Manila Standard Today - Sunday (October 21, 2012) Issue

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TURNING
UP THE
HEAT.
Miami Heat
dancers
raise the
temperature
with their sultry
dance number
during Heat-
Clippers game
in Shanghai,
China.
SPORTS A4 TECH B3
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Sunday
MST
The Sunday Edition of ManilaStandardTODAY
Vol. I No. 17 12 Pages, 2 Section
P18.00 SUNDAY, October 21, 2012
TOSHIMITSU
TANAKA
Filipino traits are
admirable and
stand as a good
leverage in
accomplishing
the goals of
Epson in the
Philippines.
ARTS & LIFE B1
ANA
VICTORINO
WEAVES
MAGIC
Ana Victorino
may only be 19
years old but
she is already
a well-known
YouTube guru
and professional
makeup artist.
By Maricel Cruz
and Macon Araneta
A RANKING lawmaker on Sat-
urday vowed to take the sin tax
issue to the bicameral conference
committee-level even as Finance
ofcials remained at a loss for ex-
planation on how the P40-billion
revenue estimate was arrived at.
Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman
of the House ways and means
panel, said his panel would come
into the picture at the bicameral
conference where the proposal
would still need to be netuned.
I support President Aquinos
desire for a P40-billion (compro-
mise) position to support revenue
targets from new taxes on alco-
hold and tobacco but it did not
mean that Congress would settle
for that (amount), he said.
He issued the statement after
Senate President Juan Ponce En-
rile on Friday said Finance Depart-
ment ofcials gave no clear reason
for scaling down the targeted reve-
nues from the sin tax bill from P60
billion to P40 billion.
Malaysian
ofoading
places BI
in a spot
P40-b sin tax gures
leave solons puzzled
RH advocates push harder
Hard habit
to break.
A student in
Manila puffs
a cigarette, a
habit the sin
tax law will
supposedly kick.
DANNY PATA
Fired up, hosed down. A member of the Katipunan ng mga Mamamayan ng Pilipinas sprays paint on a wall of Camp Aguinaldo but military men (inset) are quick to hose
down the scarlet letters that were painted on a wall near a gate of the camp that serves as the headquarters of the Philippine Armed Forces. She is protesting the murder of a tribal
woman in South Cotabato. MANNY PALMERO
PEACE
PACT
SHAKY
Clan wars may escalate
The gunbattles that started on
Friday in Barangay Lower Libutan
left both sides with several casual-
ties, said Mayor Benzar Ampat-
uan of Mamasapano town.They
clashed and both sides suffered
casualties, Ampatuan said.
But Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, com-
mander of the Armys 6th Infantry
Division, said the recent clashes
had nothing to do with the peace
pact since those involved were
Moro clans who were ghting
against each other over ownership
of lands. Muslim clan wars, ac-
cording to Ardo, is called a rido.
Two or three days ago
weve received information
about encounters of rival clans
or families in Mamasapano
here in Maguindano killing
By Florante S. Solmerin
M
EMBERS
of the Moro
Islamic
Liberation Front
and bandits from the
Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters
headed by Umbra
Kato have clashed
several times recently,
and a military ofcial
said the skirmishes
could escalate
although the clashes
had nothing to do
with the framework
agreement signed
between the MILF and
the government the
Philippine government
signed a week ago.
By Vito Barcelo
IMMIGRATION ofcials at
the airport are in trouble for
ofoading ve Filipino do-
mestic helpers who are part
of the ofcial delegation of
the Malaysian government
that signed the peace accord
between the Aquino adminis-
tration and the Moro rebels.
The ve Filipinos were part of
the ofcial entourage of the Ma-
laysian delegation led by Prime
Minister Najib Abdul Razak, an
airport ofcial said on Saturday.
The Malaysian embassy in
Manila threatened to le a dip-
lomatic protest as a result of the
incident and asked the Immigra-
tion bureau to issue an apology.
Immigration spokesman could
not be reached for comment. At
the airport, Immigration supervisor
By Maricel V. Cruz
ADVOCATES of the reproductive
health (RH) bill have claimed their
initial victory as the substitute ver-
sion of the controversial measure
had been submitted for plenary
discussions even as they vowed to
push harder to put it to a vote.
House Speaker Feliciano Bel-
monte Jr. gave the assurance that
the RH bill would nally be dis-
cussed on Nov. 5 with the Con-
gress resuming session.
Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said
that the substitute to House
Bill 4244 was a breakthrough
that would compel the leader-
ship of the House of Represen-
tatives to nally resume debates
on the measure.
Its about time that we end
the delaying tactics and proceed
to the period of amendments.
We need to work harder to make
HB4244 more responsive to the
needs of poor women and chil-
dren by introducing amendments
to the three incongruent provi-
sions that drumbeat population
control as the solution to pover-
ty, said Ilagan, vice chairman of
the House committee on women.
Since 1986, government-ini-
tiated efforts to control popula-
tion had failed.
Women need a national policy
on a genuine, pro-poor and com-
prehensive reproductive health
care minus the population control
agenda, she said.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the
principal author of HB 4244 also
known as the The Responsible
Parenthood, Reproductive Health
And Population And Development
Act Of 2011, presented a substi-
tute bill that, among other things,
mandates the government to give
priority to the poor households in
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
OCTOBER 21, 2012 SUNDAY
A2
Sunday
NEWS
ManilaStandardTODAY
[email protected]
Mayor Mauricio Macai said
the hydroelectric plant built in
the 1950s was fast regaining
its luster as a travel destination
among ecology-minded tourists.
We want to show how Bokod
can help advance the ecotourism
industry which is expected to en-
tice more foreign and domestic
nature lovers, he told Manila
Standard.
As a travel genre, the Bangui
wind turbines in Ilocos Norte,
Maria Cristina Falls at the Agus
VI Hydroelectric Plant in Mind-
anao and other power infrastruc-
ture sites have become part of
the mainstream itinerary.
Municipal tourism ofcer
Elinger Dayotao said the three-
day break lined up trekking led
by guides trained jointly by the
town and SN Aboitiz Power-
Benguet, operator of the dam.
The trail takes hikers on a sce-
nic route overlooking the dams
spillway at 752 meters above
sea level, onto two peaks and
an outdoor experience on well-
appointed camping grounds.
A boat cruise on the 7.5 square
kilometer reservoir hooks up
Ambuklao beckons
Ambuklao trail overlooks dam spillway and takes trekkers to feast on freshly caught tilapia and carp.
By Dexter A. See

BOKODWeekend vacationers ock
to Ambuklao Dam on Oct. 26 to enjoy an
extra day of adventure in Finding Na-
tures Hidden Treasure of Benguet prov-
ince.
with a tilapia festival for visi-
tors to feast on fresh, organi-
cally grown sh.
The powerplant closed down
after the July 1990 earthquake
which left the reservoir heav-
ily silted. It was revived by
SN Aboitiz in 2008 with a
$325-million bid to repair two
generators and increase the out-
put from 105 to 125 megawatts.
Ambuklao dam resumed sup-
plying the Luzon Grid in Octo-
ber 2011.
In 2001, the Bureau of Fish-
eries and Aquatic Resources
allowed residents in the dam
premises to raise tilapia and carp
in the reservoir not only for their
household needs but for liveli-
hood as well.
According to Dayotao, dis-
covering Ambuklaos treasures
also includes the Heritage pro-
gramme, allowing participants a
taste of highland culture capped
Malaysian...
Benito Se declined to comment.
The incident occurred October 16, 2012 when the ve household work-
ers directly under Malaysian Foreign Minister Honorable Dato Sri Anifah
Haji Amangates were barred from boarding an aircraft (MH 803) bound
for Malaysia. A member of Immigrations Travel Control Enforcement
Unit headed by Nelia Buenaor prevented the ve workers from leaving.
An airport ofcial said that the ve Filipinos were mistaken for
workers on their way to Kuala Lumpur.
The veMaricel Cancejo, Janeth Revadona Rene Revadona, De-
cemera Salceda and Wendelyn Tacotacochecked in to board the Ma-
laysian Airlines ight MH803. They lined up before the nal security
screening check but were ordered by another Immigration ofcer to
return to the TCEU on orders of Buenaor.
Immigration sources said that a TCEU ofcer proled the passenger
as a possible tourist- workers based on their looks. An order was
then issued to off-load the ve based on the Immigration guidelines
for suspected victims of trafcking in humans.
The rest of the Malaysian delegation left on the same ight while the
ve Filipinos under the employ of Razak were ofoaded.
The Foreign Minister of Malaysia called DFA Secretary Albert Del
Rosario and asked him to intervene and reminded the Bureau of Im-
migration of foreign Affairs protocol with regard to ofcial members
of a diplomatic entourage.
The ve Filipino workers were listed as part of the ofcial entourage
of the Malaysian Prime Minister as household staff serving the PM and
his wife. They managed to rebook their ight the next day.
The case of the ve Filipino domestics was not an isolated one, ac-
cording to Immigration records.
Nearly half a million Filipino passengers have been off-loaded by
the BID since 2010 when the Justice Department enforced new guide-
lines on passengers traveling abroad.
Travel agencies have charged that the new guidelines were discrimi-
natory and unconstitutional as they violated the freedom and right to
travel of every Filipino.
RH...
its provision of reproductive health
care, to guarantee public access to
reproductive health care services,
and to provide nancing support to
promote natural methods of family
planning.
It is a step forward since the
leadership has taken action to
move the period of amendments
from Limbo, Ilagan pointed out.
It is now closer to being voted
upon. The antis have mostly soft-
ened their hard stance, she added.
The RH bill aims to guarantee
universal access to the methods of
contraception, fertility control, sex-
ual education and maternal health
care, but is highly divisive, with
experts, academics, religious insti-
tutions, and major political gures
supporting and opposing it.
In the 14th Congress, the RH bill
had failed to secure approval from
both chambers of Congress due to
due to staunch oppositionfrom the
Catholic Church and pro-life advo-
cates. Lagmans bill was led on
Feb. 21, 2011.
Opposition stalwart, Siquijor
Rep. Orlando Fua, who withdrew
support for the RH bill, said that the
history of state-initiated population
control programs had been abject
failures, particularly those carried
out during the Cory Aquino admin-
istration and Fidel Ramos adminis-
tration.
This project has been carried
from one administration to another.
I remember that even in the time of
Cory Aquino there were already ef-
forts to control the population. Dur-
ing the Ramos watch, there was a
move to control the population. But
nothing had happened, the countrys
population had continued to grow,
Fua told the Manila Standard.
The RH oppositors believed
that the bill would only promote
promiscuity and the use articial
contraceptives.
Ilagan claried that the substi-
tute bill was not actually a new
version. It only incorporates in-
puts the proposed amendments
coming from the authors, the civil
society and from individuals who
want to address specic provi-
sions of the consolidated bill.
The latest amendment particu-
larized the section and informed
choice and pro-quality life for
children, Ilagan said.
Belmonte acknowledged that
the Lower House is confronted
with a big challenge with its man-
date to pass some controversial
bills, such as the RH bill, before
the Christmas break.
There are many other bills of
course that we have passed, very
important tones and at the proper
time we will enumerate them, but
lets face the fact that there are some
very important bills that still remain
for us to act on, and the rest of our
term is not as long as you might
think, Belmonte said.
By next year, Belmonte said,
it would be difcult for them to
muster quorum because every-
body would be all busy with 2013
elections preparations.
Former Health Secretary Esper-
anza Cabral and Senator Pia Cay-
etano said they believed the new
version should be good and accept-
able to all who opposed the bill, but
House Minority Leader Danilo Su-
arez said he remained completely
opposed to it and doubted it would
address the problem of the coun-
trys growing population.
And on Thursday, a priest said
the Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines, which is violently
against the bill, had yet to receive
a copy of the substitute bill and so
could not comment on it yet.
Cabral and the women advo-
cates of the bill on Friday wel-
comed the substitute measure and
said the amendments would be
acceptable to its oppositors.
But House Minority Leader
Danilo Suarez said he remained
completely opposed to the RH
Health Bill and doubted it would
be able to address the countrys
growing population.
I dont support the RH Bill--
even the revised version of the
measure. I am completely op-
posed to it, Suarez told the Ma-
nila Standard.
He was quick to say that his
position did not reect the posi-
tion of the 27-man opposition in
the House.
It is still a consience call for
the minority, said Suarez who,
along with the other members of
the opposition bloc, earlier with-
drew their authorship of House
Bill 4244.
He said the bill would face
rough sailing in both House of
Congress.
Cayetano, the principal au-
thor of the RH bill in the Senate,
said she was still reviewing the
amendments in the House.
This is different from our bill,
but its still good for me to know
their version, Cayetano, who left
for abroad on Friday, tweeted.
Cabral said she was amenable
to the amendments to the House
version of the bill.
I agree. Thats how priority
should be given, Cabral said in
reaction to the provision mandat-
ing that the poor be given priority
in the distribution of birth control
methods.
P40-b...
I dont know how they have
done it [or] what model they
used. You know, when you
devise a tax system, you have
some notion of the kind of tax
structure that you are going to
dohow much you will tax
this particular kind of cigarette.
Thats why, you have classica-
tions and the tax contributions.
All of these are different from
the totality. That is not simplis-
tic, Enrile said.
At a meeting with the sena-
tors Wednesday, Finance Secre-
tary Cesar Purisima said the ad-
ministration would be agreeable
to scaling down the targeted
revenues from taxes on tobacco
and alcohol to P40 billion, a g-
ure that was still considerably
higher than the P15 billion that
the Senate version specied, or
the P31.2 billion set down in the
House version.
Earlier, relations between
the Palace and the Senate were
strained after a Palace ofcial
suggested that senators who
didnt back their P60 billion
target could be suspected of ac-
cepting bribes from the tobacco
and alcohol companies.
The remark led Senator Ralph
Recto to resign as chairman of
the Senate ways and means com-
mittee and to withdraw his ver-
sion of the sin tax bill.
His replacement as chairman,
Senator Franklin Drilon, is a
staunch ally of President Benigno
Aquino III.
Enrile said Purisima had
suggested the P40 billion g-
ure without saying how the tax
burden would be shared by the
tobacco and alcohol industries.
The House version of the bill
had earlier drawn criticism for
favoring the alcohol companies
with a much smaller tax burden
of P4.4 billion, as opposed to the
tobacco companies, which were
expected to raise P26.8 billion.
The original administration
bill sought to gain P30 billion
from each industry.
Enrile added that taxation was
a complex exercise that needed
to take into account different tax
rates for different price points.
He also questioned Drilons
plan to use Rectos bill as a
take-off point for a new bill.
How can you use a commit-
tee report as a starting point if
you do not believe in it in the
rst place? Enrile said.
The Senate president said
Drilon would also have to jus-
tify any modications made to
the Recto bill.
If he [Drilon] will modify it
then he will be asked, How did
you modify it? Where did you
get the gures? Where did you
pull out that gure to modify the
totality of the amount to be raised
under the sin tax? He will be
hard put to answer that question
unless he has constructed his own
tax model to deal with these par-
ticular products, Enrile said.
Recto, now a member of the
ways and means committee,
said he doubted the Finance
Department would be able to
collect P40 billion.
Peace...
two or three people from one
side. The number of fatalities or
casualties could rise because we
expect a retaliation from the ag-
grieved clan or families, Maj.
Gen. Rey Ardo, commander of
the Armys 6th Infantry Divi-
sion, said.
Ardo, who was recently pro-
moted as commander of the
Western Mindanao Command
by President Aquino, added that
some groups use the name of the
MILFF and BIFF to bolster their
claim in the clan wars.
Ang daming nagbabarilan
diyan, halos araw-araw ang
barilan Hindi na bago yan
diyan. Actually the other pa
[ang labanan], the same group
na may standing rido. Practi-
cally, kung minsan they are just
bringing the name of the MILF
and BIFF, Ardo said.
The clashes have reached
the attention of Malacanang,
but government chief nego-
tiator Marvic Leonen made
an assurance that the military
and the police are on top of
the situation.
Reports from the ground
indicate that this was a chance
and accidental encounter be-
tween the two forces. Members
of the BIFF are the subject of
law enforcement operations by
the army and the police. There
are no spillovers and this is
guaranteed by the current nor-
mal deployment of the army,
said Leonen in a statement.
Ardo said the 1st Mecha-
nized Brigade under the com-
mand of Col. Edgardo Gon-
zales was looking into the
situation to prevent the esca-
lation of the clan wars into a
full-blown conflict.
Ampatuan has also asked the
government and the MILF cease-
re committees to step in and put
a stop to the wars.
Meanwhile, police Director-
General Nicanor Bartolome on
Saturday lauded the commit-
ment of the MILF to support gov-
ernment efforts in hunting down
lawless elements, including the
Abu Sayyaf Group, which con-
tinues to sow terror in Mindanao.
Bartolome said the MILFs
commitment was a magnani-
mous gesture in support of the
governments policy in imple-
menting all out justice against
lawless elements in Mindanao.
Consistent with our commit-
ment to support all initiatives for
peace, the PNP will act decisive-
ly against any group that wish
to sabotage or derail this peace
agreement with the MILF.
Bartolome said with MILFs
cooperation, the PNP can look
forward to more aggressive po-
lice operations against lawless
elements similar to the recent
operations launched in Sultan
Kudarat and Basilan that led to
the capture of two sub-leaders of
the Abu Sayyaf Group.
On Tuesday, the police arrest-
ed Sali Basal TAIB, alias Gong-
gong Sali and Abu Husni, near
Barangay Wal Primary Schol in
Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat.
The suspect is wanted for al-
leged involvement in the kidnap-
ping of 10 workers of the Golden
Harvest Plantation in Lantawan,
Basilan in 2001. The government
has offered P3.3-million reward
for his arrest.
The next day, the police also
arrested three other outlaws in
Abdula ALAD alias Abdulla
Magdal, Salip Abdullah anad
Aduwa Salip in Malamawi, Isa-
bela City.
Alad is wanted for his alleged
involvement in the kidnapping
of American missionaries
Martin and Gracia Burnham in
Sulu and carried a P2-million
reward for his arrest. With
Francisco Tuyay
by the awarding of certicates
and souvenirs.
Native fare is known for pinik-
pikan, a chicken stew prepared in
the traditional tribal recipe to go
with tapuy rice wine, and Cor-
dillera coffee among other indig-
enous specialties.
Dayotao said inquiries and res-
ervations can be made through
Claire Prudencio of the Benguet
Tourism Ofce e-mail: ambuk-
[email protected] and
on landline (074)4221116.
Bokod is 41 kilometers from
Baguio City and 64 kilometers
from Aritao junction in Nueva
Vizcaya.
[email protected]
Sunday
NEWS
ManilaStandardTODAY
A3
Manila dodges intl
financial blacklist
Nur has had his
chance, govt says
Calungsod
a fountain
of PH pride
Non-stop PAL flights to Toronto start Nov. 30
Petition spurs Sting
to move concert site
By Ronald O. Reyes
PALO, Leyte Former Muslim Mindanao
Governor Nur Misuari has had his chance to lead
Mindanao out of poverty and underdevelopment
and the former chairman of the Moro National
Liberation Front should now yield to new and
younger Muslim brothers who may just have better
management skills and moral leadership.
This was the message former
senator Ramon Magsaysay delivered
for President Aquino during the 68th
anniversary of the Leyte Gulf Landing
here on Saturday.
Brother Nur Misuari has been given
a chance... He was given a long chance
and he didnt quite succeed. He should
now give a chance to the new leaders,
young leaders. Maybe they have better
management and moral leadership,
Magsaysay said.
Paying tribute to the Filipino and
American soldiers who died in the
Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval
battle of the Second World War, and the
subsequent Battle of Leyte, Magsaysay
urged Filipinos to march in the name
of the fallen and the brave, and into a
truly glorious nation... Let us all be our
brothers keepers.
Let the decades-old war in the South
be stopped, and let our Muslim brothers
and sisters be given a chance to
improve their community and become
productive members in the society,
Magsaysay said.
Magsaysay, reading the Presidents
speech.
Foreign dignitaries present during the
commemoration also reafrmed their
commitment to peace and prosperity
in Asia and in specic areas, like in
Mindanao.
Japanese diplomat Setsuo Ohmori said
Japan remained committed to support
economic development and and peace for
the Bangsamoro people while US deputy
chief of mission Brian Goldbeck reiterated
his countrys suport for development in
Mindanao as well as peace and security
in the Philippines.
Magsaysay delivered the Presidents
message after Misuari dismissed
suggestions that the MNLF reunite with
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to
bolster the recently signed framework
agreement on peace in Mindanao.
He said the MILF, which broke away
from the MNLF in 1978, must also seek
to be recognized by the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation which brokered the
Tripoli Agreement of 1976 between the
government the rebel group.
Instead, challenged the government to
arrest him even as he left for Mindanao on
Friday to attend a summit of the MNLF
in Davao City.
Misuari had claimed on Friday that a
warrant of arrest has been issued against
in relation to the rebellion charges that
are pending against him.
THE Aquino administration said
canonization of Blessed Pedro
Calungsod in Vatican on Sunday is
a source of national pride for all
Filipinos.
This is a day of great spiritual joy
and national pride not only for Filipino
Catholics, but for all those who call
the Philippines their home, especially
our countrymen in the Visayas and
Mindanao, deputy presidential
spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
She said some ofcials of the
government and leaders of the Catholic
Church as well as throngs of pilgrims
will be at St. Peters Square to witness
the historic event.
A delegation of ofcials, led by
the Vice President and Secretary Rene
Almendras, will be present in St. Peters
Square together with the senior prelates
of the Philippine Catholic hierarchy
and a multitude of pilgrims to witness
the canonization of Blessed Pedro
Calungsod who has been described as a
protomartyr, Valte said.
Filipino Catholics recall well that
it was under the reign of Pope John
Paul II a pontiff who held Filipinos
very dear to his heart and upon the
initiation of His Eminence Ricardo
Cardinal Vidal, that the beatication
for Calungsod was initiated in 1994
and culminating in his beatication in
2000, she said.
In 12 short years, the canonical
requirements for his canonization
has been fullled. We join the
Catholic world on this day of solemn
commemoration and celebration, she
added.
Born in the year 1654 in the Visayas
island, Blessed Pedro Calungsod also
known as Pedro Calonsor was born
in the year 1654 and died on April 2,
1672.
He was a young Roman Catholic
Filipino migrant, sacristan and
missionary catechist, who along
with Blessed Diego Luis de San
Vitores, suffered religious persecution
and martyrdom in Guam for their
missionary work in 1672.
While in Guam, Calungsod preached
Christianity to the Chamorro people
through catechism, while baptizing
both infants, children and adults at the
risk of being persecuted and eventually
murdered. Through Calungsod and
San Vitores missionary efforts, many
native Chamorros converted to Roman
Catholicism.
Blessed Pedro Calungsod was
formally beatied on March 5, 2000
by Blessed Pope John Paul II. On
February 18, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI
ofcially announced that Calungsod
will be canonized on October 21.
President Benigno Aquino III earlier
declared October 21 as a national
day of celebration for Calungsods
sainthood.
The life and martyrdom of Blessed
Calungsod shall serve as an inspiration
to Filipinos, particularly the youth
to live a life anchored on values and
principles, the President said.
Joyce Pangco Paares
POP star Sting has moved the location of his Back to Bass Tour concert in the
Philippines following a petition by environmentalists who said the original venue
is owned by a conglomerate that plans to uproot 182 trees for a parking lot and
mall expansion in a northern mountain city.
The SM Mall of Asia Arena said on Saturday that changing the site of the Dec.
9 concert was the decision of the artist himself.
Understandably, the known environment advocate artist was left with no choice
in spite of the SM representatives appeal, it said in a statement.
SM Prime Holdings, which operates SM malls and the arena on Manila Bay, is
owned by the Philippines richest man, mall mogul Henry Sy.
Environmentalists said in their petition that as a champion of the environment,
Sting cant be saving rainforests and enabling SM to rape the environment at the
same time!
Sting and his wife Trudie Styler established The Rainforest Foundation in 1989
to protect tropical rainforests and the people who live there.
Arena business manager Arnel Gonzales told The Associated Press that the
venue became collateral damage in the environmentalists campaign.
With this successful move to stop Sting from holding the concert at SM MOA
Arena, and referring to the venue as an oppressor, it is now looking more like
the court battle has extended from saving trees, to ruining a corporate giants
reputation completely, the arena said in its statement.
A local court has temporarily stopped the mall expansion plans in northern
Baguio city.
Karlo Marko Altomonte, who initiated the petition, wrote Stings foundation
saying that removing the trees would signicantly increase air pollution and the
risk of landslides and ooding in an area near schools.
Thank you, Sting, for helping us defend our environment, our heritage, our
home, he wrote on his Facebook page. AP
Biggest Philippine aviation deal. Philippine Airlines president Ramon Ang (center) addresses French and Filipino businessmen after formally signing a contract
for the purchase of 54 new Airbus passenger planes, worth $7 billion. The signing on Saturday was witnessed by visiting Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. At left is Airbus
Asia-Pacic vice president Jean Francois Laval and PAL vice president and treasurer Harry Tan. AP
By Joyce Pangco Paares
THE Philippines has dodged being
included in the black list of the
Financial Action Task Force despite
the continuing failure of Congress to
pass a measure that would empower
the government to look into records
of non-bank entities which may be
involved in money laundering and
terrorist nancing.
Anti-Money Laundering Council
executive director Vicente Aquino,
who is in Paris for the FATF meeting,
said the Philippines was given a
reprieve.
Deputy presidential spokesperson
Abigail Valte said the task force took
into consideration the strides taken
by AMLC against dirty money in the
country.
We were informed that because of
the efforts of our AMLC, the FATF
was made aware of the current efforts
to pass the third piece of legislation
that is required for us to avoid being
downgraded, Valte said.
The FATF did recognize these
efforts and has instead kept us in the in
grey list, but urged us also to adopt the
third measure for us to be compliant
with international standards, the
Palace ofcial added.
This is the second time that the
Philippines evaded being blacklisted,
which could have increased nancial
transaction costs and sanctions for
remittances.
In June, the country was upgraded
from the dark grey list to the grey list
after passing two laws that criminalized
terrorist nancing and gave authority
to AMLC to examine bank accounts
without the owners consent.
The Senate failed to pass the third
measure in time for FATFs meeting
on Friday, with some lawmakers
lukewarm to including tax evasion as a
predicate crime for fear that this could
be used for political persecution.
FATFs next plenary meeting has
been set in February next year.
If the Philippines ends up in the black
list of the 36-member FATF, it will be
subject to nancial sanctions that might
result in delayed remittances, higher
charges and intermediation costs on
nancial transactions.
We dont want to get to that point,
especially given the fact that there
is so much interest economically in
the country which will be hampered
if there are sanctions imposed on us
in dealing with the world nancial
market, President Benigno Aquino III
said in an earlier interview.
By Eric B. Apolonio
FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines will
start non-stop ights to Toronto, Canada
starting Nov. 30, the airlines rst new
gateway in North America in 15 years,
company president Ramon S. Ang
announced on Saturday.
We are always keen on developing
new markets and Toronto, with its
diverse population, booming economy
and status as one of the worlds top
nancial centers, presents us a major
opportunity to do so, said Ang.
There has long been a big clamor from
our customers in Toronto and all along
Canadas eastern seaboard, particularly the
large Filipino community, for a PAL service
to their part of the country, he added.
About 250,000, or 4.1% of greater
Torontos 6.05 million residents, are of
Filipino origin, the largest concentration
of Filipinos in Canada and a natural base
market for PAL.
Filipino-Canadians are, in fact,
among the largest visitor groups to
the Philippines, accounting for over
117, 400 arrivals in 2011 and they are
expected to surpass that record this year.
For the rst eight months of 2012, there
were 81,093 returning Filipino arrivals
from Canada.
This is an opportune time for PAL to
expand and re-establish links with this
dynamic region of North America, said
Mr. Ang. Toronto is just the rst step
in our long-range network expansion
that will see PAL y back to the U.S.
East Coast and to Europe.
Toronto will becomes PALs 27th
international destination and 46th
overall and the airline will launch the
17-hour-long ight in time for Christmas
with the use of brand new, fuel efcient
Boeing 777-300ER replacing the aging
B747 series.
The new service will trigger a revamp
of PALs Canadian operation. From
Nov. 30, the current daily service
between Manila and Vancouver, British
Columbia, on Canadas West Coast,
will be revised to four times weekly,
alternating with a three-times-weekly
non-stop ight from Manila to Toronto.
On the return journey, there will be
four ights from Vancouver to Manila
each week with a shared service from
Toronto three times weekly. Toronto-
Manila, therefore, will be a one-stop
service via Vancouver.
Sting with his wife Trudie Styler. AP
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Sunday
SPORTS
ManilaStandardTODAY
A5
Sunday Edited by REUEL VIDAL
SPORTS
ManilaStandardTODAY
The Miami Heat, led by their
coach Eric Spoelstra were pres-
ent in full force. That means
the Filipino boys saw the Heat
players including Lebron James,
Dwayne Wade, Ray Allen, Grant
Hill and Mario Chalmers live and
in the esh. They also saw the
slam-dunking Blake Grifn, the
swashbuckling Chris Paul and the
rest of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The top Filipino 10 players
were chosen from a pool of 50
junior players who were in turn
culled from the National Train-
ing Camp conducted all over the
Philippines. The Jr. NBA national
training camp venues in 2012 in-
cluded Puerto Princesa, Cagayan
De Oro, Pampanga and Manila.
The Jr. NBA National Training
Camp developed and challenged
the participants skills through
basketball drills, skills tests,
strength and stamina challenges
and even competitive and fun
games.
The members of the Jr. NBA
team were own to Shanghai for
a week-long visit that they will re-
member for the rest of their lives.
In terms of population Shang-
hai is the largest city of China.
With a population of over 23 mil-
lion this global city is the center
of inuence in commerce, cul-
ture, nance, media, fashion,
technology, and transport. It
is a major nancial center and
home to the busiest container
port in the world.
The kids visited the
most famous land-
marks and sights of
the city. They also
attended the most
popular shows in-
cluding an evening
with the famed
Chinese acro-
bats. But for
many, other
than the NBA
game between
the Miami Heat and the Los Ange-
les Clippers, the most memorable
experience had to be the sky-
walk in the citys most popular
tourist destination the Oriental
Pearl TV Tower.
Alaska Milk Corporation and
the NBA are in their second year
of partnership with the Jr. NBA
program. The goal is to promote
the core values of discipline,
teamwork, hard work and deter-
mination among the youth. And
the vehicle used is the sport that
almost all Filipinos love with a
passion: basketball.
The nal step before the trip of a
lifetime to Shanghai, China was the
Jr. NBA Alaska National Training
By Lito Cinco
NATHANIEL Tac Padilla dreamed
of competing in the Olympic Games
when he was still in his teen years but
already a shooting champion.
Now 48, he is still the current record
holder in the rapid re, standard, and
center re events in the country, he just
topped all these events at the recent
National Open shooting championships
at the Marine range in Fort Bonifacio,
he has two daughters , the youngest one,
Mica, is a shooting champ too, while the
eldest, Patricia, just gifted her father
with his rst grand daughter.
Tac also holds the distinction of
being in the South East Asian Games
(SEAG) 17 times, missing only one
because shooting was not among the
events in Brunei that year. His career
spans 35 years. In all these years he
continues to be the no. 1 in the country.
He has a collection of ve gold medals
in the SEAG but could only show a 4th
place nish in the eight Asian games
he has joined.
Aside from longevity though, what
makes Tacs accomplishment note-
worthy in his sport is the fact that he
has a ful time job as General Manager
of the family-owned Malabon Soap &
Oil Company (MALSOCO), one of
the countrys most modern reneries
that manufactures, distributes, and
exports cooking oil under different
brands with Spring as the major
brand. Their company is one of the
dominant players in the industry.
MALSOCO is not just locally distrib-
uted. It now has a growing market in
the Middle East and China.
Tac took over the position from
his father, former shooting champion
Tom Ong and has overseen the expan-
sion of the companys operations to
quadruple of its size from the time he
assumed his role as GM.
But the one thing that has not
changed is Tac still has his Olympic
dream, the difference is, he would
not mind at all if it is not him but any
Filipino who nally wins that elusive
Olympic gold.
Padilla helping next generation of shooters
It would not be surprising at all if the
rst Filipino shooter to qualify in the
Olympic Games will come from among
the young shooters that he has produced
in the last four years under the Philippine
National Shooting Associations (PNSA)
National Youth Development Program
(NYDP) that Tac heads.
I volunteered for this job. I felt I am
now ready to discover, develop and train
young shooters. I owe a lot to shooting
and I want to give back something. When
I presented my plans to the PNSA board,
all were receptive to it, said Tac who
also wanted to prove that shooting is now
not just for the rich.
Believing that, he focused his efforts
on discovering shooters among the ordi-
nary folk who would have more time to
devote to the sport and he backs this belief
with time, effort, and personal resources.
Initially, he tapped Local Government
Units (LGUs) to sponsor young kids and
among others, he got Tagaytay, Taguig,
and Quezon City as the cities that con-
sistently participated. But bottom line,
he admits the program did not take off as
expected because LGUs were not able
to sustain their efforts.
Tac refused to give up though and
he turned to schools as the next pos-
sible source of new shooters that could
take the place of the countrys veteran
shooters, including himself.
The problem, except for Ateneo de
Manila and UP-Diliman, other schools
were not receptive to the idea. The other
problem is that when student shooters
graduate, they prioritize their working
career and leave shooting, said Tac.
Presently, even as dual shooting
competitions between Ateneo and UP-
Diliman are held regularly under the
NYDP , Tac is now eyeing the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The AFP has allowed us to tap
their ranks of shooters. Initially I
am looking at having four shooters,
starting with the pistol event. There
will be tryouts among AFP shooters.
I am happy that a friend of mine has
already agreed to donate his personal
equipment for this program, said Tac
And that is why Tac remains unfazed
by the setbacks he has faced. After all,
he has already produced a few shooters
who have proven themselves locally
and internationally. He acknowledged
the help of national shooting teammate
Julius Valdez who handpicked the likes
of Jayson Valdez, already a SEA Games
gold medal winner last year, Seldon
Arellano, and Venus Lovelyn Tan, all
in the air rie event.
We started with both ries and
pistols in the NYDP but so far, what
we have produced are rie shooters
both in the mens and womens sides,
young shooters now are taking the
place of the veterans. In the pistol
event, we have some potentials in the
womens division but none so far in
the mens side. But then I dont want
to end my career without discover-
ing one, can you imagine, this is my
event. said Tac.
And if he has to hold more regular
competitions and shooting clinics for
young shooters to discover his succes-
sor as he has been doing the past three
years, Tac is willing to do it, and that
will be his legacy to Philippine sports.
NBA EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME
PH boys watch Heat in China
By Reuel Vidal
THE top ten basketball players from the Philippines,
ages 10 to 15 years old who were selected by the Jr. NBA
and Alaska Milk Corporation, gained the experience of a
lifetime when they were own to Shanghai, China last week
to meet in person and watch the Miami Heat play against
the Los Angeles Clippers, travel abroad and see the beauty
of this foreign land, and play a friendly match against a
Chinese varsity high school squad.
Camp where the nal selection of
the top 10 players was made.
The journey began with tour-
ing clinics for coaches and players
from January to March and the
regional camps in April. These
were followed by the three-day
National Training Camp at the UP
Gym and the SM Mall of Asia in
September and nally the week-
long trip to China in October.
The Jr. NBA Alaska National
Training Camp involved 40 play-
ers chosen from the regional
camps and 10 from the Alaska
Power Camps.
The 50 players underwent
the grueling grind of a three-day
military style boot camp with bas-
ketball drills, skills tests, stamina
challenges, competitive games
and even some fun games at the
UP Gym and SM Mall of Asia.
In the end, Aljun Jay Melecio was
named MVP and Regille Kent Ilagan
the Alaska Youth Ambassador.
Melecio, 14, is an elemen-
tary school graduate of Lourdes
School in Mandaluyong. He is a
varsity player of La Salle Zobel
where he joins older brother Al-
eck, 15, in the varsity squad.
Ilagan, 15, went to Holy Child
Elementary in Tondo. He is a
varsity player of San Sebastian
high school. His idol is Chris
Paul in the NBA.
Other members of the top
10 are Patrick Ramirez from
Manila; Lui Jhullano Besa,
Cagayan de Oro; Felixberto
Jaboneta, Cagayan de Oro;
Arnie Padilla, Cagayan de Oro
who was incidentally chosen the
2012 Jr. NBA Studio 23 All Star
Player of the Game; Paul Harley
Dagunan, Puerto Princesa who
incidentally won the Gatorade
Hustle Award; Antonio Jefferey
Coronel, Pampanga; John Roald
Mayor, Pasig City and Camillus
Altamirano, Antipolo City.
The core of the program
is of course to inculcate the
STAR values (Sportsmanship,
Teamwork, Positive Attitude,
and Respect) in the participants
and aspirants in the program.
The STAR values are what
the program wants to instill in
the kids through our coaches,
said Alaska Milk vice president
for marketing Blen Fernando.
The program not only se-
lected the top 10 best players
but also included nding the
best coach for the team as well.
The nal 10 elite coaches
were Aldin Ayo, 28, of Sor-
sogon City, Albert Celebran,
32, of Bukidnon, Jose Marie
Larios, 34, of Puerto Princesa,
Clint Mondaro, 35, of Surigao
City, Ronald Belen, 39, of
Puerto Princesa, Johnny Be-
landrez, 36, of Cavite, John
Ocampo, 29, of Angeles City,
Jomer Panoncio, 24, of Puerto
Princesa, Marlon Hitosis, 30,
of Puerto Princesa and Rafael
Caimbon, 35, of Sta. Rosa City.
Ayo used to coach the Ae-
milianum College varsity in
Sorsogon. When he noticed
the lack of fundamental skills
among his senior players he
decided to go back to the gras-
soots and instead put up clinics
for kids to teach the basics of
the game.
He called his project the
ABC Ideas Camp. Every year
Ayo teaches about 1,500 kids
in Sorsogon and about 100
in Legazpi City. Most of his
campers are in the 10-14 age
group but he has opened ABC
Ideas to boys as young as three
years old and up to 19.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling exchanges pleasantries
with the author during the evening function just before the Heat-
Clippers game.
Camillus Altamirano of Antipolo City attacks the defense of Shanghai Nan Yang Model High School. The Filipinos beat their Chinese high school counterparts by the score of 95-25.
Former NBA star Glenn Rice, now an assistant coach with the Mi-
ami Heat, regales Jr. NBA players from the Philippines with stories
about the NBA.
Alaska Power Camp Project Director Jojo Lastimosa, right, and Alaska
Sports Development Manager CK Kanapi, left, were present in Shang-
hai, China to support the Jr. NBA-Alaska Milk program
Ayo played for the Letran
seniors in the NCAA. Among his
teammates were Kerby Raymun-
do, Willie Miller, Chris Calaguio,
Allan Salangsang and Jason Mi-
solas under coach Louie Alas.
He is a rst-term city councilor
in Sorsogon and a priority in his
political program is sports.
He of course joined his Jr. NBA
players in Shanghai, China.
The Jr. NBA Alaska program
has brought new hope, new life
and new dreams for coaches
and players alike. But beyond
sports, Alaskas Vice President
for Marketing Blen Fernando said
that Alaskas mission is to teach
character-building and promote
the core values of sportsmanship,
teamwork, respect and above all,
integrity to become better persons.
Paeng Nepomuceno, a five-
time world bowling champion and
Guinness Book of World Records
holder, once shared with us how
he gave up parties and hanging
out with friends because he had to
practice every day when he won
his rst World Cup at 19, said
Fernando. All the greats will tell
you there is no short cut to excel-
lence. It is, in fact, a commitment
and an attitude. These are the
values we hope to teach our kids.
The Jr. NBA experience to
Shanghai, China was a journey
more than just a reward. It was
a once-in-a-lifetime experience
with the kids not only nding
themselves in a wonderful for-
eign land but also meeting in
person their favorite NBA heroes
who they only previously saw on
TV and the Internet.
They experienced camarade-
rie and established friendships
with kids of the same age and
experience. But most impor-
tantly, they learned valuable life
lessons including the fact that
only through hard work do you
gain wonderful rewards.
Miami Heat dancers raise the temperature in the Mercedez Benz Center with their sultry number during
the halftime of the game between the Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in Shanghai, China. (Top). The Los
Angeles Clippers Matt Barnes drives to the hoop against the Miami Heats Ray Allen during their pre-season
exhibition game at the Mercedes Benz Center. AP The countrys no. 1 shooter Nathaniel Tac Padilla, now 48, has turned his sights to training the next generation of shooters (above
center). He also trains students, including teen-agers, through his development program (above right and left) in tie-up with the
Philippine National Shooting Association.
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A4
Sunday
SPORTS
ManilaStandardTODAY
A5
Sunday Edited by REUEL VIDAL
SPORTS
ManilaStandardTODAY
The Miami Heat, led by their
coach Eric Spoelstra were pres-
ent in full force. That means
the Filipino boys saw the Heat
players including Lebron James,
Dwayne Wade, Ray Allen, Grant
Hill and Mario Chalmers live and
in the esh. They also saw the
slam-dunking Blake Grifn, the
swashbuckling Chris Paul and the
rest of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The top Filipino 10 players
were chosen from a pool of 50
junior players who were in turn
culled from the National Train-
ing Camp conducted all over the
Philippines. The Jr. NBA national
training camp venues in 2012 in-
cluded Puerto Princesa, Cagayan
De Oro, Pampanga and Manila.
The Jr. NBA National Training
Camp developed and challenged
the participants skills through
basketball drills, skills tests,
strength and stamina challenges
and even competitive and fun
games.
The members of the Jr. NBA
team were own to Shanghai for
a week-long visit that they will re-
member for the rest of their lives.
In terms of population Shang-
hai is the largest city of China.
With a population of over 23 mil-
lion this global city is the center
of inuence in commerce, cul-
ture, nance, media, fashion,
technology, and transport. It
is a major nancial center and
home to the busiest container
port in the world.
The kids visited the
most famous land-
marks and sights of
the city. They also
attended the most
popular shows in-
cluding an evening
with the famed
Chinese acro-
bats. But for
many, other
than the NBA
game between
the Miami Heat and the Los Ange-
les Clippers, the most memorable
experience had to be the sky-
walk in the citys most popular
tourist destination the Oriental
Pearl TV Tower.
Alaska Milk Corporation and
the NBA are in their second year
of partnership with the Jr. NBA
program. The goal is to promote
the core values of discipline,
teamwork, hard work and deter-
mination among the youth. And
the vehicle used is the sport that
almost all Filipinos love with a
passion: basketball.
The nal step before the trip of a
lifetime to Shanghai, China was the
Jr. NBA Alaska National Training
By Lito Cinco
NATHANIEL Tac Padilla dreamed
of competing in the Olympic Games
when he was still in his teen years but
already a shooting champion.
Now 48, he is still the current record
holder in the rapid re, standard, and
center re events in the country, he just
topped all these events at the recent
National Open shooting championships
at the Marine range in Fort Bonifacio,
he has two daughters , the youngest one,
Mica, is a shooting champ too, while the
eldest, Patricia, just gifted her father
with his rst grand daughter.
Tac also holds the distinction of
being in the South East Asian Games
(SEAG) 17 times, missing only one
because shooting was not among the
events in Brunei that year. His career
spans 35 years. In all these years he
continues to be the no. 1 in the country.
He has a collection of ve gold medals
in the SEAG but could only show a 4th
place nish in the eight Asian games
he has joined.
Aside from longevity though, what
makes Tacs accomplishment note-
worthy in his sport is the fact that he
has a ful time job as General Manager
of the family-owned Malabon Soap &
Oil Company (MALSOCO), one of
the countrys most modern reneries
that manufactures, distributes, and
exports cooking oil under different
brands with Spring as the major
brand. Their company is one of the
dominant players in the industry.
MALSOCO is not just locally distrib-
uted. It now has a growing market in
the Middle East and China.
Tac took over the position from
his father, former shooting champion
Tom Ong and has overseen the expan-
sion of the companys operations to
quadruple of its size from the time he
assumed his role as GM.
But the one thing that has not
changed is Tac still has his Olympic
dream, the difference is, he would
not mind at all if it is not him but any
Filipino who nally wins that elusive
Olympic gold.
Padilla helping next generation of shooters
It would not be surprising at all if the
rst Filipino shooter to qualify in the
Olympic Games will come from among
the young shooters that he has produced
in the last four years under the Philippine
National Shooting Associations (PNSA)
National Youth Development Program
(NYDP) that Tac heads.
I volunteered for this job. I felt I am
now ready to discover, develop and train
young shooters. I owe a lot to shooting
and I want to give back something. When
I presented my plans to the PNSA board,
all were receptive to it, said Tac who
also wanted to prove that shooting is now
not just for the rich.
Believing that, he focused his efforts
on discovering shooters among the ordi-
nary folk who would have more time to
devote to the sport and he backs this belief
with time, effort, and personal resources.
Initially, he tapped Local Government
Units (LGUs) to sponsor young kids and
among others, he got Tagaytay, Taguig,
and Quezon City as the cities that con-
sistently participated. But bottom line,
he admits the program did not take off as
expected because LGUs were not able
to sustain their efforts.
Tac refused to give up though and
he turned to schools as the next pos-
sible source of new shooters that could
take the place of the countrys veteran
shooters, including himself.
The problem, except for Ateneo de
Manila and UP-Diliman, other schools
were not receptive to the idea. The other
problem is that when student shooters
graduate, they prioritize their working
career and leave shooting, said Tac.
Presently, even as dual shooting
competitions between Ateneo and UP-
Diliman are held regularly under the
NYDP , Tac is now eyeing the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The AFP has allowed us to tap
their ranks of shooters. Initially I
am looking at having four shooters,
starting with the pistol event. There
will be tryouts among AFP shooters.
I am happy that a friend of mine has
already agreed to donate his personal
equipment for this program, said Tac
And that is why Tac remains unfazed
by the setbacks he has faced. After all,
he has already produced a few shooters
who have proven themselves locally
and internationally. He acknowledged
the help of national shooting teammate
Julius Valdez who handpicked the likes
of Jayson Valdez, already a SEA Games
gold medal winner last year, Seldon
Arellano, and Venus Lovelyn Tan, all
in the air rie event.
We started with both ries and
pistols in the NYDP but so far, what
we have produced are rie shooters
both in the mens and womens sides,
young shooters now are taking the
place of the veterans. In the pistol
event, we have some potentials in the
womens division but none so far in
the mens side. But then I dont want
to end my career without discover-
ing one, can you imagine, this is my
event. said Tac.
And if he has to hold more regular
competitions and shooting clinics for
young shooters to discover his succes-
sor as he has been doing the past three
years, Tac is willing to do it, and that
will be his legacy to Philippine sports.
NBA EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME
PH boys watch Heat in China
By Reuel Vidal
THE top ten basketball players from the Philippines,
ages 10 to 15 years old who were selected by the Jr. NBA
and Alaska Milk Corporation, gained the experience of a
lifetime when they were own to Shanghai, China last week
to meet in person and watch the Miami Heat play against
the Los Angeles Clippers, travel abroad and see the beauty
of this foreign land, and play a friendly match against a
Chinese varsity high school squad.
Camp where the nal selection of
the top 10 players was made.
The journey began with tour-
ing clinics for coaches and players
from January to March and the
regional camps in April. These
were followed by the three-day
National Training Camp at the UP
Gym and the SM Mall of Asia in
September and nally the week-
long trip to China in October.
The Jr. NBA Alaska National
Training Camp involved 40 play-
ers chosen from the regional
camps and 10 from the Alaska
Power Camps.
The 50 players underwent
the grueling grind of a three-day
military style boot camp with bas-
ketball drills, skills tests, stamina
challenges, competitive games
and even some fun games at the
UP Gym and SM Mall of Asia.
In the end, Aljun Jay Melecio was
named MVP and Regille Kent Ilagan
the Alaska Youth Ambassador.
Melecio, 14, is an elemen-
tary school graduate of Lourdes
School in Mandaluyong. He is a
varsity player of La Salle Zobel
where he joins older brother Al-
eck, 15, in the varsity squad.
Ilagan, 15, went to Holy Child
Elementary in Tondo. He is a
varsity player of San Sebastian
high school. His idol is Chris
Paul in the NBA.
Other members of the top
10 are Patrick Ramirez from
Manila; Lui Jhullano Besa,
Cagayan de Oro; Felixberto
Jaboneta, Cagayan de Oro;
Arnie Padilla, Cagayan de Oro
who was incidentally chosen the
2012 Jr. NBA Studio 23 All Star
Player of the Game; Paul Harley
Dagunan, Puerto Princesa who
incidentally won the Gatorade
Hustle Award; Antonio Jefferey
Coronel, Pampanga; John Roald
Mayor, Pasig City and Camillus
Altamirano, Antipolo City.
The core of the program
is of course to inculcate the
STAR values (Sportsmanship,
Teamwork, Positive Attitude,
and Respect) in the participants
and aspirants in the program.
The STAR values are what
the program wants to instill in
the kids through our coaches,
said Alaska Milk vice president
for marketing Blen Fernando.
The program not only se-
lected the top 10 best players
but also included nding the
best coach for the team as well.
The nal 10 elite coaches
were Aldin Ayo, 28, of Sor-
sogon City, Albert Celebran,
32, of Bukidnon, Jose Marie
Larios, 34, of Puerto Princesa,
Clint Mondaro, 35, of Surigao
City, Ronald Belen, 39, of
Puerto Princesa, Johnny Be-
landrez, 36, of Cavite, John
Ocampo, 29, of Angeles City,
Jomer Panoncio, 24, of Puerto
Princesa, Marlon Hitosis, 30,
of Puerto Princesa and Rafael
Caimbon, 35, of Sta. Rosa City.
Ayo used to coach the Ae-
milianum College varsity in
Sorsogon. When he noticed
the lack of fundamental skills
among his senior players he
decided to go back to the gras-
soots and instead put up clinics
for kids to teach the basics of
the game.
He called his project the
ABC Ideas Camp. Every year
Ayo teaches about 1,500 kids
in Sorsogon and about 100
in Legazpi City. Most of his
campers are in the 10-14 age
group but he has opened ABC
Ideas to boys as young as three
years old and up to 19.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling exchanges pleasantries
with the author during the evening function just before the Heat-
Clippers game.
Camillus Altamirano of Antipolo City attacks the defense of Shanghai Nan Yang Model High School. The Filipinos beat their Chinese high school counterparts by the score of 95-25.
Former NBA star Glenn Rice, now an assistant coach with the Mi-
ami Heat, regales Jr. NBA players from the Philippines with stories
about the NBA.
Alaska Power Camp Project Director Jojo Lastimosa, right, and Alaska
Sports Development Manager CK Kanapi, left, were present in Shang-
hai, China to support the Jr. NBA-Alaska Milk program
Ayo played for the Letran
seniors in the NCAA. Among his
teammates were Kerby Raymun-
do, Willie Miller, Chris Calaguio,
Allan Salangsang and Jason Mi-
solas under coach Louie Alas.
He is a rst-term city councilor
in Sorsogon and a priority in his
political program is sports.
He of course joined his Jr. NBA
players in Shanghai, China.
The Jr. NBA Alaska program
has brought new hope, new life
and new dreams for coaches
and players alike. But beyond
sports, Alaskas Vice President
for Marketing Blen Fernando said
that Alaskas mission is to teach
character-building and promote
the core values of sportsmanship,
teamwork, respect and above all,
integrity to become better persons.
Paeng Nepomuceno, a five-
time world bowling champion and
Guinness Book of World Records
holder, once shared with us how
he gave up parties and hanging
out with friends because he had to
practice every day when he won
his rst World Cup at 19, said
Fernando. All the greats will tell
you there is no short cut to excel-
lence. It is, in fact, a commitment
and an attitude. These are the
values we hope to teach our kids.
The Jr. NBA experience to
Shanghai, China was a journey
more than just a reward. It was
a once-in-a-lifetime experience
with the kids not only nding
themselves in a wonderful for-
eign land but also meeting in
person their favorite NBA heroes
who they only previously saw on
TV and the Internet.
They experienced camarade-
rie and established friendships
with kids of the same age and
experience. But most impor-
tantly, they learned valuable life
lessons including the fact that
only through hard work do you
gain wonderful rewards.
Miami Heat dancers raise the temperature in the Mercedez Benz Center with their sultry number during
the halftime of the game between the Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in Shanghai, China. (Top). The Los
Angeles Clippers Matt Barnes drives to the hoop against the Miami Heats Ray Allen during their pre-season
exhibition game at the Mercedes Benz Center. AP The countrys no. 1 shooter Nathaniel Tac Padilla, now 48, has turned his sights to training the next generation of shooters (above
center). He also trains students, including teen-agers, through his development program (above right and left) in tie-up with the
Philippine National Shooting Association.
By Kevin San Agustin
ONE in twenty eight million nine hun-
dred eighty nine thousand six hundred
seventy ve (1 in 28,989,675).
These are the odds of winning the
Grand Lotto 6/55.
The carrot: a minimum guaranteed
jackpot of P30,000,000, with the largest
jackpot won at P741,176,323.
For the low price of P20, one can be-
come an instant millionaire. These are
highly improbable if not statistically im-
possible odds.
Pero malay mo, manalo.
Despite practically insurmountable
odds, millions still place their bets, be
it weekly, daily or every time the prize
gets big, hoping to be made for the rest
of their lives.
In a sense, its the same about love.
Romeo and Juliet, The Little Mer-
maid, Lancelot and Guinevere, Lun Tha
and Tuptim, Anakin and Padme, Shrek
and Fiona, Zsa-zsa and Dolphy.
Star-crossed lovers or at least unlikely
couples who found love in a hope-
less place. Despite and in spite of their
less than ideal situations, they tried to
make it work. These resulted in many
different stories.
Some end up happily ever after, some
are great but eventually break-up, and
others have rather unique stories that
cannot be captured by a short phrase.
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes
Ofce does not keep track of past lotto
winners, what happened to them after
winning the lottery, or if it was indeed
happily ever after for them. Hopefully,
most of them have made something out
of their winnings.
There is however a PCSO employee
who won the jackpot prize of one of the
lotteries but lost it all in six months. This
employee does not regret anything and is
in fact thankful to be able to have lived
like royalty, even for such a short time.
Its better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all. Sometimes,
it works, sometimes it doesnt, but you
wont know until you try and try and
try.. and God willing, hopefully succeed.
So, what does it take to win? And why
do we keep on trying anyway?
Hard work? Persistence? Luck? Skill?
Prayer?
A high-ranking ofcer of the PCSO
often says that a signicant number of
those who win the lottery are those who
religiously wait upon a certain six-digit
combination. Then again, there are also
those who spend more than a thousand
pesos a week but have not gotten more
than three numbers.
I wonder if there is any statistic on
those who choose to bear it out, wait on
an unrequited love, and eventually end
up with their true love. Enter Nicholas
Sparks and his Notebook.
Come now those who choose to put
a bit of skill or more resources into the
equation. Unknown to most, you can
actually play more than six numbers in
some of the lottery games. You can play
up to twelve numbers and increase your
chances of winning.
Now your chances improve to one in
thirty one thousand three hundred and
seventy four (1 in 31,374). The catch: a
system 12 ticket costs P18,480.
Your chances greatly improve, but so
does the price. Some statisticians have
computed the optimal number of chanc-
es against the amount it would cost, then
asked friends to pool together for a lot-
tery ticket. I dont think Ive heard of
anyone winning the lottery this way.
Which begs the question: how far
would you go? 20 pesos? 560? 18,480?
And how often? Thee times a week?
Once a week? Once a month?
Would you give up your career? Move
to another city? Learn how to play a mu-
sical instrument? Learn how to appreciate
art, literature and classical music? Pray?
One of the most successful lotto outlets
is the one located near Baclaran church. I
wonder how many novenas and rosaries
have been recited and pilgrimages made
in hope for a miracle. I also wonder how
many prayers have been answered.
And what happens if the wish is not
granted? Or if it were, but taken away
just six months later? Or despite all the
prayers, hours and effort, absolutely
nothing comes?
We remain hopeful for a dream, re-
gardless of the impossibility.
When all is said and done, it all comes
down to putting down your bet.
Malay mo, manalo.
Kevin Timothy T. San Agustin is a pil-
grim with a very bad sense of direction.
He also happens to be a 4
th
year student
in FEU and DLSUs MBA-JD program.
Living strong
EDITORIAL
Various shades
of red
Love and the lottery
Publ i shed Monday t o Sat urday by
Kamahalan Publishing Corporation at 3rd
Floor Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de
Roxas corner Perea Street, Legaspi Village,
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(connecting all departments), 659-4826;
Manila
Standard
TODAY
MEMBER
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of Philippine Newspapers PPI
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MARIEROSE ANG Graphic Design
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OPINION ADELLE CHUA
ARTS & LIFE DINNA VASQUEZ
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Sunday
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[email protected]
A6
Sunday
OPINION
ManilaStandardTODAY
EVERYMAN
POWER is truly the last dirty
word. No one can ever have
enough of it. It is a given that
those who desire it will do any-
thing and everything to be in po-
sitions of power even including
severing ties with former com-
rades, sabotaging others, and in
general, making a spectacle of
themselves.
Party-list groups Akbayan
and Anakbayan have been hog-
ging the limelight in the past
few days for the wrong rea-
sons. Of course
both insist that
their actions
have been justi-
ed and have
pointed to each
other as the in-
stigator of their
public skirmish-
es. Amusingly
enough, people
in either camp
have hurled exactly the same
accusations at the other. For ex-
ample, both groups accuse each
other of red baiting, which is
ironic because everyone in this
country knows and no one in
either camp is denying that they
are both left-leaning groups to
begin with.
This nonsense about one be-
ing extreme and the other mod-
erate is pointless unless they
intend to appropriate the vari-
ous shades of red among them-
selves. Oh I know that the gra-
dations in the political spectrum
represent distinct beliefs and at-
titudes, but in the larger scheme
of things, they are all comrades
in the same struggle.
They have also called each
other names in public. Akbayan
members and supporters call
Anakbayan hooligans while
Anakbayan has labeled Akbay-
an as tuta (lapdogs) of the cur-
rent administration.
Ive always kept the belief
that we need the kind of activ-
ism that Anakbayan is known
for even if we disagree with
its political convictions or see
the behavior of its members as
bordering on deviant. Student
and youth groups need to be
given a certain latitudethey
are young, idealistic, impa-
tient, and yes, prone to dis-
ruptive behavior. They are
students, for crying out loud.
They are supposed to speak a
different language of protest.
I know that many people
frown on protest behaviors that
disrupt proceedings or embar-
rass certain people. I think these
are legitimate forms of protests.
Besides, if one does not want
disruptions, they should not set
themselves up for it to
begin with. Simply put,
do not call a public press
conference if you dont
want to promote a public
exchange, including di-
vergent points of view.
And quite frankly,
weve been there many times
before. Akbayan cannot claim
to have the higher moral ground
hereI personally have wit-
nessed many incidents in the
past when Akbayan activists did
exactly the same thing that the
Anakbayan protesters did last
week during that particular Ak-
bayan press conference.
The accusation that Akbayan
is a tuta of the Aquino govern-
ment rankles, but there are better
ways to refute or
contextualize that
accusation. The
reality is that Ak-
bayan is indeed
in bed with the
current adminis-
tration. In being
so, does it mean
that Akbayan
has betrayed
its constituen-
cies? If fortunes were reversed
and a President supportive of the
Anakbayan (KMU and other al-
lied groups) was elected, would
such an arrangement be deemed
politically anomalous as well? I
hate to reduce the whole dynam-
ics into weather-weather lang
yan (roughlyits all a matter of
who is in power) but I think its
more important to focus the dis-
cussion on results: Exactly what
benets has Akbayan achieved
for its constituents as a result of
its closeness to the administra-
tion? Limiting the discussion to
mere branding of relationships is
counterproductive because both
groups are supposed to be there
to produce results in their areas of
advocacies.
Should Akbayan continue to
be in the ballot as a party-list
group? I think the party-list
law is clear on this onewhat
matters is who they represent.
Begrudging Akbayans ability
to represent its constituencies
in government or other forums
smacks of crab mentality. Put
another way, shouldnt that be
the objective of every political
group? I know for a fact that
other political groupsAnak-
bayan and its allies included
do what they can to get seats in
as many policymaking bodies.
Seriously, folks: Why are we
quibbling over Akbayans po-
tential four seats while 200 other
congressmen of dubious quali-
cations catapult themselves into
Congress every three years?
To my mind, there is only
one ideological or philosophical
principle that stands supreme:
The will of the people. Let the
people vote and then lets re-
spect that choice.
BONG C.
AUSTERO
ARE WE THERE YET?
How about
focusing the
discussion on
results?
LANCE Armstrong has fashioned him-
self into a star not only for being an ac-
complished cyclist but also for being a
cancer survivor and a philantrophist.
Now he is even more famousnotori-
ous, more like itfor his spectacular
fall from grace.
After successfully battling testicular
cancer that had spread into his brains
and his lungs, Armstrong established
Livestrong Foundation to help cancer
patients throughout the United States.
It became a partner of the American
Cancer Society. The athlete became an
inspiration to cancer-stricken individu-
als worldwide, sending the message
that anything is possible with willpow-
er and perseverance.
Livestrong claims it has raised al-
most $500 million$6.5 million
from Armstrongs own moneyfor
cancer research, treatment and sup-
port. Along the way, Armstrong
earned seven Tour de France titles
and a bronze medal from the 2000
Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.
Indeed, Armstrong was invincible in
many ways.
This is not to say he never had a thorn
on his side: the never-ending accusa-
tions that he had used performance-
enhancing drugs to improve hisand
his teamsperformance.
Investigations were opened and
witnesses were heard, but Armstrong
seemed to be on a winning streak.
These probes found no evidence of
illegal drug use that would merit the
pressing of charges. The Internation-
al Cycling Union cleared him of dop-
ing allegations.
Armstrong went as far as suing one
of his accusers. He consistently and
vehemently denied participating in
banned practices. A lawyer branded
the issue a one-sided hatchet job and
a government-funded witch hunt.
But the winning streak ended this
week when the US Anti-Doping Agen-
cy found insurmoutable evidence of
Armstrongs doping activities through
nancial payments, e-mails and labo-
ratory test results. Testimonies from
teammates and other individuals who
knew about his drug use were also
made public.
Instantly, Nike and Anheuser-
Busch, two companies whose prod-
ucts Armstrong endorsed, severed
their ties with the cyclist even as they
said they would continue to support
Livestrongs activities. Armstrong
stepped down as the foundations
chairman even as he would remain in
its board of directors.
In the meantime, those who were
inspired by Armstrong and admired
his turnaround are aghast at the fact
that he had lied to the world for more
than a decade, presenting himself as a
righteous, triumphant gure when the
very foundations of his success were
based on a sham.
The world should thus beware of
those who package themselves as righ-
teous, inspiring and larger than life.
Truth has a way of catching up with
hypocrites.
A7
Sunday
FOREIGN
ManilaStandardTODAY
Koreas trade war
threats over leaflets
(MST-Oct. 21, 2011)
Republic of the philippines
Department of public Works anD HigHWays
nAtionAl cApitAl ReGion
soutH manila engineering District
8
th
street, port Area, Manila
I nvi t at i on t o Bi d
1. contract iD no. 12oH0153 (cluster)
contract name: proposed Assets preservation of national Roads Generated
from pavement Management system/highway Development
and Management-4 (hDM-4), preventive Maintenance of
(intermittent section) Mendiola extension a.) chainage 0000-
0119, b.) chainage 0119-0285, c.) chainge 0000-0285.
contract location: Manila city
scope of Work: road works, a) (104.00l.M.), b) (166.00l.M.), c) (102.00l.M.)
source of fund and year: GAA 2013
Approved budget for the contract (Abc): (ph p 7,072,048.33)
contract Duration: 69 cal. days
cost of bid Documents: ph p 10,000.00
2. contract iD no. 12oH0155
contract name: proposed Repair/Maintenance of Department of labor &
employment building, intramuros, Manila (Muralla Wing)
scope of Work: building Repair/Maintenance
bid Documents: ph p 25,000.00
3. contract iD no. 12oH0157
contract name: proposed Rehabilitation/improvement of estero De san Miguel,
Dredging/Desilting Works, san Miguel Quiapo, Manila
scope of Work: Rehabilitation/improvement of estero
cost of bid Documents: ph p 25,000.00
1) the south Manila engineering District, through the [above indicated source of funding and
year] intends to apply the sum of [Phil P 40,230,554.56], being the Approved budget for
the contract (Abc) to payments under the contract for [the above indicated name/no. of
contract]. bids received in excess of the Abc shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.
2) the south Manila engineering District, now invites bids for [various construction projects
indicated above].completion of the Works is required [240 calendar days]. bidders should
have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a
contract similar to the project. the description of an eligible bidder is contained in the bidding
Documents, particularly, in section ii, instructions to bidders.
3) bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-
discretionary pass/fail criterion in the implementing Rules and Regulations (iRR) of Republic
Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the Government procurement Reform Act.
bidding is restricted to filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations
with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to
citizens of the philippines.
4) interested bidders may obtain further information from south Manila engineering District,
and inspect the bidding Documents at the address given below from [8:00-12:00 A.M. and
1:00-5:00 P.M.].
5) A complete set of bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders from the
address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the bidding Documents in the
amount of [indicated above].
it may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the philippine Government
electronic system (philGeps) and the website of the procuring entity, provided that bidders
shall pay the fee for the bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids.
6) the south Manila engineering District, will hold a pre-bid conference on [October 25,
2012- 10:00 A.M.] at [SMED-BAC OFFICE, PORT AREA, MANILA], which shall be open to
all interested parties who have purchased the bidding Documents.
7) bids must be delivered to the address below on or before [November 08, 2012- 09:00 A.M.]
at [SMED-BAC OFFICE, PORT AREA, MANILA]. All bids must be accompanied by a bid
security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in itb clause 18.
bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to attend at
the address below. late bids shall not be accepted.
8) bids will be opened on november 08, 2012 at 02:00 p.M.
9) the south Manila engineering District, reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul
the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby
incurring any liability to the affected or bidders.
for further information, please refer to:
Engr. RUPERTO H. PINGOL
Head, BAC Secretariat/Procurement Staff
south Manila engineering District
1018 -8th street corner bonifacio Drive, port Area, Manila
Tel. no. 023044020
[email protected]
Fax no. 025279727
(sgd.) guillermo D. salasac
Offcer in Charge
Offce of the Assistant District Engineer
bAc chairperson
noteD:
(sgd.) mikunug D. macuD
District engineer
(MST-Oct. 21, 2011)
Republic of the philippines
Department of public Works anD HigHWays
office of tHe District engineer
negros oriental 3
rd
District Engineering Offce
siaton, negros oriental
I nvI tatI on to BI d
the bids and Awards committee (bAc) of the DpWh, negros oriental 3
rd
District
Engineering Offce. Siaton. Negros Oriental, through the FY 2012 Budget R.A. 10155
invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned project(s):
1. contract iD: 12hl0029
contract name: Rehabilitation/improvement of Multi-purpose building
(Grandstand-siaton sports complex) contract
location: siaton, negros oriental
scope of Works: Rehabilitation/improvement
Approved budget for the contract (Abc): php9,500,000.00
Contract Duration: One hundred ffty (150) Calendar Days
the bAc will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised
iRR of R.A. bids received excess of the Abc shall be automatically rejected at the
opening of bid.
to bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a letter of intent (loi),
purchased bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior
registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership,
corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with pcAb license applicable to the
type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least
50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity
at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The
bAc will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary
examination of bids.
unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration
to the DPWH Central Procurement Offce (CPO) before the deadline for the receipt
of LOI. The DPWH Central Procurement Offce (CPO) will only process contractors
applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the contractors
Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the
DpWh website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:
1. issuance of bidding Documents october 18, 2012 to november 6, 2012
until 9:30 AM.
2. pre-bid conference 2:00 pM, october 25, 2012
3. Deadline of Receipt of loi from
prospective bidders
until 2:00 p.M. on october 31, 2012
4. Receipt of bids Deadline: 10:00 AM., november 6, 2012
5. opening of bids 10:30 A M . , november 6, 2012
the bAc will issue hard copies of bidding Documents (bDs) at Negros Oriental
3
rd
District Engineering Offce, Siaton, Negros Oriental upon payment of a non-
refundable fee of Php10,000.00 per set. prospective bidders may also download the
bDs from the DpWh website, if available. prospective bidders that will download the
bDs from the DpWh website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission
of their bids Documents. the pre-bid conference shall be open only to interested
parties who have purchased the bDs. bids must accompanied by a bid security,
in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in section 27.2 of the Revised iRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in
the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst
envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid. which shall include a copy
of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid.
contract will be awarded to the lowest calculated Responsive bid as determined in
the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
the DPWH. Negros Oriental 3
rd
District Engineering Offce reserves the right to
accept or reject any or all bid, to annul the bidding process anytime before contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s.
Approved by:
(sgd.) Virginia c. catipay
bAc chairman
noted by:
(sgd.) aramis e. torrefranca
District engineer
In this photo provided by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS
Foundation Trust on Friday, 15-year old Pakistani shooting victim Malala
Yousufzai recovers in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England,
after being shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan for advocating
education for girls. Malala was shot and critically wounded on Oct. 9 as
she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley, Pakistan,
and was evacuated to Birmingham for ongoing treatment, where she is
reported to be improving. AP
North Korea has made similar threats
without following through. Its vow
on Friday came a day after South Ko-
rean President Lee Myung-bak warned
against provocation as he made a sur-
prise visit to a front-line island shelled
by North Korea in 2010.
The Norths National Defense Com-
mission lashed out at Lee on Saturday,
accusing him of trying to shore up po-
litical support for his conservative camp
ahead of presidential elections in De-
cember.
Merciless military strike by the
Western Front will be put into practice
without warning if South Korean ac-
tivists go ahead with plans to launch
leaets criticizing North Korean lead-
ers on Monday, the Norths military said
in a statement in English on Friday. It
warned South Korean residents in the
border area to evacuate in advance.
In South Korea, Defense Minister
Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary
hearing that his troops would thor-
oughly annihilate the responsible base
if the North attacks.
The exchange of strong warnings
came as Glyn Davies, the top U.S. en-
voy for North Korea, met in Seoul with
Lim Sung-nam, South Koreas envoy to
stalled six-nation talks on North Koreas
nuclear arms programs.
Davies did not comment on the
Norths threat during a meeting with re-
porters, but urged Pyongyang to follow
through with its commitments made in
past nuclear agreements with the United
LONDONThe British hospi-
tal treating a 15-year-old Paki-
stani girl shot in the head by the
Taliban raised hopes for her re-
covery Friday when doctors said
she was able to stand with some
help and to write.
Malala Yousufzai appeared with
her eyes open and alert as she lay in
a hospital bed, in the first photographs
released by the Queen Elizabeth Hos-
pital in Birmingham since she arrived
from Pakistan on Monday.
It was a series of positive de-
velopments since the shooting,
which was a brazen bid by the
Taliban to silence the girl, who
has been an outspoken advocate
for girls right to education.
Still, doctors said she shows
signs of infection and faces a
long, difcult recovery with un-
certain prospects.
She is not out of the woods
yet, hospital medical director
Dr. Dave Rosser said. Having
said that, shes doing very well. In
fact, she was standing with some
help for the rst time this morning
when I went in to see her.
He said Malala had agreed to
the release of medical information
and photos, and wants to thank
people throughout the world
for their interest and support in
the difcult days since she was
gunned down in Pakistan.
He said her bullet wound has
become infected.
A large bruise beneath her left
eye could be seen in the photo
released Friday, showing Malala
in her hospital bed with a toy
bear. The upbeat report galva-
nized Malalas many backers,
who had feared the worst.
Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari,
daughter of the late Pakistani
leader Benazir Bhutto, described
Malalas progress as wondrous.
Miracles of today: Malala
able to stand, she tweeted.
Canadian writer and journal-
ist Irshad Manji celebrated the
girls progress on Twitter: So
listen up world; Miracle Malala
has more 2 say.
Brain injury experts stressed,
however, that she is at the start of
what will be a long process. AP
BEIRUTTurkey and Germany on Friday threw their weight behind calls for a
Syrian cease-re during a Muslim holiday next week as the international envoy
for the conict arrived in Damascus to push for the plan.
The effort has taken on urgency after activists in recent days reported some
of the heaviest air bombardments by President Bashar Assads military against
rebel-held areas.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, was expected to meet
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Saturday.
Brahimi has called for a truce by both sides in the civil war during the four-day
Eid al-Adha holiday that begins next Friday. He told reporters upon his arrival in the
Syrian capital that he would discuss the proposed cease-re with Syrian ofcials.
The secretaries-general of the U.N. and the Arab League called on both the
Syrian government and the rebels to heed Brahimis appeal, while Turkish For-
eign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said both sides should end hostilities at
least through Eid al-Adha.
It is especially important for the Syrian regime, which has launched bombs
on its people with planes and helicopters, to halt these attacks immediately and
without preconditions, Davutoglu said.
He said the opposition must abide by the cease-re as well.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also called for a cease-re, saying
it would be an important humanitarian glimmer of hope for people in Syria. AP
SEOUL, South KoreaNorth Koreas military
has threatened to strike a South Korean border
area where anti-Pyongyang activists plan to launch
leaets from balloons next week. South Korea im-
mediately vowed to retaliate if attacked.
NEW YORKAt the Missouri college
where Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ah-
san Nas enrolled, a classmate said he
often remarked that true Muslims dont
believe in violence.
That image seemed startlingly at odds
with the Bangladesh natives arrest in an
FBI sting this week on charges of trying
to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in
New York with what he thought was a
1,000-pound car bomb.
I cant imagine being more shocked about
somebody doing something like this, said
Jim Dow, a 54-year-old Army veteran who
rode home from class with Nafis twice a
week. I didnt just meet this kid a couple of
times. We talked quite a bit. ... And this doesnt
seem to be in character.
Nafisfamily in Dhaka, Bangladesh, denied
he could have been involved in the plot. His
parents said he was incapable of such actions
and came to America only to study.
Federal investigators, often accused
by defense attorneys of entrapping and
leading would-be terrorists along, said
the 21-year-old Nas made the rst move
over the summer, reaching out for ac-
complices and eventually contacting a
government informant, who then went to
federal authorities.
They said he also selected his target,
drove the van loaded with dummy explo-
sives up to the door of the bank, and tried
to set off the bomb from a hotel room using
a cellphone he thought had been rigged as
a detonator.
During the investigation, he and the in-
formant corresponded via Facebook and
other social media, talked on the phone
and met in hotel rooms, according to a
law enforcement ofcial who was not au-
thorized to speak publicly and spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Nas spoke of his admiration for Osama
bin Laden, talked of writing an article about
his plot for an al-Qaida-afliated magazine,
and said he would be willing to be a martyr
but preferred to go home to his family after
carrying out the attack, authorities said. And
he also talked about wanting to kill Presi-
dent Barack Obama and bomb the New
York Stock Exchange, a law enforcement
ofcial said.
Investigators said in court papers that he
came to the US bent on jihad and worked
out the specics of a plot when he arrived.
While Nas believed he had the blessing of
al-Qaida and was acting on behalf of the ter-
rorist group, he has no known ties, accord-
ing to federal ofcials. AP
NY terror suspect not
violent, friends claim
Doctors say shot
Pakistani girl improving
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, left, visits a marine base on Yeonpyeong Island near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea,
on Thursday, Oct. 18. The island was bombarded in the North Koreas shelling attack in November 2010, leaving two South Korean
Marines and two civilians dead. AP
[email protected]
States, South Korea, Russia, China and
Japan.
North Korean defectors and South
Korean activists regularly send up bal-
loons to drop propaganda leaets in
North Korean territory. North Korea
accuses the South Korean government
of supporting the activity, but Seoul de-
nies it.
Despite the North Korean threat,
activists will go ahead and launch
around 200,000 leaets from the
border area of Imjingak as planned,
North Korean defector Park Sang-hak
said Saturday.
Animosity has run high between the
Koreas since the Norths 2010 shelling
killed two marines and two civilians
on South Koreas Yeonpyeong island
in the Yellow Sea. Seoul also blames
Pyongyang for the sinking of a war-
ship that killed 46 South Korean sailors
earlier that year. North Korea denies at-
tacking the ship.
The two Koreas remain technically
at war after the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. AP
UN envoy arrives in Syria
amid calls for truce
possible, we
also take
a foreign
vacation, he
says.
U m a l i s
typical working
day consists of
10 to 12 working
hours. I work
passionately all
day, holding
brief meetings
with various
departments or
personnel to
align efforts to
the attainment
of the companys
objectives, its
strategies and
programs, address
problems, tap
opportunities and
look for continual
i m p r o v e m e n t
possibilities, he says.
Early years
The brand name
Gardenia as a bread
was virtually unknown
in the Philippines
when it started in 1998.
By focusing on only
two products, white
loaf and wheat bread, it
concentrated on entering
the market utilizing a direct
distribution strategy focused
on supermarkets in Metro
Manila area, he says.
Umali says in spite of its
premium price compared
with the majority of products
generically called Tasty
bread, the company managed to
differentiate its brand and
capture gradually
the top share in
the market.
The high-
v a l u e offering gave
consumers the choice of having a product
that is perceived masarap kahit walang
palaman [so good, you can even
eat it on its own], a product that
stays soft, smells good, is more
nutritious with vitamins and minerals and produced in
a safe and world-class facility, he says.
Umali says loaf breads in the market then were
numerous.... with no specic brand standing out.
No single brand sold more than 10 percent of the
market then. With Gardenia, focusing on building
a differentiated brand image, consumers started
becoming more choosy as to the brand of bread they
bought to satisfy their needs, he says.
Thus, the companys annual sales grew from P130
million before the year 2000 to over P3 billion in 2011,
making Gardenia the largest bread manufacturer in the
country with a market share exceeding the 50-percent
level.
Strategic locations
Umali says part of Gardenias success can be
attributed to the strategic location of its facilities,
ensuring easy access to ports for on-time distribution to
other parts of the Philippines.
Gardenia has two plantsone in Laguna catering
to the whole of Luzon and some parts of Visayas, and
one in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu catering to Cebu and
Mindanao, he says.
Umali says its main plant located at the Laguna
International Industrial Park in Mamplasan, Binan,
Laguna is an ideal site that has easy access to Metro
Manila through the South Luzon Expressway for
product distribution while maintaining close links with
its raw material supply partners.
The Cebu plant is likewise strategically situated in
Lapu-Lapu City, next to the Mactan bridge, providing
easy access to the province and the Mindanao market.
Its current location also allows for further plant
expansion.
Our manufacturing facility features advanced
equipment that adheres to globally-accepted baking
industry standards. Its advanced dough making
and proong system ensures the right structure and
consistency in the texture of breads, he says.
He says Gardenia has one of the worlds most
technologically-advanced and environmentally-
friendly large-scale ovens that use LPG, a pan handling
system that uses robotic pan-feeding and stacking
equipment that allows the baking pans to be stacked
automatically.
Gardenia plant fuses state-of-the-art machines
imported from Germany, Netherlands, Japan and the
United States.... attesting to the plants exceptional
quality and world-class superiority, he says.
A hit among consumers
Umali says Gardenias Classic White loaf bread
and its High Fiber Wheat bread are the fastest selling
variants. The white bread is a big hit because of its
premium taste, softness, aroma and nutritive value
(more vitamins and minerals including folate). The
wheat bread which is high in ber with added crack
wheat has a good taste and texture that make it stand
out from the competition.
Gardenias avored breads such as its California
Raisin loaf , Chocolate loaf, Black Forest loaf and its
double delights line that provide two avors in one
loaf such as its Ube-Cheese and the Choco-Mocha
loaves are all big hits in the market, he says.
He says Gardenias pan de sal line also stand out of
the usual products of this type in the market as it has
a premium taste that is crunchy on the outside, soft
and chewy on the inside and maintains its softness and
aroma for days, without drying and hardening.
The Gardenia Cream roll line that comes in nine
avors is a snacking success among the young in the
Gen Y (13 to 29 years old) and Gen Z (6 to 12).
He says the recently-introduced loaf variants in the
market are also becoming a hit in the market with the
Dates and Walnut loaf and Butterscotch loaf expanding
the avored bread segment. The Wheat Raisin loaf and
the Wheat Cranberry loaf variants are making waves
among the health conscious consumers segment.
Based on the latest Nielsen retail audit data, Gardenia
has a share in the GMA Supermarket bread market
exceeding the 60-percent mark.
Social responsibility
Gardenia is also a staunch advocate of social
development and gives back to society by contributing
its resources for the welfare and development of
Filipinos to uplift their quality of life.
Umali says Gardenias Daily Bread program
provides more than 10,000 loaves weekly to women
and children and other marginalized sectors to help
curb hunger and malnutrition.
For Gardenia, CSR is not just a three-letter acronym
on paper. Our business is not just about making breads
but also serving and enriching the lives of people in
the community. We make sure our employees not just
understand CSR and its value, but also they should take
an important part in it to ensure continuity, he says.
Sales target
Under his leadership, he says Gardenia aims to
further double its sales in six to eight years within the
food and bread industry. For the industry as a whole,
he says bakers have to re-invent themselves by nding
better ways of producing the products at a lower
operating cost through mechanization to overcome
increasing labor cost and reduce production waste,
use more energy efcient machines and facilities to
reduce electricity and fuel costs, he says.
He says when the time comes he has to leave the
industry, he sees himself ending up in the teaching
profession.
I hope to spend more time teaching, delivering
lectures, sharing experiences and expertise and
conducting seminars upon retirement. This way I can
help others become more successful too, he says.
[email protected] Sunday
BUSINESS
ManilaStandardTODAY
SEPTEMBER 23, 2012 SUNDAY
A11
Sunday
Manila StandardTODAY
Business
A8
By Julito G. Rada
GARDENIA, a relatively
unknown bread brand in 1998,
reinvented the Philippine
bakery industry, made
Filipinos eat more
bread and
eventually became
a dominant
company with
annual sales
of over P3
billion.
At the helm of
Gardenias expansion
in the Philippines is
Simplicio Jun Umali
Jr., a career manager who
took the local unit of the
Singaporean company to
the peak, with a retail market
share of more than 50 percent.
Gardenia, which began as an in-
store bakery in Singapore in 1978,
is also present in Malaysia, Thailand,
China and India.
Umali, the president and general
manager of Gardenia Bakeries Philippines
Inc., worked in different industries before
leading the bread company in 1999. A double-
degree holder in business administration and
marketing and nance at the University of the
Philippines, Umali is a recipient of the Philippine
Marketing Associations 2011 Agora Award in
Marketing Management and the UP College
of Business Administration 2011 outstanding
alumni awards.
After college, Umali spent his rst year of
work at Procter & Gamble, before moving to
SmithBell & Co., where he became a product
and sales manager, initially handling industrial
products and later on, its carpet line.
This was followed by a stint in pharmaceutical
marketing at Smith Kline. He then spent 14 years
at Hoechst Far East Marketing Corp., starting
as marketing manager of its agrochemical
division and moving up to country manager of
Hoechst Pharmaceuticals at age 35.
He transferred to the paint company Dutch
Boy Philippines as president and chief executive
before joining Gardenia Bakeries Philippines in
1999 as its president and general manager.
Umali says despite his hectic schedule in
running the leading producer of quality bread
in the country, he considers his family as top
priority. He is married to Puchet Enriquez with
whom he has three children.
Amidst my busy schedule, I always nd
quality time with my family, be it brief, at
home or a nearby mall as long as we are
together. I believe that every moment spent
with the family should be made meaningful
and enjoyable, Umali says in an interview.
He says his family loves to try out different
restaurants weekly, watch movies and visit
shopping malls. We also organize out-of-town
travels once or twice a year to see new places or
experience local festivities in the country. Whenever
Manager makes
a household name in PH
Gardenia
ON August 31, President Benigno S.
Aquino III ofcially announced the
appointment of Cavite 1st District
Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya
as Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC) Secretary.
Abaya, as chair of the House
Committee on Appropriations is,
however, committed to push through
the passage of the of 2013 national
budget before assuming the DOTC
post.
Born on May 28,
1966, Abaya is the
second son of Cavite
Re p r e s e n t a t i v e
Plaridel Abaya,
a three-term
congressman. He is
the great grandson
of former President
Emilio Aguinaldo
and a descendant
of revolutionary
hero Isabelo Abaya.
General Narciso
Abaya, who served as
chief of staff of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines, is his uncle.
He took up electrical engineering
at the University of the Philippines
from 1983 to 1984. He then entered
the Philippine Military Academy
and earned a mathematics degree at
the United States Naval Academy in
Maryland, USA in 1988.
He took up his masters degree in
electrical engineering from Cornell
University, New York in 1990 and
a law degree from the Ateneo de
Manila University in 2005.
He is currently the chairperson
of the House committee on
appropriations and secretary general
of the Liberal Party.
At 46 years old, Abaya is
serving his third and last term as a
representative of Cavite. He won his
rst term as congressman in 2004
and won two more congressional
seats in 2007 and in 2010.
During President Cory Aquinos
term in Malacaang, Abaya served
as her aide-de-camp being a young
Navy lieutenant.
Abaya is married to Rowena
Abesamis, a pediatrician, with three
children.
Last September, Abaya gave
assurances that the current DOTC
team will experience a seamless
transition upon
his entry in the
department. Since
the DOTC team
is efcient and
knowledgeable of the
former secretarys
plans, Abaya said
that the roster of
employees will
remain intact.
Abaya also
vowed to ensure
the full-blown
implementation of the
Executive-approved
infrastructure projects, including
the upgrading and rehabilitation
of the Clark International Airport
and the Tacloban Airport. Also
included in the line-up projects are
the international airports of Puerto
Princesa City in Palawan, Panglao
in Bohol, and Laguindingan in
Misamis Oriental.
The development of ports in
Davao and the roll-on/roll-off port
linking China with the Subic Bay
Freeport Zone in Zambales will be
also be given priority.
The projects on the extensions of
LRT 1 from Baclaran, Pasay City to
Bacoor, Cavite and the LRT 2 from
Santolan, Pasig City to Masinag,
Antipolo City, and the recongured
North Rail from Metro Manila to the
Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga
are also expected to push through
under his term.
Abaya: the new
DOTC chief
Sunday
ManilaStandardTODAY
ARTS & LIFE
B1
SUNDAY OCTOBER 21, 2012
FINDING beauty in art, two students
from the University of Santo Tomas
and the De La Salle-College of Saint
Benilde School of Design and Arts
recently bagged the grand prize in an
artwork competition which took in-
spiration from The Body Shops new
brand expression Beauty with Heart.
The awarding ceremony was held on
the rst day of the art exhibit at the
Activity Center of Gateway Mall in
Quezon City.
Winners J enny Pur ay from DLS-
CSB and J er icho Ant onio from
UST each took home P10,000 in
cash and P10,000 worth of The
Body Shop products after produc-
ing the designs that reflect The
Body Shops new brand expression
and the companys five pillar val-
uesAgainst Animal Testing, Sup-
port Community Fair Trade, Acti-
vate Self-Esteem, Defend Human
Rights and Protect Our Planet.
The prizes were awarded by re-
nowned architect Lor Calma who
was also the judge of the competi-
tion. Also present were representa-
tives from the company, students
and professors from DLS-CSB and
UST-CFAD.
These students are all young vi-
sionaries who are very aware of the
environment. This is a very creative
exhibition from young minds, said
Calma.
A total of 168 artworks were en-
tered in the competition.
Present during the award-
ing ceremony are (from
left) Dr. Michael Munoz,
managing director of TBS
Philippines; Prof. Gedeon
Nacario, (UST-CFAD);
student winners Jericho
Antonio (UST) and Jenny
Puray (DLS-CSB); Prof. San-
tiago Caaway (UST-CFAD);
Prof. Hazel Malagonio
(UST-CFAD); renowned
architect and contest judge
Lor Calma; Vicente Munoz,
chairman of TBS Philip-
pines; and Jo-I Kapunan,
marketing director of TBS
Philippines.
Two students win Beauty with Heart art contest
Ana
SHARES HER
MAKEUP
MAGIC
Whats even more amazing is
that Ana has had no formal edu-
cation or training in cosmetology.
I didnt even know about You-
Tube, she shares. I was surng
the Internet because I wanted to
learn how to cook. This is what
brought me to You Tube.
Ana is a big fan of Avril Lavi-
gne and wanted to copy the
singers signature heavy eyeliner
so she looked for tutorials and
realized that she wanted to be a
makeup artist.
By Dinna Chan Vasquez
IT is difcult to believe that Ana Patricia
Victorino Mendoza, or simply Ana Vic-
torino, is a popular YouTube guru and a
professional makeup artist. She looks like
a 13-year-old (shes actually 19) who still
has crushes on members of British boy
band One Direction. Ana has about 8,000
subscribers to her channel on YouTube
(Makeup by Ana Patricia) with one video
having close to 300,000 views.
chase some makeup.
That was my initial invest-
ment. I bought inexpensive drug-
store brands because that is all
that I could afford, says Ana,
who studied graphic design at the
Cosmopoint International Insti-
tute of Technology.
It was a struggle at rst. She
had to make a name for herself
by accepting non-paying jobs
and she had to go to school.
That all changed when she start-
ed making videos for YouTube.
She uploaded her rst video
Everyday Makeup Tutorial
on Jan. 3. By June, the video
had 100,000 hits. At presstime,
the views had reached 267,883.
The name Ana Victorino be-
came familiar to women who
frequented the go-to site for
videos for makeup tutorials.
I was shocked that people
would comment on how beauti-
ful I am or on how pretty my nose
and mouth is. Growing up, I had
a bit of insecurity about my nose
and mouth. Now, people are say-
ing that they like these features.
Thats funny but very uplifting,
says Ana.
Makeup overload
These days, thanks to her
sponsors which include Cebu-
based Dollface Cosmetics, Vir-
ginia Olsen Minerals, Sigma
brushes and ELF, Ana doesnt
need to buy makeup anymore.
Personally though, she doesnt
wear much and prefers a more
natural face (Bobbi Brown is
her idol). In fact, she shows me
the powder foundation that she
uses and it is a drugstore brand
that costs less than P200.
She does not believe that ex-
pensive makeup is always the
best. In fact, when she has the
chance to get more expensive
makeup items like MAC, she
chooses the primers, conceal-
ers and foundations over the
color cosmetics like eye shad-
ows and lipsticks.
You dont need expensive
and branded eye shadows and
lipsticks. Anything for the skin
like foundation and concealer
should always be of excellent
quality but lipstick is something
you can retouch when it fades so
you dont have to spend so much
on that if your budget is limited.
For her clients, though, Ana
uses branded high-end makeup
like Chanel and MAC. Her usual
charge per client is P5,000 inclu-
sive of hair and makeup.
Dreams
Like most people her age,
Ana has many dreams. First,
she wants to buy a house and lot
for her family. She also wants to
be a certied makeup artist and
for this, she needs formal edu-
cation, which is expensive and
time-consuming.
But I am very happy with
what is happening right now. I
never expected this. People have
been very nice to me, she says.
But Anas ultimate dream is to
work abroad, specically New
York Fashion Week to interpret
the looks dictated by designers
for the season.
For girls who want to wear
makeup, Ana has the follow-
ing tips:
After applying mascara,
press the tips of your lashes with
your thumb and forenger for a
natural look.
Your skins undertones deter-
mine the shade of your founda-
tion and powder. Ask the makeup
artist at the counter to assist you
so that you will get the shade
thats right for you.
The shape of your eyebrows
is more important than any prod-
uct you will use. It is always
better to shave than to pluck, in
my opinion, because that way, it
grows back faster.
Fair-skinned girls look
good in nude and pink lipsticks
while dark colors suit morenas.
There are exceptions to this rule,
though. Whats important is to
nd the color thats right for you.
Ana recalls that when she was
ve years old, her mother made
her take part in a Santacruzan, the
pageant in the last day of Flores
de Mayo, for which she had to
wear makeup.
I didnt want to remove the
makeup. I remember that I cried
because of this, says Ana.
Turning 18
Growing up, she forgot about
makeup and was a bit of a tomboy
until she discovered the makeup
tutorials on YouTube when she
was 15 years old. Two years later,
Ana would ask her mother if in
lieu of a party when she turned
18, could she instead buy some
makeup?
Her mother, who was a baker
and is an excellent cook, agreed.
She gave Ana P10,000 to pur-
Ana Victorino has no formal training in cosmetology but she is
one of the most promising makeup artists in the country today
and is, in fact, a very popular YouTube guru.
ARTS & LIFE
ManilaStandardTODAY
Sunday
ARTS & LIFE
ManilaStandardTODAY
B2
Delivering
digital food
MASTERCARD and the World Food Pro-
gramme recently announced a global part-
nership that will use digital innovation to
help people around the world to break the
cycle of hunger and poverty. The part-
nership will combine MasterCards exper-
tise in electronic payments systems with
WFPs global reach among the worlds
hungriest populations to meet the nutri-
tional needs of the most vulnerable.
Our partnership with MasterCard is a
great example of how transformative pri-
vate sector partnerships innovate against
hunger, said Nancy Roman, WFP direc-
tor of Communications, Public Policy and
Private Partnerships.
Roman added that by drawing on
MasterCards technical know-how and in-
ternational reach, WFP will further devel-
op both its electronic voucher programme
that enables hungry families around the
globe to buy nutritious food in local mar-
kets as well as its online donation mecha-
nism that engages individuals and brands
in a global community working together
to solve hunger.
Where markets are stable, WFP often
distributes vouchers that are redeemable
in local shops for food and other staple
items. These vouchers help boost local
economies while allowing poor commu-
nities to receive food assistance with dig-
nity. Through the Digital Food Project,
MasterCards payment and technology
expertise will help WFP to rene and im-
prove its systems that deliver food vouch-
ers via mobile phones or banking cards to
people without regular access to banks or
nancial services.
Ann Cairns, president of International
Markets, MasterCard said: MasterCards
vision of a world beyond cash is the per-
fect partner for WFPs vision of a world
beyond hunger. Today we have committed
to delivering a ground breaking partner-
ship, which will ensure our Digital Food
initiative will go on to meet the require-
ments of those who need it most around
the world.
Alongside the Digital Food proj-
ect, MasterCard will help WFP to create
an enhanced online donation mechanism
that will enable more people to donate
through a wider variety of online payment
methods.
This enhanced online donation mecha-
nism is part of an Integrated Giving
platform that will allow brands to inte-
grate donation mechanisms onto their
products. Retailers can offer donations
at checkout so customers can donate to
WFP without having to leave the site. In
addition, mobile applications or game de-
velopers will be able to offer options to
support WFP right from within their ap-
plications or game. All donations will be
tracked and credited to both the brand and
the consumer, offering new opportunities
for consumers and brands to work togeth-
er and have a meaningful, measurable im-
pact on the ght against hunger.
Getting your
moneys worth
from a hotel
THE promise of a 24h apartment-hotel is
simple and straightforward: guaranteed
24-hour stay from check-in time. This
means guests need not wait for the standard
2 p.m. check-in time, worry about the
12 noon check-out or pay extra charges
for an extended stay. At 24h Apartment-
Hotel, guests get the full worth of what
they paid for in a hotel room.
Located in Makatis forthcoming
commercial district within the vicinity
of the Kamagong-Vito Cruz Extension
perimeter, 24h Apartment-Hotels studios
and full-serviced residences are spacious,
pleasantly comfortable and adequately
furnished for overnight or extended city
stays that t right to the budget.
At 24h Apartment-Hotel, one need
not compromise quality for affordability
just to be comfortable while traveling.
Each guest room has been carefully
designed for utmost comfort and
convenience that could best suit any
travel requirements.
The 24h Apartment-Hotel offers
complimentary set breakfast under the
warm ambiance of the Caf 24h.com.
The convenience of room service appeals
to guests because they can unwind with
their meals without having to get dressed
for dinner; or simply dine in the comforts
of their room without having to ask for a
table in the dining room.
While they operate 100 guest rooms,
24h Apartment-Hotel has function halls
that can accommodate 100 persons and
are suited for wedding, baptismal and
birthday celebrations. The 24h Apartment-
Hotel also offers hi-speed Internet access,
a swimming pool, billiard, and chess
tables for in-house guests.
Florina Castillo as Paula
By Prof. Florina Castillo
THE Philippine Drama Com-
pany-Sala Theater, as part of
its 27
th
season productions, will
stage one of the most laudable
classic plays in the country,
Nick Joaquins elegy in three
scenes, A Portrait of the Artist
as Filipino.
The play is directed by the PDC Sala Theater
founder and directress, Prof. Naty Crame Rog-
ers, who played the role of Paula in the 1965
lm-version of the play. She also plays the role of
Candida, along with Prof. Lala Castillo who now
takes on the role of Paula. Kenn Cayunda plays
the swaggering boarder Tony Javier and Gaby
Castillo as Bitoy Camacho, the young journalist
and family friend of the Marasigans. The rest of
the cast include Rina Reinoso, Chrissie Legaspi,
Jordeene Lagare, Krix Untalan, Jake Alejan-
drino, Claude Despabiladeras, Danny Escasa,
Cecille Valenzuela, Raul Dumlao, Ramer dela
Cruz, LA Caguioa, Andre Lagoy, Elsa Mapua,
and Robert Lane.
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino will run from
Oct. 26, 8 p.m. and Oct. 27-28 at 7 p.m., at the Phil-
ippine Drama Companys Amingtahanan Sala The-
ater located at #40 Stella Maris St., Bo. Kapitolyo,
Pasig. Cocktails will be served after the show.
Portrait of the Artist as Filipino occupies an un-
paralleled place of honor in the history, not only of
Philippine dramatic literature but in all of Philip-
pine literature as well.
Genteel past
Perhaps it is the poetry in it, the subtle, un-
spoken pain of the genteel poor of Old Manila
struggling to survive in a world their genteel past
never anticipated. It is pre-war Manila, just be-
fore the bombs fell in 1944.
In Bitoys words while the world was hurrying
gaily towards destructionthere was one house
that never became a slum.
What happens in that house is what Portrait of
the Artist as Filipino is all about. It is about a great
but impoverished painter slowly dying along with
the Old Manila. It is about his daughters Candida
and Paula, two women in whom youth and dreams
have died but not dignity and gentility, trying to sur-
vive the ravages of poverty in an old paternal home
which their brother and sister, Manolo and Pepang
want to sell. It is about the young go-getter of a jazz
pianist Tony Javier, wanting to make an extra buck out
of this situation of desperate poverty getting caught in
his own trap. It is about Don Perico, the Senator who
stopped writing poetry so he could earn a living for
his family. It is about Bitoy, the young journalist, try-
ing to interpret for himself and for us, the paradoxes
of his times and who takes upon himself the poets
mandate to remember and to sing. It is about all of
them, their choices showing us as the Senator says,
that Life is not as simple as it is in art.
Joaquin prose
There are probably countless literary accounts
of how Filipinos coped with life in those pre-war
years, but not with the exquisite grandeur of Nick
Joaquins prose and his prophetic interpretation of
the human condition. Something proudly Filipino
has become universal. Something elegantly His-
pano-Filipino now belongs to the world.
Portrait of the Artist as Filipino was rst dis-
covered by National Artist Daisy Hontiveros Avel-
lana in the Womens Weekly Magazine in 1952.
She and her husband, another National
Artist,Lamberto Avellana, aired a 45-minute ad-
aptation of Portrait of the Artist as Filipino over
DZPI, with a cast composed of members of the
prestigious Barangay Theater Guild performing to
a live audience. Daisy H. Avellana functioned as
script editor and played the lead role of Candida.
The play was rst staged in a makeshift open
air theater at the Aurora Gardens in Intramuros
in 1955.
After a two-year run, it was produced as a lm
by Manny de deLeon as a Diadem production
opening at the Rizal Theater on Aug. 25, 1965.
It was in this production that Crame-Rogers,
then of the Arena Theater of the Philippine Normal
College, made her debut as a lm actress, playing
the role of Paula, Candidas younger sister. For her
performance in this lm, she was nominated for a
FAMAS Award as Best Supporting Actress.
From then on, the public image of the sisters
Candida and Paula had always been the faces these
two great actresses of Philippine theater: Daisy
Hontiveros Avellana and Naty Crame-Rogers.
For more information about the play, like
https://www.facebook.com/ThePhilippineDrama-
Company.
NICK JOAQUINS
A Portrait of the Artist
as Filipino on stage
THE Department of Avant-Garde Cliches
with the Departamento Cultural Embaja-
da de Espaa en Manila brought eight of
Spains most established painters in the
art exhibit Procesos y Transformaciones,
or Processes and Transformations, which
opened at DAGC Gallery, Makati City.
Together with a special guest of hon-
or, Spain Ambassador Jorge Domecq,
Miki Leal and Abraham Lacalle, two
among the eight featured artists, pre-
sented a gallery of works that explore
their countrys culture, history and ev-
eryday life.
Procesos y Transformaciones also
showcased the thought-provoking
works of Angeles Agrela, Pilar Albar-
racin, Javier Arce, Valeria Cavesta-
ny, Chema Cobo and Jose Piar.
All featured paintings are focused
on social, political, formal issues and
narrative content, as well as the imagi-
nary and the psychological, meshed into
mans daily life, bringing closer the ar-
tistic and cultural ties of Spain with the
Philippines.
The gallery opens at 11 a.m. and runs
until Oct. 27, displaying a different set
of works from all the featured artists
each month.
Exhibit features Spains nest art
The cover of a book on Nick Joaquin by his nephew Tony Joaquin and Gloria Kismadi
Como el Marinero
by Chema Cobo
Contorsionista
by Angeles Agpela
Naipes Grabado
by Miki Leal
B3 OCTOBER 21, 2012 SUNDAY
Sunday
tech.mst.ph
ManilaStandardTODAY
email: [email protected]
Death of the PC? Unlikely
Epson strengthens hold on PH market
Top iPad game now on Internet Explorer 10
MICROSOFT Philippines
recently announced its partnership
with popular on-line game Contre
Jour, allowing enthusiasts to play
the game using Internet Explorer
10 (IE10) for a fast and seamless
gaming experience.
Contre Jour, which means
against daylight in French,
topped the App Store charts in
2011 making it the most selling
iPad paid app in the U.S. Now,
players of this game will not be
limited to Apple products users
as Microsoft is bringing Contre
Jour online.
This partnershipsimilar to
our past initiatives with Cut the
Rope, Pulse and Atariis part of
our continued effort to showcase
the innite possibilities with
the web today, said Jonathan
Wong, Internet Explorer Lead
for Microsoft Asia Pacic. With
features like multi-touch, Contre
Jour showcases the heightened
gaming experience once IE10
is available to the world with
Windows 8 starting October 26.
Designed by Ukrainian
developer Maksym (Max)
Hryniv, Contre Jours goal is
to carefully guide the one-eyed
character named Petit through
the games 30 levels until he
reaches the blue light (water)
to rescue his love interest, the
rose. In order to do so, the player
needs to transform the landscape
by swiping, pulling and tapping
the multi-touch screen of the
device or gadget being used.
Contre Jour runs best with the
new Windows 8 touch device and
IE10. It also works great in IE9
on a Windows 7 PC, or any other
modern browser, shared Wong
as he underscored the platform
exibility of Contre Jour. He
added, However though Contre
Jour works with a mouse and
keyboard, the nal 10 levels only
work with multi-touch.
Contre Jour, especially
now with IE10, brings in a
more engaging experience
for the online gaming-savvy
community. Internet Explorer
10 enables Contre Jour gamers
with a fast and uid multi-touch
experience, said John Pineda,
a gaming expert and Microsoft
Student Partner from the College
of St. Benilde.
Local dealers: No imminent death of the PC. From left: Vicky Agorilla of Lenovo Philippines, Agnes Espino of Acer Philippines, Mike Smith of Nokia Philippines, Izon De Guzman of Asus Philippines, Eric Sulit
of Samsung Philippines, and Alvin Go of Dell Philippines share their companys take on the upcoming Windows 8 launch this October during a recent CyberPress Forum. (Photos: Alma Anonas-Carpio)
By Carla Mortel
TOSHIMITSU Tanaka, the new Epson
Philippines Corp. (EPC) country manager, is
geared to strengthen the Epson brand in the
country
Building on the successes under
Nakamura-sans leadership, we at EPC
hope to continue strengthening customer
engagement processes to facilitate better
customer satisfaction. We also hope to
continue the double-digit growths in both the
printer and projector businesses that made
the Philippines a strong contributor to Epson
business goals in the region, Tanaka said.
Banking of the 10 -20 percent market
growth, EPCs business goals would be
focused on serving the requirements of the
user, business and industrial markets. Tanaka
is also looking at creating new business
models in response to local demand, and
achieving the overall goal of double sales
turnover within ve years.
Upon assuming his new post, Tanaka took
note of Filipinos happy cheerful disposition
and resiliency amidst challenges times. I
have seen how strong Filipinos are with
your ready smiles even in the middle of
calamities like what happened a few months
ago. The world looks up to your bayanihan
spirit that is present in both good times and
bad times. According to Tanaka, these
Filipino traits are admirable and stand as a
good leverage in bringing opportunities and
accomplishing the goals set for his term.
Now, I know why they say it is more fun in
the Philippines.
Coinciding with the entry of Tanaka is the
launching of new Epson L-series ink tank
system printers. Equipped with worlds rst
genuine ink tank system, the Epson L-series
worlds is deemed as a pioneer in the industry
and the only one of its kind in the market.
I am glad that one of my very rst
projects as the country manager of EPC is
the introduction of these new and improved
L-series printers for the Filipino customers.
This launch ranks high among important
activities to serve the goals of strengthening
the Epson brand, creating new business
models to t the local requirement, Tanaka
said.
In response to market demand, the printer
models are economically efcient without
having to comprise the quality of prints.
The Epson L-series offers lower running
costs on high quality prints. An ink bottle
is reasonably priced at P295 and can print
4,000 black pages. Three colored ink bottles
can print 6,500 color pages. Made faster
with the capability of 9 images per minute,
the L-series is easier to set-up and smaller by
10 percent than previous models.
With 32 years of experience from global
headquarters Seiko-Epson Corp. (SEC) in
Japan and other Epson subsidiaries, Tanaka is
well-known for his goal-oriented approach
in achieving targets. EPC considers this as
a positive leverage to the growing presence
of brand in the local market.
Tanaka started his career at the System
Devices Sales and Marketing department
at SEC in April 1981. He was transferred
to Epsons South and Southeast Asia
regional headquarters in Singapore in
1997 and was tasked to lead regional sales
initiatives as the Sales director for System
Devices & Projectors.
In 2003, Tanaka returned to the SEC global
headquarters in Japan and became part of the
Business Systems in the Sales & Marketing
Dept. After a year, he was promoted to
general manager and pushed sales for
business products globally.
In 2007, Tanaka headed the Imaging
Products Sales & Marketing Support
department in SEC as its general manager.
With new country manager
AMID persistent talks on the seeming
death of the PC fueled by declining global
PC sales and gloomy outlook, local dealers
insist that PC is neither dead nor dying.
In a recent forum organized
by the IT Journalists Association
of the Philippines (Cyberpress),
local executives of PC makers
Acer, Asus, Dell and Lenovo
(including Nokia) expressed
optimism on the PCs future,
explaining the current scenario
as mere convergence and
divergence of platforms.
Much of this optimism
is hinged on the looming
ofcial release of Windows 8,
scheduled on October 26. The
new operating system is mainly
designed for the touchscreen
environment and is Windows
catch-up response to Android
and iOS. Sales of tablets,
smartphones and other devices
running on these operating
systems have skyrocketed,
apparently due to their simple
and easy touchscreen user
interface, among others.
I dont think the post-PC
era is there yet because tablets,
as they are congured now,
simply cant do everything,
said Samsung Philippines IT
director Eric Sulit. According
to him, PC remains relevant and
far from being dead, adding that
Microsoft and Intel have been
working to breathe life into the
industry. PC form factor will
still be there, he said.
Sulit said Samsung will
be present in both Android
and Windows space, giving
consumers the power of choice.
There will be more product range
and depth as a result of windows
8, and the new Microsoft OS
will converge it all, added
Sulit.
Vicky Agorilla, country
manager of Lenovo Philippines,
supported Sulits views.
PC is not dying, but going
to a different courseWith the
convergence, consumerization
and mobilization of technology,
four-screen is a must for every
tech company and Lenovo
is expanding into these four
areas, said Agorilla, adding
that Windows 8 will serve as a
driving force of the PC industry.
Four-screen strategy refers to
carrying four types of products
that are very PC-centric: the
traditional PC, smartphone,
tablets, and smart TV.
While research may point to
signs that the PC is dying, there
were indications stating otherwise.
According to Agnes Espino of
Acer Philippines, the PC market
is still bullish as shown by reports
from research rm IDC. There
is still going to be PC in the next
few quarters, she said.
What the numbers are saying
Talks of PC death especially
over the Internet have been rife
for years now. More recently,
a Gartner report early this year
cited the rise of the cloud as one
compelling argument for the
death of the PC.
In the rst half of 2011, global
PC sales from virtually all PC
manufacturers had declined
by almost 6 percent; with only
Apple posting a favorable
performance at the time. Dell
and Acer were both down by
10 and 25 percent, respectively,
according to reports. In contrast,
tablet sales grew by 207 percent,
and smartphone use increased by
as much as 63 percent, according
to Tech Radar.
According to analyst George
Leong, the fall of the PC could
be attributed to the superlative
rise in tablets.
Users want tablets, not
hybrids or smaller-sized
laptopsThe bottom line is
that tablets are advancing in
technology and more powerful
applications, which will further
erode the demand for PCs and
laptops, wrote Leong.
Perhaps the most alarming
news on the state of the global
PC industry is IHS iSupplis
recent report which said PC
shipments will decline in 2012,
the rst in 11 years.
The total PC market in 2012
is expected to contract by 1.2
percent to 348.7 million units,
down from 352.8 million in
2011, as shown in the gure
below. Not since 2001more
than a decade agohas the
worldwide PC industry suffered
such a decline, read the report.
There was great hope through
the rst half that 2012 would
prove to be a rebound year for
the PC market, said Craig Stice,
senior principal analyst at IHS.
Now three quarters through
the year,Optimism has
vanished and turned to doubt,
and the industry is now training
its sights on 2013 to deliver
the hoped-for rebound. All this
is setting the PC market up for
its rst annual decline since the
dot-com bust year of 2001,
added Stice.
There are signs that a strong
rebound could still occur in 2013,
according to IHS. While IHS has
reduced its forecast for them, the
new ultrabooks and other ultrathin
notebook computers remain
viable products with the potential
to redraw the PC landscape,
and the addition of Windows 8
to the mix could prove potent
and irresistible to consumers.
Whether a newly congured PC
space could then stand up to the
powerful smartphone and tablet
markets, however, remains to be
seen, it added.
PC death as mere
exaggeration
Reactions on the subject
have been varied, with some
saying that the PCs death is
forthcoming and inevitable.
With the new dispensation
of mobile computing, various
views on the imminent death of
the PC market have proliferated
online.
On the contrary, others
argue that whats happening is
a convergence of computing
devices; with the desktop moving
to become the home server.
They contend that the market is
not actually disappearing, but
becoming more specialized.
Erik Kain, in his Forbes
article, wrote: A tablet has its
place and is good for all sorts
of things, but I fail to see how
it can adequately replace a
mouse and keyboard in terms
of productivity for all sorts of
sectors including, for instance,
blogging. Or gaming. Or lm
and music editing. I can see
how tablets might enhance all
these things but not how they
could replace themit seems
much more likely that well
see tablets and PCs designed
to work together rather than a
push to replace PCs with tablets
altogether.
More and more analysts
tend to agree, inferring that
eventually, it will be more
difcult to differentiate tablets
from PCs.
The tablet and PC markets
are all going to blur, said Tim
Coulling as quoted in a New
York Times article. Were
going to see a lot of form-factor
innovation. Well be asking:
what is a tablet and what is a
traditional PC? tech.mst.ph
(MST-Oct. 22, 2011)
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Public Works and Highways
First Metro Manila Engineering District
Westbank Road, Manggahan Floodway, Rosario
Pasig City
I NVI TATI ON TO BI D

A. The Depart ment of Publ i c Works and Hi ghways-Fi rst Met ro Mani l a
Engi neeri ng Di stri ct, Westbank Road, Manggahan Fl oodway, Rosari o,
Pasig City through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors
to apply to bid for the following contracts:

1. Contract ID No.: 0120B0234
Contract Name: Construction of Four (4) Storey, Twelve (12) Classroom
School Building at Rizal High School, Brgy. Caniogan,
Pasig City
Contract Location: Pasig City
Scope of Work: Construction of School Building
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): PhP19,999,943.99
Contract Duration: 180 Calendar Days
Cost of Bid Documents: PhP10,000.00
2. Contract ID No.: 0120B0235
Contract Name: Rehabilitation/Improvement of J.P. Rizal Street (Marikina-
San Mateo Road) K0015 + 023 K0016+180, Marikina
City
Contract Location: Marikina City
Scope of Work: Road Works
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P7,840,062,.66
Contract Duration: 30 Calendar Days
Cost of Bid Documents: PhP10,000.00
B. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission
and receipt of bids, a single contract similar to the Project, equivalent to at least
ffty percent (50%) of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained
in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II, Instruction to Bidders.
C. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using
non-discretionary pass/fail critetion as specifed in the Revised mplementing
Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known
as the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino Citizens/sole proprietorships, or organizations
with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock
belonging to citizens of the Philippines.
D. Contractors/applicants who are interested in the DPWH civil works are required
to register prior to the set schedule of submission on bid while those already
registered shall keep their records current and updated. Contractors eligibility
to bid on the project will be determined using the DPWH Contractor Profle
Eligibility Process (CPEP) and subject to further post qualifcation. nformation
on registration can be obtained at DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph or Central
Procurement Offce (CPO), 5
th
Floor, DPWH Building, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area,
Manila from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
E. A. complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders
from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the
Bidding Documents.
F. The First Metro Manila Engineering District, will hold the Pre-Bid Conference on
[October 25, 2012 at 2:00 P.M. at FMMED-Offce Conference Room, Westbank
Road, Manggahan Floodway, Rosario, Pasig City, which shall be open only to
all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.
G. Interested Bidders may obtain further information from Department of Public
Works and Highways, Central Procurement Offce (CPO) and DPWH-First Metro
Manila Engineering District and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address
given below from 8:00A.M. to 5:00P.M.
.
H. Bids must be delivered on or before November 08, 2012, 2:00 P.M. at First Metro
Manila Engineering District, Westbank Road, Manggahan Floodway, Rosario,
Pasig City. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable
forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.1.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose
to attend at the aforesaid address. Late bids shall not be accepted.
I. The First Metro Manila Engineering District, reserves the right to accept or reject
any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to
contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected or bidders.
J. For further information, please refer to:

(Sgd.) MARIO E. ALCANTARA
OIC-Chief, Maintenance Section
Engineer III/BAC Chairman
NOTED
(Sgd.) ROBERTO S. NICOLAS
District Engineer
B4
Fest OCTOBER
MST Sunday
R
When ber months start to come in,
most Filipinos think of the Yuletide season.
But there is another occasion that some
of us anticipate especially during the lat-
ter part of September up to October. Ber
month also means beer month as it is when
the annual Octoberfest is celebrated.
The Octoberfest is a 180 year old tradi-
tion from its origin land, Bavaria in Mu-
nich, Germany, and its ruling royal fam-
ily. The celebration is marked by booths
selling local and seasonal beer, various
food tents installed, and tables for mil-
lions of guests from other cities to party
and experience the famous palooza.
The famous celebration is adapted by
other countries in the world including the
Philippines. San Miguel Corp., the mak-
ers of San Miguel Pale Pilsen, pioneered
Octoberfest in the country, making it suc-
cessful every year.
The local Octoberfest is usually celebrat-
ed through concerts, promotional events,
and overowing of free beer.
This years kick off party happened last
September 28 in Paranaque City. Famous
rock bands and established solo perform-
ers grace the occasion to entertain the
crowd and to showcase their powerful
music. Pepe Smith, Pupil, The Dawn,
Brownman Revival, Slapshock and Ra-
zorback are just some of the regular acts
that the party-goers can expect. There
are also foreign artists that are invited to
add up to the up to the fun. This year, apl.
de.ap from the Grammy Award winning
group Black Eyed Peas performed some
of their famous songs during the kick off
party.
Different elds of interest, gimmicks,
rafes, and games are also featured in the
booths that everyone could enjoy. Club-
bers can relate to the booth of talented DJs
and song mixers. There is also a venue for
mixed martial arts and hip-hop enthusiasts
where simple competitions are held, a mu-
sic tent for rock and roll fans, a hub for a-
vored beers and beverages, a bistro lounge
that serves delectable dishes that are per-
fect with alcoholic drinks, and food demos
by renowned chefs in the country.
Hotels, clubs, and bars also have their
own way of celebrating the Octoberfest.
Resorts World Manila offers classic rock n
roll music every Tuesday of October while
the customers enjoy drinks and other food
packages. Hotel H2O, on the other hand,
has acoustic live bands for those who want
to celebrate the festivity in a laid-back cozy
ambiance while dining on delicious Asian
cuisines. The Sotel Philippines Plaza, in
partnership with German Club Manila,
brings the authentic German Octoberfest to
the country. Guests are encouraged to wear
traditional Bavarian outts to make the
experience more realistic. Germanys best
beers and Bavarian food will be served all
night long to complete the party.
For people who are living outside Metro
Manila, Octoberfest is also held in key cit-
ies such as Santa Rosa in Laguna, Lapu-
Lapu City in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro City,
and San Fernando in Pampanga.
MONTH
once again
It is the
BEER
Sausage platter
Salmon Spinach Poffertje

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