Manila Standard Today - September 6, 2012 Issue

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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
THE Foreign Affairs Department is ex-
pected to name a career diplomat to re-
place Sonia Brady as the Philippines
Ambassador to China.
Department spokesman Raul Her-
nandez said that while he had not seen
the short list that Secretary Albert del
Rosario had submitted to Malacaang,
Career diplomat
to replace Brady
No sanction
on pro-RH
La Salle profs,
bishops say
Cops claim
crimes up
as criminals
get smarter
NPAs burn
construction
equipment
worth P20m
China assures Asean
of free, safe passage
IN SOUTH CHINA SEA
Katos men
now lead
breakaway
rebel group
Senate detains rice
importer for lying
Tagline creator breezes through CA
Next page
Community work. Members of the religious group Tsu Chi Foun-
dation join residents of Barangay Banaba Extension in San Mateo,
Rizal, in sand-bagging and rip-rapping the Nangka river bank to
prevent oods and landslides. MANNY PALMERO
Detained
over rice.
Senate secu-
rity chief Jose
Balajadia (left)
escorts Cesar
Ramirez, who
was cited for
contempt on
Wednesday,
and ordered
detained in the
Senate. Inset
is a photo of
Saumit Ghosh,
who was
linked to the
smuggling of
rice through
the Subic Bay
Freeport. LINO
SANTOS
Conrmation.
Tourism Secretary
Ramon Jimenez
is greeted with
a handshake by
Senate President
Juan Ponce Enrile
following his
conrmation by
the Commission
on Appointments.
LINO SANTOS
Civil society groups tapped to build mass base in poor areas
TODAY
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A RICE importer was detained in the Senate on
Wednesday for lying to the senators investigating the
case of the 42,000 sacks of rice worth P500 million
that Customs agents seized on suspicion of having
been smuggled through the Subic Bay Freeport Zone
on April 4.
Cesar Ramirez, a member of the Federation of San
Miguel Cooperatives based in General Santos City, was
barred from leaving the Senate building after attending
the hearing being led by Senator Francis Pangilinan,
chairman of the Senates agriculture committee.
He was whisked out of the session hall and escorted
to the detention facility at the Senates parking area in
the basement.
Another suspect in the case, Protek Guha, manager
of Amira Foods, the company that owns the rice ship-
ment, did not attend Wednesdays hearing because, his
lawyer said, he was in New Delhi.
Demetrio Custodio said Guha did not travel to the
Philippines to attend the hearing on the advice of his
doctor as a result of his high blood pressure.
By Macon R. Araneta
THE campaign taglines Big
Man sa Senado and Kapag
corrupt ka, Lagot ka, which he
had crafted for Senator Franklin
Drilon and Senator Joker Arroyo
for their election campaigns,
drove the two members of the
bicameral Commission on Ap-
pointments to approve the nomi-
nation of Tourism Secretary Ra-
mon Jimenez Jr., an ofcial said
on Wednesday.
First, I must make my full
disclosure why I am voting for
the nominee, Drilon said before
voting to conrm Jimenez.
He was the one who cre-
ated my tagline in 2001, Big
Man sa Senado, but I am not
alone.
You remember the other ta-
gline in that election, Kapag cor-
rupt ka, Lagot Ka? That was the
tagline he gave to a good friend,
Senator Joker Arroyo.
FOUR sub-commanders of the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters have apparently taken
over the leadership of the break-
away rebel group following
earlier reports that former Moro
Islamic Liberation Front com-
mander Ameril Umbra Kato had
fallen ill and is now a paralytic.
According to Luwaran, the
ofcial website of the MILF,
Kato is seriously ill and can
hardly talk as result of a second
seizure he suffered recently.
His condition is deteriorat-
ing faster and only his wife and
son are attending to him. He is no
longer in command of the BIFM
(Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Movement/BIFF and is com-
pletely isolated and abandoned by
his followers, the website said.
The police identied the sub-
commanders as
Ali Tambako, Badrudin Si-
longan, Kagui Karialan and Abu
Missry as the ones who report-
edly led the simultaneous attacks
By Vito Barcelo,
Maricel Cruz and Ma-
con Ramos-Araneta
THE Catholic Bishops Con-
ference of the Philippines
on Wednesday said it would
not punish professors from
Catholic universities for
contradicting the position of
the church by declaring their
support for the reproductive
health bill, but said school
authorities had the right to
discipline them.
The statement came in the
wake of declarations of support
for the RH bill signed by almost
200 professors from the Ateneo
de Manila University and 45
professors of the De La Salle
University, both of which are
Catholic.
The secretary general of the
bishops organization, Msgr.
Joselito Asis, said the CBCP
had no legal authority or right
to discipline professors from
Catholic schools who openly
support the bill, saying that it is
their personal opinion and not
that of the entire school.
Its the school administra-
tion who should discipline their
workers (professors) and to
remind them that they should
protect the interest of the insti-
tution where they work. They
(the professors) should be re-
minded the teachings of the
church, he said.
By Florante Solmerin
VIOLENCE ared up again in
Mindanao on Wednesday when
unidentied gunmen ambushed
a tribal chieftain campaigning
against mining and forest destruc-
tion, while Communist rebels at-
tacked a construction company and
burned vehicles and heavy equip-
ment, human rights groups and
military ofcials said.
By Maricel Cruz
SEVERAL legislators on Wednes-
day expressed concern about the
rising criminality in the country,
but police ofcials said the reason
was that criminals were becoming
smarter.
Zambales Rep. Milagros Mag-
saysay said 29,231 crimes were re-
ported in Metro Manila alone dur-
ing the rst half this year, which
was a 57-percent increase from the
same period last year.
We cannot simply say that
criminals have grown more cre-
ative in undertaking their illegal
By Sara Susanne
D. Fabunan
CHINESE Foreign Minister
Yang Jiechi on Wednesday
said the members of the As-
sociation of Southeast Asian
Nations would continue to
enjoy freedom of navigation
in the South China Sea despite
the still unresolved conict be-
tween China and some Asean
members.
Speaking in a joint press
conference with United States
Secretary of State Hillary Clin-
ton, Yang said the South China
Sea was really a lifeline for
exchanges in trade and com-
merce between China and its
neighboring countries.
Freedom and safety of navi-
gation in the South China Sea is
assured, Yang said.
Freedom of navigation was
one of the issues raised by
Clinton on why the US wanted
China and the Asean to resolve
their conict multilaterally or
through the United Nations
Convention of the Law of the
Sea or Unclos.
But Beijing balked at Clin-
tons suggestion and insisted on
settling the disputes bilaterally
with relevant countries.
Beijing and Washington
stuck to their positions dur-
ing Clintons visit to China on
Wednesday, but avoided delv-
ing deeper into the issue when
the US ofcial sat down with
Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jin-
tao and Yang.
Lets face it. The Liberals
do not have a political mass
base. The P10 billion budget
comes in handy, said ACT
Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio,
who pointed out that the par-
tys president, newly appoint-
ed Interior and Local Govern-
ment Secretary Manuel Roxas
II, would be dealing directly
with municipalities who stood
to gain P10 million each.
Under the 2013 proposed
national budget, some P8.7
billion has been allocated for
the 609 poorest municipali-
ties identied by the National
Anti-Poverty Commission
now headed by former Ak-
bayan president Jose Eliseo
Rocamora.
Another P2 billion was
allocated under President
Aquinos Special Purpose
Fund for what the Palace de-
scribes as an empowerment
fund.
House Deputy Speaker Jesus
Crispin Remulla, Agham Rep.
Angelo Palmones, Kabataan
Rep. Raymond Palatino, and
Tinio said the timing was sus-
pect because the money would
be released to the local govern-
ment units during election time.
LP promoting new
political patronage
Next page
Next page Next page
Next page
Next page
Next page
Next page
By Christine F. Herrera
LAWMAKERS on Wednesday said a P10-billion budget
allocation for 609 of the poorest municipalities in collabo-
ration with selected civil society groups would be used to
build a mass base for President Benigno Aquino IIIs Liberal
Party for the 2013 and 2016 elections and usher in a new
brand of political patronage.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 THURSDAY
A2
Hearing resumes. Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon testies
at the continuation of the Senate hearing on the 420,000 sacks of
rice from India worth P500 million that Customs agents seized at the
Subic Bay Free Port. The Senate is investigating to know who might
be behind the attempt to smuggle the shipment into the country.
Tagline...
It is on that premise that we
are endorsing the nominee, the
very competent executive and
practitioner in this eld, said
Drilon who was seated beside Ar-
royo in the conrmation hearing
at the Senate.
No member of the commission
objected to Jimenezs appoint-
ment, and the proceedings lasted
only 30 minutes.
But Alagad party-list Rep. Ro-
dante Marcoleta, who is opposed
to the Reproductive Health bill that
seeks to guarantee universal access
to contraception methods, fertility
control, sexual education and ma-
ternal health care, quizzed Jimenez
on his stand on the same bill.
If I may your honor, I would
just answer that the proper re-
sponse to your question is to cite
the very rst book in the Bible,
which says that when everything
started, God created light and then
he created the Heaven, the Earth,
and then the animals and when he
had all of that, it was then and
only then that he brought man
into the world, Jimenez said.
Our Lord was the very rst re-
sponsible parent in human history.
He made sure we had everything.
Senate Majority Leader Vi-
cente Sotto III, the commissions
vice chairman and who is also
opposed to the RH bill, said they
should recommend Jimenez for
conrmation immediately.
I was really going to vote in
favor of the secretary, but hearing
that, we should have approved
him two years ago, Sotto said.
When Marcoleta asked Ji-
menez to clarify his statement,
Jimenez said he was for respon-
sible parenthood which is another
name for...
Jimenez was not able to nish his
statement because Valenzuela Rep.
Rex Gatchalian, who heads the
commission, cut him off and told
them to talk about the matter in pri-
vate after the conrmation hearing.
In brief statement before the
conrmation hearing, Jimenez
said he reached his rst year at the
Tourism Department on Sept. 1.
I seek, of course, the honorable
committees approval of my ap-
pointment today. I come here with
colleagues and friends from the
tourism industry, Jimenez said.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Vil-
lafuerte was the rst to inquire
about Jimenezs program in his
department, and Jimenez said
he was now employing a cluster
strategy.
No...
Asis said pro-RH professors
should not use their institution
as a venue to express opinions
that are against the teachings of
the Catholic Church.
But he denied that the CBCP
issued any statement calling for
Ateneo or De La Salle to inves-
tigate their professors and sanc-
tion them for supporting the RH
bill.
The CBCP did not issue any
such statement, he said.
Earlier, CBCP president and
Archbishop Jose Palma said
Catholic universities must teach
and uphold the ofcial teach-
ings of the church. If we are
a Catholic school, we should
not teach anything contrary
to the ofcial teachings of the
church, he said.
Some teachers may have
some misunderstanding of what
they think of freedom of con-
science or academic freedom,
said Palma. In some of the uni-
versities, we say that if you want
to teach that idea, do not do it in
a Catholic school because we
are confusing the students do
it in other universities.
In both chambers of Con-
gress, church-backed lawmak-
ers opposed to the reproductive
health continued to delay voting
on the bill.
In the House, Cagayan Rep.
Rufus Rodriguez, who opposes
the bill, shouted at the secretar-
iat, demanding to know why a
quorum was declared when he
counted only 111 congressmen.
His question led to an early ad-
journment of the session, and
deprived Pangasinan Rep. Kimi
Cojuangco, a pro-RH lawmak-
er, the opportunity to deliver a
privilege speech.
Earlier, Speaker Feliciano
Belmonte Jr. said he was will-
ing to leave pro-RH hardlin-
ers out of talks aimed at win-
ning over the Catholic Church
and its supporters in Congress.
Despite the obstacles and de-
lays introduced by anti-RH law-
makers, Belmonte said he was
hopeful that both the House and
Senate would be able to debate
a compromise version of the
bill and set the stage for a vote
on second and third reading.
The bill is in the period of
amendments in both chambers,
with anti-RH lawmakers pro-
longing the debates and delay-
ing the vote.
In the Senate, Majority Floor
Leader Vicente Sotto III said
there was no need to pass the
bill, which allocates P3.5 bil-
lion for contraceptives because
the 2013 national budget al-
ready sets aside P8.1 billion for
reproductive health programs.
It was Sottos fourth speech
against the RH bill.
He also questioned the de-
nition of contraceptives as es-
sential medicine and ques-
tioned pro-RH advocates claim
that the bill would solve the
problem of 11 mothers dying
everyday.
The author of the Senate
version of the bill, Senator Pia
Cayetano, expressed dismay
over what she said was a delib-
erate attempt by Sotto and Sen-
ate President Juan Ponce Enrile
to prolong the amendment pe-
riod and delay the vote.
Enrile, who has consistently
rejected the bill, denied the ac-
cusation.
I have never used any dila-
tory tactics. Every question I
asked here was relevant to the
issue at hand, he said. I resent
any implication that Im here to
derail or obstruct the passage of
this measure, he added.
No matter how unpopular
our position, Ill stand for this
and nobody can dictate on me,
he added.
Senate...
Senators said another rice dealer, Magdangal Diego Bayani III
of St. Andre1ws Field Grains and Cereal Trading, might also be
detained if he continued to refuse to name the nanciers of his
business. He was given 5 days to explain why he should not be
cited in contempt.
Senators including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said they were
not convinced that Ramirez was telling the truth about the rice shipment
seized in Subic. They held a caucus to decide how long Ramirez would
stay under the Senates custody. Macon Ramos-Araneta
China...
Yang added that there are
no issues currently in this area
[South China Sea]; nor will there
ever be issues in that area in the
future.
Clinton, on the other hand, re-
newed the US call for China to
agree on a code of conduct for
managing territorial disputes in
the South China Sea.
Clinton said it was in every-
ones interest for China and
Asean to agree on the code.
Yang responded by saying that
it would take note of Clintons
call to consider agreeing on a
code of conduct, but also rmly
stressed that it would resolve the
issue on the South China Sea
through bilateral negotiations
As for the disputes over the
sovereignty of some islands and
reefs of the Nansha Islands and
the overlapping rights and inter-
est of claims over some waters of
the South China Sea, this should
be discussed by directly con-
cerned countries on the basis of
historical facts and international
law and handled and settled for
direct negotiation and a friendly
consultation, Yang said.
Yang added that China had
plentiful historical and jurispru-
dential evidence in claiming vir-
tually the entire South China Sea,
a claim being disputed by the
Philippines and Vietnam, which
accused China of infringing in
their territories.
He also urged Southeast Asian
countries to act in accordance
with the principle and spirit of
the Declaration of Conduct.
In recent weeks, Beijing had
raised its stake in the islands by
establishing Sansha City and
a military garrison, which was
quickly followed by the election
of members of the city and mu-
nicipal government.
Chinas actions were met by
strong protests by both Hanoi and
Manila, which claimed that Beijing
violated the spirit of the Conduct
Parties in the South China Sea,
which calls on all claimants to ex-
ercise restraint and stop new occu-
pation of territories.
The ASEAN and China signed
the DOC in 2002.
The Philippines and Vietnam
have urged fellow Asean mem-
bers to agree on a code of con-
duct, using the Declaration as
its framework.
Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro
Rep. Rufus Rodriguez led on
Wednesday House Resolution
2634 urging the Foreign Affairs
department to inform or report
to us members of the House of
Representatives on the actions
it already took or is planning to
take, referring to the South Chi-
na Sea conict.
The resolution has enjoined the
DFA to take all necessary diplo-
matic and legal actions in order
to protect the sovereignty and de-
fend territorial claims in the dis-
puted areas.
It noted that recent develop-
ments at the West Philippine Sea
(South China Sea) show that Chi-
na still continues to send various
sea vessels to the area including
at least 20 shing boats, only ve
nautical miles from the Philip-
pine occupied Pag-asa Island.
The ships were reportedly es-
corted by frigates and maritime
surveillance ships.
Career...
he was sure that Bradys replace-
ment was one who had risen
from the ranks of the department.
I have not seen the list, but I
remember Secretary del Rosario
saying that his recommendees
were all career diplomats, Her-
nandez said.
In a press brieng, presiden-
tial spokesman Edwin Lacierda
also conrmed that before to
his trip to Russia, President
Benigno Aquino III had already
received Del Rosarios short list
for the next Philippine ambassa-
dor to China.
At least it has been conrmed
that a shortlist has already been
presented to the President by the
Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
Lacierda said.
He added that Del Rosario had
yet to discuss the matter with the
president since the he was is still
in Syria to assist Filipinos who
were stranded in the conict-
plagued country.
Brady, 71, who suffered a
stroke in her residence in Bei-
jing in late August, is a career
diplomat who also had postings
as ambassador to Thailand and
Myanmar.
Cops...
activities. What is the police do-
ing about it? Magsaysay said.
She was reacting to a state-
ment by National Police spokes-
man Generoso Cerbo, who had
told reporters the sharp increase
in the number of crimes in the
National Capital Region could be
attributed to criminals becoming
smarter.
Magsaysay said the govern-
ment should evaluate the weak-
ness of law enforcement and
counteract it with training and
new equipment so the police
could adequately maintain peace
and order.
Peace and order is a key com-
ponent of a developing country.
Without it, there will be chaos,
Magsaysay said.
We need to keep our people
safe, and, in order to do so, our
law enforcement strategies must
curb the spate of criminality in
the country.
Magsaysay said policemen
were trained to deal with crimi-
nal acts, and it is their training
that needs to prevail over what-
ever schemes lawless elements
are planning.
Every time criminals get
away after committing a crime,
they are emboldened to do it
again, she said.
Rape victims are getting
younger and criminals are vic-
timizing households at all times
of the day. Who will stop them
except the police?
To show that criminals were
getting smarter, Cerbo cited as
an example three men disguised
as policemen who gate-crashed
a birthday party and robbed the
guests.
In that incident, the [crimi-
nals] slipped into the house while
there was a party. If they held up
the victims outside the house,
there was a possibility that pa-
trolling policemen would have
noticed them, he said.
Thats a new modus ope-
randi of crime groups. It
means that they also shift or
adjust the way they execute
their plans. The criminals
have become smarter.
House Minority Leader and
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez
said the police should focus on
the worsening drug situation in
the country because the Philip-
pines had been identied as one
of three Asian countries where
Amphetamine-type stimulants
known as ATS were being pro-
duced.
The Philippines has also been
named by the US Department of
States International Narcotics
Control Strategy Report as one
of 63 countries laundering drug
money.
We urge the Administration to
focus on this problem before it be-
comes an epidemic, Suarez said.
Katos...
against military detachments in
Maguindanao and North Cota-
bato a month ago.
The BIFF timed their attacks
while the government and the
MILF were holding peace talks
in Kuala Lumpur, and both sides
said the attacks were made to
undermine the process.
The government and the MILF
panels resumed the talks this
week, which they said was on
its crucial stages Malacanang,
though, remained upbeat that the
two sides will eventually agree
on the remaining sticky issues.
Presidential spokesman Edwin
Lacierda said the Aquino govern-
ment is condent that the peace
talks will be successful, since
both panels are very open into
completing the process.
There have been close coordina-
tion as well. So we are hoping that, in
accordance to what Secretary Ging
Deles said, that hopefully we will
have a signed agreement within this
year Lacierda said. We are optimis-
tic that a framework will be signed by
both the MILF and the government
peace panels.
The Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group said on Wednes-
day that the four sub-command-
ers, together with Kato and 109
followers were included in a new
charge sheet for their participa-
tion in the attacks for multiple
murder, multiple frustrated and
attempted murders, homicide,
kidnapping and robbery.
The additional charges led
against Kato were on top of the more
than 60 criminal charges he is facing
in various courts in connection with
his participation in the 2008 bloody
attacks against civilian communities
and government forces that killed
more than 60 people.
The attacks were in retaliation
to the Supreme Courts decision
that nullied the Memorandum of
Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
Kato was then the commander
of the 106th base Command of the
MILF. The government had offered
a P10 million bounty for his capture.
NPAs...
Soldiers killed one rebel during
a pursuit operation when suspect-
ed New Peoples Army guerrillas
retreated after burning P20 mil-
lion worth of equipment in San
Miguel, Surigao del Sur, accord-
ing to Lt. Hazel Tabago, com-
manding ofcer of the 41st Civil
Military Operations Company.
Tabago said the rebels burned
various equipment including two
dump trucks, a payloader and a
backhoe, but soldiers responded
to calls for help and engaged the
guerrillas in a nearby village, kill-
ing one guerrilla with a snipers
rie equipped with a telescope.
Also, three others were cap-
tured after the encounter. They
are now under the custody of lo-
cal ofcials, Tabago said.
In Zamboanga del Sur, gunmen
ambushed Lucenio Manda, who
was driving his 11-year-old son,
Jordan, to school when assailants
red at them, Amnesty Interna-
tional head Aurora Parong said.
Jordan was killed and the el-
der Manda was wounded in what
could be the latest of several at-
tacks on environmental activists
in the Mindanao, Parong said.
Manda, in his text message to
a news agency, said his son was
sacriced to protect his peoples
rights and ancestral domain.
It is very painful and I thirst
for justice. I vow to continue my
struggle in order not to make my
sons death in vain, he said.
Manda, chief of the Subanen
animist tribe in a region domi-
nated by Christians and minority
Muslims, has led efforts against
logging and mining.
He led a petition in court
seeking to revoke mining per-
mits at the Pinukis Range Forest,
among the last untouched forests
in the resource-rich region where
several multinational companies
are extracting gold and silver.
Parong called on the Aquino
government to bring the crimi-
nals to justice and stop the cul-
ture of impunity that has left 36
tribal activists dead in the last
several years.
The indigenous peoples fu-
ture depends on genuine efforts
and concrete actions by the gov-
ernment to fulll their duties in
holding mining corporations ac-
countable for any human rights
abuses, Parong said.
New York-based Human
Rights Watch said last July it
has documented three cases
since October 2011 in which
critics of mining and energy
projects were killed allegedly
by paramilitary forces under
military control. The military
denied involvement.
With the AP
LP...
President Aquino and the
Liberal Party are promoting a
new brand of political patron-
age by tapping the civil society
networks that are very close to
the Palace, such as the Social
Democrats, Code-NGO and Ak-
bayan, Tinio said.
Makabayan, a militant um-
brella organization to which
ACT Teachers and Kabataan
party-list groups are affiliated,
were not tapped in the budget-
ing process.
Palatino said the participation
of Code-NGO was not surpris-
ing, but the groups integrity had
taken a hit after it was shown to
have earned P1.4 billion from the
governments sale of P10 billion
in Peace Bonds.
Remulla said it was anoma-
lous for the government to
grant public funds to civil so-
ciety organizations and finance
their agenda-setting budget
processing.
This puts to question the ab-
sorptive capacity of government.
So why duplicate the job of ba-
rangay ofcials who would con-
sult with those in the grassroots?
Remulla said.
The civil society groups are
better funded by the private sec-
tor, not by public funds.
Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad and Rocamora said the
bottom-up budgeting would
empower the poorest municipali-
ties and promote transparency
and accountability in their respec-
tive budgets.
Some 609 municipalities have
been targeted in the regions with
either the most number of poor
families or where the poverty
incidence is highest, Rocamora
said.
The objective, Rocamora said,
was to invite the various agen-
cies and departments to provide
services in these poor communi-
ties by incorporating their priority
projects into their budget propos-
als for 2013.
Rocamora said that as of
Wednesday, some 597 munici-
palities were participating in the
exercise to rene their develop-
ment plans.
Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello,
an administration ally, denied his
groups networks were made the
recipients of the bottom-up funds
even if Rocamora was once Ak-
bayan president.
But Remulla said Abad and Ro-
camora would be grilled during
the budget deliberations.
Palatino said President Aqui-
no and the Liberals were using
the civil society organizations
participation in the budget pro-
cess to make it appear that the
budget was transparent.
In the guise of transparency
and accountability, the govern-
ment is spending P10 billion
just so their allies would make
it appear that the government is
helping them through training,
seminars and consultations,
Palatino said.
But Rocamora said the bottom-
up budgeting was aimed at help-
ing the municipalities identify the
problems in the community and
source the funds to empower the
grassroots from the various gov-
ernment agencies.
Opposition lawmakers mean-
while attacked the Presidents
Special Purpose Fund of P317.58
billion and demanded that Abad
itemize the expenditures under
the that fund.
Minority Leader Danilo Suarez
said Abad and the rest of the Pres-
idents economic team would be
questioned about hidden alloca-
tions in the national budget.
Zambales Rep. Milagros
Magsaysay added that putting
the pork barrel allocations of
the congressmen under the full
control of the President was
aimed at silencing the political
opposition.
Earlier, former national trea-
surer and Social Watch Philip-
pines convenor Leonor Briones
described the P317 billion Special
Purpose Fund as one big pork
barrel that can be used for election
purposes.
Magsaysay said the Presidents
budgetary moves set the stage for
his full control of the legislature,
which would no longer have pow-
er of the purse.
What will happen is we will
have a rubber stamp Congress,
with the legislative branch of
government surrendering its au-
tonomy to the executive branch,
she said. With Maricel Cruz
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 THURSDAY
A3 News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Rice-import cap at 100,000 tons
IN BRIEF
Marines to deploy in Palawan
Not her fathers manager
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS
A N N O U N C E M E N T
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the
Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the ad
interim appointments of the following offcers in the Armed Forces
of the Philippines:
Gregorio E. Macapagal and Jorge V. Segovia - Lieutenant
General; Reno P. Tolentino (PA), Benjamin M. Laguardia
(PA), Elpidio B. Talja, Jr. (PAF), Tomasito O. Tibayan (PAF),
Jesulito O. Dalumpines (PAF), Llewillyn S. Banaag (PAF),
Romeo T. Racadio (PN-M), Ruby P. Evangelio (NC), Gilbert
F. Saret (PA), Arnold M. Macadangdang (PA), Juanito C.
Bero (PA), Ferdinand L. Torres (PAF) and Gerry Felizardo
DL. Soliven PAF) - Colonel; and Donn Anthony L. Mirafor
(PN), Wilfredo A. Visperas (PN), Edmund C. Mendoza (PN)
and Ruben B. Fajardo, Jr. (PN) - Captain
The public may submit any information, written report or
sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above
appointments to the CASecretariat, 6
th
Floor, PNB Financial Center,
Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Metro Manila.
For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat
can be reached through telephone numbers 551-7532, 831-0893,
831-1824, 834-2706, 831-1566 and 834-2713.
05 September 2012.

ARTURO L. TIU
Secretary
Finance, Customs
heads cleared of graft
Labor ousts Herrera
from big trade union
Lawmaker
likens Corona
to a zombie
The Agriculture department
placed the import ceiling at
100,000 metric tons in 2013,
if the production target of 18.4
million MT in 2012 will be met.
Based on our estimate,
(rice) importation for next
year should not be more than
100,000 MT. We are hoping
that the target production for
the year will be attained, said
Rice Program Director Assist-
ant Secretary Dante Delima.
For 2013, the department
THE Western Command is gearing up for
the deployment of a Marine brigade in
Palawan that will have jurisdiction over
the West Philippine Sea including the dis-
puted Spratly islands.
The Wescom has its organic unit, a
marine brigade, in the 1970s. So ( theres)
nothing new and nothing to be alarmed
about, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban said,
warding off speculations that the deploy-
ment could have something to do with the
growing aggression activities of China in
the West Philippine Sea.
Apart from Philippines and China, the
other claimants of some portions of the
Spratlys are Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia
and Brunei.
Sabban said the request for deployment
was submitted late last year but the Chief
of Staff has yet to act on it.
He said that in 1976, the 3rd Marine
Brigade was pulled out of Palawan to
support the militarys campaign against
the defunct Moro National Liberation
Front.
The brigades home base is Pala-
wan. The problem with the MNLF
was gone a long time ago and its time
to redeploy the brigade here, Sabban
said. Florante Solmerin
A LAWYER of Globe Asiatique Realty
Holdings Corp. has criticized the at-
tempt to drag the name of Deln Lees
daughter Divine into the controversy,
saying she had nothing to do with the
companys management and develop-
ment of properties.
In a recent talk show, lawyer Willy
Rivera said Divine Lee did not play a
role in the management of GA Realty
Holdings Corp. but instead served
as an officer of GA Tower 2 Condo-
minium Corp., which has a different
function as an association that man-
ages the condominium and takes care
of maintenance, security, sanitation
and other utilities and services for the
benefit of unit owners.
In documents obtained from the Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission, Divine
was listed as one of the incorporators and
a member of the Board of Trustees of GA
Tower 2 Condominium Corp.
GA lamented the attempt by some
sectors to include Divine in the syn-
dicated estafa case led by Pag-IBIG
against her father, brother Dexter and 2
other GA executives.
forecasts a sufciency year
with production hitting 20.04
million MT.
The ADB, however, contested
the ofcial estimate, with bank
economist Lourdes Adriano
saying that the government may
even have to import as much as
700,000 MT. The gures, ac-
cording to ADB, had not includ-
ed the effects of recent typhoons
and oods on harvest.
It is not possible to attain
(rice) sufciciency next year,
not even in the medium term.
Not in your or my lifetime,
Adriano said.
Unfazed by the banks ob-
servation, the Agricudlture
deparment said that by 2014,
production was expected to hit
21 million MT by 2015 and 22
million MT by 2016.
Just recently, however, the De-
partment trimmed its production
target in 2012 to 17.8 million MT
from 18.4 million MT.
The countrys sufciency
level should be at 95 percent
already if the target tonnage is
achieved in 2012, de Lima said.
Sufciency level in 2011 was
at 94 percent.
By end 2013 or by the last
quarter of 2013 and production
was at 20 million MT, we can
safely say that the sufciency
level was attained. The effect of
that will be felt in 2014 wherein
the government will not import
rice anymore. he said.
He added that the govern-
ment had made provisions for
typhoon-related losses in rice
production tonnage in the im-
portation forecast in 2013.
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary
Proceso Alcala underscored the
importance of having a bigger
budget to accommodate more
sufciency programs in 2013
and beyond.
We will pursue the food
staples sufciency program to
attain 100 percent rice self suf-
ciency by the end of 2013,
Alcala said.
The Agriculture Department
is asking for as much P74.1
billion budgetary allocation to
step-up productivity programs
not only for the staples but for
other crops and related-infra-
structures.
I still believe we can meet
the target. Were hoping to
catch up with production even
with reports of thousands of
metric tons of palay due to ty-
phoons, Alcala said, adding
the farmers were still preparing
for a third cropping.
By Othel V. Campos
THE Aquino administration is keeping
its cap on rice importation for next year
even as the Asian Development Bank has
warned that a bigger volume of imports
may have to be brought in.
Envoy
from India.
Ambassador
Extraordinary
and
Plenipotentiary
Amit Dasgupta
of India signs
the Palace Guest
Book before
he presents his
credentials.
By Vito Barcelo

THE Labor and Employment de-
partment has acknowledged lawyer
Democrito T. Mendoza as the legiti-
mate president of the Trade Union
Congress of the Philippines and de-
clared former senator Ernesto Her-
rera as the groups secretary general.
In a decision, the Bureau of Labor
Relations ruled that the parties to
the dispute must revert to the status
quo ante whereby the president is
Mendoza and the secretary general,
Herrera.
The DoLEs ruling also called for
the holding of a special TUCP con-
vention to elect the groups ofcers
upon nality of the order.
Mendoza welcomed the decision.
We abide by the governments rul-
ing. It is Herreras group who wants
to delay the proceeding and would
want to avoid the Special Conven-
tion. Mr. Herreras claims of the
presidency will be decided with
nality come the Special Conven-
tion, Mendoza said.
We submit, and the DOLE
knows the real facts and numbers
on the ground, that the TUCP under
my leadership as president is still
the largest and most representative
workers organization in the coun-
try, Mendoza said.
The Associated Labor Unions
(ALU) and the Philippine Trade
and General Workers Organization
(PTGWO), the leading afliates of
TUCP, are the biggest labor federa-
tions in the Philippines in terms of
number of organized unions and
associations as well as in terms of
Collective Bargaining Agreements
(CBAs). We have the Philippine
Government Employees Associa-
tion (PGEA) which represents pub-
lic sector workers and an additional
seventeen other federations, includ-
ing the Philippine Airlines Employ-
ees Association (PALEA). We also
represent through our unions and
associations signicant numbers of
the informal sector and Filipino mi-
grant workers, he said.
The TUCP-afliated labor
groups, including PALEA and PT-
GWO, welcomed the BLR decision.
This afrmation by the govern-
ment of the presidency of TUCP of
Democrito Mendoza is a welcome
development and lays to rest the
blatantly untruthful claim of Mr.
Herrera that he is the president,
said TUCP vice president Gerry
Rivera, also president of Palea.
Herrera claimed that Mendoza re-
signed as TUCP president on Nov. 1,
2011 and that by virtue of his position
as secretary general of TUCP, he should
have been Mendozas successor.
Mendoza submitted a letter of
resignation to register his displeas-
ure at the nancial mismanagement
By Joel E. Zurbano
THE Ofce of the Ombudsman has
dismissed the graft charges led
against Finance Secretary Cesar Puri-
sima, Customs Commissioner Ruffy
Biazon and Port of Batangas collector
Rene Benavidez in connection with
the case involving oil importation of
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation.
The graft charges against the
three ofcials lacked merit, the
Ombudsman said in a June 8, 2012
order.
It was Lourdes Aclan, a reporter/
publisher of a regional newspaper
who led the complaint as a taxpayer.
The order, which was received
by the Ofce of the Customs Com-
missioner on August 22 stated that
the Ombudsman may not look into
the complaint of Dhess Aclan for
the said government ofcials fail-
ure to demand payments for the
excise tax of the PSPCs Alkylate
importations; the complainant had
an adequate remedy for her allega-
tions in another judicial or quasi-
judicial body.
The Order, which was prepared
by Graft Investigation and Prosecu-
tion Ofcer I Maria Vida G. Hech-
anova and approved by Ombudsman
Conchita Carpio Morales, cited Sec-
tion 20 of Republic Act No. 6770 on
this regard.
Moreover, the Ombudsman did not
also give due course to Aclans com-
plaint which was unsubstantiated.
Reacting to the order, Biazon said
From the very beginning, we have
always been careful in implementing
our Tariff laws. And while we will not
hesitate to apply the full force of the
law, if only to enable us to collect the
right duties and taxes for all importa-
tions, we will also respect the rights of
the people and industry stakeholders.
I have always considered cases,
such as the complaint of Aclan
against us, to be part of our job. But
we will never allow ourselves to
be distracted by such unwarranted
complaints in our program to make
the Bureau of Customs a globally
competitive trade facilitator and to
collect the right duties for all impor-
tations, he added.
Judiciarys guest. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno (center) and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad (sixth from right) pose
with the other members of the Supreme Court during a meeting on Tuesday at the En Banc Conference Room, SC New Building,
Padre Faura, Manila. From right: Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, Jose Catral Mendoza, Roberto A. Abad, Lucas P. Bersamin, Diosdado
M. Peralta, Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Martin S. Villarama Jr., Jose Portugal
Perez, and Bienvenido L. Reyes.
of Herrera. However the TUCP Gen-
eral Council and the TUCP Execu-
tive Board never acted on the letter
and actually prevailed on Mendoza
to resume the presidency, said Vic-
torino Balais, PTGWO president.
Herrera has then on premised
his claims that he is TUCP presi-
dent from an International Trade
Union Council Asia-Pacic (ITUC-
AP) document that supposedly rec-
ognizes his leadership over TUCP.
Herrera also claims support from the
American Center for Labor Solidar-
ity (ACLS) and the Danish trade un-
ion movement, Mendoza said.
We maintain that the trade union
movement in the Philippines is inde-
pendent and autonomous and inter-
ventions coming from international
entities such as the ITUC-AP with
respect to what are strictly internal
disputes or contests are clearly inap-
propriate. This matter is solely the
prerogative of the Philippines and
the Filipino workers, he said.
By Maricel V. Cruz
THE House minority bloc on Wednesday ap-
pealed to the Aquino administration for com-
passion for ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona.
House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez
likened Corona to a zombie and said: He
is physically alive but professionally dead,
Suarez told reporters as he urged the Depart-
ment of Justice, Bureau of Internal Revenue
and the Ofce of the Ombudsman to go slow
in persecuting the former chief justice.
We all know that when he was im-
peached, he already lost everything. He is
by all means professionally dead, Suarez
told reporters.
The BIR earlier led tax-evasion charges
worth P150.68 million against Corona, his
daughter Maria Carla Beatriz C. Castillo,
and son-in-law Constantino Castillo III al-
legedly for not paying taxes in 2003, 2004,
2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
The bureau said Corona owed the gov-
ernment at least P120.5 million in taxes.
While the BIR has yet to schedule hearings
for the tax evasion case against the Corona
family, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim
Henares had already expressed condence
that her agency would win its case against the
Coronas at the Justice Department.
She said they have strong evidence to
pin down Corona. There is no need to add
to his burden by ling cases after cases for
forfeiture and tax evasion, Suarez said.
In the rst place, there was no evidence
of ill-gotten wealth during the impeach-
ment trial, Suarez said.
Mendoza
Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 THURSDAY
A4
THERE is some good news from
the World Economic Forum: the
Philippines jumped 10 points in the
2012 Global Competitiveness Report.
From 75th last year, we now rank 65th
among the countries surveyed. In fact,
since it reached its lowest level in 2009,
it has advanced 22 places.
The report tracks the competi-
tiveness landscape of 144 economies,
providing insight into the drivers of
their productivity and prosperity.
The Philippines was one of the
countries that showed the greatest
improvement. Trust in politicians
has especially improvedwe were
up 25 placesas well as in public
institutions. Signicant improvements
were also noted in the perception of
corruption and red tape.
The report validates the gains being
made as shown by the continued,
although slower, 5.9-percent GDP
growth in the second quarter of the
year. The economy grew by 6.4 percent
in the previous quarter.
These developments are cause for
celebration, but in no way must they
breed self-congratulations, smugness
and complacency among our leaders.
After all, despite the apparent gains, the
report shows that corruption remains
pervasive, trust in politicians still has
considerable room for improvement,
and that weaknessesin sea and air
transport, infrastructure, and the labor
marketstill need to be addressed.
Eight members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations are among the
economies surveyed, and the Philippines
bested only twoVietnam and
Cambodia. The rest of our neighbors
Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand
and Indonesia enjoy signicantly
higher competitiveness rankings.
What these new gures tell us is
that results can be measurable and
time-bound. Less attention should be
paid to propaganda or petty inghting
among ofcials of the administration.
Insteadand this has been missing
from the very beginning of the Aquino
administrationconcrete targets must
be set per agency with specic reckoning
dates and corresponding plans of action.
The Philippines appears to have
done so much because, as the forum
points out, we are coming from a low
base. The challenge then is to keep the
momentum of improvement and allow
this to translate into tangible gains that
can be felt by the ordinary Filipino.
The ultimate test is whether
citizens in themselves feel productive
and competitive, instead of simply
relying on the government to dole out
money to make good on its grandiose
promises.
Coming from a low base
Noynoy buys
an election
EDITORIAL
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RAMONCHITO L. TOMELDAN Managing Editor
CHIN WONG/ RAY S. EANO Associate Editors
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MEMBER
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The National Association
of Philippine Newspapers PPI
can be accessed at:
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ADMIT it: Didnt you like it better
when Noynoy Aquino was just buying
himself expensive cars?
Its safe to say that winning next
years elections is a matter of utmost
importance only to Aquino, his Liberal
Party and all the other politicians
running for ofce. But judging from
the election-year presidential pork
barrel amassed by Aquino to buy
himself his midterm victoryusing
our taxes, of courseyoud think
elections were our highest priority, as
well.
This was the
bombshell exploded
by former National
Treasurer Leonor
Briones last Tuesday
about Aquinos pork,
even as Congress
remains deep in
deliberations over
the proposed 2013
national budget.
Briones, leader of
the private budget
monitoring group
Social Watch
Philippines, revealed that Aquinos
budget for next year included the
humongous secret (but perfectly
legal) campaign kitty called the Special
Purpose Fund which only he may
disburse, on whatever strikes his fancy.
[The P317.58-billion SPF] is one
big pork barrel that can be used for
election purposes, Briones, who is
also a University of the Philippines
professor, said. Only the President
is allowed by the Constitution to tap
the P317 billion in the undisclosed,
hidden and vague SPF, whichever way
he may see t.
A major portion of Aquinos slush
fund consists of the pork for Congress,
meaning the President can continue
with his practice of doling out the
Countrywide Development Fund only
to legislators that he likes. Thus, because
of the unaccountable nature of Aquinos
SPF, the release of the P24.89 billion
in pork barrel funds of the senators and
congressmen next year depends solely
on Aquinos discretion.
In an election year, when every
member of Congress wants to raise all
the money he can, giving Malacaang
the sole prerogative over the CDF is a
very powerful incentive. With around
P40 million per congressman and P200
million per senator to dole out, Aquino
is now a very persuasive campaigner
for reelectionists (or relatives who are
running in their stead).
The message that allocating
legislative pork from the secret
presidential piggery is this, of
course: If you play nice with the
Palace, your constituents (and you,
Mr. Congressman or Mr. Senator)
are happy. If not, go nd some other
source of pork and the fat that sticks
to the pan after the voters get their
basketball courts and waiting sheds.
But more than controlling who in
Congress gets a share of presidential
pork is the strange duplication of
outlays already in regular budgeted
items, according to Briones. Thus,
an item in the SPF for P22.42
billion called the Priority Social and
Economic Projects Fund duplicates
P44 billion already set aside for the
Conditional Cash Transfer Program of
the Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Briones pointed out.
Briones also said that a P70.8-
billion allocation for Budgetary
Support to Government Corporations
in the SPF had apparently already
been earmarked (but allocated only
P16.82 billion) in the regular national
budget. Furthermore, the SPF contains
an item setting aside P60.86 billion for
the governments Debt Management
Program, which has already been
programmed into the bigger (but
more transparent)
national budget.
Other items in the
SPF are classied
as unprogrammed
funds, according to
the former treasurer.
But you can bet your
life theyve already
been programmed
down to the last
el ect i on- r el at ed
peso expense.
* * *
Briones served
as national treasurer
during the Estrada administration, just in
case some Aquino fanatics are preparing
to smear her for being an Arroyo agent.
And Briones is actually willing to
give Aquino the benet of the doubt,
if he only discloses what his massive
election-year pork is really for.
I am not saying that the President
is corrupt, but we fear that he could
be tempted [to use] these funds for
campaign purposes because this is
the rst mid-term elections under
his watch and he wants allies to win
the seats, Briones said. The Aquino
administration owes it to the public
to explain where the P317 billion in
special funds would be used by the
President, Briones said.
Briones also explained that while
creating the SPF is legal, duplicating
budgetary items may not be. While it
is legal for the President to create... the
P317-billion Special Purpose Fund,
the palace has no right to duplicate
budgetary items and place them under
the sole discretion of the President.
The Palace ofcial in charge of
preparing the annual national outlays,
including the presidential pork,
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, said
he was ready to work with groups such
as Briones Social Watch to ensure
transparency in the way public funds
were spent.
Given time, Abad will probably
be able to explain away all the items
in what Briones called Aquinos
undisclosed, hidden and vague SPF.
And the Aquino-controlled Congress
will probably accept all of Abads
explanations, simply because it is
to Congress benet to approve the
budget whole and entire.
So much for transparency and the
careful, inclusive use of taxpayers
money that leaves no one behind. The
election-year budget of Aquino is a
crooked path full of politically motivated
detours, built in aid of purchasing
victory next May with our money.
YOU have to give it to Mark Meruenas
of GMA news online. Of the ten or so
reporters covering the Maguindanao
massacre, only he reported that Chief
Justice Maria Lourdes Serenos latest
judicial reform, the use of judicial
afdavits, has been practiced in the
controversial case involving the
gruesome death of 58 victims. In a
meeting between counsels that was
presided by Hon. Jocelyn Solis-Reyes
of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon
City, it was proposed and agreed upon
by all that in lieu of direct examinations,
the majority of 58 private complainants,
whose testimony would be to further
the civil action deemed led with the 57
counts of murder, would be testifying
through judicial afdavits. These are
afdavits in a question-and-answer
format detailing what the lawyers and
the witnesses would have asked and
answered on direct examination. We
did not object to the resort to these
afdavits. We insisted, though, that
at least ve witnesses from the three
major groups of private complainants
represented by the private prosecutors
should be allowed to testify under the
traditional manner of direct testimonies.
We insisted on this to show the human
aspect of how the witnesses coped with
the loss of their loved ones under the
gruesome circumstances that claimed
their lives. The afdavits, because they
are what they arealmost a reproduction
of what the stenographic notes would
have looked like if they were allowed to
testify on direct simply does not show
the pain and suffering that the victims
have suffered.
An obvious advantage of the use of
judicial afdavits is that it has facilitated
the speedier testimonies of the private
complainants. In fact, of the 17 private
complainants whom we represent, only
one has to take the stand. Another,
Myrna Reblando, who has made public
her asylum bid in Hong Kong, still
has to conclude with her testimony on
the issue of damages. Almost all of
the private complainants have already
testied. Unless I am mistaken, there
are now only less than 10 private
complainants who still have to testify.
An obvious disadvantage though of
the use of these afdavits is that it puts a
lawyer who knows what questions to ask
on direct examination at a disadvantage.
This is because the afdavits are a
Godsend to those who do not know
what questions to ask. How? Since
the questions are now in written form,
then all the questions should begin with
what, where, when and how. This will
do away with objections on the basis
that a question is leading.
There are other disadvantages
to the use of these afdavits. For
instance, it will diminish the power
of the judge to assess the credibility
of witnesses. Normally, a Judge will
either believe or ignore the weight of a
testimony depending on the demeanor
of the witness primarily on direct
examination. This will now be played
down. Further, as was our experience
in the Maguindanao massacre, these
afdavits will minimize the outburst of
emotion on the part of witnesses. This
may impact on the amount of moral
and exemplary damages that a private
complainant may recover in a criminal
case. Moral damages are awarded for
the sorrow, fright and sleepless nights
suffered by complainants; exemplary
damages are those awarded to show
others, by way of example, that similar
conduct will not be countenanced by
our Courts.
Despite these setbacks, I think the
rule on the use of judicial afdavits
will result in faster testimonies which
will hopefully will reduce the average
life of a case pending before our
courts. A World Bank study concluded
that each case takes around ve years
to be resolved by the Regional Trial
Court and longer, seven years, in the
Sandiganbayan.
While this was the rst reform
announced by the new chief justice. Credit
for the innovation should also go to Senior
Justice Antonio Carpio who headed the
Committee on the Revision of the Rules
of Court that recommended this. Credit
should also go to the many individuals
who worked with the American Bar
Association Rule of Law initiative headed
by Scott Ciment that pioneered in the
use of these afdavits in a pilot program
currently being conducted in the regional
trial courts of Quezon City.
While the innovation itself is a reason
to congratulate the Court, the manner
by which it was announced -by my
classmate, Deputy Court Administrator
Raul Villanueva- is also reason to
rejoice for those who know Raul. For
while the Midas touch is gone, the light
has nally arrived.
Kudos to the Supreme Court for
this reform and to the new Court
Communicator for judicial reforms! Go
UP Law 1990!
UP Law 1990 and judicial a davits
MARLON C. MAGTIRA Online Editor/Tech Section Editor
JOJO
A. ROBLES
LOWDOWN
ATTY. HARRY
ROQUE JR.
VIEW FROM MALCOLM
The budget
of Aquino is a
crooked path
built in aid of
purchasing victory
next May.
A5 Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com
I KNOW I have been critical of
the Aquino administration. I have
especially criticized attempts to
shatter the independence of co-
equal branches of the government.
Despite this, I have to say that the
Aquino administration has developed
the culture of transparency and
accountability in public service.
I have been a journalist for more
than half a century and I have never
seen the mantra of transparency and
accountability in public service as
pronounced as it is today.
The President himself has not been
involved in any scandal despite some
criticism on his management style. I
think this has greatly helped advance
his promise of kung walang corrupt,
walang mahirap.
Sure, there is still corruption
in some government agencies
Bureau of Customs, Department of
Social Welfare and Development,
Department of Public Works
and Highways, Department of
Transportation and Communication,
Department of the Interior and
Local Government, National Food
Authority, the
Bureau of Jail
Management and
Penology and
in lower levels
of government.
Still, the fact
that Mr. Aquino
has never been
accused of
corruption makes
us hope that this
culture of corruption will end.
Breakout nation? I am optimistic
about this. After all, we sink or swim
with President Aquino regardless of
whether we voted for him or agree
with his management style.
I am really an incurable optimist.
I always see the glass as half-full
instead of half-empty.
***
President Aquino has appointed
members of his Liberal Party
to more key positions in his
administration. Recently he
named his former running mate
Manuel Roxas II as the new
Secretary of Interior and Local
Government and former Rep.
Joseph Emilio Abaya, who used
to chair the House committee
on appropriations, as the new
Secretary of Transportation and
Communication to replace Roxas.
These appointments have made the
Samar Group restive because of the
continuing struggle for power among
people identied with the Aquino
administration.
The Samar Group as we know is
composed of Corystas and people
closely identied with President
Aquino during the 2010 campaign.
They had Samar Street in Quezon
City as headquarters.
The Balay Group in turn is
identied with Mar Roxas, having
its headquarters in the Araneta
Compound in Cubao, Quezon City.
Together with the Balay Group,
theres the Hyatt 10 which broke
away from former President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo. This group
identied itself subsequently with the
Roxas Group.
With Roxas now at the DILG,
a department that has grassroots
inuence on local government
units, and with at the DoTC in
charge of billions of pesos worth of
infrastructure projects nationwide,
the Liberal Party has indeed become
dominant. The balance of power has
shifted in its favor.
This becomes important as the
May 2013 election approaches. We
all know that all national candidates
will eventually depend on grassroots
support from congressmen, governors
and mayors.
The President has been doing a
balancing act between Samar and
Balay. This is why Malacaang had
the idea of making Energy Secretary
Jose Rene Almendraswho is not
identied with either groupas chief
of staff. But this has not pushed
through because Executive Secretary
Paquito Ochoa, a Samar stalwart,
refuses to share power with anybody.
This is also why Malacaang insists
on retaining Undersecretary Rico
Puno at the DILGto please the
Samar Group. Puno is a shooting
mentor and buddy of the President.
It is now Roxas task to deliver
the votes for the
administration
next year. The
2013 elections
will decide
who the next
president will
be.
***
T h e
spokesmen of
Ma l a c a a n g
should stop defending newly-
appointed Chief Justice. Ma. Lourdes
Sereno and asking us to give her a
chance. Sereno belongs to a branch of
government that is independent from
the Executive.
It is now up to Sereno to defend
herself from her critics. She has a
great challenge ahead of her, getting
the cooperation of the other associate
justices who are more senior than she
is.
When she invoked Divine
Providence in her appointment,
however, she may have just told us
that she thinks she is Gods gift to the
nation. We all know that the President
really favored her all along, over all
the other incumbent justices.
We have no choice but to cooperate
with her.
***
Ambassador Tony Cabangon
Chua, chairman and founder of
his business empire in pre-need,
insurance, banking, property
development, hotels, automotive
repair and distribution, landll
technology, publishing and radio, has
just acquired Asturias Hotel in Puerto
Princesa in Palawan.
This acquisition complements
his hotel business with Grand Opera
House Hotel in Chinatown and
Citygate Tower in Ermita, which
caters mostly to foreign tourists from
China, Hong Kong, Singapore and
Taiwan.
At 78, Tony remains upbeat on the
economy. He cant seem to stop.
The dominant
Balay group
EMIL
P. JURADO
TO THE POINT
SENATOR Tito Sotto thought he had
everything under control when he gave
his turno en contra speeches against the
reproductive health bill.
He didnt reckon on the rest of the
populace having a brain and not being
afraid to use it. After being called out
by professors, writers, and many other
people on his plagiarism, falsehood, and
a slew of other issues, he ramped up his
arrogance quotient instead of admitting
his mistakes, among other things
claiming that he was being cyberbullied.
I dont think the senator understands
what cyberbullying means. Its the
sort of extremely mean behavior that can
drive people to suicide, as in the cases
of Megan Meier, Tyler Clementi, and
Ryan Halligan, just to name a few. Its a
serious form of aggression, and the term
should not be misused for its gravity to
remain undiminished. Cyberbullying
is not what the senator is undergoing,
which is merely people pointing out his
mistakes online.
Sotto controllo is Italian for under
control. Too bad the senator let this
issue get out of hand when an apology
would have allowed everyone to move
on. Remember when businessman
Manny Pangilinan apologized after
netizens pointed out lifted paragraphs
in a speech he gave? That resulted in
everyone moving on; that incident is
nearly forgotten, and when recalled,
what comes to mind is Pangilinans
gracious behavior.
But how can you expect Sotto to
apologize when in the rst place he does
not believe he did anything wrong?
As for lawmaker Rufus Rodriguezs
recent tantrum in Congress, he
obviously does not have his temper
sotto controllo. Ranting before that
august body the other day, he raised the
issue of no quorum claiming only 111
present when the secretariat declared
there were 155, rather more than the
quorum of 143.
The lawmaker raised a ruckus because
he thought the RH bill was on the
agenda that day. Being against the RH
bill, his outburst was seen as a delaying
tactic. But how transparently obvious
and demeaning! Surely a more adroit
politician could have come up with a
more elegant ploy. Instead, by choosing
to use blunt force rather than nesse, hes
shown the world his character.
I saw Congressman Rodriguez in
action somewhere in the provinces,
and he was also upset then, haranguing
some people because he could not get
immediate action from them on a certain
matter. I was appalled to see someone
of his stature behave that way. It was
juvenile. Wait, I take that backits an
insult to juveniles. My daughters had
ceased having tantrums by the time they
were three years old.
No one is perfect, and stress and
worry can certainly cause anyone
to lose their temper. But a frequent
and consistent lack of self-control,
especially at work, is detrimental above
all to the person who cant keep his or
her cool. How can anyone still respect
a screamer? Why should their authority
be recognized when they cant even
govern themselves?
Neither did broadcaster Korina
Sanchez have her snark sotto controllo
when on her DZMM radio show she
mentioned maiitim na mga maligno
aiming for the post of Interior Secretary,
considered by many as alluding to Vice-
President Jejomar Binay.
The Vice Presidents daughter,
Nancy Binay, addressed the issue on
Twitter thus: Aminado naman po
kami na maliit at maitim ang daddy
ko pero hindi naman po ata tama na
tawagin ni Korina na maligno siya.
Now that is having the situation under
control. Thats class. Thats manners.
Unfortunately, both are in short supply
nowadays, along with restraint and
delicadeza. If only we could order cases
no, container vansof the stuff.
Korina may have been defending her
man, but does he need defending? From
what? All her comment sounded like
was unmitigated spite.
Filipino culture frowns upon losing
temper. Not only is it considered rude,
vulgar, and ill-mannered, it also leads to
loss of face as it causes embarrassment
to the person on the receiving end of the
outburst, who will then tend to refuse to
cooperate or do so only with resentment.
Self-control is necessary for anyone
to earn others respect. True leaders
speak softly and mildly, because it
is their trustworthiness and ethical
rectitude, their gravitas, that will ensure
that they will be obeyed.
Those who cannot admit their
mistakes, those who yell and ing
unwarranted insults, those who
cannot rein in their faults, are not true
leaders. Theyre certainly not the kind
the Philippines needs.
Email: jennyo@live.com, Blog:
http://jennyo.net, Facebook: Gogirl
Caf, Twitter: @jennyortuoste
Sotto controllo
SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton
and Chinas leaders sought to play down
differences over Asian territorial disputes
and pledged closer ties even as her
meeting with President Hu Jintaos likely
successor was canceled.
Speaking Wednesday at a press
conference with Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi in Beijing, Clinton addressed
Chinese concerns that the US is taking
sides in maritime spats between China
and its neighbors, including American
allies Japan and the Philippines. She
said the Obama administration wants
to preserve freedom of navigation and
urged talks to resolve the tension.
While the US and China dont see eye
to eye on everything, we are convinced
that our two countries gain far more when
we cooperate with one another than when
we descend into unhealthy competition,
Clinton said. Yang echoed those remarks
and called the talks constructive and
productive.
In contrast to rhetoric in the Chinese
media accusing the US of stirring up
discord over the maritime conicts,
Clinton and Yang stressed cooperation
on issues including economic growth
and diplomacy to avert nuclear threats
from Iran and North Korea. Her visit
comes ahead of Chinas once-a-decade
leadership handover and the US
presidential election later this year.
Clintons brieng with Yang was
held after Vice President Xi Jinping, the
leading candidate to succeed Hu when
the Communist Party Congress meets,
was canceled. She was told last night
that Xi wouldnt be able to meet today
and had canceled other appointments as
well, a US State Department ofcial told
reporters on condition of anonymity.
Unnecessar y speculation
Asked if the cancellation was a snub,
Yang said he hoped people wont have
unnecessary speculation. We attach a
great deal of importance to the Secretarys
visit.
China has become increasingly
assertive in the South China Sea as it
looks to lock up resources to meet its
demands as the worlds largest energy
users. Those moves have encountered
opposition from countries including
Vietnam and the Philippines.
At stake are oil reserves of as much
as 213 billion barrels, according to
Chinese studies cited by the US Energy
Information Administration. That
compares with 265.4 billion barrels of
proven reserves held by Saudi Arabia as
of 2011, according to the BP Statistical
Review of World Energy.
State-run media commentaries over
the last week have accused the U.S. of
meddling in the South and East China
Seas disputes and trying to contain
Chinas rise by expanding the American
naval and military presence in the Pacic.
Sneaky accusation
Seeing the pivot to Asia, the US
has fomented surrounding countries
into confronting China over territorial
disputes, so as to disturb and check
Chinas rise, the state- run Global
Times newspaper said in an editorial
Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Xinhua
News Agency issued a commentary
saying the US should stop its role as a
sneaky trouble maker.
Asked whether he shared the view that
the US is seeking to curtail Chinas rise,
Yang replied that his government wants
to work with the US and other countries
to promote openness, inclusiveness,
mutual benet and win-win progress in
the Asia-Pacic.
Nowhere else do China and the United
States share more convergent interests and
interact more frequently than in the Asia
Pacic region, Yang said. At the same
time, he said China hopes the US will make
sure its policy is in line with the trends
of the current era and the general wish
of countries in the region to seek peace,
development and cooperation.
No secret
Clinton said its no secret that
the US is disappointed with China and
Russia for blocking tougher United
Nations Security Council resolutions
against Syria. The US is pushing for
the ouster of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad, whose government has been
battling rebels for almost 18 months in a
conict that has killed more than 23,000
people, according to the UK-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
Any solution should come from
people of Syria and reect their wishes,
Yang said. It should not be imposed
from outside.
The two also discussed cyber attacks,
which Clinton said are of increasing
concern to the business community as well
as the government of the United States.
Clinton also met Wednesday with
Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice Premier
Li Keqiang and State Councilor Dai
Bingguo. She will visit East Timor and
Brunei on Thursday before heading
to Vladivostok, Russia, where she
will attend the Asia-Pacic Economic
Cooperation forum. Bloomber g
Both camps violate human rights in SyriaUN chief
By Edith M. Lederer
UNITED Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon accused both the Syrian
government and the opposition Tuesday
of large-scale human rights violations,
including torturing and reportedly
executing prisoners and failing to
protect civilians eeing the war-ravaged
country in record numbers.
In an address to the UN General
Assembly, Ban demanded that those
responsible for violating international
humanitarian and human rights laws be
held accountable.
The UN chief went before the
193-nation world body to report on an
intensifying conict that he said has
taken a particularly brutal turn. He
warned that the entire region is being
engulfed by the complex dynamics of
the conict.
Activists say the civil war has
claimed between 23,000 and 26,000
lives.
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday
that more than 100,000 Syrians ed
their country in August, the highest
monthly total since the crisis began in
March 2011. A total of 234,368 Syrians
have ed to neighboring countries in the
past 17 months, the agency said.
Ban said more than 2.5 million people
inside Syria need assistance, along with
those who have ed to Turkey, Jordan,
Lebanon and Iraq. He urged donors to
come forward, saying the UN appeal for
$180 million is only half-funded.
The UN chief accused Syrian forces
of indiscriminately shelling densely
populated areas with heavy weapons,
tanks and military aircraft and urged both
sidesbut especially President Bashar
Assads governmentto end the ghting.
Ban lamented that civilians are
bearing the brunt of the violence, saying
even people in bread lines have been
attacked.
Prisoners on both sides are subject
to harsh treatment and, often, torture, he
said. There have been alarming reports
of summary executions on both sides.
He added, government forces and
the armed opposition have clearly failed
to protect civilians and respect the rules
of international humanitarian law.
The UN chief urged the world to
unite behind a plan to end the conict.
Missing in all international initiatives
so far, Ban said, is a unity of effort that
will have an impact on the ground.
How many more will be killed and
wounded, their lives shattered, before
president Assad and his advisers are
persuaded to change course? Ban
asked. How can we convince armed
groups that a better future lies not in
ghting, but in building the foundations
of a new political and social contract
that guarantees freedom and justice?
Syrias most important allies, Russia
and China, have vetoed three Western-
backed resolutions in the UN Security
Council aimed at stepping up pressure
on Assads government to end the
conict by threatening sanctions. As
a result, the UNs most powerful body
remains paralyzed and unable to address
the escalating civil war.
The secretary-general appealed to
those providing arms to either side to
end the highly dangerous escalating
military action.
Those who provide arms to either
side are only contributing to further
miseryand the risk of unintended
consequences as the ghting intensies
and spreads, he warned.
The General Assembly meeting also
provided the rst opportunity for UN
member states to hear from Lakhdar
Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League
special representative to Syria. Brahimi
replaced Ko Annan on Sept. 1.
Ban urged all countries to unite behind
Brahimis mission, which he called
daunting but not insurmountable.
Ban said Brahimi will visit Cairo
shortly for talks with Arab League
Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby before
heading to Damascus as soon as
possible.
In his brief speech to the General
Assembly, Brahimi called the support
of the international community for
his mission indispensable and very
urgent.
It will only be effective if all pull in
the same direction, he said.
Syrias UN Ambassador Bashar
Jaafari told the assembly that his
government is fully prepared to
cooperate with Brahimi with a view
to bringing about the full success of his
efforts. He called on all parties with
inuence on the armed groups to ensure
their cooperation with Brahimi.
Elsewhere, the head of the main
Syrian opposition group called Tuesday
for a massive aid program to rebuild
Syria in the event of the fall of the
Assad regime and warned that a lack of
economic development would open the
door to extremism.
Abdelbaset Sieda, the head of the
Syrian National Council, told a meeting
of Syrian opposition representatives
and diplomats in Berlin that a program
similar to the post-World War II
European reconstruction effort,
commonly known as the Marshall Plan,
would be needed.
The gathering of a working group on
economic rebuilding, which Germany
chairs jointly with the United Arab
Emirates, was designed to address
how to prevent basic services and
infrastructure collapsing, and how to
revive the economy in a post-Assad
Syria.
Unlike neighboring Iraq, Syria
lacks vast oil reserves that could kick-
start the economy and help nance
the reconstruction of infrastructure
damaged in the ghting.
The meetings host, German Foreign
Minister Guido Westerwelle, said
economic recovery and a successful
political transition must go hand in
hand, and called on the international
community to be ready to provide
economic support.
But he said the divided Syrian
opposition must urgently unite.
The people in Syria must see that
there is a credible alternative to the
regime of Bashar Assad, he said.
There can be no doubt, the days of
the regime are numbered, Westerwelle
added. It has lost all legitimacy
to represent the Syrian people, it is
crumbling from inside. AP
Clinton stresses cooperation with China amid disputes
The balance
of power has
shifted.
News
ManilaStandardToday
mst.daydesk@gmail.com SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 THURSDAY
A6
Govt tags 14
ood projects

IN BRIEF
Airport pay probe eyed
Court urged to stop bay project
Govt to move bird haven
InvItatIon to BId for the Supply, delIvery and InStallatIon of
SIxteen (16) lotS of varIouS ConStruCtIon MaterIalS,
aCCeSSorIeS and SupplIeS for the renovatIon of treaSury
offICeS (MaIn and SatellIte) for Cf-tagaytay
under ItB no. 08-02-2012tag
Phi l i ppi ne Amusement & Gami ng Corporati on
A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in
its forthcoming public bidding for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Sixteen (16) Lots of Various
Construction Materials, Accessories and Supplies for the Renovation of Treasury Offces (Main and
Satellite) for CF-Tagaytay under ITB No. 08-02-2012TAG
Delivery Schedule/
Lot Number
Within thirty (30) calendar days from the contract effectivity date specifed in the
Notice to Proceed
LOT 1
LOT 2
LOT 3
LOT 4
LOT 5
LOT 6
LOT 7
LOT 8
LOT 9
LOT 10
LOT 11
LOT 12
LOT 13
LOT 14
LOT 15
LOT 16
Hardware
Two Hundred Thirty ThousandSix Hundred Fifteen Pesos (PhP230,615.00)
Plywood
Fifty-Eight Thousand Four Hundred Eighty-Six Pesos (PhP 58,486.00)
Carpentry
Thirty Thousand Four Hundred Pesos (PhP 30,400.00)
Plumbing
Ninety-Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy-One Pesos (PhP 99,971.00)
Painting
Fifty-Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty-One Pesos (PhP 59,951.00)
Electrical
Two Hundred Eighty One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Two Pesos (PhP281,452.00)
Tiles
Three Hundred Fifty-One Thousand One Hundred Ninety-Five Pesos (PhP351,195.00)
Fabricated Doors
Seventy-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred Forty Pesos (PhP 79,740.00)
Airconditioning
Two Hundred Twenty-Thousand Pesos
(PhP 220,000.00)
Tee-Runner
One Hundred Fifty-Two Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Pesos (PhP 152,750.00)
Glass
One Hundred Four Thousand Two Hundred Forty Pesos (PhP 104,240.00)
Glass Sliding and Swing Door
Two Hundred Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Five Pesos (PhP 207,765.00)
Glass Tint Services)
Thirteen Thousand Two Hundred Twenty Pesos (PhP 13,220.00)
Signages
One Hundred Seventy-Seven Thousand Pesos
(PhP 177,000.00)
Metal
Fifty-Two Thousand Six Hundred Seventy-Nine Pesos and 90/100 (PhP 52,679.90)
Roll-Up Door
One Hundred Ninety-Two Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (PhP 192,500.00)
Source of Fund: Internally Funded
This bidding is open to all suppliers; provided that the winning bidder should be registered with PAG-
COR prior to award of contract. Unregistered suppliers must register at the Suppliers Registration &
Evaluation Section (SRES), Procurement Department (PD), 2nd Floor PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas
Blvd., Ermita, Manila, Tel. No. 526-0573.
Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt
of bids, a contract similar to the Project should be at least ffty percent (50%) of the approved budget
of contract (ABC) for Electrical Machineries, Lots 9 and 12 and twenty fve percent (25%) of
the ABC for lots 1-8,10,11 and 13. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding
Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through
open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in
the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the
Government Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least
sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to
citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges
to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.
All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualifcation and Award of
Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR.
The schedule of activities is listed, as follows:
Activities Schedule
1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents September 5, 2012 to September 24, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference September 10, 2012 (Mon) , 2:00pm
3. Deadline for the Submission
and Receipt of Bids
September 24, 2012 (Mon), 2:00pm
4. Opening and Preliminary
Examination of Bids
September 24, 2012 (Mon), 2:00pm onwards
Complete details of the project are indicated in the bid documents which will be available to prospective
bidders at the BBAC Secretariat BPPS, Casino Filipino - Tagaytay, upon payment of a non-refundable
bidding fee which shall be provided by the BBAC Secretariat, BPPS upon request.
Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following
websites: www.PAGCOR.ph and www.philgeps.net and may be allowed to submit bids provided
that bidders pay the non-refundable bidding fee not later than the date of the submission of bids.
The Pre-bid Conference is open to all interested bidders; however, only those bidders who have
purchased the Bidding Documents and presented the PAGCOR Offcial Receipt as proof of
payment, may participate in the discussion at the said conference or submit written queries
or clarifcations. Prospective bidders should present to PAGCORs Cashier at 3rd foor, Casino
Filipino Tagaytay, Kaybagal South, Tagaytay City either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured
from the BPS or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All Bids must
be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB
Clause 18.
PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses
incurred in the preparation of their bids.
PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject
all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected
bidder or bidders.
Please address all communications to the Branch Bids and Awards Committee thru the BBAC
Chaiperson, Ms. Marie Yvonne C. Sevilla, Casino Filipino Tagaytay, Kaybagal South Tagaytay
City, Tel No.: (046) 413-3806.
(SGD) MARIE YVONNE C. SEVILLA
Chairperson
BBAC,CF-Tagaytay
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
Explore Singapore. Singapore Ambassador Hirubalan V.P. welcomes Manila Mayor Alfredo
S. Lim to an exhibit of diffferent Singaporean costumes, dubbed Explore Singapore, at the
Museo Pambata in Manila on Wednesday. DANNY PATA
Into the re. A reghters climbs through a window of the Tutuban Mall in Divisoria while his colleagues prepare to follow
him after a re broke out at the busy mall on Wednesday. DANNY PATA
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
SENATE President Pro Tempore Jinggoy
Ejercito Estrada led a resolution to investi-
gate the Aquino administrations unlawful
and unreasonable policy of discontinuing
overtime pay of government employees as-
signed in international airports.
The claim that the practice of collect-
ing overtime payment from airlines or from
those served by the affected employees de-
ters tourism industry is more imagined than
real and contradicts the claim of President
Benigno Aquino during his latest SONA of
increase in tourist arrivals, he said.
The proposed Senate Resolution 862
which Estrada led was co-authored by Sen.
Panlo Lacson and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos.
Such acts, Estrada said, disregarded the
provisions of the Philippine Immigration
Act, Tariff and Customs Code of the Philip-
pines, Quarantinhe Act of 2004 and Execu-
tive Order No. 292 as well as the Supreme
Court decision on the payment of overtime
pay of Customs, Immigration and quaran-
tine employees in the countrys international
airports.
On July 31, Finance Secretary Cesar
Purisima wrote a memorandum to President
Aquino recommending the discontinuance
of charging overtime pay by customs, im-
migration and quarantine employees against
airline companies, claiming that such prac-
tice hurts the tourism industry.
In a separate letter, then Transportation
and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas
advised the Board of Airline Representa-
tives and Airline Operators Council to stop
paying overtime pay to the employees. The
Cabinet Economic Cluster then adopted a
policy of implementing 24/7 shifting sched-
ule and that the government will fully -
nance the services rendered by the employ-
ees in international airports.
Presidential spokesman Edwin
Lacierda Lacierda said the 14 projects
and the alloted funds are:
P830 million for Valenzuela-
Obando-Meycauayan river improve-
ment project;
P800 million for the much delayed
ood control and drainage system im-
provement project in the Caloocan-
Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela area;
P765 million for the Manila Bay
seawall and oodgates;
P750 million for the proposed Im-
provement of inow rivers to Laguna
de Bai;
P370 million for upper Marikina
river improvement project;
P272.19 million for Central Lu-
zon ood projects, specically the
raptured San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-
Minalin tail dike;
P262.40 million for the western
Mangahan oodway project;
P205 million for the Calabrzon
region;
P62.50 million for the Man-
daluyong and San Juan River im-
provement project;
P64 million Pampanga projects;
P71 million for Tarlac;
P43.33 million for cleaning or de-
clogging of drainage mains;
P36 million for Zambales; and
P274.61 million for various
dredging equipment
Lacierda said the National Eco-
nomic Development Authority board
has also approved an additional P1.6
billion for water pumping stations
around Metro Manila.
Public Works and Highways Secre-
tary Rogelioi Singson said his depart-
ment is adopting the river basin approach
to address the main cause of ooding
which are the excessive spillover from
the Marikina Watershed, overowing of
riverbanks during intense rainfall and
an abundance of low-lying areas, some
below sea level, which become natural
catchment areas.
Singson said the ood-control mas-
ter plan covers a total of 4,354 square
kilometers, which includes the river
basins of the PasigMarikina River
and Laguna Lake and attached river
basins in Central Luzon and Southern
Tagalog regions.
The master plan, costing about
P352 billion to be spent for various
projects up to 2035, was approved by
President Aquino during a meeting of
the NEDA board on Tuesday.
By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
THE Department of Public Works and Highways
has identied 14 ood-control projects that the
government will prioritize using the P5 billion
that was immediately released from the P352-
billion Metro Manila ood-control master plan.
By Rey E. Requejo
URBAN poor and sherfolk urged the
Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop
the controversial P14-billion Manila
Bay reclamation project because it
will deprive them of their livelihood
and income.
In an 11-page motion, the 12 groups
asked for the high courts leave to join
the lawsuit led by former Las Pias City
congresswoman Cynthia Villar against
the Public Reclamation Authority, De-
partment of Environment and Natural
Resources, Environmental Management
Bureau, the city government of Las Pias
and Alltech Contractors Inc.
Villar, supported by more than
315,000 Las Pias residents, led the
suit in March and the high court granted
them a writ of kalikasan in April, but did
not immediately issue a temporary en-
vironmental protection order stopping
government agencies from proceeding
with the project that seeks to reclaim
635.14 hectares from Manila Bay.
The 12 groups said the reclamation
project posed a direct threat to their
livelihood since the project involved
203.43 hectares of Paraaque coastal
territory and 431.71 hectares of Las Pi-
as territory.
The groups are the Pambansang
Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng
Pilipinas, Anakpawis and Bayan Muna;
the Koalisyon Kontra Kumbersyon ng
Manila Bay, the Bacoor-based Alyansa
sherfolk group, Pamalakaya-Bulacan
chapter, Sagip Manila Bay Move-
ment, Save Freedom Island Movement,
Center for Environmental Concerns,
Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the
Environment, Earth Island Philippines,
and the Alliance for Stewardship and
Authentic Progress.
By Lailany P. Gomez
THE government is evaluating the possibil-
ity of relocating the bird sanctuary near the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport because
of the dangers it poses to airplanes and pas-
sengers, according to Tourism Secretary Ra-
mon Jimenez.
The safety of people is paramount.
They are currently evaluating the potential
of birdstrikes and if it is established that it
represent risks to passengers and airplanes
it would be closed and transferred immedi-
ately, Jimenez said, adding that the matter
is being studied by the Department of Trans-
portation and Communications.
It is to be discussed in the tourism cluster.
Reports showed that there is impending dan-
ger that has to be determined, Jimenez said.
Ramon Ang, president of the ag carrier
Philippine Airlines, echoed Jimenez con-
cern and it is only in the Philippines where
a bird sanctuary is located near an interna-
tional airport.
A bird sanctuary near the airport is pro-
hibited. Youre endangering the lives of pas-
sengers, Ang said, noting that the ag car-
rier experienced a bird strike on one of its
aircraft in Leyte only last week.
The bird sanctuary, ofcially called the
Las Pias-Paraaque Critical Habitat and
Ecotourism Area, has been the subject of
debate recently because of the reclamation
projects that are being planned or pursued at
Manila Bay.
Conservationists argue that moving the
sanctuary would destroy one of Metro Ma-
nilas last nature reserves and bird sanctuar-
ies. They also admit that around 5,000 birds
are at the bird sanctuary in a single day.
Tinga scores smear plan
TAGUIG Rep. Freddie Tinga has
asked the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency to investigate reports that
political personalities are attempting to
use the agencys agents in a character
assassination against him and his
family.
Tinga said he received information
that some PDEA agents were paid up to
P1 million and given a luxury vehicle
in exchange for manufacturing reports
linking the congressman and his family
to the drug trade.
But PDEA Director General Under-
secretary Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. branded
such reports as pure speculation and
completely without basis and assured
Tinga that PDEA will not allow itself
to be used for politicking.
Ramgens sister cleared
THE Paraaque City Prosecutor has
dropped the murder and frustrated
murder charges against one of the
siblings of murdered actor Ramgen
Revilla, half-brother of Senator Bong
Revilla.
Gail Bautista-Furuyama and her
husband Takihiro Hiro Furuyama
were cleared of the criminal charges
led by Revillas girlfriend Janelle Ma-
nahan for lack of evidence, City Pros-
ecutor Amerhassan Paudac said.
Manahan was Revillas girlfriend
who survived the attack on the night
of October 28, 2011 at the Bautistas
residence in BF Homes, Paranaque.
Two other siblings of Ramgen, Ra-
mona Mara Bautista and Ramon
Joseph RJ Bautista are facing the
same charges before Branch 274 of the
Paranaque City Regional Trial Court.
Ferdinand Fabella

Ampatuan plea deferred
THE Quezon City Regional Trial
Court has postponed the arraignment
of a member of the Ampatuan clan
who was allegedly involved in
the infamous 2009 Maguindanao
massacre.
Anwar Sajid Ampatuan was set to
be arraigned for 57 counts of murder
on Wednesday but his lawyers led
a motion questioning the ling of
charges against him, prompting Judge
Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to deferred the
arraignment pending resolution of
the motion.
The court, however, ordered the
arraignment on Thursday of two
more accused, Jimmy Ampatuan and
P01 Michael Juanitas Madsig. The
arraignment will be held at the Que-
zon City Hall of Justice.
Ferdinand Fabella
A7 Sports Riera U. Mallari, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
No time to linger or soak up memories
at Flushing Meadows for the soon-to-
retire former champion.
After a rained-out night at the U.S.
Open, he had to get ready for a quick
turnaround and what he hopes will be a
quick start when things resume Wednes-
day afternoon in his match against Juan
Martin del Potro.
When Roddick returns to Arthur Ashe
Stadium, hell be receiving serve with a
1-0 lead in the rst-set tiebreaker.
Roddick was forced to sleep on the
tie Tuesday night after going up an early
break but giving it back when del Potro
took advantage of three straight unforced
errors to break in the ninth game, then
held serve to even the set 5-5.
They played for 55 minutes after a
day of on-and-off rain at the seasons last
Grand Slam tournament.
Nobody needed a rain delay worse
than third-seeded Maria Sharapova, who
lost the rst four games against No. 11
Katipunan team wins PTBA Cup
Roddick gets one more day
NEW YORKBlack hood pulled up over his
head, ice bag resting on his shoulder, Andy Rod-
dick walked briskly into the parking lot to catch
his waiting ride.
THE Philippine Tournament Bridge As-
sociation held the annual PTBA Cup, a
round-robin team event on Saturday and
Sunday, August 25-26 at the Manila Club
in the Corinthian Plaza Building, Makati
City.
The Katipunan team (captained by Jo-
seph Maliwat) won all their matches, to
win the PTBA Cup.
The top three teams:
1. Katipunan-Martin Anastacio, Joseph
Maliwat, Phil Manalang and Suena
Manalang - 91 VPs
2. Godot-George Francisco, Albert Qui-
ogue, Goerge Soo, Helen Tubangui, KT
Yang 73 VPs
3. Naga-Eli Cabanilla, Andrew Fal-
con, Tootsie Quiogue, Manny Tanjangco,
Romy Virola 60 VPs
I feature two deals where Justo Manlon-
gat and Sylvia Alejandro of Team Forbes
played against Martin Anastacio and Jo-
seph Maliwat of Katipunan. It was elec-
trifying how Maliwat saved from certain
defeat two slam contracts in succession.
Before doing so I should like to high-
light this pair Martin Anastacio and Joseph
Maliwat who are called Tacio and Jopet
for having achieved a good partnership at
this point in time. They have represented
our country at the Asia Pacic Bridge Fed-
eration Championship.
Tacio give this account:
Jopet and I have been playing bridge
for over 15 years now.
We started off playing different sys-
tems: I played 2/1 while Jopet started with
a Precision base.
We decided a little over 4 years ago that our
interests and approach to the game were di-
rectionally the same. We were about the same
batch of players and we both wanted to push
forward for the future of the game in the Philip-
pines, as well as on our ideas on how the game
can be played. We like the passive-aggressive
nature of the game, from bidding to play and
defense. All the parts of the game fascinate us.
Though we came from different schools
of thought and different long-term partners,
we had the advantage and opportunity to
play with the same mentors: Nonot Carreon,
Chot Reyes, KT Yang, Gemma and Allen
Tan. Inuential also were the Quiogue and
Soo brothers. When in doubt we refer to
what they may have done.
Jopet is a bridge teacher, as well as a
math whiz. BPO work is what I do for a
living. But bridge is our passion (reference
Omar Shariff).
This is the exciting account of Jopet on
Board 5 where the contract was six clubs
and on Board 6 where the contract was six
spades:
Board 5 North
N-Deals 1073
N-S Vul Q103
K63
Q1043
West East
AKJ42 Q5
764 A2
A9854
KJ975 A862
South
986
KJ985
QJ1072

It was the last match of the entire week-
end. Tacio and I had a rhythm, and the
rhythm was to get in to the bidding early
and it has been successful so far.
1NT 2
2 3
4 4
4 4
4NT 6
JAPANS World Boxing Council super ban-
tamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka has
promised to ght World Boxing Organiza-
tion/International Boxing Federation cham-
pion Nonito Donaire with all his heart when
they clash at the Home Depot Center in Car-
son City, California on Oct. 13.
In an interview with boxing writer Ma-
satoshi Ueda of Boxing Insider, Nishioka
said: I will ght with all my heart, give
everything I have in the ring. Its a ght you
cant miss with two of the best ghters in the
world ghting for the top of the super ban-
tamweight and to be the king of the division.
Nishioka earlier told the Manila Standard
that he had waited for almost one year to
make this ght happen and said he was very
excited at the prospect of facing Donaire,
whom he described as an excellent ghter.
Nishioka, who was at special ringside
and entered the ring after Donaire scored
a comfortable 12-round decision over
South Africas Jeffrey Mathebula to win
the IBF title, told Ueda that his impres-
sion of Donaire hasnt changed. He was
fast, strong, and an all-round ghter that
I had seen on TV. Ronnie Nathanielsz
Nishioka to go all out against Donaire
Outrun
yourself at
Rexona Run
IN BRIEF
Webb is PBAPCs top guest
FREDDIE Webb, the former Philippine
Basketball Association superstar, senator
and Olympian, will be the guest of honor
on Monday in the Smart/PLDT 19th PBA
Press Corps awards to be held at the Ka-
mayan EDSA.
Webb, a member of the 1972 Philip-
pine Team to the Munich Games, played
pro ball for Tanduay and later on had
stints as coach of the defunct Rhum Mas-
ters and Shell.
The highlight of the affair that starts at
7 p.m. is the awarding of the Coach of the
Year and Executive of the Year trophies,
even as Mark Caguioa of Barangay Gine-
bra, and Larry Fonacier of Talk N Text
won the Comeback Player of the Year and
Mr. Quality Minutes awards, respectively.
Caguioa was the hands-down choice
for Comeback Player of the Year after re-
turning from a career-threatening eye in-
jury to lead the Gin Kings to a seminal
appearance in the Governors Cup before
winning the season most vauable player.
Lady Stags zero in on no. 1
SANDUGO-San Sebastian rebounded
from a ve-set loss to Army with a 25-
23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-15 victory over a
surprisingly tough Far Eastern Univer-
sity side to regain the solo lead in the
Shakeys V-League Open at the Ninoy
Aquino Stadium late Tuesday night.
Ranged against an ousted squad, the
Lady Stags still needed to load up to
nally subdue the stubborn Lady Tams
with Thai imports Jeng Bualee blasting
away 23 kills for a 25-hit output and
Utaiwan Kaensing backing her up with
11 attacks and a 16-point total.
It was Sandugo-SSCs seventh win
in eight games, its streak of victories
snapped by the Lady Troopers last
Sunday. But with Army falling prey to
a surging Cagayan Valley squad last
Tuesday, the Lady Stags re-claimed the
lead at 7-1 heading to the last two play-
dates of the double-round elims of the
league sponsored by Shakeys Pizza.
REGISTRATION is now accepted for the
second National Press Club Presidents
Cup Media Invitational basketball cham-
pionship tentatively set Sept. 14 at the San
Andres Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.
NPC Director and Sports Committee
vice chairman Boying Abesola said the
tournament is part of a series of activities
in celebration of the NPCs 60
th
anniver-
sary on Oct. 29. The tournament is open
to all media practitioners, friends and
stakeholders in press freedom.
Interested participants may call the
NPC Secretariat at (02) 301-05-21/22
and look for May or Fely. Inquiries
may also be addressed to NPC Direc-
tor and Sports committee chairman
Tina Maralit (09-6658888), Abesola
(0908-4341217) or tournament director
Edwin Rollon (0906-4360957). Email
your entries at zea19ker@yahoo.com
or nationalpressclub@yahoo.com.
Media badminton listup on
SYLVIA LOPEZ
ALEJANDRO
GET ready to outrun yourself
at the Rexona Run 2012 hap-
pening on Sept. 23 at the SM
Mall of Asia grounds.
A part of the Runrio Series,
this years edition is bigger,
with a new category, more
prizes and exciting features
that will bring running to a
higher level.
Registration is ongoing un-
til Sept. 16 or until slots last at
Riovana stores in Bonifacio
Global City and Katipunan, and
Tobys branches in Trinoma and
SM Mall of Asia. Online reg-
istrations are also accepted at
www.runrio.com from now until
12 midnight of Sept. 9.
Runners can choose to take
part in the 5K, 21K Solo or,
for the rst time ever, the 21K
Relay race category. The top
3 nishers in the 21K Solo
take home P7,000, 5,500, and
4,000; while P5,000, 4,000,
and 3,000 will be awarded
to each member of the top
nishers in the 21K Relay di-
vision. Finally, the top three
nishers in the 5K category
bring home P4,000 for rst,
3,000 for second and 2,000
for third.
Adding excitement to the
event is Rexonas challenge for
runners to beat the industry
standard, wherein commemo-
rative key chains will be given
to nishers who end the race
on or before the recommended
nishing time. To qualify, 5K
runners must cross the nish
line on or before 6:20 a.m., 30
minutes from gun start and all
21K runners need to nish on
or before 7 a.m., 2 hours after
gun start.
MINI-ROK karter Gabriel Cabrera sur-
vived a grueling and rainy race weekend
with big wins in the 2012 Asian Karting
Open Championships third leg held at
the Carmona Race track.
With close to 80 of Asias best karters
in attendance, the 12-year -old Cabrera
was the lone Filipino karter, who made
it to the Top 3 podium in the mini-ROK
class, behind Singapores Darryl Wenas
and Indonesias Barrichello Noor, who
bagged the rst and second spots, re-
spectively. With this key win, Cabrera in
effect, was also able to bag the coveted
championship in the local 2012 Coca-
Cola Karting Series seventh leg.
Supported by Seaoil, Kart Plaza Manu-
facturing, mechanics Joeselo Bariquit and
Edwin Penaor with veteran tuners Sonny
Suba and Vrei-Ar Suba, Cabrera clocked in
a personal best time of 49.629 at the time
trials and garnered a total of 13 points in
the consolidated qualifying heats.
Known for his exceptional ability to
drive well in the rain, Cabrera displayed
excellent driving on a semi-wet track,
despite starting fourth on the nal grid
against better-equipped foreign rivals.
The young karter took it a notch higher by
risking a spin-out as he successfully raced to
overtake Indonesian rival Keanon Santoso
and snag the third top spot, a position he held
until the end of the 16-lap event. Cabrera
clocked in a nal lap time of 57.936, just
0.289 seconds away from the event leader.
Cabrera will also be seen in action at
the championship leg of the 2012 Coca-
Cola Karting Series at the Clark Interna-
tional Speedway later this month, as well
as the Asian Karting Open Champion-
ships in Hong Kong and Indonesia this
October and December, respectively.
Cabrera rules karting series 7
th
leg
Marion Bartoli before play was halted in
the late afternoon. Trying to clear the way
for the main event, the Roddick match,
ofcials sent Sharapova and Bartoli
home. Theyll be the rst back in Arthur
Ashe Stadium when play resumes.
Other matches stopped in progress, also
in the rst set, included defending champi-
on Novak Djokovic against No. 18 Stanis-
las Wawrinka, and No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic
against No. 19 Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Watching it all Wednesday, when the
forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of
rain, will be No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and
No. 4 David Ferrer. Azarenka defeated
defending champion Sam Stosur 6-1,
4-6, 7-6 (5) and Ferrer beat No. 13 Rich-
ard Gasquet 7-5, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Azarenka ended up with a tougher-
than-expected afternoon considering the
way the rst set went.
You dont want to know what I kept
telling myself, Azarenka deadpanned.
I would have to beep that, I think.
Instead, she was covering her face
with her hands with a look of disbelief
when she won match point, then danc-
ing to the music blaring over the loud-
speaker. She will stay at No. 1 no matter
what happens this week and her hopes of
adding the U.S. Open to her Australian
Open title are still very much alive.
Denitely I dont want to stop. I re-
ally want it bad, Azarenka said. Im
going to do absolutely everything I have,
you know, to give it all here. AP
CIRCUIT Racing returns to the scene as
the countrys nest drivers plunge into an-
other intense and pressure-packed battle
for the crucial wins that will beef up their
title quests in the fth and penultimate
leg of the 2012 Yokohama Philippine GT
Championship Series this Sunday at the
Batangas Racing Circuit.
Defending champion Vincent Floirendo
and Jody Coseteng gear up for another
tight and grueling showdown in pursuit of
the coveted plum of this event sanctioned
by the Automobile Association Philip-
pines and sponsored by Ofcial Tires Yo-
kohama, Ofcial Oil Torco Racing Oil and
Racing Beat@Wave 89.1.
Spicing up the day is the third leg of
the Wind Formula Philippines 2012,
where Kizuko Hirota tackles the tougher
challenge against a much bigger eld,
vying for the crown in this race best de-
scribed as the beginner level for karters
and circuit drivers, who move up to For-
mula Racing.
Floirendo, currently second overall with
157 points, is setting his eyes on a big
sweep of both the Sprint and Final races
in the GT300 class to give his hopes for a
back-to-back crown a big push.
Coseteng, who won several touring car
crowns, is looking forward to a new feath-
er in his cap as he guns for his rst GT
crown.
Sweeping the races in the last leg at the
Clark International Speedway not only
erased his four-point decit, but also cata-
pulted him to solo leadership with a total
of 168 points for an 11-point advantage
over Floirendo.
GT Championship
at Batangas Circuit
Tacio opened our weak 1NT show-
ing 12-14HCP. I transferred to spades
and showed my clubs. Tacio raised 4 to
what can only be a Control-rich hand with
very good Clubs support. 4, 4 are cue-
bids showing 1
st
or 2
nd
round controls, 4
showed 2 top 3 honors because spades is a
known long suit. This left Tacio to ask for
key-cards at 4NT. He could have bid 5
so 4NT is a stronger bid and I decided to
nish the auction with 6.
The lead was a small heart. It could
have been easier but I started my play with
A then the A. When South discarded
on the 2
nd
trick, I felt I let my teammates
down. But wait, I havent lost a trick yet. I
told myself that with some luck, I can still
pull this off.
I cashed 3 rounds of spades, discarding
a heart in dummy. Ruffed a heart, cashed
the A discarding a good spade ruffed a
diamond, ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond,
and here is whats left.
N-Deals North
N-S Vul

Q104
West East
J

54
KJ 8
South

K
QJ

I stripped the hand and as North ruffed
the J, she got thrown in to lead towards
my KJ. 6 made.
Immediately came the next hand.
Board 6 North
N-Deals 107
N-S Vul QJ1084
KQ43
95
West East
AJ KQ6542
A5 K962
AJ98 76
AQJ64 3
South
983
73
1052
K10872
2 2NT
3 4NT
5 5
6 6
The bidding started with Tacio deciding
(and I agree thats our rhythm) to preempt
with spades. He opened 2 to show either
a preempt in or or balanced 22-23
HCP. I made a conventional asking bid
2NT. He replied 3 to show a Maximum
hand with 6 cards spades. 4 NT is Roman
KeyCard BlackWood. He showed 1 Key-
Card, the K. I asked for the Queen of
trumps 5 and he showed it plus a second
round control of Heartsd 6. Knowing my
partner lacks the K, we stopped in 6.
After the K lead, I decided to take the
rufng nesse of the direct nesse of small
to the Q. A direct nesse that fails imme-
diately defeats the slam. So after winning
the A at trick 1, I played the A then
Q. Unfortunately South had the king, so as
North followed suit, East discarded a dia-
mond and South won the King. He made the
best possible return, a trump which I won
with the Ace.
Analysis: I now have a good club trick to
discard the dummys 3
rd
heart so the 4
th
heart
should either be ruffed by East or discarded
on the 5
th
club. If I choose the former, trumps
must be break well 3-2 and clubs 4-3. If I
choose the latter, I can still make it even if
trumps break 4-1, as long as clubs break 4-3.
I played my J and next a small club. North
discarded to expose clubs breaking badly
and I ruffed in Dummy. It does not look
good and my only chance now is a Double
Squeez (assuming South has 3+ cards in ).
While in dummy I played all 2 more
rounds of trumps discarding diamonds. I
left 1 more trump to illustrate the double
squeeze.
Comments to: sylvia@globelines.com.ph
Promising karter
Gabriel Cabrera
(fourth from left)
is shown with
mechanics Joeselo
Bariquit and Edwin
Penaor and
veteran tuner Sonny
Suba and assistant
tuner Vrei-Ar Suba.
Sports
Manila Standard TODAY
Pacquiaos adviser Michael
Koncz said he expects a de-
cision on an opponent to be
made today (Wednesday in the
US), while Top Rank promoter
Bob Arum indicated it would
probably be made by the end
of the week.
Arum indicated there is no
hurry because the ght will
take place in December and
that Pacquiao would be in the
US by Sept. 15 to begin the
press tour to promote the ght
against whoever he chooses as
an opponent.
Pacquiao has battled Mar-
quez three times with their rst
encounter ending in a draw and
Pacquiao winning the second by
a majority decision and the third
by a hugely controversial split
verdict.
Arum laid out three options
for Pacquiao, but Miguel Cot-
to, who Pacquiao wanted to
face in a rematch, decided to
take on Austin Trout on Dec.
1, leaving Timothy Bradley,
who grabbed the World Box-
ing Organization welterweight
title from Pacquiao in a widely
condemned split decision and
Marquez.
Mexican promoter Fernando
Beltran earlier said that a
Marquez ght with Pacquiao
was almost 95 percent sure,
but if the ght pushes through,
trainer Freddie Roach and
Ariza would want Pacquiao
to train at the Wild Card Gym
and not begin his preparations
at his usual training camp in
Baguio City because of the
many distractions.
Ariza told the Manila
Standar d that a Marquez ght
is not going to be easy, but
that if Pacquiao returned to his
training regimen when he was
preparing for ghts against
Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hat-
ton and Miguel Cotto, there
wouldnt be a problem.
He has to go back to the old
ways of training, focus more on
the other stuff, said Ariza, who
stressed that Pacquiao has got to
train at the Wild Card.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 THURSDAY A8
Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports@manilastandardtoday.com sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
WITH Internet reports indicating
that Manny Pacquiao will probably
face Mexican legend Juan Manuel
Marquez for a fourth time at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Dec.
8, the Filipino icons strength and
conditioning coach Alex Ariza
warned that it wont be an easy ght.
By Jeric Lopez

UNIVERSITY Athletic As-
sociation of the Philippines
commissioner Ato Badolato
thumbed down National Uni-
versitys protest regarding Far
Eastern Universitys controver-
sial victory over the Bulldogs
Sunday afternoon.
After thoroughly reviewing
the video of the game with of-
cials, Badolato made his deci-
sion yesterday and upheld the
Tamaraws 77-75 escape win
over the Bulldogs, agreeing
with the referees call.
According to Badolato, Gar-
cia indeed beat the clock by the
slimmest of margins.
With the game knotted at
75-all, FEU spitre RR Garcia
nailed a lay-up with just 0.01
seconds on the clock to give
the Tamaraws the controversial
win.
If NU still wants to pursue
its protest despite Badolatos
denial, it can still do so, but it
needs to bring the protest di-
rectly to the UAAP board.
Tournament director and
NUs representative to the
board Junel Baculi stated that
the Bulldogs will do just that.
Meanwhile, Ateneo, via its
representative Ricky Palou,
will suggest to the board for a
further punishment on troubled
FEU bruiser Arvie Bringas.
Bringas is currently serving
a two-game suspension, one
from the league and one from
FEU management, after spit-
ting last week on Justin Chuas
face in the teams hotly con-
tested game against the Blue
Eagles.
Palou, along with other
Ateneo ofcials, wants to up-
grade Bringas punishment as
the team claimed that Bringas
act didnt end after spitting and
getting ejected. After the said
game, the Blue Eagles claimed
that Bringas went in front of
their team bus and tried to pick
up a ght with them.
Meanwhile, Ateneo (9-1)
shoots a ninth straight win and
yet another berth in the Final
Four when it goes up against a
rejuvenated University of the
Badolato turns down NU protest
By Peter Atencio
THE decision to suspend
members of the Philippine
Azkals national mens team
members implicated in the
dismissed sexual harassment
case led by Cristy Ramos
has been deferred.
The Philippine Football
Federation yesterday said the
decision will not be carried out
until the players and the coach-
ing staff have submitted their
appeals.
The PFF appeals committee
decided to defer the suspensions
of these national team members
since they are now out of the
country with the squad. So, they
are unable to present their side
on the issue, said PFF president
Mariano Araneta Jr.
Because of this, national
team manager Dan Palami,
German coach Michael Weiss
and starting mideler Phil
Younghusband have been al-
lowed to be on the bench when
the Filipino booters tangled
with the Cambodian national
squad in a friendly last night in
Phnom Penh.
The PFF appeals committee
is headed by former Come-
lec commissioner Gregorio
Goyo Larrazabal, who is a
football enthusiast himself.
Last Friday, the PFF discipli-
nary committee suspended Pa-
lami and Weiss for two matches
and Younghusband for one
match as a result of Ramos ac-
cusation on Angel Guirado and
Lexton Moy of sexual harass-
ment during her inspection in-
side the teams dugout as com-
missioner of the goodwill match
with CF Madrid last January.
KNIGHTS VS PIRATES
CROWD favorites Efren Bata
Reyes and Franisco Django
Bustamante, who make up the
Philippines B Team, brought
their A game to the table Tues-
day evening to whip Hong
Kong, 8-3, in the PartyPoker.
Net World Cup of Pool at Robin-
sons Manila and set up a mouth-
watering showdown with Alex
Pagulayan and John Morra of
Canada on Thursday.
Pagulayan, who enjoys dual
citizenship, opted to represent
Canada, where he reportedly is
given all-out support in pursuing
his pool career.
Pagulayan, the 2004 World
Pool Champion and partner
Morra triumphed in a safety
battle with the score tied at
7-7 to snatch victory from the
Swedish pair of Marcus Cha-
mat and Andreas Gerwen, 8-7,
and set up the showdown with
the two-time winners Reyes
and Bustamante.
Both Reyes and Bustamante
expressed condence that if they
continue in their present form,
they could capture their third
World Cup of Pool title, having
won the inaugural tournament,
whipping Earl Strickland and
Rodney Morris, 11-5, and then
pulling off an epic, come-from-
behind 11-9 win over Ralf Sou-
quet and Thorsten Hohmann in
Manila in 2009.
Reyes played some magical
shots, while Bustamante pock-
eted the balls with precision
against Lee Chenmen and Ken-
ny Kwok, who didnt play badly
but unfortunately ran into the
two-time winners of this event
on a good night.
Bustamante told the Ma-
nila Standard on the eve of
the tournament that he and
his longtime buddy Reyes
had been practicing well and
that Reyes was making some
remarkable shots, which he
effectively repeated before
a huge crowd that jumped to
its feet with a roar once the
9-ball was pocketed.
Hong Kong won the lag before
play was held up as someone in
the audience using a ash both-
ered Reyes before referee Nigel
Rees issued a warning to specta-
tors not to use a ash when tak-
ing pictures.
Reyes cooled down and the
Filipinos took the opening rack.
An excellent safety by Reyes
enabled them to go ahead 2-0
before he scratched on the break
and Hong Kong pulled one back
to make it 2-1.
Another remarkable safety by
Reyes paved the way for a 3-1
lead before Bustamante sank
three balls on the break and
Reyes played another fantastic
safety and after Kwok missed a
shot on the 2-ball, the PH team,
with ball in hand, raced to a 4-1
lead. Ronnie Nathanielsz
Reyes, Django to face Canadians
LOTTO RESULTS
6/55 000000000000
6/45 000000000000
4 DIGITS 00000000
3 DIGITS 000000
2 EZ2 0000
P0.0M+
P0.0M+
Sanction
on Azkals
deferred
THE Letran Knights (6-6) will try to remain
in contention for a Final Four seminal
seat when they take on the Lyceym Pirates
at 4 p.m. today in the 88th National
Collegiate Athletic Association mens
basketball tournament at the Arena in San
Juan. Later, the Mapua Cardinals (5-7) take
on the Arellano University Chiefs (4-9) at
6 p.m.
Ariza: Marquez a dangerous foe
CAGAYAN DE OROUnheralded Richard Abaring and Rico
Depilo wrested control in a day when most struggled on the
Pueblo de Oro course, ring a 67 and an eagle-spiked 68 re-
spectively, to take the 1-2 posts in the P1 million Pueblo de Oro
Championship here yesterday.
The duo frolicked at the backside of the par-72 layout, clos-
ing out with a pair of four-under 32s that fueled their surge
to the top of the 91-player eld vying for the top P200,000
purse in this 11th leg of the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.
Cookie LaO rallied at the front with a 32 in one of the last
ights and turned in a 69 for third while Christopher delos
Santos shot a 70 and Runo Bayron, Charles Hong, Rey Pa-
gunsan, Florencio Pioquinto and Orlan Sumcad all had 71s.
Abaring, who had two missed cuts after 10 legs in a so-so
campaign in the season, started his run early, birdying Nos. 2
and 3 and bucked a bogey mishap on the fth and tok a cou-
ple of missed opportunities in the next four holes with another
back-to-back birdie feat from No. 11.
Sustaining his form, he knocked down superb iron shots to set
up birdie putts on Nos. 14 and 17 and nd himself the surprise
leader in the 54-hole tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf
Tournaments, Inc. and sponsored by ICTSI.
In contrast, Depilo, who missed the cut six times with forget-
table nishes in the other four tournaments, had to overcome a poor
bogey-bogey start to put himself in early contention. He birdied
Nos. 4, 7 and 9 against another bogey on the eighth to draw level
par then went four-under after six holes with a birdie on the 10th, an
eagle-2 on the par-4 No. 14 and another birdie on the 15th.
Bayron, tipped as one of the early contenders in the absence
of the big guns who are all playing on the Selangor Masters in
Malaysia, also hit an eagle on the par-5 17th but made a bogey
and double bogey on Nos. 2 and 4, respectively, and needed to
birdie Nos. 7 and 9 to save a 71.
Obscure Abaring,
Depilo take charge
COACHES who become part of
the prioritization program of the
Philippine Sports Commission
will soon receive monthly sala-
ries amounting P50,000.
Philippine Sports Commission
Chairman Richie Garcia said this
during a coordination meeting of
the PSC with national sports as-
sociations yesterday at the Ma-
nila Yacht Club in Roxas, Blvd.,
Manila.
Garcia said the government
sports agency took note of the
need for coaches to have a better
pay.
The criteria and qualications
of the coaches, according to Gar-
cia, are now being discussed by
the PSC board.
Meanwhile, the Philippine
dragon boat team which won
six gold medals and a silver at
the World Dragon Boat Cham-
pionships in Milan will earn a
total of P2.6 million for their
achievement.
Garcia informed members of the
team of the bonanza that they will
receive during the gathering.
Each member of the 26-man
team will get P100,000 from the
agency.
The Philippines nished the
event with three golds in the Open
category of the 200m events on
Sunday. Russia placed second in all
three races while the United States,
Germany and Poland won a bronze
each. Peter Atencio
PSC coaches get raise
Champion paddlers. The Philippine dragon-boat team, which won six gold medals and a silver from the World Dragon Boat
Championships, is shown at the airport upon their arrival from Milan, Italy. JULIE FABROA
Pinay aims
for win in
Oklahoma.
Luzviminda
Luz McClinton,
known as
Mama Luz of
the Pinoy Big
Brother house,
represents the
Philippines
in the World
Body Figure
and Fitness
Body Building
Championship
on Nov. 10 in
Oklahoma, USA.
Environmental initiative. The Napico Dragon Cycling Club
recently held a ride around Pasig City to stress the importance
of protecting the environment, while staying fit. The event was
supported by Victoria Court, which also implements a strict physical
fitness program for its employees, aside from its environmental
initiatives.
B1
Business
Ray S. Eano, Editor extrastory2000@gmail.com
Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor
IN BRIEF
Inflation rate hits 7-month high
PSE COMPOSITE INDEX
Closing September 5, 2012
OIL
PRICES
TODAY
P575-P705
LPG/11-kg tank
P49.00-P56.57
Unleaded Gasoline
P39.38-P43.99
Diesel
P47.69-P53.00
Kerosene
P27.20-P31.00
Auto LPG
FOREI GN EXCHANGE RATE
Currency Unit US Dollar Peso
United States Dollar 1.000000 41.8840
Japan Yen 0.012755 0.5342
UK Pound 1.587100 66.4741
Hong Kong Dollar 0.128939 5.4005
Switzerland Franc 1.046025 43.8117
Canada Dollar 1.014507 42.4916
Singapore Dollar 0.802311 33.6040
Australia Dollar 1.022809 42.8393
Bahrain Dinar 2.652661 111.1041
Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266667 11.1691
Brunei Dollar 0.799105 33.4697
Indonesia Rupiah 0.000105 0.0044
Thailand Baht 0.032051 1.3424
UAE Dirham 0.272272 11.4038
Euro Euro 1.256300 52.6189
Korea Won 0.000882 0.0369
China Yuan 0.157547 6.5987
India Rupee 0.017982 0.7532
Malaysia Ringgit 0.321947 13.4844
NewZealand Dollar 0.792770 33.2044
Taiwan Dollar 0.033528 1.4043
Source: PDS Bridge
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
PESO-DOLLAR RATE
40
42
44
46
48
P41.975
CLOSE
Closing SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
5,150.81
25.06
VOLUME 835.300M
HIGH P41.935 LOW P41.985 AVERAGE P41.959
5200
4460
3720
2980
2240
1500
1200
Oil firms
absolved
of fixing
fuel prices
PH jumps 10 places in competitiveness
PLDT adopts virtual technology to survive
Philex extends support
to victims of mine spill
WELCOME
DELEGATES!
WELCOME
DELEGATES!
By Maria Bernadette Lunas
INFLATION rate accelerated to 3.8
percent in August, the fastest in seven
months, as supply disruptions caused by
southwest monsoon rains pushed up prices
of food and other basic commodities.
Data from the National
Statistics Ofce showed the
consumer price index further
rose in August from just 3.2
percent in July. This was also
the fastest growth in consumer
prices since ination rate
reached 4 percent in January.
Bangko Sentral Governor
Amando Tetangco Jr. conrmed
the actual ination in August
was at the upper end of the
banks forecast range for the
month.
As we had expected ination
would creep higher on higher
commodity prices, including
prices for household equipment
and repairs and transport. This
uptick would, however, not cause
any breaches in the full-year
average target ranges over the
policy horizon, Tetangco said.
The ination path is largely
expected to continue being well-
behaved. The stance of policy
therefore remains appropriate,
he added.
The headline ination rate
in July brought the average
ination gure in the rst eight
months to 3.2 percent, which
is still within the governments
full-year target range of 3
percent to 5 percent.
Monsoon rains which
submerged most parts of
Metro Manila and nearby
Luzon provinces in the rst
two weeks of August caused
supply disruptions and affected
the market prices of most food
products.
The heavily-weighted food
index rose 3.3 percent in
August, faster than the 2.3-
percent increase in the previous
month.
Economist Benjamin Diokno,
however, said food prices were
expected to stabilize in the next
few weeks. The 3.8-percent
ination rate is not scary
considering the impact of food
ination, he said.
Ination, on a monthly basis,
picked up 0.8 percent in August
from 0.3 percent in July.
Core ination, which excludes
more volatile food and energy
products, also accelerated to
4.3 percent in August from 4.1
percent in July.
HSBC economist Trinh
Nguyen said with global oil
prices still high and headline
ination likely to pick up
signicantly in the rst quarter
of 2013, the Bangko Sentral
was likely to hold its policy
rates steady next week.
However, Cid Terosa, an
Economics professor at the
University of Asia and the
Pacic, said in a text message
the latest ination data might
push the Bangko Sentral to
consider adjusting interest
rates in the next weeks policy
meeting.
The upward pressure on
ination and possible moves
of the Federal Reserve will be
major considerations, he said.
With Anna Leah G. Estrada
By Julito G. Rada
THE Philippines jumped 10 places in the
latest survey of the World Economic Forum,
which ranked 144 countries according to
their economic competitiveness.
The Philippines ranked 65th in the
Global Competitiveness Report 2012-
2013, up from its 75
th
spot last year,
according to the Makati Business Club,
which participated in the study.
From a ranking of number 75 last
year, the Philippines jumped to number
65. This is the second straight year that
the country climbed 10 places up the
competitiveness ladder. Last year, the
country improved from number 85 to
75, MBC chairman Ramon del Rosario
Jr. said in a news brieng.
The Philippines surpassed Vietnam,
which slid to 75
th
spot in this years
survey, although it ranked behind other
Southeast Asian countries. Singapore
placed 2
nd
; Brunei, 28
th
; Malaysia, 25
th
;
Thailand, 38
th
; and Indonesia, 50
th
.
Switzerland was listed as the most
competitive economy in the world,
followed by Singapore, Finland, Sweden,
the Netherlands, Germany, United States,
United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Japan.
National Competitiveness Council
private sector co-chairman Guillermo
Luz said the government targets to bring
the Philippines to the top 30 countries
by 2016. Our trajectory is in the right
path. There should be closer partnership
between the government and the private
sector to improve in the rankings. Its
possible to make gains, Luz said.
The survey showed the Philippines attained
a record-high competitiveness index score
of 4.23 in the latest survey. The country is
now in the upper 45 percentile of economies
assessed by the WEF, better than the previous
years 53-percentile rank.
Ranked 65th... the Philippines makes
important strides this year in improving
competitiveness... albeit often from a
very low baseespecially with respect
to its public institutions [94
th
, up 23
places], Del Rosario said, quoting a part
of the survey results.
Overall, the Philippines improved in 11
out of the 12 pillars of competitiveness
considered by Global Competitiveness
Report.
Del Rosario noted that trust in
politicians has made considerable progress
[95th, up 33], although signicant room
for improvement remains.
Institutions went up 23 places to
94th; infrastructure, 7 places to 98
th
;
macroeconomic environment, 18
places to 36
th
; higher education and
training, 7 places to 64
th
; goods market
efciency, 2 places to 86
th
; labor market
efciency, 10 places to 103rd; nancial
market development, 13 places to 58
th
;
technological readiness, 4 places to 79th;
market size, one place to 35
th
; business
sophistication, 8 places to 49
th
; and
innovation, 14 places to 94
th
.
By Othel V. Campos
PHILEX Mining Corp. on
Wednesday assured it will extend
assistance to families, farmers,
and shermen living near the
Padcal mine in Benguet.
We have assisted and will
continue to assist the households
affected by the discharge
and respond quickly to their
needs, placing them among our
priorities in our rehabilitation and
restoration efforts following the
spills at Padcal mine, company
president and chief operating
ofcer Eulalio Austin Jr. said in
a statement.
Philex claimed it had provided
immediate assistance to about
45 families living near Padcal
mine, as the company also
engaged them in the cleanup and
rehabilitation drive on Balog
Creek and the area where it
converges with Agno River.
Austin said local residents
were helping the Philex team,
composed mostly of employee-
volunteers, in creating trails on
the rugged terrain leading to
Balog Creek, providing easy
access for the cleaners.
Philex said it needed the support
and cooperation from government,
the non-government sector, and
the business entities concerned
to shape a strategy to address the
needs of the affected families and
the management of Balog Creek.
By Alena Mae S. Flores
AN INDEPENDENT oil review
committee which looked into
the books of oil companies has
absolved them of proteering,
saying the companies prots
are reasonable and reect the
movement of world crude
prices.
The committee said the
oil companies prots are
reasonable based on an
analysis of the companies
return on equity and internal
rate of return.
Economist Benjamin
Diokno, who heads the
committee, said the main
task of the committee was to
determine if oil companies
accumulated excessive
prots and if they were
guilty of unfair pricing to the
detriment of the public.
Other members of the
committee are Rene Azurin
(academe), Jesus Estanislao
(business community), Raul
Concepcion (consumer group),
Victor Abola (economist),
Dexter Ortega (accountant)
and Vigor Mendoza (public
transport).
Diokno said that the
committee found nothing
extraordinary about the
movement of local pump prices
in the country.
He said the committee
used the regression analysis
to check the extent to which
local pump prices tracked
world prices. The committee
compared the movement
of local prices to those in
Thailand, a country closely
matching the situation in the
Philippines.
For periods with no prices
subsidies in effect, the
relationship between local
pump prices and world oil
prices is generally the same for
the Philippines and Thailand,
he said.
The review was undertaken
in March in the wake of
allegations the oil rms were
taking excessive prots by
setting high oil prices.
Diokno said as there was no
clear and legal definition of
what constituted excessive
profits the committee
focused instead on examining
whether the profits of the oil
firms were unreasonable.
By Lailany P. Gomez
CEBU CITYPhilippine
Global Corp., a wholly-owned
unit of Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Co., aims to serve
at least one million Filipinos
working abroad in three years as
it switches from traditional voice
calls to mobile virtual network
operator services.
PLDT senior vice president Eric
Alberto told reporters Tuesday
night that amid challenges posed
by voice-over Internet protocol
to PLDTs legacy business,
telecom company would focus
on MVNOs to tap millions of
Filipinos based abroad.
We have a signicant amount
of legacy business that includes
in-bound long-distance calls
that are being challenged as
broadband usage continued to
penetrate, Alberto conceded.
PLDT admitted that it was
losing the legacy of providing
long-distance calls to over-the-
top services provided by the likes
of Skype and Google Talk.
It said the current voice
business of traditional operators
were facing extinction as more
customer turn to these low-cost
or free services to connect.
We can generate interest with
certain telco partners abroad
for Filipino communities. In
partnership with us, these local
telcos will have a better chance in
cornering that specic market,
said Alberto.
PLDT said in the US alone,
there were three million Filipinos.
If those markets continue to
have afnity to a PLDT brand,
Filipinos will remember us,
Alberto said.
PLDT Global has partnership
agreements with Macaus
Companhia de Telecomunicacoes
de Macau, Malaysias Celcom
Axiata, Hong Kongs CSL and
Singapores Mobile Oneall
under the brand name Smart
Pinoy.
Galoc group to invest $188m
THE Galoc eld consortium is expected
to invest $188 million to implement the
second phase of the oil elds development
in northwest Palawan.
Gregor McNab, chief executive of Otto
Energy Ltd. of Australia, a consortium
member, said in a conference report the nal
investment decision for the Galoc phase two
development was imminent.
He said of the total capital expenditure
of $188 million, Ottos share would be $62
million, representing its 33-percent share in
Service Contract 14 C. Otto Energy holds
a 33-percent direct ownership in the Galoc
project through Galoc Production Co.
Galoc Production holds 59.8 percent of SC
14-C while Nido Production Ltd. owns 22.88
percent, Oriental Petroleum & Minerals
Corp. and Linapacan Oil Gas & Power Corp.,
7.785 percent; The Philodrill Corp., 7.214
percent and Forum Energy Philippines, 2.275
percent.
All key services will be under rm
contract with industry recognized companies
at nal investment decision, McNab said.
The Galoc phase 2 development involves
drilling and completing two 2,000 meter
horizontal section subsea wells and
installation of a second production riser.
Drilling of the two wells was in 2013.
Phase two was expected to deliver 8 million
additional reserves and increase current
production to 12,000 barrels per day from
5,600 barrels per day. Alena Mae S. Flores
Malaya contract to be rebid
THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp. will rebid the operations
and maintenance contract of the 650-
megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in
Pililla, Rizal after the lone bidder failed to
meet the requirements of the agency.
PSALM will conduct a rebidding for
the procurement of the Malaya operations
and maintenance service contract, PSALM
president Emmanuel Ledesma told reporters.
PSALM did not say why SPC Power
Corp., the lone bidder, was not awarded the
contract after a detailed bid evaluation and
post-qualication review.
SPC Power currently operates the Malaya
thermal plant but its contract is set to expire
in October.
PSALM set the budget for the Malaya
operations and maintenance at P555.83
million. The contract will be valid for one
year.
The Malaya plant serves as a must-run
unit when there is no available capacity in
the Luzon grid. The government decided
to suspend the privatization of the Malaya
plant pending the construction of new power
capacities in the grid. Alena Mae S. Flores
Metrobanks 50
th
anniversary. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., established on Sept. 5, 1962, celebrated its 50
th

anniversary with a luncheon at the Rizal Ballroom of the Shangri-La Makati Hotel, coinciding with the awarding of Metrobank
Foundations Outstanding Filipinos. Shown attending the luncheon are (from left) Metrobank Group and Metrobank Foundation
chairman George Ty, former Supreme Court Chief Justice and now Metrobank senior advisor Artemio Panganiban and Education
Secretary Armin Luistro. TEDDY PELAEZ
TRADI NG SUMMARY
SHARES VALUE
FINANCIAL 8,577,879 615,411,572.30
INDUSTRIAL 251,938,504 530,363,656.27
HOLDING FIRMS 84,617,074 927,324,369.07
PROPERTY 191,492,801 574,222,065.58
SERVICES 348,529,858 476,758,719.71
MINING & OIL 983,686,377 133,188,482.17
GRAND TOTAL 1,868,842,493 3,257,268,865.10
FINANCIAL 1,282.11 (down) 0.43
INDUSTRIAL 7,831.24 (down) 32.32
HOLDING FIRMS 4,323.53 (down) 27.13
PROPERTY 1,976.27 (down) 15.02
SERVICES 1,747.39 (down) 4.80
MINING & OIL 21,078.88 (down) 41.14
PSEI 5,150.81 (down) 25.06
All Shares Index 3,424.36 (down) 14.67
Gainers: 55; Losers: 86; Unchanged: 52; Total: 193
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
Vivant Corp. 9.30 9.15
TKC Steel Corp. 2.21 8.33
ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 27.45 6.60
ABS-CBN 27.50 5.77
Transpacic Broadcast 2.64 5.60
Cityland Dev. À' 1.14 5.56
Acesite Hotel 1.41 5.22
Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.81 4.38
Ever Gotesco 0.200 4.17
Liberty Telecom 2.75 4.17
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
JTH Davies Holdings Inc. 1.51 (8.48)
Interport À' 1.20 (8.40)
Boulevard Holdings 0.1570 (8.19)
IPeople Inc. À' 7.20 (7.69)
PNOC Expls `B' 51.00 (7.27)
United Paragon 0.0140 (6.67)
Victorias Milling 1.28 (5.88)
Calapan Venture 2.45 (4.67)
Abra Mining 0.0046 (4.17)
Phil. Realty À' 0.460 (4.17)
TOP GAI NERS TOP LOSERS
Market declines
as inflation climbs
Business
ManilaStandardToday
extrastory2000@gmail.com
B2
52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign
High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying
MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
M
S
T
FINANCIAL
70.50 46.00 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 59.70 60.15 59.40 59.50 (0.34) 2,068,930 (36,611,769.00)
77.45 50.00 Bank of PI 72.40 73.80 72.50 72.90 0.69 523,120 13,703,515.00
595.00 370.00 China Bank 479.00 480.00 478.50 478.80 (0.04) 93,520 (44,145,586.00)
2.20 1.42 BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. 1.93 1.97 1.94 1.97 2.07 529,000
23.90 13.80 COL Financial 20.50 20.50 20.30 20.50 0.00 66,700 129,650.00
20.70 18.50 Eastwest Bank 19.60 19.64 19.58 19.64 0.20 571,900 4,780,722.00
0.95 0.62 First Abacus 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.00 1,000 760.00
89.00 50.00 First Metro Inv. 74.70 73.00 73.00 73.00 (2.28) 230
3.26 1.91 I-Remit Inc. 2.82 2.95 2.80 2.92 3.55 43,000
650.00 420.00 Manulife Fin. Corp. 440.00 450.00 445.00 450.00 2.27 1,300
39.20 3.00 Maybank ATR KE 27.00 27.00 27.00 27.00 0.00 2,900
102.50 60.00 Metrobank 92.50 92.60 91.60 92.10 (0.43) 1,957,530 (34,884,361.50)
3.06 1.30 Natl Reinsurance Corp. 1.92 1.98 1.96 1.98 3.13 50,000
94.50 56.00 Phil Bank of Comm 76.00 76.50 76.50 76.50 0.66 500
77.80 41.00 Phil. National Bank 69.10 69.70 68.75 69.70 0.87 630,240 66,900.00
500.00 210.00 PSE Inc. 373.00 373.00 372.00 372.00 (0.27) 120
45.50 29.45 RCBC À 44.00 44.00 43.50 43.50 (1.14) 203,200.00 (7,017,100.00)
155.20 77.00 Security Bank 150.30 150.70 149.80 150.50 0.13 575,900 51,546,385.00
1100.00 879.00 Sun Life Financial 925.00 925.00 925.00 925.00 0.00 370
140.00 58.00 Union Bank 102.80 102.00 101.00 101.00 (1.75) 28,000 (758,980.00)
2.06 1.43 Vantage Equities 1.80 1.80 1.80 1.80 0.00 30,000
INDUSTRIAL
35.50 26.50 Aboitiz Power Corp. 33.70 33.70 33.30 33.45 (0.74) 2,248,800 (34,672,480.00)
13.58 8.00 Agrinurture Inc. 8.59 8.50 8.37 8.50 (1.05) 18,200
23.95 11.98 Alaska Milk Corp. 23.80 23.50 23.40 23.50 (1.26) 2,100
1.70 0.97 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.49 1.50 1.47 1.49 0.00 1,339,000 146,020.00
1.62 1.08 Alsons Cons. 1.37 1.36 1.32 1.34 (2.19) 1,218,000
Asiabest Group 20.95 21.85 20.80 21.25 1.43 80,400 (342,480.00)
2.96 2.12 Calapan Venture 2.57 2.50 2.45 2.45 (4.67) 14,000
2.75 2.30 Chemrez Technologies Inc. 2.56 2.58 2.54 2.57 0.39 446,000 375,400.00
9.74 7.41 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 9.65 9.68 9.68 9.68 0.31 100
6.41 4.83 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.88 5.95 5.87 5.90 0.34 5,703,800 (20,796,579.00)
7.77 2.80 EEI 7.20 7.40 7.25 7.35 2.08 218,500 134,163.00
3.80 1.00 Euro-Med Lab. 2.18 2.19 2.19 2.19 0.46 1,000
25.00 5.80 Federal Chemicals 9.71 9.71 9.71 9.71 0.00 1,000
19.40 12.50 First Gen Corp. 18.62 18.70 18.20 18.30 (1.72) 501,000 (1,272,772.00)
79.30 51.50 First Holdings A 77.00 77.45 76.90 76.90 (0.13) 226,400 (255,922.00)
27.00 17.50 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 19.00 19.20 19.00 19.20 1.05 5,300
0.02 0.0110 Greenergy 0.0160 0.0170 0.0160 0.0160 0.00 204,600,000
13.10 7.80 Holcim Philippines Inc. 12.42 12.42 12.22 12.40 (0.16) 67,800 260,180.00
6.00 3.80 Integ. Micro-Electronics 3.98 3.99 3.96 3.99 0.25 7,000
2.35 0.61 Ionics Inc 0.620 0.620 0.620 0.620 0.00 22,000
120.00 80.00 Jollibee Foods Corp. 97.50 97.50 94.00 94.00 (3.59) 670,130 (50,035,802.00)
8.40 1.04 LMG Chemicals 2.33 2.33 2.27 2.30 (1.29) 220,000
27.45 18.10 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.80 26.80 26.40 26.55 (0.93) 636,700 (5,395,745.00)
6.95 0.75 Mariwasa MFG. Inc. 2.52 2.52 2.52 2.52 0.00 9,000
18.10 8.12 Megawide 16.600 16.600 16.400 16.400 (1.20) 6,300 1,640.00
280.60 215.00 Mla. Elect. Co À 248.00 252.00 246.20 250.20 0.89 289,280 (17,985,490.00)
12.20 7.50 Pancake House Inc. 7.30 7.10 7.10 7.10 (2.74) 17,500 (124,250.00)
3.65 1.96 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.65 3.82 3.64 3.81 4.38 14,702,000 23,025,450.00
16.00 9.70 Petron Corporation 9.98 10.00 9.95 10.00 0.20 2,318,200 (10,051,377.00)
13.70 10.20 Phinma Corporation 11.00 11.00 11.00 11.00 0.00 10,000
14.94 8.05 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 8.34 8.34 8.18 8.20 (1.68) 86,300 24,540.00
4.42 1.01 RFM Corporation 4.07 4.15 4.05 4.10 0.74 725,000 1,821,540.00
3.90 2.01 Roxas Holdings 2.70 2.70 2.70 2.70 0.00 30,000
6.50 2.90 Salcon Power Corp. 5.66 5.66 5.60 5.66 0.00 1,200
34.60 26.50 San Miguel Brewery Inc. 34.40 34.40 34.30 34.40 0.00 101,400
129.20 110.20 San Miguel Corp À 111.20 111.50 111.10 111.50 0.27 109,490 (2,495,396.00)
2.62 1.25 Seacem 2.36 2.40 2.36 2.39 1.27 2,672,000
2.44 1.73 Splash Corporation 1.76 1.80 1.74 1.80 2.27 211,000
0.196 0.112 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.139 0.142 0.138 0.142 2.16 1,140,000
14.66 3.30 Tanduay Holdings 11.68 11.68 11.40 11.50 (1.54) 1,810,500 (1,833,686.00)
2.88 1.99 TKC Steel Corp. 2.04 2.21 2.14 2.21 8.33 15,000
1.41 0.90 Trans-Asia Oil 1.16 1.16 1.14 1.14 (1.72) 2,387,000
69.20 37.00 Universal Robina 61.70 61.70 61.40 61.50 (0.32) 1,033,790 19,174,046.00
5.50 1.05 Victorias Milling 1.36 1.37 1.28 1.28 (5.88) 4,611,000 79,200.00
0.77 0.320 Vitarich Corp. 0.580 0.590 0.580 0.580 0.00 89,000
18.00 2.55 Vivant Corp. 8.52 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.15 100
1.22 0.77 Vulcan Indl. 0.90 0.96 0.91 0.91 1.11 553,000
HOLDING FIRMS
1.18 0.65 Abacus Cons. À 0.73 0.75 0.72 0.72 (1.37) 32,136,000
59.90 35.50 Aboitiz Equity 48.00 48.00 47.50 47.50 (1.04) 315,800 (5,143,650.00)
13.70 8.00 Alliance Global Inc. 12.02 12.14 11.84 12.06 0.33 19,862,200 108,960,216.00
2.60 1.80 Anglo Holdings A 2.00 1.98 1.94 1.94 (3.00) 300,000
5.02 3.00 Anscor À 4.60 4.59 4.56 4.56 (0.87) 14,000 (13,680.00)
6.98 0.260 Asia Amalgamated A 5.00 4.99 4.80 4.99 (0.20) 90,300
2.98 1.49 ATN Holdings A 1.54 1.54 1.50 1.54 0.00 262,000
485.20 272.00 Ayala Corp À 416.00 417.60 414.40 417.60 0.38 345,340 (19,826,720.00)
64.80 30.50 DMCI Holdings 56.90 57.50 56.35 56.60 (0.53) 439,730 (23,080,778.50)
5.20 3.30 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 3.98 4.08 4.00 4.04 1.51 337,000
0.98 0.10 Forum Pacic 0.250 0.248 0.215 0.248 (0.80) 190,000
556.00 455.40 GT Capital 537.50 540.00 536.50 538.00 0.09 314,200 29,334,875.00
5.22 2.94 House of Inv. 4.80 4.86 4.77 4.86 1.25 37,000
36.20 19.00 JG Summit Holdings 33.00 33.20 31.40 31.95 (3.18) 1,071,500 (9,197,035.00)
6.21 4.00 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.13 5.22 5.12 5.12 (0.19) 9,657,300 (3,226,024.00)
1.54 0.61 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 1.05 1.05 1.03 1.03 (1.90) 1,556,000
3.82 1.800 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 2.28 2.32 2.27 2.31 1.32 143,000
4.65 2.56 Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. 4.20 4.22 4.19 4.19 (0.24) 10,652,000 37,938,760.00
6.24 3.40 Minerales Industrias Corp. 5.03 5.10 5.02 5.09 1.19 155,100
0.0770 0.045 Pacica À 0.0510 0.0510 0.0510 0.0510 0.00 2,200,000
0.82 0.44 Prime Orion 0.470 0.470 0.465 0.465 (1.06) 2,100,000
4.10 1.56 Republic Glass A 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.00 2,000
2.40 1.01 Seafront À 1.41 1.45 1.41 1.41 0.00 18,000
0.490 0.285 Sinophil Corp. 0.300 0.305 0.305 0.305 1.67 40,000
760.00 450.00 SM Investments Inc. 718.50 720.00 714.50 715.50 (0.42) 242,250 (47,291,440.00)
2.71 1.08 Solid Group Inc. 2.16 2.16 2.09 2.10 (2.78) 1,013,000
1.57 1.14 South China Res. Inc. 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.12 0.00 10,000
850.00 425.00 Transgrid 478.00 460.00 460.00 460.00 (3.77) 20
0.420 0.101 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2400 0.2400 0.2400 0.2400 0.00 340,000
0.620 0.082 Wellex Industries 0.3150 0.3250 0.3100 0.3200 1.59 770,000
P R O P E R T Y
3.34 1.70 A. Brown Co., Inc. 3.00 3.01 2.96 3.00 0.00 14,000
0.195 0.150 Arthaland Corp. 0.170 0.168 0.168 0.168 (1.18) 40,000
24.15 13.36 Ayala Land `B 22.45 22.60 22.00 22.35 (0.45) 3,222,900 (7,789,980.00)
5.62 3.08 Belle Corp. À 4.79 4.82 4.72 4.82 0.63 404,000 (1,304,940.00)
2.85 1.35 Century Property 1.55 1.54 1.51 1.54 (0.65) 4,336,000 (1,032,670.00)
2.91 1.20 City & Land Dev. 2.40 2.50 2.40 2.40 0.00 59,000
1.50 1.05 Cityland Dev. À 1.08 1.14 1.10 1.14 5.56 28,000 9,990.00
0.092 0.060 Crown Equities Inc. 0.074 0.074 0.071 0.071 (4.05) 3,340,000
1.11 0.67 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.81 (1.22) 320,000
0.94 0.54 Empire East Land 0.860 0.870 0.830 0.850 (1.16) 28,834,000 (1,062,500.00)
3.80 2.90 Eton Properties 3.70 3.72 3.69 3.69 (0.27) 120,000
0.310 0.10 Ever Gotesco 0.192 0.201 0.190 0.200 4.17 660,000 2,010.00
2.74 1.63 Global-Estate 1.87 1.87 1.82 1.82 (2.67) 5,067,000 (1,079,770.00)
1.44 0.98 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.29 1.31 1.29 1.30 0.78 16,580,000 18,395,010.00
2.14 0.65 Interport À 1.31 1.23 1.20 1.20 (8.40) 590,000 (36,000.00)
2.34 1.51 Megaworld Corp. 2.22 2.24 2.16 2.17 (2.25) 103,767,000 (48,682,540.00)
0.36 0.150 MRC Allied Ind. 0.1640 0.1650 0.1630 0.1640 0.00 1,160,000
0.990 0.089 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.6800 0.6900 0.6700 0.6700 (1.47) 3,016,000
0.67 0.41 Phil. Realty À 0.480 0.460 0.460 0.460 (4.17) 1,300,000
19.94 10.00 Robinsons Land `B 18.70 18.80 18.10 18.30 (2.14) 3,003,200 (8,914,430.00)
7.71 2.51 Rockwell 3.56 3.57 3.45 3.45 (3.09) 438,000 (10,590.00)
2.85 1.81 Shang Properties Inc. 2.80 2.70 2.70 2.70 (3.57) 8,000
8.95 6.00 SM Development À 6.06 6.10 6.04 6.06 0.00 842,600 (2,400,461.00)
18.20 10.94 SM Prime Holdings 13.76 13.90 13.60 13.60 (1.16) 8,872,200 (20,807,402.00)
0.91 0.64 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.68 0.70 0.67 0.70 2.94 200,000 8,040.00
4.55 1.80 Starmalls 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.99 0.00 20,000
4.66 2.60 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.480 4.480 4.410 4.480 0.00 4,913,000 1,370,160.00
S E R V I C E S
42.00 24.80 ABS-CBN 26.00 27.70 26.00 27.50 5.77 206,700
18.98 1.05 Acesite Hotel 1.34 1.48 1.35 1.41 5.22 1,148,000 (62,900.00)
0.78 0.45 APC Group, Inc. 0.630 0.610 0.610 0.610 (3.17) 204,000
10.92 7.30 Asian Terminals Inc. 9.00 9.10 9.00 9.00 0.00 101,600
28.80 12.20 Berjaya Phils. Inc. 27.00 26.90 26.90 26.90 (0.37) 100 2,690.00
102.80 4.45 Bloomberry 9.50 9.53 9.45 9.50 0.00 8,674,900 (9,982,626.00)
0.5300 0.1010 Boulevard Holdings 0.1710 0.1690 0.1570 0.1570 (8.19) 128,200,000 411,320.00
24.00 5.20 Calata Corp. 5.72 5.68 5.60 5.60 (2.10) 134,800 (1,704.00)
82.50 60.80 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 58.50 59.50 58.15 59.00 0.85 410,880 (8,341,627.50)
10.60 8.20 Centro Esc. Univ. 10.20 10.20 10.20 10.20 0.00 1,000
9.70 5.44 DFNN Inc. 5.80 5.79 5.50 5.79 (0.17) 38,800 8,105.00
1750.00 800.00 FEUI 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 0.00 500
1270.00 831.00 Globe Telecom 1140.00 1140.00 1105.00 1105.00 (3.07) 19,300 (14,171,575.00)
11.00 6.18 GMA Network Inc. 9.70 9.70 9.63 9.70 0.00 159,500
77.00 43.40 I.C.T.S.I. 67.50 67.85 65.90 67.20 (0.44) 872,760 (24,423,831.00)
0.98 0.36 Information Capital Tech. 0.400 0.390 0.390 0.390 (2.50) 100,000
18.40 5.00 Imperial Res. À 6.97 6.95 6.95 6.95 (0.29) 1,200
6.80 4.30 IPeople Inc. À 7.80 7.20 7.20 7.20 (7.69) 10,000
4.70 1.75 IP Converge 2.00 2.04 1.90 1.95 (2.50) 262,000
34.50 0.036 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.029 0.029 0.027 0.029 0.00 198,000,000 (14,500.00)
3.87 1.00 IPVG Corp. 1.00 1.01 1.00 1.00 0.00 1,091,000
0.0760 0.042 Island Info 0.0460 0.0460 0.0460 0.0460 0.00 1,000,000
3.45 2.01 JTH Davies Holdings Inc. 1.65 1.65 1.51 1.51 (8.48) 74,000
10.30 5.90 Leisure & Resorts 7.40 7.50 7.20 7.48 1.08 2,316,300 (707,764.00)
3.70 2.60 Liberty Telecom 2.64 2.75 2.65 2.75 4.17 38,000
3.96 2.70 Macroasia Corp. 2.80 2.89 2.89 2.89 3.21 2,000
4.08 1.21 Manila Jockey 2.62 2.66 2.52 2.53 (3.44) 755,000
22.95 13.80 Pacic Online Sys. Corp. 13.98 14.00 13.86 13.98 0.00 23,800
8.58 5.35 PAL Holdings Inc. 7.66 7.72 7.64 7.67 0.13 75,200 38,600.00
3.39 1.05 Paxys Inc. 2.75 2.75 2.73 2.74 (0.36) 592,000
17.88 12.10 Philweb.Com Inc. 16.96 16.98 16.94 16.96 0.00 205,600 780,260.00
2886.00 2096.00 PLDT Common 2730.00 2760.00 2720.00 2726.00 (0.15) 52,570 3,743,880.00
30.15 10.68 Puregold 29.40 29.50 28.90 29.05 (1.19) 1,410,200 (1,854,515.00)
3.30 2.42 Transpacic Broadcast 2.50 2.64 2.64 2.64 5.60 1,000
0.79 0.34 Waterfront Phils. 0.460 0.455 0.440 0.455 (1.09) 530,000
MINING & OIL
0.0083 0.0038 Abra Mining 0.0048 0.0048 0.0046 0.0046 (4.17) 327,000,000 (46,000.00)
6.22 3.00 Apex `B 4.65 4.66 4.65 4.65 0.00 100,000 (465,140.00)
20.80 14.50 Atlas Cons. À 17.00 17.00 16.96 16.98 (0.12) 72,800 (534,900.00)
48.00 20.00 Atok-Big Wedge À 26.90 26.90 26.90 26.90 0.00 1,000 26,900.00
0.345 0.170 Basic Energy Corp. 0.265 0.260 0.255 0.260 (1.89) 410,000
29.00 19.98 Benguet Corp À 23.00 23.00 23.00 23.00 0.00 2,500
34.00 21.20 Benguet Corp `B 23.10 22.65 22.60 22.60 (2.16) 7,200 (162,770.00)
61.80 6.96 Dizon 22.50 22.80 21.00 22.00 (2.22) 322,000
1.21 0.50 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.57 0.00 1,853,000
1.81 1.0600 Lepanto À 1.130 1.130 1.100 1.130 0.00 4,808,000
2.070 1.0900 Lepanto `B 1.190 1.190 1.170 1.190 0.00 2,431,000 (686,760.00)
0.085 0.042 Manila Mining À 0.0590 0.0600 0.0590 0.0590 0.00 17,910,000
0.840 0.570 Manila Mining `B 0.0600 0.0600 0.0600 0.0600 0.00 1,200,000 60,000.00
36.50 15.04 Nickelasia 17.20 17.20 16.98 17.00 (1.16) 1,017,800 4,421,930.00
12.84 2.91 Nihao Mineral Resources 7.20 7.29 7.01 7.10 (1.39) 607,300 35,500.00
8.40 2.99 Oriental Peninsula Res. 4.500 4.540 4.350 4.450 (1.11) 8,523,000 75,950.00
0.032 0.014 Oriental Pet. À 0.0170 0.0170 0.0170 0.0170 0.00 305,400,000
7.05 5.10 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 5.96 5.96 5.96 5.96 0.00 2,300
28.25 18.40 Philex À 18.90 19.00 18.82 18.90 0.00 699,700 (558,848.00)
48.00 3.00 PhilexPetroleum 34.00 33.90 32.70 32.70 (3.82) 160,700
0.062 0.017 Philodrill Corp. À 0.048 0.048 0.047 0.048 0.00 157,000,000
65.00 39.00 PNOC Expls `B 55.00 51.00 51.00 51.00 (7.27) 40
257.80 161.10 Semirara Corp. 219.20 220.00 218.20 219.20 0.00 86,650 (1,225,738.00)
0.029 0.015 United Paragon 0.0150 0.0150 0.0140 0.0140 (6.67) 153,000,000 30,000.00
PREFERRED
50.00 23.05 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 25.75 27.70 26.00 27.45 6.60 1,427,100 (16,620.00)
580.00 535.00 Ayala Corp. Pref À 541.00 545.00 545.00 545.00 0.74 210
109.80 101.50 First Phil. Hldgs.-Pref. 102.00 102.50 101.90 102.50 0.49 43,750 3,071,375.00
11.02 6.00 GMA Holdings Inc. 9.70 9.75 9.56 9.70 0.00 259,000
116.70 108.90 PCOR-Preferred 108.50 108.80 108.80 108.80 0.28 260
80.00 74.50 SMC Preferred 1 76.40 76.40 75.00 75.30 (1.44) 3,500 71,250.00
1050.00 1000.00 SMPFC Preferred 1010.00 1011.00 1010.00 1010.00 0.00 2,050
WARRANTS & BONDS
1.31 0.62 Megaworld Corp. Warrants 1.21 1.21 1.20 1.20 (0.83) 329,000 180,500.00
0.210 0.00 Omico Corp. Warrant 0.0310 0.0320 0.0310 0.0320 3.23 800,000
PH mobile commerce on the rise
Starmalls signs deal with Pepsi
By Jenniffer B. Austria
STARMALLS Inc., a shopping mall operator
owned by the family of Senator Manuel Villar,
said it has signed an exclusive multi-million-
peso partnership with beverage maker Pepsi-Cola
Products Philippines Inc.
The mall operator said that under the deal, it
would serve Pepsi products in Starmall foodcourts,
cinemas, wellness and tness centers and terminal
hubs.
Starmalls president and chief operating ofcer
Jerry Navarrete and Pepsi president Partha
Chakrabarti led the signing of the contract at
Starmall EDSA-Shaw.
As part of our mission statement, we will
continue to market portfolio of international and
homegrown branded quality products at prices
that will provide good value to our consumers in
key Food and Beverage category, Chakrabarti
said.
Navarrete said the partnership came at the
right time since the company was in the midst of
aggressive mall expansion.
Being partners with an established brand
pushes our stance to be a more aggressive and
dynamic player in the industry. We are very
positive with this venture in as much as we are
equally optimistic in landing similar mutual
partnerships with other companies, Navarrete
said.
The Villar family is currently consolidating its
real estate and commercial development businesses
under listed rm Polar Property Holdings Corp.
Polar Property, to be renamed Starmills, will be
merged with Manuela Corp., which is developing
and operating commercial centers and ofce
spaces.
Starmalls earlier announced plans to spend P15
billion over a ve-year period to expand its chain
of Starmalls in the country, particularly in the
Visayas and Mindanao.
The merger will be implemented through a share
swap scheme, with Polar Property issuing P3.53
billion worth of shares to Manuela in exchange for
98-percent stake in the company.
STOCKS fell for the second day, amid
lackluster trading as investors stayed on the
sidelines after the release of higher ination
gure in August and weaker-than-expected
US manufacturing data.
The Philippine Stock Exchange
index, the 30-company benchmark,
fell 25 points, or 0.5 percent, to
close at 5,150.81 Wednesday, as
the value turnover reached only
P3.3 billion. All the six counters
ended in the red.
The heavier index, representing
all shares, also weakened by 14
points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,424.36,
as losers outnumbered gainers, 86
to 55, with 52 issues unchanged.
Pepsi Cola Products Philippines
Inc. increased 4.4 percent to P3.81,
after bagging a deal to be the exclusive
beverage supplier to Starmalls.
Manila Electric Co. inched up 0.9
percent to P250.20. The countrys
largest power retailer was demanding
P9.1 billion in refund from the
Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp. the latter had
reported overcharged power users.
Property companies led losers
Wednesday. Megaworld Corp.
dipped 2.3 percent to P2.17 while
Ayala Land Inc. was down 0.5
percent to P22.35.
Meanwhile, weaker-than-expected
US manufacturing gures, just
days after China announced its own
production slowdown, sent Asian
stock markets down Wednesday.
A measure of US manufacturing
activity ticked down from 49.8 in
July to 49.6 in August, according
to the Institute for Supply
Management, a private trade
group. It was the third straight
month of a reading below 50,
which indicates a contraction.
The US report comes amid
shrinking factory activity in almost
every major economy, including
the 17-country eurozone, Britain,
China, Japan and Brazil. In China,
factory activity fell last month to
its lowest level in more than three
years.
Japans Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8
percent to 8,703.32. Hong Kongs
Hang Seng lost 1.1 percent to
19,211.25 and South Koreas Kospi
dropped 1.5 percent at 1,878.50.
Australias S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6
percent to 4,277.60.
Investors are remaining
cautious while awaiting a
meeting of the European Central
Bank on Thursday, during
which president Mario Draghi
is expected to announce details
of a new bond-buying program
intended to help countries with
high borrowing costs such as
Spain and Italy.
Additionally, the weakness
in US manufacturing may help
persuade the Federal Reserve
to announce new action after its
meeting next week.
If we dont see any good,
positive catalyst, investors will
be very reluctant to buy stocks
at this point. We are waiting for
the ECB, US jobs data and other
major US economic data, said
Jackson Wong, vice president
at Tanrich Securities in Hong
Kong. With Bloomberg, AP
INFORMATION technology
solutions provider SAP
Philippines Inc. noted the rapid
growth of mobile commerce in
the Philippines.
Mobile commerce services
make it possible for people
to perform everyday nancial
transactions from their mobile
phone.
We have always been
proactively innovating to
provide relevant solutions to
the business sector enabling
them to run better, SAP
Philippines managing director
Darren Rushworth said.
Mobility solutions for
business transactions is now
becoming a trend as people do
transactions through mobile
instruments. It is simply the
way people today are doing
business, he added.
A study by research rm
Gartner predicted that Asia-
Pacic and Africa would
account for more than 60
percent of global mobile
payments volume by 2016.
SAP said the Philippines,
in particular, has embraced
the mCommerce path, which
presents a unique opportunity
for banks in the country
not only to adopt mobile as
technology to deliver banking
products and services but
also to diversify into a full
mCommerce strategy to open
new revenue lines.
From a consumer perspective,
this ts well into their existing
mobile adoption and usage
patterns, helping them to regain
control of nances while on the
go, it said.
The mobile operators are
getting together and creating
cash in points for overseas
Philippines workers, while
the banks have done little in
the way of enabling mobile
remittance, said Guruprasad
Gaonkar, head of nancial
services industry solutions of
SAP South East Asia.
A signicant revenue
stream is available for mobile
remittance, for both domestic
and international corridors, he
added.
SAP provides end-to-end
mCommerce solutions through
Sybase 365 mobile services,
which currently has more
than 3,700 banking customers
globally with over 200
customers for SAP mCommerce
Solutions.
These solutions enable
customer transaction, build
customer awareness, provide
customer intelligence,
and strengthen customer
relationships and more
importantly creates new
revenue streams for banks.
B3
Classifeds
ManilaStandardToday
adv.mst@gmail.com
Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan
Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER
Cebu 1st District Engineering Offce
Regional Equipment Services Compound
V. Sotto Street, Cebu City
(MST-Sept. 6 & 11, 2012)
I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and
Highways, Cebu 1
st
District Engineering Offce, through its Bids and Awards Committee
(BAC), invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned project :
Item No. 1
a. Contract ID : 12HD0048
b. Contract Name : Cluster XXIV Road Upgrading (Gravel to Paved) of National Road
at Antonio Y de Pio Highway:
1. KO118+641 to KO118+775; - Php3,316,285.87
2. (KO126+228 to KO126+409)
KO120+282 to KO120+372 0.090km;
(KO127+(-159) to KO127+000)
KO120+372 to KO120+542 0.170km; - Php6,119,367.79
3. KO121+459 to KO121+525; - Php1,724,869.51
4. (KO127+000 to KO127+031)
KO120+880 to KO120+910 - Php799,935.84
Total - Php11,960,459.01
c. Contract Location : Antonio Y de Pio Highway, Cebu
d. Scope of Work : Concreting
e. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php11,960,459.01
f. Contract Duration : 121 Calendar Days
g. Funding Source : CY 2013 Infra.
h. Bid Document Fee : Php10,000.00
Item No. 2
a. Contract ID : 12HD0049
b. Contract Name : Cluster XXV Rehab./Reconstruction/Upgrading of National Roads:
1. Road Upgrading (Gravel to Paved) Php1,902,810.69
of National Road, Sogod-Tabuelan -
KO110+490 to KO111+ (-422) - 0.80km
2. Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading - Php12,311,353.06
of Damaged Paved National Road
(intermittent sections) Sogod-Tabuelan
KO114+867 to KO115+520 0.741km

3. Road Upgrading (Gravel to Paved) of - Php1,286,907.10
National Road Sogod- Tabuelan
KO110+414 to KO110+466 - 0.052km
Total - Php15,501,070.85
c. Contract Location : Tabuelan, Cebu
d. Scope of Work : Concreting
e. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php15,501,070.85
f. Contract Duration : 121 Calendar Days
g. Funding Source : CY 2013 Infra.
h. Bid Document Fee : Php10,000.00
Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in
accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations.
To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) and must meet
the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75%
Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture with PCAB license
applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion of a similar contract costing
at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity
at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use
non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the
DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW
Central Offce will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete
requirements, and issue the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). Registration Forms
may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents : September 05, 2012 to September 17, 2012
2. Pre-bid Conference : September 10, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.
3. Receipt of LOIs from Prospective Bidders : September 11, 2012 to September 17, 2012
4. Receipt of Bids : September 24, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
5. Opening of Bids : September 24, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accompanied forms as specifed in the BDs
in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall
contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements.
The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be
awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the evaluation and
the post qualifcation.

The Department of Public Works and Highways Cebu I
st
District Engineering
Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process
anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability the affected bidders.
Approved by:
(SGD) MARIETTA D. ECARMA
BAC Chairman
NOTED:
(SGD) WILFREDO AV. ENCISO, CEO VI
District Engineer
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Manila
I NVI TATI ON FOR BI DS
Reference: National Roads Improvement and Management Program,
Phase II (NRIMP-2)
Loan No. 7552-PH
LM-2.3: Mindoro ~ast Coast Road Mindoro East Coast
(Calapan-Socorro-Bongabong-Danggay Section),
Mindoro Oriental, Region IV-B
1. The Republic of the Philippines through the Department of Public
Works and Highways has received a loan from the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) toward the cost
of the National Roads Improvement and Management Program,
Phase II (NRIMP-2). It is intended that part of the proceeds of this
loan will be applied to eligible payments under LM-2.3: Mindoro
East Coast Road, Calapan-Socorro-Bongabong-Danggay Section,
Mindoro Oriental, Region IV-B.
2. The Department of Public Works and Highways now invites
sealed bids from eligible bidders for the Long Term Performance-
Based Maintenance (LTPBM) Contract of the Calapan-Socorro-
Bongabong-Danggay Section, Mindoro Oriental, Region IV-B. The
length of the road project is 127.54 kms.
3. Bidding will be conducted through the International Competitive
Bidding (ICB) procedures specifed in the World Banks Guidelines:
Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits dated May 2004,
and revised in October 2006, with evaluation on a post-qualifcation
basis and is open to all qualifed potential bidders from Eligible
Source Countries as defned in the Bidding Documents.
4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from
and inspect the bidding documents at the offce of the Program
Director, NRIM-PMO, 2
nd
Street, Port Area, Manila, Philippines with
Telephone Nos. (632) 304-3779 and 304-3783.
5. A complete set of bidding documents may be purchased by
interested bidders starting September 6, 2012, at NRIM-PMO,
2
nd
Street, Port Area, Manila, Philippines, upon payment of a non-
refundable fee of PhP 11 ,000.00, or the equivalent amount in a
freely convertible currency.
6. The provisions in the Instruction to Bidders and in the General
Conditions of Contract are the provisions of the World Bank Sample
Bidding Documents (SBD): Procurement of Works and Services
under Output and Performance-Based Road Contracts.
7. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in the amount of
PhP 22.00 Million only in the following forms: a. unconditional bank
guarantee, b. irrevocable letter of credit, and c. cashier, certifed/
managers check. Bid security issued by a surety shall not be
accepted. Bids must be delivered to the Department of Public
Works and Highways, NRIM-PMO, 2
nd
Street, Port Area, Manila,
Philippines, November 8, 2012 at or before 10:00 A.M. Bids will
be opened immediately thereafter in the presence of bidders
representatives who choose to attend.
(Sgd.) RAUL C. ASIS
Chairman, Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) for Civil Works
for NRIMP-2
Department of Public Works and Highways
Port Area, Manila, Philippines
E-mail: asis.raul@dpwh.gov.ph
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
Department of Public Works and Highways
Region III
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER
Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering Offce
San Antonio, Guagua, Pampanga
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
INVITATION TO BID
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering
Off i ce, through the FY 2012 RA 10147 EXTENDED Regular 2011
Continuing invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects:
1. Contract ID : 12CH0046
Contract Name : Desilting/Channel Excavation of Betis River
Contract Location : Guagua, Pampanga
SARO No. : SR2012-08-006638
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php12, 890,127.65
Contract Duration : 90 CD
Non-Refundable Bid Doc Fee: Php10,000.00
2. Contract ID : 12CH0047
Contract Name : Slope Protection Works at Sapang Maragul
River
Contract Location : Guagua, Pampanga
SARO No. : SR2012-08-006638
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php10, 747,396.94
Contract Duration : 120 CD
Non-Refundable Bid Doc Fee: Php10,000.00
The BAC will conduct the procurement process with the Revised
IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be
automatically rejected at the opening of bid.
To bid for its contract, a contractor must submit a letter of Intent (LOI),
purchase of bid documents and must meet the following major criteria:
(a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned
partnership, corporation, cooperative, o joint venture, (c) the PCAB
license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion
of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10
years, and (e) Net fnancial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or
credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use
non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary
examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for
registration, to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for
the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Offce will only process
contractors applications for registration, with complete requirements, and
issue the Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Forms may be
downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are
shown below:
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents On : Sept. 05-Oct. 02, 2012
2. Pre-Bidding Conference On : Sept 19, 2012 at 2:00 P.M
3. Receipt of Bids Oct. 02, 2012 at 8:00 - 10:00 A.M
4. Opening of Bids Oct. 02, 2012 at 10:00 A.M.
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at
DPWH-Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering Offce, San Antonio, Guagua,
Pampanga, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of please see above.
Prospective bidders may also download the BDs from the DPWH website,
if available. Prospective bidders that will downloaded the BDs from DPWH
website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid
Documents. Bid must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount
and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as
specifed in the Bidding Documents (BDs) to the BAC Chairman. The
frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall
include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial
component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated
Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
The DPWH-Pampanga 2
nd
DEO reserves the right to accept or reject
any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

(Sgd.) GENE D. GONZALES
BAC Chairman
Cordillera Administrative Region
OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Engineers Hill, Baguio City
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
The Department of Public Works and Highways, Cordillera Administrative Region
(DPWH-CAR) through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to bid for
the aforementioned project/s:
1. Contract ID : 12PI0068
Contract Name : Instal l ati on/ Appl i cati on/ Constructi on of Road
Safety Devices along Baguio Bontoc Road/ Mt.
Province Ilocos Sur Road with exceptions
Contract Location : Bauko/ Tadian/ Sabangan, Mt. Province
Scope of Work : Installation of guardrails, Informatory signs, etc.
Approved Budget Cost : Php 9,899,970.00
Contract Duration : 80 calendar days
Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 10,000.00
Contract Name : Installation/ Application/ Construction of Road Safety
Devices along Mt. Province Nueva Vizcaya Road
(Bontoc Mt. Polis Section)/ Mt. Province Ifugao
Road (Paracelis Kiling Section) with exceptions
Contract Location : Bontoc/ Paracelis, Mt. Province
Contract Name : Inst al l at i on/ Appl i cat i on/ Const r uct i on of
Road Saf et y Devi ces al ong Bagui o Bont oc
Road, Mabaay Bontoc Secti on, K0356+000 to
K0391+000, with exceptions
Contract Location : Bauko/ Sabangan/ Bontoc, Mt. Province
The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with Revised IRR of R.A.
9184, Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid.
To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI),purchase bid
documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH,
(b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative or joint
venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion
of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net
Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least
10% of ABC. The BAC will use the non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check,
preliminary examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration, to the
DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW
Central Offce will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete
requirements, and issue the Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms
may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. Letter of Intent submitted thru
mail will not be accepted. Only the Owner and the Authorized Liaison Offcer as refected
in the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC) will be allowed to transact with the BAC.
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From September 6, 2012 September 25, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference September 13, 2012; 10:00am
3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective
Bidders
Deadline: September 20, 2012; 5:00pm
4. Submission/Receipt of Bids Until 10:00am; September 25, 2012
5. Opening of Bids September 25, 2012; 10:00am
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-CAR, BAC-
Secretariat, upon payment of non- refundable fee for Bidding Documents as stated above.
Prospective bidders may also download the BDs, if available from the DPWH web site.
Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said
fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be
open only to interested parties who have purchased the BDs. Bids must be accompanied by
a bid security in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised
IRR of R.A. 9184.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BDs
in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall
contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements.
The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be
awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and
post-qualifcation.
The Department of Public Works and Highways, Cordillera Administrative Region
(DPWH-CAR), reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the
bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the
affected bidders.

Approved by:
(Sgd.) CONSTANTE R. SARMIENTO
Chief, Maintenance Division
BAC Chairman
DPWH-CAR, Regional Offce
Engineers Hill, Baguio City, 2600
Fax/Tel. No. (074)-444-88-38
Department of Health
CENTER FOR HEALTH DEVELOPMENT-METRO MANILA
VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER
Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City
Tel. No. 294-6711 to 14, 292-0604, Telefax 294-6718, 294-5090, 292-0431
Email address: vmc_hrd@yahoo.com
INVITATION TO BID
PUBLIC BIDDING NO.: VMC-2012-016
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
The VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER invites all eligible bidders to bid on:
DESCRIPTION PROJECT ALLOCATION NON-REFUNDABLE FEE
Procurement of Medical
Supplies (Sutures)
P 4,617,847.17 P5,000.00
The bidding documents shall be available to interested bidders at the BAC
Secretariat, BAC Offce, 2/F, VMC, Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City from
9:00AM to 3:00PM, starting September 6, 2012 upon payment of non-refundable
fee as indicated above. The pre-bidding conference will be on September 14,
2012, 10:00 am at the BAC Mini-Conference Room, 2/F, VMC Annex Bldg.,
Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City. Only those who have purchased the
bidding documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre bid conference and
raise or submit written queries (see revised IRR of RA 9184). Bid opening will
be on September 26, 2012, 10:00AM at the 2/F, VMC BAC-Mini Conference
Room, Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City.
All particulars relative to bid evaluation and award of contract shall be
governed by the provisions of R.A. 9184 otherwise known as the Government
Procurement Reform Act. Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget of
the Contract (ABC) shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. LATE BIDS
SHALL NOT BE ACCEPTED. ALTERNATIVE BIDS SHALL BE REJECTED.
Bid bond shall be in form of cash, cashiers check or managers check
equivalent to two percent (2%) of the approved budget of the contract.
This invitation is also advertised with the Government Electronic
Procurement System (G-EPS) at www.procurementservice.org and posted at
the VMC BAC bulletin board.

For inquiry, please call the BAC Secretariat Offce at Telephone No.
294-4625 and 294-6711 local 104.
VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO 1) REVIEW
ALL THE REQUIREMENTS; 2) REJECT ANY OR ALL BIDS; 3) CONFISCATE
THE BID BOND AND/OR PURSUE APPROPRIATE LEGAL ACTION SHOULD
A BIDDER BE FOUND TO HAVE VIOLATED R.A. 9184; 4) WAIVE ANY
DEFECTS CONTAINED THEREIN; and/or 5) ACCEPT THE OFFER MOST
ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE GOVERNMENT. ANY DECISION MADE BY THE
VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER IS FINAL AND EXECUTORY.
FURTHER, VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER ASSUMES NO OBLIGATION
WHATSOEVER TO COMPENSATE OR INDEMNIFY THE BIDDER OR
WINNING BIDDER. AS THE CASE MAY BE, FOR ANY EXPENSE OR LOSS
THAT SAID PARTY (IES) MAY INCUR IN ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE PRE-
BIDDING AND BIDDING PROCESS NOR DOES IT GUARANTEE THAT AN
AWARD WILL BE MADE.

(SGD)DONA D. SALMOS, RN, MAN
Chairman, BAC
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
LUNGSOD NG MAKATI
BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE
J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City
Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988
www.makati.gov.ph
INVITATION TO BID
REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS
We are inviting interested accredited / eligible bidders to bid for the Proposed Projects as follows:
1. Proposed Improvement of Koliseyum ng Bayan (Phase I), located at Washington Circle,
Brgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati City
P199,981,121.00
Interested parties may proceed to the Bids & Awards Conference Room, 9th Floor, New
Makati City Hall Building located at J.P. Rizal Street corner F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati
City for details of the above projects.
Bid Documents will be available 1 (one) day after posting / publication of the above projects.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
1. Pre-Bidding Conference at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor September 18, 2012 (02:00 P.M.)
2. Opening of Bids at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor October 02, 2012 (2:00 P.M.)
3. Bid Evaluation October 02 - 09, 2012
4. Post-Qualifcation October 9, 2012
5. Notice of Award October 16, 2012
The City of Makati reserves the right to disqualify any or all proposal, to waive any defects
or informalities therein and to accept such proposal as may be considered most advantageous to
the Government.
Approved by:
(Sgd.) MARJORIE A. DE VEYRA
Chairperson
For f as t ad r es ul t s , pl eas e c al l
659-48-30 l oc al 303 or 659-48-03
LAGUNA III DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE
SAN PABLO CITY
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
I nvi t at i on t o Bi d
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Laguna III District
Engineering Offce San Pablo City Region Offce IV-A, through its Bids and
Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to bid for the following contract(s)
Contract ID: : 12DP0095
Contract Name : Construction/Improvement OF Farm to Market Road at
brgy. Tuy Baanan, Liliw, Brgy. Silangan Lazaan and Brgy.
Taytay-Malaya, Nagcarlan, brgy. San Antonio II, San Pablo
City
Location : Liliw, Nagcarlan and San Pablo City
Scope of Work
a. Conc. of FMR at Brgy Tuy Banaan, Liliw, Laguna
0.2862 km long 4.0m wide and 0.15 m thick
b. Conc. of FMR at Brgy. Silangan Lazaan, Nagcarlan,
Laguna, 0.5966 km long 4.0m wide and 0.15 m thick
c. Conc. of FMR at Brgy. Taytay Malaya Nagcarlan,
Laguna 0.1950 km long 4.0m wide and 0.15 m thick
d. Conc. of FMR at Brgy. San Antonio 2, San Pablo
City, 0.2870 km long 4.0m wide and 0.15 m thick and
installation of 600mm dia. RC pipes of 8.0m
Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 7,092,750.00
Contract Duration : 245 cd
Cost of Bid Document : Php 10,000.00
The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised
Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184. Bids received in
excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid.
To bid for the contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase
bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration
with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation,
cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost
of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC
within a period of ten(10) years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least
equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least equal to 10% of the ABC. The
BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary
examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to
the DPWH-Central Procurement Offce (CPO) before the deadline for the receipt of
LOI. The DPWH Central Procurement Offce (CPO) will only process contractors
applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractors
Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration forms may be downloaded at the
DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From September 4, 2012 to Sept. 25, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference September 14, 2012
3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders From Sept. 4, 2012 to Sept. 20, 2012
4. Receipt of Bids September 25, 2012 until 2:00PM
5. Opening of Bids September 25, 2 012 after 2:00PM
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents at DPWH, Laguna III District
Engineering Offce, BAC Secretariat Offce, Brgy. Del Remedio, San Pablo City
upon payment of a non-refundable fee for bidding Documents. Prospective Bidders
may also download the BDs from the DPWH website, if available.
Prospective Bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the
said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. The Pre-bid Conference
shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BDs. Bids must
be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in
Section. 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the
Bidding Documents (BDs) in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC
Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which
shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial
component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive
Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
Interested contractors are also required to present the originals of their PCAB License
and Contractors Registration Certifcate to the BAC for authentication.
The DPWH, Laguna III District Engineering Offce, San Pablo City reserves the
right to accept or reject any bid , to annul the bidding process any time prior to Contract
award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Bidder or Bidder/s.
Approved by:
JOSEFINO O. ABRIGO
OIC-Assistant District Engineer
Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee
Noted by:
POL M. DELOS SANTOS
OIC-District Engineer
B4
Provinces
Edited by Leo A. Estonilo www.manilastandardtoday.comleoestonilo@gmail.com
Rinconada a Bicol tongue like no other Bohol has one
word for paradise
By Eugenio Lira Jr.
SURIGAO CITYStill
recovering from three gunshot
wounds, a police ofcer was
honored for shielding Governor
Sol Matugas when she was
attacked last month. last month.
P02 Ronie Febra Goles
received the Medalya ng
Sugatang Magiting (Wounded
Personnel Medal) from Chief
Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, Caraga
regional director, and a cash
award of P150,000 together with
a Certicate of Commendation
from the governors ofce in
ceremonies held last Monday at
the Capitol.
I thank God for saving the life
of the governor and my life more
than two weeks ago, he said
during his response in the presence
of local executives, police ofcials
and his colleagues.
It was really a miracle
that we survived from that
hail of bullets, Goles told
Manila Standard. P02 Jerson
Guindulman was also injured
during the shooting.
When I saw the gunman
pointing his gun toward the
direction of the governor, I
immediately covered her with
my body. I heard successive
gunshots and felt I was hit,
he said. It was a split-second
decision.
Goles was hit in the upper
right back, right upper arm and
left side of the neck from a .45-
caliber pistol red by the suspect
Samuel Lapac Sr. last August
13 right after the ag-raising
ceremony at the Capitol.
Valmoria said he has
recommended to National
Police Chief Nicanor Bartolome
the promotion of Goles along
with Guindulman for their
exemplary act of bravery and
self-less devotion to duty.
A graduate of BS in Customs
Administration, Goles joined
the police service in December
2006. Aside from the basic
public safety courses, he also
underwent Special Counter-
Insurgency Operation Unit
Training. He is married to
Genaliza Berol now working as
a maid in Hong Kong.
A former Barangay chairman,
Lapac faces charges for multiple
frustrated murder.
Cop honored for saving governors life
By Oliver Samson
IRIGA CITY-Singing icon Nora
Aunor, actors Jaime Fabregas and
Rez Cortes, 2010 Miss Universe
runner-up Venus Raj, Justice Secre-
tary Leila de Lima and Eddie Ilarde,
a former assemblyman, senator and
congressman, are Bicolano but they
speak Rinconada.
Frank Peones, Rinconada
Dictionary project head, said
the late Budget Secretary Emilia
Boncodin was uent in the lan-
guage that has persisted through
the ages in the peninsula.
If we go by the out-of-Taiwan
theory of Peter Bellwood, et al.,
Rinconada may have been spo-
ken as early as 4,000 years ago,
he said. And if by Wilhelm
Solheims or [Stephen] Oppen-
heimers Sundaland theory, then it
would be much older.
In his lexicographic work with
the Summer Institute of Lin-
guistics, Peones describes the
language which has withstood
extinction in the vastness of Ca-
marines, Albay and Sorsogon.
He said Rinconanda is deemed
lingua franca in Iriga, the towns
of Bula, Balatan, Baao, Bato and
Nabua while it the name of the
geographic and political district
that includes Buhi whose folk
speak another tongue.
Like most other Philippine
languages, Rinconada belongs
to the Austronesian family of
languages, Peones said. Bell-
wood believes that the Proto-
Austronesian languages were
spoken by the people of South
China and brought to Taiwan
about 7,000 years ago.
Studies show migration to North-
ern Luzon down to Mindanao oc-
curred about 2,000 years ago.
Peones also cited Solheims
Nusantao Maritime Trading
and Communication Network
Theory, tracing the origin of the
Austronesian-speaking people
50,000 years ago in what is now
called Sundaland.
Jason Lobell (a literary writer in
Rinconada language) identified at least
16 consonants and 3 vowels he said.
Other linguists, however, say it has
six short and similar number of long
vowels, and 17 consonants.
What makes the Rinconada
language unique is its usage of an
extra consonant phoneme which
sounds much like the letters h, y
and w, according to Peones.
The Rinconada-Iriga variety
has retained the high central schwa
vowel from Proto-Philippine, a
sound heard in words like spur
or curl, he said. In addition,
Lobell noted the presence of a
speech registry reserved for use
in anger, which he observed is,
usually either loosely derived or
totally unrelated to their normal
angry equivalents.
Peones believes that the lan-
guage with its body of literature
can hold a candle to the dominant
Bicol tongue.
The late Fr. James OBrien,
SJ, an Irish-American who taught
at the Ateneo de Naga and spoke
Bikol himself, attributes this to
the (presence) of the Rinconada
district, he said.
Among the published works
using the language are Rangang
Rinaranga (My Beloved Land)
by Peones, a collection of po-
ems with his English translation
published by Naga City: Agnus
Press in 2006; Mga Tulang Tu-
lala by Kristian Sendon Cordero;
Rinconada Bikol-Filipino-English
Phrasebook by Lobell and Grace
Bucad, a tourist-guide book pub-
lished in 2001; and the Rinconada
edition of the Gospel of Luke pub-
lished by the Scripture Translators
of Rinconada.
Mindoro wind farm rising
By Robert A. Evora
PUERTO GALERAThe countrys
largest wind farm starts construction
tomorrow on a site overlooking Verde
Island, involving a P6-billion private
investment on power generation.
Energy Secretary Rene
Almendras and Oriental Mindoro
Rep. Rodolfo Valencia will he
joined by Italian Ambassador
Luca Fornari, industry leaders
and local executives to kick off
the project at its 1,296-hectare
site in Barangay here.
The 48-megawatt Wind Energy
Power System consists of three
phases each generating 16MW.
Valencia said the Puerto Galera
wind farm will strongly be
conducive for expanding business
and tourism, manufacturing,
and other industries that will
certainly improve the economy
of the province.
The Bangui wind farm in Ilocos
Norte has 20 units generating 33
megawatts of electricity. Each
unit stands 70-meter high with a
blade diameter of 41 meters.
The Puerto Galera facility
whose service contract was
approved by the Department of
Energy is located six kilometers
from the interconnection point of
the 69-kilovolt Mindoro Grid of
the Small Power Utilities Group
of the National Power Corp.
Attending the rites are Oriental
Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali,
second district Rep. Reynaldo
Umali, along with executives
of CMC Asia Inc. an Italian
power rm led by its chairman,
Engr. Armando de Rossi, also
the chief executive ofcer of
the Philippine Hybrid Energy
System Inc., the project owner-
developer.
Also invited are ofcials of
Eolica S.L. Unipersonal which
will supply the turbines, PHESI
chief operating ofcer Nicky
Villasenor, ofcials of Oriental
Mindoro Electric Cooperative
and other guests.
The Puerto Galera project
is a component of the Power
Development Program of
Oriental Mindoro supported
by the Provincial Development
Council.
The National Grid
Corporation of the Philippines
has included Mindoro in its
Transmission Development Plan
through the Batangas-Mindoro
Interconnection Project linking
the Island of Mindoro to Luzon
via a submarine power cable.
WORLD-CLASS Amorita was
recently honored by the Bohol
government for its compliance
to environmental guidelines,
and its achievements
and contributions to the
development of the province.
Since the beginning,
Amorita Resort has been
continuously conducting
efforts to preserve the pristine
beauty of Alona Beach, one of
Bohols most precious natural
treasures, said chief executive
Nikki Cauton.
Our commitment to
environmental protection
is exemplied through the
establishment of a sustainable
infrastructure, the strict
enforcement of proper waste
management, and the reduction
of environmental impact in
resort operations.
The capitol also lauded
Amorita for its tourism
promotion and marketing
in helping draw visitors and
investors.
The Philippine Bohol Arts
Foundation Inc., Amoritas
corporate social responibility
arm, has been in the frontline
to document, archive and
preserve Boholano culture,
as well as foster dialogue
between artists and artisans in
the province.
The recognition was
presented during the
Awarding of Special
Citations for Boholano
Achievers marking Bohols
158th year as an independent
province.
Located in Panglao Island,
Amorita is perched on top
of a seaside cliff on one end
of Alona Beach. Its strategic
location offers guests stunning
views of the long stretch
of white sand and endless
crystal blue waters. The
resort also gives guests the
opportunity to experience the
best of Bohol with its take on
authentic Boholano cuisine
and spectacular tours both on
land and sea.
Panglao Islands waters
are home to 2,500 species
of mollusks, 250 species of
crustaceans, and 11 species
of whales and dolphins. The
marine biodiversity has made
it a prime destination for divers
from all over the world.
Amorita has always been
dedicated to providing the
best and most authentic
Bohol experience, says
Cauton. We believe that
it is our duty to protect
and conserve the island
provinces natural attractions
for future generations.
Ilocos windmills
For
f ast
ad
r esul t s,
pl ease
c al l
6594830
or
6594903
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
Province of Abra
MUNICIPALITY OF BANGUED
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
INVITATION TO BID
September 5, 2012
The Municipality of Bangued, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC),
invites suppliers/dealer/manufacturers/contractors to bid for the hereunder contract:
Name of Contract : AQUISITION OF TWO (2) GENERATOR SET
Location : BANGUED, ABRA
Approved Budget
for the Contract (ABC) : P3,000,00.00
Prospective bidders should, have experience in undertaking a similar project within the
last 10 years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. The
BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the Eligibility Check/Screening as
well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids. The BAC will conduct post-qualifcation
of the lowest calculated bid.
All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance
Security, Pre-Bidding Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualifcation and Award
of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its
Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR).
The schedule of BAC activities is as follows:
BAC Activities Schedule
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Sept. 6, 2012-Oct. 1, 2012
3. Receipt of LOI of Prospective Bidders September 21, 2012
4. Receipt of Bids Oct. 1, 2012 until 10:00am
5. Opening of Bids Oct. 1 @ 2:00pm
The BAC will issue to prospective bidders Eligibility Forms at BAC OFFICE, Bangued,
Abra upon their submission of a LOI, and upon their payment of a non-refundable
amount for Eligibility Form to the Municipality of Bangued Cashier. Prospective
bidders shall submit the Eligibility Requirements to the BAC at the said address. They
may also obtain the results of the Eligibility Check by the BAC at the same address.
The BAC will issue Bidding Documents only to bidders declared by the BAC to be
eligible for the bidding upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Five Thousand
Pesos Only (P5,000.00) for Bidding Documents to the MunicipaI Treasurer's Ofce.
The Municipality of Bangued assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate
or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

Approved by:
(Sgd.) AIDA F. BALLESTA
BAC- Vice Chairman
Noted By:
(Sgd.) RYAN SEARES LUNA
Municipal Mayor
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
Province of Abra
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
INVITATION TO BID
September 5, 2012
Name of Contract : CONSTRUCTION OF EXTENSION OF LEGISLATIVE BUILDING
Approved Budget
Contract Duration : One (1) Year
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Sept. 6, 2012-Oct. 1, 2012
5. Opening of Bids Oct. 1, 2012 @ 2:00pm
The BAC will issue to prospective bidders Eligibility Forms at BAC OFFICE, ,
Bangued, Abra upon their submission of a LOI, and upon their payment of a
non-refundable amount for Eligibility Form to the Municipality of Bangued Cashier.
Prospective bidders shall submit the Eligibility Requirements to the BAC at the said
address. They may also obtain the results of the Eligibility Check by the BAC at the
same address.
The BAC will issue Bidding Documents only to bidders declared by the BAC to be
eligible for the bidding upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Five Thousand
Pesos Only (P5,000.00) for Bidding Documents to the MunicipaI Treasurer's Ofce.

Approved by:
BAC- Vice Chairman
Noted By:
Municipal Mayor
(MST-Sept. 6, 2012)
Province of Abra
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
INVITATION TO BID
September 5, 2012
Name of Contract : CONSTRUCTION OF 2 STOREY COMMERCIAL BUILDING
Approved Budget
Contract Duration : One (1) Year
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Sept. 6, 2012-Oct. 1,, 2012
5. Opening of Bids Oct. 1, 2012 @ 2:00pm
The BAC will issue to prospective bidders Eligibility Forms at BAC OFFICE, Bangued,
Abra upon their submission of a LOI, and upon their payment of a non-refundable
amount for Eligibility Form to the Municipality of Bangued Cashier. Prospective
bidders shall submit the Eligibility Requirements to the BAC at the said address. They
may also obtain the results of the Eligibility Check by the BAC at the same address.
The BAC will issue Bidding Documents only to bidders declared by the BAC to be eligible
for the bidding upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Thirty Thousand Pesos
Only (P30,000.00) for Bidding Documents to the MunicipaI Treasurer's Ofce.

Approved by:
BAC- Vice Chairman

Noted By:
Municipal Mayor

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