Manila Standard Today - Wednesday (January 9, 2013) Issue

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
BIFE
A12
Palace version of gun
control measure eyed
Nicoles
killer now
identied
PNoy order relegates
PNP to fact-nding
Govt allays
fear over
US drone
SC junks plea to prohibit
political dynasties in polls
UNA told to check survey on hunger
Millions of devotees
hoping for miracles
TODAY
Standard
Vol. XXVI No. 277 18 Pages, 3 Sections
P18.00 Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Standard
www.manilastandardtoday.com mst@mstandardtoday.com
NBI sole body
to probe clash
Practical tips. Ashootingrangeofficer explains howtohandleand use theGlock2240-caliber pistol toQuezonCity
policemen. MANNYPALMERO
AUSTIN BULABON
Miraculous
image.
A devotee touches
the feet of the Black
Nazarene during the
Pahalik at the Luneta
Grandstand as thou-
sands more queued
behind. EY ACASIO
MALACAANG on Tuesday said it might come up with its own version of
a bill that would implement stricter gun controls in the country following the
recent shooting incidents resulting in the death of several people.
We are collating all the proposals from gun ban to gun control, presiden-
tial spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
We certainly believe in gun control, but its too early to say what form the
proposals will take.
There are at least 20 pending measures in Congress dealing with the
amendment of the laws on gun possession and the provisions of the Revised
Penal Code on gun-related crimes, but none of those bills have gone past the
rst reading stage.
Lacierda said President Benigno Aquino III wanted to ensure that existing
gun laws were strictly enforced until a proposal was rmed up.
The directive of the President is to make sure that we monitor and regu-
late the rearms that are out there, Lacierda said.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has already asked the
government to consider a total gun ban nationwide. CBCP president Arch-
bishop Jose Palma said the government should also be stricter in approving
licenses to carry rearms.
Earlier, the Palace ruled out any support from Mr. Aquino on the calls to re-
impose the death penalty following the recent crimes involving the use of guns.
The position of the President as far as the death penalty is concerned has
not changed, deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
The President is not for the death penalty. The position of the President
By Rey E. requejo
JUSTICE Secretary Leila
de Lima on Tuesday said
the National Bureau of
Investigation had already
identified the man who
fired the gun that killed
seven-year-old Stephanie
Nicole Ella at the height
of the New Year revelry in
Caloocan City.
De Lima said the NBI team
tasked to investigate the inci-
dent had told her that they al-
ready had a witness who saw
the suspect re the gun near
the victims residence.
The Justice Secretary
earlier asked the NBI to
make a parallel investiga-
tion of the case.
Ella was hit by the stray
bullet in the head while she
was watching fireworks
with her family outside their
home. She died two days
later at the East Avenue
Medical Center.
There is one suspect being
targeted. The NBI already has
By Joyce P. Paares,
Maricel V. Cruz and
Florante S. Solmerin
MALACAANG on Tuesday
asked militant groups to hold off
calls for a Senate probe on the
United States drone recovered
off Masbate on Sunday, saying it
was still premature as the Vis-
iting Forces Agreement Com-
mission has already been tasked
to look into the incident.
Presidential spokesman Ed-
win Lacierda advised critics
to wait until all the details sur-
rounding the recovered drone
have been established.
Were having that veried,
once we get verication, well let
(the public) know, Lacierda said.
United States Embassy
spokesperson Bettina Malone
had said that the device, which
By Rey E. Requejo
THE Supreme Court on Tues-
day junked a petition asking the
Elections Commission to imple-
ment a constitutional provision
that prohibits political dynasties
in the elections.
The high court said the jus-
tices agreed to deny the motion
for reconsideration led by a
Louis Biraogo for lack of merit.
Instead, the Court afrmed its
earlier ruling junking Biraogos
petition for mandamus that would
compel the Comelec to imple-
ment section 26, article II of the
Constitution for lack of merit.
In his petition led October last
year, Birago said the ban on politi-
cal dynasties was clearly provided
in the Constitution saying The
state shall guarantee equal access
to opportunities for public service,
and prohibit political dynasties as
may be dened by law.
In a separate ruling, the high
court asked for more time to re-
solve the petition questioning
the controversial Reproductive
Health Law.
Acting Court spokeswoman
and Public Information Ofce
chief Maria Victoria Gleoresty
Guerra said the justices did not
issue a decision during an en
banc session on the petition led
by James and Lovely Imbong.
The case was earlier rafed
off to Associate Justice Jose
Catral Mendoza, who was as-
signed to write the decision on
the case.
Guerra said the Imbong peti-
tion will be included in the delib-
erations of the SC justices during
their next en banc session.
The Imbong couple had
asked the SC to issue a tempo-
rary restraining order to stop the
implementation of Republic Act
No. 101354, or the Responsible
Parenthood and Reproductive
Health Act of 2012.
The petitioners also asked the
high court to nullify the RH Law
allegedly for violating the 1987
Philippine Constitution.
The couple argued that the RH
law negates and frustrates the
foundational ideals and aspirations
of the sovereign Filipino people as
enshrined in the constitution.
They cited Article II, Section
12 of the constitution, which
states: The State recognizes the
sanctity of family life and shall
By Christine Herrera
MALACAANG belied on Tuesday claims by the
opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of
poor performance and said the number of hungry
people dropped to 3.3 million families in Decem-
ber last year from 43. million of the same year.
Citing a survey conducted by the Social Weather
Station on December 8 to 11 with 1,200 respon-
dents, a palace statement said the hunger rate fell
to its one-and-a-half year low and revealed im-
provement in all geographical areas.
It attributed the drop in incidence of hunger to
its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program,
which UNA candidates for senators described as
a dole-out and should be scrapped because it is a
form of electioneering.
This translates to one million fewer families
who have experienced involuntary hunger in the
fourth quarter of 2012. The Aquino Administration
remains committed to addressing hunger as a re-
sult of poverty, a palace statement said.
Through social interventions such as the CCT
program, which puts a premium on purchasing food
for familiy beneciaries and supplemental feeding
programs of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development, the government continues to expand
and enhance efforts to uplift living conditions for
our countrymen, the statement said.
But UNA Secretary General Tobias Tiangco said
in the two years that the Aquino Administration
have been in power, a huge number of people re-
mained poor because the government failed to stop
increases in prices of basic commodities.
We at UNA are supportive of the governments
The Philippine National Po-
lice will continue its fact-nding
with respect to the rearms and
vehicles and submit its ndings to
the NBI, presidential spokesman
Edwin Lacierda said.
He said Mr. Aquino wanted a full
investigation of the case amid specu-
lation it might have been a rubout.
Some quarters suspect that the
incident happened as a result of
a turf war involving the illegal
numbers game jueteng. Others
said the shootout could have been
over drugsalthough the Philip-
pine Drug Enforcement Agency
had ruled out drugs.
Lacierda said there will be
no whitewash in the fact-nding
investigation to be conducted
by other agencies including the
Commission on Human Rights,
Philippine National Police and
National Police Commission.
The Interior Department, Jus-
tice Department and House of
Representatives also want to in-
vestigate the incident.
We will look into all the re-
ports before making a decision,
Lacierda said.
The President wants the results
of the investigation as soon as pos-
sible. He wants a full and exhaustive
investigation into the incident.
Human Rights Commission
Chairman Loretta Ann Rosales
said she wanted to determine if
the joint police and military team
that clashed with the slain men
used excessive force or if they fol-
lowed the rules of engagement.
She said the shootout was an
overkill, adding there were
strong indications of human rights
violations by the joint team.
The police and military per-
sonnel should have only arrested
the suspects, Rosales said.
Interior Secretary Manuel
Roxas II said he wanted a deeper
probe into the case.
I want to know what really
happened in Atimonan, Quezon,
and why there were police and
By Vito Barcelo
SOME people doubt that miracles happen, but at least 11
million Filipinos attest they do and other than the sick get-
ting healed and many getting prosperous in life, others claim
their prayers are answered in a hundred and one ways.
Every year, on January 9, millions of Catholics pour
into the churchyard and the surrounding streets of Quiapo
Parish Church in central Manila to follow a procession of
Next page Next page
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Next page
IN AN apparent move to avoid accusa-
tions of a whitewash, President Benigno
Aquino III on Tuesday said the National
Bureau of Investigation would be the
only agency to investigate the shootout
in Atimonan, Quezon, on Sunday that
resulted in the death of 13 suspected
criminals.
Briton calls airport terminal home
By Eric B. Apolonio
EXACTLY two years ago when two
foreign nationals made the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport their
home while waiting to be own
home, another foreignera British
subjectmet the same fate.
Gary Peter Austin, 52, a former
jockey, has been living at the de-
parture lounge for the last 22 days,
unable to y home because he has
no money and no plane ticket.
Austin says he came to Manila
from England via Bahrain on Nov.
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News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A2
Palace...
is that the effective deterrent
of crime would be the knowl-
edge that there would be cer-
tainty of punishment.
In November, similar calls
to re-impose the death pen-
alty surfaced after the mur-
der of a 20-year old cum
woman who graduated with
honors from the University
of Sto. Tomas.
But Justice Secretary
Leila de Lima said only
faithful and diligent en-
forcement of the laws
would deter criminals.
Meanwhile, lawmakers on
Tuesday urged the Senate to
give priority to the passage
of a consolidated bill aimed
at imposing stricter gun laws
providing stiffer penalties, in-
cluding the proposal for max-
imum life imprisonment that
was transmitted by the House
of Representatives to the Sen-
ate in January last year.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo
Acop, one of authors of the
measure and a retired police
general, said he believed
Congress had still time to
pass the bill.
There is still time to pass
this proposed law which is
very vital to curb gun-related
violence and strictly regulate
gun ownership in the coun-
try, Acop said.
The records of the House
of Representatives show that
lawmakers unanimously ap-
proved House Bill 5484, An
Act Providing for a Compre-
hensive Regulation of Fire-
arms, Light Weapons and
Ammunition, Penalizing Vio-
lations Thereof and Repeal-
ing for the Purpose Presiden-
tial Decree No. 1866 on third
and nal reading on Jan. 24,
2012, and was transmitted to
the Senate two days later.
The consolidated bill was
an offshoot of seven separate
measures led by lawmakers
in the House of Representa-
tives that seek to impose stiff-
er penalties against illegal
acquisition and possession of
guns and ammunition.
While waiting for the Sen-
ate action, the House lead-
ership vowed to revive the
discussions on the proposals
for stricter gun laws in the
country during the remain-
ing session days of the 15th
Congress following the re-
cent indiscriminate ring of
guns and a shooting rampage
that resulted in the killing of
several people. Joyce Pangco
Paares and Maricel V. Cruz
Millions...
the Black Christ, or Poong
Item na Nazareno, a life-size
wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ
carrying a cross.
Stories abound of miraculous
healings and unusual interces-
sions as a result of their devo-
tion to the Black Nazarene, and
through the years the number of
devotees have grown to millions
that nearby schools close down,
trafc is re-routed and the gov-
ernment makes elaborate plans
to maintain peace and order and
ensure the safety of the devotees.
The police and Church esti-
mate the number of devotees
could swell to 11 million from
about seven million last year.
Vic Valencia, media relations
ofcer of the Minor Basilica of
the Black Nazarene in Quiapo,
said they have no records of any
miracle that cured a dying or sick
person, but he is a small voice in
a sea of devotees.
Miracles do really happen, but
they only happen in their hearts,
Valencia said.
Asked why the number of dev-
otees had grown if there were no
records of miracles, Jose Clem-
ente Ignacio, the parish priest of
Quiapo Church, attribute it to the
strong belief and commitment of
devotees and identication of Fil-
ipinos with the suffering of Jesus
Christ on the cross.
He says devotees follow the
procession because they believe
it is a form of atonement for their
sins and they also hope for some
form of miracle.
I myself have witnessed nu-
merous miracles, which our Lord
of the Black Nazarene has done
to people, Ignacio said.
The sculpture was originally of fair
complexion, but it turned dark after
it survived a re on board a galleon
ship that brought it to Manila from
Acapulco, Mexico in 1606. Many
Filipinos consider its survival from
the burning ship a miracle.
The image is venerated weekly
with Friday novena masses. But
on January 9 every year, devotees
hold a procession celebrating its
transfer and enshrinement to its
present location.
During the procession the Black
Nazarene is carried into the streets
in a shoulder-bourne carriage known
to devotees as the Andas (from the
Spanish word Andar meaning to go
forward). The devotees wear ma-
roon shirts and walk barefoot as an
act of penance for Jesus on his way
to Mount Calvary.
People who have touched the
Black Nazarene are reported to
have been cured of their diseases.
Devotees hurl towels and handker-
chiefs to marshalls guarding the
Black Nazarene with requests to
wipe the statue in hopes of its mi-
raculous powers rubbing off on the
cloth, and they yell Viva Senor.
But the movement of a huge
crowd of people has inherent dan-
gers. People are killed or injured
because of a combination of heat,
fatigue, and being trampled by
other devotees jostling for position.
Danny Evangelista of Masam-
bong, Quezon City, who claims
he has been a devotee for the past
30 years, said he does not care
that his foot hurt so bad after the
procession, which cover several
kilometers.
The aches and blisters disap-
pear after I wash it with soap and
water, he said.
Lilia Cisneros, a 58-year-old
mother, said she became a devo-
tee after suffering from a heart
stroke and when she was brought
to the hospital for a medical CT
scan, the image of the Nazarene
appeared in her heart on the
scanned photos.
My health improved and that
started it all. Since then, I vowed
that I will bring my entire family
every year to join the Black Naz-
arene procession, she said.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle,
who is also a devotee, offers an
explanation to the fervent devo-
tion. To understand the devotee,
you have to be a devotee. Only a
devotee could best understand a
devotee.
Nicole...
a name but they cannot dis-
close it for now because there is
still a process to be conducted,
De Lima said.
I was asking if I can share that
(information) with media na, hu-
wag na muna daw... may tinutukoy
na. Kinoconrm lang, she said. (I
asked if I can share this with the
media, but they asked me to wait.
They have a suspect, but they have
to make a conrmation).
The bureau is also monitoring the
movements of the suspect to make
sure that he is physically present to
answer the charges that may be pos-
sibly leveled against him.
Yung tao, dapat dumaan sa
proseso, De Lima said. (The man,
should go through the process).
The Justice Secretary added
that the suspect was part of a
group, but refused to divulge
more details pending ongoing
follow-up activities by the NBI.
She also did not say whether the
person was a policeman or civilian.
She explained, however, that
the NBI cannot arrest the suspect
just yet, because it still has to get
a warrant from a judge since the
case does not fall under the cat-
egory of hot pursuit, but hopes
to make the arrest later this week.
De Lima added that NBI is still
verifying the type of rearm used
and the trajectory of the bullet. She
said that Ellas family had agreed
for a re-autopsy of the girls body
by the NBI medico-legal ofce.
The police earlier arrested
four men who were charged
with alarm and scandal, as well
as possible additional charges of
reckless imprudence resulting in
homicide, for ring a cal-.45 pis-
tol during the New Year revelry.
The police and NBI had agreed
that the suspect was about 50 me-
ters away from the victim when
he red his gun.
NBI...
military personnel included in
the suspected criminals, he said.
I want the real truth and not a
whitewash.
Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima said she was just waiting
for a signal from President Aqui-
no before she formed a team to
investigate the incident.
The families of those slain
[want the Justice Department]
to conduct a special probe, De
Lima said.
She said an independent probe
by her department would erase
any doubts on the credibility of
the ongoing police investigation
of the case.
House Deputy Speaker and
Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Taada
III said the House of Representa-
tives would be investigating the
incident.
The pieces of the puzzle have
to t as there are claims and
counterclaims, he said.
Clearly, there are a lot of
questions that need to be an-
swered.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said
he was not discounting the possibil-
ity that the shootout had something
to do with illegal drugs, although it
was too early to speculate.
That is why we need a thor-
ough investigation of the inci-
dent, he said.
Senator Panlo Lacson said
those who were killed were just
part of a much bigger group
whose members were now being
watched by the police.
As far as I know, it was a
long-running project of Police
Regional Ofce 4-A, said Lac-
son, a former National Police
chief.
The Philippine Drug Enforce-
ment Agency said the group en-
countered by the the team of po-
licemen and soldiers in Quezon
were not under its watchlist, and
that it had not been linked to drugs.
Retired Lingayen-Dagupan
Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz
said he believed that the shootout
happened as a result of a turf war
over jueteng or over kickbacks.
He said jueteng lords could
be very territorial especially in
Central Luzon, the Vatican of
Jueteng, and that one of those
killed in the shootoutallegedly
a relative of Agriculture Secre-
tary Proceso Alcalahad been
involved in jueteng.
Meanwhile, a source said that
the group encountered by police
and soldiers in Atimonan and later
engaged in a shootout had been
carrying a huge amount of money
the day the shootout happened.
Based on the information
we heard, the men had been es-
corting some people who were
delivering the money to an un-
named person, the source said.
Joyce Pangco Paares, Rio N.
Araja, Jonathan Fernandez,
Rey E. Requejo, Maricel V.
Cruz, Macon Ramos-Arane-
ta, Florante S. Solmerin and
Francisco Tuyay
SC...
protect and strengthen the family
as a basic autonomous social in-
stitution. It shall equally protect
the life of the mother and the life
of the unborn from conception.
The natural and primary right
and duty of parents in the rearing
of the youth for civic efciency
and the development of moral
character shall receive the sup-
port of Government.
They alleged that at least 11 pro-
visions in R.A. 10354, violate this
provision.
A source inside the high court,
however, said Justice Mendoza
had asked for more time to submit
his recommendation on whether or
not to issue a TRO.
Mendoza is reportedly a devout
Catholic belonging to the archdio-
cese of Lipa in Batangas, one of the
staunch critics of the RH law. His
two brothers are priests and another
brother is a parish assistant.
Self-Portrait. Since the 1970s Betsy Westendorp has been exhibiting her work in Spain, London, Belgium,
New York and the Philippines. Westendorp, a self-taught artist known for her romantic depictions of landscape
and still life and elegant portraiture, moved to the Philippines in 1951, and in 1971 she represented the country
in the Filipino Week at the Instituto de Cultural Hispanica in Madrid. In 2008 she received the Presidential
Medal of Merit in recognition of her achievements as an artist. TEDDY PELAEZ
Briton...
29 last year and then went
to Cebu for some sightsee-
ing and to meet his Filipino
friends.
He returned to Manila on
Dec. 17 and checked in at the
Gulf Air counter for his return
trip to England, but the airline
staff said they could not ac-
commodate him because his
travel agent had canceled his
e-ticket. Unfortunately for him
he had run out of money, so he
decided to stay in the terminal
to gure out where he could
raise the money to nance his
travel back home.
Like the ctional character
Viktor Navorski in the movie
The Terminal, played by Tom
Hanks, Austin been dependent
on the kindness of the strangers
handing him food.
On Dec. 20 he befriended
Maria Hannah Bulabon, a jani-
tor assigned to the departure
area who then asked her co-
employees to give him food
and other things he might
need. Departing passengers
have also been giving him food
or money.
Austin has requested the
reporters covering the airport
to write his story so people
would know about his plight.
He has also asked the British
Embassy to help him return
to England.
Govt...
she identied as an expend-
ed BQM-74E Aerial Target
drone, was used in a military
exercise in Guam.
She added that the drone was
launched from the USS Chafee
(DDG 90) during the exercise
Valiant Shield 2012 on Sept. 19
off the coast of Guam.
It appears that ocean cur-
rents brought the drone to
where it washed ashore last
week off Masbate Island,
Malone said.
Her statement was con-
firmed by the Naval Forces
Southern Luzon, which now
has custody of the drone.
Its orange color and US
Navy logo suggests that it is
used primarily to simulate
enemy missiles and aircraft
during exercises. Our initial
assessment is that the aerial
target drone was used in a
military exercise outside the
Philippine territorial waters
somewhere in the Pacific. Due
to strong currents and weather
disturbances that frequent the
Pacific, the aerial target drone
was possibly washed adrift
into our territorial waters, its
statement said.
The Valiant Shield 2012 is
held every two years since
2006 and focuses on the co-
operation among US military
branches.
Capt. Rommel Jason
Galang, the deputy command-
er of the Naval Forces South-
ern Luzon, confirmed that the
US-made Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle found by a diver was
a model BQM-74E Chukar
III.
Galang said it had a length
of 12 feet and 11 inches, a
wingspan of 5 feet and 9 inch-
es, and a height of 2 feet and
4 inches.
On Monday, the Foreign
Affairs Department said that
they are closely coordinating
on the matter with the Na-
tional Defense as well as con-
cerned US Embassy officials.
We would like to assure the
public that every effort is be-
ing taken to address this issue.
At this point, we have been as-
sured by the US embassy that
the aerial vehicle is by design
and purpose solely used for tar-
get practice and not armed or
used for surveillance, Foreign
Afffairs spokesman Raul Her-
nandez said.
He added that they had al-
ready instructed VFACom
executive officer Edilberto
Adan to look into the matter
and file a full report.
Hernandez said US pres-
ence and activities in the
country is governed by the
VFA between the Philippines
and the US and added that
the matter will be dealt with
in accordance with the treaty
obligations contained in this
agreement.
Militant groups Bayan
Muna, ACT Teaches Partylist
and fisherfolk Pamalakaya or
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilu-
san Ng Pilipinas had demand-
ed an explanation from Mala-
canang and called on both the
House and the Senate to con-
duct a probe on the incident.
The militant groups said the
presence of the drones may
have violated Philippine sov-
ereignty.
Bayan Muna secretary gen-
eral Renato Reyes Jr. said that
there were no clear guide-
lines on the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles in Philippine
territory.
It appears that the US
government has been using
the VFA to gain unrestricted
movement in Philippine air-
space, Reyes said.
Malacaang owes the pub-
lic a full explanation regard-
ing the presence of this US
Navy drone in the municipal
waters of Masbate, said ACT
Teachers Rep. Antonino Tinio
said.
Has there been a violation
of our sovereignty? Tinio
asked. Aside from consti-
tutional and legal questions,
could the drone have posed a
threat to public safety?
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy
Casino, meanwhile, said that
Malacanang needs to answer
pertinent questions on the
presence of the drone in Mas-
bate such as:
Who gave the clearances
for such an operation? What
is the legal basis if indeed
clearance was given? Casino
asked. If no clearance was
obtained, will the Philippine
government file a protest?
The answers to these ques-
tions are of paramount impor-
tance and have to be provided
at once lest a cover up is be-
ing done, he said.
Pamalakaya, meanwhile,
said that aside from sover-
eignty issue, the incident
could threaten the lives of
small fishermen in the area,
and called on Congress to
start a probe on the incident.
The Senate President and
the Speaker of the House
should table this highly ex-
plosive matter at the August
hall of Congress. We will not
take no for an answer, Pa-
malakaya-Masbate said.
Pamalakaya vice-chairper-
son Salvador France said that
the drone may have been used
for counter-insurgency.
Whether they deny it or
not, the US drone spy gad-
get is meant to monitor the
New Peoples Army in the is-
land province of Masbate and
nearby provinces connected by
Visayan Sea like Samar, Leyte,
Bohol and Cebu. It is counter-
insurgency under the US-draft-
ed Oplan Bayanihan.
Senator Loren Legarda,
chairperson of the foreign
relations committee, said
that the presence of the
drone in Philippine waters
raises a serious concern
of national security, while
noting that the VFA with the
US allows only for specific
joint exercises.
But military spokesman Col.
Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr.
dismissed accusations that the
US government was violating
the countrys sovereignty.
This (drone) was never
used here in the country,
within the Philippine terri-
tory for our exercises with
the US. This was probably
used somewhere in the Pa-
cific during an exercise and
it just drifted within our ter-
ritory, he said.
With Macon Ramos-Ara-
neta and Gigi Munoz-David
UNA...
agenda for reforms but we
want also these to materi-
alize and redound to the
grassroots, which we dont
see. So people are ask-
ing why so many remain
poor, hungry and jobless,
Tiangco said.
He said the Liberal Party
of President Aquino turned
its back on its campaign
promise in 2010 Kung
walang corrupt, walang
mahirap (If there is no cor-
ruption, there is no pov-
erty) and abused its vast
powers, which is another
form of corruption.
Corruption does not
only manifest in dipping
the hands into the nation-
al coffers. Misusing and
abusing power is one form
of corruption, he said.
Tiangco said the govern-
ment can paint rosy pic-
tures about the economy
getting better, but people
will still ask: Why is it
that many of us remain
poor?
UNA candidate for sena-
tor Maria Milagros Mag-
saysay said the govern-
ments P45-billion CCT
program was ineffective
and unnecesary.
What the poorest of the
poor need is a decent job
or gainful employment.
Thats how UNA wants to
empower the people. We
would work hard to cre-
ate jobs for them and not
make them beg for dole-
outs and become mendi-
cants, Magsaysay said.
News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A3
House split
on Chinas
proposal

IN BRIEF
BALANGA CITY, Bataan--The
local government of Bataan has
come to the aid of its name-
sake in Mindanao, the disaster-
ravaged town of New Bataan in
Compostela Valley, by contribut-
ing to the relief and rehabilita-
tion efforts of the Philippine Red
Cross in the area.
Bataan Governor Enrique T.
Garcia Jr. handed to PRC chair-
man Richard Gordon a check
for the amount of P2.5 million
to support the ongoing humani-
tarian activities of the PRC in
New Bataan.
The devastation wrought by
Typhoon Pablo is so enormous
that we are compelled to com-
miserate with our brothers in
New Bataan and help them make
a fresh start especially this New
Year, Garcia said.
After the initial relief phase
of the operations in New Bataan,
we want to help make sure that
peoples lives are brought back
to normal or even better than be-
fore so that they can once again
be productive members of the
community, he said.
According to Gordon, the
PRC has implemented a six-
month relief operation in New
Bataan which includes food
items, sleeping kits, and water
distribution.
Besides relief opera-
tions, we are also setting up
health and medical stations
to address the basic medical
needs of the people as well
as implementing a shelter and
housing program so that those
who have lost their homes can
move into new ones and re-
build their lives with dignity,
Gordon said.
We are grateful for the sup-
port of the people of Bataan, who
have been invaluable partners of
the PRC over the last few years
in many of our disaster efforts,
such as during Typhoons Ondoy
and Sendong, he said. Butch
Gunio
Bataan donates to typhoon Pablo victims
JAPANESE Foreign Minister Fumio
Kishida is expected to arrive today
on a two-day ofcial visit to Manila
to discuss bilateral relations and re-
gional issues.
Kishida will be meeting with his
Philippine counterpart, Secretary Al-
bert del Rosario, in his rst overseas
visit since his appointment as foreign
minister by newly elected Prime Min-
ister Shinzo Abe.
He is also scheduled to pay a cour-
tesy call on President Benigno Aquino
III while his meeting with del Rosario
on Wednesday will be a close door dis-
cussion on the foreign policies of Ja-
pans new leadership.
The DFA said that Kishi-
das visit is an opportunity
for both Tokyo and Manila to
advance the Philippine-Ja-
pan Strategic Partnership
under the new Japanese
administration. Diplo-
matic relations between
the two countries took ef-
fect on July 23, 1956.
Japan is one of only two
strategic partners of the Philip-
pines and is one of the most impor-
tant economic partners in terms of trade,
investments and development assistance.
Kishida and del Rosario will
hold closed-door discussions on
Thursday morning at the main
DFA building in Pasay City.
Kishidas visit comes
amid Japans dispute with
China over Diaoyu or
Senkaku Islands in the
East China Sea.
Last September, the
Chinese government an-
nounced that it has sub-
mitted its claim over the East
China Sea to the Unclos after Ja-
pan announced that it would purchase
the contested islands.
Chinas Manila embassy spokesman
Zhan Hua earlier said in an interview that
the China has decided to submit the mat-
ter to the Unclos because Tokyo has been
more provocative than ever in asserting
its claim on Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands.
Kishida is scheduled to proceed to Singa-
pore and Brunei after his Manila trip to meet
with his counterparts as part of his govern-
ments aim to strengthen relations with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
This year marks the 40th anniversa-
ry of Asean-Japan exchange with lead-
ers of the 10-member Asean scheduled
to meet in Japan in December. Sara
Fabunan and Eric Apolonio
Japans new foreign minister sets two-day visit
By Joyce Pangco Paares
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino
III has approved the release of
P8.1 billion to fund ood con-
trol and irrigation projects as
endorsed by the National Eco-
nomic Development Authority
board.
Three agenciesPublic
Works department, Metropoli-
tan Waterworks and Sewer-
age System and the Depart-
ment of AgricultureNational
Irrigation Authorityhave
obtained funding for their
projects, Budget Secretary
Florencio Abad said.
Of the amount, P5 billion
has been allocated for 15 ood-
control projects under the DP-
WHs Flood Management Mas-
ter Plan for Metro Manila and
surrounding areas.
The DPWH has been tasked
to lay down the proper infra-
structure to mitigate ooding in
Metro Manila and other affect-
ed areas around the city. With
the necessary funds already at
their disposal, the agency can
take advantage of the good
weather ahead and fast-track
the implementation of these
projects, long before the rainy
season sets in, Abad said.
At least P1.8 billion, on the
other hand, has been released to
the MWSS for the strengthen-
ing of the Angat Dam and dike
project.
Three other irrigation proj-
ects under the DA-NIA will
also receive a total of P1.3 bil-
lion, Abad said.
Of this amount, P390.1 mil-
lion has been released for the
Umayam River Irrigation Proj-
ect, which is an overow diver-
sion dam across the Umayam
River in Agusan del Sur.
The amount will be used
to construct 72 kilometers of
irrigation canals in the area,
as well as on-farm facilities,
drainage canals, and project of-
ce facilities.
The project is expected to
provide year-round irrigation to
6,729 hectares of non-irrigated
agricultural lands and benet
2,125 farming households.
Another P391.35 million
will be used for the implemen-
tation of the second phase of
the Malitubog-Maridagao Ir-
rigation Project in North Co-
tabato which is expected to
benet some 3,504 farming
households.
Abad said the remaining
P483.6 million will be used for
the second phase of the Casec-
nan Multipurpose Irrigation
and Power Project Irrigation
Component in Nueva Ecija,
which will involve the enlarge-
ment and upgrading of existing
irrigation facilities in the area.
The project is estimated to
benet a total of 36,900 farm-
ers in the province.
The Aquino administra-
tion is set on making the most
of our agricultural industry
and establishing complete food
self-sufciency for the country
this year.
The continued implementa-
tion of these irrigation projects
will be critical not just in sus-
taining the productivity of the
countrys agricultural lands, but
also in stimulating economic
growth among our local farm-
ing communities, Abad said.
P8b for food, flood control
Donations pour in

THE Department of Education has re-
leased P2 million for the purchase of
school supplies that will benet stu-
dents affected by typhoon Pablo in Re-
gions 11 and Caraga.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro
said the department received P2.7 mil-
lion in cash from donors outside of the
department. We have received some
P2.7 million in cash to help survivors,
especially schoolchildren.
DepEd said that in places where
schools are still being used as evacu-
ation centers, school personnel and
government officials along with do-
nors from private and international
communities set up tents to debrief
survivors.
The department thanks the donors
that include Globe Telecoms, Plan
International, Save the Children,
UNICEF, World Vision and Red
Cross. Major school supplies donors
include National Book Store Foun-
dation Inc., Centurian International
Corporation, Bio-Strata Pharmaceu-
ticals Inc., and Papermate Stationery
and Office Supplies.
The Federation of Filipino Chi-
nese Chambers of Commerce and In-
dustry, Inc. donated educational toys
while Lamoiyan Corporation gave
packs of shampoo and toothpaste.
Gigi Muoz David
Ease Audit rules on OWWA
SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on
Tuesday vowed to introduce legisla-
tion to ease the rules of the Commission
on Audit in connection with the use of
state funds under the Overseas Work-
ers Welfare Administration.
Marcos cited the need for COA to
liberalize its rules and regulations to
clear hurdles preventing the timely re-
lease of OWWA funds for distressed
workers overseas.
OWWA has huge trust fund but this
remains largely untapped because of the
rules and regulations of the COA on the
use of these funds, he said.
While the Department of Foreign Af-
fairs is trying its best to help OFWs in
trouble, he said its efforts are hindered
by insufcient funds.
The DFA is willing and ready
to help, but they dont have enough
funds for to hire lawyers to defend
OFWs who have pending cases in
court, he said.
He stressed that the audit body
should revisit its policy and rules to
make them responsive to the require-
ments of workers facing problems
abroad. Macon Ramos-Araneta
Bataan Governor Enrique T. Garcia Jr. (2nd from left) hands to Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon a check for P2.5 million representing a
donation from the province to victims of typhoon Pablo in New Bataan, Compostela Valley. Looking on are Bataans 2nd district Rep. Albert Garcia
and Red Cross governor Carissa Coscolluela. BUTCH GUNIO
Members of a human rights group protest in front of the Department of Justice on Tues-
day while a special body created by the government holds a meeting to map out a plan to
stop torture, illegal arrests and summary executions. DANNY PATA
High court amends rules on affidavits
By Rey Requejo

THE Supreme Court has re-
vised its rules requiring sub-
mission of judicial afdavits
in place of the direct testi-
mony of witnesses in crimi-
nal cases following objection
from the Prosecutors League
of the Philippines.
At the resumption of its en
banc session, the high court re-
solved to allow public prosecu-
tors to comply with the rule by
submitting sworn statements of
witnesses in lieu of judicial af-
davits during the rst year of
its implementation.
According to a two-page
notice issued by the SC Public
Information Ofce, the high
tribunal decided not to defer the
implementation of the new rule,
and instead to just modify the
required compliance on crimi-
nal cases for public prosecutors.
The public prosecutors
shall use, for the purpose of
complying with the Judicial
Afdavit Rule in the rst and
second level courts during the
one-year period, the sworn
statements that the complain-
ant and his or her witnesses
submit during the initiation of
the criminal action before the
ofce of the public prosecu-
tor or directly before the trial
court, the tribunal stressed.
This modication will not
apply to private prosecutors, it
said. It will be in effect for only
one year and public prosecutors
will then fully comply with the
rules thereafter, it said.
The Court expects the
public prosecutors in both the
rst and second level courts to
take steps during the one-year
modied compliance period
to seek needed augmentation
of their ranks; and to develop
methods and systems that
would enable them to fully
comply wit the rule when the
modied compliance period
ends, the court said.
Deputy Majority Leader
and Marikina City Rep. Miro
Quimbo supported the proposal
to foster ties with the mainland
while House Assistant Majority
Leader Sherwin Tugna, of party-
list Citizens Battle Against Cor-
ruption, and Zambales Rep. Jun
Omar Ebdane said acquisence
would weaken the Philippines
exclusive territorial claims
amid other claiming states.
I strongly urge that we con-
sider this suggestion of the Chi-
nese ambassador and look at this
as the start of the thawing of the
frozen relations of our two coun-
tries, said Quimbo, a lawyer.
It has been done in the North
Atlantic where countries with
conicting claims were able to sit
down and set aside deep seated
nationalistic objections in order
for the countries to benet from
the resource, he added.
The Recto Bank off the coast
of Palawan is believed to have
potential reserves of 3.4-trillion
cubic feet of gas and 440 mil-
lion barrels of oil that would
make this a bigger nd than the
Malampaya gas eld.
In the meantime, the parties
involved can and should now
start seriously discussion the
joint exploration of said terri-
tories with the parties resolving
ownership disputes elsewhere,
Quimbo said.
But Tugna, of the House
committee on foreign relations,
said playing to the hand of Chi-
na and would mean undermin-
ing the Philippines stake on its
boundaries.
I do not agree with this, he
said. If we allow the joint ex-
ploration, it is an implied admis-
sion that we do not have exclu-
sive ownership on this territory.
We should not give in to this
political strategy of China. If we
allow this, we will weaken our
territorial claims, he said.
Ebdane, whose district cov-
ers the Scarborough Shoal, de-
scribed as weird and strange
the idea of joint exploration,
given Beijings domineering
moves.
By Maricel V. Cruz and
Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
HOUSE leaders are divided over the
statement of Chinese Ambassador Ma
Keqing on the Philippines and China
going into a joint exploration of oil and
gas reserves in the West Philippine Sea.
Kishida
Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A4
TODAY millions of Filipinos
troop to the streets of Manila
to participate in the annual
procession for the feast of the
Black Nazarene.
The life-size statue, housed
in the Quiapo Church since
1787, is said to have occasioned
miracles ranging from the cure
of diseases to other personal
petitions. Many have committed
to joining the procession every
year as thanksgiving for an
answered prayer, or a promise
just so their prayers would be
answered.
Every year, however, the
supposedly religious event
turns into a spectacle for the
rest of the world. The sight of
a sea of humanity braving the
streets, risking life, limb and
property trying to get close to a
single statue could be, for some,
perplexing.
In response, we like to say
we are a deeply religious nation
as if it can explain all that is
difcult to understand.
The yearly Black Nazarene
event unfortunately showcases
things other than Filipinos
devotion to the suffering
Christ.
It shows the world for
instance that we cannot quite
make the distinction between
our notion of Christ and the
wooden Black image that is
paraded. Physical contact with
the statue is deemed a requisite
to get ones prayers granted. It
is thus not uncommon to nd
individuals getting crushed by
the crowd or fainting in their
attempt.
The proliferation of petty
thieves is also a problem. Going
to the feast means being open
to the possibility of losing your
wallet, mobile phone or any
other valuable. Apparently some
believe it is efcient to join the
procession without giving up a
days work.
And then, the feast provides
an opportunity for politicians
to get on the good side of
their constituents. They just
have to provide the customary
maroon shirt and the ride to
and from the City of Manila to
get the devotees to remember
their names for the coming
elections.
Of course, the procession
presents a trafc and security
nightmare for authorities and
Metro Manila motorists alike.
It is good to show devotion
so long as we know exactly why
we are doing it. We must be
sure we do not mistake wooden
statues for the God we believe
in, confuse prayers with wagers,
and declare our devotion even
as our way of life belies it
completely.
Catholic leaders must
acknowledge that the blind
devotion and horde mentality
the Black Nazarene feast fosters
is an anomaly that must be
addressed. Instead of meddling
with the affairs of the state, the
Church must educate its ock
that mere presence in a religious
procession does not make a
person religious, and that God
is not as arbitrary as to grant
the wishes of only those who
manage to worm their way into
the crowd to touch a piece of
woodor at least a towel that
grazes its surface.
Day of devotion
EDITORIAL
Firearms and the
elite who love them
GUN control, according to one joker,
is somewhat like population control.
The government doesnt want you to
have more children because you cant
afford them and it will not be stricter
in allowing you to
have guns because
you probably dont
have the money to
buy them anyway.
The trouble
with legislating
and enforcing
gun control in the
Philippines is that
the people who
should be doing
these things
the politicians
and government
ofcialsare the
staunchest believers
in carrying rearms
and surrounding themselves with armed
bodyguards to protect themselves. This
is why no meaningful gun control laws
have been passed or enforced in this
country since martial law, when only
policemen and soldiers were allowed
to carry rearms.
Even prior to that relatively gunless
period, as it is today, ownership of
rearms has been a status symbol,
denoting that the gun-owner is
important and wealthy enough to
require self-defense by having rearms.
That is why owning a gun is not a right
that is protected by law here, unlike in
the United States where it is enshrined
in the Second Amendment to the US
Constitution.
The further away from Manila
one ventures, the more widespread
the belief that power and wealth need
to be protected by rearms. In the
furthest reaches of Mindanao, for
instance, owning a rearm is viewed
as being economically signicant
enough to need one, much like other
people need the latest smartphone or
computer.
Because economic and political
power are often synonymous in the
countryside, many prominent people
own guns there. Taken together with
the unreliability of the criminal-justice
system in these far-ung areas and their
traditionally bloody political exercises,
gun ownership is almost a requirement
for the interchangeably wealthy and the
politically powerful.
Unlike in the US, where gun
ownership is easy and affordable,
owning rearms in this country is
difcult and expensive. Indeed, the
difculty and expense of gun ownership
are part of its appeal and desirability, if
the people who own them were to be
completely honest about it.
But the elitist constituency of
Filipino gun owners is also its weakness,
apart from its strength; few ordinary
citizens, whose only encounters with
rearms are with the wrong end, when
these are wielded by the authorities and
the rich and powerful, can sympathize
with those who say that bearing guns
is their right. And the martial law
years have already proven that guns in
private hands can be taken away any
time, with the peace and order situation
beneting signicantly.
* * *
What will it take, then, to impose
stricter gun control in the Philippines?
Merely political will on the part
of the highest authorities, especially
a willingness to face the anger of the
political and economic elites in order to
protect the greater majority.
Isnt prohibiting
private citizens
from carrying
guns, after all, the
same as banning
the use of sirens
by unauthorized
vehicles? And if
this administration
was able to stop that
aunting of power
and privilege by
people who really
have no business
using those noisy
symbols of authority
on the streets, why
cant it do so evenly
and ban the public carrying of guns by
private citizens?
Ultimately, the biggest stumbling
block to gun control is a President who
not only loves his guns but who also
belongs to the political and economic
elites that believe they are entitled to
rearms ownership, by virtue of their
lofty position in society. Gun ownership
is, after all, one of the hallmarks of
elitism in this country, if one is not a
soldier, a policeman or a criminal;
because it is expensive and difcult to
own guns, it is one of the least inclusive
and undemocratic pursuits possible
hereabouts.
President Noynoy Aquino, given his
background and his love for guns, will
probably never be able to understand why
he should not own and carry rearms.
And its likely that he will not accept that
privately-owned guns are the greatest
cause of rearms deaths in the US and
that restricting private ownership has
caused such deaths to nearly disappear in
the countries that have done so.
This, ultimately, is the difference
between the gun ownership debate
in the US and the Philippines:
American gun owners believe it is their
constitutional right to bear arms and any
move by government to take these guns
away restricts their liberties; Filipino
gun owners do not have constitutional
protection and can only take refuge in
the supposed inability of the authorities
to protect them, which is why those
who can afford it should, presumably,
purchase and keep rearms.
But that has always been the case in
this country: there are always two sets
of laws, one for the wealthy and the
powerful, and another for the poor and
powerless. The elites can take measures
to protect themselves because they can
afford it and have the power; the poor
can only get the protection that an
inept, uncaring and corrupt criminal-
justice system can give them.
If this government were truly
inclusive, as it loves to say, it would ban
private carrying of rearms for everyone.
Or, given how much this President loves
guns, just allow everyone to have them,
to even things up.
ROLANDO G. ESTABILLO Publisher
RAMONCHITO L. TOMELDAN Managing Editor
CHIN WONG/ RAY S. EANO Associate Editors
JOEL P. PALACIOS News Editor
ROGELIO C. SALAZAR President & CEO
MEMBER
Philippine Press Institute
The National Association
of Philippine Newspapers PPI
can be accessed at:
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MST
Manila
Standard
TODAY
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JOJO
A. ROBLES
LOWDOWN
The rich have
guns because they
can afford them;
the poor only get
the protection that
government can
give.
Divining Pacquiaos future
THE Manila Standard story about ring
icon Manny Pacquiao showing early
signs of Parkinsons disease evoked a
welter of reactions from many quarters
that ranged from he really should
retire to Manny still has it and why
kick the man when hes down.
The Filipino ring icon is a source
of national pride. Consequently, his
health is also a matter of national
concern. Mannys most ardent fans
do not want to see him drooling and
hardly able to speak.
Pacquiao camp followers are venting
their ire on the doctor, the source
of the Standard sports story, for his
observations the Pacman was showing
early symptoms of the dreaded disease
that has aficted Muhammad Ali. When
Pacquiao ponders his future, he should
picture the sight of The Greatest who
has been reduced to a pitiful gure from
the talkative, amboyant ghter he once
was.
No, Dr. Rustico Jimenez could not
have mistaken trainer Freddie Roach for
Pacquiao when he said he saw Manny
on TV stammering and twitching his
hand. Roach, a former boxer himself,
also suffers from a milder Parkinsons
disease.
Jimenez, a neurologist and president
of the Private Hospitals Association of
the Philippines, was cautious to clarify
he had not personally examine nor seen
Manny up close and could only advise
Pacquiao to see brain specialists in the
US.
In a kneejerk reaction, Pacquiao
adviser Michael Koncz now wants to
sue Dr. Jimenez for meritless and
unfounded accusations. This is typical
of American lawyers who can always
spot an opportunity for cashing in on
litigation. In case Koncz hasnt checked,
its not illegal for a doctor to express a
medical opinion in this country.
We hope new Filipino ring sensation
Nonito Donaire can steer clear of
hangers-on, freeloaders and expensive
lawyers. But that may be easier said
than done. Donaire is also tied up with
Pacquiao ght promoter Bob Arum.
The varying public opinion over
Manny Pacquiaos ring future is still
raging in the wake of his shocking
knockout loss to arch foe Juan Manuel
Marquez.
While Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum
is trying to wring the last dollar from his
Filipino cash cow with a fth JuanMa-
Manny duel, there are alarm bells that
such a ght could be dangerous. The
wives of both men also want them
to hang up their gloves in the family
mantle. Not so the crowd who are living
off Pacquiao.
There are many who want to see
Manny exact revenge on JuanMa. They
do not want their idol to ride out into
the sunset dened by the devastating
knockout in the dying second of the
sixth round in Las Vegas. These people
are mostly those riding on Pacquiao as
meal ticket. Its not their carcass lying
face down on the oor after being felled
from a Marquez pile driver right. Its
time for these hangers-on to get a life.
There are some who call it a lucky
punch. Perhaps it was an act of God
making Manny feel the pain he
inicts on his opponents, but a lucky
punch it was not. The same sycophants
overlooked that Marquez prepared long
and hard, then waited for the opening
to deliver the punch that would redeem
him and end the Filipino Mexicutioners
dominating decade in the ring. Talks
of Marquez taking performance
-enhancing drugs should be laid to rest.
Steroids had nothing to do with the
Marquez redemption.
After a trilogy whose endings never
quite settled the issue of who the better
man is, Marquez went back to the
gym, worked out more arduously and
sculptured himself into a body rippling
with muscles.
Pacquiao worked out too, but maybe
not hard enough. Although women were
no longer a distraction, Manny was
multitasking in politics, Bible-preaching
and TV show hosting.
Much earlier than Pacquiaos fall,
I had already written a requiem on
the Filipino ring icon. In a Manila
Standard piece in November 2010
titled Time to hang up gloves, I
suggested Manny should retire, enjoy
his vast fortune and spend quality time
with his family. I said that although he
had dished out punishment to the likes
of Oscar de La Hoya, Ricky Hatton,
Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and
Shane Mosley, Manny also took some
hard punches that slipped through
his defenses. The only way Manny
wont ever get hurt is if hes ghting a
double amputee.
Take that ght with Margarito.
Pacquiao crushed the Mexicans eye
socket and sent him to the hospital.
Somehow Margarito was able to sneak
in a hard punch that almost busted
Mannys ear drum.
Fortunately, Manny does not have to
wear a hearing aid piece yet as part of
his apparel.
JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A5 Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com
THE reproductive health bill,
euphemistically called responsible
parenthood bill, has been enacted into
law and signed by President Aquino. It
will soon be implemented.
Despite all the gymnastics resorted
to by its advocates that it merely
gives people free choice and presents
options, it is a fact that the law aims to
control the population. Thus, its anti-
life.
We still have to be told how much of
taxpayers money will be allocated to
buy condoms, IUDs and pills all aimed
at preventing life. Moreover, who are
the suppliers of these products and who
are their agents/ brokers?
These contraceptive measures will
cost a lot of money
and it will be us,
who pay our taxes
religiously, who
will shoulder this
burdeneven if
we dont believe
in the law in the
rst place.
No doubt,
it will be the
mu l t i n a t i o n a l
phar maceut i cal
rms which will
prot from the
law. We have the
right to know!
Strangely, pro-life advocates and
even the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines have not brought this
matter up. This is a serious challenge
to the straight path that President
Noynoy Aquino likes to talk about.
***
The most sensible proposal amid all
the noise surrounding the gun-control
debate comes from Senator Panlo
Lacson, former chief of the Philippine
National Police. Lacson certainly
knows what he is talking about.
The issue was highlighted anew
when a seven-year-old girl was killed
by a stray bullet on New Years Eve
and when a drug-crazed gunman shot
people at random in Kawit, Cavite.
According to Lacson, civilians with
licenses to own guns should not be
allowed to carry their guns outside their
homes. This means a ban on permits
to carry rearms by unauthorized
civilians. This could lessen the
occurrence of crimes. After all, those
who own guns and have permits to
own them are supposed to have those
guns only for self-protection. Sounds
sensible to me.
There are other proposals like stiffer
penalties for gunholders who have had
criminal records. Firearms dealers
must also be stricter on their buyers.
There are proposals restricting persons
from owning guns just because they
are supposed to members of gun clubs.
In other words, strict gun laws must be
enacted and implemented.
The problem though is that there are
no less than 600,000 lose rearms in
the hands of criminals and so-called
private armies.
Thus, while we may have all
the necessary laws on gun control,
the existence of thousands of loose
rearms in the hands of lawless
elements still remains the bigger peace
and order problem. Its a problem that
dees solutions. Even the police are
at times in cahoots with brigands and
criminals, or worse are themselves the
culprits.
***
I have nothing but respect and
admiration for my former Ateneo High
School student, businessman-tycoon
Bobby Ongpin, who was former trade
minister during the Marcos regime.
Ongpin recently divested his
interests at the Philippine Bank of
Communications. This act showed
his caliber as a businessman who
would rather sacrice his self-interest
than endanger the future of a bank
with great potentials. Ongpins
move was prompted by the patently
unfair treatment he is getting from
the Monetary Board that had deferred
his election to the PBCom board of
directors and as co-chairman with his
nephew Eric Recto.
Ongpin decried the Monetary
Boards treatment of him even when
he has not been charged with, much
less convicted of, any crime. In fact,
he is suing Bangko Sentral Deputy
Gov. Nestor Espenilla for graft arising
from the fact
that Espenilla,
as Anti-Money
L a u n d e r i n g
C o u n c i l
c h a i r m a n ,
led an ex-
parte petition
for Ongpins
alleged behest
loan from the
De ve l opme nt
Bank of the
Philippines.
As I have
been saying
before, this is a
truly baseless and unfair charge since
the P560 million loan has been fully
paid before maturity and in fact, the
state bank made about P1.4 billion out
of transaction Ongpin had with Philex,
the basis of his DBP loans.
In fact, in an earlier Senate hearing,
Espenilla had cleared Ongpin.
What I am amazed about Ongpin
is that despite all the harassment and
persecution hes getting under the
Aquino administration, he remains
bullish about the economy as shown by
the high-end property developments by
Alphaland which he chairs.
Ongpin could well pursue his
business interests outside the country,
being a partner of London- based
Ashmore, a fund management
company with billions of dollar under
its care. Still, he chooses to stay
in the Philippines. He is a Filipino
rst and foremost. Thats my kind of
businessman.
***
The latest poll surveys of the
senatorial race this coming mid-
term elections show that the United
Nationalist Alliance candidates are
still leading the race. This includes
re-electionist Greg Honasan together
with common candidates like Loren
Legarda and Chiz Escudero. The
wannabees coming strong in surveys
are Jackie Ponce Enrile, JV Ejercito
Estrada, Dick Gordon, Migz Zubiri
and Nancy Binay.
On the part of the administration
coalition, besides from common
candidates Loren Legarda and Chiz
Escudero, re-electionists Alan Peter
Cayetano, Koko Pimentel and Antonio
Trillanes are within the Magic 12,
together with Cynthia Villar, wife of
Senator Manny Villar. Noticeable is
the fact that Cynthia Villar is coming
in strong, and that Trillanes appears to
be losing ground. Another noticeable
thing is that Sonny Angara and Jun
Magsaysay appear not to be doing well.
Then again, many things can still
change.
A scam on
contraceptives
EMIL
P. JURADO
TO THE POINT
MAIL MATTERS
We taxpayers
will fund these
purchases even as
we do not believe
in the law.
By Nelson Flores

THE secularization movement in our
country has gone a long way since the
days of Father Pedro Pelaez in the mid-
19
th
century until recently when our
secular leadership triumphed over the
neo-tyrannical power of the conservative
faction of the Roman Catholic clergy
by passing into law the Responsible
Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act
of 2012.
Secularization had its martyrs in
Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos
and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known
as Gomburza, and was the cause of
the rst great religious schism in the
country that produced the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente, the second biggest
religious grouping after the Roman
Catholic religion in the country today.
Pelaez, a Creole or a Spaniard born in
the Philippines, was the ecclesiastical vicar
of the Archdiocese of Manila during the
early part of the 1860s. He was the rst to
agitate for the end of the frailocracy (friar
domination of Roman Catholic Church in
the Philippines), argue for the start of the
churchs Filipinization and even wrote a
brief against the right of friars to occupy
parishes entitled Documentos.
Pelaez died in an earthquake that
rocked Manila on June 3, 1863. He
was crushed in his ofce at the Manila
Cathedral.
Fr. Jose Burgos, a student of Pelaez,
followed his mentors footsteps and also
worked against frailocracy and called
for the secularization of the church. His
actions angered many Spanish friars
who conspired to ensure that he would
be executed following the failed Cavite
mutiny by some 200 Creole ofcers and
men of the Spanish military in early 1872.
On Feb. 17, 1872 in Bagumbayan
(now Rizal Park), Burgos together
with Fathers Gomez and Zamora were
garroted, a method of execution in which
an iron collar is used to strangle or break
of a condemned person. Their martyrdom
inspired a generation of wealthy and
educated Filipinos (the illustrados) to seek
equality with the Spaniards through the
propaganda movement. The movement
culminated in the 1896 revolution led by
Gat Andres Bonifacio.
The second wave of the secularization
movement came in 1899 immediately
after Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Roman
Catholic priest Gregorio Aglipay military
vicar of the Philippine republic.
Aglipay, who was deeply inuenced
by Gomburzas martyrdom, immediately
started working for the end of frailocracy
after becoming military vicar and
petitioned Pope Leo XIII to appoint
Filipinos in all church positions for which
he was excommunicated by Manila
Archbishop and staunch friar supporter
Bernardino Nozaleda on May 5, 1899.
On January 18, 1903 while the
Filipino-American war is still raging
Aglipay joined labor leaders led by Don
Isabelo de los Reyes and Katipunan
veterans who formed the IFI and became
its rst Obispo Maximo (Supreme
Bishop). The formation of the IFI marked
the rst great and still the only major
schism in the Roman Catholic Church in
the Philippines.
Since then the struggle for
secularization of the Philippines
continued. It ared anew with intensity
when Roman Catholic Church bishops
tried to prevent the passage of Republic
Act 1425 or the Rizal Law which was
sponsored by Sen. Claro Mayo Recto. In
a bid to destroy Recto, they maliciously
accused the nationalist senator of being
communist and anti-Catholic.
The bishops falsely claimed that
teaching the life and works of Dr. Jose
Rizal to students violates freedom of
conscience and religion which is also
the same line they used in opposing
the passage of Republic Act 10354
or the Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Health Act of 2012.
The bishops lost their battle against
Recto and the Rizal law.
Smarting from their defeat, the church
leaders were able to regain some of
their lost inuence when they managed
to help restore bourgeois democracy in
1986 by helping Corazon Aquino, who
became a democracy icon, in a popular
uprising that ousted Ferdinand Marcos,
the discredited dictator.
Since then nobody dared to go
against the Roman Catholic Church until
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III,
son of Mrs. Aquino, and his support for
the controversial RH bill came along.
The victory of the RH bill is but
a continuation of the struggle for
secularization and Filipinization of the
church started by Fr. Pelaez. It is also
an indication of the ascendance of the
nations secular leadership and waning
power of the conservative faction of the
still inuential church.
* * *
Where on earth did Bishop Gilbert
Garcera of the Diocese of Daet
in Camarines Norte learned that
overpopulation has been advantageous to
the Philippines and to the world?
His argument that overpopulation
increased the number of our overseas
workers and migrants who could send
remittances back home while taking care
of ageing people abroad and spreading
the Christian faith, while apparently
true, does not give the entire picture of
the OFW phenomenon nor do justice to
our people struggling abroad to feed their
families in the country.
Garcera said the huge Philippine
population could be part of Gods plan
for Filipinos to be caregivers to ageing
nations whose populations had become
stagnant stressing that many Filipino
women would make good wives for
foreigners in countries that have low
population growth.
Following Garceras trivial and
insensitive position it seems we would be
sinning if we plan our family as we strive
to have good lives. We would go against
Gods plan that we remain impoverished
to be able to spread his word, unless he is
talking about a different god who revels
on human suffering.
The secularization movement
Last chance to solve the global mercury crisis
Since 2001, countries around the
world have discussed the rising tide of
global mercury pollution and in 2003 the
United Nations agreed that enough was
known to warrant immediate action
to reduce global mercury pollution.
Since then, new scientic evidence has
emerged for the rst time correlating
rising mercury levels in the oceans
with the growth in pollution and also
projecting a 50% increase in mercury
levels by 2050 in the Pacic Ocean
if current pollution trends continue
unabated.
Mercury levels have already risen
three-fold over the last few centuries due
to increases in primary mercury mining,
coal burning for fuel and mercury uses
in products, processes and in artisanal
and small-scale gold mining.
New scientic evidence on worldwide
mercury seafood contamination now
document an even greater global reach
of this neurotoxin, with health
effects occurring below the level
considered safe just a few years
ago.
This and other scientic
evidence clearly demonstrates
that the mercury threat has grown
substantially since the turn of the century
and as a result, the world governments
need to step up their efforts to reduce
global mercury pollution.
In 2009, the United Nations General
Assembly on the environment adopted
a decision to develop a legally binding
instrument on mercury.
The treaty is expected to include
actions to reduce among others, mercury
supply, trade, its use in products and
processes, and atmospheric mercury
emissions, which will ultimately reduce
human exposure to mercury globally.
Unfortunately, progress on reducing
mercury emissions from coal-red
power plants have been tremendously
slow, and other critical pieces to the
treaty are still missing. Also of vital
importance to developing countries
is the issue of nancing to help them
comply with treaty obligations.
After a decade of studies, discussions
and debate, the time for bold and
corrective action has come.
Projects initiated by non-government
organizations, such as the Zero Mercury
Working Group, demonstrate that
reducing mercury pollution is not only
possible, but achievable.
The world community can address
the global mercury crisis sooner than
later. The technology is widely-available
to manage mercury pollution from
emissions controls to mercury-
free alternatives for nearly all
mercury-containing products and
industrial processes. The only
thing missing the political will to
make the necessary commitments
to safeguard our children and future
generations.
The following are some of the
critical elements that need to be in the
treaty:
Binding obligations on emissions and
releases with appropriate thresholds;
Prior informed consent controls
are present in the supply and trade
provisions;
Early phase-out dates for covered
mercury products and processes;
Restriction on the trade of mercury to
small-scale mining destinations;
Binding requirements for the storage
and disposal of mercury;
Dedicated fund to ensure adequate
resources are available to developing
countries to facilitate compliance
with the treaty and discourage non-
compliance;
Sequestration of mercury coming out
of the chlor-alkali industry; and
Provision for developing and
implementing health-based guidelines
and risk communication strategies to
protect to protect vulnerable populations
and indigenous people from mercury
pollution.
The nal treaty negotiation session
in Geneva is our worlds last chance to
create a strong program for international
action and cooperation. The world
deserves Zero Mercury Now
RICHARD GUTIERREZ
Founder/ director
Ban Toxics
Lincoln revisited
LOS Angeles, CA.Now showing
in theatres across the United States is
Lincoln, Steven Spielbergs movie on
the 16
th
US president, who is remembered
in history as the president who abolished
slavery in America during the Civil War.
It is one of the most powerful movies I
have seen in a long while and is probably
destined to become one of the great
historical dramas on lm.
Daniel Day-Lewis, the twice Academy
Award -winning British actor, delivers a
riveting performance as the slow-talking,
ambling, steel-willed
Mr. Lincoln who polishes his own
boots and gets things done by seeking
out people he wants to reach where they
are. The lm is not biographical, but
focuses rather on Lincolns effort to get
the House of Representatives to pass the
13
th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
which the Senate had passed a year before.
On his third year as president, and
into the third year of the civil war,
Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation declaring that all persons
held as slaves (within the confederate
states) are free and shall be free.
This allows, among other things, black
soldiers to enlist in the Union Army as
free men. But as Lincoln looks to the
end of the war, he fears that once it is
over the slave states might formally
reinstate slavery all over again.
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857, the US
Supreme Court held that people of African
descent (slave or free) were not protected
by the US Constitution and had no right
to sue in court, and that Congress had no
authority to prohibit slavery in federal
territories because slaves were personal
property and the First Amendment to the
Constitution protected property owners
against deprivation of property without
due process of law.
The Dred Scott affair provoked
Lincolns celebrated debates with
Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois on
the slavery question. He was elected
president two years later. Having issued
the proclamation pursuant to his War
Powers, he now needs to constitutionalize
it in order to make sure that slavery would
remain abolished forever.
That requires enormous and intense
lobbying. But Lincoln gets the House
to pass the amendment on Jan. 31,
1865: Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have been
convicted, shall exist in the United States
or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
The most eloquent words you hear
are from Lincolns famous second
inaugural addressthree months after
the amendment passes the House, and
a month before General Robert E. Lee
of the Confederate Army surrenders
to General Ulysses S. Grant at the
Appomatox Courthouse in Virginia:
Fondly do we hope, fondly do we
pray, that this mighty scourge of war
may speedily pass away. Yet, if God
wills that it continue until all the wealth
piled by the bondsmans two hundred
fty years of unrequired toil shall be
sunk, and every drop of blood drawn
by the lash shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said three
thousand years ago, so still it must be
said the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
With malice toward none, with
charity for all, with rmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right, let us
strive to nish the work we are in, to bind
up the nations wounds, to care for him
who shall have borne the battle and for
his widow and for his orphan, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with
all nations.
You do not hear the immortal
Gettysburg address. But you see Lincoln
asking two young white soldiers what
they had heard him say at Gettysburg, and
they quote his own speech back to him,
word for word. When they blank out at
the very end, a black soldier nishes the
speech for them.
Lincoln, who had debated Douglas
volubly in 1858, is shown here as a man
of a few words. In one scene, a huge
crowd turns up to listen to him speak:
he appears, works a lever to raise a ag,
and having raised it, tells his audience its
now their job to keep it up. And that is his
entire speech.
But what is completely absorbing is
the passion with which he exerts every
effort to get the 13
th
Amendment passed.
After having been outtalked by almost
everybody around him, he brings down
an open palm on the table, and tells his
Cabinet the Amendment is the only thing
that could end the Civil War, give human
meaning to what hes been trying to do,
and ensure the freedom of millions living
and yet unborn.
You leave the theatre feeling much
taller and prouder about America, but
wondering what its long line of leaders
after Lincoln has done to their great
country and people. I could not nd
enough praise for this great American
who risks everything to honor the
dignity of every man and end a cruel and
bloody civil war. But neither could I nd
enough opprobrium for my countrys
rst machine-elected president, Benigno
Aquino III, who seems resolved to do
everything to try to start one.
fstatad@gmail.com
FRANCISCO S.
TATAD
FIRST THINGS FIRST
CYAN MAGENTAYELLOW BLACK
Classifeds
ManilaStandardToday adv.mst@gmail.com JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A6
Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS
Quezon II District Engineering Offce
Dalahican Road, Lucena City
Tel. No. (042) 373- 4252
Invitation to Bid
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Quezon II District Engineering
Offce through DEPED 2013 intends to apply the sum of Fifty Four million eight hundred
ninety seven thousand one hundred sixty seven pesos and 51/100 (P 54,897,167.51 )
to payments under the contract for Contract ID Nos. 13DJ009-13DJ015: CLUSTER 8
et;al. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.
Offce now invites bids for the following Contract ID Nos. :
1. 13DJ009- CLUSTER 8
a) Const. of two (2) Storey Four (4) Classroom Academic School Building at Manuel
M. Macasaet NHS (Sta. Catalina NHS- Amland Ext.)
Candelaria, Quezon P 4,873,999.54
b) Const. of One (1) Storey Three (3) Classroom Academic School Building at Dr.
Panflo Castro NHS-Masalukot I Annex, Candelaria,Quezon P 1,711,995.77
c) Const. of One (1) Storey Two Classroom Academic School Building at Dr. Panflo
Castro NHS (Bukal Sur NHS-Mangilag Annex),
Candelaria,Quezon P 1,165,999.51
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : P 7,751,994.82
a) Const. of Two (2) Storey Two (2) Classroom Academic School Building
at Lucena East I E/S, Lucena City P 2,379,995.18
b) Const. of Two (2) Storey Two (2) Classroom Academic School Building
at Ibabang Iyam E/S, Lucena City P 2,369,994.48
c) Const. of Two (2) Storey Two (2) Classroom Academic School Building
at Gulang-Gulang NHS Ibabang Talim Ext. Lucena City
a) Const. of One (1) Storey One (1) Classroom Academic School Building
at Lusacan NHS Annex Tiaong,Quezon P 638,994.87
b) Const. of One (1) Storey One (1) Classroom Academic School Building
at Gloria Umali NHS Tiaong,Quezon P 638,994.87
c) Const. of One (1) Storey One (1) Classroom Academic School Building
at Governor Anacleto C. Alcala NHS, Sariaya,Quezon P 638,946.28
4. 13DJ012 - CLUSTER 11
a) Const. of One (1) Storey Three (3) Classroom Academic School Building at
Castaas NHS Sariaya,Quezon
b) Const. of One (1) Storey Two (2) Classroom Academic School Building
at Paiisa NHS, Tiaong,Quezon P 1,165,999.77
c) Const. of Two (2) Storey Two (2) Classroom Academic School Building
at San Antonio NHS, San Antonio,Quezon P 2,337,999.08
5. 13DJ013 Construction of two (2) Storey Six (6) Classroom Academic
School Building at Cotta NHS, Lucena City
6. 13DJ014 Construction of Two (2) Storey Four (4) Classroom Academic
School Building at Lucena Dalahican NHS, Lucena City
7. 13DJ015 Construction of Three (3) Storey Fifteen (15) Classroom Academic
School Building at Lutucan NHS, Sariaya,Quezon
Bidders must have an experience of having completed at least One (1) contract
similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding
Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.
Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-
discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations
(IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the Government
Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or
organizations with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital
stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.
Interested bidders may submit their letter of intents from January 4-18, 2013. They
may obtain further information from DPWH, Quezon II District Engineering Offce, and
inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M 5:00 P.M
A complete set of bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the
address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents
in the amount of Five thousand Pesos (5,000) for Projects above 1M up to 5M &
Ten Thousand Pesos (10,000) for 5M up to 20M Projects.
It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine
Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the
DPWH, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later
that the submission of their bids.
The DPWH, Quezon II District Engineering Offce will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on
January 11, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at the DPWH Quezon II DEO Conference Room,
which shall be open to all interested parties.
Bids must have delivered to the address below on January 24, 2013 until 2:00 P.M.
All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in
the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representative who choose to
attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
The DPWH reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process,
and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any
liability to the affected bidder or bidders.
For further information, please refer to:
JEREMIAS B. LICAS JR.
BAC Chairman
Attention:
Head, BAC Secretariat
DPWH,Quezon II District Engineering Offce
Tel. No. (042) 373- 4252
Approved by:
(Sgd.) JEREMIAS B. LICAS JR.
Chief, Construction Section
Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee
Noted by:
(Sgd.) CELESTIAL S. FLANCIA
District Engineer
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013) (MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Republic of the Philippines
Region III
Nueva Ecija 2
nd
District Engineering Offce
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER
San Isidro, Cabanatuan City
INVITATION TO BID
1. The DPWH-NE2nd DEO, intends to apply the sum of the amount stated below being the Approved
Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the following:
a. CONTRACT ID: 13-CF-0003
b. Contract Name:
c. Contract Location: Asphalt Overlay/Repair and Rehab. Along Bangad-Fort
Magsaysay Road, Cabanatuan City KO. 129+722.10 to
KO.131+420 w/ exception (1,120.90 l.m.)
d. Fee for Bid Documents: P10,000.00
e. Scope of Work: Asphalt Overlay
f. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P9,897,400.51
g. Contract Duration: 28 C.D.
h. Source of Fund: SARO No. BMB-A-12-0028891 dtd.12/05/12
b. Contract Name:
c. Contract Location: Repair/Rehab./Improvement of Gapan-Fort Magsaysay Road,
Pearanda Section, Pearanda, N.E. Sta. 104+020 Sta.
105+694.42 w/ exception (1,339.37 l.m.)
e. Scope of Work: Concreting
g. Contract Duration: 120 CD
h. Source of Fund: RA-Fund 151 SR2012-11-008698 dtd.11/27/12
b. Contract Name:
c. Contract Location: Preventive Maintenance (intermittent Section) along Sta. Rosa
Tarlac Road, Sta. Rosa,N.E. Km.110+000 Km.110+687.99
(L=687.99 LM); Km. 110+687.99 Km. 111+1002.41 w/ exception
(L=771.42 LM); Km. 111+1002.41 Km. 112+201.38 (L=201.97
LM) (1,6661.38 LM)
e. Scope of Work: Asphalt Overlay
g. Contract Duration: C.D. 100 CD
h. Source of Fund: FY 2013 DPWH Infrastructure
Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.
2. The DPWH-NE2ndDEO now invites bids for bids for projects stated above with required
completion date stated thereof. Bidders should have completed, within (10) years from the
date of submission and receipt of bids, a single contract similar to the Project, equivalent to at
least ffty percent (50%) of the ABC.
3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary
pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic
Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act. Bidding
is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least
seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.
4. Contractors/applicants who are interested in the DPWH civil works are required to register prior
to the set schedule of submission of bid while those already registered shall keep their records
current and updated. Contractor Profle Eligibility Process (CPEP) and subject to further post-
qualifcation. Information on registration can be obtained at DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph
or Central Procurement Offce (CPO), 5th Floor, DPWH Bldg., Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila
from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
5. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH-NE2ndDEO and inspect the
Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M. 5:00 P.M.. Monday to Friday.
6. Acomplete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address
below and upon payment of non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of as
indicated above.
It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government
Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the DPWH Website www.dpwh.gov.ph,
provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission
of their bids.
Payments can be made at any DPWH feld offce. The submission of the Original Receipt (OR)
for payments of bidding documents issued by any DPWH feld offce is suffcient for the BAC
of this District Offce to process the electronic eligibility evaluation of contractors.
7. The DPWH-NE2ndDEO will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on January 16, 2013, 3:00 P.M. at
the BAC ROOM, DPWH, Nueva Ecija 2
nd
District Engineering Offce, Brgy. San Isidro,
Cabanatuan City which shall be opened only to all interested parties who have purchased the
Bidding Documents.
8. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before January 28, 2013, 10:00 A.M. at
the BAC ROOM, this offce. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the
acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.1.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to attend at
the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
9. The DPWH NE2ndDEO reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding
process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any
10. For further information, please refer to:
LEOPOLDO T. VICTORIO
Chief Construction Section
BAC-Chairman, DPWH NE2ndDEO
San Isidro, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija
(044) 600-3281; (044)600-1481
Noted :
(Sgd.) ULYSSES C. LLADO
District Engineer
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS & HIGHWAYS, REGION X
OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City
I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce
No. 10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to
apply to bid for the project funded under Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support
Project-Phase III:
1. Contract ID: 13K00010
Contract Name: JNR Pantaon-Pantao Raya-Maito A Basak-JPR
Pantaon FMR
Contract Location: Lanao del Sur, ARMM
Brief Description: Concreting of Road
Appropriation: P 13,442,848.00
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): To be discussed on Pre-bid
Conference
Contract Duration: To be discussed on Pre-bid Conference
Cost of Plans & Bid Documents: P 25,000.00
Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding
procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules
and regulations.
To bid for these contracts, a contractor must 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, 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 Offce before the scheduled date
of bidding. The DPWH-POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors
applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be
downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.

The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown
below:
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Jan. 09, 2013 to January 29, 2013 @ 12 noon
2. Pre-Bid Conference January 16, 2013 @ 2:00PM
3. Receipt of Bids January 29, 2013 from 8:00AM-12:00 noon
4. Opening of Bids 2:00 PM on January 29, 2013
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-
Regional Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non-
refundable fee as stated above. 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. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the
amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed
in the BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst
envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a
copy of the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope
shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to
the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and
postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Office No. 10 reserves the right to accept
or rej ect any or al l bi d and to annul the bi ddi ng process anyti me
before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected
bidders.
Approved by:
(Sgd.) EFREN A. BERBA, CEO VI
OIC, Assistant Regional Director
BAC-Chairman
NOTED:
(Sgd.) EVELYN T. BARROSO, Ph.D.
Regional Director
NOTI CE TO THE PUBLI C
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
NOTI CE TO THE PUBLI C
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
RONALDO L. SANTIAGO
Mr.Ronaldo L. Santiago, whose
picture appears above, is no longer
connected with FAR EASTERN
SURETY & INSURANCE CO.,
INC. since October 10, 2012.
He has no pending liability
wi th the company as of the
aforementioned date.
RAYMOND C. TALUSAN
Mr. Raymond C. Talusan, whose
picture appears above, is no longer
connected with FAR EASTERN
SURETY & INSURANCE CO.,
INC. since November 14, 2012.
He has no pending liability
wi t h t he company as of t he
aforementioned date.
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
Contract ID/Name/Location : 12HN0081 - Repair/Rehabilitation/Improvement of
Cebu North Road (Canduman) K11+657 to K12+585
Mandaue City, Cebu
_______________________________________________________________
Cebu 6
th
A.C. Cortes Avenue, Mandaue City, Cebu
Tel. No.: 5202044
BID BULLETIN NO. 2012-010
Series of 2012
Subject: Cancellation of opening of bids
This is to notify all prospective bidders of the above-mentioned project under
Advertisement No. 12-009 dated December 17, 2012, to please be informed that the
scheduled opening of Bids on January 9, 2013 was cancelled due to the changes in
the major scope of works-Asphalting to Concreting.
Hence, a new advertisement of the project with new scope of work will be posted at
DPWH Website and PhilGeps; after plans and program of work is fnally reviewed by
the Road Board Secretariat/DPWH-Road Program Offce.
You may also coordinate with the BAC Secretariat for more details.
For your in formation and guidance.
(Sgd.) MYRNA A. DELA SERNA
BAC Chairman/Chief. MQC Section
REMINDER
MST Cl assi fi ed Ads section
requires a Two (2) day CUT-
OFF PERIOD on all ITBs, BID
BULLETIN, NOTICES and REOIs
prior to publication date(s).
For
fast
ad
results,
please
call
659-48-30
local
303
or
659-4803
A7
Classifeds
ManilaStandardToday
adv.mst@gmail.com
Department of Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Building, EDSA, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Department of Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Building, EDSA, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City
SEC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 12
Series of 2012
TO : ALL COMPANIES REPORTING UNDER THE PHILIPPINE FINANCIAL
REPORTING STANDARDS FRAMEWORK
SUBJECT : GUIDELINES ON THE DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS WITH
RETIREMENT BENEFIT FUNDS
___________________________________________________________________
In order to improve quality and transparency of fnancial reporting of corporations,
the Commission resolved to prescribe the information on the transactions of reporting
entities with a retirement fund of their employees in accordance with SRC Rule 68,
as amended, and Philippine Accounting Standard (PAS) No. 24. This aims to provide
greater understanding of the potential effect of such transactions not only on the entitys
fnancial statements but also on the fnancial position of the fund.
I. These Guidelines shall apply to companies that are mandated under SRC Rule
68, as amended, to adopt the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS)
as their fnancial reporting framework.
II. The terms reporting entity as used in these Guidelines, shall mean a corporation
that is mandated to adopt the PFRS, and that has a funded retirement fund for
its employees.
III. Under paragraph 9 of PAS 24, a party is related to an entity if the party is a post-
employment beneft plan
1
of the employees of an entity, or of any entity that is a
related party of the entity. A related party transaction is defned under the same
paragraph as a transfer of resources, services, or obligations between related
parties, regardless of whether a price is charged.
IV. The entity is required under PAS 24 to disclose Information about any transaction
with a related party (the retirement fund, in this case) and outstanding balances
necessary for an understanding of the potential effect of the relationship on the
fnancial statements. At a minimum, disclosure shall include:
1) The amount of the transactions;
2) The amount of outstanding balances, their terms and conditions including
whether they ore secured, and the nature of the consideration to be provided
in settlement, and details of any guarantees given or received:
3) Provisions for doubtful debts related to the amount of outstanding balances;
and
4) The expense recognized during the period in respect of bad or doubtful debts
due from related parties.
V. PAS 24 provides a general disclosure requirement to disclose information about
any transaction with a related party and outstanding balances necessary for an
understanding of the potential effect of the relationship on the fnancial statements.
The minimum disclosures under paragraph 17 of PAS 24 do not particularly provide
an understanding of the potential effect of the transactions of a retirement fund
with the entity whose employees are the benefciaries thereof.
VI. Given the aforementioned general provisions of PAS 24 and that the disclosures
under paragraph 17 of PAS 24 do not provide an understanding of the potential
effects of the transactions of the reporting entity with its employees retirement fund
as stated in . section V above, these Guidelines shall be observed by disclosing
the specifc and more detailed information on transactions of a reporting entity
with a retirement fund of its employees, pursuant to the powers of the Commission
to make, amend and rescind accounting rules and regulations to carry out the
provisions of the Securities Regulation Code which includes the power to prescribe
the form or forms in which the required information shall be set as well as details
therein.
VII. The following disclosures must be provided in the annual fnancial statements
of a reporting entity that has transactions either directly or indirectly through its
subsidiaries, with its employees retirement beneft fund (the fund ):
1) Information whether the reporting entitys fund is in the form of a trust being
maintained by a trustee bank or trust company, or in the form of a corporation
which has been created for the purpose of managing the fund;
2) The carrying amount and fair value of the fund;
3) Description of the assets and investments of the fund. The disclosure shall
include a brief description of each category such as the market for equity or
debt securities, information on the land or building;
4) Volume and outstanding balances of transactions of the fund with the reporting
entity or its subsidiaries including the terms and conditions thereof. These
transactions may include among others, loans, investment, lease, guarantee
or surety;
5) If the transaction is material, a discussion of the nature of relationship of the
persons who approved it with the reporting entity, its subsidiaries, or any of
its directors and offcers.
The company shall generally be guided by the provisions of paragraph 7 of
PAS 1 which states Material omissions or misstatements of items are material
if they could, individually or collectively, infuence the economic decisions that
users make on the basis of tile fnancial statements. Materiality depends on
the size and nature of omission or misstatement judged in the surrounding
circumstances. The size or nature of the item, or a combination of both, could
be the determining factor.
With respect to testing the materiality on a quantitative basis, the company
shall consider the threshold set under SEC Memo Circular No. 8, Series of
2009. For listed or public companies and other secondary licenses of the
SEC, the threshold is 5% which means any transaction involving an amount
more than 5% of the total related accounts, is considered material. For all
other corporations, the threshold is 10%.
6) If the fund has investments In the securities (debt or equity) of the related
entity, a disclosure of the following information:
[i] The amount of investment in each type of securities of reporting entity
and/or its subsidiaries, including limitations or restrictions provided in
the plan (if any);
[ii] In case of equity investment, nature of the relationship of the person/s
who exercises voting right over the shares, with the reporting entity, its
subsidiaries, or any of Its directors or offcers;
(iii) The amount of gains or losses of the fund arising from its investment in
the securities of the reporting entity and/or its subsidiaries. The gains
and losses shall be presented per type of security.
These Disclosure Guidelines shall be applicable to annual fnancial statements (AFS)
for the period ended December 31, 2012 and onwards. Except for the 2012 AFS, the
presentation of the required information shall be in a two-year comparative, period.
Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements shall constitute a material defciency
and shall subject the entity to penalties under the existing Scale of Fines.
Signed this _ _ day of December 2012, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
TERESITA J. HERBOSA
Chairperson
_________________
1
Post-employment beneft plans are formal or informal arrangements under which
an entity provides post-employment benefts for one or more employees.
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR No. 1
Series of 2013
TO : All concerned
SUBJECT : MandatoryIncorporationoftheTaxIndentifcationNumber
(TIN) of Forei gn Invest ors i n Al l Forms, Papers and
Documents Filed with the SEC
Pursuant to Revenue Regulation 7-2012 dated April 2, 2012, known as the
Amended Consolidated Revenue Regulations on Primary Registration, Updates
and Cancellation which provides
Section 4(l)(v)Non-resident Aliens Not engaged in Trade or Business
(NRANETB) or Non-Resident Foreign Corporations (NRFC) shall be issued
TINs for purposes of withholding Taxes on their income from sources within
the Philippines. The withholding Agent shall apply for the TIN in behalf of
the NRANETB or NRFC prior to or at the time of the fling of their monthly
withholding tax return.
in relation to E.O. 98, s. of 1998 which directs all persons whether natural or juridical,
dealing with all government agencies and instrumentalities, including Government
owned and/or Controlled Corporations (GOCCS), and all Local Government Units
(LGUs) to incorporate their TIN in all forms, permits, licenses, clearances, offcial papers
and documents which they secure from these government agencies, instrumentalities,
including GOCCs and LGUs, the following guidelines are hereby issued with respect
to applications/documents fled by corporations/partnerships with foreign investors:
Section 1 No application for incorporation of a corporation, or registration of a
partnership shall be accepted unless the TINorpassportnumber
of all its foreign investors are indicated in its registration documents
(i.e. Articles of Incorporation);
Section 2 For applications for amendments, the same shall not be accepted
unless the TIN of all the foreign investors, natural or juridical, resident
or non-resident, are indicated therein.
Section 3. All documents to be filed with the SEC by corporations and
partnerships after their incorporation (i.e. General Information Sheets)
shall not be accepted unless the TIN of all its foreign investors, natural
or juridical, resident or non-resident, are indicated therein.
This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.
January 7, 2013, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
TERESITA J. HERBOSA
Chairperson
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Pangasinan Sub-District Engineering Offce
Area Equipment Services Compound
Tuliao, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan
1. The DPWH Pangasinan Sub District Engineering Offce, through
the DEP ED intends to apply the sum of Php 12,758,410.00 being the
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) for payments under the contract
for Construction of Two (2) Units 2-Storey 6 Classroom School
Building at Malasiqui NHS, Malasiqui, Pangasinan, Contract ID No.
13AJ0005. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically
rejected at bid opening.
2. The DPWH Pangasinan Sub District Engineering Offce now invites
bids for Construction of 2-units 6-Cl room School Bldg elevated
0.325m from NGL, Complete Reinforcing Steel and Concrete,
Compl ete Masonry works wi th pl asteri ng, Compl ete Roofi ng
works with fashing and gutter, Complete Carpentry works, doors
and windows with accessories, Complete Steel Railings, Painting
works for Masonry walls only, Fabrication & Installation of Project
Billboard (1-set), Provision of Occupational Safety and Health.
Completion of the Works is required 360 Calendar Days Bidders should
have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and
receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an
eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in
Section II. Instruction to Bidders.
3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures
using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA
9184), otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.
4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH
Pangasinan Sub District Engineering Offce and inspect the Bidding
Documents at the address given below from 8:00 Am 5:00 Pm.
5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested
Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable
fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand
Pesos (Php 25,000.00).

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the
Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS)
and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay
the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their
bids.
6. The DPWH Pangasinan Sub District Engineering Offce will hold a
Pre-Bid Conference on January 18, 2013, which shall be opened to
all interested parties.
7. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before January 29,
2013 @ 02:00 pm at Tuliao, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan. All bids must
be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and
in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who
choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
8. The DPWH Pangasinan Sub District Engineering Offce reserves
the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and
to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby
incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.
BAC Secretariat
DPWH-PSDEO
Tuliao, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan
Telefax (075) 653-64-18
(Sgd.) VIRGILIO B. ZAMUDIO
BAC Chairman
INVITATION TO BID FOR
Construction of Two (2) Units 2-Storey 6 Classroom School
Building at Malasiqui NHS, Malasiqui, Pangasinan
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Department of Public Works and Highways
Masbate I District Engineering Offce
Masbate City
Invitation to Bid
NAME/DESCRIPTION
OF PROJECT
ABC PROJECT ID
AMOUNT
OF TENDER
DOCUMENTS
NO. OF
C.D.
SOURCE OF FUND
1.Repair/Rehab.Of
DPWH Masbate I
DEO, Property and
Procurement Building
B, and Comfort Room
CapitolRoad,Masbate
City`
(Re-advertise)
799,997.60 12FI0031 1,000.00 55
FY 2012 RA 10155
Regular(Fund
101-MOOE)-
SR2012-10-008047
2. Construction of
Calachuche Public
Market, Brgy.
Calachuche, Milagros,
Masbate
1,999,999.93 12FI0033 5,000.00 75
PDAF BMB-A-
12-T000003169

1. The DPWH,MasbateIDistrictEngineeringOffce,MasbateCity through the source of
funding stated intends to apply the sum being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)
to payment under the contract as specifed above. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall
be automatically rejected at bid opening.
2. The DPWH, Masbate I District Engineering Offce, Masbate City now invites bids for
the above-mentioned projects. Completion of the Works is required as to expected contract
duration. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission
and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is
contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Instructions to Bidders.
3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-
discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)
of Republic Act 9184 (RA9184), otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform
Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations
with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to
citizens of the Philippines.
4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH,MasbateIDistrictEngineering
Offce,MasbateCity and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the
address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the
amount stated above.
Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the DPWH website, provided that bidders
shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids.
6. The DPWH, Masbate I District Engineering Offce will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on
January 15, 2013 @2:00 P.M at DPWH, Masbate I District Engineering Offce, Masbate
City which shall be open to all interested parties.
7. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before January 28, 2013, 2:00 PM at
DPWH,MasbateIDistrictEngineeringOffce,MasbateCity. All bids must be accompanied
by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause duly
certifed by the Insurance Commission.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to attend at
the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
8. Unregistered contractors, however, may submit their LOIs simultaneously with their
applications for registration, to the DPWH 1
st
District Engineering Offce, Masbate City
before the deadline set below for the receipt of LOIs. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will only
process contractors applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the
Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the
DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph
1. Receipt of LOIs from Prospective Bidders Deadline: January 8, 2013 January 21, 2013 @ 12:00 Noon
2. Issuance of Bidding Documents Deadline: January 8, 2013 January 28, 2013 @ 8:00 AM
3. Pre-Bid Conference Deadline: January 15, 2013 @ 2:00 PM
4. Receipt of Bids Deadline: January 28, 2013 @ 2:00 PM
5. Opening of Bids January 28, 2013 @ 2:00 PM
8. The DPWH,MasbateIDistrictEngineeringOffce,MasbateCity reserves the right to
accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior
to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.
ELVIRA D. INFANTE
DPWH, Masbate I District Engineering Offce
Capitol Road, Masbate City
056-333-5356
dpwhmbt1stdeo@yahoo.com
056-333-2722(fax number)
(Sgd.) ELVIRA D. INFANTE
BAC-Chairman
Barangay Ayala Alabang through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) invites
General Contractors with AA license to apply for eligibility to bid for:
THE CONSTRUCTION of THE BARANGAY COMMUNITY CENTER for Barangay
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
APPROVED BUDGET CONTRACT (ABC) (Php 46,000,000.00)
SOURCE OF FUNDING BARANGAY APPROPRIATION
A) ELIGIBILITY and PRE-QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
All particulars relative to the eligibility statement and screening, Bid Security,
Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s) Evaluation of Bids, Post
Qualifcation and Award of contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions
of RA 9184, otherwise known as Government Procurement Reform Act and its
implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). Please pick-up from the Barangay Ayala
Alabang offce the List of the Eligibility Requirements from January 10-16, 2013 from
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. With valid Muntinlupa city business permit or can obtain business
permit (one time) from Muntinlupa city within one week after the award of the contract.

B)The schedule of BAC activities are as follows:
Activities Schedule/Time Venue
1) Posting of Invitation to Bid Jan 9, 2013 Publications, AAVAAds
BAA/AAVAbulletin boards
2) Deadline of Submission of
LOI/Pre-Qual Jan. 16, 2013 (not later than 5:00PM) BAA Offce
3) Evaluation of Pre-Qual Jan. 17, 2013 BAA Offce
4) Issuance of Bid Documents Jan. 18, 2013 9:00AM -4:00PM BAA Offce
5) Pre-Bid Conference/Inspection Jan. 21, 2013 3:00PM BAA Offce
4) Submission of Bids Feb. 01, 2013 10:00AM -2:00Pm BAA Offce
5) Opening &Evaluation of Bids Feb. 01, 2013 2:01PM BAA Offce
6) Awarding of Contracts Feb. 04, 2013 3:00 PM BAA Offce
7) Ground Breaking Feb. 14, 2013 10:00 AM Project Site

C) MISCELLANEOUS BID REQUIREMENTS:
A complete set of Bidding documents may be obtained for a fee of Php. 45,000.00
payable in cash by interested Bidders to the Barangay Ayala Alabang Cashiers Offce.
The amount of Php 17,500.00 will be refunded if the losing bidder will return the bidding
documents in good condition to the Barangay Ayala Alabang offce.
The Bid Security equivalent to 2% of ABC shall be payable to the Barangay Ayala
Alabang Cashier either in Cash or Managers check. Bid Security shall be returned
to non winning bidder after the award and signing of contract to the winning bidder.
In case of failed bidding due to insuffcient participating/responsive bidders, a rebidding
shall automatically be rescheduled Fifteen days after the announcement of a failure
of bid at the same time and venue as the frst bidding.
Barangay Ayala Alabang reserves the right to reject any or all bids, and to accept such
bids as may be considered most responsive and advantageous to the government.
Barangay Ayala Alabang will not assume any obligations whatsoever to compensate
or indemnify the bidders for any expenses or loss that may be incurred in the
preparation of the bid.
For Further Information, please refer to:
Mr. Reynaldo C. Zara
Project Director
Barangay Ayala Alabang
Muntinlupa City
Tel. Nos. 807-2472 / 842-1114
Cel. No. 0917-8358820
(Signed) Ma. Carmen G. Reyes
Chair- BIDS and Awards Committee (BAC)
InvitationtoApplyforEligibilityandtoBid
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
REGION III
BULACAN 2
nd
DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE
Pulong Buhangin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan
January 3, 2013
INVITATION TO BID
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH) of Bulacan 2
nd
District Engineering Offce, through the Fund 101
General Fund invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned project:
1. Contract ID: 13CD0019
Contract Name: Repair/Improvement of Drainage Canal Along Bocaue-San
Jose Road (Bagbaguin Section), Sta. Maria, Bulacan
Contract Location: Sta. Maria, Bulacan
Scope of Work: Drainage canal, L=737.00 l.m.
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php7,439,559.68
Contract Duration: 120 calendar days
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 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, interested Contractor must also submit the photo
copy and original (for authentication purpose and issuance of Bid Documents) of the
following documents: 1. Class A Documents (contained inthe Contractors Registration
Certifcate)(CRC), 1.1 Legal Documents: a) DTI Business Name Registration (DTI) or
SEC Registration or CDA; b) Valid and Current Mayors Permit/Municipal License; 1.2.
Technical Documents; a) Valid Joint Venture Agreement, in case of J.V., b) Valid PCAB
License and Registration c) Certifcate of Materials Engineer Accreditation duly certifed
by the Authorized Managing Offcer (AMO), d) Latest copy of AMO course Seminar, e)
Certifcate of Safety Offcer Seminar from DOLE, f) Document Request List (DRL) g)
Latest CPES Rating; 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 LOI must
be submitted by the Authorized Liaison Offcer as specifed in the Contractors Information
(CI). Submission of LOI by persons with Special Power of Attorney shall not be allowed.
Contractors who will purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria:
(a) prior registration with DPWH &PHILGEPS, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned
partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture with PCAB license applicable to
the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50%
of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least
equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-
discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration
to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The
DPWH-POCW will only process contractors applications for registration with complete
requirements and issue the Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration
Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH websitewww.dpwh.gov.ph.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:
1. Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders Until 10:00 A.M. of January 29, 2013
2. Issuance of Bidding Documents From: January 8, 2013 up to 10:00 A.M.
of January 29, 2013
3. Pre-Bid Conference 2:00 P.M. of January 15, 2013
4. Submission of Bids Deadline:10:00 A.M. of January 29, 2013
5. Opening of Bids January 29, 2013 @ 2:00 P.M.
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-Bulacan
2
nd
District Engineering Offce, PulongBuhangin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, upon payment
of a non-refundable fee for Bidding Documents Ten Thousand Pesos (Php 10,000.00).
Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding documents (BDs), from the DPWH
website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from 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 be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated
in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the
BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope
shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC.
The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be
awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation
and post-qualifcation.
The DPWH-Bulacan 2
nd
District Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept
or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at anytime prior contract award, without
thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s.

APPROVED:
(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO B. CENTENO
BAC Chairman
NOTED:
(Sgd.) ERELINA B. SANTOS
District Engineer
LUNGSOD NG MAKATI
BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE
J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City
Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988
www.makati.gov.ph
I NVI TATI ON FOR REGI STRATI ON
REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS
The City Government of Makati, through its Bids and Awards
Committee (BAC), invites supplier / manufacturer, distributors,
contractors to apply for REGISTRATION of suppliers and
contractor for the year 2013.
Interested applciants are requested to see the Bids and Awards
Secretariat (BAC Sec) on or before January 31, 2013 from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 9th foor, New Makati City Hall Building.
The City Government reserves the right to disqualify any
or application, to waive / cancel therein and to accept such
application as may be considered most advantageous to the
government.
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
ERRORS
&
OMI SSI ONS
I n Cl assi f i ed Ads
sect i on must be
b r o u g h t t o o u r
attention the very day
the advertisement is
published. We will
not be responsible
for any incorrect ads
not reported to us
immediately.
News
ManilaStandardToday
mst.daydesk@gmail.com JANUARY 9, 2013 WEDNESDAY
A8

IN BRIEF
Public warned over 2 bridges
Stop phaseout of aging vehicles, court asked
Poll chief wants new commisioners named
No extension
of tax deadline
There is a need to reduce the live
load on either the McArthur bridge
or the Quezon bridge during the ac-
tivities. Those joining the procession
shall use only one lane of McArthur
bridge, while, the other half can still
be utilized for light vehicle trafc,
Singson said in a letter to Manila
Mayor Alfredo Lim.
We should exercise extreme
caution on the use of the two bridges
in order to avoid untoward incidents
to happen, he added, citing the nd-
ings of a technical team from the de-
partments Bureau of Design.
Although Quezon Bridge will
not be used during the proces-
sion, devotees usually to ock to
this bridge for a fuller view of the
Black Nazarene when it will pass
under the bridge, Singson said.
Singson said his department is
coordinating with the Metro Ma-
nila Development Authority, the
City Government of Manila and the
Archdiocese of Manila regarding the
structural integrity of the bridges.
The MacArthur Bridge is a re-
inforced concrete beam bridge that
was built after World War II when
retreating Japanese forces bombed
the original structure, called Santa
Cruz Bridge, during the Battle of
Manila in February 1945.
The Santa Cruz Bridge was a steel
truss type and was the fourth to span
the Pasig River connecting the dis-
trict of Santa Cruz from Plaza Goiti
(now Plaza Lacson) with Arroceros
Street (now P. Burgos Street).
The Spanish colonial govern-
ment laid the foundations of the
bridge and put down the bridges
two piers before 1898, but work
stopped due to the Philippine
Revolution and the outbreak of the
Spanish-American War of 1898.
The Americans resumed work
on the bridge when they started to
colonize the Philippines in 1900
and it was completed in 1902.
During the Battle of Manila, how-
ever, Santa Cruz Bridge and all other
bridges spanning the Pasig River
were blown up by the retreating Im-
perial Japanese Army. The simpler
concrete beam bridge was built after
the war and was renamed MacArthur
Bridge in honor of American general
Douglas MacArthur.
The Quezon Bridge, on the other
hand, was named after Manuel Luis
Quezon, president of the Philippine
Commonwealth when the a steel
arch bridge was built to replace
Puente Colgante connecting Arrroc-
eros Street with the Quiapo district.
The Puente Colgante, original-
ly called Puente de Claveria, was
completed in 1852 and was the
rst suspension bridge in South-
east Asia. Designed by Basque en-
gineer Matias Menchacatorre, the
bridge was built and owned by the
Philippine-Spanish conglomerate
Ynchausti y Compania.
By Joel E. Zurbano
THE structural integrity of both the Mac-
Arthur and Quezon Bridges in Manila may
have been compromised because of cor-
roded parts and there is a need to reduce
its load during the annual procession of the
Black Nazarene, Public Works Secretary
Rogelio Singson warned on Tuesday.
Makati City revenues reach P11.01b
No way to start a new year. Residents of Ermita district in Manila try to help remen
put out a re that razed a three-storey building on M.H. Del Pilar Street on Tuesday morning.
MANNY PALMERO
Back in the day. The Santa Cruz Bridge, now known as MacArthur Bridge, as it was after it was completed in 1902.
By Ferdinand Fabella
THE city government of Makati reported
on Tuesday a six-percent increase in tax
collections in 2012, earning P11.01 billion
in revenues from January to November.
The bulk of the citys income came
from business taxes amounting to P5.06
billion, 13 percent higher than the same
period on 2011. Real property tax collec-
tion reached P3.71 billion, Makati Mayor
Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. said.
Binay said the P660-million increase
in Makatis 2012 revenue could not have
been realized without the taxpayer sup-
port. He noted that the income of the city
from local sources has consistently topped
that of other cities in Metro Manila.
The citys collection from miscel-
laneous fees and charges also increased
by one percent from P574.60 million to
P578.29 million, while its earnings from
economic enterprises slightly dipped to
P197.30 million, or four percent lower
than P205.27 million recorded as of No-
vember 2011.
Were off to a good start this 2013. The
latest revenue collection report of our City
Treasurer has boosted our condence in be-
ing able to achieve, if not surpass, our goals
for this year, the Makati mayor said.
Binay said priority programs to be
implemented by the city government this
year will focus on the upgrading of sys-
tems aimed towards more efcient and
effective delivery of services, such as the
full implementation of the Unied Ben-
ets Card that consolidates all benets for
residents in one card.
The subsidized hospitalization pro-
gram of the city will also be expanded
to include other major health institutions
like the Philippine Heart Center and the
National Kidney and Transplant Institute
as its partners, he added.
Binay also vowed that the city govern-
ment will reciprocate the support and con-
dence shown by stakeholders through
enhancing governance and pursuing more
innovations to render world-class public
service.
TWO commissioners of the Com-
mision on Elections are set to retire
on February 2 and President Aquino
should immediately name the people
he wants to appoint to the post because
there are only three months to go be-
fore the May 13 midterm elections, an
ofcial said on Tuesday.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes
Jr. said the seven-year terms of Commis-
sioners Rene Sarmiento and Armando
Velasco will expire on February 2 and
the remaining commissioners will be
overburdened if the President does not
announce their replacements soon.
I have no preference, Brillantes
said. All I ask the President is that he
makes the appointment as early as pos-
sible, Brillantes told journalists. The
work that is usually shared by seven
will have to be done by ve.
Sarmiento was named to the poll
body in April 2006 while Velasco, a
Comelec employee since the 1990s, was
appointed in November 2008 to carry
out the unnished term of former Com-
missioner Moslemen Macarambon.
Mr. Aquino has appointed four
people to the Comelec: Brillantes,
Commissioners Christian Robert Lim,
Grace Padaca and Augusto Lagman.
Lagmon, however, resigned in March
last year. The two other commissioners
are Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph,
both appointed by former President
Gloria Arroyo.
Meanwhile, the Comelec said on
Tuesday it will begin putting up check-
points in all cities and towns across
when the election period ofcials starts
on January 13.
The poll body said the checkpoints
must be clearly marked, located in
well-lit areas and manned by police-
men in ofcial uniform, according to
Comelec Resolution No. 9588.
Additional checkpoints may be set
up at the discretion of the PNP and
AFP where circumstances warrant,
the resolution said. The military and
the police may also set up additional
checkpoints where they are needed.
The Comelec also reminded the
public that aside from the gun ban,
other poll-related prohibited acts will
begin on January 13.
Under Comelec Resolution 9385
which laid out the calendar of activi-
ties and prohibited acts as stated in the
Omnibus Election Code, those running
for public ofce are banned from using
security personnel or bodyguards, un-
less authorized by the poll body.
Government agencies are also pro-
hibited from transferring ofcers and
employees as well as suspension of
elective local ofcials and organization
or maintenance of reaction forces.
By Rey E. Requejo and Rio N. Araja
TEN transport groups have asked the Court of Ap-
peals to mandatory phase out of vehicles, 13-years-
old and older, that are operating under the so-called
Utility Vehicle Express permits.
In a 20-page petition, the transport groups, led by
the Angat Tsuper and the Samahan ng mga Tsuper
at Operator ng Pilipinas-Genuine Organization, said
the memorandum circular issued by the Land Trans-
portation Franchising and Regulatory Board violated
their right to speedy disposition of cases.
LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2012-0217
and 2012-030 were issued to phase out old UV Ex-
press vehicles/units which are 13 years old or more
and allowing the substitution of the old vehicles with
new vehicles of not more than three years old.
The transport groups complained that the substi-
tution is allowed only to applicants with valid cer-
ticates of public convenience, but the LTFRB has
failed to act on their pending applications although
they have been pending for ve years.
As much as petitioner wanted to comply with
the said LTFRB MC 2012-30 it would be very im-
possible for the petitioners because as much as they
wanted to, their Petitions for Certicate of Public
Convenience are still pending with the LTFRB and
the decision to that effect is yet to be issued despite
the lapse of several years, the groups said in their
petition.
According to the petitioners, their equal pro-
tection rights has been violated since the jeepney
which was also covered by LTFRB has no maxi-
mum age requirement as long as it passes the road-
worthiness test.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino claried that
the CAs recent decision on the unied ticketing sys-
tem did not stop the MMDA from enforcing a single-
ticketing system to go after trafc violators.
Tolentino said the appellate court did not nulli-
fy the unied ticketing system and only upheld the
legality of the ordinance violation receipts (OVRs)
presently being implemented in 17 component lo-
calities in the metro.
THE Quezon City government
sees no need to extend the Janu-
ary 20 deadline for tax payments
because the city hall has not
been remiss in reminding busi-
ness establishments that they
still several days to settle their
tax obligations without any pen-
alty, surcharges or interest.
So far, there is no urgent
need to extend the deadline
beyond Jan. 20, said Aldrin
Cua, chief of staff of Mayor
Herbert Bautista.
But considering that Januray 20
falls on a Sunday, payments will
be accepted by the city treasury
ofce on the next working day.
If the tax obligations are not
paid by them, all business taxes
and fees due for the current pe-
riod shall be subject to a 25 per-
cent surcharge and a monthly
interest of two percent, as man-
dated by the Local Government
Code of 1991.
Over the past years, the
city government normally ex-
tends its tax payment deadline
through a city council resolu-
tion to give the taxpayers a 10-
day grace period in order for
them to settle their rst quarter
obligations to the city.
To date, the city govern-
ment, on orders of Bautista, has
extended the working days and
hours of the different ofces
involved in tax assessment and
payments in time for the rst
quarter deadline for the payment
of business taxes and fees.
Bautista ordered an extension
of working hours beyond 5 p.m.
on weekdays and weekends and
the city has already added 34
more personnel to handle tax as-
sessments and payments.
PhilHealth holds forum
THE Philippine Health Insurance Corp.,
together with the Philippine Medical
Association, conducted a ReachOut
Forum at the PMA Auditorium in
Quezon City to discuss issues regarding
unreleased checks, poor communication
between PhilHealth and healthcare
professionals, and circulars that are
difcult to understand.
The ofcers of the different specialty
and regional societies were present with
a total of 170 physicians attending the
event.
The event directly informed them of
the new policies/circulars and allows
immediate feedback through interactive
lectures and open forums. It also served
as a venue where they could inquire and
obtain unclaimed cheques and identi-
cation cards. In addition, a booth for
application or renewal of accreditation
was available on site.
SSS branch clinics open
THE Social Security System
simultaneously opened branch clinics
in more than 50 strategic locations on
Monday, including island provinces and
far-ung SSS branches.
SSS Medical Services Division of-
cer-in-charge Dr. Leticia Ong said 54
branches nationwide launched Physical
Examination (PE) Centers manned by
SSS doctors and furnished with basic
medical equipment and supplies such as
medicines for rst aid.
The PE Centers will serve as hubs
for SSS medical services that will con-
duct physical examination of members
with sickness and disability claims. The
Centers will also provide check-ups,
consultations and other medical servic-
es to SSS employees and their depen-
dents, she said.
Ong said one to ve SSS doctors are
assigned in every PE Center, depend-
ing on the branchs size and volume of
transactions. The clinics were set up
in isolated areas within SSS branches
to offer members privacy and comfort
during their physical examination and
interview.
Sickness and disability claimants
are often within hearing distance of oth-
er transacting members. With the new
PE Centers, we address their need for
privacy in discussing sensitive details
about their health so that SSS doctors
can better evaluate their medical condi-
tion, she said.
Each PE Center has a waiting area
and at least one examination table,
which are enclosed with a curtain. The
SSS will assess its implementation of
PE Centers after six months and study
the possibility of opening more SSS
branch clinics by then, Ong said.
A9 Sports Riera U. Mallari, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
Celtics stun Knicks, 102 to 96
Sabaupan,
Jaro fight
for WBO
Latino titles
Region II private
schools hold games
Play begins, and Johnson takes control at Kapalua
THE simulcasting experiment in the
Philippines has failed.
This was the consensus of several
Thoroughbred racing industry sectors
after three days of simulcasting last
week from Jan. 3.
In a special report I wrote upon invi-
tation of another publication last Satur-
day, I mentioned that according to feed-
back from racing fans on my Facebook
Page (Gogirl Racing), most racing fans
found the setup confusing, although
a few said it was exciting and part of
growing pains for the countrys rst
implementation of the method.
As I also said in that report, Si-
mulcasting is the simultaneous broad-
casting of races from two or more dif-
ferent racetracks on the same day, at
intervals between each race.
It is a system popular abroad, but
prior to the other night had never been
tried here, even with proposals over
the years from foreigners, such as the
South Africans, to run simulcasting
showing races from the Philippines
and other countries.
With the entry of new racetrack
Metropolitan Manila Turf Club into
the already stagnant racing industry,
the Philippine Racing Commission was
hard-pressed to come up with a sched-
ule acceptable to all three racing clubs
(the others are Manila Jockey Club,
Inc., founded 1867, and the Philippine
Racing Club, Inc., established 1937).
Before this year, the two long-es-
tablished tracks ran six days a week
on alternate weeks. This schedule was
also considered initially, but, fearing
loss of income, among other business
challenges, PRCI opted to bring into
play a proviso in its franchise law that
authorizes it to run four days a week.
Philracom then came up with the si-
mulcasting solution.
A schedule drawn up by Philracom
in December last year gave MMTC
a schedule starting January, but the
club, owned by longtime horseowner
and breeder Norberto Quisumbing Jr.,
is unable to run this month.
Sales for the rst day of simulcast-
ing were below the average, with
MJCI posting P9.5 million and PRCI
P10.2 million for seven races each.
MJCI and PRCI used to host seven to
eight races per weeknight, averaging
P20 to 21 million on Thursdays.
Off-track betting stations, through
which over 90% of wagering sales
are channeled, could barely cope with
the transition. Most of them were sub-
scribed to only one cable television
network and thus could only show the
races at one track, frustrating fans who
could not view the races at the other.
Many OTBs also had only one tele-
phone/data line over which to trans-
mit bets, and could not accept bets for
the other track.
It was this lack of infrastructure that
largely contributed to the decline in
sales. A dip in revenue means corre-
spondingly lower purse money for rst
through fourth places, which alarmed
horseowners, prompting the tri-org
the alliance of the three horseowners
organizations - MARHO (Metropolitan
Association of Race Horse Owners),
Philtobo (Philippine Thoroughbred
Owners and Breeders Organization),
and Klub Don Juan de Manila to meet
last Monday night. As of presstime,
they have not given an ofcial state-
ment, saying that they are still studying
the matter.
In line with its policy on respon-
siveness to current issues, the Phil-
ippine Racing Commission led by
Chairman Angel L. Castao Jr. hosted
two meetings last Monday - one with
representatives from the three racing
clubs and a multi-sectoral meeting
with other industry stakeholders.
According to Philracom commis-
sioner and executive director Jesus B.
Cantos, We needed to test the simul-
casting in order to establish data and
hard facts for decision-making. We saw
[it was] an inrmity, chaotic, with im-
pact on sales. After the discussion at
the meeting, he said, we decided we
will now return to single-club six-day
racing operation on alternate weeks.
PRCI holds races this week, and
MJCI next week, until MMTC goes
on stream on February 19. Director
Cantos says that a 2-2-2 schedule
might then be followed, with each
club given two racing days per week.
MJCI Chairman & CEO lawyer Al-
fonso R. Reyno Jr. has requested Phil-
racom to approve racing on Monday; in
that case, the schedule would be 2-2-3.
Denitely, simulcasting is out of
the picture, said Director Cantos.
PRCI executive vice-president and
COO Allan V. Abesamis, on the other
hand, We did not want simulcasting in
the rst place but it was the only way for
us to forestall a drastic shift in revenue.
PRCI and MJCI used to have 156
racing days per year; under a 2-2-3
schedule, they will have only 115 or
116 racing days per year.
We would lose 40 days of racing
and corresponding revenue, said
Abesamis. He called the three days of
simulcasting a learning experience,
nakakatuwa na nakakapagod.
PRCI at the moment is ne with the
suggestion that three racing clubs run
every week; however they will insist
that if a track cannot operate on its
scheduled days, that it not be allowed to
give or sell their racing days but in-
stead forfeit them, and that there be no
limit to the number of races per day, so
that horses stabled at PRCI need not be
transported to either MJCI or MMTC
in order to compete in races. Abesamis
says they would accept a limit in the
number of participants per race.
The situation is still uid, he added.
With racing largely in decline
abroad with no resurgence of its pop-
ularity in sight, the Philippine racing
world is not alone in facing challeng-
ing times. The entry of a third racing
club in a scenario dominated by only
two for decades poses problems of a
kind never encountered before.
It behooves everyone to remem-
ber, in all this, the racing fans. The
revenue comes from them, and their
feedback is important.
If they nd an already difcult ac-
tivity to be less convenient or more
frustrating, it is easy for them to nd
another game to play. They shouldnt
be taken for granted.
* * *
Email: jennyo@live.com, Blog:
http://jennyo.net, Facebook: Gogirl
Racing, Twitter: @jennyortuoste
Simulcastingnot for the PH
IN BRIEF
So the Knicks forward went to-
ward the Celtics locker room after
the game to keep shouting, tak-
ing his frustrations from the court
right along with him and perhaps
risking an NBA suspension.
Paul Pierce scored 23 points,
and Boston beat New York 102-96
on Monday night in a heated rst
meeting of the season between the
Atlantic Division rivals.
Anthony left without talk-
ing to reporters and the Knicks
wouldnt comment on Anthonys
postgame trip in the wrong direc-
tion, but Celtics coach Doc Riv-
ers didnt deny it.
Im going to let you all gure
that one out. Im going to stay
out of that, Rivers said. If it
was the playoffs Id tell on him,
but since its not Im going to
just be quiet.
Rivers didnt need to. MSG
Network reported the incident, in
which security had to step in and
send Anthony back in the right
direction, as it went to its post-
game show, and the league likely
will investigate and could penal-
TUGUEGARAO CityThe
Private Schools Athletic Asso-
ciation Region II is set to open
its regional games on Thursday
at the University of Cagayan
Valley Balzain Campus here,
it was announced by PRI-
SAA Region II and
UCV President Dr.
Victor V. Perez.
PRISAA Na-
tional Chairman
Dr. Emmanuel
Y. Angeles and
Commission on
Higher Education
Regional Director Dr.
Evelyn Pascua will be the
guest speakers at the opening
ceremonies.
The Oath of Amateurism
will be led by PRISAA Na-
tional gold medallist Jeovan-
ni Colega, while CHED02
Chief Education Specialist
Dr. Antonio Pascual will de-
clare the formal opening of
the games.
The three-day regional com-
petition will gather athletes,
coaches and technical ofcials
who will be participating in
13 sports and events
namely, basketball,
volleyball, sepak
takraw, softball,
football, base-
ball, chess, ath-
letics, taekwon-
do, karate-do,
badminton, table
and lawn tennis.
The cultural compe-
titions, meanwhile, include
the vocal solo and dance sports
categories.
Winners in this regional meet
will represent Region II in the
PRISAA National Collegiate
Games slated on Feb. 10 to 16,
2013 in Dagupan City and Lin-
gayen, Pangasinan.
KAPALUA, HawaiiThe Tourna-
ment of Champions nally started
Monday. At the end of a long day,
Dustin Johnson looked ready to end it.
Even though he showed up on Maui
a week before the tournament and
played six practice rounds, Johnson
was among four players who had not
even set foot on the Plantation Course
at Kapalua for four days because of
endless delays. Once he got going, he
hardly missed a beat.
Johnson missed only three greens
in regulation. Two of his three bo-
geys came on three-putts from inside
25 feet on perhaps the slowest greens
PGA Tour players will see all year.
He had seven putts at eagle over 36
holes, four on the back nine of his
second round. He converted the last
one from 6 feet on his nal hole, giv-
ing him rounds of 69-66 for a three-
shot lead over Steve Stricker.
I hit the ball really well this after-
noon, Johnson said, who typically
makes understatements like this when
his game is right where he wants it.
Even his lone bogey of the after-
noon round was pretty. He crushed
his drive with such force on the 17th
hole that it ran through the fairway
and into a hazard.
The way hes playing, the way hes
striking it, the way hes controlling his
golf ball, its pretty good right now,
said Bubba Watson, who played with
Johnson. And I dont see any differ-
ent tomorrow from him.
Three days behind schedule because
of high wind, the season started on the
day the tournament was supposed to
nish. Rickie Fowler made PGA Tour
history by hitting the opening shot of
the season three times - the rst two
opening rounds had to be scrapped
by 40 mph gusts roaring down the hills.
Johnson returned some degree of
normalcy under warm sunshine and
strong wind. He simply overpowered
Kapalua, twice driving the green on
par 4s, one of them into the wind. He
was at 11-under 135, and that lead
looms even larger with only one round
to play.
A weird week led to a strange sensa-
tion - Monday was both the start of the
tournament and moving day all in one.
Stricker started the long day won-
dering if he could even nish. About a
month ago, he began feeling a shooting
pain down his left side when he shifted
his weight in that direction, and he was
limping badly coming down the hill on
the 18th in the middle of his second
round. But from 67 yards away, his
pitch rode the slope and wind to per-
fection and dropped for eagle, and his
spirits lifted.
Stricker added a pair of birdies on the
front nine and had a 67 to reach 138.
Nobody knows if its a muscle
with pressure on the sciatic nerve or if
theres a problem with a disk, Stricker
said. My back feels great. I dont feel
tight. I dont feel stiff. Just every time
I get over to my left side, Im getting
a shooting pain down my leg. Im not
hitting it full strength and Im just try-
ing to keep it in front of me and play
the smart shots. AP
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
FORMER World Boxing
Council yweight champion
Sonny Boy Jaro and promising
lightweight Al Sabaupan will
see action on the ght card that
will feature the return of former
world featherweight champion
Juan Manuel Juanma Lopez
at the Ruben Rodriguez Coli-
seum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico
on Feb. 2.
The 30-year-old Sonny Boy
Jaro, who has a record of 34-
11-5 with 24 knockouts, will
clash with 27-year-old Puerto
Rican McWilliams Arroyo,
the reigning World Boxing
Organization Latino yweight
champion in a title ght. Ar-
royo has a record of 13-1 with
11 knockouts.
The 24-year-old Sabaupan,
also a southpaw like Jaro, and
who has a record of 20-1-1
with 15 knockouts, will battle
for the WBO Latino light-
weight title held by 29-year-
old Jose Chelo Gonzalez,
another undefeated Puerto Ri-
can (21-0 with 16 knockouts).
The ght card will be pre-
sented by PR Best Boxing
Promotions in association with
Top Rank.
Jaro won the WBC yweight
crown with a sixth-round TKO
over longtime champion and
WBC Fighter of the Decade
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam on
March 2, 2012, but lost the
title by a split decision to Ja-
pans Toshiyuki Igarashi on
July 16, 2012.
Arroyo won the Latino title
with a 10-round unanimous de-
cision over Luis Maldonado of
Mexico on March 10, 2012.
NEW YORKCarmelo Anthony and Kevin
Garnett jawed from baseline to midcourt,
and Anthony still had more to say.
ize the Knicks leading scorer.
Comcast SportsNet New Eng-
land posted a video on its website
showing Anthony waiting near the
Celtics team bus after the game,
with coach Mike Woodson and
New York City police nearby.
I didnt know what was going
on at that point in time, Knicks
forward Amare Stoudemire said.
Its strictly basketball. We have
to keep it on the basketball court
and make sure we come to play
every night. Boston will de-
nitely bring the intensity and ag-
gressive play. We got to be able
to match that.
Garnett added 19 points and
10 rebounds for the Celtics,
who even without the suspended
Rajon Rondo won their third
straight and nally are playing
like the team that has ruled the
division for the last half-decade.
The Knicks want that title
now, but Anthony and his team-
mates were reminded how tough
the Celtics can make it.
Anthony had 20 points but
shot 6 of 26 while battling his
temper, Garnett and foul trouble.
Garnett denied the postgame
altercation.
Listen, heat of the battle, man.
Guys go back and forth. Hes trying
to get his team to go, Im trying to
get my team to go, both teams are
colliding, not to mention that its the
Knicks and the Celtics, Garnett
said. Just what it is, man.
J.R. Smith led the Knicks with
24 points. Tyson Chandler had
13 points and 17 rebounds.
Rondo was suspended Monday
for making contact with a referee
in a game against Atlanta on Sat-
urday and failure to cooperate with
an NBA investigation. Without the
NBAs assist leader, the Celtics re-
lied on the kind of defense that has
been absent too often this season.
They allowed 78 points per
game in their last two wins, then
held the Knicks to 40 in the sec-
ond half Monday.
Pierce, who was also in foul
trouble in the tightly and some-
times inconsistently called game,
put it away with a jumper with
45 seconds to go, blowing a kiss
toward the crowd he loves to tor-
ment after putting the Celtics up
by six. AP
SYDNEYTop-seeded Agnieszka Radwan-
ska of Poland extended her unbeaten start to
the season to six matches with a 6-4, 6-3 win
over 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm on
Tuesday at the Sydney International.
Radwanska, who won last weeks WTA
event in Auckland, New Zealand, secured an
early break over the veteran Japanese player
despite coping with searing temperatures that
topped 100 degrees at Olympic Park.
This is too hot to play tennis, Rad-
wanska said when asked whether matches
should be put on hold at the warm-up event
for the Australian Open. Even for players,
for ball kids, for the people sitting out there,
its just too hot.
Radwanska said she was trying not to
alter her game in the tough conditions, ac-
knowledging that she had more of a battle
against the heat than her opponent.
The rst main thing is just to stay calm
and trying to survive, said the 2012 Wimble-
don nalist, who said she has experienced
similar conditions at Melbourne Park during
the Australian Open. AP
Radwanska wins 6
th
in a row to advance
JENNY
ORTUOSTE
THE HOARSE WHISPERER
Games today
(Filoil Flying V Arena)
8 a.m. FEU vs ADMU (men)
9:30 a.m. DLSU vs UP (men)
2 p.m. FEU vs UE (women)
3:30 p.m. AdU vs UST (women)

UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas and Adamson
dispute the solo hold on third spot today in the
University Athletic Association of the Philip-
pines Season 75 womens volleyball tourna-
ment at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Gametime is at 3:30 p.m.
Tigresses mentor Odjie Mamon knows
that the Lady Falcons are a tough customer,
especially now that the San Marcelino toss-
ers are coming off from a tough loss.
Using its patented oor defense, Adam-
son battled tooth and nail with league-leader
Ateneo before dropping a close 25-22, 23-25,
18-25, 25-23, 11-15 decision last Sunday.
Mabigat ang laban and hopefully Maru
(Banaticla) will be back, said Mamon after
UST easily beat University of the East, 26-24,
25-21, 25-23 last Saturday.
Banaticla, the Tigresses main offensive
weapon, missed the game against the Lady
Warriors due to dehydration.
It has been a roller-coaster campaign for
UST, which after stunning defending cham-
pion La Salle in the opener, has lost two
consecutive games before going back above
the .500 mark by winning the next two.
The Tigresses and the Lady Falcons are
tied at 3-2 mark, with the loser dropping
in a tie with idle Lady Bulldogs (3-3) in
fourth spot.
UST, Adamson dispute
volleyball solo 3
rd
spot
Filmmaker Spike Lee (center) tries to get the attention of Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) as New
York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) looks to the bench in the second half of their teams NBA
basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Celtics won, 102-96. AP
Angeles
Sports
JANUARY 9, 2013
Manila Standard TODAY
WEDNESDAY
A10
Beermen open season against champs
FOILED the last time, the San
Miguel Beermen vowed to take
their act in the Asean Basket-
ball League to the next level.
With former Philippine Bas-
ketball Association most valu-
able players Asi Taulava and
Eric Menk coming on board,
the Beermen declared them-
selves capable enough of bring-
ing home the championship this
time, three days before the fourth
season of the regions edgling
cage league ofcially takes off in
Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Beermen battle defend-
ing champion Indonesia War-
riors in the opener on Friday
nighta rematch of last years
Finals that saw San Miguel
losing the title in the decisive
Game 3 of the series right in its
home turf.
New coach Leo Austria ad-
mitted that too overcondence
and too much reliance on talent
cost them the championship.
They thought (Beermen)
our talent was enough to win a
championship, and thats the big
mistake that we had last season.
said the San Miguel Beer coach
as the Beermen served as the
rst main guests of the Philip-
pine Sportswriters Association
Forum in its rst session for the
year at Shakeys Malate.
But with a retooled roster
this time, the Beermen are de-
nitely looking at payback time.
Our team is different from
last years, Austria added in
the same forum presented by
the Philippine Amusement
and Gaming Corporation and
Shakeys.
Chris Banchero, one of only
two remaining holdovers from
last season, along with league
MVP Leo Avenido, agreed
with his soft-spoken mentor,
who took over the coaching
chores from former PBA leg-
endary import Bobby Parks.
I think were a lot stronger
team (this year), our bench is
much deeper, said Banchero.
Aside from Taulava and
Menk, San Miguel also tapped
the services of JR Cawaling, RJ
Rizada, Hans Thiele, Christian
Luanzon, Paolo Hubalde, Axel
Doruelo, Michael Burtscher,
and Val Acuna.
And for imports, the Beer-
men are parading the deadly
pair of Brian Williams and
former PBA Best Import
Gabe Freeman.
sports@manilastandardtoday.com sports_mstandard@yahoo.com Riera U. Mallari, Editor
NBA HOME TEAM IN CAPS
LOTTO RESULTS
6/49 000000000000
6/42 000000000000
6 DIGITS 000000000000
3 DIGITS 000000
2 EZ2 0000
P0.0M+
P0.0M+
WASHINGTON 101 Oklahoma City 99
Boston 102 NY KNICKS 96
CHICAGO 118 Cleveland 92
NEW ORLEANS 95 San Antonio 88
UTAH 100 Dallas 94
Memphis 113 SACRAMENTO 81
PORTLAND 125 Orlando 119 (OT)
FRUITAS showed rustiness after
the long holiday break but picked
up their rhythm in the nick of time
to beat Informatics, 85-74, yester-
day in the Philippine Basketball
Association D-League Aspirants
Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao
Quezon City.
Carlo Lastimosa tallied a
game-high 23 points and three
other Shakers scored in double
gures as Fruitas stretched its
winning streak to three games
and improved to 4-3 [win-loss]
record to stay in the hunt for a
quarternals berth.
Jose Rizal University also
kept its playoff bid going by
defeating Caf France, 66-62,
in the other game.
Dexter Maiquez scored 15
points, including the games
last four points to seal the win
for the Heavy Bombers, who
made it two in row and im-
proved to 3-4 record.
Masusundan pa iyan, said
JRU coach Vergel Meneses of
the victory. Makabuwelo lang
kami, sa tingin ko puwede pa
makasingit sa quarters.
Caf France held a 62-60 lead
after Michale Parala scored a short
jumper, but the Bakers couldnt
hold on and eventually suc-
cumbed to a series of turnovers.
Roger Pogoy came off the
bench to score 15 points
and Marion Magat added
12 for the Bakers, who
picked up their second
straight loss and fell to
4-4, virtually dashing
their hope for an outright
seminal spot.
The Shakers came out slow
and were visibly out of sync
in the rst quarter, something
that Fruitas coach Nash Racela
had anticipated because they
havent played in nearly a
month since beating Big Chill,
86-81, last Dec. 11.
RUPERT Zaragosa birdied the
18th for the second straight
round yesterday for a two-
over-par 74 that gave him a
one-stroke lead over Korean
expat Jong Sang-in halfway
through the MVP Sports Foun-
dation-Philippine Amateur
Open championship at tough
Wack Wack East.
The 15-year-old high school
junior at Don Bosco in Canlu-
bang, counting his 73 on Mon-
day, now has a 147 aggregate to
be one ahead of Jong, who red
a 75 after nishing bogey-bogey
in the event backed by Pancake
House, Titleist, Golf Depot, Pac-
sports and Autohub, the ofcial
transport service provider for the
foreign delegates.
Basti Lorenzo also shot a 75
to remain just two shots back,
getting three birdies against
ve bogeys for the second
consecutive round even as the
crack Singapore contingent
made its presence felt.
Jerome Ng, the veteran in-
ternationalist from Singapore,
red a 73 and remained well
in the mix with a 151 even as
overnight leader Wolen Su-
peral ballooned to an 80 to be
at 152, now ve back from one
ahead at the start of the day.
Anything can still happen in
this course, Ng said as he led a
charge by Singaporeans in the
72-hole event serving as the rst
leg of the NGAP-PLDT Group
Philippine Amateur Tour.
Fruitas
recovers
in time
to win
Zaragosa
fires a 74 for
1-shot lead
Macau looms as venue for Donaires next bout
Pacquiao eyeing Manila fight in April
Two-time defending All-Filipino champion
Talk N Text takes the last, but toughest step in
its quest for yet another repeat, but dangerous
and capable Rain or Shine stands in the way in
their best-of-seven nale showdown.
The expected physical clash between the
two loaded squads starts today at 6:45 p.m. at
the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Of course, both squads know the magnitude
of the nals and whats at stake.
The focus is trying to be the best team in
the league. We need to be very consistent.
They like to do a lot of things we love to do
so eventually, somethings got to give, said
Talk N Text coach Norman Black, who is
gunning for his 12th PBA coaching champi-
onship overall. We have the two best teams
playing their best basketball here, so its go-
ing to be a tough series.
This will be a very interesting match-
up. Both teams have a lot of similar
tendencies. Its going to be a battle.
Its going to be a war, said Rain
or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who
is in search of his rst All-Fili-
pino crown.
Black analyzed what he sees
as major adjustments for his team head-
ing to this match-up with the talented
Elasto Painters.
Rain or Shine is a deep young team
that plays almost all of their guys, so we have
to make sure our guys out there remain fresh.
We also need to be ready for their attack be-
cause their big guys also love to play outside,
said Black.
Guiao also dished out the direction he wants
to see from his team.
The longer the series, the better it is for
us. We just want to hang around and give our-
selves a chance. All we want is a chance, said
Guiao, whose Elasto Painters are looking at a
possible second straight championship after
winning last conferences Governors Cup.
As for the tag of being the favorites since
the Tropang Texters are aiming for their third
straight Philippine Cup crown and permanent
possession of the Jun Bernardino trophy, Black
shrugged it off, saying that the title will still be
won on the hardwood and not outside.
I dont know why were the favorites. As
far I see it, were equally matched as far as
stats and the way were playing. It doesnt re-
ally matter. The games are still won on the bas-
ketball court. If were the favorites, so be it,
said Black.
Unlike Black, Guiao likes the position of
his squad as they are dubbed as underdogs
heading in.
Alam namin dehado kami. Gusto namin
yun. Thats where we want to bethe under-
dogs, said Guiao.
WORLD Boxing Organization, Ring
Magazine and World Boxing Council
Diamond Belt super bantamweight cham-
pion Nonito Donaires next title ght will
probably be in Macau in March or April.
Top Ranks Bob Arum, who returned
yesterday to his Las Vegas home after
an eight-day vacation with wife Lovee
in South Africa, said Top Rank president
Todd duBoef is presently in Macau, the
gambling capital of Asia, meeting with
people whom the promoter said are anx-
ious to do ghts over there.
Arum said Donaires opponent will
be former Cuban Olympic gold medal-
ist Guillermo Rigondeauz, the reigning
World Boxing Association champion with
a record of 11-0 with 9 knockouts.
I havent heard anything at all from my
manager Cameron Dunkin or Top Rank
Promotions. Im waiting for them right
now, said Donaire.
Meantime, Donaire disclosed in an in-
terview with the Manila Standard that he
has problems with his right shoulder and
plans to go into rehab.
Donaire told the Manila Standar d that
while he is relaxing, waiting for Arum to
arrange his next ght, he will rehab his
shoulder.
Its an on-going injury, Donaire said.
The four-division world champion said
his right shoulder was stiff and he had
some pain in the joints. He plans to un-
dergo rehab for his injuries.
Donaire revealed that he had problems
with his left shoulder before, but has re-
covered and has power with his left hook.
The Filipino champ said he wants to
face WBC champion Abner Mares this
year, eager to enter the ring and ght
again probably in March or April.
Donaire is in line for the Philippine
Sportswriters Association Athlete of the
Year award this March.
One of his main rivals for the award is two-
division WBO/WBA world yweight cham-
pion Brian Viloria. Ronnie Nathanielsz
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
MANNY Pacquiao wants to ght in April
prior to a fth ght with Mexican legend
Juan Manuel Marquez, which Top Rank
promoter Bob Arum was planning for
September.
When asked by the Manila Standar d
about the September ght and reports of
Pacquiaos desire to ght in April, Arum
said: I dont know. I just dont know.
Well hold everything up until he gets
back from a trip to Israel.
Pacquiao and his family were scheduled
to return at 8 a.m. yesterday, but Arum
said he had been informed by Pacquiaos
adviser Michael Koncz they were return-
ing to Manila on Wednesday.
Arum said he has not spoken to Pac-
quiao, but has been exchanging text mes-
sages with Koncz amidst indications that
Pacquiao will follow the advice of Arum
and several Filipino neurologists and un-
dergo a brain evaluation at the renowned
Lou Ruvo Brain Center at the Cleveland
Clinic in Las Vegas.
The Manila Standard learned that the
two opponents mentioned for a possible
April ght against Pacquiao are Brandon
Bam Bam Rios and Mexican Humberto
Soto, who some years ago was regarded
as a possible challenger to Pacquiao.
The last big ght of Pacquiao in Ma-
nila was on July 2, 2006, when he suc-
cessfully defended his World Boxing
Council International super feather-
weight title with a 12-round unanimous
decision over Mexicos Oscar Chololo
Larios at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in
a ght promoted by the ABS-CBN at a
cost of some $4 million.
The Nevada State Athletic Commis-
sion had imposed a 90-day period on
Pacquiao from the date of his Dec. 8
knockout loss at the hands of Mexican
legend Juan Manuel Marquez before
he could resume sparring, which would
end in the rst week of March.
This would not give Pacquiao enough
time to train for an April ght should it be
held in the US, where the directive would
have to be followed.
However, the NSAC directive does not
cover the Philippines and is believed to
have sparked interest in staging a possible
ght in Manila in April.
There is also the touchy situation of the
complaint led by the lawyers of Getty
Images against Koncz and Filipino trainer
Restituto Buboy Fernandez for rough-
ing up photographer Al Belo when he
tried to take pictures of a fallen Pacquiao,
face down on the ring canvas and out cold.
Although no action has been taken as
yet by the Nevada State Athletic Com-
mission, the two Team Pacquiao members
could reportedly face one-year suspension
or be required to pay a ne of $250,000.
By Jeric Lopez

THE battle for supremacy begins as the highly competi-
tive 2013 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine
Cup Finals kicks off today featuring two of the leagues
most systematic teams.
Players, coaches and team ofcials, led by Noli Eala and Rico Meneses, of
the San Miguel Beermen are shown during their appearance at the PSA
Forum in Shakeys Malate. EY ACASIO
Texters, Painters
start title duel
Games Tomorrow
(Arellano University Gym)
2 p.m. Big Chill vs
Cagayan Valley Informatics
4 p.m. Boracay Rum
vs Erase Xfoliant
Rain or Shines Jireh Ibanez (right) and Gabe Norwood gang up on TNTs Ali Peek in
a tough defensive stance that will be the one of Painters main weapons in the PBA
Philippine Cup championship series.
Business
B1
Ray S. Eano, Editor business@mst.ph
Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor extrastory2000@gmail.com
IN BRIEF Ongpins
claims not
true, BSP
counters
Mobile to change advertising landscape
January power rates
of Meralco to increase
PhilCarbon wants carbon credits for Mindoro wind project
Napocor offers to sell
resorts, other facilities
PSE COMPOSITE INDEX
Closing January 8, 2013
OIL
PRICES
TODAY
P584-P695
LPG/11-kg tank
P47.15-P53.07
Unleaded Gasoline
P38.40-P41.05
Diesel
P40.30-P52.20
Kerosene
P27.20-P31.00
Auto LPG
FOREI GN EXCHANGE RATE
Currency Unit US Dollar Peso
United States Dollar 1.000000 40.8940
Japan Yen 0.011392 0.4659
UK Pound 1.611600 65.9048
Hong Kong Dollar 0.129022 5.2762
Switzerland Franc 1.085187 44.3776
Canada Dollar 1.014507 41.4872
Singapore Dollar 0.813802 33.2796
Australia Dollar 1.048218 42.8658
Bahrain Dinar 2.652520 108.4722
Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266652 10.9045
Brunei Dollar 0.810504 33.1448
Indonesia Rupiah 0.000104 0.0043
Thailand Baht 0.032862 1.3439
UAE Dirham 0.272287 11.1349
Euro Euro 1.311400 53.6284
Korea Won 0.000941 0.0385
China Yuan 0.160524 6.5645
India Rupee 0.01814 0.7408
Malaysia Ringgit 0.328785 13.4453
NewZealand Dollar 0.078373 34.1466
Taiwan Dollar 0.034471 1.4097
Source: PDS Bridge
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
PESO-DOLLAR RATE
40
42
44
46
48
Closing JANUARY 8, 2013
6,048.90
3.99
HIGH P40.815 LOW P40.880 AVERAGE P40.845
P40.850
CLOSE
VOLUME 915.600M
6500
5500
4500
3500
2500
1500
1000
By Alena Mae S. Flores
POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp. said Tuesday it plans
to sell the non-energy related assets of
National Power Corp., including resorts
and recreation facilities in Quezon City,
Laguna, Cavite and Bataan.
PSALM vice president Conrad
Tolentino said while the agency
prioritizes the sale of governments
power assets, the Electric Power
Industry Reform Act of 2001
allows the privatization of all
disposable assets of Napocor.
PSALM manages the assets and
liabilities of Napocor.
A Napocor source said the
power company had developed
resorts and recreational facilities
to generate additional income.
Napocor is also offering
resorts and guesthouse facilities
as possible tourist destinations to
visitors.
These prime resorts and
facilities include the Camarin
Resort in Cavinti, Laguna,
Westnuk Beach Cove in
Morong, Bataan, the Puerto Azul
Guesthouses in Ternate, Cavite
and sports complex and training
rooms in the companys head
ofce in Quezon City.
Napocor said resorts offered
the best value from its array
of relaxation, recreation, fun,
meeting and banquet facilities.
Napocor owns the Camarin
Guesthouse Resort & Eco Park
along the shore of Caliraya
Lake in Laguna. The resort
covers seven hectares and offers
cottages, cabanas, seminar rooms
and various indoor and outdoor
recreational facilities.
Napocors Ocean Villas
Executive Guesthouse,
meanwhile, is located within
the Puerto Azul Golf & Country
Club in Ternate, Cavite.
Napocor is also offering to
tourists two sites in Bataan,
namely the Westnuk Beach Cove
in Morong and the Nuclear Power
Village Hotel in Bagac, Bataan.
The WestNuk Beach Cove is
situated at the decommissioned
Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
complex. The two-hectare property
has a four-bedroom clubhouse,
with living, dining, kitchen, and
rest and bath facilities. It has
recreational facility for billiards,
darts, table tennis, basketball
court and karaoke.
The Nuclear Power Village
Hotel, meanwhile, is situated
inside the Napocor Resort Village.
The two-story lot has a complete
facilities for conferences and
trainings.
Napocor needs around P17.136
billion for the operational
requirements of 534 generating
units with total capacity of 278.398
megawatts in 221 off-grid areas
around the country this year alone.
For 2013, Napocors
requirements to pursue
electrication will require
P17.136 billion, which covers
power generation, transmission
activities, including fuel,
subsidies, O and M, some
capital investment and personal
services, Napocor president
Froilan Tampinco said earlier.
A RENEWABLE energy
developer is seeking carbon
credits for a planned 33.4-
megawatt wind power project in
Oriental Mindoro province.
PhilCarbon Inc. tapped
Carbonergy Business
Consultancy Services, a
renewable energy and carbon
consulting company, to trade the
carbon credits of the Bulalacao
wind project.
PhilCarbon is set to begin
construction of the P3.4-billion
Bulalacao wind project in
September 2014 while completion
is targeted in January 2016.
The RE2Grid Programme
of Activities was designed
by Carbonergy and Swedish
partner Cornland International to
allow companies in developing
countries such as the Philippines
to trade carbon credits with the
European market beyond 2012.
The wind project is estimated
to generate 73.146 gigawatt-
hours of wind energy and abate
about 54,000 tons of greenhouse
gases annually.
The Philippines has many
projects that could be included
in the RE2Grid PoA, especially
wind and hydro but also some
solar PV projects, as evidenced by
the large number of applications
for pre-development service
contracts sent to the Department
of Energy, Carbonergy chief
executive Peter Pembleton said.
Pembleton said developers of
renewable energy projects should
tap Carbonergy for inclusion in
the RE2Grid PoA to benet from
additional cash inows from the
sale of carbon credits.
He said the Philippines,
as a developing country,
was excluded from trading
carbon credits generated from
projects registered after 2012
to the European market. Only
those carbon credits from
least developed countries will
continue to be accepted.
Pembleton, however, said
renewable energy projects in the
Philippines can still trade their
carbon credits by registering
with Carbonergys RE2Grid
PoA. Alena Mae S. Flores
By Lailany P. Gomez
MOBILE phones are expected to change
the landscape of traditional advertising
in the country, according to the top
executive of Globe Telecom Inc.
Globe Telecom chief executive Ernest
Cu said he was bullish about the future
of mobile advertising because of the
strong potential of mobile devices as an
effective medium for brands to reach
target audiences.
The mobile phone has clearly taken
great prominence in the human value
chain. Time Magazines Mobility Poll
revealed that out of 5,000 respondents
across 8 countries, 68 percent sleep with
their mobile phones next to them, and 66
percent would rather take their mobile
phones to work instead of lunch, said Cu.
Cu said in the Philippines, nine of 10
people owned mobile phones, putting
mobile-phone penetration at its peak
compared to any other form of medium
such as TV sets.
Indeed, mobile is the way to go
to connect with and engage todays
consumers, as well as to create a rich
consumer experience that goes beyond
traditional marketing, he said.
Cu said the use of mobile as a channel
to communicate with a target market
pushed brand activation to the limits of
a consumers imagination.
He also said mobile advertising opened
creative corridors for dynamic and
more compelling content, capitalizing
on strong visual stimulation to entice
consumers further.
Mobile technology has denitely
changed the way brands talk to their
consumers. Because its so personal and
powerful, it enables the unique efciency
of reaching out to very precise target
markets with mobile advertising-driven
campaigns hinging on the capability
to prole customers and touch them
directly, Cu said.
CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric
Co. are expected to pay more
for their power consumption in
January due to higher charges
at the wholesale electricity spot
market.
Industry sources said the
December load-weighted average
price at WESM, which serves as
the trading oor of electricity,
rose P0.64 per kilowatt-hour
from the November level.
The source said while power
consumption remained stable
toward the end of 2012, the
closure of several power plants
led to supply constraints in
December, causing prices at
WESM to go up.
A unit of the Ilijan natural gas
plant and another unit of Sta. Rita
plant in Batangas went on scheduled
outage for most of December.
The scheduled and forced
outage of both units of the
Masinloc coal-red power plant
in Zambales also added to the
tight supply situation.
The source said as a result of
the reduced output from coal and
natural gas plants, generation
from the more expensive oil-
fueled plants increased.
He said the Malaya and Limay
diesel plants were designated
as must-run units for about 60
percent of the time in December.
Limay and Malaya were
designated as MRUs because
there was inadequate reserve
levels in Luzon, the source
said.
The month of December also
recorded the highest frequency
of MRU designations in 2012
due to inadequate reserves.
Meralcos generation charge is
now at P5.47 per kilowatt-hour.
Meralco implemented a P0.31
per kWh reduction in power rates
in December because of lower
generation and transmission
costs.
Meralco claimed it was not
earning from the pass-through
charges, the largest of which was
the generation charge.
Payment for the generation
charge goes to WESM, the
independent power producers
and National Power Corp. The
rest of the pass-through costs
are transmission, taxes and other
charges. Alena Mae S. Flores
Biggest trade show. Technicians install Sonys 4k Ultra HD television at the Sony booth at the International Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas Monday. The 2013 International CES gadget show, the biggest trade show in the Americas, is taking
place in Las Vegas this week. AP
THE Bangko Sentral on Tuesday
said the Monetary Board, its
policy-making body, has not
rejected but only deferred the
conrmation of former trade
minister Roberto Ongpin as a
director of Philippine Bank of
Communications.
It is unfortunate therefore
that Mr. Roberto V. Ongpin
calls the decision of the BSPs
Monetary Board to defer
conrmation of his election as
member of the board of directors
of PBCom as unwarranted and
patently unfair. For the record,
the Monetary Board has not
denied but simply deferred Mr.
Ongpins conrmation pending
completion of assessment of
certain material information,
the Bangko Sentral said in a
statement.
Ongpin earlier resigned as
a director and co-chairman of
PBCom and sold out his entire
holdings in the private bank
to spare the bank from any
untoward action by the Monetary
Board.
He also threatened to le a
criminal case against Bangko
Sentral Deputy Governor Nestor
Espenilla, who he said caused
my reputation the gravest
damage by his signing an ex-
parte petition with the Court of
Appeals that my bank accounts
be frozen.
The Bangko Sentral, however,
defended Espenilla, who served
as acting Bangko Sentral governor
and chairman of the Anti-Monwey
Laundering Council at the time
the order to freeze Ongpins bank
accounts was issued. Bangko
Sentral Governor Amando
Tetangco Jr. was on ofcial
business overseas at that time.
Mr. Ongpin is wrong. The
Court of Appeals said probable
cause exists to freeze the subject
bank accounts based on the
AMLC petition led by the
lawyers of the Ofce of the
Solicitor General, the AMLCs
statutory counsel, the Bangko
Sentral said.
Honda auto sales up 9%
SALES of Honda Cars Philippines Inc. in 2012
increased 9 percent from 2011 on the back of a
stable supply condition.
Data obtained by Manila Standard showed
Honda Cars sold 12,653 units from 11,611 a
year ago.
Mitch Malto, Honda Cars public relations
manager, meanwhile, declined to give the
companys growth target this year. We still have
to conrm it with the sales department, she said.
Company data showed that December sales
jumped 500 percent to 1,216 units from 203 a year
ago, when the company was on its second month
of stoppage of operations due to the ooding in
Thailand and the tsunami in Japan earlier.
Honda Philippines in February last year said
it would import the Jazz, Accord and Civic
models from Japan. In the same month, the
company resumed its manufacturing operations
after experiencing parts supply disruptions
since November 2011.
Honda Philippines prior to November was
manufacturing the City and Civic models
in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and import the CR-V,
Accord and Jazz models from Thailand.
Julito G. Rada
WESM soon in Mindanao
THE Energy Department will soon issue a
circular to implement the interim Mindanao
Electricity Market in March to address the
power shortage in the south.
Energy director Mylene Capongcol said the
proposed Mindanao electricity market was
ready for ling with the Energy Regulatory
Commission.
Capongcol said the department would issue
the circular soon to implement the Mindanao
electricity market by March.
Energy ofcials, however, declined to
provide a copy of the circular to the media.
The Mindanao power market is expected
to provide an additional 360 megawatts of
capacity, although this may increase electricity
prices by P0.30 per kilowatt-hour.
We were able to identify embedded
generation that is underutilized, if at all not
utilized, because there is no revenue counterpart
that is comfortable enough for the owners or
the users of the embedded generations to feed
it to the grid, Energy Undersecretary Josena
Asirit earlier said. Alena Mae S. Flores
TRADI NG SUMMARY
SHARES VALUE
FINANCIAL 17766868 1,412,961,728.928
INDUSTRIAL 129178559 1,366,471,899.35
HOLDING FIRMS 222026743 1,800,177,957.21
PROPERTY 351685260 1,277,382,299.365
SERVICES 1165008718 127,548,4175.6
MINING & OIL 587821766 337,823,863.54
GRAND TOTAL 2473495914 7,470,373,923.998
FINANCIAL 1,576.53 (down) 0.42
INDUSTRIAL 9,148.6 (up) 44.62
HOLDING FIRMS 5,408.71 (up) 25.35
PROPERTY 2,366.1 (down) 18.73
SERVICES 1,786.71 (down) 4.99
MINING & OIL 20,612.75 (up) 216.32
PSEI 6,048.9 (up) 3.99
All Shares Index 3,813.65 (up) 1.94
Gainers: 85; Losers:78; Unchanged: 46; Total: 209
Stocks reach new
peak; SMIC rises
Business
ManilaStandardToday
business@mst.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com
B2
52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign
High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying
MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW
TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013
M
S
T
FINANCIAL
77.10 57.30 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 75.05 75.25 74.70 75.15 0.13 4,788,640 135,763,598.50
100.00 56.60 Bank of PI 102.00 102.00 99.85 102.00 0.00 894,540 59,433,726.50
1.82 0.68 Bankard, Inc. 0.70 0.73 0.71 0.73 4.29 500,000
595.00 48.00 China Bank 55.05 55.10 54.85 54.90 (0.27) 199,240 (2,638,639.00)
2.20 1.60 BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. 2.04 2.05 2.05 2.05 0.49 7,000
23.90 17.90 COL Financial 19.00 19.00 19.00 19.00 0.00 4,300
32.95 18.50 Eastwest Bank 32.35 32.70 32.30 32.30 (0.15) 3,021,400 13,756,040.00
3.25 2.00 I-Remit Inc. 2.70 2.79 2.79 2.79 3.33 5,000
590.00 420.00 Manulife Fin. Corp. 530.00 530.00 525.00 530.00 0.00 150
39.20 3.00 Maybank ATR KE 24.00 26.00 26.00 26.00 8.33 10,300
104.90 71.75 Metrobank 103.40 104.10 102.00 103.40 0.00 5,958,000 (56,216,606.00)
3.06 1.69 Natl Reinsurance Corp. 1.74 1.75 1.75 1.75 0.57 100,000
96.20 59.00 Phil. National Bank 91.50 92.00 88.40 89.90 (1.75) 968,900 311,020.00
109.00 71.80 Phil. Savings Bank 105.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 (4.76) 100
500.00 239.00 PSE Inc. 418.00 418.40 415.00 415.00 (0.72) 21,090 (23,420.00)
60.00 29.75 RCBC À 58.00 59.00 58.00 58.70 1.21 137,070.00 5,472,988.50
169.10 100.00 Security Bank 160.70 161.50 160.70 160.70 0.00 555,760 (10,357,580.00)
1100.00 879.00 Sun Life Financial 1020.00 1020.00 1020.00 1020.00 0.00 310
140.00 69.00 Union Bank 113.00 113.40 112.50 112.90 (0.09) 190,300 4,223,470.00
2.70 1.71 Vantage Equities 2.45 2.45 2.42 2.43 (0.82) 194,000
INDUSTRIAL
38.00 28.70 Aboitiz Power Corp. 38.00 38.05 37.95 37.95 (0.13) 1,675,700 46,281,235.00
13.58 6.22 Agrinurture Inc. 8.01 8.05 8.01 8.02 0.12 23,600
2.26 1.24 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.99 2.00 1.96 2.00 0.50 1,199,000 9,930.00
1.62 1.20 Alsons Cons. 1.32 1.34 1.31 1.33 0.76 1,561,000 (132,650.00)
61.00 17.10 Asiabest Group 19.36 19.38 18.98 18.98 (1.96) 3,600
138.00 45.00 Bogo Medellin 53.00 53.30 53.20 53.20 0.38 300
4.99 2.12 Calapan Venture 4.18 4.40 4.40 4.40 5.26 21,000
300.00 80.00 Chemphil 125.00 124.00 62.50 124.00 (0.80) 20
3.12 2.41 Chemrez Technologies Inc. 2.95 2.95 2.90 2.95 0.00 36,000 11,800.00
27.75 7.60 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 27.45 27.50 26.15 27.35 (0.36) 58,900
4.55 4.32 DNL Industries Inc. 4.42 4.460 4.41 4.44 0.45 4,570,000 730,280.00
7.16 4.83 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.92 7.10 6.88 7.10 2.60 30,422,900 24,826,654.00
10.40 3.60 EEI 10.30 10.80 10.28 10.48 1.75 896,000 2,782,532.00
3.80 1.00 Euro-Med Lab. 2.22 2.00 1.90 1.92 (13.51) 21,000
25.00 5.80 Federal Chemicals 11.00 12.28 9.90 9.90 (10.00) 9,100
24.00 12.80 First Gen Corp. 23.20 24.40 23.05 24.00 3.45 7,056,100 21,075,650.00
95.50 58.50 First Holdings A 90.70 94.00 90.85 93.70 3.31 2,332,010 (122,014,143.50)
24.60 16.50 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 16.54 17.00 17.00 17.00 2.78 1,700
0.027 0.0110 Greenergy 0.0210 0.0210 0.0200 0.0210 0.00 39,900,000
14.00 10.00 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.10 13.30 13.00 13.30 1.53 116,200
5.49 3.80 Integ. Micro-Electronics 3.93 3.99 3.90 3.99 1.53 101,000
2.35 0.61 Ionics Inc 0.650 0.640 0.640 0.640 (1.54) 65,000
120.00 89.00 Jollibee Foods Corp. 107.00 107.70 107.10 107.30 0.28 389,530 2,192,825.00
11.70 5.70 Lafarge Rep 11.40 11.70 11.30 11.70 2.63 232,200
8.40 1.44 LMG Chemicals 2.07 2.23 2.00 2.10 1.45 1,239,000 44,050.00
14.66 3.70 LT Group 13.30 13.30 13.10 13.10 (1.50) 370,600
22.50 1.39 Manchester Intl. A 15.88 16.00 14.22 15.18 (4.41) 86,600
23.00 1.50 Manchester Intl. B 15.20 16.30 14.50 14.60 (3.95) 43,100 (44,700.00)
33.50 20.55 Manila Water Co. Inc. 32.40 33.85 32.50 33.00 1.85 5,102,500 22,667,440.00
7.50 2.00 Mariwasa MFG. Inc. 6.32 6.90 6.00 6.42 1.58 548,200
18.80 8.76 Megawide 18.680 18.500 18.200 18.200 (2.57) 1,038,300 141,250.00
291.20 218.80 Mla. Elect. Co À 272.40 273.00 268.00 268.00 (1.62) 467,970 (18,335,328.00)
6.82 2.09 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 6.64 6.80 6.66 6.66 0.30 244,600 227,824.00
13.60 9.70 Petron Corporation 10.40 10.68 10.38 10.40 0.00 2,327,500 (14,003,272.00)
13.70 10.20 Phinma Corporation 11.00 11.00 10.78 10.78 (2.00) 96,800
14.94 8.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 8.96 9.00 8.93 9.00 0.45 159,800 51,910.00
5.09 1.33 RFM Corporation 5.02 5.18 5.01 5.02 0.00 789,300 2,277,900.00
3.90 2.30 Roxas Holdings 3.00 2.92 2.90 2.90 (3.33) 34,000
7.60 3.00 Salcon Power Corp. 4.55 4.55 4.51 4.51 (0.88) 52,000
122.50 100.00 San Miguel Corp À 108.70 109.00 108.00 109.00 0.28 590,220 18,748,250.00
3000.00 240.00 San MiguelPure Foods `B 242.20 243.40 242.20 243.40 0.50 5,980 479,190.00
2.44 1.70 Splash Corporation 1.75 1.75 1.73 1.75 0.00 6,000
0.220 0.121 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.145 0.146 0.140 0.140 (3.45) 5,360,000 285,000.00
2.77 1.66 TKC Steel Corp. 1.69 1.70 1.70 1.70 0.59 42,000
1.41 1.08 Trans-Asia Oil 1.32 1.33 1.30 1.31 (0.76) 11,917,000 2,383,730.00
88.00 50.00 Universal Robina 86.40 87.00 85.00 85.00 (1.62) 1,081,700 6,251,054.00
5.50 1.05 Victorias Milling 1.46 1.46 1.40 1.40 (4.11) 4,218,000 (215,500.00)
2.08 0.450 Vitarich Corp. 1.02 1.03 0.99 0.99 (2.94) 1,041,000 (103,000.00)
18.00 2.65 Vivant Corp. 8.40 9.00 8.55 8.96 6.67 3,600 19,665.00
2.20 0.90 Vulcan Indl. 1.52 1.52 1.48 1.48 (2.63) 810,000
HOLDING FIRMS
1.03 0.65 Abacus Cons. À 0.69 0.69 0.67 0.68 (1.45) 2,680,000
59.90 40.50 Aboitiz Equity 54.00 54.20 54.00 54.10 0.19 2,736,380 22,736,795.00
0.169 0.014 Alcorn Gold Res. 0.1410 0.1420 0.1410 0.1410 0.00 99,500,000
17.50 10.24 Alliance Global Inc. 17.26 17.70 17.30 17.54 1.62 18,270,400 63,096,936.00
2.70 1.88 Anglo Holdings A 2.23 2.20 2.15 2.17 (2.69) 2,097,000
5.95 3.30 Anscor À 5.49 5.53 5.49 5.53 0.73 103,400 550.00
6.98 3.700 Asia Amalgamated A 5.10 5.25 5.00 5.25 2.94 93,000 (75,750.00)
2.98 0.90 ATN Holdings A 0.99 0.95 0.95 0.95 (4.04) 46,000
3.52 0.90 ATN Holdings B 1.03 1.00 0.95 0.95 (7.77) 52,000
552.50 332.00 Ayala Corp À 550.00 557.00 549.50 550.50 0.09 491,840 159,694,135.00
64.80 42.80 DMCI Holdings 55.90 56.55 55.30 56.30 0.72 2,890,140 57,092,721.50
5.20 3.36 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.81 4.85 4.75 4.75 (1.25) 183,000 (57,600.00)
693.00 455.40 GT Capital 680.00 694.00 675.00 675.00 (0.74) 130,040 46,031,185.00
6.80 3.07 House of Inv. 6.50 6.58 6.40 6.50 0.00 261,000
40.70 24.50 JG Summit Holdings 40.40 40.50 39.90 40.00 (0.99) 3,833,900 (3,906,100.00)
8.20 2.08 Jolliville Holdings 7.30 7.50 7.40 7.40 1.37 1,500
5.60 3.30 Keppel Holdings À 4.50 4.50 3.25 4.50 0.00 11,000
5.70 2.30 Keppel Holdings `B 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 0.00 17,900
6.78 4.90 Lopez Holdings Corp. 6.69 6.76 6.60 6.70 0.15 7,037,400 16,334,014.00
1.54 0.81 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.98 1.00 0.98 0.99 1.02 645,000
0.85 0.320 Mabuhay Holdings À 0.400 0.445 0.420 0.420 5.00 840,000
3.82 1.710 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 1.88 1.95 1.88 1.91 1.60 1,644,000
5.03 3.48 Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. 5.06 5.10 4.90 4.90 (3.16) 38,313,400 (9,225,524.00)
6.63 4.38 Minerales Industrias Corp. 6.00 6.04 5.99 6.04 0.67 274,700 220,200.00
0.0680 0.044 Pacica À 0.0520 0.0530 0.0510 0.0520 0.00 29,500,000
2.20 1.20 Prime Media Hldg 1.330 1.370 1.300 1.300 (2.26) 38,000
0.66 0.42 Prime Orion 0.560 0.560 0.560 0.560 0.00 8,000
3.40 1.56 Republic Glass A 2.36 2.37 2.37 2.37 0.42 127,000
2.40 1.17 Seafront À 1.93 1.93 1.80 1.80 (6.74) 85,000
0.420 0.300 Sinophil Corp. 0.315 0.325 0.315 0.315 0.00 2,040,000
923.00 557.00 SM Investments Inc. 923.00 946.00 930.00 939.00 1.73 409,370 118,810,580.00
2.71 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 2.07 2.11 2.05 2.06 (0.48) 168,000
1.57 1.04 South China Res. Inc. 1.05 1.08 1.08 1.08 2.86 97,000 32,400.00
0.420 0.205 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2500 0.2600 0.2500 0.2500 0.00 800,000
0.620 0.255 Wellex Industries 0.3050 0.3100 0.2950 0.3050 0.00 550,000 2,950.00
0.850 0.330 Zeus Holdings 0.375 0.375 0.350 0.370 (1.33) 6,040,000
P R O P E R T Y
48.00 15.00 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 16.80 16.88 16.80 16.80 0.00 6,000 33,760.00
3.89 2.37 A. Brown Co., Inc. 3.11 3.11 3.10 3.11 0.00 244,000
0.87 0.43 Araneta Prop À 0.800 0.810 0.770 0.770 (3.75) 1,006,000 (18,170.00)
0.195 0.162 Arthaland Corp. 0.192 0.198 0.192 0.198 3.13 1,210,000
27.35 15.82 Ayala Land `B 26.60 26.60 26.05 26.35 (0.94) 185,550,980
5.62 4.00 Belle Corp. À 5.01 5.21 5.01 5.18 3.39 27,023,000 (16,267,208.00)
9.00 2.51 Cebu Holdings 4.17 4.17 4.00 4.08 (2.16) 406,000
2.47 1.35 Century Property 1.67 1.76 1.62 1.74 4.19 42,850,000 17,776,070.00
3.00 1.50 City & Land Dev. 2.50 2.44 2.44 2.44 (2.40) 1,000
1.11 0.76 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.79 0.00 1,319,000 (79,000.00)
1.13 0.60 Empire East Land 1.090 1.090 1.060 1.070 (1.83) 6,455,000 436,800.00
0.435 0.152 Ever Gotesco 0.385 0.415 0.385 0.395 2.60 13,450,000 (359,600.00)
2.48 1.63 Global-Estate 1.99 1.99 1.94 1.94 (2.51) 4,420,000 88,360.00
1.66 1.06 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.60 1.61 1.58 1.58 (1.25) 23,756,000 4,344,140.00
2.14 0.72 Interport À 1.20 1.23 1.22 1.22 1.67 202,000 (129,380.00)
3.33 1.58 Megaworld Corp. 3.33 3.29 3.14 3.16 (5.11) 136,910,000 (110,538,730.00)
0.31 0.145 MRC Allied Ind. 0.1450 0.1440 0.1340 0.1340 (7.59) 32,410,000 448,860.00
0.990 0.240 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.6500 0.6600 0.6400 0.6600 1.54 7,214,000 65,000.00
0.67 0.41 Phil. Realty À 0.440 0.455 0.455 0.455 3.41 20,000
4.33 2.10 Primex Corp. 2.70 2.81 2.81 2.81 4.07 14,000
22.30 11.86 Robinsons Land `B 21.70 21.70 21.00 21.70 0.00 2,133,500 18,031,140.00
7.71 2.35 Rockwell 2.85 2.97 2.76 2.90 1.75 2,212,000 243,550.00
3.15 1.98 Shang Properties Inc. 3.15 3.15 3.05 3.15 0.00 553,000 1,306,240.00
7.57 5.72 SM Development À 6.06 6.06 6.03 6.06 0.00 758,900 3,440,840.00
18.20 12.10 SM Prime Holdings 16.92 16.98 16.80 16.90 (0.12) 10,087,500 20,119,158.00
0.84 0.65 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.68 0.69 0.67 0.69 1.47 272,000
4.55 2.31 Starmalls 3.98 3.95 3.95 3.95 (0.75) 2,000
0.64 0.49 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.570 0.550 0.550 0.550 (3.51) 60,000
5.20 2.85 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.850 4.860 4.830 4.840 (0.21) 20,350,000 16,304,300.00
S E R V I C E S
4.72 1.33 2GO Group 1.79 1.80 1.79 1.79 0.00 8,000
42.00 24.10 ABS-CBN 38.00 38.75 37.85 38.75 1.97 525,400
18.98 1.05 Acesite Hotel 1.34 1.34 1.28 1.33 (0.75) 170,000
0.88 0.60 APC Group, Inc. 0.820 0.820 0.800 0.810 (1.22) 6,206,000 81,000.00
63.90 8.13 Bloomberry 13.70 13.82 13.50 13.50 (1.46) 11,173,600 10,265,074.00
0.2420 0.1010 Boulevard Holdings 0.1380 0.1400 0.1350 0.1350 (2.17) 17,970,000 24,670.00
24.00 3.65 Calata Corp. 3.84 3.83 3.80 3.81 (0.78) 232,000 (3,800.00)
77.00 52.40 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 61.95 62.50 61.65 62.20 0.40 196,770 (3,766,649.00)
12.50 9.70 Centro Esc. Univ. 11.92 11.92 11.92 11.92 0.00 300
9.70 4.00 DFNN Inc. 4.64 4.75 4.65 4.75 2.37 112,000
5.47 1.80 Easy Call Common 2.80 2.80 2.80 2.80 0.00 5,000
1270.00 990.00 Globe Telecom 1078.00 1080.00 1065.00 1070.00 (0.74) 70,400 (52,117,210.00)
11.00 6.63 GMA Network Inc. 9.58 9.56 9.50 9.53 (0.52) 291,100
77.00 54.00 I.C.T.S.I. 75.95 76.50 753.95 76.50 0.72 1,071,720 33,710,785.00
0.98 0.36 Information Capital Tech. 0.405 0.425 0.405 0.410 1.23 580,000
4.70 1.75 IP Converge 3.60 3.64 3.50 3.60 0.00 288,000
22.00 0.019 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.027 0.028 0.026 0.027 0.00 1,033,000,000 22,410,000.00
1.65 0.54 IPVG Corp. 0.66 0.65 0.63 0.63 (4.55) 1,277,000 6,300.00
0.0850 0.040 Island Info 0.0530 0.0550 0.0520 0.0540 1.89 4,750,000
3.4400 2.170 ISM Communications 2.3000 2.2700 2.2700 2.2700 (1.30) 14,000
9.90 6.28 Leisure & Resorts 8.25 8.40 8.20 8.34 1.09 777,400 (41,150.00)
3.46 2.28 Liberty Telecom 2.35 2.48 2.35 2.48 5.53 2,000
3.96 2.70 Macroasia Corp. 2.68 2.53 2.53 2.53 5.60 376,000
0.84 0.60 Manila Bulletin 0.78 0.77 0.77 0.77 (1.28) 1,000
4.08 1.34 Manila Jockey 2.79 2.83 2.78 2.80 0.36 376,000
22.95 13.78 Pacic Online Sys. Corp. 14.00 14.10 14.00 14.00 0.00 204,300
3.47 1.49 Paxys Inc. 2.93 2.92 2.88 2.88 (1.71) 707,000
12.00 7.15 Phil. Racing Club 12.00 18.00 9.80 9.80 (18.33) 2,477,100 (21,980,698.00)
98.00 21.00 Phil. Seven Corp. 90.00 93.00 90.00 90.00 0.00 190 12,600.00
17.88 12.10 Philweb.Com Inc. 13.02 13.10 13.00 13.10 0.61 1,668,400 (3,426,518.00)
2886.00 2096.00 PLDT Common 2662.00 2650.00 2638.00 2646.00 (0.60) 191,290 2,016,150.00
0.39 0.27 PremiereHorizon 0.350 0.365 0.340 0.355 1.43 12,160,000
34.45 17.90 Puregold 33.20 33.40 33.10 33.30 0.30 5,752,100 3,843,515.00
STI Holdings 1.03 1.04 1.00 1.03 0.00 57,941,000 (12,368,600.00)
14.18 3.30 Touch Solutions 9.99 9.98 9.24 9.29 (7.01) 391,900
4.50 1.14 Yehey 1.260 1.260 1.260 1.260 0.00 183,000
MINING & OIL
0.0070 0.0039 Abra Mining 0.0057 0.0057 0.0056 0.0056 (1.75) 13,000,000
6.20 4.01 Apex À 4.60 4.60 4.50 4.60 0.00 9,000
19.82 16.80 Atlas Cons. À 19.60 19.76 19.48 19.60 0.00 925,000 1,275,438.00
48.00 10.00 Atok-Big Wedge À 20.90 21.00 20.90 21.00 0.48 3,200
0.345 0.210 Basic Energy Corp. 0.285 0.290 0.285 0.285 0.00 6,020,000
29.00 18.60 Benguet Corp À 19.00 19.20 19.20 19.20 1.05 7,900
34.00 17.70 Benguet Corp `B 18.50 19.96 19.94 19.94 7.78 1,100
2.12 0.82 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.03 1.05 0.95 0.98 (4.85) 1,493,000 9,800.00
1.68 1.02 Coal Asia 1.02 1.04 1.01 1.03 0.98 10,189,000 71,600.00
61.80 12.10 Dizon 15.44 15.56 15.40 15.40 (0.26) 41,200
1.21 0.48 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.52 0.54 0.51 0.52 0.00 2,346,000
1.79 0.8600 Lepanto À 1.080 1.090 1.050 1.060 (1.85) 23,607,000
2.070 0.9200 Lepanto `B 1.180 1.180 1.150 1.180 0.00 8,004,000 795,620.00
0.085 0.047 Manila Mining À 0.0610 0.0620 0.0600 0.0610 0.00 151,790,000
0.087 0.047 Manila Mining `B 0.0630 0.0620 0.0610 0.0610 (3.17) 77,400,000
36.50 15.78 Nickelasia 17.04 18.30 17.04 18.14 6.46 1,639,400 589,824.00
12.84 4.70 Nihao Mineral Resources 5.04 5.12 5.03 5.08 0.79 347,500
8.40 3.07 Oriental Peninsula Res. 3.370 3.480 3.380 3.420 1.48 899,000 (155,650.00)
0.032 0.016 Oriental Pet. À 0.0200 0.0210 0.0200 0.0200 0.00 68,200,000
0.033 0.017 Oriental Pet. `B 0.0210 0.0200 0.0200 0.0200 (4.76) 7,000,000
7.05 5.62 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 6.20 6.22 6.20 6.20 0.00 10,300
27.85 12.52 Philex À 15.90 16.480 15.900 16.28 2.39 7,655,700 (330,038.00)
48.00 8.50 PhilexPetroleum 30.50 34.80 30.80 33.55 10.00 655,000 863,056.00
0.062 0.024 Philodrill Corp. À 0.041 0.042 0.042 0.042 2.44 100,100,000
257.80 200.00 Semirara Corp. 240.40 240.60 240.00 240.40 0.00 279,030 1,059,998.00
0.028 0.014 United Paragon 0.0180 0.0180 0.0170 0.0180 0.00 106,100,000
PREFERRED
50.00 22.65 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 38.35 39.50 38.00 39.00 1.69 876,800 5,816,865.00
580.00 505.00 Ayala Corp. Pref À 525.00 526.00 526.00 526.00 0.19 180
105.50 100.00 First Gen G 101.50 103.60 103.50 103.60 2.07 24,000
108.00 101.00 First Phil. Hldgs.-Pref. 102.90 101.50 10038.00 100.80 (2.04) 17,200
11.02 6.52 GMA Holdings Inc. 9.60 9.71 9.50 9.71 1.15 3,331,000 28,968,900.00
116.70 104.10 PCOR-Preferred 108.10 108.50 108.00 108.50 0.37 17,200
SMC Preferred A 74.75 75.00 74.75 74.75 0.00 271,930 (15,330,000.00)
SMC Preferred C 74.80 75.00 74.60 74.60 (0.27) 85,080 2,238.00
1050.00 1000.00 SMPFC Preferred 1015.00 1018.00 1018.00 1018.00 0.30 2,500
1.92 0.96 Swift Pref 1.30 1.42 1.30 1.30 0.00 6,000
WARRANTS & BONDS
2.28 0.68 Megaworld Corp. Warrants 2.25 2.23 2.12 2.13 (5.33) 1,199,000
S M E
11.88 4.21 Ripple E-Business Intl 9.50 9.00 9.00 9.00 (5.26) 8,000
GERRY GERONIMO
THE TRUST GURU
In defense of the guardians
of the well
THE Anti-Money Laundering Council, very early
this year, was very much surprised to see itself
subjected to, in my view, unwarranted criticism.
A well-known opinion writer (not of this paper)
painted the AMLC as having turned by PNoy into
his deadly weapon against his enemies.
The basis of such condemnation apparently was
a petition led by the AMLC with the Court of
Appeals to freeze the bank accounts of some ofcers
of the Development Bank of the Philippines who
were implicated in the so-called behest loan to
one who was a former minister during the tenure of
the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
The petition was led, the opinion writer
bewailed, even as no criminal charges were led
in court against them; the implication is that there
is a legal requirement for a prior criminal case and
this prerequisite was blatantly disregarded by the
AMLC.
The ling was also categorized by the opinion
writer as having the effect of unjustly putting
respectable people in the same light as the Aman
Futures scam suspects as well as the dreaded
terrorists of Al Qaida and the Taliban; unjust,
because obviously, the DBP respondents are
undoubtedly not cut from the same cloth.
Among those affected by the freeze order was a
neighbor of mine who, as a result, was allegedly
wronged additionally by the inaction, supposed by
the opinion writer of the Court of Appeals on his
motion to unfreeze some P140,000 from his bank
accounts that he needed for his cancer treatment.
I rise in defense of the Court of Appeals and the
AMLC.
It is not correct to say that the Court of Appeals
has not, as of the time the opinion writer came out
with his accusation, acted on my neighbors request
for the release of some money from his bank
accounts. In a Resolution dated Dec. 21, 2012, the
Court of Appeals specically tackled the request of
my neighbor for some funds from those accounts.
The Court of Appeals, in response, ruled: A
perusal of the Development Bank of the Philippines
Compliance and Manifestationreveals that [my
neighbor] have (sic) other bank accounts with
DBP containing substantial deposits/funds which
have been frozen already in compliance with Our
December 6, 2012 Resolution (Freeze Order).
It thus decided: Upon the facts disclosed by the
record and for humanitarian reasons, the motion of
[my neighbor] to lift the freeze order against his
Bank of Philippine Islands Accountand Hong
Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Account
is GRANTED. The FREEZE ORDER
over said bank accounts are LIFTED until nal
adjudication of the instant case.
The Court of Appeals clearly had not sat on the
motion of my neighbor to unfreeze accounts for his
basic necessities. From the ling of the motion to
lift to the resolution of the Court of Appeals, less
than a month transpired.
More important, the Court of Appeals really bent
backwards in accepting my neighbors plea grounded
on humanitarian reasons. Humanitarian
reasons is not, strictly speaking, a ground for
lifting a freeze under the R.A. No. 9160, as amended
(AMLA). Humanitarian exemptions, instead, is
found in Section 13 of R.A. No. 10168 which is
known as The Terrorism Financing Prevention and
Suppression Act of 2012. It clearly refers to funds
frozen under the rst paragraph of Section 11
Section 11 is about AMLCs authority to freeze
funds that are related to nancing of terrorism or
acts of terrorism or belong to persons who are
committing or attempting or conspiring to commit,
or participating in or facilitating the commission of
nancing of terrorism or acts of terrorism
Unfreezing for humanitarian reasons is thus
a special concession to those who may have
committed acts of terrorism under some misguided
patriotic objective. Not outright pursuit of criminal
action. Humanitarian reasons is not applicable to
money launderers who, under R.A. No. 9160, are
seen no more than as criminals hiding the proceeds
of their crime.
Notwithstanding the absence of a similar
provision in the Anti-Money Laundering Law
(R.A. No. 9160, as amended), however the Court
of Appeals used humanitarian reasons as basis,
along with facts disclosed by the record, to grant
my neighbors request for unfreezing two of his
many accounts.
Far from being heartless, the Court of Appeals
thus stretched the law by invoking in a case falling
under R.A. No. 9160 a leeway granted only to
violators of R.A. No. 10168.
Another point of correction I would like to make
is the hidden implication that a criminal case must
rst be led before a freeze order can be issued by
the Court of Appeals. The fact is that under R.A.
No. 9160, as amended, what justies the initiation
of the process of freezing bank accounts is not the
ling of a criminal case, but existence of probable
cause.
This was the clear pronouncement in the case of
M/Gen. Carlos Garcia v. Court of Appeals, G.R.
No. 165800, promulgated on Nov. 27, 2007. The
Supreme Court therein stated that there are only
two requisites under the law for the issuance of
a freeze order: (1) the application ex parte by the
AMLC; and (2) the determination of probable cause
by the Court of Appeals.
In order words, the Court of Appeals is given
the task of determining whether there is probable
cause to believe that certain funds or properties
are related to an unlawful activity or a money
laundering offense. Once it is so convinced, the
Court of Appeals needs to freeze. The actual ling
of the criminal case, either for any of the so-called
predicate offenses or for violations of the anti-
money laundering law, is not a requirement for the
issuance of a freeze order.
The reason is obvious. It is essential to the
purity of the money owing in the economy that its
guardians be able to act quickly and expeditiously
in spotting probable contamination and preventing
its likely spread. The ling of the petition is ex parte
because the offenders cannot be forewarned of the
cleaners approach; otherwise, all the contaminators
need to do is move out their offending material
as soon they sense the cleaners coming. What is
crucial to keeping the money in the economy clean,
like keeping the water in our faucets pure, is to have
lters in place in all the critical areas before the
contaminants could join the water ow. The Court
of Appeals, in our anti-money laundering regime,
performs the function of such advance lters.
Philippine courts reputation, has indeed,
unfortunately fallen into some hard times recently.
But the courts nevertheless continue to stand as our
nal bulwark against anarchy and our last defense
against the rule of might. Correct them, as we
must, when they stray. But carelessly besmirch the
judiciarys honor through misinformation or sloppy
homework, we ought not.
(For comments, e-mail me at
thetrustguru@icloud.com)
STOCKS rose for the fth day this year,
amid optimism the economy will sustain a
7-percent growth and attain an investment-
grade credit rating.
The Philippine Stock
Exchange index gained 3 points,
or 0.1 percent, to close at a record
6,048.90 on Tuesday. The index
actually hit an intra-day high
of 6,055.42 in the early part of
trading.
The heavier index, representing
all shares, also rose 1 point to
settle at 3,813.65, as gainers led
losers, 85 to 78, with 46 issues
unchanged. Value turnover
amounted to P7.5 billion.
SM Investments Corp. rose 1.7
percent to P939, after announcing
it signed a joint venture agreement
with the Waltermart Group.
First Philippine Holdings
climbed 3.3 percent to P93.70
while Energy Development Corp.
rose 2.6 percent to P7.10. First Gen
Corp. was up 3.5 percent to P24.
Meanwhile, Philippine
Long Distance Telephone Co.
retreated from a nine-week high
after a global asset manager
had threatened to pull out its
investment from the telecoms
company if the government
would revise the rules on foreign
ownership.
PLDT fell 0.6 percent after
Lazard Asset Management
LLC said might sell its PLDT
shares because of concerns over
proposed changes in the rules on
foreign ownership of Philippine
companies.
Meanwhile, Asian stock
markets traded lower Tuesday as
investors turned cautious before
US earnings season kicks off this
week.
Investors will get a feel for
corporate Americas outlook as
earnings reports start coming.
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc.
will unofcially launch the
reporting season for the fourth
quarter of 2012 on Tuesday after
US markets close.
Events during the quarter
such as Superstorm Sandy, the
presidential election and worries
about the narrowly avoided
scal cliff could lead to some
unexpected results.
Japans Nikkei 225 index
tumbled 1.1 percent to 10,477.14 as
the yen crept upward against the US
dollar. The rebound in the yen led
some investors to sell export shares
that had surged as the currency
weakened in recent weeks.
Hong Kongs Hang Seng fell
0.5 percent to 23,223.12. South
Koreas Kospi lost 0.6 percent
to 1,999.92. Benchmarks in
Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand
fell, while Indonesia and the
Philippines rose. Mainland
Chinese shares were mixed.
With AP
Business
ManilaStandardToday extrastory2000@gmail.com business@mst.ph WEDNESDAY
B3
JANUARY 9, 2013
Total gun banare they nuts?
CDO-Foodsphere advocacy. Valenzuela City cited food manufacturing company CDO-Foodsphere
Inc. for its active role in a campaign to eradicate child malnutrition in the city. At the awarding ceremonies
are (from left) Bernadette Bordador, head of the Valenzuela nutrition department; Jaime Exconde, ofcer-
in-charge of the Valenzuela health department; Odyssey Foundation Inc. operating staff Simeon Mallari
Jr. (senior project coordinator), social worker Ella Vergara and Dorothy Evangelista, head of the Valenzuela
social welfare department. CDO-Foodsphere has uplifted the nutritional status of some 4,000 pre-school
children in Valenzuela City since 2005 through a sustained supplemental feeding program initiated by
Odyssey Foundation, the rms corporate social responsibility arm.
By Othel V. Campos
GOLD Fields Philippines Corp., the
local unit of South Africas Gold Fields
Ltd., said Tuesday it may wait out the life
of an existing concession agreement in
Benguet province before upgrading it into
a contract that allows foreign majority
ownership of mining projects.
the FTAA so we can increase
company shares to majority,
communications ofcer Marrione
Ruiz said in an interview Tuesday.
Lepantos concession in the Far
Southeast mining project under the
Mineral Production and Sharing
Agreement is set expire in 2015.
The South African company
bought a 40-percent stake in the
Far Southeast mining project of
Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.
in 2011, with an option to acquire
another 20 percent.
Gold Fields additional 20-
percent stake in the project hinges
on obtaining an FTAA from the
government. The FTAA serves as
a contract with the government
that allows a foreign corporation
to legally own and control large-
scale mines in the Philippines.
The government also requires
the completion of a due diligence
with the conduct of an underground
drilling for verication of copper
and gold resource. The due
diligence must include assessment
of the safety, environmental and
technical considerations of the
project as well as community
acceptance.
Gold Fields bought the initial
40- percent stake in the project with
initial payments of $44 million
and $66 million to Lepanto.
The Far Southeast project
is close to two other mines of
Lepanto. It has ready access
to established infrastructure,
including roads, tailings facilities,
power and water.
Drillings conducted by
Lepanto indicate the presence of
a large, concealed gold-copper
mineralized porphyry system.
Over 80 diamond drill holes
totaling more than 35,000
meters to date have intersected a
mineralized zone.
Gold Fields, meanwhile, expects
approval of the Free, Prior and
Informed Consent requirement
from the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples within 2013.
Ruiz said that the mining
company had completed the
preparations necessary for ground
works ahead of the approval from
the NCIP.
Were just waiting for the FPIC.
After that, we can start ground
works and continue exploration,
she said.
A FEW days after the death of Stephanie Nicole Ella, 7, and Ranjelo
Nimer, 4, both hit by stray bullets in separate incidents during New
Years Eve celebrations, a frustrated wannabe politician went on
a shooting rampage, killing eight people and a dog before getting
killed by responding policemen himself. These incidents have
understandably drawn the outrage of many including Happy Hour
buddiestriggering fresh calls for a total
gun ban from some sectors who believe that a
gunless society would lead to genuine peace
(and prosperity and love for all mankind).
Happy Hour likes the idea of a peaceful
and crimeless societyif that were really
possiblebut imposing a total gun ban
would just benet criminals who, lest total gun ban proponents
forget, will continue to violate the law and carry rearms illegally.
According to a PNP spokesman, there are some 600,000 loose
rearmsand by loose he means previously registered rearms
whose licenses have not been renewed by owners for one reason
or another, making the actual number higher if one throws in
homemade shotguns, smuggled rearms and the paltiks from
Danao, etc. Surely PNP records contain the names and addresses
of licensed gun owners, so they should assign a unit or department
to monitor expired gun licenses and the registered owners and do
something about this the way the Land Transportation Ofce does
when people have expired drivers licenses or vehicle registration.
Why punish responsible and licensed gun owners just because
authorities are ineffective in enforcing gun control laws? People
have the right to protect themselves and their loved ones, and there
have been many instances when the mere sound of a gun being
loaded is enough to deter thieves, robbers and akyat bahay gang
members. Perhaps we should also ban knives, meat cleavers and
other bladed weapons because these have also been used by criminals
in murdering people? Really now. Politicians and the PNP should
look at suggestions to make rearms license owners undergo rigid
psychiatric and drug tests rst, limit the number and type of rearms
allowed (remember Ronald Llamas?) and other similar measures.
Best of all, the police should go after illegal gun manufacturers
and smugglers because they are the biggest sources of loose
rearmsmany of which undoubtedly end up in the hands of
carjackers, robbers, kidnapers, rapists, murderers, drug trafckers
and all other kinds of crooks and criminals, petty or otherwise.
Show political will, not wont
An anti-graft watchdog has led charges before the ofce of the
Ombudsman against several Transportation ofcials for alleged
bidding anomalies in relation to the P8.2-billion LTO-IT project.
According to the complaint, the ofcials (among them Undersecretary
Jose Perpetuo Juju Lotilla, who also happens to be the chairman
of the bids and awards committee) are purposely derailing the bidding
process to put Stradcom back into the picture. Say that again? Seems
unlikely, Happy Hour buddies say, since Lotilla, who was handpicked
by former Transportation and now Local Government Secretary
Mar Roxas, is known for being a decent guy who would not want
to have his name tainted by any anomaly.
Besides, everyone knows how Secretary Mar
had been wanting to throw the contract with
Stradcom into the dustbin, so to speak, due to
many loopholes plus the fact that many people
have been unhappy with the performance of the
current provider. And didnt the government
want to sue Stradcom before, to the tune of P2 billion, for unauthorized
interconnectivity fees that the IT company collected as payment for
data that government owns in the rst place?
In any case, Happy Hour stoolies inform us that an interested
party has now joined the fray, allegedly getting the help of a
prominent personality to use precious airtime to agitate on the
issuethe agenda being to force the Transportation into declaring a
failure of bidding which will only benet Stradcom in the process.
Oopsthat latter scenario could mean more suffering to the already
long-suffering public, our buddies commented.
Instead of mulling over a four-month extension to Stradcom, the
Transportation and the LTO should focus on vetting the qualications
of the biddersstarting with lowest bidder Digitext Asia who, those
in the know allege, should be DQed for failing to meet basic pre-
bidding procedures and protocol. (Digitext owners and directors
are also facing multimillion graft charges.) The other two bidders,
Eurolink and Fritz and Macziol, both have extensive experience in
working with the private sector. Fritz and Macziol gave the second
lowest bid, and according to Happy Hour sources, stated during the
pre-bidding that it was ready to take over from Stradcom from the
word go, so to speak. Eurolink submitted the third lowest bid but
apparently, the company is facing a conict of interest issue being a
private emission testing center owner/providersomething that is a
no-no per a Transportation directive because it sounds so much like
a having your cake and eating it, too scenario.
How this will pan outand whether Abaya will show political
will, not wontby refusing to be pressured into declaring a failure
of bidding, will be worth watching since this LTO-IT project is
critical, plus the fact that the public has had enough of the glitches,
not to mention the drama, that the public was subjected to regarding
the ownership dispute involving Stradcom.
For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns,
readers may e-mail to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com.
CENTURY Properties Group
Inc., the property unit of
Ambassador Jose Antonio, said
Tuesday its board approved an
P800-million share buyback
program in a bid to increase the
value of the companys shares.
Century Properties said in a
disclosure to the stock exchange
it would implement the buyback
program over 24 months starting
this month.
The corporation will
undertake such buyback
transaction only if and to the
extent that the price per share
is deemed undervalued, share
prices are considered highly
volatile, or in any other instance
where the corporation believes
that a buyback will result in
enhancing shareholder value,
the company said.
Century Properties said it
would use retained earnings to
repurchase the shares.
The company said the program
would not involve active and
widespread solicitation from
stockholders in general and not
adversely affect the companys
prospective and existing
development projects.
Share price of Century on
Tuesday closed at P1.74 apiece,
up 4.2 percent from the previous
days close.
Century Properties, which is
known for high-end condominium
projects, plans to launch more
affordable residential projects as
well as commercial developments
to further boost income.
The companys masterplanned
development projects include
Century City, Canyon Ranch in
Cavite, Azure Urban Residences
in Paraaque City and Acqua
Residences in Mandaluyong
City. Jenniffer B. Austria
Century
approves
P800-m
buyback
By Jenniffer B. Austria
ALSONS Consolidated
Resources Inc., the holding
company of the Mindanao-
based Alcantara Group, said net
income in 2012 likely reached
P567.2 million, up 24 percent
from P456 million in 2011.
Alsons in a disclosure to the
stock exchange attributed the
increase in the 2012 net income
to ongoing power projects.
It said sales and service
income from the Lima
Technology Center in Malvar,
Batangas increased due to the
expansion of major locators,
while energy fees from power
generation units in Sarangani
province and Zamboanga City
remained the same.
Lima Technology is a
business park jointly owned by
property unit Alsons Land Inc.
and Marubeni Corp. of Japan.
Alsons last month completed
the nancing for the rst phase of
the power coal-red power plant
project in Maasim, Sarangani.
Unit Sarangani Energy Power
is constructing 105-megawatt
power plant at a cost of $310
million. The power plant is
expected to be completed by
August 2015.
The company is looking at
developing the next 105-MW
power plant project in Talisayan,
Zamboanga City. The power
plant projects are expected to
provide long-term solution to the
power shortage in Mindanao.
Due to these developments,
ACR is continuing to explore
fund-raising activities, including
raising equity in the international
market, the company said.
Alsons deferred a 2011
plan to raise $175 million
through a share sale to nance
construction of power plants
due to market volatility.
Major shareholders Alsons
Corp. and Alsons Development
and Investments Corp. had
planned to sell a portion of the
shares to investors. The selling
shareholders, however, would
subscribe to the same number
of shares they sold.
The company appointed
CLSA Ltd. as the sole global
coordinator, sole bookrunner
and stabilization agent for the
proposed transaction.
Gold Fields still keen on FTAA
While were at it, we will be
renewing our application for an
FTAA [Financial and Technical
Assistance Agreement]. We need
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No. 10,
through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the
following projects funded under CY 2012 Calamity, to wit::
Contract Name: Construction/Reconstruction of Damaged River Revetment
along Cagayan de Oro River Sta. 0+000 to Sta. 0+290.76
Contract Location: Brgy. Macabalan, Cagayan de Oro City
Brief Description: Construction/Reconstruction of Damaged River Revetment
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): To be discussed on Pre-bid Conference

Contract Name: Construction/Reconstruction of Damaged River
Revetment along Cagayan de Oro River Sta. 0+633.45 to
Sta. 0+986.14
Contract Location: Brgy. Macabalan, Cagayan de Oro City
Contract Name: Construction/Reconstruction of Damaged River
Revetment along Cagayan de Oro River Sta. 0+986.14 to
Sta. 1+240.00
Contract Location: Brgy. Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City
Contract Name: Construction of Flood Control Revetment along Cagayan
de Oro River (Fisla Section) Sta. 4+596.50 to Sta.
4+673.75
Contract Location: Brgy. Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City
Brief Description: Construction of Flood Control Revetment
Contract Name: Flood Control Works Slope Protection (Gabions at the Toe,
Coconet and Vetiver Grass at the Slope) along Calaanan
Creek, Sta. 0+000 to Sta. 0+900 and Tagmatay Creek,
Sta.0+000 to Sta. 1+184.70, Sitio Calaanan
Contract Location: Brgy. Canitoan, Cagayan de Oro City
Brief Description: Flood Control Works Slope Protection (Gabions at the Toe,
Coconet and Vetiver Grass at the Slope)
Contract Name: Construction of Macasandig PSPC Bridge, Phase I, over
Calapatan Creek
Contract Location: Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro City
Brief Description: Construction of PSPC Bridge
Contract Name: Repair/Rehabilitation of Road Slip along Lumbia-Ugiaban
By-Pass Road Km. 1460+400-Km. 1460+660
Contract Location: Cagayan de Oro City
Brief Description: Repair/Rehabilitation of Road Slip
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 these contracts, a contractor must 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, 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 Offce before the scheduled date of bidding. The DPWH-
POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors applications for registration with
complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC).
Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-Regional
Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee
as stated above. 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. Bids
must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated
in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the
BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope
shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the
Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the
fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated
Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Offce No. 10 reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid
and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any
liability to the affected bidders.
Approved by:

BAC-Chairman
NOTED:
Regional Director
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The City Government of Makati, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites registered suppliers/manufacturers/
distributors/contractors to bid for the hereunder projects:
NO. NAME OF PROJECT AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION LOCATION APPROVED BuDgET
1 HIV Ag/Ab Combo Reagent and other laboratory supplies for the use
of Ospital ng Makati
OSMAK P53,129,259.00
2 Various equipment (sound systemand lights) for the use of Department
of Engineering and Public Works Public Assistance/Risk Disaster
Preparedness Program, Seminar and Workshops
DEPW P10,660,124.00
Prospective Bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project with an amount of at least 50% of the
proposed project for bidding. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examinations of Bids shall use non-
discretionary pass/fail criteria. Post-Qualifcation 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-Qualifcation and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows:
ACTIVITIES SCHEDuLE
1. Pre-Bidding Conference at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor January 17, 2013 (02:00 P.M.)
2. Opening of Bids at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor January 31, 2013 (02:00 P.M.)
Bidding Documents will be available only to Prospective Bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of
______________________to the City Government of Makati Cashier.
(fee for Bid Documents) (Procuring Entity)
The City Government of Makati assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for
(Procuring Entity)
any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid.
The City of Makati reserves the right to disqualify any or all proposal, to waive any defects or informalities therein and to
accept such proposal as may be considered most advantageous to the Government.
Approved by:
(Sgd.) Atty. ELENO M. MENDOZA, JR.
Chairperson

Bids and Awards Committee
J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City
Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988
www.makati.gov.ph
INVITATION TO BID
REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS
LuNgSOD Ng MAKATI
Alsons sees net profit of P567.2m
B4
WORLD
Milky Way
hosts many
Earth-size
planets
Pentagon eyes
$45-b defense cut
Assad speech disappoints UN head
Malaysia funds subway with bonds
IN BRIEF
Censorship row rocks China
Spitfire collapses
on UK runway
LONDONAirport ofcials
say an antique Spitre aircraft
owned by engine company
Rolls Royce collapsed shortly
after landing at East Midlands
Airport in central England.
The airport said in a
statement the World War II-era
planes undercarriage failed
as it touched down Monday
afternoon. The pilot was
unharmed and the damaged
aircraft was towed away.
The sleek-looking Spitfire
played a pivotal role in the
Battle of Britain, when the
single-seat fighter helped
beat back waves of German
bombers. More than 20,000
were built, although only a
few dozen remain in working
order today.
Rolls Royce, which built
the Merlin engines used to
power the ghters, says it
bought this plane in 1996. It
typically appears at airshows
and corporate functions.AP
Diploma dilemma
for Europe grads
PARISEstelle Borrell
knew she wanted to work in
law since she was a teenager,
when she interned at a court
in Versailles, France. The
lawyers in their black robes,
they were like gods to me,
said the 24-year-old Parisian.
Borrell studied law at
Vienna University, where
she dreamed of putting her
passion into practice at an
international organization.
She got a shock when she
began working at a Vienna
law firm.
I knew how to resolve
cases on paper, but when I got
into the law firm it was really
ridiculous, Borrell said. My
boss asked me to call a judge
and I was absolutely not able
to do it. I didnt even have
the vocabulary I needed to do
a really simple call.
Borrell, who is now back
in France seeking work while
continuing legal studies in
Paris, has come to know
firsthand what educators,
industry and governments
across the continent
are slowly coming to
acknowledge as globalization
intensifies competition and a
devastating economic crisis
swells youth unemployment:
Europes universities, many
founded during the Middle
Ages, are failing to prepare
students for the demands of
the 21st century world.AP
Fewer gun buyers in mass shooting states
What started out as a confrontation by
Southern Weekly journalists with a top
censor over a New Years editorial has
rapidly become a focal point driving public
calls for the Communist Party government
to loosen its grip on information.
The dispute centers on how the editorial,
originally calling for political reform,
was transformed into a tribute praising
the Communist Party. Scholars have
signed open letters calling for the censors
dismissal, celebrities are speaking out
for the paper on microblogs and people
gathered for a second day outside the
publications ofce bearing owers and
signs in support.
On Tuesday, the papers editorial
committee was to hold a fourth round of
negotiations with its top management,
which is part of the provincial propaganda
ofce, according to a Southern Weekly
editor, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because of an internal directive
not to talk to the foreign media.
Protesters again gathered outside the
ofces of the newspaper in the southern city
of Guangzhou bearing signs and shouting
slogans, said two participants.
Southern Weekly is the only mainland
newspaper that, relatively speaking, is
more able to report the truth, said one of
the protesters, Cheng Qiubo, a democracy
activist. We are very angry that it has been
censored.
The issue also galvanized a wide variety
of people on Chinas popular Twitter-like
microblogs, with journalists, scholars,
entrepreneurs and celebrities posting
messages of support for the newspaper.
Also joining the chorus were 18 Chinese
academics who signed an open letter
calling for the dismissal of Tuo Zhen, a
provincial propaganda minister blamed for
the censorship. The scholars included legal
professors, liberal economists, historians
and writers.
Six weeks ago, China installed a new
generation of Communist Party leaders
for the next ve years, with current Vice
President Xi Jinping at the helm. Some of Xis
announcements for a trimmed-down style of
leadership, with reduced waste and fewer
unnecessary meetings, have raised hopes
in some quarters that he might favor deeper
reforms in the political system to mollify a
public long frustrated by local corruption.AP
BEIRUTUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon on Monday expressed disappointment
with Syrian President Bashar Assad for
rejecting the most important elements of an
international roadmap to end the countrys
civil war a political handover and
establishment of a transitional governing
body.
Assad in a rare speech Sunday outlined his
own vision for ending the countrys conict
with a plan that would keep him in power.
He also dismissed any chance of dialogue
with the armed opposition and called on
Syrians to ght what he called murderous
criminals.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky
said Monday the secretary-general is
disappointed that Assads speech does not
contribute to a solution that could end the
terrible suffering of the Syrian people.
Nesirky said Ban and UN-Arab League
envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will continue to
work for a political transition that leads to
UN-organized elections.
The West, including the US and Britain,
denounced Assads speech, which came
amid stepped-up international efforts for a
peaceful settlement to the Syrian conict.
On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticized
the Syrian leaders initiative. He accused
Assad of state terrorism and called on
him to relinquish power.
There is one way out for Bashar and that
is to respect the will of the people and do
whatever is necessary, Erdogan said at a media
conference while visiting Gabon. His remarks
were broadcast by Turkish state TV Monday.
The violence on the ground, meanwhile,
continued unabated.
Syrias state media said Monday that
government troops repulsed a rebel attack
on a police school in the northern city of
Aleppo.
The ofcial SANA news agency said
regime forces killed and wounded members
of a terrorist group in the ghting late
Sunday, but did not provide a number. The
government and the pro-regime media
refer to the rebels seeking to topple Assad
as terrorists.
BEIJING Editors of a Chinese newspaper known for
bold reporting were meeting Tuesday with propaganda
ofcials to nd a way out of a censorship dispute that
has evolved to challenge Chinas new leadership.
LOS ANGELES Our Milky
Way is home to at least 17 billion
planets that are as big as the Earth,
a new estimate suggests. Thats
more than two Earth-size planets
for every person on the globe.
Just how many are located in the
sweet spot where water could exist is
simply too early to call, said Francois
Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, who
presented his work at an astronomy
meeting Monday.
Its the rst reliable tally of
the number of worlds outside
the solar system that are the
size of Earth, but the hunt for
our twin is far from over.
Despite the explosion of
exoplanet discoveries in recent
years, one nd remains elusive:
A planet thats not only the right
size but also in the so-called
Goldilocks zone where its not
too hot or too cold for water to
be in liquid form on the surface.
The sheer number of Earth-
size planets gives astronomers
a starting point to narrow
down which ones are in the
habitable zone.
Fressin and his team came up
with their gure by conducting
a fresh analysis of data collected
by NASAs Kepler spacecraft,
which was launched in 2009 to
track down other Earths. They
estimated at least one in six stars
in the galaxy hosts a planet the size
of ours, translating to at least 17
billion Earth-size worlds. AP
WASHI NGTONPeopl e
who lived in the two states
that saw the most deadly
US mass shootings in 2012
were less enthusiastic about
buying new guns at the end
of the year than those in most
other states, according to an
Associated Press analysis of
new FBI data.
The latest government
gures also reect huge
increases across the US in the
number of background checks
for gun sales and permits
to carry guns at the end of
the year. After President
Barack Obamas re-election
in November, the school
shooting in Connecticut last
month and Obamas promise
to support new laws aimed
at curbing gun violence,
the number of background
checks spiked, especially
in the South and West. In
Georgia, the FBI processed
37,586 requests during
October and 78,998 requests
in December; Alabama
went from 32,850 to 80,576
during the same period.
Nationally, there were
nearly twice as many more
background checks for
firearms between November
and December than during
the same time period one
year ago.
Background checks
typically spike during the
holiday shopping season, and
some of the increases in the
most recent FBI numbers can
be attributed to that. But the
number of background checks
also tends to increase after
mass shootings, when gun
enthusiasts fear restrictive
measures are imminent. AP
MALAYSIA, Southeast Asias
biggest local-currency bond
market, will let retail investors
fund Kuala Lumpurs new
subway as it starts marketing its
rst exchange- traded notes to
individuals.
DanaInfra Nasional Bhd.,
the state-owned company thats
nancing the rail network, is
kicking off the offerings and plans
to complete the sale of Islamic
bonds by Feb. 8, according to a
statement today. The notes will
pay a minimum prot rate of 3.7
percent, depending on demand
and market interest, it said.
The country joins Indonesia,
Thailand and the Philippines
in tapping the general public
for funds and providing an
alternative investment to bank
deposits and equities. Prime
Minister Najib Razak said in
a speech at the unveiling at
Bursa Malaysia Bhd. (BURSA)
today that the securities give an
unprecedented opportunity for
people to invest in the nations
development. The bonds will
help boost market volumes,
Tajuddin Atan, chief executive
ofcer at the bourse, said in an
e-mail on Jan. 6.
The Islamic notes will provide
retail investors with an opportunity
to be part of a major public
infrastructure project, Ranjit Ajit
Singh, chairman of Malaysias
Securities Commission, said in an
e-mail yesterday. One of the key
components of our capital-market
strategy is to continue to grow the
bond market, which is already the
fourth largest in Asia.
Malaysia sold a record amount
of debt last year as companies help
fund the governments $444 billion
development program to build
railways, roads and power plants.
DanaInfra will offer 300 million
ringgit ($99 million) of government-
guaranteed Islamic securities to
individuals, Ashraf Radzi, associate
director of Prokhas Sdn., a financial
adviser to the company, said in Jan. 3
interview. He declined to give specific
details such as yields or maturity.
The bonds, which pay returns
on assets to comply with the
Korans ban on interest, will
be sold in increments of 100
ringgit, or the equivalent of $33,
with a minimum order value of
1,000 ringgit, Bursa Malaysias
Tajuddin said.
The exchange-traded
securities would open up the
market to a bigger pool of funds
given that its mainly dominated
by institutional investors who
currently buy or sell debt through
brokerages or dealers.
Under present rules, an
individual needs a capital base
of more than 3 million ringgit, or
gross annual income exceeding
300,000 ringgit in the preceding
12 months, to purchase bonds,
Lee Kok Kwan, deputy CEO
of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.
(CIMB), said in an interview
yesterday. Alternatively, the
minimum size per trade is
250,000 ringgit via private
placement if net worth isnt
declared, he said. BLOOMBERG
THE Pentagon faces a reduction
of as much as $45 billion this scal
year if automatic spending cuts take
effect March 1, its comptroller said.
That level would be 27 percent
less than the $62 billion in
reductions the Pentagon would
have confronted if the automatic
cuts known as sequestration had
begun last week as scheduled,
Robert Hale told an audience
at the Brookings Institution in
Washington today.
President Barack Obama signed
a last-minute budget deal on Jan. 2
that averted tax increases for most US
workers and delayed for two months
the across-the-board spending cuts
in defense and other programs. Hale
said the legislation also eased some
terms of the defense cuts for the fiscal
year ending Sept. 30.
These legal changes are
quite complex, but it looks like
about $45 billion, Hale said of
the potential cuts, adding that
analysts are continuing to study
the legislation. They reduced the
size of the sequestration in the
negotiations.
About $149 billion in military
personnel funds for scal 2013 are
exempt from the automatic cuts,
shifting the spending reductions
to civilian employees, contractors,
operations and maintenance costs
and weapons programs.
Hale said the reductions still
would result in 9 percent across-
the-board cuts in procurement and
research that could include such
major programs as Lockheed Martin
Corp.s F-35 ghter jet. Reductions
also would affect operations and
maintenance.
Inevitably there will be some
delay in presenting the Pentagons
scal 2014 budget that was
scheduled to be released Feb. 4,
he said. Normally we would be
transmitting data to the White
House Ofce of Management and
Budget now and we are not, Hale
said. BLOOMBERG
In this photo taken and provided by activist Wu Wei, a man wearing a mask with words Silent holds a banner reading: Lets
chase our dreams together, go Southern Weekly newspaper during a protest outside the headquarters of the newspaper in
Guangzhou, Guangdong province Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. AP
In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, handguns are displayed in the sales area of
Sandy Springs Gun Club and Range, in Sandy Springs, Ga. In Connecticut
and Colorado, scenes of the most deadly US mass shootings in 2012,
people were less enthusiastic about buying new guns at the end of the
year than in most other states, according to an Associated Press analysis
of new FBI data. AP
SHOW YOUR LOVE
WITH COFFEE
Share the love and show how
much you care your loved
ones through a warm cup of
delicious and healthy coffee.
W
H
A
T
S
I
N
S
I
D
E
THE BIRTH OF 8487
Two bestfriends, one trip to
Napa Wine country, and the
experience will change both
their lives forever
sha.re/
Gianna Maniego, Editor
Dinna Chan Vasquez, Assistant Editor
By Ed Biado
WHATS IN YOUR
basket?
you absolutely
home work relationship
standardlifestyle@gmail.com
C1
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9, 2013
IT TAKES a certain toughness, not to mention determination, to brave negative
ve degree weather in Toronto. The skin cracks, the nose runs, and the hair is
permanently plastered to ones face.
share of caterwauling.
If you like singing (and we did) and
youre not ashamed of doing it out loud
(which we were not), then go to The Keg
Steakhouse, a resto bar a stones throw
from our hotel (Toronto Hilton).
People there dont mind. Sometimes
they even join in.
And the steaks are good too.
Shops ahoy!
If you know anything about us (me-
dia people), you would know that only
one thing could make us go and tough it
out against the elements: shopping.
And thats what we did during our
spare moments.
Despite the steep 13 percent sales
tax imposed on most of its goods, To-
ronto is a shoppers haven for both
the frugal and the big spender.
For instance, those among us
who liked bargains trooped to
Chinatown and got souvenir shirts
for less than 10 Canadian dollars
apiece, while those who liked to
buy in bulk, or just wanted to buy
out the toy stores period, scoured out-
lets like Vaughan Mills. Even the golfers
among us found some gems (grips, Dri-
Fit shirts) at the Marshall Fields outlet
near the hotel.
Those who had a long laundry list of
pasalubongs to buy, meanwhile, discov-
ered Eaton Center in downtown Toron-
to. The mall was a great one-stop depot
for those looking for, say, an unlocked
iPhone 5 (Apple Store), some Glysomed
hand cream (Shoppers Drug Mart) and
a Justin Bieber calendar (Indigo Book-
store).
Some of us considered heading
for Bloor Street to get our Gucci or
Hermes x, but didnt have enough
time for an excursion (read: they came
to their senses.)
A lot of us found the stores shop-
per-friendly, with numerous rest-
rooms and sitting areas strategical-
ly located throughout the shopping
area. Some of them even offer
WiFi for free. Its no wonder our
credit cards got a good workout.
In the end, it wasnt how
much we spent that proved to
be a problem. It was whether
wed be able to t everything
we bought in our luggage.
Fortunately, PAL gave us
ample baggage allowance to
bring them all home.
(Next: Heard It
Through The Grape-
vine)
PALs Toronto ser-
vice (PR 118) departs
Manila every Wednes-
day, Friday and Sun-
day at 3:00 p.m. Arrival
at Terminal 3 of Toronto
Pearson International Air-
port is at 5:00 p.m. on the
same days. The return ight
(PR 119) departs Toronto ev-
ery Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday at 7:35 p.m., stop-
ping in Vancouver at 9:30
p.m. The service continues
on to Manila at 11:30 p.m.
and arrives at Terminal
2 of Ninoy Aquino Inter-
national Airport at 5:45
a.m. two calendar days
later.
For more informa-
tion, visit the PAL Web
site (www.philippine-
airlines.com)
But for those of us invited to
join Philippine Airlines inaugu-
ral ight to Tronow, the pros-
pect of missing out on the many
features of the city was never up
for debate. After all, whats a lit-
tle frostbite when youre faced
with viewing one of Natures
amazing wonders (like the Ni-
agara Falls)?
So, dressed snugly in our
coats and with ngers tucked
into our maple-patterned
iptop mittens (a gift from
Allan Coo and the Toronto-
based PAL group) we set
about getting the lay of the
land.
Rhythm of the city
Ive heard it said that
Toronto is New York mi-
nus the urgent beat that
staccatos throughout the
Big Apple.
This much is true.
Toronto is Canadas
largest city and hosts
one of the most di-
verse populations in
the world. It is the 5th
most populous city in
North America.
As the nancial
nerve center of Canada, it has
its share of chrome towers and concrete
superhighways. The streets are busy, as
vehicles and pedestrians move about in a
never ending congress of trafc.
But somehow one gets the feeling
people here are more willing to stop for
lattes in the middle of the day than their
counterparts in Gotham.
They seem more
friendly too.
There are many
ways to enjoy the
city.
A bus tour may hit
the high points but if
you can, nd someone
who knows his way
around. Toronto has a
plethora of tourist spots
sprawling parks, high rise
towers, hole-in-the-wall
cafes, and theater/muse-
umstucked in unexpected
nooks and crannies that only
longtime residents are privy
to. Exploring the
city on foot would
be an interesting
adventure.
Mar ket! Mar-
ket!
Our own
tour, appropri-
ately enough,
began with
a stop at St.
L a wr e n c e
Market, a
multi-level
food empo-
rium that
has been voted
the Worlds Best Food Market by
National Geographic. It offers fresh
produce, deli goodies and even cooking
utensils in one giant farmers plaza.
This is the place to go if you want to
bring home a taste of Canada to a few
dozen of your friends. Theres maple
syrup, wheels of cheese, and spices ga-
lore. A lot of us went gaga for the maple
biscuits, while one or two wanted to
bring home all the pt.
If you like cooking, or are just on
the lookout for something cute to bring
home, theres a whole selection of fun
kitchen paraphernalia on sale.
Hungry? Feel free to sample some of
the food from the kiosks in the middle
of the market, as well as the restaurants
along the side.
With so much going on, its so easy
to let time get away from you. But the
prices are reasonable and considering
you can get most of what you want in
one go, its totally worth the trip.
Around the city in 40 minutes
The next hour passed by in a blur
as the bus took us through the Finan-
cial District, the Old and New City
Halls (which, strangely enough, were
just across the street from each other)
and Chinatown, before taking us to the
Lower Entertainment district, where a
few theaters and the citys largest en-
tertainment venue, Rogers Centre, are
situated.
Rogers Centre, which at the time was
about to host a Justin Bieber concert,
sits right next door to the CN Tower.
On clear days, the 553 meter commu-
nications and observation tower offers
a breathtaking view of Toronto and its
environs. Unfortunately, it was cloudy
with a chance of snow on the day we
visited so our view consisted mainly
of a sh sticker attached to one of the
windows.
Fortunately, the lling lunch we
enjoyed at the towers 360 Restaurant
made up for it. (Really, when they say
theyre serving a Half Chicken glazed
with Quebec Maple Syrup, be prepared.
These are not puny.)
A ver y Filipino Chr istmas
Its just as well that we had a brief
respite at the hotel before heading to the
Paskuhan Village. Some of us had to re-
cover from that chicken.
The event, a trade expo organized
by Fiipino Canadians at the Metro To-
ronto Convention Center, showcased
different Filipino products like T-shirts,
abaca slippers and bottled pickles.
The well-attended event served as
the public launch of the PAL Toronto
service and coincided with a roadshow
presentation of The Filipino Channel,
featuring Toni Gonzaga, Kim Chiu
and Ger ald Ander son.
A little night music
Toronto is a city that comes alive at
night, and those of us who did nocturnal
walking tours discovered a whole new
world unfold after midnight.
San Miguels Jayson Br izuela, for
example, had to (strongly) decline an
offer to join a group of teens who were
making the rounds of the 12 bars of
Christmas.
(Didnt I say they were friendly?)
Thats not to say we didnt have our
Words and images by Gianna G. Maniego
Additional images by Jayson Brizuela and Roy Bonghanoy
TORONTO DIARIES 2:
Baby Its Cold Outside
Rogers
Centre,
Torontos
largest
entertain-
ment arena,
with the CN
Tower in the
background.
Showing off our iptop mittens. From Left, Tessa Arriola (Manila
Times), Dinah Ventura (Daily Tribune), The writer, Jeff Valisno (Business
World) and Gerard Ramos (Business Mirror)
Downtown Toronto
St. Lawrence Market
Eaton Centre
Ye Olde City Hall
WEDNESDAY C2
JANUARY 9, 2013
home work relationships
standardlifestyle@gmail.com
Gianna Maniego, Editor
Dinna Chan Vasquez, Assistant Editor
ManilaStandardToday
sha.re/
By Ed Biado
SINCE the battle on repro-
ductive health is over, some
lawmakers believe that the
time is ripe to tackle yet an-
other controversial and po-
tentially divisive piece of leg-
islationone that, if passed,
will affect families across the
landa bill that legalizes di-
vorce.
Filed in August 2010 by
the Gabriela party-list group,
House Bill No. 1799, An
Act Introducing Divorce in
the Philippines, remains in
the back
b u r n e r s
of Con-
gress. It
was only
after the
appr oval
of the RH
bill in both chambers that at-
tention was paid to it again,
when House Speaker Felici-
ano Belmonte, who supports
the divorce bill, said that its
likely to be taken up by the
next Congress.
Aside from the Vatican,
the Philippines is the only
country in the world without
a divorce law. In the absence
of divorce, Filipino spouses
seeking to get out of failing
marriages may consider two
legal remedies: legal sepa-
ration allows them to sepa-
rate but still remain mar-
ried (thus, not being able to
remarry) while annulment
nullies and invalidates the
marriage altogether.
Divorce would be in the
middle of those two legal
concepts, as it dissolves (or
essentially terminates) a mar-
riage without declaring it null
and void.
Filipinos have been luke-
warm towards the concept
of divorce primarily because
of perception. Divorce is
viewed as an easy way out.
And we gather this because
of our observation of Amer-
ican culture and society. It is
commonly believed that one
in two American marriages
ends in divorce; that one
can simply go to Las Vegas
to get hitched in a drunken
ceremony ofciated by an
Elvis impersonator and sign
divorce papers the next day
while curing a hangover
we dont want that. Filipi-
nos believe in the sanctity
of the institution of mar-
riage and family and would
protect it at all cost.
What many Filipinos
may not be aware of is that
divorce laws vary from na-
tion to nation. The Vegas
instance above is a clas-
sic example of no-fault
divorce, which doesnt
need either party to show
any wrongdoing. This kind
of divorce is available in
all 50 US states and the
District of Columbia, and
in many other countries.
However, HB 1799 does
not allow no-fault divorce.
In fact, obtaining a divorce
would be quite difcult un-
der the proposed law. Valid
grounds for ling a petition
for divorce would be: (1) the
spouses have been de facto
separated for at least ve
years, (2) the spouses have
been legally separated for at
least two years, (3) the pres-
ence of irreconcilable dif-
ferences resulting in the ir-
reparable breakdown of the
marriage, (4) either spouse
suffers from psychological
incapacity to fulll marital
obligations, and (5) grounds
for legal separation resulting
in the irreparable breakdown
of the marriage. For the pe-
tition for divorce to be ap-
proved, the petitioner would
have to prove that one or
more of these scenarios actu-
ally exist.
What do you think? Does
the Philippines need a di-
vorce law? Let the debates
begin.
Are we
ready for
divorce?
AGING gets more exciting
as LifeScience Center for
Wellness and Preventive
Medicine partners with
Insular Life in bringing
the Regenerate Privilege
Carda gift given to
the policyholders of In-
sular Lifes iHeal program.
The Regenerate Card offers a
yearlong 20 percent discount on
all services of LifeSciencea
wellness center, which offers the
most advanced technologies to
provide tailor-made health con-
sultations, tests, and treatments.
We cannot turn back the
hands of time but we can de-
nitely slow it down and enjoy
every ticking moment of it.
This partnership with Insular
Life aims to give every per-
son of any age the privilege of
taking their health to another
level, says Mar ia Victor ia
Romer o-Salas, executive di-
rector of LifeScience.
As people age, certain condi-
tions and illnesses may arise due
to decades of prioritizing career
and other life goals. Some com-
mon health issues may include
depression, heart conditions, ar-
thritis, and osteoporosis.
But LifeScience believes
that this should not discourage
people from getting back their
youthful vigor.
With our host of state-of-the
art services that focus on know-
ing your unique physiological
traits, and what your body can
still do at a later stage in life,
what you once thought impos-
sible is now a reality: great health
and vitality, no matter what your
age is, says Benedict Fr ancis
Valdecanas, MD, medical direc-
tor of LifeScience.
Age is just a number for us
at LifeScience. Were glad that
Insular Life thinks the same
way we do, and were more
than happy partnering with
them in making our services
more accessible to everyone,
enthuses Romero-Salas.
Beyond skin-deep anti-aging
People may be living longer
but the quality of life may be en-
dangered by health conditions.
This is why the people behind
LifeScience searched around the
globe for the best practices in
preventive health care and made
it available in one integrated
center situated at the Bonifacio
Global City.
And when it comes to anti-
aging, LifeSciences combina-
tion of sophisticated science and
highly esteemed doctors com-
pletes the equation for effective
prevention or restoration.
Aside from the Preventive
Wellness program, LifeScience
also offers Metabolic Manage-
ment, Hormonal Restoration,
Joint Care and Regeneration,
Sports Medicine and Physique
Development, and Beauty and
Skin Programs.
Its services include lifestyle
management, genomics, anti-
aging consultations, labora-
tory testing and analysis, IV
Therapy, Beauty and skin pro-
cedures, hyperbaric oxygen
therapy, kinesis, aesthetic and
sports surgery, and custom-
ized supplements.
To complete the health and
beauty makeover, LifeScience
also specializes in Beauty and
Skin treatments, which are ex-
pertly done by dermatologists
using modern technology and
world-class products.
For more information about
LifeScience, visit www.life-
science.ph.
THESE days, showing people
how much you love them can
come in different forms. It can be
as simple as writing a love note,
or as extravagant as performing a
surprise ash mob proposal.
But more than offering a bunch
of gifts, you show your love
by caring for their well-being.
Making sure theyre happy and
healthy proves just how much
you care. For Stanhome, the
Home and Family Care expert
in Direct Selling, caring for your
loved ones can be as simple as of-
fering a warm cup of coffee.
Stanhomes Cup of Love Gour-
met Cappuccino is a new product
that offers both good taste and
good health. This sweet concoc-
tion is enhanced with natural in-
gredients that are known to keep
you healthy: Omega-3, Barley,
Garcinia cambogia, and Stevia.
Omega-3 is a well-known fatty
acid that boosts heart health, lowers
triglycerides and improves men-
tal health and outlook. It can also
improve joint health by reducing
tenderness and stiffness associated
with arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Barley, a unique grain, is a
dietary ber that benets blood
sugar levels and is a good source
of zinc, which helps slow down
aging of the skin and muscles.
Schoolmates
and business par tner s
The two best friends are Bi-
anca Tumibay and Nicole Keys,
both proud La Sallians. The Napa
trip actually happened in Sep-
tember 2011. The company name
came from their birth years: Bi-
anca being born in 1984, and
Nicole in 1987. The company
logo is smartly in the form of a
barcode, and if you actually scan
this barcode, the numbers 8487
will actually come out. While
the Napa trip may have inspired
the venture into a wine import
and distribution company, both
Bianca and Nicole had very good
training grounds from their re-
spective family businesses in-
cidentally both involved in the
eld of logistics. Bianca worked
for ve years with her mom, at
their forwarding rm, Ableglobal
Logistics Philippines, with exten-
sive background on importation,
inbound shipping, and logistics.
Nicole on the other hand got her
experience while managing their
Fed Ex chain in Pampanga, the
international courier company.
With logistics being some sort of
their forte, the next natural step
was to nd the right product to
import, and start a trading busi-
ness.
The Napa Valley tr ip
The US trip was planned by
the two friends with some com-
panions. The side trip to the Cali-
fornian wine country was part
of the agenda, as Nicoles uncle,
Raul Gopez is the administration
manager of Stonehedge Winery
NAPA VALLEY
CHARM LEADS
TO WINE BUSINESS
Nicole and Bianca in Napa Valley (le photo from Bianca)
The Stonehedge Reserve Merlot was masterfully paired with the Roast
Pork Cochinillo
TWO best friends, one
trip to Napa wine coun-
try, and the experience
that will change both
their lives forever .
This is an all-too-famil-
iar tale it seems, but I
am not referring to the 2004 movie Sideways
that catapulted the popularity of Pinot Noir in
the States. This instead is an earnest starting
point story of two young business women and
their foray into the local wine trade via a new-
ly formed partnership company called 8487
Trading Bar Inc..
The Stonehedge wine dinner at
Cova Tapas y Sangria
brand in their portfolio.
Wine dinner at Cova
I had a chance to try some of
the Stonehedge wines when I
was invited to a wine dinner at
the very modish Cova Tapas y
Sangria Spanish restaurant along
Jupiter Street in Bel-air, Maka-
ti. The wine dinner paired the
sumptuous menu of young cre-
ative chef and co-owner Patr ick
Hess with different Stonehedge
wines. Here are my customary
tasting notes:
Stonehedge Califor nia Sau-
vignon Blanc 2010 - `nice fresh
peach nose, light and herbaceous,
crisp acid with lovely inty notes
at the end; a nice elegant style
Sauvignon Blanc
Stonehedge Reser ve Napa
Valley Char donnay 2009 -
`creamy, green apple, butter-
scotch, dry and with a heartier
mid palate weight; a too typical
oaked Napa Style Chardonnay
Stonehedge Ter roir Select
Santa Bar bar a Pinot Noir 2008
- `plum, red currant, lots of ripe
fruits, violets, vivacious acids,
still quite fresh despite its 2008
vintage, and with a round avor-
ful nish; not quite Burgundy nor
Oregon, but a real enjoyable fruit
forward Pinot to feast on Stone-
hedge Reserve Napa Valley Mer-
lot 2009 - `licorice, blackberry,
spicy, choco-mint, complex with
various notes from leather to ci-
gar, herbaceous on the palate,
with long and rich berry notes
at the end; I am not a big Mer-
lot fan, but this was my favorite
wine of the evening
Stonehedge Reser ve Napa
Valley Caber net Sauvignon
2009 - `fragrant, cassis, strawber-
ry amb, full bodied, still a bit
heady with strong tannic struc-
ture, and some racy acids at the
end; this is a good Cabernet Sau-
vignon that will probably drink
better after a few more years of
graceful cellaring
Stonehedge Ter roir Select
Napa County Muscat Canelli
2009 - `lusciously tempting nose
of longan, peach marmalade and
honey, velvety texture with good
acid backbone, very sweet but
not cloying, and long, deep and
gummy like nish
While the Philippine wine in-
dustry is dominated by Califor-
nia wines, with its 35%+ share of
total wine import volume, sadly
99% of these wines are generic
entry level wines composed of
the undisputed leader Carlo
Rossi, Franzia (known for its box
wines), Paul Masson (known for
its carafes), etc.. It would de-
nitely be great for the local wine
industry and California wines in
general to see 8487 Trading Bar
succeed in pushing the more pre-
mium California wines, especial-
ly the ones with the New Worlds
arguably most popular appella-
tion, NAPA, in its label. Good
luck girls! Fresh young bloods
are here to spice up this industry.
Aside from Stonehedge Winery
of California, 8487 Trading Bar
has also added a Spanish portfolio,
composed of still wines, including
organic wines and even a liqueur
called Licor 43. For queries and
other information on Stonehedge
wines, please contact 8487 Trad-
ing Bar at (02) 8362454.
For comments, inquiries, wine
event coverage, wine consultancy
and other wine related concerns,
please e-mail me at protegeinc@
yahoo.com. I am a proud mem-
ber of the Federation Internatio-
nale des Journalists et Ecrivains
du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV
since 2010. You can also follow
me on twitter at www.twitter.com/
sherwinlao.
in Napa Valley. Stonehedge
Winery was founded in the early
1990s by the Shahabi Brothers,
and has, from the start, build
quite a good reputation for its
exceptional value-for-money
crafted wines. While at the win-
ery, the entourage went for wine
tasting, and that got the two
friends hooked. How can one
really resist the magic of tast-
ing good wines in the backdrop
of the picturesque Napa Valley
vineyards? It was not also sur-
prising to me that it was the de-
liciously succulent Stonehedge
Terroir Select Muscat Canelli
(another name of the now be-
coming mainstream sweet
Moscato varietal) that con-
vinced the two young women
that they want this specic wine
and other Stonehedge wines in
Manila. And that was how 8487
Trading Bar got its rst wine
Share
the love
with coffee
It is low in cholesterol and can
even reduce cholesterol levels.
It can cure digestive problems
such as constipation.
Garcinia cambogia controls
cholesterol and is a natural
agent for weight loss.
It helps suppress appetite and
increases the metabolic process.
Stevia is a natural sweetener
derived from the sweetleaf
plant. It has up to 300 times
the sweetness of sugar, but it is
carb and calorie free. Used as a
sweetener in many cultures for
centuries, it helps lower blood
pressure and blood sugar.
Research has found that coffee
can also help induce happiness,
enhance brain functions, and even
aid digestion. Giving a loved one,
a relative, or a friend Stanhome
Cup of Love can offer them a de-
lightfully healthy drinking expe-
rience. Indeed, one cup can show
them just how much you care.
For more information about Cup
of Love Gourmet Cappuccino, visit
the Stanhome World Philippines
Facebook Fan Page, e-mail feed-
back@stanhomeworldph.com or
contact 091-STANHOME (0917-
8264663).
Ensuring great health at any age
C3
Classifeds
ManilaStandardToday
adv.mst@gmail.com
RE-I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No. 10,
through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for
the following projects, to wit:
Contract Name: Repair/Rehab./Imprvt. of Narciso Ramos, Abad Santos to
Campo Muslim Portion, Malabang,
with exceptions
Contract Location: Lanao del Sur
Brief Description: Repair/Rehab./Imprvt. of Road
Source of Fund: CY 2012 Special Road Support Fund (SRSF)
Contract Name: Construction of Agus River Basin Flood Control Marawi
Section, Marawi City
Contract Location: Lanao del Sur
Brief Description: Construction of Flood Control
Source of Fund: CY 2012 Regular Infrastructure Projects
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 these contracts, a contractor must 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, 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.

registration, to the DPWH-POCW, Central Offce before the scheduled date of
bidding. The DPWH-POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors applications
for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certifcate of
Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website
www.dpwh.gov.ph.

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-Regional
Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee
as stated above. 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.
Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as
stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
in the BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst
envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a
copy of the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall
contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest
Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Offce No. 10 reserves the right to accept or reject any
or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without
incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

Approved by:
BAC-Chairman
NOTED:
Regional Director
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No.
10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply
to bid for the project funded under CY 2012 Priority Development Assistance
Fund (PDAF):
Contract Name: Construction of Multi-Purpose Buildings,
Disomangcop Village, Lilod Madaya, Marawi City
Contract Location: 1
st
District, Lanao del Sur
Brief Description: Construction of Multi-Purpose Building
Conference
and regulations.


below:
refundable fee as stated above. 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. Bids must be accompanied by a bid
security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the
Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as
specifed in the BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC
Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid,
which shall include a copy of the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC).
The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract
will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the
bid evaluation and postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Offce No. 10 reserves the right to accept or reject
any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award,
without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

Approved by:

BAC-Chairman
NOTED:

Regional Director
RE-I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce
No. 10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors
to apply to bid for the following project funded under CY 2013 Regular
Infrastructure Program:
Contract Name: Const. of Kabangahan Br. along Sta. Felomina-
Bonbonon-Digkilaan-Rogongon Road
Contract Location: Iligan City, (Lone LD)
Brief Description: Bridge Construction
Conference
procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing
Rules and regulations.


below:
Regional Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a
non-refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download
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
specifed in the BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC
Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the
bid, which shall include a copy of the Contractors Registration Certifcate
(CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the
bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as
determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Office No. 10 reserves the right to accept
or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime
before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected
bidders.
Approved by:

BAC-Chairman
NOTED:

Regional Director
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No.
10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply
to bid for the project whose fund is taken from Balance of Work of terminated
project under CY 2011 Regular Infrastructure Program:
Contract Name: Repair/Rehabilitation/Improvement along Cotabato-
Malabang Road (Kapatagan Section)
Contract Location: 2
nd
District, Lanao del Sur
Brief Description: Repair/Rehab./Imprvt. of Road
Conference
and regulations.


below:
refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download
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.
in the BDs in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The
frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall
include a copy of the Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second
envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be
awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid
evaluation and postqualifcation.
The DPWH-Regional Offce No. 10 reserves the right to accept or reject
any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award,
without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

Approved by:
BAC-Chairman
NOTED:
Regional Director
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Quezon II District Engineering Offce
Tel. No. (042) 373- 4252
Invitation to Bid
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Offce through DA (Agri-Pinoy Program) intends to apply the sum of Seventy three
million one hundred twenty four thousand nine hundred eighty three pesos and 60/100
(P 73,124,983.6 ) to payments under the contract for Contract ID Nos. 13DJ016-
27 CLUSTER 12: et;al. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically
rejected at bid opening.
Offce now invites bids for the following
Contract ID Nos. :
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Mayabobo, Candelaria,Quezon P 2,437,499.64
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Malabanban Norte,
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Mangilag Norte,
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Masalukot 2,Candelaria,Quezon P 2,437,499.20
4. 13DJ018 - CLUSTER 14
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. San Andres, Candelaria,Quezon P 2,437,499.92
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Malabanban Sur,
c) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Kinatihan I,Candelaria,Quezon P 2,437,499.20
5. 13DJ019 - CLUSTER 15
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Sta. Catalina Sur,
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Pahinga Norte,
c) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Buenavista,Candelaria,Quezon P 2,437,499.20
6. 13DJ020 - CLUSTER 16
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Manggahan Dolores,Quezon P 2,437,499.77
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Kinabuhayan Dolores,Quezon P 2,437,499.73
c) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Sta. Lucia Dolores,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
7. 13DJ021 - CLUSTER 17
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Dagatan Dolores,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Bulakin 2 Dolores,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
8. 13DJ022 - CLUSTER 18
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Corazon San Antonio,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Loob, San Antonio,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
9. 13DJ023 - CLUSTER 19
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Balat Atis, San Antonio,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Matipunso, San Antonio,Quezon P 2,437,499.45
c) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. St. Francis, Tiaong,Quezon P 2,437,499.15
d) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Behia, Tiaong,Quezon P 2,437,499.15
10. 13DJ024 - CLUSTER 20
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Anastacia, Tiaong,Quezon P 2,437,499.44
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Lusacan, Tiaong, Quezon P 2,437,499.44
c) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Palagaran, Tiaong,Quezon P 2,437,499.44
11. 13DJ025 - CLUSTER 21
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Morong, Sariaya, Quezon P 2,437,499.86
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Antipolo, Sariaya,Quezon P 2,437,499.63
12. 13DJ026 - CLUSTER 22
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Lutucan Malabag,
Sariaya, Quezon P 2,437,499.81
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Tumbaga I, Sariaya, Quezon P 2,437,499.65
13. 13DJ027 - CLUSTER 23
a) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Ilayang Talim, Lucena City P 2,437,499.64
b) Concreting of FMR at Brgy. Domoit, Lucena City P 2,437,499.64
Bidders must have an experience of having completed at least One (1) contract
similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding
Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.
Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-
discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations
(IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the Government
Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or
organizations with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital
stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.
Interested bidders may submit their letter of intents from January 7-24, 2013. They
may obtain further information from DPWH, Quezon II District Engineering Offce, and
inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M 5:00 P.M
A complete set of bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the
address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents
in the amount of Five thousand Pesos (5,000) for 1M up to 5M Projects.
Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the DPWH, provided
that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission
of their bids.
The DPWH, Quezon II District Engineering Offce will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on
January 15, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at the DPWH Quezon II DEO Conference Room,
which shall be open to all interested parties.
Bids must have delivered to the address below on January 29, 2013 until 2:00 P.M.
All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in
the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representative who choose to
attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.
The DPWH reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process,
and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any
For further information, please refer to:
JEREMIAS B. LICAS JR.
BAC Chairman
Attention:
Head, BAC Secretariat
DPWH,Quezon II District Engineering Offce
Tel. No. (042) 373- 4252
Approved by:
(Sgd.) JEREMIAS B. LICAS JR.
Chief, Construction Section
Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee
Noted by:
(Sgd.) CELESTIAL S. FLANCIA
District Engineer
(MST-Jan. 9, 2013)
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
Contract ID/Name/Location 12HN0081 - Repai r / Rehabi l i t at i on/
I mpr ovement of Cebu Nor t h Road
/Canduman) K 11 +657 to K 12+585
Mandaue City, Cebu
Cebu 6
th
A.C. Cortes Avenue, Mandaue City, Cebu
Tel. No. 5202044
BID BULLETIN NO. 2012009
Series of 20 12
Subject: Pending opening of bids
This is to notify all prospective bidders of the above-mentioned project
under Advertisement No. 12009 dated December 17, 2012, to please be
informed that the scheduled opening of Bids on January 9, 2013 will be
suspended due to the possible changes in the major scope of works as per
verbal instruction of DPWH Central Offce.
Furthermore, the progress of changes on this project will be posted at DPWH
Website. You may also coordinate with the BAC Secretariat for more details.
For your information and guidance.
(Sgd.) MYRNA A. DELA SERNA
BAC Chairman/Chief, MQC Section
C4
Isah V. Red, Editor standard.showbiz@gmail.com
showbitz
ISAH V.
RED
SIMPLY RED
THE annual Metro Manila
Film Festival is a unique
lm event that runs from the
25
th
of December until the
rst week of the succeeding
month. It is one-of-a-kind
because it features movies
produced mainly by Star
Cinema, Viva Films, GMA
Films, Regal Films and some
edgling lm outts, which
are homes to formula lms.
Every year, we get to see
the same kind of movies in
the festival. Even the actors
are the same familiar faces
people see every single edi-
tion of the MMFF. Case in
point, Shake Rattle & Roll,
Enteng Kabisote and Pan-
day, and their stars are al-
ways part of the lm event
as if MMFF wouldnt be
MMFF without these mov-
ies. As a result, MMFF is
very predictable and nothing
but a lucrative playground
for major production houses
and for their mediocre lms.
It was this year when
multi-awarded lm Thy
Womb was considered as
an entry, after failing to
earn a slot in the festival
the rst time. Top-billed
by Nora Aunor, was most
decorated entry at the 38
th

MMFF Awards Night at the
Meralco Theater. It walked
bagged seven major awards
including Best Actress for
Aunor, the highly-coveted
Gatpuno Antonio Villegas
Cultural Award, Best Direc-
tor for Brillante Mendoza,
Best Original Story, Gender
Sensitive Award, Best Cin-
ematography and Best Pro-
duction Design. It however
lost to Star Cinemas family
drama One More Try in the
Best Picture competition.
Thy Womb, which is now
being pulled out from major
movie houses to give way to
the likes of Sisterakas and
Si Agimat, Si Enteng at Si
Ako, is a kind of movie ev-
ery Filipino can be proud. It
is a feature that undeniably
has a global appeal that you
wouldnt hesitate nor cringe
when introducing it to some-
one foreign to Philippine
Cinema. Unfortunately, this
is also the kind of lm most
Filipinos are ignoring. They
would rather laugh to icks
devoid of logic and artis-
tic integrity and excellence
than to be educated by lms
that tell so much about our
culture and history. No won-
der, MMFF, despite being in
existence for four decades
now, still cannot be called a
prestigious lm fest and be
compared to important lm
festivals staged around the
globe.

Brightest stars,
trending in 2012
Paraphrasing what for-
mer Twitter communications
director Matt Graves said,
the list of trending topics is
a reection of what people
are talking about. Similar-
ly, computer scientist and
Googles Vice President and
Chief Internet Evangelist
Vinton Cerf asserted that
the Internet is a mirror of the
population that uses it.
In this respect, it is safe
to assume that most people
talked about and extremely
fascinated with showbiz and
entertainment events and
personalities.
In 2012 alone, American
Idol runner up Jessica San-
chez, Showtime host and ac-
tress Anne Curtis, host and
concert performer Sarah
Geronimo, actresses Mar-
ian Rivera and Angelica
Panganiban, Dolphy and
his death, teen actor Daniel
Padilla, and Eat Bulaga In-
donesia are the most-searched
celebrities and events on the
local version of Google and
Yahoo.
Kapamilya primetime
shows Walang Hanggan and
Princess and I are the most
popular television programs
among the netizens while
chart-topper Sirena by
rapper Gloc-9 and viral song
Pusong Bato are the big
hits on the local music scene
according to Internet users.
Manny Paquiao is still
the most popular Filipino
athlete, thanks to his recent
foray into politics and game
show hosting. His regular
stint on television made him
more visible in the eyes of
his die-hard fans. Pacman
is followed by cager James
Yap, who is not just popular
on the hard court but also
a favorite topic by tabloid
writers due to an ongoing
feud with his ex-wife.
Considering these names
and events, we can come up
with a pretty fair description
on who are in in the world
of showbizlandia in 2012.
The most-searched list also
plays a big factor in knowing
which network has the most
fans and followers.
PIOLO PASCUAL
Being in the showbiz industry for
15 years now, the phenomenal Piolo
Pascual uniquely ended his 2012 by
serenading his supporters with Christ-
mas songs in various Ayala mall shows
where he launched his Decades III al-
bum. I was happy to share my album
with my supporters because its like
sharing a part of me.I was really
hands-on in conceptualizing the al-
bum and I personally picked out each
song, Piolo said
The actor led the joint project of
Sunlife and Star Magic, Sunpiology
Run and Star Magic Gives Back Con-
cert at Venice Piazza Mckinley Hill
on Nov. 24.
Fullled was how Piolo de-
scribes his 2012 because aside from
his numerous endorsements, he was
in Every Breath You Take with Angel-
ica Panganiban and 24/7 in Love.
Piolo is looking forward to his next
project, Apoy sa Dagat with Angelica
Panganiban and Diether Ocampo .
Im really excited to work again with
Angelica.
ANGELICA PANGANIBAN
It has been eight years and a lot of
things have changed. But my friend-
ship with Piolo was got stronger,
Angelica Panganiban said about her
soap with Piolo Pascual.
Despite the controversies on her
personal life, Angelica described her
2012 as character-builder.
She said 2012 is memorable be-
cause she won Best Supporting Ac-
tress in the 60
th
Filipino Academy of
Movie Arts and Sciences Award (FA-
MAS) for the movie Segunda Mano.
Her busy schedule included duties as
product endorser and member of the
cast of the, Bananasplit.
She values independent lm and
did Madaling Araw, Mahabang Gabi.
Angelica was in 24/7 in Love and
One More Try.
BEA ALONZO
Last year was also memorable for
Bea Alonzo because apart from cel-
ebrating her 10
th
year team-up with
John Lloyd, she was in two movies
The Mistress and 24/7 in Loveand a
soap A Beautiful Affair.
This year, Bea will be doing a
movie under Skylight lms and Star
Cinema.
KIM CHIU
Cebu born Kim Chiu couldnt be
happier in 2012 as she consistently
received Anak TV Seal Award. She
was in Healing with Vilma Santos
and with Gerald Anderson, in 24/7
in Love.
Im happy that despite my busy
schedule I was still able to be a good
model to the children. I hope to have
more projects next year that could
inuence children in doing good,
Kim said.
In 2012, she was teamed with
Xian Lim in Binondo Girl and now
in Ina, Kapatid, Anak, a consistent
top-rating show on ABS-CBN..
GERALD ANDERSON
Gerald Anderson enjoyed out of the
country shows in 2012. These include
Star Magic tour in London Barrio Fi-
esta, Syndey and Melbourne, Austra-
lia. He also did Paskuhan show in
Toronto, Canada last December.
Gerald was also a consistent Anak
TV seal Awardee and had two acting
nominations from the Philippine Mov-
ie Press Clubs (PMPC) Star Awards
for TV. These were Best Drama Actor
for Budoy and Best Actor in a single
performance for Maalaala Mo Kaya
episode entitled Jacket.
He also starred in the 24/7 in Love
movie with Kim Chiu. To kick off his
2013, Gerald has ongoing shooting of
his new movie with Rayver Cruz and
Piolo Pascual directed by Erik Matti.
Also on his list is a new soap Bukas na
Lang Kita Mamahalin with Cristine
Reyes and big stars like Maricel So-
riano and Dina Bonnevie.
ERICH GONZALES
Added in this primetime artist list
is Erich Gonzales who had a very
hectic 2012. Erich starred in the mov-
ies Corazon ang Bagong Aswang,
Suddenly its Magic and Cinema One
Originals Mariposa.
The former Maria del Barrio star
is also the other half of the new love
team with Coco Martin in Juan Dela
Cruz soap.
SHAINA MAGDAYAO
For Shaina Magdayao, 2012 was
the most dramatic year for her career.
Her hit Kung Akoy liwan Mo marked
her most dramatic and challenging
role to date, with co- Star Magic art-
ists Bangs Garcia and Jake Cuenca.
The 2012 was a good year for me
as I received a lot of blessings. And
Im looking forward to whats in store
in 2013, Shaina said.
POKWANG
Pokwang proved in 2012 that she
was also a versatile actress in A Mothers
Story produced by The Filipino Channel
(TFC) distributed by Star Cinema.
She earned a nomination for Best
Actress and the movie won FAMAS
Best Picture.
She also starred in The Mommy
Returns, The Healing, and D Kilabots
Pogi Brothers Weh?
This year, she will still be in Toda
Max and Aryana and will soon be
starring in an independent lm.
DIETHER OCAMPO
He was busy with his KIDS
foundation in 2012 but was able
to do the movie 24/7 in Love.
I spent a lot my time in
the foundation to be able to
help and assist kids but Im
excited to be with Angelica
and Piolo in a new show,
Diether said. In 2013, he
is about to be seen Apoy
sa Dagat.
JODI STA. MARIA
She couldnt be any
happier as Be Careful
With My Heart made her
a household name and
opened doors to numer-
ous endorsements.
Jodi was also
awarded as Anak TV
Seal and did movies
such as Migrante and
an independent lm
that was had location
shoot in Israel.
The success of her
current show made her
love team with Richard
Chen in demand, not just
here but also abroad.
MAJA SALVADOR
Meanwhile Maja Salva-
dor was busy with movies and
teleseryes in 2012. These included
My Cactus Heart and 24/7 in Love
and TV shows Lumayo Ka Man sa
Akin and the on-going Ina Anak Ka-
patid with Enchong
Dee, Xian Lim and
Kim Chiu.
Maja won Best
Actress award in
Gawad Urian and
FAMAS while Luna
Awards for her indie
lm Thelma. She was
also nominated as
Best Actress in Star
Awards and Golden Screen.
This year, Maja will be working on
several projects but still be endorsing
numerous products.
COCO MARTIN
Coco Martin stars with Erich Gon-
zales in Juan Dela Cruz and a movie
with Julia Montes.
I can see that 2013 will be a busy
year for me because I am now lming
two of my projects. Im very happy
that they are still supporting me,
Coco said.
JOHN LLOYD CRUZ
John Lloyd Cruz was
busy in 2012 with three
blockbuster moviesUn-
ofcially Yours, The Mis-
tress, and 24/7 in Love.
His love team with
Bea Alonzo marked its
10
th
anniversary and cel-
ebrated with A Beautiful
Affair.
John Lloyd couldnt be
more excited as he is work-
ing on the most awaited
movie reunion with Sarah
Geronimo in 2013 en-
titled It Takes a Man
and a Woman.
NICKIE
WANG
WITHOUT WANG
2 More art lms, please!
STAR MAGIC
artists shine brighter this year
ABS-CBN Star Magics Piolo Pascual,
Angelica Panganiban, Bea Alonzo, Kim
Chiu, Gerald Anderson, Erich Gonzales,
Shaina Magdayao, Pokwang, Diether
Ocampo, Jodi Sta. Maria, Maja Salvador,
Coco Martin and John Lloyd Cruz are not
afraid to reach stellar heights in 2013.
Bea Alonzo Maja Salvador
Coco Martin Gerald Anderson

Manila Standard Today - Wednesday (January 9, 2013) Issue

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Manila Standard Today - Wednesday (January 9, 2013) Issue

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