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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
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Anti-Chinese protest. Demonstrators make their feelings known about the Chinese incursion into the Panatag Shoal outside the Chinese
Embassy in Makati. DANNY PATA
Body paint. Former Miss Earth Philippines Sandra Seifert
displays the earths oceans and continents painted on her body
to promote vegetarianism and to mark Earth Day during a photo
shoot in Makati City hosted by the People for the Ethical Treat-
ment of Animals. (Story on A3) AP
Next page Next page
By Joyce Pangco Paares
MACTANPresident Beni-
gno Aquino III on Friday ques-
tioned the increase in the power
charges approved by the Energy
Regulatory Commission for the
Visayas, saying he wanted to
know if it was fair.
He said the commission
should should review the 60.6-
centavo increase per kilowatt
hour in the region.
We are focused on the
Visayas. We are not sure if the
rate increases are warranted, the
President said in an open forum
with key stakeholders of the elec-
tronics industry during the 17th
World Electronics Forum here.
Mr. Aquino made the state-
ment even as Senator Aquilino
Pimentel III on Friday repeated
his opposition to the privatiza-
tion of the governments power
plants in Mindanao, saying that
might lead to the formation of a
cartel that could control the price
of electricity on the island.
Mr. Aquino said the Execu-
tive and Congress will make
representations with the Energy
Regulatory Commission to re-
view the rate adjustments.
He said he was not happy
with the progress of the Electric
Power Industry Reform Act, which
should have spurred competition
and brought down power rates.
We are trying to accelerate
the process where the benets of
the EPIRA law can be realized
at the soonest possible time,
Mr. Aquino said.
By Eric B. Apolonio
WASHINGTON, DCThree more prominent
members of the United States Congress commit-
ted with the Philippine government to support the
Save Our Industries Act or SAVE Act, a proposed
legislation that would allow apparel products
made in the Philippines using US made fabrics to
enter the United States duty-free.
Accompanied by the Philippine Ambassador to
the US Jose Cuisia Jr., Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario told reporters they met with the
leaders and members of the US Senate and House
THE Elections Commission on
Thursday dismissed the Justice
Departments move to withdraw
the electoral sabotage case led
against former South Cotabato
provincial election supervisor
Lilian Susan Radam before the
Pasay City court.
Voting 4-1 with one abstention,
the commission reafrmed its de-
cision to pursue electoral sabotage
charges against Radam and an-
other election supervisor, Yogie
Martirizar, for the alleged cheating
in the 2007 elections in Cotabato.
The commissions action ef-
fectively prevents Radam from
becoming a state witness against
former Comelec chairman Ben-
jamin Abalos, her co-accused.
The Justice Department has
placed Radam and Martiriza under
the Witness Protection Program
MANDAUE CITYPresident
Benigno Aquino III on Friday
sent Customs Commissioner
Rozzano Runo Biazon to ad-
dress the national convention of
hog raisers, but the 2,500 mem-
bers who attended did not buy the
excuse that he was busy.
The President is here al-
ready. Is it asking too much
if we want him to drop by at
least? Agap Rep. Nicanor Bri-
ones said.
The President attended the
World Electronics Forum at
noon, delivered a speech and held
an open forum with the chief ex-
ecutives of the various foreign
electronics companies based in
Mactan, which is less than a 10-
minute drive from the Cebu In-
ternational Convention Center in
this city.
At the three-day national
convention of hog raisers and
allied industries, Agap Rep.
Nicanor Briones and Abono
chairman Rosendo So, direc-
tors of the Swine Development
Council, said the top 10 im-
porters were passing off choice
cuts as offal, fat, skin and rind,
and were paying only 5-percent
tariff instead of 35 percent.
They said this discrepancy
By Rey E. Requejo
THE Supreme Court has de-
clared as unconstitutional two
executive orders issued by
ousted President Joseph Estrada
creating trust funds for farmers,
which would be drawn from the
contested coconut levy funds.
The high court invalidate
Executive Order 312, which
ordered the establishment of a
P1-billion fund from the assets
acquired using coconut levy
funds, and Executive Order
313, which created an irrevo-
cable trust fund known as the
Coconut Trust Fund from the
27-percent stake in San Miguel
Corp. acquired using the pro-
ceeds from tax on coconuts.
Associate Justice Roberto
Abad wrote the decision.
Eleven justices voted to grant
the petition of farmer groups
led by Pambansang Koalisyon
ng mga Samahang Magsasaka
at Manggagawa sa Niyugan to
declare the executive orders un-
constitutional.
Associate Justice Antonio
Carpio inhibited himself from
taking part in the deliberations
because he was one of the pe-
titioners in the case. Associate
Justices Teresita Leonardo-De
Castro and Diosdado Peralta
also excused themselves be-
cause they had decided an inter-
related case.
The Court said EO 312 trans-
ferred the power to allocate, use
and disburse coconut levy funds
that a decree issued by then
President Ferdinand Marcos had
vested in the Philippine Coconut
Authority.
The Court ruled that an ex-
ecutive order cannot repeal a
presidential decree, which has
the same standing as a statute
enacted by Congress.
THE Philippines on Friday accused
China of escalating their 10-day
standoff in the disputed South
China Sea by sending a military
gunship to a shoal where both
sides claim sovereignty.
Chinas state-run Xinhua news
agency said the patrol vessel was
dispatched after the Philippines re-
fused to withdraw its Coast Guard
ship from Scarborough Shoal.
Foreign Affairs spokesman
Raul Hernandez told reporters
in Manila on Friday that Chinas
move was seen as an escalation,
and that the Philippines planned
to ask Chinas representatives why
they violated an earlier agreement
not to aggravate the situation.
The agreement was to defuse
the tension. The agreement was
not to escalate the tension in the
Scarborough Shoal, Hernandez
said.
He said Manila was ready
to take the dispute to an inter-
national court despite Beijings
earlier rejection of that idea.
A Malacaang spokesman
said the Philippines will not be
intimidated by Chinas deploy-
ment of a third vessel in the dis-
puted shoal.
We are a small country but we
are ghting for our principles,
www.manilastandardtoday.com mst@manilastandardtoday.com
TODAY
Standard
Manila
Vol. XXVI No. 55 12 Pages, 2 Sections
P18.00 SATURDAY, April 21, 2012
Customs admits
meat smuggling
PH accuses China of escalating standoff
SC strikes down Eraps
EOs on coco levy funds
US solons back duty-free entry of PH garments
Comelec to pursue case against poll execs
Growers not
buying busy
sked of PNoy
Pols tv ads
this early
not illegal
Aquino questions power
rate increases in Visayas
Biazon orders probe of top 10 importers
Smuggled pork. Customs inspectors look at a shipment of frozen pork that was declared as frozen
mackerel. The estimated value of the shipment, which was conscated a few years ago, was P4 million.
Hog raisers complain of the rampant smuggling of pork into the country.
Caption head. sd ds sad gsadg sad gsdg sd gwewasdg sdf asd asd gsdg asd gsdg dgasdg asdg asdg
asd sadg asdg sadg asd gsd sad gsd d gasdg . PHOTO CREDIT
By Joel E. Zurbano
POLITICIANS advertise-
ments on television may not be
considered as premature cam-
paigning for the moment, an
Elections Commission ofcial
said Friday.
A person may be consid-
ered a candidate for an elective
position only during the cam-
paign period, Commissioner
Rene Sarmiento said.
Theres a Supreme Court
decision on thatPenera vs
Comelecthat a person is
[considered] a candidate [only]
during the campaign period,
he said.
Based on that decision, a
politicians advertisement on
television that comes out before
State of the electronics in-
dustry. President Aquino (inset)
addresses a meeting in Lapulapu
City of the leaders of the electron-
ics and semiconductors industry.
The industry accounted for more
than $24 billion worth of exports
last year and provided employ-
ment to 530,000 people.
Next page
Next page
Next page
Next page
Next page
Next page
By Christine F. Herrera
MANDAUE CITYTo appease angry
hog and poultry growers, Customs Com-
missioner Rozzano Runo Biazon on Fri-
day put the top 10 importers of pork and
chicken meat under investigation and ad-
mitted that rampant corruption in his bu-
reau has allowed smugglers to avoid pay-
ing up to P3.7 billion in tariffs.
News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A2
Indon premier dive sites blasted
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KOMODO ISLANDCoral gardens
that were among Asias most
spectacular, teeming with colorful
sea life just a few months ago, have
been transformed into desolate gray
moonscapes by illegal shermen who
use explosives or cyanide to kill or stun
their prey.
The site is among several to
have been hit inside Komodo
National Park, a 500,000-acre
reserve in eastern Indonesia that
spans several dusty, tan-colored
volcanic islands. The area is most
famous for its Komodo dragons
the worlds largest lizards
and its remote and hard-to-reach
waters also burst with staggering
levels of diversity, from corals
in uorescent reds and yellows
to octopuses with lime-green
banded eyes to black-and-blue
sea snakes.
Dive operators and
conservationists say Indonesias
government is not doing enough
to keep illegal shermen out of
the boundaries of the national
park, a UN World Heritage site.
They say enforcement declined
greatly following the exit
two years ago of a US-based
environmental group that helped
ght destructive shing practices.
Local ofcials disagree,
pointing to dozens of arrests and
several deadly gunbattles with
suspects.
Michael Ishak, a scuba
instructor and professional
underwater photographer who
has made hundreds of trips to the
area, said hes seen more illegal
shermen than ever this year.
The pictures, he said, speak for
themselves.
When Ishak returned last
month to one of his favorite
spots, Tatawa Besar, known for
its colorful clouds of damselsh,
basslets and hawksbill sea turtles,
he found that a 500-square-
meter section of the reef had
been obliterated.
Many smaller patches were
destroyed elsewhere at the site.
At rst I thought, This cant
be right. I must have jumped
in the wrong place, he said,
adding he swam back and forth
to make sure he hadnt made a
mistake. But it was true. All the
hard coral had just been blasted,
ripped off, turned upside down.
Some of it was still alive. Ive
never seen anything like it.
The national parks corals are
supposed to be protected, but
shermen are drawn there by
locally popular sh like fusiliers
and high-value export species
like groupers and snappers.
Fishermen can be seen in
small wooden boats, some
using traditional nets or lines.
Others are blasting sites with
bombsfertilizer and
kerosene mixed in beer bottles.
Breathing through tubes
connected to air compressors at
the surface, young men plunge
to the bottom and use squeeze
bottles to squirt cyanide into the
coral to stun and capture sh.
Dive operators are
increasingly seeing dead sh on
the sea oor or oating on the
surface.
The biggest problem is that
shermen seem to be free to
come into Komodo, completely
ignoring the zoning and resource
use regulations, said Jos Pet,
a sheries scientist who has
worked with numerous marine
conservation groups in the area
in recent years.
He said they are quite
simply shing empty this World
Heritage Site.
Sustyo Iriyono, the head of
the park, said problems are being
exaggerated and denied claims
of lax enforcement.
He said rangers have arrested
more than 60 shermen over
the past two years, including a
group of young men captured
last month after they were seen
bombing sh in waters in the
western part of the park.
One of the suspects was shot
and killed after the shermen
tried to escape by throwing sh
bombs at the rangers, Iriyono
said. Three others, including
a 13-year-old, were slightly
injured.
You see? said Iriyono. No
one can say Im not acting rmly
against those who are destroying
the dive spots!
He added that the park is
one of the few places where
sh bombing is monitored with
any regularity in Indonesia, a
Southeast Asian nation of more
than 17,000 islands.
Divers, however, say
enforcement has dropped
dramatically since 2010, when
the government reclaimed sole
control of operations.
For two decades before that,
The Nature Conservancy, a US-
based nonprot, had helped the
government confront destructive
shing practices there. No-take
zones were created, protecting
spawning areas, and coastal
areas also were put off limits. AP
Aquino...
I am not happy with the
pace.
The commission also approved
increases in the generation charges
of 69.04 centavos per kilowatt hour
in Luzon and 4.42 centavos per
kilowatt hour in Mindanao. The
rates were P5.0160 a kilowatt hour
in Luzon, P4.0740 in the Visayas,
and P2.9321 in Mindanao before
those were adjusted.
The commission said the rate
increases covered the applications
led by the National Power Corp.
and the Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. un-
der the generation rate-adjustment
mechanism.
That mechanism allows
utilities to recover costs asso-
ciated with fuel and purchased
power and the changes in the
pesos exchange rate against
the dollar.
With John Anthony Concepcion
Comelec...
and wants the charges led
by the Comelec against them
withdrawn.
The commission, after
lengthy discussions, decided
not to discharge accused Rad-
am, Comelec Chairman Sixto
Brillantes said.
Those who voted to pursue
the case against Radam were
Comelec Commissioners Lu-
cenito Tagle, Rene Sarmiento,
Armando Velasco and Elias
Yusoph.
Commissioner Christian
Robert Lim took no part be-
cause he used to lawyer for ei-
ther of the two.
In explaining his dissent-
ing opinion, Brillantes cited a
provision in the WPP law that
requires the witness to be dis-
charged from the case.
On the other hand, Brillantes
said, Sarmiento and Tagle were
convinced there was strong
evidence to pin down the two
former election ofcials.
The majority decision means
the Commission is not bound
by the Justice Departments
decision to place Radam and
Martirizar in the Witness Pro-
tecton Program.
As a result, the commission
may also decide not to drop the
case against Martirizar.
The Abalos camp claims that
it was Abalos who removed
Radam and Martirizar as pro-
vincial election supervisors in
North and South Cotabato after
the discovery of irregularities
in the certicates of canvass in
their jurisdictions.
Abalos has denied involve-
ment in the alleged vote rig-
ging in Cotabato and Ma-
guindanao during the 2007
elections, which were allegedly
conducted to ensure the victory
of the senatorial candidates al-
lied with then President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.
Meanwhile, Brillantes told
a radio interview that the ab-
sence of Radam as a state wit-
ness would weaken the case
against Abalos. There was a
risk she would make a mess out
of her testimony, he said.
Radam never accused Ab-
alos of any wrongdoing un-
til she secured entry in the
Witness Protection Program,
when she pointed to him as
the mastermined of the sup-
posed cheating.
Joel E. Zurbano
PH...
Communications Development
Secretary Ramon Carandang
said.
This [ght] is not only for
the Philippines but for the in-
terest of the entire region.
While the issue has imme-
diate implications for us and
for China, it also has long-term
implications for the stability of
the region. If the Philippines
loses this, this will have other
implications for other coun-
tries with competing claims
with China.
Carandang said the govern-
ment would continue to seek a
diplomatic solution.
According to a report by
the Xinhua News Agency,
the 2,580-ton ship set sail
from the southern port city
of Guangzhou on Wednes-
day and was sent to beef up
patrols in the area to protect
the countrys maritime rights
and interests.
The report said that the Yu-
zheng-310 was sent to the area
by the South China Sea Fish-
ery Bureau under the Ministry
of Agriculture because Chi-
nese shing boats have been
frequently harassed or seized
by armed ships of neighboring
countries.
The Beijing-based China
Daily newspaper said the de-
ployment underscored Chi-
nas determination to protect
its maritime interests in re-
sponse to Manilas refusal to
withdraw ships from Chinese
waters.
Only a Philippine Coast
Guard search and rescue ves-
sel, BRP Edsa, remain in the
area.
Leftist lawmakers on Friday
demanded that the Aquino ad-
ministration immediately le a
case against China at the Inter-
national Tribunal on the Law
of the Sea and other interna-
tional bodies.
House Assistant Major-
ity Leader and Citizens Bat-
tle against Corruption Rep.
Sherwin Tugna said Chinas
rejection of the countrys in-
vitation to peacefully and
diplomatically settle the ter-
ritorial dispute demonstrated
how much of a bully the Chi-
nese government was in han-
dling the issue.
Bayan Muna Reps. Neri
Colmenares and Teddy Casio,
members of the House com-
mittee on foreign affairs, said
the ling of a case before an
international tribunal would
level the playing eld.
Joyce Pangco Paares,
John Anthony Concepcion,
Maricel Cruz and AP
Pols...
or after the campaign period
will only be considered free-
dom of expression, Sarmiento
says.
A number of politicians
have been seen in TV com-
mercials, including Sena-
tor Francis Escudero who
was promoting a computer
school, and former Senator
Juan Miguel Zubiri who was
advocating against the abuse
of the environment. Both are
believed to be running in the
2013 elections.
Sarmiento says the same
Supreme Court ruling ap-
plies to any announcement of
a coalition between known
political parties. Recently,
Vice President Jejomar Bi-
nays Partido Demokratiko
Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan
and former President Joseph
Estradas Partido ng Masang
Pilipino announced their
merger to form the United
Nationalist Alliance.
The Elections Commission
says the candidates for the
May 2013 midterm elections
may file their certificates of
candidacy on Oct. 1 to 5 this
year.
Thats more than enough
time, and the other reason is
for any interested party to file
a petition for disqualification
so the Comelec can finalize
the list of candidates in time
for the automated elections,
Sarmiento said.
The filing period for next
years elections is shorter and
earlier compared to the filing
period for the 2010 national
and local polls, which was
Nov. 20 to 30, 2009.
The Elections Commis-
sion says the election period
next year starts on Jan. 13
and ends on June 12. This
is when its prohibited to
alter the territory of estab-
lished precincts or to estab-
lish new precincts, to trans-
fer government officers and
employees, to carry firearms
and other deadly weapons,
and to use bodyguards un-
less authorized by the com-
mission.
The campaign period for
the senatorial and party-list
candidates is Feb. 12 to May
11, while the campaign pe-
riod for local positions such
as congressmen, governors,
mayors, councilors and board
members is March 29 to May
11.
Candidates are not allowed
to give donations or gifts to
voters in cash or in kind,
appoint special policemen
or agents, or release public
funds during the campaign
period.
SC...
The justices also found that the executive orders violated the
constitutional provision that vests in the Audit Commission the
power and authority to examine the use of government money and
property.
There is no legitimate reason why such funds should be
shielded from [Audit Commission] review and audit. The PCA,
which implements the coco-levy laws and collects the coco-levy
funds, is a government-owned and controlled corporation subject
to [Audit Commission] review and audit, the Court said.
US...
of Representatives on April
17 and 18 to campaign for the
SAVE Act, which was sup-
ported by three legislators.
They were Senator Ron
Wyden, chairman of the Sub-
committee on International
Trade, Customs and Competi-
tiveness, Senator Pat Roberts,
senior member of the subcom-
mittee, and Rep. Don Man-
zullo, chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Asia and the
Pacic under the Committee
on Foreign Affairs.
Citing President Benigno
Aquino IIIs emphasis on pov-
erty alleviation and job cre-
ation, Del Rosario said the ap-
parel industry remained a very
signicant sector economi-
cally and politically.
The SAVE Act is said to
be mutually beneficial to the
Philippines and the United
States because it provides a
significant new export op-
portunity for the US textile
industry, which could trans-
late into thousands of jobs
for it.
As an interim measure, the
SAVE Act will serve as a bridge
as the Philippines prepares for
eventual membership of the
Trans Pacic Partnership.
Del Rosario said the SAVE
Act was a relatively small
preferential trade program
compared to the existing simi-
lar programs for other coun-
tries that were substantially
more generous.
Various programs provide
for more liberal market access
to a wide range of countries in
the Caribbean, the Andean re-
gion, Sub-Saharan Africa and
the Middle East.
Customs...
could be seen by comparing the
UN Committee on Trade records
with those of the Customs and
Agriculture Department.
Pork imports, they said, had
steadily increased from 109.37
million kilos in 2008 to 169.21
million kilos in 2011, with the
highest recorded at 178.9 million
kilos in 2010.
These companies that have
dubious records are able to
import large volumes of meat
but pay less taxes, So said.
He said it was unbelievable
that those companies could
import more than the large food
manufacturers such as RFM,
which was only No. 47, and San
Miguel Corp., which was only
No. 84 in imports.
Who are these top 10
importers? Who are behind
them? So said.
Briones said the number one
importer was found to have a
paid-up capital of only P31,250
but imported 13.03 million kilos
of choice cuts that were declared
as offal amounting to P651.92
million in 2010 alone.
These importers have found
the way to ood the wet market
with choice cuts at a lower price
because they are not paying the
right taxes, Briones said.
Biazon said he had already
issued an order to audit the top
10 importers.
We can cancel their
accreditation to import if indeed
they are found to be involved
in smuggling, misdeclaration or
undervaluation, Biazon said.
There is corruption in the
bureau, and I was assigned by
the President to eradicate the
loopholes in the system.
There is conspiracy between
the importers and my people in
the bureau. The examiners and
assessors are in on it, so the
imported meat is easily released.
We are going to change this
system and plug the loopholes.
Biazon said the issuance of
permits to import would also
have to be investigated.
Customs Enforcement
and Security Service director
George Alino said his men
had intensied their campaign
against the smuggling of frozen
meat on Biazons orders.
Alino said all reefer vans
loaded with frozen meat were
strictly being monitored in all
ports nationwide.
Biazon also tapped the
Customs Intelligence and
Investigation Service to
coordinate with the team to
monitor the movement of all
frozen meat shipments, he said.
Former Pangasinan Rep.
Mark Cojuangco, whose family
is into the cattle, hog and
poultry business, demanded
that Bureau of Animal Industry
director Efren Nuestro be red
for allegedly issuing quarantine
permits allowing the importers
to smuggle in huge volumes of
meat.
He said the records on the
importation of meat by the
US Department of Agriculture
did not match those from its
counterpart in the Philippines.
Nuestro should be red and
everybody that is involved in
this mess that is bringing down
the hog and poultry industries,
Cojuangco said.
During the convention,
Biazon was asked by the ofcials
of several hog and poultry groups
to allow the industry to appoint a
livestock expert to inspect and
check the reference prices and
true value of incoming frozen
meat and offal at any given time.
House leaders on Friday
demanded a thorough review
of the governments policy on
meat importation and backed
congressional inquiries on the
rampant and unabated smuggling
of pork and chicken.
The call to regulate the
uncontrolled entry of imported
meat was supported by House
Minority Leader and Quezon
Rep. Danilo Suarez, Agham
party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones,
Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen
Sarmiento, Nueva Ecija Rep.
Rodolfo Antonio, and Anad
party-list Pastor Alcover.
Palmones was frustrated
by the governments supposed
inaction despite the ling of
several bills and resolutions to
address the problem.
Suarez said the uncontrolled
entry of imported pork and
poultry products was killing the
local industry.
There is no logic in the
government allowing the
importation of pork and poultry
products considering that there
is ample available supply from
local hog and poultry raisers,
Suarez told the Manila Standard.
Why import when there is
no shortage of pork and poultry
products? Why is government
insisting in strangling Filipino
hog raisers and poultry
businesses?
Suarez complained that
there seemed to be no coherent
government policy to guide
imports.
If there are complaints
that the prices of local pork
and chicken are on the rise, is
the immediate reaction of the
government to allow imports
right away or to nd out why
retail prices are up? he said.
He described the import
policy as a knee-jerk reaction to
rising prices caused by higher
costs for local growers.
With Maricel Cruz and
Joel E. Zurbano
Growers...
Mr. Aquino had his speech
delivered by Agriculture
Secretary Proceso Alcala
on Thursday, but no one
applauded.
The Presidents message
was out of tune, Rosendo
So, chairman of the Abono
party-list and director of the
Swine Development Council,
told the Manila Standard.
It did not address our
concerns and, in fact, he
defended the governments
position in issuing
Administrative Orders
5 and 6 that we found
detrimental to the local hog
and poultry sectors,
Briones said the President
could not claim that he was
unaware of the rampant
smuggling and uncontrolled
imports ooding the wet
markets.
Aside from dialogues
with various heads of
government agencies, we
made it a point to write
a letter to the President
detailing what ails the pork
and poultry sectors, Briones
told the national convention.
Briones, also
director of the Swine
Development Council, said
he wrote the President in
August 2011 asking that
smuggling and importation
be investigated.
We also provided the
President all the data that
he needs to pursue an
investigation, he said.
Biazon said he was sent by
the President to inform the hogs
convention about the measures
being taken by the government
to eradicate corruption and
smuggling in the country.
We appreciate what the
President is doing, but we
want more concrete steps.
For the past two years since
he assumed ofce, all that
we have been getting are
promises, So said.
The President ew back
to Manila after the forum to
attend meetings, but the
Palace reporters who were
left behind said there was
no ofcial schedule in Mr.
Aquinos itinerary.
Christine F. Hererra
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A3 News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com
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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Shortlist for Ombudsman post out
IN BRIEF
Malaysia police rescue
Pilipina in Johor Baru
Use recyclable products
on Earth Day, group urges
Electronics industry eyes
2012 as snap-back year
Lawmaker wants Nov. 20 declared National Childrens Day
Baldoz elected head
of global labor forum
After the JBC en banc
deliberations presided over by
Chief Justice Renato Corona,
the 8-member council endorsed
the nomination of Presidential
Commission on Good
Government Commissioner
Gerard Mosquera who got the
highest number of seven votes.
The other candidates and
their votes were Ombudsman
Graft Investigator Roque Dator,
with 6 votes; Comelec Director
Ferdinand Rafanan, 5 votes;
and lawyer Arthur Melchor
Carandang, with ve votes.
Mosquera was once shortlisted
for the position of Ombudsman,
but President Aquino appointed
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio
Morales. He was a graduate
of the Ateneo College of Law
and belongs to the Utopia
Fraternity. He also worked at the
Ombudsman during the stint of
Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo.
Dator is currently working
at the Ombudsman Field
Investigation Ofce. He is a
graduate of the University of
Santo Tomas College of Law
and was a former seminarian.
He was shortlisted twice for the
same position before and was
able to get the highest number
of votes twice.
Rafanan is a known
scalizer in the Comelec due
to his anti-graft campaign. He
was a former Comelec law
director and a graduate of the
University of the Philippines
College of Law.
Carandang is currently a
consultant of Morales and has
worked before with Marcelo
during his stint as Ombudsman.
The position of Deputy
Ombudsman for Luzon has a
term of seven years under the
1987 Constitution.
Aside from Corona, the other
members of JBC are Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima, Sena-
tor Francis Escudero, Iloilo Rep.
and Justice Committee Chair-
man Niel Tupas Jr.,Atty. Mila-
gros Fernan-Cayosa from the
Integrated Bar of Philippines,
Atty. Jose Mejia from the Aca-
deme, retired SC Justice Regino
Hermosisima, and representing
the private sector retired CA
Justice Aurora Lagman.
By Rey E. Requejo
THE Judicial and Bar Council has
shortlisted four nominees for the position
of Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon,
which was vacated by Francis Jardeleza
following his appointment as Solicitor
General by President Aquino.
MACTAN, CebuThe local electronic industry sees a 10 to 15
percent growth this year, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries
in the Philippines Inc. president Ernie Santiago said on Friday.
We believe that 2012 will be a snap back year. We forsee a 10 to 15 percent
growth this year, with the snap back happening in two to three months, San-
tiago said during the 17th World Electronics Forum here in Mactan.
Electronic shipments suffered a 20 percent contraction last year
due to weak global demand.
President Benigno Aquino III, for his part, said despite last years
slowdown, the electronics industry still managed to increase em-
ployment by 6 percent.
Direct employment grew by six percent, from 500,000 in 2010
to 530,000 last year, Mr. Aquino said.
Mr. Aquino said the government is also doing its part in provid-
ing support systems to the industry.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the
President said, trained 9,000 employees in the electronics sector
through a P50 million partnership with SEIPI, he added.
The Philippines was elected in 2010 to host this years World
Electronics Forum.
More than 200 business executives worldwide attended the event.
Joyce Pangco Paares
For Philippine sovereignty. Female protesters display their placards during a picket they staged near Malacanang Palace yesterday. AP
That time of year. Security guards seek shelter from the scorching heat under a tree as they man their
post along Mcapagal Avenue in Pasay City. Temperatures in Metro Manila soared closer to 35 degrees
Celsius. EY ACASIO
By Maricel Cruz
A MEASURE has been led at the
House of Representatives seeking to
declare November 20 of every year
as National Childrens Day to raise
the level of public awareness on
childrens rights and welfare.
House Bill 5788, otherwise known
as The National Childrens Day Act,
authored by Laguna Rep. Maria Evita
Arago, underscores the importance of
fostering the well-being of children.
The bill stresses that a number of
children in the Philippines have been
unfortunate victims of abuse, hazardous
labor, child pornography, economic
difculties and life threatening situations.
Under the measure, an annual
program of activities shall be prepared
and implemented with the Department
of Education (DepEd), Department
of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), National Youth Commission
(NYC) and the Council for the Welfare
of Children (CWC) as lead agencies.
The DepEd shall facilitate and
encourage the commemoration of
the day in all private and public
schools nationwide. The Philippine
Information Agency, in coordination
with the DSWD, DepEd, NYC
and CWC, shall ensure effective
information dissemination of this Act.
One of the means to protect the
rights of children is to elevate the
level of awareness among Filipinos
on the rights and welfare of children,
according to the bill.
The heightened education and
consciousness through the holding of
activities and observing the National
Childrens Day would promote the
cause for children and boost the
protection of their rights, it adds.
The bill said that the observance
of National Childrens Day on
November 20 of every year shall
commemorate the United Nations
General Assemblys ratication of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child
and the United Nations celebration of
Universal Childrens Day.
The Philippines, being a signatory
to the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child, is mandated
o protect and preserve the rights of
children to survival, development, and
the freedom to protect their interests.
The bills author, Arago
underscored the need for the state to
put in place a policy that will defend
the rights of children to assistance,
including proper care and nutrition,
and special protection from all forms
of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation
and other conditions prejudicial to
their development.
John Hay rms alarmed
by estafa rap vs. locator
AN anti-pollution watchdog called on
the people on Friday to shun plastic
bags and use instead products made of
biodegradable materials such as paper to
avoid polluting the environment.
EcoWaste Coalition President Roy Alvarez
said Filipinos should celebrate Earth Day on
Sunday by switching to reusable bags made
of native materials such as the bayong, or
bags made of textiles.
The transition to the bayong from
plastic bags should be immediate because
our environment is in real danger from
the effects of pollution, Alvarez said.
Earth Day is celebrated every year on
April 22, and often the weekends before
and after. Some people have even started
referring to it as Earth Week.
The rst Earth Day was celebrated in
1970. But there has been a lot of momentum
as the environmental movement raise
peoples awareness over climate change
and other effects of pollution.
Alvarez said they will introduce a mascot
called Boy Bayong during the Earth Day
celebrations as a symbol of transition to
remind people to use the native bayong or
paper bag instead of plastic bag.
He said people should also learn energy
conservation methods to save on electricity
such switching off lights when not in use,
use of low wattage bulbs, and opening
windows to get fresh air instead of using
an electric fan.
Aside from conserving electricity,
we want people to support use of safe
and socially acceptable, non-nuclear and
renewable energy to address our growing
power needs. Macon Ramos-Araneta
THE Bases Conversion and Development
Authority (BCDA) said it has received more
complaints from investors at Camp John Hay
who were apparently alarmed by an estafa
case led against the Sobrepena-led Camp
John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco).
The calls came after the BCDA informed unit
owners about the case filed by the state-run agency
against CJHDevco in connection with the alleged
double sale of a log home in John Hay, but the
company has yet to reply to the court charges.
The BCDA also disclosed in a statement
that there are reports that CJHDevco has been
engaged in sub-lease contracts with third-party
investors beyond its 25-year lease on the John
Hay Special Economic Zone.
BCDA president and chief executive Arnel
Casanova said they discovered CJHDevcos
fraudulent practices when a private person
claimed that he already owned Log Home #9
which was put by the BCDA on the auction bloc.
The house in question was part of a dacion
en pago or payment-in-kind made by the
CJHDevco in partial settlement of its lease
arrears to BCDA which has swelled to over
P3 billion as of end-2012.
The buyer presented an ofcial receipt
issued by CJHDevco as proof of his P20-
million purchase of the property.
CJHDevco has committed fraud by selling
units it previously sold to other parties,
Casanova pointed out, underscoring the fact
that CJHDevco paid the government a property
that it cannot liquidate since there is a claimant.
As a result of the controversy, the BCDA
lodged the criminal case of estafa against
CJHDevco chairman Robert John Sobrepena
and other ofcers of the rm for the apparent
double sale of Log Home #9.
As stewards of public property, BCDA will
always uphold the public interest and hold
any private partner accountable for violating
the rights of individuals and entities that have
invested in Camp John Hay, Casanova said.
Since the BCDA has the right to pre-
terminate any contract in case of violation
of any of its provisions, legal issues might
possibly arise resulting from CJHDevcos
sublease deals outlasting its 25-year contract
with the state-run agency.
By Vito Barcelo
THE Philippines was chosen by the 20-member coun-
tries of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue to serve as chairman
of the over the next two years over talks on issues and
challenges of labor migration.
United Arab Emirates Labor Minister Saqr Ghobash,
the current chair of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, ofcially
turned over the gavel, the symbol of the chairmans au-
thority, to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz during the
last day meeting of the 2nd Ministerial Meeting at the
Sotel Hotel, Manila.
The turn-over signals the assumption by the Phil-
ippines of the Dialogues chairmanship in the next
two years.
Baldoz welcomed the consensus of countries partici-
pating in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue process to make the
Philippines chairman, saying this recognition of the
Philippiness commitment to champion not only the
welfare and protection of overseas Filipino workers,
but also the cause of migrant workers all over Asia.
THE Philippine Embassy in Kuala
Lumpur reported that the Royal Malaysia
Police has rescued four Filipina victims
of human trafcking last April 18.
The four were locked up and forced
to work in a night club in Johor Baru,
some 220 kilometers away from Kuala
Lumpur and is near the Malaysian border
with Singapore.
The Embassy lauded the quick action
undertaken by the Malaysian police.
We appreciate the swift action of the
Malaysian police in rescuing our nationals.
This is proof of the commitment and
partnership of our two countries against
human trafcking. Coming right after
the conviction of Alfred Lim, this latest
rescue is another clear indicator of the
commitment and partnership of our two
countries against human trafcking,
Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said.
On March 30, Mr. Lim, a Singaporean
national, was convicted by the Sessions
Court in Kuala Lumpur for two counts of
human trafcking, and sentenced him to
three-year imprisonment for each count.
This was after two Filipinas who ed
his placement agency led complaints
against him in July 2009, after enduring
prolonged periods of abuse and
maltreatment. Eric B. Apolonio
Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A4
METRO Manila has just been named
the third worst city for driving by the
international media network CNN.
The list is topped by Beijing
and New Delhi and includes
other cities such as Mexico City,
Johannesburg, Lagos, Sao Paolo,
Moscow, Toronto and Monaco.
Anybody who must endure
the daily commute around Metro
Manila will agree, especially with
the observation that the bad trafc
situation is made worse by ooding,
the uncollected garbage, air pollution
and lack of security.
The report also reminded Metro
Manilans that the World Bank
granted a $60-million loan for
transit-related activities 11 years
ago. It was obvious the objectives of
that loan were not met. Who can be
made accountable for this failure?
But while there is a lot of truth
to Manilas inclusion in the list,
the notoriety stings just as badly
like our inclusion in the list of the
worlds worst airports, the most
hated airports, and even that You
Tube video posted by an American
about the things he hated about the
Philippines.
On the other hand, Filipinos are also
obsessed with being named the best.
There is, for instance, the pervading
opinion that Filipino-Mexican Jessica
Sanchez is the strongest contender
among the nalists of American Idol.
Sanchez, however, does not enjoy
the support of Americansshe was
nearly taken out of the showhence
the clamor that Filipino Americans
do everything in their power, via
text voting, to keep Sanchez in the
running.
It was this voting power that
enabled our Underground River
in Palawan to be named among
the modern marvels of the world
never mind that the airport
infrastructure leading to this world-
class destination has been criticized
for not being able to accommodate
several aircraft at once.
Filipinos are thrilled at the prospect
of being named the best in anything
a talent show, international academic
institutions, or any record at all like
having the most number of kissing
couples or households turning their
lights off for one full hour once a
year. Being named the best is always
a source of national pride.
We also become livid when
criticized by outsiders, or by one
of us before the rest of the world.
We are easily scarred and do not
take criticism, however positive,
lightlyno matter how true these
observations might be.
It is always good, of course, to
compare ourselves with others to
know how far we have gone and how
much harder we still have to work to
catch up.
Being obsessed by these
distinctions, though, can only make
us lose focus. There will always be
individuals, groups, regions and
countries better and worse than our
own. The xation on being the best
and aversion to being named the
worst then becomes futile.
What should concern us more is
whether we are doing the best we
can possibly do given what we have
and given the circumstanceswith
the end in view of improving those
circumstances.
A penchant for superlatives
The sad state of the
Philippine press
REPORTS that tabloid and
radio commentator Percy Lapid
is running for president of the
National Press Club has sent shivers
among responsible and decent NPC
members. This does not augur
well for the future of the club. It is
a reflection of the sad state of the
Philippine press that Lapid, a loose
cannon, a foul-mouthed broadcaster,
is even running.
The man needs professional
help and should really take his
medication before he goes on the
air. Like most attack dogs, he is
frothing at the mouth. Im sure my
words would only be wasted if not
totally lost on him unless he runs to
the nearest dictionary.
Compared to his gutter language
which I will not stoop to. I will
continue to
keep my cool in
the face of vile
and scurrilous
attack on my
person. My
friends have
told me that
I wont win
a word war
with him and
I would only be at the losing end.
While thats true, I lean back on
the saying that evil succeeds when
good men do nothing.
Percy Lapid has 16 counts of libel
filed against him, including from
Inquirer columnist Neal Cruz who
has also been maligned by the jerk
posturing as a journalist. He does
not know the meaning of ethics and
his running loose in our midst must
be one of lifes most cruel jokes.
Lapid does know me nor I him.
He is being fed false information
and fiction by a former friend
masquerading as a PR man.
The Securities and Exchange
Commission and the Bureau of
Internal Revenue should really
look into his operations. In his
own words which I quote, he says
PR is pera-pera lang yang. It
must be true for him because hes
raking it in without even paying a
cent to the BIR .
The worst part is that this guy is
corrupting many of my friends in
media, adding to the tribe of the Percy
Lapids of this world.
Gone are the good old days when
public relations was done more
professionally. I remembered when
San Miguel Corporation wanted
to show that SMC is a responsible
company. PR icons Joe Carpio, Oscar
Villadolid and Tony Katigbak would
y in a group of newsmen to Bislig
to show them around their PICOP
paper mill operations. The point was
to show them that no young trees
are being cut down to be made into
newsprint and that SMCs Bislig
operation was doing reforestation.
Percy as NPC president?
Anybody but Percy should be
his rivals campaign slogan. The
members need him like a hole in the
head. Im lifetime member of the
press club. But I, like many others
in the trade, have stayed away from
it because of people like Lapid.
I have no more quarrel with
businessman Antonio Cabangon
Chua and his Ecoshield land fill
project in Obando. I have written all
I can about his project and now it is
up to the court, which has granted
the townsfolk of
Obando a Writ
of Kalikasan.
If Cabangon
C h u a s
motion for
reconsideration
is granted by an
appellate court,
so be it.
I will,
however, not
allow myself to be subjected to
slander and oral defamation by
broadcast bully Percy Lapid and the
unlicensed PR operator in Malate.
My poor friends in media who
go to his Thursday Club dont
know what hes saying behind their
backs. Babblemouth even tells
other people how much he bribes
them monthly whenever hes drunk.
Indeed he is given to boasting as to
how powerful he is.
Pera-pera lang yan is a
culture I certainly wish were not so
pervasive in the Philippine press.
Otherwise, this country has really
gone to the dogsand the likes of
Percy Lapid.
Perhaps the answer to cleansing
the ranks of media is to revive the
moribund Press Council which was
then under the Philippine Press
Institute. I used to be a member of
PPI when I was publisher of Manila
Standard, together with the late
Isagani Yambot, Ramon Farolan,
Jake Macasaet, Miguel Belmonte
and the late Joe Pavia.
EDITORIAL
Of beauty and equality
CLOTHES and shoes are two of my
pleasures in life. And, I am a feminist. I
believe that wanting to look good does
not necessarily mean embracing societys
dictates on me, as a woman, on how to
look, act, and behave. Let me explain.
Recently, transgendersor persons
who dene themselves as belonging to the
opposite sexmade news. One is the rst
transgender Student Council President of
the University of the Philippines Diliman.
The other, the decision of Miss Universe
beauty pageants organizers to accept
transgendered candidates.
I stand for equality of all persons.
Pursuing this has been my vocation
for the bigger part of my life. One of
the best manifestations of equality is
in terms of opportunities. I am a rm
believer in human rights as espoused
by various international instruments,
most of which have been ratied by the
Philippine government, and thus, have
become State obligations to implement.
I go against discrimination. No
person should be discriminated against
based on race, ethnicity, nationality,
religion, political afliation, economic
status, sex, gender, sexual orientation,
disability, or any other distinction. A
person is a person is a person. Thats the
only thing that counts.
Thus, I welcome transgenders as
persons with equal rights. Like you
and me.
A transgender heading the UP
student council is a signicant political
statement. It means that UPs bigger
student voting population has learned to
look beyond the stereotypes of a leader
and that sexual orientation/identity is a
non-issue for them. Surely, the campaign
was a struggle, and winning, while
sweet, does not end that struggle. We
can expect other challenges to be thrown
at her caused by being a transgender.
Working for equality naturally entails
going against norms, structures, practices,
and mindsets that perpetuate inequality.
Culturally, between men and women,
it is us, women, who are expected by
society to be beautiful and sexy. A
womans looks denes her and opens or
closes opportunities available to her. Often
though not always, perceptions about what
a woman is capable of doing, or eligible to
do, is directly related with how well she
looks. For most, being Miss Philippines is
way above being a doctor, an engineer, or
an architect. That is the hierarchy.
A pleasing personality is shallowly
equated with beauty when personality
should be much more than appearances.
How does this expectation of beauty
affect women? Ah, we try to t in. We
try to please society and conform to
its expectations. Because our present
norms of beauty dictate that one must
be young, fair-skinned, and with
body measurements of 36-24-36, we
consume tons of skin whitening and
age-defying beauty products, go through
breast augmentation procedures, body
sculpting, and facelifts. We let ourselves
be dened by expectations of beauty
rather than by who we are as persons.
Does society expect the same from
men? I say no. While being good
looking is a plus factor, men continue
to be dened by what they do. Their
professions, their achievements. Being
a sexy man doesnt necessarily mean
being a hunk. Often, it is being smart,
successful, being a leader.
Thus, I say, there is inequality in
dening what a woman and a man is.
My point is, whether one is man or
woman or transgender, one is a person
and the same standards should apply.
I see beauty pageants as among those
that perpetuate the unreasonableness
of dening a woman primarily through
beauty. Though some changes have been
instituted partly because of protests by
women against being seen as just beautiful
faces and sexy bodies, pageants remain
primarily BEAUTY pageants.
I wish that they will give more weight
on the substance of the women that join
so that these pageants can really be more
empowering.
Therefore, whether transgenders
should be allowed to join beauty pageants
or not on the basis of equality to me
is NOT the issue. The problem is that
beauty pageants themselves reinforce the
inequality between men and women.
Lest I be accused of being anti-
beauty, I say, no, I am not. I like clothes,
shoes and looking beautiful to please
NOT others, but myself. I do as I choose
not because of expectations of others. I
embrace beauty but refuse to dene and
measure people based on appearances
or any other distinction.
I like beauty and I am a feminist.
eangsioco@yahoo.com and @
bethangsioco on twitter
Is it really all
about money?
ALEJANDRO
DEL ROSARIO
BACK CHANNEL
ROLANDO G. ESTABILLO Publisher
RAMONCHITO L. TOMELDAN Managing Editor
CHIN WONG/ RAY S. EANO Associate Editors
RALEIGH J. JALECO News Editor
JOEL P. PALACIOS City Editor
ROMEL J. MENDEZ Art Director
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TODAY
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EDGAR M. VALMORIDA Circulation Manager
ROGELIO C. SALAZAR President & CEO
ELIZABETH
ANGSIOCO
POWER POINT
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A5 Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com
THE pri vat i zat i on of t he power
industry, as the neo-liberals would
articulate, marked the culmination of
the private sectors partnership with
the government. It was a partnership
anchored on t he val i di t y of t he
capitalist system; that only the private
sector, specifically the privatization
of the power industry, could bring
about the desired efficiency in power
supply, reduce the cost of electricity,
assure t he publ i c of cont i nuous
suppl y, cr eat e mor e i ndust r i es,
promote employment, and residually
bring about prosperity to the nation
through increased revenues.
Indeed, that was how the
advocates simplified the theoretical
cons equence of pr i vat i zat i on,
insisting it could reach its maximum
eff i ci ency onl y
u n d e r a n e r a
o f c o m p l e t e
d e r e g u l a t i o n .
There was l i t t l e
r oom f or doubt
b e c a u s e , a s
t hey woul d say,
t h e e c o n o my
revol ves whol l y
on common sense;
t h a t o n e c a n
ne ve r s t op t he
downstream flow
of the river. As
their high priest would often remind
us, water will always seek its own
level, but failing to draw the line
that often, common sense seldom
matches reality.
For t hat we s wal l owed
hook, line and sinker that policy
because t he t heory promi sed t o
del i very effi ci ency on t he basi s
of an unregulated power industry.
Nobody mentioned the system was
at the outset bound to fail much that
it was based on a defaulted economic
proposition; that efficiency must
always come in at a price but given
a nomenclature called incentive. The
maximization of efficiency was made
synonymous to the maximization of
profit
Given the present situation, unless
we do something to put a stop to the
madness of privatizing the power
industry, we are bound to end up
having an unimaginable power crisis
that could unavoidably plunge the
country into the abyss of economic
darkness that could even trigger
widespread unrest.
Thus, when the government
l et go t he cascadi ng demand t o
privatize and deregulate the power
industry, no doubt gargantuan profit
was no sooner realized. The spirited
drive for efficiency by the owners,
operators, and all those involved
in the power industry emerged as
new class of barons called power
industry barons.
More t han t hat , government s
patronage to their policy opened the
Pandoras Box of the evils inherent in
that system. They failed to foresee
that deregulation and privatization
were self-defeating propositions,
for they will inevitably usher in
cut-throat competition; result in
t he over-suppl y of energy more
than the requirement by a given
franchise area; and could result in
price manipulation amplified by the
pricing in the Wholesale Electricity
Spot Market. All that has led to the
unmitigated upward movement in the
price of electricity.
I nve s t me nt i t s e l f ha s be e n
affected, with some even asking
the government to pitch in. The
symptoms are now written on the wall
by the long hours of brownout, while
the suffering public is conscious that
power outage is being carried out
with seeming impunity to pressure
on the government to give in to their
demands.
The worse thing about the
present power crisis is that neither
the producers of electricity nor the
government , st andi ng as whol l y
behind the policy, does not have the
capacity and the political will to
reduce the cost of electricity. The
whole issue now revolves around
the urgency to promote efficiency
while allowing the producers of
electricity to continue to rake in
their huge profit.
The y s t i c k t o
their old formula
by i nsi st i ng i n
pr i vat i zi ng t he
remaining state-
o wn e d p o we r
pl ant s because
they are in fact
against any form
of competition.
Th e y a l r e a d y
c o m m i n g l e d
and irreversibly
integrated their
hi gh cost of product i on t hat t o
unbundle them now is to wreck the
intricate system that generated huge
profit in the name of efficiency.
They woul d r at her al l ow t he
people to bear the cost and suffer
than to reduce the cost of electricity
which they cannot do because of
our inflation-based economy. That
becomes a serious problem because
the malaise is affecting the cost of
investment. The negative effect of
glut in the supply of power is seriously
jeopardizing the cost to produce per
kilowatt hour that is debilitating to
many of the countrys downstream
industry, notwithstanding that many
of them survive on a marginal profit
basis.
This explains why the advocates
of privatization and deregulation
are running out of logic; it now
taps the government as their own
counsel that the final solution to the
problem is the elimination of inter-
industry competition represented
by the competition put up by the
remaining state-owned generation
pl ant s operat ed by t he Nat i onal
Power Corporation.
They want state-owned power
plants to be finally eased out despite
the truth that none of their promises
was fulfilled, and on the contrary the
country today stands as the highest in
terms of cost in electricity. Because
the public have become suspicious,
t hey t apped t he gover nment of
President Aquino to join them in
blackmailing the consumers. As
Mr. Aquino ignorantly stressed, the
consumers should learn how to pay
the cost, forgetting that just like the
producers of electricity they too
suffer from losses by the inability
to pay.
rodkap@yahoo.com.ph
The myth
of privatization
DEAN TONY
LA VIA
EAGLE EYES
ROD
P. KAPUNAN
BACKBENCHER
We are bound
to end up having
an unimaginable
power crisis.
Responsible mining (1)
AS I mentioned in the rst of the series
of mining columns (this is the fth of the
series), in recent weeks, because of the
work the Ateneo School of Government
is doing on mining, we have been
accused of many thingsfrom being
anti-mining to being anti-poor to being
incredibly stupid. This is not new to
me. In the 1990s when I was ordered by
then-Department of Environment and
Natural Resources Secretary Victor O.
Ramos to lead the governance reforms
in mining so a Marcopper disaster does
not happen again, I was called a lot of
names as wellfrom environmental
gorilla to environmental terrorist who
was out to kill an important industry in
the Philippines. But then, as it is now,
environmental activists were just as
critical of me as industry advocates. This
was because I tried to nd a balanced
approach that would enable responsible
mining in some places while prohibiting
this extractive activity from areas where
they cause more harm than good.
To industry critics, however, there is
no such thing as responsible mining
never has been, never will be. I disagree.
With decisive action by the government
and hard work by all stakeholders,
responsible mining is impossible. It wont
happen automatically and certainly not
overnightbut it can be achieved.
When is mining responsible? As the
Ateneo School of Government elaborated
it in the policy brief entitled Is there a
future for mining in the Philippines?,
a si mpl e operat i onal answer i s:
responsible mining is complying with
the laws that already take into account its
environmental, social, economic, cultural,
and other impacts. However, this assumes
that the existing regulations are enough to
safeguard the health of the environment
and human communities, and that these
come with effective mechanisms of
implementation.
The Philippine Mining Act or 1995
mandates several environmental and social
work programs (i.e., the Environmental
Work Program, the Environmental
Protection and Enhancement Program,
t he Fi nal Mi ne Rehabi l i t at i on/
Decommissioning Plan and the Social
Development and Management Program),
as well as nancial assurances (i.e., the
Contingent Liability and Rehabilitation
Fund, Mine Rehabilitation Fund, and
Mine Wastes and Tailings Reserve Fund).
However, because of the unreliability
and insufciency of available monitoring
data, it is still uncertain whether these
mechanisms are enough and whether
they are enforced effectively. Does
the legal framework take into account
the uncertainties detailed above, the
uniqueness of Philippines as biodiversity-
rich, the sensitivity of small islands, the
situation in populated mining areas, risks
from extreme weather, and so on? Is
compliance with the law enough?
Responsi bl e mi ni ng can al so
be measured using basic principles
developed and adopted by ethical mining
companies worldwide. The Philippine
Chamber of Mines Compliance and
Beyond: A Guidebook on Corporate
Social Responsibility for the Philippine
Mining Industry is actually the most
comprehensive guidance on responsible
mining in the country so far, which includes
specic suggestions on how to adhere to
responsible mining at every stage of the
mining cycle. These include the following
principles: (1) Protect the environment as
a paramount consideration in all stages of
mining and conduct activities in a manner
that will contribute to the broader goals
of sustainable development; (2) Protect
the rights of affected communities,
including the rights of indigenous cultural
communities. Engage in adequate and
timely communication and consultation
with them and work for the improvement
of the quality of their lives during and even
after the life of the mine; (3) Safeguard the
health and safety of mineworkers, local
population, host and impact communities,
and address foreseeable health-and safety-
related impacts associated with mining
over its full life cycle. (4) Maintain a
competent workforce that is committed
to responsible mining and whose welfare
is advanced. (5) Make sure that affected
communities benet from mining through
employment, whenever possible. (6)
Respect, protect, and promote human
rights of those affected by mining and
promote human rights-sensitive security
arrangements; and, (7) Adopt responsible
corporate governance and management
principles that nurture trust and promote
company integrity by developing effective
self-regulatory practices and management
systems and employing business
practices that are ethical, transparent and
accountable.
Next week, I will elaborate what
government needs to do to enable
responsible mining, the most important
of which is the identification and
establishment of so-called no-go
areas, such as Palawan, Sibuyan, and other
islands with critical ecosystems where
under no circumstances should mining
be allowed.
E-mail: tonylavs@gmail.com Facebook:
tlavina@yahoo.com Twitter: tonylavs
By Rachel Zoll
THE Vatican orthodoxy watchdog
announced Wednesday a full-scale
overhaul of the largest umbrella group
for nuns in the United States, accusing
the group of taking positions that
undermine Roman Catholic teaching
on the priesthood and homosexuality
while promoting certain radical feminist
themes incompatible with the Catholic
faith.
An American archbishop was
appointed to oversee reform of the
Leadership Conference of Women
Religious, which will include rewriting
the groups statutes, reviewing all its plans
and programsincluding approving
speakersand ensuring the organization
properly follows Catholic prayer and
ritual.
The Leadership Conference, based
in Silver Spring, Maryland, represents
about 57,000 religious sisters and offers
programs ranging from leadership training
for womens religious orders to advocacy
on social justice issues. Representatives
of the Leadership Conference did not
respond to requests for comment.
The report from the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith said the organization
faced a grave doctrinal crisis, in which
issues of crucial importance to the
church, such as abortion and euthanasia,
have been ignored. Vatican ofcials also
castigated the group for making some
public statements that disagree with or
challenge positions taken by the bishops,
who are the churchs authentic teachers of
faith and morals.
Church ofcials did not cite a specic
example of those public statements, but
said the reform would include a review of
ties between the Leadership Conference
and NETWORK, a Catholic social justice
lobby. NETWORK played a key role in
supporting the Obama administrations
health care overhaul despite the bishops
objections that the bill would provide
government funding for abortion. The
Leadership Conference disagreed with
the bishops analysis of the law and also
supported President Barack Obamas
plan.
Sister Simone Campbell, executive
director of NETWORK, said in a phone
interview that the timing of the report
suggested a link between their health care
stand and the Vatican crackdown. The
review began in 2009 and ran through
June 2010, a few months after the health
care law was approved. The report does
not cite Obama or the bill.
I can only infer that there was strong
feeling about the health care position
that we had taken, Campbell said. Our
position on health care was application of
the one faith to a political document that
we read differently than the bishops.
When the Vatican-ordered inquiry
was initially announced, many religious
sisters and their supporters said the
investigation reected church ofcials
misogyny and was an insult to religious
sisters, who run hospitals, teach, and play
other vital service roles in the church.
Conservative Catholics, however, have
long complained that the majority of
sisters in the US have grown too liberal
and out church teaching.
Around the same time of the doctrinal
review of the Leadership Conference, the
Vatican ordered an Apostolic Visitation,
or investigation, of all American
congregations for religious sisters, looking
at quality of life, the response to dissent
and the soundness of doctrine held and
taught by the women. The results of that
inquiry have not been released.
The report released Wednesday paints
a scathing portrait of the Leadership
Conference of Womens Religious as
consistently violating Catholic teaching.
Investigators cited a speech by Sister
Laurie Brink at an annual assembly
that argued that religious sisters were
moving beyond the church or even
beyond Jesus. Brink is a professor at the
Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
She did not respond to an email request
for comment.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith said the Leadership Conference
had submitted letters that suggest that
sisters in leadership teams collectively
take a position not in agreement with the
churchs teaching on human sexuality.
In programs and presentations,
investigators noted a prevalence
of certain radical feminist themes
incompatible with the Catholic faith.
Some commentaries on patriarchy
distort the way in which Jesus has structured
sacramental life in the church, the authors
of the report wrote. The investigation also
found that while the Leadership Conference
has emphasized Catholic social justice
doctrine, the group has been silent on
the right to life from conception to natural
death, a question that is part of the lively
public debate about abortion and euthanasia
in the United States.
The reform will be managed by Seattle
Archbishop Peter Sartain and could
stretch over ve years.
Nick Cafardi, a canon lawyer and
former dean of Duqesne Law School, said
he has worked over the years with many
nuns and that the description in the report
does not reect his experience with them.
Cafardi is an Obama supporter.
I dont know any more holy people,
Cafardi said of American religious sisters.
I see a lot more holiness in the convents
than I see in the chancery. AP
Cracking down on the nuns
(Continuation)
As noted, there are only about ve
rocks in Bajo de Masinloc that are
above water during high tide. The
rest are below water during high tide.
Accordingly, these rocks have only 12
NM maximum territorial waters under
Article 121 of UNCLOS. Since the
Philippines has sovereignty over the
rocks of Bajo de Masinloc, it follows
that it has also sovereignty over their 12
NM Territorial Waters.
Question:
But what about the waters outside of
the 12 NM Territorial Waters of the rock
features of Bajo de Masinloc, what is
the nature of these waters including the
continental shelves? Which State has
sovereign rights over them?
Answer:
As noted, Bajo de Masinloc is located
approximately at latitude 15?08 N and
longitude 117?45E. It is approximately
124 NM miles off the nearest coast of
the Philippine Province of Zambales.
Clearly, the rock features of Bajo de
Masinloc are within the 200 NM EEZ
and CS of the Philippine archipelago.
Therefore, the waters and continental
shelves outside of the 12 NM Territorial
Waters of the rocks of Bajo de Masinloc
appropriately belong to the 200 EEZ
and CS of the Philippine archipelago.
As such, the Philippines exercises
exclusive sovereign rights to explore
and exploit the resources within the said
areas to the exclusion of other countries
under UNCLOS. Part V of UNCLOS,
specically provides that the Philippines
exercises exclusive sovereign rights to
explore, exploit, conserve, and manage
resources whether living or non-living,
in this area. Although, other states have
the right of freedom of navigation over
the said areas, such rights could not
be exercised to the detriment of the
internationally recognized sovereign
rights of the Philippines to explore and
exploit the resources in its 200 NM
EEZ and CS. To do otherwise would
be in violation of international law
specically UNCLOS.
Therefore, the current action of the
Chinese surveillance vessels in the said
200 NM EEZ of the Philippines that are
law enforcement in nature is obviously
inconsistent with its right of freedom
of navigation and in violation of the
sovereign rights of the Philippines under
UNCLOS.
It must also be noted that the
Chinese sherman earlier apprehended
by Philippine law enforcement agents
may have poached not on Bajo de
Masinloc per se, but likely on the EEZ
of the Philippines. Therefore, these
poachers have likewise violated the
sovereign rights of the Philippines under
UNCLOS.
Presence of Philippine-registered
archeological vessel
The Philippine National Museum
has been undertaking an ofcial marine
archaeological survey in the vicinity of
the Bajo de Masinloc.
The archaeological survey is being
conducted by the Philippine National
Museum on board the Philippine-ag
motor yatch M/Y Saranggani.
Chinese Maritime Surveillance vessels
have been harassing the M/Y Saranggani.
The Philippines has strongly protested
these harassments by the Chinese side.
Said actions by the Chinese vessels are
in violation of the sovereign right and
jurisdiction of the Philippines to conduct
marine research or studies in its Exclusive
Economic Zone.
Endangered s pecies f ound
in Chinese shing vessels
The Philippine Navy, during a routine
sovereignty patrol, saw eight (8) shing
vessels moored at the Bajo de Masinloc
on 10 April. The Philippine side inspected
these vessels and discovered that they were
Chinese shing vessels and on board were
illegally obtained endangered corals and
giant clams in violation of the Philippine
Fisheries Code
The Philippines is a staunch advocate
in protecting its marine environment
from any form of illegal shing and
poaching. It is a state party to the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and
Fauna (CITES) and Convention on
Biological Diversity.
This illicit activity has also
undermined the work of the Philippine
government as a member of the Coral
Triangle Initiative.
The coral colonies in Bajo de
Masinloc have been in existence for
centuries.
Current situation
The Philippines is committed to the
process of consultations with China
towards a peaceful and diplomatic
solution to the situation.
As the DFA works towards a
diplomatic solution, the Philippine
Coast Guard is present in the area
and is continuing to enforce relevant
Philippine laws.
PH position on Chinas claim on Panatag Shoal
By Albert del Rosario
Foreign Affairs Secretary
News
ManilaStandardToday
mst.daydesk@gmail.com APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A6
Caritas
launches
feeding
program
IN BRIEF
Court pushes Palparan trial
Terminal 3 operational
by end 2013Aquino
Orate family appeals rap vs. Daza kin
Oil pipe rm starts community projects
By Ferdinand Fabella
AS PART of its campaign
to win the hearts of the
residents of Barangay
Bangkal in Makati City, the
First Philippine Industrial
Corp. (FPIC), the operator of
the oil pipeline that sprung a
leak in 2010, has intensied
its community building drive
in the village.
In coordination with the
local barangay, the Lopez-
owned rm has allowed
a group of students from
Bangkal High School to
paint environment-inspired
grafti on the vans that
contain the companys multi-
phase extraction equipment
located under the Magallanes
Interchange ramp.
Engineer Nards Ablaza,
FPIC Bangkal Remediation
Project manager, said the
project is a good community
building activity and FPIC
welcomes the opportunity to
be part of it.
He said this is part of an
outreach project of FPIC and
Barangay Bangkal that aims
to develop the artistic skills
of the youth and encourage
them to indulge in productive
activities during summer.
We want to involve the
community in everything that
we are doing. The extraction
system will clean the soil and
groundwater in Bangkal so the
environmental theme for the
artwork is quite appropriate.
This is also an opportunity to
show that the MPE system is
absolutely safe. The students
had no problem whatsoever
doing their artwork on our
vans, Ablaza said.
Bangkal Chairman
Fermin Eusebio said the
student-grafti artists were
supervised by their Art teacher
Emmanuel Valenzuela.
We wanted to use art
and the urban landscape
to build enthusiasm for
environmental and green
issues among the members
of the community and the
general public, he said.
The extraction equipment,
FPIC said, will hasten the
recovery of petroleum that
leaked into the basement
of the abandoned West
Tower condominium and
the surrounding residential
area.
At present, 45 MPE
extraction wells, each with
a depth of between 12 to 15
meters, have been installed
around the plume area or
the area affected by the
leak, with 18 of the wells
surrounding the West Tower,
FPIC President Tony Mabasa
said.
The existing pipeline
of the Lopez-owned FPIC
spilled about 1.8 million liters
of oil in the basement of West
Tower condominium and
portions of Bangkal on July
2010. This forced the city
government to order tenants
to abandon the building.
The leaks have already
been plugged, but FPIC
has yet to recover all of the
fuel at accumulated under
the ground, a process the
company estimated would
last ve years.
CARITAS Manila launched
on Friday a six-month feeding
program for 742 malnourished
children of the Baseco Com-
pound in Tondo, Manila.
Melissa Corpus, program
ofcer of the Caritas Manila,
said the Caritas Hapag-Asa
Integrated Nutrition Feeding
Program focuses on children
aged 3 to 12 and hopes to re-
duce the malnourishment rate
of children in Baseco, which is
under the San Agustin Parish.
Caritas Hapag-Asa Inte-
grated Nutrition Program was
launched at the Baseco cov-
ered court in simple rites led by
Caritas Manila executive di-
rector Rev. Anton C.T. Pascual
and Renena Prieto, co-founder
of the Marthas Vineyard.
Under the program, mal-
nourished children will be fed
Monday to Friday, or ve times
a week, for six-months (usu-
ally during lunch time) at the
11 chapels inside the Baseco
Compound.
Practicing personal hy-
giene such as washing of hands
will be taught to these kids,
added Corpus.
Caritas Manila aims to re-
duce the malnourishment rate
of children down to zero by the
end of 2012. It believes that it is
part of churchs mission to help
improve the living conditions of
people most affected by extreme
poverty, especially the children.
As part of the program, Car-
itas will also hold livelihood
seminars, usually on Saturdays,
for the parents of these kids
with basic skills or livelihoods
programs such as bag making,
soap making and others.
In 2011, more than 200,000
malnourished children nation-
wide have beneted from Pon-
do ng Pinoys HAPAG-ASA,
a feeding program led by Cari-
tas Manila for hungry and mal-
nourished children. PNA
By Rey E. Requejo
THE family of Noel Orate who was
killed inside the house of his former
girlfriend, former Quezon City Rep.
Nannette Castelo-Daza, last Feb. 10 yes-
terday asked Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima to reverse the downgraded homi-
cide charge led against Dazas son-in-
law Allan Robes.
In a 20-page petition for review,
Orates children led by his son Noel Jr.
appealed to the DOJ Secretary to up-
grade the case against Robes, a provin-
cial board member of Bulacan, by or-
dering the ling of murder case against
him before the Quezon City regional
trial court..
The Orates family, through lawyer
Doy Bringas, assailed the ndings in
the reinvestigation conducted by Asst.
State Prosecutor Gino Paolo Santiago,
which was approved by Prosecutor
General Claro Arellano and released
last Wednesday.
Bringas said the investigating scal
erred in concluding that Orates case can-
not be considered murder because of the
lack of an eyewitness.
We clearly cited cases like People vs.
Whisenhunt (Elsa Castillo murder case in
1993) where the Supreme Court applied
hierarchy of evidence and gave more
weight to physical evidence over eyewit-
ness, Bringas said, in an interview.
The lawyer also cited in their petition
the case of People vs. Dizon where the
case was declared murder because the
victim was already lying down on the
ground when shot a scenario which he
argued was similar to the Orate killing.
Lastly, he questioned why the scal
completely ignored the recommendation
of the National Bureau of Investigation
for ling of murder case against Robes
and also the report of forensic expert Dr.
Racquel Fortun showing Orate was shot
at close range several times.
Noel Jr. was joined by his sisters Noel
Rose and Noellene in ling the petition.
Orates family asserted that the Que-
zon City Police District made a mistake
in ling a homicide case against Robes
as he believed that his father was de-
liberately killed inside Dazas house in
Quezon City.
They expressed doubts about the
evidence gathered by the QC Police
Districts Criminal Investigation and
Detection Unit, adding that various cir-
cumstances showing that hostage situa-
tion claimed by Robes was not true.
De Lima earlier assigned Santiago to
reinvestigation the case as ordered by
Judge Luis Maceren of the Quezon City
Regional Trial Court Branch 218 that
granted the motion led last Feb. 27 by
Orates family to defer the arraignment
of Robes.
Fire hits North Triangle
A THIRD-alarm re hit a slum area in
Quezon City afternoon, leaving at least
150 families homeless.
No one was reported in the re that
broke out at the squatter colony on
Agham Road near the Philippine Sci-
ence High School in Barangay Pagasa
at around 2 p.m. yesterday. The re was
put out at 3:50 p.m.
The Concerned Organization Against
Transfer, Lay-Off, Privatization and De-
molition or CONTRACBD, in a state-
ment, blamed the National Housing
Authority and the Quezon City govern-
ment for the re.
Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national
secretary general and CONRACBD
head, said the plan to construct a central
business district in the North and East
Triangle areas of Quezon City was be-
hind the slow response of the Bureau of
Fire Protection. Rio N. Araja
3 mulcting cops charged
THREE policemen from the Manila
Police District have been charged in
court for robbing a Japanese tourist of
P150,000 cash and pieces of jewelry
following his supposed arrest for smok-
ing violation.
Kinichi Iwasaki, 53, reported the in-
cident to the Makati City police which
in turn facilitated the ling of a robbery
complaint before Makati Prosecutors
Ofce against PO2 Reynaldo Olivo and
PO1s Benito Casuay and Vincent Paul
Medina.
In his complaint, Iwasaki said he was
seating inside a taxicab he hired along
Mabini Street in Manila on April 1
when three uniformed MPD policemen
approached him and accosted him for
purportedly violating a city ordinance
against smoking inside a public utility
vehicle. One of the lawmen immediate-
ly handcuffed him.
Iwasaki said he was dragged outside
the vehicle in full view of the taxi driver
and brought to a parked Toyota Revo,
where the policemen told him they were
bringing him to a police station.
Two of the policemen started divest-
ing the Japanese nationals belongings
such as cellular phones, necklace, and
P150,000 cash inside his backpack.
The victim was later dropped along
P. Binay Street in Barangay San Isidro,
Makati, where he immediately reported
the incident to the local police.
Ferdinand Fabella
Saving homes. A reman struggles with his hose as he tries to get near a re that destroyed around 70 houses at the North Triangle in Quezon
City. MANNY PALMERO
This came after Judge Teodora
Gonzales of the Malolos City
RTC, Branch 14, junked Palparans
motion seeking another preliminary
investigation by DOJ on the charges of
kidnapping and illegal serious detention
led against him.
In a nine-page omnibus order, the RTC
also dismissed Palparans bid to suspend
the proceedings, recall the arrest warrant
and hold departure order it issued against
him and other accused.
When the information led against
the accused is valid on its face and
absent any manifest error, grave abuse
of discretion or prejudice on the part of
the panel of prosecutors, the courts must
respect the exercise of such discretion
in the determination of probable cause,
the court ruled.
Judge Gonzales dismissed the claim
of Palparan that his constitutional right
to due process was violated be cause he
was not informed of the charges led
against him.
Although in hiding, Palparan led the
motion through his lawyer and questioned
the kidnapping and illegal serious
detention charges led against him.
The controversial former general
asserted that they were only investigated
for rape, serious physical injuries,
arbitrary detention, maltreatment of
prisoners, grave threats, grave coercion,
violation of International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, Convention
against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Punishment.
However, the RTC stressed that it
conducted its own judicial determination
of probable cause and agreed with the
ndings of the DOJ after a review of
evidence and documents submitted by
both camps.
The RTC had already dismissed
last Janauary Palparans earlier motion
seeking to stop his indictment. Judge
Gonzales cited as ground his hiding
from authorities, explaining that the
fugitive could not seek such relief until
he surrenders and submits himself to
jurisdiction of the court.
Palparan has remained evasive from
authorities and the government has
already put up a P1 million cash reward
for his arrest.
The DOJ led last December
charges of two counts of kidnapping
and serious illegal detention against
Palparan, Army Staff Sergeant Edgardo
Osorio, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado of the
25th infantry Battalion and retired M/
Sgt. Rizal Hilario of the 24th Infantry
Battalion.
By Rey E. Requejo
THE Malolos City regional trial court will
proceed with the trial of retired Army Maj. Gen.
Jovito Palparan, principal accused in the alleged
enforced disappearance of University of the
Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen
Empeo in 2006.
By Joyce Panares
MACTAN, CebuPresident
Aquino said the government has
entered into an agreement with
a new contractor to nish the
remaining work on the Ninoy
Aquino International and make
it fully operatrional by the end
of 2013.
He said the government has
signed a deal with the Japanese
rm Takenaka Corp. to make the
airport fully operational in about
one and a half years of work on
such as areas as baggage han-
dling, re alarm system, ight
information and closed circuit
television system.
Theres a memorandum of
understanding already with the
Takenaka group to nish the
portion of the work left, said
Aquino during his brief visit to
Cebu.
Construction of the new
terminal, known as NAIA-3,
started in 1997 and opened to
domestic ight in 2008. In
December 2004, the govern-
ment expropriated the terminal
project through an order of the
Pasay City regional trial court.
The government took over
the terminal after paying P3 bil-
lion to the previous contractor.
Last year, the government an-
nounced that the new terminal
would be fully operational by
2011, but later lowered their es-
timate to 50 percent operational
in that year.
Aquino said that the com-
pleted airport would have 34
air bridges and 20 contact
gates that would accommo-
date 28 planes simultaneously
and serve at least 33,000 pas-
sengers from international and
domestic ights daily.
Only about half of the air-
port is operational as the other
half remains closed for struc-
tural repairs on part of the build-
ings ceiling which collapsed in
March 2007.
Legal issues were also
raised on the NAIA 3 after the
Supreme Court rescinded the
contract between the Philip-
pine government and the air-
ports contractors led by the
Philippine International Air
Terminals Co.
Student works on urban art.
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A7 Sports Riera U. Mallari, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
Dumandan kept the
momentum of his bogey-free
61 Thursday with a four-birdie
stint at the front side yesterday,
bucking Santos-Ocampos
stirring eagle on the par-5 No.
1 then pouncing on the Fil-
Am bets meltdown midway
through to turn what was
expected to be a shootout into
a one-man show.
The long-hitting Davaoeno,
who opened his bid with a 64,
totaled a 15-under 189 over 54
holes at the par-68 layout which
Santos-Ocampo tamed with a
record 59 to surge ahead in the
second round.
But he failed to endure the
pressure from Dumandan despite
an early eagle as he bogeyed
No. 2, which he birdied in the
The games the thing
Dumandan ends golf drought
BAGUIOMarvin Dumandan ended
a long title drought by winning the
ICTSI Camp John Hay Championship,
closing out with a solid four-under 64
and beating Carl Santos-Ocampo by
three at John Hay course here.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
THE Philippine Basketball Association
best-of-seven championship between
Talk N Text and the B-MEG Llamados
should not only be a quality series,
but one in which the physicality of the
game will return to acceptable norms
rather compared to some stages of
the seminals between the Texters
and Barako Bull, where the dening
differences between physical play and
rough-housing were blurred as the
referees turned a blind eye or simply
didnt see the difference.
But that is over and done
with, thankfully. But lest we be
misunderstood as being against coach
Junel Baculi and his Barako Bulls, who
played their nest in the deciding fth
game, let us emphasize that in the nal
game, we did see some cheap shots
taken by a couple of the Tropang Texters.
In the words of one charming lady
supporter, who responded to our critical
comments with a smile, we learned to
play this way from the Barako Bulls!
That being said, let us make ourselves
absolutely clearwe do not condone
retaliation in any form because the rules
on this may be hard to abide by, but its
the referees, who are tasked with taking
action, not the players.
However, there were occasions when
we understood the response of some
of the Ginebra players in their games
against B-MEG, particularly Jackson
Vroman and even the normally quiet
and decent JayJay Helterbrand, who
were clearly disadvantaged by some
borderline fouls that the referees didnt
call or chose to ignorefor whatever
reasonbut were quick to pounce on
the retaliatory foul committed more in
frustration than with any intent to hurt.
For those of us, who have virtually
lived and breathed the PBA since its rst
whistle in 1975, there are many things
we have learned and one is that the
referees, at times, allow a popular team
to get back into a game from a sizeable
decit through non-calls or calls against
the leading team. At other times, the
acknowledged superstars of the game
get the touch calls and benet from
them, while being given the leeway when
they commit an infraction. But we guess,
this is the human dimension that makes
basketball such an often intriguing sport.
To the credit of youthful
Commissioner Chito Salud, who, being
a lawyer, knows how rules should be
enforced on the hard-court and justice
dispensed by the refs, who are, for all
intents and purposes like justices of the
IN BRIEF
Mango Man Triathlon,
Manggahan run wrap up
Tryouts for PH jrs slated
Sparks try to extend run
AMIDST the captivating charm
of Guimaras natural scenery, the
rst Mango Man Triathlon and the
second Manggahan Fun Runthe top
international attractions of the 19
th

Manggahan Festival 2012 that drew
close to a thousand participants
successfully wrapped up last Sunday.
With Guimaras Gov. Felipe Hilan Nava
ring the starting gun, the triathlon which
adopted the Olympic standard (3km
swim, 40k bike and 10k run) declared the
following winners: (relay event) Timugen
Manasyom, Romulo Balinas and Paul de
la Rama; (solo male) Franklin Penalosa;
and (female) Monica Torres.
The second Manggahan Fun Run declared
the following winners, (5K category, male)
Ryan Helleza (16:13); (female) Maryellane
Vargas (22:05); (10k category, male) Jeson
Agravante (34:42);(female) Jennylyn
Nobleza (44:02).
The Manggahan Festival, which
was rst held on May 22, 1993 to
commemorate the rst anniversary of
Guimaras as a full-pledged province,
will culminate on Sunday, with the
Tribes Competition among seven
barangay festival groups.
The festival is a joint annual project
of the Province of Guimaras and the
Guimaras Manggahan Foundation,
headed by Henry Babiera, who is
concurrently consultant of Guimaras
Provincial Trade and Tourism Ofce.
THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
will be holding tryouts starting Sunday
at 5 p.m., at the Multi-purpose Arena in
Pasig for the national team that will see
action in the Southeast Asian Basketball
Association qualifying tournament from
June 24 to 30 in Singapore.
This was announced by SBP Executive
Director Sonny Barrios who wrote top
management of the National Collegiate
Athletic Association and the University
Athletic Association of the Philippines
to seek their support in the formation of
the national team.
Coached by former Philippine
Basketball Association star Olsen
Racela, the PH-SEABA team will vie
for a slot to the 22
nd
FIBA Asia U18
Championship for Men from Aug. 17 to
26 in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia.
LOYOLA Meralco Sparks tries to
continue its seven-match unbeaten run
today when it collides with rival Green
Archers United in the United Football
League at the University of Makati eld.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m. with the Sparks
seeking to dislodge Global from top spot
with another victory. The Sparks are
coming off a 1-0 victory over Pasargad
last Saturday.
Defending Air Force Phoenix hopes
to continue its steep climb back to the
top against Kaya in the 2 p.m. match
that will also be aired live by AKTV on
IBC13.
RONNIE
NATHANIELSZ
INSIDE SPORTS
SOME 120 cars are expected
to show up as the showdown
gets more grueling today in the
third and penultimate leg of the
2012 Philippine Drag Racing
Championships Southern Series
at the Batangas Racing Circuit.
With two more legs to go
in the Southern Series, top
contenders will be gunning
for crucial wins to boost their
title chances in this event
sanctioned by the Automobile
Association Philippines and
sponsored by GT Radial, HKS
Motor Oil, M&H Race Master,
Yokohama and powered by
Racing Beat@Wave 89.1.
With the expected number of
entries, Drag Racing Director
Fil Guln urged drivers to come
early for the open practice and
have more time to double check
and adjust their car set-up.
Registration starts 6 a.m.,
while the Drivers Brieng is
set at 9.
Aside from the much-awaited
showdown between multi-titled
national champion Jonathan
Tiu of JCT-Blanche Racing and
defending champion Martin
Manalo of RSL Motorsports
in the Quick 8 and M&H Pro
divisions, spectators are also
setting their sights on sensational
teener Jay Arvin Millet.
Millet has been beating older
rivals in the Yokohama Expert
class where hes gunning for
his third straight win after
beating Jeremie Cabreros of H3
Autoworks and Dondon Santos
of Street Tune in the Batangas
kickoff and Alex Guru and Dexter
Lim of Team Ready in the last leg.
Batangas
hosts drag
race today
courts, saw some wrong in the Talk N
TextBarako Bull series and put it right.
What we would like to see, if he
hasnt already resorted to it, is for
Commissioner Salud to take action
against a player even if the referees
made no call or gave him the benet
of a bad call, the following day. This is
something weve seen in the Football
Associations handling of the English
Premier League matches, where a player
could be disciplined and suspended for
several games if the FA review group sees
an infraction and believes the sanction
imposed by the match referee, was
too lenient or patently wrong. In such
instances the association takes action
either suspending a player or extending
the initial suspension called for by the
referees decision or even to reverse the
relevant sanctions if they believe the
call was not merited and the players
sanction is either lifted or reduced.
Given the environment for the nals
and the establishment, through trial and
error in the seminal series of the ground
rules dening the difference between
acceptable physicality and unwarranted
thuggery, we believe the Talk N TextB-
MEG series should see basketball at its
best and the game played the way its
meant to be played.
Weve always admired coach Chot Reyes
for his knowledge of the nuances of the
game and his style on the sidelines, which
adds to the excitement that comes into
play during a game although at times we
have taken issue with his extended rants.
Tim Cone is also an excellent coach,
otherwise he wouldnt be where he is
today among the nest mentors of our
time. He, too, can throw tantrums on the
sidelines, but the redeeming feature of
both men is that they dont resort to ugly
gestures or profane language. That is as
it should be.
Clearly, the break before the nals should
be a blessing for Chot some of whose
players looked like they had come out of
an MMA showdown and not a basketball
series, with Kelly Williams forced to play
even with a fractured cheekbone, import
Harvey with a cut on his eyebrow and other
players with miscellaneous aches, cuts and
bruises. B-MEG is better off since Ginebra
was a sister team and wouldnt dare hurt
the Llamados players unless they wanted
to earn the ire of their bosses. They perhaps
wanted an edge, letting Barako Bull do the
dirty work so they could enjoy even a slight
physical advantage against a team that
is nowhere near as popular as B-MEG but
plays a helluva game of basketball.
The task of the referees should be easier
in this series but they must not be swayed
by the enthusiasm and support of the fans
for one team or another and only call it like
they see it and interpret the rules as they
are meant to be interpreted.
We are certain Commissioner Salud,
who is always on the sidelines watching
every moment of actionand inaction
will ensure that fair play prevails and that
no matter who wins, it will ultimately
be the team that deserved to win. Lets
watch the games and enjoy some good,
old fashioned PBA basketball, where
essentially, the games the thing.
rst two rounds, then dropped
another stroke on No. 5 for a 35
and fell behind by two.
Dumandan went 3-up with
another birdie on the 10th then
gained another stroke despite
a bogey on the par-3 12th as
Santos-Ocampo holed out with a
double-bogey.
Same gameplan as in Day
I keep my patience, enjoy the
game and make the most of my
birdie chances. And its nice
that my putting clicked today,
said Dumandan, relishing his
rst victory worth P200,000
since racking up three leg wins
in the 2010 edition of the circuit
organized by Pilipinas Golf
Tournaments, Inc.
This is really a big win
for me, a big confidence-
booster, said Dumandan as
he received his trophy and
the check worth P200,000
from John Hay club manager
Steven McDonald and ICTSI
PR manager Narlene Soriano
during the awards rites.
Santos-Ocampo wound up
with a one-over 69, his bid for
a breakthrough victory stymied
by a couple of ubbed par-putts
from close range in the early
going. He had a 192 and settled
for P120,000 purse.
Joenard Rates, the rst day
leader, turned in his best nish
at third at 195 after a 67 while
rookie pro Clyde Mondilla also
closed out with a 67 for 196
as he claimed solo fourth in
the event circuit sponsored by
International Container Terminal
Services, Inc.
Ferdie Aunzo rallied with a
64 and ended up fth at 197
followed by Randy Garalde (63-
199), Elmer Saban (64-200),
Jerson Balasabas (68-200), Roel
Baares (67-202) and Terence
Macatangay (72-202).
Meanwhile, Dumandan gears
up for another crack at the
crown when the circuit, backed
by Srixon, Callaway, Titleist,
Sharp, Custom Clubmakers,
Mizuno, PinoyGolfer.com,
Inquirer Golf, A Round of Golf,
Studio 23, Balls, and Dynamic
Sports, heads back to Cavite for
the third leg at Sherwood Hills
on April 25-28.
Acot named new head coach of Cebuana Gems
CEBUANA Lhuillier Gems
team owner Jean Henri
Lhuillier has appointed
Beaujing Acot as the new
head coach and Danny
Francisco as the new team
manager of the Gems in
the Philippine Basketball
Association D-League.
Acot is replacing Luigi
Trillo, who has been chosen as
the new head coach of the
Alaska Aces.
Prior to joining Cebuana
Lhuillier, Acot was the
deputy head coach of
University of Santo
Tomas in the University
Athletic Association
of the Philippines. He
is also the current head
coach of Rizal Technological
Volcanoes battle Sri Lankans
By Ronnie Nathanielsz

IN what is expected to be a
highly charged scufe, the
Philippine Volcanoes will face
off against top seed Sri Lanka
in the nals of the HSBC 5
Nations at the Rizal Memorial
Stadium at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The Volcanoes, made up
mostly of players with Filipino
heritage with either one of
their parents being Filipinos,
are seeded No. 3 but have
shown in their two rousing
victories against Singapore
and Chinese Taipei that they
are ready to challenge Sri
Lanka for the top spot and
promotion to the top ve elite
Asian competition next year.
Looking ahead to the nals
against Sri Lanka, coach
Expo Mojica predicted a
very tough match.
It comes down to who
recovers best and who steps up
most. Both teams are capable
of winning and Sri Lanka isnt
quite surprising us. They have
a good structure and are very
solid in what they do. They
have pace out wide and strong
forwards. They have it all
really, so we are going to have
to peak on Saturday to win,
said Mojica.
The game will be aired
bu ABS-CBN Studio 23
starting at 4:30 p.m.
Noting the good crowds
that have come out to watch
the matches and support the
Volcanoes, Mojica was quoted
as saying: Our guys are really
keen to perform for our fans.
We have been dying to have a
home nal and show Filipinos
what we have got and we
nally have that chance. The
boys are up for it.
Patriots vs Indonesians
AIRASIA Philippines tries to get back
on the winning track when it battles
a retooled Indonesian squad at 4 p.m.
today in the PG Flex Linoleum presents
AirAsia Asean Basketball League at the
Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The Patriots easily beat the Indonesians
in the rst two rounds, but todays game
should test their true character.
There is a possibility though for them
to play with only one import.
American import Chris Alexander,
who was tapped to replace Nakiea
Miller, hurriedly left for the US the other
day due to a pressing family problem.
TWO of the countrys nest female boxers, Alice Kate Aparri and
Nesthy Petecio go up against each other in a yweight box-off on
Saturday, 2 p.m. at the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines
Gym at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex for the right to compete
in the Womens World Championships in Qilhuangdao, China from
May 9 to 16, which will be the nal qualier for the London Olympics.
Aparri, who had previously been ranked No. 3 yweight in
the world behind Cancan Ren of China behind Nicola Adams of
England, had dropped to No. 5 after losing to multi-titled Mary
Kom of India in the Asian Womens Championships in Barbados.
Nesthy Petecio, who was ranked No. 2 in the super yweight
division behind Elena Savelyeva of Russia had also dropped down
in the rankings following her loss in the nals of the last Southeast
Asian Games in Indonesia.
The two female boxers are expected to go all out to qualify for
the World Championships which would serve as the nal qualier
for the London Olympics. Ronnie Nathanielsz
Aparri, Petecio in box-off
PBA lends a hand. The Philippine Basketball Association donated P200,000 to its adopted institution and lone beneciary of
the March 24 PBA Run with the Fansthe PCMC-Cancer and Hematology Center. Receiving the check from PBA Chairman Mamerto
Mondragon (fourth from left) is Dra. Eustacia Rigor (fth from left) of the Center Chief of the Cancer and Hematology Center of the
Philippine Children's Medical Hospital, together with some children suffering from the Big C.
Beaujing
Francisco
University in the National
Capital Region Athletic
Association and State
Colleges and Universities
Athletic Association.
The management
appointed Beaujing as
head coach considering
his experiences as a coach
and because he knows the
game of each player already.
We believe that he can bring
good results for the team,
said Lhuillier.
I am thankful to
the management for
their trust and for this
opportunity to coach
the team. With the team
intact, we will move
forward and do the best
that we can, said Acot.
Sports
Manila Standard TODAY
The Boosters persistence nally
paid off.
The Philippine Basketball Asso-
ciation Commissioners Ofce con-
rmed to Manila Standard on Friday
that the trade papers sending Las-
siter and veteran guard Celino Cruz
to Petron for Blaze Boosters Rabeh
Al-Hussaini, Rey Guevarra and vet-
eran swingman Lordy Tugade were
received and subsequently approved.
The terms of the revised trade are
hereby approved. There is acceptable
parity in the cumulative skills, value,
use and potential the players from
each side of the trade will bring
to their respective new teams,
said Willie Marcial, PBA media
bureau chief and special assistant to
Commissioner Chito Salud.
Marcial also revealed that the trade
papers were signed by three key parties.
Powerade coach Bo Perasol,
Powerade governor Ronie Asuncion
and Petron team manager Hector
Calma signed the trade papers, said
Marcial.
Last February, Petron and Powerade
initially proposed a trade that would
have sent Lassiter, the fourth overall pick
in this seasons draft, to the Boosters in
exchange for Noy Baclao and Guevarra,
two of the top three picks in last seasons
draft, but have hardly seen action this
season for their team.
The proposed trade was rejected
by Salud, prompting the Boosters
and the Tigers to revise the trade.
We are very happy with this
trade. We are getting a much needed
big man in Rabeh and getting two
shooters in Guevara and Tugade,
said Asuncion.
The Lassiter trade was one of
the series of issues the Coca-Cola
Bottlers Philippines had to deal
with the previous months. Also last
February, the CCBPI denied reports
that its franchise was sold to San
Miguel Corporation.
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
A8
NBA RESULTS
Thai rider rules Asian motocross
PUERTO PRINCESAAP Honda
Thailands Arnon Theplib clinched top
individual leg honors and blasted away the
competition in the Asian 125/MX2 motos
of the 2012 FIM Asia Princesa Motocross
Championship, which opened here on
April 14 and 15.
Backed by a team of top-notch
factory mechanics and an equally adept
teammate in 16-year-old Thai motocross
sensation Jugkrit Suksripaisan, the
defending champion took the holeshot
to score runaway victories in the two
motos and reset the tracks lap record
with a blistering clocking of 1:17.84 in
moto 1, sending his title-retention bid
on a high note.
Suksripaisan and Japans Tomoya
Suzuki wound up second and third,
respectively, with identical scores of 42
points. Suksripaisan, however, claimed the
rst-runner up honors by nishing ahead of
Suzuki in the payoff moto.
Mongolias Khaliunbold Erdenebileg
and the Philippines Kenneth San Andres
came in fourth and fth to complete the
podium cast.
The races marked the ninth straight
year that Puerto Princesa hosted
the Philippine leg of Asias premier
motocross series.
The event, organized by the National
Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association,
was supported by Mayor Edward S.
Hagedorn, Ellen Hagedorn of the
Citys Oplan Linis, City Administrator
Agustin Rocamora, City Sports Director
Tony Reyes, Colt 45, Summit Mineral
Water, Cobra Energy Drink, Virgin
Cola, Shakeys, Polisport, Repsol, Kia
Palawan, Department of Tourism, Honda
Prestige, Norkis Trading and Emcor
Motor Philippines, and recognized by the
Philippine Sports Commission and the
Philippine Olympic Committee.
The event also provided the foreign and
local participants the chance to experience
the beauty and majesty of the Puerto
Princesa Underground River, a UNESCO
world heritage site that was recently named
to the New Seven Wonders of Nature list
in a special trip to the tourist destination
that was arranged for them by the city
government.
The races of the Asian veterans class
also exciting and marked with dicing
and side-by-side racing from the senior
riders.
Fifty-year old Roman Llorente from
Iriga City pulled the rug from favorites
Junjun San Andres and Siegfred Ornopia,
who retired after touching bikes in the
rst moto.
With the victory, Llorente earned the
distinction of being the rst-ever Asian
Veterans champion.
Manilas Raymond Espinosa and the
hometown bet Bel Basaya garnered second
and third places, respectively, with Guams
Stanley Yasuhiro and Singapores Wing
Kit Kwok taking the remaining podium
positions.
Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports@manilastandardtoday.com sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
By Rey Joble
DENIED the rst time, Petron once again
pursued Powerades rookie star Marcio Lassiter.
By Peter Atencio
BORACAYUniversity of Mindanao-
Tagum repulsed foes on two fronts
yesterday and found itself in the mens
and womens seminals of the 15th
Nestea Beach Volleyball national nals
at the Crystal Sands beachfront in Bgy.
Balabag here.
UM-Tagum Geckoes Daryl Kim Lapiz
and Jefty Amora, the reigning Private
School Athletic Association national titlists,
needed an extra set to put away Holy Cross-
Davao College Crusaders Joel Villonson
and Edmar Flores, 17-21, 21-14, 16-14.
Lourdilyn Catubag and Karen Kay
Quilario held sway for the UM-Tagum
Lady Geckoes in the endgame to turn
back the University of Santo Tomas
Tigress duo of Maruja Banaticla and Judy
Ann Caballero, 22-24, 21-15, 16-14.
The Geckoes triumph frustrated
the Crusaders bid to earn an outright
semis seat as they joined back-to-back
National Collegiate Athletic Association
champion Arellano University Chiefs in
the tournaments next phase.
John Carlo Lozada and Chris Salvador
held their ground against the taller Far
Eastern University pair of Arvin Avila and
Karl Ian de la Calzada, 21-16, 21-16, to
reach the semis right in their rst campaign.
The Lady Geckoes moved a step closer
to the womens division nals with Central
Philippines Universitys Jovelyn Gonzaga
and new teammate Fiola Mae Ceballos.
LOTTO RESULTS
6/45 000000000000
4 DIGITS 00000000
3 DIGITS 000000
2 EZ2 0000
P0.0M+
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
University of Mindanao tossers score on 2 fronts
OVER 40 elite male and
female triathletes from
Australia, China, Ireland,
Jordan, Japan, Zimbabwe,
Mexico, Chinese Taipei,
Macau, New Zealand and
Morocco will compete for
London Olympics qualifying
points with the holding of the
19th edition of the K-SWISS
ITU Subic Bay International
Triathlon, presented by
Century Tuna on May 5 and
6 at the Subic Bay Freeport.
Not to be outdone are local
triathletes, who will be facing
off entries from Malaysia,
Thailand and China.
In the Mini-Sprint, 13 to 15
category, several competitors
will be vying for possible
entry into the 2014 Youth
Olympic Games triathlon
event in Nanjing, China
such as multi-titled triathlete
Magali Echauz, Batang
Pinoy 2011 champion Jessica
Salazar (Laguna), V. Deldeo
(Olongapo), Sixto Lalanto
(Cagayan de Oro), Jimuel
Patilan (Cagayn de Oro) and
Justin Chiongbian (Cebu).
In the Junior Sprint, 16
to 19 category of the event
sponsored by K-SWISS,
Century Tuna, Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority,
Speedo, Ayala Malls, SM
Olongapo Davids Salon,
Asian Centre for Insulation
Philippines, Gatorade, Fitness
First, Philippine Sports
Commission and Standard
Insurance, Cebus Rochelle
Tan and Davaos Mary Pauline
Fornea will slug it out for the
female title, while the male
title will be disputed by Allen
Santiago, Marc Altura, Javier
Ocampo and Kurt Cabanilla.
Homegrown
triathletes vs
worlds best
Petron grabs
Marcio, Cruz
The protagonists in the coming Philippine Basketball Association Commissioners
Cup finals are joined here by Commissioner Chito Salud (center). They are Talk N Text
players (from left) Larry Fonacier, Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel De Ocampo, coach Chot Reyes
and Donell Harvey, together with B-MEGs Denzel Bowles, coach Tim Cone, Marc Pingris
PJ Simon, Josh Urbiztondo and James Yap. The Tropang Texters are gunning for their
fourth title in five seasons, while the Llamados are looking for their first crown since
winning the 2010 Philippine Cup. Their heavyweight tug-of-war starts Monday, 6:45
p.m. at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
HEAT 83, BULLS 72
SUNS 93, CLIPPERS 90
PACERS 118, BUCKS 109
HORNETS 105, ROCKETS 99, OT
WOLVES 91, PISTONS 80
Central Philippines Universitys Jovelyn Gonzaga (center) defends
her territory with a block during their game against Adamson
University in the 15
th
NESTEA Beach nals in Boracay.
Business
Manila Standard TODAY
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
B1
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Ray S. Eano, Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com
Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor extrastory2000@gmail.com
IN BRIEF
Meralcos power
sales surge 10%
GT Capitals stocks climb on debut
VOLUME 1089.220M
5,156.46
16.82
OIL
PRICES
TODAY
P780-P895.00
LPG/11-kg tank
P54.55-P61.02
Unleaded Gasoline
P46.10-P49.90
Diesel
P52.34-P57.85
Kerosene
P38.50-P39.20
Auto LPG
40
42
44
46
48
P42.605
CLOSE
HIGH P42.600 LOW P42.730 AVERAGE P42.679
PESO-DOLLAR RATE
Closing APRIL 20, 2012
PSE COMPOSITE INDEX
Closing April 20, 2012
5200
4460
3720
2980
2240
1500
1200
Hyundais sales up
CAR importer Hyundai Asia
Resources Inc. said sales in the rst
quarter increased 44 percent from a year
ago. The distributor said it sold 6,767
units in the rst three months, up from
4,712 vehicles during the same period
last year.
As the Philippine economic landscape
continues to move from good to great, so
does consumer condence and Hyundais
outstanding sales performance for
rst quarter, Hari president and chief
executive Ma. Fe Perez Agudo said in a
statement.
We are optimistic that this trend will
extend into the second quarter, with the
Elantra making waves as car of the year
for 2012, the launch of the new Hyundai
Eon, and our consistent brand promotion
efforts, Agudo said.
Hari launched the India-made compact
car Eon during the Manila international
autoshow in Manila last month. Agudo
said Hari was targeting sales of 300 units
of Eon per month.
Agudo said models such as the i10,
Accent and Elantra drove a 127-percent
increase in the passenger car segment in
the rst three months to 4,297 units from
1,889 a year ago.
Julito G. Rada
31
st
credit congress
THE 31
st
National Credit Congress
will be held on April 27, coinciding
with the 80th anniversary of the
Credit Management Association of the
Philippines.
The event, which will be held at the
Acacia Hotel at Filinvest Corporate
Center in Muntinlupa City, will have
the theme: CMAP as catalyst in credit
discipline.
Oscar Gumabay, senior vice president
of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.,
will preside over the event, as incumbent
president of CMAP.
Eileen Tanchingco of Truth Verier
Systems Inc. was appointed as the
director-in-charge for the 80
th
anniversary
celebration while Luis Arriola of St. Jude
Media Group and Asean BizTimes is
this years chairman of National Credit
Congress.
By Jenniffer B. Austria
THE stock price of GT Capital
Holdings Inc., the investment and
management company of tycoon
George Ty, jumped on its trading
debut at the stock exchange Friday,
on strong income outlook this year.
The stock opened at P500, up 9.9
percent from its offer price of P455
per share. It closed at P492 apiece.
GT Capital sold 47.39 million
shares, raising a total of P21.6 billion,
excluding overallotment shares.
GT Capital president Carmelo
Maria Bautista said in a press brieng
following the listing ceremony at
the Philippine Stock Exchange all
ve operating units of the company
showed very encouraging results in
the rst quarter.
The company has investments in
real estate, banking, insurance, power
and automotive.
Its property unit Federal Land Inc.
reported reservation sales of P3.8
billion in the rst quarter, up 113
percent from a year ago while Toyota
Motor Philippines Corp. sold 12,645
units in the rst three months for a 38.8-
percent share of the vehicle market.
AXA Philippines reported a 32-
percent growth in sales in the rst
quarter of the year while the groups
power unit Global Business Power
showed 140-percent growth in output
and revenues during the same period.
Bautista said Metropolitan Bank &
Trust Co. is also poised to sustain core
earnings growth in the rst quarter on
improving economic fundamentals.
Bautista said the offering, which
was extremely well-received by both
international and domestic investors,
not only signies overwhelming
interest in GT Capital but also
highlights the vote of condence in
the Philippine investment story.
This is a testament to the solid
businesses owned by GT Capital and
to the Philippines, as investors, both
domestic and international, now have
a bullish market outlook, anticipating
a much awaited credit rating upgrade
soon, owing to strong economic
fundamentals and governance,
Bautista said.
By Lailany P. Gomez
BDO Unibank Inc., the countrys largest
lender, on Friday said net income rose 15
percent to P2.8 billion in the rst quarter,
on the back of a 23-percent growth in
loans.
BDO president and chief executive
Nestor Tan said the rst-quarter
performance was in line with their full-
year income target of P12.5 billion in
2012, up from the actual P10.5-billion
net earnings booked in 2011.
Tan said income growth was expected
to be faster in the coming quarters,
particularly in the second half of the year.
Consumer and infrastructure spending are
expected to drive lending growth, he said.
Bulk of the growth comes in the
second half, said Tan. We also have
additional capital coming in.
The higher income guidance for the
year is expected to get a boost from the
15-percent expansion of interest income
to P57.8 billion.
BDO, controlled by the Sy family, is
raising $1 billion or P43 billion in the rst
half through stock rights offer to cope
with our loan growth, said Tan.
The bank tapped Citi, Deutsche Bank
and JP Morgan as advisers and United
Overseas Bank as participating adviser.
BDO Capital is the underwriter.
Tan said the $1-billion rights offer is
expected to close by June or July. It will
be sooner rather than later, he said.
The capital raising program is expected
to boost the banks capital to P145 billion
from around P100 billion, he added. It
will also enable the bank to meet the
more stringent requirements of Basel 3,
an international nancial treaty adopted
by countries including the Philippines.
BDO had total assets of nearly
P1.1 trillion, including P857 billion in
deposits. It has 740 branches around the
country and over 1,600 automated teller
machines.
By Alena Mae S. Flores
POWER sales by the countrys
largest distributor soared by nearly
10 percent in the rst quarter, an
indication of robust economic
activities during the period.
Manila Electric Co. on Friday said its sales volume
grew by close to 10 percent with the strong rebound of
commercial and industry sectors.
The rst quarter, compared to last year, was close
to 10-percent growth, Meralco chief operating ofcer
Oscar Reyes told reporters.
Reyes said the higher sales volume reected the very
robust real estate activity and other related sectors and
semiconductor, metals, as well as food and beverages.
He said industrial growth was quite healthy while the
commercial sector also posted growth.
I think this is reective of better operating environment
for some of these companies. Those that are construction-
related; steel, also metals, cement, [they] have registered
good growth, he said.
Reyes said the commercial sector such as real estate,
malls, business process outsourcing also recorded growth.
I think increased government spending has induced the
construction-related sector, boosted production, he said.
Reyes said that while sales volume went up in the rst
quarter, the company was still computing its impact on
the companys bottom line.
While volumes have grown, our average distribution rate
is lower this year compared to last year. The unit revenue
per kWh is lower so we will take a look, he said.
Meralcos approved revenue distribution charge is now
at P1.602 per kilowatt-hour, down from P1.6464 per kWh
in the January-September period last year.
Meralco, meanwhile, executed an agreement with
Alternergy Wind One Corp. for the interconnection and
parallel operation of Alternergys proposed wind farm
in Pililla, Rizal with a capacity of up to 90 MW with
Meralcos distribution system.
This was the rst interconnection agreement between
Meralco and a wind-powered renewable energy plant.
Meralco said the interconnection would be at Meralcos
existing Malaya-Teresa 115-kV line. Alternergy
will construct a 115-kV line to connect to Meralcos
distribution system which needed to be approved by the
Energy Regulatory Commission.
Meralco said the signing of the interconnection
agreement afrms Meralcos commitment to support
the development of renewable energy sources in the
Philippines.
BDO Unibank
Inc. president
and chief
executive Nestor
Tan conferred
with chairman
Teresita Sy
during the
banks annual
stockholders
meeting held
at Makati
Shangri-La Hotel
in Makati City
Friday. BDO
expects a full-
year prot of
P12.5 billion in
2012, up by 19
percent from
P10.5 billion in
2011. BOBBY
CABRERA
BDO expects 2012 net income to reach P12.5b
Stocks fall; BDO,
Bloomberry gain
Business
ManilaStandardToday
business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com
APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
B2
52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign
High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying
MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012
M
S
T
FINANCIAL
70.00 46.00 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 67.00 68.90 66.40 68.70 2.54 1,758,160 44,390,406.00
76.80 50.00 Bank of PI 75.00 76.25 75.00 75.50 0.67 1,279,940 17,058,615.00
1.82 0.69 Bankard, Inc. 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.78 (1.27) 267,000
512.00 370.00 China Bank 512.00 530.00 515.00 527.00 2.93 54,340 (6,055,620.00)
1.95 1.42 BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. 1.75 1.79 1.75 1.75 0.00 13,000
23.90 12.50 COL Financial 23.40 23.40 23.00 23.40 0.00 805,600 (11,600,000.00)
22.00 7.56 Filipino Fund Inc. 13.02 13.98 13.50 13.98 7.37 1,000
0.95 0.62 First Abacus 0.80 0.81 0.80 0.80 0.00 121,000
80.00 40.00 First Metro Inv. 70.00 68.50 64.00 68.40 (2.29) 4,130
3.26 1.91 I-Remit Inc. 2.30 2.38 2.30 2.38 3.48 37,000
775.00 475.20 Manulife Fin. Corp. 520.00 525.00 525.00 525.00 0.96 40
29.00 3.00 Maybank ATR KE 22.50 23.10 21.80 22.85 1.56 47,800 23,000.00
93.50 60.00 Metrobank 91.90 92.50 88.50 90.50 (1.52) 4,521,800 (143,135,751.50)
3.06 1.30 Natl Reinsurance Corp. 2.20 2.25 2.20 2.21 0.45 138,000
16.85 41.00 Phil. National Bank 74.60 75.85 74.70 74.70 0.13 919,440 41,328,167.00
539.00 204.80 PSE Inc. 352.00 354.00 350.00 350.00 (0.57) 391,970 (1,330,000.00)
44.40 25.45 RCBC `A 43.20 43.20 43.20 43.20 0.00 1,159,900.00 (43,892,105.00)
151.50 77.00 Security Bank 145.90 146.30 146.10 146.10 0.14 1,310,860 55,598,470.00
1390.00 950.00 Sun Life Financial 1000.00 1025.00 1000.00 1025.00 2.50 770 384,300.00
140.00 58.00 Union Bank 103.00 103.60 101.00 103.60 0.58 231,720 187,818.00
INDUSTRIAL
35.50 26.50 Aboitiz Power Corp. 35.00 35.45 34.85 35.05 0.14 1,041,300 (17,097,415.00)
13.58 7.32 Agrinurture Inc. 11.60 11.76 11.64 11.76 1.38 104,700 (462,902.00)
23.50 11.98 Alaska Milk Corp. 23.40 23.40 23.35 23.35 (0.21) 506,000 (3,341,050.00)
1.86 0.97 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.58 1.55 1.53 1.53 (3.16) 376,000
54.90 26.00 Alphaland Corp. 31.50 31.50 27.00 30.00 (4.76) 15,900
1.65 1.08 Alsons Cons. 1.38 1.38 1.37 1.38 0.00 1,465,000 411,000.00
Asiabest Group 48.00 48.90 48.00 48.10 0.21 33,900
138.00 45.00 Bogo Medellin 61.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 (1.64) 670
102.80 3.02 Bloomberry 11.80 15.20 11.80 15.00 27.12 7,094,500 6,624,482.00
26.55 12.50 C. Azuc De Tarlac 17.00 16.00 16.00 16.00 (5.88) 300
2.88 2.24 Calapan Venture 2.32 2.30 2.30 2.30 (0.86) 2,000
3.07 2.30 Chemrez Technologies Inc. 2.70 2.71 2.70 2.70 0.00 54,000
8.33 7.41 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 8.10 8.20 8.06 8.20 1.23 77,600 (72,179.00)
7.06 4.83 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.00 6.00 5.89 6.00 0.00 16,671,800 (14,849,620.00)
6.28 2.80 EEI 6.20 6.24 6.20 6.20 0.00 921,300 (63,556.00)
3.80 1.00 Euro-Med Lab. 2.21 2.23 2.03 2.23 0.90 5,000
25.00 5.80 Federal Chemicals 10.46 10.98 10.48 10.94 4.59 3,100
15.58 12.50 First Gen Corp. 14.00 14.10 13.90 13.98 (0.14) 640,300 (4,704,218.00)
67.20 51.50 First Holdings A 65.55 66.60 65.45 65.90 0.53 331,210 (6,061,393.00)
31.50 22.50 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 23.50 23.45 23.45 23.45 (0.21) 10,000 (82,075.00)
0.10 0.0095 Greenergy 0.0180 0.0180 0.0170 0.0180 0.00 43,900,000 69,800.00
13.50 7.80 Holcim Philippines Inc. 11.76 12.10 11.78 12.10 2.89 731,200 (727,484.00)
9.00 4.71 Integ. Micro-Electronics 4.77 5.00 4.90 4.90 2.73 41,000
2.35 0.95 Ionics Inc 1.690 1.700 1.670 1.670 (1.18) 320,000
120.00 80.00 Jollibee Foods Corp. 112.00 113.00 109.00 109.00 (2.68) 439,670 (27,253,368.00)
91.25 25.00 Liberty Flour 56.00 57.00 57.00 57.00 1.79 10
8.40 1.04 LMG Chemicals 3.15 3.17 3.09 3.15 0.00 67,000 12,600.00
1.55 0.99 Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 1.50 1.70 1.70 1.70 13.33 1,000
3.20 1.05 Manchester Intl. A 2.10 2.00 2.00 2.00 (4.76) 5,000
24.70 17.94 Manila Water Co. Inc. 24.50 25.10 24.20 24.65 0.61 2,058,400 (10,566,960.00)
6.95 0.75 Mariwasa MFG. Inc. 4.60 4.58 2.30 4.01 (12.83) 5,000
15.30 8.12 Megawide 15.30 15.30 15.04 15.04 (1.70) 101,300 (45,300.00)
295.00 215.00 Mla. Elect. Co `A 262.40 261.00 259.40 260.00 (0.91) 141,690 (23,911,396.00)
6.75 4.50 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 6.50 6.75 5.90 6.50 0.00 2,800
3.00 1.96 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 2.80 2.81 2.76 2.76 (1.43) 64,000 69,400.00
17.40 9.70 Petron Corporation 10.60 10.66 10.50 10.66 0.57 2,775,300 (7,915,714.00)
15.24 9.01 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 9.70 9.70 9.55 9.65 (0.52) 36,300
9.50 5.25 Republic Cement `A 8.92 8.96 8.96 8.96 0.45 336,600
2.55 1.01 RFM Corporation 2.49 2.64 2.49 2.63 5.62 6,920,000 389,500.00
2.49 1.10 Roxas and Co. 2.55 2.50 1.50 2.50 (1.96) 103,000
6.50 2.90 Salcon Power Corp. 3.70 3.50 3.50 3.50 (5.41) 5,000
33.00 27.70 San Miguel Brewery Inc. 30.00 30.00 29.50 30.00 0.00 36,500 59,000.00
132.60 105.70 San Miguel Corp `A 112.50 112.60 111.80 112.00 (0.44) 406,390 (1,569,146.00)
1.90 1.25 Seacem 1.79 1.79 1.77 1.79 0.00 630,000 (537,000.00)
2.50 1.85 Splash Corporation 1.90 1.91 1.90 1.90 0.00 95,000
0.250 0.112 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.139 0.140 0.139 0.139 0.00 800,000
5.46 2.92 Tanduay Holdings 3.96 3.87 3.85 3.87 (2.27) 34,000
3.62 1.99 TKC Steel Corp. 2.49 2.49 2.48 2.49 0.00 136,000
1.41 0.90 Trans-Asia Oil 1.23 1.25 1.23 1.24 0.81 1,604,000 (123,000.00)
68.00 36.20 Universal Robina 67.25 67.50 65.00 67.00 (0.37) 3,255,980 (13,669,157.00)
1.12 0.285 Vitarich Corp. 0.570 0.590 0.570 0.590 3.51 970,000 (2,950.00)
18.00 2.55 Vivant Corp. 12.00 12.60 11.80 12.50 4.17 34,800
1.22 0.68 Vulcan Indl. 0.97 1.03 0.98 1.00 3.09 1,975,000
HOLDING FIRMS
1.18 0.65 Abacus Cons. `A 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.74 (1.33) 201,000
59.90 35.50 Aboitiz Equity 50.15 50.10 48.00 49.10 (2.09) 998,790 2,833,280.00
0.019 0.014 Alcorn Gold Res. 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 0.00 5,000,000
13.48 8.00 Alliance Global Inc. 12.68 12.68 12.30 12.34 (2.68) 15,819,400 (3,983,488.00)
2.97 1.67 Anglo Holdings A 2.10 2.07 2.05 2.06 (1.90) 139,000
4.60 3.00 Anscor `A 4.50 4.60 4.50 4.55 1.11 1,120,000 13,710.00
6.98 0.260 Asia Amalgamated A 4.05 4.27 4.00 4.26 5.19 93,000
3.15 1.49 ATN Holdings A 2.00 2.03 1.80 2.03 1.50 76,000
437.00 272.00 Ayala Corp `A 424.80 430.00 413.00 416.20 (2.02) 637,430 (131,292,072.00)
59.45 30.50 DMCI Holdings 57.60 59.25 57.60 57.80 (51.74) 2,100,940 40,488,343.50
5.25 3.30 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.57 4.64 4.51 4.61 0.88 581,000
0.98 0.10 Forum Pacic 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.00 10,000
GT Capital 492.00 500.00 481.20 492.00 0.00 6,738,310 544,491,676.00
5.22 2.90 House of Inv. 4.63 4.61 4.53 4.61 (0.43) 21,000
34.80 19.00 JG Summit Holdings 34.10 34.20 33.85 34.00 (0.29) 2,961,400 72,568,965.00
5.17 2.30 Keppel Holdings `A 4.68 4.00 4.00 4.00 (14.53) 10,000
5.70 2.30 Keppel Holdings `B 4.75 4.11 4.10 4.10 (13.68) 8,000
6.95 4.00 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.83 5.75 5.69 5.69 (2.40) 2,547,900 (12,854,108.00)
1.54 0.61 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 1.25 1.25 1.21 1.21 (3.20) 6,857,000 (61,000.00)
0.91 0.300 Mabuhay Holdings `A 0.630 0.660 0.650 0.660 4.76 40,000
3.82 1.500 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 3.670 3.820 3.670 3.710 1.09 9,722,000 (11,240.00)
4.45 2.56 Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. 4.45 4.40 4.32 4.33 (2.70) 26,151,000 (11,353,380.00)
6.24 2.10 Minerales Industrias Corp. 4.80 4.85 4.85 4.85 1.04 10,000
0.0770 0.054 Pacica `A 0.0600 0.0590 0.0590 0.0590 (1.67) 9,720,000
2.20 1.42 Prime Media Hldg 1.600 1.600 1.600 1.600 0.00 30,000
0.82 0.44 Prime Orion 0.510 0.520 0.510 0.520 1.96 114,000
4.10 1.56 Republic Glass A 2.02 2.03 2.00 2.02 0.00 4,000
2.40 0.91 Seafront `A 1.48 1.50 1.47 1.47 (0.68) 19,000
0.490 0.285 Sinophil Corp. 0.350 0.350 0.350 0.350 0.00 550,000
699.00 450.00 SM Investments Inc. 680.50 685.00 680.00 680.50 0.00 321,460 33,294,285.00
1.78 1.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.26 1.28 1.27 1.28 1.59 241,000
0.420 0.099 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2700 0.2700 0.2650 0.2650 (1.85) 10,330,000
0.620 0.056 Wellex Industries 0.3900 0.3950 0.3750 0.3800 (2.56) 4,890,000 38,000.00
1.370 0.178 Zeus Holdings 0.630 0.630 0.620 0.620 (1.59) 2,030,000
P R O P E R T Y
39.00 11.00 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 38.00 36.50 32.10 36.50 (3.95) 3,500 95,770.00
0.75 0.31 Araneta Prop `A 0.690 0.690 0.690 0.690 0.00 50,000
22.40 13.36 Ayala Land `B 21.55 21.70 21.50 21.55 0.00 5,412,000 7,007,955.00
6.12 3.08 Belle Corp. `A 4.98 5.09 4.96 5.04 1.20 32,360,000 (37,097,300.00)
9.00 2.26 Cebu Holdings 7.14 7.18 6.76 7.18 0.56 6,762,300 (18,460,490.00)
5.66 0.26 Century Property 1.71 1.71 1.65 1.68 (1.75) 3,356,000 (84,000.00)
1.65 1.07 Cityland Dev. `A 1.26 1.25 1.22 1.25 (0.79) 200,000 (49,500.00)
0.127 0.060 Crown Equities Inc. 0.084 0.086 0.086 0.086 2.38 100,000
1.16 0.67 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.90 0.91 0.88 0.88 (2.22) 1,706,000
0.90 0.54 Empire East Land 0.610 0.610 0.610 0.610 0.00 369,000
3.80 2.90 Eton Properties 3.32 3.55 3.48 3.50 5.42 128,000 (52,500.00)
0.310 0.10 Ever Gotesco 0.188 0.190 0.182 0.190 1.06 1,340,000
3.06 1.76 Global-Estate 1.89 1.90 1.85 1.89 0.00 6,060,000 486,800.00
1.35 0.98 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.31 1.31 1.28 1.30 (0.76) 10,132,000 (3,714,500.00)
3.80 1.21 Highlands Prime 2.12 2.04 2.04 2.04 (3.77) 76,000
2.14 0.65 Interport `A 1.44 1.48 1.38 1.44 0.00 553,000
2.48 1.51 Megaworld Corp. 2.02 2.06 2.01 2.05 1.49 85,656,000 117,413,100.00
0.80 0.215 MRC Allied Ind. 0.2240 0.2230 0.2150 0.2190 (2.23) 2,830,000
0.990 0.072 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.7700 0.7800 0.7600 0.7700 0.00 19,383,000 331,250.00
0.71 0.41 Phil. Realty `A 0.540 0.530 0.530 0.530 (1.85) 130,000
4.77 1.80 Polar Property Holdings 3.40 3.49 3.32 3.49 2.65 234,000
18.86 10.00 Robinsons Land `B 17.90 18.86 17.90 18.50 3.35 5,194,200 46,620,144.00
710.00 360.00 San Miguel Prop. 540.00 590.00 590.00 590.00 9.26 10
2.70 1.74 Shang Properties Inc. 2.49 2.49 2.46 2.49 0.00 134,000
9.47 6.50 SM Development `A 7.05 7.15 7.05 7.10 0.71 287,700 690,295.00
18.20 10.90 SM Prime Holdings 16.60 16.92 16.60 16.60 0.00 10,456,500 (28,240,034.00)
1.14 0.64 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.76 0.77 0.75 0.75 (1.32) 550,000
4.30 2.60 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.240 4.240 4.170 4.200 (0.94) 7,243,000 (11,167,550.00)
S E R V I C E S
2GO Group 2.37 2.32 2.30 2.30 (2.95) 31,000
43.00 28.60 ABS-CBN 41.58 41.80 41.00 41.80 0.53 27,600
14.76 1.60 Acesite Hotel 11.64 11.66 10.56 11.66 0.17 60,100
0.80 0.45 APC Group, Inc. 0.670 0.680 0.680 0.680 1.49 300,000
0.5300 0.0660 Boulevard Holdings 0.1730 0.1730 0.1710 0.1720 (0.58) 12,100,000 34,500.00
98.15 62.50 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 70.00 70.00 69.50 69.90 (0.14) 128,130 3,688,311.00
10.60 8.20 Centro Esc. Univ. 10.46 9.90 9.90 9.90 (5.35) 500
9.70 5.40 DFNN Inc. 7.01 7.15 7.00 7.11 1.43 199,800
5.90 1.45 Easy Call Common 3.15 3.93 3.33 3.72 18.10 146,000
1750.00 765.00 FEUI 935.00 945.00 945.00 945.00 1.07 20
1270.00 825.00 Globe Telecom 1120.00 1121.00 1090.00 1103.00 (1.52) 59,575 (21,857,545.00)
10.34 6.18 GMA Network Inc. 9.69 9.62 9.35 9.50 (1.96) 312,500
69.00 43.40 I.C.T.S.I. 67.90 67.90 67.00 67.60 (0.44) 649,170 (10,846,105.00)
0.98 0.34 Information Capital Tech. 0.540 0.440 0.440 0.440 (18.52) 1,000
18.40 5.00 Imperial Res. `A 11.00 8.70 8.60 8.70 (20.91) 1,500
6.00 4.00 IPeople Inc. `A 6.10 6.80 6.10 6.49 6.39 21,700
4.29 2.20 IP Converge 3.04 3.05 3.05 3.05 0.33 65,000
34.50 0.123 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.125 0.132 0.124 0.132 5.60 8,370,000
3.87 1.16 IPVG Corp. 1.21 1.23 1.20 1.21 0.00 1,761,000 (872,420.00)
0.0760 0.040 Island Info 0.0610 0.0600 0.0590 0.0600 (1.64) 4,230,000
5.1900 2.900 ISM Communications 3.0900 3.0700 2.9900 3.0500 (1.29) 288,000
3.79 1.58 JTH Davies Holdings Inc. 2.50 2.39 2.39 2.39 (4.40) 5,000
11.68 5.90 Leisure & Resorts 7.75 7.87 7.70 7.80 0.65 299,100
4.28 2.65 Liberty Telecom 2.75 2.85 2.73 2.85 3.64 66,000
2.35 0.92 Lorenzo Shipping 1.90 1.81 1.77 1.81 (4.74) 6,000
3.00 1.00 Manila Jockey 1.59 1.55 1.55 1.55 (2.52) 20,000
9.60 6.50 Metro Pacic Tollways 7.99 5.60 5.50 5.60 (29.91) 200
21.00 17.20 Pacic Online Sys. Corp. 18.78 20.00 19.10 19.92 6.07 245,500 (3,098,000.00)
8.58 4.50 PAL Holdings Inc. 7.60 7.75 7.45 7.50 (1.32) 179,400 (37,500.00)
3.32 1.05 Paxys Inc. 2.90 2.95 2.90 2.90 0.00 2,545,000 (2,914,830.00)
17.18 14.50 Philweb.Com Inc. 17.02 17.18 17.02 17.18 0.94 1,883,400 (10,096,156.00)
6.90 3.80 PLDT Comm & Energy 4.20 4.20 4.20 4.20 0.00 20,000 (84,000.00)
2886.00 2096.00 PLDT Common 2550.00 2570.00 2546.00 2550.00 0.00 169,360 (162,802,050.00)
0.48 0.23 PremiereHorizon 0.36 0.37 0.35 0.37 4.23 13,120,000 29,250.00
23.75 10.68 Puregold 23.50 23.75 22.90 23.00 (2.13) 2,642,800 19,118,300.00
Touch Solutions 3.60 3.51 3.50 3.50 (2.78) 50,000
0.79 0.26 Waterfront Phils. 0.530 0.540 0.530 0.530 0.00 39,000
MINING & OIL
0.0083 0.0036 Abra Mining 0.0056 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 (1.79) 58,000,000
6.20 3.01 Apex `A 5.05 5.31 5.15 5.31 5.15 498,100
6.22 3.00 Apex `B 5.16 5.30 5.16 5.25 1.74 145,000 (25,800.00)
25.20 14.50 Atlas Cons. `A 19.24 19.40 19.10 19.16 (0.42) 4,771,100 7,435,336.00
31.00 20.00 Atok-Big Wedge `A 26.90 26.70 22.30 25.80 (4.09) 26,800 24,705.00
0.380 0.148 Basic Energy Corp. 0.280 0.300 0.290 0.290 3.57 744,000
30.35 15.00 Benguet Corp `A 24.90 25.00 24.90 25.00 0.40 35,800
34.00 14.50 Benguet Corp `B 25.30 26.95 25.30 26.50 4.74 8,300 (7,590.00)
2.51 1.62 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.75 1.78 1.75 1.75 0.00 302,000
50.85 4.35 Dizon 46.75 49.90 46.75 49.70 6.31 923,600 (81,210.00)
1.21 0.50 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.99 1.00 0.95 0.95 (4.04) 21,785,000 (3,955,950.00)
1.82 0.5900 Lepanto `A 1.410 1.410 1.390 1.410 0.00 11,316,000
2.070 0.6700 Lepanto `B 1.520 1.520 1.490 1.520 0.00 5,459,000 130,500.00
0.085 0.035 Manila Mining `A 0.0740 0.0740 0.0730 0.0730 (1.35) 60,820,000
0.087 0.035 Manila Mining `B 0.0740 0.0740 0.0740 0.0740 0.00 1,790,000
34.80 15.04 Nickelasia 32.40 32.40 32.20 32.30 (0.31) 178,100 (32,400.00)
12.76 2.08 Nihao Mineral Resources 12.38 12.62 12.36 12.36 (0.16) 5,379,000 (4,917,884.00)
1.100 0.008 Omico 0.8200 0.7800 0.7800 0.7800 (4.88) 4,000
8.40 2.12 Oriental Peninsula Res. 7.990 8.120 7.890 7.920 (0.88) 2,890,700 (7,315,615.00)
0.032 0.012 Oriental Pet. `A 0.0230 0.0230 0.0210 0.0220 (4.35) 663,000,000
0.033 0.013 Oriental Pet. `B 0.0230 0.0230 0.0220 0.0230 0.00 29,500,000
7.14 5.10 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 6.35 6.33 6.33 6.33 (0.31) 33,000
28.95 17.08 Philex `A 20.90 21.05 20.80 20.90 0.00 4,563,500 (20,078,755.00)
14.18 3.00 PhilexPetroleum 12.30 12.48 12.36 12.40 0.81 383,300
0.058 0.013 Philodrill Corp. `A 0.054 0.053 0.052 0.053 (1.85) 330,290,000 (1,059,470.00)
69.00 46.00 PNOC Expls `B 53.00 58.00 53.00 58.00 9.43 20
252.00 161.10 Semirara Corp. 239.00 245.00 242.00 244.40 2.26 192,900 (31,623,322.00)
0.029 0.013 United Paragon 0.0210 0.0210 0.0200 0.0200 (4.76) 74,500,000 (40,000.00)
PREFERRED
47.90 27.30 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 50.00 48.00 42.10 44.00 (12.00) 230 (10,080.00)
570.00 520.00 Ayala Corp. Pref `A 578.00 578.00 578.00 578.00 0.00 1,000
109.80 100.50 First Phil. Hldgs.-Pref. 105.30 108.00 105.30 105.30 0.00 20
11.02 6.00 GMA Holdings Inc. 9.62 9.61 9.30 9.40 (2.29) 4,337,200 1,133,715.00
80.00 74.50 SMC Preferred 1 77.30 77.00 76.50 76.50 (1.03) 9,200
WARRANTS & BONDS
1.35 0.62 Megaworld Corp. Warrants 1.01 1.02 1.01 1.02 0.99 2,088,000
0.210 0.00 Omico Corp. Warrant 0.0990 0.0990 0.0990 0.0990 0.00 1,340,000
TRADI NG SUMMARY
SHARES VALUE
FINANCIAL 13,063,612 1,148,190,446.50
INDUSTRIAL 97,403,451 759,935,693.92
HOLDING FIRMS 124,503,846 11,007,882,048.07
PROPERTY 212,800,618 1,024,350,879.83
SERVICES 74,382,128 1185,618,958.98
MINING & OIL 1,285,601,062 472,555,670.09
GRAND TOTAL 1,807,754,717 15,598,533,697.40
FINANCIAL 1,302.79 (UP) 6.95
INDUSTRIAL 7,894.01 (DOWN) 24.61
HOLDING FIRMS 4,357.17 (DOWN) 53.81
PROPERTY 1,933.32 (UP) 7.92
SERVICES 1,699.87 (DOWN) 3.53
MINING & OIL 25,598.75 (UP) 9.95
PSEI 5,156.46 (DOWN) 16.82
All Shares Index 3,429.55 (UP) 4.12
Gainers: 76; Losers: 87; Unchanged: 44; Total: 207
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
Bloomberry 15.00 27.12
Easy Call "Common" 3.72 18.10
Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 1.70 13.33
PNOC Expls `B' 58.00 9.43
San Miguel Prop. 590.00 9.26
Filipino Fund Inc. 13.98 7.37
IPeople Inc. `A' 6.49 6.39
Dizon 49.70 6.31
Pacic Online Sys. Corp. 19.92 6.07
RFM Corporation 2.63 5.62
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
Metro Pacic Tollways 5.60 (29.91)
Imperial Res. `A' 8.70 (20.91)
Information Capital Tech. 0.440 (18.52)
Keppel Holdings `A' 4.00 (14.53)
Keppel Holdings `B' 4.10 (13.68)
Mariwasa MFG. Inc. 4.01 (12.83)
ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 44.00 (12.00)
C. Azuc De Tarlac 16.00 (5.88)
Salcon Power Corp. 3.50 (5.41)
Centro Esc. Univ. 9.90 (5.35)
TOP GAI NERS TOP LOSERS
Ayala Corp. keen on LRT project
STOCKS VOLUME
Oriental Pet. `A 663,000,000
Philodrill Corp. `A 330,290,000
Megaworld Corp. 85,656,000
United Paragon 74,500,000
Manila Mining `A 60,820,000
Abra Mining 58,000,000
Greenergy 43,900,000
Belle Corp. `A 32,360,000
Oriental Pet. `B 29,500,000
Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. 26,151,000
STOCKS VALUE
GT Capital 3,312,679,758.00
PLDT Common 432,359,380.00
Metrobank 410,210,012.00
Ayala Corp `A 266,653,672.00
SM Investments Inc. 218,765,930.00
Universal Robina 218,593,623.00
Alliance Global Inc. 195,778,890.00
Security Bank 191,509,978.00
Megaworld Corp. 175,036,990.00
SM Prime Holdings 173,932,174.00
LOCAL stocks fell for a second day
Friday, in line with the movement of Asian
markets following economic reports that
suggest the US economy is struggling to
maintain its recovery.
The Philippine Stock
Exchange index, the 30-company
benchmark, dipped 16 points, or
0.3 percent, to close at 5,156.46.
The index has dropped 5 percent
since closing at a peak of 5,186.2
on April 18.
The heavier index representing
all shares, however, was slightly
up by 4 points, or 0.1 percent, to
3,429, even as losers outnumbered
gainers, 87 to 76, with 44 issues
unchanged. Some 181.8 million
shares were traded with total value
of P5.5 billion Friday.
GT Capital Holdings Inc., the
holding company of billionaire
George Ty and parent company
of Metropolitan Bank and
Trust Co., rose 8.1 percent
to P492 on its trading debut.
The company sold shares at
P455 each in an initial public
offering. Vice chairman Alfred
Ty said the offshore part of its
initial share sale was ve-times
oversubscribed.
BDO Unibank Inc., the
nations largest bank by assets,
increased 2.5 percent to P68.70.
BDO said rst-quarter prot rose
15 percent from a year earlier to
P2.8 billion.
Bank of the Philippine Islands
was up 0.7 percent to P75.50 after
president Aurelio Montinola III
said loan growth would remain
strong this year.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
was the highest gainer. Its stocks
rose 27.1 percent to P15.
Meanwhile, Asian stock
markets fell Friday as strong US
company earnings failed to calm
investor nerves.
Tokyos Nikkei 225 index
dropped 0.4 percent to 9,551.41
and Hong Kongs Hang Seng
shed 0.3 percent to 20,941. South
Koreas Kospi lost 1.4 percent to
1,972.47, with the government
saying that exports are likely to
face headwinds in the second
quarter of the year due to Europes
debt crisis and a slowdown in the
Chinese economy.
Australias S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1
percent to 4,358.50. Benchmarks
in Singapore and Taiwan also fell.
Key indexes in mainland China and
Thailand rose.
In the US, strong corporate
earnings from Morgan Stanley,
eBay, Southwest Airlines and
Bank of America werent
enough to make up for weak
reports on jobs, housing and
manufacturing.
The Labor Department
said weekly applications for
unemployment benets were
down 2,000 to 386,000 but
anything above 375,000 is
generally taken as a sign that
hiring isnt strong enough to
lower the unemployment rate.
With Bloomberg, AP
Ayala Corp.s
brieng. Ayala
Corp. chairman
Fernando Zobel
de AyaLa (right)
and director
Jaime Augusto
Zobel de Ayala
talked to
newsmen after
the companys
annual
stockholders
meeting at the
Intercontinental
Hotel Manila
in Makati City
Friday.
EY ACASIO
CONGLOMERATE Ayala
Corp. said Friday it would
invest $1 billion in power and
infrastructure projects over the
next ve years.
The company said in its
annual report it has the capacity
to invest and build its power
and transport businesses as new
growth platforms.
These [investments in the
power and transport infrastructure
sectors] not only create a steady
source of future earnings and
value for Ayala but also enhance
the value proposition of its existing
businesses while contributing to
national growth and development,
Ayala Corp. said.
Ayala Corp chairman Jaime
Augusto Zobel de Ayala said the
company sees clear opportunities
for toll road, rail and airport-
related projects under the public-
private sector partnership scheme
of the Aquino administration.
The company won last year the
bidding for the four-kilometer
Daang Hari-South Luzon
Expressway Link road project,
which was the rst PPP project
auctioned by the government.
The conglomerate said it was
also prepared to bid for the
contract to extend and manage
the Light Rail Transit Line 1.
The government earlier said it
would start the bidding process
for the P61.53-billion LRT 1
south extension project from
Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite this
month.
Ayala Corp., through its unit
AC Energy Holdings Inc., also
aims to build a portfolio of
power generating assets of up
to 1,000 megawatts, combining
conventional and renewable
energy sources.
AC Energy has already put
together 180-MW capacity
across thermal, wind, hydro and
solar technologies.
Jenniffer B. Austria
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
(MST-Apr. 21, 2012)
PROVINCE OF PANGASINAN
BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE (BAC)
2
nd
Floor Malong Building, Capitol Compound
Lingayen, Pangasinan
Tel. No. (075) 542-6918
Website@biddingandawards.pangasinan gov.ph, E-mail address: ebmendoza57@yahoo.com
I NVI TATI ON t o BI D
The Province of Pangasinan, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites
contractors registered and classifed by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board
(PCAB) to bid for the project/s described hereunder:
Project No. 1
Name of Project : Renovation/Improvement of Pangasinan Employment and Skills
Development Center
Location : NRSCC Compound, Lingayen, Pangasinan
Source of Fund : Grant DOE (PR#2012-04-3151)
Approved Budget
for the Contract : P 15,103,116.29
Contract Duration : One Hundred Eighty (180) Calendar Days
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorship, organizations/corporations with
at least sixty percent (60%) of the interest belongs to citizens of the Philippines, and to
citizen/organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or
privileges to Filipino citizens pursuant to RA5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.
Prospective bidders shall possess a valid PCAB license applicable to the contract, have
completed a similar contract with a value of at least ffty percent (50%) of the ABC to be
bid, and have key personnel and equipment available for the prosecution of the contract.
Certifcate/s of satisfactory performance from the client of the declared completed similar
projects shall be submitted for review.
The bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-
discretionary "pass/fail criterion as specifed in the revised mplementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement
Reform Act.
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 Regulation (as amended).
The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows:
BAC Activities Schedule
1. Pre-Procurement Conference April 10, 2012; 10:00am
2. Issuance of Bid Documents April 20, 2012 May 10, 2012
3. Pre-Bid Conference April 27, 2012; 10:00am
4. Deadline of Submissions and Opening of Bids May 10, 2012; 10:00am
Bid Documents shall be issued only to contractors/bidders who have submitted formal
Letter of ntent (LO) at the BAC Offce, 2/F Malong Building, Capitol Compound, Lingayen,
Pangasinan and upon payment of P1,000.00 Accreditation Fee for new bidders, and a
non-refundable amount of P16,000.00/bidder/project for project No. 1 to the Provincial
Treasurer's Offce. Prospective bidders shall submit their Bid Documents to the BAC Offce
at the same address.
The Province of Pangasinan assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or
indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation for their bids. Moreover,
the Province of Pangasinan reserves the right to reject any or all bid proposals, or declare
a failure of bidding, or not award the contract, and makes no assurance that contract
shall be entered into as a result of this invitation without thereby incurring any liability in
accordance with RA 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
Approved by:
(Sgd.) RAFAEL F. BARAAN
Provincial Administrator
BAC Chairman
(MST-Apr. 21, 2012)
INVITATION TO BID FOR THE RE-BIDDING OF THE SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND
INSTALLATION OF TWO LOTS CARPET MATERIALS (LOT 1: AXMINSTER CARPET AND
LOT 2: CARPET TILES) FOR CF-ANGELES UNDER ITB NO. 04-09-2012
Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation
A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its
forthcoming public bidding for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Two (2) Lots Carpet Materials
(Lot 1:Axminster Carpet and Lot 2: Carpet Tiles) for CF-Angeles under ITB No. 04-09-2012.
Delivery Schedule Within Ninety (90) caIendar days from the effectivity date specied
in the Notice to Proceed
Approved Budget: Lot 1 (Axminster Carpet): Eight Million, Three Hundred Sixteen
Thousand Nine Hundred Eighty-Four Pesos (PhP 8,316,984.00),
VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction)
Lot 2 (Carpet Tiles): One Million One Hundred Fifty-Eight Thousand
Nine Hundred Forty-Five Pesos (PhP 1,158,945.00), VAT Exclusive,
Zero Rated Transaction
Source of Fund: Internally Funded
This bidding is open to all suppliers; provided that the winning bidder should be registered with
PAGCOR prior to award of contract. Unregistered suppliers must register at the Suppliers Registration
& Evaluation Section (SRES), Procurement Department (PD), 2nd Floor PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas
Blvd., Ermita, Manila, Tel. No. 526-0573.
Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and
receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the
Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through
open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary "pass/fail criterion as specifed in
the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the
Government Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least
sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to
citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to
Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.
All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualifcation and Award of
Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR.
The schedule of activities is listed, as follows:
Activities Schedule
1. Issuance of Bid Documents April 20-May 7, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference April 24, 2012 2:00 pm
3. Deadline on Submission of Bids May 7, 2012 2:00 pm
4. Opening of Bids May 7, 2012 2:00 pm (onwards)
Complete details of the project are indicated in the bid documents which will be available to
prospective bidders at the BAC Secretariat Unit, Procurement Department (BSU-PD), upon payment
of a non-refundable bidding fee of Eleven Thousand Six Hundred Forty Three Pesos and 78/100
(PhP11,643.78) for Lot 1 and One Thousand Six Hundred Twenty Two Pesos and 52/100
(PhP 1,622.52) for Lot 2.
Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following
websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.net and may be allowed to submit bids provided that
bidders pay the non-refundable bidding fee not later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-
bid Conference is open to all interested bidders; however, only those bidders who have purchased
the Bidding Documents and presented the PAGCOR OfciaI Receipt as proof of payment, may
participate in the discussion at the said conference or submit written queries or cIarications.
Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR's Cashier at 6th foor, PAGCOR Corporate Offce, M.H.
del Pilar cor. Pedro Gil Sts., Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from
the BSU-PD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All Bids must be
accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.
Prospective bidders may conduct site inspection during offce hours from 23-27 April 2012 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. prior to the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids. For details, inquiries or
clarifcations you may contact the Property and General Services Department and look for the Branch
General Services Offcer, Ms. Leilany T. Tan or ABGSO Merlin Cosio at telephone nos. (045) 892-
5073-74 local 230, 231.
PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses
incurred in the preparation of their bids.
PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject
all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder
or bidders.
Please address all communications to the Bids and Awards Committee thru the BAC Secretariat Unit,
Room 205, Second Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911,
521-1542 local 223/571.
(Sgd.) EDUARDO D. LAGMAN
Chairperson
Bids and Awards Committee 1
Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS
Cordillera Administrative Region
OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Engineers Hill, Baguio City
RE-I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
(MST-Apr. 21, 2012)
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and
Highways, Cordillera Administrative Region (DPWH-CAR) through its Bids and
Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned project/s :
1. Contract ID : 12P00007
Contract Name : Road Upgrading (gravel to concrete) along
Kalinga-Abra Road
Contract Location : K0476+000 K0479+697 with exception,
(K0476+000 K0479+539
((with exception) as per RBIA) & K0480+300
K0482+640, (K0480+342 K0482+018 as per
RBIA), Balenciagao Norte, Pasil & Balbalan
Proper Section
Scope of Work : PCCP, Roadway Excavation (Solid Rock),
Grouted Riprap, Stone Masonry, Concrete
Curb & Gutter (0.65m), Structural Concrete,
Reinforcing Steel Bars, etc
Approved Budget Cost : Php 130,035,000.98
Contract Duration : 330 calendar days
Cost of Bidding Documents : 40,000.00
The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with Revised IRR
of R.A. 9184, Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget Cost (ABC) shall be
automatically rejected at the opening of bid.
To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI),purchase
bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the
DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative
or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract,
(d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10
years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line
commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use the non-discretionary pass/
fail criteria in the eligibility check, preliminary examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration,
to the DPWH-POCW CentraI Ofce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The
DPWH-POCW Central Offce will only process contractor's applications for registration,
with complete requirements, and issue the Contractor's Certifcate of Registration
(CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.
gov.ph. Letter of Intent submitted thru mail will not be accepted. Only Authorized
Liaison Offcer as refected in the Contractor's Registration Certifcate (CRC) will be
allowed to transact with the BAC.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From April 21, 2012-May 14, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference May 2, 2012, 10:00am
3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective
Bidders
Deadline: May 9, 2012, 5:00pm
4. Submission/Receipt of Bids Until 10:00am May 14, 2012
5. Opening of Bids May 14 , 2012, 10:00am
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH-CAR,
BAC-Secretariat, upon payment of non- refundable fee as stated above. Prospective
bidders may also download the BDs, if available from the DPWH web site. Prospective
bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees
on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall
be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BDs. Bids must be
accompanied by a bid security in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in
Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in
the BD's in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst
envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the
eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component
of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as
determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
The Department of Public Works and Highways, Cordillera Administrative
Region (DPWH-CAR), reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and
to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring
any liability to the affected bidders.

Approved by:
(Sgd.) WILBUR B. LIKIGAN
Chief, MQCH Division
BAC Chairman
DPWH-CAR, Regional Offce
Engineers Hill, Baguio City, 2600
Fax/Tel. No. (074)-444-88-38
HELEN P. MONTI LLA
(Oct. 30, 1956-Jan. 28,
2012) Died at the age of 55
at Paraaque Med. Center
last January 28, 2012.
She is survived by her
parents Lauro M. Pascua
and Florentina Anne S.
Pascua. Her remains were
brought to Estipona, Pura
Tarlac and was buried
last February 04, 2012 at
Estipona Cemetary
(MST-Apr. 14, 21 & 28, 2012)
For
f ast
ad
r esul t s,
pl ease
c al l
659-4803
or
659-4830
l oc .303
Business
ManilaStandardToday business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com APRIL 21, 2012 SATURDAY
B3
Mindanao
to tackle
business
concerns
PAL Holdings appoints
Ang as new president
Gold Fields anticipates FTAA
By Othel V. Campos
GOLD Fields Phils. Inc., a unit of South African
miner Gold Fields Ltd., said Friday it expects
the government to approve its application for a
nancial and technical assistance agreement for
the Far Southeast copper-gold project by June or
earlier.
Notwithstanding the ongoing reforms in
the local mining sector, we are positive that
the Philippine government will approve our
application within the current semester,
company president and chief executive Brett
Madison said during the bi-monthly Philippine
Mining Forum at the Makati Shangri-La
Hotel.
A nancial and technical agreement is a
contract with the government that allows a foreign
corporation to legally own and control large-scale
mines in the Philippines.
The company has recently completed the third
and last tranche of payment for the acquisition
of 40-percent share of the project from Liberty
Express Assets, a privately-held offshore
holding rm. Acquisition cost was about $220
million.
Gold Fields is also set to acquire the additional
20 percent from Lepanto Consolidated Mining
Co. that would allow it to have a controlling share
in the project.
Gold Fields holds a separate option agreement
with Lepanto, which currently owns 60 percent
of the Far Southeast Project, to acquire an
additional 20-percent stake in the Far Southeast
project.
An FTAA license is one of the conditions set
by Lepanto to allow Gold Fields to acquire the
additional 20 percent.
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 will also have to include
assessment of the safety, environmental and
technical considerations of the project as well as
community acceptance.
Lepanto led an application for the FTAA for
the Far Southeast project in November 2011.
Madison said the company expects exploration
activities to yield 90 metric tons at 0.77 percent
grams per ton copper and 0.54 percent gold for 52
metric ounce gold equivalent.
Gold Fields is the worlds fourth-biggest gold
producer and operates eight mines.
Share in toll revenues.
The government,
through the Toll
Regulatory Board on
Friday received from
Citra Metro Manila
Tollway Corp. and South
Luzon Tollway Corp.
the share of Philippine
National Construction
Corp. in toll revenues.
Presenting checks to
TRB executive director
Edmund Reyes (second
from left) is CMMTC
president and chief
executive Shadik
Wahono (third). Also
present are (left) PNCC
chairman Jose Vicente
Bengzon III and PNCC
president Luis Sison.
By Lailany P. Gomez
SAN Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang
has been appointed president and chief
operating ofcer of PAL Holdings Inc.,
the publicly-listed holdings rm of ag-
carrier Philippine Airlines, following the
resignation of previous ofcers.
PAL Holdings Inc. said
in a disclosure to the stock
exchange it had accepted the
resignation of Jaime Bautista
as director and president,
Domingo Chua as director
and treasurer, Wilson Young
as director, Juanita Tan Lee
as director, Johnip Cua as
independent director and Ma.
Cecilia Pesayco as corporate
secretary.
The new directors of the
holdings rm are Ang, Iigo
Zobel, Roberto Ongpin, Aurora
Calderon and Ferdinand
Constantino.
The new board approved
the appointment of Ramon
Ang as president and chief
operating officer, Harry
Tan as treasurer, Estelito
Mendoza as corporate
secretary, and Daniel Ang
Tan Chai as chief finance
officer.
It is not known if Bautista
will also step down as
president of PAL, but airline
spokesman Cielo Villaluna
said official announcements
will be made at the proper
time.
PAL earlier disclosed to
the PSE that the ownership
structure of the company will
remain the same.
Trustmark Holdings Corp.,
which holds 97.71 percent
of PAL Holdings Inc., will
issue shares to San Miguel
Investments Inc. equivalent to
49 percent of the outstanding
capital stock.
SMEII, as a substantial
shareholder of Trustmark, will
have an indirect interest in the
company, PAL said.
We expect that the
transaction will result in some
changes, but the details of such
changes might be premature to
anticipate at this time, PAL
Holdings had said.
PAL Holdings Inc., on April
4, informed PAL of the entry of
a new investor, which turned
out to be SMC, in the holding
company that controls majority
shares of the ag carrier.
PAL said the entry of
SMC would help finance its
refleeting program and make
the airline more viable and
competitive. The flag carrier
has been suffering losses
because of lingering high fuel
costs.
PAL reported a total
comprehensive loss of $33.5
million in the third quarter
covering October to December
2011.
The ag carriers revenues
also fell 3.8 percent to $386
million during the period.
PAL experienced weak
passenger demand and
declining cargo markets in
October-December period, as
the world economy struggled
to recover.
PAL, however, said that
yields for both passenger and
cargo have been improving,
although load factors have
lagged behind.
Its total operating expenses
amounted to $419.5 million
in the last quarter of 2011, or
9 percent higher over the same
period in 2010.
PAL has recently completed
the outsourcing of its non-
core businesses, as a part of its
efforts to reduce and rationalize
costs.
The company said it
continued to seek ways to
enhance revenues and lower
costs.
By Julito G. Rada

THE Philippine Chamber of
Commerce and Industry said it
will team up with the Mindanao
Development Authority to
make the nal draft of a policy
agenda that will be presented
to President Benigno Aquino
during the 21
st
Mindanao
Business Conference in
August.
The two groups, with
support from the US Agency
for International Development
through the Growth with Equity
in Mindanao Program, are
holding consultation meetings
in Mindanao to identify the
pressing issues such as power
affecting the islands economic
competitiveness.
Consultations were already
held in Zamboanga City on
April 18 covering the areas
of western Mindanao and the
Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao. The next meetings
would be in Cagayan de Oro
City on April 24 for northern
and eastern Mindanao, and
General Santos City on May
8 for central and southern
Mindanao.
MinDA and PCCI will
consolidate the results of this
years consultations and use
these to formulate the initial
draft of a policy agenda for
Mindanao. MinDA will provide
the draft policy agenda by early
June to concerned Cabinet
secretaries for a review.
These consultations are part
of our continuing efforts in policy
modication and advocacy to
ensure that Mindanao imperatives
in key sectors are addressed by
the national government, MDA
chairman Luwalhati Antonino
said in a statement.
The draft will be rened
further at high-level roundtable
discussions that will serve as a
prelude to the 21th Mindanao
Business Conference to be held
in Butuan City on Aug. 2 to 4.
Provinces
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Escudero: Focus on economy
High school
mentors get
pay increase
Housing: Its all
in BPI Family
Sun covers
Cordillera
highlands
Provinces
Manila Standard TODAY Edited by Leo A. Estonilo www.manilastandardtoday.com mst@manilastandardtoday.com
APRIL 21, 2012
SATURDAY
B4
Sta. Cruz island beach in the pink of health
By Sheila Covarrubias
ZAMBOANGA CITY-With black and white
beaches becoming too common to vacationers,
Mayor Celso Lobregat gives a choice of
enjoying the pink sands of Sta. Cruz.
He recently received clearance from the
Department of Tourism and the Tourism
Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority
to start managing the unique attraction of
Zamboanga peninsula.
The takeover, protection and preservation form
part of our administrations initiatives to promote
island-ecosystem which includes the landscape,
seascape and marine resources, he said.
But the development will not be the Boracay
type of development, Lobregat said, noting a
low-impact approach mindful of the carrying
capacity of the habitat and its uniquely tinted
shoreline.
The pink tinge is due to the organ pipe coral
or tubipora musica found in the place, whose
pulverized red calcarous skeleton blends with
shells and the sand.
At least 17 employees will be hired to join
the staff of tourism and environmental ofcers,
community development specialists, park
rangers among others, said Lobregat.
From the 1970s to early 80s, Santa Cruz
attracted German and Italian tourists who
considered it their hidden Spanish paradise for
snorkeling, scuba diving and resort living.
Of the two destinations in the locality, Great
Santa Cruz Island hosts a mangrove-laden
lagoon with a small Badjao village that could
be reached by a 15 to 20-minute boat ride
across the Basilan Strat which joins the Sulu
and Celebes seas.
Lobregat said visitors take to the island
by the day and in the afternoon return to the
mainland and their hotels.
He said the eco-tourism program would
allow the coral reef and vegetation to ourish
in Sta. Cruz to keep its glory as a prime
destination of the south.
P35-m pirated
videos crushed
Hearty welcome. Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado points out the key aspects of his
health program to delegates of Agusan province during their observation tour of the Bulacan Medical
Center in the City of Malolos.
Native craft. Visiting Palawan is made more memorable with souvenirs from a handicrafts shop on San Miguel National
Highway, Puerto Princesa City. JUN DAVID
By Florencio P. Narito
LEGAZPI CITYSenator Francis Chiz
Escudero has called on colleagues to stop
bickering and devote their time to dealing
with economic problems.
Keynoting the Executive
Board Meeting of the Vice
Mayors League of the Philippines
at Oriental Hotel here on
Wednesday, he noted the irony
of a nation being unable to take
full advantage of reaching out to
itself.
Despite these rapid advances in
the communications technology,
however, Filipinos have not been
communicating to each other to
address common problems like
lack of food, rising prices of
gasoline and prime commodities
and unemployment, he said.
You might say, Look whos
talking?. What have you been
doing in the Senate but act as
judges in the impeachment (of
Chief Justice Renato Corona)?
If Escudero stood for quality
time in the legislature, he made no
effort to show his disappointment
over stalled work.
As a matter of fact, Im very
much bored with the impeachment
trial. But its out constitutional
duty to act as the judges, he told
his amused audience.
Im only excited when
Senator Miriam Santiago attends
the trial and scolds a bungling
prosecutor-congressman. Aside
from that the impeachment trial
is no longer exciting for me.
That the Corona controversy
was too much of a digression
showed Escudero as not to
enthusiastic to be back in robes
joining his colleagues as senator-
judges next month.
Whatever happens in the
impeachmentif Corona is
acquitted or convicted, the price
of gasoline and electricity will
still be high and wont go down,
he said.
Whatever the result, the
jobless will still be jobless and
the sick will not immediately be
healed.
Director general Joel Villanueva
spoke on the programs of the
Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority to make
productive citizens.
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITYAt least P35 million worth of pirated
compact discs and other video materials seized at the
central business district during a raid were destroyed
in front of the city hall Friday morning.
Ronnie Rickets, chairman of the Optical Media
Board, said the drive was a nationwide effort joined
by the National Bureau of Investigation, local
governments and other agencies.
We have to hit them hard so that traders of
pirated CDs, VCDs and DVDs will feel that the
government is inclined to eradicate piracy,
Rickets told Manila Standard.
More than 300,000 pirated materials were loaded in
ve jeepneys before being unloaded and run over a
road roller.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan said legitimate business
operators have long complained of dwindling sales
because illegal products which could even drive them
out of their livelihood.
He commended Rickets for his campaign, asking
him to deputize ofcers to curb vilatiuons of the
Intellectual Property Code and help boost the economy
and investment in the city.
Rickets said he would ask the board to study
Domogans proposal and the possibility of adopting it
in subsequent anti-piracy raids.

SUN Cellular boosts its signal up
north with more robust network
in Bagiuo City and key spots in
the Cordillera Administrative
Region.
Charles Lim, Sun chief
operating ofcer, said the
expanded reach is timed for
the peak travel season in the
summer capital and the growing
economic activity in the
region as it moves toward its
autonomous status.
We want to ensure that our
customers will experience the
best network coverage in their
day-to-day activities, even
during their vacation, he said.
Whether in Baguio or in the
larger areas of Benguet or
Mountain Province, customers
may now rely on a stronger Sun
Cellular signal while exploring
Northern Luzon.
Lim said the broadened
coverage included Banaue Rice
Terraces in Ifugao, mountainside
sections of Sagada and even on
the strawberry plantations of La
Trinidad, Benguet.
We pursue these
developments to ensure that our
enhanced services are felt even
beyond the realms of the home
and the business, he said.
As much as possible, wed
like to extend the promise of a
better Sun Cellular network in
areas whereever our customers
travel.
Earlier this year, Sun Cellular
has embarked on a large-scale
network expansion project with
sister companies in the PLDT
Group starting with Mindanao
and now parts of northern and
central Luzon.
By Franklin P. Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITYThe Provincial School
Board of Zamboanga del Norte led by
Governor Rolando Yebes has increased the
monthly salary of secondary school teachers
under the Special Education Fund from
P4,400 to P6,000 starting June this year.
He made the announcement at the convention
and exhibition center before local exectutives,
heads of national government agencies
along with civic and religious leaders, non-
government organizations, Subanen leaders
and other stakeholders.
For several years, the school board
teachers were only receiving a monthly P4,400
and yet they were as loaded as the regular
teachers of the Department of Education,
Yebes said.
The capitol hired teachers paid by the SEF
to augment the teaching staff of high schools
in the province.
Reports showed that annexes and
extensions and other newly-opened high
schools lacked teachers. PIA
CAMP AQUINOThe Northern Luzon
Command marked its 25th founding anniversary
paying tribute to its outstanding soldiers and
officers and serving residents of host Tarlac
City and the province.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, commander, led
a weeklong commemoration with a medical
mission in San Pascual, San Miguel; a blood
donation along with medical and treatment
of patients at the camp; and a badminton
competition.
A shooting contest was held for media
practitioners alongside military teams in the
command.
Alacantara led a demonstration of
preparedness through the Disaster Response
Operation Squad challenge consisting of
squad run, knot-tying, bandaging and vehicular
accident extrication, basic life support, water
rescue operations, and Emergency Rescue
Transfer competitions.
The event was capped by awards for the best
officers, Enlisted Personnel and winners of the
fun games. Jessica M. Bacud
BACOLOD CITYBPI Family Savings Bank has
partnered with top real estate developers here for the
fourth run of the Housing Madness to guarantee low
rates on loans for home builders.
For Negrenses aspiring to own their dream home, 10
developers have come on board, namely, Ayala Land
Inc., AVIDA Land Corp., Amaia Land Corp., Dynamic
Properties and Realty Corp., Furen Land and Housing
Development Corp., BAPA Realty Development Corp.,
Communities Negros Occidental Inc. (Camella), AFP
MBAI Corp., Philippine Diversied development
Corp., and Home Invest Realty Ventures Inc.
The Housing Loan Pay Break granted a months
reprieve on yearly amortization, said BPI Family
Savings Bank president Jose Teodoro Limcaoco.
Our Housing Madness provides our clients with ease
and convenience as we gather in one roof nothing but
the best developers in one place, he said. As a bank
that understands the primary needs of every Filipino,
we create the best value for them through our special
rates and payment schemes.
Clients whose loan applications have been approved
and availed of are entitled to a free BPI Express Credit
Gold MasterCard.
Northern Luzon
Command turns 25