the standard - 2016 july 11 - monday

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DILG chief orders lifestyle checks for cops

VOL. XXX � NO. 149 � 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 � MONDAY : JULY 11, 2016 � www.thestandard.com.ph � [email protected]

DoLE tracks‘endo’ cases

UNCLOSruling: A law or policy?

MORE PORK OK’D

About 1,000 drug users who surrendered under a police program fall in line to undergo a profiling process at the covered court of the Rosario Elementary School in Rosario, Cavite on Sunday, July 10. DANNY PATA

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Lawmakers to identify P80m each in pet projects

The allotment represents a P10-million increase for each legislator over the P70 million in pork barrel that they received previously, said Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco.

The Senate has yet to decide if the allotment will be increased from the previous P200 million for each senator.

In an interview over radio dzBB,

By Christine F. Herrera

LAWMAKERS in the House of Representatives will be allotted P80 million each in pork barrel for projects that must be identified through line-item budgeting to avoid the lump sum appropriations that the Supreme Court deemed illegal, a senior member of the House said Sunday.

Tiangco said President Rodrigo Duterte granted the pork barrel increase to spur infrastructure development in the countryside, and is set to discuss the issue with senators on Tuesday.

The extra P10 million in pork barrel allotments will go to so-called hard projects, which used to be allocated P40 million.

Some P30 million, on the other hand, will be allotted to soft pro-jects like scholarships to poor but deserving students and medical assistance to indigent patients, Tiangco said.

The House members were asked to submit their priority projects to be incorporated in the line-item budgeting when the 2017 national budget is submitted by Duterte’s economic team, headed by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno after the President’s first State-of-the-Nation Address or Sona.

“We were made to submit our pet projects last week. We have to identify our projects before the national budget is approved for the sake of transparency and in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling on PDAF [Priority

Development Assistance Fund],” Tiangco said.

The first national budget under the Duterte administration must be approved by December this year to avoid a reenactment of budget.

In compliance with the Su-preme Court ruling, Tiangco said, lawmakers are now barred from identifying and endorsing projects after the national budget or the General Appropriations Act got approved.

“The allocation now for the legislators’ projects can hardly be

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INTERIOR and Local Government Sec-retary Mike Sueno has ordered lifestyle checks on members of the Philippine Na-tional Police to identify and remove offi-cials involved in illegal activities.

Sueno ordered PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa to begin with the three active police generals that President Rodrigo Duterte tagged as protectors of drug lords—Police Regional Office 6 Direc-

tor Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz, former National Capital Regional Police Of-fice chief Joel Pagdilao and former Quezon City Police District Director Edgardo Tinio.

All three have denied the accusa-tions.

In ordering the lifestyle check, Sueno said a police officer or a civil servant who has amassed questionable wealth must

explain how he acquired his assets.The National Police Commission,

Sueno said, has begun its investiga-tion on the three active police generals identified by Duterte.

Lawyers from the agency have also started gathering information regard-ing the case of former police general and now Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot.

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NEWS

World Population Day. Jimmy Gallo, with his wife Nerissa, watch TV along with their children and grandchildren inside their cramped shanty at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila on Sunday, July 10, as the country prepares to mark World Population Day on July 11. DANNY PATA

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Death penalty a priority,Duterte tells lawmakers

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called pork barrel anymore be-cause the high tribunal disallowed the lump sum appropriation and the realigning of budget after the GAA is passed,” Tiangco said.

Pork barrel is defined as the ap-propriation of government spend-ing for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative’s district, but Tiangco emphasized that now, pork would not come as a lump sum allocation.

“This time, lawmakers are be-ing made to identify their projects and submit the list of projects to be included in the GAA as a line-item budget for congressional scrutiny and approval,” he said.

The lawmakers’ pet projects, he said, would now show up in the GAA as a line item for the sake of transparency.

Under the Aquino administra-tion in 2010, Tiangco said, pork barrel funds came in a single item in the budget without specifying the project or the province.

For the 2017 national budget, Tiangco said the 297 congressmen will be allocated a total of P23.76 billion but this will not come in a lump sum appropriation.

The line-item budgeting, Tian-gco said, would make it easier for the lawmakers’ constituents to un-derstand where their taxes went.

The approach will also ensure there is no overlapping of budgets with those of government agencies.

“What is being done here is for the congressmen to submit their list of projects to be evaluated by the implementing agencies if these were valid and no overlapping of projects and once cleared, would be included in the the line-item,” he told dzBB.

Tiangco said lawmakers not only legislate, but also deliberate on the national budget.

“The power of the purse ema-nates from Congress. Now, it is also our job to scrutinize the budg-et and determine where the funds would be appropriated,” he said.

Tiangco said with the new policy on pork barrel, the Duterte administration will not deprive opposition lawmakers of their al-locations.

“Since our projects are incorporated in the national budget, these, along with the projects of the congressmen belonging to the majority, would be approved by Congress. So the administration could not simply impound the budget allocated for districts and declare these as savings, just like what they did with the controversial and illegal Disbursement Acceleration Program funds,” Tiangco said.

Duterte publicly named the five PNP officials, including retired director-general Marcelo Garbo, as being involved in illegal drugs and ordered them relieved.

Pagdilao, Tinio, Diaz and Loot have already talked to Sueno, say-ing they are willing to face a probe to clear their names.

The Palace on Sunday said the President is set to release a list of “persons of interest” that are alleg-edly involved in illegal drugs.

“The announcements of the list

of names of drug lords happened last week,” Communications Sec-retary Martin Andanar, chief of the Presidential Communications Of-fice, said over state-run radio dzRB. “And there are other persons of in-terest to be announced by the Presi-dent. When this will be announced, I cannot say.”

In a taped news briefing in the Palace Thursday, Duterte said many mayors are also involved in the drug trade.

Duterte presented a chart that showed the web of suspected drug lords and their alleged protectors among local officials and police officers.

Duterte called on the drug deal-ers and their protectors to “com-mit suicide.”

“There are many mayors in-volved,” he said in Filipino. “We have a mayor in Mindanao. There’s even a woman mayor.”

“The drug people really made fools of us,” he continued. “They’re destroying the country. They’re destroying the youth of the land, so my appeal to them is, since they are beyond their redemption, they can stop and commit suicide be-cause I will not allow these idiots to run their show—not during my watch.’’

Duterte identified the top drug

lords operating in the country as Wu Tuan, alias Peter Co; Herbert Colangco, alias Ampang; and Pe-ter Lim, alias Jaguar.

Co and Colangco are high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison. Co is reportedly the head of the Bilibid 19, a group of con-victed drug offenders detained at the NBP.

“Most of them are inside the national penitentiary. This would show you how corrosive and how widespread the problem is,” Du-terte said.

Co, he said, was directing the triad operations in Luzon and the National Capital Region; while

Lim, who is out of the country, was responsible for the triad in the Visayas.

Duterte warned Lim not to re-turn to the Philippines or else he would be killed.

“If he has friends here, tell him the moment he lands here at Naia, he will die...Do not come back to the Philippines anymore. The mo-ment he steps out of the plane, he will die. That is my assurance to the people of the Philippines,” he said.

Colangco, according to Duterte, is the son-in-law of Ozamiz City Mayor Aldong Parojinog. Sandy Araneta, PNA

“He [said] so many officials are involved. It’s like treason to him because they should be the ones who protect the people [from ille-gal drugs] yet they are the cause of its rampant spread in the country,” Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, one of the lawmakers, said.

“He’s very serious about it [the death penalty]. He believes it should be brought back,” Angara added.

Two senators, two governors, and 12 congressmen from the incoming majority bloc flew to Davao City for a five-hour meeting with the President.

Among those present were Sen-ator Alan Peter Cayetano, Angara,

Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco, Pala-wan 1st District Rep. Franz Josef Alvarez, and Masbate 3rd District Rep. Scott Davies Lanete.

Also present were Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap and Bataan Gov. Albert Raymond Garcia.

The lawmakers assured Duterte they would support whatever mea-sure he submits to Congress.

“We are open to that [reinstating the death penalty)]” Angara said. “We will listen to the arguments.”

The senator added, however, that in the final vote, each lawmak-er would have to vote his or her conscience.

By John Paolo Bencito

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte told lawmakers visiting Davao City Saturday night that he wants the reimpo-sition of the death penalty as a priority measure once Congress convenes on July 25.

Tugna said Duterte did not spe-cifically request for new anti-drug laws to be passed as existing mea-sures are already in place.

“I believe he [Duterte] has a good track record of implementing them,” he added.

Before he took his oath of office, Duterte told House leaders that he prefers to publicly hang criminals instead of killing them with a lethal injection.

After the five-hour discussion at the After Dark Resto Bar, the President gave his guests a tour of the Central 911 headquarters. They parted ways at around 3:30 a.m.

Both Angara and Tugna agreed that Duterte seemed different when he is in Davao City.

“He’s in his comfort zone in Davao. It’s better to see him in Davao,” Angara said.

“He’s more relaxed here,” Tugna added.

Lawmakers said they are glad that Duterte made time to meet in-formally with them.

His predecessor, President Be-

nigno Aquino III, had been criti-cized for not making good use of the Legislative Executive Develop-ment Advisory Council.

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atien-za, who opposes the death penalty, said reinstating capital punishment would undermine efforts by the Philippines to save the lives of Fili-pinos working overseas who are on death row.

“One of the many ramifications [of the return of the death penalty] is that the Philippine government would be deprived of the moral high ground when it comes to our official appeals for clemency—for foreign governments to spare the lives of our citizens who are facing execution,” Atienza said.

“Should Congress reinstate the cruel and inhuman punishment, it would be extremely problem-atic for us to plead with other governments for compassion, if we ourselves are killing own con-victs here—if we ourselves do not respect the value of human life,” Atienza added.

DILG...From A1

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Ruling over disputed seahanded down on Tuesday

Obstacle course. Officials and civilians join a motorcycle obstacle course of the Highway Patrol Group in Camp Karingal on Sunday. MANNY PALMERO

After the storm. Children watch their parents collect recyclable plastic materials and bamboo poles scattered by Typhoon ‘Butchoy’ on the shores of Roxas Boulevard in Manila on Saturday. PNA

De Lima:There arerules indrug war

Gowns, ‘ternos’ prohibited during Sona, says Alvarez

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

SENATOR Leila de Lima said Sun-day there should be no shortcuts in the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs as she pushed for a congressional inquiry to determine if the police operations were legiti-mate or merely being done to silence police assets.

“We should not forget there should be no shortcuts in our cam-paign because our laws are still there, our Bills of Rights are still there, our courts, the National Pros-ecution Service, our judiciary,” De Lima, the former Justice secretary, told dzBB radio.

She considered alarming the gov-ernment’s use of shortcuts to neu-tralize people with links to the illicit drug trade.

De Lima made her statement even as Senator Panfilo Lacson said “It takes only a split second for a policeman to die or to live,” insisting that policemen were merely in the regular perfor-mance of their jobs during anti-drug operations.

He said during his term as police chief, he had always ordered his po-licemen to shoot in case of immi-nent danger.

“It is still better to be alive with a case than dead. At least, if you are alive, you can defend yourself, you can be acquitted,” Lacson said.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said her department was increasing the number of its health care providers as a result of the growing number of drug addicts surrendering to authorities as a re-sult of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

“We’re trying to double or even triple the number of accredited local government health care providers,” Ubial told reporters.

De Lima said only the small fish were being killed in the drug war.

“Where are the big drug lords?” she said.

She said the killings were giving rise to speculations that the victims were police assets who were being killed to stop them from revealing the police officials with links to il-legal drugs. AFP

INCOMING House Speaker Panta-leon Alvarez has issued a directive that fashionable gowns and ternos are banned, business suits are in, dur-ing President Rodrigo Duterte’s first State-of-the-Nation Address.

He warned it was up to the House members who would opt to wear gowns to look “overdressed” since Duterte’s Sona was not a party.

He said it would be wise to simply ditch the gowns and choose a simple business attire instead.

“They will go to a Sona, not party,” Alvarez said.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Bagui-lat said all eyes and ears must be fo-cused on the President’s report, but the gowns could cause some distrac-tion.

“Sona is a very serious and very important event because that’s when

the President announces his policy,” Baguilat said.

“I have nothing against our legisla-tors wearing gowns, but they have to make sure people do not get distracted.”

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe said the House leadership should do away with the red carpet as those wearing gowns would make the entrance look like the Oscars in Hollywood.

“Napaka-simple ng ating Presidente. Sumunod na lang sila sa halimbawa ng pangulo and come in simple business attire,” Batocabe said.

Baguilat said he would wear his tra-ditional Igorot attire during the Sona.

“Part of what I wear always has an ethnic accent to prove that I am proud to be an Indigenous Person, so I wear Ifugao blanket and Ifugao headdress and to us, that’s formal wear,” Baguilat said. Christine F. Herrera

The Permanent Court of Ar-bitration—the world’s oldest in-ternational arbitration tribunal—will issue a written decision at 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) after the Philippines challenged China’s claim over much of the strategic waterway.

Manila lodged the suit against Beijing in 2013, saying after 17 years of negotiations it had ex-hausted all other political and diplomatic avenues.

Angered by the move, Beijing refused to participate, adding it would not comply with the ruling

by a tribunal with “no jurisdic-tion” over the issue.

In Manila, Malacañang on Sun-day said it will wait for the PCA’s decision before it decides to take the next step in the South China Sea.

“We will have to wait for the final decision. And then once the Solicitor General has studied it, then that’s the time we explore our next move,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told dzRB radio.

President Rodrigo Duterte ear-lier said the Philippines was open to a joint exploration with China

THE HAGUE—An international tribunal will hand down a ruling on Tuesday in an increasingly bitter dispute over the South China Sea, in a close-ly-watched case that risks ratcheting up tensions in Southeast Asia.

on the disputed territories.But Senator Sherwin Gatchalian

said Sunday a joint exploration in the disputed waters should be opened to bidding and not limited to China.

Legal experts agree that after three years of deliberations, two hearings and nearly 4,000 pages of evidence, the court in The Hague is likely to find in Manila’s favor—in a decision with far-reaching ramifications.

“An award from the tribunal that rejects some of China’s more dubious claims would provide support for the mainstream views of other states in the region,” Cecily Rose, assistant law professor of Public International Law at Leiden University, told AFP.

“China is bound to comply with the award.

“But should it refuse to do so, the tribunal has no enforcement mecha-nism to which it can turn,” Rose said.

The judgment comes against the

backdrop of frequent military brushes between China and its Asian neigh-bors the Philippines, Vietnam, Ma-laysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which ring the waters believed to hold untapped oil and gas reserves.

The tensions have also alarmed the United States, which has key defense treaties with many regional allies, and in a show of strength last week sent warships to patrol close to some of the reefs and islands claimed by China.

Washington on Friday “urged both parties to comply with the ruling and urge all claimants to avoid provoca-tive actions or statements.”

“Whatever the outcome, the case will not contribute to improved re-lations between China and other claimants in the South China Sea,” Frans-Paul van der Putten, a senior researcher at the Clingendael think-tank, told AFP. AFP, with Sandy Araneta and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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Bello asks labor officialsto report ‘endo’ incidents

“Our regional directors are re-ally given the marching orders. First is for them to report to us incidents of endo and contrac-tualization, which is common knowledge,” Bello said.

“And from there, we would have to enforce strict compliance by our directors in implementing these provisions of our laws on endo and

contractualization,” he added.Bello said he is looking at re-

ducing these incidents by 50 per-cent in the first 100 days of the Duterte administration.

“If our labor directors will just do their job, we can reduce these practices by at least 50 percent. That is the challenge I am giving to our department

officials,” he said.“It is very clear that there is a

rampant violation of our labor laws, including Department Or-der No. 18, which strengthens the rights of contractual employees. We would require our regional of-ficers to be very vigilant against the practice of endo and contractual-ization,” the labor chief added.

Bello also instructed the Bu-reau of Working Conditions to prepare profiles of contractors and subcontractors based on re-sults or findings from Labor Laws Compliance Officers (LLCOs).

In an earlier interview, he ad-mitted that many employers, particularly mall operators, have found a way to circumvent the country’s labor laws.

“Mall operators usually cir-cumvent the contractualiza-tion law. After five months, they would replace you so there won’t be any security of tenure. It’s not right,” Bello said.

Statistics from the labor de-partment showed the country has almost 35 million contractual workers out of 67.1 million work-ers as of 2016. PNA

Duterte to sign FOI order this weekBy Sandy Araneta

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Du-terte will sign this week an executive order paving the way for a Freedom of Infor-mation policy in the execu-tive branch.

Communications Secre-tary Martin Andanar said the signing of the EO shows that Duterte is serious about carrying out his promise to increase transparency in gov-ernment.

The draft EO was final-ized after the Palace held consultations with various media groups, including the The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition and the

Philippine Center for Inves-tigative Journalism.

Duterte said he had to has-ten the adoption of an FOI pol-icy even as he urged Congress to pass a similar law that will cover the legislative and judi-cial branches of government.

“I have decided to hurry up the process,” the President said.

His spokesman, Ernesto Abel-la, said Duterte will certify the FOI bill in Congress as urgent.

“The President gives FOI importance. He will certify it as part of his priorities,” Abella said.

The draft EO is entitled “Operationalizing in the ex-ecutive branch the people’s constitutional right to infor-

mation and the state of poli-cies and full public disclosure and transparency in pubic service and providing guide-lines therefore.”

Opening up government records and transactions to the public was among Du-terte’s campaign promises.

His predecessor, former President Benigno Aquino III, also promised to pass an FOI law when he ran in 2010, but has failed to achieve this when his term ended last month.

The Senate had already passed its version of the FOI bill on third and final reading in 2014, but the House of Rep-resentatives has yet to concur.

Friendly match. Lawmakers played basketball with Secretary Christopher Go, Special Assistant to the President, at the Almendras Gym in Davao City before meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte late Saturday evening. Duterte urged the lawmakers to support efforts to revive the death penalty.

Palace, Congresscrack whipon vanity car plates

Taking a dip. Children swim near a docking pier at North Bay boulevard on a rainy Sunday. EY ACASIO

LABOR Secretary Silvestre Bello III has ordered all regional directors to report incidents of contractualization and “endo” or end of contract across the country in a bid to end these unfair practices.

By Christine F. Herrera and Sandy Araneta

MALACAÑANG on Sunday warned abu-sive drivers who are still using “Duterte van-ity plates” that these will not absolve them from charges if they violate traffic rules.

“The President has al-ways been for equality, fair-ness and justice,” Commu-nications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

“Now if there are re-ports or the public sees vehicles with Duterte plates and with abusive drivers, just send videos to us and we will make sure that the President will find out about these,” he added.

At the House of Rep-resentatives, Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco has filed a bill seeking the elimination of the van-ity plate “8” which has been reserved for con-gressmen, saying it was an insult to the public given the delays in the release of car plates of ordinary citizens.

Tiangco said it was unfair that each con-gressman was given two No. 8 car plates and these were released be-fore the President deliv-ers his State of the Na-tion Address on July 25.

“How come con-gressmen are issued car plates ahead of the rest of the Filipino citi-zens? And since each is given two car plates, that means more than 500 car plates are being made even before Con-gress opens its session,” Tiangco said.

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Rody wants Nur as negotiator

Commission to upgrade PH codes sought

Press freedom law must be finetuned, says Cebu solon

By Rio N. Araja

THREE party-list lawmakers have maintained their stand for the creation of three separate code commissions to update and codify existing penal, civil and commercial laws

Representatives Rodel Batocabe, Christo-pher Co and Alfredo Garbin Jr. of Ako-Bicol are hoping that their three separate House Bill Nos. 377, 378 and 380 in the 16th Congress proposing the creation of the Pe-nal Code Commission, Civil Code Com-mission and Commercial Code Commis-sion, respectively, would finally be enacted into law.

They invoked the 1947 Executive Order

No. 48, signed by the late President Manuel Roxas creating the Code Commission.

When EO No. 48 was issued, the then President Roxas said “there is an urgent need for immediate revision of all existing substan-tive laws of the Philippines and of codifying them in conformity with the customs, tradi-tions and idiosyncrasies of the Filipino people and with modern trends in legislation and the progressive principles of law.”

The creation of the Code Commission gave way for the enactment of the Civil Code of 1952, Batocabe said.

“Over half a century has passed as well as the enactment of thousands of laws, we are again confronted with the necessity of ex-

ecuting the call of the [late] president in his order,” the lawmaker said.

In 2010, then President Benigno Aquino III, in his State-of-the-Nation Address, called on the House of Representatives “to begin a re-codification of our laws to ensure harmony in legislation and eliminate contradictions.”

The creation of three separate commissions would “effectively remove contradictions, re-dundancies and confusing provisions of exist-ing laws,” the proposed measures read.

The three code commissions shall be man-dated to complete their work not later than one year from the date of enactment of the proposed statutes, and shall submit to the President a progress report of the work.

“There was no exact date men-tioned on the meeting between Presi-dent Duterte and MNLF Leader Nur Misuari,” said Communications Sec-retary Martin Andanar, chief of the Presidential Communications Of-fice (PCO), during an interview over state-run radio station dzRB.

“But we assure you the talks [be-tween Duterte and Misuari] will hap-pen just as the talks with the MILF and with the NDF will happen,” An-danar said.

Duterte said the government is now ready to talk simultaneously with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Libera-tion Front, as he plans to go to Jolo to talk to Misuari.

Misuari is currently at large and is facing an arrest warrant for rebellion in connection with the 2013 Zam-boanga siege.

If the talks with the MILF and MNLF materialize, the President said on Friday that he expected a framework for federalism to be draft-ed by the end of the year.

MILF and MNLF leaders met with Duterte last month to discuss peace in Mindanao.

Duterte said there would be recon-figuration of territories—and many MILF and MNLF members would oc-cupy regional and state positions.

If Filipinos reject federalism in the plebiscite, he said he would push for the passage of the Bang-samoro Basic Law.

Duterte said that what the MILF would get, the same would be given to the MNLF.

As for the Abu Sayaff Group, Du-terte said he did not consider their actions criminal.

He believed they were radicalized because they were driven to despera-tion due to the lack of governance in Mindanao.

CEBU CITY Rep. Raul del Mar has refiled a bill seeking to amend the Press Freedom Law of 1946 that exempts only the publisher, edi-tor or duly accredited reporter of print media from disclosing the source of their report or information.

He said the bill would expand the cover-age to include journalists from the broadcast, news agencies and even internet publication.

“The explanation is, when the law was passed, electronic journalism was not yet ex-isting, the news or wire agencies still have to be developed and recognized. The internet was not even a dream,” he added.

Under the proposal, an accredited journal-ist of any legitimate print, broadcast, inter-net or wire service organization, station or network could not be compelled to bare the source of any news item, news report or infor-mation after being reported.

Del Mar said the identity of sources of a confidential news report or information must be protected.

“The proposed amendment would not only strengthen the confidence of the journalists, but would also recognize the vitak role that they play in nation-building,” he noted.

The measure has defined journalists en-gaged by legitimate media companies shall be deemed accredited journalists, cartoonists and photojournalists.

An accredited journalist or media practitioner shall be recognized by any reputable media association such as but not limited to the Philippine Information Agency-Presidential Communications Operations Office, National Press Club, National Union of Journalists of the Phil-ippines and the Kapisanan ng mga Brod-kaster ng Pilipinas. Rio Araja

Cha-Cha advocates. Convenors of the Constitutional Reform Towards Federalism (from left) Lito Monico Lorenzana, president of the Centrist Democracy Political Institute; former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel and lawyer Raul Lambino discuss with newsmen their newly launched initiative calling for a Constitutional Convention to revise the 1987 Charter to achieve federalism and other reforms, during their first general assembly at Intramuros, Manila. EY ACASIO

To the rescue. Members of the Valenzuela City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office embark on a search-and-rescue operation to save a boy from drowning along Tullahan River in Valenzuela City. ANDREW RABULAN

By Sandy Araneta

President rodrigo duterte has reiterated his plan to enlist nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro national Liberation Front, as an important negotiator for the peace talks between the government and the Moros, according to Malacañang.

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Legalized wiretaptargets drug lords

Swap deal. The Iglesia Ni Cristo signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Housing Authority last June 29 for a ‘lot swap’ deal covering properties owned by the National Government Center in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City. Present during the MOA signing were (from left) Roderick T. Ibañez (director, National Government Center Housing and Development Project), Eleanor Balatbat (manager, Legal Dept, NHA), Engr. Victor Balba (group manager, NCR Area Management Office), Sinforoso Pagunsan (general manager, NHA), GP Santos IV (INC legal head and representative), Rep. Winston Castelo, and Barangay Holy Spirit chairman Felicito Valmocina.

TOFIL Award resumes, says JCIThe Junior Chamber Internation-al Senate Philippines has revived The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awards following the formal launch-ing at the Club Filipino with a new corporate partner, the ANSA Foun-dation Inc.

JCI Senate Philippines national president Rogelio Garcia thanked An-thony Philip Nocom, president of the ANSA Group of Companies, for his support to this project.

“The rebirth TOFIL is the fruit of our deepest and unwavering commit-ment to our organization. TOFIL is synonymous to JCI Senate Philippines and its revival after a two-year hiatus bolsters the noble mission of our or-ganization to dispense social respon-

sibilities necessary to create positive individual change, as well as foster the bond of friendship and camaraderie,” Garcia said.

JCI Senator Ramon dela Rosa Nana-diego is this year’s national chairman and the 2016 TOFIL Awards Commit-tee is composed of JCI senators: Ren-ato Balatbat (Search), Dennis Cunanan (Screening), Melandrew Velasco (Pub-lications and Publicity), Manuel Cas-well (Reception), and Philip Briones (Media Relations).

Since 1988, the TOFIL Awards has sought to institutionalize public rec-ognition of men and women, 41 years of age and over, whose exemplary achievements are worthy of emulation.

TOFIL seeks to give national recog-

nition to Filipinos whose self less dedi-cation to their profession or vocation has resulted in significant contribu-tions to the welfare of their country-men and our country at large, as well as to the advancement of their respec-tive fields of endeavor.

ANSA Foundation chairman and past TOFIL awardee Dr. emil Q. Javi-er represented Philip Nocom and his family who committed to sponsor the annual search over the next five years with P1-million annual funding fol-lowing the signing of a memorandum of agreement between JCI Senate Phil-ippines and ANSA Foundation. TOFIL Foundation will be formed to insitu-tionalize the annual search and award-giving body.

By Macon Araneta

Wiretapping against coup plotters, money laun-dering people and drug lords were included in the measure proposed by Senator panfilo Lacson to amend and finetune the anti-Wiretapping Law.

New team to enforceno parkingzonesThe Metropolitan Manila De-velopment Authority is set to form a team which will enforce the “no parking zones’’ in major and secondary streets in Metro Manila.

Crisanto Saruca Jr., head of the MMDA-Traffic Discipline Of-fice, said that the new team will be composed of 60 personnel coming from various offices of the agency, including those from Towing Operation and Anti-Ille-gal Parking groups.

The new team will be headed by traffic officer Roldan Aban Sr.

The move came after the agen-cy on June 30 dissolved its unit whose members were tasked to go after vehicles illegally-parked on 17 Mabuhay Lanes, the alter-nate routes used by private mo-torists avoiding the congested epifanio de los Santos Avenue.

“Mabuhay Lanes have been dissolved. It was finished on June 30, so we created a new one under the Traffic Discipline Of-fice. This group is dedicated for anti-illegal parking operations. The general rule is no parking on the roads and on the sidewalks,” Saruca said.

The 17 Mabuhay Lanes are alternative routes to the 23.8-kilometer edsa. These cover the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Manila, and Quezon City. It also include secondary roads going to shopping destinations in Metro Manila such as Baclaran in Parañaque, Greenhills in San Juan, Divisoria, and Carriedo in Manila.

During operations, Saruca said the team will closely coordinate with the local government units, Department of Interior and Lo-cal Government, and the Philip-pine National Police-highway Patrol Group.

“We will get rid of illegally parked vehicles in all roads anywhere in Metro Manila,” said Saruca.

earlier, MMDA launched a so-cial media campaign which aims to provide quick response to the public to report illegally parked vehicles, road obstruction, and unauthorized road diggings along major roads in Metro Manila, in-cluding the Mabuhay Lanes.

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Notice is hereby given that on 20 January 2016, the Board of Directors of CONTINENTAL MICRONESIA, INC. (”CMI”) through its duly authorized officer, approved the withdrawal of the license to transact business in the Philippines of CMI – Philippine Branch. The Petition for Withdrawal of this license will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

All persons having just claims against CMI are requested to present the same at the 4th Floor, IPT Building, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pasay City, Philippines.

This serves as notice to all parties concerned of CMI`s petition for withdrawal of license.

(TS-JULY 11,18 & 25, 2016)

In filing Senate Bill 48, Lacson said the country’s law enforcers may soon acquire more tools to fight off dangerous crimes such as illegal drugs, money launder-ing and coups with the use of wiretapping or electronic eaves-dropping.

Lacson suggested to add these crimes to the list of offenses “wherein law-enforcement of-ficers can, through court order, tap any wire or cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record private communica-tion or spoken word in order to

strengthen the measures of the government and its law enforce-ment agencies in fulfilling its mandate of protecting life, lib-erty, and property against the malefactors in our society.”

Lacson’s bill seeks to amend Republic Act 4200 (Anti-Wire-tapping Law) to include certain crimes where wiretapping may be deemed lawful under certain circumstances. These crimes are the following: coup d’etat, conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’etat, robbery in band, brigandage/highway rob-bery, violations of RA 9165 or

the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.

While wiretapping, despite its limited applications, has been an effective tool by law enforcement agencies against criminal ele-ments who have brought havoc, instability and lack of equanim-ity in the country to the detri-ment of many of our peace-lov-ing citizens, Lacson said there are other crimes that are not cov-ered by the law.

“Unfortunately, there are still certain crimes that are not cov-ered under the said exceptional cases, which put not only the lives and property of our people in paramount danger, but also pose a grave threat to our na-tion’s security,” said Lacson.

The senator noted that the peace-and-order situation in the country gives testament to this

fact and “thus, it is imperative for us to revisit RA 4200 in order to enhance its effectiveness.”

Under the present law, Lac-son related that the instances where wiretapping is allowed include treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in the high seas, rebellion, con-spiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition, kidnapping and violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing espionage and other offenses against national secu-rity.

The human Security Act of 2007 also included terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism in the list of acts that can be wiretapped, provided the Court of Appeals gave its written per-mission.

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Search for The Outstanding Filipino

Monsoon brings flood, landslidesIBA, Zambales—Heavy rain brought by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon ‘‘Butchoy’’ caused land-slides and flooding in at least three towns in this province.

Two landslides occurred in Olongapo City due to the con-tinuing heavy rains, one at the Skipper Beach in Barangay Bar-retto and another at the Olon-gapo public cemetery beside the national highway in Barangay Kalaklan.

City government offices led by Mayor Rolen Paulino and Vice Mayor Jong Cortez, as well as the Department of Public Works and Highways and Barangay Kalak-lan officials worked to allay resi-dents’ fears that they may expe-rience flooding similar to what they underwent three years ago.

Meanwhile, 506 residents were evacuated in Zambales due to flooding in the towns of San Narciso, San Antonio and San Felipe.

Gov. Amor Deloso said based on the latest update from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduc-tion and Management Council chief Graciela Macabare-Ednal-en, the evacuees were from the municipalities of San Felipe, 41 families; San Narciso, 10 fami-lies; San Antonio, four; Iba, five; and Botolan, two.

Severely affected families of the flooding reached more than 5,161, all from the said munici-palities.

Deloso instructed the Provin-cial Engineering Office to dis-patch available dumptrucks to flooded areas to augment baran-gay and municipal rescue opera-tions.

Zambales 2nd District Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla earlier posted on her Facebook account all national roads in Zambales are passable as per PDRRMO except in Alusiis, San Narciso where only heavy vehicles can pass through due to flooding along the national road.

She added that there are re-ports of flooding in some areas in different towns but there is no cause for alarm. PNA

5 more killed in N. Ecija over weekend

3 PH islands make it to top mag’s 10 bestTHREE Philippine islands—Pal-awan, Boracay and Cebu—made it to New York-based magazine Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Islands list this year.

In an annual survey conduct-ed by T+L, readers were asked to rate destinations all over the world according to their activi-ties, sights, natural attractions, beaches, food, friendliness and overall value.

Results this week revealed that Palawan clinched the top rank after receiving the highest score among readers at 93.71. This is the second time that Palawan topped the list since 2013.

T+L writer Melanie Lie-berman described Palawan

as a place where “visitors are greeted with mountains rising out of impossibly turquoise waters, where shipwrecks and reefs make for prime scuba diving and snorkeling.”

“Palawan is every beach lover’s dream destination,” said one T+L reader, who regarded it as a “wonderful and magical place.”

Lieberman also cited Palawan for being home to a five-mile-long underground river consid-ered one of the world’s wonders of nature that visitors shouldn’t miss the chance to boat through its limestone caverns.

Boracay ranked second on the list, receiving a score of 90.47. Cebu ranked sixth with a score

of 88.65.One reader deemed Boracay as

“a natural treasure” while Lieber-man praised it for one of its top resorts, the Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort, which ranked eighth among this year’s Top Resort Ho-tels in Southeast Asia.

Another reader said, “There is never a dull moment in Cebu,” claiming that the island was “perfect for travelers who don’t want to spend a lot of money on recreational activities.”

Lieberman named hiking through canyons, swimming with whale sharks, and diving from the top of a waterfall as among the many activities visi-tors can try in Cebu.

Shoes won’t do. Students of Timanan Central Elementary School in South Upi, Maguindanao wear slippers instead of shoes to school because they have to take a muddy trail from their houses. OMAR MANGORSI

CABANATUAN CITY—Five more people were killed Saturday by unidentified sus-pects in this province.

Virgilio Madrid, 43, married, and a resident of Purok 2A, Barangay Cata-lanacan, Science City of Muñoz, was on his way home on board a motorcycle at about 5 a.m. Saturday when he was re-peatedly shot by two unidentified sus-pects.

Police conducted a hot pursuit operation against the suspects but to no avail, PO3 Gabriel Santiago said.

Madrid, alias Vio, was included in the

police’s drug watch list.In Cuyapo town, Prince Michael

Lagmay, 22, who was no. 8 in the lo-cal police’s list of drug personalities, was shot dead by two unidentified men with short firearms at around 8 p.m. Saturday in Purok 1, Barangay Calan-cuasan Norte.

Also on Saturday, two bodies of still unidentified men were found dumped along the service road of Emilio Verga-ra Highway, Purok 1, Sumacab of this city.

The bodies bore gunshot wounds in their

heads which were wrapped with packaging tape.

Also found dead was a tricycle driver Guillermo Piliton, 47, a native of Ozamis Oriental and resident of Bucaneg, North Poblacion, Science City of Muñoz.

The body showed gunshot wounds from a cal. 45 pistol.

“Based on record, the possible motive behind the killing is the involvement of the victim in illegal drugs,” reported PO2 Ray-mund Dingle.

Piliton was ranked no. 3 in the city drug watch list. PNA

Moving in. Children in Ormoc City are happy to move into their new disaster-resilient homes, recently built by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme. MEL CASPE

opinionA8

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opinion

Thus far, I have applauded Mr. Duterte’s resoluteness in the face of criminality, although I have also repeatedly written about my misgivings about the spate of summary executions. I do not buy the tale that all the suspects shot to death fought back or attempted to wrestle

weapons from their captors. But President Digong has sent a clear message to the nation: Do not trifle with the law— an admonition by which, I trust, he himself will abide.

But he has lately made a pronouncement that profoundly unsettles me. If he was quoted rightly, then he has declared that the dreaded Abu sayyaf Group is not to be characterized as “criminal.” But they have kidnapped and brought about

But, Mr. President, they are criMinals!

The Chinese leadership must be laughing at us. Instead of being circumspect, our secretary of Foreign Affairs, Perfecto Yasay Jr., is giving comfort to the enemy with his disjointed statement on Manila’s case at international arbitration court in The hague. The case contests Beijing’s claim of 90 percent of the south China sea.

Why did he have to say the country would share seabed resources with China four days before The hague court is to issue its ruling on the regional maritime dispute? Our partners in the 10-member Association of southeast Asian Nations must be just as perplexed on our ambivalent stand on the issue. All but three—Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, known Chinese clients—are all counting on Manila winning its case so that Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, too can file their own separate cases against China.

But now with Yasay showing Manila’s hand in a case that is yet to be decided, the three other Asean members with overlapping claims might just go for bilateral talks with China. This is precisely what Beijing wants. Manila prefers multi-lateral negotiations to include other Asean claimants.

Many legal observers and the world are expecting a Philippine victory. Yasay’s statement on the issue, though, could have pushed the matter in a different direction. In basketball or soccer, a scapegoat scores a basket or a goal in the opponent’s court just when the home team is leading by a point in the game’s dying seconds.

Yasay, whether he’s speaking on his own or acting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s instructions, squandered everything Manila was fighting for in asserting our sovereignty over the West Philippine sea, which China included in its sweeping nine-dash line. It may be too serious an allegation but Yasay’s unguarded statement on the south China sea issue borders on treason. Whose interest is he serving, anyway—the country’s or China’s?

The word from the Palace is that it’s now only President Duterte who would speak on the south China sea issue.

Yasay over the weekend said the Philippines was willing to share with China fishing grounds off scarborough shoal and to explore, jointly, marine

cruelty visited not only on the victim but on the family members of one of their macabre beheadings than in terms of what the law characterizes as “crime”? In contrast to the savagery they have repeatedly recorded on video with unforgivable effrontery, the guillotine was merciful! And this is not a felony?

And what does that make of all the hardship and toil that our men and women in uniform have had to bear, going after them? Are they now the

villains for having gone after those who have been merely avenging the supposed wrongs of decades against them?

This is the same complaint I have over the use of the term “political prisoners”—because it is an attempt to conceal the ugliness of the crimes committed—murder, arson, kidnapping—behind a veneer of political crusading. I thought that it was the fundamental tenet of a society organized according to the

law that one was to live one’s religious and political beliefs, one’s cultural and ideological persuasions within the well-defined boundaries of law!

No, Mr. President. The Abu sayyaf Group has committed serious crimes against so many victims, and against the nationals of other jurisdictions. I am certain that one of the surest ways of wiping the smile off Mr. Justin Trudeau’s handsome face that has driven many Filipinas to near-insanity

Continued on A11

NEWLY minted Senator Leila de Lima said last week that she was saddened by the complaints filed recently against former President Benigno Aquino III, over the misuse of public funds through his illegal Disbursement Acceleration Program, as well as the botched covert operation that resulted in the deaths of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano in January 2015.

De Lima, Justice secretary under Aquino, said the cases filed before the Office of the Ombudsman were either politically motivated or plain harassment.

She said the complaint filed against Aquino and his Budget Secretary Florencio Abad over the DAP was unwarranted because both of them acted in good faith.

At the same time, she described the filing of criminal charges against Aquino for the Mamasapano incident one day after he stepped down from office as “nothing but a media stunt.”

“[No] amount of legal imagination can manipulate the definition of homicide and murder under the Revised Penal Code so as to involve the [former] President and implicate the police officials involved” in the Mamasapano case, De Lima said in a statement Friday.

But the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, which helped parents of two of the 44 Special Action Force commandos file multiple homicide complaints against Aquino and his disgraced police chief, Alan Purisima, said it is De Lima who lacks legal imagination.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said by law, Aquino and his co-accused should be held liable for the consequences of reckless imprudence “even though not intended, including the death of 44 police officers.”

“The charge of reckless imprudence is supported by a huge amount of documentary evidence consisting of the Senate Report, the PNP Board of Inquiry Report, and the transcripts of testimonies before the Senate taken under oath, all of which are attached to our complaint. They are more than enough to constitute probable cause after preliminary investigation,” the lawyer said.

At the same time, the former Justice secretary should be reminded that Aquino used the DAP to “convince” 16 senators to convict his political enemy, then Chief Justice Renato Corona, to the tune of P100 million per senator. This, by any other name, is bribery plain and simple, which cannot by any stretch of the imagination be misconstrued as an act of “good faith.”

But of course, we can expect no less from De Lima, who when she was Justice secretary, even defied a direct order of the Supreme Court to serve her master. She, too, served as Aquino’s attack dog, who went after his political enemies while going easy on his erring allies. But now that De Lima is an elected senator of the land, her blind loyalty to her former boss is unseemly. The VACC, in fact, has urged her to resign as senator so that she can act as Aquino’s lawyer.

One might say that given her actions, De Lima is loyal to a fault. Her error, however, is in being loyal to only one man instead of the entire nation.

the deaths of their victims. They have made prisoners of foreigners and fellow Filipinos alike, demanded hefty sums in ransom, and then publicly posted gruesome video footage of the decapitation of their hapless captives when family members failed to come across. They have robbed, pillaged, burned and plundered. What are they then, if they are not criminals? And, more importantly, what happens to the concept of

“crime”—so crucial to the legal order and to the stability of society?

Mr. Duterte believes that they were driven to desperation by the neglect of their needs. But there are so many people in this blighted republic whose needs have not

been attended to as well. Will they be excused for turning to kidnapping, murder, extortion and terrorism as well? That is exactly what I fear: The erosion of the sense of what is legal, let alone what is moral! how else does one talk about the deliberate and calculated

that is exactly what I fear: the erosion of the sense of what is legal, let alone

what is moral.pEnséEs

fR. RanhILIocaLLangan

aquIno

Continued on A11

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OPINIONM O N D AY : J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

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OUT OF THE BOX

RITA LINDAV. JIMENO

THERE is something about President Rodrigo R. Duterte that sets him intensely apart from all other Philippine

presidents we have had. He seems to have the ability to move people to support his causes and go out of their way to back him. Perhaps it is because people see that he came to his job prepared, with a clear understanding of the country’s major problems and a vision of how to get things done.

For one, his campaign promise that change will come is fast unfolding as a reality on many fronts. On his campaign promise that he will stop crime and � ght illegal drugs, we have been seeing drug dealers getting killed and thousands of pushers and users of illegal drugs v o l u n t a r i l y su r rend er i ng to authorities all across the country. On Saturday, news reports showed thousands in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, surrendering and taking an oath that they would now abandon drugs. In Tacloban City, some 2,446 pushers and users have also surrendered from June 29 to July 7 alone. One of those who did even turned over to the police P400,000.00 worth of shabu. Also last week, in separate raids at clandestine laboratories in Las Piñas and Parañaque cities, anti-narcotics agents seized P1.5 billion worth of shabu and arrested Taiwanese nationals. In yesterday’s news, some 400 drug dealers and users in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela turned themselves in while 2,856 surrendered in the southern part of the Metropolis. Never before have police authorities and the people cooperated with one another as they are cooperating now.

Of course, there are groups highly critical of the President mainly on grounds of human rights violations and potential abuse of power by authorities. Generally, however, people are awed by the courage and political will of the President. In a gathering I attended last � ursday, for instance, people who voted for presidential bets other than now-President Duterte said they can now see that it was for the country’s good that he was the one elected as President. Many shared my bewilderment why, during the entire six-year term of former President Benigno S. Aquino III, we did not get to know the depth and breadth of the illegal drugs problem in the country. Although we have heard about blood-curdling heinous crimes being committed by suspected drug-crazed o� enders, there was no de� nitive pronouncement that those who committed them were indeed under the in� uence of illegal drugs. In fact, when I wrote an article a year ago about the surge of inhuman and hard-to-imagine crimes committed against women and young children by suspected drug users, sometimes by their very own fathers, a police o� cer sent me an e-mail saying that the hands of the police are tied. He said that even if they knew that the perpetrators were drug users, they were helpless in light of jurisprudence saying the police cannot force a suspect to subject himself to drug tests if he refuses.

Thus, he said, they have no statistics to show which crimes were committed by suspects under the influence of drugs.

It thus seems surreal now to see in the news the number of drug dealers either being killed or

THE DUTERTE EFFECT

surrendering in droves. It also feels like watching a riveting action movie to see the President himself naming police generals allegedly linked to the triad and the illegal drugs trade.

On another front, the President’s expression of a desire to shi� the Philippine system of government from the highly centralized unitary system to federalism has moved thousands of volunteers to join various forums to learn about federalism. At their own expense, people from various callings—lawyers, doctors, architects, a number of the country’s prominent businessmen, former high-ranking government o� cials, and other professionals—are getting together to propel the movement toward a federalized Philippines. A group calling itself PDu30’s Core Constitutional Reform toward federalism has been meeting every Saturday, inviting experts on the subject, to study the whys and hows of shi� ing to a federal system of government.

On Saturday, they attended the � rst general assembly of advocates for federalism organized by lawyer Raul Lambino. No less than the recognized

father of federalism in the Philippines, Senator Nene Pimentel; the Undersecretary of Foreign A� airs, Dondi Teehankee; long-time advocate of federalism, Lito Lorenzana; and architect/urban planner, Jun Palafox, were among the speakers. � e attendees on Saturday braved the heavy rains and did not mind the cramped and crowded venue. When I went to the rest room, I heard a group of middle-aged ladies saying, we have to keep praying for President Duterte to shield him from those who might want him destroyed.

� e core advocates of federalism source support from donors to � nance printing of materials and travel around the country to hold forums. More o� en, the participants pay their way just to listen, understand, and share their thoughts on federalism. People are coming together to be involved.

All these make one think that perhaps there is indeed such a phenomenon as the Duterte e� ect.

Email: [email protected] Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

People are coming together to be

involved.

NEVER PRESUMETHE favorite topic of most everyone these days is Rodrigo Duterte, and for good reason. He is the new President, and everyone is trying to “read” him.

While many of his predecessors were “predictable,” the new President is clearly too complex a persona to be stereotyped.

For weeks, he kept his newly elected vice president at bay. Detractors started sniping at him, albeit not too loudly as yet, about his not giving her a position in his Cabinet or even not meeting with her more than a month when both of them were o� cially proclaimed by Congress. When she was not invited to the Palace ceremony where the President would be inaugurated, that was not only deemed unusual. Some resigned themselves to cold-shoulder treatment throughout.

� en, what a di� erence a day made. � ey met at Camp Aguinaldo, brie� y greeted each other. � e following Monday, she visited him in Malacañang. � ere was warmth—more than just pleasantries. He mumbled something about her being “part of his government,” keeping an open door for her anytime. He even graciously led her to her car on the Palace driveway. People thought he was just being the usual gentleman.

But just a few days later, he called her up on the phone in front of Palace reporters and publicly asked her to join his Cabinet as Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council head, the same post held by PNoy’s vice president, and before them, Gloria’s veep.

� e turn of events made everyone pleasantly surprised. In one sweeping moment, the man had banished every unpleasant thought about his being partisan against the woman who defeated his friend by a narrow margin.

� e operative rule in trying to read our new President is this: Never presume.

In one of the early interviews he had with media, the new executive secretary said that to be able to get along with his new boss, he never advanced unsolicited advice. Wait for him to ask you, he said. � e contrarian views he o� ered were o� en welcome, but when the principal decided and acted otherwise, the executive secretary found himself bowing to “superior wisdom.”

Rodrigo Duterte self-deprecates when he says he was just an ordinary student. “Seventy-� ve lang [school grades], okay na!” Many a national candidate would take pride in their scholastic achievements, proclaiming their summas and magnas to all and sundry. Others not so endowed would simply be quiet about their grades. But Duterte chooses to self-deprecate.

But surely someone who can disarm and dissemble,

who can at one point instill fear and at another charm, who can capture the presidency from the “lowly” platform of a mayorship of a distant southern city with few resources and virtually no political organization, cannot be an ordinary mind.

Some detractors say Duterte is given to rash decision-making, pointing to his un� ltered statements over many a national issue. � ink twice: is it rashness or calculated realpolitik?

Up to the present, people wonder whether his on-and-o� statements on whether or not to run for the presidency was on account of certain obstacles or a display of brilliant political strategy. Whatever: � e point is that when he � nally went for it, he got it. � ose on the other hand who planned and sat through interminable strategy sessions with every expert in town and afar in their desire to become president failed to defeat this “uncouth,” “indecent,” “trash-talking” political novato from o� -stage.

Even the foreign community is unable to read him well. � e American overlords � rst dismissed the guy as a � ash in the pan, and they did not take him seriously, until by April, Foggy Bottom itself was getting signals from their own pollsters that the guy could be, rather, would be, the next president of the country they always took for granted.

His opponents thought they could clobber him with their machinery and their money. One very popular opponent was told that once the Supreme Court gives legal nihil obstat over her citizenship woes, it would be game over, and everyone, including the brash politician from Davao, would just eat her dust. But the wily mayor knew otherwise, not necessarily because he had political scientists and strategists surrounding him, but because he more than anyone else, could read the public pulse and temperament better.

� e presidency unfolding before us will be an adventure in the unpredictable. Whether it is in foreign policy, where neither America nor China nor any other country will be able to predict his moves with absolute certainty, or in his war against crime and drugs and their protectors in high places, the new President will move with stealth and cunning, surprising even those presumed to be close to him. � e guy knows his political chessboard well.

� e operative rule in Duterte-watching, therefore is simple: Never presume.

Except for one: the guy is a nationalist. He will never sell the country down the river. He will always uphold what is in the best interest of his people. Like all of us, there will be trying times and there can be mistakes. But just keep the faith, and keep on not presuming.

SO I SEE

LITOBANAYO

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But... From A9

resources under the South China Sea even if Manila wins its case in The Hague. It’s unbelievable that Yasay would say this ahead of the court’s ruling. If Manila wins, should it not negotiate from a position of strength instead of prematurely announcing concessions to China?

Probably feeling the backlash of his “sharing seabed resources with China,” Yasay the next day clarified that in his interview with Agence France Presse, he meant after “dissecting the implications” of a joint exploration.

After criticism from former Foreign Secretary Roberto R. Romulo who said Yasay is unfit for the SFA post, and an equally damning one from current Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia saying Yasay does not have the integrity for the job, Yasay and his supporters are claiming there’s a concerted demolition job against Duterte’s designated SFA.

Something has to be made clear to Yasay. He wanted the job and accepted his appointment. He must therefore expect opposition when he goes up at the bicameral Commission on Appointments for

the vetting process.Romulo and Cuisia are respected

personalities in the diplomatic field who speak their own minds. It is doubtful whether they would lend their names to “ a demolition job” perceived by Yasay. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio who’s part of the Philippine legal panel to The Hague court has also expressed his doubts about where Yasay’s loyalty lies.

But this is still more damaging to Yasay is if his end game is to replace Cuisia as Philippine ambassador to Washington. A Fil-Am lawyer has confidential information about Yasay’s unpaid tax and mortgage liens dating back to the 1990s. Considering the number of years that lapsed without settling his US tax obligations, the interest and penalties accrued must be staggering by now. We will not dwell on the tax delinquency and will wait for Yasay himself to clear matters up. This column will welcome his explanation and side of the story.

Still, we can imagine how embarrassing it would be for Yasay and the country. Certainly, the US government before giving its agrement or accepting him as Philippine envoy to Washington, will do due diligence

on the tax delinquency. Agrement (pronounced agremon in French)) is the diplomatic practice of the sending state to wait for the receiving state’s approval of the ambassador. It is normally given, except on a few occasions when the receiving state can reject the chief of mission being sent to head an embassy because of some derogatory information.

Yasay’s appointment as foreign secretary speaks volumes about Duterte’s selection and nomination procedure. The people around Mr. Duterte have to have a better vetting process to screen appointments given to the President. Those considered for Cabinet positions, particularly, must be screened thoroughly and not automatically submitted just because the nominee is a close friend or classmate at San Beda College. A repetition of former President Noynoy Aquino’s selection style, which gave priority to his Ateneo classmates and friends of the family, resulted in the failure to get the best and brightest minds.

For this negligence, Aquino and his Budget Secretary Florencio Abad are now facing a slew of charges arising from their use of funds from the Disbursement Acceleration Program, which has been declared illegal by the Supreme Court.

is to tell him that the Canadian who lost his life and his head at the hands of the ASG was not the victim of a criminal act!

Terms are important precisely because they are terms. Ever since Wittgenstein, we should have learned this lesson well. You cannot assign new meanings to terms, and hope that society remains unscathed by an assault on its language-games (that are, in the case of order, stability, the constitution and law certainly no games at all!) And there is much to be learned to from Kong-zi (Confucius) for whom much of the trouble of society lay in what today is “political correctness” —the refusal to call things as they really are and to give them the verbal vesture of respectability, no matter that they may be horrendous realities. Confucius would admonish us: Call a criminal a criminal, so that the law-abiding man may not act like one. I hope that this attempt at re-typifying these dreaded agents of death and destruction is not symptomatic of a more sinister phenomenon that might be assaulting the very soul of our national life: The erosion of our concept of law and our tolerance of the extra-legal, if not the downrightly illegal, in the pursuit of supposedly urgent and necessary ends!

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Giving... From A9

By Rep. Harry L. Roque

ON JUlY 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague is expected to give its verdict on the arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China. The case challenges the latter’s claim to virtually the entirety of the West Philippine Sea.

The arbitration was commenced by the Philippines under the compulsory and binding dispute settlement mechanism of the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea. Both the Philippines and China are parties to the Convention.

Specifically, the tribunal will rule on whether the so-called nine-dash lines, on the basis of which China claims “undisputed sovereignty and sovereign rights” over the disputed territory, is consistent with the Unclos. The world community to be bound by the Constitution of the seas envisioned the provisions of this treaty. This is evident in the manner by which the treaty was adopted: its provisions were adopted on the basis of consensus and were not made subject to reservations by any state party.

Furthermore, the Tribunal will also rule on the issue of whether the “islands” reclaimed by China, including Fiery Cross and Mischief Reef, where it has built military bases, are indeed “islands” within the meaning of the Convention. Under Article 121 of the Unclos, an island is permanently above water and can generate an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of up to 200 nautical miles if it is “capable of human habitation.” A rock, in turn, is permanently above water but is incapable of supporting

human habitation. In which case, a “rock” can only generate a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles. At stake in the Tribunal’s ruling is whether these islands, upon which China has built military installation, may be the subject of title by any state. This is because under the Unclos, low-tide elevations, or land features which are visible only during high tide, are mere geographic features and may not be subject to title by any state since they only form part only of a state’s EEZ. Thus, they are subject only to exploration and exploitation by a coastal state. The Philippines claims that these artificial island are all low-tide elevations, two of which should be declared as part of the Philippine continental shelf, while a further two should be declared as part of the international sea bed area.

Finally, the Tribunal is also expected to rule on whether the water outside Panatag’s territorial sea of 12 nautical miles, and located 121 miles from the coastline of Zambales, forms part of the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ.

While the tribunal is expected to rule on the merits on the issue of the low-tide elevations and on the issue of Panatag, it is still uncertain whether it would actually rule on the merits on the issue of the nine-dash lines. This is because in its preliminary ruling on the issue of jurisdiction, the court withheld judgment on jurisdiction since this appears too intertwined with the issue on the merits.

Consequently, the tribunal may still rule that since its jurisdiction extends only to issues of interpretation and application of

the Unclos on matters not otherwise reserved by a state party, it may not rule on the validity of the nine-dash lines given China’s assertion that the waters within the dotted lines are generated by land territories. Hence, no determination may be had on its claim to the waters within the dotted lines without a priori determination on the issue of title to these land territories.

Either way, the tribunal’s decision will not end the ongoing dispute over Panatag and the Spratlys group of islands. This is because as a tribunal on the law of the Sea, it cannot pronounce judgment on which of the claimants has the superior claim to the disputed islands.

Nonetheless, a decision that the nine-dash lines lacks legal basis under the Unclos will address existing ambiguities, particularly on the validity of historical claims to waters. The Philippines argues, both in its pleadings and its state practice, through the enactment of the Archipelagic Baselines law, that historic claims to waters not otherwise sanctioned by the Unclos are deemed abandoned when a state becomes a party to the Convention.

China, through its sitting Judge in the International Court of Justice, Xue Hanqin, argues otherwise. It asserts that states like it that ratified the Unclos subject to declaration that its territory shall continue to be defined by its internal laws, one which was also made by the Philippines, are not deemed to have abandoned their claim to historic waters. Further, Hanqin argues that international law does not prohibit historic claims to waters. Hence,

they are allowed in international law.It would appear that the tribunal’s

ruling on the issue of the nine-dash lines would be the most anticipated of the three issues submitted by the Philippines. Since the tribunal assumed jurisdiction on the issues of the low-tide elevations and on the issue of Panatag, it is expected that the tribunal would rule on the merits of these claims. Here, the tribunal may rule that the installations built by China may or may not be the subject of Chinese sovereignty and title; and that the waters off the territorial sea generated by Panatag are not part of the Philippine EEZ.

But on the all-important issue of whether the Chinese may validly invoke historic title for its claim to 95 percent of the West Philippine Sea, the tribunal has sufficient leeway to appease both parties to the proceedings. To please China and to ensure that it will not leave the Unclos, a policy decision that China’s continued membership in Unclos will strengthen the binding nature of the Convention; the Tribunal may simply rule that it has no jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the historic claims to waters since this would require a prior determination on the validity of title to disputed land territories generating maritime territories.

But if it were strictly to apply the law, the ruling will be in favor of the Philippines. Historic waters is not one of the maritime zones provided in the Unclos.

let’s hope the spirit and letter of the law will prevail over the policy of strengthening the binding nature of the Convention.

THe UncLos RULing: Law oR poLicy?

Juarez wants Donaire rematchA12

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MO NDAY: J ULY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

SPORTS

SBC Red Cubs try to stay unbeaten

Service,receptionkeys to Pocari bid

Lady boxing champ: I just want to meet the President

Dr. Ed de la Vega, who was part of the three-man team which worked the corner of Pagara, that included trainer Edmund Villanueva and his brother Edito, accompanied

the Filipino boxer to the hos-pital and informed The Stan-dard said he will undergo a CT Scan, but was alert and conversing with him.

It was obvious that Juarez, who

Games Wednesday11 a.m. – IEM vs

Sta. Elena (for 3rd/S Turf)2 p.m. – Air Force vs

Cignal (for 1st/S Turf)4 p.m. – BaliPure vs Laoag (for 3rd/V-L)

6:30 p.m. – Air Force vs Pocari (for 1st/V-L)

POCARI Sweat interim

coach Rommel Abella has stressed the need for his wards to polish their ser-vice and toughen up on reception as they gear up for a clash with the top seeded Air Force side for the Shakey’s V-League Sea-son 13 Open Conference crown beginning tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Phil-sports Arena in Pasig.

One week after hum-bling the star-studded BaliPure Water Defenders in a thrilling sudden death to clinch the other finals berth, the Lady Warriors look to getting back at the in-form Jet Spikers, who swept their Laoag Power Smashers in their side of the semis duel.

But Abella said they are the underdogs in the best-of-three title series of the season-opening conference sponsored by Shakey’s.

“I do think so, consider-ing Air Force beat us in our first meeting,” said Abella referring to their 25-20, 17-25, 22-25, 15-25 defeat to the Lady Jet Spikers in the final elims playdate last June 27 that enabled the latter to gain the top seeding in the Final Four.

And the Jet Spikers lived up to the hype, dominat-ing the Power Smashers to advance to the finals for the first time since Air Force joined the league where it all started a decade ago.

Abella, however, is confi-dent his Lady Warriors will raise the level of their game come finals.

PRESIDENT Rody Duterte’s attendance on opening day of the recent Olympic Qualify-ing tournament for basketball confirmed his affinity to sports. Aside from basketball, boxing is also close to his heart.

He once witnessed a fight by eight-time division world champion Manny Paquiao, who likewise won a national seat as senator in the recent election.

Amid the gloomy atmo-sphere brought about by the failure of the Gilas team to secure an Olympics slot, here comes a lady boxer by the name Gretchen Magbanua Abaniel, who made her coun-try proud in the world stage.

The 30-year-old Palawan na-tive eked out a rousing unani-

mous decision victory over a bigger, stronger Petcharas Supercham of Thailand to bag the vacant Women’s Interna-tional Boxing Association and keep Women’s Global Boxing Union minimumweight titles in Sidney Australia.

Abaniel, who is currently the Women’s International Boxing Association at Wom-en’s Global Boxing Union minimumweight title holder, thus became the only Filipina boxer to become triple world champion.

And probably, Abaniel is the only boxer from the Phil-ippines to hold three world titles, all at the same time.

Abaniel’s victory came in a hush, while the country was going gaga over its bas-ketball team’s quest for an Olympic slot.

Nevertheless, Gretchen treated it like a battle for a nation wanting in heroes everyday and dedicated the

victory to a newly seated President, who is adored by millions of Filipinos.

“Tulad po na marami, umaasa din po ako ng pagba-bago and para po kay Presi-dent Digong ang panalong ito at para sa bayan.”

Sans the attention and glory, Gretchen could only wish that the President Rodrigo Duterte would hear about her victory and invite her to Malacanang.

“Pangarap ko po na kahit minsan lang ay makamayan ko ang Presidente. Nag-try po ako sumulat sa mga dat-ing presidente pero hindi po ako napansin.”

Gretchen will arrive back home from Australia on Wednesday, and she expects no grand welcome usually at-tributed to a basketball team for winning a regional tourna-ment.

But all she wants is an audi-ence with the President. And that would inspire he to aspire

for more glory and give pride to the country.

***Jesse Ong, a long-serving

communication officer at Pag-cor, lauded the appointment of Andrea Domingo as chair-person of the country’s gaming agency.

Ong is my former colleague in the sports media. He will be serving his third Pagcor chief after Efraim Genuino and Bong Naguiat, appointees by former presidents Gloria Ar-royo and Noynoy Aquino, re-spectively.

Ong lamented the little at-tention to sports by previous Pagcor chiefs.

What sets Domingo apart from her predecessors was her long, unblemished govern-ment service record being a former congresswoman, chair-man of the Bureau of Immi-gration and head of the Phil-ippine Reclamation Authority.

There is a strong clamor by sports officials, includ-ing come-backing Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez, for Pagcor to remit the 5 percent revenue share to the sports agency, as prescribed by law.

The sporing community is excited—and anxious same time—on what will happen next.

“We have a new head that’s known for her excellent gov-ernment record and credibil-ity. I am excited to serve under madam Andrea,” said Ong.

Ong has been with Pagcor for 13 years already, dishing out his creative juices in the communication department. He was responsible for coining the agency’s 2015 national slo-gan: Tanglaw ng Sambayanan, Kaagapay ng Kaunlaran.”

His project “Old slot ma-chine-turned school desk” won the 49th Anvil Awards for best PR Practices.

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

SHOWING amazing resiliency after being knocked down in the dying seconds of the opening round by a vicious left hook from previously unbeaten Prince Albert Pagara, Mexico’s Cesar Juarez came charging back and eventually crushed the world-title hopeful with a series of bludgeoning punches that sent the Filipino crashing to the canvas early in Round 8, where he lay prostrate on all fours for several minutes before being stretchered out and taken by ambulance to the Stanford Medical Center.

displayed the same kind of re-markable comeback when he lost in his bid for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title to No-nito Donaire in Puerto Rico last December, was in his element against Pagara.

Juarez regularly pushed Pagara to the ropes and bombarded him with thundering body shots that soon began to sap the energy out of the young Filipino in a fight that was regarded as the ultimate test of whether he was ready for a possible world title shot.

Juarez provided the answer in emphatic fashion as he began to dominate the fight after being stunned by the initial first-round knockdown.

In the seventh round, Juarez backed Pagara against the ropes and unleashed a two-fisted assault that had the Fili-pino in trouble.

However, he used his footwork to get back into the center of the ring but Juarez pinned him down again and often connected with solid blows to the head. Pagara was on wobbly legs as he headed to the corner at the bell. Smiling in the corner before the eighth, Pagara rose slowly.

Boxing Scene noted that Paga-ra’s corner seemed to be helping him get his balance and he sort of stumbled out of the corner with-out so much as an eye on Juarez. Pagara walked right into a flush

four-punch combination and was deposited right back in the corner he’d just left. The referee jumped in to halt the action immediately.

The official time of the stop-page was :15 seconds of Round 8.

Juarez called out Donaire and asked for a rematch, which Donaire readily agreed to but said his promoters would have to work it out.

Donaire, who was on the ABS-CBN TV panel at the San Mateo Events Center, said he thought “more than anything, it was the exhaustion” that led to Pagara’s first KO loss. There were also those who claimed that Pagara was too confident and bordered on being cocky.

Blockbuster UFC 200. Amanda Nunes celebrates her victory over Miesha Tate during the UFC 200 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The star-studded UFC 200 also had Brock Lesnar returning from a 4-1/2-year UFC absence with a unanimous-decision victory over Mark Hunt, and Jose Aldo winning a competitive decision over Frankie Edgar to claim the interim featherweight title. AFP

SAN Beda College seeks to remain unscathed, while Mapua and Arellano University aim to keep in step as the three take on separate foes today in the resumption of the 92nd NCAA juniors’ basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Cubs, the reigning seven-peat champions, will tackle the Perpetual Help Junior Altas at 10:45 a.m. eyeing a fourth straight victory that would keep the former atop the heap.

San Beda zoomed to a strong three-game win start including a merciless 107-60 destruction of Emilio Aguinaldo last July 4 before the league took a break to give way to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament the country hosted at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

It will be facing a Las Pinas-based team that has won once out of its first three games.

San Beda coach JB Sison said playing aggressive would be key.

“We have to be consistently aggressive whichev-er teams we face,” said Sison, who is hoping to steer the Taytay-based school to an unprecedented eighth straight high school championship.

The Robins, for their part, clash with the Lyceum of the PH Junior Pirates (1-2) at 4 p.m. while the Junior Chiefs tangle with the Brigadiers (0-3) at 12:30 p.m.

Games today (July 11)(The Arena, San Juan)9 a.m.- SSC vs JRU (jrs)

10:45 a.m.- San Beda vs Perpetual (jrs)12:30 p.m.- EAC vs AU (jrs)

2:15 p.m.- CSB-LSGH vs Letran (jrs)4 p.m.- Mapua vs LPU (jrs)

LOCKERROOMRANDY

CALUAG

[email protected]

MO NDAY : J ULY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

SPORTS

Harden gets $118m

The deal was announced after the team’s introduction of newly acquired free agents Eric Gordon and forward Ryan Anderson.

“I’m truly excited more than ever,” Harden said.

“Ever since I stepped foot in Houston, it’s nothing but love. ... I’m happy to be here

another four years. It’s been a progress. It’s been a build up. The addition of our new sign-ings and a couple other pieces, good things are going to hap-pen next year.”

Harden, 26, arrived in Houston prior to the 2012-13 season via a trade from Okla-homa City. With the Rockets he has developed into one of the league’s premier scorers.

Under the deal his annual

salary will go from $16 million to $26.5 million under the new salary cap next season, and in-crease incrementally over the remainder of the contract.

Harden enjoyed the best season of his career in 2015-16, averaging 29 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game for a Rockets team that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors. AFP

McIlroy backin hunt forClaret jug

COMING out of a tight finish a winner a third time around, Tony Lascuña exudes confi-dence as he heads to the ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic, shooting for fourth straight and fifth overall at the Negros Occidental Golf and Coun-try Club in Bacolod starting Wednesday.

“This win further boost-ed my confidence going to Marapara. I really feel good and will go for another win,” said the 46-year-old veteran Davaoeño shotmaker, after rallying from three shots down with a closing bogey-free 65 at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club in Binitin then nipped Dutch Guido Van der Valk

and American Micah Shin on the first playoff hole to bag the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge crown last Saturday.

It was Lascuña’s third straight victory in this year’s Philippine Golf Tour, count-ing his one-shot win over Japanese Ryoma Miki at Ea-gle Ridge and a nine-stroke romp over Zanieboy Gialon and Orlan Sumcad at Forest Hills last month.

That should make him the player to beat at the former Marapara layout although Van der Valk and Shin, along with the other local top guns will also be going all-out to foil his bid while fueling their respective title drives in the

P1.5 million event serving as the 10th leg of this year’s cir-cuit sponsored by ICTSI.

But Lascuña, who also won at Luisita last April, isn’t only coming into the event riding on a three-win run but also brings with him the bragging rights as the winner at NOGCC when it last host-ed a PGT leg in 2014. He beat Elmer Salvador and amateur Lloyd Go by four to spark a three-leg sweep and finish with five legs wins on his way to copping his third straight OOM title.

“I always love to play at Marapara, despite its tough condition especially in the presence of the wind,” said

Lascuña. “But I expect an-other tight finish since ev-erybody will be trying to stop my streak.”

They include Van der Valk and Shin, who fell short of their bid to nail a breakthrough on the circuit organized by Pili-pinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. with shaky backside stints at Binitin, enabling Lascuña to gain a crack at the title and eventually snatch the win.

Others tipped to contend for the top P270,000 are Jay Bayron, Cassius Casas, Mhark Fernando and Sumcad who all bounced back into contention in the final round at Binitin but failed to match Lascuña’ solid finish.Tony Lascuña: Man to beat at Marapara

Streaking Lascuña eyes win no. 4 in Negros

LOS ANGELES—The Houston Rockets inked star guard James Harden to a four-year contract extension worth $118 mil-lion dollars, the NBA team announced on Saturday.

TROON—The British Open returns to Roy-al Troon on Scotland’s west coast this week with Rory McIlroy back in the field having been unable to defend the Claret Jug a year ago due to injury.

The Northern Irishman, who leads a host of the sport’s biggest names to have withdrawn in controversial circumstances from next month’s Rio Olympics, is bidding to win his fifth major and second Open after his victory at Hoylake, near Liverpool, in 2014.

Twelve months ago McIlroy was missing from the field in St Andrews after suffering an ankle injury while playing a game of football with friends.

He missed the cut at last month’s US Open but showed promise when he finished third at the recent French Open before making his way to Scotland to prepare for the unique chal-lenges of links golf.

“It was really disappointing, especially at St. Andrews last year, not to be able to defend,” McIlroy said last week.

“The last time I played The Open I won it, so good memories, and hopefully I can play similar to the way I did in Liverpool and give myself a chance.”

While Tiger Woods seems to have become yesterday’s man and will not feature, McIlroy comes to Troon as part of what could now be termed golf’s ‘big four’.

Alongside him at the summit of the sport are Australia’s Jason Day and American duo Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, the latter the winner of his first major at the US Open at Oakmont last month.

Between them, that quartet has won six of the last eight majors, but the challenges posed by Royal Troon, where cool and damp condi-tions are forecast, could well leave the field wide open. AFP

Asia Pacific baseball blasts off in ClarkCLARK—The 2016 Asia Pa-cific Intermediate and Senior Baseball Tournament fires off today (Monday, July 11) with host Philippines immediately launching its bid on two fronts at the Villas here.

Philippine champion Sa-rangani takes the field against fancied Japan at the start of ac-tion in the Intermediate 50/70 division while the International Little League Association of

Manila (ILLAM) begins its quest versus Australia over in the Senior League Baseball play.

Other opening-day matches pit defending champion Korea against Indonesia in Intermedi-ate and holder Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) versus Guam in Senior.

The traditional opening cer-emonies and parade of teams precede Day One action at 8 a.m. Monday.

Ten teams from eight coun-tries are competing in the tourney backed by Mister Do-nut and the Philippine Sports Commission, which serves as a qualifying meet for the World Series.

Hong Kong, the eighth coun-try in the field, kicks off its cam-paign in the Intermediate on Tuesday against Japan.

Champions in the Clark hos-tilities will represent Asia Pa-

cific in the Intermediate 50/70 Baseball WS in Livermore, Cal-ifornia and in the Senior League Baseball WS in Bangor, Maine next month.

Host Little League Philip-pines headed by district ad-ministrator Jolly Gomez said 400 players, coaches, officials and team supporters from the participating countries are ex-pected to be here, led by Guam Mayor Paul McDonald.

San Andres...

The Valenzuela native, backed by Kawasaki-Philippines, Motul Philippines, Oakley Philippines, Troylee Design, GoPro, Leatt Neck Brace, Pro Taper, Bell Helmet, Polisport, Pirelli Tires, Foilacar Indus-tries, Kia Global, R33 Car Exchange, Game Over, Halrey, GCG Pipe, JBS Motorcycle Parts and JM Stickers, leads both the standings of the Pro Open and 125, where the Rider of the Year comes from.

“Amidst the unexpected happenings, I thank God because I finished the race and I don’t have any serious injury at all,” said San Andres. “I would like to thank my family and the Korean motocross rid-ers for bringing it on and raising the level of races in the series. Until next time.”

The reigning NAMSSA Rider of the Year is com-ing off a sweep of both the Pro Open and Pro 125 categories of the national series’ fourth leg.

From A16

A win away from Rio. France’s Nando de Colo scores on a tough shot against a Turkish defender as the French blew Turkey away, 75-63, to arrange a showdown with Canada for a berth in the Rio De Janeiro Olympics in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila at the Mall of Asia Arena Saturday night.

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF THE POWER SUPPLY AGREEMENT (PSA) BETWEEN LEYTE IV ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC. AND GNPOWER LTD. CO. WITH PRAYER FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION AND THE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

ERC CASE NO. 2016-021RC

LEYTE IV ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (LEYECO IV) AND GNPOWER LTD. CO. (GNPOWER)

Applicants.x---------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

On 15 March 2016, Leyte IV Electric Cooperative,Inc.(LEYECO IV) and GNPower Ltd.Co. (GNPower) filed their joint Application for approval of their Power Supply Agreement (PSA), with prayer for confidential treatment of information and issuance of provisional authority.

In support of said Application, LEYECO IV and GNPower alleged,among others, the following:

1. Applicant LEYECO IV is a non-stock, non-profit electric cooperative existing under the laws of the Philippines,with principal office address at Brgy. Lamak, Hilongos, Leyte. It is authorized to distribute and provide electricity services to its member-consumers in the Municipalities of Inopacan, Hindang,Hilongos,Bato,.Matalom,and the City of Baybay,allin the Province of Leyte (collectively,the “Franchise Area”);

2. Copies of LEYECO IV’s Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Certificate of Registration and Certificate of Franchise are attached to the Application as follows:

Annex Document“A” LEYECO IV’s Articles of Incorporation “B” LEYECO IV’s By-laws

“C” Certificate of Registration with the National Electrification Administration (NEA)

“D” Certificate of Franchise

3. Applicant GNPOWER is a duly registered limited partnership organized and existing under Philippine laws, engaged in the business of developing, constructing, operating and owning power generation facilities and in the sale and trade of electric power. Its principal office is at 28th Floor, Orient Square Building, Don Francisco Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City;

4. GNPOWER’s pertinent documents evidencing its due registration as a limited partnership are appended to the Application, as follows:

Annex Document

“E” Certificate of Registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

“F” GNPOWER’s Amended Articles of Partnership

5. Applicants may be served with orders, notices and other legal processes of the Commission through its counsels of record;

6. The instant Application is filed pursuant to Sections 23, 25, 43 (u), and 45 (b) of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA Law), its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and other pertinent rules and regulations.A copy of the PSA signed by Applicants on 18 September 2015 is attached as Annex “G“ and forms an integral part of the Application;

STATEMENT OF FACTS7. The aggregated uncontracted base load demand

of Region 8 for years 2015 to 2018 is continually increasing as shown in the table below:

Contract Year Contract Duration Aggregated

Baseload 2015 Dec. 26, 2014 – Dec. 25, 2015 65 MW2016 Dec. 26, 2015 – Dec. 25, 2016 78 MW2017 Dec. 26, 2016 – Dec. 25, 2017 83 MW2018 Dec. 26, 2017 – Dec. 25, 2018 93 MW

8. The contracts of most of the Electric Cooperatives (ECs)in Region 8 with the National Power Corporation-Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (NPC-PSALM) expired on 25 December 2014

9. On 07 November 2013, the eleven (11) ECs of Region 8 participated in the bidding for PSALM’s 200 strips of energy from the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, but lost;

10. Typhoon Yolanda hit the region on 08 November 2013 stalling any efforts to contract additional power supply and shifting the focus instead on the massive restoration efforts in the area;

11. Thus, the Region 8 ECs decided to bid out their power supply requirements for the period 2015-201. In the middle of 2014, the Region 8 ECs conducted a Joint Power Supply Planning.Later, the Region 8 ECs decided,through a Memorandum ofAgreement(MOA),to conduct a joint procurement of their short-term aggregated baseload requirement, specifically, their power supply needs beginning 26 December 2015 until 25 December 2016. From September to December 2014, the competitive bidding for the region’s power requirements was held;

12. For such purpose, a Bids and Awards Committee was created to conduct the Region 8 Joint Competitive Power Supply Procurement (“R8 JCPSP”) as follows:

12.1. The Region 8 ECs initially prepared their respective least-cost power supply plans and subsequently their aggregated baseload demand for competitive bidding;

12.2. The competitive tender was published and announced in the coverage areas of the Region 8 ECs. In addition, prospective bidders (Generation Companies, IPP Administrators and Wholesale Aggregators whose names are listed on the Department of Energy (DOE) website) were invited;

12.3. The capacity offered by the winning bidder/s was allocated among the eleven (11) Region 8 ECs in proportion to their declared demand. A bidder was allowed to offer to supply capacity

that is less than or equal to the aggregated baseload requirement in any or all of the contract years in increments of 1 MW. In the event that some winning bidders offered less than 11 MW, the loads were optimally allocated in such a way that the blended price of generation resulting from the R8 JCPSP transaction is almost the same for all ECs. In the event multiple bidders who collectively satisfy the total baseload demand of R8 ECs are declared winners for any contract year, all winning bidders entered in to individual PSAs with each of the 11 ECs;

12.4. Bidders who signified their intention to join by buying the bid documents, attended pre-bid conferences where they gave their comments and sought clarification on the bidding requirements and process. The BAC issued bid bulletins and the Final Instruction to Bidders;

12.5. The process followed the 2-envelope system – the legal requirements and proof of financial and technical capability in the first, and the commercial offer in the second. Bids were evaluated based on an Evaluation Framework and Evaluation Methodology released to the Bidders;

12.6. After evaluating the bids of each supplier, on 14 November 2014, the BAC declared Applicant GNPOWER as a winning bidder of a total of 43 MW for Contract Year 2016, with a Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid with a Base Price offer of PhP5.0481/kWh and an evaluated Effective Price of PhP6.6658/kWh;

12.7. On 14 September 2015,GNPOWER and the Region 8 ECs commenced the final negotiations for the other commercial and technical terms and conditions of the PSA and negotiated the further reduction of the Contract Price from PhP5.0481/kWh to PhP4.9653/kWh and for the increase in capacity to 52MW;

Attached to the Application are copies of the relevant documents issued relative to the Joint Competitive Selection Process undertaken by the Region 8 ECs for the supply of their aggregated base load demand:

Annex Document“H” Invitation to Bid

“H-1” Copy of the page of the newspaper where the Invitation was published

“H-1-a” Affidavit of Publication of the Invitation to Bid“H-2” Memorandum of Agreement among Region 8 ECs “H-3” Emails confirming participation of interested

suppliers in the bidding“H-4” Final Instruction to Bidders“H-5” Bid Forms“H-6” Bid Evaluation Slips“H-7” Comparison of Bids“H-8” Notice of Award

13. On 18 September 2015, LEYECO IV and GNPOWER executed the subject PSA, providing the terms and conditions for the supply of 1MW baseload power to LEYECO IV, to assure the adequate and reliable supply of power to LEYECO IV’s franchise area

ABSTRACT OF THE PSA ANDOTHER RELATED INFORMATION

14. The following are the salient features of the PSA:

A. Term The Agreement shall be effective from 18 September

2015, the date of the execution of the PSA. For the delivery of the contracted capacity, it shall

have a term of one (1) year, starting on 26 December 2015 (12:00 A.M.) to 25 December 2016 (12:00 M.N.)

B. Contracted Capacity GNPOWER shall sell and deliver, or cause to deliver

to LEYECO IV a contracted capacity of 1MW at the delivery point of the facility.

Unutilized Capacity. The unutilized capacity of the Buyer may be made available for utilization of other Region 8 ECs or sold to the WESM.

Exchange of Contracted Capacities. To maximize capacity utilization, Region 8 ECs may exchange quantities of their Contracted Capacities. (Exchange in MW Capacity Protocol annexed to the PSA)

C. Contract Price

Under Schedule 1 of the PSA, the Total Monthly Charge, before taxes, for a Billing Period shall be computed according to the following:

Total Monthly Charge = Capacity Charge+Energy Charge

C. 1. Capacity Fee and Capacity Charge

The Capacity Fee is the component of the Contract Price allocated to pay for the cost, as well as, the operations and maintenance of the Facility and is designated as the Capacity Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA as such may be adjusted from time to time based on LEYECO IV’s Capacity Utilization Factor.

Where:QACTUAL = the actual energy delivered, in kWh, to the Buyer at

the Delivery Point for the Billing Period.CC = is the Contracted Capacity in kW.HT = is the total number of hours in the Billing Period.

EHTO = the sum of the duration, in Equivalent Hours, of Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in such Billing Period

CFCUF = the CapacityFee in PhP/kWh for a given CUF in a Billing month.

LCRCUF = the local component of the Capital Recovery Fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF.

LFOMCUF = the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF.

PHCPIn-1 = Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006=100),

as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be).

PHCPI0 = the base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month of December 2014. PHCPI0 = 140.5.

CUF = the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 70% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

The corresponding Capacity Fee price component for given Capacity Utilization Factor is set forth in the Table below:

Capacity Fees for Specific Capacity Utilization Factors

CAPACITY FEE LOCAL PRICE COMPONENTS (PHP/kWh)

C.U.F. Capital Recovery (LCRCUF)

Fixed O&M (LFOMCUF)

100% 2.2944 0.620499% 2.3176 0.626798% 2.3412 0.633197% 2.3654 0.639696% 2.3900 0.646395% 2.4152 0.653194% 2.4409 0.660093% 2.4671 0.667192% 2.4939 0.674391% 2.5213 0.681890% 2.5493 0.689389% 2.5780 0.697188% 2.6073 0.705087% 2.6372 0.713186% 2.6679 0.721485% 2.6993 0.729984% 2.7314 0.738683% 2.7643 0.747582% 2.7980 0.756681% 2.8326 0.765980% 2.8680 0.775579% 2.9043 0.785378% 2.9415 0.795477% 2.9797 0.805776% 3.0189 0.816375% 3.0592 0.827274% 3.1005 0.838473% 3.1430 0.849972% 3.1867 0.861771% 3.2315 0.873870% 3.2777 0.8863

For the resulting CUF which is not a whole number, the corresponding Capacity Fee Price Component shall be computed using the formula below:

Where,

LCRCUF - is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at the given CUF.

LCR@100% – is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at 100% CUF.

LFOMCUF – is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/kWh at the given CUF.

LFOM@100% – is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/kWh at 100% CUF.

CUF – is the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 70% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

The Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) shall be computed as follows:

CUF = max

Where:QACTUAL = the actual quantity of energy, in kWh, delivered

to LEYECO IV at the Delivery Point in the Billing Period

CC = the Contracted Capacity, in kWh, as set forth in Schedule 1

HT = the total number of hours in such Billing PeriodEHTO = the sum of the duration, in Equivalent Hours,

of Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in such Billing Period

C. 2. Energy Fee and Energy ChargeThe Energy Fee is the component of the Contract Energy Fee is the component of the Contract Energy FeePrice allocated to pay for the coal, including Government Charges, designated as the Energy Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA as adjusted from time to time due to changes in the delivered price of coal and Governmental Charges. The Energy Fee shall be computed in accordance with the following formula:

Energy Charge = QACTUAL x EF

EF = 0.2874 x + 1.5256 x + 0.2375

Where:QACTUAL = Actual energy delivered by GNPOWER to

LEYECO IV, in kWh, for the Billing Period

EF = Energy Fee in PhP/kWh

PHCPIn-1 = Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month

Where:

LFOMCUF

LCRLCRCUF

%100@=

CUFLFOM

LFOMCUF%100@LFOM@LFOM

=

EF = 0.2874 x + 1.5256 x

corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or as substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be)

PHCPI0 = base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month of December 2014 for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be)

ICIn-1 = Indonesian Coal Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, in US$/Mton

ICI0 = Base Indonesian Coal Price Index for the month of December 2014 = US$67.28/Mton

D. Currency of PaymentThe Contract Price shall be paid by LEYECO IV in Philippine Peso only.

E. Scheduled and Unscheduled OutagesUnder the PSA,GNPOWER shall be allowed Scheduled and Unscheduled Outages not to exceed forty-five (45) days per Contract Year, during which time reduced or no delivery will be available to LEYECO IV.

Unutilized Equivalent Hours for Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in the Contract Year cannot be carried forward to subsequent Contract Year.F. Replacement PowerDuring any Scheduled or Unscheduled Outages, GNPOWER and LEYECO IV shall cooperate to arrange for Replacement Power from, including but not limited to, other facilities of GNPOWER, third parties and the WESM. GNPOWER, at its own cost and in consultation with LEYECO IV, shall negotiate on behalf of LEYECO IV for the supply and delivery of capacity and energy from third parties for a price as close as possible to the Contract Price

G. Prompt Payment DiscountProvided LEYECO IV has no arrears from previous billings, including the Security Deposit or any unpaid charges or penalties, if LEYECO IV pays the invoice amount in full within 10 days from its receipt of the invoice, LEYECO IV shall be credited on the next subsequent bill a PPD equivalent to eight centavos per kilowatt-hour (PhP0.08/kWh).H. Security Deposit In the event of LEYECO IV’s failure to pay on Due Date, GNPOWER shall draw, at its option, from the Security Deposit on the working day immediately following the Due Date. Within thirty (30) Business Days from the Start of Delivery Date, LEYECO IV shall establish the Security Deposit and submit to GNPOWER documentary proof sufficient to allow GNPOWER to draw therefrom. The Security Deposit shall be in the form of cash and or irrevocable letter of credit and shall be equivalent to LEYECO IV’s projected maximum electricity bill, to be determined not later than sixty (60) calendar days prior to Start of Delivery.

COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGE OF THE GENERATION RATE AND IMPACT ON LEYECO IV’S RETAIL RATES15. LEYECO IV, together with the other Region 8 ECs,

needs to address the insufficiency of its power supply due to the increasing demand within its franchise area and the expiration of its contract with NPC-PSALM;

16. Currently, LEYECO IV receives a total of 10 MW from its existing suppliers. With an annual average growth rate of 3.89%, LEYECO IV forecasts that its peak demand from 26 December 2015 to 25 December 2016 will be 11.5 MW;

17. The additional supply from GNPOWER will significantly augment the supply deficiency of LEYECO IV and will decrease the adverse effects thereof by providing a stable and adequate source of electricity;

18. Among alternative suppliers capable of providing additional energy to LEYECO IV and the rest of the Region 8 ECs, GNPOWER’s rates proved to be more reasonable and competitive. While GNPOWER’s offer is primarily intended for its base load requirements, the Capacity Factor Pricing under the PSA provides flexibility in the DUs’ utilization of the Contracted Capacity;

19. LEYECO IV simulated a rate impact analysis which resulted in a PhP0.1307/kWh decrease with the execution of the PSA with GNPOWER, to wit: Simulation of Generation Mix Rate with GNPOWER for the year 2016

Power Supplier

Forecasted 2015

Quantity (kWh)

Amount (PhP)

Percent Share

(%)

Resulting Capacity Factor

(%)

2016 Average

Rate (P/kWh)

Weighted Average

Rate (Php/kWh)

GMCP 35,587,500.00 171,763,068.75 50.63% 81% 4.8265

5.2391GCGI 26,280,000.00 138,295,872.00 37.39% 100% 5.2624

GNPOWER 6,935,000.00 40,360,713.90 9.87% 77% 5.8233

WESM 1,488,925.05 17,841,172.42 2.12% 11.9826

TOTAL 70,291,425.05 368,260,827.07 100%

Simulation of Generation Mix Rate with GNPOWER for the year 2016

Power Supplier

Forecasted 2015 Quantity

(kWh)Amount (PhP)

Percent Share

(%)


(%)

2016 Average

Rate (Php/kWh)

Weighted Average

Rate (Php/kWh)

GMCP 35,587,500.00 171,763,068.75 50.63% 81% 4.8265

5.3697GCGI 26,280,000.00 138,295,872.00 37.39% 100% 5.2624

GNPOWER

WESM 8,423,925.05 67,385,788.98 11.98% 7.9993

TOTAL 70,291,425.05 377,444,729.73 100%

Generation Rate Impact: -0.1307

Notes:1. Analysis and simulations is based on coop’s forecasted

2016 hourly load profile 2. GNPower rate based on effective price3. GMCP rate is based on (i) Capacity Fee at Resulting

Capacity Factor; (ii) November 14 coal and shipping prices; (iii) Jan 1 2015 ~ Feb 2 2015 FOREX; (iv) PPD not included

4. WESM Prices is based on 2011~2013 Average prices Ex-ante & Ex-post Price per Nodal Point of LEYECO IV (4MAASI_T2L2&4ORMOC_T1L1)

20. In addition to the lower generation cost of the power supply from GNPOWER, LEYECO IV is also entitled to a Prompt Payment Discount (PPD), if conditions are met, equivalent to PhP0.08/kWh;

21. In compliance with Rule 20 of ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure relative to the submission of supporting documents and information for the approval of the PSA and the rate structure embodied therein, Applicants attached to the Application following documents to form integral parts thereof:

ANNEX DOCUMENT“I” Executive Summary of the PSA“J” Rate Impact Simulation“K” Sources of Funds/Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions

“K-1” Compact Disc containing a soft copy of Annex “K”“L” Breakdown of the Contract Price“M” Sample Computation of Power Rates“N” GNPOWER’s Audited Financial Statement for 2014

“O” GNPOWER’s Certificate of Registration No. WA-13-01-001 valid until January 2018

“P” LEYECO IV’s Distribution Development Plan (DDP)“Q” LEYECO IV’s Actual and Forecasted Energy and Demand“R” LEYECO IV’s Average Daily Load Curve

“S”

LEYECO IV’s Board Resolution authorizing the approval and signing of the PSA, authorizing its Board President, Carlito P. Suba-an and/or Officer-in-Charge, Brenda Flores-Ampolitod, to sign the PSA on behalf of LEYECO IV, and the filing of the Application with the ERC for the approval of the PSA

“T”

LEYECO IV’s Secretary’s Certificate attesting to the resolution of its Board of Directors authorizing its Officer-in-Charge, Brenda Flores-Ampolitod, to jointly file with the ERC the Application for the approval of the PSA between LEYECO IV and GNPOWER, and designating Engr. Janet L. Notarte as witness

“U”GNPOWER’s General Partner’sCertificate attesting to the resolution of the Board to execute the subject PSA with LEYECO IV, designating signatories thereto

22. Applicants reserve their right to submit other documents, either in the course of the hearing or as may be required by the Commission.

COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-FILING REQUIREMENTS

23. Applicants manifest compliance with the pre-filing requirements mandated under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the EPIRA and Rule 6 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, to be established by the following:

23.1 Certifications acknowledging receipt of the Application with annexes to be issued by the Legislative Bodies of Pasig City, Municipality of Hilongos, and the Province of Leyte, to be appended as Annexes “V”, “W” and“X”, respectively

23.2. Notarized Affidavit of Publication stating that the Application was published in a newspaper of general circulation within LEYECO IV’s Franchise Area, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y”; and

23.3. Complete newspaper issue where the Application was published, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y-1”, and the relevant page thereof where the Application appears, as Annex “Y-2”;

MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF ANNEXES“H-2” to “H-8”,“K”, and “K-1”

24. Under Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, a party to any proceeding before the Commission may request that certain information not be disclosed and be treated as confidential, by describing with particularity the information to be treated as confidential, specifying the ground for the claim of confidential treatment of the information and, if applicable, specifying the period during which the information must not be disclosed;

25. LEYECO IV requests for the confidential treatment of Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”of the Application, consisting ofthe MOA among Region 8 ECs, e-mails confirming participation of interested suppliers in the bidding, Final Instructions to Bidders, Bid Forms, Bid Evaluation Slips, Comparison of Bids, and Notice of Award, respectively. These annexes show the individual offers of the bidders which participated in the R8 JCPSP. The Region 8 ECs, LEYECO IV included, are bound by their undertaking to secure and keep in confidence the offers and the proposed terms of supply, so as not to prejudiceor pre-empt any future CSPs in which these bidders will participate.Otherwise, LEYECO IV and the rest of the Region 8 ECs may be held liable for damages for breach of confidentiality, and eventually, risk their good relations with the suppliers concerned;

26. Similarly, GNPOWER respectfully moves for the confidential treatment of Annexes “K” and “K-1” hereof, consisting of GNPOWER’s Sources of Funds and Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions.These annexes, exclusively owned by GNPOWER, contain information which areconsidered part of its business and trade secrets. As such, GNPOWER has the sole proprietary interest and will be unduly prejudiced should they be disclosed to the public;

27. These annexes contain numbers, data, formula, methodology, and calculations involving valuable and sensitive commercial, financial information reflecting GNPOWER’s business operations and financial trade secrets. Therefore, GNPOWER’s confidential, proprietary, and private information included in the aforesaid annexes should be protected from public dissemination. Otherwise, such information can be illegally and unfairly utilized by business competitors who may use the same for their own private gain and to the irreparable prejudice of GNPOWER.Negotiations with prospective customers may also be affected.

28. The information contained in Annexes “K” and “K-1”, constitute “trade secrets”, for which GNPOWER has actual and valuable proprietary interest. As explained by the Supreme Court, a trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in one’s business and gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information . It is indubitable that trade secrets constitute proprietary rights and jurisprudence has consistently acknowledged the private character of trade secrets . Further, as ruled in Garcia vs. Board of Investments , trade secrets and confidential, commercial and financial information are exempt from public scrutiny;

29. Accordingly, Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” be accorded confi dential treatment. As suc h, they are to be used exclusively by the Commission and for the sole purpose of evaluating this Application, thereby protecting these data from unnecessary public disclosure;

30. In accordance with Section 1(b), Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, Applicants submit one (1) copy each of Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” in a sealed envelope, with the envelope and each page of the documents stamped with the word “Confidential”.

PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

31. All the foregoing allegations are re-pleaded by

reference in support of herein Prayer for the issuance of Provisional Authority (PA) to implement the subject PSA;

32. LEYECO IV and GNPOWER pray for the issuance of a PA or interim relief prior to final decision pursuant to Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, to wit:

“Section 3. Action on the Motion. – Motions for provisional authority or interim relief may be acted upon with or without hearing. The Commission shall act on the motion on the basis of the allegations of the application or petition and supporting documents and other evidences that applicant or petitioner has submitted and the comments or opposition filed by any interested person, if there be any.”33. Considering that a substantial amount of time is

needed to evaluate the documents submitted to support the approval of herein Application, Applicants seek consideration of the Commission to approve the instant Application, immediately, albeit, provisionally;

34. Owing to the short term of the contract, which is only for a period of one (1) year, a PA is all the more imperative to allow the timely delivery of energy by GNPOWER to LEYECO IV, which is set to start on 26 December 2015 at 12:00 A.M.;

35. The Region 8 EC’s, including Leyeco IV, after careful evaluation if theywill defer the commencement of the delivery due to delayed filing, decided and required GNPower to commence its delivery immediately after its previous power supply agreement expired last December 25, 2015, this beingthe reasonable plan to mitigate the risks of WESM exposure,speciallywith the assumption that the 2015 occurrence of El Nino has an adverse impact on the supply of electricity and the WESM price,particularly during the summer season. Moreover, it was projected, as shown in the table below4, that the exposure to volatile market prices will cause significant increases in prudential guarantee payments which will constrain Region 8 ECs to avail of high interest-bearing loans in order to comply with PEMC requirement;

36. The additional power from GNPOWER is needed to curtail any power interruptions that may be experienced by LEYECO IV’s member-consumers due to inadequate power supply in the region;

37. To further support the Prayer for PA, anaffidavit emphasizing the necessity thereof is attached to the Application as Annex “Z”, to form an integral part thereof;

PRAYER38. Applicants LEYECO IV and GNPower pray before

the Commission that:i. All information attached as Annexes “H-2” to “H-

8”, “K” and “K-1” to the Application be treated as confidential;

ii Pending hearing on the merits, a PA be issued authorizing the immediate implementation of the subject PSA, including the rate structure therein, as applied;

iii. After due notice and hearing, the instant Application, the PSAand the rate structure contained therein be duly approved; and

iv. In the event that a Final Authority shall be issued after GNPOWER starts actual delivery of power to LEYECO IV under the terms of the subject PSA, said Final Authority be retroactively applied to the date of such actual delivery.

The Commission has set the Application for the hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence on 10August 2016 (Wednesday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at LEYECO IV’s Main Office, Brgy.Lamak, Hilongos, Leyte.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the Application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before the Applicants conclude the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

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

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman, JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 18th day of May 2016 in Pasig City.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff

Office of the Chairman and CEO

1 Air Philippines Corporation vs. Pennswell Inc., G.R. No. 172835, December 13, 2007. 2 Ibid., 3 177 SCRA 374 (1989). 4 Additional equivalent rate due to additional Prudential Guarantee required by PEMC (for the undelivered contracted

capacity from GNPower) with a conservative loan interest of 6% per annum and baseload load factor of 81%.

( TS - JULY 4 /11, 2016)


TTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGANChief of Staff

ffice of the Chairman and CEOffice of the Chairman and CEO

[email protected]

MO NDAY : J UULY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

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

Serena extends reignSan Andressweeps Pro 125 inmoto seriesKAWASAKI JBS Motocross Team’s Kenneth San Andres stamped his dominance once again in the fifth round of the 2016 NAMSSA Nation-al Motocross Development Program recently, ruling both the heats of the Pro 125 event at the Speedworld MX Circuit, SM Bicutan.

San Andres quashed the chal-lenge of Korean Jun Hyeon Kim and Ralph Ramento in both races of the Pro 125 of the series held under the auspices of the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association.

The many-time awardee of the Philippine Sportswriters Association for motocross was in a zone in the Pro 125 as he controlled the pace from the get go in the first moto and set the pace the rest of the way, before repeating the trick in the second heat.

San Andres continued his domi-nance in the Pro Open as he con-trolled action from start to finish of the first race. He was in command of the second before a crash near the finish allowed his Korean rival to steal the win.

“I had a great race in Round 5 of the series. I won first place overall in pro125/MX2 and first in Moto1 and fourth in Moto2 for a third-place overall finish in the Pro Open. Still thankful I got a place in that catego-ry because I accidentally crashed on a single jump before the finish line,” said San Andres.

Kawasaki JBS’ top rider Kenneth San Andres negotiates a sharp turn at the Speedworld en route to another Pro 125 victory.

Turn to A13

Williams had been stuck on 21 Grand Slams since winning last year’s Wimbledon, but the Ameri-can star ended that frustrating barren spell to retain the title and draw level with Steffi Graf’s Open era record.

Serena was pushed hard by Ker-ber in a high-quality clash lasting 81 minutes on Centre Court, but the German fourth seed eventu-ally crumbled under a barrage of 39 winners and 13 aces from the defending champion.

“It’s a great feeling to be here. Angelique brings out great tennis in me,” said Serena.

“Number 22 is awesome. Centre Court feels like home.”

Williams had come up short at the US Open last year, losing in the semi-finals.

She then was beaten in the Aus-tralian and French Open finals.

“Definitely so excited to win Wimbledon, that’s always a great feeling. But maybe even more so is the excitement of getting 22, try-ing so hard to get there, finally be-ing able to match history, which is pretty awesome,” said Williams.

“I think, if anything, I was able to show resilience that, no, that’s (the losses in New York, Melbourne and Paris) not going to shake me, you’re not going to break me, it’s going to make me stronger.”

Kerber said the American was a great champion.

“Serena you deserve it, you are a great champion and great person. We played a great match,” said Kerber.

To complete a golden day, Serena later teamed up with sister Venus to beat Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4 to claim their sixth Wimbledon doubles title.

- Doubles triumph -It was also their 14th doubles tri-

umph as a team at the majors and their 22nd in 23 finals overall.

Having avenged her shock loss against Kerber in the Australian Open final in January, Williams was wreathed in smiles as she pa-raded the Venus Rosewater Dish around Centre Court after collect-ing a cheque for £2 million ($2.5 million, 2.3 million euros).

But the far more significant reward is the knowledge she has

LONDON—Serena Williams powered to her seventh Wimbledon crown as the world number one finally claimed a record-equalling 22nd major title with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final.

reestablished her supremacy at a time when doubters were begin-ning to question the 34-year-old’s hunger after consecutive Slam fi-nal defeats this year.

In a testament to her remarkable longevity as the sport’s preeminent force, Serena is once again Wimble-don’s queen 14 years after her first success at the All England Club.

Equalling Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles will be Serena’s next goal.

The 71st singles title of Wil-liams’ astonishing career also

moved her within two of Martina Navratilova’s all-time record of nine Wimbledon triumphs.

“She is someone who beats re-cords and not just equals them,” warned coach Patrick Mourato-glou.

With pop royalty Beyonce and Jay-Z among Serena’s entourage in the players’ box, Williams finally hit the right notes after so many recent disappointments.

In her ninth Wimbledon final and 28th at the majors, Williams had a golden opportunity to seize the initiative in Kerber’s first ser-vice game, but the German showed her mettle as she nervelessly saved three break points.

Given Williams’ pursuit of Graf’s historic landmark, it was a delicious twist that the 47-year-old had played a role in Kerber’s recent rise after advising her compatriot.

Showing she has heeded Graf’s words of wisdom, Kerber had sprinted to the final without drop-ping a set.

Kerber, in her first Wimbledon final and second major title match, was moving Williams into awk-ward positions with her left-hand-ed ground-strokes.

But Serena kept slugging away and the barrage eventually proved too much for the 28-year-old to resist. AFP

WILLIAMS

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

MONDAY: JULY 11, 2016

[email protected]@gmail.com

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

Govt reviews airport projects

BUSINESS

Smart investing P1b in public WiFi hotspots

Piñol meets Mangyans. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (right) listens to Mangyan tribal leader Avelino Landoni of the Tadyawan community in Matulatula, Pola, Oriental Mindoro as he narrates the hardships that he and his fellow tribemates face, specifically in producing food. Among their concerns is the absence of efficient irrigation systems and road networks going to and coming from their farms. Piñol ordered the establishment of water systems in 11 communities in Pola town and the opening of dirt roads in the area. The Agriculture Department also turned over seeds and planting materials to the Mangyan community.

By Darwin G Amojelar

THE Transportation Depart-ment said it is reviewing the P108.2-billion regional air-ports project under the previ-ous administration’s public-private partnership program.

“As the new team, we are just getting up to speed with the review of projects,” said Transportation Undersecretary for aviation and airports Roberto Lim.

“But the overall goal is to provide the in-frastructure that will allow the Philippines to absorb more traffic, support this success-

ful tourism program of the Philippines,” Lim said over the weekend.

The Transportation Department under the Aquino administration earlier deferred the bid submission date as the agency need-ed to get clearances and approvals from the concerned agencies.

The agency pre-qualified Maya Con-sortium led by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Philippine Airports Consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp.-IIAC Airport Consortium, GMR-Megawide Consortium and Filinvest-JATCO-Sojitz Consortium for the project.

Aboitiz Equity teamed up with Vinci Air-ports of France to form Maya Consortium, while San Miguel Holdings Corp. tapped Incheon International Airport Corp. to create SMHC-IIAC Airport Corp.

Metro Pacific teamed up with Aeroports de Paris Management SA, while Filinvest tapped Japan Airport Terminal Corp. and Sojitz Corp.

The five provincial airports in the PPP bundle are the P20.26-billion Bacolod-Silay International Airport and the P30.4-billion Iloilo International Air-port under package 1, and the P14.62-billion Laguindingan Airport, P2.34-billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport and P40.57-billion Davao Interna-tional Airport under package 2.

The winning concessionaires for each airport bundle will handle the operation and maintenance of the air-ports for 30 years and expand the fa-cilities. Aside from the operation and maintenance, the contract will require

the winner to expand the terminal, apron, airside and landside facilities to address fu-ture demand.

The improvements are needed to enhance passenger safety and convenience and en-sure more efficient airport operations.

SMART Communications Inc. is invest-ing P1 billion this year to roll out WiFi service hotspots in transport hubs, gov-ernment offices and business establish-ments across the country.

“Over the past months, we have aggres-sively broadened the Smart WiFi foot-print through our key partnerships with government institutions and business establishments, consequently improving internet access and coverage nationwide,” said PLDT Inc. and Smart executive vice president Eric Alberto.

Alberto, who is also the president and chief executive of ePLDT, the digi-tal arm of PLDT, said with Smart WiFi, users could take advantage of free con-nectivity for an initial number of min-utes, after which the service would allow them to conveniently purchase credits from Smart to extend and boost

internet session. Smart WiFi public hotspots are cur-

rently undergoing upgrades at all four terminals of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City; Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao; Iloilo In-ternational Airport; Bacolod-Silay Inter-national Airport in Negros Occidental; and Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport in Ne-gros Oriental.

Smart WiFi is also available for use by waiting passengers at the terminals of major bus companies including Alps, Five Star Bus, Isarog Bus, Jam Liner, Phil-tranco and Victory Liner.

Aside from major transport hubs, Smart also expanded the WiFi service to cover more public areas such as city halls, schools and establishments including malls, restaurants and coffee shops.

Smart Wifi is also designed as an es-

sential tool for small and medium enter-prises and institutions.

“With more people using WiFi pro-vided by establishments they patronize, WiFi connectivity has been proven to contribute to business growth,” Alberto said.

The P1-billion budget for the roll out of WiFi service across the country was a part of PLDT’s P43-billion capital expen-diture program this year.

PLDT also allocated $100 million this year to roll out new cell sites using the 700-megahertz spectrum in key cities na-tionwide.

Smart said it planned to activate 360 cell sites with 700 MHz this year, initially in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao as a part of a three-year program to bring faster, affordable and reliable in-ternet to users. Darwin G Amojelar


BUSINESSMONDAY: JULY 11, 2016

B2

JULY 4-8, 2016 JUNE 27-JULY 1, 2016 STOCKS Close Volume Value Close Volume Value

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW

FINANCIALAG Finance 3.68 421,000 1,535,690.00 3.55 524,000 1,827,150.00Asia United Bank 47.5 240,200 11,282,290.00 47.5 129,500 6,087,215.00Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 112.80 7,502,700 847,775,610 114.00 12,645,240 1,418,835,874Bank of PI 99.00 3,669,470 363,804,563.50 99.00 16,884,300 1,634,611,971.00China Bank 37.8 304,400 11,598,415.00 38.1 625,000 23,798,865.00BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 4.09 213,000 869,180.00 4.10 127,000 512,830.00Bright Kindle Resources 1.34 434,000 585,370.00 1.40 100,000 136,800.00Citystate Savings 9.04 100 904.00 9.05 13,400 123,665.00COL Financial 14.5 99,400 1,420,122.00 14.2 1,252,200 17,554,066.00Eastwest Bank 18.86 3,140,200 58,900,858.00 18.38 3,066,600 55,405,978.00Filipino Fund Inc. 6.80 3,700 24,984 6.86 12,900 87,996I-Remit Inc. 1.91 1,570,000 3,059,980.00 2.2 4,690,000 10,596,420.00Manulife Fin. Corp. 628.00 740 463,360.00 600.00 70 42,000.00MEDCO Holdings 0.530 2,447,000 1,291,090.00 0.540 3,803,000 2,052,180.00Metrobank 90.9 11,549,020 1,029,540,699.50 89 13,926,770 2,950,662,329.00Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 0.92 13,677,000 12,391,400.00 0.91 37,000 33,830.00PB Bank 14.94 524,600 7,838,292.00 14.96 600,400 8,988,884.00Phil Bank of Comm 22.25 2,515,000 55,411,075.00 22.00 244,800 5,397,375.00Phil. National Bank 57.00 324,670 18,591,851.50 57.85 970,270 55,749,224.50Phil. Savings Bank 105 1,810 190,924.00 105 9,850 1,033,942.00PSE Inc. 270 13,120 3,507,120.00 265 26,460 6,901,860.00RCBC À’ 31.6 740,000 23,608,285 32 922,600 29,392,050Security Bank 191 6,190,080 1,183,539,085.00 191 19,915,480 3,797,727,159.00Sun Life Financial 1340.00 405 546,055.00 1350.00 1,130 1,537,185.00Union Bank 65.15 206,720 13,449,829.00 65.05 277,330 17,981,106.50Vantage Equities 1.49 514,000 771,180.00 1.52 247,000 372,720.00

INDUSTRIALAboitiz Power Corp. 44 11,815,800 529,556,685.00 45.9 10,747,000 497,744,515.00Agrinurture Inc. 3.89 6,114,000 23,298,210.00 3.74 1,602,000 5,895,150.00Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.85 7,415,000 6,411,910.00 0.81 2,504,700 2,413,370.00Alsons Cons. 2.03 13,985,000 27,917,070.00 1.99 27,802,000 55,840,000.00Asiabest Group 12.1 48,400 577,974.00 11.6 25,500 291,832.00Bogo Medelin 55 610 33,590.00 55.05 30 1,651.50Century Food 22.65 22,780,800 525,590,575 22.2 4,022,500 88,971,750Chemphil 155 250 38,110.00 175 990 172,285.00Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 150 12,110 1,879,358.00 173 6,700 1,147,956.00Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 17.92 22,341,100 381,884,380.00 16.24 10,691,500 171,787,180.00Concepcion 47 579,500 26,833,850 47 604,400 28,158,835Crown Asia 2.16 18,459,000 38,763,750.00 2.03 38,024,000 73,229,480.00Da Vinci Capital 5.35 4,457,700 24,416,826.00 5.6 17,534,200 103,088,016.00Del Monte 12.54 394,200 4,904,000.00 12.28 833,300 10,052,228.00DNL Industries Inc. 9.700 10,217,000 97,793,385.00 9.500 26,892,400 258,858,446.00Emperador 7.35 3,785,200 27,722,906.00 7.07 23,960,700 169,290,498.00Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.50 60,118,900 335,078,018.00 5.52 82,716,400 465,751,315.00EEI 7.65 1,139,700 8,716,147.00 7.73 1,063,700 8,166,605.00Euro-Med Lab 1.69 28,400 54,080.00 1.83 8,000 14,100.00First Gen Corp. 24.05 11,988,900 296,298,785.00 24.8 21,700,800 541,759,905.00First Holdings ‘A’ 69.45 1,109,540 76,767,829.00 67.85 601,530 40,567,616.50Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.20 44,000 529,082.00 12.00 83,800 1,002,690.00Holcim Philippines Inc. 15.20 240,000 3,670,768.00 15.20 358,900 5,419,678.00Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.54 852,200 4,753,590.00 5.56 918,800 5,125,379.00Ionics Inc 2.400 20,926,000 51,146,370.00 2.320 12,066,000 28,423,170.00Jollibee Foods Corp. 244.80 2,831,390 692,203,444.00 245.20 5,781,700 1,389,824,558.00Liberty Flour 38.00 9,800 350,330.00 32.20 103,800 3,334,685.00LMG Chemicals 1.87 31,000 58,930.00 2.14 136,000 251,240.00Mabuhay Vinyl 3.29 20,000 64,420.00 3.15 149,000 500,350.00Macay Holdings 36.00 10,600 375,485.00 37.50 5,200 195,155.00Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.2 3,432,800 93,075,700.00 26.95 5,781,300 154,408,655.00Maxs Group 28.5 3,081,100 91,250,675.00 29.1 5,221,900 139,455,230.00Megawide 7.04 2,441,000 16,969,721.00 6.6 4,331,200 28,367,563.00Mla. Elect. Co À’ 311.40 879,470 275,043,624.00 315.80 36,371,172 429,029,078.00MG Holdings 0.290 3,010,000 862,150.00 0.270 1,100,000 294,800.00Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.25 10,000 42,500.00 4.21 278,000 1,211,830.00Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.43 16,299,000 55,826,240.00 3.38 3,561,000 11,743,900.00Petron Corporation 10.28 38,843,700 413,974,162.00 11.00 20,242,100 223,313,970.00Phil H2O 3.04 3,000 9,120.00 3.19 7,000 22,340.00Phinma Corporation 11.46 1,400 15,908.00 11.64 375,800 4,187,462.00Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 6.25 4,986,100 31,009,494.00 6.25 4,824,600 29,456,342.00Phoenix Semiconductor 1.64 1,537,000 2,508,740.00 1.63 1,896,000 3,133,520.00Pryce Corp. À’ 2.9 4,543,000 13,647,680.00 2.8 1,616,000 4,573,070.00RFM Corporation 4.19 3,173,000 13,292,960.00 4.20 2,449,000 10,255,700.00Roxas and Co. 2.4 21,000 50,160.00 2.49 16,000 38,720.00Roxas Holdings 3.98 68,000 271,770.00 4 113,000 450,430.00San Miguel ‘Pure Foods À’ 213.8 11,450 2,477,174.00 209 11,840 2,458,090.00Splash Corporation 2.58 404,000 1,035,690 2.55 630,000 1,589,600Swift Foods, Inc. 0.150 14,740,000 2,251,290.00 0.148 3,873,000 811,420.00TKC Steel Corp. 1.86 12,740,000 24,058,090.00 1.80 37,024,000 72,355,420.00Trans-Asia Oil 2.49 6,906,000 16,980,040.00 2.50 7,236,000 17,521,240.00Universal Robina 200 7,355,300 1,867,116,554.00 207.4 8,580,440 1,776,891,308.00Victorias Milling 4.4 6,111,000 26,896,740.00 4.71 2,000 9,420.00Vitarich Corp. 1 265,847,000 274,519,110.00 0.87 10,515,450 7,848,670.00Vivant Corp. 30.50 4,000 122,015.00 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.34 22,121,000 30,857,710.00 1.28 1,563,000 1,942,430.00

HOLDING FIRMSAbacus Cons. À’ 0.390 21,790,000 8,114,400.00 0.375 2,900,000 1,071,100.00Aboitiz Equity 78.00 5,322,570 415,515,053.00 79.00 7,205,310 559,301,181.00Alliance Global Inc. 15.26 12,302,700 187,489,998.00 15.20 34,044,500 517,884,940.00Anglo Holdings A 1.45 39,464,000 47,911,660.00 1.14 205,000 231,760.00Anscor À’ 6.01 38,000 230,719.00 6.00 118,400 714,986.00ATN Holdings A 0.370 11,530,000 4,231,050.00 0.370 35,780,000 13,468,750.00ATN Holdings B 0.390 2,240,000 840,450.00 0.385 2,450,000 923,150.00Ayala Corp À’ 844 1,082,890 920,839,445.00 844 1,308,640 1,111,801,545.00Cosco Capital 7.69 18,574,800 143,492,991.00 7.7 7,100,100 55,094,314.00DMCI Holdings 12.50 12,962,100 164,667,832.00 12.70 23,118,700 293,929,120.00F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.33 410,400 2,185,257.00 5.34 443,800 2,379,173.00F&J Prince ‘B’ 5.7 10,400 59,280.00 6.2 27,500 160,653.00Filinvest Dev. Corp. 6.55 816,900 5,358,596.00 6.50 4,740,400 30,979,466.00Forum Pacific 0.222 790,000 190,930.00 0.244 5,830,000 1,457,860.00GT Capital 1470 541,515 794,016,495.00 1465 776,175 1,132,681,665.00House of Inv. 6.46 3,700 23,691.00 6.30 15,900 101,127.00JG Summit Holdings 84.25 10,175,250 856,699,014.50 84.50 11,045,980 1,015,294,365.50Keppel Holdings À’ 5 7,400 39,558.00 6.35 48,000 279,185.00Keppel Holdings `B’ 5.51 1,700 9,367.00 6.55 63,600 411,102.00Lopez Holdings Corp. 7.7 9,949,200 76,245,921.00 7.78 7,025,300 44,605,219.00Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.69 18,650,000 12,878,110.00 0.7 166,000 115,450.00LT Group 15.98 14,031,500 223,753,132.00 15.88 18,369,500 290,349,358.00Mabuhay Holdings À’ 0.480 10,363,000 5,091,445.00 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 6.82 128,132,900 875,653,225.00 6.77 206,337,000 1,411,809,859.00MJCI Investments Inc. 3.33 23,600 96,180.00 3.1 15,000 49,720.00Pacifica À’ 0.0330 157,100,000 5,147,100.00 0.0350 233,200,000 7,830,700.00Prime Media Hldg 1.230 35,000 43,170.00 1.250 33,500 70,430.00Prime Orion 1.910 3,639,000 6,768,760.00 1.830 2,242,000 4,027,310.00San Miguel Corp À’ 78.25 1,507,450 117,814,692.50 78.75 626,820 48,940,968.50Seafront À’ 2.26 25,000 55,550.00 2.25 57,000 125,900.00SM Investments Inc. 987.00 1,100,570 1,088,492,890.00 990.00 1,359,150 1,339,646,795.00Solid Group Inc. 1.21 956,000 1,133,140.00 1.18 314,000 365,680.00South China Res. Inc. 0.93 592,000 666,350.00 0.89 10,850,000 10,806,100.00Transgrid 181.00 490 88,720.00 185.00 40 7,400.00Top Frontier 190.000 68,530 13,057,011.00 195.000 132,440 26,017,734.00Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3000 10,220,000 2,988,750.00 0.3100 10,720,000 3,268,400.00Wellex Industries 0.2000 1,770,000 358,810.00 0.2050 11,700,000 2,375,390.00Zeus Holdings 0.290 8,010,000 2,317,700.00 0.305 8,170,000 2,449,150.00

P R O P E R T Y8990 HLDG 7.550 5,485,500 41,486,505.00 7.690 1,125,400 8,621,586.00Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 7.44 200 1,488.00 6.76 1,019,500 6,158,755.00A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.32 49,955,000 67,430,410.00 1.22 11,510,000 14,156,170.00Araneta Prop À’ 2.180 4,345,000 9,815,310.00 2.200 4,253,000 9,153,510.00Arthaland Corp. 0.270 850,000 240,500.00 0.280 3,390,000 960,000.00Ayala Land `B’ 38.200 59,664,800 2,291,873,360.00 39.000 51,806,400 2,033,166,025.00Belle Corp. À’ 3.32 6,883,000 22,560,910.00 3.28 3,832,000 12,672,580.00Cebu Holdings 5.11 54,400 279,061.00 5.17 83,000 421,932.00Century Property 0.510 15,558,000 7,933,720.00 0.510 24,847,000 12,463,870.00City & Land Dev. 1.00 215,000 219,490.00 0.92 76,000 69,910.00Cityland Dev. À’ 1.050 199,000 204,940.00 1.070 287,000 303,300.00Crown Equities Inc. 0.132 7,510,000 978,890.00 0.132 10,300,000 1,358,350.00Cyber Bay Corp. 0.670 84,205,800 61,988,690.00 0.670 142,827,000 95,100,110.00Double Dragon 60.8 3,613,390 222,053,336.50 62 7,164,690 435,784,522.50Empire East Land 0.790 38,466,000 30,388,250.00 0.790 2,324,000 1,843,300.00Ever Gotesco 0.150 26,990,000 4,048,670.00 0.154 420,000 63,770.00Global-Estate 0.99 6,791,800 9,126,630.00 0.98 11,309,000 10,947,330.00Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.98 41,027,000 81,047,560.00 1.97 110,014,000 216,658,140.00Interport À’ 1.24 228,000 277,990.00 1.25 214,000 264,850.00Keppel Properties 5.00 42,000 189,824.00 5.00 59,200 305,550.00Megaworld 4.65 229,807,000 1,079,553,480.00 4.6 251,755,000 1,159,660,520.00MRC Allied Ind. 0.106 151,650,000 16,406,730.00 0.099 94,390,000 9,332,970.00Phil. Estates Corp. 0.2750 260,000 67,400.00 0.2800 1,410,000 377,250.00Phil. Realty À’ 0.435 13,170,000 5,697,750.00 0.430 1,210,000 530,650.00

JULY 4-8, 2016 JUNE 27-JULY 1, 2016 STOCKS Close Volume Value Close Volume Value

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 37.30 5,600 212,495.00 40.20 64,100 2,480,740.00Primex Corp. 11.86 1,943,300 21,941,084.00 10.4 2,332,000 23,623,431.00Robinson’s Land `B’ 30.10 10,597,400 319,859,095.00 29.50 14,711,600 444,533,565.00Rockwell 1.77 1,140,000 1,994,510.00 1.8 4,483,000 8,097,200.00Shang Properties Inc. 3.3 902,000 2,953,710.00 3.3 767,000 2,535,240.00SM Prime Holdings 27.50 86,500,400 2,387,198,325.00 27.65 113,516,800 3,074,235,920.00Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.94 46,559,000 43,955,780.00 0.91 36,588,000 32,740,750.00Starmalls 7 33,600 233,490.00 6.97 67,700 459,487.00Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.020 5,497,000 5,511,240.00 1.000 5,351,000 5,403,150.00Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.570 71,588,700 393,585,175.00 5.320 42,211,700 221,481,627.00

S E R V I C E S2GO Group’ 7.35 151,000 1,096,910.00 7.22 212,500 1,550,988.00ABS-CBN 48.6 465,300 22,569,695.00 48.3 1,448,400 67,873,935.00Acesite Hotel 1.29 42,000 54,240.00 1.28 37,000 47,830.00APC Group, Inc. 0.610 19,319,000 11,239,960.00 0.580 11,208,000 6,615,660.00Asian Terminals Inc. 11 19,700 216,716.00 11.4 1,400 15,960.00Berjaya Phils. Inc. 7.04 129,700 912,719 7.3 193,700 1,462,668Bloomberry 6.78 35,359,700 235,009,758.00 6.55 94,984,000 586,270,288.00Boulevard Holdings 0.0580 162,300,000 9,417,740.00 0.0580 154,340,000 8,873,450.00Calata Corp. 2.93 33,036,000 95,495,840.00 2.88 12,661,000 36,311,680.00Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 98.5 1,908,230 188,480,071.00 98.75 2,807,680 275,880,643.00Centro Esc. Univ. 9.6 11,000 104,942.00 9.84 10,100 98,493.00Discovery World 2.05 55,000 111,100 2.07 87,000 173,610DFNN Inc. 5.12 2,354,100 11,893,342.00 5.33 2,329,300 12,789,688.00Easy Call “Common” 3.20 1,000 3,200.00 3.15 1,000 3,150.00FEUI 975 10 9,750.00 1000 56,070 53,830,650.00Globe Telecom 2356 243,555 574,422,320 2360 459,106 1,106,057,900GMA Network Inc. 6.36 619,500 3,934,284.00 6.37 453,700 2,868,561.00Golden Haven 18.00 12,578,000 226,351,258.00 19.20 73,921,900 1,282,806,388.00Grand Plaza Hotel 24.05 100,300 2,133,095 21.25 58,700 1,247,375Harbor Star 1.14 98,000 112,340.00 1.15 208,000 239,700.00I.C.T.S.I. 62 6,807,100 431,095,552.50 61.95 9,412,330 581,067,151.00Imperial Res. À’ 12.92 101,800 1,322,374 12.92 952,700 13,549,568Imperial Res. `B’ 152 440 64,810 150 670 104,135IPeople Inc. À’ 11.7 57,100 637,522.00 11.7 19,800 228,048.00IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.0094 184,000,000 1,701,900.00 0.0090 589,600,000 5,716,040.00IPM Holdings 9.35 1,334,600 12,507,050.00 9.39 1,371,900 12,883,264.00Island Info 0.340 124,260,000 41,598,400.00 0.325 98,900,000 32,637,700.00ISM Communications 1.6500 9,259,000 15,190,050.00 1.6100 9,843,000 16,194,850.00Jackstones 2.45 296,000 688,560.00 2.16 119,000 260,820.00LBC Express 13.34 71,400 944,886.00 13.92 241,500 3,204,916.00Leisure & Resorts 6.56 8,955,100 58,504,522 7.20 4,336,600 32,140,340Liberty Telecom 3.17 3,028,000 9,623,120.00 3.23 2,087,000 6,723,150.00Macroasia Corp. 2.60 108,000 271,550.00 2.78 114,000 291,350.00Manila Broadcasting 19.00 1,800 34,310 20.00 7,400 147,462Manila Bulletin 0.580 237,000 133,420.00 0.580 270,000 152,160.00Manila Jockey 1.99 98,000 195,520.00 2 291,000 577,400.00Melco Crown 3.78 43,821,000 167,743,290.00 3.79 129,316,000 465,919,970.00Metro Retail 4.57 175,814,000 796,760,030.00 4.14 82,683,000 339,925,250.00NOW Corp. 3.900 244,385,000 925,127,990.00 3.240 76,816,000 233,383,230.00Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 12.08 136,700 1,640,864.00 12 138,900 1,704,540.00PAL Holdings Inc. 5.20 236,700 1,255,648 5.60 711,000 4,064,810Paxys Inc. 2.5 5,000 12,500.00 2.45 37,000 90,670.00Phil. Racing Club 8.61 300 2,563.00 9.99 35,300 343,651.00Phil. Seven Corp. 137.00 214,050 26,708,339.00 124.00 4,970 611,585.00PLDT Common 2094.00 563,020 1,188,752,810.00 2140.00 696,175 1,467,813,790.00PremiereHorizon 0.455 29,040,000 13,043,550.00 0.420 11,627,000 7,735,350.00Premium Leisure 1.190 45,832,000 53,772,130.00 1.170 177,241,000 211,795,650.00Puregold 44.90 11,789,900 519,408,750.00 42.50 8,804,400 370,868,265.00Robinsons RTL 84.00 6,011,910 513,685,788.00 86.10 4,684,920 389,867,983.50SBS Phil. Corp. 6.41 2,534,200 16,249,773.00 6.33 5,732,400 36,774,752.00SSI Group 3.65 71,194,000 249,278,750.00 3.28 48,772,000 155,762,770.00STI Holdings 0.570 29,508,000 17,107,800.00 0.570 9,869,000 5,591,020.00Transpacific Broadcast 1.92 3,000 5,720.00 1.96 26,000 47,850.00Travellers 3.42 3,905,000 13,297,890.00 3.34 7,696,000 25,989,620.00Waterfront Phils. 0.330 1,230,000 410,400.00 0.335 300,000 101,700.00Yehey 6.280 203,600 1,251,612.00 6.300 514,000 3,107,982.00

MINING & OILAbra Mining 0.0041 7,784,000,000 31,266,700.00 0.0042 930,000,000 3,827,100.00Apex À’ 3.48 17,594,000 62,987,380.00 3.50 81,230,000 305,080,120.00Atlas Cons. À’ 4.40 1,208,000 5,335,510.00 4.38 653,000 2,860,070.00Atok-Big Wedge À’ 11.80 4,900 56,322.00 11.80 5,300 59,954.00Basic Energy Corp. 0.230 32,760,000 7,539,510.00 0.234 7,720,000 1,831,000.00Benguet Corp À’ 7.0900 100,400 736,328.00 7.3800 28,100 207,904.00Benguet Corp `B’ 7.6500 31,200 221,346.00 7.1000 55,800 420,440.00Century Peak Metals Hldgs 0.62 2,935,001 2,026,290.00 0.59 899,000 535,340.00Coal Asia 0.500 25,593,000 12,855,240.00 0.490 7,740,000 3,840,500.00Dizon 8.80 166,200 1,437,406.00 8.55 89,900 780,818.00Ferronickel 0.890 104,334,000 94,057,900.00 0.870 124,543,000 107,262,920.00Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.285 115,310,000 33,731,450.00 0.290 2,260,000 638,350.00Lepanto À’ 0.248 218,470,000 54,824,820.00 0.243 179,450,000 45,176,660.00Lepanto `B’ 0.250 9,570,000 2,510,350.00 0.255 24,480,000 6,339,600.00Manila Mining À’ 0.0130 1,214,600,000 14,942,900.00 0.0130 625,400,000 8,116,700.00Manila Mining `B’ 0.0140 313,400,000 4,367,900.00 0.0140 354,000,000 4,667,800.00Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 1.87 5,235,000 9,774,170.00 1.74 3,637,000 6,260,170.00Nickelasia 5.53 47,991,700 265,087,058.00 5.03 18,774,500 94,666,140.00Nihao Mineral Resources 2.78 1,709,000 4,746,790.00 2.68 750,000 1,976,730.00Omico 0.5800 1,304,000 726,280.00 0.5500 171,000 94,070.00Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.2200 810,000 1,003,770.00 1.2000 427,000 512,860.00Oriental Pet. À’ 0.0110 521,500,000 5,907,500.00 0.0120 422,300,000 4,714,680.00Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0120 7,200,000 86,500.00 0.0130 15,200,000 185,500.00Petroenergy Res. Corp. 4.00 274,000 1,085,430.00 3.96 128,000 513,220.00Philex À’ 8.75 28,359,100 252,302,532.00 8.56 28,122,600 237,082,550.00PhilexPetroleum 4.55 40,861,000 189,554,600.00 4.15 16,747,800 78,066,210.00Philodrill Corp. À’ 0.0120 932,400,000 11,226,300.00 0.0130 239,400,000 2,995,600.00Semirara Corp. 121.90 1,550,910 190,562,379.00 125.60 3,222,380 398,853,979.00TA Petroleum 3.89 2,711,000 10,779,120.00 3.81 1,505,000 5,746,650.00United Paragon 0.0110 274,200,000 2,942,800.00 0.0120 375,200,000 4,322,300.00

PREFERREDABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 47.3 518,900 24,837,665.00 48.2 3,328,800 155,872,990.00Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 536 1,890 1,029,165.00 544.5 44,410 23,843,910.00Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 541.5 9,770 5,289,655 549.5 4,040 2,187,230First Gen F 116 180 19,692.00 First Gen G 115.4 40 4,616.00 118 35,170 3,948,249.00GLOBE PREF P 540.5 3,070 1,664,050.00 540.5 11,230 6,069,750.00GMA Holdings Inc. 6.26 1,292,800 8,172,676.00 6.36 634,600 4,029,492.00Leisure and Resort 1.07 1,186,000 1,256,020 1.06 3,359,000 3,572,840MWIDE PREF 111.9 26,950 3,016,705.00 112 4,190 469,196.00PCOR-Preferred A 1065 1,000 1,067,115.00 1065 6,520 6,943,800.00PCOR-Preferred B 1160 1,260 1,461,600.00 1160 2,550 2,942,000.00PF Pref 2 1021 8,020 8,170,920.00 1028 1,140 1,171,920.00SMC Preferred B 79.9 27,000 2,154,100.00 79.7 24,080 1,892,810.00SMC Preferred C 79.65 202,020 15,941,934 80 34,660 2,784,418SMC Preferred D 76 280,550 21,321,800.00 76.1 118,400 9,012,060.00SMC Preferred E 76.5 202,270 15,473,375.00 76.95 68,650 5,221,162.50SMC Preferred F 78 75,190 5,865,581.00 78.4 49,170 3,815,832.00SMC Preferred G 78.3 605,910 47,266,175.00 78 338,820 26,417,604.00SMC Preferred H 77 704,770 54,267,978.00 77 215,710 16,593,895.00SMC Preferred I 77 278,010 21,397,747.00 76.9 255,350 19,573,032.00

WARRANTS & BONDSLR Warrant 2.650 4,943,000 12,859,020.00 2.710 4,445,000 12,702,990.00

S M EAlterra Capital 3.8 4,042,000 15,269,010.00 3.7 4,253,000 15,985,180.00Makati Fin. Corp. 3.68 35,000 124,270.00 3.53 20,000 67,020.00Italpinas 4.49 8,379,000 36,497,810.00 4.44 7,856,000 36,405,860.00Xurpas 16.12 2,388,000 38,875,894.00 16.4 7,757,100 126,034,130.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDSFirst Metro ETF 127.9 34,250 4,404,616.00 128.8 109,060 13,977,334.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS VOLUME

Abra Mining 7,784,000,000Manila Mining À’ 1,214,600,000Philodrill Corp. À’ 932,400,000Oriental Pet. À’ 521,500,000Manila Mining `B’ 313,400,000United Paragon 274,200,000Vitarich Corp. 265,847,000NOW Corp. 244,385,000Megaworld 229,807,000Lepanto À’ 218,470,000

STOCKS VALUE

SM Prime Holdings 2,387,198,325.00Ayala Land `B’ 2,291,873,360.00Universal Robina 1,867,116,554.00PLDT Common 1,188,752,810.00Security Bank 1,183,539,085.00SM Investments Inc. 1,088,492,890.00Megaworld 1,079,553,480.00Metrobank 1,029,540,699.50NOW Corp. 925,127,990.00Ayala Corp À’ 920,839,445.00


BUSINESSMONDAY: JULY 11, 2016

B3

SM Prime cleared to raise P60b

Market likely to trade sideways

What’s eating Danny?– An attrition tale

JEDEDIAH MARIE M. DE JESUS

GREEN LIGHT

DANNY is a call center professional. He joined the BPO industry as soon as h be � nished college and built his career over the years. People see him as a vibrant, brilliant and passionate employee and colleague and is considered as a “model”

employee having stayed with one company for 13 straight years.In the most recent couple of years, he was promoted twice. His latest achieve-

ment is becoming a senior leader in human resources. In this role, he liaised between management and employees, addressed grievances and promoted the company’s culture and values. He did very well in leading employee engage-ment initiatives like fun run events, summer outings and outreach programs.

One morning, he came to work and � led his resignation. Everyone was shocked at his decision and it caused a lot of his peers to wonder. “Why? What happened?” Danny got a lot of those. Danny’s response was not the usual “I got a better o� er elsewhere,” “I hate my boss,” or “I need to take care of a sick relative.” His was one that was di� cult to articulate because it was very deeply rooted. He felt that he could no longer represent the company’s decisions. Danny felt that he could no longer operate in support of business needs at the expense of what were proclaimed as corporate values.

No longer � tsHow does one refute that? What kind of retention spiel can you say to

someone who has realized that he no longer � ts? � is is one kind of corpo-rate reality that drives good people away. In graduate school, we are taught to think about or create vision-mission statements, as well as company val-ues. � ese are pillars which help drive the success of the business. Values shape culture, ultimately culture shapes people. However, what happens when the environment becomes unbearable to its inhabitants? � ere are two natural responses, � ght or � ight. � e decision to � ght it out or to quit lies on the individual’s threshold for pain. Sometimes, even the toughest ones quit, given the “right” drivers.

� ere is an existing model that explains the progression of an employee’s with-drawal from a job, the job dissatisfaction-job withdrawal process. It describes the change in behavior, physical and psychological. Alongside these changes comes a negative impact to job involvement and satisfaction. However, what is not distinctly accounted for in the model is the internal struggle that an em-ployee feels in getting to that point of withdrawal. Regardless of the trigger, pay, bene� ts, schedule, workload, in the mind of an employee, there is a “disconnect.”

Mismatch statesHere are a few mismatch states which eventually lead to an employee’s

withdrawal from a job:• Incompatibility–� is is likely to happen to new-hires, those whose ten-

ure is less than six months. � rough the course of on-boarding and training, the employee � nds it di� cult to adhere to rules or exhibit behavior aligned with the company’s values. Something as simple as greeting every person you meet a “good morning” throughout the day to develop a culture of opti-mism may seem ridiculous to some. � at simple task might make someone � nd another work environment that does not force that behavior.

• Delusion–False advertising can be the cause of this occurrence. Every company markets itself as something, some want to be seen as cool, some others sophisticated, for many premium brands, elite.

• Falling out–� is happens when an employee feels a tragic regression of af-� nity towards his employer. � is is a gradual process of realization triggered by changes in corporate direction, or an employee’s evolving craving for change.

Danny’s case is that of an employee who experienced a falling out with his employer. He lost faith in the company, in turn; his con� dence in his own decision-making and capability diminished. It is quite heartbreaking to go through any of these states, most especially for an employee like Danny who is a home-grown talent of the company. His experience and performance is incomparable. His mentorship will be missed. His withdrawal from the job was something that could not be salvaged because no monetary value could compensate for how he felt.

Champion corporate culture and valuesEmployers need to wary of this scenario. It is true that an institution

cannot control what goes on in our minds, but it can certainly in� uence it a great deal. Organizational leaders need to contemplate about how they are championing the culture and values of the company in every decision they make. � ese decisions trickle down to the front lines as actions and if these actions do not jive well with established corporate and personal values, em-ployees will struggle to execute these actions because it would seem like an imposition on their personal beliefs.

Employees across all levels may possibly experience this internal struggle at varying stages in their tenure. It can become di� cult to detect depending on his degree of physical or psychological withdrawal from the job. Of-tentimes, it is too late to change the employee’s decision when he expresses his intent to leave. � is is when a regular one on one becomes useful for a manager to check on an employee’s overall well-being, not just about about his ability to deliver tasks, but also his feelings towards his environment.

An employee’s separation, whether voluntary or involuntary, ultimately a� ects the bottomline. Having to hire replacements doubles up the hiring, onboarding and relationship building cost and e� orts. Loyalty is earned and sustained. Sustaining loyalty can be di� cult and may have to be a conscious e� ort. At the end of the day, it reaps quanti� able and intangible bene� ts.

� e story and characters in this article are inspired by real-life scenarios. Real names have been altered to protect their identities.

Jedediah Marie M. De Jesus is an MBA student of Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business at De La Salle University. � is re� ection essay is part of the requirements of the course, Strategic Human Resource Management.

� e views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily re� ect the o� cial position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and its administrators.

Republic Cement’s awards. Cement and building materials provider Republic Cement Group receives various recognitions at the 2016 Panata Awards given by the Philippine Association of National Advertisers. Republic Cement won a gold in internal communications for its campaign Tibay ng Samahan: A 60-Year Journey with Republic and a bronze in the brand integrated program – thematic category for Republic Bossing sa Tibay campaign. Shown are (from left) Republic Cement vice president for marketing Chuck Janolino, communications offi cer Rose Enriquez, senior communications manager Myle Macalam, senior marketing manager Malou Yap, brand manager Gem Alfonso and vice-president for public affairs Cirilo Pestaño.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

THE Securities and Exchange Commission approved the shelf registration of SM Prime Holdings Inc. to issue P60 billion worth of � xed-rate bonds over a period of three years to � nance expansion projects.

STOCKS are expected to move sideways this week, as investors remain cautious over ‘Brexit’ fears and other developments overseas.

� e strong US jobs data re-leased over the weekend could also renew concerns about a pos-sible US rate hike by the Federal Reserve, analysts said.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over the weekend that total non-farm payroll employ-ment in the US increased 287,000 in June, much higher than the re-vised 11,000 in May. US unem-ployment rate rose slightly to 4.9 percent in June.

Other global economic data set

to be released this week are Chi-na’s second-quarter gross domes-tic product and trade balance, US retail sales and the Philippines’ May export � gures.

Luis Limlingan, managing di-rector of Regina Capital Devel-opment Corp., said range trading strategy was expected to persist over the short term as volatility remained strong.

“We are more focused on watching resistance points be-tween 7,870 and 7,900 as contin-uous consolidation at this level will increase risk of a possible downward reversal, this prompt-ing us to take pro� ts already,” Limlingan said.

� e bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index ended the week at 7,771.52 on July 8, down by 0.8 percent from previous week’s close on pro� t taking and renewed concerns over ‘post-Brexit’ developments, referring to the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union.

� e broader all-share index also closed lower by 0.5 percent to 4,713.90.

Except for � nancial (up 0.1 percent) and mining and oil (up 0.4 percent), all other sub-indices ended in the red led by industrial (down 1.5 percent) and property (down 0.7 percent).

Jenniffer B. Austria

Shelf registration refers to the � ling and registration of a pub-licly-listed company with SEC for a security o� ering that will be conducted incrementally over a period of time. It allows the com-pany to register new stock o� er-ings without having to issue them immediately.

Documents showed that for the � rst tranche, SM Prime would issue up to P5 billion worth of 10-year bonds with an oversub-scription of P5 billion, which if exercised would boost total pro-ceeds to P10 billion.

� e property � rm expects to conduct the bond o� ering this month.

BDO Capital and Invest-ments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., Chinabank Capital and First Met-ro Investments Corp. are the joint

issue managers and joint lead un-derwriters for the o� ering.

SM Prime continues its expan-sion despite Hans Sy’s decision to step down as the top executive of the company starting October.

BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco said this would not have any signi� cant impact on the bond o� ering as Sy would continue to sit as director and chairman of the executive committee of SM Prime and would remain hands on and involved in decision making.

Sy will step down as president and chief executive of SM Prime on Oct. 1 and will be replaced by SM Prime executive vice presi-dent Je� rey Lim.

Francisco said Lim had served SM Prime for decades and was trusted by the family and inves-tors.

SM Prime’s P60-billion shelf registration is the second big-gest � led with the SEC a� er San Miguel’s P73-billion shelf regis-tration earlier approved by the corporate regulator.

Net proceeds will be used to fund capital expenditures and ex-pansion of SM Prime’s commer-cial, o� ce and hotel operations.

� e group is building three new business process outsourcing towers in its shopping mall com-plexes in Clark, Pampanga; Sta. Rosa, Laguna; and Iloilo.

SM Prime is also set to start constructing three o� ce projects at Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City and an o� ce tower in Cebu.

SM Prime is also building ho-tels in Quezon City and Mall of Asia complex.

SM Prime operates four core businesses including malls, resi-dential, commercial and hotel and convention centers.

� e group had 56 malls operat-ing in the Philippines, with a to-tal gross � oor area of 7.3 million square meters as of end-March. It also operates six malls in Chi-na located in the cities of Xia-men, Jinjiang, Chengdu, Suzhou, Chongqing and Zibo.

B4

PH keeps borrowinglimit of P135b in Q3

AES alsointerestedin naturalgas power

Anchor Land plans 1,000 hotel rooms in 5 years

Toyota plans. Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., along with the Toyota Group of Export Suppliers, holds its bi-annual meeting with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Show (seated from left) are TMP senior executive vice president David Go, Toyota Autoparts Philippines president Hiroshi Fukutani, TMP president Satoru Suzuki, Peza director general Lilia de Lima, Peza deputy director general for operations Mary Harriet Abordo, Peza deputy director general for policy and planning Tereso Panga and Toyota special economic zone manager Shiela Marie Pidlaoan. They are joined by officers from the Toyota Group of Export Suppliers.

By Gabrielle Binaday

THE Bureau of Treasury said over the week-end it will keep a domestic borrowing ceiling of P135 billion in the third quarter of the year.

The agency said in a notice posted in its website it was keep-ing the borrowing ceiling through the auction of treasury bills and bonds in July to September 2016 to finance this year’s budget defi-cit target equivelent to 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product.

The government plans to sell P20 billion worth of 91-, 182-, and 364-day debt paper on July 20, Aug. 10 and Sept. 21. It will also sell P25 billion worth of trea-sury bonds through auctions on July 28, Aug. 8 and Sept. 18.

The auction of the various debt paper with short and long tenors

were the same as programmed in the first two quarters of the year.

The government is keeping a borrowing mix of 14 percent from foreign and 86 percent from domestic creditor in 2016.

The inter-agency Develop-ment Budget Coordination Committee earlier told report-ers the government aimed to reduce its dependence on costly foreign debt by maintaining the current domestic component of its borrowing plan.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said that the country has enough liquidity to

support the projected higher defi-cit for this year.

“Our data show we have enough liquidity in the domestic market to support public borrow-ing,” Dominguez said. “A more aggressive spending plan will, in fact, help relieve our domestic banking system of excess liquid-ity problems.”

Meanwhile, the national gov-ernment’s debt as of end-May this year hit P5.885 trillion, up 2.31 percent from P5.752 trillion year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, the na-tional government debt was al-most unchanged, increasing just 0.3 percent or about P1.93 bil-lion from P5.883 trillion at the end of April.

Domestic debt as of end-May dropped 0.56 percent to P3.79 trillion from P3.81 trillion a year ago. The debt, however, was

P27.93 billion higher than P3.76 trillion recorded in April.

Foreign debt, which accounts for the remaining national debt, climbed 8 percent to P2.08 tril-lion in end-May from P1.93 tril-lion in the same month last year. The figur was P26 billion higher than the end-April 2016 level.

Meanwhile, national guaran-teed debt in May 2016 rose 12.25 percent to P448.20 billion from P399.279 billion a year ago.The figure was P58.84 billion lower than the prior month’s level.

The government plans to bor-row less this year and reduce the debt stock to a record low of 41.8 percent of the economy from 44.8 percent last year.

The debt stock a decade ago was at a high of 68.5 percent be-fore being trimmed to below 50 percent of the economy since 2013.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

AES Philippines and joint ven-ture partner Electricity Generat-ing Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand are looking at opportunities in the natural gas and renewable energy industries over the medium term, an official said over the weekend.

“We are looking at a lot of proj-ects... for baseload, energy stor-age and now moving into RE and in medium term, gas supply, gas power projects as well. We want to understand what the need of the market and be able to supply that,” AES Philippines market business leader Neeraj Bhat told reporters.

Neeraj said while there was a strong need for baseload projects or those power plants that could run 24 hours a day, the trend would likely change over time.

“For gas... it’s very early stage... We’re just looking to be ahead of the game,” the official said, add-ing AES had global experience in wind and solar projects in the re-newable energy sector.

“We’re looking at all, but quickest to market is solar but need to wait and see how the regulatory pro-gram shapes up for the next round of renewables,” Neeraj said.

Neeraj,meanwhile, said the company was on scheduled to complete the country’s first 10-megawatt battery based-en-ergy storage facility in Masinloc, Zambales province this month.

He said the company also planned to start a 40-MW battery energy storage facility in the Vi-sayas soon. Neeraj said both the Masinloc and Negros Occidental battery energy storage facilities were designed to serve the ancillary reserve requirement of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.


ANCHOR Land Holdings Inc. plans to build a portfolio of 1,000 hotel rooms over the next five years as it bets on the strong growth of the tourism sector,

Anchor Land vice chairman Steve Li said the company would build hotels in Boracay, Palawan and Tagaytay.

Li said the company recently acquired a 10-hectare property in Tagaytay, which it planned to develop into a mixed-use devel-opment with retirement villages, hotels, commercial and residen-

tial developments.The company plans to launch

the development next year afterf finalizing the masterplan of the property.

The company is in talks to ac-quire properties in Boracay and Palawan for future hotel develop-ments.

“We hope to have four to five ho-tels over the next five years,” Li said.

Anchor Land is currently build-ing the 128-room Admiral Hotel, which will rise along Roxas Bou-leverd in Manila.

Admiral Hotel, which will be managed by Accor Hotels group’s

M Gallery brand, will be complet-ed in the next three years.

Li said company’s decision to be aggressive with the hotel ven-ture would provide new revenue stream.

Anchor Land is in the midst of rebalancing its property portfo-lio to increase recurring income while strengthening its core resi-dential business.

Anchor Land over the next five years expects to obtain 20 percent of the revenues from recurring business.

Anchor Land earlier said it planned to build 10,000 bedspac-

es for students and employees of business process outsourcing companies.

The company has identified Pa-say, Taguig, North Edsa and the university belt area in Manila as potential sites for the planned de-velopment.

Anchor Land started as a resi-dential developer building con-dominiums in the Binondo area that primarily targeted Chinese buyers.

It has expanded to other sectors by building warehouses for Chi-nese companies and going into office development.

PHILIPPINE-SPANISH Friendship Day is celebrated every June 30 as a national holiday by virtue of Republic Act No. 9187 authored by Senator Edgardo J. Angara and enacted into law in February 2003. This day was meant to commemo-rate the decree made by President Emilio Aguinaldo after the Siege of Baler grant-ing safe passage and friendly treatement to Spanish soldiers garrisoned inside the Baler Church.

To recall our history, a group of Span-ish soldiers were besieged for almost a year by warring Katipuneros in Baler, Aurora even after the Treaty of Paris, where Spain seceded the Philippines to the United States of America, had al-ready been signed. These soldiers were among the last to stay and fight in the Philippines, not knowing they had al-ready lost to the United States. It was considered as the Royal Spanish Army’s last stand in the Philippines, and many a film had been made in its honor.

It was just, therefore, appropriate to celebrate Philippine-Spanish Friend-ship Day in Baler, the fourteenth such celebration and the 117th of the Siege of Baler, upon the invitation of Baler’s very own Senator Edgardo J. Angara and his son, the extremely hard-working Sena-tor Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara.

This year’s festivities started with a beautiful cultural presentation at the plush Costa Pacifica Baler resort owned by the Angaras which, in my book, is one

the best resorts in the country. The show started with the Belles of Baler, an all-female group that not only can belt out those pop hits with professional aplomb, but can also make many a gentleman’s head turn. Believe me, they were look-ers. The Ilongot tribe, indigenous to Aurora province, performed a dance which looked similar to the ones I saw being performed all the way up to the north of Luzon Island. The Philippine Ballet Group awed the audience with their terpsichorean renditions of classic favourites, and I noticed that the mem-bers of the Diplomatic Corp were the most impressed. The night ended with a feverish but hypnotic fire dance per-formed under the moonlit night on the beach facing the Pacific Ocean. Truly spectacular.

In this day and age, thus, the Siege of Baler, by tourists and foreign guests alike, including the Spanish, has taken on a more friendly, less violent, more enjoyable atmosphere. If I was a Spanish soldier in the 21st Century, I’d definitely want to make my last stand here… in blissful retirement.


M O N D AY : J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

BUSINESS B5

Cemex offeringoversubscribed

Celebrating Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day in Baler

Military host Col. Felimon Santos; Usec. Benito Bengzon Jr. of DOT; Mayor Nelianto Bihasa of Baler, Aurora; Aurora Congresswoman Bellaflor Angara-Castillo; Chairperson Patricia Licuanan of CHED; Hon. Guillermo Escribano, Embassy of Spain Charge d’ Affaires; Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines; Sen. Sonny Angara; Aurora Vice Governor Rommel Angara; Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte; and NHCP Executive Director Ludovico Badoy

Embassy of Spain Charge d’ Affaires Guillermo Escribano Sen. Sonny Angara

Former Senator Ed Angara, Felecitas Radaic, Sofia Radaic Jelic; Philippine Ballet theater Sylvia Lichauco-de Leon, Irina Sapozhnikova and Joseph Stephen Henry Philips

With Sylvia Lichauco-De Leon, Gloria Manalang-Angara and QC Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte

Meralco denies ERC’s claims

New lifestyle center. There’s a new kid on the block at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City and it’s changing the game for retail. SM Supermalls unveils S Maison, a unique lifestyle center which opened with the newest luxury hotel, Conrad Manila, at the heart of the Mall of Asia Complex on June 15, 2016. Designed by French company Malherbe, S Maison, is an upscale and well-curated retail podium housing first-in-market dining concepts, branded retail, well-appointed services. It also has three state-of-the-art Director’s Club cinemas.


CEMEX Holdings Philippines Inc., the cement manufactur-ing company conducting an initial public offering, will likely exercise an overallotment option due to strong demand from both foreign and domestic investors, one of the underwriters handling the transaction said over the weekend.

BDO Capital and Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said the inter-national and domestic tranches of the of-fering were both oversubscribed at the end of the offering period on Friday.

“We are the stabilizing agent so the greenshoe option [or the over allotment option] has to be exercised,” Francisco said.

A strong demand was also noted among local small investors after BDO Capital opened branches in three malls to accom-modate them.

Cemex Holdings is offering 2.0322.2 bil-lion common shares at P10.75 per share for a total of P21.84 billion. The company has also allocated 304.947 million shares to cover overallment, which will boost total proceeds to P25 billion.

Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., The Hon-gkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., Singapore Branch and J.P. Morgan Securities plc are acting as joint global co-

ordinators and joint bookrunners, while BDO Capital serves as the domestic lead underwriter for the transaction.

Cemex Holdings chairman and presi-dent Pedro Jose Palomino earlier said he was pleased over the strong participation that the IPO received from institutional investors.

“We take this as a sign of the investors’ confidence in the long-term prospects of CHP and, more importantly, the Philip-pines as a whole,” Palomino said.

Francisco said the Cemex Holdings IPO was fairly priced and competitively com-pared with its regional peers.

“Cemex Holdings will be a good proxy for the Philippine infrastructure sector for the next couple of years,” Francisco said.

Cemex Holdings will be the second ce-ment manufacturing company to be listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MANILA Electric Co. has sought dismissal of the anti-competition complaint filed by the Energy Regulatory Commission’s in-vestigatory unit, saying it has no reason to restrict competition in the market and in-crease prices as a distribution firm.

Meralco, in a filing submitted to the regulator, cited the withholding of capac-ity by other power generators that caused the spike in power rates at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in November to December 2013.

The electricity retailer said the compa-ny’s bidding procedure as contained in a power supply agreement with Therma Mo-bile Inc. owned by the Aboitiz Group, “was not for the purpose of competing and did not result in restricting competition in any

market for electricity.”ERC is set to start hearings on the viola-

tions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, especially on anti-competitive behavior case in August.

“Neither did Meralco’s nomination and bidding procedure constitute an abuse of market power or an attempted monopoli-zation of any market for electricity,” it said.

Meralco said it contracted the capacity from Therma Mobile to serve the require-ments of customers and its nomination and bidding procedure did not unduly limit the participation of a generation unit.

“Meralco’s nomination and bidding procedure was not intended to cause sig-nificant increase in market prices. The increase in market prices is due to the violations of the WESM rules by other plants,” it said.

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF THE POWER SUPPLY AGREEMENT (PSA) BETWEEN LEYTE III ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC. AND GNPOWER LTD. CO. WITH PRAYER FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION AND THE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

ERC CASE NO. 2016-032 RC

LEYTE III ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (LEYECO III) AND GNPOWER LTD. CO. (GNPOWER)

Applicants.x---------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

On 23 March 2016, Leyte III Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LEYECO III) and GNPower Ltd. Co. (GNPower) filed their joint Application for approval of their Power Supply Agreement (PSA), with prayer for confidential treatment of information and issuance of provisional authority.

In support of said Application, LEYECO III and GNPower alleged, among others, the following:

1. Applicant LEYECO III is a non-stock, non-profit electric cooperative existing under the laws of the Philippines, with principal office address at National Highway, Barangay San Roque, Tunga, Leyte. It isauthorized to distribute and provide electricity services to its member-consumers in the Municipalities of Alangalang, Barugo, Capoocan, Carigara, Jaro, Pastrana,San Miguel, Sta. Fe, andTunga, all in the Province of Leyte(collectively, the “Franchise Area”);

2. Copies of LEYECO III’s Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Certificate of Registration, and Certificate of Franchise are attached to the Application as follows:

Annex Document“A” LEYECO III’s Articles of Incorporation “B” LEYECO III’s By-laws

“C” Certificate of Registration with the National Electrification Administration (NEA)

“D” Certificate of Franchise

3. Applicant GNPOWER is a duly registered limited partnership existing under Philippine laws, engaged in the business of developing, constructing, operating, and owning power generation facilities and in the sale and trade of electric power. Its principal office is at 28th Floor, Orient Square Building, Don Francisco Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City;

4. GNPOWER’s pertinent documents evidencing its due registration as a limited partnership are appended to the Application, as follows

Annex Document

“E” Certificate of Registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

“F” GNPOWER’s Amended Articles of Partnership

5. Applicants maybe served with orders, notices, and other legal processes of the Commission through its counsels of record;

6. The instant Application is filed pursuant to Sections 23, 25, 43 (u), and 45 (b) of Republic Act No. 9136,otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA Law), its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and other pertinent rules and regulations. A copy of the PSA signed by Applicants on 18 September 2015 is attached as Annex “G” and forms an integral part of the Application;

STATEMENT OF FACTS7. The aggregated uncontracted baseload demand

of Region 8 for years 2015 to 2018 is continually increasing as shown in the table below:

Contract Year Contract Duration Aggregated

Baseload 2015 Dec. 26, 2014 – Dec. 25, 2015 65 MW2016 Dec. 26, 2015 – Dec. 25, 2016 78 MW2017 Dec. 26, 2016 – Dec. 25, 2017 83 MW2018 Dec. 26, 2017 – Dec. 25, 2018 93 MW

8. The contracts of most of the Electric Cooperatives (ECs) in Region 8 with the National Power Corporation - Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (NPC-PSALM) expired on 25 December 2014;

9. On 07 November 2013, the eleven (11) ECs of Region8 participated in thebidding for PSALM’s 200 strips of energy from the Unified Leyte Geothermal PowerPlant, but lost;

10. Typhoon Yolanda hit the region on 08 November 2013 stalling any efforts to contract additional powersupply and shifting the focus instead on themassive restoration efforts in the area;

11. Thus, the Region 8 ECs decided to bid out their power supply requirements for the period 2015-2018. In the middle of 2014, the Region 8 ECsconducted a Joint Power Supply Planning. Later,the Region 8 ECs decided, through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), to conduct a joint procurement of their short-term aggregated baseload requirement, specifically, their power supply needs beginning 26 December 2015 until 25December 2016. From September to December2014, the competitive bidding for the region’s power requirements was held;

12. For such purpose, a Bids and Awards Committee was created to conduct the Region 8 Joint Competitive Power Supply Procurement (“R8 JCPSP”) as follows:

12.1. The Region 8 ECs initially prepared their respective least-cost power supply plans and subsequently their aggregated baseload demand for competitive bidding;

12.2. The competitive tender was published and announced in the coverage areas of the

Region 8 ECs. In addition, prospective bidders (Generation Companies, IPP Administrators and Wholesale Aggregators whose names are listed on the Department of Energy (DOE) website) were invited;

12.3. The capacity offered by the winning bidder/s was allocated among the eleven (11) Region 8 ECs in proportion to their declared demand. A bidder was allowed to offer to supply capacity that is less than or equal to the aggregated baseload requirement in any or all of the contract years in increments of 1MW. In the event that some winning bidders offered less than 11 MW, the loads were optimally allocated in such a way that the blended price of generation resulting from the R8 JCPSP transaction is almost the same for all ECs. In the event multiple bidders who collectively satisfy the total baseload demand of R8 ECs are declared winners for any contract year, all winning bidders entered into individual PSAs with each of the 11 ECs;

12.4. Bidders who signified their intention to join by buying the bid documents, attended pre-bid conferences where they gave their comments and sought clarification on the bidding requirements and process. The BAC issued bid bulletins and the Final Instruction to Bidders;

12.5. The process followed the 2-envelope system – the legal requirements and proof of financial and technical capability in the first, and the commercial offer in the second. Bids were evaluated based on an Evaluation Framework and Evaluation Methodology released to the Bidders;

12.6. After evaluating the bids of each supplier, on 14 November 2014, the BAC declared Applicant GNPOWER as a winning bidder of a total of 43 MW for Contract Year 2016, with a Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid with a Base Price offer of PhP5.0481/kWh and an evaluated Effective Price of PhP6.6658/kWh;

12.7. On 14 September 2015,GNPOWER and the Region 8 ECs commenced the final negotiations for the other commercial and technical terms and conditions of the PSA and negotiated the further reduction of the Contract Price from PhP5.0481/kWh to PhP4.9653/kWh and for the increase in capacity to 52MW;

Attached to the Application are copies of the relevant documents issued relative to the Joint Competitive Selection Process undertaken by the Region 8 ECs for the supply of their aggregated base load demand:

Annex Document“H” Invitation to Bid

“H-1” Copy of the page of the newspaper where the Invitation was published

“H-1-a” Affidavit of Publication of the Invitation to Bid“H-2” Memorandum of Agreement among Region 8 ECs “H-3” Emails confirming participation of interested

suppliers in the bidding“H-4” Final Instruction to Bidders“H-5” Bid Forms“H-6” Bid Evaluation Slips“H-7” Comparison of Bids“H-8” Notice of Award

13. On 18 September 2015,LEYECO III and GNPOWER executed the subject PSA, providing the terms and conditions for the supply of 1 MW baseload power toLEYECO III,to assure the adequate and reliable supply of power to LEYECO Ill’s franchise area;

ABSTRACT OF THE PSA ANDOTHER RELATED INFORMATION

14. The following are the salient features of the PSA:

A. Term The Agreement shall be effective from 18 September

2015, the date of the execution of the PSA.

For the delivery of the contracted capacity, it shall have a term of one (1) year, starting on 26 December 2015 (12:00 A.M.) to 25 December 2016 (12:00 M.N.)

B. Contracted Capacity GNPOWER shall sell and deliver, or cause to deliver

to LEYECO III a contracted capacity of 1MW at the delivery point of the facility.

Unutilized Capacity. The unutilized capacity of the Buyer may be made available for utilization of other Region 8 ECs or sold to the WESM.

Exchange of Contracted Capacities. In order to maximize capacity utilization, Region 8 ECs may exchange quantities of their Contracted Capacities. (Exchange in MW Capacity Protocol annexed to the PSA)

C. Contract Price

Under Schedule 1 of the PSA, the Total Monthly Charge, before taxes, for a Billing Period shall be computed according to the following:

Total Monthly Charge = Capacity Charge+Energy Charge

C. 1. Capacity Fee and Capacity Charge

The Capacity Fee is the component of the Contract Price allocated to pay for the cost, as well as, the operations and maintenance of the Facility and is designated as the Capacity Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA as such may be adjusted from time to time based on LEYECO III’s Capacity Utilization Factor.

Where:QACTUAL = the actual energy delivered, in kWh, to the Buyer at

the Delivery Point for the Billing Period.CC = is the Contracted Capacity in kW.HT = is the total number of hours in the Billing Period.


CFCUF = the Capacity Fee in PhP/kWh for a given CUF in a Billing month.

LCRCUF = the local component of the Capital Recovery Fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF.

LFOMCUF = the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF.

PHCPIn-1 = Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006=100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be).

PHCPI0 = the base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month of December 2014. PHCPI0 = 140.5.

CUF = the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 70% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

The corresponding Capacity Fee price component for a given Capacity Utilization Factor is set forth in the Table below:•

Capacity Fees for Specific Capacity Utilization Factors

CAPACITY FEE LOCAL PRICE COMPONENTS (PHP/kWh)

C.U.F. Capital Recovery (LCRCUF)

Fixed O&M (LFOMCUF)

100% 2.2944 0.620499% 2.3176 0.626798% 2.3412 0.633197% 2.3654 0.639696% 2.3900 0.646395% 2.4152 0.653194% 2.4409 0.660093% 2.4671 0.667192% 2.4939 0.674391% 2.5213 0.681890% 2.5493 0.689389% 2.5780 0.697188% 2.6073 0.705087% 2.6372 0.713186% 2.6679 0.721485% 2.6993 0.729984% 2.7314 0.738683% 2.7643 0.747582% 2.7980 0.756681% 2.8326 0.765980% 2.8680 0.775579% 2.9043 0.785378% 2.9415 0.795477% 2.9797 0.805776% 3.0189 0.816375% 3.0592 0.827274% 3.1005 0.838473% 3.1430 0.849972% 3.1867 0.861771% 3.2315 0.873870% 3.2777 0.8863

For the resulting CUF which is not a whole number, the corresponding Capacity Fee Price Component shall be computed using the formula below:

Where,

LCRCUF - is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at the given CUF.

LCR@100% – is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at 100% CUF.

LFOMCUF – is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/kWh at the given CUF.

LFOM@100% – is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/kWh at 100% CUF.

CUF – is the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 70% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

The Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) shall be computed as follows:

CUF = max

Where:

QACTUAL = the actual quantity of energy, in kWh, delivered to LEYECO III at the Delivery Point in the Billing Period

CC = the Contracted Capacity, in kWh, as set forth in Schedule 1

HT = the total number of hours in such Billing Period


C. 2. Energy Fee and Energy Charge

The Energy Fee is the component of the Contract Price allocated to pay for the coal, including

LFOMCUF

LCRLCRCUF

%100@=

CUFLFOM

LFOMCUF%100@LFOM %100@LFOM

=

Government Charges, designated as the Energy Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA as adjusted from time to time due to changes in the delivered price of coal and Governmental Charges. The Energy Fee shall be computed in accordance with the following formula:

Energy Charge = QACTUAL x EF

EF = 0.2874 x + 1.5256 x + 0.2375

Where:

QACTUAL = Actual energy delivered by GNPOWER to LEYECO III, in kWh, for the Billing Period

EF = Energy Fee in PhP/kWh

PHCPIn-1 = Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or as substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be)

PHCPI0 = base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month of December 2014 for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be)

ICIn-1 = Indonesian Coal Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, in US$/Mton

ICI0 = Base Indonesian Coal Price Index for the month of December 2014 = US$67.28/Mton

D. Currency of PaymentThe Contract Price shall be paid by LEYECO III in Philippine Peso only.

E. Scheduled and Unscheduled OutagesUnder the PSA,GNPOWER shall be allowed Scheduled and Unscheduled Outages not to exceed forty-five (45) days per Contract Year, during which time reduced or no delivery will be available to LEYECO III.

Unutilized Equivalent Hours for Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in the Contract Year cannot be carried forward to subsequent Contract Year.F. Replacement PowerDuring any Scheduled or Unscheduled Outages, GNPOWER and LEYECO III shall cooperate to arrange for Replacement Power from, including but not limited to, other facilities of GNPOWER, third parties and the WESM. GNPOWER, at its own cost and in consultation with LEYECO III, shall negotiate on behalf of LEYECO III for the supply and delivery of capacity and energy from third parties for a price as close as possible to the Contract Price.

G. Prompt Payment DiscountProvided DORELCO has no arrears from previous billings, including the Security Deposit or any unpaid charges or penalties, if LEYECO III pays the invoice amount in full within 10 days from its receipt of the invoice, LEYECO III shall be credited on the next subsequent bill a PPD equivalent to eight centavos per kilowatt-hour (PhP0.08/kWh).H. Security Deposit In the event of LEYECO III’s failure to pay on Due Date, GNPOWER shall draw, at its option, from the Security Deposit on the working day immediately following the Due Date. Within thirty (30) Business Days from the Start of Delivery Date, LEYECO III shall establish the Security Deposit and submit to GNPOWER documentary proof sufficient to allow GNPOWER to draw therefrom. The Security Deposit shall be in the form of cash and or irrevocable letter of credit and shall be equivalent to LEYECO III’s projected maximum electricity bill, to be determined not later than sixty (60) calendar days prior to Start of Delivery.

COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGE OF THE GENERATION RATE AND IMPACT ON BILECO’S RETAIL RATES

15. LEYECO III, together with the other Region 8 ECs, needs to address the insufficiency of its power supply due to the increasing demand within its franchise area and the expiration of its contract with NPC-PSALM;

16. Currently, LEYECO III receives a total of 2.5 MW from its existing suppliers, out of its peak requirement of 7.2 MW. With an annual average growth rate of 3%, LEYECO III forecasts that its peak demand from 26 December 2015 to 25 December 2016 will be 7.76 MW;

17. The additional supply from GNPOWER will significantly augment the supply deficiency of LEYECO III and will decrease the adverse effects thereof by providing a stable and adequate source of electricity;

18. Among alternative suppliers capable of providing additional energy to LEYECO III and the rest of the Region 8 ECs, GNPOWER’s rates proved to be more reasonable and competitive. While GNPOWER’s offer is primarily intended for its base load requirements, the Capacity Factor Pricing under the PSA provides flexibility in the DUs’ utilization of the Contracted Capacity;

19. LEYECO III simulated a rate impact analysis which ultimately resulted in a Php0.1018/kWh decreasewith the execution of the PSA with GNPOWER, to wit:1

Simulation of Generation Mix Rate with GN Power for the Year 2016

Power Supplier


(kWh)Amount

(PhP)Percent Share

(%)


(%)

2016 Average

Rate (P/kWh)

Weighted Average

Rate (kWh)

GCGI 21,900,000.00 109,938,000.00 61.32% 100% 5.0200

5.8698GNPOWER 8,760,000.00 48,715,236.00 24.53% 100% 5.5611

WESM 5,055,281.14 50,988,184.71 14.15% 5.3344

TOTAL 35,715,281.14 209,641,420.71 100%

Simulation of Generation Mix Rate without GN Power for the Year 2016

Power Supplier


(kWh)Amount (PhP)

Percent Share

(%)

Resulting Capacity Factor (%)

2016 Average

Rate (P/kWh)

Weighted Average Rate

(kWh)

GCGI 21,900,000.00 109,938,000.00 61.32% 100% 5.02005.9716GNPOWER 00.00 00.00 0.00% 100% 0.0000

WESM 13,815,281.14 103,340,054.77 38.68% 5.3344TOTAL 35,715,281.14 213,278,054.77 100%

Generation Rate Impact: -0.1018

20. In addition to the lower generation cost of the power supply from GNPOWER, LEYECO III is also entitled to a Prompt Payment Discount (PPD), if conditions are met, equivalent to PhP0.08/kWh;

21. In compliance with Rule 20 of ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure relative to the submission of supporting documents and information for the approval of the PSA and the rate structure embodied therein, Applicants attached the following documents to form integral parts hereof:

ANNEX DOCUMENT“I” Executive Summary of the PSA“J” Rate Impact Simulation“K” Sources of Funds/Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions

“K-1” Compact Disc containing a soft copy of Annex “K”“L” Breakdown of the Contract Price“M” Sample Computation of Power Rates“N” GNPOWER’s Audited Financial Statement for 2014

“O” GNPOWER’s Certificate of Registration No. WA-13-01-001 valid until January 2018

“P” LEYECO III’s Distribution Development Plan (DDP)“Q” LEYECO III’s Actual and Forecasted Energy and Demand“R” LEYECO III’s Average Daily Load Curve

“S”LEYECO III’s Board Resolution No. 2015-09-142, authorizing the approval and signing of the PSA with GNPOWER, designating signatories thereto and to file an application with the ERC for PSA approval

“T”GNPOWER’s General Partner’s Certificate attesting to the resolution of the Board to execute the subject PSA with LEYECO III and designating signatories thereto

22. Applicants reserve their right to submit other documents, either in the course of the hearing or as may be required by the Commission;

COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-FILING REQUIREMENTS

23. Applicants manifest compliance with the pre-filing requirements mandated under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the EPIRA and Rule 6 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure,to be established by the following:

23.1 Certifications acknowledging receipt of the Application with annexes to be issued by the Legislative Bodies of Pasig City, Municipality of Tunga, and the Province of Leyte, to be appended as Annexes “V”, “W” and“X”, respectively;

23.2 Notarized Affidavit of Publication stating that the Application was published in a newspaper of general circulation within LEYECO III’s Franchise Area, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y”; and

23.3 Complete newspaper issue where the Application was published, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y-1”, and the relevant page thereof where the Application appears, as Annex “Y-2”;

MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF ANNEXES“H-2” to “H-8”,“K”, and “K-1”

24. Under Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, a party to any proceeding before the Commission may request that certain information not be disclosed and be treated as confidential, by describing with particularity the information to be treated as confidential, specifying the ground for the claim of confidential treatment of the information and, if applicable,specifying the period during which the information must not be disclosed;

25. LEYECO III requests for the confidential treatment of Annexes ”H-2” to ”H-8” of the Application, consisting of the MOA among Region8 ECs, e-mails confirming participation of interested supplied in the bidding,Final Instructions to Bidders, Bid Forms, Bid Evaluation Slips, Comparison of Bids,and Notice of Award,respectively.These annexes show the individual offers of the bidders which participated in the R8 JCPSP. The Region 8 ECs, LEYECO III included, are bound by their undertaking to secure and keep in confidence the offers and the proposed terms of supply, so as not to prejudice or pre-empt any future CSPs in which these bidders will participate. Otherwise, LEYECO III and the rest of the Region 8 ECs may be held liable for damages for breach of confidentiality, and eventually,risk their good relations with the suppliers concerned;

26. Similarly, GNPOWER respectfully moves for the confidential treatment of Annexes “K” and “K-1” hereof, consisting of GNPOWER’s Sources of Funds and Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions.These annexes, exclusively owned by GNPOWER, contain information which are considered part of its business and trade secrets. As such, GNPOWER has the sole proprietary interest and will be unduly prejudiced should they be disclosed to the public;

27. These annexes contain numbers, data, formula, methodology, and calculations involving valuable and sensitive commercial, financial information reflecting GNPOWER’s business operations and financial trade secrets. Therefore, GNPOWER’s confidential, proprietary, and private information included in the aforesaid annexes should be protected from public dissemination. Otherwise, such information can be illegally and unfairly utilized by business competitors who may use the same for their own private gain and to the irreparable prejudice of GNPOWER.Negotiations with prospective customers may also be affected.

28. The information contained in Annexes “K” and “K-1”, constitute “trade secrets”, for which GNPOWER has actual and valuable proprietary interest. As explained by the Supreme Court, a trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in one’s business and gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information2 . It is indubitable that trade secrets constitute proprietary rights and jurisprudence has consistently acknowledged the private character of trade secrets3 . Further, as ruled in Garcia vs. Board of Investments4 , trade secrets and confidential, commercial and financial information are exempt from public scrutiny;

29. Accordingly, Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” be accorded confi dential treatment. As suc h, they are to be used exclusively by the Commission and for the sole purpose of evaluating this Application, thereby protecting these data from unnecessary public disclosure;

30. In accordance with Section 1(b), Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, Applicants submit one (1) copy each of Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” in a sealed envelope, with the envelope and each page of the documents stamped with the word “Confidential”.

.

PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

31. All the foregoing allegations are re-pleaded by reference in support of theirPrayer for the issuance of Provisional Authority (PA) to implement the subject PSA;

32. LEYECO III and GNPOWER pray for the issuance of a PA or interim relief prior to final decision pursuant to Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, to wit:

“Section 3. Action on the Motion. – Motions for provisional authority or interim relief may be acted upon with or without hearing. The Commission shall act on the motion on the basis of the allegations of the application or petition and supporting documents and other evidences that applicant or petitioner has submitted and the comments or opposition filed by any interested person, if there be any.”33. Considering that a substantial amount of time

is needed to evaluate the documents submitted to support the approval of herein Application, Applicants seek the kind consideration of the Commission to approve the instant Application, immediately, albeit, provisionally;

34. Owing to the short term of the contract, which is only for a period of one (1) year, a PA is all the more imperative to allow the timely delivery of energy by GNPOWER to LEYECO III, which is set to start on 26 December 2015 at 12:00 A.M.;

35. The Region 8 EC’s, including LEYECO III, after careful evaluation if theywill defer the commencement of the delivery due to delayed filing, decided and required GNPower to commence its delivery immediately after its previous power supply agreement expired last 25 December 2015, this beingthe reasonable plan to mitigate the risks of WESM exposure,speciallywith the assumption that the 2015 occurrence of El Nino has an adverse impact on the supply of electricity and the WESM price,particularly during the summer season.LEYECO III, Moreover, it was projected, as shown in the table below5, that the exposure to volatile market prices will cause significant increases in prudential guarantee payments which will constrain Region 8 ECs to avail of high interest-bearing loans in order to comply with PEMC requirement;

36. The additional power from GNPOWER is needed to curtail any power interruptions that maybe experienced by LEYECO Ill’s member-consumers due to inadequate power supply in the region;

37. To further support the prayer for PA, an affidavit emphasizing the necessity thereof is attached to the Application as Annex ”Z”,and form an integral part thereof;

PRAYER39. Applicant LEYECO III and GNPower pray before

the Commission that:i. All information attached as Annexes “H-2” to “H-

8”, “K” and “K-1” to the Application be treated as confidential;

ii Pending hearing on the merits, a PA be issued authorizing the immediate implementation of the subject PSA, including the rate structure therein, as applied;

iii. After due notice and hearing, the instant Application, the PSAand the rate structure contained therein be duly approved; and

iv. In the event that a Final Authority shall be issued after GNPOWER starts actual delivery of power to LEYECO Ill’s under the terms of the subject PSA, said Final Authority be retroactively applied to the date of such actual delivery.

The Commission has set the Application for the hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence on 04 August 2016 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at LEYECO III’s Main Office, National Highway, Barangay San Roque, Tunga, Leyte.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the Application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before the Applicants conclude the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

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

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman, JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 18th day of May 2016 in Pasig City.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff


1 Notes:1. Analysis and simulations is based on LEYECO III hourly load profile.2. GN power is based of effective Price.3. WESM prices is based 2011-2013 average prices of Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Price Nodal Point of LEYECO III.

2 Air Philippines Corporation vs. Pennswell Inc., G.R. No. 172835, December 13, 2007. 3 Ibid., 4 177 SCRA 374 (1989).5 Additional equivalent rate due to additional Prudential Guarantee required by PEMC (for the undelivered contracted

capacity from GNPower) with a conservative loan interest of 6% per annum and baseload load factor of 81%.

( TS - JUL 4 /11, 2016)

, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 18th day of May

TY. NATHAN J. MARASIGANChief of Staff

fice of the Chairman and CEO

EF = 0.2874 x + 1.5256 x


M O N D AY : J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6

B8 CESAR BARRIOQUINTOE D I T O R

[email protected]

The protest goes on. Police officers launch smoke bombs and tear gas to clear out protestors who shut down highway I-94 on July 9, 2016, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Protests and marches have occurred every day since the police killing of Philando Castile on June 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. AFP

Excavation site. Foreign archeologists extract skeletons at the excavation site of the first Philistine cemetery ever found on June 28, 2016, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. With an excavation unearthing a Philistine cemetery for the first time, the bones of the biblical giant Goliath’s people can finally shed new light on their culture. AFP

WORLD

Obama attempts to unify USProtest erupts afterkilling of black man

Former deputy: Iraq war was illegal

Obama lamented a “painful” week, in which five police officers were gunned down during a pro-test against the police killings of black Americans, but he rejected comparisons with the civil unrest of the 1960s.

“I firmly believe America is not as divided as some have suggest-ed,” Obama told a press conference at a NATO summit in Warsaw.

“There is sorrow, there is anger, there is confusion... but there is unity. This is not who we want to be as Americans.”

Obama has said he will cut short his foreign trip and visit Dallas next week after a black extremist opened fire on officers protecting a peaceful march against police brutality.

Thousands of protesters

marched in US cities late Friday, with many remembering the slain officers, but anger remains over the deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, two African-Ameri-can men killed by police.

While acknowledging the need to heal divisions, Obama played down talk of wider unrest.

“When we start suggesting that somehow there’s this enormous polarization and we’re back to the situation in the 60s and that’s just not true,” Obama said.

“You’re not seeing riots, you’re not seeing police going after peo-ple who are protesting peacefully.”

Obama pointed out that crime was now substantially lower and that US society had stronger foun-

LONDON—Tony Blair’s deputy as prime minister when Britain joined the invasion of Iraq has said he be-lieves the war was illegal, days after a long-awaited report excoriated Brit-ain’s role in the conflict.

John Prescott, number two in the Labour government when Britain took part in the US-led invasion in 2003, made the remarks in a piece to be published in the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

On Wednesday, the Chilcot report returned a damning verdict on Brit-ain’s role in the US-led war, finding it joined the conflict before all peaceful options had been exhausted and that the judgments about Iraq’s capacities

were “presented with a certainty that was not justified”.

It also disclosed Blair had writ-ten to then US president George W. Bush that “I will be with you, what-ever” eight months before the inva-sion.

Prescott, now a member of the House of Lords, wrote: “I will live with the decision of going to war and its catastrophic consequences for the rest of my life.

“In 2004, the UN secretary-gen-eral Kofi Annan said that as regime change was the prime aim of the Iraq war, it was illegal.

“With great sadness and anger, I now believe him to be right.”

Blair this week voiced “sorrow, re-gret and apology” over the mistakes made in the conflict.

But he insisted the war was right and the world was safer without top-pled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has apologized on behalf of the party for what he called “the di-sastrous decision” to go to war.

Some 150,000 Iraqi people were killed in the six years after Brit-ish and American troops invaded, plunging the country into chaos and creating fertile ground for jihadist groups like the Islamic State.

A total of 179 British troops also died. AFP

LONDON—Several hundred people protested in London Satur-day after the killing of black men by police in the United States.

The “Black Lives” Matter” demonstration saw protesters march to a police station and block buses and traffic, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Chanting and sitting in the road, the demonstrators carried placards with slogans such as “Stop Killing Us” and “White Si-lence Costs Lives”.

London’s Metropolitan Po-lice declined to comment on the march in Brixton, south London, or give any information about the number of officers deployed.

The demonstration came after two black men were shot dead by police in the US this week.

Alton Sterling, 37, was killed

Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisi-ana, while Philando Castile, 32, died Wednesday in Minnesota.

On Thursday, a gunman opened fire during a protest in Dallas against police brutality, killing five police officers.

At least 123 black people have been shot dead by police in the United States this year, half of last year’s toll of 258, according to Washington Post data.

Rioting and looting erupted in London and other British cities in 2011 after Mark Duggan, 29, was shot dead by a police officer in the suburb of Tottenham.

The taxi Duggan was traveling in was forced to stop by police in an operation targeting gang violence, the Independent Police Complaints Commission later found. AFP

dations to build on than half a cen-tury ago.

Obama said Dallas shooter Mi-cah Johnson, 25, who was killed in a standoff with police, was “de-mented” and did not represent Af-rican Americans.

“The demented individual who carried out the attacks in Dallas, he’s no more representative of Af-rican Americans than the shooter in Charleston [in South Carolina] was representative of white Amer-icans,” Obama said.

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of gunning down nine African American churchgoers in Charles-ton last year. Prosecutors in his case have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Obama added that it was diffi-cult to untangle Johnson’s motives.

While the White House has ruled out any link between the gunman and known “terrorist or-ganizations,” Johnson’s Facebook page ties him to several radical black movements listed as hate groups. AFP

WARSAW—US President Barack Obama on Saturday tried to unify a fractured nation, insisting the shock shootings in Dallas and simmering racial tensions would not derail a common sense of purpose.

C1MONDAY : JULY 11, 2016

ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

BING PARELA S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNASW R I T E R

SIP & SAVOR

THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES

i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

LIFE

For his part, Discovery’s corporate chef Anthony Raymond made an elaborate display of the restaurant’s Porthole infuser where he combined olive oil and white balsamic vinegar with pepper, rosemary, thyme, garlic and slices of lemon. The oil is infused for 48 hours, and is poured on organic, lightly salted butter from Cagayan de Oro.

According to Pardo de Ayala, while each ingredient has a distinct flavor, the careful combination is “the source of great taste and moments of delight.”

“That sense of wonder, surprise and awe is what we hope will make our guests return for more,” he said.

For starters, Flame offers, among others, quezo de bola with glazed ham and asparagus; soft-shelled crab tempura with Saigon herb salad and spicy Remoulade – a French invention that is usually made with aioli or mayonnaise; and the house-smoked duck breast, which is served with pickled Portobello mushrooms, petite greens and Madeira wine balsamic vinaigrette.

The main courses include seared Chilean sea bass paired with Shiitake mushrooms, garlic confit and Madeira mushroom broth; braised US short ribs with celeriac puree,

mustard seeds and lightly-flavored ginger-tamarind sauce; and pan-seared foie gras, contrasted with teriyaki eggplant and pickled pears with crunchy nori-tempura flakes.

Guests have several choices for dessert, such as a flourless chocolate cake complemented with homemade pistachio ice cream; caramelized apples in cinnamon puff pastry, and Italian taleggio cheese with mostarda (a traditional offering of candied fruits with mustard from Northern Italy) of apricot and cherry.

Perhaps the best proof in the pride that the restaurant takes in its conscious choice of ingredients and innovative flavors is its hub seating, which brings customers right next to the chefs who prepare their food. “There is no exhaust, so you can really smell all the ingredients. We want our guests to enjoy watching our kitchen in action,” said Pardo de Ayala.

“See, we really are not a steakhouse,” he added in jest, acknowledging that some guests have automatically assumed that Flame is all about grilled meat. “Flame is about a deep respect and understanding of the ingredients. It is that fire in your belly when creating something new. Flame is all about passion.”

MODERN EUROPE, ASIAN COMFORT,

AND FIERY PASSION IN BETWEEN

Flame's menu features modern European dishes with an Asian kick. It includes pan-fried duck breast with pumpkin puree and spiced honey glaze; quezo de bola with hamon; and braised US short ribs with ginger-tamarind sauce.

At the 16th floor of luxury hotel Discovery Primea Makati, a grand “living” chandelier greets diners who enter its newest restaurant, Flame.

With a sleek, marble-top open kitchen and a panoramic view of the Metro Manila skyline, the ambiance seems daunting at first.

I had my reservations - Will this be just another pretentious and stiff hotel restaurant? Will customers be paying for the high-end look while eating average-tasting food? Will the menu be overly complicated and overpriced?

It seems that Discovery Primea general manager David Pardo de Ayala, himself a chef-at-heart, was expecting such concerns.

“Sometimes you need a course from Harvard to understand your appetizer. Here you can recognize your food. But

there is always an element of surprise, something unexpected and delightful,” he said as he gave a tour of the restaurant, starting from the imposing chandelier with Spanish moss accents.

“We feature European cuisine but with an Asian comfort twist. There are flavors, presentations and concepts that have an Asian flavor to them, but at our core is modern European,” he added.

Take the restaurant’s Asian beef carpaccio, prepared on the spot by Executive Chef Luis Chikiamco, whose culinary career is a continental fusion of Asian and Western cuisine with over a decade of experience in France, Mexico and the Philippines. The classic Italian dish, consisting of thinly sliced Angus beef, is transformed into something very familiar as it pays homage to the Japanese beef tataki. Chikiamco used Thai sriracha chili vinaigrette with sesame oil for a nutty taste and chili oil for an additional kick. He placed dollops of miso dressing made from white miso paste and crab fat, and sprinkled slivers of red onion, wasabi-coated almonds, chopped Thai basil, arugula and microgreens.

Complex appetizer? Definitely. But take a bite and discover how easy it is on the palate.

“It’s something new, a variation, but at the same time it is recognizable and familiar,” said Chikiamco.

Chef Chikiamco's Asian beef carpaccio draws inspiration from Italian, Japanese and Thai cuisine.

Flame's Taleggio cheese is paired with homemade apricot and cherry 'mostarda' – a traditional dish of candied fruits with mustard from Northern Italy.

C2 LIFEMONDAY : JULY 11, 2016


Flatiron Restaurant, modeled after an iconic, eye-catching and outstanding landmark in New York City, the

“Flatiron Building,” is now open at upscale Uptown BGC in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Operating under the 1771 Group of Restaurants, Flatiron offers Filipino diners the essential element of mouth-watering food

cooked through the griddle for that unique dining experience. This makes Flatiron the absolute authority when it comes to offering gastronomic delights served on a griddle.

With its ambience capturing the culture of New York, Flatiron exudes a welcoming and convivial space for people from all ages, particularly today’s driven

professionals and entrepreneurs who have absolute passion in everything they do.

Amid modern and hip interiors, diners will surely love the warm and friendly vibe of the Flatiron staff who will all go out of their way in order to provide genuine and heartwarming service. Servers’ generous and friendly attention to guests’

needs, coupled with an authentic and pleasant smile, will make their every stay truly memorable, whether they are with family, loved ones, colleagues or friends out to enjoy one-of-a-kind dining they have not seen or experienced before.

Above all, Flatiron serves well prepared, heartening urban comfort food with an American

Bento has evolved from being a simple meal in a box-shaped container. Moms and homemakers consider it an art and liken it to crafting a masterpiece on a blank canvas because the possibilities are endless.

Recognizing this, Daiso Japan, the only authorized and exclusive retailer of Daiso Industries Ltd. Japan that sells useful and cute items priced from P88, conducted a Bento-Making Demo at “Yummy Eats Baon Blowout” organized by Yummy Magazine. Daiso Japan also had a booth at the Glorietta Activity Center where the event was held.

“Bento-holics” watched intently as mom, bento enthusiast and loyal Daiso Japan shopper Nikki Garcia demonstrated the basics of bento making and showed them how to make a Kokeshi Doll Lunch using tools and accessories from Daiso Japan.

Here are some tips from Nikki and Daiso Japan to help moms out there make bento boxes that are a delight to eat:

• Meals should be divided proportionally to ensure a well-

balanced and nutritious baon that includes carbohydrates, protein, fruits and vegetables.

• Colors have to be bold to look more attractive and appetizing. Take advantage of the fun presentation and sneak in healthy vegetables.

• Food should be packed tightly to prevent the food from shifting. Pack bulky or pre-shaped food first, then place more food with flexible shapes next. Finally, add some accent food like cherry tomatoes and broccoli to fill in the small gaps.

• Food safety is of utmost importance. Always wash your hands and use only clean utensils. Re-heat the food before packing and cool them down completely before closing the bento.

• Separate wet food from dry food to keep them from getting soggy. Use a different sauce container and pour the sauce when ready to eat. Keep ice packs with the lunch pack if necessary to retain the freshness of the fruits or vegetables.

• Plan ahead and make a list of your menu for the week

• Be creative with props and styling. Add dimension, contrast and personality with accessories.

• More importantly, Nikki suggests getting kawaii bento tools and accessories from authentic Japanese sources like Daiso Japan to be assured of premium quality. From basic cookie cutters, nori sheets, scissors, to more intricate rice ball shaker, rice and egg molds, silicone barans and carving knives, Daiso Japan has everything to make bento-making a breeze. Nikki said it is every bento-holic’s paradise.

Daiso Japan has 53 stores nationwide through Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. which holds the exclusive sub-license to sell authentic Daiso merchandise from Japan and operates the legitimate Daiso Japan store concept in the Philippines.

Get kawaii bento items and accessories from any Daiso Japan Philippines near you. Follow them on Facebook at @DaisoJapanPH on Twitter and @daisophilippines on Instagram.

McDonald’s serves a taste of Italy with the new Chicken Fillet Italiana.

Enjoy every bite of McDonald’s signature chicken fillet, topped with meaty tomato sauce and melty cheese. This will surely make you say, delizioso!

The new Chicken Fillet Italiana is the latest favorite meal of hit love team, Alden Richards and

Maine Mendoza, popularly known as AlDub.

In their latest TV commercial, AlDub celebrates their first year anniversary as a love team enjoying the new Chicken Fillet Italiana.

Check out the TV commercial via http://tinyurl.com/je4hwk9.

Savor the new Chicken Fillet Italiana with a regular drink for

only P69, available from 10:30 a.m. onwards.

Get this with friends or family at any McDonald’s store nationwide or via McDelivery (86-2-36, mcdelivery.com.ph or via mobile app).

Share your photos enjoying Chicken Fillet Italiana on facebook.com/mcdo.ph or tag @McDo_PH on Twitter or Instagram.

AlDub’s new favorite meal

GET READY FOR A 'GRIDDLE' EXPERIENCE

Bliss for the bento-holics

Daiso Japan offers a wide range of tools and accessories for making bento boxes

Dining in The Big Apple. The new Flatiron Restaurant exudes a New York vibe and serves comfort food with American and Asian touches

Nikki Garcia demonstrates the right way of making delicious and delightful bento lunch packs

vibe and Asian touches on a griddle no one else in the country can even come close in terms of serving size, quality and value for money. At the same time, Flatiron upholds the incomparable service quality of every restaurant under the 1771 Group of Restaurants that many in the heart of Uptown BGC will truly love.

Enjoy Flatiron specialties, appetizers, entrees and their superb mix of both refreshing beverages and other mouth-watering gastronomic delights prepared by Executive Chef and Chief Operating Officer Vicky Pacheco and her team any time you are in the Uptown Mall Bonifacio Global City area and see what Flatiron delivers in the local restaurant dining scene.

Because at Flatiron, you will not only enjoy the food but also love each other’s company as you all collaborate, create and recharge in a fun and relaxing environment only Flatiron provides.

Flatiron, from the 1771 Group of Restaurants, is now on soft opening and is located at the Ground Floor of the Uptown Mall, 36th Street corner 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Open from 12 noon to 10 p.m., Sunday to Thursday, and 12 noon to 12 midnight, Fridays and Saturdays.

C3LIFEMONDAY : JULY 11, 2016


Matstone is one example of a slow juicer which makes incorporating fruits and vegetables into the daily diet easier

Chicken Skin Chicharon Guava Jelly French Toast is a unique take on the usual guava jelly on warm bread snack

Before its name was changed, Jorge Bocobo St. was known as Nebraska St. The street, much like

most streets in the charming district of Malate before the second World War ravaged Manila, was lined with splendid turn-of-the-century homes and early American colonial abodes surrounded by expansive lawns and gardens. Stately acacia and narra trees stood in rows along the pavement. On Sunday mornings, families drove in automobiles, or walked in their best garments to hear mass at the magnificent Malate Church. Back then, life was leisurely and pleasurable.

Derived from the old street Nebraska, Braska restaurant is a paean of sorts to the lost charm and elegance of Manila’s famed district. It aims to bring back the warmth and cordiality of the old Malate through the comforting flavors of familiar favorites in an ambience that has a relaxing, loungey vibe.

“We felt that there was something missing in the market, not necessarily in terms of Filipino food, but more options that expressed the spirit of Malate as it was,” says brand director Mark Abellon. Although a number of restaurants continue to serve loyal

Youth, they say, is wasted on the young.

Do you remember when you used to climb the stairs three steps at a time? Or when you could touch your toes without bending your knee? Bet you kind of took these things for granted, thinking you’d be that flexible forever.

Once you hit those middle age years, though, you begin to feel your mortality. You’re not as flexible as you used to be; you’re not as resistant to colds or illness; most of all, you feel those little aches and pains creeping into your joints and your bones.

For many of us, this is the time to take our health seriously and get into the fitness game. You watch your diet, you get into a more rigorous exercise routine, perhaps even try getting into running or badminton like the rest of the gang at the office. But sometimes life—responsibilities, obligations, commitments—can get in the way, and you think, it’s too late for you. So you give up before you’ve even started.

But guess what? It’s never too late to take care of your health. And you can do it without making

drastic changes in your lifestyle.You don’t have to eat raw meat,

or starve yourself to ensure good health, just eat the right food in moderation. You don’t actually need to run a triathlon or twist yourself into a pretzel to keep your body in shape, just make sure you move according to the rhythm that suits you.

Most important of all, remember that what goes into your body has a way of coming out in some form or another, not all of it in a desirable way. Load it up with trash or unhealthy junk and you’ll wind up getting sick. But by regularly cleansing your body of this junk, and making sure you’re free of toxins, you’ve already won half the battle.

You’ve heard this adage before, yes? Well it is true. The body is a temple and therefore must be kept clean and free of poisons in order to keep it in good working order.

One of the most effective ways of ridding the body of toxins is by slow juicing. Juicing is a health trend that’s been around for some time. There are many benefits to incorporating juice, especially vegetable juice, into your diet.

It fast tracks the absorption of nutrients into the body. Fresh juice bypasses the slow digestion process and goes directly into your bloodstream, thereby ensuring that the body gets the most amount of nutrients at the fastest time possible.

Juicing also makes it easy to add fruits and vegetables that you won’t normally consume into your diet. Getting into the juicing habit will result in improved digestion, clearer skin and an increase in energy over time.

And because you’re ridding your body of poisons, you’re also preventing all kinds of diseases that many of your age are prone to, like high blood pressure, diabetes, and kidney problems.

According to Dr. Christine Gonzales, doctor of naturopathic medicine and holds PhDs in holistic nutrition and natural medicine, the right kind of healthy juicing recipes could counter different sicknesses, from high levels of cholesterol, blood sugar and uric acid.

Gonzales recommends slow, or cold process juicing, because it preserves more of the nutrients

A DELECTABLE MIX OF PAST AND PRESENT

Taking back your youth

for a longer period. This means the juice produced by a slow juicer would not only be healthier, it will also keep for a longer time.

A slow juicer, like Matstone, for example, is ideal for juicing green leafy vegetables, and other fibrous veggies and fruits. With its exclusive horizontal design, there is absolutely no leakage and little danger of veggie bits getting stuck in the juicer. This makes it an ideal partner when it comes to following a health or fitness regimen.

By following a healthy diet,

doing proper exercise, and cleansing your body through regular slow juicing, you’ll soon feel refreshed and full of vitality. Almost like having your youth back.

To know more about Matstone Horizontal Slow Juicer, testimonials, and healthy recipes, visit their website at www.matstone.com.ph and http://iajwc.com/greensecret/recipes for more healthy juicing recipes or like Matstone Juicer Philippines on Facebook.

customers, Abellon feels that a large market of those who live and work in Malate long for the flavors of Filipino comfort food.

Braska restaurant’s menu is list of popular treats that will take one on a nostalgic trip to the familiar flavors and aromas of home, a favorite café or restaurant, or the kitchen of a well-loved grandmother or aunt.

The menu includes classic dishes such as Roast Chicken, Baby Back Ribs and Paella. Those with a truly hearty appetite and a hankering for traditional Filipino food will get their cravings satisfied with

generous servings of Pinakbet, Laing, Caldereta and Crispy Pata.

Pasta lovers can choose from an array of sauces such as Pesto, Creamy Pesto, Wild Mushroom, Carbonara, Bolognese and Bangus Sardines. Sandwich choices, served with Camote Fries, include the classic Clubhouse, Grilled Cheese, Chicken Salad and Tuna. Rice Bowl choices include such popular toppings as Tinapa, Chicken and Pork Adobo, Lechon Kawali and Chinese Sausage.

Creativity, being one of Braska’s guiding principles, means the menu incorporates traditional

dishes presented in wonderfully novel ways. Many Filipinos know the sweet and tart flavor of guava jelly on warm bread, so Executive Sous Chef Poch Hogar decided to put it in the menu to stir the memory and inspire the taste buds. “One of the specialties of the restaurant is the Guava Jelly French Toast. It’s something that you won’t find in other restaurants,” she says. What it is is French Toast filled with sweet-tangy guava jelly and served with cream cheese and bacon. “There are certain foods that you want to eat if you’re sad and feeling down. For me guava jelly has the ability to brighten up the day.”

Another one of Braska’s unique offerings is the Bangus Sardine Pasta: house-made milkfish sardines prepared aglio olio (garlic olive oil) and scooped over pasta. “Bangus sardines are so typically Filipino that you can find it just about anywhere—in grocery stores and supermarket shelves. But it’s not something Filipinos would normally put in a pasta dish. That can only be found and enjoyed here at Braska,” notes Chef Hogar. The delicate flavor of bangus and the aromatic sauce makes this a heartwarming treat.

While avocado is a staple in many Filipino homes when it’s in season, the fruit is often served as a dessert—mashed with milk and sugar, and frozen inside the freezer. Chef Hogar puts a twist on this old favorite by turning it into the refreshing Shrimp Avocado Salad drizzled with the piquant cilantro lime dressing. She also tweaked the much-loved waffle by using chocolate made of tablea. The result is waffles made more sinful with the full-bodied flavor of choice cacao.

“Braska is a comfortable space that inspires conversation and a good time—whether one is with the family, a few friends, a business associate, or with someone special.

The neutral color scheme and streamlined furnishings represent the restaurant’s modern but relaxing essence. It’s a space that also expresses the spirit of the food we serve: flavors that allow one to be relaxed and feel delightfully at home,” says Abellon

Braska Restaurant is located at 1669 Bocobo St., Malate, Manila. For more information call +63 (2) 995 3981 or email [email protected] Social Media Follow Braska on Facebook and Instagram: @braskaph

Paella is one of Braska restaurant's classic dishes on offer Sweet and tangy come together in the Calamansi Tart

C4 LIFEMONDAY : JULY 11, 2016


Anyone looking for world-class yet casual dining will be pleased by a recent addition to the food scene in the South.

Soil in Molito, Alabang is a modernist-cuisine restaurant run by Iñigo and Chef Lorenzo Pimentel, two brothers who are passionate about using fresh, locally-sourced produce to create exciting arrays of dishes.

Examples of their unique concoctions include pork mesentry (chicharon bulaklak) in mantou buns, mud crab with aligue risotto, and roasted pork belly with blood sausage (dinuguan) and garlic mash, just to name a few—and yes, everything on the menu is a mouthful!

An adventure for the palateEach dish is a conversational piece,

as described by Iñigo, who doubles as the restaurant’s manager and articulate maître d'. Each local ingredient provides an important flavor and texture to the whole meal. This makes trying new dishes a creative experience, an adventure for the palate.

In fact, trying something new is never a problem at Soil because of their seasonal menu, which is modified every three months to match the kinds of meat, fish and vegetable that become available from one season to the next.

Ordering food, if one has a special diet, is not a problem either because the kitchen led by Chef Lorenzo can easily whip up a meal to satisfy one’s health concerns.

Symphony of flavorsIf you find the fancy menu too

daunting, then worry not—Soil also breaks the barrier between casual and fine dining. The intricately crafted food does evoke an aura of fine dining,

When in doubt, we turn to ice cream. Universally known as the go-to comfort food, ice cream will always be the dessert for that guaranteed lift in spirits. Using this as inspiration, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf recently launched the delectable Ice Cream Ice Blended drinks at the 26th St. Bistro by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Bonifacio Global City.

Dotted with flower-filled cones as table centerpieces, the venue turned into a picturesque space that was happily photographed by all the guests. Delicately placed pistachios, cookie pieces, and mint leaves served as clues to the mystery of the new Ice Cream Ice Blended flavors.

To welcome guests, Nina Gregorius, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf ’s marketing manager, gave a short introduction to the brand and the new products. She shared, “The Coffee Bean & Tea

Leaf was also born out of a happy moment in the lives its founders,

Herbert and Mona Hyman. It was during their honeymoon in

Europe that they were inspired to start a coffee shop of their own, which grew to become The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that we know now.”

Then it was time for the tasting of the drinks! As Nina described each of the available flavors from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf ’s latest offering, guests were treated to generous servings of Cookies & Cream Ice Blended, Mint Chip Ice Blended and Pure Salted Pistachio Ice Blended drink. They were also eager to join the in-event Instagram contest, where they recorded looping video clips of themselves enjoying their drinks to win gift certificates from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Among those seen sipping and smiling at the event were model and actress Say Alonzo, TV and events host Rodel Flordeliz, Yoga+ instructor Missy Castro, beauty expert and

businesswoman Mitch Carlos, food and recipe blogger Peachy Adarne, and fashion and lifestyle bloggers Maxine Marcelino, Charlene Ajose, Vina Guerrero and Chin Chin Obcena.

You can find the Ice Cream Ice Blended drinks at all The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores. The Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Ice Blended and Mint Chip Ice Cream Ice Blended flavors are priced at P175 for the regular size and P195 for the large size. The Pure Salted Pistachio Ice Cream Ice Blended flavor is P165 for the regular size and P185 for the large size.

Discover happiness and remember the good things in life at the nearest The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. To know more, like The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (Philippines) on Facebook, follow @CBTLPH on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to brewyourbestyear.com.

CBTL brings ice cream flavors to the cup

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's new Ice Blended Drinks feature delectable ice cream flavors

Pork mesentry is basically a classic chicharon, sandwiched between two mantou buns and topped off with sea purslaneThe hot prawn bisque poured over the tiger prawn clouds combines the sweetness of coconut cream and light sprinkle of cereals

but their intimate space provides such a casual vibe, one that serves as a background for the symphony of flavors that can be discovered in each plate.

These are the fruits of labor of not

only Iñigo, Chef Lorenzo, and the rest of the staff, but also of our local, everyday farmers and fishermen, all neatly packaged in elaborate dishes found in this classy, down-to-earth food joint.

Soil is located at Unit 16, Molito Lifestyle Building, Madrigal Avenue corner

Alabang-Zapote Road. You can also like Soil on Facebook or follow

@soilmoderndining on Instagram.

NEW DOWN-TO-EARTH

DINING IN ALABANGBY BRONTË H. LACSAMANA

C5ISAH V. RED

E D I T O RNICKIE WANG

W R I T E RSHOWBITZM ONDAY : J ULY 11, 2016


This year’s annual Preview Ball is nothing short of both glamor-ous and geeky fashionistas in one glitzy event. Contrasting as it may

sound, models, celebrities, designers, and fashion enthusiasts alike flocked to Whitespace Manila in Makati to show what fashion is all about.

From Maseratis and Benzes, Guc-cis and Tommy Hilfigers, to Star Wars and Marvel costumes, books and specs, guests flaunted their best outfits to cele-brate an evening of fashion styled to the theme “Geek on Fleek.”

“This year’s ball, I think the primary focus is really something fun because be-ing a geek, that’s something we have in all of us. I think it’s the easiest thing to dress up for because everyone can have fun with it and can really relax,” said Isha Andaya-Valles, Preview editor-in-chief.

“We try to come up with a really good concept for the ball just to make sure ev-eryone has a good time and make sure the concept is really nice,” added the fashion gatekeeper.

The theme came just in time with the rise of geek fashion – quirky and some-

thing different – which dominates to-day’s pop culture and is embraced by the most stylish crowd in Manila.

For their 21st annual anniversary bash, Preview racked their brains with a con-cept that allows creativity and fun. Adding fuel to the fun, Whitespace Manila was schemed to the look of a university where the geeks could chill at the Biology and Math 101 sections, drink potions from the science lab, wait at the carpool area with a Mazda car, or at the lockers vandalized with messages for Preview.

One of the most stylish geeks that

Ira J. Santos, only daughter of Alexis G. Santos and Concepcion Cortez Junsay, is coming out as a lady on July 16. Her four-year old brother Marco will be her escort at her grand debut party at the Garden Ballroom of Shangri-La Edsa Hotel starting at 5:31 p.m. onwards. The ballroom will be transformed into a dreamscape like the one in Alice’s Wonderland.

Ira will make her grand en-trance in a serenity blue bustier gown embellished with pearls, matsuno beads and Swarovski crystals all hand-sewn on French lace by international fashion de-signer Kim Gan. She will be a picture of ethereal loveliness as

well as playfulness and chic el-egance in a classic but contempo-rary ensemble.

Ira is a student at St. Paul Col-lege Pasig, an exclusive school for girls. She is a member of the school’s champion cheerleading team.

The team that will make Ira an image of resplendent beauty includes Emme Sevillano for hair, Carmi David for makeup, Kim Gan for clothes, Sonia Agbayani for styling, Danny Jota for event styling and set design, lights, sound and video by Paul Portugal of KRONOS Professional Audio and Lights Services, and PixelCastle for photography.

Hanzel Villafuerte of iPR Plus Con-sulting, Inc. is over-all coordinator.

MANILA’S STYLISH CROWD AT 2016 PREVIEW BALL

BY ANNE RENEE SUAREZPHOTOS BY SONNY ESPIRITU

Ira J. Santos debuts in Alice’s dreamscape

Debutante. Ira J. Santos turns 18

stood out in the black carpet was Preview Maga-zine’s July cover girl Liz Uy, along with interior de-signer and co-cover girl Aimee Song. The celebrity stylist was in a Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger, holding a book-like clutch. Meanwhile, Song rocked a red polka dot lace dress from SM Department Store.

Some of the celebrities who graced the event were Vice Ganda, Benjamin Alves, Ken Chan, Christian Bautista with girlfriend Katrina Ramnani, Christopher Martin, Isabelle Dazawith fiancé Adrien Semblat, fashion icons such as Laureen Uy, Rajo Laurel, Vince Uy, Tim Yap, models Samantha Gomez, LA Aguinaldo, Jen-nifer Hammond, and photographer BJ Pascual,to name a few.

Kapuso stars Joyce Ching and Christopher Martin arrive at the venue of this year’s Preview Ball

Benjamin Alves looks dapper in black number Preview’s Isha Andaya-Valles July cover girl and celebrity stylist Liz Uy

C6 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R


M ONDAY : J ULY 11, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ACROSS1 Witch-hunt locale6 Two-percent kin

10 Bud holder14 Handy15 Jay of late-night16 Still-active

volcano17 Domain18 Try again19 Waterfall sound20 Transported

22 Boss’s farewell (2 wds.)

24 Evil eye 26 “Big Brother”

creator 27 Joplin genre 31 Western treaty gp. 32 Bushy hairdos 33 Designer

Nina — 36 Width of a cir. 39 “Misery” co-star

40 Kim of “Vertigo” 41 Beats the field 42 Cen. fractions 43 Outwitted 44 “Goodfellas” actor 45 Poet’s eye 46 Kyoto entertainers 48 Urban nuisance 51 911 responder 52 Calmed down

(2 wds.) 54 Evening wraps 59 Arm bone 60 Pavlov or Lendl 62 Pastoral poem 63 Lock up 64 A Saarinen 65 Leif’s language 66 Whale like Shamu 67 Kind of flurry 68 Glutton’s driveDOWN 1 You bet! 2 Pharaoh’s god 3 Yarn spinner 4 Raines of 1940s

films 5 Elvis’ home 6 35mm camera 7 Hang onto 8 Town near Palm

Springs 9 Apollo 11 retrieval

(2 wds.)

10 Jingles 11 Round reef 12 Slow one 13 Marshal Wyatt — 21 Pro — 23 “The Bridge on the

River —” 25 Copy 27 Risque 28 Nowhere near 29 Mardi — 30 Freight weight 34 — been had! 35 Sponge off 36 Potluck choice 37 Quechua speaker 38 Garage sale tag (2

wds.) 40 Non-VIPs 41 Unseld of the NBA 43 On the house 44 Preparing cherries 45 Red Cloud’s tribe 47 Printer’s units 48 Not equatorial 49 Column order 50 Fogg player 52 King dog 53 Purple spud 55 Aroma 56 Orpheus played it 57 Failing that 58 Malamute’s load 61 At present

ANSWER PREVIOUS PUZZLE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE MONDAY,JULY 11, 2016

As the newly installed mayor of Tacloban City, Cristina Gonzalez-Romualdez is perfectly aware that it’s no

easy task. “Oh yes!” she says. “There are

so many works to do especially that the province is still on its way to re-covery after the Yolanda tragedy two years ago. It’s a gargantuan job actually. The good thing is, I’m blessed to have a husband (former Mayor Alfred Romualdez) who served the post for nine years. He can give me advice on a lot of as-pects. I know that he will always be there to guide me in each step of the way.

“In a way, it also helps that I’ve been a councilor myself for nine years. It served as a very good training ground for me. At least, I already have a vast experience as councilor before I assumed the mayoralty post. It’s like I have core foundation already.”

Interestingly, many like to know what her main projects are.

“Actually, my foremost goal to give permanent shelter to the 16,000

families who were left homeless be-cause of the wrath of Yolanda. It’s still a long way to go as only 1,000 of them have already been moved to permanent houses at this point. I vow to move the remaining families not only to permanent shelters but to safe areas, those that are out of the danger zone.

“Also included in my priorities are nutrition programs, scholarships for poor but deserving students, more typhoon-resilient establishments, de-velopment of beaches, improved hos-pitals, preservation of the ecology and natural resources, involvement of the youth in sports and performing arts like the Sangyaw Festival, and sus-tainable peace. I’m also glad that my CLEP (Cristina’s Livelihood and Earn Program) which I launched when I was still a Councilor is still doing well. All of these are geared towards mak-ing Tacloban a model city.”

Many want to know if she re-ally intended to run for mayor because Alfred’s term was ending.

“No! This is something which I didn’t dream of joining. Perhaps, it’s the will of God. Now, I accept it fully. In my journey towards this new phase in my life, I would like to thank my family for their support, especial-ly my husband. He has served Taclo-ban City for nine years and did a great job. Now, it’s my turn to support him as he will go back to his private life.

FROM THE MOVIES TO POLITICS

CRISTINA GONZALES IN NOW MA’AM MAYOR

Jennylyn Mercado (second from left) renews her contract with GMA Network in the presence of the station’s bigwigs

As for me, I just want to prove to all and sundry that I’m not just a pretty wife or a beautiful display. Now that I’m mayor, action is needed and that’s what I intend to do!”

This early, some are asking if she would also like to finish three terms

as mayor just like her husband. “Honestly, I can’t comment on

that yet. Let’s see. It will depend on my performance. At this point, I’m just focusing on my first three years. I want to see Tacloban continue mov-ing forward after the tragedy brought about by typhoon Yolanda.”

Does this development mean she can’t stage a showbiz comeback?

“Maybe TV guesting will do. But if you mean doing a regular soap opera, that’s impossible. My priority now is my being the mother of Tacloban,” states Cristina.

********Jennylyn Mercado finally puts

an end to all speculations when she recently renewed her contract with GMA-7.

“I remain as a Kapuso, folks. Honestly, never has it crossed my mind to switch network. I’ve al-ways been a Kapuso and I’m very comfortable here. Every project I do with them, I don’t consider as

work. From my bosses, co-stars and director down to the staff and utility group, we treat one another as part of one, big, happy family. GMA is my comfort zone so why will I leave?” she avers.

With her renewal with the management, GMA bestowed on her the title: The Ultimate Star.

“Of course, I’m both thankful and grateful, though I’m not com-fortable with titles. But of course, I’m grateful to the management for giving me such moniker. It’s so humbling. I’m also aware that with the title comes huge responsibility. I have to meet the expectations of the public. This serves as an inspira-tion for me to always strive harder in improving my craft!”

It was reported that she might star opposite Alden Richards in the local version of the hit Kore-anovela My Love from Another Star.

“I haven’t received any official word yet, but if it will be offered to me, I will accept it definitely,” ends Jen.

Power couple. Tacloban Mayor Cristina “Kring-Kring” Gonzales with husband Alfred Romualdez, who was mayor of the city for nine years. (Right photo) The former actress during her inauguration speech as the city’s new elected mayor.

C7ISAH V. REDE D I T O R



SHOWBITZ

GMA Artist Center star Therese Malvar is un-stoppable in proving that she has raised the bar in acting.

After gaining the attention of the American crowd at the recently concluded New York Asian Film Festival where she was honored with the Screen In-ternational Rising Star Asia award, she also mesmerized the Russians who favored her and her with the Silver St. George Best Actress award at the 38th Moscow Inter-national Film Festival for her performance in Ralston Jover’s, Hamog.

Hamog features the story of young delinquents who commit crime in order to survive everyday life. Therese plays the role of Jinky, a child of the street, strong and confident yet cunning in her ways in or-der to survive. Her portrayal highlighted the piercing story that tells the sometimes sad and shocking reality of street kids in the Philippines.

Now looking forward to strengthening her depth as an artist, the 15-year old actress relates her humility and acknowledges the people behind her success. “I am accepting this award with the honor and pride of being a Filipino. The opportunities being given to me paved the way for this recognition and I’m really thank-ful. Maraming salamat po sa pagkakataon at lalo na po sa mga walang sawang sumusuporta.”

Aside from Hamog, Therese showed her remarkable talent in the critically acclaimed films that include Child Haus, Sakaling Hindi Makarating, and Ang Hul-ing Cha-Cha ni Anita in which her performance won for her the Best Actres Award at the CineFilipino Film Festival in 2013.

The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Design and Arts (SDA) is set to showcase five widely acclaimed

movies in the first Benilde Hu-man Rights Film Festival, July 11 to 15, at the SDA Cinema.

All films, with the exception of

The Look of Silence (P100.00 ad-mission price), is free and open to the public.

The opening feature is Gil Portes’ historical biopic Hermano Pule, which is based on the life of 19th century religious revolution-ary leader Apolinario dela Cruz. It will be screened at 1 to 3 p.m. today. It is the unfinished ver-sion of the movie due to lack of funds. The director describes it as a “work in progress.”

The Act of Killing will be screened at 3 p.m. tomorrow, July 12. It is a 2012 documentary that focuses on the 1965 Indonesian massacres. It won the 2013 Euro-pean Film Award for Best Docu-mentary, the Asia Pacific Screen Award, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best

Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards.

On the same day at 5 p.m., its companion piece, The Look of Silence, which revolves around a middle-aged Indonesian man and his confrontation with the mur-derers of his brother, will also be shown. It has been nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.

The German movie, The Lives of Others, is scheduled at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13. A politi-cal thriller with human drama, it deals with a spy and his personal involvement with the couple he keeps tabs on. It won Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Acad-emy Awards.

Whistleblower, to be highlighted on Wednesday, July 13, 5 p.m., is a

complex tale of corruption where journalists run an expose on gov-ernment officials’ dubious transac-tions. The film stars the legendary Nora Aunor. Filmmaker Adolph Alix Jr. will be present for post-screening discussions.

Batas Militar, which closes the festival on Thursday, July 14, 3 p.m., is a narrative of the Martial Law years, made alive with exclu-sive interviews, numerous pho-tographs, and never-before-seen film footage and video record-ings of the era. Director and film-maker Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, a Philippine broadcast journalist, will also be at screening.

For inquiries and reservations about the film screenings, please call 230-5100 local 3897 or email [email protected].

To celebrate and break even more barriers when it comes to going digital, Smart Communica-tions presents to its subscribers a free concert on July 14 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum featur-ing some of the country’s most exciting artists.

Dubbed as Smart Music Live, the concert features Crwn, Up Dhar-ma Down, Nathan Sykes, Auto-telic, Aegis and Ely Buendia.

“Smart Music Live is just the tip of the iceberg because there’s an entire roster of international acts to witness and experience in the coming months if you’re a Smart subscriber. This July 14 music fusion signals a series of live concerts, up close and per-sonal experiences because we know that music is one of the pillars of digital entertainment alongside videos, movies, TV se-

rials and gaming—all of these and more are now part of the digital habit of our consumers,” said Kat Luna-Abelarde, FVP and head of Wireless Consumer Operations for Smart.

Crwn is a music producer, composer and beatmaker who collaborated with Filipino artists like singer Jess Connelly. On the other hand, Up Dharma Down is a Filipino band, which was fea-tured by Time magazine in 2007. The group describes its sound as its own, based on elements from different genres. With Armi Mil-lare as lead singer, Up Dharma Down’s music is enjoyed by music lovers of all ages.

Nathan Sykes may be known for being part of the British boy-band The Wanted but he is now a solo artist and songwriter with a top single “Kiss Me Quick” to his

credit while Autotelic is a home-grown Filipino group popular for its dance rock tunes.

Who doesn’t know Aegis and Ely Buendia? Aegis, with sisters Juliet and Mercy on vocals, has inspired the hit musical Rak of Aegis. The group’s songs, including “Halik,” “Luha” and Basang Basa Sa Ulan,” are Filipino sentimental favorites. Ely Buendia, formerly lead vocalist of the band Eraserheads, is consid-ered one of the most prolific song-writers of his generation. Selena Gomez, Panic! At The Disco, Shawn Mendes next

Upcoming Smart Music Live events include Selena Gomez’s forthcoming Manila concert on July 31, In the Mix concert featur-ing The 1975, Third Eye Blind and Panic! At The Disco + James Bay, Elle King and Twin Pines live at the SM Mall of Asia Are-

GMA NETWORK LAUDS THERESE MALVAR

‘Smart Music Live’ kicks off stellar concert on July 14

na on Aug. 18. Finally, Shawn Mendes holds his Manila concert in October.

“We recently launched the Smart Life app where Smart users can now easily access their pas-sions, including music, with ease. And since Smart Life is bringing the entire music experience with you, anywhere you go, Smart Mu-sic Live on the other hand, brings subscribers right where music happens and up close with your favorite local and foreign artists.” said Luna-Abelarde.

Claim your free tickets now Smart Postpaid and Smart Bro

subscribers only need to show their statement of account to get two patron tickets while Smart Prepaid and Smart Bro Prepaid users need to load up P100.00 to get a pair of tickets.

Ticket distribution is at the fol-lowing Smart stores: SM Mall of Asia, Gateway Mall, SM North EDSA, Robinsons Galleria, Robin-sons Magnolia and Festival Mall.

For more details, http://smart.com.ph/Pages/musiclive.

“Smart Music Live” presents a lineup of local and international acts to fire up Manila’s concert circuit

Benilde Human Rights Film Festival features a slew of independently produced films

Drama’s next big star: GMAAC star Therese Malvar impresses foreign audiences with her compelling performance in “Hamog,” a film by Ralston Jover

CSB holds Human Rights Film Festival

C8ISAH V. RED

E D I T O RNICKIE WANG

W R I T E R



ISAH V. RED

SHOWBITZ

When it rains, it pours.

GMA senior anchor Mike Enriquez received two awards just days apart last month.

He was recognized as one of the Most Outstanding Manilans during the 445th founding anniversary of the city of Manila where the awards were given as part of the celebration of this year’s Araw Ng Maynila.

It was in recognition of men and women whose exemplary achievements in their profession contributed to the development of the country’s capital city.

Enriquez said he was born and raised in Sta. Ana, Manila.

Then, at the end of the month, he was also recognized as Reader’s Digest’s Most Trusted Radio Presenter. This was the first time the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand gave an award to a radio personality.

The Trusted Brand Award is based on an annual survey of Reader’s Digest readers across Asia.

Enriquez expressed his appreciation for both awards saying that radio would continue to be his passion and his life. He added that the awards he continues to receive do not belong to him alone, but also to those he works with at GMA Radio and RGMA Network, which is GMA’s radio affiliate.

He co-anchors GMA’s primetime television newscast 24 Oras with Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales. He hosts the widely popular Imbestigador every Saturday afternoon, as well as the radio program Saksi Sa Dobol B from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays on GMA’s flagship AM station, DZBB.

Enriquez is also the President of RGMA Network, Inc. and GMA’s Con-sultant for Radio.

GMA News Online’s ‘Panata sa Pagbabago’ is netizens’ top choice

Aside from GMA-7 being the viewers’ pre-ferred on-air news source for the inaugura-tion of President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo on June 30, more Filipinos also followed GMA News and Pub-lic Affairs’ Panata Sa Pagbabago online.

According to industry metrics source Effective Measure, GMA News Online was the most viewed Filipino news web-site during the inauguration—garnering 7,191,930 page views on that day alone.

Netizens that visited the site were treated to the wall-to-wall coverage that included behind the scenes photos, vid-eos, and stories from the Duterte inau-guration, the new president’s inaugural address to the country, and the incoming administration’s first Cabinet meeting.

GMA News Online had a lead of nearly 1.7 million page views over its closest com-petitor, ABS-CBNNews.com, which gar-nered 5,495,926 page views according to Effective Measure.

The Panata Sa Pagbabago microsite on GMA News Online, which carried a live feed of the event, also won bigtime with 71,484 page views, compared to 40,972 page views generated by the ABS-CBN-News.com microsite for the same event.

Meanwhile, the Panata Sa PagbabagoFacebook livestream and archived videos (facebook.com/gmanews/videos<http://f a c e b o o k . c o m / g m a n e w s / v i d e o s > ) reached total video views of 1.23 million as of 5 p.m. of July 4.

On Twitter, GMA’s coverage hashtag #Du30saJune30 was also the most talked about topic here in the Philippines as well as being the top trending topics world-wide during inauguration day.

MIKE ENRIQUEZ

MOST TRUSTED TV NEWS PRESENTER

Mike Enriquez (right) receives the Gold award for GMA Network from Sheron White (left), Reader’s Digest Group Advertising Director for Asia Pacific, at the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Awards

Most Trusted. Apart from being named Most Trusted Radio Presenter by Readers’ Digest, GMA News pillar Mike Enriquez is also among this year’s 10 Outstanding Manilans awarded by the government of Manila