The Filipino Express v27 Issue 35

Transcription

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VOL. 27 w
NO. 35 w
NATIONAL EDITION w
NEW JERSEY w
NEW YORK w
SEPTEMBER. 6 -12, 2013 w
(201) 434-1114 w
$1.00
Bishop tells Aquino: Get Delfin Lee, too
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO,
Pampanga -- If President
Benigno Aquino III got the
trust of suspected pork barrel
scam mastermind Janet LimNapoles to surrender to him on
Aug. 28, might he also prod
fugitive housing developer
Delfin Lee to do the same?
With this question,
Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop
Pablo Virgilio David put back
on the public discourse the
alleged P7-billion housing
scam by Lee's Globe Asiatique
Realty Holdings Corp.
(GARHC) in the firm's Xevera
projects in Bacolor and
Mabalacat towns.
The amount involved in the
so-called housing scam is P3billion short of the P10 billion
that Napoles supposedly took
t h r o u g h
b o g u s
nongovernment organizations
and ghost beneficiaries for
nonexistent projects paid
through the Priority
Delfin Lee. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Engineer heads list of
confirmed ambassadors
Development Assistance Fund
or pork barrel of lawmakers.
P2-M reward
“I wish they could also get
Delfin Lee to surrender. How
much money did he milk out of
Pag-ibig [Fund]? P5 to P6
billion?” David said in text
messages to the Inquirer on
Tuesday. David helped the
whistle-blowers in the housing
scam.
Mr. Aquino has put up a P2million reward for information
leading to Lee's arrest.
Lee, his son Dexter and
their cohorts went into hiding
in May last year after a judge in
Pampanga ordered their arrest
for a case of syndicated estafa
filed by the Home
Development Mutual Fund
(Pag-Ibig Fund). The savings
and shelter agency derives its
money from the contributions
of employees in private
companies and government
By Norman Bordadora
M A N I L A – T h e
Congressional Commission on
Appointments (CA) on
Wednesday confirmed the
nomination of 16
ambassadors to various
diplomatic posts abroad,
including that of an engineer
who somehow ended up
representing the country's
interests in war-torn Iraq.
MANILA -- “Eat, blank and die,” Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago said, deleting an expletive
from her own remark, when asked what she had
to say to her fellow senators who, the witnesses
in the scam said, disbursed their pork
allocations through Janet Lim-Napoles' bogus
nongovernment organizations.
“You're an engineer. What
are you doing in public
service?” Santiago asked
Barba.
Barba hesitated just a little
before taking a stab at humor.
“To build bridges across
nations,” he said, drawing
laughter from the gallery that
included his colleagues in the
foreign service.
Not to be outdone,
Santiago shot back: “I will cite
In a complaint filed in 2010,
Pag-Ibig Fund officer-incharge Emma Linda Faria said
the respondents “conspired to
carry out defraudation
r e s u l t i n g i n t h e
misappropriation of money
contributed by the general
public.”
Bogus buyers
GARHC took out P6.65
billion in housing loans for
nearly 9,000 units for
supposed Pag-Ibig members,
many of whom turned out to be
bogus buyers bribed to sign
public documents, the
complaint said.
The other respondents
were GARHC accounting and
finance department chief
Cristina Salagan;
documentation department
chief Christina Sagun; agents
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Page 4
Santiago to senators in pork scam:
Eat, _____ and die
By Norman Bordadora
Sen. Miriam DefensorSantiago, who broke her sick
leave to preside over the
b i c a m e ra l c o m m i s s i o n' s
foreign affairs committee
hearing on the nomination of
the foreign officers, was
reading into the record the
curriculum vitae of the
diplomat nominees when she
came across that of Edsel
Barba.
agencies.
Santiago urged the government on
Wednesday to start filing plunder charges
u
Page 2
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Inquirer file photo
Hon. Cecilia Rebong, former Consul
General of the Philippine Consulate
in New York, is the new Philippine
Ambassador to Switzerland
you in contempt for using a
cliché.”
The senator then went on
to recommend Barba's
nomination to the CA plenary.
New York Marine recalls 9/11: Shares journey
to service, citizenship, Afghanistan
By Cpl. Paul Peterson
was born in the Philippines, his
family settled in New York City.
Guevarra admits his home
wasn't in the best of
neighborhoods: “A good place to
live, but not to stay,” as he put it.
“At the time, I said, 'I need to
do something. I want to do
s o m e t h i n g ;' ” re m e m b e re d
Guevarra.
His personal call to action led
to his to joining the Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
program in high school and a
year of schooling at a military
academy.
CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan When the planes struck the
World Trade Center, his world
The other ambassadors
became
one of confusion.
whose nominations were
“I
heard
my teacher and a
endorsed by the Santiago
classmate talking … I looked at
committee and who were
them, and I saw it on their faces
subsequently confirmed
and experienced it,” Cpl. Charles
were: Rowena Sanchez, the
Guevarra, a native of Long
country's ambassador to
Island,
N.Y., recalled while he
Turkey; Ma. Theresa Lazaro,
shared his first memories of
France and Monaco;
September 11. “I didn't even
Victoriano Lecaros, Czech
know English very well at the
Republic; Cecilia Rebong,
time.”
Switzerland;
Guevarra, a Marine Reservist
Cpl. Charles Guevarra, a native of Long
Jaime Victor Ledda, the
currently
serving with Combat He wanted to be an officer
Island, N.Y., and Marine serving with
Netherlands; Narciso
Guevarra sought out his
Combat Logistics Regiment 2, Regional Logistics Regiment 2, Regional
Castañeda, Oman; Eduardo
Command (Southwest), poses for a Command (Southwest), in military commission, but his
picture near an electricity generator at Helmand province, was in grade plans changed when he found
u
Page 6
Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, August 12,
school at the time. Though he
u
Page 8
2013. (Photo by Cpl. Paul Peterson)
September 6 - 12, 2013
Page 2
THE FILIPINO EXPRESS
Whistle-blowers bare Napoles pork records
There are entries for 'Pogi,' 'Kuya,' 'Sexy' and 'Tanda'
By Nancy C. Carvajal
Two witnesses in the P10billion pork barrel scam will
submit to the National Bureau
of Investigation five notebooks
containing evidence of Janet
Lim-Napoles' dealings with
lawmakers, the Inquirer has
learned.
The notebooks, in different
sizes and colors, contain
records of cash transactions,
lists of properties, bank
accounts and other information
said to be related to the
operation of Napoles' business
company JLN Corp.
“These notebooks were
records from 2012 up to August
2013 and all information
contained in these notebooks,
we personally wrote,” said one
of the two new witnesses who
came forward recently to testify
against Napoles.
In an interview with the
Inquirer in their safe house
somewhere in Metro Manila, the
witnesses said they worked for
Napoles as presidents of bogus
NGOs until she was ordered
arrested by a Makati City court
for the alleged illegal detention
of Benhur Luy, the principal
witness in the pork barrel scam.
Napoles, who surrendered
to President Aquino last week, is
detained at a police camp in
Laguna province on charges of
serious illegal detention. The
DAMNING EVIDENCE. A whistle-blower shows the Inquirer the notebooks containing
records of Janet Lim-Napoles' dealings with lawmakers. Nancy C. Carvajal
NBI plans to bring plunder
charges against her, alleging
that she siphoned off P10 billion
in legislators' allocations from
the Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) into
her bank accounts through
bogus nongovernment
organizations (NGOs).
A lawyer for the two new
witnesses, Lourdes Benipayo,
was present during the
interview.
Code names
An entry in the first blue
notebook showed that P20
million from one of the whistleblowers' NGO was allotted for
“Kuya.”
“'Kuya' and 'Sexy' are the
code names for Sen. Jinggoy
[Estrada]. 'Pogi' is for Sen. Bong
[Ramon Revilla], and 'Tanda' is
for Sen. [Juan Ponce] Enrile,” the
NGO president said.
In an earlier interview, Luy
told the Inquirer that it was
Napoles who chose the code
names for the senators.
Contacted by the Inquirer
for comment, Estrada said he
would issue a statement after
t h e w h i s t l e - b l o we r s h a d
submitted the notebooks to the
NBI.
“I will react when these (the
notebooks) have been
Napoles asks court to
defer arraignment
By Anna Liza Villas-Alavaren
and Rey G. Panaligan
T h e
c a m p
o f
businesswoman Janet Lim
Napoles, the alleged
mastermind in the P10-billion
pork barrel scam, yesterday
asked a local court in Makati City
to defer her arraignment on the
serious illegal detention charges
filed against her.
In an 18-page urgent
motion, the Kapunan Garcia &
Castillo law offices asked the
Makati City Court branch 150 to
set aside its order, which set the
date of Napoles' arraignment on
Sept. 9, at 1:30 p.m., and
postpone the succeeding court
proceedings.
The motion said Makati City
Regional Trial Court (RTC)
Branch 150, with Judge Elmo
Alameda as presiding judge, has
yet to resolve several pending
motions that were earlier filed
in court. The latest is the motion
for bills of particulars
requesting information on the
charges against her and her
brother.
There is also a petition for
certiorari questioning the
legality of the warrant of arrest
issued earlier by Judge Alameda
and assailing the local court's
“grave abuse of discretion”
which remains pending at the
Court of Appeals (CA).
“It would be the height of
unfairness and bias to allow the
arraignment to proceed,”
Napoles' lawyers said.
They said there was no
intention to delay the
proceedings. Diosfa Toledanas
Valencia, branch Clerk of Court,
said the court has set the
hearing of all the motions filed
before the court on Friday, 1:30
p.m.
The illegal detention cases
against Napoles and her brother
were filed by Benhur Luy, an
employee of Napoles' JLN Group
of Companies and the
whistleblower in the alleged
misuse of the Priority
(PDAF) by some lawmakers who
were implicated in the scam.
Meanwhile, in an unusual
show of leniency despite a
defective petition, the CA has
decided not to dismiss outright
the case filed by Reynald Lim.
Lim had asked the CA to lift
the arrest order issued against
him by the Makati RTC on
charges of serious illegal
detention of Luy.
Napoles had also been
ordered arrested but she
surrendered to the President
and is now detained at Fort Sto.
Domingo in Laguna.
Lim, however, remains at
large.
In a resolution, the CA found
at least three defects in Lim's
petition which under the rules
could lead to the outright
dismissal of the case.
The CA said Lim failed to
implead the People of the
Philippines as respondent, did
not furnish the Office of the
Solicitor General (OSG) a copy of
his petition, and the verification
and certification on non-forum
shopping was signed and
submitted to the NBI,” Estrada
said.
Enrile and Revilla had yet to
respond to the Inquirer's
request for comments as of
press time last night.
All senators who have been
implicated in the pork barrel
scam have repeatedly denied
any wrongdoing.
The second notebook, with a
red cover, contained lists of
Napoles' properties.
The third notebook (blue)
contained records of
documents received by the
whistle-blowers on behalf of
their boss, credit card numbers
and details of credit-card
transactions.
The fourth notebook (red)
contains the names of contact
persons and their phone
numbers.
The fifth notebook (bluegreen) is an organizer of the
whistle-blowers.
One of the two new
witnesses said she delivered
money to the house of Ruby
Tuason, social secretary of
former President and now
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.
US properties
In their testimony, the new
witnesses claimed they were
ordered by Napoles to convert
millions of pesos to US dollars.
“We exchanged pesos to
Santiago to
senators ...
From page 2
against legislators involved in
the P10-billion pork barrel
scam.
Santiago is on a sick leave but
attended the confirmation
hearings of diplomats at the
Commission on Appointments.
She decided against
attending the Senate session in
the afternoon but made her
presence felt by lashing out at
her colleagues who had been
implicated in the pork barrel
scam allegedly masterminded
by businesswoman Napoles.
Santiago called on the
government to start filing
plunder cases against the
lawmakers involved in the scam.
Witnesses' evidence strong
A former trial court judge,
Santiago said the testimonies of
the whistle-blowers constituted
strong evidence.
“So no matter how many
they are, the government must at
least file criminal charges
against them because the
newspaper reports were based
on affidavits executed by the
eyewitnesses before the
[National Bureau of
Investigation],” Santiago told
dollars [at various money
changers] that offered the
lowest exchange rate,” the
witness said.
“The US dollars were then
sent abroad through various
money couriers to pay for
purchases of properties in
America,” they said.
Luy, in an earlier interview
with the Inquirer, said Napoles'
daughter Jo-Christine had an
account at Wells Fargo Bank in
Irvine, California, and the
account number was
920026595958
He said Napoles' brother,
Reynald Lim, had an account at
Bank of America in San Diego,
California, with the account
number 1216143383.
Luy said Napoles' nephew
Jose Emmanuel Lim had an
account at Wells Fargo Bank in
Pasadena Lake, California
( a c c o u n t n u m b e r
8022280068).
Deeds of sale
The new witnesses
submitted as annexes to their
sworn statements deeds of sale
for various local properties in
the name of Napoles' oldest son,
James.
They also submitted as
evidence documents signed by
those members of the House of
Representatives designating
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Page 6
reporters.
“[The] strongest evidence
for the prosecution or even for
the defense is always a testimony
of an eyewitness. These whistleblowers, at least majority of
them, appear to be eyewitnesses
so that's very, very strong,” she
added.
Santiago said the Senate
could afford to lose eight
senators should they be sent to
prison.
“Why do we need to be 24?
It's a question I ask myself very
often. We can be [fewer] so long
as (the total) is an odd number so
that we can't be even when
voting,” she said.
Told that the Senate needs a
two-thirds vote, or 16
affirmative votes, to ratify
treaties, Santiago said, “So we
can jail, 24 minus 16, we can jail
eight.”
Santiago said she did not buy
the talk that Napoles had no
protector in the government.
She said Napoles would not
have been so brazen if she had no
one to run to who was
influential.
If Napoles identifies her
protectors in the government,
she will no longer be the guiltiest
and she can qualify as a state
witness in the government's
case, Santiago said.
(Inquirer.net)
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Page 4
Page 3
5 senators gave P1.45 billion to NGOs
By Chi Almario-Gonzalez
MANILA -- The top five
senators who used their Priority
(PDAF) or their pork barrel
funds from 2007 to 2009 were
Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla,
Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy
Ejercito Estrada, Edgardo Angara
and Gregorio Honasan.
This is according to a tally
from as special audit report of
the Commission on Audit (COA)
on the use of PDAF from 2007 to
2009.
Under Annex A of the COA
report, Revilla requested use of
his pork barrel eight times, with
a total of P503.85 million.
Enrile requested use of his
PDAF 14 times with a total of
P469.3 million while Estrada
requested use of his PDAF seven
times with a total amount of
P286.8 million.
Angara requested use of his
PDAF six times with a total
amount of P150.51 million while
Honasan requested use of his
PDAF three times with a total
amount of P74.8 million.
The total PDAF of the five
senators transferred to NGOs is
P1.45 billion. Most of these NGOs
are linked to Janet Napoles,
alleged mastermind of the pork
barrel scam.
The five senators are part of
the list of legislators who
transferred their PDAF to 82
questionable NGOs.
COA found the transfer of a
total of P6.15 billion “not proper
and highly irregular.”
The list showed that the
PDAF of the five senators were
also released for implementation
of the projects to similar
agencies.
These agencies are the
National Livelihood
Development Corp. (NLDC),
Technology Livelihood Center
(TRC), and the National
Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor).
The Department of
Agriculture, which accepted the
requests for project
implementation, referred the
PDAF to the agencies.
“A g g rava t i n g t h e c l e a r
violation of law in the release of
funds to NGOs, these NGOs were
not even selected in accordance
with the Guidelines on
Participation of NGOs in Public
Procurement,” COA said.
Of the total P6.15 billion
PDAF transferred to the 82 NGOs,
Revilla
Enrile
Estrada
COA found that top agencies that
released the pork barrel funds
were Nabcor which released
P1.2 billion, Znac Rubber Estate
Corp. with PP282 million;
Department of Agriculture RFUs
with P31 million; DSWD with
P748 million, TRC with P2.4
billion; NLDC with P1.295billion,
and the Quezon City government
with P177 million.
The COA report criticized
these agencies for transferring
funds and letting the NGOs
implement the projects
requested by the legislators.
“The IAs (implementing
agencies) to where the funds
Angara
were released by the DBM should
have implemented the project
themselves as they are the IAs
defined in the GAA (General
Appropriations Act),” COA said.
Honasan
for Progress and Development
Foundation (POPDFI), Social
Development Program for
Fa r m e r s Fo u n d a t i o n , I n c .
(SDPFFI) and Philippine Social
Development Foundation, Inc.
(PSDFI).
Among the NGOs linked to
Napoles that were tapped by the
senators for their pork barrel
fund were Agri and Economic
Program for Farmers
Foundation, Inc. (AEPFFI),
Agricultura Para sa Magbubukid
Foundation (APMFI),
Countrywide Agri and Rural
Economic Development
(CARED) Foundation,
Masaganang Ani Para sa
Magsasaka Foundation, Inc.
(MAMFI), People's Organization
Senators Enrile and Estrada
have welcomed investigation
into the use of their PDAF while
Senator Revilla has denied
involvement in the pork barrel
scam.
Senator Honasan reportedly
wants to wait for the NBI probe
on the scam while Senator
Angara has yet to issue an official
statement. ABS-CBN News
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Page 4
AMLC to track down Napoles
overseas accounts
MANILA -- The AntiMoney Laundering Council
is trying to track down bank
accounts owned by Janet
Lim Napoles, the alleged
mastermind of the multibillion peso pork barrel
scam.
AMLC executive
director Julia Bacay-Abad
said they are now
coordinating with foreign
law enforcement agencies
because some financial
transactions may have
been done outside the
country. But she declined to
elaborate on the extent of
the investigation.
''We have asked the
assistance of our
counterparts and of foreign
law enforcement agencies,
just like in our other cases -- because there's always a
possibility that
transactions are being
made outside the
Philippines so there's really
a need for international
cooperation," she told
reporters after the AMLC
budget hearing at the
Senate.
She noted more bank
accounts may be linked to
Napoles because of the
huge amount of money
involved.
She said the bank
accounts of lawmakers may
also be frozen, if proven
they are engaged in moneylaundering activities.
"I said 'any person who
would be identified as
involved in any unlawful
activity'," she said.
Abad explained that
they had to freeze all other
bank accounts that had
dealt with Napoles, not just
Janet's personal bank
accounts. But she refused
to confirm reports if these
bank accounts have been
e m p t i e d a l r e a d y, a s
previously reported.
She also refused to
divulge if they have been
coordinating with the
whistleblowers who are
currently with the NBI. " If
there's a determination
that the subject bank
account is involved in
money laundering
activities, then any account
related to it should be
included in the petition and
frozen as well," Abad said.
Though Abad cannot
give a specific time frame
for the investigation to be
completed, she assured it is
their top priority.
But she admitted that
they have limited resources
and manpower, and she's
not sure if they can request
for additional teams from
the Monetary Board for
them to do what needs to be
done.
" We h a v e l i m i t e d
number of investigators
and lawyers but we will try
our best to do our task,
what is mandated of us,"
she added.
AMLC's budget for 2014
has been decreased from
P40 million to P28 million.
AMLC gets a part of its
budget from the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Napoles asks
court to ...
From page 2
executed by his wife without
authority from him authorizing
her to sign in his behalf.
In a resolution written by
Associate Justice Noel Tijam, the
CA said: “Without necessarily
giving due course to the Petition,
Petitioner is directed to correct
the aforesaid defects within five
days from receipt hereof.”
Legal circles said the serious
flaw in Lim's petition is the
d e fe c t ive ve r i f i c a t i o n a n d
certification on non-forum
shopping. The verification
requirement is a testimony that
t h e p e t i t i o n e r, h i m s e l f ,
authorized the filing of the case;
while the certification attests
that the petitioner has not filed a
similar case before any court or
tribunal.
In his petition, Lim told the CA
that there is no probable cause (a
situation where a suspect, based
on available evidence, is probably
guilty of the offense charged) to
charge him in court.
Napoles had also asked the
C A t o i s s u e a t e m p o ra r y
Bishop to
Aquino: Get ...
From page 1
Lerma Vitug, Tintin Fonclara,
Geraldine Fonclara, Revelyn
Reyes, Rod Macaspac, Marvin
Arevalo, Joan Borbon, Christian
Cruz, Rodolfo Malabanan, Nannet
Haguiling and Hon Tungol; and
Pag-Ibig Fund lawyer Alex
Alvarez.
David said the pork barrel
scam reminded him of the
housing scam.
“Napoles has partners in
crime in the government who can
be apprehended if she spills the
beans. The investigation on the
Pag-Ibig scam did not go so far as
to identify Delfin Lee's partnersin-crime inside Pag-Ibig or even
in higher levels of government
hierarchy,” he said.
Pag-Ibig Fund, David said,
seemed to be “business as usual
after allowing its funds to be
plundered by several billions of
pesos.”
restraining order (TRO) that
would lift in the meantime the
arrest order issued against her
before her surrender.
But the CA division headed by
Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia
did not issue a TRO and instead
required the Office of the
Solicitor General (OSG) to
comment on the petition in 10
days and for Napoles to reply to
the comment in five days.
Lim also sought the issuance
of a TRO on his petition.
“Wherefore, premises
considered, petitioner
respectfully prays that
immediately upon the filing of
this petition, the Honorable
C o u r t i s s u e a Te m p o ra r y
Restraining Order enjoining the
National Bureau of Investigation
and other agents of the
government from enforcing the
Order of Warrant of Arrest and
public respondent judge from
proceeding with the case a quo
for a period of 60 days,” he said.
According to Lim, the Makati
RTC Judge Elmo Alameda who
issued the arrest order “acted
whimsically and arbitrarily when
he denied the motion for judicial
determination of probable cause
and issued the warrant of arrest
even before the motion is heard.”
“Ganun na lang ba iyon (Is it
all going to be just like that)?” he
asked.
Willie Rivera, Lee's lawyer,
said all cases filed against his
client have “not moved” since late
last year.
No contact
The Supreme Court , in
October last year, denied Lee's
petition questioning his
indictment for syndicated estafa.
Lee, the high court said, had failed
“to show any reversible error in
the challenged decision as to
warrant the exercise of the
court's discretionary appellate
jurisdiction.”
Rivera said his client has not
been in contact with him.
Lawyer Jojo Yap, director of
the National Bureau of
Investigation in Central Luzon,
said the search for Lee has not
been called off.
“It is still ongoing and we keep
on pursuing available leads on his
w h e r e a b o u t s ,” Ya p s a i d .
(Inquirer.net)
Page 5
Woman trader earns P200M through fake companies
Department of Agriculture has own 'Napoles’
By Jing Villamente and James
Konstantin Galvez
IF Janet Lim Napoles used
fake non-government
organizations (NGOs) to siphon
off billions of pesos from
lawmakers, another woman
trader tapped questionable
companies reportedly headed by
her maids and drivers to rake in
P200 million from the
Department of Agriculture (DA)
through her “monopoly” in the
importation of garlic.
According to Volunteers
Against Crime and Corruption
(VACC) counsel Ariel Genaro
Jawid, only companies identified
with Leah Cruz were given
importation permits (IPs) by the
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI),
an attached agency of the DA.
Jawid claimed that Cruz is the
DA's version of “Napoles”
because she pocketed hundreds
of millions of pesos by using
dummy companies.
“By now, it's a scheme we
have all grown too familiar with.
Only, it's not just Congress that
has its Janet Lim Napoles. The DA
has its in-house version of her
tooa Leah Cruz, who profits
unjustly and illegally, to the tune
of nearly P200 million in the last
12 months, through her dealings
with the DA-BPI. Like Napoles,
Cruz's companies are also
'owned' by her drivers, clerks,
and househelp,” Jawid said.
The new anomaly came to
light even as the DA and the
National Food Authority (NFA)
are hounded by allegations that
the importation of rice was
overpriced by P457 million.
Cruz, Jawid said, is a recipient
of the DA's Philippines Good
Agricultural Practices (PhilGAP)
award. Her alleged
companiesShelmarie
Enterprises, A.G.R. Trading, Bee
J e e Tra d i n g , a n d Tu m a n a
Tradingwere issued
“revalidated” IPs, “the only the
that are able to regularly ship in
imported garlic since mid-2012
up to the present.”
On April 20, 2012, BPI
Director Clarito Barron issued a
m e m o ra n d u m te m p o ra r i ly
suspending the issuance of IPs,
allegedly to revive the garlic
industry in the country pursuant
to the Garlic Industry
Development Road Map. He,
however, immediately lifted the
order after having been sued for
its release.
“But this lifting did not settle
the problem of non-issuance of
IPs for garlic. There should have
been no question on this “nonissuance” or IP if there were no
hundreds of container vans of
imported garlic in the market,”
said the lawyer.
According to Jawid, after the
ban on the issuance of IPs was
lifted, only Cruz's companies
were allowed to regularly ship
imported garlic since the middle
of last year by way of
“revalidated” IPs. Cruz has
allegedly made P192 million
from her virtual monopoly of
garlic importation in the last 12
months.
“It is not rocket science that
will lead us to the horrifying
conclusion that the arrival of 20
containers of garlic (40 footer)
per week on the average from
August 20l2 up to the present will
translate to around 960
containers. At P200,000 net
income per container, that
translates to P192 million in the
last 12 months,” said Jawid.
In a March 26, 2013 letter to
Bureau of Customs (BOC)
Commissioner Rozzano Rufino
“Ruffy” Biazon, Barron claimed
that the IP certificates of
extension were signed “without
prior knowledge, authority, and
permission” from him.
“So we now have an issue of
fake IPs? Even if we were to take
that to be true, the BPI continues
to be infested with various
corrupt practices: IPs being
peddled from P30,000 up to
P100,000 per permit like a
valued commodity; illegal
overtime fees of P1,500 per
c o n t a i n e r ; f ive s a c k s p e r
container as 'samples' for
examination; and the 'pa-buto' or
'pa-binhi' wherein the poor
farmers are sold two kilos of
seedlings but are made to sign
and acknowledge that they
received four kilos,” the lawyer
said
“Pardon the pun, but of these,
the IPs for garlic still stinks the
most,” he added.
Dead shot
In his column, Dead Shot, that
came out at The Manila Times
last week, veteran journalist
Erwin Tulfo said the name of Cruz
has been going around the BOC
for sometime being the “only
person allowed to import onions
and garlic into the country.”
Citing reports that reached
him, Tulfo said IPs “have become
so precious that one import
permit alone could cost as high as
P100,000 but it only cost P20
during the previous
administration.”
“Sources said the Bureau of
Plant Industry (BPI) of the
Agriculture department is the
agency responsible in issuing
permits but it refuses to issue
permits to other importers. An
official of the BOC, who asked not
to be named, confirmed that
Cruz, through her dummy
companies, is the only person
allowed to import onions and
garlic,” Tulfo claimed.
Biazon even cancelled the
accreditation of the companies
reportedly connected to
importer Cruz.
Tulfo said Cruz's companies
“are fake and do not have offices.”
P2 billion
Cruz was allegedly the
recipient of over 300 IPs,
allowing her to bring in some P2
billion worth of garlic since
August last year to the detriment
of members of the Philippine
Vegetable Importers/Exporters
Inc. (PVIE) led by Lilybeth B.
Valenzuela, whose applications
for import permits were denied.
u
Page 6
Page 6
DA has own
‘Napoles’
From page 5
In a complaint filed at the
Department of Justice, the
P V I E a n d VA C C l e d b y
President Dante Jimenez and
Chairman Martin Diño jointly
accused two key officials of the
BPI and Cruz of “illegal
combinations and
monopolizations in restraint
of trade, in rampant violation
of Article 186 of the Revised
Penal Code.”
To prove that the Cruz
group is a monopoly, the VACC
and the PVIE said that all nine
companies that were given IPs
by the BPI are mostly dummy
companies managed and
controlled by Cruz, and almost
all these companies are
represented by only one
broker Orlando Marguilencia.
The complaint against the
BPI and Cruz was on offshoot
of the graft charge filed with
the Office of the Ombudsman
by Hexa Trading against DA
Secretary Proceso Alcala,
Barron and Cruz.
Alcala was also implicated
in the “pork barrel” scam
involving Napoles after he was
accused of facilitating the
release of millions of pesos to
fake organizations.
At a press briefing on
Tuesday, Alcala said that his
agency will recommend the
filing of charges against the
officers of non-government
organizations that received
“pork” from several
lawmakers.
Alcala said that they are
coordinating with the Office of
the Solicitor General for the
filing of appropriate charges
against the Kaupdanan Para
Mangunguma Foundation,
Inc., a group controlled by
Napoles.
The DA chief said his
agency will provide
documents to the OSG which it
can use in conducting its
investigation.
Alcala also identified six
lawmakers who released part
of their PDAF to the Napolescontrolled NGO this year.
Based on the DA report, the
PDAF infusions to KMFI were
intended for the distribution
of knapsack sprayers to
farmers in their respective
districts. Of the P83.2 million
allotted for the NGO, only
P44.90 million was released.
The lawmakers who gave
to the KMFI were An Waray
Partylist Rep. Neil Benedict
Montejo, Davao del Norte
S e c o n d D i s t r i c t
R e p r e s e n t a t ive A n t o n i o
Lagdameo, Davao City Third
District Representative Isidro
Ungab, Masbate Third District
Representative Scott Davies
Lanete, and Oriental Mindoro
S e c o n d D i s t r i c t
Representative Reynaldo
Umali.
The report showed that
Montejo gave P9.2 million to
the Napoles-run NGO, all of
which were fully released and
liquidated. The department
said “randomly selected
recipient farmers”
acknowledged receipt of
knapsack sprayers and foliar
fertilizer.
Lagdameo gave P1 million,
Ungab, P13 million, Umali, P10
million, and Lanete, P45
millionall of which were fully
released and liquidated.
Alcala, on the other hand,
said that their initial findings
showed that Assistant
Secretary Ophelia Agawin,
who served as chairman of the
NGO / People's Organizations
(PO) accreditation committee,
was not “not liable.”
“We are not washing
hands. We had no knowledge
that there are questionable
NGOs. Kaupdanan
accreditation papers were in
order, so we don't see Asec.
Agawin or the accreditation
team liable,” he said. (Manila
Times)
Whistleblowers bare
Napoles ...
From page 2
their NGOs as beneficiaries of the
legislators' pork barrel
allocations.
“I was with her since 1997 up
to the time she was ordered
arrested, and also served as
custodian of records of her
properties,” said one of the new
whistle-blowers.
In their affidavits, the new
whistle-blowers said Napoles
claimed to have “contacts” in the
Office of the Ombudsman and in
the Sandiganbayan, and that she
expected to be cleared of the
charges against her in four to five
years.
Plea for loyalty
In an affidavit submitted to
the NBI on Thursday, the 11th
whistle-blower, said hours
before surrendering to President
Aquino on Wednesday night,
Napoles called her up to plead for
loyalty from her employees.
“She was crying and asking
me not to turn my back on her,
that we should stay together,” the
witness said.
The witness said Napoles
p ro m i s e d t o s u p p o r t h e r
employees even if it costs her all
her money.
“Just wait. My TRO
(temporary restraining order)
will be issued soon,” Napoles said
in Filipino, according to the 11th
witness.
The witness said she was at
the Department of Justice when
Napoles called.
The witness said that when
her phone rang again, showing
the same number used by
Napoles, it was Cheryl Jimenea,
former appointments secretary
of former President Estrada, who
was on the line.
She said Jimenea instructed
her to meet her in a restaurant in
Trinoma, Quezon City, at 7:30
p.m. on Aug. 28.
The witness said she and
some other NGO presidents went
Engineer
heads list ...
From page 1
Martin Menez, Iran,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan;
Vicente Vivencio Bandillo,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the
Maldives; Catalino Dilem,
Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela,
the Dominican Republic and
Cuba;
Jose Cuisia, the United States,
US Virgin Islands, Grenada,
Puerto Rico, with additional
jurisdiction over Trinidad and
Tobago, Jamaica and Haiti;
to see Jimenea, who came with a
lawyer who instructed them to
“implicate Benhur (Luy)” in the
event the NBI questioned them.
“Madame did nothing wrong
to you so maybe you have
nothing against her. So say that it
was Benhur who gave you
instructions and it was to him
that you turned over the money,”
the witness quoted the lawyer as
telling them in Filipino.
The witness said Jimenea
gave her and the other NGO
presidents P20,000 each at the
end of the meeting. The witness
did not say how many whistleblowers were present.
Documents destroyed
She said Napoles “ordered
her papers and documents in the
office to be moved to her
residence in Pacific Plaza Tower,
and the documents for all the
NGOs were destroyed.”
Napoles also ordered the
destruction of all original
documents pertaining to the
bogus NGOs, the witness said.
She said Napoles ordered the
papers destroyed so that the
bogus NGOs could not be traced
to her.
At least six shredders were
used to destroy the documents,
the witness said.
“Due to the sheer volume of
documents that we shredded,
the machines eventually broke
down,” she said.
Napoles, she said, “feared
that the National Bureau of
Investigation might raid the
office and Pacific Plaza.”
She said Napoles got
adjoining rooms at Discovery
Center and gave it the code name
“parking.”
“In the new office, we
temporarily held office and
continued to shred more
documents,” the witness said.
She said Napoles also
o rd e re d t h e m to exe c u te
affidavits stating that Luy was
the brains behind the dummy
NGOs.
H e r s t a t e m e n t s
corroborated the testimony of
the other whistle-blowers, all
employees of Napoles who
u
Page 12
Eleanor Jaucian, Hungary, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Montenegro
and Serbia, and additional
jurisdiction over Romania,
Bulgaria and Moldova; Enrique
Manalo, the United Kingdom and
Northern Ireland, with
additional jurisdiction over the
Republic of Ireland;
Bayani Mercado, Norway,
Iceland and Denmark, with
additional jurisdiction over
Finland and Sweden; Patricia
Paez, Poland, with additional
jurisdiction over Latvia and
Lithuania; and George Reyes,
Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras,
N i c a r a g u a , Pa n a m a , w i t h
additional jurisdiction over
Venezuela, the Dominican
Republic and Cuba.
(Inquirer.net)
Page 7
Transparency among
professionals needed
By Chino S. Leyco
The Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR) will soon require
all professionals, particularly
doctors, to post their rates in
their respective offices and
clinics.
BIR Commissioner Kim S.
Jacinto-Henares explained that
professionals should be
transparent when it comes to
their professional fees, and
should not overcharge their
clients or patients.
Jacinto-Henares said that
t h e B I R re c e ive d s eve ra l
complaints against doctors who
charge additional fees every
time a patient is asking for a
receipt.
“Withholding tax and valueadded tax (VAT) should be
incorporated in the professional
fee. These taxes are not on top of
i t ,” J a c i n t o - H e n a r e s t o l d
reporters.
The BIR is currently
monitoring these professionals
and the agency will come up
with the new revenue
memorandum “very soon,” she
added.
But while the BIR is being
criticized for being too much
strict on professionals, JacintoHenares assured that her agency
is not sparing anyone in its battle
against tax evasion as it is also
hunting down politicians and
extremely wealthy individuals.
She said that every
individual who fails to pay his or
her fair share of taxes will have
trouble with the BIR, reiterating
“there are two things certain in
life; death and taxes.”
The Department of Finance
(DOF), the head agency of the
BIR, has already declared war
against professionals and the
self-employed who have been
repeatedly underreporting their
income to avoid paying higher
taxes.
Jacinto-Henares explained
that the incidence of tax evasion
among professionals remained
high, citing the sector comprises
only 6.8 percent of total
individual income taxes, way
below the 81.5 percent share of
those whose taxes are
automatically deducted from
their salaries.
Data from the Professional
Regulation Commission show
that there were some three
million registered professionals
in the country190,000 are
doctors and lawyers who earn
more than salaried workers.
(Manila Bulletin)
10 departments forge social pact
By Edu Lopez
Ten government
departments have recently
agreed to beef up efforts in
order to improve the quality of
life of the marginalized sectors
of the society.
The convergence strategy
was formalized with the recent
signing of a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) by
officials of the departments of
agriculture, health, agrarian
reform, environment and
natural resources, interior and
local government, labor and
employment, science and
technology, social welfare and
development, tourism and
trade and industry (DTI).
The agreement is the latest
initiative to implement
President Benigno S. Aquino
III's “social contract” with
Filipinos to reduce poverty
incidence by building
capacities and creating
opportunities, while
recognizing the vital role of
farms and community-based
enterprises in contributing to
food security and economic
growth.
D e p a r t m e n t o f
Environment and Natural
Resources Secretary Ramon
Paje said the agreement
provides a holistic approach as
it involves almost all line
agencies to ensure a more
effective and efficient
implementation of programs
on poverty alleviation, job
creation, food security, and
healthy and safe environment.
Paje said the agreement was
consistent with the existing
national convergence initiative
for sustainable rural
development among the DENR,
DA and DAR, which focuses on
s h a re d re s p o n s i b i l i t y i n
sustainable development of
natural resources and
communities in the country's
rural areas.
“The agreement is an
expanded convergence that
ensures our programs and
projects, particularly those for
community-based sustainable
livelihood and enterprise
development, will be
complementary, harmonized
and therefore more inclusive to
a wide swath of society,” Paje
said.
The agreement also
identifies priority and highimpact programs and projects
from each of the 10 agencies
that have common interests
and objectives, particularly
those aimed at alleviating
poverty in municipalities.
The National Greening
Program which seeks to plant
D
L
O
S
trees on 1.5 million hectares for
six years ending in 2016 was
identified as the DENR's main
contribution to the
convergence, with its various
activities as support to poverty
alleviation, food security and
climate change mitigation.
Among these activities are
site identification and
development, seedling
production and plant
propagation, adoption of
environment-friendly
technologies, provision of
planting materials and
technical assistance, and
conduct of monitoring and
evaluation.
Other government projects
identified in the new
convergence program include
the Agri-Pinoy Program of the
Department of Agriculture, the
Program Beneficiaries
Development of Department of
Agrarian Reform, the
Enhancing Economic Growth
and Competitiveness of Local
Government Units Program of
the Department of the Interior
and Local Government, and the
Integrated Livelihood Program
towards Community
Enterprise Development of the
Department of Labor and
Employment. (Manila Bulletin)
T
U
O
Page 8
World on the brink of
climate disaster - UN
The damaged bow of M/V Sulpicio Express 7.
Cebu ferry tragedy
death toll up to 110
MANILA -- The number of
fatalities in last month's
collision between a passenger
ship and a cargo vessel in Cebu
went up further to 110 as of
Monday noon, the Philippine
Coast Guard said.
In its noon update, the Coast
Guard said this left at least 29
more passengers of MV Saint
Thomas Aquinas 1 missing.
According to the Coast
Guard, 733 had so far been
rescued while the remains of
108 fatalities were recovered,
New York Marine
recalls 9/11 ...
From page 1
that not being a U.S. citizen made him
ineligible.
Undeterred, he decided to enter
the Marine Corps Reserves while
going to school. In May 2009, he
joined the military. His 2013
deployment in support of Operation
Enduring Freedom marks his second
deployment to Afghanistan.
“I've seen it,” said Guevarra,”
especially the physical fitness,
building camaraderie, seeing new
people and going new places.”
In 2010, Guevarra earned his
citizenship while training for his
military occupational specialty, and
returned to New York to continue his
academic pursuits.
“I do school, work and the
military,” said Guevarra. “[The Marine
Corps] has helped me get my
citizenship … Now the military is
helping me through school.”
He completed his associate's
degree at Nassau Community College
in New York and currently seeks to
and 29 more are missing.
Last Aug. 16, the MV Saint
Thomas Aquinas 1 sank after
colliding with the MV Sulpicio
Express Siete.
The accident resulted in an
oil spill that affected Cordova
town, and prompted the Cebu
provincial government to
declare a state of calamity over
the entire province.
F i s h e r f o l k i n C o r d o va
re c e n t ly a s ke d fo r m o re
assistance as they still have
difficulty making ends meet.
finish his bachelor's degree in
criminal justice. He said his teachers
can see a difference in him since he
joined the Marines.
“I think it's the leadership,” said
Guevarra. “Building the leadership up
and using it toward school, you'll see
the difference between you and
others. You stand out.”
He is not alone in his family.
Guevarra said his sister also joined
the Marine Corps and recently
returned from her own deployment
to Afghanistan. As a reservist, he feels
deployments are a unique
opportunity to bond with his fellow
Marines, who he doesn't otherwise
work with on a daily basis.
He even volunteered with his
fellow reservists in New York to help
recovery efforts after Hurricane
Sandy devastated the area last year.
“In reality, it's building up that
camaraderie between you and your
friends,” said Guevarra, who makes
an effort to visit new recruits in his
district during his time in the city.
Guevarra knows this will likely be
his last deployment to Afghanistan as
the Afghans now lead operations in
the country. For now, he's put his life
on hold until he returns from Central
Asia.
GENEVA -- Humanity has
pushed the world's climate
system to the brink, leaving
itself only scant time to act,
the head of the UN's group of
climate scientists said on
Monday.
“We have five minutes
before midnight,” warned
Rajendra Pachauri, whose
organization will this month
release the first volume of a
new assessment of global
warming and its impacts.
“We may utilize the gifts
of nature just as we choose,
but in our books the debits
are always equal to the
credits,” Pachauri told a
conference marking the 20th
anniversary of the
environmental organization
Green Cross International,
quoting fellow Indian
Mahatma Gandhi.
“ M ay I s u b m i t t h a t
humanity has completely
ignored, disregarded and
been totally indifferent to the
debits?
“Today we have the
knowledge to be able to map
o u t t h e d e b i t s a n d to
understand what we have
done to the condition of this
planet,” Pachauri said.
The IPCC is made up of
several hundred scientists
worldwide.
It is due to release the
first volume of its longawaited Fifth Assessment
Report on September 27.
The first tome will look at
the scientific evidence for
climate change; two more
follow next year, focusing on
the impacts and the options
for tackling the problem.
A leaked draft two weeks
ago said that human activity
is almost certainly the cause
of climate change.
The draft also forecast
that sea levels could rise by
90 centimeters by the end of
the century, and all but
dismissed recent claims of a
slowdown in the pace of
warming which climate-
change sceptics have seized
upon.
In its previous reports,
the IPCC has warned that
unbraked warming will drive
many species to extinction
and hike the frequency or
intensity of droughts,
h e a t wave s a n d f l o o d s ,
affecting food security and
water supplies for many
millions.
“ We c a n n o t i s o l a t e
ourselves from anything that
happens in any part of this
planet. It will affect all of us in
some way or the other,”
Pachauri said.
Reining in greenhousegas emissions was still
possible if countries,
including in the developing
world, rethought their
a p p ro a c h t o e c o n o m i c
growth, he said.
That would boost energy
security, cut pollution and
improve health, and also
offer new job opportunities,
he added. (AFP)
Page 9
Continuing Street Sweeps Net 22
Including 2 Charged in Shootings;
Brings Total Arrested to 203
You can now be held
liable for texting a
driver in New Jersey
By Nathan Ingraham
The Verge
Just about everyone knows
that sending texts while driving
is an incredibly bad idea, but a
New Jersey court has just
decided that not only drivers
should be held liable for textingrelated accidents. According to a
just-released opinion from a
New Jersey court of appeals,
someone who sends a text
message to another person can
be held liable for a textingrelated accident so long as the
sender was aware that the
message's recipient was behind
the wheel.
We hold that the sender of a
text message can potentially be
liable if an accident is caused by
texting, but only if the sender
knew or had special reason to
know that the recipient would
view the text while driving and
thus be distracted.
The court's opinion came out
of an earlier texting while
driving case: a teenager driving
and texting crossed the center
line of the road he was on and
severely injured a married
couple on a motorcycle. The
injured couple had already
settled with the driver who hit
them, but they also sought to
charge the girl who sent the
driver a message with
negligence, saying that she knew
she was texting someone who
was driving and thus knew she
was engaging in distracting and
unsafe behavior.
However, in this case, the
plaintiffs weren't able to prove
that the girl sending the text to
her boyfriend actually knew he
was driving, so she isn't being
charged. However, the court
found the argument intriguing
enough that it will consider the
responsibility of the sender in
text message accident cases
going forward:
We affirm the trial court's
order dismissing plaintiffs'
complaint against the sender of
the text messages, but we do not
adopt the trial court's reasoning
that a remote texter does not
have a legal duty to avoid
sending text messages to one
who is driving.
So while the defendant
managed to escape prosecution,
future texters in New Jersey
might not be so lucky. That said,
it looks like the court's opinion is
worded such that this shouldn't
place a burden on innocent
texters a remote sender only has
a "limited duty" to those sharing
the road with drivers using their
phones. "One should not be held
liable for sending a wireless
transmission simply because
some recipient might use his cell
phone unlawfully and become
distracted while driving," the
court determined. Additionally,
this isn't a formal law, but more
an admission that New Jersey
will consider future prosecution
of people who sent texts to
someone who caused an
accident. Still, regardless of the
legal implications, it's definitely
something worth considering
when you're firing off messages
to your friends if you know
they're behind the wheel, it
might be smart to just send them
later.
JERSEY CITY -- Another in a
continuing series of successful
anti-crime street operations as of
August 30th resulted in 22 arrests,
including two men charged in
separate shootings.
Approximately 70 uniformed
and plain-clothed officers from the
Jersey City Police Department and
the Hudson County Sheriff's Office
fanned out in known crime areas
after a roll call addressed by Mayor
Steven M. Fulop.
On-going street operations
have been a signature part of the
Mayor's anti-crime initiatives and
have resulted in more than 203
arrests to date.
Additionally, earlier this month,
Mayor Fulop deployed a Shooting
Response Team of seasoned
detectives, which investigates
every non-fatal shooting in the city.
“We are taking an aggressive
approach to the historic problems
t h a t h ave b e e n f a c i n g o u r
communities as it relates to public
safety,” said Mayor Fulop. “We are
using tactics that are yielding
results, and we will continue to
apply pressure on those individuals
who seek to disrupt the safety and
well-being of our neighborhoods.”
The Shooting Response Team,
also known as the Ceasefire Squad,
worked with other officers to
investigate and arrest Myron
Williams, 19, of Jersey City, and
charge him in connection with a
shooting on August 22nd at Union
Street and Arlington Avenue.
Police also arrested Ty-wan
Troy, 20, also of Jersey City, and
charged him in a shooting that
occurred early today in which he
was also shot.
During the operation,
investigators responded to Union
Street around 1:30 am on a report
of multiple gunshots. Police found
witnesses who reported hearing
the shots, as well as evidence of
gunplay. The investigation then led
S h o o t i n g R e s p o n s e Te a m
investigators to a house on
Randolph Avenue where they
found a wounded Troy, who they
determined had been shot in an
exchange in which he was also a
shooter.
I nve s t i ga to r s a l s o fo u n d
Williams at the location. Williams
was sought by Shooting Response
Team members for the August
22nd incident as a result of
intelligence they developed earlier
in the sweep.
“We had a very successful night
last night, taking two shooting
suspects off the street,” said Acting
Public Safety Director James R.
Shea. “The arrests last night show
we are in the right place at the right
time. They are an example of
intelligence-based police work,
which will continue.”
Two additional suspects were
processed by the Hudson County
Sheriff's Department. During the
course of the sweep, the JCPD's ABC
Unit also inspected 13 liquor
establishments bars and liquor
stores that have been the source of
ongoing complaints. Two
summonses were issued and
inspections will continue.
Officers also issued
summonses for violations of city
ordinances, including public
drinking, loud music, blocking
entry or passage and curfew
violations, as well as motor vehicle
violations.
Fulop to Introduce New Jersey's First
Municipal Paid Sick Days Legislation
JERSEY CITY -- In what could
become a victory for working
families in Jersey City, Mayor
Steven M. Fulop will introduce at
next week's City Council meeting
the “Earned Sick Time Bill” which
provides for workers employed by
businesses with ten or more
employees to earn up to five paid
sick days per year to care of
t h e m s e lve s o r t h e i r fa m i ly
members. Employees of businesses
with nine workers or less would
accrue five unpaid days.
The legislation also calls for the
aggregation of employees if a
business owner owns more than
one establishment within the city.
¨This is an issue that impacts
the most vulnerable in our society
and it is the right thing to do,” said
Mayor Fulop. “In New Jersey, some
1.2 million workers that's more
than 1 in 3 of us do not earn paid
sick days.”
Without the ability to earn paid
sick days, employees risk losing
wages and possibly even their jobs
when they are ill. Without paid sick
days, workers are too often forced
to choose between their jobs and
their own health, or that of their
loved ones.
“In Jersey City we know that a
healthy employee is a more
productive employee, which in turn
generates more value,” added
Mayor Fulop. “There is a strong
business case for a minimum sick
days standard, however, more and
more businesses understand the
value of providing good workplaces
for their employees, including
earned sick leave benefits. We want
Jersey City to be business friendly
as is evident with our new tax
abatement policy, but also working
family friendly which is the goal of
this legislation”
OVERVIEW OF JERSEY CITY
PROPOSED SICK DAYS BILL
a) Private sector workers will be
able to earn up to 40 hours of paid
sick time a year (5 days)
b) Workers will earn one hour of
sick time for every 30 hours
worked. Paid sick time can be used
to care for a worker's own health
needs including mental or physical
illness, injury, or health condition,
need for medical diagnosis, care, or
treatment of a mental or physical
illness, injury, or health condition
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Page 15
Editorial & opinion
Page 10
China's not-so-great wall
Whatever happened to the much-heralded Chinese policy
of a “peaceful rise”? While the other great powers lauded the
awakening giant for the emphasis it placed on “peaceful,”
China's smaller neighbors noted with increasing concern its
single-minded focus on “rise.” In Asia, the reality is clear and
stark: The operative term in the famous Chinese policy is in
fact its unstoppable ascent to superpower status. Everything
else, including “peacefulness,” comes second.
Consider the latest Chinese assertion of its absurd,
sweeping, historical claim to almost all of the South China Sea.
Photographs taken from a Philippine Navy aircraft last
Saturday showed that concrete blocks had been laid on
Scarborough Shoal, the disputed area the Philippines call
Panatag and which locals refer to as Bajo de Masinloc. (China
calls it Huangyan.)
“We have… sighted concrete blocks inside the shoal which
are a prelude to construction,” Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin said at a budget hearing in Congress on Tuesday.
What does that mean, Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello
asked. “Are these then moves to create a Chinese fortification
on Philippine territory? Is this the meaning of these concrete
blocks because this is similar to what they did to the
Panganiban Reef [Mischief Reef] before?”
Adjustment of Status Granted
Despite Gap In Lawful Status
Gazmin replied: “If we follow history that is the direction.”
His reading of the new situation in Scarborough Shoal was
shared by an expert in regional security studies. “If China
starts building at Scarborough, then it is an occupation and, I
believe, the most egregious violation yet of the 2002
Declaration [of Conduct] (DOC),” Singapore-based scholar Ian
Storey said. “It is a very significant development indeed and
one that will certainly add to tensions.”
The DOC is an agreement on maritime conduct reached
between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and
China in 2002at about the time the predecessors of China's
current leadership assumed office. It is nonbinding, to be
sure, but it forms a key part of the commitments that China
has offered to its neighbors and is meant to prepare the way
for a comprehensive Code of Conduct. Construction at the
disputed reef means the nature of China's commitments is
now at issue.
When the Asean leaders' summit in Phnom Penh last year
ended in a diplomatic fiasco, after China forced its regional
ally Cambodia to disallow even the slightest mention of the
territorial disputes in the South China Sea in the traditional
closing communique, many observers thought that the
unusual display of Chinese assertiveness was a function of the
leadership transition in Beijing, then ongoing. The
assumption was that playing to nationalist elements in China
was a necessary but temporary means for the emerging
leaders to consolidate power.
A foreign national with an
approved employment-based
immigrant petition whose
priority date is current may apply
for an immigrant visa through
consular processing abroad or
apply for adjustment of status if
applicant is already in the U.S.
Adjustment of status is the more
preferred route because the
applicant is eligible for work
authorization and permission to
travel while the application is
pending.
To be eligible to adjust status,
the applicant must meet the basic
requirements, namely, physical
presence in the U.S. at the time of
filing, having lawfully entered the
U.S. through inspection by a U.S.
immigration officer or paroled
into the U.S., and not being
subject to any of the
inadmissibility grounds.
Foreign nationals who have
incurred “unlawful status” are
generally not eligible to adjust
s t a t u s . H o w e v e r, c e r t a i n
employment-based adjustment
applicants may still obtain
approval of their I-485
adjustment of status applications
despite gaps in lawful status.
Under Section 245(k), they may
adjust status if the total period of
their unlawful status is not more
than 180 days.
A recent case appealed to the
Board of Immigration Appeals
(BIA) involved Lorna Maynigo, a
Filipino citizen, who entered the
United States on June 24, 2001.
She changed her status to H-1B
which was valid until August 29,
2006. She timely filed a request
for extension of her H-1B status
on August 28, 2006.
The Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS)
denied Maynigo's request for
extension on March 7, 2007. She
subsequently filed an application
for adjustment of status on June
29, 2007 based on an approved I140 employment-based visa
petition. The priority date for the
visa petition was current. The CIS
denied her adjustment of status
application and she was placed in
removal proceedings before an
immigration judge.
The immigration judge (IJ)
disagreed with the CIS and found
Maynigo to be eligible for
adjustment of status under
Section 245(k). The IJ clarified
that under Section 245(k), an
employment-based immigrant
may adjust status if (1) the
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Page 12
The placing of some 30 concrete blocks inside
Scarborough Shoal should now disabuse anyone of these
geopolitical illusions. The leaders in Beijing are heavily
invested in China's grandiose claim to almost all of the South
China Sea; they will be loathe to dilute any part of that claim.
u
Page 12
Quaking in Florsheim
shoes
Founded in 1986
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Lito A. Gajilan, Jr.
Columnists: Reuben S. Seguritan, Esq.,
Juan L. Mercado, Jonathan Suarez, Joel Baclit
Correspondent: Contessa Bourbon
The opinions expressed by columnists are their
own and do not reflect the opinion of the paper
nor that of the publisher
Contact us:
Email: filexpress@aol.com
Phone: 201-434-1114 Fax 201-434-0880
Mid-July, Benhur Luy blew
the whistle on the P10 billion
cornered by Janet Lim-Napoles
t h r o u g h 2 0 b o g u s
nongovernment organizations.
Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan
Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada,
Fe rd i n a n d M a rc o s J r. a n d
Gregorio Honasan, plus 23
congressmen, delivered the
shekels, he claimed.
By August, the solo had
turned into a choir. The 10th
whistle-blower surfaced and
admitted: He drove a Napoles
courier and saw him ladle
bundles of cash, from a duffel bag,
in front of “Attorney Gigi.”
Lucila Jessica “Gigi” Reyes
served as chief of staff to former
Senate President Juan Ponce
Enrile until December last year.
She quit after a controversy
erupted over Christmas bonuses
handed out to senators by Enrile.
“I do not know Luy,” Reyes said
earlier. Now, no one answers her
phone.
Cash boodles were unloaded
in Reyes' residence, between
2009 and 2011, No. 10 alleged.
“There was no one else in the
living room… I stood at the door
and from there I could see,” No.
10 said.
Luy badgered to get into the
government's Witness
Protection Program. If a warrant
of arrest is served, we'll inform
Pasig Judge Danilo Buemio that
Luy is shielded, Justice Secretary
Leila de Lima shrugged. Whistleblowers 2 to 10 came out because
De Lima had guts. “Tiene
cojones,” is how oldtimers dub
spunk. De Lima has “balls.”
So has Commission on Audit's
Grace Pulido-Tan. Before the
Senate blue ribbon committee,
she documented COA's findings:
82 fake NGOs cornered billions of
pesos culled from the Priority
Development Assistance Fund.
Eight out of every 10 pesos were
pocketed. “There was a complete
breakdown of controls,” Tan said.
We' l l l e a v e t h a t t o t h e
Ombudsman.
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Page 12
Page 11
OPINION The urgency of country branding
By Andrew James Masigan
The Philippines has a serious
image problem. Despite the seal
of good housekeeping given by
Fitch and Standard & Poor's, the
country is still plagued by images
formed during our nation's
d a r ke s t ye a r s . I m a g e s o f
b a c k w a r d n e s s , s q u a l o r,
corruption, and a country
besieged by disasters from both
Mother Nature and its own
politicians. In short, despite the
many advances we've
accomplished as a nation, in the
eyes of most, the Philippines is
still perceived as a nation of
victims. Certainly not a country
on the fast track towards
industrialization. It's painful, I
Making
life worth
living
Ellen Tordesillas
The Department of Foreign
Affairs issued Monday a media
briefer on the China-Asean Expo
(CAEXPO) but skipped the issue
that President Aquino was not
i n fo r m e d t h a t C h i n a h a d
canceled as early as Aug. 23 his
planned attendance at the event
on Sept. 3.
DFA's failure to relay China's
message to Malacañang that
Aquino visit “at a more
conducive time” and send
instead Trade Secretary Gregory
Domingo had put the President
in an embarrassing situation as
he announced on Aug. 28 his trip
to Nanning, Guangxi, site of this
year's Expo.
In a media briefing, Foreign
know; it hurts me even just to
write it. But this is the truth.
The Department of Tourism's
15-month-old campaign, “It's
more fun in the Philippines,”
contributed to improve our
image and sell the country
abroad. However, the DOT's
campaign should not be
mistaken for a country brand. It is
only a part of it. A county brand is
the sum total of our tourism
brand, our investment brand, our
way of life, heritage, culture and
aspirations for the futureall
embodied in one catchy tagline.
Among the more successful
country brands of late is New
Zealand's “Forever Young” brand.
It perfectly captures the youthful
energy of New Zealand's young
population. Another good
example is South Africa's “Alive
with Possibilities.” The brand
was designed to set the country
apart from the rest of the
continent marred with crime and
failing economies. South Africa's
branding effort was so successful
that the country broke away
economically and was even
folded in with the rapidly
growing economies of the world
known as the “BRIC” nations
(now referred to as “BRICS”).
Apart from the DOT's “It's
more fun in the Philippines”
campaign, the Philippines does
not have a coherent marketing or
public relations campaign going.
Neither does it have a program to
define our national identity
domestically or abroad. To a large
extent, this explains why our
foreign direct investment is but a
tenth of Indonesia's.
The government agency
tasked to spearhead our country
branding is the National
Competitiveness Council (NCC).
Unfortunately, I haven't seen any
progress on the NCC's side,
country branding-wise, since
they were given the mandate.
Back in 2011, the
Management Association of the
Philippines, headed by Felino
Palafox Jr., along with Junie Del
Mundo's public relations firm,
EON, partnered with the
government to form the National
Branding Council (NBC). The
NBC was created to craft
s t ra te g i e s a n d i m p l e m e n t
p ro g ra m s towa rd c o u n t r y
branding. The NBC sought a
mandate from congress in 2011,
but the initiative is dead in the
water. I haven't heard anything
from the National Branding
Council since.
Meanwhile, foreign direct
investments continue to post
declines in spite of us gaining
investment grade status. Tourism
arrivals are growing below
expectations at just 11 percent
despite a brilliant and aptly
funded campaign by the DOT. The
term “Made in the Philippines”
remains an antonym of high
quality or high technology
despite us producing 15 percent
of all electronic products in the
world. The Philippines is still
associated with urban decay and
squalor despite us having the
most bio-diverse ecosystems in
the planet, not to mention the
most beautiful beaches. And
most lamentable of all is that our
kababayans (fellow Filipinos)
abroad are still seen as kind and
hardworking, but all out of luck.
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Page 12
DFA skips issue on cancellation of China visit
Affairs Spokesman Raul
Hernandez read a five-point
Question and Answer and did not
entertain questions.
The Q &A insisted that
Aquino was invited by China,
belying a statement by the
Chinese Foreign Ministry that
“China never extended an
invitation to the Philippine
president.”
Hernandez referred
reporters to China's note verbale
to the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations sent through this
year's coordinator, Thailand,
saying “it is our sincere hope that
the leaders of the 10 ASEAN
member states would make their
presence at the 10th CAEXPO.”
Earlier, Hernandez said, “The
invitation was to the country, to
the Philippines, requesting that
we send a high-level delegation
to the CAEXPO in Nanning.”
The Q & A also said, “There
were subsequent concerns and
conditions to the President's
attendance and such conditions
were absolutely inimical to our
national interest.”
“The President stood firm in
the defense of the country's
national interest,” the DFA said.
What it did not explain was why
Aquino initially accepted and
announced his visit if he had
found the conditions against the
national interest.
The DFA would not reveal the
conditions “to avoid
embarrassment on the Chinese
side.”
Hernandez said the
conditions were relayed by “at
least three Chinese Foreign
Ministry sources” who said the
conditions should not be made
public and should not be
discussed at ministerial level.
Nanning International Exposition Center
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Page 14
Doormats and yes-men
How true is it that the
resignation of National Bureau of
Investigation Director Nonnatus
Rojas is actually connected with
the controversial shelving by NBI
of the case against certain
officials of the agency that runs
the government's casinos who
served in the previous
administration? Yes, I've been
told that Rojas' sudden decision
to quit may have less to do with
the sensational theft of pork
barrel funds and everything to do
with the allegations that $40
million in bribe payments made
by Japanese casino magnate
Kazuo Okada, an investor in the
Pagcor Entertainment City.
I n a re p o r t t o J u s t i c e
Secretary Leila de Lima last June
28, Rojas opined that “no definite
conclusion can be made because
of the absence of evidence due to
lack of cooperation of witnesses
who have personal knowledge of
the payments” in the Okada
bribery case. Rojas suggested
that “the investigation [be]
suspended until sufficient
e v i d e n c e i s e s t a b l i s h e d ,”
supposedly from reluctant
witnesses.
When I wrote about this case
recently, I noted that people
involved in a crime cannot be
expected to incriminate
themselves. Apparently, that was
enough reason for Rojas to
archive the case an action which
De Lima inexplicably agreed
with.
***
But let's assume that Rojas
did quit because of the pork
barrel scandal. If that's the case,
then he has done the honorable
thing.
Rojas reportedly resigned in
the wake of a statement made by
President Noynoy Aquino that
the agency tipped off detained
pork barrel scam mastermind
Napoles about the issuance of a
warrant for her arrest, thus
allowing her to hide from the
authorities. Rojas' resignation
was preceded by the President's
personal acceptance of Napoles
in his palace, a serious lapse of
presidential propriety that his
propagandists have been trying
ever since to spin into a positive,
on the flawed premise that only
Aquino could have made the
controversial businesswoman
end life on the run.
Rojas must have noticed that
Napoles is a friend of the palace,
deserving of protection against
forces that seek to do her harm,
including, apparently, NBI. De
Lima and Rojas, whose agency is
in the center of the sensational
investigation of the large-scale
theft of congressional and other
taxpayers' funds, were not even
invited to witness the surrender
of Napoles which, strangely,
involved all of the President's
spokesmen and even a couple of
other supernumeraries whose
presence was truly irrelevant to
the case.
Understand, NBI was
involved in the pork barrel
scandal probe from the very
beginning; its personnel have
been accused by Napoles herself
in an April letter to Aquino of
oppressing and unjustly
persecuting her brother upon
the alleged behest of former
Napoles associate and current
chief whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
From the time Aquino received
N a p o l e s ' l e t t e r, t h e
administration has steadily
showed a bias in favor of the
businesswoman.
Last week's statement from
Aquino himself about the
possible involvement of NBI
officials in the tipping off of
Napoles must have really hurt
the NBI director. And there are
apparently not enough
expressions of Aquino's
supposed trust and confidence in
his NBI chief, made through De
Lima and the palace's thoroughly
discredited spokesmen (but not,
strangely, Aquino himself) to
make Rojas return.
I've never met Director Rojas,
but he is apparently someone
who has had enough and has quit
the proper way irrevocably. And
this administration cannot seem
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Page 15
Page 12
Whistle-blowers
bare Napoles ...
Quaking in
Florsheim
shoes
From page 6
designated them presidents of
the alleged bogus NGOs.
From page 10
40 homes
The 11th whistle-blower
also submitted to the NBI an
affidavit detailing 40 residential
properties that Napoles
allegedly owned, including five
apartments in Primea, one of
the swankiest residential
buildings on Ayala Avenue in
Makati City. An apartment in
Primea is worth at least P75
million, the Inquirer was told.
Sworn statements
submitted earlier by the
whistle-blowers said Napoles
owned 28 properties in such
posh residential subdivisions as
Ayala Alabang, Forbes Park and
Dasmariñas, but the Bureau of
Internal Revenue said last week
it had failed to locate properties
under the name of Napoles or
her family or her NGOs.
The latest whistle-blower
said Napoles closed her bank
accounts and those of her NGOs
in June, two months after Luy
began to talk to NBI
investigators about the extent of
his employer's alleged
transactions involving five
senators, 23 congressmen and
government officials.
“She closed the accounts,
but she also opened new ones.
She was afraid that Benhur
The urgency
of country
branding
From page 11
Clearly, there is a failure to
communicate what the nation's
strengths truly are. The writing
on the wall is clear: We need to
turn our image around as a
country and as a people!
It Needs Government Support
The need for national
branding must be recognized by
Malacañang and the legislature
for it to prosper. The private
s e c t o r, n o m a t t e r t h e i r
enthusiasm and good
intentions, cannot champion
country branding by itself. It
needs funding. It needs
government to live up to the
brand values. It needs
government institutions to get
our message across globally,
especially the Department of
Tourism, Trade and Industry,
and Foreign Affairs. It needs the
active participation of every
single Filipino.
For this reason, I deem the
bill to legitimize the National
Branding Council as a
government institution worthy
of being certified by Malacañang
as urgent.
The Benefits Of Good
Branding
Image matters. Especially
among nations, image could
mean the difference between
being preferred or written off. A
TIGHT SECURITY FOR WHISTLEBLOWER. Wearing a bulletproof vest, pork barrel scam
whistle-blower Benhur Luy (center) is led out of the Manila City Hall.
knew about her bank accounts,”
said the 11th whistle-blower.
The witness could not give
an estimate of how much was
transferred, but said she had
evidence that would show
P320,154.48 was remitted to
Napoles from 11 NGO accounts
in Metrobank's Magdalena
Street and Jose Abad Santos
Avenue branches.
Arrest order
Three of the whistleblowers claimed they were
with Napoles at the time she
received a phone call that an
arrest warrant had been issued
against her and her brother
Reynald.
“She never expected the
dismissal of the illegal
detention case (brought by
Luy) would be reversed. She
was even happy and confident
on that day,” said the 11th
witness. She said the employees
were not told about the arrest
warrant, but learned about it
because Napoles' eldest
good brand gives the country a
solid foundation to stand on. It
draws attention to its positive
attributes.
In the realm of foreign direct
investments, having a welldefined country brand has the
power to discount the issues
that work against us (expensive
power, poor infrastructure, etc.)
and instead draw focus on our
competencies and potentials (a
young population who are
generally creative, adaptable,
and with a high emotional
quotient).
In the diplomatic arena,
having a strong image gives the
nation gravitas. Take Singapore
as a case in point. Small as they
are, the world listens when they
speak as they have established
themselves as competent and
firmly aligned with the powers
that be (ASEAN, APEC, WTO,
etc).
In international trade, a
strong country brand attests to
the quality and integrity of
anything made in that country. It
even justifies premium pricing.
Take Germany's products as an
example. Anything made in
Germany is automatically
associated with precision.
Hence, German products can
command premium prices as
markets generally accept that
they are made with state-of-theart engineering.
In culture, a strong country
brand piques interest, enchants,
and endears the country to the
world. South Korea is an
excellent example of this. Its “Be
Sparkling” brand was
enormously successful in
reversing its rigid society image
daughter, Jo-Christine, was
crying. “There were nonstop
phone calls coming in,” she said.
The three whistle-blowers
said they were at South Gardens
Unit at Pacific Plaza in Makati
City having a meeting with
Napoles when the news of her
arrest broke out. They left
Napoles and her daughter at 7
p.m.
The 11th whistle-blower
said she started working for
Napoles in 1997 as a “utility
girl” for Jo-Chris Trading, with
offices in Pasay City. In 1998,
the trading company moved to
the Philippine Navy Officers'
Wives Association building in
Taguig City. During that time,
Napoles also owned a parlor,
barber shop and a meat shop in
the same building.
One of the new whistleblowers claimed she also
served as accountant for
Napoles, and another said she
served only as president of an
NGO. (Inquirer.net)
and replacing it with
impressions of its dynamic
youth with a vibrant pop
culture.
More importantly, a good
country brand has the power to
make the populace believe in
themselves. Just as “It's more
fun in the Philippines” validated
to every Filipino that he is
indeed fun and resilient no
matter what his circumstances
are, a strong country brand can
dispel the “woe is me”
syndrome that plagues many of
us. It replaces it with an
affirmative self-image. If it is
powerful enough, the country
brand can even serve as the
nation's battle cry.
One can't put a price tag on
the benefits a strong country
brand. Which is why I wonder,
why is Congress dragging its
feet in legitimizing the National
Branding Council?
The Ideal Philippine Country
Brand
As of this writing, I don't
believe the National Branding
Council, or any government
agency for that matter, has
come up with an actual slogan
to serve as our country brand.
Which is why I'd like to put my
two cents out there for when
they do.
To me, a good country brand
must satisfy four requisites.
Foremost is that it must be
sincere and speak of the truth.
Second, it must be relatable to
everyone and relevant to the
times. Third, what the brand
promises must be delivered
“Get a good lawyer so you can
s l e e p s o u n d l y a t n i g h t ,”
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio
Morales suggested. Senators
Revilla and Marcos, skipped the
hearings and scampered for a
patchy cover of delicadeza poses.
Is Senator Estrada a “shiver in
search of a spine”? He didn't reply
to COA's request for confirmation
of his pork. Instead, he played
“injured.” The damaging data
were a sham and to be “expected.”
At a St. Scholastica's College
forum, across town, students
Adjustment
of status
granted ...
From page 10
applicant is in the U.S. pursuant to
a lawful admission and (2) after
being admitted pursuant to a
lawful admission, the applicant
cannot have exceeded more than
180 days in the aggregate of any of
these violations: (a) “failed to
maintain continuously” a lawful
status; (b) engaged in
unauthorized employment; or (c)
otherwise violated the terms and
conditions of admission.
According to the CIS, Maynigo
was “out of status” since the
expiration of her H-1B on June 29,
2006. The IJ disagreed, saying that
because Maynigo filed a timely
application for extension of her H1B status, she maintained lawful
status under the terms of Section
245(k) while that extension
application was pending. The IJ
further stressed that the only
period that Maynigo “failed to
maintain” her status was the
period between March 2007
when CIS denied the request for
China’s notso-great ...
From page 10
blew whistles. But whistleblowers have a mixed history
here. Protecting whistle-blowers
is the job of cops, Senator Enrile
insisted back in 2008.
“Ingratitude,” snapped Whistleblowers Association. Dropping
witnesses after obtaining their
testimony was thanklessness.
This would discourage
prospective whistle-blowers from
coming out.
The system is flawed from the
start. “Allocation for lawmakers
has always been shrouded in
my s t e r y,” n o t e d C OA
Commissioner Heidi Mendoza,
whose probes led to the jailing of
military comptroller Maj. Gen.
Carlos Garcia for plunder.
“A number of COA findings
were published and cases filed in
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Page 14
extension of her H-1B and June
2007, when she filed for
adjustment of status. The period
was approximately three-and-ahalf months which was less than
the 180 days allowed under
Section 245(k).
The IJ also noted that if the
court denies Maynigo's
adjustment application, she
would be forced to apply for
immigrant visa through consulate
process. She would then be
subject to the three or possibly
te n - ye a r b a r fo r u n l aw f u l
presence and would not qualify
for waiver of that ground for
inadmissibility.
The IJ found the consequences
of a denial too harsh for an
individual who has done
everything in her power to
maintain lawful status since
coming to the U.S. and would
unduly penalize her for the brief
period she failed to maintain
lawful status. For this reason, the
IJ found that she deserved the
court's favorable exercise of
discretion and granted her
application for adjustment of
status.
(Editor's Note: REUBEN S. SEGURITAN
has been practicing law for over 30 years.
For more information, you may log on to
his website at www.seguritan.com or call
(212) 695-5281.)
650 miles from China?
The Chinese claim to
almost all of the South
China Sea is based on the
so-called nine-dotted line.
Chinese scholars have
labored to show that this
20th-century document
has deep historical roots,
but to risible effect. That is
one reason why, despite all
the rhetoric about a
“peaceful rise” in the world,
China will resort to furtive
construction followed by
outright occupation: Their
claim, a not-so-great wall of
fabrication and
imagination, will not
withstand close scrutiny.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
It will be interesting to
hear what the Chinese
foreign ministry will say
about this latest episode in
adventurism. Beijing has
been scathing about the
Philippine attempt to seek
legal remedy from a United
Nations tribunal, calling
Manila's suit provocative.
What does that make of
China's creeping occupation
of territory that lies within
the Philippines' exclusive
economic zone and is at least
u
Page 14
Page 13
Lesson from Syria; update
on PH case vs China at UN
(Malaya File Photo)
By Ellen Tordesillas
The decision of US President
Barack Obama to get the approval
of Congress before he orders a
missile attack on Syria should
shatter the illusion of those who
believe that America will
immediately come to the rescue of
the Philippines in the unlikely
event of an armed conflict between
the Philippines and China in the
Scarborough Shoal and in the
Spratlys.
Obama's decision to involve
Congress in the planned
retribution against Syria for it's
unleashing of chemical weapons
last week that allegedly killed
1,429 people will delay the
airstrikes because Congress is on
recess and the senators and
congressmen will resume session
on Sept. 9 yet.
There is no assurance that
Congress will come on board just
like what happened with British
Prime David Cameron who was
rebuffed by the British Parliament
in his decision to get involved in
the Syrian turmoil.
An article in www.foreign
policy.com by Daniel Byman said,
“Congress's first question should
be about the president's claim
that, “our capacity to execute this
mission is not time-sensitive; it
will be effective tomorrow, or next
week, or one month from now.”
Yes, of course, the Syrian civil war
still will be raging weeks from now,
and the US military will remain
prepared to strike. But during
those weeks the carnage will
continue, with jihadists growing
stronger among the opposition.
The diplomatic moment created
by Bashar al-Assad's massive use
of chemical weapons on August 21
will fade as other concerns become
prominent on the international
agenda.”
The same thing would happen
with the Philippines because the
Mutual Defense Treaty with the
Philippines provides that in case of
“an armed attack in the Pacific
Area on either of the Parties…. it
would act to meet the common
dangers in accordance with its
constitutional processes.”
Obama seeking Congress's
approval is what “constitutional
processes” means.
Besides as Supreme Court
Justice Antonio Carpio said in a
speech before the Philippine Bar
Association last Thursday, said
“The Philippines could (also) not
invoke the Phil-U.S. Mutual
Defense Treaty since the U. has
made it clear that the islands, reefs
and rocks in the South China Sea
are outside the scope of the treaty.“
Carpio was explaining why
going to the United Nations was
the best option for the Philippines
in the territorial conflict with the
behemoth neighbor.
He said: “The Philippines had
five options in responding to the
Chinese occupation of
Scarborough Shoal. First was to
send naval vessels and marines to
retake Scarborough Shoal. This
was not feasible because of the
superior Chinese naval forces.
“Second was to file a
diplomatic protest with China.
This was useless because China
would simply ignore the protest as
it ignored the protest of the
Philippines after China seized
Mischief Reef 17 years earlier in
1995.
“Third was to ask Asean to
lobby China to withdraw from
Scarborough Shoal. This was not
realistic because some Asean
countries are hesitant to offend
China. Besides, Asean countries do
not take sides on territorial
disputes.
“Fourth was to take the matter
to the United Nations Security
Council. This was also futile since
China has a veto power in the
Security Council.
“The fifth and only viable
option was to bring the matter to
an international tribunal for
arbitration, where the playing field
would be level and military power
would not count, but only the rule
of law would govern.”
Carpio said with China's
occupation of Scarborough Shoal,
the Philippines had no other
recourse but to go to an Annex VII
arbitral tribunal under UNCLOS.
”It was the only sensible and
effective response that the
Philippines could offer. Otherwise,
nothing would stop China from
occupying another rock, reef, or
shoal within its 9-dash-line claim
even if within the EEZ of the
Philippines. “
He further explained: “The
Chinese occupation of
Scarborough Shoal is an invasion
of Philippine territory, giving rise
to a territorial sovereignty dispute.
However, the Philippines could not
bring China to compulsory
arbitration on a territorial
sovereignty dispute without
China's consent. “
“That is why,” he said, “ the
Philippines decided to do the next
best thing bring China to
compulsory arbitration on the
maritime aspect of China's 9dashed line claim. If China's 9-dash
line claim is invalidated, then
China will lose its excessive claim
to the waters of the South China
Sea. More significantly, China's
basis for claiming territorial
sovereignty over the islands
within its 9-dash line claim will
weaken considerably since the 9-
u
Page 15
Page 14
DFA skips issue ...
From page 11
“Given the unusual request
and the importance of the issue
involving our President, it was
necessary for the conditions to be
confirmed by the two Foreign
Ministers at their meeting in
Beijing last Wednesday, 28 August
2013,” the Q and A said.
VERA Files reported Monday
that on July 24, Foreign Affairs
Undersecretary Evan Garcia
informed Chinese Ambassador Ma
Keqing that Aquino wants to visit
China.
Garcia and Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin met
in Hong Kong to discuss Aquino's
possible China visit including
attendance at the Nanning
CAEXPO on Sept. 3. The agreement
was for Garcia to give “feedback”
on their initial talks. Garcia never
communicated to Liu nor to the
Chinese Embassy in Manila.
On Aug. 23, with only a little
over a week before the event, the
C h i n e s e Fo r e i g n M i n i s t r y
informed the Philippine Embassy
in Beijing, through Deputy Chief of
Mission Antonio Morales, that
since there were no preliminary
meetings on the President's
proposed trip to Nanning, China
“can't guarantee that it would be
fruitful.” It advised that Trade
Secretary Gregory Domingo head
the Philippine delegation.
On Aug. 28, the President
announced that he was going on a
one-day trip to Nanning. The next
day, DFA released a text message to
media that “The President has
decided not to proceed to CAExpo
taking into consideration China's
request for the President to visit
China at a more conducive time. “
The DFA Q&A said, “In all
matters of foreign policy
importance, the President is
regularly advised in a timely and
confidential manner.”
Relations between the
Philippines and China have been
strained since the April 2013
standoff in Scarborough shoal,
which is being claimed by both
countries. The shoal, which is 124
nautical miles off Zambales, is now
under the control of China and
inaccessible to Philippine vessels.
The Philippines has filed a suit
before the United Nations Arbitral
Court questioning China's 9-dash
line map which covers almost the
wh o l e o f S o u t h C h i n a S e a
including territories of other
countries including the
Philippines.
Following is the DFA's full Q & A
on the CAEXPO
Was the President invited?
The annual China-ASEAN
Exposition (CAEXPO) is an
ASEAN-China cooperative event
and the usual practice is for the
leader of the country of honor to
be present. ASEAN countries had
strongly urged the Philippines to
send the country's highest official
to highlight the 10th anniversary
of the ASEAN-China strategic
partnership this year. Although
the President does not need to be
specifically invited, the
documents we have on the DFA
website will show that he was, in
fact, invited.
Were there any concerns and
conditions from China for the
President's attendance?
There were subsequent
concerns and conditions to the
President's attendance and such
conditions were absolutely
inimical to our national interest.
To avoid embarrassment on the
Chinese side, we will not state
these conditions but you may
wish to address this specific
question to H.E. Ambassador Ma
Keqing.
Under what circumstances
were these conditions
conveyed?
These concerns and
conditions were delivered by at
least three Chinese Foreign
Ministry sources. We were
advised that these conditions (1)
should not be made public and (2)
should not be discussed at
Ministerial level. Given the
unusual request and the
importance of the issue involving
our President, it was necessary
for the conditions to be confirmed
by the two Foreign Ministers at
their meeting in Beijing last
Wednesday, 28 August 2013.
Did the President accept these
conditions?
The President stood firm in
the defense of the country's
national interest . Was the
President given appropriate and
timely advice on the issue? As in
all matters of foreign policy
importance, the President is
regularly advised in a timely and
confidential manner.
(VERA Files is put out by veteran
journalists taking a deeper look at
current issues. Vera is Latin for
“true.”)
Quaking in
Florsheim
shoes
From page 12
court. But as for the progress of
cases and eventual prosecution of
accused public officials, that's
a n o t h e r s t o r y a l t o g e t h e r,”
Mendoza wrote. “For as long as
lawmakers have their say on
utilization of funds, instead of only
legislating laws, PDAF will always
be abused.”
“ N o w, yo u s e e w hy t h e
Commission on Appointments
continued to shove the
confirmation of Mendoza as COA
commissioner into the freezer year
after year,” Sun Star noted.
Indeed, “governments must
create an environment that
encourages, instead of penalizes,
citizens who denounce venality,”
urged the 9th International AntiCorruption meeting in South
Africa. The Philippines and 134
other countries cobbled that
yardstick.
“The nail that sticks out gets
hammered down.” Banker Clarissa
Ocampo testified that Joseph
Estrada signed the Jose Velarde
accountwhich she refused to
certify; threats cascaded in. Ensign
Philip Pestaño bucked in 1997 the
misuse of Navy boats to haul illegal
lumber and drugs; he was found
shot in his cabin; Ombudsman
Morales reinstituted the murder
charges that have been stalled for
decades.
Academic supervisor Antonio
C a l i p j o G o ex p o s e d f l awe d
textbooks; false charges were filed
against him and some columnists
smeared him. Land Bank's Acsa
Ramirez blew the whistle on tax
scams; NBI agents shoved her into
The urgency of
country
branding
a police lineup which President
Gloria Arroyo used for photo op.
Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada testified
before the Senate how a ZTE
broadband loan, for $132 million,
ballooned to $329 million; still
guarded by Catholic nuns today,
Lozada is harassed by charges, but
the scam authors remain scot-free.
“Both the kind and extent of
support that a legitimate whistleblower should be able to expect
remains unclear,” says an earlier
Asian Institute of Management
study titled “Whistle-blowing in
the Philippines.” Thus, thieves are
not ostracized. Cash ushers them
to first places at tables. Those who
could craft reforms are often the
very persons whistles are blown
at. Inaction is buttressed by a
culture of impunity. Jerusalem also
crucified its Whistle-blower.
There are signs it could be
different this time. Monday was
People Power, uncoiling in new
forms, Inquirer's Conrad de Quiros
aptly said.
Demonstrators booed when
cashiered Chief Justice Renato
Corona invited himself in. They
shushed groups, like left-wing
demonstrators who hijacked
protests in the past. Cellphones
summoned crowds to People
Power 2. Today, Internet has
emerged as the new Plaza Miranda,
but with a reach into the country's
remotest barangay.
New media plastered Janet's
face on corruption. That prospect
has tarred senators who must now
be quaking in their Florsheim
shoes. People Power 3 continues to
unfold in ways that even its
supporters are unable to foresee.
President Benigno Aquino is
the unplanned inheritor of People
Power's legacy. He'll wrest that for
himself if he strips away burial
shrouds on this pork scam and the
prosecutions begin.
E-mail: juan_mercado77@yahoo.com
sympathize and empathize). We
have the passion of the Spanish
mixed in with the flair of the
Americans.
I reckon our country brand
must encompass all these
strengths.
From page 12
efficiently and consistently. In
other words, a promise is only good
if it is kept. Fourth, the brand must
be forward-looking and not one
that dwells on the past.
And I might add, branding
success does not solely depend on
budget size but rather, how clearly
and consistently it is
communicated.
Fro m wh e re I s i t , wh a t
differentiates the Philippines from
the rest of the world is the people
themselves. Hence, I believe the
theme and context of our country
brand should center around the
Filipino and his attributes.
Several factors work to our
favor. First is that we have one of
the largest societies of people
under 30 years old. We are familycentered. We are creative and
resourcefula truth no one can deny.
We are resilient and long-suffering.
We are a people with high
emotional quotients (we innately
Get Moving Now
Now is an opportune time to
invest in our country brand. After
all, the nation's finances are stable
and the economy is growing at its
fastest since we became a selfgoverning republic in 1946.
Government is also seen as being
sincere in its efforts to curb
corruption. No one is certain if the
circumstances we enjoy today will
hold true after 2016which is why
we should really take advantage of
our upper hand today. I hope that
both the Palace and Congress
recognizes the urgency.
Let's not forget that we have 10
million kababayans (in every nook
and cranny in the world ready and
willing to serve as brand
ambassadors. We have 26 million
kababayans online who are ready
to do the same. We literally have an
army of brand ambassadors
waiting to be deployed. All we need
is a message and our marching
orders. (Manila Bulletin)
Page 15
Lesson from
Syria ...
From page 13
dash line claim is central to China's
historical claim to territorial
sovereignty over the islands
within the enclosed area.”
Carpio gave an update of the
Philippine case at the UN Arbitral
Court: “The 5-man Annex VII
arbitral tribunal met for the first
time last July 11, 2013 and
designated The Hague as seat of
the arbitration and the Permanent
Court of Arbitration as the
Registry of the proceedings.
“Although China has refused to
participate in the proceedings, it is
still being notified, and requested
to comment, at every stage of the
proceedings. Last Tuesday, August
27, 2013, the Tribunal issued an
Order approving its Rules of
Procedure and directing the
Fulop ...
From page 9
or need for preventive medical
care or to care for those health
needs for the worker's spouse,
civil union partner, domestic
p a r t n e r, c h i l d , p a r e n t ,
grandparent, grandchild, sibling
or the child, grandchild, parent or
grandparent of a worker's spouse
or domestic partner or civil union
partner.
c) Workers will begin earning sick
time as soon as they are hired but
will have to work for 90 days
before they are able to use the
time.
d) Part-time workers will be
covered by the bill and earn paid
sick time based on hours worked.
e) Any type of paid leavepaid time
off, vacation, personal days,
etc.will count for purposes of
complying with the law as long as
it can be used for sick leave
purposes.
Doormats ...
From page 11
to hold on to men of honor who are
s e r v i n g n o t t h e P re s i d e n t ,
personally, as his sycophants do,
but the government and the
citizenry in general.
As for De Lima, who threatened
to quit after her official probe of
the 2010 Rizal Park bus hostage
massacre was largely ignored by
Aquino and his palace clique, she's
still there. This woman has no
shame and apparently cannot
notice when she and her entire
bureaucracy have already become
a mere presidential doormat,
sanitizer and scapegoat.
***
The palace propagandists have
gone into overdrive with their
effort to paint the Napoles
“surrender” as an achievement for
the Aquino administration. Never
mind if, to more perceptive
observers, the incident merely
highlights the fact that not one
person in Aquino's inner circle of
advisers has the gumption or the
self-confidence to contradict the
President, once he's set his mind to
Philippines to submit its Memorial
not later than March 30, 2014.
“The Order states that the
Memorial shall 'fully address all
issues, including matters relating
to the jurisdiction of the Arbitral
Tribunal, the admissibility of the
Philippines' claim, as well as the
merits of the dispute.'
“The Order further states, 'The
Arbitral Tribunal will determine
the further course of the
proceedings, including the need
for and scheduling of any other
written submissions and hearings,
at an appropriate later stage, after
seeking the views of the Parties.'
Carpio said based on the
Tribunal's Order requiring all
issues to be addressed in the
Memorial of the Philippines, “it is
possible that the Tribunal may
decide the jurisdictional issue
together with merits of the
dispute. Arbitrations under Annex
VII may take two to three years
before a decision is reached.“
(Malaya)
f) Workers may carry over up to 40
hours of unused paid sick time but
an employer is never required to
provide more than 40 hours of
paid sick time in a year.
g) Employers may require medical
verification if a worker is absent
for more than 3 days.
h) Employers are not required to
pay for unused sick time when a
worker leaves employment.
i) Workers can go to court for any
violation of the law.
j) The effective date of the law is
120 days after passage
k) The bill will not cover public
employees
In recent years, the absence of
any federal law has prompted
Connecticut, Portland, Seattle,
Wa s h i n g to n , D. C . , a n d S a n
Francisco to enact their own; a
measure has been approved in
Philadelphia and awaits mayoral
action. Campaigns for additional
state and local laws are active
around the nation.
doing something truly
harebrained, like allowing himself
to appear chummy with a wanted
fugitive.
Now, what kind of leader
surrounds himself only with yesmen who will applaud his every
crazy idea and suspend their
better judgment in enabling it? The
kind of leader, most likely, who will
not entertain an opposing view
and who has lost touch with what
his true “bosses” want, which is for
Napoles to not go unpunished.
It seems fairly obvious that if
more level-headed and confident
advisers had been asked about the
Napoles surrender, they would
have nixed the idea outright. Given
the leader that they served, that
would always be a dicey
proposition that could lead to the
adviser losing his job and access to
Aquino.
But that's what separates a real
adviser from a mere suck-up: the
ability to contradict his principal's
proposals, if only to force him to
consider a dissenting point of view
and benefit from doing so. And
that, apparently, is the sort of
adviser that Aquino severely lacks
and what makes him fall into traps
others would easily avoid.
New signs of China incursions
sighted in Bajo De Masinloc
By Elena Aben
One day after the Philippines
said China was preparing to start
construction in the Panatag
(Scarborough) Shoal, a
spokesman for the Department
of National Defense (DND)
revealed that there are now
approximately 75 concrete
blocks spotted in the area, clear
signs of new incursions.
Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin, during the
Congressional budget hearing
on Tuesday had told legislators
of the sightings of concrete
blocks inside the shoal “which
are a prelude to construction.”
DND spokesman Peter Paul
Galvez, on the same day, said at
least 30 concrete blocks off the
Panatag shoal were spotted last
August 31 during an aerial patrol
by the Philippine Navy. Three
Chinese coast guard vessels
were also seen in the area.
But as of Wednesday, Galvez
said more concrete blocks put up
by Chinese intruders have been
spotted inside the shoal.
“We had another
reconnaissance flight (two days
ago) to check dun yung naunang
pictures na nakuha natin and we
have seen na there are
approximately 75 concrete
blocks, yun ang latest na nakita
dun,” said Galvez.
The DND spokesman added
that the approximately 75
concrete blocks are scattered in
a two-hectare area in the
northern portion of the shoal,
also known locally as Bajo de
Masinloc.
“ E a c h b l o c k wo u l d b e
approximately two feet by two
feet,” according to Galvez, adding
that “these (blocks) can be easily
dropped off from any platform.”
The DND also released
photos taken on September 2
showing the more or less 75
square concrete blocks located
at 10NM Northwest off the
shoal's entrance.
Aside from the concrete
blocks, also sighted were one
white buoy located about five
NM northwest off the shoal's
entrance, two vertical posts at
about North off the shoal's
entrance, and three Chinese
Coast Guard vessels one on
station about 1.5NM South off
the shoal's entrance, another on
station about 3.2NM East
Southeast off the shoal's
entrance, and the third on
station about 10.5NM Southwest
off the shoal's entrance.
G a lve z s a i d wh i l e t h e
Philippine government conducts
reconnaissance flights in the
area on a periodic basis, there is
no government vessel at the
moment in the area.
Asked how the Philippines
will prevent Chinese
construction in the shoal, Galvez
could only say: “Well at the
moment we have the arbitration,
our filing of our protest, so we
are proceeding with it.”
Meanwhile, the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
said despite fresh violations by
China, the government remains
committed to pursuing a
peaceful solution to territorial
disputes in the West Philippine
Sea.
“Our government is
pursuing a peaceful solution
through a protest through
arbitration and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
will follow whatever (what)
direction our leadership takes,”
said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP
public affairs office (PAO) chief.
He added, “As far as the AFP
is concerned, our task is to
monitor any activities in the area
and that we did and we
transmitted such information to
pertinent agencies, office. This is
to support whatever legal
protest that our government is
undertaking.” (Manila Bulletin)
Page 16
Fishing boats at the Gen Santos Fishport
A colorful and well-crafted float at the Tuna Fest Parade
GenSan sizzles with Tuna Carnival
Mention the word “tuna” and immediately, Gen.
Santos City comes to mind because of the rich
waters of Sarangani Bay, one of the breeding
grounds of the tastiest tuna in Mindanao which has
tickled the world's palate.
Situated near international waters which abound
with the sought-after fish, the city has been
acknowledged as the country's “tuna capital” for
decades now since its catch can surpass the
aggregate tuna yield of all local fish ports.
The tuna industry employs more than 5,000
workers, hosts the most modern fishport in the
country and serves as the backbone of the local
economy.
So, when GenSan, as it is affectionately called,
created a festivity in 1999 to flex its economic
muscle, it can be no other than its signature aquatic
resourcethe tuna.
This lush waterworld comes to life once more as
the City holds the 15th Tuna Festival to mark its
45th charter anniversary.
General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said
that this year's festivity will continue to focus on the
city as a prime destination for conventions, business
meetings, culinary tours, nature- and fisheries-based
alternative tourism.
Aside from being a global tuna hub, he noted that
the city is developing its ecotourism potentials
because of its natural wonders which are unknown
to most tourists.
These are the Sansapan Cave Falls, Nopol Hills
which offers a breath-taking panorama of Mt.
Matutum, and the Kalajah Karst which is being
developed by the Department of Tourism into one of
the country's best ecoparks. An exciting zipline
u
Page 17
Page 17
Kalajah Karst Forest
Nopol Hills
Sansapan Cave Falls
GenSan sizzles with Tuna
Festival
From page 16
Fireworks at Tuna Fest opening
(Photo by Cocoy Sexcion)
transports adventure-loving guests from
one peak to another.
Themed as a carnival, the festival
sizzles starting Sept. 5, the City Charter
Day with the Tuna Float Parade which
will put the spotlight on the city's vibrant
tuna industry.
Spicing up the five-day affair is an
assortment of special events, tuna-related
culinary activities and sports
tournaments, such as duathlon, jetskti
race, mountain biking, and skimboarding,
among others.
The country's leading tuna players
will come together in the 15th National
Tuna Congress and Trade Exhibition on
Sept. 6-7 to discuss the prospects of the
industry. Spearheaded by the Socsksargen
Federation of Fisheries and Allied
Industries (SFFAII), one of the country's
biggest fisheries association, the
gathering will come up with resolutions
to make the tuna industry more resilient
and sustainable in the face of global
competition and the world's dwindling
aquatic resources.
Curtains fall on celebration on Sept. 9
with the street dance competition with
dancers clad in ornate fisheries-themed
carnival costumes to represent the
ocean's bounty.
A sleepy fishing village which used to
be known as Buayan and later Dadiangas
in South Cotabato, GenSan is now one of
the country's most progressive and
highly-urbanized cities.
It was named after Gen. Paulino
Santos, head of the National Land
Settlement Administration, who started a
resettlement project for the landless upon
the directive of then Commonwealth
President Manuel Quezon.
Log on to www.gensantos.gov.ph for
details on the festival. (Manila Bulletin)
EXPRESSWEEK
Page 18
Remembering the 9/11 Filipino American victims
By Nestor Palugod Enriquez and
Sonny Austria
It is also the story of the immigrants,
this marine exemplifies.
Remembering the Filipino American
victims of September 11, 2001 is by
telling their stories, from the words of a
humble cleaning lady to the professional
writers. They all have that common
denominator - the World Trade Center
and equating in parallel, the same tragic
time of their lives on that day. It is also
the unique experiences of Filipino
Americans, mostly recent immigrants
whom we can share and certainly
connect with.
Plaza Rizal in Jersey City was erected in November of
2000. The twin towers are visible in the background. Ten
months later, tragedy struck.
By coming together as a community,
it is important for us to remember the
lives that were lost on that tragic and
sad day and to pay tribute to them. We
must also remember and honor the 17
Filipinos and Filipino Americans whom
we lost. Many of them immigrated to
this country in search of a better life.
Many of them were young professionals
who were just getting their lives started.
All of them left friends and family
behind.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop
The tragedy was witnessed by
thousands of Jersey City residents;
Steven Fulop was on the way to the top
of the financial world. The 9/11 event
gave the young man a higher calling, a
sense of patriotism.
He opted to leave his job at the
prestigious firm (Goldman Sachs) to
enlist in the Marine Corps. It was a risky
career path and financially less
rewarding, but duty it was.
He was among the first marines to be
deployed to Iraq. He earned meritorious
awards in the war against the terror
before returning to New Jersey.
On this twelfth anniversary of 9/11,
the veteran is now the Mayor of Jersey
City as the new Freedom Tower reaches
the New York skyline from the original
hallowed ground.
He is the son of immigrants, just like
the Filipino American victims of 9/11.
The Freedom Tower as seen from Plaza Rizal in this June 2013 photo.
He is also a proud member of the
Order of the Knights of Rizal.
Perhaps Dr. Jose Rizal was speaking to the Filipino
victims' families in the 2 stanzas of his famous “Mi
Ultimo Adios.”
Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky,
And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest;
Let some kind soul o'er my untimely fate sigh,
And in the still evening, a prayer be lifted on
high
From thee, O my country, that in God, I may
rest.
Pray for all those hapless have died,
For all who have suffered the unmeasured pain;
For our mothers who bitterly their woes have
cried,
For widows and orphans, for captives by torture
tried;
And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst
gain.
The newly constructed Brooklyn Bridge was the marvel icon of the 1880's in the United States. It
was the tallest man-made structure in New York when Rizal sketched it in his NY sojourn (May 1316, 1888). He penciled the Gothic twin towers and steel suspension cable of the world's longest
suspension bridge of the era. The bridge's Twin Towers were the tallest man-made structures in
New York City. The top would have been visible to Rizal's vision from his monument in Jersey City,
just like the new Freedom Tower. The 1776-foot Freedom Tower is the current tallest structure in
the American Continent.
Page 19
'Taong putik' immortalized in Ecija shrine
By Armand Galang
ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija -- Staring at
the bronze images of three “taong
putik” (mud people), Nora Mapalad,
a long-time resident of Barangay
(village) Bibiclat here, was filled
with joy, believing that the newly
built shrine gave the village's patron
saint, St. John the Baptist, the honor
he deserved.
Mapalad, wearing her red
Filipiniana dress, witnessed the
unveiling of the shrine last week as
Bishop Sofronio Bancud of the
Diocese of Cabanatuan led the
declaration of the St. John the Baptist
Parish, the home of the Taong Putik
Festival celebrated every June 24, as
a diocesan shrine.
“Our patron saint is indeed
miraculous,” Mapalad said.
She said her prayers to St. John
saved her then two-year-old son,
who suffered from bronchial
pneumonia.
“My son was very weak. I
pleaded and prayed hard to St. John
to ask him to heal my child,” she said.
When she went home from
church, her son showed signs of
recovery and was soon healed.
Since then, Mapalad has never
missed participating in the annual
Taong Putik Festival, which has
become an annual pilgrimage and
media event.
The local devotion to St. John the
Baptist heightened during the
Japanese occupation in 1944,
accounts of older residents showed.
When Japanese soldiers were to
execute all men in Bibiclat to
CHILDREN take part in the Taong Putik Festival in Barangay Bibiclat in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija in
honor of St. John the Baptist. Marianne Bermudez
avenge the death of their
compatriots, villagers went to the
church and prayed hard for the lives
of their relatives. After a while, as the
Filipinos were led to the firing
squad, it rained so hard and some
Japanese officers interpreted this as
a sign of disapproval from heaven.
Since then, villagers have celebrated
the feast of St. John by wearing
banana leaves and vine and covering
their bodies with mud early morning
of June 24, the patron saint's feast
day.
By transforming themselves into
mud people, participants said they
are able to emulate St. John the
Baptist, who appears in most
biblical tales dressed like a beggar.
From the village's rice field,
groups of taong putik roam the
village and ask for alms. House
owners give them money or candles,
believing that this gesture would be
compensated with blessings.
After this ritual, participants
gather at the church yard to hear
Mass. They light candles and offer
prayers before they wash
themselves and join their families
for the fiesta celebration later in the
day. Simeona Rivera, a Bibiclat
resident, said their patron saint has
never failed them. Like the faithful
and government officials who
attended the event, she welcomed
the shrine because, she said, this
would give everyone an opportunity
to honor St. John the Baptist.
(Inquirer.net)
Filipinos for John Liu: New York City mayoral candidate John Liu
receives endorsement from a group of Filipino Americans with Fiesta in
America President and CEO Nanding Mendez (next to Liu) at a
community rally in Smokey Oval Park, Jamaica, Queens, NY last
August 31. New York City Comptroller Liu is a prominent supporter of
Asian and other minority social initiatives.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Page 20
Volkswagen returns
to the Philippines
The Volkswagen brand will
finally mark its return to the
Philippines this September with
the Ayala Group’s opening of its
first dealership in Bonifacio
Global City.
Five models will be initially
available: the Jetta family car,
Touran compact MPV, Tiguan
compact crossover and the
To u a r e g m i d s i z e S U V - immediately upon launch on
Sept. 27 -- and the iconic Beetle
before the end of the year, Ayala
Automotive Holdings Corp.
(AAHC) Chairman John Philip
“JP” S. Orbeta told a small group
of journalists.Five models will be
initially available: the Jetta family
car, Touran compact MPV, Tiguan
compact crossover and the
To u a r e g m i d s i z e S U V - immediately upon launch on
Sept. 27 -- and the iconic Beetle
before the end of the year, Ayala
Automotive Holdings Corp.
(AAHC) Chairman John Philip
“JP” S. Orbeta told a small group
of journalists.
All will also initially come in
diesel flavors with the German
automaker apparently having
some issues with the formulation
of local gasoline, said officials of
Ayala Automotive unit
Automobile Central Enterprise,
Inc. (ACEI), which will be
handling VW imports.
ACEI sales and marketing
head Arnelio “Arnel” D. Doria said
VW had no problems with the
quality of local diesel for its
Turbo Direct Injection (TDI)
powerplants but had tagged the
use of manganese in gasoline as
affecting petrol engines over
time. The issue is being
addressed, Mr. Doria added, and
ACEI could begin bringing in
units with TSI (turbo stratified
injection) gasoline engines next
year.
Pricing, meanwhile, is still
being determined, Mr. Orbeta
Planting trees for
sustainable coffee
The Touareg will be the initial flagship Volkswagen in the Philippines.
said, although he indicated that
VW was not looking to merely
occupy a niche market in the
Philippines. He stressed that the
full VW lineup had been made
available for the domestic
market, with model entry to be
dictated by demand.
The Golf subcompact will
definitely make it to the country
but its introduction has been
deferred given a model change.
Also being considered is the
Passat large family car, and press
materials yesterday also made
mention of the Polo supermini.
S o u rc i n g wa s a l s o n o t
disclosed, although Mr. Orbeta
said the cars will definitely not be
coming from China given VW's
contractual obligations with
Beijing. The SUVs will definitely
come from Germany, though,
while the other models could be
source from plants as far as Brazil
or Mexico.
The Bonifacio showroom -the first of three that Ayala is
planning to directly control, is
currently being completed along
28th St. It will be run by unit
Iconic Delearship Inc., which was
incorporated along with ACEI
last Jan. 23. The second,
meanwhile, will be opened in
Cebu before the end of the year
and the third will again be located
in Metro Manila.
A service center will also be
opened next month in the
Greenfield District. Owners of old
VWs can have their units
serviced, but Mr. Orbeta was
mum on whether a fee would be
charged for vehicles not sourced
from ACEI. Parts availability will
not be an issue given a regional
hub.
Volkswagen will be the third
automobile brand to be handled
by the Ayala Group, which has
stakes in Honda Cars Philippines,
Inc. (13%) and Isuzu Philippines
Corp. (15%). The VW venture will
be 100%-owned. Iconic's
planned three dealerships will
add to the 10 Honda and eight
Isuzu outlets that Ayala wholly
owns.
Competition to become VW's
Philippine distributor was said to
have been tough, with Ayala
bagging the deal only in August
last year after three years of talks.
AAHC was appointed on Oct. 22,
2012 and the importer contract
with ACEI was signed last May 27.
-- AEB (Business World)
On a coffee farm in Surigao
del Sur, farmers with their backs
bent against the mid-morning
sun are shifting dirt and digging
holes in the fields. Wearing caps
or bandanas to ward off glare
and heat, they are preparing to
place seedlings alongside their
mature, bean-bearing crops.
Although it seems like a
typical scene at a coffee farm,
one detail provides the essential
difference. Apart from Robusta
seedlings, the coffee variety
grown in the region, the farmers
are planting other types of
treesfalcata, mahogany and
even fruit-bearing ones such as
lanzones, mangosteen and
rambutan.
This is agroforestry at work.
A farming system that involves
growing trees among highvalue crops, agroforestry is an
age-old concept that has
received renewed interest as a
sustainable alternative to
traditional methods, especially
among small scale growers. It is,
in fact, at the heart of a project
that aims to revitalize
Philippine coffee production
while benefitting the industry's
various stakeholders, including
small-scale producers and the
environment.
Benefitting Small Farmers
“Agroforestry is the future of
agriculture,” announces Pur
P ro j e t Fo u n d e r Tr i s t a n
Lecomte, who adds that it is
already being practiced by local
fa r m e r s . H i s Pa r i s - b a s e d
organization, which assists
companies in incorporating
climate issues into their
businesses, has been working
with Nestlé Philippines to
further encourage adoption of
the method, providing training
on its plantation and
maintenance techniques.
Three Mindanao farmer
cooperatives have been
identified as the program's
pioneer communities based on
their stability, size and previous
working relationship with
NestléBayanihan Millennium
Multipurpose Cooperative in
Pangantukan, Bukidnon;
Mabuhay Kahayagan Coffee
Growers Association in Tagbina,
Surigao del Sur; and Hilom
Coffee Farmers Association in
Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
Each also represents unique
m i c ro c l i m a t e s : h i g h l a n d ,
lowland and midland,
respectively.
The three pioneer
communities are set to receive
the economic benefits of
agroforestry, both in the shortand long-term. In the short-
u
Page 21
Ikea launches an international campaign in defense of life
The company Ikea has
launched an advertising
campaign on an international
level, which promotes life. The
campaign shows an oriental
marriage, eagerly expecting
their first child, the first life. It
shows the joy of parenthood.
After the first, the second child
was born and so on. The ad
shows the intensity of
tenderness of the fathers to
their children.
T h e Fo rm u la 1 ra c e r
Fernando Alonso, continues as
Santander Bank prescriber.
A l s o , C r i s t i a n o Ro n a l d o
announces the Portuguese
financial institution Banco
Espírito Santo, and Leo Mesi
the Adidas sneakers. Bertin
Osborne, in the twilight of his
artistic life, agrees to lend her
image to any type of
advertising: for example, an ad
for the installation of a special
shower.
Moreover, the company
PUBLIMEDIA, which manages
the advertising announced in
the buses of the Municipal
Transport Company of Madrid,
vetoed a campaign of the
American Association
'Catholics for Choice'. This
g ro u p , w h i c h a dvo c a t e s
abortion and condom use,
planned to launch an outdoor
advertising campaign under
the slogan "We believe in God,
we believe that sex is sacred,
we believe in taking care of
each other and believe in the
use of condoms". PUBLIMEDIA
decided to veto the campaign
because it might be "offensive".
The company assessed that the
content may “offend the
sensibilities of a significant
part of the population”.
Former Liverpool
goalkeeper Pepe Reina (who
now plays for SSC Napoli), was
engulfed in the storm following
an advertising by the
multinational insurance for
G ro u p a m a , i n w h i c h h e
represented a farce about an
African tribe. The British NGO
Operation Black Vote rejected
the spot . The insurance
company excluded this ad from
various TV channels, according
to The Guardian.
Ryanair's chief says he will
not desist from using images of
young hostesses for
promotional activities such as
the calendar of the company,
although the latest
announcement was censured
by the ASA. The same ad will
reappear next year.
The tennis player Rafa
Nadal was one of the two
interpreters of the special
issue of Sports Illustrated on
swimsuits. He shared the
photo shoot, somewhat erotic,
with Israeli model Bar Refaeli.
Finally, the ad starring David
Beckham for H & M was shown
to promote this multinational
clothing company in the Super
Bowl. The value of the ad lies in
its protagonist, parading in
underwear, to announce a new
line. A shameful display.
It is necessary to provide
b e t t e r p u b l i c i t y, w h i c h
together with the image of
solidity, safety and reliability,
will spread more and better
creative imagination but not
manipulate the consumer with
voluptuous advertising
campaigns.
Page 21
PHL is 59th in global
competitiveness
MANILA -- The Philippines
improved its competitive
standing as it landed on the 59th
spot in the World Economic
Forum's (WEF) Global
Competitiveness Report
released Wednesday.
This was an improvement
from the country's 65th place
last year.
A total of 148 countries
were ranked in the WEF report.
The Philippines' standing
improved as it ranked 50th and
below in 33 out of 119
indicators being monitored by
WEF, according to Makati
Business Club chairman Ramon
del Rosario, Jr. who was present
at the launch of the report.
Among the 33 indicators are
financing through local equity
market, domestic market size
index, affordability of financial
services, ease of access to loans
and regulation of securities
exchanges.
However, the Philippines
ranked 100th and above in
indicators such as the number of
procedures to start a business,
burden of customs procedures,
quality of port infrastructure as
well as airports, primary
education enrollment and
strength of investor protection.
Brisker business activities
In an e-mail to reporters
Wednesday, Finance Secretary
Cesar Purisima said improved
rankings could lead to brisker
business activities.
“As we make progress in
further solidifying the gains of
good governance, I fully expect
to see the Philippine business
environment become even
more vibrant, more dynamic,
and most importantly, more
open and welcoming of
opportunity,” said Purisma.
He noted that the
Philippines' best improvements
were in terms of “innovation”up
25 places to 69thand
“institutions,” rising 15 places to
79th.
“We have made progress in
driving business with the
inherent talent, creativity, and
ingenuity of our people,” the
Finance chief said.
He said improvements were
also noted in less wasteful
spending as well as more
efficient legal and
administrative frameworks that
support business.
Citing continued
government efforts in
addressing investment
bottlenecks, Purisima said, “No
doubt we will see even greater
rises in the Global
Competitiveness rankings in the
future.”
Sixth in Southeast Asia
The Philippines ranked
sixth out of 10 countries in
Southeast Asia behind
Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei
Darussalam, Thailand and
Indonesia.
It placed ahead of Vietnam,
L a o Pe o p l e' s D e m o c ra t i c
Republic, Cambodia and
Myanmar. The report said
Switzerland retained its spot as
the most competitive country.
Singapore came in second, while
Finland was ranked third.
Strong growth expected to be maintained
The Philippines is expected
to continue posting strong
growth, according to justreleased outlooks taking in a
strong-than-expected second
q u a r t e r, o n t h e b a c k o f
consumption and investments.
Growth, Standard Chartered
Bank said in an Aug. 29 report,
will “stay robust” but will likely
ease in the second semester
given base effects. It maintained
a 6.9% gross domestic product
(GDP) growth forecast for the
year, just below the upper end of
the government's 6-7% target.
First semester GDP growth
was an above-target 7.6% in the
first semester, boosted by a
7.5% result for the April-June
period. It was the fourth
consecutive quarter of above
7% growth.
“Solid domestic
consumption and investment
are likely to support growth in
the next three years,” Standard
Chartered said, adding that
remittances will also play a role
in boosting spending.
The impact of ongoing
emerging market volatility, it
noted, will only have a “limited
impact on long-term economic
trends.”
ANZ Bank and DBS Group
Research likewise offered
positive GDP outlooks, with the
latter hiking its growth forecast
for this year and the next to 7%
and 6.7%, respectively, from
6.4% and 6%.
“The growth momentum is
likely to be maintained in the
coming quarters amid a
conducive domestic economic
environment,” DBS said.
“Investment-led growth is
starting to take hold and will be
supported by the low cost of
capital,” the Singapore-based
bank added.
'Business as usual' for
PH, China; more Chinese
investments sought
By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Trade and Industry Secretary
Gregory L. Domingo said it remains
“business as usual” between the
Philippines and China at the 10th
ASEAN-China Expo despite the
absence of President Aquino,
whose trip was cancelled on
request by China for the president
to visit at a more conducive time.
“It is business as usual, all
schedules for meetings are intact,”
Domingo told reporters. Domingo
left Sunday to head the Philippine
delegation at the 10th CAEXPO,
which opens today, Sept. 2, until
Friday this week in Nanning, China.
With the Philippines being
designated as the “Country of
Honor” at this year's CAEXPO,
Aquino was supposed to hold a
roundtable with China's CEOs of its
biggest conglomerates and address
a forum with Chinese business
community and the Philippine
business delegation. The
Philippines has also a big pavilion at
the exhibition.
“We have a good show there
mounted by various agencies led by
the Center for International Trade
Expositions and Missions. It is to
show continuous support for our
bilateral relations. We will continue
to look for trade and investment
opportunities,” said Domingo.
Bilateral trade has been
increasing although the balance of
trade heavily weighs in favor of
China. But in terms of investments,
there has been a dearth of Chinese
businessmen pouring in their
capital here compared to the
expansions made in China by
Filipino-Chinese businessmen.
“I wouldn't say that Chinese
investments into the country have
waned because it is not big to start
with. That is where we want to see
more of it,” Domingo stressed.
Instead of direct Chinese
investments, Domingo said the
Philippines is benefiting from
foreign investors which are
relocating outside of China because
of the increasing cost of
manufacturing, especially for those
in the coastal side in China.
Some of these firms have gone
to low cost producing countries in
ASEAN, including the Philippines.
But, Domingo said that China's
policy to move up the value chain
has caused some firms to relocate to
other countries.
“That's on purpose from China's
side because they try to move to
higher value industries. It's
deliberate on their part, that's the
natural flow from higher to lower
cost countries. We are a beneficiary
of that economic policy,” he said.
(Manila Bulletin)
plantation is multitude, especially on
the quality and quantity of harvest.
The most obvious benefit is that
the shade provided by the trees'
canopy provides the ideal growing
From page 20
condition for most coffee varieties,
including Robusta, resulting in
term, farmers can harvest the fruit
premium beans with a higher aroma
trees as a food source for their
complexity and a well-balanced
members and their families. They
acidity. Furthermore, it makes the
can also earn from planting and
crop less susceptible to the typhoons
selling green coffee. In the long-term,
and storms by offering protection
hardwood trees like falcata and
and making the field more adaptive
mahogany can eventually be
to climate change.
u
Page 22
harvested by the farmers as timber.
“Planting trees regenerates the
Apart from further providing
soil, helping improve the volume of
farmers with additional income
the harvests,” says Lecomte, sharing
through the intercropping of
that falcatasthe most numerous of
hardwood and fruit bearing trees,
the seedlings plantedhave nitrogenP u r P ro j e t a l s o o f fe r s t h e m
fixing properties that provide
incentives based on the success of
nutrients and act as a fertilizer as
the cultivation of these trees'
long as trees are maintained in the
seedlings.
p a r c e l . “ Tr e e s a r e t h e b e s t
After the initial planting, Pur
investment one can make to help
Projetthrough its local affiliate Alter
improve coffee production,” he
Tradewill visit the areas after three
informs.
months to monitor the development
According to Edith de Leon,
of the hardwood and fruit tree
senior vice president and head of
seedlings and the upkeep of their
Corporate Affairs, Nestlé
parcels. For every tree passing these
Philippines, it is precisely this
set standards, its farmer-caretaker
potential benefit that makes
will receive a corresponding
agroforestry a key component in
compensation in the form of cash
helping respond to the pressing
and organic fertilizer. Another
issues facing the coffee sector, which
inspection, to be conducted six to
includes declining output. “We at
nine months after this, presents an
Nestlé believe that preserving the
added opportunity to receive a
ecosystem through sustainable
second round of incentives.
farming is one way of growing the
“This is an add-on that allows the
industry and securing our long-term
farmers to immediately benefit from
supply of coffee,” de Leon says,
the initiative,” comments Lecomte.
sharing that these agroforestry
“It offers them additional
efforts are part of the local
encouragement to fully commit to
implementation of the Nescafé Plan,
the project,” he adds.
Nestlé's global commitment to
responsible farming, production,
Improving Coffee Production
supply and consumption of coffee.
According to Lecomte,
u
Page 22
agroforestry's impact on coffee
Planting trees
for ...
Page 22
PH up 12 notches in tourism competitiveness
By Kristyn Nika M. Lazo
The Philippines has been
doing well in its tourism sector
rising up 12 ranks in the Travel
and Tourism Competitiveness
Index (TTCI), according to a
N a t i o n a l C o m p e t i t ive n e s s
Council of the Philippines
(NCCP) executive.
From ranking 94 out of 145
countries in 2011, the
Philippines rose to the 82nd spot
of the TTCI by 2013.
Guillermo Luz, NCCP private
sector co-chair, said that the
country has been “catching up” in
travel and tourism sector but is
still “lagging” compared to other
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) membercountries.
The NCCP TTCI records
showed that the country is the
only one that grew double digits
in the index than its Asean
counterparts like Singapore
retaining in the 10th spot in since
2011 and Malaysia going down a
rank from 35th in 2011 to 34th
spot in the year.
Luz attributed the ascent of
the country in the tourism
competitiveness index to the
increased government
expenditure, improvements such
as fewer visa requirements and
less ticket taxes and airport
charges, among others.
He identified the industry's
competencies to be foreign direct
investments (FDI), trade and
export services, our people
particularly the overseas Filipino
workers (OFWs), as well as
reputation and image of the
Philippines.
BPO workers push
retail consumption
BPO agents rush out of offices conveniently near shopping malls in Ortigas.
By Richmond Mercurio
Business process outsourcing
(BPO) workers, who usually earn
more than many employees in
o t h e r i n d u s t r i e s , a re n o w
supporting the growth of retail
consumption in the country, a
recent Nielsen study has found
out.
Nielsen said that the unique
lifestyle and habits of Filipino BPO
employees are influencing retail
consumption and thus,
stimulating consumer spending in
the country.
“Being well paid than most
Filipinos, BPO employees are
formidable members of the
growing middle class population
of the country. The spending
habits of BPO employees reflect
an affluence that is more than the
general population, spurring
consumer spending,” said Stuart
Jamieson, Nielsen Philippines
managing director.
According to the Nielsen
report, BPO employees tend to
change their purchase and
consumption habits as they
change their lifestyles to fit the
demands of their job. In the
Philippines, a BPO employee has a
typical work schedule starting at
10 p.m. until 6 a.m.
When it comes to technology
adoption, BPO consumers are
more likely to own gadgets than
the general market which is
indicative of their improving
socio-economic class, the study
noted.
The study showed that more
BPO employees also own postpaid
cellular phone subscriptions and
have significantly higher monthly
spending compared to the rest of
employed labor.
“By being constantly on their
mobile phones and staying online
through their high connectivity
and multiple connection points,
BPO consumers are more
accessible via the Internet,”
Jamieson said.
“BPO consumers live multiscreen lives. They watch TV while
they have a tablet or mobile phone
on hand. This gives advertisers
and marketers huge
opportunities to drive innovation
and interest to various categories
such as consumer goods,
pharmaceutical products,
telecommunications, and
financial services,” he added.
The study revealed that in
food products Filipino BPO
respondents showed high
consumption of breakfast cereals,
hard candies, gum, biscuits and
chocolates.
It further showed that BPO
employees consumed more
processed and pre-packed food
during breakfast and breaks while
for dinner, their diet included
other alternatives such as prepacked food, or dining out.
Nielsen said that majority of
the respondents also indicated
their preference for instant
breakfast cereals because it can be
e a te n q u i c k ly a t h o m e o r
elsewhere.
It was also revealed that BPO
employees rely on biscuits to keep
them full in between main meals
while consuming candies and gum
help them to be alert and awake in
night shifts.
Nielsen also reported that
BPO employees drink beverages
such as iced tea, energy drinks,
ready-to-drink juices and milk
more frequently than the total
market.
“ I t wa s l e a r n e d i n t h e
interviews with BPO employees
that consuming these drinks are
their little daily indulgences as
these satisfy one or more of their
consumer needs,” Nielsen added.
The study also indicated high
consumption of alcoholic
beverages among BPO employees,
with 76 percent of respondents
admitting that they consumed
more alcoholic drinks in 2012 as
compared to 40 percent of the
general population who did.
“According to BPO employees
who participated in the in-depth
interviews, alcohol serves as a
facilitator in establishing
teamwork. They claimed that for
sp on t a n eou s or a fter- shift
drinking, they buy alcoholic
drinks from convenience stores
and places which are open 24
hours,” the report stated.
Given the result of its recent
study, Jamieson is advising
companies to form retailer
collaborations around BPO
offices, specifically convenience
stores, fast food and coffee shops
that are frequented by call center
employees to take advantage of
the spending habits of BPO
employees.
Nielsen's latest report called
Outcall aims to provide a 360 view
of BPO employees as it covers the
product consumption, technology
device or gadget ownership, and
financial habits of BPO employees.
(Malaya Business)
“We are not competitive
because our people go to other
countries to work,” Luz said,
referring to our locals going
overseas to work than staying in
the country and contribute to the
development of the Philippines.
He also noted that the
country had negative numbers in
Strong growth
expected ...
From page 21
Reforms implemented by
the government and two
investment grade ratings this
year should also “lift
investment levels over the
medium term.”
“Most importantly, the
economy is resilient against
moderate bouts of portfolio
outflows and the central bank
is not constrained in policy
making,” it noted.
Australia's ANZ,
meanwhile, pointed out that
the country's sources of
growth were now “more
balanced.”
“We continue to expect
domestic growth to be
underpinned by public and
Planting trees
for ...
From page 21
“It's an excellent example of
creating shared value for the
various stakeholders
involvedthe smallholder
farmers, the environment and
Nestlé.”
Future Plans
Although the initial roll-out
of the project is presently
limited to the three towns, its
influence and implications are
potentially wide-reaching. As
part of various partnerships
between Nestlé and Pur Projet,
spanning five countries, local
efforts contribute to the
promotion of agroforestry.
Lecomte shares that Nestlé and
Pur Projet aim to plant 50,000
trees in the country this year
alone and potentially two
million on 4,000 hectares in the
next five years.
“Nestlé is quite advanced
with its relationship with local
small-scale farmers. Their
previous experience
distributing coffee seedlings
establishment of quality sports
stadiums, hotel rooms, as well as
the business cost of terrorism.
At present, Luz pointed out
that the tourism department
slogan “It's More Fun in the
Philippines” contributes largely
to the improved tourism sector
that translates to good country
branding.
“Currently, we are working
on improving the ease of doing
business performance index for
the country,” Luz said, in
reference to the need of more
FDIs thus the emphasis to safety
and security, accessibility and
establishments of airports,
among others. (Manila Times)
private investment,” it said in
maintaining a 7.1% forecast for
the year.
“ I n o u r v i e w, t h e
government now has more
room to support growth in the
medium term,” ANZ said, even
as it stressed that infrastructure
bottlenecks should be
addressed and public
investment increased.
Both DBS and ANZ also
maintained their outlook that
key interest rates would remain
unchanged in next week's
Monetary Board meeting.
DBS said there was “no
urgency” to tighten monetary
policy as inflation remained
benign, forecasting a change
only in the second quarter of
next year. ANZ, meanwhile,
expects policy rates to remain
unchanged up to the middle of
2014. -- ARRG (Business
World)
helps us in doling out the tree
seedlings,” Lecomte says.
Partnership with other
companies and entities, he
adds, are also something for
which they are constantly on
the look-out. Lecomte cites a
recent donation from Sofitel
Philippine Plaza as an example
of building a network of
agroforestry supporters.
Moreover, if the pilot
communities prove to be
successful, they can provide a
production model for other
coffee regions in the Philippines
and, perhaps eventually, other
countries.
However, Lecomte is quick
to point out that whatever the
future may hold, both Nestlé
and Pur Projet remain focused
on the three Mindanao towns.
“We will ultimately measure
our efforts based on three
things: how the trees grow, its
impact on the coffee yield and
the revenue of the farmers,” he
says, citing the project's main
indicators.
“However, it is a long-term
commitment, one that, if
successful and becomes bigger,
can see us follow up for up to 40
years.” (Manila Bulletin)
ENTERTAINMENT
Mel Tiangco
Mike Enriquez
Kara David
GMA's 24 Oras and I-Witness, only
Asian nominees in this year's Emmys
Widely regarded as the
Philippines' most awarded
broadcast news organization,
GMA News and Public Affairs
brings pride to the country anew
with two nominations in this
year's International Emmy
A w a r d s . G M A' s f l a g s h i p
primetime newscast 24 Oras and
longest-running public affairs
program I-Witness, which are
both broadcasted worldwide via
GMA's flagship international
channel GMA Pinoy TV, were
among the eight international
nominees for the News and
Current Affairs categories.
24 Oras' in-depth coverage of
Typhoon Pablo, considered as
the world's deadliest natural
disaster in 2012, received a
nomination in the News
category. Led by anchors Mel
Tiangco and Mike Enriquez, GMA
News and Public Affairs' ace
team of reporters covered the
deadly typhoon that whipped
Mindanao a few weeks before
Christmas. 24 Oras' coverage of
the heartbreaking loss of lives
after the typhoon was cited for
being "a catalyst for public
debate regarding the
effectiveness of the country's
emergency preparedness".
Kara David's I-Witness
documentary on children's
rights titled "Alkansiya" earned a
nomination in the Current Affairs
category. "Alkansiya" tells the
story of a 12-year-old boy from
Eastern Samar who dives and
scours the seabed every night in
search of sea cucumbers. Hoping
to finish his studies, he eagerly
deposits his measly income from
selling his daily haul to his
"alkansiya" or piggy bank. The
documentary also received the
prestigious UNICEF Child Rights
Award in October of last year in
Seoul, Korea.
Entries from GMA Network
are the sole nominees from the
Philippines and even Asia in the
News and Current Affairs
categories. The eight nominees
come from five countries
including Brazil, Germany,
Romania, Philippines, and
United Kingdom. GMA Network
and Brazil's TV Globo are the
only international entries to have
earned a nod in both categories.
"The 2013 Nominees
reported on subjects ranging
from war to politics to human
triumph and tragedy," said Bruce
L. Paisner, President & CEO of the
I n te r n a t i o n a l Ac a d e my o f
Television Arts & Sciences, the
organization conferring the
Emmys, in a news release
announcing the nominees last
August 14.
Winners will be announced
at the Lincoln Center in New York
on October 1.
For details on how to
subscribe to GMA Pinoy TV as
well as GMA Life TV and GMA
News TV International, visit the
GMA International website
www.gmanetwork.com/internat
ional, Facebook pages
www.facebook.com
/ G M A P i n o y T V ,
www.facebook.com/gmalifetv,
www.facebook.com/gmanewsin
ternational, or Twitter pages
@GMAPinoyTV and
@GMA_LifeTV. GMA Pinoy TV,
GMA Life TV and GMA News TV
International can be seen in the
US, Canada and in countries the
Middle East, North Africa and
Asia Pacific.
Page 23
Nora Aunor scores
4th int'l award for
'Thy Womb' role
MANILA -- Nora Aunor has
once again scored an international
award, her fourth for her role as a
Badjao midwife in the Brillante
Mendoza film "Thy Womb," this
time from a film festival in Russia.
The 60-year-old showbiz
veteran was named Best Actress at
the 3rd Sakhalin International
Film Festival, which was held
starting August 23 in YuzhnoSakhalinsk.
The news was confirmed by
Mendoza in a text message Friday.
The Cannes award-winning
director, along with "Thy Womb"
scribe Henry Burgos, are in Russia
to personally receive the award on
behalf of Aunor.
This latest award follows a
string of recognition for Aunor's
portrayal of a midwife who is
coping with her own infertility.
She previously won as best
actress for "Thy Womb" in the
Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong,
and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards
in Australia.
For the same role, Aunor was
given a special award, the Bisato
d'Oro for Best Actress, by an
Nora Aunor
independent group of film critics
participating in the Venice
International Film Festival.
Locally, Aunor's most recent Best
Actress award for the same
portrayal was at the 11th Gawad
Tanglaw held Thursday night. She
will also receive a Best Performer
trophy on September 3 from the
Young Critics Circle.
Tom Rodriguez wants
'Be Careful' role back
MANILA -- "In a heartbeat!"
T h a t w a s a c t o r To m
Rodriguez's quick reply when
asked if he would be open to
reprise his role in the hit daytime
series "Be Careful With My
Heart."
The 25-year-old actor, who
portrayed doting dad Jeff in the
ABS-CBN "kilig-serye," said he
misses his co-stars in the
daytime program.
"Miss na miss ko sila, 'yung
grupo, sina Aiza (Seguerra), sila
Tita Sylvia (Sanchez), si Tita
Divina (Valencia), si JM (Ibanez)
'yung bata, lahat nakaka-miss.
Kaya we try to keep in touch
naman," he said.
"Kaya lang ngayon dahil sa
schedule, medyo araw-araw may
work, minsan hindi maiwasan na
we lose communication for a few
weeks, pero we try naman,"
Rodriguez said.
The former Kapamilya star
was last seen as Jeff in "Be
Tom Rodriguez
Careful With My Heart" in June,
before he went on to star in the
ongoing GMA-7 series "My
Husband's Lover."
As Jeff, Rodriguez portrayed
the father of Cho (Ibanez), whom
he fondly calls "Junior Pards."
The boy is Jeff's only son with
Kute (Seguerra), his lesbian best
friend who he "accidentally"
slept with after a round of drinks
in their younger years.
Rodriguez's last scene as Jeff
saw him saying goodbye to Kute
and the rest of her family, as he
prepared to leave for Dubai to
become an overseas worker.
Asked Tuesday if he is open
to b e i n g " re u n i te d " w i t h
Seguerra in "Be Careful With My
Heart," Rodriguez said, "If I'm
given a chance to get to work
with them, in a heartbeat I would
take it."
He also expressed
willingness to appear in the
upcoming film version of "Be
Careful With My Heart," which
will compete in the Metro Manila
Film Festival in December.
"Sana. Ako, I haven't heard
anything yet, pero if ever
naman... I love that team, that
Vice Ganda
Vice Ganda gets first
gold record award
MANILA -- Comedian Vice
Ganda received his first gold
record award from Star Records
for his self-titled album.
"Thank You Lord for my first
ever Gold Record Award for my
album 'Vice Ganda' under Star
Records," he posted on his official
Twitter and Instagram accounts.
The album includes the hit
song "Karakaraka," as well as
"Manhid Ka" and his cover of
"Dahil Mahal Na Mahal Kita."
Vice Ganda also took the
opportunity to thank his fans.
"Thanks to all my LittlePonies,
V G P a r t y C l u b , V G F e v e r,
VicerylleBabies and to all my
s u p p o r te r s fo r m a k i n g m e
UNKABOGABLE! God bless you
all!" he said in his post.
"Star Records thank you so
much for the Gold Record
experience. You gave me my first.
I'll give you my best," he said.
This is not the first album
recorded by Vice Ganda. The "It's
Showtime" host released his debut
album "Lakas Tama" in June 2011
under Vicor Records.
Page 24
GMA Network pulls off an ensemble
cast via AKIN PA RIN ANG BUKAS
As GMA Network continues to
bring superior and world-class
entertainment to its viewers
locally and abroad, another
compelling drama masterpiece is
primed to dominate the airwaves
and captivate the hearts of
Filipinos via AKIN PA RIN ANG
BUKAS. It premieres worldwide
on September 10 replacing
Mundo Mo'y Akin on GMA's
flagship international channel,
GMA Pinoy TV.
The drama series features the
country's most respected and
talented artists in plum roles
headlined by no less than Kapuso
Station's Premiere Actress Lovi
Poe as she takes on a winning
lead role as Lovelia Villacorta, a
woman who turns vengeful
against the people who betrayed
her. Lovelia is out to prove that
everyone deserves equal rights
for genuine and real love despite
being born out of wedlock.
Lovi has quickly earned her
laurels with the recognition and
awards from different award
giving bodies in the industry and
established herself as one of the
country's most in-demand and
finest actresses in film and
television. She is hungry to make
it far and ready to showcase her
depth and versatility via her
meaty role in the series.
Sought-after leading man
Rocco Nacino reunites with Lovi
in Akin Pa Rin Ang Bukas as he
portrays the role of Jerry, a man
CineFilipino comedy
is both refreshing and
challenging for Julia
MANILA -- Although
considered in the industry as a fine
actress, Julia Clarete chooses her
projects carefully.
Julia
After winning the Best
Supporting Actress for her
Clarete
performance in Jeffrey Jeturian's
“Bisperas” in 2011, the 33-year-old
thespian was only seen in two
other films, “Shake, Rattle & Roll
13” by the end of that year and only
“Guni-Guni” in 2012.
Following two consecutive
horror films, a comedy seems to be
a logical choice for her next project
as she has learned to be adept at
making people laugh given her
longtime stint as one of the cohosts of “Eat Bulaga”.
The actress, however, swears
that while Randolph Longjas'
CineFilipino entry “Ang Turkey
Cesar Montano and Lovi Poe
Man ay Pabo Rin” is quite
refreshing for her, it was also very
challenging.
who will be trapped in a game of
Be played by Gary Estrada.
“As much as I get my fair dose of
lies and deceit orchestrated by his
Conrad Alperos will eventually
humor everyday in 'Eat Bulaga',
childhood love Agatha played by
fall in love will Lovelia and will
doing comedy in film is more
Charee Pineda.
become her protector. Cesar is
structured and the timing is
One of the industry's most
very happy to be back on GMA
versatile actors Cesar Montano
and feels very excited working
different,” she told InterAksyon in a
joins the powerhouse cast of Akin
alongside some of the network's
recent interview. “There are lines the foreigner, with Julia as one of
Pa Rin Ang Bukas as Conrad
finest artists via the primetime
to adhere to and sometimes there the former's close friends along
Alperos, most trusted lawyer of
series.
are several takes for one scene. The with Cai Cortez.
u
Page 26
Lovelia's father, Roel Villacorta to
challenge is not just to react to a
“As with the majority of
punch line as if it was the first time comedies in film our culture are
it was delivered but also to keep accustomed with, there is the
from laughing during takes.”
overbearing neighbor who
And then, there was also the happens to be the sidekick of the
long hours of filming. But it was all protagonist . Ako 'yun,” she
worth it for Julia as this was a
explains. “My internal peg is a
project she fell in love with the f r i e n d o f m i n e w h o
minute she first read the script.
overcompensates for her
“It was the plot that got me to insecurities. Her nuances and
the last pagea timely story that
frame of mind helped me get into
addresses the touching and oft the character easier.”
times hilarious journey of a Filipina
Describing the film's young
in a relationship with a foreigner.”
d i r e c t o r a s “ c r a z y ”, J u l i a
The film stars comedienne nonetheless praises Longjas for his
Tuesday Vargas as the Filipina and
u
Page 25
Los Angeles-born Travis Kraft as
Tom Rodriguez
wants ...
From page 23
group kaya, in a heartbeat," he said,
when asked if he would want to join
the big screen project.
For now, Rodriguez is gearing up
for the romantic-comedy film "Let's
Take a Chance," where he will co-star
with Carla Abellana, JC de Vera and
Nina Jose, among others. The movie,
produced by Regal Films, is under
the direction of Jun Lana.
Page 25
Vic boasts of upcoming
film's 'three child stars’
By Jecelyn V. Macahindog
Vic Sotto sees the success of
his upcoming Metro Manila
Film Festival (MMFF) entry “My
Little Bossing” on its “three
child stars.”
“My Little Bossings” not
only stars the comedian himself
along Kris Aquino, but new
child wonder Ryzza Mae Dizon
and Kris' son Bimby Yap as well.
Explaining his statement,
Vic explained on “Kris TV” in an
episode that aired on Tuesday:
“(I have my) fingers crossed
(that the film will be a success)
and the fact that we have three
child superstars with us, Aiza
Seguerra (being the third), who
for me, until now, in my eyes, is
still a child.”
He added in jest: “He/she
(Aiza) is still a kid.”
According to Kris, Aiza will
be playing a mother role in the
OctoArts/MZET/APT/Kris
Aquino-produced film.
“Well, magte-trenta na eh,
gano'n talaga 'yon,” said Aiza,
who is also on the “My Little
Bossings” set where Kris did the
interview with Vic, coproducers Orly Ilacad and Tony
Tuviera and director Marlon
Rivera (“Ang Babae sa Septic
Tank”).
Kris thanked the singeractress for being part of their
Vic Sotto says he still sees Aiza
Sueguerra as a child
f i l m d e s p i te t h e l a t te r ' s
participation in another MMFF
entry “Be Careful With My Heart
The Movie.”
To this, Aiza replied, “Si
Bossing (Vic), si Mr. T (Tuviera),
family. Kumbaga, family first.”
On the other hand, Vic
thanked Kris for giving Bimby
the go signal to accept his first
big screen project. “We also like
to thank you for entrusting
Bimby to us,” he said.
Vic also expressed, “Ganap
na ganap na (talaga ang movie)!
Ako, personally, I'm excited that
this is a different thing for me
but I'm more excited for the kids
eh.”
Kris, a self-professed proud
stage mother to Bimby, shared
her preparations for her son.
“Tuluy-tuloy naman ang pagkokondisyon ko sa kanya, so on my
end okay naman.”
“On my end naman, si Ryzza
naman kahit saan mo itapon
'yon, okay naman 'yon… She's
very excited to meet Bimby,”
added Vic.
In the same “Kris TV”
episode, Kris explained that
“My Little Bossings” is far from
Vic's usual fantasy-comedy
films.
“This is back to basic,
heartwarming (movie) na
tungkol sa pamilya. I think ang
anyo at kasarian ng pamilya sa
Pilipinas ay ibang iba na ngayon
and I think it's acceptance of
who you are and what you are.
“Ako na-excite kasi totoo
naman (na) he (Bimby) will be
just playing himself kaya 'di ako
n a h i ra p a n . W h e n B i b e t h
(Orteza) sent the script, sabi ko
this won't be a problem for my
son because the character is
written as him. Feeling ko
kailangan ko siyang imulat sa
kung ano ang mundo and I think
itong movie na ito, Ryzza will be
the perfect guide to see (the real
world),” Kris said. (Manila
Bulletin)
Piolo Pascual supports
Inigo's first acting stint
MANILA -- Actor Piolo
Pascual said he's more
protective of his son, Iñigo, now
that the 15-year-old boy is
slowly breaking his way into
show business.
Iñigo will be featured in Bb.
Joyce Bernal's latest flick
"Relaks, It's Just Pag-ibig,"
produced by Piolo's Spring
Films production.
Piolo said that in as much as
he wants his son to focus on his
education in the United States,
Iñigo wanted to do the project as
he plans to take up filmmaking
in college.
"Ang usapan namin pwede
siyang kumuha ng scholarship
in any film school in college and
that (movie) is for his
credentials. Para madali din
siyang makakuha ng
scholarship," he said.
At an early age, Piolo shared
Iñigo's showed particular
interest in acting. He would
often bring his son on the set of
his projects.
"Sinasama ko sya sa set and
kahit matapos ako ng maaga or
tanghali, hindi siya nag
complaint. I'm also trying to tell
him that it's not easy pero gusto
talaga niya. He's very talented.
He's musically inclined, nag
guitar, nag piano," Piolo said.
But Piolo said Iñigo's
priority will still be his studies.
"Gusto ko na mag
concentrate muna siya sa pag-
aaral. Very important ang
education because kung hindi
siya mag succeed sa pagaartista, anong dala niya? Hindi
ko naman mapipigilan yan pero
hanggat kayang rendahan,
eskwela muna," he said.
When asked about why he
was quite hesitant to allow his
son to join the show business,
Piolo admitted that he has
mixed feelings.
He said he is proud that
Iñigo showed interest in his line
of work but also scared for his
son because, as how he put it,
"it's a cruel job."
He explained: "I enjoy show
biz but it has its trade off. Minsan
may mga bagay na hindi mo
kayang tanggapin and hindi mo
kayang sikmurahin kasi ganun
talaga eh. Nevertheless, ganun
yung industriya natin."
Piolo said he doesn't want
Iñigo to experience all the harsh
criticisms he had been receiving
from the public. The actor
maintains that he's only after his
son's welfare.
"Bilang magulang, ayaw
mong masaktan yung bata. Kung
pwede lang na wag na niyang
pagdaanan kasi naranasan mo,
ganun na lang. At the end of the
day, siya parin pipili ng gusto
niyang tahakin. Maswerte ako
kasi masunuring bata,
marespeto, and very talented,"
he said.
The actor then shared that
Rufa Mae back for
fourth FHM cover
MANILA – Comedienne Rufa
Mae Quinto and TV host Luis
Manzano are the cover stars of
FHM's September 2013 issue.
The issue features two covers as
the magazine celebrates its fifth
FHM Collections.
On its Facebook page, FHM
Philippines uploaded its September
2013 covers, which showed Quinto
wearing a blue underwear and a
revealing white hanging top.
In an interview with the
magazine, Quinto said she always
feels honored to appear on various
magazine covers because each
pictorial is “something new and
different.”
"Madaming pagbabago. It's
2013 and the past is past. Before, I
CineFilipino
comedy ...
From page 24
Piolo Pascual
as much as he wants to be
alongside Inigo on his first
acting foray, he doesn't want to
be labeled as a stage father.
He said he gives his critique
after his son would film a scene
and would often share advices
on acting and show biz life.
"A s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e
ayokong maging stage father.
Andoon lang ako nung first day
nya and I let him do things on his
own. Gusto ko matutuhan niya
on his own," he said.
Asked if the audience would
see a Piolo Pascual version 2.0 in
Inigo, Piolo replied: "I believe he
has his own style kasi he's
conscious also na hindi ko
maging kaboses, hindi ko
pareho ng atake."
ability to “draw inspiration from
the personality of his actors.”
“Randolph reminds me a lot of
the late phenomenal director
Gilbert 'Manong' Perez who
directed me in 'Trip' and 'Jologs'.
God bless his spirit,” she pointed
out.
As for her co-stars, Julia said
she bonded well with the rest of
the cast, especially Tuesday and
Cai.
“Para kaming cast ng 'Sex In
The City' na inempake sa handcarried baggage. Siksikan sa saya
on and off camera,” she enthused.
“Tuesday, in particular, is a pro.
She arrives on the set knowing her
lines. Same with Cai. I'm blessed
to work with those girls because
they value your time and the
preparation you put in as an
actor.”
didn't know how to model, 'yung
tipong feel na feel. Ngayon, nasanay
na ako sa pictorials and sa mga highfashion covers,” she said.
Quinto added: “With each peg
and each concept and each edition of
FHM, it's always something new and
different. Nagkaka-depth. There's
evolution and revolution!”
This is the fourth time Quinto
graced an FHM cover, as she has
already appeared on it back in
January 2001, April 2003, and
February 2010.
Meanwhile, in its flip cover,
Manzano is seen wearing a grey suit.
FHM Philippines said they chose
Manzano as he is the perfect person
who embodies good looks and
humor.
As for the film's other cast
members, Julia said she did not
interact much with JM De
Guzman but think the
controversial actor has “good
potential”.
“It was also great working
with fine actors like Rolando
Inocencio and Madeleine Nicolas
who I have looked up to during
my theatre days. They're a
sackful of talent who both love
their craft, so I kneel and bow
down to them,” she added.
“You should also hear Micko
Laurente sing. How sweet and
innocent of this boy who flooded
the set with tears on our last
filming day because he had been
a t t a c h e d to t h e c a s t a n d
production crew. What an angel!”
As for Travis Kraft, it seems
that Julia has become
particularly fond of the American
actor who plays Tuesday's love
interest. As seen from this video,
Julia happily teaches a very eager
Travis some unusual Tagalog
words.
Page 26
Claudine reveals 'years of abuse' with Raymart
MANILA -- "Today, I am
breaking my silence."
This was the pronouncement
of actress Claudine Barretto in
making known a "vicious cycle" of
abuse from her husband, actor
Raymart Santiago, which allegedly
dates back to 2002, four years
before they were married.
The 34-year-old actress on
Thursday filed before the Marikina
Regional Trial Court (RTC) a
complaint-affidavit detailing
Santiago's "physical, sexual,
psychological and economic"
abuse, with photos showing
Barretto's wounds supposedly
from the actor's acts of violence.
The 40-year-old Santiago now
faces a case for his alleged
violation of the Anti-Violence
against Women and Their Children
(VAWC) Act of 2004.
Barretto was accompanied by
her legal team, her parents, as well
as fan groups dubbed
"Claudinians" and "Claudinatics,"
in formalizing the complaint on
Thursday afternoon.
The actress joined her
supporters in wearing purple
shirts imprinted with "Stop
Violence Against Women and
Children - Gabriela" on the front
side, and "Justice for Claudine
Barretto" on the back.
As Barretto emerged from the
Marikina RTC, the actress was met
with hugs from her long-time fans,
who voiced out their support by
exclaiming, "Mahal na mahal ka
GMA Network
pulls off ...
From page 24
Playing equally important roles
in the program are two of the
industry's most esteemed veteran
actresses: The Original Queen of
Philippine Movies, Actress Ms
Gloria Romero as Cristina Alperos,
mother to Conrad Alperos and Ms
Liza Lorena as Beatrice Villacorta,
mother of Roel Villacorta.
The beautiful Kapuso star
Solenn Heussaff is set to show a
new dimension to her acting ability
in the series as Jade, the girlfriend of
Conrad Alperos. Jade is out to take
revenge after being ditched by
Conrad. Solenn is very honoured to
be part of the formidable cast of
Akin Pa Rin Ang Bukas.
Set to portray the role of Agatha
Morales is newest Kapuso Charee
Pineda. With her challenging role
as one of the antagonists in the
series, Charee is ready to deliver an
exceptional performance as the
ambitious woman who is willing to
compromise her integrity and
morals for her selfish motives.
GMA Network is proud to
present a stellar cast of the
country's most prized artists: Ina
Feleo as Emma Ignacio; Glenda
Garcia as Jenny; Tia Pusit as Nanay
Selya; Steven Silva as Tisoy; Kier
Legaspi as SPO 2 Brando Morales;
Ruru Madrid as Junior and Freddie
Webb as Jaime Villacorta.
To h e l m t h i s p r i m e t i m e
masterpiece is one of Philippine
Cinema's all-time best actresses
and directors Ms Laurice Guillen.
GMA takes pride in producing a
program with Ms Guillen as the
to speak up, saying, "I encourage
you to break your silence and stop
the abuse. We have to stop the
abuse. We have to stop being
scared and afraid. We have to end
the violence. Because our children
need us, we have to stand for our
rights."
Claudine Barretto
namin, pinagdarasal ka namin!"
She went on to gather them as
they made their way to a press
briefing, where she tearfully
recalled the "years of abuse" she
allegedly experienced in
Santiago's hands.
Reading a prepared statement,
Barretto said her "life with
[Santiago] was a vicious cycle of
violence, abuse, battery and
exploitation."
"During the years I have been
with him, I have been in constant
fearful state of mind, because I was
repeatedly abused and controlled
over a period of time.
"Now, it's time, with all my
horrendous experiences in the
hands of my husband... Today, I am
breaking my silence. I have
director who is known in the
industry for her outstanding
directing style and technique.
In Akin Pa Rin Ang Bukas,
viewers will witness how Lovelia
will reclaim what's rightfully hers
after being deceived by the people
close to her. She will learn how to
take matters into her own hands
and seek revenge against Jerry and
Agatha who destroyed her life and
acquired all her possessions.
With Conrad on her side, will
Lovelia's love for Jerry eventually
fade away? Will Lovelia succeed in
her quest for vengeance?
Akin Pa Rin Ang Bukas is
created by the GMA Drama group
headed by Lilybeth G. Rasonable,
Officer-in-charge for
Entertainment TV; Redgie A.
Magno, Vice President for Drama;
Cheryl Ching-Sy, Assistant Vice
President for Drama; Helen RoseSese, Program Manager and Meann
Regala, Executive Producer.
The creative team is composed
of Creative Director for DRAMA, Jun
Lana; Creative Head for Primetime,
RJ Nuevas; Creative Consultant,
Suzette Doctolero; and
Headwriter, Denoy Navarro Punio.
For details on how to subscribe
to GMA Pinoy TV as well as GMA
Life TV and GMA News TV
International, visit the GMA
International website
www.gmanetwork.com/internatio
nal, Facebook pages
www.facebook.com/GMAPinoyTV,
www.facebook.com/gmalifetv,
www.facebook.com/gmanewsinter
n a t i o n a l , o r Tw i t t e r p a g e s
@GMAPinoyTV and @GMA_LifeTV.
GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV and
GMA News TV International can be
seen in the US, Canada and in
countries the Middle East, North
Africa and Asia Pacific.
Raymart Santiago
decided to stop and end the abuse
and violence and make my
husband criminally and civilly
liable for all his actions," she said.
S h e c o n t i n u e d : "A b u s e
transcends all economic,
educational and social borders.
Even I, a celebrity who almost has
everything, was still physically,
sexually, psychologically and
economically abused by my own
husband."
"I took the big step of stopping
and ending the abuses of my
husband by filing a criminal
complaint against him," Barretto
said, referring to the VAWC case
she filed with the support of
women's rights group Gabriela.
Barretto went on to urge other
women "suffering the same plight"
'We have proof'
Gabriela's legal counsel, Atty.
Junelet Mataro, who is handling
Barretto's case, said the abuse
started in 2002. Refusing to give
details about the alleged instances
of abuse, the lawyer said Barretto
complained of such acts which
happened between 2005 and
2013.
"She has been experiencing so
many abuses since they were
married," Mataro said.
Santiago and Barretto were
married in March 2006. They have
two children -- an adopted
daughter, Sabina, 9; and a
biological son, Santino, 6.
Referring to her client's
complaint-affidavit, Mataro said,
" We h ave p i c t u re s , m e d i a l
certificates to prove the physical
violence inflicted upon her by
Raymart. We also have pictures of
the wounds of Claudine."
The complaint, according to
Mataro, can also prove the
"economic abuse" allegedly
committed by Santiago, citing
bank statements.
"We also have affidavits from
the members of her family for the
psychological abuse, because
Claudine has said she has been
socially alienated by Raymart," she
said.
Mataro explained that the
accusation of "pyschological
abuse" stems from Santiago's "web
of lies" about his relationship with
Barretto, which supposedly
earned him the support of the
actress' family members.
"He socially crippled Claudine
of the support of her family and
friends, but as you can see, the
members of her family are here.
They are supporting Claudine, and
they have realized that they were
fooled by Raymart into believing
some of the things that he has been
mentioning about Claudine," the
lawyer said.
As for the "sexual abuse"
detailed in Barretto's complaint,
Mataro said the actress had
expressed apprehensions about
her supposed lack of evidence in
proving there was any instance of
such act. But the lawyer noted,
addressing in general female
victims of sexual abuse, "Hindi
naman kailangan ng pictures
regarding abuse. Your testimony is
good enough. Even if your husband
doesn't believe, the court will
definitely believe you if you are
telling the truth."
Why now?
Noting the alleged extent of
abuse Santiago is being accused of,
u
Page 27
Page 27
Multi-Faceted Vince Tañada Juris' album tops jazz
stars in Filmfest entry 'Otso' chart in Singapore
By Crispina Martinez-Belen
He is a litigation lawyer
specializing in annulment cases, but
Vince M. Tañada is also an actor,
singer, writer, and director. He is
very passionate about his craft and
he has proven this many times in the
past 10 years through his
performances in plays and musicals,
which he himself wrote and
directed. These works of his have
always been infused with
nationalistic fervor and
overwhelming zeal.
For his intensity in acting, Atty.
Vince has won two Best Actor
awards from the Aliw Awards
Foundation. The first award he
earned for “O' Moises” in 2007,” and
the second, for his superb acting as a
writer afflicted with Parkinson's
Disease in “Cory Ng Edsa.” In 2008,
Vince also got nominated for Best
Actor for “Bangkay Sa Corintho,” but
his biggest dream as an actor was
realized, he said, when he played the
role of Ninoy Aquino in his own
production company Philippine
Stagers Foundation's presentation
of “Ako Si Ninoy” in 2009.
In the rock'sical titled “Joe: A
Filipino Rockssical” Vince played
the role of Joecas and the rock
musical turned out to be a recordbreaking production of PSF. In his
latest work, a zarzuela titled
“Bonifacio,” Vince played Andres
Bonifacio, the “Father of Katipunan.”
Vince finished law at San Beda
College where he has been teaching
although for the past several years,
ever since he established the
Lawyer/actor Vince M. Tañada
Philippine Stagers Foundation,
most of his time has been consumed
by his love for the arts. Vince is
president and chairman of the
board of PSF which has more than a
hundred member artists who are as
committed as Vince in their craft.
By the way, Vince had a brief
stint as acting student in New York
USA before he came home to resume
his theater career via “Hiblang Abo,”
directed by Lou Veloso.
And now, Vince makes his first
movie acting stint in Elwood Perez's
entry to the 1st Sineng Pambansa
National Film Festival All Masters
Edition, “Otso.” The 11 entries to the
filmfest, which is under the auspices
of the Film Development Council of
the Philippines, will be screened in
SM Cinemas nationwide on Sept. 1117.
In “Otso,” Vince plays the role of
Lex, an aspiring screenwriter who
returns to Manila when he did not
succeed in his attempt at a film
career in Los Angeles. Back home,
he intends to write a screenplay for
an independent film for Director Jim
(Jun Urbano). In the process, he
wants to reconnect with his roots
and with the city of his birth.
Also in the cast of “Otso” are Ms.
Anita Linda as herself, Vangie
Labalan, Jordan Ladra, Cindy Liper,
Gabby Bautista, Kevin Posadas, and
Monique Azerreda, among others.
“Otso” marks Elwood Perez's
return to indie filmmaking after a
long hiatus. He can't say no, he said,
to his fellow director Vince. It is
recalled that Elwood started writing
and directing plays at the university
and then on television, in the
Philippine Educational Theater
Association (PETA)-produced
“Balintataw,” a drama anthology
series that became the breaking
ground for future filmmakers like
Joey Gosiengfiao and Lino Brocka.
Elwood made his independent film
debut via the movie “Blue Boy,”
which earned the nod of film critic
Agustin Sotto III. His next film,
“Bawal: Asawa Mo, Asawa Ko!” was a
sleeper hit, and its follow-up, “Isang
Gabi, Tatlong Babae!” started a
trend, the “bold” movement and
which established Elwood as a
bankable director, actually one of
the most sought-after directors of
his generation.
His films won for him Best
Director trophies as well as Best
Picture awards for the producers.
He has also been exhibited in
various international film festivals
with such movies as “My Brother,
My Wife,” “The Real Life of Pacita M.”
and “Silip. (Manila Bulletin)
MANILA - “ASAP” mainstay
Juris Fernandez's international
album “Dreaming of You” has
recently topped the jazz chart of
Singapore's popular music store
HMV.
The same album has also
dominated the digital market as
“Dreaming of You” made it to the
list of top albums in iTunes
Thailand and was one of the
featured albums in iTunes Asia.
Fernandez, who is now
dubbed as the “Soothing Voice of
Asia,” bested local Singaporean
singers and even Grammy winner
Norah Jones.
Fernandez's latest
international album was coproduced by Star Records and
Singaporean recording company
S2S.
The album contains 12 tracks
including her own renditions of
Janet Jackson's “Again,” Bryan
Adams' “Everything I Do,” Olivia
Newton John's “I Honestly Love
“ASAP” mainstay Juris Fernandez
You,” and Diana Ross' “Do
YouKnow Where You're Going To.”
Also included in Fernandez's
album are Celine Dion's “I Love
Yo u G o o d bye ,” “ D o n' t S ay
Goodbye,” “Say You Love Me,” “If
Wishes Came True,” “If You And
Me,” “Wishes” and the carrier
single “Dreaming of You.”
Wally Bayola, EB Babe involved
in a sex video scandal?
Wally Bayola in “D' Kilabots Pogi
Brothers…Weh!?”
By Luigene Yanoria
The showbiz industry is in
shock yet again after an alleged sex
video of “Eat Bulaga” host Wally
Bayola and EB Babe dancer Yosh
Claudine reveals ...
From page 26
and the supposed duration of some 10
years, Barretto was asked why she
only chose to come out with the
"truth" now.
Barretto explained she had initial
hesitations about formalizing the
complaint in the interest of protecting
her children, and even Santiago.
The actress' first move that
signaled her marital woes was her
filing a petition for a temporary
protection order (TPO) in July against
Santiago, which she is now seeking to
make permanent.
"Hindi madili 'yung
pinagdaraanan ko bilang alam naman
ng tao na kilala po ako sa pagiging
medyo matapang at palaban,"
Barretto said on Thursday. "Meron
din ho akong kahinaan, and meron din
ho akong mga taong pinprotektahan,
at unang-una doon syempre ang
asawa ko, ang pamilya ko, ang mga
started circulating online on
Monday night, September 2.
The comedian is married with
five children, while it is not
immediately known whether the
alleged EB Babe member is in a
relationship.
The issue of leaked intimate
private videos challenges the AntiPhoto and Video Voyeurism Act of
2009 authored at the height of sex
scandals involving local celebrities.
The law was the product of a Senate
investigation that led to the
eventual revocation of Hayden
Kho's medical license.
Just recently, an intimate video
of Parokya ni Edgar vocalist Chito
Miranda and girlfriend Neri Naig
was also leaked online. Chito sought
help from the NBI (National Bureau
of Investigation) to pin down the
uploader of the video.
Meanwhile, Eat Bulaga
executives have not issued any
statement as of posting time.
(Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom)
anak ko."
Crying at this point, Barretto
admitted seeing a psychologist to deal
with her personal problems -- a
matter earlier hinted at by her
estranged siblings Joaquin and
Gretchen at the height of their
publicized family feud early this year.
"Kinailangan kong magpaprocess sa mga pyschologist, sa
Gabriela, kung meron ho ba akong
battered woman syndrome. Iniisip ko
rin na balang araw na makikita ito ng
mga anak ko at sirain ang pangalan ng
asaw ko no'n.
But a tearful Barretto continued,
"Hindi lang naman ho pambubugbog
'yung pinagdaanan ko eh, kundi
mental torture din. So ayoko lang na
pagdaanan ng mga anak ko 'yun.
That's all I can say."
"Kung natagalan man, it's because
gusto kong buong-buo 'yung salaysay
ko, gusto kong siguraduhin na
papasok ako sa laban at papanalunin
ko 'to. 'Yun lang po," she said.
SPORTS
PBA legend Atoy Co
Atoy rebuilds
Mapua for future
By Joaquin Henson
MANILA -- Coach and PBA
legend Atoy Co said yesterday
he's looking forward to
reestablishing a winning
program at Mapua but the
Fortune Cookie knows it won't be
easy and there will be a lot of
headaches along the way.
The Cardinals are mired in
last place in the NCAA senior
men's basketball standings with
a 1-9 record so far this season.
Their only win was a 104-99
double overtime decision over
San Sebastian last July 1. Since
the victory, Mapua has lost eight
in a row.
“We're asking for patience,”
said the 61-year-old Co, the PBA's
MVP in 1979. “We're working on
a three-year program but it may
take as long as five years unless
we're able to recruit players like
Kiefer (Ravena) and Jeron (Teng).
We've got seven rookies and four
second-year players in our
lineup. It's like we're starting
from scratch.”
Co himself is a rookie college
c o a c h . H i s o n ly p re v i o u s
coaching stint was with Crispa
when he piloted the
Redmanizers to the PABL title in
1991. “Over the last two years,
my friend Manny Sy would invite
me to watch the UAAP and NCAA
and we would analyze the games
so when I was invited to coach
Mapua, I was prepared,” he said.
“The coaching style today is so
different from how it was before.
When I used to play, coaches
relied on the players' pure talent,
their versatility. The game has
changed. Before, the play was
rough. When you drove in, expect
to go down. Today, the game is
still physical, a lot of body
banging, elbowing but with no
intention to hurt. Baby Dalupan
coached by instinct and the game
was wide open. Then, Tommy
(Manotoc) introduced science to
coaching. He installed a system,
made scouting reports and
taught us about rotation, helping
and trapping. Tommy's system is
still applicable today with some
adjustments. At Mapua, we're
using the San Beda system of
(assistant coach) Ed (Cordero).”
Co said Cordero is a big help
with the Cardinals. “At practice, I
personally try to teach our
players how to do things,” he said.
“I sometimes jog and shoot with
them. I teach them how to shoot
the turn-around, fadeaway which
was my bread-and-butter during
my time. Even at my age, I think I
can still keep up with the young
players. Coaching involves a lot of
teaching. It's now my full-time
job. I've given up golf and staying
late at our sports bar in
Metrowalk (Atoy's) which my
son, now 28, runs. I wake up at 5
or 5:30 to be at the gym by 7 to
start practice. Right now, we
practice at San Andres Gym while
our gym is under renovation. It's
difficult if you don't have your
own gym, you can't practice
when you want to.”
Co said while this season has
been a harsh experience, there is
some fulfillment. “I accept our
limitations,” he said. “We've lost
some games which we could've
won if not for late mistakes.
Sometimes, we do four-hour
practices. It's like coaching a high
school team, starting with basics.
But I'm happy when the players
d o t h i n g s r i g h t . We' r e
experiencing growing pains,
difficult to accept but we must
take responsibility. Discipline is
very important to me. Like in
(Joseph) Eriobu's case when we
benched him in the EAC game.”
(The Philippine Star)
TO ADVERTISE, PLEASE CALL
201-434-1114
Only $30 for 25 words
(deadline is Wednesday noon)
Page 28
Former heavyweight
champion Morrison, 44
LOS ANGELES – Former
world heavyweight champion
Tommy Morrison, who was
widely known for his powerpunching style, a charismatic
smile and role in the “Rocky V”
movie, has died at the age of
44.
The boxer's former
promoter, Tony Holden, told
the Tulsa World that Morrison
had died on Sunday night in a
hospital in Omaha, Nebraska
but no official cause of death
was given.
“He was with his wife
Trisha when he passed,”
Holden said.
Morrison, 48-3-1 with 42
knockouts, reached the
pinnacle of his career when he
beat George Foreman in 1993
to capture the World Boxing
Organization title.
Renowned for his lethal
left hook and movie-star
looks, Morrison recorded
other notable wins over Razor
Ruddock, Carl “The Truth”
Williams and James “Quick”
Tillis but lost to Lennox Lewis,
Tommy Morrison, right, beat George Foreman in 1993 to
capture the vacant World Boxing Organization heavyweight
title before losing it to Michael Bentt five months later .
Ray Mercer and Michael
Bentt.
Prior to a bout in 1996,
Morrison tested positive for
the AIDS virus and had his
boxing license suspended
before he returned to the ring
11 years later and won his last
two professional bouts.
Morrison played the role
of Tommy “The Machine”
Gunn in “Rocky V” after
Sylvester Stallone had
watched him in a fight during
1989 and offered him a screen
test. (Malaya Business)
Page 29
IN THE BOSOM OF THE
AFTERNOON AT THE LIBERTY
STATE PARK, JERSEY CITY
I am lamenting the passage of time
In the bosom of a foreign land
Where I am caged like a rice bird
While the Statue of Liberty is shouting
In the middle of the Hudson River
The reason why I am here
Roaming around like a mad dog
barking…
Here, a series of riddles are found
Without suitable answers
While in Ilokandia there is peace and
tranquility
Inside our nipa hut in one side
Of the hill of Culculili
Cradled by the north wind
Coupled with the sonata of time…
There is time for sunrise
There is time for sunset
Yes, I have written many poems
Under the cherry blossom tree
Inside the Liberty State Park
These are my remaining mementos
While roaming around
On this part of the world
But this is the truth
The sun will still rise
And I shall return to your
Bosom Ilokandia
Wait for me…
Wait for me…
The author, Cristino Iloreta Inay, worked in the College
of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. Mr. Inay now calls
Jersey City home.
Will Megan Young bring home
the elusive Miss World crown?
By Crispina Martinez-Belen
Megan Young, the newly crowned
2013 Miss World Philippines, is leaving
today (Sept. 3) for Jakarta, Indonesia to
compete in the 63rd Miss World
Pageant which will be held on Sept. 28,
2013.
There will be 128 candidates from
all over the world vying for the crown of
Miss World, considered the largest
beauty pageant in the world. Also,
because it was the very first beauty
pageant ever established, it is
considered the most iconic of all the
beauty pageants all over the world.
Will she bring home the elusive Miss
World crown? It could be recalled that
the closest slot to the Miss World crown
that the Philippines ever won was 1st
Runner-up (or 1st Princess) by
Gwendoline Ruais who duplicated the
win of Evangeline Pascual in 1973 and
Ruffa Gutierrez, 2nd Princess in 1993.
CQ Global Quest, Inc. Chairwoman
Cory Quirino, license holder and
national director of Miss World
Philippines, explained at the recent
send-off party for Megan held at C-3
Events Place of Cravings in Greenhills,
that our candidate “has successfully
compressed her workshops, training
and charity visits in preparation for the
Miss World Pageant.”
At her farewell party, Megan
couldn't help but become emotional
(she actually couldn't stop crying) when
Cory recounted all the congratulatory
EXPRESS SUDOKU
HOW TO PLAY: Place a number from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers from 1 to 9
Solution to Issue 34 Sudoku
Solution to Issue 34 Crossword
MEGAN YOUNG Miss World
Philippines 2013
remarks and outpouring of support that
she has received, especially from Miss
World Pageant management, after the
finals of Miss World Philippines 2013
last Aug. 18 at Solaire Resort and Casino.
After composing herself after that
understandable outburst of emotions,
Megan, who Cory said was still regal in
spite of her tears, said “I'm really so
overwhelmed kasi, so excited and super
happy with all the support and
encouragement that I've been getting
not only from family and friends, but
even people I don't know. This is really
encouraging for them to say they were
inspired by my win, and are confident
that this time the Philippines is going to
get the crown!”
But more than the jubilation and
pride she felt in winning the Miss World
Philippines crown, Megan is happy that
she is involved now with the charity
work that MWP is into, like the cancer
wing for children at the Philippine
General Hospital. “It's a nice feeling that
I get getting involved in helping all those
sick children get well,” Megan said.
Aside from the major titles to be
bestowed on deserving candidates,
there will also be a Social Media Award,
and for this Megan has enjoined fellow
Filipinos to get as involved as she is to
the Miss World Pageant. The text votes
will also play a major factor in the
pageant. According to Cory, there will
also be a sports channel for Miss World
Pageant and that Megan is up to this
challenge. After all, the Miss World
Pageant is not only about beauty, but
also about wellness.
The whole world will be watching
on Sept. 28, and for this Megan
promised “I will be my best to bring
home the crown.” The finals and
coronation of the 2013 Miss World will
be broadcast on the same day but an
hour later on GMA-7.
Incidentally, Ms. Yvonne Martinez is
the vice president of CQ Global Quest.
She's working hand in hand with Cory
Quirino, who is CEO and chairperson.
(Manila Bulletin)
EXPRESS CROSSWORD
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Page 30
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Page 31
Page 32

The Filipino Express v27 Issue 35

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