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Summit ends, but some Metro roads still closed

VOL. XXIX � NO. 281 � 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 � FRIday : NOVEMBER 20, 2015 � www.thestandard.com.ph � editorial@thestandard.com.ph

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‘Americamotivatedby keepingoil secure’

Katy Perrydeployedagainstprotesters

‘Hosting shows PH a credible partner’

bAcK to normAl

Family photo. President Benigno Aquino III and other leaders attending the Apec summit wave to reporters after an official family photo was taken in Manila on Thursday. AFP

By Joel E. Zurbano, John Paolo Bencito and Sandy Araneta

AFTER a two-day holiday break, workers in Metro Ma-nila are returning to work—but main roads will remain closed today (Nov. 20), the last day of the week-long hosting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila.

Authorities said the closure of Roxas Boulevard, from Katigbak to Naia/MIA Road; and the designated two innermost lanes of both the northbound and south-bound of Edsa from Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City to SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, for the exclusive use of Apec delegates, will be in full effect until  12 midnight  Friday.

Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, National Police–Highway Patrol Group director, said the stop and go scheme will also be in ef-fect along Edsa, Magallanes and portions of Skyway and South Luzon Expressway; parts of Makati City, and roads around the Ninoy

Aquino International Airport.“Traffic will be stopped to let Apec

leaders pass through, and will be allowed to flow after,” said Gunnacao, referring to the scheme.

Other roads to be closed until  12 midnight  Friday  are Roxas Boulevard service road from Sta. Monica Street to P. Ocampo, and the stretch of Quirino Avenue from Roxas Boulevard to Adria-tico Street.

Also affected by the road closure are Cen-tury Park Street from Adriatico to Mabini Street; Mabini Street from P. Ocampo to Quirino Avenue; southbound lane of Adria-

tico from Quirino Avenue to Century Park Street; P. Ocampo from Adriatico to Roxas Boulevard; M.H del Pilar Street from Sta. Monica Street to Malvar Street, and Pedro Gil Street from Roxas Boulevard to Mabini Street.

The Metro Manila Development Author-ity advised motorists to avoid these roads and take alternate routes.

In its advisory, the MMDA said all ve-hicles coming from northern part of Ma-nila using the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard must turn left to P. Burgos to Maria Orosa, or Taft Avenue to their point of destination. Next page

By Joyce Pangco Pañares and Sandy Araneta

MANY Filipinos have equated the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings with horrible traffic, cancelled flights, and the removal of homeless persons

along areas where visiting foreign dig-nitaries would pass.

For militant groups such as the Ba-gong Alyansang Makabayan, the P10-billion year-long hosting of 229 Apec meetings and the cosmetic changes in Metro Manila for this week’s Eco-nomic Leaders’ Meeting only resulted

in policies that would benefit rich economies while leaving impover-ished ones behind.

But for Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., the gains from the annual dialog among the 21 member-economies for the Philippines are wide-reaching and long-term.

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US motivation: Keeppassage of oil secure

On the other hand, vehicles coming from southern part of Ma-nila using the northbound lane of Roxas Boulevard may take Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue to Taft Avenue to their point of destination.

Those who travel along P. Ocampo coming from Taft Av-enue must take Adriatico Street to Leveriza Street to Quirino Avenue while vehicles using westbound lane of President Quirino Avenue coming from Osmeña Highway (Plaza Dilao) area going to Roxas Boulevard may turn right or left to Taft Avenue to point of destination.

Motorists coming from Del Pilar Street using Roxas Boul-evard must turn left to Quirino Avenue going to Taft Avenue.

MMDA general manager Corazon Jimenez apologized ear-lier for the short notice after a late traffic advisory caused dis-ruptions that angered commuters and motorists alike.

On Thursday, four police officers and 20 other people were hurt in Pasay City  Thursday  after police clashed with protest-ers at Gil Puyat Avenue.

Police said a scuffle ensued when the protesters tried to enter the area near the Philippine International Convention Center, the official venue of the Apec meetings.

Most of those injured, including children, women and senior citizens, were taken to the Manila Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila because of head injuries.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan spokesperson Teddy Casiño condemned the police’ action against the protesters.

“Once again, police have shown contempt for the people’s right to peaceful assembly and free speech. Not only did they prevent protesters from getting close to the Apec venue, which is the target of their message, but they also played loud music to drown out the message of truth and struggle against Apec,” he said.

Wilben Mayor, PNP spokesperson, said the police would observe “maximum tolerance” but they will file necessary charges against demonstrators who break the law.

“Let me reiterate our unequivocal position that any public assembly outside of the designated freedom parks is deemed illegal and will be addressed accordingly,” Mayor said. “The PNP fully respects the right of citizens peaceably to assemble, and express their sentiments as guaranteed under our demo-cratic system.”

Students returning to school next week will face make-up classes because of days lost to the Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

“Each NCR [National Capital Region] division will decide on the most expeditious way of making up for missed class time as part of the Apec hosting,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in a text message  Thursday.

“These have been announced by the respective school di-vision superintendents when they gave notice of the Apec schedule to the principals. Schools can have  Saturday  classes hopefully before Christmas holidays or shortly after. These are all left to the better judgment of the heads of the divisions in consultation with the school principals,” he added.

Classes in Metro Manila were suspended from  Nov. 17 to 20  due to the Apec Leaders’ Summit.

Luistro said schools that do not have any other disruptions dur-ing the quarter are not required to conduct make-up classes as long as they are able to fulfill the minimum of 45 days of classes.

The organizers of the Apec 2015 meetings and summit thanked the public for their understanding for the inconven-ience they experienced as a result of tight security measures.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding over the inconvenience brought about by our enhanced security meas-ures,” said the Apec 2015 organizers, in its message on Twitter  Wednesday.

“You have shown to the 10,000 delegates composed of 19 economic leaders, two high-level representatives of member-economies, 21 trade ministers, 21, foreign ministers, 21 sen-ior officials, over 6,000 staff and security personnel, and over 4,000 members of the local and international media, what Fili-pino hospitality means,” said the organizers.

On Thursday, thousands of protesters took to the streets near Roxas Boulevard and Gil Puyat Avenue.

Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters who re-fused to disperse.

Police also used loud speakers to play party songs to counter the shouts of the protesters.

A scuffle ensued when some protesters tried to break through to approach the PICC, police said.

A territorial dispute over the South China Sea and the dead-ly Paris terrorist attacks cast a shadow over the annual Apec discussions which usually focus only on trade.

A draft copy of the final Apec declaration released  Thursday  said leaders at the Apec summit “strongly condemn” all acts of terror and stressed the “urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism.”

World leaders at the summit tackled issues such as climate change and regional economic cooperation, but the dispute over the resource-rich South China Sea came to the foreground when US President Barack Obama called on China to stop its reclamation work in disputed reefs.

During his visit in Manila, Obama also signed defense agree-ments with the Philippines, one of several countries which is in dispute with China on the issue.

Obama said there was a need for “bold steps to lower ten-sions” in the region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also attended the conference.China says its work is legal and it has no plans to militarize

the new artificial islands.

By Christine F. Herrera

WASHINGTON seeks to play a major role in the South China Sea dispute not because it wants to sup-port the Philippines against China, but because of the 15 billion barrels of oil and pe-troleum products that pass through the strategic route daily, Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon said  Thursday.

Citing US government data, Ridon said about a third of all seaborne oil passes through the South China Sea route every day.

Large quantities of liquefied natural gas and coal also pass the same way, he added.

“President [Benigno] Aquino [III] is an idiot if he thinks Washington will defend us from Beijing because of our existing military relations. The Aquino administration is even a greater fool for practically begging Obama just to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. It’s all about oil and sea trade, stu-pid,” Ridon said.

Ridon said Washington is intensifying military relations with nations contest-ing Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea because it is eyeing domination over

the lucrative shipping routes passing through this body of water, which geo-political analysts call the “throat of the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.”

Ridon said US data showed that the oil transported through the shipping routes in the South China Sea is triple the vol-ume that passes through the Suez Canal.

“The South China Sea, and the disput-ed waters in the West Philippine Sea, are at the heart of the most important en-ergy trade route in the world. It connects the Strait of Malacca to the rest of Asia, serving as the shortest sea route between African and Persian Gulf oil suppliers. In other words, whoever controls this sea route will control energy trade in the region—and most probably the world,” Ridon said.

Ridon said US President Barack Obama was engaging in “mere rhetoric and dou-blespeak” when the American leader ad-dressed the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea after a bilateral meeting with President Aquino at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit last Wednesday.

“Mr. Obama is engaging in dou-blespeak when he talked about lowering tensions and halting Chinese reclama-tion efforts. Behind those seemingly comforting words, Mr. Obama is only cementing Washington’s interest in the lucrative shipping routes passing through the disputed waters,” Ridon said.

After a meeting with Aquino  on Tues-day, Obama told reporters that while the US remains neutral on the territorial

claims in the disputed waters, there is a need for “bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further rec-lamation, new construction and milita-rization of disputed areas in the South China Sea.”

“Filipinos should not rejoice over Obama’s pronouncement. For one, we need to analyze why a world superpower from the other side of the Pacific is in-terested in meddling with the territorial dispute in Asian waters. The keywords here are oil and shipping routes,” Ridon said.

“American oil companies such as Chevron and Texaco would surely make more profit if they use the South China Sea route instead of the more circuitous one,” Ridon told The Standard.

“These American firms supply oil to the Apec member-economies,” he said.

“Under this context, we can under-stand why Washington wants to play a major role in the West Philippine Sea dispute. It’s not about securing the Phil-ippines or our sovereignty, it’s not about taunting China—it’s all about oil and profits,” Ridon said.

Ridon said even the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Aquino wants the Philippines to be part of, is designed to contest Beijing’s dominance in the busy shipping routes in the South China Sea.

The threat that Beijing poses for our national security is real and significant, yet it does not necessarily mean that we should rely on one bully to defend our national sovereignty from another bul-ly,” Ridon added.

“The 11,000-strong delegation from the member-economies, including their leaders, their senior officials, business leaders and even their media, will return to their respec-tive countries with the impression that the Philippines is a country that is able to host such a big event professionally, that we are a credible partner in trade and investment, and that our efforts at good governance en-sure consistency in the agreements they sign with us,” Coloma said.

“These footprints are potentially deep and long-lasting, and with our solid per-formance in hosting Apec, you could say that going into the last semester of the Aquino administration, we are finishing on a high note,” he added.

Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., di-rector general of the Apec National Or-ganizing Council, said the inconvenience experienced by Filipinos with the hosting can be considered their “contribution” to the long-term gains that the country will reap.

“Some people ask, what will we get out of Apec? From 1989 to 2014, Apec econo-mies collectively grew eight percent annu-ally. Also, 80 percent of our foreign trade is with these economies. So everybody grows as Apec grows,” Paynor said.

“As for the P10 billion spent for the year-long hosting, much of that money was plowed back to our economy. We spent it, for example, for feeding the 15,000 cops we have deployed. So there is a multiplier ef-fect. In a way, you could say it was a pump-priming of our economy,” he added.

Coloma said Apec’s focus on micro, small and medium enterprises is signifi-cant for the Philippines where MSMEs comprise over 99 percent of all business enterprises and account for 63.7 percent of total employment.

A Philippine-led initiative on disaster risk reduction contained in the 2015 Ma-nila Declaration is also considered a first for Apec, with its economies located in the Pacific Ring of Fire that makes them par-

ticularly vulnerable and exposed to disas-ters.

“The DRR Framework aims to develop climate-proof, resilient and sustainable communities, considering Apec member countries are located along the Pacific Ring of Fire that are vulnerable to earth-quakes and tsunamis. Many member-economies are also gravely affected by cli-mate change like extreme typhoons and El Niño droughts,” said Doris Magsaysay-Ho, chairperson of the Apec Business Advisory Council.

With the Manila Declaration, Apec leaders have tasked their respective minis-ters to craft an action plan in 2016 to op-erationalize the DRR Framework.

Bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Apec week also proved fruitful for the Phil-ippines, starting with the pronouncement of United States President Barack Obama that Washington will give two vessels—a decom-missioned US Coast Guard cutter that will be turned into a new warship and a research vessel to help the Philippines map its territo-rial waters.

The country also forged a strategic part-nership agreement with Vietnam, which includes deeper defense cooperation amid the ongoing territorial row with China.

A comprehensive partnership agree-ment was also signed by President Benigno Aquino III with Australian Prime Minis-ter Malcolm Turnbull, paving the way for closer cooperation in the political, eco-nomic, defense and security, law enforce-ment, and counter-terrorism fields. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in tech-nical vocational education and training.

Aquino also signed two agreements on trade and the campaign against illegal drugs with Russian Prime Minister Dmit-ry Medvedev, while he asked South Korean President Park Gyeun-Hye to “positively consider” proposed amendments to an ex-isting Social Security Agreement to maxi-mize the benefits and protection enjoyed by migrant workers from both countries.

The Philippines also forged an agree-ment with Japan that would ensure work-ers from both countries enjoy social

security protection during the bilateral meeting between Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two lead-ers also witnessed the exchange of notes of the North-South Commuter Railway Project Phase I (Malolos-Tutuban) which Japan is funding.

The Philippines also secured the sup-port of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada for the country’s possible inclusion in the Washington-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The TPP, which seeks to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set common standards in trade, covers about 40 percent of the world economy, covering Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

Aquino closed the Apec 2015 Sum-mit and cited two economic frameworks agreed upon by the 21-member economies.

“At today’s Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, we agreed on the overarching frameworks under which we will pursue these plans,” said Aquino, in his statement delivered during the press conference at the International Media Center, World Trade Center, Pasay City.

First, Aquino said, they adopted the Apec Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth.

This is a framework that will guide the 21-member economies in undertaking ro-bust, comprehensive, and ambitious struc-tural reforms over the next five years.

“We will focus our reform efforts, and measure our progress, in terms of insti-tution building, social cohesion, and en-vironmental impact. We do this with the awareness that the world economy con-tinues to confront significant risk and un-certainty, even as trade growth is slowing down, thus impressing upon all of us, the need to tap into new opportunities for eco-nomic growth,” said Aquino.

Aquino said this strategy will help Apec promote increased growth through struc-tural reform.

Second, Aquino said, the leaders ap-proved the Apec Services Cooperation Framework.

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Lawyer vows to sueover cancelled flight

Leaders’ spouses take tour of Intramuros

Cops use Katy Perry against rallyists

Dinner. President Benigno Aquino III shares a light moment with US President Barack Obama during a welcome dinner for Apec leaders at the SM Mall of Asia on Thursday. Malacañang Photo Bureau

Dispersal operation. A policeman gets help from his colleagues after he collapsed during a dispersal operation against some militants protesting the Apec meeting on Thursday. lino SantoS

Hundreds of left-wing pro-testers rallied outside a venue where US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group were meeting.

The rally edged towards vi-olence when protesters tried to break through lines of po-lice, who were carrying riot shields and wooden batons, to reach the summit venue.

Police responded by firing water cannons and scuffled with protesters who were chanting: “Junk APEC.”

Then police pulled out their secret weapon: pop princess Katy Perry on gi-ant loudspeakers.

Police Supt. Wilben Mayor said protesters may be charged for protesting near the venue where Apec’s leaders were meeting.

“Some of our policemen have been injured despite their adherence to the max-imum-tolerance policy,” Mayor said.

Perry’s hit song Roar was played at full volume, the top of a demonstration disco play list aimed at dis-tracting the protesters and drowning out their chants.

Dolly Parton’s Islands in the Stream, David Guetta’s Sexy Bitch and the Bee Gee’s How Deep is Your Love were among the other songs de-ployed against the protest-ers.

To add a street bass beat, some of the police tapped their batons against their shields in time with the music.

“It’s ridiculous,” leftist member of parliament Car-los Isagani Zarate told AFP as the protesters retreated to soul classic My Girl.

Many other protesters also expressed anger at the authorities trying to sup-press their message of op-position to globalization and the free-trade policies championed by Apec.

“We just want to make our voices heard,” 64-year-old mango farmer Cande-lario Rusasena told AFP.

But others could not hide their amusement.

“That was a rude and desperate move,” 54-year-old rice farmer Redo Peña told AFP as he broke into a toothless grin.

Metro Manila police spokeswoman chief inspector Kimberly Gonzales told AFP that the music was aimed at de-escalating tensions.

“Filipinos in general love music and it has a calming effect for everyone. This goes well with our maxi-mum-tolerance policy dur-ing protests,” Gonzales said.

The Philippines has a fa-mous music culture, with ka-raoke one of the most popu-lar forms of entertainment across all sectors of society.

It is not uncommon for tourists to encounter taxi drivers, supermarket cash-iers and airport security staff spontaneously break-ing out into song.

Filipino musicians are also a staple of hotel and cruise ship bands around the world.

And prisoners at the main jail in Cebu, the Phil-ippines’ biggest city, have become an Internet sensa-tion by posting videos on Youtube of them dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. aFP, with Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

By Joel guinto

POLICE deployed Katy Perry pop songs to disperse protesters at an Asia-Pacific Lead-ers’ Summit on Thursday, enraging some demonstrators but amusing others.

LAWYER Raymond Fortun on Thursday threatened to file a lawsuit against Cebu Pacific for the alleged inconvenience that the airline had brought him over the cancellation of his flight back to Manila from Vietnam.

“Cebu Pacific Airlines, I am suing you, and I am doing this to teach you people a lesson,” Fortun posted in his Facebook account.

He said that on Nov. 14, the airline sent an e-mail informing him that Manila was a no-fly zone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 because of the Asia-Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation meetings.

“Because it was a Saturday, I wanted to contact CebPac by Monday morning to confirm if the flight was canceled,” For-tun said.

“There was a chance that the flight was still a go since the plane would have landed in Manila at 4:45 a.m. on Nov. 19, or outside of the no-fly zone advisory.

Fortun said that on Nov. 15, the airline sent another e-mail saying he could “already web check-in for my return flight (Saigon-Manila).”

“I assumed that this was a confirmation that the flight was a green and go. I was able to secure boarding passes for our return trip,” Fortun said.

“My 2nd son was participat-ing in a chorale competition this Saturday and initially wanted to back out from the trip; we con-vinced him to come along as there was now a confirmation that he would be back by Thurs-day morning.” Joel e. Zurbano

By Filane Mikee Z. cervantes

WHILE the economic leaders were converging for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting on Thurs-day, their spouses were being toured around the historic walled city of Intramuros.

The spouses arriving at the heart of Manila were wel-comed by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez and President Benigno Aquino III’s sisters Maria Elena “Ballsy” Cruz, Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Abellada, Victoria Elisa “Viel” Dee, and Kristina Bernadette “Kris” Aquino.

And since Aquino is a bach-elor, the responsibility for play-

ing hosts to the Apec leaders’ spouses fell on the presidential sisters.

Among those in attendance were the spouses of the leaders from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Ja-pan, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

“The program’s concept is a walk through time, so they will see living recreations of Philippine-Spanish culture,” said Nestor Jardin, the overall artistic director of the spouses’ program.

Aside from providing a his-torical tour, the presidential sis-ters also wanted to display the Filipinos’ vaunted hospitality.

“We really want to make sure that everybody who visits

the Philippines will go home with a positive impression of all Filipinos,” said the President’s youngest sister Kris Aquino.

The first stop was Fort San-tiago where they witnessed a traditional wedding prepara-tion and celebration.

About 200 performers from Ramon Obusan, Dulaang UP, Tanghalang Filipino, and the University of the East dance group showcased music and dances from the Spanish colonial era.

Afterwards, the spouses, together with the presidential sisters and other delegates, had a photo session or family pic-ture-taking at the second gate of the fort.

The spouses were then di-vided into two groups and rode

electronic jeepneys to reach their assigned destinations.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s spouse had to leave early for the airport since their country would be hosting the 27th Association of South East Asian Nations summit.

One group proceeded to Casa Manila where scenes of a mundane Filipino family dur-ing the Spanish colonial era were recreated.

The other group headed to San Agustin Church where the Hail Mary, the Queen choir composed of children, sang religious and Spanish songs. Outside, traditional carrozas or carriages moved along the cobblestone path for the spous-es to see. Pna

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Poe hitsCarpioon SETpositionBy Macon Araneta

PRESIDENTIAL candi-date Senator Grace Poe on Thursday blasted Supreme Court Associate Justice An-tonio Carpio for his suppos-edly selective application of international law, invoking it to defend the Philippines’ claims in the South China but ignoring it in the citi-zenship cases of foundlings like her.

“This is my question for those pushing to have our territorial integrity over the West Philippine Sea: what [argument] are you using? Also, international law. Even our justices, they are also us-ing the [United Nations Con-vention on the Law of the Seas] under the UN to defend [our country],” Poe said.

Poe appealed to public officials not to be selective and make a stand for what can be good for the majority of Filipinos.

“If I will be disqualified, how many hundreds of thousands of children who do not know their parents would lose the opportunity to dream?” Poe asked.

Poe noted it is no secret that Carpio’s advocacy is to maintain the integrity of Philippine territory.

“That’s why it’s difficult to say that we can’t respect international law even though we use them as ba-sis in our fight for our terri-tory,” Poe said.

Carpio, chairperson of the nine-man Senate Electoral Tribunal that junked the disqualification case against Poe due to questions on her citizenship, had argued that Poe was not a natural-born citizen because she lost that status when she became an American citizen.

Police still identifyingbeheaded body in Sulu

Philippine National Police spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said the severed human head was found at Sulu’s capital town of Jolo on Tuesday while the headless body was found in Indanan town, 10 kilometers from Jolo.

“Both human remains are now being examined by the Crime Lab-

oratory of Police Regional Office-ARMM for identification,” mayor added.

“Pending official scientific find-ings, at this point we cannot conclu-sively establish the identity of these human remains to preclude undue speculation and inaccuracy in re-porting,” he said.

By Francisco Tuyay

POLICE forensic investigators are still trying to verify if the severed head and headless body found in sepa-rate places in Sulu belonged to Bernard Then, a Ma-laysian who was abducted from Sabah in May, the authorities said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak an-nounced the murder of Then and condemned the killing as “savage and barbaric act.”

“I, the government, and all Ma-laysians are shocked and sickened by the murder of our countryman Bernard Then and we condemn it in its strongest terms.”

“Our thoughts, prayers and heart-felt condolences are with his family and friends.”

Then, a 39-year-old electrical engineer was kidnap along with Sabahan Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, at the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on May 15.

The bandits, who were later iden-tified as members of the Abu Sayyaf,

brought their two captives to Sulu and demand P100-million ransom for their release.

A negotiation between the fami-lies of the two hostage victims and Malaysian authorities took place in Mindanao where a huge amount of ransom was handed down, prompt-ing the bandits to release Thien ear-lier this month.

But Then remained in the cus-tody of the ASG and insisted on a P100-million ransom for his liberty.

Then was reportedly executed by the ASG faction led by Indang Su-sukan in Indanan. Susukan’s group included sub-commander Alden Bagade, Angah Adji and Ahabsy Misaya.

LP: Leni moving upBy John Paolo Bencito

THE ruling Liberal Party admitted on Tuesday the need to work harder on raising the survey rankings of its presidential bet Manuel Roxas II and his running mate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo even if an internal sur-vey showed that Robredo had already slipped up to third position.

“We have an internal survey which has [Robredo] jumping to third place, but we decided not to release this as it would be self-serving,” said Robre-do’s campaign manager Senator Bam Aquino.

“What we find is that Leni’s conver-sion is high. It’s her awareness, being a latecomer to the VP race, that needs to be worked on more. We’re doing double time with ads and volunteer organizing now to address this,” Aquino said.

Robredo’s LP party mates are con-fident they would be able to pull her numbers in no time.

“From the start, we’ve been con-fident that all that Congresswoman Leni needs is to be introduced to a bigger audience, a bigger constituen-cy,” said Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutier-rez, spokesman of the Roxas-Robredo campaign.

“The modest improvement in her survey numbers is a good start, and we expect that her ranking will improve steadily in the coming weeks up until election day,” Gutierrez added.

As for Roxas, Gutierrez said the par-ty was not too concerned Roxas slipped to third place at 21 percent from his previous 20 percent in September in the latest Pulse Asia preferential polls conducted from Oct. 18 to 29.

In that survey, Roxas came in behind presidential frontrunner Senator Grace Poe with 39 percent, followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay with 24 percent. Senator Miriam Santiago meanwhile placed fourth with 11 percent.

Vaya con Dios. Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez Munera wave as they board the Columbian Air Force plane after the Apec summit. Colombia participated as an observer of the summit, but is expected to be declared a regular member soon. ERIC APOLONIO

Like a dream. Traffic on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare, the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, was unusually light on Thursday due to public holiday declared for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that concluded Thursday. However, traffic is expected to return to its ‘snarling’ normal on Friday. JANSEN ROMERO

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NEWS

Veloso’s execution deferred anew—Post

Chiz to DSWD: Disprove street kids’ ‘detention’

Tourist caught with 3 bulletsat Naia freed

Memento. Millenium Challenge Corporation’s chief executive officer Dana J. Hyde hands a souvenir to Mayor Wellington B. Pooten of Besao, Mt. Province during the MCC dialogue held at Tagaytay Highlands in Tagaytay City, Cavite. MANNY PALMERO

Farewell. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his entourage leave the Naia aviation complex onboard a Boeing B747-400 after attending the Apec Leaders’ Summit. ERIC APOLONIO

INDONESIA has extended the reprieve from execution of overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso and other inmates on death row because a third round of executions would aggravate Jakarta’s slowing economy, according to a Foreign Affairs official.

By Macon Araneta

SENATOR Francis Escudero  on Thursday  said the Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment should continue helping the informal settler- families who were whisked away from the streets of Metro Manila dur-ing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.

The continuing help, Escu-dero said, would disprove claims that they were rounded up to hide them from the leaders of the countries who came to the

Philippines for the summit.He said hundreds of street

dwellers living along Roxas Boulevard and nearby areas have been placed in a facility in Manila days ahead of the Apec event as part of the security preparations for the arrival of world leaders and delegates, but the DWSD denied this.

Each informal-settler family was given P4,000 to rent tempo-rary housing for the duration of the Apec meetings, but later on ended up in Manila Boys Town Complex in Pandacan, a facility

for orphans and out-of-school youth, according to the vice presidential candidate.

The DSWD, however, ex-plained that the financial aid was part of the agency’s con-ditional cash transfer or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the agency’s flagship anti-poverty scheme. 

“No matter where you hide them, these poor street dwell-ers will continue to be home-less after all the Apec leaders and delegates have left,” Escu-dero said.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose said they are still verifying the Jakarta Post report that Indonesian Attorney-Gen-eral M. Prasetyo announced that upcoming executions will be de-layed due to weakness in the In-donesia economy.

Prasetyo said the AGO would not carry out a third round of executions of inmates until the country got out of the current economic slowdown, adding

that executions at this time could trigger an international outcry that could derail President Joko Widodo’s campaign to fix the economy.

“The Attorney-General’s Office is currently helping the govern-ment in prioritizing the econo-my,” the Jakarta Post quoted Pra-setyo as saying.

This year, the AGO conduct-ed two rounds of executions, the first involving six convicts in

By Rey E. Requejo

A BORACAY-BOUND passenger arrrested at the Ninoy Aquino In-ternational Airport last Tuesday for bullet possession was ordered re-leased on the same day by prosecutor on duty at the airport. Lilly Chung, a 61-year-old Filipino-Chinese who was placed under airport custody for possession of three bullets, was released for the same reason cited in previous cases—the lack of criminal intent to possess ammunition, Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda said on Thursday.

“She was carrying the bullets as amulets she got from a Buddhist monk,” Acosta added, quoting Chung.

Prosecutor on duty at the air-port ordered Chung’s release af-ter inquest proceedings did not show malevolent intent to pos-sess and use the bullet for a crim-inal purpose. She was also able to board the flight to Caticlan Air-port at 10 p.m.

The incident took place last Tuesday during heightened se-curity for the arrival of heads of states who were taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-tion summit. The Public Attorney’s Office has so far helped 28 indi-viduals caught with bullets at the airport. Complaints against 17 of the agency’s clients have been dis-missed for lack of intent to possess the bullet and use it for malevolent purposes.

PAO has pending motion to dis-miss with the prosecutor’s office for the 11 others.

January and the second another eight in April.

The executions sparked con-demnations from domestic and international human rights cam-paigners as well as risked Indone-sia’s diplomatic relationships with the respective countries of origin of the foreign inmates.

Earlier in September, the AGO sent a budget proposal for the ex-ecution of 14 foreign and domes-tic drug convicts to the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, but the plan was put on hold after the country entered a period of eco-nomic slowdown.

Prasetyo said the third round

of executions would likely be con-ducted next year, but he did not give details regarding the plan.

The Attorney-General said the AGO was working to help the economic recovery, including by setting up a team that would help local government officials make budget decisions.

Veloso had been on Indone-sia’s death row in Yogyakarta. In April 2010, she was arrested af-ter she was found carrying her-oin in her luggage, although she insisted that it was planted by a drug syndicate.

Her execution was deferred in a stunning, last-minute stay order last April 29, after several other

foreigners on death row for drugs cases had been put to death.

Her lawyer Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Law-yers was gratified by the report.

“If confirmed, that report is cer-tainly welcome not only for Mary Jane Veloso but for all; and we hope it leads to a permanent abo-lition in time, as we have serious objections and questions about its effect and purpose in deterring crime,” Olalia said.

Veloso’s family had filed charg-es of qualified human traffick-ing against her alleged recruiters, Maria Cristin Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, as well as another re-spondent known as “Ike”.

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

newsA6f r i d ay : n o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

PH, Taiwan firm up fisheries deal

Romualdez hits out at govt’s handling of traffic situation

The pact was signed by Antonio I. Basilio of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and Gary Song-huann Lin of the Tai-pei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines last Nov. 5.

Following the signing, the two sides convened the first Techni-cal Working Group meeting the same day.

The agreement was reached mainly to protect the rights and interests of Taiwanese fishermen operating legally and prevent inci-dents involving Philippine author-ities and Taiwan fishermen.

It resulted from negotiations in the aftermath of the tragic incident

involving the Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat Maritime Con-trol Surveillance 3001 and Taiwan fishing boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 in May 2013—which led to the death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng.

The incident occurred in the high seas, within the overlapping EEZs of the neighboring countries.

The agreement calls for the im-plementation of two mechanisms —a one-hour advance notification to the other party and the release of detained vessels and crew with-in three days.

Under the agreement, before law enforcement action is taken against

In a bid to resolve disputes between the Philip-pines and Taiwan within their overlapping exclu-sive economic zones in the West Philippine Sea, the two countries have concluded the “agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries.”

LEyTE Rep. Ferdinand Martin Ro-mualdez has deplored the closure of a number of major thoroughfares in Metro Manila during the week-long Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that led to the monstrous traf-fic, which forced many commuters to walk several kilometers to their place of work.

Romualdez said the chaotic traffic situation last Monday and Tuesday were clearly the result of the “failure of communication” between officials of the PNP-Highway Patrol Group and Metro Manila Development Author-ity on one hand, and the commuting public and motorists.

“Sa totoo lang, kulang talaga komu-nikasyon. Maski marami silang ginawa ukol dito, kulang pa rin, di masyadong klaro ang mga abiso. Hindi masyadong maayos kaya malaki talaga perwisyo dito. Marami talaga napeperwisyo,” said Romualdez in an interview over

Bombo Radyo this week.Romualdez also scored the govern-

ment’s lack of compassion to drivers of public utility vehicles as well as their passengers and other motorists who were forced to wait for hours due to heavy traffic compounded by the lack of traffic enforcers in areas where there are gridlocks.

The Leyte lawmaker said that also airport passengers were affected es-pecially the overseas Filipino workers, balikbayans and tourists as flights were canceled.

Romualdez reiterated that the Apec should have been held in Clark or Subic so as not to disrupt work and school in Metro Manila.

“Sana lang kung ginanap na lang ito sa Clark or Subic, nakaraang Apec doon sa Subic ginanap ang Apec, mas smooth pa. Kaya hindi naperwisyo yung dito sa Maynila lalo na yung mga nasa airport. ang dami nating mga

OFW, balikbayan at turista. Kung dun na lang ginanap, eh di naimprove pa yung international airport natin diyan. Pagkatapos ng Apec mapapakinaban-gan pa natin,” Romualdez said.

However, Romualdez expressed optimism that the P10 billion allocated for Apec will be worth it eventually.

“Sana naman din yung mga sina-sabing foreign investment ay pumasok talaga. Yung sinasabi kong foreign direct investment, itong Apec para sa eko-nomiya, dapat maipasok naman natin ang ating mga investment sa ibayong dagat para hindi lang tayo lagi ang nag-iimport. Kailangan yung exports natin ay mapalakas nang sa gayon ay guman-da ang ating pakikipagkalakan sa ibang bansa,” Romualdez explained.

Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution As-sociation, expressed hopes that the issue on West Philippine Sea will be discussed among claimant countries.

By Rey E. RequejoTHE Court of Appeals has sustained the dismissal by the Office of the Ombuds-man of the graft charges filed against for-mer Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and several others for allowing small-scale mining activities in the province based on a re-vised environmentally critical areas net-work zoning map.

In a 15-page decision, the CA’s Special First Division through Associate Justice Romeo Barza ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the anti-graft body when it dismissed the complaint filed against Reyes and several other officials of the province.

Besides Reyes, also cleared by the Om-budsman were David Ponce de Leon, former Palawan vice governor; Lucena Demaala, former mayor of Narra, Palawan; Bayani Agapito, Janet Goh, Sunny Batul, Randolf Pe, Lilia Amarez, Arlie Deles, Tomas Tabinga, Eferino Genovea, members of the Sangu-niang Bayan of the Municipality of Narra; Abraham Kahlil Mitra, former Palawan 2nd district representative; Antonio Alvarez, former member of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development; Alfreddo Abueg

Jr., presidential assistant for Mimaropa/PCSD member; Romero Dorado, executive director of PCSD; Joselito Cadlaon, Ernesto Llacuna, Gil Acosta, Modesto Rodriguez, Edmundo Balerite, Derrick Pablico, Vicky de Guzman, Alice Fabellon, Mark Dior Madamba, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan.

In dismissing the complaint for Violation of Sec. 3 (e) of R.A. No. 3019 filed against the respondents, the Ombudsman found no “manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence” in the performance of the respondents’ official duties, “which is pre-sumed to have been regularly performed in the absence of evidence to the contrary.”

As regards to violation of Sec. 3 (j) of R.A. No. 3019, the Ombudsman did not find any evidence to prove the accusation of the peti-tioners that the respondents knowingly ap-proved or granted any license, permit, priv-ilege or benefit in favor of any person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit, privilege or advantages.

The Ombudsman held that no evi-dence was presented to prove that the applicants-mining companies are not entitled to the said mining permits which were granted to them.

Court clears Palawanexecs of graft charges

a fishing vessel from the other party believed to be operating illegally in the overlapping EEZs, a one-hour advance notification will be given to the fisheries and coast guard agencies, as well as the representa-tive office of the other party.

If the vessel is found to have violated the law and subsequently detained, it will be released within three days after posting reason-able bond or other security, or payment consistent with the law of the arresting party.

Taiwan President Ma ying-jeou proclaimed that the agreement up-holds the spirit and principles of the South China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls for shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development of resources.

The accord and exchange of notes will be announced after both sides have completed their respective domestic administra-tive procedures. PNA

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACKManila

StandardTODAY

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Standard Form Number:SF-Good-05Revised on: July 28, 2004

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BIDThe Local Government Unit of Catanauan, Quezon, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites suppliers/manufacturers/distributors/contractors to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder project:

NAME OF PROJECT APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT

1. SUPPLY AND DELIVERY HEAVY EQUIPMENTS a. WHEEL LOADER P 4,300,000.00 b. 6 WHEELER DUMPTRUCK P 3,075,000.00 c. 10 WHEELER DUMPTRUCK P 4,225,000.00

LOCATION: Catanauan, Quezon Brief Description: Heavy Equipment Source of Fund: General Fund

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last 2 years, with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-Qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference/s, Evaluation of Bids, Post Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). Interested bidders should bid collectively for the abovementioned three (3) items. The items should delivered on site by the winning bidder.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows:

ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE1. Pre-Procurement Conference 18 November 20152. Publication 19 November 20153. Activation of Publication 20 November 20154. Pre-bid Conference 26 November 2015

5. Submission of Letter of Intent and Issuance of Bid Documents 20 November- 09 December 2015

6. Opening of Bids 09 December 20157. Bid Evaluation 10-11 December 20158. Post Qualification 14 December 20159. Notice of Award 15 December 2015

Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount in form at the Office of Municipal Treasurer of Catanauan, Quezon.

The cost of bidding documents shall correspond to the ABC range as indicated in the table below. This shall be the maximum amount of fee that procuring entities can set for the acquisition of the bidding documents.

Approved Budget for the Contract Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents

500,000.00 and below 500.00More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million 1,000.00More than 1 Million up to 5 Million 5,000.00More than 5 Million up to 10 Million 10,000.00More than 10 Million up to 50 Million 25,000.00More than 50 Million up to 500 Million 50,000.00More than 500 Million 75,000.00

The Local Government Unit of Catanauan, Quezon assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid.

Approved by:

(SGD.) JERRY M. MENDOZAMunicipal AssessorBAC Chairman

TS-Nov. 20, 2015)

Bets and bags. Senatorial candidate Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte (left) and vice presi-dential bet Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. tour the factory of Desktop Bags Philippines Inc. in Mariveles, Bataan while Johnson Tam (right), general manager of Desktop Bags looks on. They also met with Freeport workers in Mariveles. VER NoVENo

A7F r i d aY : n o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

5 dead, 4 hurt in firefightat DENR office in Negros

Ecija to build 80-bedhospital for indigents

By Francisco Tuyay

Five members of a civilian security unit were killed while three cops and a civilian were wounded in a firefight that erupted between two groups arising from a chainsaw confiscated earlier by authorities in Negros Oriental Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Dion-ardo Carlos, director of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Of-fice, identified the slain victims as Feliciano Candido, a rebel returnee and the group’s leader; Cedric Regino, Angel Torres, Grasing Enbalsado and Renato Torres, all alleged member of

the Civil Security Office of the City of Bais.

Carlos identified the injured policemen as PO1 Reyden Cadiz, PO1 Jemry Montesa and PO1 Ro-deo Jaluag, all assigned with the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB-7). Rolando Candido, a ci-vilian, was also wounded.

Initial investigation showed that the group of Candido swooped down at the office of the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources in Mabinay town at about 10 a.m. Wednesday to ask for the return of a chainsaw confiscated from then by the local DENR person-nel last Nov. 5.

While Candido’s men were at the DENR’s office, Dionesia Trongcoso, the office station manager of Mabinay noticed one of Candido’s men with a bulg-ing object tuck in his waistline prompting her to solicit the as-sistance of the policeman.

Upon arriving at the scene, members of the RPSB-7 immedi-

ately summoned the man with a bulging object in his waistline for inspection. One of Candido’s men fired at the policemen, starting a firefight.

Carlos said Candido and four of his men were killed on the spot while three others identified as Ricky Sohot, Junjun Gutib and Richard Royo were arrested by the policemen.

He said that the policemen re-covered three hand guns, four ca-liber 45 pistols and three hand gre-nades from the arrested members of Candido’s group.

Carlos said that they are in-vestigating whether the fatalities were indeed members of the Civil Security Office of Bais City.

By A. Perez Rimando

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao—With the forthcoming long dry sea-son in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries regional secretary Makmod Mending Jr. re-cently sought from the office of the DA Secretary Proceso Alcala some P50-million fund aid “to help ease the impending adverse effect of El Niño in the region.”

Mending told media the pro-posed El Niño mitigation fund “will be used for programs to lessen the impact of drought, to provide farmers alternative livelihood, for cloud seeding op-erations, for medicine to make working animals stronger amid excruciating heat, and for pro-curement of heat-resistant agri-cultural products to be distrib-uted to farmers.”

Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan are among the provinces identified “to suffer the brunt of El Niño phenomenon starting two months from now,” Mend-ing said.

He stressed that the dry spell, which could last for as long as seven months or until early June 2016, “could eventually cause low production of rice, corn and root crops, and adversely affect the fishpond sector which are all largely dependent on rainfall.”

Mending, however, noted that Maguindanao’s two major irriga-tion dams—Malitubog-Marid-agao and Kabulaan Dams—are being closely monitored even as he directed Field Operations Di-rector Keise Usman to organize a Task Force El Niño to watch over the agriculture sector and recommend appropriate actions.

He recalled “the mild drought that hit Maguindanao early this year recorded loss of 14,000 met-ric tons of rice production.”

Mending claimed that Philip-pine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Ad-ministration climate monitoring Prediction chief Anthony Lucero earlier predicted that “this year’s El Niño is seen as worse than the one that hit the country in 1997-98.”

By Ferdie G. Domingo

PALAYAN CITY—A P100-million, 80-bed brand-new hospital that will cater to the health and medical needs of indigent patients will rise in this city through the Public Private Partnership scheme.

Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas said the three-level building will be con-structed in Barangay Caimito.

Cuevas said the city government here has partnered with the Department of Health for the design of the building through architect Rebecca Penafiel.

The hospital cost, she said, also in-cludes funding for its operation and maintenance.

Since the facility will be under the PPP

scheme, Cuevas said she will undergo a training seminar on how to operate and manage the hospital under the PPP setup.

The city currently has an emergency hospital in Caimito. However, the facility actually serves as a lying-in clinic with a three bed-emergency room and is not enough to meet the growing demands for medical services of local residents.

In 2013, the city government bared plans to build a hospital at the Palayan City Information Technology center which used to house the old city hall.

The city government is working with the DoH in fine-tuning the former’s city investment plan on health for the purpose of helping improve health ser-vices to the city.

Windy day. Windsurfers play along the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, propelled by winds brought by the annual ‘amihan.’ DAVID CHAN

Protection. Mangroves in Hernani, Eastern Samar help protect coastal communities from storm surges. MEL CASPE

ARMM needs P50m to cope with El Niño

A8 adelle chuaE D I T O R

f r i d aY, N O V e M B e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

[ edi TOri a l ]

Apec’s evolving AgendA

The annual Asia-Pacific economic Coopera-tion gathering held this week in the Philip-pines is about trade cooperation among the 21 member-nations of the grouping. It should focus on that, despite some distractions that tend to hog newspaper headlines and televi-sion coverages.

This year’s meeting may have been side-tracked by other non-trade developments, es-pecially when President Barack Obama open-ly supported the Philippines in its territorial row with China over the West Philippine Sea. Obama’s “ironclad” commitment to help the Philippines and other claimants against Chi-na’s aggressive disposition appeared to have overshadowed the Apec meeting.

But other events and fora during the cur-rent Manila gathering have generated equally interesting discussions that could further the trade agenda of Apec. Alibaba Group holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma, for one, challenged business leaders during the summit to help poorer nations and smaller businesses benefit from global trade. The chairman of China’s biggest e-commerce company proposed the removal of duties on goods sold by companies with less than $1 million of annual revenue. Trade, according to Ma, is a freedom and a human right and should not be used as a tool against other nations.

The Apec forum, meanwhile, gave Obama the podium to expound his climate change pitch ahead of the talks in Paris this month. he challenged governments and businesses in Asia-Pacific nations to step up efforts to cut emissions that cause climate change. Slowing or stopping climate change, he says, will ben-efit corporate bottom lines by opening new in-vestment in renewable energy and other green technology.

The regional conference also put Filipino engineer Aisa Mijeno on the spotlight, after Obama offered to play matchmaker for her company, which builds lamps that run on re-newable seawater.

Apec, in a way, is evolving as it incorporates other issues that directly affect the region’s economies and trade partnerships. Apec wants to ultimately reduce all barriers that hamper trade among the Pacific rim nations, but the trade bloc has to face other issues that will directly impact on the economic growth of individual nations over the long term.

lOwDOwn

jOjO a. ROblEs

Things i leArned from Apec

A friend and colleague in the writing trade, Leslie Bocobo, has come up with a list of things he learned from the Philippines’ just-concluded hosting of the 2015 Asia-Pacific econom-ic summit. Here’s Leslie’s list, with some editing:

“That government can solve the horrendous traffic in Metro Manila if it wants to, except for filipinos. That government can rid Metro Manila’s streets of eye sores, if it wants to, as well.

“That President noynoy Aquino will never wear a flag pin like a proper head of state and be proud enough of his country to display it on him for other world leaders to see.

“That no matter who Aquino faces for an audi-ence, his speeches will al-ways extol the so-called sacrifices of his mother and father, and then go on to grab credit for accomplish-ments of previous adminis-

trations. And he will blame ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, even while he speaks inside edifices built and/or reha-bilitated by them.”

* * *To Bocobo’s list, i’d like

to add a few things i, too, learned from the Apec hosting:

i learned, as another colleague noted, that when there is nothing substantive for the local media to write about, they can always fall back on the “kilig” factor. This is why the physical at-tributes of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President en-rique Peña nieto have be-come such big news, much to the chagrin of the inter-national media also cover-ing the Manila event.

i learned that, no matter how hard the government tries to hide the poor “for their own safety” during such an event, visitors like Japanese first Lady Akie Abe will always find them, if that’s what they want to do. Mrs. Abe was the only among the high-powered visitors to stray from the

carefully sanitized itinerar-ies prepared for dignitaries in order to visit impover-ished filipinos living in the shadow of the Payatas dump site in Quezon City.

i learned that Philip-pine media will go to great lengths to report on the ex-quisitely prepared and plat-ed filipino-inspired food prepared by outstanding lo-cal chefs for the visitors. But they will not even mention that the thousands of po-licemen assigned to secure the summit were subsisting on a cup of rice, dried fish and an egg washed down

with a small bottle of water just outside the venues they were securing.

(The media also went crazy about the décor and the furniture in the various meeting places and the ac-commodations and the be-spoke designer barongs for the heads of state. The cops, who pulled 12-hour shifts, slept under the stars.)

i learned from the critic Pablo Tariman that the great filipino concert pianist Cecile Licad must have put a little more ex-tra in her virtuoso perfor-mance of frederic Cho-pin’s revolutionary etude for the Apec delegates, because she and other performers were holed up for 12 hours in a common green room before the show. That, and because Licad learned that some poor woman had given birth in the horrific traf-fic caused by the closure of several main Metro Ma-nila thoroughfares for the summit.

i learned that P10 bil-lion in government funds spent for hosting the latest

Hosting apec is an expensive

boast by a government that will quickly add it

to its ephemeral list of

“accomplishments.”

opinion

Continued on A11

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OPINIONF R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

A10

Of the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation summit I shall say only that most filipinos I have talked to are glad that we are done with it. I grumbled at all the secu-rity fuss when Pope francis came because he is a pastor, not a poli-tician, and one who is elected to succeed Peter knows fully well that Peter died a martyr. No one I know, however, expressed the wish that the Pope would have visited elsewhere, not Manila! But this time, many wished that the national leadership would have been sufficiently witted to place the meeting elsewhere. fi-del V. Ramos was brilliant enough to host it at Subic, as Gloria Arroyo hosted Asean heads of state in Cebu. Oh, well, gifts of compe-tent cogitation are not evenly distributed!

In relation to the Poe case (or cases), the thesis has been advanced that “foundlings are n a t u r a l - b o r n citizens of the State in which they are found” is a proposition of international law and, as such, is part of the law of the land, by virtue of the incorporation clause that one finds in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, one of the few, self-executing provisions in this article. Is it, really? Our Constitution makes part of the law of the land “the generally accepted principles of international law” —not all of international law, then, but only “generally accepted principles.” While some are more restrictive in their construal and limit this only to “jus cogens” or the pe-remptory norms of international law that admit of no derogation even by treaties, I am prepared to extend this to all of what is called “customary international law”—that should, however, be more accurately called “custom evidencing a practice accepted as law.” former UP Law Dean Merlin Magallona therefore use-fully characterizes the relation of Philippine municipal law to international law as bifurcated: “incorporation,” in respect to the generally accepted principles of international law; “transforma-tion,” in respect to treaties—be-cause these have to be concurred in by the Senate.

Ian Brownlie, one of the demi-gods in the pantheon of interna-tional law, suggests the following criteria of a binding custom: dura-tion, uniformity and consistency of the practice, generality of the practice, the understanding that it is legally obligatory (opinio juris sive necessitatis). By these stan-dards, the proposition: “found-lings are natural-born citizens of the states where they are found” is

not within the corpus of custom-ary law. State practice, for one, is far from uniform and consistent, nor is there evident generality. The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness would have obli-gated the Philippines to confer its nationality on foundlings—but we are not parties to this Convention. And while states like france, the United Kingdom, and the Nether-lands have signed the treaty, they have not yet ratified it. This is a very strong proof against claims to “generality” and “uniformity of practice.”

true, Senator Grace Poe en-joys the presumption in her favor that she is a natural-born filipino citizen. This is a presumption ne-cessitated by the fact that she is a senator of the Republic and that it is presumed that her election to office was regular and free of infirmity. But this presumption

is disputable—the burden of disprov-ing her citizenship lying with whoever assails it. It is un-derstandable then why the DNA tests are relevant: If they conclusively estab-lish Ms. Poe’s par-entage—and point to at least a fili-pino father—then that she is a natu-ral-born filipino would be beyond doubt.

Under the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons—to which the Philippines is a party—we are obligated to facilitate the “natu-ralization” of otherwise stateless persons within our territory. Significantly, under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, to which we are NOt parties, State-parties are bound to confer their national-ity on persons born within their territories who would otherwise be stateless, either by operation of law or by some process left to domestic law. So, one who ben-efits from the benevolent provi-sions of the 1961 Convention is NOt NeCeSSARILY natural born.

The trouble is not with Ms. Poe. The trouble is with our Republic. We have no provision in the fam-ily Code, none in the Civil Code, no special law that makes of foundlings citizens of the Republic by sheer operation of law—“natural born.” And, for reasons I find difficult to understand, neither have we ac-ceded to the 1961 treaty.

to do a real favor to foundlings and abandoned children, we must pass the necessary amendment to our codes, or perhaps a special law on status and citizenship of foundlings, or, in the very least, accede to the 1961 Convention. It does the Republic no favor, how-ever, to ignore the requisites that the Constitution lays down for public office and claim lamely that one is acting on the basis of the dictates of conscience and for the benefit of the vulnerable!

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

Part of the law of the land?

Pnoy’s 5Ps the 3Ps or public-private part-nerships is a program for building public infrastructures in which government agencies, without spending public funds, initiate projects with private sector part-ners that are guaranteed recovery of their investments from direct us-ers of their completed project.

It was supposed to play a major role in PNoy’s administration, but for various reasons, it had not de-livered in the past 5-1/2 years ex-cept for a non-essential connecting road from Cavite to South Luzon expressway.

Admittedly, we are almost clue-less about this program of PNoy. Maybe, other projects have been completed using it but certainly, there weren’t enough publicity about them.

We don’t even know who heads the program.

Is that incomplete elevated road infrastructure at the Pasay airport part of PNoy’s 3Ps program? It surely showcased how differently we do things here in the Philip-pines for full viewing this week of the Asia-Pacific economic Coop-eration delegates.

We are constantly told to make sacrifices by going through incon-veniences now in order to reap the fruits of development and progress later. But must we endure hellish traffic conditions for months while this new road is being constructed?

In any case, wasn’t it construct-ed to please primarily the casino tourists when they proceed from the airport to the emerging casino city by the bay?

We can only wish that construc-tions are done with minimal incon-venience similar to how the elevat-ed light railway transit system over edsa was built during the adminis-tration of President fidel Ramos.

the 4Ps or “Pantawid Pamily-ang Pilipino Program” is how the PNoy administration now refers to its conditional cash transfer program that doles out a maxi-mum of P1,400 to poor families who have satisfied its conditions for award.

In fact, it was the Arroyo admin-istration that first piloted this pro-

gram using borrowed funds from the World Bank. The bank believed that the country’s growing poverty could be alleviated through direct governmental intervention such as the CCt that—it claimed—was being implemented successfully in Latin American countries.

The PNoy administration—as-suming full accountability for the program—continued and expand-ed it to be its cornerstone social welfare program.

Seldom is publicly mentioned about Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Juliano Soliman being a daughter of a hacienda Luisita “capataz.” But to her credit, she has been the program’s untiring administrator who has made it such a significant anti-poverty program that it had been allo-cated a budget of P62.7 billion for 4.6 million families in 2016 despite remaining devoid of legis-lation and being a regular subject of public criticism.

Moreover, the homeless poor have remained visibly plenty that they had to be hidden from public view during this week of the Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

We have also the 5Ps of Success. Usually 5Ps stands for proper

planning prevents poor perfor-mance, but my senior citizen friends have sarcastically used it to describe the PNoy administration’s performance in the past 5-1/2 years and in this week of the Apec meet-ing—“palpak” planning produces poor performance.

Maybe, PNoy had plans about implementing his “Daang Matu-wid” policy when he assumed the presidency in 2010. Maybe, he also knew that “he who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

he must have had detailed and personalized plans because without them, how could he have succeeded in systematically bringing down to public shame ex-President Gloria

Macapagal Arroyo, Senate Presi-dent Juan Ponce enrile, and Chief Justice Renato Corona? After all, they were the three highest officials of the executive, legislative and ju-dicial branches of government be-fore his administration.

Never mind that they are still unconvicted and could eventually be declared innocent. What is im-portant for now is that they have been shamed publicly for corrup-tion charges. Besides, haven’t they caused him and his family great pains in the past?

Didn’t he brag about this ac-complishment before Apec leaders?

We are hosting the 2015 Apec Leaders’ Meeting almost 20 years after we hosted it in 1996. While we cannot fully assess the far-reaching outcomes of that hosting, certainly the delegates were happy about their accommodations and our people were proud of being hosts then.

But in this year’s meeting, why wasn’t any important role given to President Ramos who hosted that very successful meeting?

Instead, PNoy appointed as early as Nov. 28, 2012 his invisible executive secretary as chairman and former Consul General to San francisco and Ambassador Mar-ciano Paynor as director general of the national organizing committee.

A protocol expert, the direc-tor general—as if anticipating a fi-asco event—declared last week that PNoy is “on top of everything and directed the organizing council to ensure that the country’s hosting will be a success from all points of view.”

There is no doubt that PNoy is fully responsible for our hosting of this year’s Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

Perhaps, there was indeed much that we have gained politically and economically from this hosting and only a few thousands have been inconvenienced by the road re-routings and only a hundred busi-nessmen have lost their usual cash flows.

But clearly, we have been made to pay unnecessary a high price for this year’s hosting because of “pal-pak” planning.

Here’s how to do foundlings

and abandoned children a real

favor.

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

pensées

fr. ranHiliocallangan

aquino

filipinopensioner

Horaciotemplo

tHings... From A8

power up a whole island using the ocean water,” she gushed to Obama.   The $20 device is good for eight hours of lighting and by replenishing the salt solu-tion, for P100 per recharge every six months, the lamp could last for 10 years.

Said Obama: “Aisa is a perfect example of what we’re seeing in a lot of countries—young entrepre-

neurs coming up with leap frog technologies—in the same ways that large portions of Asia and Africa, the old landline phones never got set up.  People just went straight to mobile.  And obviously they’re buying stuff through Alibaba on there all the time.  (Laughter.) “

Interviewed later by ted failon, Aisa was asked what help the Aquino administration gave her. She groped for an answer. The government hasn’t even given her a patent.

biznewsasia@gmail.com

obama... From A11

Apec summit can’t even buy a single new road, bridge or traffic light. And that three years of planning and building isn’t even enough to com-plete that flyover from the airport to Manila’s rec-lamation area, which was conceived for the con-venience of the Apec delegates.

On the other hand, I learned that the funds for performing hosting duties can buy hundreds of brand new luxury cars, SUVs and vans, which will all be sold at deep discounts to a lucky few—includ-ing certain government officials—after the summit. If your government official-neighbor suddenly ac-quires a very slightly-used top-of-the-line 7-Series BMW sedan in the coming days, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I learned from Ambassador Marciano Paynor, who ran the Apec hosting show for the Philip-pines, both in 1996 and this year, that we didn’t really have to host the summit if we didn’t want to. But we asked to host the 21-nation summit, so

I guess we can’t really complain.I learned from wise economic analysts like for-

mer National Treasurer Leonor Briones that there can be no immediate gains from hosting the Apec summit. And that there probably never will be, de-spite the fevered claims of the pro-Aquino crowd.

I learned that Filipinos are really a hospitable and long-suffering lot, willing to bear almost any-thing in order to show that we can host a proper summit. But I also think that they will not quickly forget how they were inconvenienced, just so the government can show off economic gains that they can’t really feel.

I am convinced that hosting Apec is nothing more than an expensive boast by a Philippine government that will quickly add it to its long but ephemeral list of “accomplishments.” I wonder, though, if in the coming days some enterprising investigators will not turn up anomalies that attended the hosting and if this will not mean jail time for those who imposed the summit on the rest of us.

And that’s what I learned from our hosting of the Apec summit.

chong ardivilla#failocracy

A11F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

OPINIONlettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Eight for thE SEnatE

if you think there isn’t anyone who’s worth voting for President in 2016, you are not alone. like many others, we are not sanguine there’s someone out there who can really lead this nation. grace Poe’s citizenship is constitution-ally challenged, Jojo Binay is facing a raft of graft charges, Senator Miriam defensor Santiago has serious health concerns, while Mar roxas is strait-jacketed from thinking out of B.S. aquino’s box

The political landscape is bar-ren as seen from the surfeit of san-ity-challenged candidates, includ-ing someone named lucifer, who filed their coc’s for president at the commission on Elections last october.

Some senatorial candidates are not household names even in their own households. choosing the senatorial candidates shared as “guests” by both liberal Party and the united nationalist alliance, in-

cluding the independents, is some-thing voters must still seriously consider, a few good men in the Senate still makes it the last keeper of the gate against flawed legisla-tion from the lower house.

i have my own choices but i’m not suggesting they should also be yours. here are the candidates that come to mind whom i think will be worthy of the title “Senator:” former senator and food Security Presiden-tial assistant francis Pangilinan, re-electionist Senators Serge osmeña and ralph recto, leyte rep. Martin romualdez, Philippine national red cross chairman and former Senator dick gordon, Justice Secretary leila de lima, former Senator Panfilo lac-son, and workers welfare advocate Susan “Toots” ople. i only came up with a short list of eight unable to think of anyone else for the vacant 12 Senate seats.

We are witnessing a new dynam-ics in Philippine politics when can-didates are shared by two or three parties. This is unheard of in other

countries. in the united States, the difference between democrats and republicans are well defined. So too, with the conservatives and labor parties in the united Kingdom.

The crazy free-for all practice in Philippine politics started in the 2013 senatorial elections. This is an erosion, if not the demise, of the two-party system which spells out platform of governance and the po-litical ideology of aspirants for public office. This new normal also attests to the dearth of deserving and quali-fied candidates. The liberal Party and united nationalist alliance could not complete a 12-man senato-rial slate without crossing the blurred party lines. The nacionalista Party, nPc and the PdP-laban do not have a presidential candidate.

Today’s politics has become no more than a popularity contest. We can expect boxer Manny Pacquiao who’s more known for landing a left hook in his opponent’s jaw to land a seat in the Senate. he may be an eight-division champion but the Sarangani

congressman is also top-ranked in the most number of absences in the house of representatives whenever he’s in training for a fight. and they want him in the Senate?

at the local level, Quezon city Mayor herbert “Bistek” Bautista looks on the way to winning another term without any real opposition. in Manila, congressman amado Bagatsing could slip past incumbent Mayor Erap Estrada and returning fred lim. The two former friends are hurling insults at each other with Erap calling lim a senile old man and lim reminding voters the for-mer president is a convicted plunder-er. in Makati, romulo “Kid” Peña has an even chance against rep. abigail Binay who replaced her brother as candidate when Mayor Erwin Junjun Binay was suspended and dismissed by the ombudsman. This, for graft connected to the construction of the Makati parking building and other allegedly anomalous contracts.

in San Juan city, the Zamoras will try to break the stranglehold of the Es-

trada-Ejercito political clan.vice May-or francis Zamora is running against incumbent guia gomez while his fa-ther rep. ronaldo Zamora is seeking reelection against Jana Ejercito. gomez is the mother of Senator J.v. Ejercito and partner of former President Erap. The Ejercitos and the Zamoras were former political allies but parted ways when gomez decided to seek a third and final term.

Who’s going to win the crowded vice presidential race? rep. leni robredo (camarines Sur), Senators francis Escudero, gregorio hona-san (Sorsogon) and antonio Trillanes (albay) who are all from Bicol will surely divide the region’s vote. While his rivals’ following is fragmented, Senator ferdinand Marcos Jr. can count on the steadfast support of the ilocanos’ Solid north and mother imelda romualdez’s visayan votes. his stewardship of the Senate’s local government committee reviewing the controversial Bangsamoro Basic law also gained Bongbong Marcos a large following in Mindanao.

BACK CHANNEL

ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

obama, aiSa and illuminationonE thing about uS presidents, they are usu-ally genial, warm, sincere and have great peo-ple skills. i have observed four uS presidents come to Manila—Jimmy carter, Bill clinton, george W. Bush, and Barack obama. i talked briefly to carter when he visited Manila for a housing project, and saw at close range clinton when he came to Subic for the 1996 asia-Pacif-ic Economic cooperation summit. Bush and obama—i just watched them from a distance.

There is something about uS presidents that makes them real people. They are kindhearted, unlike a President and one presidential candi-date i know.

Which makes me wonder: if grace Poe, who is or was once an american, is elected President, will she behave like an american president—ge-nial, warm, sincere, approachable, and kindheart-ed? if she will, my vote goes to her.

on nov. 18, President obama insisted to moderate an apec cEo summit on small businesses. he was in his element, as a politi-cian and as a real human being, and not as the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. he was witty, intelligent, informal, and quick at repartee. Was he being his real self, the son of an immigrant who made it good in america? or was he being a harvard lawyer and a former community organizer?

obama was all praise for our small business entrepreneur and innovator aisa Mijeno. The uS President seems to have done his home-work and did background check on the dimin-utive filipina inventor.

obama was profuse in his endorsement of aisa’s invention—a lEd lamp that is powered by a chemical solution produced out of sea or saltwater.

“i understand that Jack set the place on fire this morning already with his remarks—so he’s a hard act to follow.  and i’m go-ing to keep my remarks brief because, unlike some previous apec cEo sum-mits where i’ve just made a speech, we’ve got an opportunity i think to hear from a couple of outstanding individuals. i want to thank Jack, as well as aisa Mijeno for joining us.  and you’ll find out more about aisa—you probably know about Jack—but she’s outstanding, and i think an example of why i feel extraordinarily opti-mistic about our future,” obama began in his remarks.

i never realized an apec summit could be so relevant until obama moderated that forum with apec cEos. he talked about “the urgent and growing threat of climate change,” claiming “no nation is immune to the consequences of a changing climate.” he cited Super Typhoon ‘‘haiyan,’’ “a storm that claimed thousands of lives and cost billions of dollars in damage.”

obama warned: “if we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now.  and it is going to affect people’s bottom lines.  agricultural pro-duction will be impacted if we do not get on top of this.  Economic disruptions—we will be able to price the costs. in serious ways already, insurance companies are factoring it into their determinations.”

for his part, chinese tycoon Jack Ma of al-ibaba recalls almost drowning in lake when he was 12 because it was deeper than he thought. five years ago, he went back to the same lake to

swim again. it had disap-peared.

obama retailed his cli-mate change achievements as president: “We’ve dou-bled the distance new cars will go on a gallon of gas by 2025.  We’re producing

three times as much wind power as we were when i came into office. and we are producing about 20 times as much solar power as when i came into office.  Thanks in part to the investments we’ve made, there are already parts of america where clean power from wind or sun is actually cheaper than dirtier, conventional power.  Since 2005, even as our economy is growing, america has cut our total carbon pollution by more than any other country on Earth.”

apec, obama said, “is working to double re-newable energy and reduce energy intensity by 45 percent over the next two decades.”

obama’s message to his business audience: “your businesses can do right by your bottom lines and by our planet and future genera-tions. The old rules that said we couldn’t grow our economies and protect our environment at the same time, those are outdated.  We can transition to clean energy without squeezing businesses and consumers.  When we doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars, that’s money in people’s pockets because they’re spending less money at the gas station.  and that’s true across our economy.”

vital to pursuing growth, coping with un-employment, and conquering climate change is innovation. “innovators are coming up with new ideas every single day,” obama said, “which brings me back to my two partners here

for this panel—Jack Ma and aisa Mijeno.” according to obama himself, “aisa is an

entrepreneur here in the Philippines who launched a startup around a brilliant idea, which is selling lamps that run on nothing more than saltwater.  She’s an engineer.  She’ll have to explain the physics around this thing.  (laugh-ter.)  and i guess you’ve heard of Jack. (laugh-ter.) But he’s not just the founder of alibaba, a giant in e-commerce, he also happens to be a leader on environmental issues like clean water and climate change.”

aisa related she and her brother founded SalT—sustainable alternative lighting, “to ad-dress light inequality gap first in the Philippines by focusing on the people at the bottom of the pyramid because it comprises about 15 to 20 percent of the country’s population.” She ex-plained:

“Most of these families live on island com-munities and they are not connected to power grids, so they may use kerosene and fuel-based lamps as the main source of lighting.  and we know the danger that kerosene lamps poses.  it can cause fire accidentally.   So that’s the main reason why—what we wanted to see was we wanted to provide these people a lighting option that was more cost-effective, more safe, more sustainable and environmentally friendly by the way of a lantern that uses saline solution or ocean water as a means to generate electricity.  in theory, we would be able to power up lEd and of course, power up a uSB port where you can also charge more power, more devices like your phones.  very essential during emergencies, es-pecially disaster scenarios.”

“Just imagine if you would be able to Continued on A10

A12sports@thestandard.com.ph

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sports

Rockets win after firing coach

Harden, who scored 26 points in the fourth quarter, added 11 assists for the Rockets, who snapped a four-game los-ing streak hours after McHale was sent packing.

Houston players acknowledged they felt the burden of the decision to dismiss McHale.

“We are responsible,” said swingman Corey Brewer. “Coach can’t make us play hard. That’s up to us.

“It’s got to be a wakeup call. We’ve got to get better.”

With interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm for the first time, the Rock-ets delivered a gritty performanBrewer drained a three-pointer with less than a

second remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime with the score knotted at 99-99.

Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum had hit a three-pointer with 4:54 left in regulation after two free throws by Da-mian Lillard halted an 8-0 Rockets run that brought Houston within 83-81.

Harden hit a three-pointer with 38 seconds left in regulation, and after Port-land forward Al-Farouq Aminu made two free throws with 6.6 seconds left to stretch the lead to three, Brewer pulled the Rockets level.

Rockets center Dwight Howard grabbed 19 rebounds and forward Trevor Ariza added 18 points and eight

UNITED STATES—Houston guard James Harden scored 45 points, including all nine for his team in overtime as the Rockets followed the abrupt sacking of coach Kevin McHale with a 108-103 NBA victory over Portland on Wednesday.

Athletesuneasy overRussiansin Rio

Lawyer: Blatter to continue FIFA appealsAthletes’ villagea concern for LA

OPen the document in a newUnITeD STATeS (AFP)--The prospect of Russian ath-letes being welcomed back into the fold for the Olympics is causing alarm amongst ri-vals, with questions swirling over whether the country can rebuild a credible anti-doping regime in time for Rio.

Track and field has been plunged into the worst crisis in its history over the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report which uncovered a so-phisticated state-supported doping program pervading all levels of Russian athletics.

The International Associa-tion of Athletics Federations (IAAF) slapped a provi-sional suspension on Russia last week while WADA on Wednesday suspended the scandal-tainted Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), ruling it was non-compliant with the body’s code.

Technically, the decision heightens the possibility of Russian athletes being barred from taking part in Rio next year. That eventuality remains remote however.

Both the IAAF and WADA have expressed desire to over-see a rehabilitation of anti-doping practices in Russia that brings them back into compli-ance with global standards.

But the notion of Russian athletes being allowed to compete in Rio has caused disquiet amongst competitors past and present.

Addressing WADA’s board meeting in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, US track and field great ed Moses said he be-lieved Russian athletes should be barred as a deterrent.

“The only sanction is to say that enough is enough. It is to state loudly and clearly that the Russian athletics team cannot go to Rio,” said Moses, who also called for WADA’s independent commission to widen its mandate by investi-gating doping across all Rus-sian sports.

“I had many close friends who had irreplaceable mo-ments stolen from them,” said Moses, referring to the drug-tainted era of the 1970s and 1980s in which he competed.

“My hope is that there is not a generation of athletes that have their dreams stolen from them too.”

Moses’ comments struck a chord with Kirsty Coven-try, the Zimbabwean double 200m backstroke champion from the 2004 and 2008 Olympics who will compete in her final games in Rio.

Coventry, who sits on WA-DA’s athlete committee, said many fellow swimmers had contacted her to express alarm about Russia, adding that she also wanted to see a wider probe into Russian sport.

“There’s a lot of concern. I’ve had a lot of swimmers get in touch with me to ask what can we do,” Coventry said.

“Speaking as an athlete that’s going to be competing in Rio I want to know that I’m competing against clean ath-letes and not be suspicious.

“It’s my last Olympics and I don’t want to be up there thinking ‘Oh crap, she might be doping’.” afp

rebounds as Houston handed Portland a seventh straight defeat.

Bickerstaff, promoted to coach for the rest of the season from his position as an assistant to McHale, said his goal was to “get back to who we were when we had our most success.”

The Rockets reached the Western Conference final last season, and while sacking McHale after four straight defeats seemed like panic to some in the league, general manager Daryl Morey said the fierce competition in the West forced his hand.

“The team was not responding to Kevin,” Morey said. “There is no time in the West.”

- Parker shines in Spurs win -The rugged conference is led by reign-

ing nBA champions Golden State, who took their season opening winning streak to 12 games on Tuesday.

The San Antonio Spurs are slotted comfortably into second place, taking their record to 9-2 with a 109-98 victory over the Denver nuggets on Wednesday.

French point guard Tony Parker scored a season-high 25 points and for-ward Kawhi Leonard added 20 for the Spurs, who are a perfect 5-0 at home.

Backup guard Patty Mills of Australia scored 17 points, veteran Tim Duncan added 12 points and 11 rebounds and forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 points with 12 rebounds -- the fourth straight game that the Spurs had at least five players score in double figures.

- Thunder end skid -The Oklahoma City Thunder gained a

needed win, downing the injury ravaged new Orleans Pelicans 110-103 to end a two-game slide.

Russell Westbrook poured in 43 points, handed out eight assists and pulled down nine rebounds for the Thun-der, who were without former nBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant for a fourth straight game.

“We got a win,” Westbrook said. “We worked hard this week and the last few days to get a win, so I am happy about that.” afp

A file photo taken on July 20, 2015 shows FIFA president Sepp Blatter gesturing during a press conference at the football world body’s headquarters in Zurich. afp

UnITeD STATeS—Sepp Blatter is disappointed by a FIFA appeal committee’s re-fusal to overturn his 90-day ban and is committed to clearing his name through continued appeals, his US lawyer said Wednesday.

The committee rejected a bid by the FIFA president and UeFA chief Michel Platini to overturn their 90-day bans while Swiss police pursue a criminal inquiry.

“President Blatter is dis-appointed by today’s deci-sion,” his US lawyer Richard Cullen of McGuire Woods, said in a statement.

“noticeably absent from the opinion and these pro-ceedings is any evidence of any improper motivation or purpose for the agree-ment between FIFA and Mr Platini,” he added.

FIFA’s ethics committee decided on October 7 to suspend Blatter and Platini

for 90 days after Swiss pros-ecutors launched a criminal mismanagement inquiry against Blatter. Part of the inquiry is into a $2 million payment made by FIFA to Platini in 2011 for work car-ried out a decade earlier.

His lawyer took issue with the decision being re-leased just over two weeks after it was made on no-vember 3.

“President Blatter is com-mitted to clearing his name and hopes this inexplicable delay is not an effort to deny him, during his elected term, a fair hearing before a neutral body,” Cullen said.

“President Blatter will continue his appeals and looks forward to the oppor-tunity to be heard including through the presentation of evidence and argument of counsel, and thereby dem-onstrate he has engaged in no misconduct.”

UnITeD STATeS—Los Angeles City Council members have called for al-ternative proposals for the Olympic athletes’ village following concerns about potential cost over-runs in the city’s bid for the 2024 Summer Games.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said environmental clean-up and other costs could reach $2 billion for the proposed village site, a riverside rai-lyard, even if the property’s owner Union Pacific agrees to sell up.

“I don’t really even see how that’s a starter at this point,” O’Farrell said.

Los Angeles is bidding to host the Summer Olympics for a third time, after staging the Games in 1932 and 1984, and will face stiff competition from Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hamburg.

It got the chance to put its hat in the ring after the US Olympic Commit-tee’s first choice, Boston, saw its bid collapse in the face of local opposition stirred by financial fears.

James Harden of the Houston Rockets shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. afp

A13sports@thestandard.com.ph

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sports

Nadal too hotas Murray melts

Ko, Park fight for top spot in season ender

Tiger, Stricker, Furyknamed Ryder deputies

Spain’s Rafael Nadal serves to Britain’s Andy Murray during a men’s singles group stage match on day four of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London. afp

UNITED KINGDOM—Rafael Nadal showed he was getting back to his best as he crushed Andy Murray at the World Tour Finals on Wednesday with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory.

The Spanish fifth seed was in dominant form as the British world number two’s game col-lapsed in front of a home crowd at the 17,800-capacity O2 Arena in London.

The resurgent Nadal is now through to the semi-finals of the the season-ending tour-nament, disputed on a hard court between the year’s top eight players.

In Friday’s final round-rob-in matches in their four-man group, Murray will face Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka, with the winner joining Nadal in the last four.

The Spaniard’s spot in the semis was confirmed after sev-enth-seeded compatriot David Ferrer’s hopes of making it out of the group evaporated with a straight sets defeat to Wawrinka

— 7-5, 6-2.The first set of the match be-

tween Nadal and Murray was a high-level contest featuring impressive rallies and smart drop shots, but in the second, Murray’s game fell away as Nadal turned up the power.

Nadal, beset by problems during the worst year of his career, at one stage slumped to 10th in the world -- his lowest position since 2005.

But the 14-time Grand Slam champion showed how dan-gerous he could be in 2016 if he continues his resurgence.

“This is an important vic-tory,” the clay court-lover said.

“I have a big day against a great player on a tough sur-face.

“The positive results, the good feelings on court in terms

ST. SIMONS ISLAND—Tiger Woods, a 14-time major winner and seven-time member of the US Ryder Cup team, will be among Ameri-ca’s 2016 vice-captains, US captain Davis Love said Wednesday.

On the eve of the US PGA’s RSM Classic hosted by Love, he an-nounced that Woods, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk would join Tom Lehman as vice-captains on the US squad that tries to reclaim the tro-phy from holders Europe.

Next year’s Ryder Cup will be played September 30-October 2 at Hazeltine in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Americans lead the all-time rivalry 25-13 with two drawn but the Europeans have won three in a row, six of the past seven and eight of the past 10.

Woods, who turns 40 next month, is coming off two back opera-tions and has not announced a time-table for his return to competi-tion, but he also said he has not ruled out making the team as a player, a difficult feat given his injuries and struggles of late.

“I would like to thank Davis (Love) for his confidence in me and for my selection as a Ryder Cup vice-aptain. This is something I want to do,” Woods said.

“I’ll continue to do whatever I can to help win the Cup back. Once I’m fully healthy, I would like to try to make the team too.”

If Woods plays his way onto the team or receives a captain’s pick, Love would have the option to name a replacement as vice-captain.

Stricker and Furyk joined Love as three of the assistants to Jay Haas on the triumphant US Presidents Cup team in South Korea last month.

“To welcome four vice-captains of this caliber is a giant first step towards preparing the 2016 team for success,” Love said. “I am grateful for their commitment, dedication and passion to win.”

Furyk, 45, won the 2003 US Open and has played in the past nine Ryder Cups, second to Phil Mickelson’s 10 appearances in US Ryder Cup history.

UNITED STATES—New Zea-land teen star Lydia Ko and South Korea’s seven-time major win-ner Park In-Bee will fight for the LPGA’s top prizes this week at the season-ending Tour Champion-ship.

While 18-year-old Ko, who won her first major title at this year’s Evian Championship among her five tour triumphs this season, has the edge on Park in the chase for world number one, LPGA Player of the Year, the sea-son money crown and the season points title.

Park, 30, won the Women’s Brit-ish Open and her third consecu-tive Women’s PGA Championship among her five LPGA titles this season and leads in the Vare Tro-phy scoring average contest.

But the margins are slim enough to take the drama for each of those honors into the year’s final round.

“I’m going to just try and con-centrate on my game and I think that’s what Inbee is going to do,” Ko said. “I’ve just got to concen-trate on my game.

“I know there are obviously a

lot of things on the line at the end of Sunday, but if I end up think-ing about all the things like Player of the Year or Vare Trophy or the race or the tournament, I think it’s way too much because when we’re out there we’re just trying to hit good shots, trying to make a lot of good putts and give our-selves good looks for birdies.”

Ko won last year’s $1 million (939,000 euros) bonus for the sea-son points title and captured the Tour Championship for another $500,000 for the richest payday in women’s golf history. afp

Phelps, fianceeexpect a baby boyUNITED STATES—US swim star Michael Phelps, who has won a record 18 Olympic gold medals, an-nounced Wednesday on social media that he and his fiancee are expecting a baby boy.

On Twitter and Instagram, Phelps sent out a photo with he and the mother-to-be, former Miss Califor-nia beauty queen Nicole Johnson, holding a tiny pair of boy’s swim shorts.

“We found out 8weeks ago we were expecting... Today we’re over 12 weeks and it looks like we’re having a boy,” Phelps said in his message accompa-nying the photo.

The news comes after Phelps swam competitively for the first time in three months, winning the men’s 200m individual medley at the US Pro Swim Series meet in Minneapolis as he works toward the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next August—or about three months after the birth.

Phelps, whose record 22 overall Olympic medals include a historic one-Games haul of eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and four golds with two silvers at the 2012 London Olympics, also competed at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics.

His bid for a fifth berth in the Olympics was al-most scuttled by a drink driving arrest last year that kept him off the US team at the World Champion-ships this year in Russia.

of enjoying myself, in terms of image, is much better.

“But it is just the beginning. I need to keep working so hard to try to keep going the same way.

“Today I feel free. I feel I’m enjoying it on court.”

- Mid-match haircut -“He’s clearly playing better

tennis now than a few months ago,” Murray said of Nadal.

“He’s come back from tight situations which is signs he is getting back to where he wants to be.

“Beginning of next year, he’ll be playing at a very, very high level again.”

After an early exchange of breaks, Murray produced a pair of scissors from his bag and snipped off part of his fringe.

“I had some hair in my eye, and I just wanted to get rid of it,” he said. afp

The Scot held off break points at 2-3 and 3-4 down but even-tually cracked when serving to stay in the set, swiping at fresh air as Nadal broke to love. afp

Park In-Bee of South Korea tees off on the ninth hole during the second round of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship golf event at the Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, west of Seoul. afp

A14F R I DAY : N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

Savchenko stays unbeatenGRANDMASTER Boris Savchenko of Rus-sia out-steadied Filipino GM Darwin Laylo to stay on top with five points in as many rounds in the 2014 Philippine Sports Commission-Puregold International Chess Challenge at the Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Subic Bay Metro-politan Authority in Olongapo City.

Standings after five rounds (Open Division)—Savchen-ko (RUS) 5.0, Sivuk (UKR) 4.0, Laylo (PHI), Dimakiling (PHI), Torre (PHI), Demchen-ko (RUS), Mozharov (RUS), Lu (CHN), Deepan (IND) 3.5, Pi-mentel (PHI), Senador (PHI), Kotanjian (ARM), Smirnov (RUS), Aravindh (IND), Bel-ous (RUS), Lin (CHN), Si-nuduth Lyna (IND), Nguyen (VIE), Severino (PHI) 3.0, Rohan (IND), Puranik (IND), Bersamina (PHI), Sean (INA), Zubov (UKR), Nolte (PHI),

Antonio (PHI), Shomoev (RUS) 2.5, Bitoon, Pascua (PHI), Garcia (PHI), Docena (PHI), Gupta (IND), Segarra (PHI), Liu (SIN), Turqueza 2.0.

The eighth-seed Savchen-ko, however, needed 86 moves to finally eke out the win in a Gruenfeld Defense match that lasted late into the night Wednesday, even as GM Vitaly Sivuk, who topped the recent Philippine International Chess Cham-pionship also held here,

BowlingWorldCup bidsof PH betshit wallLAS VEGAS, Nevada —The Philippines’ bid to regain glory in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup interna-tional finals ended in frustration yesterday when national titlists Biboy Rivera and Liza del Rosario failed to make it to the men’s and women’s final eight spots at Sam’s Town here.

Former World FIQ winner Rivera gave his best in eight round-robin matches but managed to finish only 10th with 6783 pins af-ter 32 games.

Del Rosario, consid-ered one of Asia’s top lady pintopplers, also went out of contention in the world’s most prestig-ious individual kegfest, winding up in 14th spot with 6384 pins after 32 games.

The Philippines has so far captured seven World Cup crowns – four by legendary Paeng Nepomuceno and one each by Lita dela Rosa, Bong Coo and C.J. Su-arez. Nepomuceno’s feat is still unmatched by any World Cup campaigner, both in the men’s and women’s divisions.

South Africa’s Fran-cois Louw and Co-lombia’s Ciara Guer-rero topped the list of the eight men and eight women survivors.

Louw tallied 7130 to finish ahead of Hong Kong’s Siu Hong Wu, who carded 6991; Ire-land’s Paul Stott Jr. (6903), Russia’s Alexei Parshu-kov (6847), Malaysia’s Muhammad Rafiq Is-mail (6834), Singapore’s Muhammad Jaris Goh (6813), Indonesia’s Ryan Leonard Lalisang (6809) and Japan’s Tomoyuki Sa-saki (6808).

Guerrero rolled 6901 to pace Mexico’s Sandra Gongoro, who chalked up 6874, in the tightly-fourth women’s group.

The United States’ Shannon Pluhowsky came in third at 6869, followed by Russia’s Maria Bulanova (6854), Sweden’s Isabelle Hultin (6715), Sinapore’s Ger-aldine Ng Su Yi (6681), Malaysia’s Siti Safiyah Amirah (6673) and Fin-land’s Sanna Pasanen (6646).

bounced back into conten-tion by beating another Fili-pino campaigner, IM Joel Pi-mentel, after 59 moves of an English Opening.

Sivuk’s win gave him 4.0 points, a full point behind Savchenko at solo second.

Laylo, formerly of San Se-bastian College, dropped to 3.5 points in the company of six other players, includ-ing fellow Filipinos GM Eu-gene Torre and IM Oliver Dimakiling, Russian GMs Anton Demchenko and Mikhail Mozharov, Chi-nese GM Shanglei Lu and GM Chakkravarthy Deep-an of India.

Torre, the most senior Fili-pino campaigner here, split the point with Demchenko after 30 pushes of a Trom-povsky Attack, while Di-makiling held Mozharov into

a standoff after 51 moves of a Pirc/Philidor Defense.

Lu and Deepan also agreed to a draw after only 17 moves of a Queen’s Gam-bit Accepted.

In Round 6 still being played as of press time, Savchenko stakes his grip on the solo lead against compa-triot Mozharov in Board 1, while Lu plays Sivuk in Board 2, even as Laylo and Deepan slug it out in Board 3.

With three points each halfway into the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Phil-ippines and supported by the PSC, Philippine Olym-pic Committee, Asia United Bank, Puregold, Burlington Socks and Marc Ventures Mining and Development Corp., are Pimentel, IM Em-manuel Senador, GM Tigran

Kotanjian of Armenia, GM Pavel Smirnov of Russia, GM Chihambaram Vr. Aravindh of India, GM Vladimir Bel-ous of Russia, IM Chen Lin of China, IM Narayanan Si-nulduth Lyna of India, GM Duch Hoa Nguyen of Viet-nam and Filipino Fide Mas-ter Sander Severino.

In the Challenger Division, top seed Franz Robert Grafil, Sherwin Tiu, Rolly Parondo and Erickson Marimla beat their respective opponents to stay unscathed and share the lead wih four points in as many rounds.

Grafil, who boasts of an Elo rating of 2199, downed James Infiesto; Tiu topped Patrick Erle Florendo; Parondo defeated Lennon Hart Salgados; while Ma-rimla turned back Judith Pineda.

Malaysian sets RW Masters pace with a 66CARMONA, Cavite—Malaysian Nicholas Fung sizzled in the privacy of an early morning start and brandished a hot putter all day, firing a six-under 66 and snaring a one stroke lead over Thai Poom Saksansin and Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei at the start of the $1 million Resorts World Manila Masters at the par-72 Manila Southwoods’ Mas-ters course here yesterday.

Enjoying top form coming off a runner-up finish in last week’s World Classic Championship won by Thai Danthai Boonma in Singapore, Fung took advantage of benign condition in one of the early flights and rattled off seven birdies to negate a lone bo-gey mishap and complete a pair of 33s spiked by five scrambling pars.

“My game is feeling good. I left a couple of shots out there but it’s okay. I am feeling very confident,” said the 25-year-old Fung, who used his put-ter just 23 times.

But a slew of others stood just a stroke, two or three behind, ensuring a wild scramble in the next three days where condition is expected to get tougher especially if the wind come into play in the weekend chase for the top $180,000 purse in the country’s richest tournament hosted by Manila Southwoods.

Teeing off the backside of the hazard-laden layout, Saksansin, 22, gunned down six birdies against a bogey on No. 7 as he matched Hung’s five-under 67 that featured eight birdies, including five in a seven-hole stretch from No. 10, against three bogeys.

With majority of the country’s aces drawing late tee-times, Orlan Sum-cad took the cudgels for the local bets with a four-under 68 for joint fourth with Aussie Sam Brazel, Taiwan’s Lee Chieh-po, Thai Rattanon Wannas-richan, Korean Giwhan Kim, Spain’s Carlos Pigem and Japanese Akinori

Tani while Rufino Bayron, a former Asian Development Tour winner, rammed in five birdies against two bogeys to lead the 69 scorers.

Sumcad battled strong winds in mid-morning with crisp but low booming drives, hitting all but three fairways then making just 24 putts on the Masters’ sleek putting surface.

“I think putting is the key to play well here. Other players are probably driv-ing the ball as good but one really needs to have a sharp short game to be up there on the leaderboard,” said Sumcad.

Other three under par scorers are South Africa’s Bryce Easton, Thai Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Aussie Scott Barr, Scot Simon Yates, American Chan Kim and Korean Giwhan Kim.

Miguel Tabuena, the reigning lo-cal circuit’s Order of Merit champion, missed joining the 69 group with a bogey on No. 17, dropping to a big 70 group that includes Tony Lascuna,

Ireland’s Niall Kearney, Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera, India’s SSP Chaw-rasia, England’s Steve Lewton, Paul Peterson of the US, Thais Chapchai Nirat and Chinnarat Phadungsil, Ko-rean Charlie Wi, Aussie Terry Pilka-daris and Filipino Jhonnel Ababa.

“I really hit it solid off the tee but my putting was off,” rued Tabuena, who recovered from food poisoning just in time for the event.

Lascuña, the former three-time lo-cal circuit’s top player, nearly blew a solid 33 at the back with a shaky 37 windup, while Angelo Que rebound-ed from a bogey and double mishaps on Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, with six birdies against two more bogeys for a 71 while flightmate and defending champion Mardan Mamat fared even worse with four bogeys and a double bogey against a birdie after 10 holes, needing to birdie three of the last sev-en holes to save a 74.

Miguel Tabuena, the reigning local circuit’s Order of Merit champion shown, missed joining the 69 group with a bogey on No. 17 and dropping to a big 70 group at the start of the $1-million Resorts World Manila Masters. Inset shows Malaysian Nicholas Fung, who fired a six-under 66 for a one-stroke lead over Thai Poom Saksansin and Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei

A15F R I DAY : N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTSsports@thestandard.com.ph

Ranking system identifi es budding badminton stars

Teng wants better endingfor La Salle five next seasonBy Peter Atencio

A BETTER performance and ending next season.

This is what team skipper and star cager Jeron Teng wants when he returns to action on his final year with the La Salle Green Archers in season 79 of the University Athletic Asso-ciation of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

“It’s a painful loss for us. It would have been our ticket to the playoffs. Next year, I will be back. But I don’t want my last game to end like this,” said Teng after the Far East-ern University Tamaraws escaped with a 71-68 beating of his La Salle Green Archers on Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Teng said he hopes that they will have a better season and make it back to the Final Four.

With their loss to the Tams, the Archers fell out of conten-tion in the Final Four for the first time in four seasons.

And graduating players like Teng, Thomas Torres, Julian Sargent and Jason Per-kins want to leave the colle-giate ranks in a blaze of glory.

“I’m sure they don’t want to graduate to this kind of end-ing,” said coach Juno Sauler.

The Green Archers led by 11 early in the fourth quarter of their game against the Tamaraws.

But things changed when Roger Pogoy came in.

Pogoy tallied 11 points,

scoring three triples when he came off the bench in the last 4:30 and helping FEU turn the tables on the Green Archers.

Behind by 10 points in the third, the Tams cut down La Salle’s lead by five in the fourth off Fil-Norwegian cag-er Steve Holmqvist’s driving layup, 52-57.

The 6’2” Pogoy, who came in after Prince Orizu left on a sprained ankle, then sank all of his 11-point tally in the last 2:02. It came during a 13-4 run which handed FEU the upperhand, 65-61.

After that, Sauler said it was the little things that changed the complexity of the game in its final moments.

La Salle managed to stay close off Teng’s basket, 65-67, with 1:22 to go.

They had a chance to tie the count when Holmqvist bungled two charities in the remaining 14.7 seconds.

But the ball stayed in FEU’s possession when Thomas Torres committed an out-of-bounds violation, and Monbert Arong converted two charities off Teng’s foul in the final 12.8 seconds for a 69-66 count.

Holmqvist later made up for his miscue when he as-sisted Joe Allen Trinidad for a quick drive at endgame.

FOR the last two years, the Phil-ippine Badminton Association Smash Pilipinas has effectively im-plemented the Philippine National Ranking System in various sanc-tioned tournaments as the basis for identifying new talents for the national team.

PBA-Smash Pilipinas Secretary General Negros Occidental Rep-resentative Albee Benitez said the PNRS has already discovered a lot of young talented players from all over the country who are now in

the national training pool.“We have identified a lot of new

talents during the last two years and we will continue with this process,” said Benitez. “I’m very happy that the PNRS has become an effective and useful tool for the association. We also see how the players improve over time.”

Bingo Bonanza, FDG Cup, Smart Open, Prima Pasta Open, Suncellular National Juniors, last year’s Toby’s Badminton tourna-ment and the Philippine National

Games, are the local tournaments sanctioned by the PBA.

“We are thankful to all the or-ganizers for holding these very competitive badminton tourna-ments,” added Benitez. “They are giving opportunities to many young players. At the same time, they also increase the level of com-petitiveness of the sport.”

National doubles’ players Philip Joper Escueta and Ronel Estan-islao, Peter Magnaye and Paul Vivas, singles’ players Michael Cu-

diamat, Jason Oba-ob, RJ Ormilla, Sarah Barredo, Pauline Tan and Aira Mae Nicole Albo, among others, are the present players ranked by the PNRS, who are in the national team.

PBA Smash Pilipinas team manager Atty. Jackie Cruz said the association also recognizes badminton sports apparel and equipment supplier Victor for helping the PBA Smash Pilipi-nas this year, particularly in its grassroots program.

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Beckham named People magazine’s ‘sexiest man alive’UNITED STATES—David Beckham was declared “sexiest man alive” by People maga-zine Tuesday, joining an elite club includ-ing last year’s winner, Chris Hemsworth, and a handful of other above-average men.

The announcement was made on ABC’s late-night TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where the magazine cover sporting Beckham’s face was re-vealed.

“It’s the best moment of my career, I can’t believe

it,” Beckham joked to the crowd, speaking remotely by video.

“I would obviously like to thank my parents for bringing me into this world. I would like to thank my hairdresser, my stylist, Photoshop,” he said.

The 40-year-old retired football legend’s iden-tity was only revealed after host Jimmy Kimmel made his audience guess this year’s winner.

“Has Taylor Swift ever made a song about you?” one person demanded.

“Have you ever had a man bun?” another asked.

By the time Beckham’s identity was divined, the audience knew he was a married athlete with children, had an accent and two tattoos, had never been to jail, and yes, formerly sported a man bun.

Beckham was given a small facial mirror as his reward.

“I never feel that I’m an attractive, sexy person,” Beckham told People magazine.

“I mean I like to wear nice clothes and nice suits and look and feel good, but I don’t ever think of myself that way.”

Beckham, who is mar-ried to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, fol-lows on the heels of last year’s winner, Australian actor and “Thor” avenger Hemsworth.

The award, which is in its 30th year, has pre-viously gone to Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Mel Gib-son, among others. AFP

Iglupas,Miyamotoheaded for duelWEEK 1 champion Khim Iglupas and Week 2 winner Ayumi Miyamoto stayed on course for an explosive semi-final clash as they trampled their respective rivals to roll into the quarterfinal round of the PSC-Phinma Interna-tional Juniors Tennis Cham-pionships Week 1 at the Ma-nila Polo Club in Makati City yesterday.

The third seeded Iglupas, who dominated the first of two legs of this annual Grade 4 ITF tournament sponsored by Phinma Group of Com-panies and the Philippine Sports Commission last year, rode on the crest of her 6-2, 6-0 romp over Korean Hy-eran Yun Wednesday, easing out Japan’s Nagomi Higashi-tani, 6-3, 6-1.

The 17-year-old Filipina ace will next face another Japanese Anri Nagata, who bundled out Taipei’s Ting Chieh Wei, 6-0, 6-3, in the Last 8 phase of the week-long tournament backed by Mari-posa Foundation, Palm Rock Residencs and Dunlop Sport, also the tournament’s dis-tributor of official balls,

The top-ranked Miyamo-to, who foiled Iglupas in the semis then went on to win the Week 2 crown last year, also dominated Korean Han Byeol Lee, 6-2, 6-3, to set a quarters clash with the win-ner in the Yingyi Yang-Joleta Budiman match being played at presstime.

Jeron Teng [right] of La Salle is forced to pass after being hounded by a pesky FEU defender. BROSI GONZALES

David Beckham was declared “sexiest man alive” by People magazine, joining an elite club including last year’s winner, Chris Hemsworth, and a handful of other above-average men. AFP

F R I DAY : N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

A16RIERA U. MALL ARI

E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

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

By Jeric Lopez

THREE of the hottest teams in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup plunge back into action with a tie for � rst place at stake.

TURN TO A12

Rocketswin aftersackingcoach

Batang Pier, Texters,Aces eye share of lead

Currently the league’s hottest team with a three-game winning streak, much-improved GlobalPort (3-1) and steady Alaska (3-1) go at it with a piece of the tournament lead on the line in their 4:15 p.m. clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

Then, Talk ‘N Text (3-1), an-other team gaining steam with a two-game winning run, aims on achieving the same result when it figures in a sibling rivalry with slipping NLEX (2-2) at 7 p.m.

At the moment, the Batang Pier, the Aces, the Tropang Tex-ters and Rain or Shine are in a

four-way tie for sec-ond place, behind league-leading San Miguel Beer (4-1).

Since GlobalPort and Alaska will bat-

tle and Talk ‘N Text has a game of its own, two of those three teams will tie the Beermen at the top by the end of the night.

Following its opening-game loss, the Batang Pier, who many consider as a stronger team this

SPORTS

season, suddenly racked up three wins in a row to move up the lad-der and show everyone that it is definitely a force to reckon with.

In its last game, GlobalPort played the role of giant-killer when it downed erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine, 113-111, courtesy of the heroics of rising star Stanley Pringle as he drained the last-sec-ond, game-winning lay-up to lift the Batang Pier.

Due to their impressive start and drastic improvement, GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio admitted that the team’s confidence is at an all-time high and this might play a big part in the Batang Pier’s quest against the veteran and talented Aces.

“That win over Rain or Shine was a good boost to the team. Mataas ang morale ng buong team,’’ said Jarencio. “Our desire to win is there

and maraming nagko-contribute. We’re playing hard para maganda ang puwesto sa standings.’’

The deadly and prolific backcourt tandem of Pringle and Terrence Ro-meo continued to thrive as they are leading GlobalPort’s rise. The two spitfires combined for 52 points, 27 for Pringle and 25 for Romeo, against the Elasto Painters.

As for the erstwhile leader Aces, they lost their last game against Ginebra, 92-93, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates more than a week ago after a rousing 3-0 jumpstart.

Alaska now attempts to get back to its winning ways as it braces ahead for an acid test against GlobalPort.

Another streaking team is Talk ‘N Text. The Tropang Texters have now won two straight after a 1-1 start.

Fotonmakesfinals

By Peter Atencio

LINDSAY Stalzer and Dindin Santiago-Manabat came up with big plays in the fifth and deciding set to lead the Foton Tornadoes past the Philips Gold Lady Slammers, 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 15-8, last night in their knockout semifi-nals at the Arena in San Juan.

Their huge effort put the Tornadoes in the finals of the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women Volleyball Tournament.

Santiago-Manabat scored on two hits at the net, and so did Stalzer as the Tornadoes got back control of the game with their 6-1 advantage.

They never looked in trouble afterwards as the Tornadoes stepped up with their attack, with Stalzer scoring on three more kills at the net, giving them a 9-4 lead.

“We were just focused. We wanted this game so bad. We were never doubtful that we weren’t going to win,” said Stalz-er, a Bradley University standout back in college in the United States as she finished with 29 points, with 26 scored on hits, while three came from blocks.

The Tornadoes took the first two sets when the Lady Slam-mers picked up the pace and won the next two sets.

“There was a relaxing part in in the third and fourth set. Good thing we had a fresh start in the fifth set. It worked,” said coach Vilet Ponce de Leon.

TURN TO A15

Beckham is ‘sexiest man alive’

Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. - GlobalPort vs. Alaska7 p.m. - NLEX vs. Talk ‘N Text

The Foton Tornadoes celebrate after scoring a point against the Philips Gold Lady Slammers in the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women’s Volleyball Tournament. They ended up winning the battle, 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 15-8, to barge into the fi nals. ROMAN PROSPERO

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZASSISTANT EDITOR B1

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

RAY S. EÑANOEDITOR

BSP ready to adjustvs Fed rate increase

BUSINESSTelstraseen not a threat toPH telcos

Agri partnership. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala (right) and Grow Asia director for country partnerships Jenny Costelloe discuss future collaborations of the Agriculture Department and Grow Asia during the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture General Meeting in Quezon City. Agricultural stakeholders during the event were divided into groups to discuss challenges and propose solutions within the different industries of the agriculture sector, including corn, coconut, coffee, cassava and fisheries.

By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday the possibility of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in December will generate more financial market volatility and may force policy makers to review economic targets.

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE entry of Telstra Corp. through a joint venture with San Miguel Corp. is unlikely to shake up the telecom landscape in the Philippines, which is dominated by Philippine Long Distance Tele-phone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc., according to debt watcher Fitch Ratings.

The credit rating agency said the potential entry of Telstra in the country would have “limited” impact on competition in the tele-com market over the next two years.

Fitch cited infrastructure shar-ing as one of the challenges that Telstra and San Miguel would be facing, because sharing of net-works was not mandatory in the Philippines.

This means Telstra and San Miguel would spend billions of pesos to roll out their own mobile and broadband networks, it said.

The planned joint venture be-tween San Miguel and Telstra would see the local conglomer-ate holding a majority stake, in compliance with the 1987 Con-stitution, which limits the foreign ownership of utilities to a maxi-mum of 40 percent.

Telstra plans to invest less than $1 billion in the Philippines to roll out the telecom network.

“Initial rollout by the new en-trant is likely to focus on mobile broadband services in the first two years, with a likely expansion into mobile telephony once the network build-out is completed,” Fitch said.

It said the joint venture would experience large cash burn, given the significant capital outlay and price competition to build a sub-scriber base.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Gover-nor Diwa Guinigundo said mon-etary authorities were monitoring developments overseas because of their impact on the domestic financial markets.

He said the imminent interest rate hike by the US Fed would be a major factor to consider in the review of the country’s economic targets this year.

“We have to consider the forth-coming US Fed lift-off which could generate some financial market volatility. Vigilance is critical,” Guinigundo said in a text message.

The US Fed, in its meeting in September, kept interest rates un-changed but hinted of a possible rate hike before the end of the year.

Guinigundo said earlier the

Fed’s September statement would create further uncertainties in the global financial markets that could affect local financial markets.

The Philippine peso depreci-ated by 5 percent since the start of the year while stocks dropped 5.6 percent in the same period, be-cause of the market volatility.

Guinigundo said Bangko Sen-tral was “still reviewing our exter-nal payments position.”

The Bangko Sentral reviews its economic projections twice a year—in May and October. It tar-gets $81.6 billion in gross inter-national reserves, a surplus of $2 billion for balance of payments, $6-billion net inflow of foreign di-rect investments, $1.4-billion net inflow of foreign portfolio invest-ments and a 5-percent growth in

remittances this year.Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral

Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the bank was studying the possibility of increasing its hold-ings of Chinese currency in for-eign exchange reserves amid the growing use of yuan in the global financial transactions.

“That is clearly an option for the BSP in its efforts to diversify the foreign currency composition of its reserves and to enhance its yields on foreign exchange assets,” Tetangco said at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Coop-eration Summit in Manila.

“We will of course have to un-derstand how the domestic mar-ket works in China so that we’d be in a better position to make deci-sion,” Tetangco said.

business@thestandard.com.phextrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESSFRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

B2

PSALMcuts debtto P574b

PLDT invested P6bto migrate network

Technology infrastructure key to growth of SMEs, says Poe

Farm-to-market road. A coconut farmer in San Juan, Sogod, Southern Leyte hauls his harvest for delivery to a local copra processing center. The Agriculture Department’s Philippine Rural Development Project supports coconut farmers and other agricultural producers in this part of Eastern Visayas with the concreting and rehabilitation of the 4.23-kilometer farm-to-market road connecting four barangays. The P30.38-million PRDP sub-project will serve about 650 hectares of coconut plantations and more than 400 hectares of land planted to abaca, rice and high-value crops.

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. said it invested P6 billion to migrate its legacy network into a purely Internet Protocol-based next generation network that will enhance the delivery of various services to customers.

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE government should develop the technology infrastructure to support the growth of small and medium enterprises and start-ups in the country, according to Sena-tor Grace Poe.

“Technology infrastructure is the critical element in unlocking the potential of SMEs and start-ups for economic growth. This is where the government should focus its ef-forts,” Poe said in a statement.

“At the Apec [Asia Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation] SME Sum-mit which the country is hosting, Manila was identified as one of three cities in the world projected to be a center of global innova-tion along with Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. But the sad reality is that our growth will continue to be

limited by the slow pace of ex-pansion of technology infrastruc-ture,” Poe said.

She said technology infrastruc-ture is a combination of many ele-ments such as software, hardware and networks. “We need these elements in one platform. With-out one or two of these, the in-frastructure will be deficient,” the senator said.

Poe said the country was con-sidered a hotbed of innovation, with the success of a number of start-ups like Salt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting), founded by Aisa Mijeno who was thrust in the limelight at the Apec CEO Summit when she shared the stage with US President Barack Obama and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

“Ms. Mijeno is living proof that the Philippines is a goldmine of innovation. She and many other Filipinos have proven that there is no shortage of talent in the country. But we need to give Ms. Mijeno and other Filipino inno-vators the much-needed support,” Poe said.

Poe said foreign investors were blocked in doing business in the country by the weak infrastruc-ture.

“It is the same in the technology sector which impacts the growth of SMEs and start-ups. Until we can put in place the infrastructure and guarantee consistent, and cheap communications network that can interconnect businesses, industries, investors and even universities and research orga-nizations, we will never be able

to achieve our full potential as a competitive SME and technology player not only in the region but in the world,” Poe said.

Apec data showed that SMEs accounted for over 97 percent of all enterprises in Asia-Pacific economies and over half of the employment in these countries.

SMEs also account for a sizable share of the gross domestic prod-uct of Apec economies, from 20 to 50 percent in majority of these countries.

SMEs comprise 99.6 percent of all registered business and employ 70 percent of the workforce in the Philippines.

Poe said issues hampering the growth and sustainability of SMEs and start-ups should be addressed according to a realistic and doable roadmap. She said constraints

such as access to funds, reliabil-ity and affordability of commu-nications and data networks, and provision of funds and technical information for SME research and development were among the issues that should be addressed immediately.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III said in his speech at the Apec CEO Summit in Makati that micro, small and medium en-terprises were drivers of inclusive growth in the country.

“We want Filipino MSMEs to be able to participate more in that trade: we want to help them make the most of the vast market that regional economic integration provides,” Aquino said.

“In fact, we want to achieve the same for all SMEs across Apec member-economies,” he said.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

POWER Sector Assets and Li-abilities Management Corp., the agency in charge of selling the government’s energy assets, said it trimmed its financial obliga-tions to P574.9 billion as of end-March from a peak of P1.241 trillion in 2003.

PSALM, which manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp., said in a report it reduced the liabilities by contin implementing a liability man-agement program and strategies.

“This reduction amounting P665.68 billion is attributable to the lower BoT [build-oper-ate-transfer] lease obligations and debt balances which were brought about by the privatiza-tion of some IPP [independent power producer] plants and payments of maturing obliga-tions,” the agency said.

The government transferred Napocor’s assets and debts of PSALM in 2008.

The total asset balance trans-ferred to PSALM amounted to P831 billion as of Dec. 31, 2008, while total liability balance was P904.8 billion.

PSALM said privatization ef-forts generated $19.878 billion as of the first quarter this year.

The agency said of the amount, actual collection amounted to $9.577 billion, while the balance of $10.30 billion remained to be collected.

The agency has yet to collect bulk of the privatization pro-ceeds from the independent power producer administra-tor privatization amounting to $7.744 billion.

The remaining $2.557 billion is to be collected from the trans-mission business privatization.

PSALM said that as of first quarter, the entire proceeds from the privatization of the power generating assets amounting to $3.534 billion had been collected.

Proceeds from the sale of the decommissioned plant were also collected.

The network transformation program, covering the PLDT Group’s 271 offices in 48 provinc-es nationwide, involved the mi-gration of 782 switches and nearly 1.3 million lines.

“This is an achievement for PLDT because it is one of the very few carriers in the world that has completely transformed its legacy network,” PLDT president and chief executive Napoleon Naza-

reno said.The legacy network is a public

switched telephone network com-posed of electronic switches that have now been decommissioned to give way to the digitally en-abled NGN.

“With an IP-based system, we can improve customer experi-ence in terms of better service quality and reliability. It also enhances our capacity to offer

more relevant and customized services to our subscribers,” Nazareno said.

“With the ceremonial shutdown of our legacy landline network, we are now going full throttle in making our various networks fully digital. We are rolling out our fiber network and strength-ening our mobile network. We are building the digital infrastructure that will power the future growth of our companies and our coun-try,” he said.

PLDT has the most expansive and resilient fiber transmission and distribution network, span-ning over 100,000 kilometers, that serves both fixed and cellular networks.

PLDT fixed network migration head Angelito Lorena Jr. said the

NGN system would significantly improve customer experience as it ensures a more reliable and ro-bust service.

“It is an all IP-based network and is therefore capable of deliv-ering new digital services, such as high-quality voice, data and mul-timedia services to customers,” Lorena said.

“We have always considered our customers during the migra-tion process, constantly commu-nicating with them and making sure that PLDT’s services are not disrupted during the cut-over from the electronic legacy switch to NGN,” he said.

Lorena said because of the net-work migration, PLDT reduced trouble indices from around 10 percent to as low as 0.49 percent.

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BUSINESSFRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

B3

12 TPP leaders vowto ratify trade deal

US agri giant Cargill grows presence in Vietnam

Albay prohibits plastics, firecrackers

WHILE many who had to frantically reschedule their long-set plans due to last-minute announcements and poor coordination by Malacañang bright boys and mouthpieces who think Filipi-nos should be grateful that the powers-that-be occupying the Palace said “sorry” for the inconvenience, life goes on for busi-nesses and industries elsewhere.

Vietnam, which a little over a decade ago was lagging behind the Philippines, is attracting a lot of investors for various sectors, among them the electronics industry with news that it attracted $10 billon in foreign direct investment inflows from such giants as Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Foxconn. Double digits—impressive, don’t you think so?

According to reports, Vietnam showed the fastest growth rate last year in terms of export revenues and foreign market share compared to other Asean countries—yes, the Philippines included—making it the 3rd biggest electronics exporter in the reguin and the 12th in the world.

Many find Vietnam a good place to do business in because of its tax incentives and the fact that its government is quick to see and take advantage of opportunities, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership boat which unfortunately, the Philippines missed out on.

And now, here comes US agri giant Cargill that has announced expansion plans via a new $30-million animal feed mill in Binh Duong province and a $10-million agreement with Saigon In-ternational Terminals Vietnam for dedicated grain and oilseeds warehousing facilities in Phu My. That’s a total $40 million, bringing Cargill’s investment to $180 million.

The company is also incorporating CSR into the equation with its commitment to build 25 more schools across rural Viet-nam by 2020, after having fulfilled its initial goal of building 75 schools by 2015. The latest school located in Phu Xuyen district – the 75th school opened by Cargill in its 20 years in Vietnam – was inaugurated by Cargill chairman and chief executive David MacLennan a few days ago.

According to MacLennan, “Vietnam represents a very impor-tant market for us globally and presents clear growth opportuni-ties. This year, we celebrate 20 years in the country during which we have leveraged our access to global markets and 150-year in-dustry expertise to help contribute to the development of the ag-riculture sector here. These new investments and the extension of our school building program only reinforce our commitment to the Vietnamese market and its people.”

The employee-led volunteering program aims at providing better education to less privileged children in rural Vietnam. Cargill has raised more than $3.8 million for the program and has achieved its goal of building 75 schools by 2015. More than 13,000 children have benefitted from the program so far.

“Giving back to the communities we live and work in is in our company’s DNA. Every child deserves an education and what our Vietnam team has achieved with their school building ini-tiative is nothing short of remarkable. It makes me proud to be part of the Cargill family and I am sure my 155,000 colleagues worldwide will agree,” said MacLennan.

The $30-million new animal feed mill will have a total capac-ity of 260,000 metric tons per year and will become operational in the first half of 2017. It will incorporate the latest technolo-gies currently available in the industry. The feed mill will bring Cargill’s total number of animal nutrition production facilities in Vietnam to 12.

Cargill currently has 10 animal feed mills in Vietnam that pro-duce compound feed for both livestock and aquatic species, and one facility in Dong Nai which provides premix animal nutri-tion ingredients to feed manufacturers and vertically integrated producers. The company has made strong headway in the ani-mal nutrition business in Vietnam over the past 20 years and now stands as one of the most trusted leaders in that industry.

* * *For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related con-

cerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

US President Barack Obama (right) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Manila on November 19, 2015. AFP

LEGAZPI CITY—Albay once more turns ‘”green” the whole month of December this year with the celebration of Karanga-han Green Christmas Festival, which bans the use of plastics and firecrackers.

The festival is consistent with its environment protection and “zero casualty” campaign. Ka-rangahan comes from the ancient Bikol word “ranga,” which means solace with a high degree of re-spect, caring and blissful joy.

Now in its sixth year, the fes-tival features the iconic giant Christmas Tree, this time made of the ubiquitous Karagumoy plant, which is commonly used in weaving mats, hats and bas-kets. Karagumoy is a most essen-tial material of Albay’s handicraft industry.

Pili seedlings and camote tops were previous materials of the iconic giant tree, the most photo-graphed fixture of Albay’s Karan-gahan Green Christmas Festival on social media.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda recently issued a memorandum to heads of offices and personnel of the provincial government to ensure a “safe and joyful celebra-tion” of the holidays with friends, visitors and tourists, with empha-sis on close family ties and a safe environment.

Salceda said in a memorandum the Green Christmas initiative would again highlight the zero-casualty from firecrackers and the promotion of low-carbon modes of celebration.

Karangahan Green Christmas Festival supports Albay’s Climate

Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction campaign and is an important component of the province’s tourism program.

Salceda’s green Christmas memorandum strictly prohibits firecrackers and the use of plas-tic materials in food servings and decorations. It encourages the use of organic and indigenous materials and enjoins govern-ment employees to invite the less privileged and vulnerable to their Christmas parties.

Albay has been a recipient of three consecutive Galing Pook Awards for outstanding gover-nance program on disaster pre-paredness; and Gawad Kalasag Hall of Fame Award for best di-saster risk reduction and manage-ment council for three consecu-tive years.

By Othel V. Campos

LEADERS of 12 Asia-Pacific countries met in Manila Wednesday night to welcome the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which will create the world’s largest free trade bloc.

US President Barack Obama met with heads of Australia, Bru-nei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Ja-pan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zea-land, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam at the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation Leaders Sum-mit to push for the ratification of TPP by individual members.

Other Apec members, includ-ing the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Russia, are not yet members of TPP.

TPP is a landmark agreement that eliminates or reduces tariffs, lowers the cost of trade and sets new and high standards for global trade, while addressing next-generation issues. Each member country should ratify the agree-

ment in order to become binding.“We congratulate our ministers

and negotiating teams, after more than five years of negotiations, on delivering a result that achieves the goal set out in 2011 of a com-prehensive, balanced and trans-formational regional agreement–one that spans the Pacific, touches three continents and unites 800 million people,” the 12 TPP econ-omies said in a statement.

These countries believe that the regional trade group will set high-standard trade rules that will sup-port 21st-century commerce, pro-vide ambitious liberalization of trade and investment, strengthen and broaden the mutually-bene-ficial linkages between economies

and enhance regional and global competitiveness.

TPP also aims to support the creation of jobs and new opportu-nities for young people, promote economic growth and develop-ment, support innovation to al-leviate poverty and ensure the greatest benefits for all people.

The group said it was also pleased that the negotiated text of the TPP agreement is now avail-able in full for review and consid-eration before it is signed.

The 12 economies said they were looking forward to the ex-peditious consideration and ap-proval of the TPP, consistent with each of the country’s domestic processes.

Members of the TPP said they were eager to implement the agreement so that “our consum-ers, workers, farmers, and busi-nesses both large and small can begin to realize its shared ben-efits as swiftly as possible and the better future that the TPP repre-sents.”

B4FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

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BUSINESS

Smart clothes to evolve soon: Welcome to the future

Asianmarkets,currenciesadvance

Japan defers further easing

Brazilian designer and researcher Marcelo Coelho from the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Media Lab speaks during his presentation at ‘EmTech Brasil’ in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, on November 18, 2015. EmTech is a conference on emerging technologies which is for the first time organized in Brazil by the MIT Technology Review. AFP

TOKYO —Japan’s central bank on Thursday held fire on expanding its monetary easing program, even as the world’s third-largest economy slipped into its second recession in two years and monthly exports fell.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying since late 2012 to re-vitalize Japan’s economy through his signature “Abenomics” poli-cies, with aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan at its foundation.

Some analysts anticipate the BoJ will be forced to expand its massive 80-trillion yen ($665 billion) annual asset-buying scheme, launched more than two

years ago to kickstart growth and end deflation—the chronic decline in prices that has sapped growth for years.

But the BoJ opted to do nothing at the end of its two-day policy meeting, as it did last month—when expectations were even higher it would take action but before news of the latest recession.

“Japan’s economy has contin-ued to recover moderately, al-

though exports and production have been affected by the slow-down in emerging economies,” the bank said in a statement.

“Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspec-tive, although some indicators have recently shown relatively weak developments,” it said in the dry, carefully phrased lan-guage of global central banks.

Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ gov-ernor and architect of the mon-etary easing, will elaborate on the decision later Thursday at a press conference.

The BoJ last month was forced to cut its growth outlook and pushed back the timeline for

a key inflation target as ear-lier, more optimistic predictions failed to come true.

The government on Monday announced that Japan’s econom-ic growth slowed for a second straight quarter, marking the second time it has fallen into re-cession during Abe’s current ten-ure as premier.

And in figures released earlier Thursday, the finance ministry announced that Japan’s exports declined in October for the first time in more than a year, as eco-nomic growth in giant neighbor China slows.

Overseas shipments by value declined 2.1 percent, the first fall since August of last year, while

the value of exports by Japanese companies to China shrank 3.6 percent in October, the ministry said, as growth in the world’s sec-ond-largest economy slows.

“While the Bank of Japan liter-ally ignored the renewed fall in [the third quarter] GDP in today’s policy statement, we think that a likely moderation in underlying inflation will eventually force policymakers to introduce more stimulus,” Marcel Thieliant, Ja-pan economist at Capital Eco-nomics said in a statement.

The BoJ’s bond-buying scheme has led to a sharp decline in the yen, seen largely as a positive as it can make Japanese products cheaper overseas. AFP

CHINA—Asian stocks and emerging market currencies rallied Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve showed growing confidence in the US economy, ramping up the chanc-es of a December interest rate hike.

“Most participants” at the US central bank’s October policy expected conditions to be right by their next meeting, having broadly dropped their worries about the global economy and recent market turmoil, the min-utes said.

Fed chief Janet Yellen had said earlier in the year she expected an increase by 2016 but a hike was put off several times during the summer as world markets were hammered by worries about China and the global outlook.

But a string of figures out of Washington recently—particu-larly on jobs growth and price rises—coupled with an uptick on equities markets, has reignited confidence at the Fed to lift rates for the first time in nine years.

Also, a number of Fed poli-cymakers were concerned that, having built up expectations of a hike for so long, not moving would send a disturbing message and erode the bank’s credibility.

Delaying a rise “could increase uncertainty in financial markets and unduly magnify the per-ceived importance of the begin-ning of the policy normalization process,” the minutes said.

Worries about a hike have also been tempered by previous com-ments from the bank that any in-crease would be gradual.

“The pace of the rise is what’s much more important than the rate rise itself,” Angus Gluskie, a managing director at White Funds Management in Sydney, told Bloomberg News. AFP

By Sebastian Smith

BRAZIL—Wish there was a gad-get able to transform your boring office uniform into a party outfit, or even a device that guides you straight to new friends?

Then call Marcelo Coelho.A researcher with Fluid Inter-

faces at the Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology’s Media Lab, Coelho works at the cutting edge of wearable devices that may be smarter than the person wearing them.

One of the most promising areas is clothing that integrates computers and can practically think for itself.

“You can program your shirt for it to change color, or move to a different pattern,” he said. “Maybe you’re at work today and want your shirt one way, but you’ll be at a party tonight and

want it different.”Another creation is a dress

with a hemline that rises and falls—or another dress, decorat-ed with gently opening and clos-ing flowers.

Coelho, 35, was speaking at MIT’s 2015 EmTech confer-ence Wednesday in Rio de Ja-neiro, where for two days lead-ers in emerging technology give glimpses of the future.

The message is that science fic-tion-like developments are rap-idly under way in areas as diverse as drones and medicine.

But for Coelho, originally from Brazil, the joy is bringing the mysteries of the lab to everyday situations.

Building on that office-to-party scenario, Coelho unveiled a device that would help you find the people you might want to talk to, flirt with or avoid.

Shaped like a normal watch, the tiny computer is programmed with personal data—your Face-book information or something more customized—then commu-nicates with other devices in the room.

“You go to the event and it can match your wrist band to some-one else’s,” he explained. “If you have nothing in common with a stranger at the event, a red light will go on and if you do, a green light will go on.”

“You may wonder where all this craziness is going,” he said with a wry smile.

The answer to that, says anoth-er MIT scientist, Skylar Tibbits, is self-assembly.

No, not self-assembly as in struggling with instructions and wrenches over a bed you just bought in a box. Tibbits means self-assembly as in the thing—

the bed, or whatever it may be—assembling itself.

This is the idea of 4D printing, Tibbits’ specialty.

If 3D printers can produce three-dimensional objects at the touch of a button, 4D means they then go on to transform or orga-nize themselves in useful ways.

Unlike robots these materials are not computerized and do not need power like electricity. They react to ordinary forces like pres-sure or heat or water and change, but are engineered by the scien-tists so that they change shape in a pre-determined way.

For example, a wet shoe or tire can be made to grow better grip, reverting to normal when dry. Tibbits’ Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, is exploring whether the technology can later be applied to much bigger objects, even in con-struction. AFP

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E D I T O R

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France to extendemergency state

Belgian PM rejectscriticism on attacks

Pilot grounded for offering ‘young hostess’

Arrival. Syrian refugees walk up a hill after arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on November 19. AFP

Funeral. Iraqis attend a funeral near the city of Basra of nine members of the Popular Mobilization units supporting the Iraqi forces in the battle against the Islamic State group. AFP

PARIS—French police were on Thursday sifting through the wreckage from a huge raid targeting the suspected mastermind of the Paris at-tacks as lawmakers prepared to vote on extending a state of emergency.

Investigators have yet to confirm whether the body of Abdelhamid Abaaoud was among the rubble of an apartment block after a seven-hour siege in a northern district of Paris on Wednesday.

At least two were killed in the opera-tion—a woman thought to have blown herself up with a suicide vest and an-other body found riddled with bullets, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.

Eight people were arrested, but nei-ther Abaaoud, the Belgian suspected of

orchestrating the worst ever militant attack on French soil, nor Salah Ab-deslam, suspected of taking part with his suicide-bomber brother Brahim, were among those held.

French lawmakers on Thursday were to begin debating whether to ex-tend the state of emergency declared after last week’s attacks to February, and expand it to allow suspects to be placed under house arrest.

As international efforts to fight the Islamic State group that claimed it carried out the attacks in which 129 people died and hundreds were in-jured, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Russia was open to cooperation against IS in Syria.

“There is an opening, so to speak, with the Russians. We think they are sincere and we must bring together all our forces,” Fabius told France Inter radio.

But the world powers remain di-vided over the future of Syrian Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad, who is strongly

backed by Russia.US President Barack Obama reiter-

ated Thursday that Syria’s civil war could not end unless Assad leaves power.

Unconfirmed police sources, cited by France 2 television, said the group targeted in the apartment was a fourth team in addition to the three involved in Friday’s attack.

It may have been planning to strike  Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris and the La Defense business district on the city’s western rime, they said.

Severe damage to the building and the state of the bodies made it impos-sible to know exactly how many had been killed and who they were, the prosecutor said.

“A new team of terrorists was neu-tralized and all indications are that given their arms, their organization-al structure and their determination, the commando could have struck.” AFP

BRUSSELS—Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Thursday rejected criticism of his country’s security services over the Paris at-tacks, saying Belgian intel-ligence led to a huge raid in France targeting the sus-pected mastermind.

“I do not accept the criti-cisms which were aimed at denigrating the work of our security services,” Michel said in a speech to parlia-ment in which he unveiled new security measures.

“Yesterday, in Saint-Denis [in Paris] an attack was pre-vented thanks in particular to intelligence provided by Belgian teams,” the prime minister added.

French police staged a fe-rocious seven-hour assault in Saint-Denis on Wednesday after intelligence led investi-gators to an apartment where the Belgian suspected of or-chestrating the worst ever ter-

ror attack on French soil was thought to be hiding.

“I want to thank our magistrates, our police of-ficers, our intelligence serv-ices for their courage and mobilization,” Michel said. “Thanks to them lives have been saved”.

French President Fran-cois Hollande has said that the attacks were “planned in Syria, prepared and organ-ized in Belgium.”

The most notorious ji-hadist connected to Brussels is Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, who grew up in the Molenbeek dis-trict before going to join the Islamic State group in Syria.

He escaped a raid on a terror cell in Belgium in January that killed two oth-er Islamists but French of-ficials said he was targeted in an operation in Paris on Wednesday. AFP

JAKARTA—An Indonesian airline has grounded a pilot after he allegedly offered an air hostess to passengers as compensation for a delay on a flight to the resort island of Bali.

Loud moaning sounds were also heard from the cockpit throughout the Lion Air flight, with one passenger left so shocked that he lodged a complaint about improper behavior with the transport ministry.

The passenger, Lambertus Maeng-

kom, said that as the plane took off late from Java island, the co-pilot jokingly announced over the PA system that he was offering a female, divorced flight attendant to passengers to make up for the delay.

“We want to ask whether it is standard procedure, applied by [au-thorities], to make Lion Air pilots offer a divorced flight attendant to passengers, repeatedly, over the mi-crophone,” Maengkom said in his

complaint.The co-pilot, who has not been

named, also loudly wished one of the other crew members “happy birthday” over the PA system during the flight on Saturday, it said.

“It was not funny at all, it was dan-gerous,” Maengkom said, adding that angry passengers had questioned whether the co-pilot was sober and unsuccessfully sought to confront him when the plane landed. AFP

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WORLD

France to extendemergency state

N. Korea faces condemnation

Pilot grounded for offering ‘young hostess’

Latin music world honorsBrazilian balladeer Carlos

Arrival. Charlotte Ross arrives at the premiere for Columbia Pictures’ “The Night Before” at The Theater at The Ace Hotel on November 18, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OFVAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

SCN CASE NO. 000607x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

PETITION

Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares:

1. My full name is Van Arnold Uy Chung , but I have also been known since childhood as N.A. or I have been judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) N.A. .

2. My present place of residence is 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz City/Municipality of Manila, Province of and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence)

40 West Point Cubao, Quezon City (since birth until 1996)

3. I was born on 13 June 1973, in Quezon City, Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

4. My father's name is Valentino Chung and he was born on 02 January 1949, in Manila. He is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China. My mother's name is Lydia Ng Uy Poot and she was born on 01 June 1953 in Caloocan. She is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businessman and from which I derive an average annual income of P10,122,471.22, inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances. My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businesswoman and from which she derives an average annual income of P 10,122,471.22.

(Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained: N.A., (2) name of school: N.A. and (3) years graduated: N.A.] who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship.

6. My civil status is married , I was married on 30 April 1998 in Caloocan City. My wife's/husband's name is Angelina O. Delos Santos and she/he was born on 02 Jan. 1975 in Manila . She/he is a citizen or subject of Philippines and presently resides at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila .

7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated N.A. granted by N.A.. (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on N.A. in N.A..

8. I have two (2) child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows:

Name Date of Birth Place of Birth ResidenceGian Gabriel 21 Feb. 1997 Manila 1679 Tayuman St., Sta.

Cruz, ManilaGian Timothy 19 Apr. 2002 Manila same as above

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of School Place of School

Dates of Study Highest Grade

CompletedPhilippine Cultural High School

Manila 1983-1988 Elementary

Philippine Cultural High School

Manila 1988-1992 High School

University of Santo Tomas Manila 1992-1997 Fourth Year

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines:

11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality: Name of Child Name and Place of School Date of

EnrollmentGian Timothy UNO High School, Manila June 2015

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character. I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to People’s Republic of China of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship.

14. My character witnesses are Mr. Alfonso Delos Santos and Ms. Alota Ong both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila and 914 T. Alonzo St., Sta. Cruz, Manila respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box):

[ / ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate[ / ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR)[ / ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR)[ / ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married[ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed[ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal

separation, if such was the fact[ / ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children[ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children[ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children[ / ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly

supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties

[ / ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence

[ / ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease.

[ / ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines

[ / ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality

[ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years[ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past

three years

16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition:

2014 Income Tax Return Laboratory Report (HIV Test) 2013 Income Tax Return Regional Trial Court Clearance 2012 Income Tax Return Metropolitan Trial Court Clearance Drug Test Report Office of the City Prosecutor Clearance Psychiatric Report Affidavit of Loss Barangay Clearance Form 137-Elementary NBI Clearance Form 137-Elementary Police Clearance Certification (Philippine Cultural College)

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this day of , 20 .

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner

Address: 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila Telephone Number:0918-927-7853

Right Thumbmarkof Petitioner

Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF PASIG) S.S.

I, VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG of legal age and a resident of 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila, after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at Pasig City this 28th

day of September, 2015.

DOC. No. 349 MARK ERWIN C. CASTILLOPAGE No. 71 NOTARY PUBLIC-CITY OF PASIGBOOK No. I Appointment No. 196 (2015-2016) valid until 31 December 2016SERIES OF 2015 Roll of Attorneys No. 61821 IBP No. 983033-Manila IV PTR No. 380235 o1 January 2015 City of Pasig MCLE Compliance No.-Governing Board Order 1, s-2008(TS-NOV. 13, 20, 27, 2015)

SCN FORM NO. 1(R.A. NO. 9139)

A

Telephone Number:

Right Thumbmark

7853

Petitioner's signature and right thumbmarkPetitioner's signature and right thumbmark

and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNGame and Signature of Petitioner

MARK ERWIN C. CASTILLOOTARY PUBLIC-CITY OF PASIG

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this day

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNGName and Signature of Petitioner

UNITED NATIONS—North Korea could face its strong-est condemnation to date of its human rights record when the United Nations votes Thursday on a draft resolution deploring widespread abuses in the deeply reclusive country.

European and Japanese diplomats who drafted the measure say they are hoping to garner more votes than last year in the General Assembly, which has condemned Pyongyang’s rights record every year since 2005—but to little avail.

This year’s measure, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, condemns “long-standing and ongoing systematic, wide-spread and gross violations of human rights” in North Korea.

For the second consecutive year, it en-

courages the Security Council to consider referring Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for crimes against human-ity.

Such a move, however, would likely be blocked by Pyongyang’s sole major ally China, which has veto power in the council.

The draft resolution demands that a vast network of prison camps in North Korea thought to be holding 100,000 in-mates living in appalling conditions be shut down.

The vote at the General Assembly’s com-mittee on humanitarian issues follows re-ports that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon planned this week to visit Pyongyang for talks with leader Kim Jong-Un.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency re-ported Monday that Ban, a South Korean, would be making the first visit by a UN sec-retary-general to North Korea in more than 20 years, but the UN said the following day that no such trip was planned in the imme-diate future. AFP

LAS VEGAS—The Latin music world turned out Wednesday to celebrate Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian ballad singer who is one of the region’s most successful artists.

The 74-year-old nicknamed the “King of Latin Music” was named Person of the Year at the Latin Gram-mys, a day before the Spanish- and Portuguese-language music indus-try’s biggest award night.

“I’m very moved. This is without doubt a very special moment in my life,” Carlos, who sported an electric-blue sequined tie for the occasion in Las Vegas, told AFP.

“I’m very proud of everything I’ve achieved,” he said, overcome by emotion.

Carlos’ career crossed Brazil’s bor-ders in the 1970s as he won a follow-ing for pop tunes, often ballads about love, that he sung in Spanish, English, French and Italian, along with his na-tive Portuguese.

He has sold more than 120 million records in Latin America, topping The Beatles and Elvis Presley in the region.

Asked his secret at keeping fans for so many years, Carlos said with a sly smile: “I don’t know if there is one. And if there is, I have to find it out.”

Dozens of artists joined in the cel-ebration, many of them wearing the singer’s signature color white in his honor.

The Spanish performer Miguel Bose, who was Person of the Year in 2013, said that Carlos has “for dec-ades made the soundtrack for many hearts.”

“He created a style and contributed greatly to it. He’s one of the greatest,” Bose told AFP.

Colombian singer Carlos Vives said that the Brazilian’s romantic songs “will never go out of style, be-cause that’s how you talk about wom-en and love.”

Spanish songwriting giant Alejan-dro Sanz paid tribute with a powerful guitar version of “Lady Laura,” and rising stars Leslie Grace and Maluma performed “Jesus Christo,” one of the songs in which Carlos reflected on his Catholic faith. AFP

B7mst.daydesk@gmail.com

RAMON L. TOMELDANE D I T O R

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MOTORING

FASTLANEFASTLANEFAST

THE final round of this year’s SU-PER GT series saw an amazing comeback of the #1 Motul-Autech GT-R driven by Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli from 12th to 2nd place, displacing the #12 Cal-sonic GT-R to secure enough points to win their second GT500 Cham-pionship. Held last November 15 at the Twin Ring Motegi, the rain did not stop the Motul-Autech team from charging up the leader board during the entire race. “I don’t know what to say, Ronnie did a fan-tastic job in the first half and that pit work was astounding. We’ve been diligently practicing our driver changes and pit work all year and it was the effort from the whole team that spurred me on in my out-lap. It was an incredibly tense race. However, I feel like we were able to display a performance worthy of a champion,” says NISMO Team Principal Yutaka Suzuki.

Due to strong rain that fell during the previous day’s qualification ses-sions, the #1 GT-R’s settings did not quite match the road surface con-ditions and they failed to advance

to Q2. For this reason they found themselves starting from 12th place on the grid. As the weather began to improve and the racing line gradu-ally drying up, Quintarelli drove a fast paced performance that saw the #1 GT-R pass rival after rival with each lap and, by lap 10, he had climbed up to 6th place. With the road surface completely dry, the erosion of every competitor’s rain tires became severe and one after another all teams headed into the pits at around lap 20. The NISMO team, which boasts some of the fast-est pit work in the SUPER GT, man-aged to send the #1 GT-R back out onto the course as much as 3 sec-onds faster than their rival, IMPUL. Matsuda then rewarded this hard work with a tenacious drive that never gave the #12 GT-R a chance to regain its position.

This is Matsuda’s second cham-pionship in a row following on from last year and, in Quintarelli’s case, after combining this consecu-tive championship with those of 2011 and 2012, he has now taken an impressive 4 SUPER GT titles.

NISSAN Philippines Inc. (NPI), continues to innovate and excite the domestic market with the re-cent introduction of a refreshed version of its subcompact sedan the Nissan Almera. “We at Nissan Philippines are proud to introduce the new Nissan Almera as the per-fect partner for all new beginnings” said Antonia Zara, NPI President and Managing Director. “Combin-ing the best of fuel efficiency with generous cabin and trunk space that leads other cars in its class, the new Nissan Almera is the ideal car that will be with you and your loved ones through many of life’s important milestones.”

The new Nissan Almera brings

an updated look from the previ-ous version. Elegant lines and premium finishes on the exterior; a redesigned front bumper with boomerang-inspired headlamps; a bigger and bolder front grille, and front chromed accents all present a striking appearance. The rear is highlighted with a remodeled rear bumper complemented with black diffuser cladding and chromed trunk garnish. A large lip spoiler and newly-designed 12-spoke alloy wheels also add to the sportiness of the vehicle’s design. The Almera’s cabin also underwent minor touch-ups such as a new center cluster lay-out with a piano black finish. Dino Directo III

Motul Autech GT-R clinches GT500 crown

Nissan unveils refreshed Almera

It is anticipated that the five-year development plan will see Kia further increase its invest-ment in research and develop-ment (R&D) into fuel-efficient technologies and new products, with a range of all-new models and highly advanced powertrains for global markets.

The new investment by Hy-undai Motor Group, Kia’s parent company, totals 11.3 trillion won (US$10.2 billion), for the devel-opment of a range of new eco-friendly models and building the facilities required for the brand’s efforts to further reduce its CO2 output. The investment is likely to result in the creation of thou-sands of new jobs in domestic R&D positions.

Ki-Sang Lee, Senior Vice Presi-dent, Eco Friendly Vehicle R&D Center, Kia Motors Corporation, commented, “Global market de-mand is shifting to electric vehi-cles, with oil prices predicted to rise in future. The electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle market will grow rapidly in the coming years, and this investment will enable Kia to meet the growing demand with a range of advanced new products and technologies.”

Lee added, “We don’t believe that there is any one ‘silver bullet’ that can satisfy the demand for low emission technology within the car industry, so we foresee a wide range of eco-friendly pow-ertrains co-existing for an ex-tended period of time. The plans we’ve announced today repre-sent Kia’s ambition to become a worldwide leader in advanced propulsion technology.”

Kia’s green car line-up to expand

By 2020, Kia’s current green car line-up is expected to grow from four current models to 11. This expanded range of envi-ronmentally-friendly vehicles

will encompass a wide range of advanced powertrains, from hy-brids and plug-in hybrids to bat-tery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.

The first models to be launched featuring new types of power-trains under the brand’s 2020 vision for low emissions cars will be the Kia Optima PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), which will feature a high capac-ity lithium-polymer battery pack and electric motor, as well as an efficient six-speed automatic transmission, and the Niro hy-brid utility vehicle (HUV), which will target CO2 emissions of 90 g/km (combined, based on the New European Driving Cycle).Kia to introduce production hy-drogen fuel cell vehicle in 2020

As part of this five-year plan, Kia is targeting a 2020 launch for mass production of an all-new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, featuring next-generation hydro-gen fuel stack technology. Kia is working alongside 300 partner companies to develop the next-generation FCEV technology for global markets. Production of the new Kia FCEV is aimed to be around 1,000 units per year, a figure expected to rise as demand for fuel cell vehicles increases.

Kia’s FCEV will feature a fuel stack similar in size to a 2.0-li-tre internal combustion engine, which development teams believe will offer drivers a high level of durability and power density from the advanced powertrain. Kia engineers are planning to de-velop the brand’s next-generation fuel cell stack to be 5% more ef-ficient and offer 10% greater stack performance, despite being around 15% lighter and 15% low-er in volume, compared to cur-rent generation fuel cell stacks. The result is a targeted range of more than 800 km from a single

‘GREEN AMBITION’

SEOUL—Kia Motors has unscrolled its mid- to long-term plans for the development of a greatly increased range of environment friendly vehicles. The brand’s ‘green car roadmap’ sets out Kia’s ambition to become a leader in the low emissions car market by 2020.

fill-up and a top speed of around 170 kph.

The durability of the car’s fuel cell stack and electric mo-tor will be comprehensively as-sessed, with tests of existing fuel cell stacks from Hyundai Motor Group – Kia’s parent company – covering over 200,000 km on the road. Modern production tech-niques, system components and electronic control technologies will help Kia to deliver a vehi-cle that features the high quality standards and levels of innova-tion that customers have come to expect from the brand.

Kia’s research into fuel cells date back to 1998, which resulted in the creation of the limited pro-duction Kia Mohave FCEV, able to travel up to 690 km on a single fill-up.

Average fuel efficiency to in-crease by 25% by 2020

These plans will help Kia in its aim to raise its average corpo-rate fuel efficiency by 25% over 2014 levels by 2020. As well as investment in advanced propul-sion technologies, Kia will also replace seven out of its 10 current engine ranges with next-gener-ation gasoline and diesel units, while increasing the number of turbocharged engines. Higher-efficiency, multi-speed transmis-sions are also planned, while Kia engineers are targeting a 5% re-duction in the average weight of new car bodies through greater application of ultra-high strength steel.

Advanced powertrain invest-ment to create thousands of

new jobsThe investment by Kia’s par-

ent company, Hyundai Motor Group, into the development of highly-advanced, highly-ef-ficient powertrain technology as well as smart car technology is expected to create more than 7,300 new jobs, predominantly in R&D roles, over the next four years. Additional job creation is also expected through ongoing investments into the company’s R&D and production facilities, with new overseas Kia produc-tion facilities also generating new jobs, directly and indirectly.

KIA MAPS OUT FIVE-YEAR PLAN

OPTIMA HYBRID

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B8 RAMON L. TOMELDANE D I T O R

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

MOTORING

MADABOUT

STYLING

Some 100 custom-built and modified cars and trucks went on display to compete for the much coveted Best of Show Award.

“The Philippine Car Show scene will not be complete without the Mania Auto Salon. This year-end car show is designed and prepared for the hardcore petrol heads in the local tuning scene and is participated in by the country’s top custom car builders,” said Sophie delos Santos, president of Trade Show International, organizer of this annual auto extravaganza.

This year, the Best of Show plum went to the Porsche 997 in Liberty Walk trim by Car Porn Racing. Shop owner Ian King’s display at the Auto Salon was the most visited display booth which had the Liberty Walk editions of the Lexus RC-F of Coy Enriquez and a blood red 458 Italia owned by exotic car dealer Raymond Ronquillo of R33 plus the “Black Mamta”, a custom-built corvette.

With more than 200 display booths spread across the floor of the sprawling SMX Convention Center, notable displays were the customized Mitsubishi Montero of Overland 4x4 of Thailand and the huge outdoor themed lifestyle display of Concept One, which showcased a black Range Rover Defender and Jeep Rubicon decked out with Rhino Racks Tent Awning and bike racks and PIAA LED lights.

“Our outdoor theme this year speaks well

On a clear, moonlit night last Thursday, Lexus executives rolled up their sleeves and threw a fast ball by launching two new models to solidify their presence in the local market. Held at the newly renovated Lexus Showroom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Daniel Isla, president of Lexus Manila led the festivi-ties as he took the wraps off the Lexus LX SUV and the RX compact SUV.

“A few weeks before Christmas, Lexus unveils gift options for yourself and for your family. Lexus will redefine luxury by getting out of the conservative box. Lexus have combined elegance with modern expressions of boldness and fierceness without losing the sophistication and re-finement of luxury,” says Isla in his speech before a well-heeled crowd.

Since its local debut in 2009, the Lex-us RX has proven itself to be immensely popular with those needing the flexibility of a sport-utility vehicle combined with the driving comfort of a luxury sedan, all wrapped in an attractive, elegant package. The all-new RX’s mix of sharp creases and curves represents a bold evolution in the model’s styling, sharing the same design

DNA with other recently-launched mod-els in the Lexus line-up. Moreover, this luxury crossover adds advanced new rede-signed hybrid and gasoline powertrains, sophisticated safety technologies, driver aids. It also welcomes new convenience and technology features to make this one of the best Lexus sport-utility vehicles of-fered to date.

The front view of the new RX is char-acterized by an emboldened version of the Lexus brand’s signature spindle grille, featuring a chrome-plated border and triple L-shape-LED headlamps. The new RX models are powered by two types of powertrains: a 3.5-liter direct-injected V-6 gasoline engine (2GR-FKS) mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, and a 3.5-liter direct-injected V-6 gasoline en-gine (2GR-FXS) both with a revised hy-brid powertrain components.

Lexus has given one of its workhorse a new lease on life with a fresh new look, an eight-speed automatic transmission and some significant changes in its front fascia plus a slew of amenities to pamper its occupants. Aside from aggressive and

stronger styling the LX 570 keeps its strong 383-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 engine, but gains an eight-speed automatic transmis-sion in place of the outgoing model’s six-speed. There’s also a new Drive Mode Select system, like what’s already used in other  , that lets the driver control powertrain and suspension settings, including those of the Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS).

Lexus has also added several high-value items to the LX 570’s standard-feature set. A Panoramic View Monitor is now includ-ed, as is a Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Assist. Another standard feature is the Climate Concierge, which monitors four different zones of the inte-rior this is a cabin that’s large enough to have its microclimates, after all and can vary the fan speed and temperature of the vents as well as settings for the seats and steering wheel. Second-row sunshades are now included, too.

Closely related to the Toyota Land Cruiser, the LX is built on a sturdy, off-road-capable body-on-frame structure, and it hasn’t been completely redesigned since the 2008 model year.

Text and photosby Dino Ray V. Directo III

AUTOMOTIVE enthusiasts and plain kibitzers formed a beeline for the 24th staging of

the country’s biggest aftermarket show at the SMX Convention Center of the SM Mall of Asia

recently.

of the growing number of off- road enthusiasts at the Auto Salon,” says Sam Liuson of Concept One. Other big winners were the VW Glof GTi by the Karpartz group of Tommy Teng and Botchi Santos. The country’s King of Bodykits Victor “Atoy” Llave also had a slew of eye candies for the show such as his customized Toyota FJ Cruiser and hand-built food trucks.

“The Auto Salon is a reflection of how healthy the local aftermarket industry is right now. It’s a tribute to the creative tuners,” says delos Santos.

Lexus throws a fast ballText and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

Mini Cooper: Aftermarket Godfather Sam Liuson shows off his rare Mini Cooper F56

Ferrari and Black Manta: The most visited booth was that of Car Porn Racing with their Liberty Walk Ferrari 458 Italia and a custom built Corvette called the Black Manta

Overland: A crowd favorite is this customized Mitsubishi Montero by Overland 4x4 of Thailand

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TATUM ANCHETAE D I T O R

BING PARELA S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNASW R I T E R

ST Y L E & BE AU T Y

l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

With 2016’s new runway trend comes different new accessories , and a big player on the line is eyewear.

New eyeglass frame boards come in different shapes and sizes, perfect for protecting your eyes while looking chic and fresh for the coming year. From round, cat’s eye, reflective (yes, they’re back), funky shapes, to wood or nature, these themes seem to be a big hit this season. Eye Society, the House of Brands, offers most of the coveted designer eyewear for this season. It carries exclusive and limited edition collections of world-renowned brands such as Ray-Ban, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Miu Miu, Burberry, Michael Kors, Theo, among others. Torn about what kind of frames you want upgraded to compliment your wardrobe? Here are some of our favorite brands from their collection to get you inspired on your eyewear shopping.

WOODEN LUXURY Wood frame glasses are not new to the market yet there seems to be a popular demand and availability in most fashion houses. Not only do they look fashionable, if you’re an eco-friendly buyer a pair might be the right purchase for you. Following the trend is the fashion house of Prada with its return to nature-inspired Raw Eyewear collection. The limited edition series marries black walnut Malabar wood in contemporary designs of round and square frames. Definitely an eye catching piece, fashion forward and adds to anyone’s quirky personality.

Another player is popular brand Ray-Ban. Following the recent releases of the Ray-Ban Clubmaster now comes the Clubmaster Wood. Vintage yet fresh, the wooden design is very polished and makes any one look sharp yet still approachable. The collection varies from clear glasses to shades. The wooden Clubmaster collection is part of the brand’s new campaign #Campaign4Change which urges consumers to share their take on what they want to change in this world.

HERITAGEThree of the fashion houses this season opted to get inspiration from their own heritage and apply it on their new collections. Versace, known for its audacious and flamboyant designs, brings forward a collection by an icon that has been its muse for three decades, no less than the Queen of Pop – Madonna. The special edition eyewear carries the oversized emblem of the house of Versace on each side and marries a design that best describes the Queen herself –

unapologetic, no compromise, head turner, and unstoppable.

The Gabardine collection of Burberry on the other hand carries inspiration from their famous trench coat fabric collection, English heritage lace and the iconic trench coat fabric – the gabardine.  The romantic detail of Gabardine is sculpted on each metal temples, making the collection very feminine and elegant. The collection comes in rounds, squares and cat’s eye shapes, with choices of either black, brown, or yellow spotted frames.

Dolce & Gabbana on the other hand highlights a sexy peineta comb design on its temple frame. Classic, sexy and dark – it’s inspired by the Spanish presence in Sicily, with its Baroque craftsmanship and carvings. Wearing any of the collection makes you feel like a classic woman from a black and white film – classy, unassuming, poised and very elegant.

FUNKY AND FASHION FORWARDMiu Miu’s Wink and Noir collection features a futuristic look that makes anyone look like a showstopper. Edgy, upbeat and very young, the collection carries geometric shapes that make it stand out from the rest of the classic frames, while Theo, the avant-garde eyewear brand from Belgium is sure to catch every fashionista’s fancy. Its Fall/Winter collection features the contemporary furniture design of James Van Vossel. The frame folds to the nose, creating a nose pad by using a special folding technique. Its simple yet unique design makes it stand out among others on the shelves.

Head on to Eye Society today and try on the latest eyewear on display and experience a complimentary eye makeover with the help of eye stylists who can help you choose the right frames and designs for your face shape, skin tone, eye color, and of course, personality. They also offer a 12-step eye exam conducted by professional optometrists using technologically advanced equipment from a variety of advanced lens technology.

Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2015 Collection incorporates elements from its runway designs. It’s not a cohesive themed collection but each design is meant to stand out and make a bold statement. You may opt to choose from sophisticated oversized cat’s eye frames to funky and modern aviators with the iconic charm added to each temple.

Eye Society, the House of Brands, is located at Avant Building, 48 Jupiter St., Bel-Air Makati City; Eye Society 32nd & 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City; and 3/F SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. For more information, visit eyesociety.com.ph and on Instagram @eyesocietyph.

EYE WEAR UPDATE: The latest designs from this season’s runway collections

Burberry The Gabardine Collection

Madonna for Versace

Ray-Ban Clubmaster Wood

Prada Raw Special Project

Dolce & Gabbana Spain in Sicily Special Collection

Theo by James Van Vossel

Miu Miu Wink and Noir Collection

Michael Kors Fall/Winter Collection 2015

LIFE

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LIFE l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

Underarm care remains one of the leading concerns of women, especially those who are always on-the-go and ready to take on any task or go anywhere. Here in the Philippines, eight out of 10 women regularly engage in underarm hair removal that includes plucking, shaving and waxing, all of which lead to irritation and development of skin bumps.

Dove’s range of deodorants makes sure women can wear any clothes they want and show off their underarms with its unique formula that has 1/4 moisturizing cream to ease skin irritation, leaving skin lighter and smoother. As Dove Deo takes care of women’s underarms, it also wants to give the ladies a chance to experience real

care wherever they go through a relaxing getaway for two.

For a chance to win the beach getaway, one only needs to purchase the Dove Deo box (P89 for Dove Original, and P95 for Dove Ultimate White and Dove Powder Soft) that contains one Dove roll-on, a free tote bag and a promo code at the bottom of the box. Just text DOVE DEO <space> PROMO CODE to 2600.

Join the sleeveless revolution and use the #DoveDeoGetaway hashtag on Twitter or Instagram. Dove Deo is available in all leading supermarkets, groceries and drugstores nationwide.

VANITY BOX

In a bid to offer fragrances that bridge the fresh smell of splash cologne and the sophisticated scent of fine fragrance, Avon launched a new perfume collection for women that explores the lighter side of sexy.

Dubbed as Sheer Passion, the latest range features three tempting, alluring and captivating fragrances for the “modern confident Filipina who is determined to make a mark yet does not lose her sense of fun and playfulness,” says Avon Philippines director for marketing Jean Reyes.

For the woman who wants a fresh and light scent, Sheer Passion brand ambassador Jessy Mendiola recommends Simply Tempting which opens with a citrusy explosive top note courtesy of sparkling caja and mango blossom. Ladies with an outgoing but mysterious personality would perfectly find their perfume match in So Alluring which has a mix of fruity (mandarin and Persian

lime), sweet (peach) and feminine scents. Very Captivating embodies the strong, confident woman with its bold, sophisticated scent brought by pineapple leaves, oris butter and caramel.

Mendiola, who was the model of Avon’s teen undergarment line Missy eight years ago, returns to the Avon family as the face of Sheer Passion. Reyes told The Standard that Mendiola perfectly represents Sheer Passion because much like how the collection bridges fresh and sophisticated scents, Mendiola personifies the middle ground between the girl-next-door and the sexy, confident woman. “You get the best of both worlds,” emphasizes Reyes.

Avon Sheer Passion Collection is now available nationwide through Avon Representatives. Visit www.avon.com.ph to find out how you can get in touch with an Avon Representative.

New York cosmetics and skin care solutions label Kiehl’s ushers in the holiday season with a limited-edition collection of its most beloved formulas whose packaging features the artwork of pop art icon Peter Max.

Kiehl’s x Peter Max holiday 2015 collection includes Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream, Calendula Toner, a lip balm set, and a new collection of scented Richly Hydrating Hand Creams in Lavender, Coriander and Grapefruit. Complementing the brand’s energetic spirit is Max’s bright and imaginative design. He captures the beauty of nature with sunsets over mountains, rolling landscapes, and puffy clouds, accented by his iconic “Holiday Flyers” that dance across the sky through his signature vibrant color palette.

Anyone who will receive an item or the entire collection as a gift will surely love not just the whimsical packaging but also the skin caring benefits of each Kiehl’s product. The Ultra Facial Cream (P1,575) is a light-textured daily hydrator that leaves the skin supple and comfortable even in harsh weather conditions. A bestseller for almost 50 years, the Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner (P2,375) leaves the skin feeling smooth, fresh and invigorated. Featuring new scents, the new Richly Hydrating Hand Creams (set of three for P2,750) provide all-day hydration. Finally, Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 Set (set of three for P1,635) is perfect as gift for those who want soft and supple lips all year round.

For more information about the Kiehl’s x Peter Max collaboration, visit Kiehl’s Philippines on Facebook.

PRETTY POP ART PARTNERSHIP

UNDERARM CARE WHEREVER YOU GO

THE SCENTS OF SEXY

Sheer Passion

Richly Hydrating Hand Cream

Lip Balm #1 Set

Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner

Ultra Facial Cream

Dove Deo Original

A p p l y i n g b lu s h i s one of the oldest tricks to instantly add a natural glow to any complexion. The correct tone of blush

can freshen up tired looking skin, add warmth to pale complexions or even create the illusion of more defined cheekbones without the use of contouring. Textures range from the most matte for those who have a tendency to look shiny with certain blush shades, to creamy satin shades that double as lip tints, to shimmery blushers that also work as shadows/highlighters for skins that tend to look flat without luminescent color. Newer blush formulations are also available for a variety of skin types from oily, normal to even extremely dry skin that looks chalky with the use of traditional powder blushers.

Pop-Up Beauty gives you a rundown of some of the best blush shades in different formulas to suit every skin type, tone and texture, be it a subtle glow or an intense flush for the evening.

C3LIFEF R I D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

POP-UP BEAUTYBY JIGS MAYUGA

CHANEL Joues Contraste in Alezane, Rustan’s MakatiThe iconic blush from Chanel now comes in this rosy-brown shade with a hint of shimmer called Alezane. This “baked powder” blush has buildable coverage, from natural to dramatic, and imparts a flattering radiance to cheeks. Apply the product with its supplied brush, high on the cheekbones blending towards the temples for an instant lift or on the hollows of the cheeks and around the temples to sculpt.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @jigsmayuga

ROYAL FLUSH

THE BALM Cindy-Lou Manizer, Beauty BarPerfect for the blush newbie who is afraid of applying too much product and just wants a trace of color and luminosity on their cheeks. Although known more as a highlighter than a blush, this all-in-one shadow, blush and highlighting product with a peachy-pink hue creates a beautiful light-reflecting glow on the cheeks that is never overpowering. Apply on your lids, too, for a hint of pink shimmer!

NYX Stick Blush in Pink Lotus, SM MakatiAnother great product for blush beginners. This blusher stick from Nyx has been one of the brand’s trusty products and is suitable for ladies who are on-the-go and want a quick blush fix. Apply this pigmented cream directly from the tube or with your fingers and blend for an understated, dewy glow. Layer under powder blush for a more intense finish.

TORY BURCH Lip & Cheek Tint in Cat’s Meow, Greenbelt 5Designed to add a hint of rosy pink color on the cheeks and lips that works with a range of skin tones. Blends easily, creating a healthy, natural flush with a sheer, dewy finish. The tint is lightly scented with notes from the fragrance, including cassis, grapefruit and mandarin. “Cat’s meow” is a bygone phrase, loved by Tory Burch herself and often used on The Tory Blog – for people, places and things that are just generally fantastic.

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Blush 320, SM MegamallThis ultra-blendable rosewood blush that dries to a soft matte finish combines the second-skin look of a cream with the ease of a powder. Made specifically for HD technology, this formula blends into skin with no visible texture for a truly natural flush of color. HD blush can be worn on bare skin and even over foundation and is easy to blend before it dries to a fade-resistant matte powder finish that is definitely long wearing.

ELIZABETH ARDEN Ceramide Cream Blush in Plum,SM MakatiAn Allure Best of Beauty 2015 winner, this skin-caring blush with a ceramide triple complex and antioxidants made of Vitamin A, C and E visibly lifts and contours the face while adding a vibrant, dewy soft peach color. Impressive color payoff and wear unlike other creamy blushes. Its satin finish is perfect for normal to dry skin types.

INGLOT AMC Liquid Face Blush 81, Glorietta 5This gorgeous pinkish brown blush from Inglot goes on as a liquid but dries to a beautiful semi-matte finish. Its liquid formula gives you total control when it comes to application. It’s talc-free with treated pigments and can go from sheer to intense, depending on the amount of product applied. This shade is perfect with the slew of matte brown lipsticks that are on trend as of late.

CLINIQUE Cheek Pop in Plum Pop, SM AuraAnother blush that has gained quite a following in recent seasons is this extremely pigmented collection of powder blushes from Clinique. This particular shade called Plum Pop is a purplish pink hue that is perfect for medium to deep skin tones. Developed with a patented, breakthrough technology, Cheek Pop’s innovative formula begins as a smooth liquid that is then transformed through a slow baking process into a completely new distinct powder. Perfect for achieving the most healthy and “just-pinched” look.

C4 LIFEF R I D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

l i f e @ t h e s t a n d a r d . c o m . p h @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d @ L I F E a t S t a n d a r d

This Christmas, dressing up for the holidays becomes more exciting and more fashionably fun thanks to Melissa’s Fall/ Winter collection, which offers you a wonderful

mix of inspired, quirky designs as well as beautiful, elegant staples. Made from patented Melissa’s Melflex technology, all the stylish pairs created by the world’s most loved jelly not only boasts unparalleled comfort, but limitless style as well. With over 70 new designs, you’ll assuredly find your perfect pair.

“This season, we’re all so very excited because we have such a diverse and fun mix of designs that are perfect for every woman, including your budding fashionista daughters,” says Eleanore Co, the brand manager of Melissa.

She enthusiastically adds that one of the most exciting collections to be unveiled this season is the latest line designed by the renowned Campana Brothers, brilliant Brazilian designers who first established fame in designing furniture.

The brothers lend their discriminating eye and hand for detail in the Campana Barroca line. Their romantic and artistic touch is celebrated in the exquisite designs, inspired by Baroque Art. Ornate details are “carved” into the malleable material, bringing to life budding blooms, wings and feathers, and even lizards. Whether it’s on flats or gladiator sandals, these elements translate beautifully on the chosen canvas. The intricate details make it, indeed, a work of art.

Since it was first established more than three decades ago, Melissa has welcomed the creative touch of many design visionaries to craft winning designs for them, including Karl Lagerfeld and John Paul Gaultier. Apart from the Campana Brothers, this season, delight in the designs by Jason Wu – who elevates the simple sandal and beach slipper to an elegant staple – as well as Vivienne Westwood.

Known for her modern punk and new wave fashion, Vivienne Westwood infuses

her bold signature style in Space Love II and the Scribble. The comfy Scribble boasts a metallic buckle at the front and an interlay of lines, which make for interesting texture. On the other hand, Space Love II is gloriously chic with its metal “twisted thorn” buckle and glossy finish.

Helping us fulfill our penchant for matching ensembles, Melissa has also created two lines for your budding fashionista. Mommy and baby can now proudly show off matching shoes thanks to the Mini Melissa and Mel lines.

Mel is the kids and teens line of Melissa which was just launched this year. “Previously, we only had Melissa, the line for adults, and Mini Melissa, the babies line. We created Mel for tweens because we wanted to cater to the girls who have outgrown their Mini Melissa shoes, but not their love for the brand,” shared Co. “Certain, popular designs from the Melissa adult line have matching and inspired designs in the Mini Mel and Mel lines, so you and your daughter can all be fashion forward this season.”

In the Mel line, your tweens will delight at the flurry of bows, glitter and vibrant hues, while your baby can don age-appropriate and comfortable foot fashion. The Mini Melissa line includes bows, sprinkles of glitter, animal designs as well as special edition designs of Mickey and Mini Mouse, and Darth Vader from Star Wars. Even geek dads can delight in their babies’ fashion.

Of course, as a fashion forward brand, Melissa also excitedly gave us a peek into its Spring-Summer 2016 collection, which is brightly inspired by the vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro. Aptly titled Take Me to Rio, the collection embraces soft pastel hues and a new shade of mint green. “This is perfect for Pinoys because we love the sun and the beach. This collection reflects that cool, laid back beach lifestyle,” shared Co.

Perfect as gifts or as a winning touch to your holiday ensemble, My Melissa Holiday helps you look not only fashionably chic this Christmas but all year round.

STEP OUT IN STYLE THIS CHRISTMAS WITH MELISSABY KRISTEL DACUMOS-LAGORZA

Melissa Good Vibes has innovation and comfort engraved in their DNA. With the application of elastic straps mixing the versatile material with the brand’s signature scented plastic, the new pointed footwear brings the sportsman trend in Vogue; Available on February 2016.

Pineapples top off the toes of young fashionistas with this classic and comfortable style that will surely make for a fun and quirky day for your little tot

The little one will be able to wander her way into the world of Disney magic, reminding her that imagination has no age, and dreams are forever

Melissa Love System now comes with neoprene that offers more comfort and promise. Available this summer in new colors, Light Pink and Mint Green.

JW Space Love is the best accessory for ladies who are always on the go. A pair will definitely go perfectly with busy days this holiday season

Bring in a play on the classic plaid pattern and the punk look with a lot of attitude with Vivienne Westwood’s Scribble

Perfect for getaways and always on season, the unisex trend never ends with these open sandals. Dare to combine it with pieces that play with transparencies and prints, and seize the day!

Experience royalty at its finest with Mel Queen; walk like a queen as the peep-toe pair is complete with layered bow at the vamp and polished accents on the heel

SHOWBITZi s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

C5ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 20 : 2015

Say “thank you for the love” this Christmas with gifts from the ABS-CBN Store.

This holiday season, celebrate Christmas the Kapamilya way by giving presents that anyone will surely cherish from the “Thank You for the Love” shirts as seen on ABS-CBN’s 2015 Christmas station ID to must-have collect-

ibles from well-loved Kapamilya programs like Ang Probinsyano, Pangako Sa’Yo, and On the Wings of Love, among others.

Even gifts for avid film buffs and music fans can be found at The ABS-CBN Store as it also offers a selection of Star Home Video, Star Music, and ABS-CBN Publishing merchandise-such as DVDs and CDs of classic and all-

time favorite movies and albums.“Christmas is the season to

thank the people who have made our year extra special. The wide range of products that the ABS-CBN Store offers are all-time fa-vorites that will make anyone feel loved,” ABS-CBN Store’s Market-ing Officer Pia de Leon said.

She added, “Everything about the Kapamilya network is here. If

you know a solid Kapamilya fan, I’m sure giving one of our prod-ucts as a gift this Christmas will complete their day.”

Don’t forget to say “thank you for the love” this season of hope, joy, and giving with the ABS-CBN Store. The ABS-CBN Store is lo-cated at The Loop, ELJ Building in the ABS-CBN Compound. Merchandise are also available

online via www.abs-cbnstore.com. Worldwide and nationwide shipping is guaranteed.

Pop-up stores of The ABS-CBN pop up stores will also be open this November in Mar-ket! Market! while Kapamilya customers can also visit select Robinsons Department stores nationwide for ABS-CBN Store merchandise.

SHOW LOVE On CHriStmaS

Globe Telecom, through its mobile broadband brand Tattoo, has capped

off a month-long celebration of social media greatness with the announcement of the winners of Tatt Awards, the biggest social media award-giving body that rec-ognizes social media movers and shakers in the country. The winners, dubbed as The Great 10, were selected from over thousands of entries submitted through public nominations. The nomina-tionswere screenedby the Tatt Council composed of key per-sonalities from various fields over an intense and rigorous deliberation process. This year’s Tatt Awards Great 10 is composed of the following:

1. Noontime television show Eat Bulaga

2. Box-office period film Heneral Luna

3. Traffic and transpor-tation social media site Top Gear PH

4. Poet Juan Miguel Severo

5. Online movement #SaveMaryJane

6. Mu lt i - hy ph e n at -ed digital author Marcelo Santos III

7. Journalist and host James Deakin

8. TV host Paolo Ball-esteros

9. Instagram personali-ty Jelito de Leon

10. Go-to local trivia page FilipiKnow

Ray Guinoo, director for Mo-bile Broadband of Tattoo shares, “The diversity in this year’s Great 10 is a testament to the power of Filipino talent glob-ally. Not only do we have lo-cally-appreciated social media personalities, content, business-es, or artists in this list, but also true global phenomena that continue to make their mark all over the world.” Guinoo shares, “They serve as examples for all of us and we at Globe are very proud to be able to give them a unique kind of recognition away from just their fame and popularity – a recognition of real excellence and greatness.” Also recognized at this year’s Tatt Awards are the members of the Tatt Council composed of TV host Daphne Osena-Paez, Emmy award-winning produc-er Mike Carandang, environ-mental advocate Anna Oposa, TV host, editor, and author Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, top Filipino musician Jim Paredes, sports host Jinno Rufino, so-cial entrepreneur Bam Aqui-no, technopreneur and Xurpas CEO and founder Nix Nolledo, and filmmaker Quark Henares. “I had a lot of fun getting to know the work of our coun-try’s top change-makers and most inspiring sites,” quips Daphne Osena-Paez. Bianca Gonzalez-Intal shares, “It’s my third year to be in the Tatt Council, and every year, I’m amazed by the new person-

alities taking social media by storm. Part of the Great 10 or not, all our finalists are defi-nitely winners for making an impact on people’s lives.” Bam Aquino adds, “The Tatt Awards winners and fi-nalists show how new ways of communicating can have a profound impact on society no matter what field you are in. These personalities prove that we truly are in an exciting new age armed with the pow-er of social media.” Unlike in previous Tatt Awards, this year’s nominations are not divided into specific cat-egories. Any person or group may be nominated so long as the nominee has been able to create an impact through qual-ity content that made a mark to the greater majority. The nom-inee must have also used social media to connect with the rest of the world, thus amplifying and sharing the work done. Shortlisted as finalists were freelance blogger and en-trepreneur Abbey Sy, rising musician Clara Benin, Insta-gram personality Kimi Juan, online comedienne Maria Sofia Love, senator Miriam Defensor Santiago for her book Stupid is Forever, blogger and PWD-friendliness advo-cate Naprey Almario, DJ and online influencer Patty Tiu, box-office flick That Thing Called Tadhana, online liter-ary aggregator Utot Catalog by Rod Marmol, and YouTube personality Wil Dasovich.

TaTT awards’ GreaT 10 Unveiled

Darla Sauler picks the Daniel Padilla and James Reid pillows during her early Christmas shopping spree at the ABS-CBN Store

Kapamilya star Sofia Andres chooses the Thank You For The Love shirt among her handpicked items during her early Christmas shopping spree at the ABS-CBN Store

Kapamilya star Sofia Andres beside Happy Lacson-Mabulay, head of ABS-CBN Consumer Products and Pia de Leon, marketing officer of ABS-CBN Consumer Products and team members of ABS-CBN Store

1 Hiphop dance group A-Team opens the night with an enthralling performance 2 The Heneral Luna production team is one of the Great 10 winners 3 Globe Director for Tattoo Mobile Broadband Ray Guinoo 4 Eat Bulaga’s Therese Diaz and Baby Baste accept the award on behalf of the noontime TV show 5 Tatt Council member Daphne Osena-Paez 6 Tatt Council member Jim Paredes 7 Tatt Council member Mike Carandang 8 Top Gear’s Vernon Sarte 9 Tatt Council member Quark Henares and Jacq Yu

1

2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

SHOWBITZC6i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 20 : 2015

ACROSS 1 Kampala’s country 7 Lyric poem 10 Reindeer herder 14 More muddy 15 Kind of rally 16 Horrible boss 17 Bird or beast 18 Vane dir. 19 Canter or trot 20 An employee may earn one (2 wds.)

A N S W E R F O R P R E V I O U S P U Z Z L E

CROSSWORD PUZZLE FRIDAY,

NOVEMBER 20, 2015

23 Biathlon weapon 26 Sleep phenom 27 Daddy’s sis 28 A Great Lake 29 Flit about 30 Lunch counter order 31 Chewbacca’s pal 32 Friendly advice 33 Lowered prices 37 Finale 38 — Dhabi 39 Nervous twitch

40 Ecol. bureau 41 Make a false move 43 AAA suggestion 44 Chaney of horr or flicks 45 Once owned 46 City or hat 47 Mince 48 Beat it! 51 Stein filler 52 Makes light of 53 Kitchen gadget (2 wds.) 56 Sudden impulse 57 Deadlock 58 Gallivant 62 Lascivious glance 63 TV news source 64 When glaciers advanced (2 wds.) 65 Back muscles 66 Elev. 67 Business deal

DOWN 1 Ms. Thurman 2 — rummy 3 Onassis nickname 4 Agile 5 “The Wreck of the Mary —” 6 A Guthrie

7 Revealed 8 Tough fabric 9 Fencing need 10 PC bye-byes (hyph.) 11 “Destry Rides —” 12 Gumshoe’s clue 13 Small-minded 21 Conclude (2 wds.) 22 Fairy tale abode 23 Adjust the length 24 Farsi speaker (var.) 25 Unearths 29 Taunted 30 Gridiron charge 32 Japanese mat 33 Main drag 34 Sun, in combos 35 Geologic period 36 They may be great 42 Salt cellars 46 Well-spoken 47 Attic window 48 Oar 49 Chick — of jazz 50 Thesaurus compiler 51 Zipping through 52 Hippie greeting 54 Work with acid 55 In shape 59 Tea holder 60 Not sm. or med. 61 All the time, in rhyme

PEOPLEGMA-7 StAtiOn iDIt’s that time of the year again when big networks release their Christmas plugs, festive music videos that usually feature their biggest stars. They also showcase lavish production to promote how grand and exciting Christmas is in the country. But in plain sight, station IDs are just an extension of the network war. And in this year’s battle, we already have a clear win-ner – the station ID whose theme song is currently no.1 on iTunes and the one with most views on YouTube.

XB GEnSAnWhile our attention was focused on 4TH Impact, Amy Vachal and Cyrus Villanueva, the hip-hop dance crew from GenSan sud-denly made a surprise appearance on social media sites when news broke that it was named the Grand Champion of Dance2Dance: The World Streetdance Showcase Com-petition in Zurich. It was the same dance competition that Philippine Allstars dominated in 2011. To refresh your memory, XB Gensan was the first winner of It’s Show-time “Magpasikat” segment.

tOMihOTelevision’s latest love team may not be as popular as AlDub (yet) but it is evident that the onscreen pair is making a name for itself. In fact, since It’s Showtime decided to continue the blossoming romance of Miho and Tommy, which began in the Big Brother house, the show begins to receive positive feedback once again. We hope, with ToMi-ho, the noontime program would finally pick up itself from the deep ditch it’s currently in.

ALMA MOREnOShe’s just got herself a new career as a deadpan comedienne. Watch-ing her interview with Karen Da-vila made us laugh, wonder and cringe all at the same time. Also, it reassured us that we made the right decision to stay in school and get properly educated. Otherwise we would have ended up putting ourselves in a situation that will make us look like a big joke. But on a serious note, it’s surprisingly that there are a few people who still defend Alma after the disas-trous interview. It goes to show that birds of the same feather (re-ally) flock together.

PAnGAkO SA’YOSo what has happened to the Kath-Niel magic? Are Kathryn Bernar-do and Daniel Padilla losing their audience appeal? According to the overnight ratings of AGB Nielsen among Mega Manila households Pangako Sa ‘Yo registered 21.9 per-cent ratings compared to GMA-7‘s new primetime series Little Nan-ay’s 22.7 percent. Declining view-ership is not a good sign especially when the network has just decided to stretch the series’ plot with Pan-gako Sa ‘Yo Book 2.

AnDi EiGEnMAnnShe breaks down over irritating paternity issues involving Albie Casiño and her daughter. The problem with Andi’s dilemma, she’s fed the public with conflict-ing information on the identity of the person who impregnated her a few years back. We wanted to sympathize with her situation but we just don’t understand why she’s maddened by the mess she herself created.

... AREtALkinGABOUt

... ARE

tALkinGABOUt

nOtAlDub in GMA 7 Christmas station ID Alma Moreno

Andi Eigenmann

Pangako Sa'Yo

XB Gensan

It's Showtime's ToMiho

SHOWBITZ C7i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m

Regine Velasquez-Al-casid’s Regine at The Theatre at Solaire goes on its second weekend to-

night and tomorrow night.The first weekend of the singer’s

all-musical theater repertoire was such a big hit that her fans over-seas are already asking if there would be a repeat in December because, they said, they plan to come home for Christmas.

Regine’s sister, Cacai Mitra, who is producing the two-week-end series, said she loves to mount a repeat but, “we’re having difficulty in booking it because of the Christmas rush.”

“Besides,” added Regine, “we wanted the same kind of venue…small and intimate because the concept is really not for a big ven-ue like Araneta or MOA.”

The singer admitted that it is not easy to mount a show with this kind of concept. “I thought it would be, but it’s not. It’s physically demanding especially for a singer. The songs are not the usual that I do in my concerts. In short, they’re not in my comfort zone. I employ a different kind of placement in each song, so they’re really straining.Overall though, Regine said, “But it was fun to do because it’s different. And I hope you guys catch the last two nights of my performances.”

Regine will be back on stage on Valentine’s Day next year. That, she said, is her promise to her fans that continue to support her in spite of the new singers that have been sprouting in the music arena the pas years.

HHHHH

Then TheRe’s jusT nineAfter last weekend’s elimination, only nine remains in StarStruck, this year’s edition of the Kapu-

so network’s artista search. The public voted out the South Cota-bato native Kevin Sagra, whom I thought had more chance of making it in show business (think Alden Richards who didn’t even make it among the finalists but is now the biggest young male star in the country) than any of the boys including those that is in the remaining nine.

On Nov. 22, the remaining StarStruck survivors (Analyn Barro, Arra San Agustin, Elyson de Dios, Jay Arcilla, Liezel Lo-pez, Ayra Mariano, Klea Pineda, Migo Adecer, Avery Paraiso) at 4 p.m. will be at SM Dasmarinas, Cavite for a mall show.

Last Friday, the judges saved Ayra Mariano and let Kevin Sagra go, a big mistake I think. But StarStruck has always made big mistakes. The only star it had made since it aired on television is Jennylyn Mercado.

Those they booted out became big stars on their own, like Megan Young and Alden Richards.

As I have always said, the pri-macy in a star build up is looks, and talent comes only second.

Where are those the judges in the previous editions of Star-Struck thought had talent?

HHHHH

Q & A wiTh BenjAmin We sent several questions to Beautiful Strangers male star Ben-jamin Alves and he gladly an-swered them.

Benjamin, you seem a little too comfortable with Lovi (Poe) in your scenes as husband and wife. What do you think Rocco feels when you become a little inti-mate with Lovi Poe in the series?

Rocco is my brother and he’s a mature and secured man. I doubt he has any ill feelings about it.

Off the set, do you have friendly conversations with Rocco and Lovi? Do they tell you, “hey guy back off a little, you’re taking ad-vantage already.”

Not at all. Before doing an intimate

scene with Lovi, do you ask her if Rocco wouldn’t mind?

Lovi, Rocco and I are like family, and we trust each other. So there’s no need for that.

Has there ever been a scene that both of you and Lovi would be in a compromising situation that Lovi said, “no, I won’t do it” and if she did how did you react if ever there was a situation like that?

None, our director, Albert Langi-tan, takes care of us and we trust him. 

What can the viewers expect from your character in the next episodes of the series?

There’s a lot of secrets na hindi pa alam ni Lawrence. So that’s where my character is heading: maiipit na naman siya sa love for his family (es-pecially that there might be a reconcil-

iation between my character and my dad, Tito Boyet) and love for Joyce.`Your drama series deals with revenge and infidelity. What are your thoughts on revenge and infidelity?

They’re both really a waste of en-ergy. No one wins at all.

What have you learned from the show and from your co-ac-tors especially with Christopher and Dina?

Ms D is such a sweet person on the set. Her treating us to her restau-rant in between location changes is something I will remember for life. Tito Boyet, he’s such a skilled actor, I could really feel his presence and is very giving in scenes.

Your memorable scenes so far?Siguro my scenes with Tito Boyet.

They’re usually heavy and a lot of tension gets wrapped up in our scenes and I’m just glad I can be in a scene with someone like him.

Thanks, Benjamin for indulg-ing us with your answers. It’s such a pleasure talking to you.

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 20 : 2015

Rhed Bustamante and Ashley Sarmiento, the child stars of afternoon se-ries Flor de Liza, give life to

Pinpin and Lara as the celebration of the 15 magical years of entertain-ment and values-oriented stories continues in Wansapanataym Pres-

ents: Lara Burara every Sunday.Lara (Ashley Sarmiento) is a

young girl that is fascinated with toys. One day, she and her mom buy a handmade doll at a toy store. Coincidentally, Pinpin (Rhed Bustamante), the daughter of their laundrywoman, also wants to buy

the doll and even saves money just to have it. However, after a while, Lara gets bored with the doll and takes it for granted. Little does she know that the doll carries a magic spell with it.

What will Lara do once she dis-covers that the doll is cursed? Will

she be able to learn her lesson? Can Pinpin save her from this curse?

Also joining the cast are Agot Isidro, Dominic Ochoa, Tart Carlos, and Gee Canlas. Don’t miss the life lessons shared in the show every Sunday on ABS-CBN.

Lessons on negLigenCe in ‘Wansapanataym’

Regine AT The TheATRe on second weekend

Klea Pineda Migo Adecer

Liezel Lopez

Elyson de Dios

Ayra Mariano Jay Arcilla

Analyn Barro

Avery Paraiso

Arra San Agustin

Kevin Sagra’s StarStruck journey ended last Friday

Regine Velasquez-Alcasid returns to the stage at The Theatre at Solaire for the last two nights of her series

Lovi Poe and Rocco Nacino: off cam sweethearts

Benjamin Alves and Lovie Poe: On cam couple

Benjamin Alves soaks in the experience working with other actors

From c8

C8 ISAH V. REDE D I T O R

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 20 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

Next month, Asia’s Nightingale Lani Mis-alucha will be back in Manila in a special two-night concert at The Theatre at Solaire. The show is called Voice of the Nightingale. Considered one of the best and most respected singers in the Philippines today, Lani has been receiving recognition not only in the Philippines but overseas as well. In 2004, she was the first Asian to head-line a show on Las Vegas strip, performing with Hawaii’s Society of Seven at the Jubi-lee Theater of Baily’s. She earned the mon-iker Las Vegas’ “New Siren of The Strip”. In 2008, she was voted Best Singer (staff pick) at the 27th Annual Best of Las Vegas poll. To top it all off, former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman officially declared Dec. 4 as Lani Misalucha Day. Known for her impressive five-octave vocal range and superb showmanship, Lani proved her talent has no bounds by touring and selling out venues all around the world and has since expanded her fandom internationally - exemplifying that her talent is truly world class. Voice of the Nightingale started as a sold-out casino tour in California in May 2015, with international singing sensation, Ar-nel Pineda as Lani’s special guest. Arnel Pineda became the lead of Jour-ney in 2007 and still touring with the band. Earlier this year, he independent-ly released AP.ex, a solo extended play album featuring original compositions and is of limited release online and in the Philippines. A force to be reckoned with, Lani Misalucha with Arnel Pineda, due to insistent public demand, returned to the U.S.A. for another series run, and soon,

Manila will also get to experience this spectacular show. Voice of The Nightingale will be held on Dec. 4 (Friday) and Dec. 5 (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.) at the Theatre at Solaire. Arnel Pi-neda, also returns as her special guest. Tickets are available at all Ticketworld outlets (www.ticketworld.com.ph / 891-9999) and at SM Tickets outlets (www.smtickets.com / 470-2222). For more information visit www.star-mediaentertainment.com Voice of the Nightingale is a produc-tion of Starmedia Entertainment and for the benefit of PMA Makatao Class of 1989 and St. Paul College Manila Class of 77 - for Bahay ni Mari. Home for the Abandoned Grandmothers in Calamba and Little Sisters of the Poor – San Lo-renzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly.

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2015 AmericAn music AwArds on colours GlAmfestCelebrate the biggest and the most glam-orous Hollywood events this season as Colours, the first local female lifestyle channel in HD, brings you a bolder and brighter Glamfest. Now on its third year, Colours Glam-fest is all set to give its viewers a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience with LIVE telecasts of TV specials like the American Music Awards this month, the Golden Globe Awards in January 2016, and the GRAMMYs in February 2016. A visual fashion feast in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show next month will also be one of the main attractions. To kick off this year’s Glamfest, Colours will air LIVE the 2015 American Music Awards, the world’s biggest fan-voted award show, 9 a.m. on Nov. 23. It’s going to be another phenomenal night as Jennifer Lopez hosts and per-forms. Other performers include 5 Sec-onds of Summer, Selena Gomez, Nick

Jonas, Demi Lovato, One Direction, Carrie Underwood and Walk The Moon. Leading the nominees for this year’s AMAs is Taylor Swift with a total of six nominations followed by Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd with five nominations each. The Song of The Year nominees are Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth for “See You Again,” Mark Ronson featur-ing Bruno Mars for “Uptown Funk,” Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and The Weekend’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” Music fans are also in for a treat as The Artist of the Year nominees in-clude Luke Bryan, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainer and The Weeknd. This year’s AMAs will also have its ENCORE telecast on Colours , 8 p.m.,on Nov. 23. Aside from these exciting TV specials, Colours Glamfest is taking the experi-ence to a whole new level with exciting events starting off with its Media Agency Tour this November and a grand Glam Expo, the ultimate beauty haul, in Jan-uary. But the glitz and glam indulgence doesn’t end there. Colours is giving one lucky viewer a chance to wear a designer gown, walk the red carpet with her friend and rub elbows with the stars thru the channel’s perennial Glam Up for The Grammys Promo Year 3 to premiere in December. For details of the promo mechanics, tune in on the channel and check out the Colours official Facebook page or follow @colourstvph on Instagram & Twitter. Watch COLOURS, the first local fe-male lifestyle channel in HD, via Cignal Channel 27 (SD) and on Channel 102 (HD). It is also available in over 200 lo-cal cable operators nationwide. For more information, log on to www.cignal.tv.

the niGhtinGAle At the theAtre

ISAH V. RED

➜ continued on c7

The Voice of the Nightingale with Lani Misalucha will have Arnel Pineda as guest

Lani Misalucha, acclaimed Asia's Nightingale

Arnel Pineda remains the vocalist of Journey

i s a h r e d @ g m a i l . c o m