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Cloudy skies forecast

By Jonathan Fernandez
THE weather bureau said Wednesday the low-pressure area that brought rain all over the country in the past few days had weakened and was mov- ted 250 kms northwest of Iba, ing away from the Philippines. Zambales, and moving away Forecaster Jun Galang said. but a new low-pressure area the low-pressure area was spotNext page

Standard TODAY
Manila
Vol. XXVI No. 120 14 Pages, 2 Sections P18.00 THURSDAY, July 5, 2012

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Another way to celebrate friendship. To mark PhilippineAmerican Friendship Day, protesters march on the US Embassy behind a banner slamming Philippine-American relations.

Beijing: Asean gab not venue for shoal issue

By Sara Susanne Fabunan
BEIJING on Wednesday said the 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cambodia next week was not the right venue for the Philippines to raise the issue of the standoff at the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said the meeting was an event aimed at enhancing mutual trust among membercountries. The Chinese side believes that the [meeting] is an important platform for enhancing mutual trust and strengthening cooperation, not the right place to discuss the South China Sea issue, Liu said in a statement. He made his statement following the claims by Chinese newspapers that the Philippines
Next page

China told: Be more careful in statements

Word war escalates over PH plan to use US spy planes
By Joyce Pangco Paares, Florante S. Solmerin and Maricel Cruz

MALACAANG on Wednesday warned

the mouthpiece of Chinas Communist Party to be a little more careful in issuing statements after it said Manila was plotting to deliberately escalate its conict with Beijing over the West Philippine Sea that both countries are claiming.

Can I say to the Chinese, Xiao xin i tien? Be a little careful about your statements, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. He said President Benigno Aquino III was not being provocative when he said that the Philippines might consider asking the United States to deploy its Orion spy plane to monitor the West Philippine Sea. By no stretch of the imagination can you consider the Philippines an aggressor, Lacierda said.

The transcript would show the context by which the statement was made by the President, so theres no issue to us. We do not view it as a provocative statement. Chinas Peoples Daily had accused the Philippines of escalating tensions and warned that Beijings patience should not be mistaken for weakness. The Philippines is sparing no effort to stir up the South China Sea issue through all sorts of means, and we
Next page

Pajes men probed for nature case

By Christine F. Herrera
TAAL LAKEEnvironment Secretary Ramon Paje on Wednesday ordered a nationwide investigation of possible violations of environment laws after lawmakers discovered that the owner of the Korean restaurant on Taal Lake was also able to have a portion of the main crater of Taal Volcano titled under his name. Secretary Paje has ordered a nationwide internal administrative inquiry to prevent the repeat of such cases as permanent structures in Taal Lake, the leveling of mountains and the cutting of trees in Santa Cruz, Zambales, and the illegal logging and mining in Agusan and the coal mountain stockpiling on Manila Bay, Undersecretary for eld operations Demetrio Ignacio told the Next page Manila Standard.

use sledgehammers to demolish the Korean restaurant (inset) built in the middle of Taal Lake. BELNA CABASAN

Demolition derby. Workers

Interview of CJ bets on July 24

THE Judicial and Bar Council said Wednesday it will start interviewing the 24 aspirants for the post of chief justice on July 24. The position became vacant after the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, found Chief Justice Renato Corona guilty of betraying the public trust on May 29. Jose Mejia, a member of the council representing the academe, said the council will meet on July 6 to nalize the schedule of the mandatory public interview of the aspirants. The schedule will be published in the newspapers. Mejia said each candidate will face the members of the council to answer questions on their qualications for the position. The interviews will run for four days. The candidates would have
Next page

Santiago cant say just yet when to quit Senate post

By Macon R. Araneta
SENATOR Miriam Defensor-Santiago has told Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. that she regrets she cant determine the date of her resignation from the Senate to join the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court itself does not know either, Santiago said in her letter to Brillantes dated July 4. The letter was described as rush and personal. Copies of it were sent to ICC president Song Sang-Hyun, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and the reporters covering the Senate. Santiago was elected to the ICC on Dec. 12, 2011. She is the rst Filipino and the rst Asian from a developing country to sit in the ICC, which tries cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Santiago she would would not resign from the Senate until the ICC called her to duty. Hence, I respectfully submit that even only out of prudence, the 2013 ballot should list only
Next page

Dams spill level poses no danger

By Rio Araja and Jonathan Fernandez
MANILA Water Company, the operator of La Mesa Dam, said huge volumes of runoff from its watershed and the continuing heavy downpour would cause water to rise to dangerous levels, but they were not raising alarm signals despite the high elevation. Teddy Angeles, the dams headworks manager, said the water level was at 79.3 meters as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, which was close to the spilling level fo 80.15 meters. But there was no danger because of the high demand for water from consumers. Despite the high water elevation, consumption
Next page

House opposition fails Aquino in performance

By Maricel V. Cruz
THE House minority bloc on Wednesday gave President Benigno Aquino III a failing mark on his anti-corruption drive and his efforts to solve peace-andorder problems, poverty and rising unemployment after two years in ofce. Despite this administrations anti-corruption slogan, it is common knowledge that corruption has actually increased everywhere---from revenue collecting and front-line agencies of the national government, all the way down to the smallest local government unit, House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said. He said the Presidents straight path policy was a failure in light of the rampant smuggling that had been hurting various industries. The disappearance in broad daylight of thousands of container
Next page

Dangerous level. A dam em-

ployee wades through the walkway from the observation tower of La Mesa Dam, where the water line is close to spillage level.

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THURSDAY

JULY 5, 2012

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demand. They said allowing the unhampered entry of imported garlic to add to what had already been allocated for 2012 would tip the supply balance in favor of the imports. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Plant Industry has denied that the creation of Task Force Allium will duplicate the National Onion Action Teams task of protecting onion farmers, saying it has its own mandate to safeguard onion growers. The Task Force stressed that they do not duplicate the NOAT but represent the government sector in so far as providing information on the status of the onion industry, the bureau said.

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Restrict imported garlic, farmers urge

GARLIC farmers on Wednesday urged the Bureau of Customs and the Agriculture Department to restrict, if not to temporarily stop, the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary clearances to imported garlic at least during the remaining part of the year to allow them to continue getting good prices for their harvests. The Agriculture Departments Plant and Industry Quarantine issues SPS clearances to all imported agricultural products. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, six organizations of garlic growers said their combined stocks were still more than 20,000 metric tons. They said the 2012 cropping season that ended in April was successful as a result of the good weather during the rst half of the year. The farmers said their garlic inventory and the imports covered by the permits that had been issued for this year were more than enough to meet local

Interview...
to be always on their toes because the proceedings would be aired live on radio and television for the rst time. Because of the live coverage, we will be more prepared and we will be more discriminate in the manner we ask questions, Mejia said. He said their questions would also be based on the comments from the public for or against any candidate. The JBC has invited the public to send in their questions starting July 10. After the interviews, Mejia said, the councils members will deliberate and vote on a shortlist to be submitted to President Aquino tentatively by the end of this month. He said the names of the 24 candidates would be published in the major newspapers on July 9. The JBC closed the nominations and applications for chief justice on July 2. Heading the list of nominees are Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and ve other justices of the high court: Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad and Maria Lourdes Sereno. Two members of President Aquinos Cabinet, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, were included in the list after they accepted their nomination. Four members of the academe are also on the list: former University of the Philippines law dean Raul Pangalangan, De La Salle University law founding dean Jose Manuel Diokno, University of the East law dean Amado Valdez, and former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva. Only one member of Congress made it to the list: Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. Three members of independent government bodies---Presidential Commission on Good Government Chairman Andres Bautista, Commission on Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Teresita Herbosa---also accepted their nomination. Completing the list are Manila regional trial court Judge Maria Amelia TriaInfante, retired Judge Manuel Siayngco Jr., former executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora, and lawyers Katrina Legarda, Soledad Cagampang-De Castro, Rafael Morales, Vicente Velasquez and Ferdinand Jose Pijao. Meanwhile, former Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines president Bishop Oscar Cruz warned that the Judiciary was in danger of being placed under the Executive department. I think it is not a secret that the Legislative is already under the Executive, Cruz said. Now what could emerge later on is that even the Judiciary will be under the Executive department. Cruz expressed reservations on the possibility that Justice Secretary Leila De Lima would be named chief justice. Im not that certain that her appointment will be to the advantage of the executive department, he said. De Lima, a close ally of President Benigno Aquino III, was among those who testied during Coronas impeachment trial. She is now perceived as the strongest contender for the position. Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

House...
loads of smuggled goods earlier this year is an epic example, Suarez said. He said peace and order were also deteriorating. Peace and order is under attack everywhere, Suarez said. Kidnappings, assassinations and other serious crimes are on the rise; illegal logging and mining are unabated. Our human rights record has been criticized abroad, even as longstanding insurgencies mouth peace while they continue to threaten national security, foreign investment and the safety of citizens. Suarez also criticized the Aquino administrations plan to increase the allocation for its dole program to P45 billion by 2013. He said that despite the dole to the poor, the government had failed to address poverty and the rising unemployment and underemployment. The Social Weather Stations reports that the combined rate of unemployment and underemployment reached a new high of 34.4 percent in the rst quarter of this year, Suarez said. Likewise, self-rated poverty worsened from 48 percent at the start of this administrations term

to 53 percent this year, while self-rated hunger reached an unprecedented 24 percent of all families this year. Without mentioning names, Suarez also took the administration to task for making life difcult and even miserable for the ofcials of the previous administration. The only bright spot was the Presidents reputation for personal honesty despite his recent refusal to sign a waiver on the condentiality of his bank accounts. Archishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz on Wednesday said President Aquinos honesty was not in question, but he was worried about the people around him. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and administration ally Senator Francis Pangilinan both gave the President a passing mark on his promises to ght corruption and to address poverty, but said he had a lot more work to do. We will nally judge the President when he steps down, Pangilinan said. For the meantime, let us focus on our work. Now is not the time to pass judgment on him. He cannot transform the country overnight. No one can. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

China...
should be on guard against its plots, the newspaper said. The US Department of State did not say whether the US would respond to Mr. Aquinos request. A spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, would only say: As part of our long-standing cooperation, the US supports the Philippines in enhancing its maritime awareness. The English-language Chinese newspaper Global Times on Tuesday said the Philippines and Vietnam deserve to be punished for their territorial claims, adding that in imperial times they would have been handled in a much easier way. China may have many ways to teach the Philippines a lesson, but we must not easily use them, the paper said. The Philippines and Vietnam are obviously disturbing China. They are not part of Chinas international political ambitions, but China must not let their disturbance go unchecked. Shortly after Mr. Aquinos statement on the US spy planes, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, said the Phil-

ippines should act in a manner that would contribute to regional stability. We hope the relevant party will do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability, Liu Weimin told a news conference. The chairman of the House committee on national defense, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, said he saw no problem in having US spy planes patrol the West Philippine Sea in search of intruders. Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, said the President was right in asking the US for help. This decision has a basis. [There is an existing] protocol among allies and friendly nations on exchanges of information to include intelligence reports, Biazon said. On top of that, we can invoke the provisions of the Mutual Defense Treaty [with the US]. Biazon also shrugged off Chinas threats of armed confrontation. He supported calls to send back government ships to the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal to resume patrols. Send back as soon as possible the Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries vessels, and if need be,

the Philippine Navy, he said. He rejected accepting a Chinese partner in the oil exploration ventures in the Recto (Reed) Bank, a reef that forms part of the Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan. Why are we going to invite into our house an entity that is claiming ownership of our house? That is crazy, Biazon said. In the House, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez supported Mr. Aquinos plan to seek US help in patrolling the West Philippine Sea. Suarez said he saw nothing wrong with using US spy planes if that could prevent Chinese aggression. Securing the territory has no tag price and is non-negotiable, he said. Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy party-list Rep. Pastor Alcover, Jr. agreed, saying it was high time the United States got involved in helping the country secure its coastline. I am supportive also because we need to balance the power in this kind of controversy, we are just a small country and we need allies, Alcover said. I think it is okay to ask for help when they [the Chinese government] keep bullying us.

Beijing...
was planning to fuel tensions during the Asean foreign ministers meeting in Cambodia, which will be held on July 6 to 13 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. The meeting will be attended by Asean member countries and their partners Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North and South Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and the United States. Liu said the Chinese government had no intention of discussing the month-long standoff on the shoal, but would exchange views on China-Asean relations, East Asia cooperation, Asia Pacific security cooperation, regional and international concerns, and preparations for the coming East Asian Summit in November. We hope achievements can be made in enhancing mutual trust between countries in this region and maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity, Liu said. When asked if China was concerned that the Philippines might instigate talks on the West Philippine Sea issue, Liu said Beijing was willing to continue to hold dialogues with countries involved in the issue but in a peaceful means. The communication channels between China and other parties are open and effective, Liu said. China is willing to continue to hold dialogues and consultations with countries involved to solve the South China Sea issue with peaceful means. The standoff between Manila and Beijing started on April 10, when Chinese government vessels prevented the Philippine Coast Guard from arresting Chinese shermen who were caught poaching in the shoal, which is 24 nautical miles west of Luzon. The Chinese government insists that 90 percent of the islands in the South China Sea (West Philippines Sea) belongs to them, but the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia are also claiming them as their own.

Santiago...
12 vacancies for senators, Santiago said. She was reacting to published reports on Brillantes who had inquired about when she would resign in preparation for her assumption of ofce as an ICC judge. I understand that you need this information for the 2013 elections, so that the Comelec shall be guided on whether to print ballots with vacancies for 12 or for 13 senators, depending on my resig-

nation, Santiago said. But she said she did not know exactly when she would be reporting to the ICC. This is why I cannot resign from the Senate until the ICC indicates that I should do so, she said. I will simply have to wait until the ICC Presidency makes a decision on whether I should report to the Appeals Chamber, which is considered the most prestigious of the three chambers of the ICC. Santiago said she would serve as an ICC judge for nine years, hence she would have to lease a

house and hire staff in The Hague. More signicantly, I will have to transfer from the political to the legal sphere, Santiago said. These are the reasons why I have kept silent about my potential resignation. I did not want to add to the agitation among my political supporters as evidenced by their comments on my Facebook page. Santiago cited a letter that Song wrote to all the six newlyelected ICC judges on Feb. 22 this year asking them not to make any irreversible commitments for the time being which

could terminate your current professional engagements with a view to future engagement at the Court. I took this statement to mean that I should not yet resign as Senator, Santiago said. She also cited Songs letter to her in June saying that, as indicated to you by letter dated 3 April 2012, it is not currently anticipated that you shall be called to serve on a full-time basis in the near future although, of course, the needs of the Court shall always be the primary consideration in such decisions.

Pajes...
These things could not have happened without the knowledge of Environment personnel, so an internal inquiry is being done. We will continue to crack down on the violators of our environmental laws. We cannot understand how was it possible that these violations were committed left and right under their very noses. Agham Rep. Angelo Palmones and Laguna Rep. Danilo Fernandez, chairman of the House committee on ecology, said they had also found 11 more restaurants in Taal Lake that were allowed by the Environment Department to be built in violation of environmental laws. Palmones said the Koreans were also able to have a crater of the volcano registered in their names because local and environment ofcials allowed them. The entire Taal Volcano and Taal Lake is a protected area. No one can own it, Palmones said. It has to be protected, yet some unscrupulous individuals managed to own land here, including the main crater of the volcano. The Koreans were supposed to put up a spa on the main crater, but ofcials of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology protested because the main crater is a permanent danger zone. Ignacio, along with Palmones, Fernandez, Talisay Mayor Zenaida Mendoza, Community Environment and Natural Resources Ofce chief Laudemir Salac, led some 50 policemen and 20 environment personnel in swooping down on the oating restaurant owned by Kim Young Ok, president of Jung Ang and Leisure Inc., which sits in the middle of Taal Lake, and had it demolished. I was told that this Korean oating restaurant is the biggest permanent structure that had been built, Fernandez said. We start from the biggest to show them how serious we are in enforcing our laws. Ofcials successfully carried out the demolition despite initial resistance from the Korean owners. Mendoza said it was her second time to set foot in the oating restaurant. First, she she had a meeting with the owners the day before to explain the closure order issued by Paje. The next time was when she went there to see the restaurants demolition. I am the mayor here but I was not allowed inside their villas and restaurant because these were exclusive to Koreans and other foreign tourists, Mendoza said.

Cloudy ...
would be entering the Philippines within the week, Galang said. He said the entire country will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over the western section of Luzon. Galang warned people living in low-lying areas and those on mountainsides to guard against possible ashoods and landslides. He said moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest to south will prevail over Northern Luzon, where the coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, the winds coming from the south to southwest will be light to moderate, while the seas will be slight to moderate.

Business as usual. A cooking gas dealer waits to cross an intersection in Makati City on a rainy Wednesday. EY ACASIO

Dams...
is also high especially during the daytime, Angeles said. But Quezon City ofcials were not taking chances and deployed rescue teams along the Tullahan River, which runs through the following high-risk villagess: Fairview, North Fairview, Greater Lagro, San Bartolome, Santa Monica, Novaliches, Santa Lucia, Gulod and Nagkaisang Nayon. The city is ready to evacuate residents in these areas any time, said Noel Lansang of the Department of

Public Order and Safety. He said nine rescue boats and 30 personnel from the citys rescue teams were standing by at strategic portions of the villages, which were likely to go under water if the water in the dam spilled over. Lansang said preparations had been under way since Tuesday, and his ofce had been in close coordination with the ofcials of the threatened villages, the weather bureau and the Ofce of Civil Defense. Weather bureau hydrologist Edgar de la Cruz said a continuing heavy downpour of 40 mm per hour caused

by bad weather would cause the dam to reach its spilling level. Despite the rising water level, however, people were safe during the day because of the high water consumption of more than six million customers that included over one million households, 811,753 service connections and 51,000 sewer service connections, the dams headworks manager said. Reports from the four major dams in LuzonAngat, San Roque, Binga, Ambuklao, and Calirayashowed their water levels were still below normal despite the monsoon rain triggered by various low-pressure areas.

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to stand during class or squeeze uncomfortably into their classmates desks, Abad said. With the addition of much-needed furniture, however, it will be easier for schoolchildren to pay attention to their lessons and participate in class. This will of course Abad result in improved academic performance, and the children will be better-positioned to perform well in and outside the school halls, Abad added. The chairs and tables will

THURSDAY

JULY 5, 2012

A3

P1-b police deal under scrutiny

By Maricel V. Cruz
A RESOLUTION was led in the House of Representatives seeking a congressional inquiry into the P1-billion license deal that the National Police entered into with a private corporation allegedly without the benet of public bidding. House Resolution 2459, authored by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, said the license deal between the PNP and the Nanjing Industrial Tools and Equipment Co. circumvented the proper bidding process. In the resolution, Rodriguez demanded the House committee on public order and safety to invite police ofcials, Nanjing representatives and other agencies to shed light on the issue. PNP signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Nanjing for the printing of license cards for the service rearms of police ofcers and security guards over a 15-year period starting in March 2010. The signatories were former Police Chief Jesus Versoza, Director for Logistics Luizo Ticman and Romeo Macapinlac, president of Nanjing. Under the said MOA, Nanjing would print the license cards at P150 each, which when computed based on the average of 21,818 cards per month for the PNPs Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) and 20,245 cards per month for the PNPs supervisory Ofce for Security Agencies that had been printed, would amount to P1.135 billion within the15-year contract. The contract between the PNP and Nanjing allegedly had not gone through the proper bidding and contained other irregularities, the resolution reads. Rodriguez also expressed concern over reported ambiguous provisions that included the authority for Nanjing to pull out all its materials and equipment in the event the project was aborted or cancelled prior to its completion. A review of this particular contract is necessary so we can ne tune and strengthen the government procurement reform law for the sake of public interest, Rodriguez said.

P941m for public schools

By Joyce Pangco Paares

PRESIDENT Aquino has approved

a P941.3 million fund for the Department of Educations purchase of additional chairs and tables that will be used in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the amount will be charged against the departments lump sum for basic education facilities under its 2012 budget. This is part of the Aquino administrations goal to boost facilities in our public schools, so that we can create a better learning environment for schoolchildren across the country. Too often, the students themselves outnumber the chairs and tables, and many of the children are forced

be distributed to schools with facility shortages, with priority given to newly constructed and still-to-be constructed school buildings. Recipient schools will be furnished 45 arm chairs for every classroom, along with a table-and-chair set for the teacher/class instructor. Of the P941.3 million, schools in the National Capital Region will receive the largest share of the release, with their allocation

amounting to P109 million. Region 4-A follows closely with P99 million, while Region 5 will receive P83 million from the total release. Apart from purchasing additional school furniture, the DepEd was also tasked to construct or repair school buildings in areas experiencing acute classroom shortage, as well as provide sufcient water and sanitation facilities to several schools and campuses. The DepEd is also working vigorously to reverse the classroom backlog in the country and improve the student-toteacher ratio in our public schools, he said.

IN BRIEF
NPA leader returns to his palsgeneral
ARANKING general said on Wednesday that communist leader Romeo Nanta, who was based in the Visayas region, returned to his lair in the hills after posting bail through the help of militant group Karapatan. Major Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr., commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said Nanta has been monitored to have rejoined his comrades in the NPA. Mabanta said Nanta is the head of the NPAs Regional Operations Command in Negros Island. Nanta was released from prison on Feb. 21, 2012 after posting bail for his provisional liberty. Joint police and military elements arrested Nanta, alias Juanito Magbanua/ Jack Nanta/Juaning/Islao/ Kulas on November 7, 2011 at Barangay Zone 2, Cadiz City on the strength of an arrest warrant for rebellion, robbery-in-band, attempted and frustrated murder issued by three different courts in Negros Occidental. Florante S. Solmerin

Kizuna project launched; 285 Filipino youths invited

Adios. Outgoing Cuban Ambassador to the Philippines Juan Carlos Arencibias makes a farewell call on President Aquino at the
Music Room in Malacaang on Wednesday.

Graft raps filed against bases agency directors

By Rey Requejo
A GRAFT complaint has been led before the Ofce of the Ombudsman against ofcials of the Bases Conversion of the Development Authority led by its president and chief executive ofcer Arnel Casanova for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, among other laws. In a sworn statement, developer Camp John Hay Development Corporation through its lawyers, former solicitor general Frank Chavez and Manuel Ubarra Jr., likewise named seven other ofcials of BCDA in the charges which also detailed violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Ofcials and Employees; and the Civil Service Decree of the Philippines. The other BCDA ofcials charged in the complaint were chairman of the board of directors Felicito C. Payumo, and directors Zorayda Amelia C. Alonzo, Teresita A. Desierto, Ma. Aurora Geotina-Garcia, Ferdinand S. Golez, Elmar M. Gomez and Maximo L. Sangil. Respondents are criminally and administratively liable not only for causing undue injury to herein complainants, but also for their inexcusable neglect and failure to discharge the duties of their ofce and their inefciency and incompetence in the performance of their duties, the complaint stated. The administrative aspect of the alleged offenses carries the penalty of removal from ofce. Earlier, charges of perjury were led against Casanova, who was also the subject of a separate complaint for usurpation of authority led in the Ombudsman by an antigraft lawyer. In the latest case, the complaint involved the BCDAs alleged failure to comply with its obligations under a 2008 Restructuring Memorandum of Agreement which supplemented a 1996 lease agreement between CJHDevCo and BCDA. They see the potential and they may want to run the business themselves to our prejudice and despite unfullled previous obligations on their part. That is the only logical explanation to what is otherwise an illogical act, Chavez said. Somebody has to stand up to them. Ubarra, for his part, said the controversy endangers the employment of 3,000 employees in John Hay who are also residents of Baguio. The 1996 lease agreement covered an area of 46,996.70 hectares within the John Hay Special Economic Zone which is under the administration of the BCDA. Under its agreement with the BCDA, CJHDevCo was under obligation to develop the leased property into a wholesome family-oriented public tourism complex, multi-purpose forest watershed and human resource development center. The term of the Lease Agreement is 25 years, renewable for another twentyve 25 years, effective upon the signing of the Lease Agreement. Since, the Lease Agreement was signed on October 19, 1996 the same was effective from that date until October 19, 2021. Under the RMOA, the BCDA obligated itself to maintain the operation of a One Stop Action Center (OSSAC) with full authority to process and issue all the related permits, certicates and licenses, local and national, from all government agencies necessary to facilitate construction and commercial operation in Camp John Hay. The BCDA, however, failed and unjustly refused to perform these obligations even after more than three years and ten months elapsed since the RMOA took effect.

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Japan on Wednesday has launched a Youth-Exchange Project with Asia-Oceania and North America. Dubbed as the KIZUNA Project, it will invite around 9,000 youths from the Asian/Oceanian regions who will participate in specially designed programs. SOME 2,550 youths from membercountries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be invited to Japan, and 255 Japanese youths will in turn visit the ASEAN-member states. The project was approved by the Japanese Diet and will be implemented by the end of March 2013. Eric B. Apolonio

Special lanes for elderly

SPECIAL lanes will be reserved for senior citizens in the May 2013 national elections, the elections commission said on Wednesday. The assurance was made by Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., who met with a group of senior citizens accompanied by former senator Eddie Ilarde and lawyer Romulo Macalintal to press their demand for easier access to polling precincts in next years midterm polls. Ilarde had led a petition requiring all voting centers to allocate entrances, precinct booths and passages exclusively for senior citizens. Ilarde said there are estimated 8 million senior citizens in the country. Brillantes agreed with Ilarde, saying that senior citizens should get these courtesies even during the registration period. He added he approved of the proposal because he himself is a senior citizen. Joel E. Zurbano

Party-list random listing pushed

THE Akbayan Party on Wednesday proposed to the Commission on Elections to conduct a partial random listing scheme of accredited party-list organizations through a rafe to determine the order of their listing in the 2013 ofcial ballot. Under Akbayans proposed scheme, the commission will list the rst ten party-list groups it picked in a rafe, and then list the rest of the parties alphabetically from the 11th spot onward. This was in contrast to a previous resolution where all accredited parties, not just the rst ten, must be randomly selected also through a a rafe. The resolution abandoned the previous rule, which stated that the order of listing in the ballot was to be determined alphabetically. But Akbayan Secretary-General Conrado Castillo said that while they welcome the initiative of the commission to level the playing eld in the 2013 partylist elections, this must be balanced with the need to uphold voter convenience, which is an equally important consideration. This will address the undue advantage of party-list organizations which get listed rst on the ballot on account of having names starting with A, 1, AA and A1, Castillo said in a statement. Vito Barcelo, Jonathan Fernandez

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENT
President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the ad interim appointments of the following officials: Cabinet Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Department of Foreign Affairs Leandro B. Lachica Foreign Service Officer, Class I The public may submit any information, written report or sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th 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. 04 July 2012. ARTURO L. TIU Secretary
(MST-July 5, 2012)

Seniors lane. Former senator and now radio anchorman Eddie Ilarde, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and several senior citizens appeal to Comelec Commissioner Sixto Brillantes to create a special lane for the elderly during elections. DANNY PATA

A4 THURSDAY

JULY 5, 2012

ManilaStandardToday Adelle Chua, Editor

Opinion
Mr. Aquino may be forgetting that justice means putting the suspects behind bars, trying them, convicting them and seeing them serve their sentence. The cases during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have also not been resolved. We wonder what the President meant when he said that the dark era was about to end. While an arrest warrant has been issued against Maj. General Jovito Palparan, widely believed to be the brains behind many killings in the guise of a counterinsurgency program, Palparan remains at large. The mother of Jonas Burgos who was taken from a restaurant in 2007 and never seen againsuspects that Palparan has not been found because the authorities do not want to nd him. Other human rights issues demand resolution that does not seem forthcoming.

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EDITORIAL

A thing of the present

cases of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances that took place between July 2010 and February 2011 at a time when Mr. Aquino was already in ofce. In his rst State-of-the-Nation Address, the President said that the case of Francisco Baldomerothe rst of 10 named by Human Rights Watchwas already nearing resolution. Over the months that followed, an arrest warrant was issued against the suspected killer. But there were no arrests and the case was archived early the following year. The other nine casesand the many others that did not make it to the report follow the same pattern. It is as if the government thinks that identifying suspects and having arrest warrants issued against them already constitute the delivery of justice. The trial of the suspects in the Maguindanao massacre, which took place in 2009, is moving at a snails pace. The Justice Department has not been able to give sufcient protection to witnesses, some of whom are being killed even before they can fully tell their story. Unfortunately, the Justice secretary is too busy convincing everybody that she should be named the next chief justice to pay closer attention to how the Ampatuan trial could be concluded faster. We wonder whether the President would even identify human rights as an area where his administration must work harder in his next State-of-the-Nation Address later this month. If he does not mention it at all, that would only say a lot about his priorities. If the President does not take his own promises seriously, then why should we?

FIVE months after his inauguration, President Benigno Aquino III afrmed his commitment to end human rights abuses as he spoke during the anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. He proclaimed that his administration would establish an environment that would be in contrast to the dark era that once engulfed us...this is a government that is serious about human rights. Mr. Aquino ended his speech by boldly declaring that the culture of silence, injustice and impunity was a thing of the past. But last week, the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch released its report where it concluded that President Aquino had reneged on his promise to bring justice to victims. The report tackled 10 documented

No fun for rights workers

PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino has done it again, escalating tensions between the Philippines and China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal area by announcing that he may ask the United States to deploy spy planes in the area to monitor Chinese movements there. And here we were nearly believing Aquino when he said that he was all in favor of ratcheting down the warlike rhetoric against China. Certainly, the Philippines needs to protect its claim to the territories it considers its own. However, whenever Aquino opens his mouth on its territorial dispute with China, he cannot help but betray his desire for the US to step in and make our problems with Beijing go away. No one is saying that we should just allow China to take over all of the South China Sea without protest. But because we cannot engage in a war with the Chinese, we should endeavor to resolve this dispute at the negotiating table and not through the saber-rattling that Aquino seems to prefer. The less Aquino talks about the Spratlys dispute, the stronger our claims will be. But Aquino never misses a chance to threaten the Chineseand lead us all closer to a war that nobody (not even the Americans whose name he is always invoking) wants. *** Its entirely possible, as the police say, that longtime Dutch community worker and rights advocate Willem Geertman, who was shot dead in Angeles City, Pampanga this week, was the victim of robbers. But whats certain, according to one human rights group, is that its not fun when foreign nationals serving amongst poor and deprived sectors in the Philippines are targeted by armed forces that operate in defense of the interests of government, mining, big business and landlords instead of the protection of the rights of the poor. Geertman, 67, is the second European community organizer and aid worker killed in the Philippines under the Aquino administration. Last October, Italian missionary Father Fausto Pops Tentorio was gunned down by still unidentied suspects in Arakan, North Cotabato; Tentorios killing remains unsolved. Local rights group Karapatan said Geertman was a staunch supporter of the farmers in Hacienda Luisita, the plantation owned by President Noynoy Aquinos family, in Tarlac. He is the 95th victim of extra-judicial killing under Aquino, Karapatan spokesman Cristina Palabay said. According to the Pampanga police, Geertman was attacked by motorcycleriding robbers outside his ofce in Angeles after he had withdrawn

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES

A second European community worker is killed under the Aquino administration.

money from a local bank. However, a journalist who was an eyewitness to the killing identied as Fred Villareal said the 30-year resident of the Philippines was shot execution-style, after he was made to kneel on the ground by a gunmancertainly not a common method employed by robbers. The killing of Geertman came a week after a New York-based human rights organization accused the Aquino administration of not being able to arrest or prosecute a single suspect in 10 documented cases of human rights violations since it assumed ofce. The group Human Rights Watch said all the 10 cases involved involuntary disappearances and extra-judicial killings of rights workers. Incredibly, a spokesman for Aquino, in a reply to the charge, blamed the Judiciary for not securing convictions in cases of human rights violations. This blatant attempt at misdirection failed to consider that HRW was criticizing the government for not arresting and prosecuting suspects in human rights cases, which is the job of the Executive, not the Judiciary. *** Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim is conducting a propaganda offensive to deny reports that the city intends to reclaim more than 400 hectares of land along Roxas Boulevard. But what Lim cannot deny is that he approved a city ordinance in 1993 that banned a similar project proposed by the same private company that a new local law is authorizing to undertake it. Manila City Ordinance 7777, approved by Lim almost two decades ago, was passed by the city council to stop the project initiated by a company calling itself Goldcoast Development Corp. A new local law, Ordinance 8233 passed earlier this year authorizes the Philippine Reclamation Authority (the government agency which was also supposed to implement the original project) to allow Goldcoast to reclaim the land from Manila Bay. Goldcoast was supposedly put up by the late Pandacan rice trader Sy Pio Lato to undertake the original reclamation project. The company is now reportedly controlled by the son of a Filipino-Chinese tycoon and the head honcho of one of the biggest corporations in the country today. Former Manila Mayor and Environment and Natural Resourcers Secretary Lito Atienza, who as Lims vice mayor in 1993 shepherded the approval of Ordinance 7777, is accusing Lim and the current council of pulling a fast one on the residents of the city. Atienza said the new ordinance was approved in secret, without consulting the public. Atienza said the proposed reclamation project could exacerbate the problem of ooding in Manila. No amount of money that the city is supposed to earn from a revenue-sharing agreement between Goldcoast in the city is going to be worth the misery it will cause, Atienza said.

This is what global warming looks like

By Seth Borenstein
WASHINGTONIs it just freakish weather or something more? Climate scientists suggest that if you want a glimpse of some of the worst of global warming, take a look at US weather in recent weeks. Horrendous wildres. Oppressive heat waves. Devastating droughts. Flooding from giant deluges. And a powerful freak wind storm called a derecho. These are the kinds of extremes climate scientists have predicted will come with climate change, although its far too early to say that is the cause. Nor will they say global warming is the reason 3,215 daily high temperature records were set in the month of June. Scientically linking individual weather events to climate change takes intensive study, complicated mathematics, computer models and lots of time. Sometimes it isnt caused by global warming. Weather is always variable; freak things happen. And this weather has been local. Europe, Asia and Africa arent having similar disasters now, although theyve had their own extreme events in recent years. But since at least 1988, climate scientists have warned that climate change would bring, in general, increased heat waves, more droughts, more sudden downpours, more widespread wildres and worsening storms. In the United States, those extremes are happening here and now. So far this year, more than 2.1 million acres (850,000 hectares) have burned in wildres, more than 113 million people in the U.S. were in areas under extreme heat advisories last Friday, two-thirds of the country is experiencing drought, and earlier in June, deluges ooded Minnesota and Florida. This is what global warming looks like at the regional or personal level, said Jonathan Overpeck, professor of geosciences and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona. The extra heat increases the odds of worse heat waves, droughts, storms and wildre. This is certainly what I and many other climate scientists have been warning about. Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in re-charred Colorado, said these are the very recordbreaking conditions he has said would happen, but many people wouldnt listen. So its I told you so time, he said. As recently as March, a special report on extreme events and disasters by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of unprecedented extreme weather and climate events. Its lead author, Chris Field of the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University, said Monday, Its really dramatic how many of the patterns that weve talked about as the expression of the extremes are hitting the US right now. What were seeing really is a window into what global warming really looks like, said Princeton University geosciences and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer. It looks like heat. It looks like res. It looks like this kind of environmental disasters. Oppenheimer said that on Thursday. That was before the East Coast was hit with triple-digit Fahrenheit temperatures (temperatures above 38 degress Celsius) and before a derecho an unusually strong, long-lived and large straight-line wind stormblew through Chicago to Washington. The storm and its aftermath killed more than 20 people and left millions without electricity. Experts say it had energy readings ve times that of normal thunderstorms. Fueled by the record high heat, this was one of the most powerful of this type of storm in the region in recent history, said research meteorologist Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storm Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. Scientists expect non-tornadic wind events like this one and other thunderstorms to increase with climate change because of the heat and instability, he said. Such patterns havent happened only in the past week or two. The spring and winter in the US were the warmest on record and among the least snowy, setting the stage for the weather extremes to come, scientists say. Since Jan. 1, the United States has set more than 40,000 hot temperature records, but fewer than 6,000 cold temperature records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Through most of last century, the US used to set cold and hot records evenly, but in the rst decade of this century America set two hot records for every cold one, said Jerry Meehl, a climate extreme expert at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This year the ratio is about 7 hot to 1 cold. Some computer models say that ratio will hit 20to-1 by midcentury, Meehl said. In the future you would expect larger, longer more intense heat waves and weve seen that in the last few summers, NOAA Climate Monitoring chief Derek Arndt said. The 100-degree (40-degree Celsius) heat, drought, early snowpack melt and beetles waking from hibernation early to strip trees all combined to set the stage for the current unusual spread of wildres in the West, said University of Montana ecosystems professor Steven Running, an expert on wildres. While at least 15 climate scientists told The Associated Press that this long hot US summer is consistent with what is to be expected in global warming, history is full of such extremes, said John Christy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Hes a global warming skeptic who says, The guilty party in my view is Mother Nature. But the vast majority of mainstream climate scientists, such as Meehl, disagree: This is what global warming is like, and well see more of this as we go into the future. AP

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ManilaStandardToday Adelle Chua, Editor

Opinion
Anthology
POP GOES THE WORLD
LAST week I received a nal call for manuscripts notice from University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication dean Dr. Rolando Tolentino, who is collecting critical, personal, popular, and creative nonction works for an anthology called The Ballads of Malakas and Maganda: Marcosian and Imeldic Essays. This is a sequel to the Mondo Marcos volumes, published in 2010 and edited by Tolentino and veteran journalist Frank Cimatu. Such a collection would be a signicant addition to the histories and memoirs written about the period, a time of struggle and pain, a time that many young people do not know about. If the stories of that time are unknown or forgotten, how will generations to come benet from the lessons learned during that time? Imelda Marcoss 83rd birthday rolled around last July 2, with a concomitant barrage of posts on social media of pictures of her in the bloom of youth. The comments were mostly attering, referring to her beauty and singing voice. At the height of their power, she positioned herself as the semi-divine Maganda of Filipino creation myth, with Ferdinand Marcos as the counterpart Malakas. Musician David Byrne, who in 2005 recorded a two-CD rock opera with Fatboy Slim called Here Lies Love

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The BCDA president is a usurper

TO THE POINT
SECRETARY of Justice Leila de Lima wants to replace Dolphy as a comedian. She goes around proclaiming she is no stooge. No stooge? So why did she prevent former President Gloria Arroyo from leaving despite a Supreme Courtissued temporary restraining order on her watch list order against the former President? Dont tell me it was NOT upon the instruction of President Benigno Aquino. And what was she thinking when she testied during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona? Was not Coronas o u s t e r engineered by President A q u i n o himself? L i m a insists she is independent, even when she was picked by Mrs. Arroyo from nowhere to head the Commission on Human Rights. Of course she was independent because she was given all the leeway to do her job. But what is she doing now, biting the hand that fed her? They have a name for people like de Lima but its not polite to say it here. The Constitution provides that the chief justice must be of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence. Did de Lima show probity when she rst sought the advice of the appointing power whether or not she should accept her nomination? Is she really independent? She may say she is, but the people believe otherwise. *** It has been months since the Bases Convention Development Authority and the lessee of the 247-hectare Camp John Hay (a former military base of the United States)the Camp John Hay Development Corp.-got embroiled in a controversy over alleged unpaid lease rentals amounting to P3.1 billion. The matter ended with the termination of the thrice-restructured memorandum of agreement. The BCDA had wanted to forcibly take over Camp John Hay, but, the Baguio Regional Court issued a temporary restraining order. CJH Devco wants the controversy to be arbitrated as provided for under the lease, but the BCDA refuses, threatening to take over by force. Since then, there have been suits and countersuits where the two parties accuse each other of breaches of contract and other shenanigans. In the meantime, Camp John Hay, the only place now in Baguio City where you can still smell pine trees, play golf and experience amenities has lost its allure because of the
EMIL P. JURADO

President Aquino must follow the law and step in.

controversy. The tragedy of it all is that with the ongoing controversy, the Baguio City government is deprived of its 25-percent share of the revenues from Camp John Hay. Tourism has greatly suffered. And yet the Department of Tourism and Malacaang have not lifted a nger to resolve the problem. Another problem is an administrative case led by a lawyer against BCDA president/ CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova for illegally occupying his post in gross violation of Republic Act 7227, or the law creating the BCDA which has supervision and control of former US military facilities in the country. The BCDA charter clearly states that the state-controlled agency must be composed of nine directors, including the chairman who shall also be the president of the Conversion Authority. Since Casanova isnt the chairman of BCDA occupied by former Bataan Congressman Tong Payumo and former Subic Base Metropolitan Authority chairman/president/CEO, Casanova is illegally occupying his post and should be charged criminally liable under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Santa Banana, he is a usurper! Since it was President Aquino who appointed Casanova to the post, he must now comply with the law and make Payumo both chairman and president and CEO as provided for by law. This should also be an occasion for the President to intervene in the raging BCDA-CJHDevco controversy which involves public and even national interest. That is if the President wants Camp John Hay to remain a tourist destination. In the light of the BCDA charter where the chairman is also president, all actions taken by Casanova would be illegal and in violation of the law. This should not only set things right but give Payumo, a well known businessman and administrator in his right, the power to settle the BCDA-CJHDevco controversy at the soonest possible time. *** Malacaang did a stupid thing when its communications strategist Ricky Carandang stated that the Philippines was not provoking the Chinese to worsen the dispute over Scarborough Shoal claimed by China by seeking to use American spy planes to monitor activities over the disputed islands of West Philippine Sea. Its like lighting a fuse when President Aquino seeks American aid in trying to buttress our claim over the Spartlys and Scarborough Shoal. I dont know who has b e e n advising President Aquino over this dispute, certainly, it cant be DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario who should know better. It has been one blunder after another!

JENNY ORTUOSTE

revolving around the Imelda story, has blogged about Imeldas deliberate assumption of this persona. Having seen portraits of the Marcos couple in Malacaang, Ilocos, and Leyte, he wrote about their depiction as the urcouple of the Philippinesthe strong man and the beautiful woman, with Imelda cast as a nurturing goddess. Many from Generation Y, the millenials, have never even heard of the Marcos couple, except as names in history books. Imelda is still a congresswoman, and even launched a fashion line in 2006 using her recycled belongings; she is known to the youth mostly as some sort of celebrity. Her legacy and that of FerdinandMartial Law is shrugged off as a historical tidbit. Those who were at the forefront of the struggle during the 1970s will never forget what they endured during Martial Law. One of them is lawyer Eduardo Araullo, who in his student years at UP was a member of the Left. He fought against the dictatorship with blood and bone and life and love laid on the line. Imprisoned for acts of subversion, he recalls being doused with water from cannons, beaten by the military with bats and truncheons, hauled off to detention centers in handcuffs. He tends to downplay his experiences, saying he knew what he was in for. He was twenty and in the underground when he was arrested by the Metrocom and taken to Camp Crame, where his father visited him. He was asked, Kaya mo? Kaya ko, he answered. Prison was boring, Attorney Ed recalls, and the inmates lled their time with games and sportsbasketball, table tennis, Monopoly. He was not

released until six months later. He went underground again, and later became a labor lawyer. Why did he ght against martial law, I asked. Because it was wrong. What else had he been prepared to give up? I was ready to die. Would he do it again? Yes. What did you learn? Stand up for what you believe in. Its worth it. It is hard to elicit much from him beyond cerebral responses. I ask, What did you feel? Attorney Ed replies, It was an intellectual exercise. Much remains locked inside him. I feel I can go no farther. He will not take me there. I take my leave of him and wait by the curb for a ride. He follows me, and whispers, I still grieve for them, for those who died. I always remember. This and similar stories of those years should never be forgotten, because too much went into the weaving of them. Too many lessons were learned that need to be graven in our hearts. Too many people suffered and died for their legacy to be ignored. If it takes books for us to learn and remember those years, then we look forward to the publication of Tolentino and Cimatus forthcoming anthology.

A footprint and a shadow

By John Heilprin and Seth Borenstein
GENEVA Physicists say they have all but proven that the God particle exists. They have a footprint and a shadow, and the only thing left is to see for themselves the elusive subatomic particle believed to give all matter in the universe size and shape. Scientists at the worlds biggest atom smasher plan announced Wednesday that they have nearly conrmed the primary plank of a theory that could restructure the understanding of why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give an object weight. The idea is much like gravity and Isaac Newtons discovery: It was there all the time before Newton explained it. But now scientists know what it is and can put that knowledge to further use. The focus of the excitement is the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle long sought by physicists. Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, say that they have compiled vast amounts of data that show the footprint and shadow of the particle, even though it has never actually been glimpsed. But two independent teams of physicists are cautious after decades of work and billions of dollars spent. They dont plan to use the word discovery. They say they will come as close as possible to a eureka announcement without overstating their ndings. I agree that any reasonable outside observer would say, It looks like a discovery, said British theoretical physicist John Ellis, a professor at Kings College London who has worked at CERN since the 1970s. Weve discovered something which is consistent with being a Higgs. CERNs atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-French border, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The phrase God particle, coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman, is used by laymen, not physicists, more as an explanation for how the subatomic universe works than how it all started. Rob Roser, who leads the search for the Higgs boson at the Fermilab in Chicago, said: Particle physicists have a very high standard for what it takes to be a discovery, and he thinks it is a hairs breadth away. Roser compared the results that scientists will announce Wednesday to nding the fossilized imprint of a dinosaur: You see the footprints and the shadow of the object, but you dont actually see it. Though an impenetrable concept to many, the Higgs boson has until now been just thata concept intended to explain a riddle: How were subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons and neutrons, themselves formed? What gives them their mass? The answer came in a theory rst proposed by Scottish physicist Peter Higgs and others in the 1960s. It envisioned an energy eld where particles interact with a key particle, the Higgs boson. The idea is that other particles attract Higgs bosons and the more they attract, the bigger their mass will be. Some liken the effect to a ubiquitous Higgs snoweld that affects other particles traveling through it depending on whether they are wearing, metaphorically speaking, skis, snowshoes or just shoes. Ofcially, CERN is presenting its evidence this week at a physics conference in Australia but plans to accompany the announcement with meetings in Geneva. The two teams, known as ATLAS and CMS, then plan to publicly unveil more data on the Higgs boson at physics meetings in October and December. Each of the teams involves thousands of people working independently to ensure accuracy. The scientic threshold for discovery is high. Scientists have to show with complex formulas that theres a less than 1 in 1.7 million chance that the ndings are a statistical uke. With two independent experiments showing that theres less than 1 in 16,000 chance of being wrong, its a matter of how their work is put together. Scientists with access to the new CERN data say it shows with a high degree of certainty that the Higgs boson may already have been glimpsed, and that by unofcially combining the separate results from ATLAS and CMS it can be argued that a discovery is near. Ellis says at least one physicist-blogger has done just that in a credible way. CERN spokesman James Gillies said Monday that he would be very cautious about unofcial combinations of ATLAS and CMS data. Combining the data from two experiments is a complex task, which is why it takes time, and why no combination will be presented on Wednesday. he said. But if the calculations are indeed correct, said John Guinon, a longtime physics professor at the University of California at Davis and author of the book The Higgs Hunters Guide, then it is fair to say that in some sense we have reached the mountaintop. Sean M. Carroll, a California Institute of Technology physicist ying to Geneva for Wednesdays announcement, said that if both ATLAS and CMS have independently reached these high thresholds on the Higgs boson, then only the most curmudgeonly will not believe that they have found it. AP

A deep dive view of Alzheimers

By Michelle Fay Cortez
OVER the past 18 months, 81-year-old Bill Bunnell has visited the doctor a halfdozen times to take memory tests, provide blood samples, and undergo a spinal tap and imaging scans. Its all part of the most extensive study ever conducted on Alzheimers. Now researchers are about to take an even closer look at Bunnell, a retired engineer from Madison, Connecticut. Working with $2 million in new grants to be announced this week, the researchers for the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative will, for the rst time, start mapping the DNA of 800 participants in a study attempting to nd the root causes of memory loss. The goal is to see if physical changes from Alzheimers can be matched to genetic disparities, which can then be compared with ndings from healthy people like Bunnell. If theres ever to be progress in the discovery of the fundamentals that lead to Alzheimers, this is the way to do it, said Aubrey Milunsky, director of the Boston University Center for Human Genetics, which isnt involved in the research. The grants are split evenly from the Alzheimers Association, a nonprot health group focused on the care and treatment of people with the disease, and the nonprot Brin Wojcicki Foundation, a charitable organization created by 23andMe Inc. co-founder Anne Wojcicki and her husband Sergey Brin, co-founder of Mountain View, California-based Google Inc. The research initiative, funded by the US government, nonprot groups and private industry, began tracking physical and mental changes in people ages 60 and older in 2004. Alzheimers is an irreversible disease that destroys brain cells and makes it difcult for patients to think, remember and function. It aficts 5.1 million Americans, a number that may grow to 16 million by 2050, according to the US National Institutes of Health. The ADNI study has sought to tie the development of symptoms to physical changes in people with Alzheimers, including deposits of protein tangles and plaque in the brain over time. By diving deeply into the genetics of healthy people and those with the disease, scientists may nd differences that either spur the buildup of the amyloid plaque thats a hallmark of the disease, or protect people from it. The genetic samples have already been gathered, the researchers said. Theyll be sequenced at Illumina Inc., the gene-mapping company based in San Diego that fought off a $6.7 billion takeover bid from Roche Holding AG earlier this year. It will take 16 weeks to get the results, which will generate so much information that the data on each participant will be sent to the researchers on separate hard drives. The team is working on ways to share the raw data when it emerges, and is considering alternatives like lending them to investigators the way libraries lend books. Researchers plan to study the genetic makeup of the participants. While roughly 10 genes are already linked to the condition, crucial details about genetic variations and how they interact remain unknown, said Robert Green, a medical geneticist at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston who is coordinating the sequencing efforts. Alzheimers is one of the many diseases that is starting to reach the point where we can benet from the explosion of genomic information thats becoming available, Green said in a telephone interview. We still dont know the entire pathway of what causes it. There are mysteries that likely have to be solved before we have truly effective treatments. The results of the genetic tests, as with all the other information gathered by the program investigators, will be available to anyone studying Alzheimers, said Mike Weiner, the leader of the initiative from the University of California, San Francisco, in a telephone interview. That promises to speed progress, he said. The integration of patients medical history with their genetic makeup will provide an unprecedented view of how Alzheimers disease emerges and eventually dominates the mind, Thies said by telephone. Until you understand the relationship between basic blocks of genetics and the clinical condition of the patient, youre not going to get very far, Thies said. We believe this is the biggest project of whole genome sequencing in a single disease. Most people dont realize Alzheimers is strongly inherited, often because their relatives died before developing it, Weiner said. Past research looked mainly at snippets of the genetic code where variations are thought to exist, a method thats been productive but hasnt nailed it, he said. Weiner compares the approach to a blurry map of the U.S. showing major cities and roads. Looking at the whole genome will provide crisp details and more information, making it easier to pinpoint the diseases strengths and weaknesses. This is a disease that has the potential to wreck our health-care system, our economy and ruin the lives of increasing numbers of people in the next 50 years, Thies said. All that can be avoided if we invest appropriately in research and we have the public volunteering for clinical opportunities. Bloomberg

ATTY. HARRY ROQUE JR.

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equal protection clause in the Constitution because they cover only Metro Manila buses and not the entire transport sector throughout the country. They noted that the DOLE issued the order arbitrarily as it failed to conduct consultations with bus operators. Besides, the operators argued that the higher rate of compensation are too heavy for bus operators. If not restrained, the implementation of such policy will result in a lot of petitioners-operators-employers to short as well as long term nancial reverses, which to many of them could become as irreversible, especially in the light of the fact that they cannot reduce or even diminish those employment benets already granted to their drivers and conductors by virtue of such policy plus those they already enjoy under the col-

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Firms want bus reforms stopped

By Rey E. Requejo

FIVE associations of bus operators have asked the Supreme Court to stop the Department of Labor and Employment from implementing a reform policy requiring operators to give xed salaries and appropriate benets to bus drivers and conductors in Metro Manila.
The petitioners Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines, Southern Luzon Bus Operators Association Inc., Inter City Bus Operators Association and City of San Jose del Monte Bus Operators Association asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order stopping the government from implementing the reforms. In a 24-page petition, the bus rms, represented by lawyer Leonides Respicio, argued that that DOLEs Department Order No. 118-12, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory

Board Memorandum Circular No. 2012001and other related issuances are unconstitutional because they impair existing obligations of contracts, unduly interfere in purely private business matters and violate due process and equal protection required by law. They said such arrangements have been in place since time immemorial and have proven to be more advantageous to bus drivers and operators. Such laws, orders and circular are also unconstitutional because their capricious implementation shall result in impairing the validly agreed obligations in mutual contracts, not to mention that in instances, may turn out even in diminution of the income of said bus drivers and conductors, the petitioners argued. The bus operators added that the reforms violate due process and the

lective bargaining agreement/s. Thus, it is no exaggeration to opine that petitioners, as bus operators, are likely to end up as unwilling victims, if not, at times even perpetrators, of unfair labor practices, Respicio said. Aside from giving bus drivers and conductors xed salaries not lower than the applicable minimum wage rate, the new DOLE regulation also mandates bus operators to provide them with 12 regular holidays with pay, one rest day a week, overtime pay, night shift pay and 13 month pay. The drivers and conductors are also entitled to the normal eight hours of work a day, right to security of tenure, right to self organization and collective bargaining, and access to social welfare benets, including Social Security System, Philhealth, and Pag-ibig.

Agency looking for covered manholes

By Joel E. Zurbano
THE Department of Public Works and Highways has ordered its Metro Manila Regional Ofce to look into reports that more than 600 manholes disappeared because they were covered with asphalt by road contractors, causing ooding around Metro Manila in the last two days. I asked the regional director and the district engineer why the manholes were covered. Our initial investigation showed that there were manholes covered in Commonwealth, but not that many. We will conduct an inspection immediately. Well check the real numbers, said Public Works Undersecretary Romeo Momo. Momo said he ordered National Capital Region director Reynaldo Tagudando to identify the contractor responsible for covering the manholes with asphalt, saying the rm will be held liable. Of course the contractor will be accountable. It is not part of their contract to cover the manholes. I gave instructions to Director Tagundando to coordinate clsoely with the MMDA to know where these 600 manholes are located, Momo said. We have an inventory and we will check the area of Commonwealth (in Quezon City) and Roxas Boulevard (in Manila). Well see if manholes were really covered and if they were, the contractors should open them up, Momo said, adding that he will meet regional ofcials to solve the problem. Among the ooded areas in Metro Manila are Taft Avenue, Espana Blvd., Quezon Blvd and Pedro Gil in Manila; roads in the villages of Pio del Pilar, Tejeros, and La Paz in Makati; Commonwealth area, westbound near the Old Balara Church and Quezon Boulevard underpass in Quezon City; Barangays 34, 29, 33, 28, 14, 8, and 18 in Caloocan; Catmon, Sitio 6, Tatawid and Panghulo, Tanyong, Rivera, and Borromeo in Malabon; and M. Naval and Governor Pascual in Navotas.

Training for a high-payiong job. Two trainees practise their skills at a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority center on
United Nations Avenue in Manila. Welders are among the highest paid blue-collar workers in the country and can easily nd employment abroad. DANNY PATA

IN BRIEF
Court upholds revocation of Hayden Khos license
THE Court of Appeals has sustained a 2009 decision of the Professional Regulation Commission revoking the license of model Hayden Kho to practice medicine following his controversial sex video with actress Katrina Halili. In a 17-page decision, the CAs eighth division dismissed the petition of Kho seeking to reverse ndings of PRCs Board of Medicine of immorality, dishonorable and unethical conduct against him and afrmed the PRCs power to suspend or revoke a professional license. The appellate court stressed that the standard of morality expected of medical professionals should be high since the government recognizes the fact that physicians should protect the health, safety and wellbeing of the public, citing rules spelled out in the Basics of Philippine Medical Jurisprudence and Ethics. Rey E. Requejo

Abalos: No more case against me Jail users,

By Gigi Munoz-David
ALTHOUGH the principal witness against former elections commissioner Benjamin Abalos had supposedly recanted her testimony, a Pasay City Regional Trial Court judge wanted 15 more days to decide whether to grant Abalos bail for two counts of electoral sabotage. There is no more case against me, the witness has already recanted her testimony, Abalos told Pasay RTC Branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas, referring to former North Cotabato election ofcer Yogie Martirizar, who was cross-examined during the 13 th hearing of what should be a summary proceeding. In the light of Martirizars testimony, Abalos asked Mupas to nally resolve his bail petition, but the judge ordered the prosecution to submit their comments within 15 days. But Abalos, himself a former regional trial court judge, opposed the move and said it usually takes only two days to resolve a bail petition. Bail hearing is summary. 15 days is too long while I am in jail, Abalos said. Mupas then asked the prosecution to shorten the time and agreed on ve days after which the defense will submit their comments and the bail petition will be submitted for resolution. Under cross examination by Abalos and his lawyer Abraham Espejo, Martitizar disputed the motion of the Comelec to reject the bail petition on the grounds that Martirizar admitted to have tampered with the election results in North Cotabato. Instead, Martirizar denied tampering with the election results and blamed the military as the one that replaced ofcial election documents with fake ones. At the same time, Martirizar also admitted that she purportedly received cash assistance from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines amounting to P2 million at the time she claimed she was under constant surveillance and threat by unidentied men. During the two-hour cross examination, Martirizar also admitted that the ofcial results in North Cotabato resulted in high votes for the opposition while the purportedly pro-admnistration party-list Biyaheng Pinoy got only 83 votes despite the instructions Martirizar claimed to have received from Abalos to ensure the 12-0 victory of administration bets.

not kids Miriam

CHILDREN, who are mature minors at age 16 or 17, rarely commit crimes on their own and are usually directed by adult masterminds, said Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Reacting to the results of an ofcial online survey by the House of Representatives on lowering the minimum age of criminal liability, Santiago said the public disapproves of placing children under the criminal justice system. Criminal justice should never be a controlling paradigm for children, especially for those who have committed non-heinous offenses, said Santiago. Even in heinous crimes, she said the intention should still be the childs restoration, rehabilitation and reintegration. It is in these cases, where diversion could be utilized to help in the protection and rehabilitation of the child, adds Santiago. She reiterated her proposal made in an amendment speech on the original Juvenile Justice Bill in 2005 that for non-heinous offenses, children under 18 years should be totally exempt from criminal liability but can be subjected to a child welfare, restoration, intervention, and protection program to be determined by a social worker. Almost a month after the House of Representatives passed on third and nal reading House Bill No. 6052, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, which proposes to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years old, a poll was conducted to determine whether the public agreed with the bill. The poll shows that almost 70 percent of those who participated in the poll are against the lowering of the minimum age. The senator said the Juvenile Justice System should follow the framework of Restorative Justice, which promotes children safety rather than community safety. Macon Ramos Araneta

Caloocan village still dengue hotspot

By Macon Ramos-Araneta
EGIONAL health ofcials conrmed on Wednesday that only one Metro Manila barangay remain in the list of dengue hotspots in the past four weeks although there has been a 5% increase in the number of cases since January compared to the same period in 2012. DOH Center for Health Development Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo identied the village as Barangay 176 in Caloocan City and the health ofce is already coordinating with the Caloocan City government to take the necessary precautionary measures. Due to the rainy season, he said the DOH is bracing for a spike in the number of dengue cases in August and September when the number of cases usually peak. That is why we are already intensifying our space spraying activities and making sure that health centers in the region are prepared to facilitate the assessment of suspected dengue cases and hospitals can provide immediate treatment for dengue patients, said Janairo. The Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit declares a barangays a dengue hotspot because of the increasing number of dengue cases over a period of two weeks. There are now a total of 9,060 dengue cases recorded in the National Capital Region from January to June 23, 5% higher as compared to the same period last year with 8,654. There were 39 deaths reported. Most number of dengue cases came from Quezon City (2,591), Manila City (1,505), Caloocan City (1,057), Paranaque City (573) and Pasig City (521). Most number of cases belongs to 0-15 years old with 5,232 cases and 35 deaths recorded, 16-30 years old with 3,045 and 2 deaths, 31-45 years old with 561 cases and 2 deaths, 46-60 years old with 167 cases, 6175 with 41 cases and 76 years old and up with 14 cases.

3 robbers killed in gun ght with QC policemen

THREE of ve robbers who barged into an online casino along Quirino Avenue in Novaliches, Quezon City were killed after they engaged policemen in a shootout before dawn Wednesday. Senior Police Ofcer 1 Ardie Manlongat, ofcer-on-case, only described the fatalities as being between 25 to 30 years of age, two of them were wearing t-shirts and maong pants while the other one was wearing a camouage uniform. The two other thieves, Manlongat said, managed to escape during the exchange of re with policemen after they robbed about P138,900 in cash from the casino and its customers around 2:30 a.m. before tried to ee on board a white AUV. Jonathan Fernandez

Council opens search for child-friendly cities

THE Council for the Welfare of Children received three entries for the 2012 Presidential Search for ChildFriendly Municipalities and Cities in the National Capital Region. Vying for title are the cities of Mandaluyong, Makati and Pasig City. Mandaluyong is the 2011 regional and national title holder for the Most Child-Friendly City in the highly urbanized city category. Makati was regional title holder three times while Pasig City has once aspired for the title.

Warriors for breast care. Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla (right) inducts the new ofcers of the Philippine Foundation for

Breast Care Inc., led by its chairman Andy Lugtu (2nd from right) and Ma. Lourdes Cortez as vice chairman and president at Crowne Plaza Galleria in Pasig City. The foundation provides accessible and affordable diagnostics and treatment services to cancer patients. Founded in 1999, the institution also implements several advocacy programs that aim to increase womens awareness on breast cancer like screening, early detection, resource generation, emotional healing, and support groups, among others.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

ManilaStandardToday Riera U. Mallari, Editor

Sports

THURSDAY JULY 5, 2012

A7

Rockets want Lin

NEW YORKJeremy Lin on condition of anonymity bewill visit the Houston Rock- cause the negotiations were to ets on Wednesday, two people remain private. with knowledge of the plans The Rockets liked Lin, but said, and the New York had Kyle Lowry and Dragic Knicks restricted free ahead of him and needed agent is expected to to open a spot so they get a contract offer. could add Samuel The Rockets Dalembert to the waived Lin last roster. So they December and he waived Lin, a deciwas claimed by sion general manthe Knicks, turnager Daryl Morey ing into a breakout would later write on star when he landed Twitter that he regretLin the starting point guard ted during Lins sensational job. Now with Goran Dragic February stretch that made him the not expected to return, Houston biggest story in the NBA. may want Lin back. The undrafted guard from One of the people told The Harvard, the NBAs rst AmerAssociated Press on Tuesday ican-born player of Chinese or the Rockets are planning to Taiwanese decent, would t make Lin a multiyear offer, nicely with the Rockets, who though the Knicks can match remain popular in Asia even it and have said they intend to after former center Yao Mings keep him. The people spoke retirement. AP

Deron stays with Nets

NEW YORKDeron Williams is moving to Brooklyn with the Nets, instead of back home to Dallas.
The All-Star point guard said on his Twitter page Tuesday night that he made a very tough decision today and posted a picture of the Nets new team logo that accompanies their move from New Jersey to Brooklyn. A person with knowledge of the decision said Williams told the team he was accepting their ve-year contract worth $98 million. The person conrmed the agreement on condition of anonymity because contracts cant be signed until July 11. Williams, the top free agent available, chose to stay with the Nets over signing with the Mavericks, who hoped they could convince him to come back to the area where he grew up. Its a huge triumph for the Nets as they prepare to move into the new Barclays Center to start the 2012-13 season. They gave up an enormous package to get Williams in a surprising February 2011 trade, sending promising forward Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris, two rst-round draft picks and cash to the Utah Jazz. But it was worth it for the Nets, who needed a franchise player with them to build buzz for their move to New York. Williams wanted to make a quick decision before he reports to training camp in Las Vegas with the US mens basketball team on Thursday. He met with both teams Monday, the day after free agency opened, and made his Twitter posting at about 7 p.m. ET. Williams decision comes a day after the Nets agreed to a deal with Atlanta for All-Star guard Joe Johnson, and amid reports they are still hoping to make a deal with Orlando for Dwight Howard. Brooklyn also has a deal in place to re-sign versatile free agent forward Gerald Wallace. Just two years after a 70-loss season, the Nets will have one of the NBAs best backcourts and are poised to make a quick move up the Eastern Conference standings. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks had spoken openly about their desire to bring Williams back to North Texas, where he starred at The Colony High School. Mark Cubans team never made much attempt to defend its 2011 NBA title, letting key players such as Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea leave through free agency so the Mavs could save money for this summer. But Dallas could only offer Williams a four-year deal worth about $75 million under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement. And with the Nets urry of moves, may not even be able to offer a better team anymore. Williams averaged 21 points and 8.7 assists last season and had a 57-point game. One of the leagues top point guards since entering the NBA as the No. 3 pick of the Jazz in 2005, he was ahead of his competitors when last season started after playing in Turkey during the lockout. AP

Warriors to bank on experience

By Peter Atencio
FOR the University of the East Warriors, experience is denitely the best teacher. Exposure to two pre-season tournaments last summer has helped sharpen the Warriors and prepared them for the coming 75th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines mens basketball tournament. With the Warriors ready for battle, coach Jerry Codinera is upbeat that the Recto-based cagers can go beyond their seventh- place nish last year. It was a productive season. The boys earned a lot of experience, said Codinera at the end of UEs sorties in the 18th Fr. Martin Summer Cup and another pre-season cagefest. For the coming season, the Warriors boast of a balanced lineup with Codinera and his coaching staff taking pains to look for the right combinations among his ve guards, ve centers and ve forwards. Roy Villarias, a rookie point guard from the Eastern College in Cebu, is one of Codineras rookies and will be there with veteran guard Roi Sumang, who led the Warriors last summer with his averages of 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. Former Jose Rizal University cager JR Duncil, Mapua transferee Ian Valdez and Fatima College standout Dan Alberto will also be there to back up Sumang and Villarias. Wingman Adrian Santos, who emerged as UEs second top performer during the summer with 9.4 points and 7.6 rebounds, will also be in the starting ve with Pedrito Gallarza, Jay-Ar Sumido and Jojo Mena.

Cabrera bucks injury in Asian kartfest

SEAOIL karter Gabriel Cabrera, along with fellow Philippine karter Flynn Jackes of TRS racing, nally ended the half a decade title drought for the Philippines in the Mini-ROK class of the Asian Karting Open Championships opening leg at the Kartodromo de Coloane in Macau. While Jackes was fortunate to cruise through the leg to eventually bag the championship, 12-year-old Cabrera had only a day to familiarize himself with the international race track, yet managed to top the time trials at 1:03.674 despite the absence of a coach and with only his chief mechanic Joeselo Bariquit in tow. Albeit short-lived, the Philippines enjoyed a momentous 1-2-3 moment at the time trials, with Cabrera grabbing pole position followed by Xedrei Daquigan in second and Flynn Jackes in third. Singaporean Darryl Wenas came fourth, while Indonesian Keanon Santoso, Taiwanese Lin Tsen Han and Macau karter Leong Hon Chio came fth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Despite incurring a bad lower rib/abdomen injury during the nals warm-up, Cabrera displayed an admirable show of resilience and perseverance as he immediately raced to second place from fth in the starting grid, enduring the searing pain from his injury. The excruciating pain, however, increased turn after turn which led Cabrera to slip from second to fourth place. Cabrera desperately tried to catch up, but immediately collapsed at the weigh-in area as the pain from his injury eventually became unbearable. There is no such thing as a broken spirit, only broken bones. But not even that can stop a Filipino karters will to win, said Cabrera as he was whisked off to the Kiang Wu Hospital to receive emergency medical treatment, which effectively helped diminish the pain. Cabrera fortunately returned to the track a few hours after, just in time to receive his third runnerup trophy at the awarding ceremonies. Cabrera, Jackes and Daquigan are expected to again have heated showdowns against their Asian rivals at the series second leg to be held at the Carmona Race Track later this month.

IN BRIEF
Melligen makes comeback
FORMER welterweight hopeful Mark Jason Melligen (21-3, 14 KOs), who fell out of favor with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum after two disappointing losses, is trying to make a comeback in a small ght card to mark the esta of the town of Baliangao in Misamis Occidental, where Svetlana Jalosos De Leon is the Mayor. Promoter Sammy Gello-ani told the Manila Standard that Melligen has committed to maintain his discipline and has been training for a month at the camp set up by Gello-ani and works under trainer Danny Bactol. Although the hard-hitting southpaw faces journeyman Dondon Lapuz, who has a dismal record of 13-37-1 with 7 knockouts, Gello-ani said he wanted to see whether Melligen still has what it takes to move up in the super welterweight division. Melligen, who previously fought under ALA Promotions and received all the support including a contract with Top Rank and trained in Las Vegas with former Cebu resident Tony Martin, he fell out of grace twice, losing to Michael Rosales and Sebastian Lujan. Melligen asked Gell-ani to give him a chance which is exactly what he plans to do. He said Melligen has so far shown exemplary conduct and discipline and he is hoping to give him a big ght should he perform impressively against Lapuz. Ronnie Nathanielsz

Martin Cup set

A TOTAL of 30 school teams have signed up for the 10th Fr. Martin Division 2 Cup basketball tournament, which reels off on July 21 at the St. Placid gymnasium of the San Beda College-Mendiola campus. The defending champion San Beda Red Lions are among the 14 varsity teams entered and will seek to retain its crown in the senior division of this cagefest, a tournament for the participating schools team B squads of many University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association member schools. The tournament is usually held during the ongoing collegiate season, offering a chance for varsity cagers who are listed in their alma maters farm team to showcase their talents. Xavier School is defending its title in the high school division, where 16 quintets are listed.

Busy month for darters

JULY stands to be a busy month for darters with ve big tournaments on tap. The heavy schedule begins tonight with the Metro Manila Darts League, which gets underway at the Ambassador Hotel in Malate, Manila. The MMDL has two divisionsthe non-rated team league and the Open singles series. On Saturday, a P20,000 classied Doubles Tournament will be staged at the Attico Grill, Pascual Bldg, Paranaque. On July 13, the Loreto Darters will conduct a P30,000 doubles tournament in Sampaloc, Manila. On July 19, the majors Cup event will be held in Mandaluyong City. Finally, on July 28, Terton Craft celebrates its 36th anniversary with a P50,000 tournament dubbed Double 18 Dartfest at the Ambassadors Hotel. For more information on these tournaments and future events, visit www.dartsdcp.com.

Chief Mechanic Joeselo Bariquit (left) with Filipino karter Gabriel Cabrera

P.5m worth of Molten counterfeit balls seized

THE Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group seized more than 200 pieces of fake basketballs amounting close to P500,000 from three sports boutiques last month. On the strength of a court-issued search and seizure warrant, the CIDG found Mix Sports, Jianwang and Plus Sports commercial stores in Divisoria being engaged in marketing and selling imitations of Molten basketball models GL7 and GG7 and were selling these items at the retail prices of the original models. In a statement by Molten Corporation Japan, through its exclusive distributor to the Philippines, Sonia Trading, the company expressed their concern due to losses caused by the proliferation of imitations of their patented basketballs and the complaints of customers, who unknowingly purchased fake balls sold at their original prices.

National open team championship

THE National Open Team chamSYLVIA LOPEZ pionship was held ALEJANDRO under the auspices of the Philippine Tournament Bridge Association last June 23 and 24 at the Manila Club, Corinthian Building, Makati City. It is the premier team event of the association. The Team winners: 1. Zodiac - Ann de Guzman, Pocholo Lozano, Goerge Soo, 97 VPs Jimmy Soo, KT Yang 2. Godot - Ray Aguas, Gerry Alquiros, Martin Anastacio, 95 VPs George Francisco, Jopet Maliwat 3. Forbes - Sylvia Alejandro, Justo Manlongat, Hiranthi Samarasingha, 83 VPs Nalin Samarasingha N orth N K52 A53 QJ92 QJ3 S South AQ43 8762 A6 A65 The girls bridge skill were woefully lacking, as
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

she played mostly with randoms, and her mind wasnt really at bridge. She was not able to gure out how to make her 9 tricks on the lead of K, and the inevitable happened: the curse was fullled. The animals, the birds, even the bugs fell sound asleep and the forest itself seemed to have stopped breathing. Years later, a prince from the East with a fondness for hunting through forests of darkness wandered around the mysterious valley. While striving and toiling to render a pathway, he noticed there was noting to hunt. Animals were lying all over the place as if they were dead. Something was shy for sure, so the prince went deeper into the forest until he found the girls cabin. She was lying in bed, of radiant beauty but inert. On a small table near the bed the laptop was miraculously still on and the curse was displayed in Times New Roman size 24. The prince had studied bridge under guidance of the Kingdoms grand masters. He looked at the deal and tried to nd the solution. Although they have 27HCP, for South it is not easy to make 3NT on the K lead. After the King, West can cash the Queen and also the Jack of Heart. The prince realized that the poor sleepy girl must have rushed to grab the heart and then played for spades to split 3-3. Unfortunate haste that brought the curse upon everyone around her So the Prince did not play spades right away. He searced for a trick in diamonds, after winning the third round of hearts. Diamond Queen toward the Ace. If East covers, hes nished he doesnt have the Ten, and he knows West can be nessed. So East played low. Then the Prince continued with

the Queen of clubs won by West, who cashed his fourth heart. West then returned a club and South won with the Ace. The Prince understood that he must combine his chances for spades either splitting 3-3 or 4-2, with the King of Diamonds and the 4 spades in same hand. So he cashed the Ace of Diamond, then played a club to the Jack. East was left with K and 4 spades, so he had to discard something. No way out, and the Prince emerged victorious. North K52 A53 QJ92 QJ3 West East 98 J1076 KQJ9 104 1087 K543 K842 1097 South AQ43 8762 A6 A65 West North East South 1NT P 3NT P P P As he played the last card, the forest around him came back to life. But the best surprise was still to come. The pretty girl had just woke up and was staring at him with her beautiful eyes wide open. Comments to: sylvia@globelines.com.ph

Bombers battle Generals

(The Arena in San Juan) 12 nn JRU vs EAC (jrs) 2 p.m. Mapua vs LSGH (jrs) 4 p.m. JRU vs EAC (srs) 6 p.m. Mapua vs CSB (srs)

Games Today

NATE Matute and John Lopez are expected to carry the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers when they ght the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals today in the 88th National Collegiate Athletic Association mens basketball tournament. Averaging 22.5 points after two games, Matute is fast emerging as one of the leagues top scorers next to Letrans Kevin Alas. And the repower he delivers for the Heavy Bombers could bring the team their third straight win when they meet the Generals at 4 p.m. today at the Arena in San Juan. In the second game, the College of St. Benilde Blazers try to bounce back from a 93-95 loss to the San Sebastian Stags when they collide with the undermanned Mapua Cardinals at 6 p.m. Peter Atencio

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

WIMBLEDON
Mens Fourth-Round Matches: No. 4 Andy Murray beat No. 16 Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2, 6-3; No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat No. 10 Mardy Fish 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4; No. 7 David Ferrer beat No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; No. 27 Philipp Kohlschreiber beat qualifier Brian Baker 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3; No. 31 Florian Mayer beat No. 18 Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Sports
Manila Standard TODAY
Riera U. Mallari, Editor

sports@manilastandardtoday.com sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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LOTTO RESULTS

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THURSDAY

JULY 5, 2012

Donaire prefers to fight taller foes

TOP Rank promoter Bob Arum said that International Boxing Federation champion Jeffrey Mathebula of South Africa was at least a head taller than World Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire, and this may cause some problems for the four-division world champion. But Donaires trainer, former world champion Robert Garcia, said the height of Mathebula doesnt awe the Fil-American champion. This (height) doesnt concern him. Nonito prefers to ght taller guys, said Garcia. Arum said the media affair at the Fortune Gym in West Hollywood was huge, hectic and worked out very well. While Arum said Donaire looked sensational in his workouts, he cautioned that Mathebula, based on ght tapes he has seen, shows hes a ghter that engages. He comes to ght. Dr. Ed dela Vega, who produces top-class mouth-guards for ghters, said that the event boiled down to an exchange of messages printed on the outts of the two champions, who are both seeking to unify the 122-pound title. Mathebula proclaimed Undisputed King of World Champions on his training outt. He is in the US with trainer Nick Durandt and assistant trainers Damien Durandt and Gert Strydom. Donaire, on the other hand, wore a simple, white T-shirt, according to Dr. Dela Vega that had the VADA logo, along with a statement 24/7/365 Nothing to Hide, Everything to Prove, which aimed to draw attention to his voluntary drug testing to prove he is a clean athlete. Ronnie Nathanielsz

IBF junior featherweight champion Jeffrey Mongoose Mathebula (left) and four-division world champion Nonito Donaire pose at the Fortune Gym in Los Angeles on Tuesday. They will ght for the world super bantamweight championship on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Home Depot Center, Carson, California. AP

No crime committed
By Ronnie Nathanielsz

WHILE most boxing experts, including the media and ght fans believe Manny Pacquiao was robbed of a win in his World Boxing Organization welterweight title ght against Timothy Bradley, the Nevada State Attorney General has ruled that no crime was committed.
Attorney General Catherine was aghast at the decision by Cortez Masto informed Top the judges that there werent Rank promoter Bob Arum, who any facts or evidence to indi-

cate that a criminal violation occurred. Her conclusion didnt quite satisfy Arum, who wondered why the Chief Investigator spent time interviewing referee Robert Byrd, but never talked to the judges, who were responsible for the split decision Jerry Roth, who had Pacquiao winning, 115-113, and Duane Ford and CJ Ross, who scored the ght for Bradley, 115-113. What kind of investigation is that? Arum asked. Closure of this case can only happen if

they talk to the judges. Arum had formally requested Masto to conduct a complete inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the scoring because the public has a right to know and the ghters have a right to know. He pointed out that Byrd was in no way involved in judging the ght and he found it hard to understand why the judges were not interviewed, pointing out that the investigators could not nd out whether a crime was committed or not if

the judges who scored the ght were not interviewed. Bradleys manager Cameron Dunkin, as expected welcomed the Attorney Generals report. He told boxing writer Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports: Nothing did happen, no funny business at all, and Im not surprised thats what [Cortez Masto] found. I expected this. Im happy they cleared it up, and for all the paranoid people who dont understand and who dont know what theyre talking about, now they can calm down.

Guiao: We are for real

By Jeric Lopez
RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao has a strong message to the rest of the teams headed into the seminals: We are for real. With the way Rain or Shine is playing and winning its games, its hard to argue with Guiao, whose Elasto Painters will carry a four-game winning streak and an 8-1 record into the seminals. Were here to show that were for real. The boys worked hard to achieve what we have right now, said Guiao. Our team needs to prove that were a contender, not a pretender. Thats what we want. Approaching the seminals, Guiao assured that condence will denitely not be an issue this time around as his wards self-belief is at an all-time high right now. The condence is really very high for our team. We are a young team and I am absolutely happy with how were playing and how were doing things, said Guiao. The Elasto Painters tended to fade in the playoffs after quick starts in past conferences, but Guiao said those are a thing of the past. Sabi nila sa simula lang kami magaling and natutuwa ako na natuto talaga kami doon. Nakikita ko na yung maturity. Hinog na. Guiao expects his squad to continue what it has been doing and hopefully reach new heights and nally get over the hump by making its rst nals appearance. The team has worked really hard to get here and theres no shortcut. We will go all out and offer no excuses. Hopefully, we can sustain our momentum and condence to achieve our higher goal, added Guiao.

Boxer leaves for London

DESCRIBED as focused but relaxed by a boxing ofcial, boxer Mark Anthony Barriga leaves today for London to join six teammates in the training camp serving as the nal stage of their buildup for the 30th Olympic Games. We try to give him as much breathing space and private moments he badly needs amidst the hoopla. Hes focused but relaxed, Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines executive director Ed Picson said yesterday. His training has been on track and his attitude excellent, said Picson of Barriga, who is taking off at 8 p.m. today for Hong Kong before boarding another plane for a 16-hour journey to the British capital. The 19-year-old Barriga will be accompanied by coach Roel Velasco, best remembered for winning a bronze medal in the light-yweight division during the 1996 Barcelona Olympics. Barriga, seen by many including Philippine Olympic chief of mission Manny Lopez as a strong medal prospect, is the seventh and last Filipino athlete to avail of the free twoweek camp heading to the Olympics scheduled July 27 to Aug. 12. The others now training in London are swimmers Jasmine Alkhaldi, Jessie Khing Lacuna, shooter Brian Rosario, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, long jumper Marestella Torres and long distance runner Rene Herrera. Mark will be one of the medal contenders in his division. He has gone through a long buildup. I believe he can deliver, said Lopez.

Sports advocacy. Paraaque City councilors Benjo Bernabe (second from left) and Brillante Inciong raise the hands of two winners in the Bok Inciong Cup II Paraaque Karate Tounament held at Walter Mart Supermarket in Barangay San Isidro. The council-sanctioned Lets Kick Drugs, Get Into Sports event was aimed at honing the competitive skills of the youth and channeling their energy to worthwhile pursuits.

Defending champion Kvitova falls to Serena, 6-3, 7-5

WIMBLEDONPetra Kvitova was nervous the rst time she stepped onto Centre Court as defending champion a week ago, feeling the weight of the tradition and the expectations that come with that title. She had overcome those nerves by the time she walked out again Tuesday to face Serena Williams in the quarternals, only to nd a much more difcult opponent in a four-time Wimbledon winner who knows all about performing well on tennis biggest stage. Kvitova played one of her best matches of the tournament and still lost, overpowered 6-3, 7-5 by the hard-serving Williams, who reached her eighth Wimbledon seminal. I think it was great match from both of us, and I think that she just served much better than me, Kvitova said. I think there were some really important points that I could play better. I think that was the difference. Kvitova has struggled following her rst Grand Slam title at the All England Club last year, and has yet to reach a nal in 2012. So coming in to Wimbledon as the woman to beat was a bit daunting. For me it was difcult (in the) rst round when I went to Centre Court, Kvitova said. That was tough for me to be strong mentally because I played badly before, so I didnt feel much better. Then I think after the rst round was good, and I didnt thinking about that Im defending champion. I just played every match ... and I was more relaxed. AP

Team PH gears up for Shell Eco-Marathon

KUALA LUMPURTeam Philippines, composed of the brightest engineering students and professors from De La Salle University-Manila, Technological Institute of the PhilippinesManila and Quezon City, University of the Philippines-Diliman and the University of San Carlos, kicks off its global campaign for sustainable and efcient energy as it vies in the Shell Eco-Marathon 2012 ring off today at the Sepang International Circuit here. We are proud that Team Philippines is participating for the third time in the Shell Eco-Marathon. Taking off from last years success, we are raring to make the country proud once more with a new batch of promising and dedicated young engineers who will take part in the global campaign for sustainable and efcient energy said NGO and Stakeholder Relations manager Ronald Suarez. The six-team PH contingent has racked up several awards in the SEM with Team UP bagging the Diesel Fuel Award last year and Mapuas Team Amihan placing second in the Safety Award. In 2010, Team PH also came away with special off-track awards, including second place in Safety Award for Mapuas Team Atlanta. Team Don Bosco also earned a Special Recognition for demonstrating safety compliance. The PH delegation, composed of two teams each from La Salle and TIP and one each from UP and USC, went through various briengs yesterday and had their cars prepared for inspection for todays test runs. They will be go up against schools from 18 other countries in Asia where the eld will showcase their innovations and make as many attempts as they can to go the furthest on the equivalent of a single liter of fuel.

Students from Asia and the Middle East line up for an interactive Shell Science show on Day 1 of the Shell Ecomarathon Challenge Asia at Sapang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Business
Manila Standard TODAY
Ray S. Eano, Editor extrastory2000@gmail.com Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor We are watchful for signs that the speculative part is not overtaking the fundamental ows. The peso appreciated 4.9 percent this year in the regions best exchange-rate performance, after the $200-billion economy expanded 6.4 percent in the rst quarter, the most in Southeast Asia. It closed at 41.83 per dollar on Wednesday, halting a six-day gain that was the longest rally since Feb. 9, data from Tullett Prebon showed. It touched 41.60 to the dollar earlier, the strongest level since April 2008. The pesos one-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, fell 10 basis points to 6.0 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The measure touched a ve-month high of 7.75 percent on June 1. It is the central banks role to be vigilant and act preemptively to curb volatility, said Roland Avante, president of Philippine Business Bank in Manila. Volatility causes disruption for exporters and businesses. Policy makers are reviewing regulations on non-deliverable forwards and special deposit accounts, or SDAs, Tetangco told reporters in Manila, without elaborating. We have to see if additional measures are needed, he said. The improving economy is fueling optimism the nation will win a debt-rating upgrade, helping attract investors, Tetangco said, adding the Bangko Sentral was not yet worried about the pesos appreciation. Second-quarter growth may have been faster than the 6.4-percent expansion recorded in the previous three months on better farm output and higher government spending, presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said this week. Ination slowed for a second month, to 2.8 percent in June from a year earlier, according to a median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey before data due Thursday. I dont think monetary authorities will be overly concerned about the day-to-day swings in the exchange rate, Carandang said. Bloomberg

THURSDAY JULY 5, 2012

B1

BSP to curb forex speculation

Capital inows through nondeliverable currency forwards and the central banks special deposit accounts are being monitored as possible points of entry of speculative activity against the peso, Tetangco said in an e-mailed reply to questions. The Bangko Sentral earlier ordered lenders to set aside more funds to cover currency-forward transactions starting this year to reduce systemic risk. We are monitoring these ows to see if there is need to institute any changes in the manner in which these instruments are traded, Tetangco said.

measures to curb currency speculation after the peso climbed to a four-year high, Governor Amando Tetangco said Wednesday.

THE BANGKO Sentral may consider more

IN BRIEF
Puregold gets Kareila
PUREGOLD has completed the acquisition of wholesale grocery Kareila Management Inc. ... the corporate secretary of Kareila Management Inc. has already issued the Kareila stock certicates in the name of Puregold making Kareila a subsidiary of Puregold, Puregold said in a statement. Kareila Management is owned by Lucio and Susan Co, Ferdinand Vincent Co, Pamela Justine Co, and Anthony Sy. Lucio and Susan Co also own Puregold. Earlier, Puregold added 19 Parco supermarkets to its long list of 106 stores. It has also opened three new branches and scheduled to open 19 more. Puregold said one share of Anthony Sy had not yet been transferred to Puregold pending the issuance by the Bureau of Internal Revenue of a tax clearance authorizing transfer of the stock. The Securities and Exchange Commission on May 28 issued a certicate of increase of capital stock from Puregolds unissued shares amounting to 766,406,250 common shares in favor Kareila in exchange for the 1.7 million shares of Kareila. Julito G. Rada

SMC sees at meat shipments to Japan

By Othel V. Campos
LEADING yakitori exporter San Miguel Foods Philippines Inc. expects its Japan market to post at growth in 2012 to 10 million kilograms from 2011 levels due to stiff competition. The markets very competitive. [Volume is] about the same [this year compared with last years), San Miguel Foods vice president for poultry Rita Imelda Palabyab said in an interview Tuesday. Competition with other chicken suppliers like Thailand has increased amid Japans huge demand for chicken yakitori. Company data showed that chicken exports to Japan peaked in 2011 when volume rose to almost 10 million kilos from about 3 million kilos in 2010. Palabyab said the surge in demand was a result of more yakitori restaurants opening in Japan, especially in Tokyo. San Miguel Foods is also interested to penetrate other markets in Asia and the Middle East, although Japan is expected to remain the companys major market for yakitori chicken. The Japanese market accounts for 90 percent of the companys shipments. Despite Koreas move to open up its frozen meat market to Philippine chicken, San Miguel is still tentative to test the market until a full market assessment is conducted.

WB president backed

BDO milestones. BDO Unibank celebrated twin milestones at the Philippine Stock Exchange Wednesday. BDO marked its 10th year listing anniversary and concluded its P43.5-billion stock rights offering, the largest stock rights offer in PSE history and the biggest equity transaction by a Philippine listed firm. Shown during the traditional bell-ringing ceremony are (from left) BDO president Nestor Tan and chairman Teresita Sy-Coson, PSE chairman Jose Pardo and president and chief executive Hans Sicat.

THE government on Wednesday pledged its support to new World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, who assumed ofce Sunday replacing Robert Zoellick. We in the Philippines have supported Dr. Kims candidacy from the very beginning and as he assumes the position we assure him of our continued support to the World Bank Group, said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima. The Philippines in April declared its support to the candidacy of Dr. Kim, who was endorsed by US President Barack Obama to succeed Zoellick after his term ended on June 30. Purisima said that it was critical for an institution as the World Bank to ensure it was empowered to fulll its mandate of creating prosperity across nations amid current global economic uncertainties. However, we are condent that Dr. Kim will ably lead the agency in providing technical and nancial support to countries working towards economic development and poverty reduction, Purisima said. Korean-born Kim is a former director of the World Health Organizations Department of HIV/AIDS and led initiatives to treat three million infected people in the developing countries from 2003 to 2007. We look forward to working with him in further pushing for greater representation and deeper democratization within the Bank, as well as in implementing effective and sustainable ways of boosting prosperity and eradicating poverty across the globe, Purisima said. Maria Bernadette Lunas

Meralco warns power rates will increase again in July

By Alena Mae S. Flores
CONSUMERS may have to brace for another round of electricity rate hike in July, as distributor Manila Electric Co. expects generation charges to go up following the tight supply in June. The direction is towards higher generation charges, a source said. There is normally a onemonth lag time before the power generation cost is passed on to consumers by power distributors such as Meralco. Meralcos generation charge reached P6.1375 per kilowatthour in June, up by P0.54 per kWh from P5.5983 per kWh in May, owing to higher prices at the wholesale electricity spot market, which acts as trading oor of electricity. The source said the generation charge was inuenced by the tight power supply experienced in June, when cheaper coal plants were shut down for maintenance. Several units of the Sual and Calaca coal plants were ofine in the rst week of June. The Malampaya gas pipeline also went ofine on June 8 to 12, which affected the operations of 1,500-megawatt Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plants of First Gas Power Corp. The two power plants had to use the more expensive liquid fuel, during the Malampaya gas pipeline shutdown. We experienced tight generation supply in June. This pushed up WESM prices, the source said. The source explained the spot market had no choice but to tap the more expensive oil-based plants, as must-run units due to the unavailability of the coal and natural gas plants. Electricity prices in the spot market had already doubled to P16.30 per kWh in May from P7.91 per kWh in April because of high demand during the summer season and the low output of coal-red and hydroelectric power plants. Electricity traded by WESM accounted for only 5.5 percent of Meralcos power requirements in May but the distributor said the steep P8.39 per kWh increase in spot market charges caused a rise in the overall generation charge. Meralco sources most of its power from its independent power producers as well as the power plants managed by stateowned National Power Corp. The overall rate charged by Meralco IPPs also increased by P0.0139 per kWh in May from the previous month.

BPO workers may earn P247b this yearRomulo Oil prices fall below $87
EMPLOYEES in the business process outsourcing sector are expected to earn P247 billion this year, House deputy majority leader Roman Romulo said Wednesday. BPO rms on average spend around 40 to 45 percent of their revenues to compensate their staff. This is understandable since the industry is basically adding high-value labor services, Romulo said in a statement. He said at this rate, BPO providers would disburse around $5.85 billion in salaries this year, on projected industry revenues of up to $13 billion. No matter how we look at it, P247 billion represents a huge amount of money being coursed through the economy every year, and helping to drive consumption spending, said Romulo, who represents the lone district of Pasig City in Congress. He said consumption spending by BPO workers has helped create recurring demand for goods and services, thus perking up domestic industries. To put the P247 billion into perspective, it is equal to around 14 percent of the national governments P1.816-trillion spending program this year, and larger than the budgets of the top ve departments, Romulo said. The Education Department is spending P238.8 billion this year; Public Works and Highways, P125.5 billion; National Defense, P107.9 billion; Interior and Local Government, P101.4 billion; and
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Indonesia Thailand UAE Euro Korea China India Malaysia New Zealand Taiwan Rupiah Baht Dirham Euro Won Yuan Rupee Ringgit Dollar Dollar 0.000107 0.031837 0.272264 1.261000 0.000881 0.157423 0.018413 0.317662 0.803213 0.033497 0.0045 1.3304 11.3776 52.6959 0.0368 6.5785 0.7695 13.2748 33.5655 1.3998
Source: PDS Bridge

Agriculture, P54.1 billion. A previous survey by the Bangko Sentral showed that BPO employees on average received P383,863 in annual compensation. Romulo said the P247 billion was also 53 percent greater than the P161 billion in combined annual benets paid by the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to their respective members last year.

as Iran tensions simmer

SINGAPOREOil prices fell to below $87 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, giving back some of the big gain from the previous day amid growing tension between Iran and Western powers. Benchmark oil for August delivery was down 99 cents at $86.67 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for August

E ATE PSE COMPOSITE INDEX F OREIGNUnitXCHANGE RPeso Currency US Dollar

Closing July 4, 2012
United States Japan UK Hong Kong Switzerland Canada Singapore Australia Bahrain Saudi Arabia Brunei Dollar Yen Pound Dollar Franc Dollar Dollar Dollar Dinar Rial Dollar 1.000000 0.012533 1.569200 0.128981 1.050089 0.987947 0.791264 1.026694 2.652661 0.266660 0.788146 41.7890 0.5237 65.5753 5.3900 43.8822 41.2853 33.0661 42.9045 110.8521 11.1435 32.9358 5200 4460 3720 2980 2240 1500 1200

P780-P895.00 LPG/11-kg tank

P54.55-P61.02 Unleaded Gasoline

OIL PRICES
TODAY

PESO-DOLLAR RATE
Closing JULY 4, 2012
40 42 44 46 48

P46.10-P49.90 Diesel P52.34-P57.85 Kerosene P38.50-P39.20 Auto LPG

P41.830
CLOSE

10.98

5,354.72

HIGH P41.600 LOW P41.860 AVERAGE P41.723 VOLUME 1190.970M

delivery was down 98 cents at $99.70 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The contract jumped $3.91 to close at $87.66 in New York on Tuesday after Iran said it testred several ballistic missiles in war games exercises. The acting commander of Irans Revolutionary Guard told state TV that the tests were a response to the refusal by Israel and the US to rule out military strikes to stop Irans nuclear program. A European Union ban on Iranian oil came into full effect July 1, and analysts expect the sanctions to cut the crude exports of Iran, Opecs secondlargest producer. The US military has recently doubled the number of minesweepers in the region, giving it greater exibility to counter any Iranian effort to mine the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fth of the worlds oil supply passes. AP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B2 THURSDAY

Business Stocks retreat, buck MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW Asian markets rise
JULY 5, 2012 ManilaStandardToday
52 Weeks

extrastory2000@gmail.com

High

Low

two-day climb to record level, as investors engaged in prot-taking while assessing whether the market has reached its peak for the year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30company benchmark, shed 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,354.72, bucking the uptrend in other Asian markets. The heavier index representing all shares also lost 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,502.82, as losers outnumbered gainers, 94 to 75, with 34 issues unchanged. Value turnover amounted to P6 billion Wednesday. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the most traded stock, shed 0.4 percent to P2,750 while Manila Water Co. Inc., the second-busiest stock, added 1 percent to P25.55. Megaworld Corp. advanced 1.3 percent to P2.28. NiHao Mineral Resources International Inc. gained 1.3 percent to P9.72 while Nickel Asia Corp. increased 1.0 percent to P29.80. Nickel futures traded on the London Metal Exchange rose for a third day Wednesday, adding 3.2 percent. Apex Mining Co.s Class-A shares, which are reserved for Filipinos, declined 3.7 percent to P5.25, the sharpest loss since June 18 after the company agreed to sell shares at a discount. Apex said it agreed to sell 120 million Class-A shares to Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. for P528 million, or about P4.40 each, a stock-exchange ling showed. Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were boosted Wednesday by hopes European central bankers will buoy economic growth with new stimulus measures. Global equities and commodities have rallied so far this week amid growing expectations that policymakers will use scal and monetary stimulus to bolster agging growth. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are scheduled to meet Thursday, and analysts are expecting lending rate cuts or a boost of money in circulation. Investors this week have brushed off signs of weakening economic growth, including reports that showed falling industrial production in the US

STOCKS fell Wednesday, snapping a

and China, the worlds two biggest economies. Some analysts say investors may be expecting too much from possible stimulus measures. The markets are seemingly banking on European policymakers and the US Fed to turn things around quickly, said Julian Jessop, an economist with Capital Economics. However, at best, further monetary stimulus may limit the downside for the prices of riskier assets. Japans Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 9,111.66 and Hong Kongs Hang Seng was up 0.2 percent to 19.779.84. South Koreas Kospi gained 0.5 percent to 1,876.33. Australias S&P/ASX 200 added 1 percent to 4,168.50. Chinas Shanghai Composite fell 0.2 percent to 2,225.15. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.6 percent at 12,943.82. The Standard & Poors 500 index rose 0.6 percent to 1,374.02. The Nasdaq composite average added 0.8 percent to 2,976.08. The Commerce Department said factory orders increased 0.7 percent in May from April while US car companies said sales rose in June. With Bloomberg, AP

70.00 76.80 1.82 512.00 1.95 23.90

46.00 50.00 0.69 370.00 1.42 12.50

22.00 0.95 80.00 3.26 775.00 29.00 93.50 3.06 16.85 85.00 539.00 44.40 151.50 1390.00 140.00 2.06 35.50 13.58 23.50 1.86 54.90 1.65 102.80 2.88 3.07 8.33 7.06 6.28 3.80 25.00 15.58 67.20 31.50 0.10 13.50 9.00 2.35 120.00 91.25 8.40 1.55 3.20 3.19 24.70 6.95 15.30 295.00 3.00 17.40 14.00 15.24 9.50 2.55 3.49 6.50 33.00 132.60 1.90 2.50 0.250 5.46 3.62 1.41 68.00 1.12 18.00 1.18 59.90 13.48 2.97 4.60 6.98 3.15 4.16 437.00 59.45 4.19 5.25 5.22 34.80 4.19 6.95 1.54 3.82 4.45 6.24 4.72 0.0770 2.20 0.82 0.490 699.00 1.78 0.420 0.620 1.370 39.00 2.82 22.40 6.12 9.00 5.66 2.85 1.65 0.127 1.16 0.90 3.06 1.35 3.80 2.14 2.48 0.80 0.990 0.71 38.10 3.34 18.86 2.70 9.47 18.20 1.14 4.30 43.00 14.76 0.80 9.30 0.5300 98.15 10.60 9.70 5.90 1270.00 10.34 69.00 0.98 6.00 4.29 34.50 3.87 5.1900 3.79 11.68 4.28 3.96 0.84 3.00 21.00 8.58 3.32 60.00 17.18 2886.00 0.48 23.75 3.30 0.79 0.0083 6.20 6.22 25.20 31.00 0.380 2.51 50.85 1.21 1.82 2.070 0.085 0.087 34.80 12.76 1.100 8.40 0.032 0.033 7.14 28.95 14.18 0.058 252.00 0.029 109.80 11.02 116.70 1050.00 6.00 1.35 0.210

7.56 0.62 40.00 1.91 475.20 3.00 60.00 1.30 41.00 57.70 204.80 25.45 77.00 950.00 58.00 1.43 26.50 7.32 11.98 0.97 26.00 1.08

3.02 2.24 2.30 7.41 4.83 2.80 1.00 5.80 12.50 51.50 22.50 0.0095 7.80 4.71 0.95 80.00 25.00 1.04 0.99 1.05 1.08 17.94 0.75 8.12 215.00 1.96 9.70 10.30 9.01 5.25 1.01 2.01 2.90 27.70 105.70 1.25 1.85 0.112 2.92 1.99 0.90 36.20 0.285 2.55

Court ruling delays Kingking mine

RAY S. EANO
LOCAL government units are not the only ones that can torpedo economic development in the Philippines. Courts can do the same damage, especially when it rules on companies engaged in corporate intramurals. Nationwide Development Corp. had such a rude awakening when the Court of Appeals belatedly issued an order stopping the companys annual meeting on June 13. Improperly served and irregular, says Nadecor corporate secretary Deo Contreras, after the Special 14th Division of the CA issued the controversial decision. Contreras added the CA division violated the courts internal rules. Majority and minority Nadecor stockholders held the meeting on June 13 on the basis of a regional trial court order. The minority group led by Conrado Calalang, comprising 31 percent of Nadecors capital, read a supposed CA writ from his text message and produced and presented a xeroxed copy of the court ruling to the board. The boards majority naturally ruled that the procedure was irregular and [that] there was no process server. Calalang, who was earlier presiding over the meeting, led a walkout by the minority group, prompting the majority to ask Nadecor president and former Transporation secretary Jose de Jesus to preside and nish the business at hand, and ratify major resolutions passed earlier by the board of directors. Contreras averred that even if the temporary restraining order was served a day late, the internal rules of the Court of Appeals were blatantly violated. The Nadecor counsel recounted that the CAs Special 15th Division was hearing the case until it was hastily and unceremoniously replaced by the CAs 14th division. The original ponente, Justice Jane Lantion, had denied the minority groups application for a TRO and a preliminary injunction. Justice Lantion, however, was replaced by Justice Ramon Bato, under what Contreras described as mysterious circumstances. The mystery, said Contreras, could be explained by the sudden entry of the Firm the Carpio Villaraza and Cruz Law Ofces. More procedural rules were violated which further aggravated the irregularity of the entire process. Villar in, St. Augustine out The board in the controversial meeting approved two major decisions. It cleared the P1.8-billion investment subscription of Queensberry Mining and Development Corp., a company owned by the son of Senator Manuel Villar. The board also rescinded an agreement and other transactions with St. Augustine Gold & Copper Ltd. which, according to top Nadecor ofcials, failed or refused to honor fundamental contractual obligations. Nadecor stockholders in the same meeeting elected the members of the boardJose Ricafort, Jose de Jesus, Victor Lazatin, Antonio Henson, Paolo Villar, Ma. Nalen SJ Rosero-Galang, Ethelwoldo Fernandez, Teodorico Taguinod and Angel Ong. The same newly-constituted board elected Ricafort as chairman of the board and De Jesus as president and chief executive. The legal impasse may drag on as the warring stockholders of Nadecor plead their respective cases to the court. Nadecors mining claim over 1,656 hectares in Barangay Kingking, Pantukan, Compostela Valley, in the meantime, may remain unexploited despite the areas rich prospects. The mining site has an estimated gold deposits of 10.3 million ounces and copper reserves of 5.4 billion pounds. E-mail: extrastory2000@gmail.com; rayenano@yahoo.com

0.65 35.50 8.00 1.67 3.00 0.260 1.49 2.30 272.00 30.50 1.03 3.30

2.90 19.00 2.27 4.00 0.61 1.500 2.56 2.10 1.22 0.054 1.42 0.44 0.285 450.00 1.00 0.099 0.056 0.178 11.00 1.70 13.36 3.08 2.26 0.26 1.20 1.07 0.060 0.67 0.54 1.76 0.98 1.21 0.65 1.51 0.215 0.072 0.41 12.50 2.08 10.00 1.74 6.50 10.90 0.64 2.60

28.60 1.60 0.45 7.30 0.0660

T OP G AINERS
STOCKS Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. Transpaci c Broadcast ATN Holdings A Prime Media Hldg Unioil Res. & Hldgs Greenergy Phil. Savings Bank Oriental Pet. `A' Oriental Pet. `B' United Paragon Close (P) 1.70 2.90 2.42 1.500 0.2500 0.0150 89.00 0.0190 0.0200 0.0200 Change (%) 16.44 12.40 10.00 9.49 7.76 7.14 6.59 5.56 5.26 5.26

T OP L OSERS
STOCKS Alaska Milk Corp. F&J Prince 'A' Interport `A' Roxas Holdings Swift Pref A. Brown Co., Inc. Centro Esc. Univ. JTH Davies Holdings Inc. Omico Apex `A' Close (P) 15.22 2.50 1.09 2.80 1.05 2.65 10.00 2.50 0.7500 5.25 Change (%) (10.37) (9.09) (6.84) (6.35) (6.25) (5.02) (3.85) (3.85) (3.85) (3.67)

ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. 62.50 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 8.20 Centro Esc. Univ. 5.40 DFNN Inc. 1.45 Easy Call Common 825.00 Globe Telecom 6.18 GMA Network Inc. 43.40 I.C.T.S.I. 0.34 Information Capital Tech. 4.00 IPeople Inc. `A 2.20 IP Converge 0.123 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 1.16 IPVG Corp. 2.900 ISM Communications 1.58 JTH Davies Holdings Inc. 5.90 Leisure & Resorts 2.65 Liberty Telecom 2.70 Macroasia Corp. 0.57 Manila Bulletin 1.00 Manila Jockey 17.20 Pacic Online Sys. Corp. 4.50 PAL Holdings Inc. 1.05 Paxys Inc. 17.02 Phil. Seven Corp. 14.50 Philweb.Com Inc. 2096.00 PLDT Common 0.23 PremiereHorizon 10.68 Puregold 2.40 Transpacic Broadcast 0.26 Waterfront Phils. 0.0036 3.01 3.00 14.50 20.00 0.148 1.62 4.35 0.50 0.5900 0.6700 0.035 0.035 15.04 2.08 0.008 2.12 0.012 0.013 5.10 17.08 3.00 0.013 161.10 0.013

TRADING SUMMARY
FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES MINING & OIL GRAND TOTAL

SHARES 10,128,047 131,402,807 95,305,944 461,671,469 848,492,669 1,620,285,974 3,167,286,910

VALUE 713,216,527.12 1,417,221,217.4104 1,092,744,708.675 1,008,857,729.84 1,441,812,313.85 480,274,751.549 6,082,127,248.4454

FINANCIAL 1,322.22 (down) 4.96 INDUSTRIAL 7,962.76 (down) 7.42 HOLDING FIRMS 4,562.91 (up) 0.59 PROPERTY 1,976.76 (down) 5.59 SERVICES 1,811.51 (down) 5.37 MINING & OIL 24,732.87 (down) 19.87 PSEI 5,354.72 (down) 10.98 All Shares Index 3,502.85 (down) 3.49 Gainers: 75; Losers: 94; Unchanged: 34; Total: 203

100.50 6.00 106.20 990.00 0.87 0.62 0.00

M S T
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012
Previous

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

Close Change Volume

63.90 75.05 0.72 493.00 1.85 22.90 18.72 10.02 0.71 82.60 2.75 462.00 38.55 95.90 1.98 76.00 89.00 355.00 43.75 143.10 907.00 102.00 1.85 (0.16) 0.07 1.41 0.00 1.65 1.78 (0.64) 0.00 0.00 0.73 (0.72) 0.22 (0.13) (1.59) (1.00) 0.13 6.59 (2.74) (0.23) 0.07 0.44 0.00 1.09

Net Foreign

Trade/Buying
28,826,336.00 34,928,367.50 (2,920,500.00)

Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI Bankard, Inc. China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus First Metro Inv. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp. Maybank ATR KE Metrobank Natl Reinsurance Corp. Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alaska Milk Corp. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alphaland Corp. Alsons Cons. Asiabest Group Bloomberry Calapan Venture Chemrez Technologies Inc. Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab. Federal Chemicals First Gen Corp. First Holdings A Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp. Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. Manchester Intl. A Manchester Intl. B Manila Water Co. Inc. Mariwasa MFG. Inc. Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Republic Cement `A RFM Corporation Roxas Holdings Salcon Power Corp. San Miguel Brewery Inc. San Miguel Corp `A Seacem Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. Tanduay Holdings TKC Steel Corp. Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Abacus Cons. `A Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A Asia Amalgamated A ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A DMCI Holdings F&J Prince A Filinvest Dev. Corp. GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp. Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. Minerales Industrias Corp. MJCI Investments Inc. Pacica `A Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Sinophil Corp. SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

Anchor Land Holdings Inc. A. Brown Co., Inc. Ayala Land `B Belle Corp. `A Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Highlands Prime Interport `A Megaworld Corp. MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp. Phil. Realty `A Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp. Robinsons Land `B Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Development `A SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Vista Land & Lifescapes

Abra Mining Apex `A Apex `B Atlas Cons. `A Atok-Big Wedge `A Basic Energy Corp. Century Peak Metals Hldgs Dizon Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A Lepanto `B Manila Mining `A Manila Mining `B Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A Oriental Pet. `B Petroenergy Res. Corp. Philex `A PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A Semirara Corp. United Paragon First Gen G First Phil. Hldgs.-Pref. GMA Holdings Inc. PCOR-Preferred SMPFC Preferred Swift Pref

Megaworld Corp. Warrants Omico Corp. Warrant

FINANCIAL 64.00 64.10 63.00 75.00 76.00 74.70 0.71 0.72 0.72 493.00 495.00 490.00 1.82 1.85 1.78 22.50 23.00 22.75 18.84 18.88 18.87 10.02 10.02 10.02 0.71 0.72 0.71 82.00 83.00 82.60 2.77 2.78 2.70 461.00 462.00 462.00 38.60 38.55 38.00 97.45 97.50 95.50 2.00 2.04 1.98 75.90 76.50 75.50 83.50 89.00 84.50 365.00 370.00 355.00 43.85 44.05 43.70 143.00 143.90 143.00 903.00 907.00 907.00 102.00 103.00 100.00 1.83 1.85 1.84 INDUSTRIAL 34.30 34.55 34.30 8.90 8.90 8.83 16.98 15.22 15.10 1.53 1.56 1.47 28.80 29.00 28.90 1.32 1.32 1.30 32.00 34.80 32.40 9.90 10.14 9.88 2.39 2.35 2.35 2.68 2.67 2.67 8.99 9.40 8.90 6.27 6.29 6.15 6.44 6.65 6.48 1.98 2.18 1.98 10.52 11.30 10.50 17.92 17.98 17.68 78.20 78.55 77.00 21.00 20.90 20.70 0.0140 0.0150 0.0140 11.70 11.70 11.68 4.00 4.05 3.96 0.760 0.780 0.750 105.60 107.40 104.80 52.50 51.50 51.50 1.71 1.71 1.67 1.46 1.70 1.59 2.49 2.64 2.40 2.68 2.65 2.60 25.30 25.60 25.30 3.19 3.50 2.90 17.48 17.46 17.10 263.00 268.60 256.00 2.76 2.82 2.76 10.30 10.38 10.28 10.20 11.00 10.20 8.39 8.44 8.36 8.60 8.60 8.00 3.38 3.60 3.38 2.99 2.80 2.80 5.70 6.48 5.10 29.00 29.00 27.50 115.00 115.00 114.60 1.76 1.79 1.76 1.89 1.84 1.84 0.129 0.130 0.130 4.50 4.50 4.25 2.19 2.19 2.11 1.23 1.24 1.22 63.00 63.70 62.95 1.40 1.40 1.36 0.670 0.660 0.640 10.60 11.94 10.10 HOLDING FIRMS 0.71 0.72 0.70 49.30 50.00 48.50 11.80 11.92 11.70 2.00 2.00 2.00 4.60 4.60 4.50 5.15 5.12 5.06 2.20 2.42 2.42 2.70 2.74 2.50 481.00 482.00 477.20 58.25 59.80 58.00 2.75 2.51 2.50 3.96 4.04 3.96 516.50 517.00 513.50 4.65 4.80 4.69 35.05 35.25 34.20 2.90 2.90 2.90 6.15 6.21 6.11 1.24 1.28 1.23 2.68 2.75 2.66 4.31 4.38 4.23 5.58 5.61 5.45 6.69 6.68 5.80 0.0570 0.0580 0.0570 1.370 1.500 1.500 0.480 0.470 0.470 0.340 0.340 0.340 740.00 745.00 740.00 1.40 1.43 1.38 0.2320 0.2500 0.2440 0.3450 0.3500 0.3400 0.520 0.520 0.500 PROPERTY 22.20 22.20 22.00 2.79 2.75 2.65 22.50 22.75 22.15 5.25 5.35 5.18 5.70 5.70 5.64 1.45 1.46 1.44 2.35 2.42 2.35 1.19 1.19 1.19 0.074 0.077 0.074 0.83 0.83 0.81 0.810 0.830 0.810 1.96 2.06 1.96 1.29 1.30 1.27 1.82 1.81 1.79 1.17 1.19 1.08 2.25 2.31 2.24 0.1850 0.1890 0.1730 0.7000 0.7100 0.6800 0.460 0.460 0.460 15.02 14.90 14.90 3.36 3.17 3.13 17.96 18.10 17.76 3.13 3.17 3.13 2.54 2.56 2.52 6.29 6.30 6.23 13.30 13.40 13.00 0.69 0.70 0.69 4.50 4.40 4.30 4.180 4.250 4.110 SERVICES 35.20 35.30 35.00 4.00 4.05 3.95 0.690 0.680 0.680 8.90 9.30 9.00 0.1450 0.1480 0.1410 9.39 9.59 9.31 69.35 69.70 68.85 10.40 10.00 10.00 6.18 6.15 6.02 3.08 3.08 3.05 1140.00 1172.00 1150.00 10.86 10.94 10.70 75.00 75.00 73.20 0.410 0.410 0.410 6.38 6.40 6.30 2.32 2.43 2.35 0.040 0.042 0.039 1.05 1.13 1.07 2.8500 2.9000 2.9000 2.60 2.68 2.50 8.56 8.80 8.36 2.74 2.75 2.72 2.90 2.90 2.85 0.68 0.69 0.69 2.50 2.47 2.42 14.80 15.10 14.60 7.40 7.55 7.36 3.03 3.06 2.96 50.00 52.50 50.00 12.34 12.34 12.22 2760.00 2820.00 2750.00 0.320 0.330 0.300 29.10 29.60 28.60 2.58 2.90 2.52 0.440 0.440 0.430 MINING & OIL 0.0042 0.0041 0.0041 5.45 5.55 5.24 5.41 5.55 5.23 17.90 17.90 17.82 29.60 29.70 29.70 0.260 0.270 0.260 1.35 1.35 1.33 34.35 35.00 34.35 0.73 0.75 0.72 1.390 1.390 1.370 1.490 1.490 1.470 0.0700 0.0710 0.0700 0.0730 0.0720 0.0710 29.50 30.00 29.60 9.58 10.18 9.60 0.7800 0.7700 0.7300 5.460 5.580 5.380 0.0180 0.0190 0.0180 0.0190 0.0200 0.0200 6.00 6.05 6.00 24.00 24.05 23.85 45.45 45.20 43.95 0.049 0.052 0.050 219.00 221.80 219.20 0.0190 0.0200 0.0190 PREFERRED 102.00 102.00 101.00 105.30 106.00 105.30 10.78 10.90 10.64 110.10 110.00 109.80 1016.00 1020.00 1016.00 1.12 1.06 1.05 WARRANTS & BONDS 1.22 1.28 1.20 0.0670 0.0670 0.0670

1,712,540 1,601,850 200,000 10,150 165,000 16,300 1,194,200 800 185,000 20 108,000 100 28,100 2,123,190 229,000 520,650 260 15,070 279,400.00 1,161,090 80 20,830 322,000

(65,975.00) (7,224,048.00) 65,680.00 97,011,599.50 (220,400.00) 10,158,411.50

3,295,600.00 49,254,515.00 (711,640.00) 22,682,665.00

34.45 8.83 15.22 1.50 29.00 1.31 33.50 9.96 2.35 2.67 8.99 6.22 6.59 2.00 10.50 17.78 77.90 20.80 0.0150 11.68 4.05 0.760 105.00 51.50 1.71 1.70 2.42 2.65 25.55 3.10 17.10 262.20 2.82 10.32 10.20 8.39 8.60 3.55 2.80 5.70 29.00 114.90 1.79 1.84 0.130 4.35 2.18 1.24 63.30 1.37 0.650 10.52

0.44 (0.79) (10.37) (1.96) 0.69 (0.76) 4.69 0.61 (1.67) (0.37) 0.00 (0.80) 2.33 1.01 (0.19) (0.78) (0.38) (0.95) 7.14 (0.17) 1.25 0.00 (0.57) (1.90) 0.00 16.44 (2.81) (1.12) 0.99 (2.82) (2.17) (0.30) 2.17 0.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.03 (6.35) 0.00 0.00 (0.09) 1.70 (2.65) 0.78 (3.33) (0.46) 0.81 0.48 (2.14) (2.99) (0.75) 1.41 (0.61) 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.58) 10.00 1.48 (0.42) 2.15 (9.09) 1.52 (0.29) 3.23 (0.14) 0.00 0.16 (0.81) 0.75 (0.23) (1.79) (2.84) 1.75 9.49 (2.08) 0.00 0.20 2.14 7.76 0.00 0.00

4,605,200 21,500 7,500 1,778,000 2,000 262,000 1,156,400 14,209,300 8,000 150,000 4,900 13,693,600 2,728,800 140,000 2,500 3,618,200 729,340 40,300 44,700,000 198,100 54,000 167,000 297,530 260 277,000 8,000 129,000 11,000 18,421,800 62,000 20,600 589,410 19,816,000 2,440,900 6,800 50,400 32,200 1,991,000 62,000 119,100 22,100 449,750 3,620,000 4,000 220,000 2,030,000 60,000 552,000 1,939,840 2,929,000 591,000 38,900

33,820.00 30,547,019.00 106,800.00

51,488,276.00 4,581,918.00

29,068,640.00 21,621,286.50 129,870.00

10,717,835.00

(10,500.00) 26,766,450.00

84,880,602.00 16,805,630.00 (2,076.00) (1,375,170.00)

4,864,365.00 895,000.00 1,726,570.00 26,721,206.00 54,800.00

0.72 49.00 11.80 2.00 4.60 5.12 2.42 2.74 479.00 59.50 2.50 4.02 515.00 4.80 35.00 2.90 6.16 1.23 2.70 4.30 5.48 6.50 0.0580 1.500 0.470 0.340 741.50 1.43 0.2500 0.3450 0.520

101,000 1,002,200 11,649,800 382,000 13,000 429,200 1,000 11,000 110,860 3,746,300 70,000 196,000 157,250 275,000 883,400 3,000 2,116,600 8,774,000 4,386,000 44,589,000 193,500 31,700 4,270,000 1,000 1,040,000 300,000 215,690 668,000 520,000 1,600,000 1,817,000

11,076,135.00 18,247,742.00 23,000.00

(14,985,516.00) 153,720,649.00

(20,000.00) 33,688,440.00 460,710.00 13,373,065.00 934,830.00 (4,246,110.00) (344,630.00) 40,384,220.00

52,521,640.00 29,610.00

22.00 2.65 22.55 5.20 5.70 1.44 2.40 1.19 0.077 0.81 0.820 2.03 1.30 1.80 1.09 2.28 0.1800 0.6800 0.460 14.90 3.14 17.80 3.14 2.56 6.28 13.10 0.69 4.40 4.140

(0.90) (5.02) 0.22 (0.95) 0.00 (0.69) 2.13 0.00 4.05 (2.41) 1.23 3.57 0.78 (1.10) (6.84) 1.33 (2.70) (2.86) 0.00 (0.80) (6.55) (0.89) 0.32 0.79 (0.16) (1.50) 0.00 (2.22) (0.96)

22,000 304,000 5,330,000 6,791,200 289,800 1,373,000 63,000 9,000 1,020,000 690,000 37,023,000 29,593,000 64,063,000 152,000 849,000 173,942,000 93,850,000 4,544,000 4,450,000 1,000 74,000 1,281,400 74,000 325,000 4,046,300 11,380,600 8,000 146,000 10,260,000

44,000.00

33,415,045.00 335,553.00 849,342.00 20,720.00 (12,200,150.00) (8,303,060.00)

118,120.00 137,462,780.00 191,110.00 116,280.00 (3,760,324.00)

(2,992,574.00) (25,158,044.00) 4,318,860.00

35.10 4.00 0.680 9.00 0.1410 9.31 69.00 10.00 6.10 3.05 1165.00 10.90 74.00 0.410 6.40 2.43 0.039 1.08 2.9000 2.50 8.64 2.72 2.90 0.69 2.43 15.08 7.50 3.01 52.45 12.24 2750.00 0.310 28.60 2.90 0.430 0.0041 5.25 5.23 17.82 29.70 0.260 1.35 34.20 0.73 1.370 1.480 0.0710 0.0710 29.80 9.72 0.7500 5.400 0.0190 0.0200 6.00 24.00 43.95 0.051 219.80 0.0200

(0.28) 0.00 (1.45) 1.12 (2.76) (0.85) (0.50) (3.85) (1.29) (0.97) 2.19 0.37 (1.33) 0.00 0.31 4.74 (2.50) 2.86 1.75 (3.85) 0.93 (0.73) 0.00 1.47 (2.80) 1.89 1.35 (0.66) 4.90 (0.81) (0.36) (3.13) (1.72) 12.40 (2.27) (2.38) (3.67) (3.33) (0.45) 0.34 0.00 0.00 (0.44) 0.00 (1.44) (0.67) 1.43 (2.74) 1.02 1.46 (3.85) (1.10) 5.56 5.26 0.00 0.00 (3.30) 4.08 0.37 5.26 0.00 0.00 (0.56) (0.27) 0.30 (6.25) 4.10 0.00

21,300 66,000 100,000 31,200 19,670,000 4,966,400 545,380 10,000 133,200 2,000 66,150 890,200 962,190 10,000 35,200 412,000 781,100,000 1,996,000 10,000 470,000 8,712,200 100,000 45,000 66,000 660,000 44,900 126,600 751,000 92,340 366,500 305,210 7,660,000 1,894,200 11,000 360,000

(71,000.00) (434,335.00) 1,401,882.50 51,674,980.00 (14,614,856.50) 292,800.00 55,900.00 2,896,161.00 14,250.00

186,720.00 74,000.00 75,450.00 3,231,600.00 (2,323,912.00) 187,818,130.00 (2,797,885.00)

20,000,000 911,400 446,300 83,500 200 2,630,000 957,000 835,000 9,076,000 19,249,000 13,733,000 185,630,000 41,400,000 970,700 3,959,600 390,000 2,976,800 31,900,000 100,000 31,200 2,597,300 533,400 1,255,400,000 292,630 25,300,000 410 4,260 1,579,400 14,140 9,200 156,000

(137,840.00)

485,630.00 (117,510.00) 69,350.00 5,180,000.00 3,541,581.00

71,000.00

2,449,515.00 3,909,785.00 (690,000.00) (9,248,960.00)

102.00 105.30 10.72 109.80 1019.00 1.05 1.27 0.0670

(841,036.00)

9,600,000 250,000

3,244,590.00

extrastory2000@gmail.com

Manila ManilaStandardToday

Business
year-end, citing low operational efciency, low consumer demand and lack of broad domestic supply base as the main reasons for the stoppage. The American car company said, however, it would continue its national sales activities and all related services. It is about time that the government takes a look at why Ford is closing shop. Why are companies like them relocating their production operations to our neighboring countries like to Thailand, India, China or even Vietnam? said Raquelsantos. Why are some investors shying away from the

THURSDAY JULY 5, 2012

B3

Govt urged to help car makers

By Julito G. Rada

Wednesday asked the government to support vehicle assemblers to prevent them from relocating to other countries, after Ford Philippines announced it would shut down its Laguna plant.
This is in view of the sadness that is now sweeping the local parts making industry due to the impending closure of the plant operations of Ford Philippines. We plead for the government, private sectors, and end-users to take concrete steps so that the remaining auto assemblers will not go Fords way, Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines president Ferdi Raquelsantos said. He said the closing of Fords

LOCAL automotive parts makers on

manufacturing operations in Sta. Rosa, Laguna was a big blow to some 50,000 workers, including those in the upstream and downstream industries who depended on the parts making industry. With most of our members plants operating at below 50 percent of their rated plant capacities and the increasing importation of completelybuilt units, this would be another obstacle in our attempt to get back on our feet, he said. Ford Group Philippines last week announced that it would close its production plant by

Philippines? What incentives are given to them by our neighbors that we do not give? Why is our demand low? Why are our production costs and prices relatively higher? he said. Group vice president Rommel Juan said the government should take a second look at Executive Order 877-A, or the Motor Vehicle Development Program, which was approved two years ago. A rm decision must be made as to whether this should be scrapped altogether and be replaced with another one. If acceptable, then the

proper implementing rules and regulations must be crafted for everyones benet, Juan said. He said local parts makers wanted to see a rm resolve on governments part to put in place an MVDP that would provide scal and non-scal incentives not only to assemblers but to end-users as well. He said the government should fast-track the approval of pending legislative bills that would help the sunrise industries in the local auto market such as the alternative fuel vehicles bill that would help grow the electric vehicle market in the country.

PNOC Exploration quits Ragay oil bid

By Alena Mae S. Flores
THE Energy Department approved the request of PNOC Exploration Corp. and its Singaporean partner to withdraw from the exploration of Ragay Gulf in Bicol region. PNOC Exploration compliance ofcer and vice president Silvestre Punsalan III told reporters the company and its joint venture partner Pearl Oil (Ragay) Ltd., the local unit of Pearl Energy Ltd. of Singapore, secured governments approval to withdraw their rights over service contract 43 in Ragay Gulf. Punsalan said the two companies relinquished their interest in SC 43 because the next phase was drilling and the studies showed the resource potential does not justify the high cost of drilling. Pearl Oil previously held an 81-percent stake in SC 43 while PNOC Exploration owned the remaining 19 percent. SC 43, covering an area of 5,280 square kilometers, is located in the Ragay Gulf, partly onshore in the Bondoc Peninsula and offshore south of the peninsula. Based on the results of the Geological and Geophysical studies, PNOC EC with the approval of its board, decided to withdraw from the service contract as its operator, Pearl Oil, because the estimated resource potential did not justify the drilling of an exploratory well, the company said. SC 43 was awarded on Jan. 14, 2004 to PNOC Exploration, Premier Oil and Pearl Oil. Premier Oil relinquished its interest in 2008, allowing PNOC Exploration to its stake to 19-percent interest in SC 43 while Pearl Oil, the service contract operator, held the remaining 81 percent. Mubadala Development Co. of Abu Dhabi acquired Pearl Energy, including its Philippine assets from Aabar Energy PJSC in 2008.

Oriental Petroleum program. Oriental

Petroleum and Minerals Corp. recently held its annual stockholders meeting, where the board discussed plans for exploration, development and production of petroleum and mineral resources in the Philippines. Shown are (from left) Oriental Petroleum chairman and chief executive James Go, president and chief operating ofcer Robert Coyiuto Jr., chairman emeritus John Gokongwei Jr. and director Lance Gokongwei. SONNY ESPIRITU

IPO expects more Filipino brands to go global

THE Intellectual Property Ofce of the Philippines expects more Filipino brands to go global this year, after the country signed the Madrid Protocol or the treaty that facilitates international registration of trademarks. Filipino entrepreneurs can file international trademark applications with the IPOPhil beginning July 25. Madrid Protocol simplifies the protection of trademarks outside the Philippines and reduces the cost of registration. We are expecting 200 brands to be registered at the minimum this year, IPOPhil directorgeneral Ricardo Blancaor said in a press brieng in Makati City Wednesday. President Benigno Aquino III signed the instrument of accession on March 27 this year, making the Philippines the 85th contracting party to the protocol. Business groups have expressed their support for the countrys accession to the protocol as a number of brands have already gone global in the past. Among them are Jollibee, Max Fried Chicken, Yellow Cab, Goldilocks, Goto King, Bench, Penshoppe and San Miguel. Blancaor said under the Madrid Protocol, businesses would be more enticed to go global and seek protection for their brands. Julito G. Rada

Strong currencies send Asians to Europes luxury goods stores

AYIE Aligada, a former airline training manager from Manila, gained from the Philippine pesos 4-percent jump against the euro in as many weeks when she snapped up a Chloe bag for 1,475 euros ($1,857) on a month-long jaunt through Europe. She had plenty of company on her May tour of Paris, Barcelona and Rome, where Asian shoppers are lining up outside luxury goods stores. Elaine Chua, 32, a Singaporean homemaker, went to Paris for four days in April and saved about 1,500 Singapore dollars ($1,178) on a Chanel bag, the price of a return airfare. Pongsak Luangaram, 41, a lecturer from Bangkok, dropped a plan to visit Japan and went to Italy in May, buying a Ferrari jacket. Europe is becoming a more attractive destination for Asians after the peso surged 19 percent against the euro in the past year and Chinas yuan climbed 17 percent. Bookings rose 30 percent in Manila in the rst quarter and 12 percent more Chinese are forecast to visit France in 2012. Their spending is supporting hotels, stores and restaurants as the debt crisis batters local demand. Ermenegildo Zegna SpA is stocking more styles favored by the visitors and Prada SpA may raise prices. With the slowing economy and lingering debt crisis, the euro will continue to weaken against Asian currencies, said Akira Takei, the Tokyo-based head of the international xed-income department at Mizuho Asset Management Co., which oversees about $41 billion and is part of Japans third-biggest publicly traded bank. Exchange rates are favorable for Asian shoppers and tourism businesses in Europe, but the pickup in visitors wont be enough to reverse the slump. Exchange-rate windfall The International Monetary Fund predicts a 7.3-percent expansion for Asias developing economies this year and a 0.3- percent contraction in the 17-nation euro area. Italy, Greece and Portugal are all in recessions, Spains economy contracted 0.4 percent from a year earlier in the rst quarter, the Netherlands shrank 0.8 percent and French growth of 0.3 percent was the slowest since 2009. The peso touched 52.32 per euro Wednesday, its strongest level since October 2002. The Singapore dollar Holdings Plc in Paris. Tax-free spending by Chinese tourists in Europe climbed 69 percent in the rst quarter from a year earlier, while that by Malaysian visitors jumped 54 percent and Thais by 52 percent, according to tourist shopping specialist Global Blue in Nyon, Switzerland. More millionaires The number of individuals in the Asia-Pacic region with at least $1 million of investable assets increased 1.6 percent last year to 3.37 million, according to a June 20 report by Capgemini SA and RBC Wealth Management. That exceeded the total in North America, which fell 1.1 percent to 3.35 million. China, which has a per capita income of $2,425, will almost triple its millionaires to 1.4 million in three years from 502,000 in 2010, Julius Baer Group Ltd. and CLSA AsiaPacic Markets predicted in a report last year. In the Philippines, where per capita income increased 32 percent in the last decade to $1,383, they will climb to 38,000 in 2015 from an estimated 16,000 in 2010, the report showed. The bahts 12-percent advance versus the euro in the past year encouraged Pongsak to buy a Louis Vuitton bag for himself and a Furla one for his wife. We made the decision in February for our trip in May, said Pongsak. Given the escalating debt crisis in the euro zone, I didnt expect the euro to strengthen anytime soon. Really cheap The baht and the Singapore dollar may each climb by another 3.8 percent per euro in 12 months, while the Philippine peso may steady, according to the median exchange-rate forecasts in Bloomberg surveys of analysts. I see no reason to not take advantage of the exchange rate to buy brand names at much cheaper prices, said Chua, who bought her gold Chanel Classic bag on the Avenue Montaigne. The euro may be even cheaper next year. Im considering going back to Paris again. Tony Lo, a 26-year-old teacher from Hong Kong, plans to visit France this month and buy Bottega Veneta leather goods. Im worried Ill lose control when I shop because the euro is really cheap now, Lo said. Its like everything is 10 percent off. Bloomberg

strengthened 12 percent in the past year and touched a decade-high S$1.5862 today. The average rise for Asias 11 most-used currencies was 11 percent. We had a windfall on the exchange rate, said Aligada, 53, who traveled with her husband, a telephone company executive. Multilingual staff Ermenegildo Zegna, a closely held Italian luxury-goods maker, is spending aggressively on marketing, including working with tour operators to make sure tourists know where to nd its European outlets, chief executive Ermenegildo Zegna said in a June 23 interview in Milan. The company, which may see 10 percent sales growth in 2012, has adjusted the sizes and products and added more multilingual staff, he said. Prada, the Italian fashion house, is beneting from wealthy Chinese tourists, chief executive Patrizio Bertelli said in an interview in May. A further drop in the euro may prompt the company to increase prices by as much as 10 percent in Europe, he said. In the rst quarter, tourist arrivals in

Italy from Asia increased 22 percent from a year earlier to 354,000. Their spending climbed 24 percent to 462 million euros, Bank of Italy data show. Gucci, Louis Vuitton Guccis sales in Europe were boosted by tourist demand, according to JeanMarc Duplaix, chief nancial ofcer of Paris-based PPR SA, the French owner of the luxury brand. Local demand was still good in Europe, but its true that the tourist ow contributed signicantly to the growth, he said on an April 25 conference call, reporting a 15-percent increase in rstquarter sales. China imposes import duties and taxes of about 30 percent on luxury bags and more than 50 percent for cosmetics. At Paris- based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the yuans gain against the euro widened the gap between its prices in China and those in France to as much as 47 percent in the rst quarter, Finance director Jean-Jacques Guiony said at a brieng in April. Travel and tourisms total

contribution to the European Unions gross domestic product was 7.9 percent in 2011, according to the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council. Strong peso The number of Chinese visitors to France is likely to rise 12 percent this year to 494,900, while those to Germany may climb 13 percent to 276,600, according to London-based Euromonitor International. Travelers from Taiwan to Europe in the rst ve months increased 8.2 percent from a year earlier to 101,372, the islands tourism bureau said. Rajah Travel Corp., the biggest tour agency in Manila, saw a 30-percent jump in Europe bookings in the rst quarter from a year earlier, thanks to the strength of the peso, according to president Aileen Clemente. The number of South Koreans heading to Europe through Hana Tour Services Inc., the nations biggest travel agency, rose more than 6 percent so far in 2012. Tourists, mainly from Asia, account for between 35 percent and 60 percent of luxury sales in Europe, according to Antoine Belge, an analyst at HSBC

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B4

THURSDAY JULY 5, 2012

Manila ManilaStandardToday

Classifieds
Batch #19/12 Negros Occidental 4th District Engineering Office Bago City, Negros Occidental Tel. No. (034) 4610-599 (034) 4611-250 (034) 732-4632 Email Add: dpwhnegocc4thdeo@yahoo.com.ph

adv.mst@gmail.com
Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
Roxas Boulevard Corner Vito Cruz Street Manila 1004

Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER

Republic of the Philippines

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

Nueva Ecija 1st District Engineering Office La Torre, Talavera, Nueva Ecija

DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 15-2012

June 01, 2012

DPWH INFRA-07 Standard Advertisement-Revised IRR

TO

: ALL INSURANCE AND PROFESSIONAL REINSURANCE COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN THE PHILIPPINES

DPWH INFRA-07 Standard Advertisement-Revised IRR

SUBJECT : MINIMUM PAID-UP CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS _________________________________________________________________________ WHEREAS, the insurance industry is one of the pillars of the financial system such that its further stability and growth have a significant impact on the Philippine economy and national development; WHEREAS, a strongly capitalized insurance industry is essential in promoting a sound, efficient and financially robust insurance industry to enable it to perform its critical role in the economy; WHEREAS, the imposition of a higher minimum paid-up capital (PUC) to further supplement Department Order (DO) No. 27-06 after December 31, 2012, shall ensure sufficient protection to the insuring public and further strengthen the integrity of the insurance industry. WHEREAS, higher capitalization shall provide the insurance sector the needed business infrastructures and quality management team that will ensure business growth, market development and better service to the policyowners, and shall provide resources to address business volatility and risks brought about by calamities and catastrophes which hit the country with increasing frequency and alarming intensity. NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me by the provisions of Section 188 of the Insurance Code, as amended, the following are hereby promulgated: A. Insurance Company with Existing License 1. An existing or licensed life or non-life insurance company must have a PUC in accordance with the amounts and schedule of compliance provided hereunder: Paid-Up Capital Php 250,000,000.00 Php 400,000,000.00 Php 600,000,000.00 Php 800.000.000.00 Php 1,000,000,000.00 Compliance Date On or before December 31, 2012 (Pursuant to DO 27-06 and IMC No. 10-2006) On or before December 31,2014 On or before December 31, 2016 On or before December 31, 2018 On or before December 31, 2020

INVITATION TO BID
The DPWH Nueva Ecija 1st DEO, through RA - Fund 153 MVUC FY 2012, invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): a. CONTRACT/PROJECT ID: b. Contract Name: c. Contract Location 12CE0096 Rehab. & Imprvt. (Asphalt Overlay) along Pinagpanaan Rizal-Pantabangan Road, KO127+642 to KO129+484.90 Talavera, Nueva Ecija

INVITATION TO BID
The Department of Public Works and Highways Negros Occidental 4th District Engineering Office, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): Contract ID No.: Contract Name: 012GN041 Repair/Rehabilitation/Improvement of Bacolod South Road, K0042+427 to K0043+899 Contract Location: Pontevedra, Negros Occidental Scope of Works: Asphalt Overlay (50mm) Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 9,900,000.00 Contract Duration: 38 Calendar Days Source of Funds: SARO NO. BMB-A-2-0007839, SR2012-06-005370 DATED JUNE 21, 2012 The BAC will conduct procurement through open competitive bidding and 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, preliminary examination of bids, evaluation of bids, post-qualification and award. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Office, 5th Floor, DPWH Building, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOIs from Prospective Bidders 4. Receipt of Bids 5. Opening of Bids July 4, 2012 to July 24, 2012 until 12:00 NN July 11, 2012 @ 10:00 AM July 18, 2012 until 12:00 NN July 24, 2012 until 2:00 PM July 24, 2012 @ 2:15 PM

d. e. f. g.

Fee for Bid Documents Php10,000.00 Scope of Work RRA Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) Php 9 ,701,972.79 Conctract Duration: C.D. 35.00

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 Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown 1. Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders Deadline: A.M. 9:00 2. Issuance of Bid Documents From: 8:00am - 2:30pm July 4, 2012 Time & Date: 3. Pre-Bid Conference 10:00 a.m. Deadline: 4. Receipt of Bids 10:00 a.m. Time: 5. Opening of Bids 10:00 a.m. July 26, 2012 To: July 26, 2012 July 13, 2012 July 26, 2012 Date: July 26, 2012

2. In the case of an existing or licensed branch office of a foreign insurance company, the branch office shall have total security deposits at least equal to the minimum PUC required for domestic insurance companies. 3. For an existing or licensed composite insurance company, the PUC of its life and nonlife units should each comply with the minimum PUC required under clause A.1 above. 4. An existing or licensed mutual insurance company shall have available cash assets of the same amount as the PUC of an insurance company, exclusive of all liabilities. 5. An existing or licensed insurance company, engaged in microinsurance business as defined under relevant rules, circulars and other issuances by the Insurance Commission and obtaining direct premiums on micro insurance products amounting to at least fifty percent (50%) of its aggregate direct premiums on all its lines of business, shall have a PUC of not less than half of that required of an existing or licensed insurance company. 6. In case a licensed life or non-life insurance company applies for a composite license, the capitalization required under Clause A.1 above shall apply to the new unit (life or non-life) in addition to its present capitalization for the business it is currently licensed. B. Professional Reinsurance Company with Existing License An existing or licensed professional reinsurance company must possess a PUC in accordance with the amounts and schedule of compliance provided hereunder: Paid-Up Capital Php 1,000,000,000.00 Php 1,200,000,000.00 Php 1,400,000,000.00 Php 1,700,000,000.00 Php 2,000,000,000.00 Compliance Date On or before December 31, 2012 (Pursuant to DO 27-06 and IMC No. 10-2006) On or before December 31, 2014 On or before December 31, 2016 On or before December 31, 2018 On or before December 31, 2020

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at BAC Office, DPWH Negros Occidental 4th District Engineering Office, Bago City, Negros Occidental, upon payment of non-refundable fee for Bidding Documents (BDs) as scheduled below: FEES PER PROJECT Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) Above 5 Million up to 20 Million Bidding Documents (BDs) Fee Php 10,000.00

Prospective bidders may download the BDs, if available, from the DPWH website. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids documents. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Bidders who failed to submit their Letter of Intent (LOI) on the deadline specified shall not be allowed to submit their bids. The BAC will only receive the contractors LOI/Expression of Interest (NR003) and issue Bidding Documents upon presentation of the original copies of their PCAB License and Contractors Registration Certificate (CRC) in person or thru their Authorized Representative as reflected in their CRC. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualification. The DPWH, Neg. Occ. 4th District Engineering Office, Bago City, Neg. Occ. 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.

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH, Nueva Ecija 1st District Engineering Office, Talavera, Nueva Ecija upon payment of a non-refundable fee as indicated 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 bids Documents. 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 specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualification. The DPWH Nueva Ecija 1st DEO reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to null the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) AMADO M. GUEVARRA BAC Chairman Noted: (Sgd.) RAMIRO M. CRUZ District Engineer
(MST-July 5, 2012)

C. Standard for Suspension of PUC Requirement After 2012, compliance with the prescribed PUC requirement may be deferred for existing insurance and professional reinsurance companies that meet the Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Hurdle Rate set out in the following schedule: Basis of RBC Ratio 2013 Synopsis 2015 Synopsis 2017 Synopsis 2019 Synopsis Review Year 2014 2016 2018 2020 RBC Hurdle Rate 150% 150% 150% 150%

Approved by: (Sgd.) RICARDO C. GARAYGAY OIC-Assistant District Engineer BAC Chairman Noted: (Sgd.) EMMANUEL C. MENDIGUARIN OIC - District Engineer
(MST-July 5, 2012)

In case the qualified insurance or professional reinsurance company (one that has achieved the RBC Hurdle Rate) chooses to exercise its right of deferment by giving a written notice to the Insurance Commission, compliance with the required PUC for the year following the Review Year will be postponed for two (2) years until the next Compliance Date as set out in Sections B and C above. However, such right may only be exercised once, after which the qualified company shall comply with the required PUC previously deferred and the ensuing PUC requirements whether or not it meets the RBC Hurdle Rate, until it reaches PhP 1,000,000,000.00 or PhP2,000,000,000.00, whichever is applicable. Furthermore, as a consequence of its exercise of its right to deferment, the qualified companys obligation to comply with each succeeding PUC requirement, as set out in Sections A and B above, shall also be moved by two years, respectively. Hence, all existing insurance and professional reinsurance companies should have reached the PUC requirements of Php 1,000,000,000.00 and Php 2,000,000,000.00 by 2022, at the latest. Attached as Annex A is an illustration of the application of Clause C. D. Merger or Consolidation Existing companies may merge or consolidate in order to comply with the required PUC herein provided. For purposes of determining compliance, with PUC requirements, the surviving corporation or the consolidated corporation (new company) shall be considered as an existing or licensed insurance company or professional reinsurance company. Compliance with the PUC requirement for applicable year of insurance companies which are in the process of merger or consolidation shall be suspended provided that they have: 1. The combined PUC, based on the required latest audited financial statements of the companies to be merged or consolidated, of not less than the current capital requirement; 2. Obtained a favorable endorsement of the merger or consolidation from the Insurance Commission; and 3. Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission the plan and articles of merger or consolidation. Provided further that all the conditions above are satisfied on or before June 30 immediately following the notice of merger or consolidation to the Commissioner and the application for merger or consolidation is approved not later than June 30 of the following year. This waiver on the required capital also applies to companies that are in the process of complying with the minimum PUC pursuant to DO No. 27-06. E. New Life or Non-Life Insurance Company 1. No new life or non-life insurance company shall be allowed to do insurance business and be licensed in the Philippines unless it has a PUC of One Billion Pesos (php 1,000,000,000.00). 2. For a new composite insurance company (life and non-life), it shall have a PUC of Two Billion Pesos (Php 2,000,000,000.00). 3. An applicant for license as professional reinsurer shall have a PUC of Two Billion Pesos (php 2,000,000,000.00) 4. In the case of a new branch office of a foreign insurance company, the branch office shall have total security deposits at least equal to the minimum PUC required for domestic insurance companies. 5. A new insurance company which shall engage solely in microinsurance business as defined under relevant rules, circulars and other issuances by the IC shall have a PUC of P500,000,000.00 F. Companies for Rehabilitation Companies which are under conservatorship or receivership may be allowed to be licensed after complying with the PUC requirements imposed on existing insurance companies; Provided that, companies, whose licenses have not been renewed for five (5) consecutive years immediately preceding the date of their applications for a license, shall be required to have a PUC of One Billion Pesos (Php 1,000,000,000.00). Insurance companies placed under liquidation shall no longer be licensed. G. Effectivity of DO No. 27-06 Prior to the effective increase of PUC under this DO, the increase of capital as provided for under DO No. 27-06 subject to Clause C above shall continue to apply. In case the PUC required under DO No. 27-06 is greater than the PUC under this Department Order, the higher PUC shall be maintained. H. Separability Clause If any provision of this Order shall be declared as invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Order. I. Repealing Clause All department orders and circulars which are incompatible or inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby deemed amended or repealed. J. Effectivity Clause This DO shall take effect fifteen days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Signed this 1 day of June, 2012. CESAR V. PURISlMA Secretary of Finance

Republic of the Philippines

Republic of the Philippines

CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY

Don Severino de las Alas Campus Indang, Cavite, Philippines
Tel. (046) 415-0010 Fax (046) 415-0012 www.cvsu.edu.ph

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

Region I 1st Pangasinan Engineering District OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Alaminos City, Pangasinan

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID

The CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) invites suppliers/ manufacturers/distributors/ contractors to apply for eligibility and bid for the hereunder project: Name of Project: ONE-YEAR CONTRACT FOR SECURITY SERVICES FOR CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY Location: MAIN CAMPUS (Indang), TRECE, SILANG, CARMONA, ROSARIO, IMUS, CAVITE CITY, TANZA AND GENERAL TRIAS Brief Description: SECURITY SERVICES FOR CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY Approved Budget For the contract: PhP 13,682,286.00 Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last five years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. The Eligibility Check/ Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary "pass/fall" criteria. Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted. All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR). The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Activities Schedule 1. Submission of Letters of Intent July 3 - 9, 2012; 8:00 am - 5pm and Application for Eligibility 2. Issuance of Bid Documents July 3 - 19, 2012; 8:00 am - 5pm July 10, 2012; 1:00 pm; SL Lasap 3. Pre-bld Conference Hall, Administration Bldg. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite 4. Receipt and Opening of Bids July 23, 2012; 1:00pm; SL Lasap Hall, Administration Bldg. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite Bid Documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Ten Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-One Pesos and Seventy-One Centavos Only (PhP 10,261.71) to the CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY Cashier. The CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid. Approved by: (Sgd.) LUZVIMINDA A. RODRIN BAC Chairman

INVITATION TO BID
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH 1ST Pangasinan Engineering District, Alaminos City, Pangasinan through the __________________ , invite contractors to bid for the aforementioned project: Contract ID. Contract Name Contract Location : 12AG0065 : Impvt./Constn. of Brgy. Barlo to Brgy. Malinpin Road : Mabini, Pangasinan, Barlo ARC

Scope of Work : Concreting of 4.0 M. X 6,425.75 M. Roadway(15 m. thk.) Including Provision of slope protection. (W/exception) Approved Budget For the Contract (ABC) : Php 23,076,282.17 Contract Duration : 280 calendar days Cost of Bid Docs : Php 20,000.00

The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance 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 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 DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/ fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH Central Procurement Office (CPO) before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH Central Procurement Office will only process contractors applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The significant time and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: Activities 1. Pre-Procurement Conference 2. Issuance of Bidding Documents 3. Pre-Bid Conference 4. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders 5. Receipt of Bids 6. Opening of Bids Schedule June 27, 2012 @ 10:00 A.M July 02, 2012 to July 23, 2012 July 12, 2012 @ 10:00 A.M Until 12:00NN of July 17, 2012 Deadline:10:00AM of July 23, 2012 10:00AM of _July 23, 2012

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH 1st Pangasinan Engineering District, Alaminos City, Pangasinan, upon presentation of two (2) valid IDs of the Authorized Liaison Officer as specified in the Contractors Information, Presentation of the original CRC per memorandumdated April 19, 2004 and payment of a non-refundable fee as mentioned above respectively. 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. Mailed intents shall not be entertained. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualification. The DPWH 1ST Pangasinan Engineering District reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved by: (Sgd.) MIENRADO V. INACAY Engineer III BAC Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) FLORASOL C. CARILLO OIC, District Engineer

Recommending approval:

EMMANUEL F. DOOC Insurance Commissioner Illustration of Application of Clause C

Annex A

1. In year 2014, Company A satisfied the RBC Hurdle Rate of 150% on the basis of its 2013 Synopsis. The PUC requirement of Php 400 million in 2014 shall not be applied to Company A. It may continue to operate with Php 250 million PUC up to 2014. 2. In year 2016, since there has been deferment of increase in PUC in 2014, the PUC requirement to be complied with by Company A is not the 2016 PUC requirement of Php 600 million but the 2014 PUC requirement of Php 400 million. 3. In the ensuing years 2018, 2020 & 2022, the company shall comply with the PUC requirements of Php 600 million, Php 800 million and Php 1 billion, respectively, since the deferment due to RBC compliance can only be availed one time.
(MST-July 5, 2012)

( M S T- July 5 & 11, 2012)

(MST-July 5, 2012)

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adv.mst@gmail.com
Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan

ManilaStandardToday

Classifieds
Region X Cagayan de Oro City-District Engineering Office Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City Telefax (088) 856-8775/E-mail Ad dpwhcdocitydistrict@yahoo.com

THURSDAY

JULY 5, 2012

B5

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS SOUTH MANILA ENGINEERING DISTRICT

8th Street, Port Area, Manila NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Department of Public Works and Highways

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

Office of the District Engineer Capiz 1st Engineering District Roxas City

Republic of the Philippines

INVITATION TO BID
The DPWH South Manila Engineering District, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects; 1. Contract I.D. NO. Contract Name: 12OH0100 Proposed Rehabilitation/reconstruction/upgrading of A) Domestic Terminal Road. K0008+644 to K0008+911 B) Andrew Ave. Last Bound, K0008+(-883) to K0008+423 Contract Location: Pasay City Scope of Work: Rehabilitation/reconstruction/upgrading of road Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): (PhP 26,290,041.10) Contract Duration: 120 cal. days Bid Documents: Ph P 20,000.00

INVITATION TO BID
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH-CDOC District Engineering Office through CY 2012 Various Infrastructure Including Local Projects (VILP) invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects; Project No. 1 Contract ID Contract Name : 12KD038 : Construction / Concreting / Repair of roads a. Barangay Gusa b. Barangay Consolacion c. Barangay Sto .Nino Lapasan Contract Location : All of Cagayan de Oro City Brief Description : Concreting of roads Total Approved Budget for the Contract : Php 5,820,000.00 Duration : 90 Calendar Days Project No. 2 Contract ID Contract Name : 12KD039 : Constructio n / Concreting of roads a. Barangay Macasandig b. Barangay Nazareth Contract Location : All of Cagayan de Oro City Brief Description : Concreting of road Total Approved Budget for the Contract : Php 6,790,000.00 Duration : 120 Calendar Days The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations 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) , purchased bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: a) prior registration with DPWH, b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership , corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% 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 Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor s Certificate of registration (CRC), Registration Forms may be down loaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From July 5, 2012 to July 26, 2012 2. Pre-bid Conference July 13, 2012 at 2:00 p m 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from July 20, 2012 until 12:00 noon Prospective Bidders 4. Receipt of Bids July 26, 2012 until 10 :00 am 5. Opening of Bids July 26, 2012 at 10:00 a m The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) a t DPWH-CDOC District Engineering Office upon payment of a non refundable fee of Php 10,000.00. Prospective bidders may also down load the BDs from DPWH web site, if available. Prospective Bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount of and acceptable form , as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective Bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelop shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelop shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualification. The DPWH-Cagayan de Pro City 2nd District Engineering Office reserves the right to accept or reject any bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. (Sgd.) CESAR M. HIPONA, JR. OIC-Asst. District Engineer BAC Chairman

INVITATION TO BID
The Capiz 1st Engineering District through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): : 12GD0003 : Asphalt Overlay along Iloilo-Capiz Road (New Route) Location : Km. 118+440-Km. 119+562 w/exception Brief Description : Approved Budget for the Contract: P 9,732,203.43 Source of Fund : SR2012-05-004877 May 31, 2012 Duration : 50 Calendar Days Contract ID Contract Name Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and us Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit two (2) copies of Letter of Intent (LOI). purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH. (b) Filipino citizen of 75% Filipino owned partnership, corporation, cooperative or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC. or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to die DPWH-POCW Central Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC). Registration forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:
1 2 3 4 5 BAC Activities Issuance of Bidding Documents Pre-Bid Conference Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders Receipt of Bids Opening of Bids Schedule July 5-24. 2012 July 13. 2012. a 10:00 a.m. July 18, 2012, not later than 2:00 p.m. July 24. 2012 @ 1:59 p.m. July 24. 2012 @ 2:00 p.m.

The BAC will conduct this procurement process in accordance with the Revised Implementing Rules & Regulations (IRR) of the Republic Act 9184. Bids in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To apply and to bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) signed and submitted by the person authorized in the Contractors License issued by PCAB. Upon submission of the LOIs, the interested Contractor must also submit the photo copy and original (for authentication purposes and issuance of Bid Documents) of the following documents: 1. Class "A" Documents (Contained in the Contractors Registration Certificate) (CRC), 1.1 Legal Documents: a) Department of Trade and Industry Business Name Registration (DTI) or SEC Registration Certificate or CDA; b) Valid and Current Mayors Permit/Municipal License; 1.2) Technical Documents; a) Valid Joint Venture Agreement, in case of (J.V.) and Eligibility Docs for each member; b) Valid PCAB License and Registration c) Certificate of Materials Engineer Accreditation and Identification duly certified by the Authorized Managing Officer (AMO) d) Latest copy of Authorizing Managing Officer e) Certificate of Safety Officer Seminar from DOLE f) PhilGEPS Order Form (Document Request List) g) CPEs rating for the 1st Quarter; 1.3) Financial Documents; a) Prospective Bidders Audited Financial Statement for the preceding calendar which should not be earlier than 2 years from the date of bid submission; b) Prospective bidders computation of its NFCC. The LOIs shall be submitted by the Authorized Liaison Officer as specified in the Contractors Information (CI). Submission of LOTs by persons with a Special Power of Attorney shall not. be allowed. The contractor must purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria; (a) prior registration with the DPWH & PHILGEPS (b) Filipino citizen of 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The contractors submitted proof of required equipments for the project are subject for inspection. The BAC will use nondiscretionary 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 Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOl. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractors Certification of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.pov.ph. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: Issuance of Bidding Documents - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pre-Bid Conference - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deadline of LOl Receipt from Prospective Bidders - - - Deadline of Bid Receipt - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Opening of Bids - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10:00 A.M. 12:00 Noon 12:00 Noon 02:00 P.M. July 4-24, 2012 July 13, 2012 July 18,2012 July 24, 2012 July 24, 2012

Prospective bidders may download the LOl Forms from DPWH website:www.dpwh.gov.ph (alIowing the filing of Letter of Intent free of charge and prescribing fixed costs of bidding documents as per D.O No. 52 dated October 3, 2011). The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at South Manila Engineering District, upon payment of a non-refundable fee as stated above for bid 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 accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the SMED-BAC Chairman; otherwise, It will be a ground for an outright disqualifications.The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a) copy of the CRC; b) if a propose Key Technical Personnel is an employee of the bidder ad working on another project at the time of the bidding, the bidder shall submit a certification that (1) the personnel will be pulled out from the on-going project once the bidder is awarded the contract, and (2) he/she will be placed with another person with equal or better qualifications, as certified by the head of the implementing office and c) The bidder may propose a Key Tecnical Personnel who is not its employee provided that the said personnel is required to submit a certification that he/she will work for the bidder if it is awarded the contract under bidding . The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualification. The South Manila Engineering District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid to annul the bidding process any time prior to Contract Award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s.

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at Capiz 1st Engineering District, Km. I, Roxas City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P10,000.00 for Bidding Documents. Prospective bidders may also download die BDs from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. 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 specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid. which shall include the copy the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualification. Capiz 1st Engineering District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before the Contract Award without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. (Sgd.) CORAZON A. PERLA BAC-Vice-Chairman Administrative Officer III Noted: (Sgd.) SANNY BOY O. OROPEL District Engineer
(MST-July 5 & 11, 2012)

A P P R O V E D: (Sgd.) ERNESTO P. LEONES Chief, Planning & Design Section BAC Chairman N O T E D: (Sgd.) MIKUNUG D. MACUD District Engineer
(MST-July 5, 2012)

Noted (Sgd.) ALLAN S. BORROMEO, RM OIC-District Engineer

(MST-July 5, 2012)

Department of Public Works and Highways NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

2nd Street, Port Area MANILA

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER

Camarines Sur V District Engineering Office Baras, Canaman, Camarines Sur

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

Nueva Ecija 1st District Engineering Office La Torre, Talavera, Nueva Ecija

Republic of the Philippines

INVITATION TO BID
The Department of Public Works and Highways-National Capital Region (DPWH-NCR), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites potential contractors to bid for the hereunder contract: a) Contract ID : 12OO0017 b) Name of Project : Partial Construction of two (2) Storey Directors Dormitory at DSWD Central Office, (Phase I) c) Location : Quezon City d) Brief Description : Partial Const, of two (2) Storey Directors Dormitory at DSWD e) Approved Budget for the Contract : P14,570,039.93 f) Contract Duration : 120 calendar days g) Source of Fund : DSWD - P15,000,000.00 The BAC will conduct this public bidding 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), 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 with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of the contract, c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC. and d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of the .ABC. The DPWH will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check, preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors however, may submit their LOIs simultaneously with their applications for registration, to the DPWH-National Capital Region before the deadline set below for the receipt of LOIs. The DPWH Central, BAC-TWG, will first process the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC) before processing their LOIs. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will process only those with complete registration requirements. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents 2. Receipt of Letter of Intent from Prospective Bidders 3. Pre-Bid Conference 4. Receipt of Bids 5. Opening of Bids July 4 to 24,2012 Deadline: July 18, 2012 until 5:00 P.M. July 12,2012 @ 10:00 A.M. Deadline: July 24,2012 until 10:00 A.M. July 24,2012 @ 10:00 A.M.

INVITATION TO BID
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Camarines Sur V District Engineering Office, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: 12FN0028 CONCRETING /REHABILITATION / IMPROVEMENT OF FARM TO MARKET ROADS Contract Location : 1. Sitio Moquin, Manangle, Bulawan, Sipocot 5,789,287.99 2. Brgy. F. Simeon, Ragay, Cam. Sur 964,999.95 3. Sitio Cagumpis, Brgy. Pandan, Cabusao, Cam. Sur - 964,021.92 4. Brgy. Mangapo, Sipocot, Cam. Sur 964,031.07 5. Brgy. Catabangan Proper, Ragay, Cam. Sur 964,999.94 Scope of Work: Concreting/ Repair/ Improvement of Road Approved Budget for the Php 9,647,340.87 Contract (ABC) Contract Duration : 120 cd. Cost of Tender P 10,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. The BAC will verify the final CPES rating of the contractor, which must be at least satisfactory, as provided under Sec. 23.5.2.4 of Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. 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, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH- POCW Central Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders 4. Receipt of Bids 5. Opening of Bids July 5, 2012 to July 26, 2012 July 12, 2012 at 10:00 am July 20 , 2012 at 12:00 noon Deadline : 1:30 p.m. of July 26, 2012 2:00 p.m. of July 26, 2012 Contract ID Number Contract Name:

DPWH INFRA-07 Standard Advertisement-Revised IRR

INVITATION TO BID
The DPWH Nueva Ecija 1st DEO, through Fund 102 ARISP FY 2011, invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): a. CONTRACT/PROJECT ID: 12CE0097 b. Contract Name: c. Contract Location Casilagan-W/E Canaan-Gen. Luna Road Across the River ARC, North Nueva Ecija Rizal, Nueva Ecija d. Fee for Bid Documents Php10,000.00 e. Scope of Work RCP f. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) Php 16,593,508.07 g. Conctract Duration:C.D. 120.00 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 Office before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Office will only process contractors applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractors Certificate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The significant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown:
1. Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders Deadline: A.M. 9:00 2. Issuance of Bid Documents From: 8:00am - 2:30pm July 5, 2012 Time & Date: 3. Pre-Bid Conference 10:00 a.m. Deadline: 4. Receipt of Bids 10:00 a.m. Time: 5. Opening of Bids 10:00 a.m. July 31, 2012 To: July 31, 2012 July 19, 2012 July 31, 2012 Date: July 31, 2012

Prospective bidders may download the Registration and LOI Forms from the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The BAC will issue hard copies of LOI Forms at DPWH National Capital Region, BAC Secretariat 2nd St. Port Area, Manila. Interested contractors are also required to present the originals of their PCAB License and Contractors Registration Certificate, Certificate of Registration from Philgeps, DPWH Accreditation of their Materials Engineer to be assigned to the project pursuant to D.O. #184, s.1999, Mayors Permit and Tax Clearance per E.O. #395, s. 2005, to the BAC for authentication. Prospective bidders, may also download the Bidding Documents (BDs), if available, from the DPWH website. The NCR-BAC will also issue hard copies of the BDs at the same address to prospective bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00). 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. 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 specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the Technical Component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the Financial Component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualification. The DPWH-National Capital Region 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. (Sgd.) LYDIA G. CHUA OIC-Planning & Design Div. Chairman, NCR-BAC NOTED: (Sgd.) REYNALDO G. TAGUDANDO Regional Director
(MST-July 5, 2012)

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-Cam. Sur V District Engineering Office, Baras, Canaman, Cam. Sur, upon payment of nonrefundable amount as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the BDS from the DPWH web site if available Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BDs. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualification. The Department of Public Works and Highways, Camarines Sur V District Engineering Office reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) MAXIMO C. ELEDA BAC Chairman Noted by: (Sgd.) WILLARD KENNETH I. ATUTUBO District Engineer
(MST-July 5, 2012)

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH, Nueva Ecija 1st District Engineering Office, Talavera, Nueva Ecija upon payment of a non-refundable fee as indicated 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 bids Documents. 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 specified in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post- qualification The DPWH Nueva Ecija 1st DEO reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to null the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) AMADO M. GUEVARRA BAC Chairman Noted: (Sgd.) RAMIRO M. CRUZ District Engineer
(MST-July 5, 2012)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B6 THURSDAY

Provinces
Manila Standard TODAYEdited by Leo A. Estonilo
www.manilastandardtoday.com leoestonilo@gmail.com

JULY 5, 2012

Have more hudyaka in Zambo

By Roldan Realida
DIPOLOG CITYZamboanga del Norte Gov. Rolando Yebes recently led the Hudyaka to mark 60 years of peaceful coexistence among its Christian, Muslim and native Subanen communities. Hudyaka festival embodies the provinces historical, cultural and natural heritage, and tourism potentials, as well as the good-natured character of its people, he said. Yebes introduced the Visayan word for merrymaking 2005 to promote travel and investment in the Zamboanga peninsula. The festivities featured the indigenous art and culture of settlers during the Tribal Dance Congress along with agricultural crops and products. Hudyaka was named by the Department of Tourism Region IX as the best festival in the region and 3rd Best Tourism Event Award in 2011 (Provincial Category) of the Association Tourism Ofcers. Northern Zamboanga is composed of 25 towns, capital Dipolog, and the Shrine City of Dapitan, where national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled from 1892 to 1896.

Clark posts 54% pax growth

By Lailany P. Gomez

CLARK International Airport enjoyed the

growing number of passengers up by 54 percent in the second quarter of this year, its top ofcial said Wednesday.

CIAC president and chief executive Victor Jose Luciano said international and domestic passengers from January to June this year increased to 547,556 compared to 354,585 in 2011.

This manifests the continued support of our fellow Filipinos as well as foreigners, travelers, tourists and Overseas Filipino Workers using the Clark International Airport, Luciano

said in a statement. He also said aircraft movement at Clark International Airport also rose by 38 percent to 4,749 ights from 3,435 in 2011. The airport serves at least 300 aircraft movements weekly. Luciano said Clark is expected to hit its target of 5 million passengers this year. Low-cost carrier Airphil Express of Philippine Airlines in March started ights from Clark to Davao, Puerto Princesa,

Cebu and Kalibo. Also, it started ights to Singapore and Hong Kong out of Clark. In April, Air Asia Philippines also started its domestic flights via Davao, Puerto Princesa and Kalibo with two flights to Kuala Lumpur daily. The carrier also flies to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, adding Macau and Hong Kong connections this month. Air Asia Philippines is a subsidiary of Air Asia Berhad

of Malaysia. Cebu Pacic Air now uses Clark as hub for routes to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Macau along with Cebu City and soon Incheon. Dragon Air, a subsidiary of Cathay Pacic, started this year its daily Hong Kong run. South East Asian Airlines (Seair), in partnership with Tiger Airways of Singapore, has ights out of Clark to Kota Kinabalu, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore.

Easing air trafc in Manila

By Eric B. Apolonio
DESPITEthe lack of reliable ferry connections, Clark International Airport still managed to improve its passenger volume by more than 50 percent. As the government looks for ways to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by shifting trafc to Clark, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas cited the urgency of completing a rapid rail transport to complement present shuttle trips. He said the tracks could be laid in the middle of Northern Luzon Expressway with a link to the airport in Pampanga before the railway stretches to Dagupan City in Pangasinan and San Fernando City in La Union as planned. In March last year, Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Metro Pacic Investments Corp. which operates NLEX, is pitching in to make Clark another main gateway. Studies show that NAIA and its terminals will reach maximum carrying capacity in three years, requiring measures as early as now to be put in place before overcrowding takes its toll on services. In a disclosure, Metro Pacific Investments had commissioned Madrid-based Indra group to do the feasibility study for Clarks runway upgrade and terminal expansion.

Onion farmers get P263-m cold storage

By Ferdie G. Domingo
CABANATUAN CITY-Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali signed here on Monday a loan for a The provincial government of Nueva Ecija signed here on Monday a P263-million onion cold storage amid the unabated smuggling of produce plaguing growers. He signed a P453-million agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines for the construction of post-harvest facilities, including the storage for the benet of about 8,000 marginal farmers in the province, considered as the onion capital. According to the Sibuyas ng Pilipinas Ating Alagaan, a group of local onion producers, the sector is losing about P2.5 billion annually from smuggling. Francisco Collado, SIPAG president, said syndicates have become bold enough to bring in contraband onions through the Port of Manila. The loan package is part of the P1-billion Omnibus Credit Facility which the Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorized Umali to nalize for food security projects. Aside from the storage, the loan will also fund the construction of the P190million palay drying facilities with provision for charcoal production in Palayan City. It will be payable in 10 years at six percent per annum. Umali signed the loan agreement together with his wife, third district Rep. Czarina Umali, Vice Gov. Jose Gay Garcia Padiernos and provincial treasurer Edilberto Pancho. The DBP was represented by executive vice president Jesus Guevarra II, senior assistant vice president Rebecca Reyes and assistant vice president Janette Lagarejos. Seran Santos, provincial agriculturist, said the onion storage will be a boon to farmers in the cities of Cabanatuan, Muoz, Palayan and San Jose and the towns of Bongabon, Gabaldon, Gen. Natividad, Laur, Llanera, Lupao, Rizal, Sto. Domingo and Talavera. What is good about this project is that farmers dont have to pay a deposit when they store their produce, he said. They will only pay when they are going to sell their produce. Guevarra said the cold storage is the rst of its kind funded by DBP, showing the agencys condence in the nancial capacity of the local government to pay its loans.

Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. and Eugene Balitang congratulate SN Aboitiz Power-Magat represented by assistant vice president Wilhelmino Ferrer for uplifting lives in communties that host the frims hydroelectric plant. JESSICA M. BACUD

Ifugao lauds Aboitiz for tax contributions

By Jessica M. Bacud
LAGAWEIfugao Governor Eugene Balitang highlighted the provinces 48th foundation day by lauding SN Aboitiz PowerMagat Inc. For its tax payments and community projects. In rites at Gotad Ad Ifugao, he presented a certicate of appreciation to SNAP Assistant Vice President Wilhelmino Ferrer, site manager, joined by Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. and Provincial Treasurer Samuel Marinay. Records show that the power producer last year paid P27.6 million in realty tax, P14.9 million in national weath tax, P14 million business tax and fees plus equipment donations. SNAP-Magat operates the 360-megawatt Magat Hydroelectric plant located at the border of Ramon, Isabela and Alfonso Lista, Ifugao. Aside from government levies, SNAPMagat implements a voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility program that supports the host provinces, towns and villages their livelihood, education, governance, environment, public health and small infrastructure projects. Last May, SNAP-Magat also received a special award from Isabela for contributing to the economic development of the province. SNAP-Magat is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power.

Sun backs research

Albay rst to implement universal health coverage

LEGZPI CITYThe Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has cited Albay for being the rst province in the country to implement a universal health coverage and no-balance policy on payments to government accredited hospitals, for card-bearing Philhealth members. The Albay provincial government and Philhealth signed a Memorandum of Agreement last week to renew the coverage of some 173,000 poor cardholders in the province worth P60 million. Philhealth chief Dodo Banzon said Albay is a role model of universal health coverage in the country, which was started ve years ago, and also the rst to implement a no-balance policy meaning patients expenses are fully coveredin all hospitals retained by the Department of Health. Albay Gov. Joey Salceda who signed the agreement with Banzon at the Oriental Hotel here in Legazpi City, said the scheme was patterned after the British and Thai healthcare models. Among Bicols six provinces, Albay accounts for almost all of province-paid Philhealth coverage costs. It has also invested on education as in health, having sponsored massive scholarships for disadvantaged youths. Salceda said the renewed health insurance covers a period of one year from July 2012 to June 2013, and assures the elections next year will not disrupt health service needs of poor residents of the province. Albay leads all other local government units in the country with highest investment in health. He said the new coverage is especially signicant since Philhealth is providing additional benets on ailments that commonly afict the poor, such as rabies treatment, cancer patients, and primary health care and preventive health care for out-patients. The governor said the agreement with Philhealth also supports Albays continued campaign on health provisions for the poor, which is among the tenets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The province has already attained its MDG targets ahead of the 2015 global deadline.

SUN Cellular supports the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines. The organization opened Wednesday its three-day 11th National Research Congress in Plantation Bay Beach Resort, Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu. Keynote speakers are Governor Gwen Garcia and Senator Francis Escudero. With the theme MORES... Engage, the event aims to align research approaches and programs with the higher demands and needs of marketing and ultimately, consumers. As it will be attended by people from different elds, the event is also an opportunity for participants to connect and share knowledge with each other, thereby enriching expertise about the best practices in the industry, organizers said. Sun Cellular recognizes the value of research and consumer insights in its marketing and advertising activities.

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