the standard - 2015 march 21 - saturday

Sparmatefights like‘Money’

BabyingPresidentAquino

VOL. XXIX NO. 37 2 Sections 24 Pages P18 SATURDAY : MARCH 21, 2015 www.manilastandardtoday.com [email protected]

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‘Open PCOSrefurbishingto public’ A4

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The protest continues. Demonstrators march on Mendiola Bridge in Manila from the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City to call for the resignation of President Benigno Aquino III over the 44 police commandos killed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on Jan. 25. DANNY PATA

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Congressmen protest viral SMS imputing bribery on BBL

Aquino OKs release of textsA2

Shrine reopened. President Benigno Aquino III leads the signing of the national anthem during the opening of the renovated Aguinaldo Shrine and Museum in Kawit, Cavite, on Friday. Malacañang Photo Bureau

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By Francisco tuyay and Maricel V. cruz

CONGRESSMEN scored on Friday supposed attempts to derail the proposed Bangsam-oro Basic Law by circulating a text message claiming that Malaysia has provided funds to bribe Filipino lawmakers and pass the controversial measure.

“There is no such thing,” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said of a circulating text mes-sage claiming that Malaysia has provided funds to pay each senator P200 million and each congressman P50 million in exchange for their supporting

vote for the BBL.“Some rascals have invented it

to derail the process,” Belmonte said, refusing to “dignify” the claim by elaborating on it.

Businessman Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, revealed the circulation of the text message after he was identified as the “bag man” who would purport-edly be distributing the bribes.

The text message said in Filipino: “We should not allow the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Mindanao is for the whole country and for all Fili-pinos. There is an information of a pay off in Congress. Php 200 million for each senator

and Php 50 million for each Congressman for the passage of the BBL. The money comes from Malaysia through Vicen-te Lao, an AAA contractor in Mindanao and vice chairman of the Mindanao Dev Council. Pls pass.”

“Although the claim is not only false but incredible to believe on its face, I am con-strained to make this public denial to put to rest to this ri-diculous imputation,” Lao said in his denial.

The businessman said he was taking steps to trace the source of the “scurrilous text message” circulating among businessmen.

Congressmen also issued denials of the supposed bribery attempt.

“I think it is totally untrue outrageous and absurd. I think it is part of a campaign to de-rail the passage of the BBL,” said Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone.

“No amount of political pres-sure will influence us legislators from passing or not passing the BBL,” said Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, senior member of the House minority bloc.

“This is unfortunate because if true it’s a sell out to foreign country; but I hope it’s not true. Let us be vigilant there-fore,” said Magdalo Rep. Gary

Alejano.Bayan Muna party-list Rep.

Carlos Zarate, a staunch critic of the Aquino government and a Mindanaoan, shrugged off the alleged payoff.

“It only further muddles the already muddled peace pro-cess, which is now taking the brunt of the Mamasapano fall-out,” Zarate said.

But an official of the Moro National Liberation Front said they have heard of that news since the signing of the Frame-work Agreement between the government and the Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front.

MNLF Spokesman Absa-lom Cerveza said Malaysia has

plowed in millions of dollars into Mindanao on the pretext of furthering the peace process so that it could secure the dropping of the Philippine claim on Sabah.

“Malaysia has no other recourse but to utilize its re-sources to influence legislators to rally behind the enactment of the BBL into law,” Cerveza said.

“Malaysia has so far invested so much money on the deal, from the start of the drafting of the Framework Agreement towards the formulation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and in the fi-nal stages of the BBL passage,” Cerveza said.

“President Aquino has been unwavering in his support for truth-seeking regarding the Mamasapano incident, and encourages any action that would contribute to arriving at the truth at the soonest

possible time,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte in a statement re-leased Friday.

“The President—through Executive Secre-tary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.—gave his consent to a request from the Senate concerning the release of transcriptions of SMS conversations between him and General Purisima in the early hours of Jan. 25, 2015. This is in keep-ing with upholding the dignity of the office and maintaining the principle of separation of powers and respect for a co-equal branch of government,” the statement added.

The Palace cautioned lawmakers to remain focused on the primary mission to uncover the truth and not let the process “be abused by those who might be inclined to take advantage of the occasion to advance personal motives.”

Asked if the President would testify before a congressional inquiry, Valte said it was up to the legislators to determine how best to get Mr. Aquino’s side, given that he was the head of a co-equal branch of government.

Radio dzMM on Friday said the House of Representatives would try to invite President Aquino to testify on the covert Mamasapano operation, in which 44 police commandos were killed by Muslim rebels, including fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with which the government is in peace talks.

Youth Against Corruption and Poverty party-list Rep. Carol Lopez said congressmen have already agreed to resume the Mamasa-pano inquiry on April 7 and 8.

Lopez said the House will strive to invite the President to the inquiry after the police baord of inquiry failed to interview the President.

But Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. said that inviting the President to attend a congres-sional probe “does not sound realistic.”

Another House leader who asked not to be identified added: “They can always invite the President of the Republic. But the question is, will he attend? Can they compel him to attend the probe? He won’t apologize or take respon-sibility for the fiasco and you will ask him to go to Congress? What for?”

Lopez said it was imperative that the House resume its probe on the Mamasapano mas-sacre because the police board of inquiry and the Senate investigation left many questions unanswered.

Among these were reports that some gov-ernment forces were ordered to stand down when they were asked to reinforce the belea-guered police commandos in Mamasapano.

Other issues included the role of the United States in the botched operation and questins about the nationality of the chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Lieration Front, Mohagher Iqbal.

She said the House could adopt findings of the board of inquiry and the Senate that they found “acceptable.”

Earlier, 1–BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bel-lo III, a member of the House minority bloc, said the President should go to Congress to clarify issues raised against him.

“If I were the president I will go to the House. He should no longer wait for an invi-tation,” said Bello, a former peace negotiator.

Bello, a member of the Cabinet during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, Mr. Aquino’s mother, said a voluntary appear-ance before the House could defuse public an-ger over his mishandling of the Mamasapano operation.

“Whether we like it or not, the people have already made their verdict on the issue. The President may attempt to reverse the situa-tion,” Bello said.

Bello said the Filipino people would want to know from the President what his exact orders to heads of the PNP-SAF were and to whom he issued the orders.

The military on Friday accused the MILF of violating its ceasefire agreement with the government by recruiting and training fight-ers at a government property they seized and converted into a training camp in Iligan City.

Local officials in Iligan City earlier ex-pressed alarm over the influx of members of several indigenous tribes who were being recruited for military training by the MILF’s 103d Base Command.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, chief of the Armed Forces Public Affairs Office, said “inter-agency mediation and protocols” have been sought to resolve the issue peacefully.

A statement released by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said it was already investigating the case.

Teresita Deles, the head of the office, and chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer have come under fire for defending the MILF in the Mamasapano incident and for giving away too many concessions in the negotiations with the Muslim rebels.

Col. Gilbert Gapay, commanding officer of Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said the Higaonon chieftain, Deodato S. Abungan Sr., had filed a complaint about the training camp before the Iligan city council.

“They alleged that MILF fighters under Abdul Sango Amoran of the 305th Guer-rilla Unit recruited 85 Higaonon tribesmen and Maranaws from Bukidnon and brought them to the camp from May 16 to 31 last year,” Cabunoc said.

The ceasefire agreement between the govern-ment and the MILF prohibits such activities.

In the Senate, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said justice for the 44 police commandos slain should be the government’s highest priority.

“The families of the victims want no less than swift justice. They are not asking for anything else. They are not hoping for other things than to see the culprits behind bars,” he said.

Marcos said he agreed with the Senate committee report on the Mamasapano opera-tion that said the commandos were murdered by fighters from the MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

By Sandy araneta, Maricel V. cruz, Florante S. Solmerin and Macon ramos-araneta

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has given his consent to release a transcript of the text messages between him and resigned Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima during the Mamasapano operation on Jan. 25.

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No final candidates yet for vacant posts

Pimentel: Open PCOS refurbishing to public

Cayetano rips into peace panel

Carrere’s in town. American actress Tia Carrere is in Manila to shoot the film ‘Showdown in Manila’ with local actors. Carrere got her first break as a regular on the soap opera ‘General Hospital.’ Danny Pata

Inspection. Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and Comelec Acting Chairman Christian Robert Lim inspect the Comelec’s warehouse for its PCOS machines in Cabuyao, Laguna, on Friday. Danny Pata

In a media briefing, Cay-etano said the “irresponsible, desperate and ridiculous” statements from Ferrer have endangered national security.

Ferrer’s remark that the recruitment and training of fighters by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) “is not a prohibited act” put gov-ernment troops and soldiers at risk, Cayetano said.

The senator said that under the implementing guidelines of the 1997 ceasefire agree-ment, the MILF committed to the joint interdiction of terror-ists and criminal elements, and the prohibition of the entry of criminal and terrorist elements in their communities and con-trolled areas.

Another condition of the ceasefire was negotiation in good faith and the mainte-nance of the status quo, which meant there should be no arms buildup or recruitment of figh-ers, Cayetano said.

Had the MILF adhered to the provisions of the ceasefire agreement, they should have arrested and surrendered the terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Basit Usman, and there would not have been a Mama-sapano massacre in which 44 police commandos were killed.

Cayetano has repeatedly called for the resignation of Ferrer and presidential as-sistant on the peace process Teresita Deles for their failure to protect the interests of the government in the negotia-tions with the MILF.

Also on Friday, Senator Fer-dinand Marcos Jr. denied alle-gations that he was against the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and was an “enemy of peace” in Mindanao.

In an interview on radio dwIZ, Marcos said he could not understand how he can

be portrayed as anti-peace or anti-BBL simply for defending the Constitution.

As a government official, he said, he took an oath to up-hold the Constitution and all the laws and directives of duly constituted authorities.

Some Muslim groups have attacked Marcos for refusing to accede to the MILF insis-tence that the BBL be approved in its original form and that it should not be watered down.

Marcos said the Senate could not rubber stamp the BBL be-cause of unconstitutional provi-sions that need to be fixed.

He added if the BBL in its current state is passed, it would be challenged before the Su-preme Court.

Senate deliberations on the BBL, suspended after the Ma-masapano massacre, are set to resume on April 13 but will ex-amine ceasefire mechanisms to prevent a recurrence of the Jan. 25 bloodbath.

Marcos said they were wait-ing for the peace and order conditions in Mindanao to improve before they hodl pub-lic hearings on the BBL in Jolo and Zamboanga.

At the same time, Marcos said he was still awaiting the MILF’s report on the incident before BBL hearings can resume.

Marcos acknowledged that passage of the BBL was no guarantee that peace would take hold in Mindanao, par-ticularly since other armed groups such as the Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters oppose the agreement.

Marcos said the government needs to lay down a massive development plan for Mind-anao to curb poverty, which is one of the root causes of the rebellion in the south. If it fails to do this, Marcos added, there will be no peace in Mindanao.

By Macon Ramos-araneta

SENATE Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday assailed the peace panel led by chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer for continually weak-ening the government’s position and endangering the people of Mindanao.

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

CABUYAO, Laguna – A sena-tor who witnessed the refur-bishing of 80,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) ma-chines urged the Commission on Elections Friday to open the process to observers, particu-larly local technology experts, to ensure transparency.

In an interview a walk-through at the Comelec ware-house here, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the Joint Oversight Congressional Committee on the Automated Elections System (JOCC-AES), said the poll body should con-sider bringing in another batch of observers while 100 techni-cians hired by the Smartmatic and 25 Comelec supervisors inspect the old voting machine.

“I hope that the Comelec will open up the procedure, not only to lawmakers like me, but also to Filipino technicians,

who may be interested in see-ing and knowing the details,” Pimentel said.

Although he praised the Comelec for checking each ma-chine meticulously, he said other IT experts should have a chance to witness the procedures to see if Smartmatic was doing it right.

“I’m not a techie... I cae here as a lawmaker to observe as an oversight function if the Comelec is sensibly doing its job. But is what they are doing technically sound? Or are we just wasting our time and re-sources?” Pimentel said.

“That’s why let us show this procedures to all interested groups who have the techni-cal capabilities [to understand the process] all in the name of transparency,” he added.

On March 18, the Comelec started checking and repair-ing the 80,000 PCOS machines that will be used during the 2016 national and local elec-tions.

Since the kick-off, the Com-

elec and Smartmatic were able to check 1,456 machines --- and out of these machines, 135 were in need of repair.

So far, there are only 100 Smartmatic technicians check-ing and cleaning the machines. A Comelec IT expert supervises four Smartmatic technicians.

Pimentel also urged the technical provider Smartmatic to provide its own supervisor to work with the Comelec IT experts to ensure the quality of the repair work.

Comelec acting Chairman Christian Lim said the agency was open to Pimentel’s recom-mendation.

“We support the call of the senator for greater transparency. We will, of course, accommo-date if there are any other re-quests from Filipino technicians. That’s not a problem,” Lim said.

During the walkthrough in the warehouse, Lim and Com-elec spokesman James Jimenez presented the whole process to Pimentel and other representa-

tives of political parties.Jimenez said that techni-

cians were provided with a check-list of 10 parts that need to be checked.

This includes the memory, clock, compact flash, power, EEPROM, scanner, thermal printer, MTD modem port, LCD screen, and battery port.

After they check the ma-chine, the Comelec IT expert will double check the report. Every report is then printed on thermal paper and attached to the checklist.

Lim said they expect the entire refurbishing to last for five months starting with the diagnostics and cleaning of the machines.

The refurbishing, however, could be interrupted once the Comelec awards its project for a 30,000-square-meter ware-house to stor all the old PCOS machines as well as new Opti-cal Mark Readers and Direct Recording Electronic ma-chines to be leased for the 2016 polls.

By Sandy araneta and Sara Susanne D. FabunanTHE Palace said Friday there is no definite information as yet who will fill up vacancies at the top posts of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the Com-mission on Audit (COA) and the Commission on Elections (Com-elec).

“Nothing on those posts yet. As a matter of policy, we only announce appointments when we have the appointment papers from the Office of the Executive Secretary,” said deputy presiden-tial spokeswoman Abigail Valte.

Reports said Communica-tions Secretary Herminio Co-loma Jr. was being eyed for the top post at the CSC, and Deputy Executive Secretary Michael Aquinaldo would head the COA.

Former COA commissioner and mayor Rowena Guanzon was be-ing eyed to head the Comelec.

The three agencies have been without their top officials fol-lowing the retirement of Fran-cisco Duque III from the CSC, Grace Pulido-Tan from the COA and Sixto Brillantes Jr. from the Comelec.

Coloma declined to comment on the reports or respond when asked if he would accept the po-sition at the CSC, saying it would be premature to make any state-ment.

Acting Comelec Chairman Christian Rober Lim said he had not received any word as yet about a new chief at the poll body, but said he had heard Guanzon’s name mentioned.

Lim was reacting to an allega-tion from the opposition United Nationalist Alliance that Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, the

presumptive Liberal Party presi-dential candidate for 2016, was pushing for Guanzon, a party ally.

Tiangco said Guanzon was part of the group that suppos-edly conspired to destroy Vice President Jejomar Binay by res-urrecting issues during his term as Makati city mayor and her ap-pointment to the Comelec was intended to hurt Binay’s candi-dacy in 2016.

“What is clear is the agenda to demolish the Vice President in 2016. It is clearer than the sun that Guanzon is part of the inner circle of the LP,” he added.

Lim said he did not know Guanzon and had met her only once, during a meeting with COA.

In 2016, the Commission on Appointments rejected Guan-zon’s appointment as COA com-missioner.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, who chairs the Joint Over-sight Congressional Commit-tee on the Automated Elections System, said he did not want to meddle in the issue.

Pimentel said there was noth-ing anyone could do if the Presi-dent appoints a Liberal Party member to the top Comelec post.

However, he urged the Presi-dent to preserve the credibility of the independent institution by appointing “credible, objective and non-partisan” individuals.

Three seats in the Comelec have been vacant since February when Brillantes and Commis-sioners Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph retired.

Lim was then designated act-ing chairman to head the com-mission en banc.

Other remaining members are Commissioners Luie Guia, Al Parreno and Arthur Lim.

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newsCYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Binay said the three executive agen-cies are “brazenly ignoring the lawful court order” in a “stubborn display of political arrogance” when they in-sisted enforcing the suspension order against the Makati mayor despite an order from the Court of Appeals.

The executive department’s per-ceived disrespect and disregard for constitutional principles is also ex-pected to be highlighted on Saturday when Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez speaks about protecting and preserving the integrity of the budgetary process in Congress.

On the opening yesterday, the keynote speaker was Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno discussing several reforms introduced in the judiciary for the speedy disposition of cases and she was joined by other speakers, like Senior Associate Jus-tice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Arturo Brion.

But much of the attention was focused on Binay who disputed the arguments of the DILG, DOJ and Ombudsman on the suspension or-der against his son.

“Since when can an opinion and speculation overrule a court order?”

Binay said, echoing the position of several lawyers, including the the current IBP president, who said the CA’s TRO should have prevailed since it refers to the actual suspen-sion and not just the serving of the suspension.

“The rule of law provides predict-ability in the outcome of conflicts aris-ing from transactions in commerce and industry. That is why upholding the rule of law is actually a pre-requi-site to progress,” Binay said.

“This heroic effort of the Bar as-sures society that there is an institu-tion ready to stand up to defend the constitutionally mandated separa-tion of powers,” he added.

Meanwhile, the CA ordered In-terior and Local Government Sec-retary Mar Roxas, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Ombudsman Conchita Morales to explain their alleged defiance of its TRO stopping the mayor’s preventive suspension.

In a two-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., the CA’s Sixth Division ordered gave the three officials a non-extendible period of three days from notice to comply with the order. Rey E. Requejo

FORMER Datu Salibo town mayor Akmad Ampatuan was admitted to the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program after he agreed to become a state witness against 50 new respondents in the Maguindanao massacre case, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Friday.

She said the new respondents in-cluded 14 Ampatuans, and that four of them were incumbent mayors in Maguindanao. She said Akmad was a close relative and a trusted man of Andal Ampatuan Sr., one of the principal accused in the case.

“He [Akmad] is under the WPP. He is covered by the WPP,” De Lima said.

“He is one of the major witnesses in the second wave of complaints. He is a crucial witness, so we ad-mitted him under the WPP.”

The Maguindanao massacre took place in the town of Ampatu-an on Nov. 23, 2009. While the 58 victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, the vice mayor of Buluan town, they were kidnapped and brutally killed.

Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatu-an Jr., son of the incumbent Magu-indanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and a member of one of Magu-indanao’s leading Muslim political clans, in the coming Maguindanao gubernatorial elections in 2010.

The people killed included Mangudadatu’s wife, his two sis-ters, journalists, lawyers, aides and motorists who were witnesses or mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. Rey E. Requejo

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III led the inauguration of the newly renovated Aguinaldo Shrine and Museum in Kawit, Cavite, on Fri-day to pay tribute to General Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines.

He also toured the museum that features artifacts, photographs and dioramas about Cavite province and Aguinaldo. He was not scheduled to deliver a speech during the event, and he reportedly left after the tour.

Aquino was joined by National His-torical Commission of the Philippines chairwoman Maria Serena Diokno, Armed Forces Chief Gregorio Cata-

pang, and Transportation and Com-munications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya during his tour of the museum.

A museum brief says the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine is a national landmark because Filipinos from all walks of life gathered outside the window of Gen. Aguinaldo’s home in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898, to witness the unfurling of the Phil-ippine flag during the declaration of the Philippines’ independence from Spain.

The Proclamation of Indepen-dence was read by Ambrozio Rian-zares Bautista, which was accom-panied by Julian Felipe’s Marcha

Nacional Filipina played by the Ban-da de San Francisco de Malabon.

The house was first built in 1845 from wood and thatch materials by the couple Trinidad Valerio Famy and Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo. It was reconstructed in 1849, and then remodeled in early 1920s by Gen. Aguinaldo. He included symbols reflecting national pride.

Aguinaldo’s intent was to create a monument out of the 1,324-square-meter house dedicated to the Philip-pine Revolution. On March 22, 1963, his 93rd birthday, he donated the estate to perpetuate the spirit of the Philippine Revolution. Sandy Araneta

PNoy opens renovated Aguinaldo shrine

Govt slammed at IBP meet

Ampatuan allowed to joinwitness protection scheme

Small catch. A sport fisherman shows off his catch at the shore of the polluted Manila Bay near the Philippine Navy headquarters in Pasay City. LINO SANTOS

Badjao mother. Sitti Jaohiya Jalkitri of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi her eighth child while mending a fishing net. She is one of the beneficiaries of a healthprogram of the Zuellig Family Foundation and the provincial government of Tawi-Tawi. REVOLI CORTEZ

RESPECT for the rule of law became a key theme at the national convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Cebu City on Friday as Vice President Jejomar Binay criticized the Ombudsman and Departments of Interior and of Justice over the suspension of his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.

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NEWS



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Express Bus begins Monday

Napoles daughter back in RP

QC workers in random drug tests

Under the scheme, 50 pas-senger buses will traverse three routes without stopovers. “These buses will be exempted from the number coding scheme and be allowed to pass through tunnels along the thoroughfare,” said MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino.

The three routes are Express One (Fairview-Ortigas-Ayala), Express Two (Fairview-Ayala), and Express Three (Fairview-Ayala MRT-SM Mall of Asia). To-lentino said the destinations were chosen because most commuters using Edsa take these routes.

The air-conditioned express

EMplOyEES of the Quezon City government down to the officials of its 142 barangays will undergo ran-dom drug testing in a bid to address the drug menace in the city.

“In a recent survey, drugs have been identified as one of the city residents’ top three main issues and concerns,” according to Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte who heads the Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council.

Guidelines for the drug-free workplace program will be consist-ent with the provisions of the Dan-gerous Drugs Act.

The random testing is one of two resolutions recently passed by the anti-drug council. The National Ref-erence laboratory for Environmen-tal and Occupational Health, Toxi-cology and Micro-Nutrient Assay of East Avenue Medical Center will by the QC government’s partner in con-ducting the workplace tests.

The other resolution enables the council to team up with colleges and universities for drug prevention edu-cation seminars for students taking the National Service Training pro-gram. RIO ARAJA

Tricycle traffic. A street in Tawi Tawi bustles with activity. REVOLI CORTEZ

The moves. A firefighter prepares for the Fire Olympics to be held March 29 at Luneta. LINO SANTOS

buses will have a designated color or sticker for identifica-tion. They will also have Wi-Fi, Global positioning System (GpS) and Closed Circuit Tel-evision (CCTV) cameras.

The MMDA collaborated with the lTFRB and the Department of Transportation and Commu-nication for the project. The ob-jectives are to shorten the travel time of commuters, lessen the volume of vehicles, and encour-age employess to take buses in-stead of using their vehicles.

land Transportation Fran-chising and Regulatory Board chairman Winston Ginez said

the fares would be the same as those indicated in the existing fare matrix.

He added that they have tapped 10 bus companies for the project. “These buses have exist-ing franchises so they would not add to the traffic congestion.”

DOTC Assistant Secretary Sherielysse Bonifacio however expects “some bugs at the start, because drivers and commuters will be both new to the concept – but with the cooperation of the riding public, we can quickly address any start-up issues and develop a good public transport option.”

By Joel E. Zurbano

The Express Bus project of the Metro Manila Development Authority will begin its pilot phase Monday, March 23, along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (Edsa).

JEANE Catherine Napoles, daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet lim Na-poles, arrived in the philippines from the United States on Thurs-day, the Bureau of Immigration confirmed.

“She was allowed entry because there was no legal basis to prevent her from coming to the coun-try,” said Immigration spokesman Elaine Tan.

No details were given however as to the time of her arrival or the airline she flew with.

The young Napoles is facing a p17.88-million tax evasion case

before the Court of Tax Appeals. The Justice Department found probable cause to indict her for tax deficiencies for a residential condominium in California and two farm lots in pangasinan.

Napoles is also facing a p32.06 million case filed against her by the Bureau of Internal revenue for “willful attempt to evade fil-ing and paying income taxes for the years 2011 and 2012.”

Jeane was disparaged in social media after videos and blog posts of her lavish life-style circulated the Internet. VITO BARCELO


A6Solon wants ‘power’ firmfor MindanaoBy A. Perez Rimando

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga Sibugay—Second district Rep. Celso L. Lobregat has sought the creation of a Mindanao Power Cor-poration (MinPoCor) to help ensure long-term adequate power to support the economic development of the country’s second largest island region.

Lobregat’s proposal, under House Bill No. 2621—otherwise known as the proposed Mindan-ao Power Corporation—was deliberated recently by the Committees on Energy and Government Enterprises and Priva-tization chaired by Rep. Umali and Rep. Sacda-lan, respectively.

Both committees decided to pass Lobre-gat’s bill for discussion to a Technical Working Group, headed by Rep. Masongsong, which will later report to the appropriate committee for approval after which the measure will be cal-endared for plenary dis-cussion by last week of May or early June.

Lobregat’s measure seeks to non-privatize the Agus-Pulangi hy-dropower complexes in Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon which are considered the “Crown jewel of Mindanao pow-er industry.”

Farmers fearprice dropof palay LINGAYEN—Farm-ers here are worried as the buying price of palay dropped from P24 per ki-logram last year to around P17-17.50 this month.

Oftociano Manalo, president of the Pangas-inan and Region 1 irriga-tors associations, said in an interview that despite the bountiful harvest, the cur-rent low buying price of palay worries the farmers.

“’Yan ang problema namin kung paano maka-kaahon ang madlang Pilipino,” he said as he ex-pressed fears on the pos-sibility of more imported rice once the ASEAN eco-nomic integration is put into place this year.

“By 2017, wala ng pak-undangan ang pagpasok ng agricultural products sa atin…papaano kami makaka-compete to other countries in regard sa production ng bigas?” he asked.

Manalo noted that the price drop may be due to the supposed 1.5 million metric tons of rice im-ported by the Philippines from Vietnam and Thai-land amid despite the bountiful in the country.

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig CityIN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF THE NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE APPROVAL OF FORCE MAJEURE (FM) EVENT REGULATED FM PASS THROUGH FOR SABOTAGE INCIDENTS AND LANDSLIDE DUE TO CONTINUOUS HEAVY RAINS IN MINDANAO AND TYPHOONS SANTI AND VINTA IN LUZON IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES FOR SETTING TRANSMISSION WHEELING RATES, WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

ERC CASE NO. 2014-127 RCNATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NGCP),

Applicant.x------------------------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGTO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

Notice is hereby given that on August 29, 2014, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) filed with the Commission an application for the approval of Force Majeure (FM) event regulated FM pass through for sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon in accordance with the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR), with prayer for provisional authority.

In the said application, NGCP alleged, among others, the following:1. It is a corporation created and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines,

with principal office address at NGCP Building, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It is the concessionaire which assumed the power transmission functions of the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA);1

2. Under Republic Act No. 95112, it was granted a franchise to construct, install, finance, manage, improve, expand, operate, maintain, rehabilitate, repair and refurbish the present nationwide transmission system of the Republic of the Philippines;

3. On January 15, 2009, it assumed transmission functions of TRANSCO including the operation, management and maintenance of the nationwide electrical grid;

4. Pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the RTWR, it is allowed to recover the cost incurred for the restoration, rehabilitation, repair of damage sustained by NGCP transmission assets and other related facilities as a result of a Force Majeure Event (FME), as defined in Article I of RTWR;

Allegations on the Sabotage Incidents in Mindanao as FME5. On September 1 and 26, 2013, its transmission assets and other related facilities in

the Provinces of Maguindanao and Cotabato, respectively, were damaged due to the bombings perpetrated by lawless elements;

6. In compliance with Article X of the RTWR, it filed with the Commission an FME Notice regarding Sabotage Incident in Mindanao dated September 9, 2013 and October 7, 2013;

7. Copies of the FME Notice regarding Sabotage Incident in Mindanao dated September 9, 2013 and October 7, 2013 are attached to the application as Annexes “A” and “B,” respectively;

8. Further, copies of the Spot Report dated September 1, 2013, Progress Report dated September 2, 2013, and Blotter Report issued by the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, Maguindanao are attached to the application as Annexes “C” to “C-2,” respectively. Also, copies of the Police Report dated September 27, 2013 issued by the Kabacan Municipal Police Station, Cotabato are attached to the application as Annexes “D” to “D-2,” respectively;

Allegations on Landslide due to Continuous Heavy Rains in Mindanao Area as FME

9. On October 8, 2013, due to continuous heavy rains in the Mindanao area, landslide occurred which damaged its transmission assets and other related facilities located in Zamboanga City;

10. In compliance with Article X of the RTWR, it filed with the Commission an FME Notice regarding Landslide Due to Continuous Heavy Rains dated November 14, 2013;

11. Copies of the FME Notice regarding Landslide Due to Continuous Heavy Rains dated November 14, 2013 and PAGASA Certification dated February 24, 2014 are attached to the application as Annexes “E” and “F,” respectively;

Allegations on Typhoon Santi as FME12. On October 11 to 13, 2013, Typhoon Santi entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility

with maximum winds of 150 kph and gustiness of 185 kph. Due to its intensity and heavy rainfall, its transmission assets and other related facilities in the North Luzon area were damaged;

13. In compliance with Article X of the RTWR, it filed with the Commission an FME Notice regarding Typhoon Santi dated November 12, 2013;

14. Copies of the FME Notice regarding Typhoon Santi dated November 12, 2013 and PAGASA Certification dated November 20, 2013 are attached to the application as Annexes “G” and “H,” respectively;

Allegations on Typhoon Vinta as FME15. On October 31, 2013, Typhoon Vinta entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility

with maximum winds of 130 kph and gustiness of 160 kph. Due to its intensity and heavy rainfall, its transmission assets and other related facilities in the North Luzon area were damaged;

16. In compliance with Article X of the RTWR, it filed with the Commission an FME Notice regarding Typhoon Santi dated November 19, 2013;

17. Copies of the FME Notice regarding Typhoon Vinta dated November 19, 2013 and PAGASA Certification dated November 30, 2013 are attached to the application as Annexes “I” and “J,” respectively;

Common Allegations18. Immediately, after the sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains

in Mindanao, and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon, it started the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its damaged transmission assets and other related facilities in order to continue serving its customers;

19. The cost of additional Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) that it incurred to complete the rehabilitation, repair and restoration of its transmission assets and other related facilities are, as follows:

FME Total (PhP)3

Sabotage Incident in Mindanao 3,289,941.00Landslide due to Continuous Rain 2,605,302.50 Typhoon Santi 2,267,068.00 Typhoon Vinta 1,672,478.64TOTAL 9,834,790.14

20. Copies of the Details of Activities of FMEs sabotage incidents in Mindanao, landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao, Typhoon Santi in Luzon, and Typhoon Vinta in Luzon are attached to the application as Annexes “K,” “L,” “M,” “N,” and “O”, respectively;

21. The damaged transmission assets and other related facilities subject of the instant application are not covered by TRANSCO and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation’s Industrial All Risk (IAR) Insurance Policy with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the year 2013 and therefore not compensable. Copies of the Certifications in support of such allegation are hereto attached as Annexes “P,” “Q,” “R,” and “S;”

1 Repubiic Act No. 9136 entitled, “An Act Ordaining Reforms in the Electric Power Industry, Amending for the Purpose Certain laws and for Other Purposes”

2 Republic Act No. 9511 entitled, “An Act Granting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines a Franchise to Engage in the Business of Conveying or Transmitting Electricity Through High Voltage Back- bone System or Interconnected Transmission Lines, Substations and Related Facilities, and for Other Purposes.”

3 Inclusive of the permit fees and Value Added Tax (VAT);

22. In view of the foregoing, there is a need to realign its CAPEX projects to recover the cost incurred for the restoration, rehabilitation and repair of its damaged transmission assets and other related facilities subject of this application;

Computation of Force Majeure Event Pass-Through Amount

23. It proposes the FM pass-through amount, in P/kW-month, as additional network charges in the following areas starting the billing period of October 2014 to December 2015, or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered, computed as shown in the table below:

Grid 2014 2015Luzon 0.0338 0.0083Mindanao 0.2830 0.0703

24. Although this FME claim is not included in its 3rd Regulatory Reset Application, the same can be recovered during the 3rd Regulatory Period pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the RTWR where it is allowed to recover the cost incurred for the restoration, repair and rehabilitation of damage sustained by its transmission assets and other related facilities as a result of the FME. A copy of the FME Claim Computation is attached to the application as Annex “T;”

25. Further, the FME Claim under this application does not breach the Force Majeure Threshold Amount (FMTA). A copy of the FMTA Computation is attached to the application as Annex “U;”

26. Also, considering that it is not included in the calculation of FM Pass-Through Amount, it should be allowed to recover in the Fourth (4th) Regulatory Period the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities which were damaged by the sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao, and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon, given that it would have normally fully recovered the return of capital on said assets for the duration of their economic lives had these transmission assets and other related facilities not been damaged or destroyed by these FMEs;

Justification for the Issuance of Provisional Authority27. It moves for the issuance of a provisional approval for the immediate recovery of

the FME claim pursuant to Section 3, Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure. It needs to immediately recover the actual expenses incurred for the rehabilitation of the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities. The occurrence of the aforementioned FME requires capital infusion, the recovery of which should be allowed to avoid putting financial strain in the transmission provider, and to allow it to continuously provide the necessary transmission service to the grid customers;

28. In addition, the timely implementation of the pass-through amount will allow the equal or even spread of the increases or decreases in tariffs from the initial implementation of the recovery of the cost;

29. A copy of the Judicial Affidavit of Agnes F. Dela Cruz, Head, Tariff Design and Billing Management Division, Revenue and Regulatory Affairs, in support of the instant application, is attached to the application as Annex “V;” and

Prayer30. It most prays of the Commission that:

a. Grant provisional approval to implement and bill the FME Pass-Through Amounts to Luzon and Mindanao customers starting October 2014 billing month to December 2015 billing month or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered;

b. Declare the sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao, and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon as Force Majeure Events (FME);

c. Approve the CAPEX incurred for the restoration, rehabilitation and repair of the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities due to the sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao, and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon as FMEs;

d. Approve the proposed pass-through amount representing return on capital, return of capital and taxes associated with the emergency responses and the repair and rehabilitation of facilities damaged due to the said events, as shown in the table below:

Grid 2014 2015Luzon 0.0338 0.0083

Mindanao 0.2830 0.0703

e. Approve and allow the recovery of the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the sabotage incidents and landslide due to continuous heavy rains in Mindanao, and Typhoons Santi and Vinta in Luzon, as FMEs during the Fourth (4th) Regulatory Period given that the said amount would have been fully recovered by NGCP if these transmission assets and other related facilities have not been damaged or destroyed by said FMEs; and

f. Exclude the proposed Pass-Through Amount from the side constraint calculation.The Commission has set the application for jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation,

pre-trial conference and evidentiary hearing on the following dates and venues:

DATE TIME VENUE PARTICULARSApril 22, 2015 (Wednesday)

Nine o’clock in the morning

(9:00 A.M.)

ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

Jurisdictional Hearing andExpository Presentation

April 29, 2015 (Wednesday)


(9:00 A.M.)

ERC Mindanao Field Office, Mezzanine Floor,

Mintrade Building, Monteverde corner

Sales Sts., Davao City

Expository Presentation forMindanao Stakeholders

May 6, 2015 (Wednesday)


(9:00 A.M.)ERC Hearing Room, 15th

Floor, Pacific CenterBuilding, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

Pre-Trial Conference and Evidentiary Hearing

May 7, 2015 (Thursday)


(9:00 A.M.)

Continuation of Evidentiary Hearing

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 applicant concludes 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 may wish to have a copy of the application may request the applicant, prior to the date of the initial hearing, that they be furnished with a copy of the application. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Likewise, any such person may examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the usual office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson, ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, and JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 9th day of March, 2015 at Pasig City.

ATTY. FRANCIS SATURNINO C. JUAN Executive Director III

MST – March 14 & 21, 2015

[email protected]

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

NEWS


A7

‘Lumads’ return home

Mayor eyes merger of Baguio barangaysBAGUIO CITY March 20—Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the ultimate solution to the lack of funds of the city’s 128 ba-rangays to pay for the honorari-um of their respective barangay tanods is for the merger of the barangays to comply with the minimum number of inhabit-ants pursuant to the provisions of the Local government Code of the Philippines.

Domogan said the merger of barangays would contribute in the realization of the increase in the funds of the barangays to cover their expenses, especially for the salaries and allowances of barangay tanods.

He cited as example Irisan, the city’s largest barangay, which, despite its rapidly growing popu-lation, has adequate funds to pay for their barangay officials, tanods and other services.

Domogan’s statement came after Councilor Michael Lawana, who is also the president of the Association of Barangay Coun-cils (ABC), posed a challenge to city officials to help them raise funds to pay the salaries of their barangay tanods after the city council rejected a proposal of the AB to hold a trade fair for two months to raise funds purposely for their tanods. Dexter A. See

TUBA, Benguet March 20—Local and environment officials lauded the Department of Jus-tice (DOJ) for coming out with a resolution finding probable cause on the filing of charges for violation of the provisions of Presidential Decree (PD) 705 or the Forestry Code of the Philippines against Baguio City Rep. Nicasio Aliping and three property developers for their involvement in the illegal cut-ting of trees and illegal excava-tion work within portions of the Mount Sto. Tomas watershed and forest reservation.

Gov. Nestor B. Fongwan said the DOJ’s recommendation to endorse the charges to the en-vironmental Ombudsman is a welcome development in the celebrated environmental case because this would send a strong message to everyone that the law does not distinguish influence and position when the issue in-volves the preservation and pro-tection of the forested areas in the country. Dexter A. See

Mayor eyes merger

IN BRIEF

DoJ lauded for fi lingcase vs solon, 3 more

Governor Plaza and Mayor Corvera also assured the evac-uees that they would provide lawyers, legal and other as-sistance in filing cases against

abuses by military and para-military groups which the they said had “militarized” their communities.

Plaza, Corvera, the tribal

Armed men kill‘landed’ couple

DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte—A landowner-cou-ple was killed in an ambush staged Wednesday morning by an armed group reportedly led by a certain Omar in Barangay Balas, Labason, this province, police said.

On the same day, a public sec-ondary school teacher in Zam-boanga City, was found dead inside the toilet of his parents’ house at Legazpi Compound in the urban barangay of Tetuan.

A belated report received at Camp Hamac here by Pro-vincial Police Director Sr. Supt. John E. Enguerra from Laba-son Municipal Police Office chief Senior Inspector Moham-mad Sahidaini identified the slain couple as Elpidio Masibay, 50, and his wife Marelyn, 48.

Sahidaini said the Masibays were hiking on a rough road to visit their farm some two kilo-meters away when Omar and his armed followers, who were hiding behind a thick bush, fired at Elpidio and Marelyn hitting them on different parts of their bodies and killing them instantly.

By Alvin T. Guanzon

Barangay Balit, SAN LUIS, AGUSAN DEL SUR- After 54 days of making an abandoned NGO-build hospital here their temporary shelter after fleeing their homes last January 23, 2015, some 1,000 Banwaon tribe evacuees finally decided to return to their homes after Agusan del Sur Gover-nor Eddie Bong Plaza and San Luis Mayor Ron-ald Corvera vowed to provide them with food ra-tions and vehicles to guarantee their safety.

54 days after fl eeing tribal town due to militarizationchieftains, and leaders of the evacuees have set today, March 21, 2015 as the day where the 1,000 lumads will fi-nally return home after nearly a twomonth stay at the aban-doned, unfinished Religious of Good Shepherd donated sup-posedly 100-bed hospital now turned evacuation center.

The nuns from the Religious Good Shepherd had to stop the construction of the almost 70 percent completed hospital, due to the conflict on several issues between the nuns and military officials and personnel previ-ously assigned here in Barangay Balit, San Luis, Agusan del Sur.

Modern hospital equip-ment and facilities such as

X-rays, CT scan from donor European countries through the nuns’ efforts which were about to be shipped to the Philippines were suspended due some unresolved issues, including accusations by the military that the nuns were helping communist rebels.

The RGS nuns, however, de-nied the allegations saying they were only helping Banwaon tribes and their communities.

Reports said that communist rebels oftentimes take refuge in lu-mad communities, and sometimes recruit potential members from the lumads themselves, while the mili-tary does the same thing, thus creat-ing conflict among the tribes here.

During a peace dialogue be-

tween military and the tribes led by Governor Plaza and Mayor Corvera held at the Multi-Pur-pose Building here on Friday, the provincial government of-ficials and the tribal leaders agreed that starting today, all al-leged military and paramilitary abuses will be documented and properly reported and recorded and presented before barangay and police officials.

“We will provide you law-yers and free paralegal assis-tance so that charges will be filed in court for criminal and administrative cases against these unenlightened soldiers and CAFGU members who are supposed to help you and not oppressed you,” Plaza said.

Hospital that refusedto admit patient chargedBUTUAN CITY- The parents of 10-year old Jannary “Yanna” Chan who died after the Bu-tuan Doctors’ Hospital (BDH) allegedly rejected their plea for admission, on Friday said that they are setto file both civil and criminal charges against BDH and its officials.

The hospital had earlier been meted a one month suspen-sion as ordered by the Bureau of Health Services and Facilities of the Department of Health cen-tral office in Manila.

In a phone interview Thurs-day morning, Jannary’s mother Mrs. Remedios Salarda Chan said she and her husband Greg-ory would file ccriminal and civil charges against Butuan Doctors’ Hospital, saying that although they were glad that the DOH central office acted on their complaints, the sanc-

tions imposed was not enough to compensate for the loss of their daughter.

“Yanna could have been alive today had Butuan Doc-tors Hospital allowed admit-tance. however I would like to thank the DOH office in Manila for giving attention to our complaint filed last August 2014. This will set precedent to others who will experience the same problem in the future, that there is an office who will act,” Mrs Chan said.

Last August 15,, 2014, Gregory and Remedios Chan brought their daughter Yanna to Butuan Doctors Hospi-tal aboard an ambulance for admittance. Yanna was pre-viously confined at the San Francisco Doctors Hospital in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. Alvin T. Guanzon

Restore And Refurbish. The Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF) has provided financial assistance to refurbish the 246-year old St. Peter’s Cathedral in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. The historic church, also known as the Tuguegarao Cathedral, is a Baroque structure originally built from 1761 to 1767 by Dominican friars. WCKF heeded the call of Cathedral Rector Fr. Gerard P. Perez who requested assistance for the repair and re-polishing of the church’s marble flooring. The foundation had earlier given donations for the restoration of the cathedral.

Going home. Photo shows members of a lumad community of Bunwaon tribe in Agusan del Sur, who are set to return home after more than a month after leaving their homes due to what they claim as massive militarization in their communities.

dominium towers instead of in job-generating indus-tries like railroads, shipping ports and electric power generation. Unemployment remained at 7 percent which would have risen to unman-ageable levels had millions of Filipinos not left to work overseas.

Call centers and the for-eign currency remittances by some 2 million Overseas Filipino Workers mostly in the Middle East prop up the Philippine economy, but they do not result in inclusive growth to sustain a meaningful middle class. Then too, business out-sourcing and labor export-

ing could have a shelf life as they depend on the health of other countries’ economies.

News of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew’s failing health

comes at a time when the Philippines is facing a presi-dential election next year without any clear choices as to who will and can lead the country. Lee, the found-ing father of Singapore who guided his country from a backwater economy to a vi-brant world class nation, is 90 years old and in criti-cal condition. Prime Min-ister Mahathir of Malaysia, although not as popular as Lee, steered his country and left a stable state to succeed-ing leaders.

Sadly, we are a nation bereft of true leaders. We are cursed by a turnstile succession of leaders without any legacy or

opinion


A8

ManilaStandardTODAY

MEMBERPhilippine Press InstituteThe National Association of Philippine NewspapersPPI

can be accessed at:www.manilastandardtoday.comONLINE

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Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Jojo A. Robles Editor-in-Chief Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Joel P. Palacios News Editor Francis Lagniton City Editor Arman Armero Senior Deskman Leo A. Estonilo Senior Deskman Romel J. Mendez Art Director Roberto Cabrera Chief PhotographerMa. Editha D. Angeles Advertising Manager Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

[ EDI TORI A L ]

BaBying the President

[email protected]

ADELLE chuAe d i t O r

S AT u R D AY : M A R c h 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

opinion

Cyan Magenta yeLLOW BLaCK

Cyan Magenta yeLLOW BLaCK

EvEN as Forbes Magazine listed an elite class of Fili-pino businessmen among the world’s billionaires, the New York-based publica-tion also came out with an indicting report on why a quarter of the country’s 100 million population still live

in grinding poverty.The magazine juxtaposed

clusters of high rise condos dominating the Makati cen-tral business district sky-line and the reality on the ground where pockets of impoverished families live hidden from view.

The reasons cited by Forbes is that while the economy continues to grow, most of the investments made by big business are in shopping malls and con-

PHL’s ricHest, Poorest

(Conclusion)

MY pieces on federalism and parliamen-tary system as radical solutions to the country’s continuing problems elicited a number of supportive and interesting responses. Undoubtedly, there is a grow-ing group of Filipinos who are looking for more systemic changes.

Many are fed up with ineffective band-aid solutions employed to address deep-seated problems that significantly have to do with the very system and form of government we stubbornly adhere to.

A number of letters I received were from individuals from organized groups that have for some time been seriously studying federalism and parliamentary system as these may apply to our coun-try.

Many years ago, the political party I was with did countless discussions on the advantages, disadvantages, and rel-evance of federalism and parliamentary system on the situation obtaining then, and where we remain to be now.

I also remember formal discussions among different political groups, par-ties, and movements on the matter. For-mer University of the Philippines Presi-dent Jose Abueva was among the most active leaders of initiatives particularly on federalism. Presently, some groups and personalities have come out calling for these big changes.

I do not claim that a federal form of government and the parliamentary sys-tem are ideal. Thus, there is need to thoroughly study these. The latter may be easier to achieve while the former will need to happen by stages because of the requisites of being a sub-state.

Beyond these however, one important question in people’s minds, even among those inclined to support the federal form and parliamentary system of government, is the question of how we may peacefully and credibly carry out the transition. This question of how, though difficult to answer, is as important as the changes themselves if the country is to really move forward.

Allow me to share some thoughts on this.

We should strive for the process to be peaceful. While we can expect strong opposition against systems change par-ticularly from those who benefit from the status quo, it is best that the process would result in the least disruption in terms of governance. This means that as much as possible, we need to work with-in established processes and institutions.

Radical solutions: the Road

to systems change

vision for the country’s future.Why is President Aquino, whose

popularity rating plunged from 70 percent to 36 percent, hated by so many? A recent Pulse Asia survey shows that one in four Filipinos dislikes Aquino. The same survey also reported that eight out of 10 Filipinos found the President’s ex-planation of his role in the bungled Mamasapano police operation unsatisfactory. That speaks vol-umes about the President’s gov-

ernance and how he relates to the people. Aquino’s lack of humility to acknowledge mistakes and his dogged loyalty to friends and allies have not endeared him to a wide segment of the public who would like to see a president of all the people.

The Mamasapano, Maguindanao police raid that left 44 PNP Special Action Force commandos dead is the latest stain on the President who is leaving office on June 30,

2016. The incident was further tweaked when Aquino failed to attend the arrival honors for the Fallen 44’s remains at the villamor Air Base. Acting on a twisted sense of priorities, the President went instead to the inauguration of the Mitsubishi car plant in Sta.Rosa, Laguna.

Still unresolved are issues involv-ing the controversial Disburse-ment Acceleration Program and

Continued on A11 Continued on A11

POLICE Director Benjamin Magalong, Senator Grace Poe and their colleagues who stand by their respective reports on the Mamasapano tragedy deserve our commendation.

In this government where people’s feelings are easily hurt and leaders take professional criticism as a personal affront, it takes gumption to tell no less than the President of the country that he bears responsibility for the police operation that killed a Malaysian terrorist but also claimed the lives of 44 policemen from the Special Action Force. Specifically, the reports said Mr. Aquino broke the chain of command of the PNP by dealing directly with former SAF commander Getulio Napenas and by allowing his friend Alan Purisima to participate in the operation despite his suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman on charges of graft and corruption.

Eighteen fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five civilians were also killed during the Jan. 25 encounter.

Magalong and Poe are not known critics of President Aquino. In fact, Magalong is one of those in the running to be named chief of the Philippine National Police. Poe, for her part, ran under the banner of the Liberal Party – chaired by Mr. Aquino himself – in the 2013 senatorial elections where she emerged first, surprising many. In some way, their career fortunes would be influenced on whether or not they keep the President happy.

Mr. Aquino was certainly not happy with the reports. Earlier this week, Magalong was summoned to the Palace presumably to discuss with the President the contents of the Board of Inquiry’s Mamasapano Report. While Magalong said the meeting was professional, he also described the President as “visibly hurt .”

Poor Mr. Aquino. This he gets, after vigorously defending himself, saying he was not to blame for the policemen’s deaths, on numerous occasions. On one such occasion, attended by religious leaders Mr. Aquino handpicked to pray over him, the President pinned the blame solely on Napenas who, he said made a fool out of him. Curiously, Mr. Aquino was silent about what his friend and loyal ally Purisima was doing getting involved in a crucial police operation.

Presidential apologists cannot be faulted for trying hard to kiss away Mr. Aquino’s hurt feelings and defend the indefensible. It’s their job. Spokesman Edwin Lacierda says there was nothing wrong with the President’s turning off his phone while he slept. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima insists that the principle of chain of command does not apply to the PNP because the organization is civilian in nature. While deputy spokesperson Abigail valte acknowledges that the President may be held responsible, she is adamant that he did not violate any laws and hence, there is nothing to apologize for.

Astoundingly, too, Secretary of the Interior Manuel Roxas is taking the blame for the President’s not being interviewed by the PNP Board of Inquiry for its report. The pitiful excuse is that Magalong coursed his invitation to interview the President through Roxas – but the latter was so swamped with work that he forgot.

Can we ever really forgive these Palace officials for trying to turn us into fools? If the President really wanted to cooperate with the BOI as it was piecing together its report, he could have called them and told them whatever he wanted to say. He did not have to wait for an official invitation coursed through any of his legmen. If Mr. Aquino had spoken to the investigating body, then he would have had no excuse to get “hurt” by the BOI’s findings.

Our President is a grown man. When he applied for – and got the part of – of chief executive, he should have been ready for anything, including humbling himself at appropriate times, facing his critics, and apologizing for mistakes while vowing to do better.

Then again, we remember that even his candidacy in 2010 was not a mature, deliberate decision. Small wonder then that his group of caregivers are doing everything to coddle this boy of a president and make sure no harm comes to him.

BaCK ChanneL

aLeJandrO deL rOsariO

POWer POint

eLiZaBethangsiOCO

Most of the investments made

by big business are in shopping malls and

condominium towers instead of in job-

generating industries.

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

cident was exploited by then-Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. and some of his accomplices in the opposition. They took turns in trying to discredit the incident without understanding that it was meant to recover what was his-torically and legally belongs to us.

No sooner did the secessionist re-bellion intensify. It spread from the Sulu archipelago area to central Min-danao. When the MNLF realized that its cry for liberation of genocide and discrimination no longer rings a bell, much that it was used by Malaysia to effectively deny the Tausugs of their right to claim their ancestral home-land Sabah, things slowly began to move in favor of the government. The

MNLF began to shift its attention to recovering Sabah from Malaysia, and the idea of independence lost much of its enthusiasm.

It was an agonizing re-examina-tion of the objectives of the MNLF that while it was being urged to secede from the Philippines, it did not curtail its members’ ob-session with being reunited with their fellow Sabahans living in Sabah. Many of the Tausugs in Sabah were deported. That policy of depopulating Sabah of its na-tive inhabitants was carried out by deporting many of them as illegal Filipino immigrants.

OPINIONS AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A10

KNoWINg that we have been deal-ing with foreign na-tionals is more than enough for us to repudiate the pro-posed Bangsamoro

Basic Law. This we have to bear in mind for while the government is willing to negotiate peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, it cannot enter into an agreement with the parties who are citizens of other countries adversarial to our interest. To accede to that proposition could change altogether the parameter of the negotiations. It will no longer be one of how far the government is willing to grant autonomy to our Muslim brothers in Mindanao, but on the future status of the territory that will be demarcated as part of the Bangsamoro.

When the Philippines negotiated the proposed BBL with the chairman of the MILF, Al Hajj Mura Ebrahim and with its chief negotiator and spokesman Mohagher Iqbal, the government was made to believe they were negotiating with Filipinos. Even if at times they exhib-ited their disloyalty and were adamant in their demand for independence, it was understandable as they were acting pursuant to their spirited desire to maximize what they could exact from the Philippine panel. The thing that is important is that we are dealing with Fili-pinos, although in the category of rebels, even if they refuse to recognize the authority of the government.

only by dealing with Filipinos – a Muslim seces-sionist rebel or a communist ideologue seeking to overthrow the government – can a government, wor-thy of its status as a sovereign state, achieve peace in the context of the conflict remaining an internal prob-lem. Every state battling an insurgency problem is doing everything to prevent the rebels from attaining the status of belligerency, thereby allowing it to claim that the fighting remains an internal war, and giving it the right to invoke the UN Charter of non-interference in its domestic affairs.

Thus, when the leaders that we have been negotiat-ing with turn out to be Malaysian citizens, this is solid ground to repudiate the proposed BBL or for our panel to withdraw their signature. This automatically puts the issues of autonomy out of the question. Murad and Iqbal, strictly speaking, can no longer represent the Muslims in Mindanao.

This explains why all that has been coming out from their mouth is the interest of Malaysia, and their repre-sentation is a de facto intrusion into an otherwise our internal affairs which normally would be unacceptable to the other party. Most dangerous, once the BBL has been ratified, all that their proxies in the negotiating table would do is to submit the approved agreement to the Malaysian authorities, for it to either recognize the newly independent state or demand that it join the ex-panded federation of Malaysia.

In fact, it would seem that there is no way we could back out of the blunder committed by our negotiating panel because the Philippines did not reject, at the out-set, the representation made by Mural and Iqbal. To arrest these people could only complicate the situation, for then Malaysia could intervene in the name of pro-tecting its citizens and its rights and interests under the agreement. Maybe there was logic in the argument of Iqbal in refusing to submit their version of the report of the Mamapasano incident. They are, after all, not Filipino citizens who could be obligated to submit the report.

In a similar development, to divert our attention away from the Mamasapano massacre, people sympa-thetic to the cause of the MILF, like Anak Mindanao Representative Sitti Djalia Hataman, insists that the government accept the responsibility for the incident that happened in March 1968 where some of the Mus-lim trainees who staged a mutiny were killed. The incident was most unfortunate because the creation of a special squad known as “Jabida” was not meant to curtail the rights of the Muslims or commit genocide, as others would like to project it, but to liberate Sabah from Malaysia. Today, people in the mainstream me-dia who have been styling themselves as investigative journalists continue to blame the Marcos government for the incident.

Maybe the incident gave Malaysia the opportunity to exploit our local Muslims by funding and arming the secessionist rebellion. It became an occasion to steer up the sentiments of the Muslims which led to the founding of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), headed by a Tausug named Nur Misuari. Sadly enough, the in-

Repudiate the BBL Speaking tRuth to poweR

WITH the release this past week of the Senate and the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry reports on the events last January 25. 2015 in Mamasapano, we now have a better picture of what really happened in that re-mote Maguindanao town. It’s not yet the complete picture as there are still gaps to be filled and details that must be accounted for. But enough is known now to be able to dis-cern what the path ahead should be for exacting account-ability and moving forward on the peace process. Bor-rowing a phrase I heard last Tuesday evening from Teddy Locsin in his nightly ANC editorial, these two reports are as perfect as they can be.

There is really no other option but for the President to own up to what happened, to accept overall accountabil-ity without qualification. He could have done this the first time he spoke a few days after Mamasapano. He had an-other opportunity to do this when he accepted Alan Puri-sima’s resignation. In my view, if he did this then, with a promise to implement reforms that will make sure Ma-masapano never happens again, the country could have moved on and the peace process would not have been im-periled.

With the release of the two reports, President Aquino is fortunate to have been given another chance. What is so difficult in saying: “These reports have been done well. I accept their findings. I am taking the following steps to make sure that this never happens again.” In my view, an apology -- while welcome -- is not essential, but there must be unconditional acceptance of accountability and not fudging or passing on the blame and especially not to former SAF Commander getulio Napeñas while ex-cusing or being silent on Purisima. of course, President Aquino’s die-hard critics will not be satisfied, but most citizens would accept it and frankly be more than happy to move on.

If the President did this, I certainly would welcome it and would be squarely behind him. That would be an act of putting leadership on the line – this country has not seen it for a long time; it will be appreciated. And if he then boldly calls on us to move forward with the peace process, I would line up quickly behind the President.

For now, however, I align myself with the Chairman and members of the Board of Inquiry and with Senator grace Poe and the Senate. I do not agree with everything in both reports, especially some of the conclusions on the peace process in the Senate report (a topic I will return to in another column next week). overall, however, their findings and recommendations point a way forward for our country.

Director Benjamin Magalong and the members of the Board of Inquiry should be praised for their courage, for risking their careers, and for correctly pointing to the lapses in judgment of the President. What is even more remarkable is that Magalong is in the running to become PNP Chief; still, he was not afraid to risk that in the pur-suit of doing right.

The BoI report starts out in the right tone, recogniz-ing that 67 Filipinos died in Mamasapano. In this respect, it is more accurate than the Senate report that labels the events in Mamasapano a massacre. In my view, Mamasa-pano started as a misencounter (with the MILF at least) that escalated into a battle that became lopsided in favor of the combined MILF and BIFF forces.

We can debate endlessly whether the President is legally the commander in chief or not of the PNP, or whether he violated the established chain in command within the PNP. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima correctly points to the landmark case of Carpio vs. Executive Secretary as the authority to guide us on this question. Having said that, we should take note that all our presidents since 1986 have considered themselves commanders in chief of the PNP.

That includes President Aquino who referred to himself as such during a Philippine National Police Academy gradu-ation a few years ago. And even if the President were not commander in chief of the PNP, he does have control and supervision over it. As such, he can command it as he wills in accordance with laws, policies, and established procedures. In this regard, the controlling law is the exec-utive order issued by President Fidel V. Ramos establish-ing a chain of command in the whole government.

In any case, whether as commander in chief or as the chief executive with the power of control over the PNP, that role does not preclude the President from directly dealing with lower subordinates bypassing others with a higher rank. Bypassing ranking officials in the chain of command and going directly to lower ranked subordi-nates are a prerogative of the President. It might be bad governance if done too frequently, but exigencies can justify such extraordinary measures. So on the issue of breaking the chain of command, the President cannot be held legally accountable for Mamasapano.

The problem is not that President Aquino dealt with Napeñas directly. The serious legal issue the President might be legally accountable for is his actions with respect to Purisima, then suspended-Chief of the PNP. Up to now, this is still the giant hole in the Mamasapano narrative.

All we know is that other than the meeting of Napeñas and the President, attended also by Purisima, the commu-nication on the oplan Exodus had been mainly between the President and Purisima. There was very little interac-tion between the President and Napeñas, including on the day of the operation. That’s why it was strange for the President to accuse the latter of lying and to pin the blame for the failure of oplan Exodus on the SAF commander. I suspect that the disclosure of all the relevant text mes-sages the President and Purisima sent to each could also be a treasure trove that could complete the narrative and shed light on the legal liability of the President. According to the Senate, Purisima should be charged with the crime of usurpation of authority as he was clearly on top of the mission, commanding Napeñas. But what if the President authorized Purisima to act as such? Would that make the President a conspirator, a principal by indispensable co-operation, or an accomplice in Purisima’s crime?

The country should be grateful to Senator grace Poe, backed up clearly by a superb, world-class staff, for stand-ing up and confronting a close ally. The Senate Report is absolutely correct in saying that the President is ultimate-ly responsible for the deaths in Mamasapano. Indeed, its most damning finding is its observation that the President and the top security officials of the country, all together in Zamboanga City on that fateful day, did not even meet and employ all measures necessary to save lives that were being lost in neighboring Maguindanao.

Senator Poe also did a good job in communicating the Senate findings. She was firm but not angry; she was de-cisive but not judgmental; she was fair while not afraid to name names. As one friend observed, her being a woman and mother also came out in her demeanor - calm, pa-tient, and assuring.

Twenty senators have so far signed on with the Poe report, a multi-partisan super majority bolted together by the neophyte senator. That’s an impressive job by any standards.

Magalong and Poe, and those who worked on the Ma-masapano reports, model for us the modernist Filipino. Like the boy in the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” they spoke truth to power, without embellishment. They did it courageously, and the country is for the better be-cause of it.

Facebook page: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylav

BACKBENCHER

ROD P.KAPUNAN

EAGLE EYES

DEAN TONYLA VIÑA

There is no way we could back

out of the blunder committed by our negotiating panel.

Next page

[email protected]

Wasting money given by donors

In November 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda caused so much destruction in Leyte, Tacloban City in particu-lar. Thanks to the extensive news dis-seminated by the international media, and the numerous pleas for humanitarian assistance made by international celeb-rities through the Cable News Network, many foreign institutions donated cash through bank accounts opened by the government. Donations came in quickly because the typhoon victims needed help immediately. The donors were aware that any delay in the emergency assistance may result in dire consequences. By the end of December 2013, large sums of money had been sent in by kind donors.

The Commission on Audit (COA) re-ported that at the end of 2013, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) allowed P48.8 mil-lion in donations for Yolanda victims to remain dormant in several bank accounts instead of using the money to assist those in dire need of help in Leyte. The COA added that the sum remained unspent as of June 2014, or more than six months since the super typhoon devastated Leyte.

Thereafter, the OCD replied that the COA report was outdated because the money had been spent since then. An of-ficial of the OCD added that the delay was caused by a lack of documentation on the part of the typhoon victims. No elabora-tion on this excuse was given by the OCD.

The excuse given by the OCD only underscores the incompetence and cal-lousness of its officials. If it were a mere documentation problem, then the OCD should have sent the money to the local government in Tacloban City. City offi-cials could have used the money to buy food and other essentials for the typhoon victims just when they needed the help most. By letting the P48.8 million mark time in banks instead of spending it on the intended beneficiaries, the OCD also confirmed the refusal of President Benig-no Aquino III and his cabinet to provide needed assistance to cities and provinces led by officials who are not affiliated with the pro-administration Liberal Party. In the end, the typhoon victims suffered needlessly as a consequence of Malaca-

ñang politics.By playing politics at the expense of the

typhoon victims, the OCD and its mas-ters in Malacañang did a great disservice to the people in Leyte. Moreover, insti-tutional donors from here and abroad will start thinking twice before sending help to calamity victims in the Philip-pines. The Aquino regime created its own credibility problem, with dire conse-quences for future disaster victims in the country. It is simply inconceivable how and why this administration’s officials can allow this tragedy to take place.

Public interest advocates are consider-ing filing anti-graft charges against the pertinent officials of the OCD for this anomaly. They should do so immediately.

***Like the OCD, the Roman Catholic

Church in the Philippines is unaware of its priorities regarding the funds it re-ceives from donors. Recall that months prior to the visit of Pope Francis in the country last January, the Church was so-liciting donations for the papal visit. As to what specific aspects of the papal visit the solicited funds were to be spent on was not explained by Church leaders in Metropolitan Manila led by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. Nonetheless, the dona-tions poured in. It appears that the do-nations exceeded Tagle’s expectations be-cause not all of the funds were spent.

The unspent funds could have been put to good use by forwarding them, with the consent of the donors, to the disaster ar-eas in Leyte, and having local church per-sonnel help in allocating the money. That move would have been in accord with the concern demonstrated by Pope Francis to the people in Tacloban City during his visit. Instead of doing so, Church officials in Manila decided to donate the funds to the Vatican for the pope’s use, even though the Vatican obviously does not need the money.

When money is solicited from donors for use in a specific undertaking, spending it on something else other than the spe-cific purpose it was solicited for requires the explicit consent of the donors. Did the donors consent to giving the money

to the Vatican?By the way, top officials of the Church

travel around the metropolis in late-mod-el automobiles, complete with security escorts.

* * * It was reported in the television news

that Senator Sergio Osmeña III made a disturbing remark while he was inter-viewed by the media on the expected increase in electricity rates this sum-mer. Osmeña said that the public ought to change their consumption habits in or-der to save on their bills.

Perhaps the good senator is unaware that the cost of electricity in this country has been so high over the past decade, and consumers have been trying their best to cut costs. Consumers have no choice. If they are unable to pay their bills even for just a month, the Manila Electric Compa-ny (Meralco) will summarily disconnect their homes from the power lines. Unlike the senators in this country, consumers cannot pass on their Meralco bills and other expenses to the government.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has not done anything about this problem which chronically ails Filipino consum-ers. The last time Meralco lost in a case involving electricity charges, Petilla ad-vised Meralco to seek a reconsideration of the court ruling. Withal, consumers saw Petilla as an ally of private interest groups. Since Petilla’s sentiments seem to favor the private sector, consumers will not get any help from him.

President Benigno Aquino III has promised to do something about the looming electricity crisis this summer. He can begin by finding out what happened to the P136 billion in Malampaya natural gas revenues which went missing when he was already in office. His budget and fi-nance secretaries, and the former nation-al treasurer failed to properly account for this fund during a congressional investi-gation in 2013. The anti-graft case which a civic leader filed against these three of-ficials back in January 2014 was referred by the Office of the Ombudsman to the Commission on Audit – where it is cur-rently slumbering.

A11adelle chuaE D I T O R

S aT u R d aY : M a R c h 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR

VICTOR AVECILLA

[email protected]

PHL’s... From A8

the Priority Development Assistance Fund which, although ruled as illegal by the Su-preme Court, continues to be dispensed as pork barrel in other forms.

A lack of compassion and the reluctance to say sorry for the tragic outcome of the Mamasapano police operation stoked the smoldering resentment the people for the President. A police Board of Inquiry and a Senate investigation report found Presi-dent Aquino ultimately responsible for his key role in the PNP-SAF mission when he allowed suspended PNP chief Alan Puri-sima to execute the plan.

The Senate joint committee on pub-lic order and security chaired by Senator Grace Poe also held responsible Purisima and SAF ground commander Gen.Getulio Napenas answerable for the ill-fated mis-sion to get international terrorist Marwan and local explosive expert Usman.

Best advice to PacquiaoFreddie Roach, the trainer of Filipino

boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, gave this advice to his ward for the May 2 megabuck welterweight fight with Floyd Mayweath-er:

Don’t rely on God, He has better things to do,” Freddie told Manny, adding an ex-pletive-laced one liner that “God doesn’t give a f..k who wins this fight.” Roach is concerned Paquiao’s Bible preaching dis-tractions might sidetrack him from the business at hand-- which is primarily to rearrange Mayweather’s facial features and hand Floyd the first blemish in his unde-feated ring record.

If at all, Roach reminded Pacquiao to forget his compassion about hurting his opponents and to unleash his old killer in-stinct. Manny has not scored a knockout or stoppage since 2009 when he TKO’d Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto in the 12th round.

Mayweather is 37 years old and Pac-quiao pushing 36. The “fight of the cen-tury” could well end up as a bout between two spent fighters with diminished skills. But I would still watch it on pay-per-view to see which fighter has enough gas left in his tank.

Repudiate... From A10

When that became clear to the Tau-sugs, whose loyalty remains with the Sultan of Sulu, many of the MNLF fighters began to abandon Misuari. Coupled by the massive development projects undertaken by the Marcos ad-ministration, the success of then- First Lady Imelda Marcos to convince the Arab states that the government was doing all it can to alleviate the plight of our Muslim brothers, and that the Armed Forces was gaining the upper hand in the fighting, and with the gov-ernment winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim population, Malaysia had to form a new secessionist group tasked to recruit Muslims from Central Min-danao, specifically coming from the Maranaw and Maguindanao tribes, to form the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). This explains why in the BBL gave the final and only authority to the MILF leadership, and that includes their decision to drop our Sabah claim or not to consult the Sultan of Sulu.

Maybe the alleged “Jabida Massacre” became a watermark in the Marcos ad-ministration, but as we look back to reexamine the past, the truth is slowly coming out that the intention was for the recovery of Sabah and restoring it to the rightful owner, the Sultan of Sulu, who has sworn allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.

[email protected]

Radical... From A9

A most desirable scenario is having a next president who believes in these changes and who will shepherd the whole country towards achieving them no matter if it means having a shorter term with no possible chance of becom-ing prime minster. The “disqualification” clause is a guarantee that this president does not have selfish, or ulterior motives in facilitating the big leap.

A peaceful process also means that the whole plan, including timetables, are made public. I am hoping that transpar-ency will be key to preventing the vari-ous armed groups in the country from creating havoc.

Credibility of the process is important. Given the present widespread distrust of politicians, the credibility factor for a systems change is crucial. This cannot be seen as another ploy to perpetuate those in positions of power.

Credibility is a major problem of those pushing for systems change at this point. For one, some groups are seen as parti-san political players perceived as allies of “enemies” of this administration. Others are seen as mostly cliques of organiza-tions that want their groups to have a taste of power.

With the duly elected president at the

helm of a change process, things could possibly move faster. I dream of a presi-dent who, among other things, won with federalism and parliamentary system as his or her platform.

If this happens, we are assured that the change to federalism and parlia-mentary system is not lacking in con-stituency. Credibility of the elected president, as well as the initiative for change is there.

To ensure credibility, the Filipino peo-ple should be involved and must make the decision. For people to decide intelli-gently, there should be a defined period, say, a year or two, for massive education campaign. There should be open de-bates and as much public discussion as possible. Full media coverage is needed to reach every nook and cranny of the country.

Community-based information dis-semination and education activities must be done particularly in poor com-munities. People need to understand how the changes will impact their lives.

We need to take to heart the lessons from the proposed Basic Bangsamoro Law which is presently heavily criticized for allegedly not involving other stake-holders in Mindanao, and for not do-ing enough information and education campaign so people fully understand its

merits. Whether true or not, this should not happen if or when we embark on changing our system and form of gov-ernment.

While a pro-systems change president is best, this should be a real national project, owned and understood by the people. This cannot just be a project of the president and some trusted allies. The lack of inclusivity, or the percep-tion of this, perhaps, is one factor why the Bangsamoro project is now being as-sailed.

Working in tandem with a pro-change president, Congress should turn itself into a Constituent Assembly (or if the clamor is great, a Constitutional Con-vention may be convened) to craft a new Constitution that will reflect the chang-es. The draft Constitution should again be subjected to thorough public scrutiny and debate, and subjected to a plebiscite for ratification.

If ratified, the whole country should then prepare for the first elections un-der a new system with at least a few sub-states in place. Perhaps then, we will have a real shot at progress, development, and political stability.

[email protected] and @bethag-sioco on Twitter

[email protected]

sat urday: March 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Women’s aquathlon gets boost

The standard distance of 500 meter swimming and 6 kilometer run-ning alone has attracted close to 150 participants aged 18 years old and higher. Among those listed in the event sup-ported by Atleta Ako, Klean Kanteen, Certi-fied Calm, Arena, Neu-trogena, Robinsons Su-permarket, Del Monte, Rexona, Comark, Mer-rel, Crayola, Gatorade, Peak Form Manila and David’s Salon, are PSC Commissioner Akiko Thomson-Guevara, ITU Women’s Commit-tee member Ting Joson, actress Angelika dela Cruz, singer Sitti and former national triath-lon champion Sandra Araullo-Gonzalez.

Not to be outdone are grandmothers taking part in the relay category

showing that sports has no age barrier, with the participation of 74-year-old Polly Jo-son, who will race with her grand daughter Isabella Pascual, while 70-year-old Charry Par-pan is teamed up with daughter Lara Parpan. Among the girls listed, the youngest partici-pants racing are 7-year-olds Carissa Parco and Daphne Maliwat.

Behind it all, the race organized by BikeKing, headed by Raul Cuevas, presented by the Phil-ippine Sports Com-mission and supported by Nike Women, Cen-tury Tuna, Gardenia, Nestle Temptations, Unilab Active Health, WeatherPhilippines, EZ Laces, Flipbelt, Watsons and me-dia partners SBR.ph, RaceDay, Multisport and SPIN.ph, started as an advocacy to get women to be active through sports “I have been involved in sports for the last 35 years (in varying capacities) and I can honestly say sports has influenced my life for good and brought me where I am today. That’s the im-pact sports can have on a life,” PSC Commis-sioner Akiko Thom-son-Guevara said.

A LARGE field of close to 250 girls and ladies—in-cluding notablepersonalities—from around the nation are set to converge at thePhilsports Com-plex in Pasig City this Sunday as the much-anticipated Atleta Ako Wom-en’s Aquathlon fires off at 7 a.m.

[email protected]@gmail.com

BUSINESSMONDAY: MARCH 16, 2015

B2

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Please be informed that the following accountable forms of INVESTORS ASSURANCE CORPORATION (IAC) have been lost: TYPE OF POLICY SERIES FROM SERIES TO BEND - Bond Endorsement 653 653 683 683 CAR - Contractor’s All Risk 556 600 681 685 687 690 2513 2520 2526 2526 CE - Casualty Endorsement 701 746 1806 1825 3676 3700 CGI - Group PA Certificate of Cover 24733 24733 24989 24989 25101 25150 25290 25290 26018 26018 CGL - Public Liability 14602 14650 14901 14950 COCL - LTO Certificate of Cover 3046951 3047100 6006751 6006754 6010607 6010610 6023651 6023700 6023701 6023702 6023707 6023707 6023728 6023728 6026851 6026860 6026863 6026863

COCLT - CCO LTO Certificate of Cover for TRI Use 1016601 1017100 COCM - CCO Non-LTO Certificate of Cover for MC Use 97301 97500 101251 101450 COCN - Non-LTO Certificate of Cover 2101151 2101650 2106051 2106450 2114401 2114450 5022733 5022733 5022764 5022764 5022769 5022769 5022902 5022911 5023554 5023554 5023612 5023622 5023633 5023633 5078751 5078800 5078801 5078804 5078817 5078817 5078819 5078819 5078821 5078822 5078825 5078827 5078829 5078831 5078833 5078836 5078838 5078840 5078842 5078845 5080451 5080451 5083151 5083250 5085662 5085662 5085678 5085678 5086208 5086208 5089710 5089710 5089727 5089750 5089965 5089971 5090604 5090604 CTPLCV - Commercial Vehicle CTPL Policy 6062 6062 6064 6064 6066 6067 16051 16100 16151 16200 17435 17435 CTPLEND - CTPL Endorsement 14301 14350 CTPLLTO - Land Transpo Oprtr CTPL Policy 22301 22500 22743 22744 37251 37300 37748 37748 CTPLMC - Motorcyle CTPL Policy 16851 16900 16901 16922 16951 17000 31401 31600 58801 58850 63274 63274 63306 63306 CTPLPC - Private Car CTPL Policy 47802 47803 47805 47805 47808 47808 47811 47813 47818 47818 47820 47820 47824 47824 47827 47827 47829 47829 47832 47832 47836 47836 47838 47840 47842 47844 47846 47846 47848 47848 47855 47900 47902 47903 47905 47905 47907 47907 47909 47909 47912 47912 47914 47917 47919 47919 47923 47923 47925 47926 47935 47935 47951 48000 48252 48252 48254 48254 48262 48262 48274 48274 48278 48278 48293 48296 48298 48300 55707 55707 55722 55722 63212 63214 63232 63232 63301 63350 65013 65013 66911 66911 66913 66913 70302 70302 CV - Commercial Vehicle Comprehensive 4101 4150 6084 6084 6092 6099 6903 6903 6906 6910 6917 6917 10802 10900 12008 12009 E1 - Fire Invoice (Double Series+03) 1176 1185 1701 1703 1713 1714

E3 - Casualty Invoice 105 150 1751 1754 1755 1756 1760 1800 3881 3900 3926 3950 4553 4600 5440 5440 5529 5543 7813 7813 7816 7816 7818 7828 7825 7826 7830 7830 7838 7850 E4 - Bond Invoice 14971 15000 36761 36761 36794 36794 38166 38168 41037 41050 41101 41105 43057 43057 45216 45216 45451 45470 45559 45567 46157 46157 47689 47689 1419 1419 1423 1425 1427 1428 1430 1450 G(13) - Performance Bond 13951 13955 14226 14226 15785 15785 16197 16197 16955 16955 G(16) - Surety Bond 17202 17205 17206 17225 19514 19514 19628 19628 20151 20152 20597 20597 22523 22523 G(2) - Bidder’s Bond 15897 15897 16924 16924 18501 18525 18904 18904 18921 18921 19261 19262 19285 19285 19404 19404 19786 19786 20354 20354 20364 20364 GPA - Group PA Insurance Policy 134 137 139 139 141 148 149 149 511 520 JCL(6) - Heir’s Bond (One Year) 61 61 71 75 79 85

LTO - Land Transportation Operator Comprehensive 2941 2945 3101 3106 3109 3110 3209 3250 MCEND - Motor Car Endorsement 5252 5300 MCY - Motorcycle Comprehensive 3102 3104 ORGA - Official Receipt (for TPL Use Only) 81201 81400 132351 133700 137101 137500 ORGAB - Official Receipt (for TPL Use Only (+B)) 138301 138350 ORHO - Official Receipt (for General Use) 2994 2994 9001 9200 14551 14562 14564 14564 14582 14590 14592 14598 14600 14602 14604 14650 14702 14703 14735 14735 14737 14737 14739 14739 14741 14743 14745 14749 14751 14751 14753 14753 14759 14769 14771 14776 14781 14789 14792 14798 14800 14800 15728 15730 18743 18743 36001 36016 36018 36083 36085 36086 36099 36121 36123 36163 36166 36174 36179 36196 36201 36223 36225 36250 38808 38809 38811 38818 38825 38826 38834 38835 38844 38850 48151 48191 48194 48196 48198 48208 48210 48211 48213 48238 48241 48242 48245 48245 48247 48247 48251 48275 48277 48278 48281 48281 48284 48291 48293 48293 48295 48295 48297 48297 48299 48317 48319 48319 48322 48326 48329 48335 48337 48339 48341 48345 48347 48356 48358 48366 48368 48370 48373 48373 48382 48383 48385 48387 48389 48393 48397 48397 48399 48400 53651 53651 53653 53653

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sat urday: March 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

sports

Explosive PSL rookies in spotlight

A PAIR of explosive rookies in Iris Tolena-da and Alexa Micek get their baptism of fire when the Philippine Superliga women’s volleyball tournament rolls out its season-opening All-Filipino Conference today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Tolenada’s Philips Gold will face Micek’s Petron in the main en-counter at 4:30 p.m., following the battle be-tween Cignal and Fo-ton at 2:30 p.m., where young guns Rica Jane Enclona and Angeli Araneta are expected to hog the spotlight.

A colorful, NFL-in-spired opening ceremo-ny is set at 1 p.m., which will be highlighted by the traditional parade of colors, where teams will flaunt their new ‘skorts’ uniform with their re-spective escorts and mascots in the opening salvo of this inter-club tournament organized by Sports Core with Air 21, My Phone, Via Mare, Mikasa, Muel-ler Sports Medicine, Healthway Medical, Generika Drugstore, LGR and Jinling Sports as technical partners..

Games will be broadcast live over TV 5 and Aksyon TV.

Advertised as a smart and savvy setter with booming kills, Tolenada is expected to take the league by storm, espe-cially after becoming the first San Francisco State University player to win the Most Valu-able Player award in the highly-competitive California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Aiding her are fellow rookies Desiree Dada-ng and Myla Pablo of National University, as well as fresh recruits like Michelle Gumabao and Melissa Gohing, who are both expected to set the court on fire with their volleyball skills and pretty faces.

“I think we already have a fighting team,” said team manager Anthony Ty, speak-ing on behalf of head coach Francis Vicente.

“We are one of the busiest teams during the off-season and we have been preparing hard for this conference. We have already re-tooled our roster and are con-tinuing to work on im-proving our chemistry inside and outside the court. Fortunately, we have Iris, who is not just

a good setter, but also a leader.”

But the Lady Slam-mers are expected to have their hands full

against Petron, which is arguably the most pow-erful team on paper.

Shortly after winning the Grand Prix title, the

Blaze Spikers immedi-ately went back to the drawing board to chart their preparation for the All-Filipino Conference.

They netted Aby Ma-rano from Generika and Rachel Anne Daquis from the Philippine Army before drafting Micek, a

pretty gem of a spiker from North Carolina State.

Although Micek was picked sixth overall in the recent PSL Annual

Rookie Draft, Petron coach George Pascua said she has what it takes to lead the team back to the finals.

Games Today1:30 p.m .• Opening

Ceremony2:30 p.m. • Cignal vs

Foton4:30 p.m. • Philips Gold

vs Petron 104536 104536 104544 104547 104549 104549 104551 104553 104560 104561 104563 104574 104577 104578 104580 104581 104587 104587 104596 104596 104598 104598 104601 104604 104611 104615 104646 104646 104649 104649 104669 104670 104689 104689 104695 104695 104701 104701 104703 104703 104705 104705 104708 104708 104710 104710 104723 104723 104728 104729 104740 104743 104750 104750 104757 104803 104810 104810 104813 104854 104859 104859 104862 104862 104864 104864 104870 104870 104879 104879 104893 104893 104898 104900 117880 117880 123692 123692 127815 127815 127834 127834 127982 127982 128131 128150 128811 128811 128814 128814 128829 128830 129051 129051 129053 129053 129062 129062 129127 129128 129137 129150 130001 130010 130013 130013 130015 130035 130037 130042 130050 130050 130056 130056 130062 130062 130066 130066 130074 130080 130084 130086 130089 130089 130091 130092 130101 130115 130117 130137 130139 130149 130154 130156 130159 130181 130183 130200 130208 130208 130220 130225 130252 130257 130344 130349 130454 130454 130455 130455 130467 130467 130474 130474 130482 130482 130493 130494 130498 130498 130548 130550 131721 131723 131738 131742 131753 131764 131770 131770 131771 131777 131778 131782 131787 131787 131789 131800 131806 131806 131816 131816 131818 131819 131824 131824 131830 131832 131835 131838 131843 131845 131847 131850 131855 131873 134557 134561 134609 134609 134612 134619 134646 134646 134669 134669 136621 136625 136635 136644 136649 136650 138001 138002 138005 138006 138017 138017 138020 138020 138023 138023 138025 138025 138029 138049 140461 140461 140472 140473 140478 140478 142853 142866 142873 142873 142885 142888 144482 144482 144651 144653 144664 144664 144675 144676 144822 144822 145448 145448 145793 145793 145795 145795 145797 145800 145820 145820 145823 145824 145826 145837 145839 145847 145850 145850 145881 145881 145922 145922 145934 145934 145989 145989 146380 146381 146386 146388 147401 147408 147411 147420 150289 150289 150818 150819 150825 150825 150828 150832 150833 150835 150837 150837 150838 150840 151651 151654 151674 151674 151679 151680 151689 151689 151699 151699 151714 151714 151724 151724 151736 151736

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Should you have any of the foregoing IAC forms in your possession, please coordinate with our office immediately and bring the said form/s to our office within thirty (30) days from the date of this publication, for possible replacement of the form/s or reimbursement of payments, if warranted. IAC reserves the right to require presentation of other adequate proof of issuance and/or payment in addition to the presentation of the original form/s.

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(TNS-MAR. 21, 2015)

A14S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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Megafight tensions brewingLOS ANGELES—Tensions appeared to be rising around the long awaited welterweight world title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, with the fighters’ camps reportedly at odds over a proposed doping penalty.

Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that he was “a little puzzled and dismayed” that Mayweather wouldn’t agree to the $5 million penalty Pacquiao had proposed should either fighter test positive for a banned drug.

Mayweather Promotions chief executive Leonard Ellerbe, however, told the newspaper that the drug testing protocol for the May 2 fight in Las Vegas had been “rigorously negotiated” by Pacquiao promoters Top Rank.

In comments to ESPN.com,

De Jesus delays Fotonstint in PH Super LigaCITING the need to attend to both personal and school matters first, Ateneo player Ella de Jesus from the recently crowned University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s volleyball champion team, confirmed to Foton management that she will suit up for the next Philippine Super Liga conference instead, even as she will stay and can practice with the team to keep in tip-top condition.

De Jesus was drafted by Foton earlier, but the management respects the decision of the player.

“Definitely, this is a big loss for us as she would have been a big help to the team. The team, however, remains strong and

competitive with its present line-up, bolstered by new recruits Angeline Pauline Araneta, Pamela Tricia Lastimosa, Royce Estampa and May Jennifer Macatuno, plus the core of our regular players from last year’s team. The team also just underwent a team-building seminar and we can say it is now ready. It has both the heart and hustle,” said Foton team manager Alvin Lu, citing last conference’s team performance when it barely missed a Final 4 slot and fought to the end.

Going back to De Jesus, Lu added that that the player is looking forward to reuniting with their former Ateneo team mates Angeline Gervacio Bea Tan and Kara Acevedo.

Ellerbe called Koncz an “idiot.”“If this moron didn’t convey his

fighter’s wishes when the negotiation was going on that’s their problem,” Ellerbe said. “This is a lame-ass attempt to generate publicity.”

Drug testing was an issue in attempts to put a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight together in late 2009 and early 2010.

Mayweather wanted random Olympic-style blood and urine testing, but Pacquiao objected to some of the protocols and the deal disintegrated.

Mayweather later accused the Filipino ring icon of using

performance-enhancing drugs, a charge which Pacquiao denied.

Pacquiao sued Mayweather over the accusation and the two settled out of court.

Drug-testing differences have been just part of the long and winding road to the May 2 match-up between the two fighters widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighters of their generation.

The bout has required rival telecasters Showtime and HBO to work together to produce a fight considered a lock to break all records for pay-per-view viewers and revenue.

Young ace Coseteng shows way in KF karting kickoffYOUNG aces wowed the crowd with their own brand of grueling, thrilling action, with Eduardo Coseteng Jr. of Eagle Cement showing the way recently in the kickoff of the 2015 KF Karting Super Series at the Carmona Racetrack.

Coseteng Jr., showing great potential to follow the footsteps of his father and multi-titled car racing champion Jody

Coseteng, glittered among the talented “Future of RP Motorsports” as he stood out with two big victories in this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines.and sponsored by Yokohama the official tyres.

He survived the tight, closely fought encounters, sweeping the Qualifying, Pre-Final and Final heats to emerge the KF Mini-ROK

champion. He later prevailed in Race 2 of the KF Restricted class to split the day’s honors with Race 1 winner Flynn Jackes of Team Kart Master Drakar-Singapore.

Rap Rap Gutierrez made it an exciting three-way battle in the Qualifying Heat, where he checked in just 0.060 of a second behind runner-up Jackes and winner Coseteng.

And just when they thought Coseteng will coast to an easy win as Jackes experienced engine problems in the Pre-Final and Final races, Gutierrez proved to be a worthy challenger as he stuck close behind throughout before winding up runner-up.

Coseteng completed the 15-lap Final race in 12 minutes and 15.070 seconds, narrowly escaping by just

0.129 of a second ahead of Gutierrez.Jarred Kim also showed big

improvement now under the umbrella of Formula-E Racing as he took third place, while Bobby Redpath of Team Kart Master Drakar-Singapore and 2014 Cadet Karter of the Year Zach David of Team Kart Master Drakar of Singapore ended fourth and fifth, respectively.

Cage champs. Team Cleofas finished strong to beat Team Lim and ruled the Open Division of the 2015 ABL Don Agacaoili cage tourney recently at the Blue Eagle Gym. The champion team is composed of Gelo Guerrero, Amborose Demaisip, Ali Antonio, Dennis Layug, Stan Suarez, Dindo Medina, Jong Vicencio, Jox Uy, Manolo Ramos, Air Urquiola Pat Ildefonso, Ben Solis, Alex Evangelista and Mon Tioseco.

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

EIGHT-DIVISION world champion Manny Pacquiao’s latest sparring partner, Haiti-born Dierry “All In” Jean, who has lived in Montreal, Canada since he was 10 years old and who fights very much like Floyd Mayweather Jr., sparred three rounds with the Filipino ring icon, who went two more rounds with another of his sparring partners yesterday.

Pacquiao’s longtime adviser Michael Koncz was clearly elated that Jean, whom he personally picked, didn’t let him down after he told the New Standard/Viva Sports that if the Canadian didn’t look good in his first sparring session, he would promptly send him home. He doesn’t have to do that now.

Koncz said 32-year-old Jean, who has an impressive record of 28-1 with 20 knockouts, has a style very similar to that of Mayweather, who Pacquiao battles in what has been trumpeted as the Fight of the Century at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2.

Jean’s only defeat was in an IBF super lightweight title fight against Lamont Peterson.

“When May 2 comes, if Floyd is the better man he’ll win. But I don’t think that will happen,” said Koncz.

The adviser, who has handled Pacquiao’s affairs for almost 10 years, also disclosed that after reports of a bidding war for the Philippine television rights of the fight.

Pacman’ssparmateis like Floyd

Three employees of wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. recently finished challenging ultramarathons held in different parts of Luzon. Network portfolio manager Ellen Solosod (in photo) and network planning senior supervisor Felipe Mascarenas conquered the 2nd Luneta to Tagaytay Ultramarathon, which spanned 60 kilometers. Meanwhile, IT portfolio manager Arnel Distor finished the 42-kilometer King of the Mountains run in Nueva Vizcaya. The employee-runners are members of Samahang Mananakbo ng Smart, one of more than 20 internal clubs that encourage the company’s workforce to “Live More.

A15S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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Painters edge Elite,grab share of lead

A continuingquest for glory

THERE is no doubt at all that the incredible success of Manny Pacquiao, the eight-division world champion has not only put our country on the inter-national sporting scene and redeemed the respect for our nation and people at a time when the Philippines was down, but has also decidedly opened the doors for promising young Filipino fighters many of whom have emerged from the depths of poverty, seeking to follow the path laid before them by Manny.

Whenever a Pacquiao fight comes along, there is a sudden surge of interest in boxing and in our roster of promising young fighters eager to follow in Pacquiao’s footsteps no matter how hard it is.

With the “Fight of the Cen-tury” against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. set for May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in-terest in the Mayweather fight and other events within this period has unquestionably zoomed.

The next week will showcase one of the biggest and most ex-citing fight cards in recent years, when the famed ALA Promotions and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN take their partnership one notch higher in presenting the 30th edition of the eminently suc-cessful “Pinoy Pride” series, which somehow meshed the vision of my good friend and the “Voice” of ABS-CBN—Peter Musngi and the drive and daring of youthful ALA Promotions president Michael Al-deguer—in giving rise to the Pinoy Pride concept which has surely been a knockout.

But even before “Pinoy Pride 30”—aptly titled D Day, probably in recognition of Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who will headline the card, we will celebrate what would have been the 80th birth anniversary of one of the great-est champions of our time and unquestionably one of the nicest, most decent gentleman-boxers of an era, which sparkles with glory.

On March 25, the 15th Annual Flash Elorde Boxing Awards Ban-quet of Champions will take place at the historic Manila Hotel, with Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel as guest of honor and speaker.

In choosing Sen. Pimentel, we guess the indefatigable Liza Elorde and husband Johnny, who year after year put on a classy presen-tation, were encouraged by the senator’s efforts to legislate due recognition and compensation for the men and women who have

sacrificed much in order to bring pride and joy to our countrymen and honor and glory to our coun-try in boxing and the various other sporting disciplines.

We often wonder how Liza and Johnny Elorde are able to put to-gether an event that is full of class and is amazingly enhanced in its quality year after year. To us, it reflects their respect and love for “Flash” Elorde, a beloved friend of ours who to this day we remember with deep down affection for his gentleness and humility.

Indeed, as we penned years ago, “Flash” Elorde “feared no man, but was humble before all men.”

The awardees must surely be ennobled by the awards given them even though some may be questionable in our honest opin-ion. But that should not in any way diminish every single award given in the name of a man, who was a sterling example of goodness, decency and unsullied integrity—Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

Two remarkable fighters, WBO light flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, the longest- reign-ing Filipino world champion, who surpassed the record of Elorde himself—a period of 7 years and 3 months—and five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, will be elevated into the prestigious ‘Flash” Elorde Hall of Fame and will join the first such honoree—the incredible Manny Pacquiao.

Significantly, Nietes and Donaire will headline “Pinoy Pride 30” some three days later, along with IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight champion Prince Albert Pagara, who will be honored on Wednesday as the “Most Promising Boxer,” while hardworking, talented and low key trainer Edmund Villamor will receive the award as “Trainer of the Year,” with Michael Aldeguer a runaway choice for “Promoter of the Year.”

While we will, as always, shed a tear in remembering “Flash” Elorde, we will additionally miss his charming eldest daughter Malou, who passed away recently in Las Vegas of the dreaded disease that took her father away from us, also in untimely fashion. We are sure that they will look down from the heavens in the embrace of each other and in the loving presence of a merciful God, and thank Liza and Johnny and all those present for their gracious attendance in a continuing tradition.

They will also surely bless our three champions—Nietes, Dinaire and Pagara in their continuing quest to bring honor and glory to our beloved country in a sport that has produced the heroes of our time.

iNsidE spOrTs

rONNiE NAThANiELsz

By Jeric Lopez

A KEY blitz in the third quarter propelled Rain or Shine to a 102-98 tripping of eliminated Blackwater, gaining a tie for first place and boosting its bid of finishing in the Top 2 in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Despite three early fouls in the first seven minutes of the contest, Wayne Chism calmly gathered himself and still produced the goods with a team-high 30 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to once again lead the Painters to another victory.

Rain or Shine, which notched its fifth win in its last six assignments, is now currently tied with Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text at the top of

the heap at 7-3.The victory gave the Painters

a better chance of finishing in the Top 2, with a game left in their schedule against giant-slayer Kia Motors this Sunday.

‘’We still have to win on Sunday against Kia to get a better chance of finishing in the Top 2. We can’t be complacent now,’’ said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. ‘’We just took advantage of our import (Chism) playing fresher.’’

Ahead at 56-53, the Elasto Painters banked on their crisp execution, orchestrating a decisive 14-2 blast in the middle of the third to turn the tight game into their favor and grabbing a sizeable 70-55 cushion after TY Tang’s lay-up off a fastbreak play.

Heading into the fourth, Rain or Shine maintained its commanding at 78-65.

From there, it was just a

ACROSS1 Memsahib’s nanny5 Toot9 Unit of length

13 Haleakala’s isle14 All, in combos15 Mr. Hawke17 “Cheerio!” (hyph.)18 Great Lakes st.19 Video game pioneer20 Burn without flame22 Pilot’s flap24 Headphones25 Rock layers26 Hedge trimmers29 Laughs loudly31 Power32 Type of market33 Cooking spray brand36 Foreign visitor?37 Brave deeds40 Bulldogs backer41 PX frequenters42 Great benefit43 Prey grabber45 Tiptoe’s opposite47 Tested the weight48 Out of sight51 Laze around

52 Sports-coverage features 54 Funded 58 Horses’ strides 59 Key — pie 61 Chariot race locale 62 “Sesame Street” name 63 Aphrodite’s child 64 Rounded roof 65 Jiffies 66 Hunger for 67 — dunk

DOWN 1 Qtys. 2 Lady’s honorific 3 “Graph” starter 4 Racetrack with flamingos 5 Shady nooks 6 Qatar rulers 7 Coast Guard off. 8 Bigger than elite 9 Vassal’s oath 10 Web-footed mammals 11 Maureen of the screen 12 Ouija alternative 16 La —

(weather worry) 21 — Vader 23 Asimov or Hayes

26 Complacent 27 LP player (hyph.) 28 Id companions 29 Pop fly 30 Harness part 32 Gift-tag

word 33 Leather-to-

be 34 Soothing

herb 35 — over

matter 38 Piano-key

wood 39 Place 44 Has the

means for 45 Druid’s

language 46 Rents 47 Upfront 48 Strongly

advise 49 Comes

closer 50 Porcupine

quill 51 Tangy taste

53 Multitude 55 Lanolin source 56 The avenging Mrs. Peel 57 Judge as 60 A Gershwin

Saturday, March 14, 2015CROSSWORD PUZZLE

matter of closing it out and the Painters did just that, preventing the lowly Elite to become a threat, though the final tally ended up respectable, with the latter making a push towards the end to trim the gap.

Paul Lee added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Beau Belga and Chris Tiu both came off the bench to contribute 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Rain or Shine’s cause.

Officially, Blackwater is now out of contention as it remained in the cellar with a 2-8 record, with a game to go.

PREVIOUS PUZZLE SOLVED

3-21-15 © 2015 UFS, Dist. by Univ. Uclick for UFS

Game Saturday (Lucena City, Quezon)

5 p.m. • Barangay Ginebra vs. GlobalPort

Career game. James Harden of the Houston Rockets shoots against the Denver Nuggets at the Toyota Center in Hous-ton, Texas. Harden scored a career-high 50 points and pulled down 10 rebounds on Thursday to lift the Rockets to a 118-108 NBA victory over the Nuggets. AFP



S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

[email protected]

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

Pacman’ssparmatefights like

Floyd

LOTTO RESULTS6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00

4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00

3 DIGITS 00-00-00

P0.0 M+

3 00-00-00

4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00

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TURN TO A14

SPORTS

STA. CRUZ, Laguna—Two-time Olympian Marestella Torres turned the 2015 Philippine National Open Invitational Championship into her own comeback stage as she pulled o� a golden conquest in the women’s long jump competition yesterday at the Laguna Sports Complex here.

Lost in the limelight for more than a year after giving birth, Torres an-nounced her return with an amazing performance, registering 6.47 meters in the event which she started to rule when she dominated legendary Lerma Baluitan-Gabito in a dramatic jump-off during the country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games in 2005.

United States-trained Katherine Khay Santos of University of Baguio, who is said to be Torres’ potential

successor, settled for the silver medal with 6.25 meters, while Felyn Delloso of Team Rio notched the bronze med-al with 5.49 meters.

“My performance was just about 70 percent,” said Torres shortly after tallying the mark that fell shy of her personal-best 6.71 meters she posted in the Indonesia SEA Games in 2011.

“This is my first time to compete since the (Incheon) Asian Games and there’s still a little rust on my perform-

TURN TO A15

Torres returns a winner

Paintersgrab shareof lead

ance. I’m working hard in training, watching my diet, optimistic to reach my peak condition just in time for the Singapore SEA Games this June.”

But against Santos and a handful of young guns threatening to take away her crown, Torres looked like a grizzled vet-eran ready for another shot at glory.

After committing fouls in her sec-ond and fourth jumps, Torres soared for a perfect leap in her 5th try. Al-though she committed another foul in her last jump, it didn’t matter as the victory was already within reach.

“I have a poor eyesight that’s why I committed all those fouls,” said Torres, who is working out with noted American fitness mentor Jim Lafferty. “Fortunately, despite all those miscu-es, I still pulled it through. I now have to work on my confidence to prepare myself for the SEA Games.”

Torres will try to overcome her per-sonal best again in the Singapore Open next week.

Sharing the limelight with Torres was Karen Janario, who became the second athlete to emerge with two gold medals in this tournament bankrolled by La-guna Water, Pacific Online Scratch It KaskaSwerte, Papa John’s Pizza, Foton Philippines, PCSO, Smart, PLDT, Sum-mit Natural Drinking Water through the support of SSS, PAGCOR, Milo, Gatorade, L TimeStudio at Asics Watch .

A product of Leyte Sports Acad-emy and who survived the wrath of typhoon Yolanda, Janario tallied 15.14 seconds in girls’ 100-meter hurdles be-fore dominating the girls’ 400-meter run with 59.21 seconds, becoming the first athlete since Filipino-American Caleb Stuart to win a pair of gold med-als on opening day.

Also finishing in the gold-medal podium were Lealyn Sanita of Leyte Sports Academy-B in the girls’ 5,000m run; Ramil Aoy of La Union in the men’s masters 400m; Victoria Calma in the women’s master 400m; John Kenneth Nodos in the boys’ 400m and SEA Games gold medalist Archand Christian Bagsit in the men’s 400m.

Another SEA Games bet, Narcisa Atienza of Philippine Army, also won a gold medal as she dominated the women’s shot put competition, while Filipino-American Donobant Ar-riola of Air Force ruled the men’s long jump competition, Brandon Thomas emerged victorious in men’s 100m, Carlo Caong of Sain Benilde reigned supreme in boys’ discuss throw, Fran-cis Medina won the boys 110m hur-dles and Patrick Unso stood tall in the men’s 110m hurdles.

Marestella Torres leaps to the gold in her favorite long jump event in these series of photos during the Philippine National Open Invitational Championship.

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

SATURDAY: MARCH 21, 2015




RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

Calax gets 3 biddersAYALA, ABOITIZ SNUB PRE-BID CONFERENCE

Foreign debt accumulates $20b to $77.7b

BUSINESS

Bangko Sentral ng PilipinasFriday, March 20, 2015

Foreign exchange rateCurrency Unit US Dollar PesoUnited States Dollar 1.000000 44.6610

Japan Yen 0.008277 0.3697

UK Pound 1.473800 65.8214

Hong Kong Dollar 0.128878 5.7558

Switzerland Franc 1.009693 45.0939

Canada Dollar 0.785793 35.0943

Singapore Dollar 0.720929 32.1974

Australia Dollar 0.763825 34.1132

Bahrain Dinar 2.652520 118.4642

Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266638 11.9083

Brunei Dollar 0.718339 32.0817

Indonesia Rupiah 0.000077 0.0034

Thailand Baht 0.030553 1.3645

UAE Dirham 0.272257 12.1593

Euro Euro 1.065000 47.5640

Korea Won 0.000892 0.0398

China Yuan 0.161392 7.2079

India Rupee 0.015985 0.7139

Malaysia Ringgit 0.270088 12.0624

New Zealand Dollar 0.738716 32.9918

Taiwan Dollar 0.031773 1.4190 Source: PDS Bridge

7500

6840

6180

5520

4860

4200

3860

7,818.383.83

8000

7500

7000

6500

6000

5500

Closing March 20, 2015PSe comPoSite index

45

44

43

42

41

HIGH P44.790 LOW P44.850 AVERAGE P44.831

Closing MARCH 20, 2015PeSo-dollar rate

P44.815CLOSE

VOLUME 655.200M

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

oilPriceS today

P508.00-P728.00LPG/11-kg tank

P38.37-P43.92Unleaded Gasoline

P26.35-P32.65Diesel

P36.75-P43.42Kerosene

P23.70-P24.40Auto LPG

todayP26.35-P32.65

P36.75-P43.42

P23.70-P24.40

PP38.37-P43.92

Peanut festival. Agriculture assistant secretary Leandro Gazmin (second from right) loads a bunch of newly-harvested peanuts to a pea-nut stripper at a village-level service station in Barangay Lanna, Enrile, Cagayan. The station, which also serves as a seed store, was inaugurated on March 17, 2015 and turned over to the members of the Lemu Norte Rural Improvement Club for daily operations and management. Gazmin visited Enrile, Cagayan to represent Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala for the peanut harvest festival.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THREE companies, including San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and a new consor-tium, attended the pre-bid conference for the P35.4-billion Cavite-Laguna Ex-pressway on Friday.

Team Orion, the group of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc., which was declared the highest bidder in the first bidding, did not participate in the pre-bid conference, Public Works undersecretary Rafael Yabut said.

“As expected the reps [representatives] of three bidders namely SMC, MPIC and the private firm were present in the pre-bid conference,” Yabut said.

The Public Works Department set the bid submission and opening of the pre-qualification documents for the Calax project on May 19. The technical proposals will be opened on June 2 and financial proposals on June 15. The notice of award will be issued July 7.

Yabut said the prospective bidders raised minor issues which would be addressed by the issuance of a supplemental bid bulletin.

“The present third bidder is a new one which we do not know yet the composition. No Ayala and Alloy MTD. Only SMC and MPIC plus the new one,” he said.

The National Economic and Development Authority board approved a single-stage qualification and bidding for the Calax project, with a minimum bid price of P20.105 billion.

President Benigno Aquino III earlier ordered a rebidding of the Calax project because of the issues raised by San Miguel.

San Miguel asked President Aquino to reconsider the decision of the Public Works Department to disqualify unit Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. from the bidding on technicality and accept its P20.1-billion bid for Calax, which was P8 billion higher than the P11.7-billion offer by Team Orion of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc., which was declared the highest bidder.

Metro Pacific, through MPCALA Holdings Inc., offered P11.33 billion for Calax, slightly

lower than Team Orion’s winning bid of P11.65 billion.

Malaysian-owned Alloy MTD Philippines offered P922 million.

San Miguel’s OIDI, which submitted an offer of P20.1 billion, was disqualified on technicality.

The Calax project involves a 35-year contract to finance, build and operate a 47-kilometer four-lane toll road between the end of Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite and the South Luzon Expressway-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

By Julito G. Rada

FOREIGN debt of the Philippines accumulated another $20 billion to hit $77.7 billion in 2014, under a new reporting system, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the figure was revised upward after the bank implemented a new framework for reporting the country’s external debt statistics, based on the latest external debt guide and the International Monetary Fund manual.

External debt refers to all

types of borrowings by the government and the private sector.

“Based on the new framework, outstanding Philippine external debt as of end-2014 stood at $77.7 billion, after inclusion of other accounts totaling $20 billion which were previously disclosed in footnotes to the official debt statistics,” Espenilla said.

Other accounts refer to inter-office accounts of foreign banks operating in the Philippines and private sector obligations that were obtained without Bangko Sentral’s approval or registration.

Under the old reporting

framework, the end-2014 foreign debt reached $57.6 billion, lower than $58.5 billion recorded in 2013.

Espenilla said under the new reporting system, the 2014 foreign debt also reflected a decline of $800 million from the revised end-2013 figure of $78.5 billion.

The new reporting framework was approved by the Monetary Board in the second half of 2014, considering changes in the regulatory treatment of inter-office accounts of foreign banks in the Philippines in 2013.

“Even with the higher debt level brought about by these

recent enhancements and modifications, debt indicators were observed to have remained at very prudent levels,” Bangko Sentral said.

Public sector external debt reached $39.3 billion in 2014 while private sector debt amounted to $38.3 billion.

Data show the country’s debt stock remained largely denominated in US dollars (64.6 percent), followed by the Japanese yen (12.1 percent); multi-currency loans from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank (10 percent) and other currencies (13.3 percent).


BUSINESSSATURDAY: MARCH 21, 2015

B2

M S T52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Friday, March 20, 2015

FINANCIAL2.7 1.55 AG Finance 6.35 6.35 5.86 6 -5.51 138,104 75.3 63.5 Asia United Bank 70.1 70.1 70.1 70.1 0.00 18,230 1,206,969.0099.4 67.5 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 117.50 117.80 116.40 117.20 -0.26 2,656,630 102,349,158.00105.2 82.5 Bank of PI 101.00 101.00 100.00 100.50 -0.50 1,905,950 6,840,028.0063 50 China Bank 46.8 46.95 46.7 46.95 0.32 16,400 -56,280.002.3 1.9 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 2.26 2.27 2.27 2.27 0.44 16,000 4.2 1.1 Bright Kindle Resources 2.40 2.44 2.44 2.44 1.67 16,000 19.6 14.5 COL Financial 16.72 16.7 16.54 16.7 -0.12 12,000 172,056.0031.6 23.2 Eastwest Bank 24.9 25.4 24.9 25.05 0.60 2,397,100 2,307,585.0022.5 6.84 Filipino Fund Inc. 8.34 8.30 8.26 8.30 -0.48 6,100 2.95 1.75 I-Remit Inc. 1.68 1.68 1.68 1.68 0.00 1,000 1.01 0.175 MEDCO Holdings 0.510 0.510 0.455 0.475 -6.86 4,137,000 22,000.0092.9 69.35 Metrobank 93.6 95.15 92.5 95.15 1.66 2,812,670 200,737,830.501.65 1.2 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.00 6,000 30.5 20.45 PB Bank 18.40 18.38 18.38 18.38 -0.11 900 16,542.0075 58 Phil Bank of Comm 31.05 31.05 31.00 31.05 0.00 22,500 99 76 Phil. National Bank 81.35 81.35 79.10 79.95 -1.72 690,380 -24,527,985.50392 276 PSE Inc. 347 343 340 340.8 -1.79 3,610 -217,610.0059 41.5 RCBC À’ 45.9 46.2 45.75 46 0.22 280,900 -2,219,265.00146.8 105.1 Security Bank 169 174.8 169.6 173 2.37 2,119,180 60,253,789.001700 1281 Sun Life Financial 1387.00 1385.00 1385.00 1385.00 -0.14 70 96,950.00130 116 Union Bank 69.40 69.40 69.00 69.15 -0.36 16,460 -24,157.502.8 2.25 Vantage Equities 3.03 3.03 3.03 3.03 0.00 2,000

INDUSTRIAL42.6 31.75 Aboitiz Power Corp. 44.85 45.2 44.25 45.2 0.78 3,177,600 33,000,745.006.1 2.51 Agrinurture Inc. 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 0.00 20,000 1.66 0.88 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.1 1.1 1.08 1.08 -1.82 229,000 2.3 1.25 Alsons Cons. 2.13 2.14 2.07 2.11 -0.94 5,936,000 17.98 9.58 Asiabest Group 8.15 8.24 8.1 8.15 0.00 3,400 113 40.2 Bogo Medelin 45.1 60 45.45 56 24.17 7,500 17.2 14.6 Century Food 18.76 19 18.7 19 1.28 204,200 1,392,176.0015.8 9.82 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 22 22 21.65 22 0.00 401,000 -147,400.0056.8 21.5 Concepcion 63 65.8 63.25 65.8 4.44 31,510 -224,774.004.57 0.82 Da Vinci Capital 1.86 1.96 1.88 1.89 1.61 631,000 39.5 17.3 Del Monte 12.56 12.8 12 12.2 -2.87 150,000 14 5.98 DNL Industries Inc. 20.450 21.600 20.5 20.900 2.20 20,882,800 303,437,545.0012.98 9.05 Emperador 11.40 11.56 11.38 11.38 -0.18 3,043,400 4,714,298.008.15 4.25 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 8.31 8.31 8.08 8.19 -1.44 78,409,200 -172,447,155.0012.34 8.68 EEI 9.80 9.90 9.71 9.90 1.02 602,600 -599,409.0017 8.61 Federal Res. Inv. Group 23.85 24.5 22.8 23.4 -1.89 408,100 -115,950.0027.1 12.2 First Gen Corp. 29.3 29.9 29 29.1 -0.68 2,853,300 -9,382,860.0090.5 48.9 First Holdings ‘A’ 101.8 103 101.5 102.5 0.69 820,520 -29,198,807.000.014 0.0097 Greenergy 0.4600 0.4700 0.4600 0.4700 2.17 40,000 13,800.0015.74 12.8 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.70 14.70 14.70 14.70 0.00 1,600 9.4 2.05 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.62 6.7 6.62 6.64 0.30 260,400 -66,982.000.98 0.32 Ionics Inc 0.610 0.620 0.620 0.620 1.64 280,000 199.8 150.8 Jollibee Foods Corp. 212.00 214.40 211.20 214.40 1.13 1,550,050 -60,807,802.0010.98 8.55 Lafarge Rep 9.74 9.9 9.58 9.72 -0.21 6,309,900 7,537,972.0079 48.5 Liberty Flour 35.05 35.10 35.00 35.00 -0.14 3,800 4 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 2.41 2.41 2.41 2.41 0.00 4,000 45.45 16 Macay Holdings 52.50 53.00 52.00 52.00 -0.95 60 30 20.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.6 26.6 25.95 26.1 -1.88 2,950,100 -6,892,750.0090 12 Maxs Group 28.8 29 28.5 28.9 0.35 1,106,000 -22,348,975.0014.7 10.1 Megawide 7.970 7.970 7.850 7.850 -1.51 319,600 -139,283.00317 246 Mla. Elect. Co À’ 269.00 272.00 268.00 271.00 0.74 382,100 81,858,412.006.49 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.20 4.20 4.06 4.06 -3.33 21,000 5.37 4 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.2 4.2 4.15 4.16 -0.95 16,325,000 -2,892,460.0014.48 11.56 Petron Corporation 10.02 10.10 9.85 9.95 -0.70 4,631,200 2,470,216.007.5 5 Phil H2O 5.3 5.25 5 5.25 -0.94 1,000 14.5 9.94 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.60 11.10 11.44 -0.52 59,400 7.03 4.33 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.81 3.99 3.80 3.99 4.72 444,000 363,310.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 2.86 2.90 2.86 2.88 0.70 653,000 Pryce Corp. À’ 1.4 1.98 1.46 1.9 35.71 6,632,000 263,500.006.68 4.88 RFM Corporation 5.91 5.96 5.90 5.90 -0.17 963,000 -222,913.00275 210 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 206 206 205 206 0.00 820 0.002.25 1.7 Splash Corporation 1.73 1.73 1.69 1.69 -2.31 675,000 1,690.000.191 0.102 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.175 0.175 0.172 0.172 -1.71 3,290,000 17,200.002.5 1.6 TKC Steel Corp. 1.02 1.52 1.48 1.48 45.10 86,000 2.68 1.37 Trans-Asia Oil 2.22 2.26 2.21 2.23 0.45 985,000 111,000.00188.6 111.3 Universal Robina 215.2 222 214.4 220 2.23 3,569,770 156,152,298.005.5 1.58 Victorias Milling 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 0.00 94,000 423,000.001.3 0.550 Vitarich Corp. 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.71 -1.39 731,000 -280,730.002.17 1.33 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.54 1.55 1.51 1.51 -1.95 154,000

HOLDING FIRMS0.7 0.46 Abacus Cons. À’ 0.470 0.465 0.465 0.465 -1.06 20,000 61.6 45.75 Aboitiz Equity 56.00 56.35 55.50 55.75 -0.45 2,099,210 -8,921,480.0031.85 21.95 Alliance Global Inc. 27.25 27.30 26.65 26.90 -1.28 10,235,900 -28,834,195.002.16 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.46 1.40 1.40 1.40 -4.11 8,000 7.39 6.3 Anscor À’ 7.10 7.06 7.01 7.01 -1.27 15,300 3.29 1.8 ATN Holdings A 2.68 2.72 2.60 2.61 -2.61 103,000 2.05 1.04 ATN Holdings B 2.56 2.7 2.56 2.56 0.00 17,000 747 508 Ayala Corp À’ 770 776 768.5 770 0.00 456,810 2,561,840.0011.34 7.470 Cosco Capital 9.11 9.2 9.05 9.14 0.33 1,224,900 -2,085,570.0084 47.25 DMCI Holdings 15.32 15.50 15.00 15.20 -0.78 8,226,600 -9,596,638.005.34 4 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.53 4.74 4.50 4.50 -0.66 11,000 0.23 0.144 Forum Pacific 0.340 0.330 0.315 0.315 -7.35 4,140,000 1060 706 GT Capital 1325 1320 1308 1308 -1.28 230,340 -71,375,475.007.1 5.3 House of Inv. 6.44 6.28 5.50 6.28 -2.48 47,900 59.8 36.7 JG Summit Holdings 69.55 70.60 67.75 70.25 1.01 5,022,940 89,723,999.006.55 3.95 Lopez Holdings Corp. 8.3 8.8 8.3 8.8 6.02 9,001,800 21,103,506.000.9 0.58 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.71 0.74 0.7 0.73 2.82 671,000 7,000.0019.9 12.96 LT Group 15.82 16 15.78 16 1.14 3,174,100 8,911,480.000.75 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings À’ 0.67 0.69 0.65 0.68 1.49 2,733,000 5.4 4.06 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.89 4.9 4.84 4.86 -0.61 28,535,000 43,492,710.005.35 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 5 5.1 5 5.1 2.00 25,000 0.0550 0.027 Pacifica À’ 0.0400 0.0400 0.0400 0.0400 0.00 3,600,000 0.84 0.355 Prime Orion 0.700 0.730 0.700 0.730 4.29 2,823,000 -3,550.0088 54.5 San Miguel Corp À’ 70.30 70.30 66.70 67.95 -3.34 16,518,400 -128,672,205.503.5 1.5 Seafront À’ 2.80 2.80 2.80 2.80 0.00 50,000 866 680 SM Investments Inc. 903.50 910.00 902.00 902.00 -0.17 581,890 -7,205,160.002.2 1.04 Solid Group Inc. 1.23 1.25 1.23 1.24 0.81 129,000 1.39 0.85 South China Res. Inc. 0.99 0.98 0.95 0.95 -4.04 110,000 156 58.05 Top Frontier 99.40 104.90 98.00 104.90 5.53 33,000 -2,682,883.500.285 0.158 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.5000 0.5100 0.4650 0.4650 -7.00 38,306,000 -472,500.000.245 0.150 Wellex Industries 0.2460 0.2460 0.2410 0.2430 -1.22 2,710,000 103,630.00

P R O P E R T Y9.03 5.51 8990 HLDG 8.880 9.000 8.880 8.880 0.00 1,425,200 -82,254,785.001.99 0.99 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.98 0.98 0.94 0.94 -4.08 1,781,000 0.375 0.185 Arthaland Corp. 0.265 0.270 0.245 0.245 -7.55 830,000 35.3 23.7 Ayala Land `B’ 38.10 37.90 37.25 37.85 -0.66 17,985,100 -150,476,045.006.15 4.41 Belle Corp. À’ 4.3 4.39 4.29 4.3 0.00 2,014,000 5,034,930.006.1 5 Cebu Holdings 5.1 5.19 5.1 5.18 1.57 402,600 -127,500.005.6 2.8 Cebu Prop. À’ 6.1 6.2 5.6 5.6 -8.20 40,000 7.1 4.6 Cebu Prop. `B’ 6.48 6.2 6.2 6.2 -4.32 3,000 2 1.22 Century Property 0.96 0.97 0.95 0.96 0.00 2,709,000 2,436,980.00

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

Trading SummarySHARES VALUE

FINANCIAL 17496727 1310814068.33INDUSTRIAL 170393757 3034409109.538HOLDING FIRMS 141446557 3656390400.63PROPERTY 325291839 2507697741.29SERVICES 159386144 2882406355.25MINING & OIL 876519384 1321710843.058GRAND TOTAL 1701864448 14831427843.60

FINANCIAL 1,834.73 (up) 6.24INDUSTRIAL 12,673.06 (up) 86.93HOLDING FIRMS 6,976.73 (down) 11.00PROPERTY 3,147.77 (up) 6.83SERVICES 2,107.13 (down) 3.86MINING & OIL 15,862.82 (up) 25.68PSEI 7,818.38 (up) 3.83All Shares Index 4,529.31 (up) 8.53

Gainers: 76; Losers: 105; Unchanged: 41; Total: 222

STOCKS Close(P)

Change(%)

United Paragon 0.0100 -9.09

Cebu Prop. À' 5.6 -8.20

Oriental Pet. À' 0.0120 -7.69

Arthaland Corp. 0.245 -7.55

Forum Pacific 0.315 -7.35

Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.4650 -7.00

MEDCO Holdings 0.475 -6.86

Ever Gotesco 0.200 -6.54

AG Finance 6 -5.51

Phil. Racing Club 9.01 -5.16

Top LoSerSSTOCKS Close

(P)Change

(%)

TKC Steel Corp. 1.48 45.10

Pryce Corp. À' 1.9 35.71

Bogo Medelin 56 24.17

Imperial Res. À' 7.00 14.38

Nihao Mineral Resources 4.17 8.88

Phil. Realty À' 0.4850 7.78

Manila Mining À' 0.0150 7.14

Manila Mining `B' 0.0160 6.67

Lopez Holdings Corp. 8.8 6.02

Top Frontier 104.90 5.53

Top gainerS

2.51 1.21 City & Land Dev. 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 0.00 20,000 0.201 0.068 Crown Equities Inc. 0.147 0.146 0.144 0.145 -1.36 2,960,000 0.98 0.47 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.460 0.460 0.455 0.455 -1.09 550,000 1.09 0.87 Empire East Land 0.900 0.900 0.900 0.900 0.00 62,000 0.370 0.175 Ever Gotesco 0.214 0.202 0.200 0.200 -6.54 2,140,000 2.25 1.22 Global-Estate 1.50 1.53 1.49 1.50 0.00 1,535,000 -1,427,850.001.77 1.18 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.83 1.82 1.79 1.80 -1.64 17,465,000 -2,478,570.001.6 1.19 Interport À’ 1.55 1.54 1.52 1.52 -1.94 378,000 4.88 2.75 Megaworld Corp. 5.46 5.61 5.46 5.46 0.00 202,116,100 166,624,651.000.180 0.070 MRC Allied Ind. 0.125 0.128 0.125 0.127 1.60 570,000 0.470 0.325 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.3400 0.3500 0.3400 0.3400 0.00 1,340,000 0.74 0.4 Phil. Realty À’ 0.4500 0.4900 0.3900 0.4850 7.78 530,000 4.45 2.5 Primex Corp. 7.65 7.67 7.24 7.44 -2.75 859,800 24.8 18.72 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.00 29.45 28.75 28.95 -0.17 1,820,500 2,271,665.002.06 1.45 Rockwell 1.79 1.79 1.76 1.77 -1.12 102,000 82,180.003.6 2.9 Shang Properties Inc. 3.20 3.20 3.16 3.16 -1.25 11,000 -28,440.0019.62 14.1 SM Prime Holdings 19.76 20.20 19.52 20.20 2.23 15,911,000 53,632,434.001.02 0.58 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.88 0.88 0.84 0.84 -4.55 10,993,000 6.66 3.05 Starmalls 7.23 7.41 7.18 7.41 2.49 17,149,600 1.96 0.87 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.040 1.070 1.030 1.040 0.00 107,000 6.5 4.37 Vista Land & Lifescapes 7.420 7.500 7.380 7.500 1.08 11,465,400 18,672,569.00

S E R V I C E S3.25 1.55 2GO Group’ 6.99 7.32 6.53 6.75 -3.43 1,512,700 383,919.0043.7 27 ABS-CBN 61 62 61.2 61.4 0.66 34,180 1.43 0.92 Acesite Hotel 1.09 1.1 1.07 1.07 -1.83 302,000 1.09 0.59 APC Group, Inc. 0.700 0.720 0.700 0.700 0.00 706,000 12.46 10 Asian Terminals Inc. 14 14.48 14 14.48 3.43 4,100 4,392.0014 8.28 Bloomberry 10.46 10.80 10.50 10.80 3.25 27,257,100 144,846,772.000.1640 0.0960 Boulevard Holdings 0.1100 0.1110 0.1090 0.1100 0.00 10,850,000 4.05 2.97 Calata Corp. 3.97 3.96 3.83 3.94 -0.76 429,000 71 44.8 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 85.15 86.35 85.15 86.05 1.06 543,550 1,765,006.5012.3 10.14 Centro Esc. Univ. 10.94 10.6 10.6 10.6 -3.11 1,500 9 4 DFNN Inc. 6.80 7.09 6.86 7.08 4.12 205,500 137,200.001700 1080 FEUI 1000 995 995 995 -0.50 40 2008 1580 Globe Telecom 1960 1970 1930 1940 -1.02 49,880 -32,619,675.009.04 7.12 GMA Network Inc. 6.70 6.81 6.64 6.66 -0.60 327,500 2.02 1.2 Harbor Star 1.58 1.62 1.57 1.57 -0.63 47,000 118.9 94.4 I.C.T.S.I. 112 112.6 111 112.6 0.54 2,127,420 88,440,110.0018.4 5 Imperial Res. À’ 6.12 7.00 6.50 7.00 14.38 11,900 12.5 8.72 IPeople Inc. À’ 11.86 11.84 11.32 11.84 -0.17 27,300 0.017 0.012 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.015 0.015 0.015 0.015 0.00 5,000,000 0.0653 0.026 Island Info 0.290 0.295 0.285 0.295 1.72 18,030,000 2.2800 1.560 ISM Communications 1.3300 1.3300 1.2700 1.2800 -3.76 1,342,000 6.99 1.95 Jackstones 2.64 2.68 2.55 2.68 1.52 53,000 9.67 5.82 Leisure & Resorts 8.88 8.98 8.70 8.70 -2.03 217,200 -1,089,560.002.85 1.15 Liberty Telecom 2.00 2.10 2.00 2.00 0.00 42,000 2.2 1.1 Lorenzo Shipping 1.47 1.47 1.3 1.47 0.00 66,000 4.32 1.9 Macroasia Corp. 2.28 2.29 2.29 2.29 0.44 1,000 1.97 0.485 Manila Bulletin 0.690 0.700 0.680 0.680 -1.45 213,000 2.45 1.42 Manila Jockey 1.95 1.99 1.95 1.99 2.05 42,000 -72,150.0014.46 10.14 Melco Crown 9.28 9.38 9.2 9.3 0.22 19,569,700 -19,983,334.000.62 0.35 MG Holdings 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.36 -2.74 630,000 21,000.001.040 0.36 NOW Corp. 0.500 0.500 0.500 0.500 0.00 23,000 6,500.006.6 5.2 PAL Holdings Inc. 4.70 4.70 4.70 4.70 0.00 3,000 2.85 1.85 Paxys Inc. 3.18 3.2 3.12 3.12 -1.89 36,000 18 8.8 Phil. Racing Club 9.5 9.01 9.01 9.01 -5.16 600 -5,406.0011.3 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 13.86 13.86 13.30 13.76 -0.72 5,545,100 -1,501,400.003486 2572 PLDT Common 2850.00 2840.00 2810.00 2810.00 -1.40 308,630 -285,100,120.000.710 0.250 PremiereHorizon 0.600 0.610 0.600 0.600 0.00 1,558,000 2.01 0.26 Premium Leisure 1.500 1.560 1.500 1.560 4.00 30,549,000 14,456,850.0048.5 32.2 Puregold 40.10 40.85 40.05 40.20 0.25 1,843,400 -21,147,015.0074 48 Robinsons RTL 87.00 90.10 87.00 89.00 2.30 2,878,580 71,105,171.50 SSI Group 10.14 10.48 10.14 10.40 2.56 5,343,500 -2,607,468.000.87 0.59 STI Holdings 0.72 0.74 0.73 0.74 2.78 4,735,000 -1,101,050.002.95 1.68 Transpacific Broadcast 1.9 1.9 1.85 1.85 -2.63 20,000 11.46 7.78 Travellers 7.04 7.3 7.06 7.08 0.57 4,654,700 -20,135,791.000.435 0.305 Waterfront Phils. 0.350 0.360 0.345 0.360 2.86 1,760,000 1.6 1.04 Yehey 1.450 1.480 1.400 1.480 2.07 53,000

MINING & OIL0.0086 0.0028 Abra Mining 0.0056 0.0057 0.0055 0.0056 0.00 602,000,000 5.45 1.72 Apex À’ 3.00 3.00 2.84 2.98 -0.67 210,000 -150,000.0017.24 11.48 Atlas Cons. À’ 9.10 9.11 9.06 9.06 -0.44 1,094,000 140,215.0025 9.43 Atok-Big Wedge À’ 10.80 10.80 10.80 10.80 0.00 1,000 1.2 0.5 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.1 1.16 1.09 1.14 3.64 2,122,000 180,940.001.73 0.76 Coal Asia 0.9 0.89 0.88 0.88 -2.22 554,400 438,595.0010.98 4.93 Dizon 8.53 8.82 8.55 8.76 2.70 554,400 438,595.00 Ferronickel 2.3 2.43 2.3 2.41 4.78 18,503,000 -546,270.000.46 0.385 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.345 0.365 0.345 0.360 4.35 2,460,000 0.455 0.3000 Lepanto À’ 0.238 0.240 0.236 0.236 -0.84 6,540,000 0.730 0.2950 Lepanto `B’ 0.246 0.250 0.244 0.244 -0.81 2,170,000 0.024 0.012 Manila Mining À’ 0.0140 0.0150 0.0140 0.0150 7.14 1,100,000 0.026 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0150 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 6.67 1,700,000 8.2 1.960 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 5.4 5.4 5 5.14 -4.81 2,067,500 -727,561.0048.85 14.22 Nickelasia 28 27.95 27.25 27.5 -1.79 2,336,800 -49,505,030.003.35 1.47 Nihao Mineral Resources 3.83 4.18 3.85 4.17 8.88 21,510,000 138,430.001.030 0.220 Omico 0.7400 0.7300 0.7300 0.7300 -1.35 1,000 3.06 1.24 Oriental Peninsula Res. 2.160 2.200 2.070 2.150 -0.46 1,588,000 -38,400.000.021 0.016 Oriental Pet. À’ 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 -7.69 2,500,000 7.67 4.02 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 5.85 5.85 5.85 5.85 0.00 1,800 12.88 7.8 Philex À’ 7.7 7.82 7.56 7.62 -1.04 1,199,100 -6,680,006.0010.42 6.5 PhilexPetroleum 2.55 2.68 2.48 2.49 -2.35 1,521,000 0.042 0.031 Philodrill Corp. À’ 0.016 0.016 0.015 0.016 0.00 6,300,000 420 123 Semirara Corp. 157.20 167.00 158.00 159.50 1.46 4,678,170 118,993,046.009 4.3 TA Petroleum 4.16 4.15 4.08 4.08 -1.92 34,000 0.016 0.0087 United Paragon 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 -9.09 12,900,000

PREFERRED44.1 26.3 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 62.4 66 63.45 65 4.17 154,190 -1,890,205.50 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 512.5 510 510 510 -0.49 8,500 60 30 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 520 523 520 520 0.00 8,750 116 102 First Gen G 115 115 114.2 114.2 -0.70 5,910 678,922.00511 480 GLOBE PREF P 506 506 506 506 0.00 980 9.04 6.76 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.5 6.45 6.35 6.35 -2.31 32,700 -71,290.009.67 5.82 Leisure and Resort 1.07 1.08 1.08 1.08 0.93 1,095,000 MWIDE PREF 108.2 109 108.3 108.9 0.65 28,800 PCOR-Preferred A 1080 1070 1070 1070 -0.93 8,500 PF Pref 2 1038 1040 1037 1040 0.19 11,975 77.3 74.2 SMC Preferred A 76.1 76.1 76.05 76.05 -0.07 276,070 2,019,527.0081.85 75 SMC Preferred C 84 84 83.5 84 0.00 111,270 -1,671,000.00

WARRANTS & BONDS2.42 0.0010 LR Warrant 3.950 3.980 3.900 3.940 -0.25 310,000

S M E10.96 2.4 Double Dragon 7.85 7.95 7.8 7.82 -0.38 315,300 35 7.74 IRipple E-Business Intl 77.5 78.95 77 78.25 0.97 62,570 Xurpas 10.2 10.46 9.6 10 -1.96 10,939,500 -3,990,664.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS119.6 94 First Metro ETF 127 127 126.8 127 0.00 12,670


BUSINESSSATURDAY: MARCH 21, 2015

B3

Philex discoversmore gold in Padcal

Travellers’ profit hits P5.4b

Market rises slightly;Bloomberry advances

Bloomberg awards.

HealthJustice Philippines and

the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control

Alliance lauded the Health and Finance

Departments for bagging the Bloom-berg Philanthropies

Award for Global Tobacco Control during the 16th

World Conference on Tobacco or

Health held in Abu Dhabi. The award was given to the two agencies for

the implementation of the sin tax law

in 2013. Shown re-ceiving the awards

from Michael Bloomberg (left)

are Health assistant secretary Paulyn

Rosell-Ubial (center) and Finance under-secretary Jeremias

Paul Jr.

Industry roadmaps. The Trade Department strengthens its partnership with the private sector in crafting and implementing industry roadmaps. In the gathering of industry champions organized by the Board of Investments, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo (center) said the implementation of industry road-maps is critical for the country to sustain strong economic performance and achieve inclusive growth. With Gregorio are (from left) Trade undersecretary Vic Dimagiba, Samahan sa Pilipinas ng mga Industriyang Kimika president Joey Marcalain, Trade undersecretary Nora Terrrado, Subdivision and Housing Developers Associa-tion Inc. vice president Armenia Ballesterros, Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines executive director Salvio Valenzuela, Philippine Die and Mold Association Inc. president Philip Ang, Aerospace Industries Association of the Philippines president John Lee and Trade undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr.

STOCKS rose slightly Friday, as the US Federal Reserve indicated it was in no hurry to raise interest rates.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, picked up 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 7,818.38 Friday. The benchmark was up 8.1 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, gained 8 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,529.31 on value turnover of P14.8 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 105 to 76, while 41 issues were unchanged.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which reported a P4-billion profit in 2014, was the biggest gainer among the 20 most active stocks, as it climbed 3.3 percent to P10.80. Security Bank Corp. gained 2.4 percent to P173.

Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. advanced 2.3 percent to P89, while Universal Robina Corp. added 2.2 percent to close at P220. SM Prime Holdings Inc. rose 2.2 percent to P20.20.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks retreated Friday. The dollar was slightly lower against the euro and yen, but analysts said they expected the currency to resume its advance as the Fed prepares for a rate hike while the Japanese and European central banks print more cash.

Providing support to the euro Friday was news that Greece agreed to give creditors a new list of reforms within days in order to secure bailout funds. With AFP, Bloomberg

By Jenniffer B. Austria

TRAVELLERS International Hotel Group Inc., the owner and operator of integrated gaming and entertainment complex Resorts World Manila, said net income in 2014 doubled to P5.45 billion from P2.73 billion in 2013, despite the 5.4-percent decline in revenues.By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

PHILEX Mining Corp. said Friday Padcal’s mine life may extend beyond 2020, after an additional 110.9 million tons of estimated mineral resources were discovered in the compa-ny’s main mining area in Ben-guet province.

Philex said in a statement the additional mineral resources were identified from the 800 to 600-meter levels in Padcal mine. Philex currently operates in the 908 to 782-meter levels.

Philex said the completion of the new mineral resource esti-mate increased the total mineral resources of the Padcal gold and copper mine by 71 percent, or from 156.8 million tons to 267.7 million tons.

The identified mineral re-sources also raised the contained metals to 1.23 billion pounds of copper and 3.24 million ounces of gold, higher by 62 percent and 71 percent from the 758.4 million pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold earlier identified by the company.

Philex said the adjusted aggre-gate mineral resources of Padcal mine were at a cutoff grade of 0.314 percent copper equiva-lent, which was further based on metal prices of $2.75 per pound for copper and $1,275 per ounce for gold.

“The Padcal mine’s measured and indicated resources at 800 to 600 ML [meter level] is ex-pected to augment the mineable inventory of the company and may likely extend the mine’s life beyond 2020,” said Philex Min-ing president Eulalio Austin Jr.

Travellers said in a financial report with the stock exchange net revenues declined 5.8 percent to P29 billion in 2014 from P30.84 billion a year ago, as a result of lower gaming revenues and reduced contribution from hotel and food and beverage business.

Gross gaming revenues in 2014

reached P28.376. billion, down 5.4 percent from P30 billion it booked in 2013.

“The decline in gaming revenue is a function of the decline in volume, particularly in the VIP segment as there was a deliberate move in holding less tournaments and focus on growing the core

customer base,” Travellers said.Revenues from hotel, food,

beverage business fell 9.5 percent in 2014 to P2.26 billion from P2.502 billion in 2013.

All hotels in the Resort World complex registered higher occupancy rates in 2014. Maxims posted an occupancy rate of 89 percent; Remington, 91 percent and Marriott, 83 percent.

“Creating shareholder value was our main objective for 2014 which we achieved through quality earnings and operating efficiencies,” Travellers president Kingson Sian said in a statement.

The company’s financial condition, however, remained strong with total assets rising to P63.9 billion from P61.2 billion a year earlier while total liabilities

declined to P24.8 billion from P27.8 billion.

The company said it remained on a net cash position at P4.4 billion as of end-2014.

Travellers’ spent P5.9 billion in 2014 for the phase 2 and phase 3 of Resorts World Manila.

The Marriott Grand Ballroom is set to formally open in July this year, while the Marriott west wing, which will add 227 room keys, is due for delivery by the end of 2015.

Phase 3 is slated for turnover by the end of 2017.

Travellers also subscribed to 95 percent of the increased authorized capital stock of Resorts World Bayshore City Inc., the company that will build and operate the Bayshore City Resorts World in Entertainment City in Parañaque.

B4

Auto firms buck earlyEuro 4 implementation

In BrIef

SATURDAY: MARCH 21, 2015


DMCI: Calaca power expansion ready

BUSINESS

First 150-MW unit to operate April

Best finance educators. The Education Department and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas honored the best finance educators for saving, money manage-ment and entrepreneurship in public elementary schools. Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. (left, first row) leads the 2014 GURO ng PAG-ASA [Gantim-pala para sa Ulirang PagtutuRO ng PAG-iimpok at Araling PanSAlapi] awarding ceremony. With him (second from left) are DepEd Director Lourdes Pantoja; and the 2014 GURO ng PAG-ASA National Winners Angelie Alvizo of Butuan City Special Education Center; Danilo Bambico of Baguio City SPED Center; Juana Nimfa Abrigo of Alaminos Elementary School, Laguna; and chairman of the board of judges former DepEd OIC Fe Hidalgo. In the second row (from left) are Deputy Governors Vicente Aquino and Nestor Espenilla Jr.; Monetary Board members Juan de Zuñiga Jr.; Armando Suratos; Alfredo Antonio; and Valentin Araneta.

By Othel V. Campos

AUTOMOTIVE com-panies are opposing the early implemen-tation of the Euro 4 standards on engine and fuel in July 2015, instead of the original January 2016 sched-ule announced by the Environment Depart-ment.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. supported the industry’s position, citing the need to pre-pare allied sectors for the eventu-al transition to Euro 4 standards.

Euro 4 is part of the emission standards set by the European countries, which call for the reduc-tion of the sulfur content of fuels.

Mitsubishi vice president for marketing Froilan Dytianquin said car makers preferred the original schedule in a briefing Thursday night at the launch of the New Mitsubishi Strada truck at the City of Dreams in Pasay City,

“The automotive sector’s posi-tion is the keep the January time-table. We need the [Euro 4] fuel to run Euro 4 engines but some of the major [oil] players are yet

to bring in the fuel. If they [gov-ernment] want to accelerate the timing, this is one of the areas they need to accelerate,” he said.

The Environment Department has not finalized the implement-ing rules and guidelines of the Euro 4 standards.

The Energy Department, meanwhile, backed the position of oil companies to keep to the original schedule.

Mitsubishi said it could not decide if it would produce or import Euro 4 cars into the Philippines due to the

uncertainty of government support to the automotive industry.

“It’s not only hindering [our plans]. It becomes more compli-cating because we can’t decide due to many implications on the preparations. It takes time to pre-pare importing the cars,” said Dytianquin.

He said Euro 4 fuel would be more expensive than Euro 2 fuel due to its efficiency and environ-mental sustainability features.

The vehicle and fuel will cost about 20 percent more expensive

with the migration from Euro 2 engines and fuel to Euro 4.

All automotive companies in the Euro 2 standards have only two years left to redesign their engines to make them compliant to the Euro 4 standards.

The Philippines is moving from the current Euro 2 stan-dards to Euro 4. The current Euro 2 compliant fuels have acceptable limit of 500 parts per million for particulate matter. The limit un-der Euro IV will be reduced to 50 parts per million.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

SOUTHWEST Luzon Power Generation Corp., a wholly-owned unit of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. of the Consunji Group, plans to start operations of the first unit (150 megawatt) of its 300-MW Calaca power plant expansion by the end of April.

“We’re nearing start of opera-tions,” Southwest Luzon chief executive Isidro Consunji told reporters in an interview.

He said full commercial oper-ations would be known after the commissioning, or when techni-cal issues were resolved.

He said the second 150-MW

unit will be completed in June this year.

“We’re a bit delayed,” Consun-ji said, adding additional power supply from the plant will help address demand during the dry months.

Southwest Luzon is expand-ing the existing 600-MW Calaca

coal-fired power plant in Batan-gas in phases.

The current Calaca facility consists of two 300-MW gen-erating units and is designed to utilize local coal from the Semirara mines in Antique.

DMCI Holdings Inc., the holding company of the Con-sunji Group, bought the Calaca plant from the government in July 2009 with a bid price of $361.7 million.

The first phase of the expan-sion involves the construction of two units of 150 MW each while the second stage will construct two single units of 350 MW each, bringing the total expan-sion to 1,000 MW.

LT Group nets P4.2bLT GROUP Inc., the listed holding com-

pany of tycoon Lucio Tan, said net income in 2014 dropped 51 percent to P4.22 bil-lion from P8.66 billion in 2013 due to a sharp decline in the profit contribution of its tobacco business.

LT Group said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues amounted to P52.15 billion, down 6.5 percent from P55.79 billion in 2013.

LT Group said the net income contri-bution of its tobacco business amounted to just P99 million in 2014, a huge drop from P3.9 billion in 2013, as the business under PMFTC Inc. reeled from the illicit trade in the local cigarette market.

Meanwhile, LT Group’s banking unit Philippine National Bank accounted for 52 percent of group’s net income, followed by beer unit Asia Brewery Inc., which contrib-uted 27 percent or P1.1 billion.

Eton Properties contributed P119 million while unit Tanduay Distillers Inc. shared P101 million. Jenniffer B. Austria

Emirates appealsEMIRATES Airlines is still confident the

Civil Aeronautics Board will reconsider a decision rejecting the extension of the airlines’ third daily Manila-Dubai flight after January 26, 2015.

“We encourage the honorable court to reconsider the decision to allow the resumption of our third flight as soon as possible for the sake of tourism and OFW market,” Abdalla Al Zamani Emir-ates country manager Philippines told reporters.

Al Zamani said passenger demand “is huge and it is growing” for the Manila-Dubai flight.

“There’s a need for more flights to tourism and business. We are commit-ted to the Philippine government to get more tourists,” he said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

SMIC redeems bondsCONGLOMERATE SM Investments

Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. said Fri-day it will redeem $33.2 million in corpo-rate bonds ahead of the 2017 maturity.

SM Investments said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it plans to redeem all the outstanding bonds as on April 19, 2015 at a redemption price equal to ap-proximately 104.127 percent of the prin-cipal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The redemption date is set on April 19, 2015

Bondholders who do not want their bonds redeemed may have them convert-ed to common shares of the company.

“The company intends to compete any formalities in relation to the delisting of the bonds form the Singapore Stock Exchange as soon as possible follow-ing the redemption of the outstanding bonds on April 19, 2015,” SM Invest-ments said. Jenniffer B. Austria


CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACKS AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

worldB5CeSAR bARRioqUinTo

E D I T O R

[email protected]

IS claims deadlyattack in Tunis

Dope for sex in Nauru camp suspected

Student’s arrestsparks new debate

Fashion week. Models showcase creations by designer Square Loop on the 3rd day of the Lakme Fashion Week summer/resort 2015 in Mumbai on March 205. AFP

Flower Show. School children draw flowers during the Hong Kong Flower Show on March 20. The show is held from March 20 to 29 and features more than 350,000 flowering plants. AFP

TUNIS—The Islamic State jihadist group claimed re-sponsibility for an attack on foreign tourists at Tunisia’s national museum that killed 21 people, as the security forces swooped on suspects.

Authorities said they had identified the two gunmen killed after the Wednes-day assault, prompting calls for a show of national unity against extremism in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

In an audio message posted online Thursday, IS said “two knights from the Is-

lamic State... heavily armed with automatic weapons and grenades, targeted the Bardo Museum” in the capital.

The group, which has hundreds of Tuni-sians among its ranks, threatened more at-tacks, saying: “What you have seen is only the start.”

Authorities say as many as 3,000 Tuni-sians have gone to Iraq, Syria and Libya to fight in jihadist ranks, raising fears of battle-hardened militants returning home to plot attacks.

The president’s office said security forc-es arrested “four people directly linked to the [terrorist] operation and five suspected of having ties to the cell”.

And a presidential source said soldiers were to be deployed in major cities follow-

ing the assault, while insisting “we are not under siege”.

As international outrage grew over Tu-nisia’s worst post-revolution attack, Presi-dent Beji Caid Essebsi said his country would not be cowed by extremism.

“The process of implementing a demo-cratic system is underway, well anchored,” he told France’s TF1 television. “We will never move backwards.”

The leader of the Islamist opposition party Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi, said he was convinced that “the Tunisian peo-ple will stay united in the face of barbarity”.

The media also called for solidarity, with newspaper La Presse appealing for “total unity and a sense of responsibility shared by all”. AFP

WASHINGTON—The violent arrest of a black student trying to enter a bar in Virginia has prompted a probe and fueled yet more US debate on how white authorities treat black youths.

Martese Johnson, 20, a stu-dent at the University of Vir-ginia in Charlottesville, was denied entry to an Irish pub early on Wednesday near the end of St. Patrick’s Day cel-ebrations.

White officers from the state’s Department of Alco-holic Beverage Control then slammed him to the ground, leaving him with blood streaming down his face and stitches.

Photos of Johnson bleed-ing and footage of the arrest, showing officers holding him to the ground, spread quickly on social media.

Up to 300 people gathered at the university for a protest rally on Wednesday night. Students chanted and held a candle-light vigil.

“I’m shocked that my face was slammed into the brick pave-ment just across the street from where I attend school,” Johnson said through his attorney Daniel Watkins at a news conference Thursday, The Washington Post reported.

“As the officers held me down, one thought raced through my mind: ‘How could this happen?’” the student said standing next to his lawyer, the cuts clearly visible on his face.

Police charged Johnson with profane swearing and/or pub-lic intoxication and obstruc-tion of justice without force.

Virginia State Police pledged to carry out an investigation into the arrest.

“Getting arrested shouldn’t involve getting stitches,” uni-versity president Teresa Sulli-van told the Post.

Lawyer Watkins said the inci-dent stemmed from a misunder-standing about the ID Johnson used to try to get into the bar, but that the student did not attempt to use a false one. AFP SYDNEY—Guards at an Aus-

tralian immigration processing center on the Pacific island of Nauru may have traded marijua-na for sex with asylum-seekers, an inquiry found Friday.

The review said it was aware of three allegations of rape, in-cluding one against a minor, as well as others of “indecent as-sault, sexual harassment and physical assault occurring in the center”.

“In relation to the allegation ‘Nauruan guards have been trading marijuana with de-tainees in exchange for sexual favors’, the review concludes that this activity is possibly oc-

curring,” it said.Canberra ordered the inquiry

last year following allegations of sexual and physical assault at the Nauru camp, and claims that aid workers coached detainees to self-harm so they could be evac-uated to Australia.

The review, conducted by former integrity commissioner Philip Moss, said there was no evidence aid workers had helped fabricate allegations to undermine the government’s immigration policies.

It found there was “no con-clusive information” suggesting that Save the Children or other staff were assisting in the fabrica-

tion of abused claims or coached detainees to self-harm.

But the 86-page report found that many detainees were anxious about their per-sonal safety and there had been an under-reporting of assaults among asylum-seekers.

“This under-reporting is generally for family or cultural reasons,” it said, but added that “transferees... were (also) concerned that making a com-plaint could result in a negative impact on the resolution of their asylum claims.”

In some cases, asylum-seek-ers told investigators they had stayed silent because they had

lost confidence that anything would be done about their complaints.

Australia has been under pressure over its hard-line asylum-seeker policies under which those arriving on peo-ple-smuggling boats are trans-ferred to centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees last year slammed the facilities on PNG’s Manus Island and Nauru, saying they failed to meet international standards and amounted to arbitrary detention in breach of interna-tional law. AFP

[email protected]

IS claims deadlyattack in Tunis

Worriesaboutwater inVanuatuPORT VILA—The death toll from Cyclone Pam which devastated Vanuatu rose to 13 Friday, the UN said, as concerns mount about sup-plies of fresh water across the ravaged Pacific nation.

In a situation report, the world body raised the number of deaths from 11, and said priority needs across the sprawling archi-pelago, where crops have been destroyed and houses razed, were for potable water, food, shelter and health.

However confusion re-mains over how many died directly from the storm.

Early reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA last week announced an unconfirmed 44 dead, which then dropped to 24, and was revised down again to 11.

Late Wednesday, the Van-uatu government said in fact only seven people were con-firmed dead and that four others included in the UN toll were patients already in hospitals whose deaths were not directly related to the storm.

A week after the cat-egory five tempest slammed ashore, relief agencies Friday were due to finalize an as-sessment report with a more detailed overview of the situation on the ground, and hand it to the government.

The OCHA said the aim was “to reach a common under-standing of the required scale of the response to Cyclone Pam and to target the response in a coordinated manner”.

On Wednesday, the Van-uatu government hit out at aid groups swarming the nation over what it perceived to be a lack of coordination, which it said cost precious time getting help to those in need.

Aid groups have been bat-tling logistical challenges in assessing the extent of the damage, with a lack of land-ing strips and deep water ports hampering their ef-forts.

The UN said assessments had been completed for 15 is-lands in the 80-island nation, which found widespread devastation, with the gov-ernment warning food will run out in the largely subsist-ence economy within days.

Access to drinkable wa-ter is a major worry, with ground water contaminated and a lack of power hinder-ing piped supplies.

Save the Children said com-munities on some isolated is-lands faced a perilous situation, with at least 2,000 children at risk of potentially deadly ill-nesses such as diarrhea from drinking bad water.

“We are hearing reports that children are contracting water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and the longer these children have to drink contaminated water, the more likely it is they will become sick,” said country director Tom Skirrow.

“Some communities are reporting only having about a week’s supply of drinking water left, which could put lives at risk.”

Aid continues to flood in with a British military air-craft joining the effort along with a French frigate and hel-icopters, working alongside Australia and New Zealand.

The UN said China had offered tents, food, genera-tors and other supplies, while Japan and Singapore had also mobilised support. AFP

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF THE NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE APPROVAL OF FORCE MAJEURE (FM) EVENT REGULATED FM PASS THROUGH FOR TYPHOON YOLANDA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES FOR SETTING TRANSMISSION WHEELING RATES, WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

ERC CASE NO. 2014-163 RCNATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NGCP),

Applicant.x--------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGTO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

Notice is hereby given that on November 5, 2014, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) filed with the Commission an application for the approval of Force Majeure (FM) event regulated FM pass through for Typhoon Yolanda in accordance with the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR), with prayer for provisional authority.

In the said application, NGCP alleged, among others, the following:1. It is a corporation created and existing under the laws of the Republic of the

Philippines, with principal office address at NGCP Building, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It is the concessionaire which assumed the power transmission functions of the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA);1

2. Under Republic Act No. 95112, it was granted a franchise to construct, install, finance, manage, improve, expand, operate, maintain rehabilitate, repair and refurbish the present nationwide transmission system of the Republic of the Philippines;

3. On January 15, 2009, it assumed transmission functions of TRANSCO including the operation, management and maintenance of the nationwide electrical grid;

Statement of facts and of the case4. On or about 6 November 2013, Typhoon Yolanda entered the Philippine Area of

Responsibility (PAR) with maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center and gustiness of 230 kph. On November 7, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda intensified at 235 kph near the center with gustiness of up to 275 kph;

5. On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda made its first landfall over Guiuan, Eastern Samar around 4:40 a.m., its second landfall over Tolosa, Leyte around 7:00 a.m., its third landfall in Daanbantayan, Cebu around 9:40 am, its fourth landfall over Bantayan Island, Cebu around 10:40 a.m., its fifth landfall in Concepcion, lloilo around 12:00 nn., and its sixth landfall over Busuanga, Palawan around 8:00 p.m. On November 9, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda exited the PAR. A copy of the Certification dated February 4, 2014 issued by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is attached to the application as Annex “A”;

6. Due to the strong winds and heavy rainfall of Typhoon Yolanda, its transmission assets and other related facilitates in the Visayas area were severely damaged causing massive and widespread power interruption over the area;

7. Immediately, after the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda, it started the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its damaged transmission assets and other related facilities in order to restore the transmission of electricity in the Visayas area. As a result, it incurred additional cost for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the said transmission assets damaged by Typhoon Yolanda;

Force Majeure Event Claim8. Under Section 1.3 of the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR),

a Force Majeure Event (FME) is defined as follows:“Force Majeure Event

“(a) A typhoon, storm, tropical depression, flood, drought, volcanic eruption, earthquake, tidal wave or landslide; x x x’:

9. Pursuant to the Certification dated February 4, 2014, Yolanda is referred to by the PAGASA as “Typhoon Yolanda” and that it is one of the strongest and disastrous tropical cyclones that entered in the PAR. Thus, in relation to Section 1.3 of the RTWR, Typhoon Yolanda falls within the definition of a FME;

10. In relation to the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the same RTWR, NGCP is allowed to recover the cost it incurred in the repair, restoration, and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

11. Therefore, within three (3) months after the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, it filed before the Commission an FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014, pursuant to Sections 10.2.1 and 10.2.2 of the RTWR. A copy of the FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014 is attached to the application as Annex “B”;

12. Thereafter, the Commission issued its Letter dated March 7, 2014 acknowledging receipt of NGCP’s FME Notice Regarding Typhoon Yolanda dated January 21, 2014. A copy of the Commission’s Acknowledgment Letter dated March 7, 2014 is attached to the application as Annex “C”;

13. Within twelve (12) months after the occurrence of the FME Typhoon Yolanda, it hereby files the instant FME Claim Application, in accordance with Sections 10.2.1 and 10.2.3 of the RTWR;

Force Majeure Event Computation14. It must be noted that it has not recovered any amount from its Industrial All Risk

(IAR) Insurance Policy procured from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the year 2013 as compensation for the damage and cost it incurred in the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda. Thus, it is but proper for it to file the instant application to recover the cost it incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

15. According to the PAGASA Certification dated February 4, 2014, the estimated total cost of damage caused by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines is Eighty-Nine Billion Five Hundred Ninety-Eight Million Pesos (Php89.598Bn).3In relation to this, the cost NGCP incurred as additional Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of its transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda, including the recoverable values of the assets destroyed is Two Billion Five Hundred Sixty-Nine Million Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Three Hundred Twenty and 87/100 Pesos (PhP2,569,270,320.87)4;

16. It proposes the FM Pass Through Amount, in P/kW-month, as additional network charges in the Visayas starting the billing period of January 2015 to December 2020 or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered, computed as shown in the table below:

1 Republic Act No. 9136 entitled, “An Act Ordaining Reforms in the Electric Power Industry, Amending for the Purpose Certain Laws and for Other Purposes”

2 Republic Act No. 9511 entitled, “An Act Granting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines a Franchise to Engage in the Business of Conveying or Transmitting Electricity Through High Voltage Backbone System or Interconnected Transmission Lines, Substations and Related Facilities, and for Other Purposes.”

3 Please see Annex “A” of the application.

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.020117. It proposes the FM Pass Through Amounts for the years 2016 to 2020 to allow

the recovery of the CAPEX incurred relative to the FME Typhoon Yolanda should there be a delay in the reset process for the Transmission Services for the Fourth (4th) Regulatory Period (RP);

18. Although the instant FME Claim is not included in its Third (3rd) Regulatory Reset Application, the same can be recovered during the 3rd RP pursuant to Section 10.1.1 of the RTWR where it is allowed to recover the cost incurred for the repair, restoration, and rehabilitation of damage sustained by its transmission assets and other related facilities as a result of the FME. A copy of the FME Claim Computation is attached to the application as Annex “D”;

19. Further, due to the extent of damage to its transmission assets and other related facilities which required massive repair and restoration activities in the Visayas, the FME Claim under this application breached the Force Majeure Threshold Amount (FMTA) of PhP0.0336/kWh. A copy of the FMTA Computation is attached to the application as Annex “E”;

20. Also, it considered the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the calculation of the FM Pass-Excluding Permit Fees Through Amount given that it would have normally fully recovered the return of capital on said assets for the duration of their economic lives had these assets not been damaged or destroyed by the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

Justification for the Issuance of Provisional Authority21. It moves for the issuance of a provisional approval for the immediate recovery of

the FME Claim pursuant to Section 3, Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure;

22. It needs to immediately recover the actual expenses incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities. It must be emphasized that the occurrence of the aforementioned FME Typhoon Yolanda required massive capital infusion, thus, the recovery of which should be allowed immediately in order to avoid any financial strain in its operation and to allow the continuous provision of transmission service to the grid customers;

23. In addition, the timely implementation of the FM pass-through amount will allow the equal or even spread of the increases or decreases in tariffs from the initial implementation of the recovery of the cost;

24. A copy of the Judicial Affidavit of Agnes F. Dela Cruz, Head, Tariff Design and Billing Management Division, Revenue and Regulatory Affairs, in support of the instant application, is attached to the application as Annex “F”; and

Prayer25. It most prays of the Commission to:

a. Grant provisional approval to implement and bill the FM Pass-Through Amounts to Visayas customers starting January 2015 billing month to December 2020 billing month or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered:

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.0201

b. Declare the Typhoon Yolanda as Force Majeure Event (FME);c. Approve the CAPEX it incurred for the repair, restoration and rehabilitation of

the damaged transmission assets and other related facilities due to the FME Typhoon Yolanda;

d. Approve, after due notice and hearing, the proposed FM Pass Through Amount to be collected from the Visayas customers starting January 2015 billing month to December 2020 billing month or until such time that the amount incurred is fully recovered as shown in the table below:

Visayas 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020P/kW-mo. 84.3797 11.3429 10.6888 10.0732 9.5042 8.9608

P/kWh 0.1874 0.0257 0.0241 0.0227 0.0214 0.0201

e. Approve and allow the recovery of the Net Fixed Asset Value of the transmission assets and other related facilities damaged by the FME Typhoon Yolanda in the amount of One Billion One Hundred Fourteen Million Six Hundred Seventy-Seven Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Two and 90/100 Pesos (PhP 1,114,677,282.90) as part of the FM Pass Through Amount given that the said amount would have been fully recovered by it if these transmission assets and other related facilities have not been damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda as FME; and

f. Exclude the proposed Pass-Through Amount from the side constraint calculation.

Finding the said application sufficient in form and substance with the required fees having been paid, the same is hereby set for jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation, pre- trial conference and evidentiary hearing on the following dates and venues:

The Commission has set the application for jurisdictional hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference and evidentiary hearing on the following dates and venues:

DATE TIME VENUE PARTICULARS

April 22, 2015 (Wednesday)

Nine o’clock in the morning (9:00 A.M.)

ERC Visayas Field Office, St. Mary’s

Drive, Banilad, Cebu City

Jurisdictional Hearing and

Expository Presentation

May 13, 2015 (Wednesday)


ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building,

San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

Pre-Trial Conference and Evidentiary Hearing

May 14, 2015 (Thursday)


Continuation of Evidentiary Hearing

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 applicant concludes 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 may wish to have a copy of the application may request the applicant, prior to the date of the initial hearing, that they be furnished with a copy of the application. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Likewise, any such person may examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the usual office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson, ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, and JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 9th day of March, 2015 at Pasig City.

ATTY. FRANCIS SATURNINO C. JUAN Executive Director III

The New Standard – March 21 & 28, 2015

B7JOEL D. L ACSAMANAE D I T O RPROPERTY

j d l a c s a m a n a @ g m a i l . c o m

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 : 2 0 1 5

LUXURY AND STRENGTH. Capitol Commons will soon house two of Metro Manila’s safest residential towers, Royalton, and Imperium. Located at a 10-hectare Pasig property, both towers meet local code standards, and follows considerations of Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA). The structures can withstand strong wind and seismic forces after utilizing the Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) process. Ortigas& Co. is the developer of Capitol Commons.

MEET THE NEW LINDEN. Carlos Dominguez, chairman of The Linden Suites (left), and Ramon ‘Chicoy’ Enerio III, chief operating officer of the Tourism Promotions Board (right), recently unveiled the hotel’s new logo at rites marking the development’s 15th anniversary. To meet the demands of a growing business clientele in the Ortigas area, The Linden completed a full renovation of its rooms to give them a fresh, luxurious look.

The capital Manila is in the grip of a building boom, led by develop-ers such as Megaworld Corp. and Ayala Land Inc., that will add a re-

cord number of apartments over the next two years. It also threatens to lead to a glut that will weigh on returns for investors. An estimated 55,000 residential units will come onto the market in Metro Ma-nila this year, slowing growth in lease rates, according to broker CBRE Group Inc. Spending by property companies will rise 18 percent to more than 300 bil-lion pesos ($6.8 billion) in 2015 from last year, according to broker Savills Plc. Philippine developers have been on a building spree as the nation’s biggest economic boom since the 1950s and ris-ing remittances from Filipinos working abroad spur home purchases. The mar-ket may need more time to absorb the expected record supply of new units, ac-cording to Macquarie Group Ltd. “Some developers may have to slow down in starting new projects because there is a risk of overbuilding,” said RJ Agu-irre, an analyst at Macquarie in Manila. “If developers don’t slow down and sales won’t move, we will see a build-up in inventory and receivables that will hurt earnings.” As inventories increase, investors may find themselves holding assets that are yielding less, said Romeo Arahan, a Ma-nila-based analyst with broker Colliers International UK Plc. Rental yields will be 3 percent to 4 per-cent in 2015, said Antton Nordberg, re-search manager with KMC MAG Group Inc., the local associate of Savills. Yields have averaged more than 5 percent since 2011, he said. SPENDING FRENZYConstruction will begin this year on 130,000 condominiums across the Phil-ippine capital, KMC MAG said. The capital region includes 17 cities and municipalities spread across about 640 square kilometers (247 square miles) sandwiched between Manila Bay to the west, and Laguna Lake and the San Ma-teo Mountains to the east. Prices of Metro Manila residential condominiums rose 5 percent to 110,000 pesos to 180,000 pesos per square meter last year from a year earlier, according to Colliers. They may rise as much as 6 per-cent this year, the broker estimates. Ayala Land, which developed the Philippines’ main business district of

Makati, will spend a record 100 billion pesos this year. Robinsons Land Inc. is boosting capital spending by 20 percent in the current fiscal year to 17 billion pesos, while SM Prime Holdings Inc.’s 2015 budget is 70 billion pesos, 17 percent higher than last year. OVERSEAS REMITTANCESThe number of residential units already on the market is equivalent to about two years of sales, said Aguirre at Macqua-rie. He maintains an overweight rating on developers because he said they can delay new projects to rein in the supply. Aguirre prefers residential builders that are cutting or have cut inventory, and those with a relatively higher share of in-come from office and retail rents. Megaworld, which is spending 230 bil-lion pesos in the next four years to build townships across the country, hasn’t seen a demand slowdown, said Senior Vice President Jericho Go. “At least 70 percent of our projects are sold within the first year of pre-selling and that’s still the norm for us; there hasn’t been a change,” Go said. The 10 million Filipinos working over-seas, many of whom can now afford more expensive homes, are underpinning de-mand, Go said. More than half of the money they send home goes to real estate-related spending, he said. The Manila metropolitan region is home to 22 million people and the popu-lation is forecast to rise to 30 million by 2025, making it the world’s largest urban area after Tokyo and Jakarta, according to forecasts by Belleville, Illinois-based Demographia. “Developers are spreading outside Metro Manila where they see a growing potential,” Colliers’s Arahan said. PROPERTY MEASURESPolicy makers last year introduced mea-sures to curb parts of the property mar-ket amid concerns prices were rising too fast. They ordered banks to cap the col-lateral value of real estate mortgages at 60 percent. Lenders were tested to deter-mine if they have enough buffers against an asset price crash. The central bank has held its bench-mark interest rate at 4 percent since rais-ing it by 25 basis points each in Septem-ber and July last year. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday its current mon-etary policy stance is “appropriate.”

MANILA’S BUILDING BOOM TRIGGERS GLUT CONCERNBY SIEGFRID ALEGADO AND IAN SAYSON (BLOOMBERG)

GEARING UP FOR GROWTH. Major developers are expanding projects outside Metro Manila into other cities which are also beneficiaries of strong growth backed by remittances and earnings from outsourcing firms.

Real estate developer Roxaco Land Corporation recently offered a guaranteed annual yield for 5 years to all resort unit buyers of Anya Resort and Residences its latest project in Tagaytay, Cavite.

“Investors usually buy into the traditional vacation home mindset, not realizing the hidden costs that come with the purchase, such as periodic maintenance costs,” said Santiago R. Elizalde, executive vice president of Roxaco. “With Roxaco’s business model, the unit is basically paying for its own upkeep.” Each Anya unit comes with a Certified Condominium Title and earnings are paid out according to square meter ownership. Since the units are considered included in the resort hotel inventory, any additional earnings made are divided in a 45-55 split between the investor and the hotel owner, respectively.

The guaranteed yield program is spread across five years, with the payout pegged at 6% for the first year, 7% for the second year, and 8% each for the remaining three years. Roxaco also sees capital appreciation to reach 10%, compared to the regular rate of 5% to 7% per annum due to future cash inflows. One can buy into this unique investment program for as low as P7.85 million.

ANYA OFFERS INVESTORS 5-YEAR ANNUAL YIELD

BULLISH ABOUT THE FUTURE.

Roxaco executive vice president

Santiago R. Elizalde believes the luxury

hotel industry will continue to move

upwards.

PROPERTYj d l a c s a m a n a @ g m a i l . c o m

B8 JOEL D. L ACSAMANAE D I T O R

S AT U R D AY : M A R C H 2 1 : 2 0 1 5

Property developer Megaworld recently announced that it sold 2,346 residential units from its six residential projects in the Makati Central Business District (CBD)

over the past six months, namely, One Central, Two Central, Paseo Heights and SalcedoSkySuites in Salcedo Village; and Greenbelt Hamilton 1 and Greenbelt Madison in Legaspi Village. It plans to launch three more residential projects until 2016. The new residential towers will be part of the company’s efforts to increase the portfolio of property developments in the country’s premier financial hub to more than 30 towers by 2016. “The official reports the good economic condition since last year is largely felt in Makati CBD,” said Eugene Em Lozano, Megaworld’s vice president for sales and marketing. “The office spaces are getting filled up and the retail industry is on its all-time high. That is why our residential condominiums, all located in premium addresses, are also on high demand,” said Lozano. Megaworld has around 27 office and residential towers in its portfolio in the country’s financial center. This year, the company is completing Two Central, a 29-storey residential tower along Valero Street in Salcedo Village, with a total of 408 residential units. To date, construction of the 30-storey Paseo Heights fronting the Salcedo Park and the 50-sto-rey Three Central along Valero Street, which will house its own podium mall, is on full-swing. Both towers are expected for completion by 2017 with a total of 992 units. The first tower of Greenbelt Hamilton, which is near Legazpi Park, is also under construction, and is scheduled for completion next year. The second tower, which is now almost sold out, is up for completion in 2019. Both towers will have a total of 601 units. The 32-storey SalcedoSkySuites is scheduled for completion by 2018 with a total of 241 units. “As Makati continues to establish itself as the top location for real estate investment, we are poised to expand its residential condominium portfolio in this premiere city,” said Lozano.

MEGAWORLD TO LAUNCH MAKATI CONDOS IN 2015

GOUGING FOR GOLD. High-end residential projects in Makati’s

CBD have been offering the best return on

investment to date.

Avida Land is drawing small and medium enterprises to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) with its second o� ce development, the 26-storey Capital House. � e project is valued at P4 billion, and was designed for professional � rms, small agencies, and entrepreneurs seeking a BGC address. Avida, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc., is launching Capital House as a sequel to the One Park Drive o� ce project also in BGC. One Park Drive, at 20 stories high, is also geared for SMEs, and sold out at a P2.5 billion value on its � rst year of selling alone. “We see a good market for businesses seeking a sought-a� er address like BGC, as evidenced by the success of One Park Drive,” said JoJo Fabricante, Avida’s innovation and design group head. “Capital House positions movers into an area where o� ces are usually tailored for large-scale operations such as BPOs and multinational conglomerates. Units are not smaller than 100 sqm. with modal o� ces at around 250 sqm.” Capital House has 222 units with sizes ranging from 62 sqm to 159 sqm., with special whole � oor units at 1,400 sqm. � e project sells for P9.9 M to P25.6 M. “Right now, our buyers are a mix of in-vestors and end-users,” said Herbert Her-rero, Avida project development manager. “As the Philippines becomes a booming real estate market, more and more inves-tors are inclined to buy a mix of residen-tial and o� ce developments.” � e property is located in BGC’s “Active North” district, along 34th St. corner 9th Ave., near attractions such as the Turf BGC all-weather football � eld and Flying Trapeze Philippines. Soon to rise in the area are the BGC Sports Complex and Kidzania, a family “edutainment” center.

AVIDA TARGETS

SMES WITH NEW BGC PROJECT

MAKING ITS MARK IN A GROWING CITY

Capital House, like several other Avida BGC office projects,

is within walking distance of residential condominiums in the city. The large footprint embod-

ies the company’s live-work-play balance of developments.

FAST TAKE-UP. Capital House units are good for about 6 to 20 employees. This attracts law firms, architectural studios, and creative agencies, which has jacked up the project’s take-up rate to 12 percent to date.

the standard - 2015 march 21 - saturday

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