
a new company called Revolution
Precrafted Properties that aims
to deliver limited editions of small
houses and pavilions designed by
big names within a few months of
an order.
Pavilions will cost from $35,000
to more than $450,000; houses,
$250,000 to over $450,000.
Mr. Antonio, a 38-year-old Filipino with a taste for contemporary
art and big-ticket architecture, has
created entire neighborhoods in
his country, in collaboration with
the likes of Paris Hilton, Donald J.
Trump and Philippe Starck.
His Revolution project takes the
promise of prefab well-designed,
mass-produced housing that is economical because of its scale and
turns it on its head.
Its a collision, too, of other
themes: the appetites of global
wealthy collectors to amass namebrand luxury products, like limited-edition furniture, contemporary art and now, perhaps, branded architecture, as well as the tiny
house movement, which is about
living simply and new materials
that address sustainability issues.
The only instructions Mr. Antonio gave his designers was to make
a structure from 50 to 250 square
meters with components that could
fit in a shipping container. He said
he had signed about 40 designers,
including some fashion designers
and artists. David Salle, the artist, teamed up with Aldo Andreoli
of the architectural firm AA Stu-
A house
by Marmol
Radziner;
top, a
rendering of
a spherical
greenhouse
pavilion
designed
by Sou
Fujimoto.
dio in New York to design a series

of 27-square-meter modules with
tilted roofs for solar panels, a rainwater collection system and metal
wall panels etched with work by
Mr. Salle.
Tom Dixon, the British industrial designer, came up with
11-square-meter modules that
would be constructed of extruded
aluminum frames, with panels of
various materials. The idea, Mr.
Dixon said, is that they could be
built by anyone anywhere. I think
well offer three or four different
paneling systems, depending on
how hot, cold, windy the site is, he
said. Even the frame could be infilled with local building materials,
like bricks in London.
Daniel Libeskind created an
amoeba-like pavilion he hopes will
be made of some sort of composite
material by a 3-D printer. SelgasCano, the Spanish architectural
firm, offered a glass and metal tube
shaped like a Quonset hut with
wings and feet. Ron Arads tea pavilion is also a winged object made
from polymer-coated timber. Zaha Hadids is a kind of interstellar
blossom.
Revolution joins a slim number
of design-forward prefab companies in the United States. This
year, a company called Cocoon9
began selling glassy, modernist
miniatures up to 44 square meters
made for under $300,000. For eight
years or so, Lindal, a 71-year-old kit
house company, has offered an Ar-
chitects Collaborative Collection,

including five designs by Marmol
Radziner. Since 2005, Dwell magazine, in collaboration with Turkel
Design, has been making its own
branded prefab houses, selling
about 25 a year.
From its first issue, Dwell encouraged architects to play with
the form, with varying degrees of
success.
There are two dreams embedded in the promise of prefab, said
Karrie Jacobs, founding editor of
the magazine. The first dream,
she said, is the mass production
of quality houses for everyone, the
Bauhaus dream. The other is to
recast architecture from a process thats more couture to readyto-wear.
Mr. Antonio said some of his prototypes may end up in the master
plans of large developments in
Asia and South America, and that a
foundation will be created to support homegrown C.S.R. corporate social responsibility efforts and nonprofit third parties,
according to Revolutions website.
But some are skeptical. Architectural jewelry is how Michael
Haverland, the Manhattan-based
architect, described Mr. Antonios
offerings. How much do you want
to be talking about the notion of
prefab and how much do you want
to talk about these as art objects
which happen to be made in a factory, which doesnt necessarily mean
prefab, he said
MANILA BULLETIN
15
ARTS & DESIGN
Video Game About a Boy That Will Break Your Heart

By CHRIS SUELLENTROP
The extra life was a fixture of

early video games, a reward for
skilled players that was imbued
with the language of reincarnation.
Death is not so frivolous in That
Dragon, Cancer, a video game
about Joel Green, a terminally ill
5-year-old, and his parents, Ryan
and Amy. It is a game about a single life one that ends and then is
gone forever.
The Greens, who live in Colorado,
spent the past three years making
the game with artists and designers. Ryan Green, who is a programmer, quit his job to work on the project. It is based on their own lives
and that of Joel, who died while the
game was in development.
I feel like That Dragon, Cancer is one of those breakthrough
moments, said John Sharp, the
author of Works of Game, a book
about the mixing of games and art.
That Dragon, Cancer blends
animation and magical realism to
convey the Greens emotional state
during Joels illness. Much of the
game consists of re-enactments of
mundanities like phone messages
and hospital visits. The game also
uses real-life audio. Players hear
Joels laughter, and they listen to
the prayers that his parents shouted on the last night of Joels life.
The interactions are relatively
limited. Players mostly click to
decide which part of a vignette
feeding ducks at a pond or escorting Joel through a playground
will unfold, and when to move on to
the next part of the Greens story.
A go-kart race through a hospital
NUMINOUS GAMES
That Dragon, Cancer is a video game that tells of a family losing their 5-year-old son to cancer.
frustrated some critics, Mr. Green
said, because the speed is dictated
by the game. Thats the point, he
said. All you can do is steer, hopefully. Withholding some control
from the player was an attempt to
convey feelings of helplessness and
despair.
Mr. Sharp, the New School professor, pointed to The Marriage,
a 2006 game by Rod Humble, as
a forerunner of the video game
memoir. Yet The Marriage is an
abstract, minimalist experience in
which the ebb and flow of geometric shapes stand in for Mr. Humbles relationship with his wife.
A closer antecedent may be

Jason Rohrers Gravitation,
released in 2008. The player can
play catch with his son or during
bouts of creative mania abandon him. Instead of just showing a
character grappling with a difficult
situation and seeing the choices a
character makes, you can give the
player a difficult situation and let
them grapple with it themselves,
Mr. Rohrer said of his game.
Mr. Rohrer and Mr. Sharp each
mentioned dys4ia, a 2012 web
browser game, as a landmark. It is
by Anna Anthropy and is about her
decision to begin taking estrogen
for hormone replacement therapy. Like That Dragon, Cancer, it

feels like an interactive diary by its
designer. It uses tropes from video
games, like shooting targets, negotiating mazes and moving blocks,
to express Ms. Anthropys state of
mind.
Four years after the release of
dys4ia, Ms. Anthropy said she
feels that it has been interpreted simplistically as an empathy
game that can give players the
momentary sensation of what its
like to be a transgender woman.
Mr. Sharp compared the cultural status of games in the early 21st
century to that of painting during

the Italian Renaissance, when it
began to shift from being a tool to a
purely aesthetic form. It took hundreds of years to make this transition for painting, he said. So, looking at it through my art-historian
goggles, its not really a surprise
that there are folks who are outside
the epicenter of the games community who make the assumption that
if games arent escapist, they must
be educational or therapeutic.
Many video game players have
resisted the expansion of the medium into new forms like memoir,
said Vander Caballero, the designer of Papo & Yo, a 2012 PlayStation game about his relationship
with his alcoholic father.
In Papo & Yo, Mr. Caballeros
father is represented as a monster
who becomes violent when he eats
frogs. Rather than defeating or
curing the monster, players learn
to live without him.
Despite all the attention paid
to That Dragon, Cancer podcasts, a documentary film, millions
of YouTube views of people playing
it the games sales in its first
month were modest, the Greens
said. About 10,000 people had
bought it, according to the website
SteamSpy. Thats a nice number for
a work of creative nonfiction that
arrives inside a dust jacket, but not
for a three-year software project
with eight people working on it.
I always tell people, You know
those indie, artsy films that Ryan
likes and no one else likes? Mrs.
Green said. There are video
games like that.
Where Priests Go to Live in a Self-Imposed Jail

By RACHEL DONADIO
The Academy Award-nominated film Spotlight brings viewers

inside The Boston Globe reporting
team that broke the story of a widespread cover-up of sexual abuse by
Catholic priests. The Club, the
latest film by the Chilean director
Pablo Larran, takes a different angle. It brings viewers deep inside
the home of four priests removed
from ministry for a range of sins
or crimes.
The director said he got the idea
for the film after seeing a newspaper photo of a house where defrocked priests had been sent to live
in penance. It was a very beautiful
house like out of a Swiss chocolate
commercial, he said.
These priests are in a very particular kind of jail, he continued,
Pascale Bonnefoy contributed
reporting from Santiago, Chile.
An unflinching and
intimate look at
abusive clergymen.
one that feels more like a club. You
can leave whenever you want; its
a jail with no locks. But nobody
leaves, so its a community of people protecting themselves basically
to avoid justice.
The Club won the Silver Bear
Grand Jury Prize at last years Berlin Film Festival and made the long
list for this years Academy Award
for best foreign-language film.
The tension between crime and
punishment, sin and redemption,
human and divine justice drives
the film. Those priests are the
result of a social process; they are
something that we all create somehow, Mr. Larran said. Id rather

be close and look at them and try to
understand whats going on inside
of those heads, those souls, those
bodies, those hearts.
The film is set in a sleepy town
where the former priests live in
a modest, well-kept house tended by a former nun, Sister Monica (played by Antonia Zegers, a
Chilean actress and Mr. Larrans
wife). The fragile social order is disrupted by a new priest, Father Lazcano, who is followed by one of his
victims, now a troubled adult who
upon the priests arrival stands
outside the house and shouts a litany, in graphic detail, of their sexual encounters when he was a boy.
The episode prompts the Vatican to
dispatch Father Garcia (Marcelo
Alonso) to investigate.
The Club also has moments
of grim humor, Mr. Larran said.
A movie by the
Chilean director
Pablo Larran
explores the nature
of priests who abuse
children.
Its the kind of humor
that people regret when
theyre experiencing it, he said.
The film met with strong reviews
in Chile. Mr. Larran, 39, was educated in Catholic schools but says
he is no longer a practicing Catholic. He considers himself left wing,
in contrast to his parents, who are
right-wing politicians in Chile and
supported the dictatorship that
governed from 1973 to 1990.
The Club judges and reveals
the damage done to the abuse victim, but also lets the priests speak
for themselves even when they
EMILY BERL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
describe the pleasure they took in

their evil acts. In this, the film differs from Spotlight, where the
moral lines are clearer cut.
Im not a journalist Im not
trying to show something, Mr.
Larran said. Im not trying to
open peoples eyes. Im not trying
to blame the Catholic Church. Im
not trying to judge these priests.
Instead, he wanted to explore
a human dramatic phenomenon
thats fascinating because its full
of human danger.
16
MANILA BULLETIN
ARTS & DESIGN
Action Hero Faces

His Fears in Creed
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AGATON STROM FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Unreality Show Spins History as Art

Walid Raad
uses photos
and videos to
create the visual
equivalent
of creative
nonfiction.
Works from his
current show in
the United States.
By HOLLAND COTTER
Official political history is

self-assured sounding and logically suspect. This is the kind
of history the Conceptual artist
Walid Raad devises in his current
retrospective in the United States,
a set of fantastic tales spun from a
few hard facts, with the live equivalent of an operatic mad scene at
the center.
Among the facts the art is built
on are details of the artists life.
He was born in Lebanon in 1967
and left as a teenager to escape
what would be more than a decade
and half of warfare.
Those years became the subject of his first body of work. In
1992, he became involved in Beiruts burgeoning community of
young contemporary artists,
many of whom were trying to get
a grasp on recent history by sifting through its physical traces,
including documentary photography. By the 90s, photographys
reputation had long been in disrepute. Far from being an objective
record of reality, it was seen as
manipulative.
When applied to the Lebanese
wars, photographic unreliability
took on an absurdist, surreal cast.
Mr. Raad went with surrealism
and turned photographs and videos into the visual equivalent of
creative nonfiction.
He attributed most of his work
between 1989 and 2004 to the Atlas Group, a fictional foundation
documenting Lebanons modern
history. Mr. Raad called himself
the groups archivist, but he was
its sole member. And while the
images he amassed were not necessarily invented, the contexts
he gave them were fanciful. For
example, portions of the archive
credited to a Dr. Fadl Fakhouri, a

Lebanese historian, are actually
of Mr. Raads father, borrowed
from a family album.
A 2001 video, Hostage: The
Bachar Tapes (English Version),
combines real news images of
American captives in Lebanon
with those of a fictional character named Souheil Bachar, who
claims to have shared a cell with
the Americans. His tales and the
Weaving surrealist
narratives around
factual images.
artful look of the video make for
an account of history clearly
pitched to entertainment.
It is not, however, as entertaining as the live performance given
by Mr. Raad in his retrospective.
Titled Walkthrough, its a semifictional, semifactual look at the
recent rise of an international
market for historical Islamic
art and contemporary Arab art.
Mr. Raads 55-minute tour,
which he led at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York, sounds

like neutral reportage. It soon
swerves to fantasy realms of conspiracy theory and extrasensory
perception. (The MoMA run ended January 31; the show reopens
February 24 at the Institute of
Contemporary Art in Boston.)
His tour begins with an account of an artist retirement
plan he traced to an elite branch
of the Israeli army. He moves on
to a mock-up of an imaginary
under-construction museum of
contemporary art that will bar
local Arab visitors by a mysterious magnetic force field. And he
reports so-called Islamic or Arab
art is undergoing self-generated
change. Ancient sculptures are
mutating into bizarre hybrids.
Colors and lines are disappearing
from contemporary paintings.
And all of this is happening as billions flow into the market for these
works.
Do we really need another
artwork to show us, as if we didnt
already know, that the financial,
cultural and military spheres
are intimately linked? Mr. Raad
asked his Walkthrough audience at the MoMA.
What hes really asking is
whether art is of any use to shape
history at all.
By CARA BUCKLEY
Stallones office, Mr. Coogler got a
copy of Rocky II for Mr. Stallone
BEVERLY HILLS, California
to sign. The movie was his dads fa There are downsides to being
vorite, and Mr. Coogler figured he
a longtime action-movie hero, as
would never see the star again.
Sylvester Stallone has found out:
Indeed, Mr. Stallone was wholly
Hes had four back operations, two
unconvinced, at least at first, havshoulder surgeries and a spinal fuing been happy with the series
sion, that one after he fractured his
apparent final installment, Rocky
neck filming The Expendables.
Balboa (2006), which he
Over the years, expecstarred in and directed,
tations of his assumed
receiving respectable reathletic prowess grew
views. A recipe for preso high that he stopped
mier disaster, was how
wanting to play golf or
Mr. Stallone viewed yet
basketball with anyone.
another Rocky film. Yet
When opinions about his
there was a confidence
acting abilities hit their
and buoyancy in Mr.
nadir, around the time he
Coogler that he recogwon a Razzie for worst acSylvester
nized. Hes unspoiled,
tor of the century in 2000,
Stallone
hes unfettered with mahe half-agreed with his
terial success, and hes
harshest detractors.
hungry, Mr. Stallone said. He
When you become synonymous
reminded me of some other brash
with blunt-force trauma, Mr.
young guy in 1975.
Stallone, 69, said in an interview,
One plot point in the Creed
youre not really leaving anyone
script that gave Mr. Stallone pause,
with thought-provoking afterthough, was Rockys cancer diagshocks of your performance.
nosis. Mr. Stallone didnt like it,
All of which made an unexpectbut Mr. Coogler would not budge.
ed upside of devoting a career to
Mr. Stallone said his wife, Jennifer
playing he-men especially sweet.
Flavin, called him out. She said:
Mr. Stallones Oscar nomination,
Youre afraid to do something
for his supporting performance
youve never done before. Thats
in Creed, has left him grateful,
called being a coward, Mr. Stalif slightly befuddled. It is the sevlone said, She was right.
enth film in the Rocky franchise,
Mr. Stallone hired a full-time
which won him his last Oscar nomacting coach, Ivana Chubbuck;
inations four decades ago. Its the
his skill set, he said, had basically
pinnacle of my life, professionally,
atrophied. When production behe said. Its so miraculous.
gan, he was still paralyzed by the
He collected a Golden Globe for
devastation of losing his oldest son,
his performance in Creed on JanSage, who had a fatal heart attack
uary 10, a win that left him so dumbin the summer of 2012 at 36.
founded that he failed to notice the
He figured his grief would be off
standing ovation of the crowd. He
limits, but Ms. Chubbuck forced
had also failed to thank the films
him to drill deep. You just feel rewriter and director, Ryan Coogler,
sponsible, he said, of Sages death.
or his co-star Michael B. Jordan.
That you werent there. Here you
If Mr. Coogler and Mr. Jordan
save all these fictitious people, and
were irritated, they hid it well.
you cant even save your son. Once
I love the guy! Mr. Jordan exthat floodgate opened, he said, his
claimed later.
emotions streamed out, shifting
He had met Mr. Coogler, who he
both his performance, and his
described as a full-fledged genius,
mourning. It helped, Mr. Stala savant, three and a half years
ago, before Mr. Cooglers first fealone said. I can talk about it now.
Theres some solace in that.
ture, Fruitvale Station, came out.
The praise he is receiving now
The younger director came up
makes him wish that he had purwith the idea for Creed when
sued roles that involved showing
his own father, a devout Rocky
vulnerability, which he did to glowfan, fell gravely ill (he has since
ing reviews in Cop Land, in 1997.
recovered). Mr. Coogler wanted
Appearing in action films beto tell the story of the illegitimate
son of Rocky Balboas old boxing
came almost like an adrenaline
addiction, he said, an endurance
foe and friend, Apollo Creed. Set in
present-day Philadelphia, the film
contest that doesnt challenge your
soul, at all.
would explore the citys vibrant
Now I look at it in the cold light
black culture through the eyes of
Adonis Creed, who seeks out an
of day, and theyre right, quite honaged and ailing Rocky to train him.
estly, he said, of his past critics.
Mr. Coogler did not think for a
I think the world could have lived
moment the storied actor would
without The Expendables without
agree to the film. So, en route to Mr.
spinning out of orbit. I really do.

Presidentiables' Face Off: Speaker Hopes For Favorable Hague Ruling, Talks With China

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Presidentiables' Face Off: Speaker Hopes For Favorable Hague Ruling, Talks With China

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L

VOL. 518 No. 22

MONday, FEBRUARY 22, 2016 7 SECTIONS P18.00 IN METRO MANILA

partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

partly cloudy to at times cloudy

partly cloudy to cloudy w/ isolated

partly cloudy to at times cloudy

Tides: High: 9:24 p.m. 1.02m

Sunrise: 6:18 a.m.

Presidentiables face off

Barbs exchanged in 1st round of debates

ith poverty at the center

(Comelec) PiliPinas campaign,

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace

Speaker Feliciano Sonny Belmonte Jr. is hoping for a favorable ruling

He said after winning its arbitration

James Reid, Nadine Lustre

quoted his daughter as saying that all

The full interview of Manny Pacquiaos TV interview about same-sex

If fate hands her the presidency,

Robin Padilla, Basti campaign

Actor Robin Padilla arrived in

Pangilinan finds wisdom in

Full video shows Pacquiao had

of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino

Roxas vows to provide more

If people still doubt his capability

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Monday, February 22, 2016

and trustworthy elections, Pimentel

en. Aquilino Pimentel III is leaving

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Monday, February 22, 2016

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Monday, February 22, 2016

PNP warns public vs carrying

he Philippine National Police

We have confiscated a total of

Those who yielded revolvers and

BOC rice auction

FVR book launch

exemptions from the Commission on

No letup in bid to override

An opposition lawmaker has filed a

pension hike bill following claims by the

BI chief refutes looming revamp

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ronaldo Geron has denied

their relatives and friends in the bureau

to do. Whatever the outcome will be,

Senate President Franklin Drilon yesterday insisted that employees

DOJ backs Anti-Hazing

Stressing that the current law does

gestion to consider hazing, which has

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Monday, February 22, 2016

Cloudy skies, scattered rains due over PH

tronomical Services Administration

Ilocos Region and the Cordilleras.

ters will be moderate to rough.

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Monday, February 22, 2016

4 hired guns slain in QC shootout

National Capital Region unit chief, said