Manila Standard Today - April 12, 2012 Issue

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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Arraigned. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo
pleaded not guilty to the graft charges against them on Wednesday.
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N
By Eric B. Apolonio and John Concepcion
THE countrys largest warship remained locked in a tense
standoff with two Chinese coast guard vessels that blocked
Navy personnel from arresting the crew of eight Chinese
shing boats caught poaching marine species in the West
Philippine Sea, the government said Wednesday.
President Benigno Aquino III said Manila would seek
a diplomatic solution to the impasse, as Foreign Secretary
Albert Del Rosario summoned Chinese Ambassador Ma
Keqing.
Del Rosarios ofce said in a statement that the Scar-
borough Shoal is an integral part of Philippine territory
and Filipino authorities would assert sovereignty over the
offshore area.
The Chinese Embassy has accused the Philippine warship,
the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, of harassing the shermen.
China and the Philippines both claim ownership of the
shoal, which lies off the province of Zambales in an area
that Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.
JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima on
Wednesday conrmed that govern-
ment prosecutors are planning to clear
two people accused of election fraud,
but Elections Commission Chairman
Sixto Brillantes disagreed and said the
case against them would be pursued.
De Lima made the statement after
Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur
Abalos on Tuesday said the Elections
Commission planned to clear former
provincial elections ofcials Lilian
Radam and Yogie Martirizar, who are
accused of sabotaging the elections
in Mindanao in 2007 along with for-
mer Elections Commission Chairman
Benjamin Abalos, the mayors father.
Our position is that they [Radam
and Martirizar] should really be dis-
charged as state witnesses because
they are the ones who directly pointed
to the masterminds [of the cheating],
De Lima said.
But Brillantes denied the reports
his agency is withdrawing the case
against Radam and Martirizar.
It has been an old proposal to make
them state witnesses, but there is no de-
cision on that yet, Brillantes said.
Benhur Abalos on Tuesday said
a resolution was being circulated
among the poll bodys commissioners
withdrawing the charges against Ra-
dam and Martirizar.
ButCommissioner Rene Sarmiento
said there is no resolution approved
to withdraw the case against them.
There is no reason to drop the case.
De Lima, meanwhile, disputed the
Abalos camps claim that Radam and
Martirizar could not qualify as state
witnesses because they were not the
least guilty in the alleged crime.
Maybe they should read the rules
of court. Theres nothing there that says
those that can be discharged as state
witnesses are those that are considered
AN ALLY of President Benigno Aquino III on
Wednesday said the Mindanao power crisis
highlighted the need for the government to re-
enter the power generation business.
It is about time that we realize that the in-
security of our power system is the result of
a structural defect introduced by the Electric
Power Industry Reform Act, Deputy Speaker
Lorenzo Taada III said.
I believe that it was a grave error for EPI-
RA, as envisioned and implemented, to have
removed [the] government role in power gen-
eration in a liberalized setting.
BANDA ACEH, IndonesiaA massive earthquake
off Indonesias western coast triggered a tsunami
watch for countries across the Indian Ocean on
Wednesday, clogging streets with trafc as resi-
dents ed to high ground in cars and on the backs
of motorcycles.
Two hours after the quake hit, however, there was
no sign of the feared wave. Damage also appeared
to be minimal. A tsunami watch means there is a
potential for a tsunami, not that one is imminent.
The US Geological Survey said the 8.6-magnitude
quake was centered 33 kilometers beneath the ocean
oor around 434 kilometers from Aceh province.
It wasnt the strongest quake Ive felt, said 22-
year-old Tuti Rahmi while trying to reach her broth-
er by phone from Banda Aceh, with people around
her crying and screaming as they poured from their
homes.
A 13TH slot for senator is up for grabs and
must be lled in 2013, Muntinlupa City Rep.
Rodolfo Biazon said Wednesday.
He said Senator Miriam Defensor Santiagos
election to the International Criminal Court
based in The Hague had created the vacancy
for the 13th slot.
Santiagos term was supposed to end in 2016.
She was supposed to have taken her oath last
month as an ICC judge, but she asked for defer-
ment as she vowed to nish the impeachment trial
of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
By Macon Ramos-Araneta
FORMER president Gloria Maca-
pagal-Arroyo, wearing a neck
brace and ill with shingles, a con-
tagious disease, showed up at the
Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on
Wednesday to enter a not-guilty
plea, court ofcials said.
Arroyo and her co-accused,
including her husband Mike Ar-
royo, stood before the bench as
the clerk of court read the charges
against them . They are accused
of accepting bribes in connection
with a $330-million government
contract with the Chinese tele-
communications giant ZTE Corp.
She has been diagnosed with
shingles, which, I understand, is
something akin to chicken pox,
said Lawrence Arroyo, one of
Arroyos lawyers.
She was advised by doctors
not to attend todays arraign-
ment, but she insisted in facing
the charges against her.
Arroyo was arrested last year
on a separate charge of electo-
rial fraud, an offense for which
bail is not allowed. She is con-
ned at the Veterans Memorial
Medical Center in Quezon City
Von Hernandez, Greenpeace
Southeast Asia executive director,
said the Mindanao power crisis was
a test of President Aquinos leader-
ship and integrity.
In a news conference, the protest
leaders, who ew in from Davao
and Zamboanga, warned that the
government was declaring a holy
war against the Muslims for allow-
ing the desecration and exhumation
of 15 tribal Muslim chieftains from
a 52-year-old cemetery, where the
300-megawatt Therma South coal
plant of the Aboitizes is to be built
in Davao City.
At the same time, Talisayan vil-
lage chairman Josephine Pareja said
the 200-megawatt coal plant being
built by Conal Holdings of the Al-
cantaras threatened to contaminate
sardines from her shing and agri-
cultural village, which supplies sh
to such popular brands as Ligo, 555,
Tsunami alert
raised after 8.9
quake off Aceh
PHs largest warship,
two Chinese vessels
locked in tense draw
Arroyos plead not guilty
to charges of poll fraud
Solon urges govt
to reenter power
generation trade
DoJ, Comelec not on same tune on plan to clear 2 poll execs
13 Senate slots up
for grabs in 2013
www.manilastandardtoday.com mst@manilastandardtoday.com
TODAY
Standard
Manila
Vol. XXVI No. 47 12 Pages, 2 Sections
P18.00 THURSDAY, April 12, 2012
Protests to mark
energy summit
STANDOFF IN WEST PHILIPPINE SEA SHOAL
Mindanao power crisis to test Aquinos leadership
Manila
Olangapo
Palauig
Disputed territory.
Map shows the proximity of
Scarborough Shoalwhere
a Philippine warship and
two Chinese vessels are in
dangerous standoff to the
northern Philippine province
of Zambales. Left photo
shows the BRP Gregorio del
Pilar and inset is one of the
two Chinese vessels.
Scarborough
Shoal
135 n. miles
Next page
Next page
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Next page
Lucky 7, Asahi and Nikko.
Pareja and Network Opposed to
Coal and Panalipdan spokesman Ju-
land Suazo agreed with Agham Rep.
Angelo Palmones that the black-
outs in Mindanao were articial and
aimed at forcing its residents to ac-
cept the privatization of the Agus-
Pulangui hydroelectric plants and
the construction of more coal-red
power plants that would supply up to
700 megawatts of electricity.
Despite the denials from the Pal-
ace, Hernandez insisted that the coal
plants were a done deal because
clearances were issued days before
the summit and even ahead of an en-
vironmental impact assessment.
The President cannot blame
the people of Mindanao if they will
storm the streets to be heard because
they were never consulted in the rst
place before his government issued
environmental clearances left and
right, Hernandez said.
Before he assumed the presi-
dency, [President Aquino] declared
that he was for the phase-out of
coal power and that the country
must make the serious shift towards
clean energy sources.
Last year he counted among his
achievements the National Renew-
able Energy Plan, his vision of how
renewable energy will rebuild the
nation. We sincerely hope that goes
beyond mere rhetoric by translating
his clean energy vision into reality.
That to us is real leadership.
The President said he will allow
the Mindanaoans to decide what sort
of power we want. Well, we dont
want coal, we want a clean energy
future for Mindanao, Pareja said.
Pareja said some 5,000 work-
ers would be displaced if the water
from the river that is being used for
By Christine F. Herrera
A PROTEST spearheaded by Green-
peace, the clergy and Muslims against
privatization, power rate increases and
coal-red power plants awaits President
Benigno Aquino III during the Mindanao
Power Summit in Davao City on Friday.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com APRIL 12, 2012 THURSDAY
A2
Myanmar economy to boom
13...
Senator Santiagos election to the ICC
would now make all political parties eld 13
candidates for senator, Biazon said.
He said he was interested in going back to
the Senate if the Liberal Party, where he be-
longs, would eld him as a candidate. He said
he ranked 13th in the recent surveys even if he
had not made public his intention to run for
senator.
Biazon ran for Congress when his 12-year
term as a senator ended in 2010. He replaced
his son, then Muntinlupa City Rep. Runo
Rozzano Biazon, who ran but lost the senato-
rial race under the Liberals.
Biazon the son was named Customs chief
when the one-year election ban had expired.
Biazon said the political lines had been
drawn and the Liberals should reconsider
Vice President Jejomar Binays standing as
an ally of President Benigno Aquino III.
The Liberal Party and the vice presi-
dents party should talk and decide if indeed
the two parties would draw the line, he
said.
Without public pronouncements from
Binay, his actions had obviously drawn the
political line that his inclination is with the
opposition. Christine F. Herrera
Arroyos...
while undergoing treatment for a
spinal ailment.
The other accused in the case
are former Transportation Sec-
retary Leandro Mendoza and
former Commission on Elec-
tions Chairman Benjamin Aba-
los. They face a maximum of 10
years in prison if convicted.
Arroyo said her doctors, who
examined her on April 6 and
declared she had shingles, re-
quired her to wear a neck brace to
ease her back pains and to use a
wheelchair in going to court.
I felt the symptoms Friday. I
had a severe headache, she told
reporters.
Then on Monday the acu-
puncture doctors saw the blisters.
I did not go to mass yesterday as
I was not feeling well because of
shingles. Its like a very, very bad
case of u.
Asked what kept her busy
while conned in the hospital,
Arroyo said she had started writ-
ing her memoirs, which is about
social bias.
Mike Arroyo said in a separate
interview he has faith on the im-
partiality of the Sandiganbayan
justices, and that he believed the
court would remain insulated
from political pressure.
But he renewed his attack on
the Ombudsman for implicat-
ing him in the case being heard
in a court for civil servants even
though he never held a position in
government.
Im a private citizen. The
charges said abuse of ofce. My
designation is First Gentleman
and there is no such position in
government, he said.
Mike Arroyo said he was sick
and conned at the St. Lukes
Hospital when the contract was
signed. His wife was not a sig-
natory and took part only in the
picture-taking.
A congressional probe found
the 2007 contract overpriced and
ridden with problems. Under
public pressure, Arroyo canceled
the contract the same year.
DoJ...
least guilty. The exact wording of
the rules of court is does not ap-
pear to be the most guilty, De
Lima said.
Theres a big difference. You
may not be the least guilty, but for
as long as you are not the most
guilty, you can still be state wit-
ness.
De Lima said the testimonies
of Radam and Martirizar impli-
cating Abalos in the case were
too serious and very crucial
that they should be prosecution
witnesses.
She said the Aquino adminis-
tration was determined to hold
accountable the ofcials of the
previous administration who
had been involved in various
anomalies.
The Justice Department of
Justice has been helping the
Elections Commission in pros-
ecuting the case against Abalos
and other ofcials of the previ-
ous administration, including
former President and now Pam-
panga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo.
Abalos and Arroyo are now
detained because bail is not al-
lowed in their case, which is
being heard by a Pasay City
court. Rey E. Requejo and Joel
E. Zurbano
Solon...
Taadas statement, which came
two days ahead of a Power Summit
in Davao City, ran counter to the
administrations policy of priva-
tizing the industry by selling off
state-owned power plants to private
operators.
Taada said he did not envision
a return to a nationalized power
sector, but the government operat-
ing alongside private companies so
that it could provide power in areas
where the free markets had failed.
The governments re-entry in the
industry would also give the state
control over the power plants with
a strategic importance to system se-
curity, Taada said.
He suggested the government
start with the Agus-Pulangi hydro-
electric plants in Mindanao, which
the administration had been trying
to sell, he said.
A Mindanao lawmaker on
Wednesday said Fridays Power
Summit should also tackle the mis-
management of electric coopera-
tives, which he said was partly to
blame for Mindanaos severe short-
age of electricity.
House Assistant Majority Leader
and Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei
Nograles urged the government to
exercise stronger oversight over co-
operatives amid reports that some
of them had become milking cows
for the privileged few.
Nograles said cooperatives en-
joyed too much autonomy to the
detriment of their own members,
and that Congress should give the
National Electrication Adminis-
tration more power to oversee their
operation.
While there are many parts
of Mindanao which have been
suffering from these relentless
[blackouts], Davao City, which is
the biggest city in Mindanao, is
[blackout]-free, Nograles said.
Is it because we are being serviced
by a privately-run electric company
and not by an electric cooperative?
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casio
appealed to the organizers of the
Power Summit to come up with a
progressive solutions to the crisis
on the island, and not just hold a to-
ken media event to legitimize old,
ineffective and ready-made solu-
tions.
Malacanang should be ready
to face criticism on how it handled
the crisis and be genuinely open
to honest-to-goodness alternative
measures to address the power
problem, said Casio, who sup-
ports renewable energy sources
such as solar power.
There are three major policy
issues that have to be discussed in
the summit: First, how to solve the
crisis without jacking up electric-
ity rates; second, does Mindanao
go clean and renewable or stick to
dirty fossil fuels?; and third, wheth-
er privatization is still the correct
policy framework for Mindanao.
Senator Francis Escudero called
for a moratorium on talk about po-
litical alliances for next years elec-
tions to give way to more pressing
problems such as the looming pow-
er crisis, the unabated increases in
pump prices and the impending
tuition hikes.
Alliances are political certain-
ties and there is rhyme and reason
to that. The polls may be already
next year, but I think its not yet the
right time to be busy about political
shopping. Escudero said.
The senator issued the state-
ment in light of talks about the re-
cent coalition forged between Vice
President Jejomar Binays Partido
Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng
Bayan and ousted President Joseph
Estradas Partido ng Masang Pilipi-
no under the United Nationalist Al-
liance in the run-up to next years
midterm elections.
Escudero, who became an in-
dependent when he bolted the Na-
tionalist Peoples Coalition in 2009,
said much time and effort had
already been wasted on political
bickering, and that the government
needed to catch up on programs
that yielded tangible and immedi-
ate gains for people such as jobs,
food and housing. Maricel Cruz
and John Anthony Concepcion
Tsunami...
But it seemed to last forever,
she said, adding the ground shook
for nearly four minutes.
The Pacic Tsunami Warning
Center in Hawaii said a tsunami
watch was in effect for Indonesia,
India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myan-
mar, Thailand, the Maldives and
other Indian Ocean islands, Malay-
sia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran,
Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa
and Singapore.
But hours later, the threat ap-
peared to have passed.
Roger Musson, seismologist at
the British geological survey who
has studied Sumatras fault lines,
says the temblor was a strike-slip
quake, not a thrust quake. In a
strike slip quake, the earth moves
horizontally rather than vertically
and doesnt displace large vol-
umes of water.
When I rst saw this was an
8.7 near Sumatra, I was fearing
the worst, he said, noting one
of the initial reported magnitudes
for the quake.
But as soon as I discovered
what type of earthquake it was,
then I felt a lot better.
The tremor was felt in Ma-
laysia, where it caused high-rise
buildings to shake for about a
minute, and in Singapore, Thai-
land, Bangladesh and India.
There was chaos in the streets of
Aceh, where memories of a 2004
tsunami that killed 170,000 people
in the province alone are still raw.
Patients poured out of hospi-
tals, some with drips still attached
to their arms. In some places,
electricity was briey cut.
Hours after the temblor, people
were still standing outside their
homes and ofces, afraid to go
back inside. AP
But the challenges will be tre-
mendous and much needs to be
done to overhaul the economy of a
nation that sank to become one of the
poorest in Asia after suffering almost
half a century of military rule, said
Craig Steffensen, the banks director
for Myanmar and Thailand.
Were still at the beginning of
the beginning, Steffensen told re-
porters in Bangkok. Were trying
to unwind a knotted ball of yarn
if you will, and its going to take a
long time to untangle.
But planes and hotels in the
once-pariah nation are full of
business people looking for op-
portunities, Steffensen said.
And I really think that Myanmar
has the capability for private sec-
tor growth that we havent seen
anywhere else for a long time.
BANGKOKWith planeloads of foreign
investors rushing in daily, Myanmars
economy is poised for substantial growth
that could surge beyond expectations if
sanctions are lifted and the government
steps up reforms, the Asian Development
Bank said Wednesday.
ADB gures indicate the econ-
omy has already been signicantly
bolstered by a 26 percent jump in
tourist arrivals and a 15 percent rise
in gas exports that alone are worth
$3 billion in annual revenue.
The bank said it forecasts GDP
growth in the country, also known
as Burma, will rise from 5.5 percent
in 2011 to 6 percent in 2012, and at
least 6.3 percent the following year.
Hordes of investors from Japan,
South Korea, India, China and
Thailand have already begun hur-
rying in to boost investment in a
largely undeveloped nation that has
long been considered one of the last
frontiers in Asia, a rush Steffensen
called a veritable free for all.
Longtime ally China has been
one of Myanmars biggest inter-
national backers for years, pouring
billions of dollars into the extraction
of gems, timber, oil and gas.
US and European Union sanctions,
however, are holding back Western
entrepreneurs. And they are prevent-
ing the Asian Development Bank
and other global nancial institutions
from providing crucial loans, grants
and expertise that could help major
projects like a planned deep sea port
in the Myanmar coastal town of Da-
wei get off the ground.
Since Myanmars military junta
ceded power a year ago, the nomi-
nally civilian government has sur-
prised the world with a series of
sweeping political reforms, includ-
ing releasing prominent political
prisoners, signing truce deals with
rebel movements, and opening a
dialogue with prisoner-turned-par-
liamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi,
who will enter the nations national
assembly as a lawmaker for the rst
time on April 23.
The European Union is expected
to review its policy on Myanmar
April 23 and could ease sanctions.
Washingtons complex sanctions re-
gime, some of it in place since Myan-
mars opposition won 1990 elections
that were annulled by the junta, may
take more time to change.
Myanmar is believed to be home
to around 60 million people, but
there has been no census in more
than a quarter century.
The ADB says per capita income
is about $715 per person with about
26 percent living below the pov-
erty line on less than $1.25 per day.
Only about 25 percent of people
have electricity, and even those sup-
plies are unreliable. AP
Standoff...
The Spratly Islands south of
the shoal are claimed by China,
the Philippines, Vietnam, Bru-
nei, Malaysia and Taiwan. The
chain of barren islands, reefs
and coral outcrops are believed
to be in rich in oil and gas, and
the overlapping claims have
long been feared as Asias next
ashpoint for armed conict.
The current standoff began
Sunday when a Navy surveil-
lance plane sighted eight Chinese
shing vessels anchored in a la-
goon at Scarborough, the Foreign
Affairs Department said. That
prompted the military to deploy
its largest warship, the Hamilton
class cutter BRP Gregorio del Pi-
lar, which was recently acquired
from the United States.
On Tuesday, Filipino sailors
from the warship boarded the Chi-
nese vessels for an inspection, dis-
covering large amounts of illegally
collected coral, giant clams and live
sharks inside the rst boat, the de-
partment said in a statement.
Two Chinese maritime sur-
veillance ships, identied as
Zhonggou Haijian 75 and
Zhonggou Haijian 84, later ap-
proached and positioned them-
selves between the Gregorio del
Pilar and the Chinese shing
vessels, thus preventing the ar-
rests of the erring Chinese sh-
ermen, the statement said.
Foreign Affairs spokesman
Raul Hernandez said Wednes-
day that the situation at the
shoal has not changed as of this
morning. Theres a standoff.
The Chinese Embassy said 12
shing boats had taken shelter
from a storm in a lagoon.
Two Chinese marine surveil-
lance ships are in this area ful-
lling the duties of safeguard-
ing Chinese maritime rights and
interests, it said in a statement.
It said the shoal is an integral
part of the Chinese territory and
the waters around it the tradi-
tional shing area for Chinese
shermen.
The Navy was sending addi-
tional vessels toward the shoal,
which lies about 200 kilometers
from the nearest Philippine coast,
a Navy ofcial said. He spoke on
condition of anonymity because
of a lack of authority to discuss
the situation with the media.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara of
the Northern Luzon Command,
meanwhile, said Air Force planes
continued to monitor the situation.
Del Rosario protested to Ma,
the Chinese ambassador in Ma-
nila, late Tuesday and told her that
the Navy would enforce Philip-
pine laws, according to his ofce.
Last year, the Philippines ac-
cused Chinese vessels of intrud-
ing into other parts of what it
considers Philippine territory in
the South China Sea. China has
regularly dismissed the protests,
saying Beijing has indisputable
sovereignty over those areas on
historical grounds.
The United States has insisted
it takes no sides in the territo-
rial dispute, but says it should
be solved peacefully. China has
balked at what it considered a
US interference in the region.
On Wednesday, two lawmak-
ers said they expected Washing-
ton to come to Manilas aid.
Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo
Biazon, chairman of the House
committee on national defense,
said that if any provocation came
from the Chinese side, the Phil-
ippines expected the US govern-
ment to be on its side.
Senator Gregorio Honasan said
Manila should seek the interven-
tion of the United States and that
of its regional security allies.
It would be the best time to
tap our regional security allianc-
es such as that of the Asean and
the US under the mutual defense
treaty, Honasan told the Manila
Standard in a phone interview.
We should ask the US, why
not intervene?
Honasan said it would be the
perfect time for the US to clarify
how they interpret the treaty, and
that the Philippine government
should at least seek advice on
how to proceed under the pact.
Right now we can do very
little. We cannot afford to pre-
cipitate a military confrontation
there, Honasan said.
The US has boosted military
relations with the Philippines
and Vietnam in recent years.
Both countries reject Chinas
map of the South China Sea as
a basis for joint development of
oil and gas resources and have
pushed ahead with exploration
work, leading to more confron-
tations as China expands the use
of marine surveillance vessels.
The latest incident comes as the
Philippines tries to build support
among Southeast Asian nations
for a common position on the ter-
ritorial disputes in the South Chi-
na Sea. China claims most of the
waters as its own and used patrol
boats last year to disrupt hydro-
carbon survey activities, chasing
away a ship working for Forum
Energy Plc off the Philippines and
slicing cables of a survey vessel
doing work for Vietnam.
Its the law of physics: two
competing parties cannot oc-
cupy the same space at the same
time, said Carlyle Thayer, a
politics professor at the Austra-
lian Defense Force Academy in
Canberra.
The danger now that this has
been publicized is growing na-
tionalism in the Philippines that
leads to greater resolve for the
Philippines to take action.
The South China Sea contains
oil reserves that may total as much
as 213 billion barrels, according to
Chinese studies cited in 2008 by
the US Energy Information Agen-
cy. The Philippines said in January
it wasw ready to host a summit to
help resolve the territorial disputes
in the South China Sea.
The disputes over the Sprat-
lys have settled into an uneasy
standoff since the last major
clash involving China and Viet-
nam killed more than 70 Viet-
namese sailors in 1988.
Faced with Chinas formidable
military, the Philippines and Vietnam
have forged closer ties. Aside from
military accords, the two countries
have agreed to set up a hotline be-
tween their coast guards and mari-
time police to monitor maritime in-
cidents, such as piracy and incursions
into their territorial waters. With
Christine F. Herrera, Florante S.
Solmerin, AP, Bloomberg
MANILA Electric Co., the coun-
trys largest power distributor,
on Wednesday said its power
generation charge will go up by
P0.33 a kilowatt hour for April,
bringing the generation charge to
P5.66 a kilowatt hour.
The company said the ad-
justment followed the in-
crease in the charges from the
Wholesale Electricity Spot
Market and the independent
power producers as a result of
the higher demand for elec-
tricity this summer.
It said the peak demand for
power in the Luzon Grid rose
by more than 300 megawatts
with the onset of summer.
Along with the reduced
availability of hydroelectric
plants, the grid relied on the
more expensive oil-based pow-
er plants to meet power require-
ments, the company said.
It said customers with a
monthly consumption of 200
kilowatts would have to pay
P66 more for their electricity
consumption this month.
Alena Mae S. Flores
Electricity
charges
up in April
Protests ...
canning, sh mill and ice plants would be con-
taminated by mercury, a toxic byproduct of
coal.
She said Conal Holdings would draw mil-
lions of gallons of water from the heart of the
river for its cooling system, which the village
also used for its drinking water, irrigation and
sardine canning.
The Conal Holdings plant will occupy 30
hectares of agricultural land while the Therma
South plant will occupy 52.7 hectares, includ-
ing land that Muslims consider holy ground.
The one-hectare cemetery where the 15
tribal chieftains were buried is holy ground
and sacred for the Muslims. There will be war
if that land is touched, but no amount of nego-
tiations could make the Aboitizes change their
mind because they invoke the ECC issued to
them by the government, Suazo said.
The President may not be aware of these
crucial, emotional and social issues so we
challenge him to hear the voice of Mindanao
people, Hernandez said.
Suazo said the protesters would try to get as
near as possible to the venue of the power sum-
mit at the Waterfront Insular Hotel.
Suazo said they hoped to gather 1,000 pro-
testers.
Maybe 1,000 protesters are not massive
enough to you but it is to us. Unlike in Ma-
nila, we usually do not go out to the streets to
protest. But this time we want the President to
hear us since he does not seem to come often to
Mindanao to visit us.
Simultaneous protests would also be held in
Zamboanga City, Pareja said.
She denied the claims of Energy Undersec-
retary Josephine Patricia Asirit that the black-
outs in parts of Mindanao only lasted up to two
hours, saying her village suffered six hours of
outages on the day of its esta.
Also on Wednesday, a big labor group de-
scribed the deals betweeen Therma Marine
and the electric cooperatives in Mindanao as
anti-consumer.
The Trade Union Congress Party said President
Aquino was ill-advised by the Energy Depart-
ment and the Energy Regulatory Commission on
the proposed contracts, claiming they would lead
to more expensive power in Mindanao.
We are shocked that this pro-power provid-
er solution is being imposed on the developing
provinces such as Cotabato and Bukidnon,
said Democrito Mendoza, TUCP president.
Why is it the struggling rural areas striving
to lift themselves from poverty and overcome
underdevelopment and peace and order prob-
lems are the ones who will be made to bite the
bullet? With Vito Barcelo
APRIL 12, 2012 THURSDAY
A3 News
ManilaStandardToday mst.daydesk@gmail.com
3 dead, 16 hurt in bus bombing
Kalikasan writ issued
vs Manila Bay project
Estrada pal bucks
warrant issuance
Coast Guard rescues 6
shermen off Palawan
By Rey E. Requejo

THE Supreme Court issued
a writ of Kalikasan on a
petition against the P14-billion
reclamation project at Manila
Bay coastline covering cities
of Las Pinas, Paranaque and
Bacoor in Cavite.
In their summer session in
Baguio City last Tuesday, the
high court resolved to issue the
writ and order the government
to answer the petition led by
former Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia
Villar seeking to stop the
reclamation project.
Respondents in the casethe
Public Reclamation Authority,
Department of Environment
and Natural Resources,
Environmental Management
Bureau, City Government of Las
Pias, and Alltech Contractors
Inc.were given 10 days from
receipt of notice to comply with
the order.
But the tribunal did not issue
a temporary environmental
protection order that would
enjoin national government
agencies from proceeding
with the project that would
cover 635.14 hectares in
submerged land.
It was claried that the writ,
unlike a TEPO, would not
enjoin the implementation of
the project. Under the rules, its
issuance is only procedural on
all Kalikasan cases accepted by
the high court.
In her petition led last March
16, Villar submitted to the
high tribunal the signatures of
315,849 Las Pinas residents and
the ndings of a hydrological
services consultant she tapped
in support of her petition.
Villar had argued that the
project would cause massive
ooding in 65 coastal barangays
since it will impede the natural
ow of water to the bay.
She cited a report of Tricore
Solutions Inc. which predicted
that the implementation of
the project will result in the
inundation of numerous
barangays in Bacoor, Las Pias
and Paraaque under more than
ve meters of oodwater.
BUSINESSMAN Jaime Dichaves, a co-accused of former President
Joseph Estrada in a P4.1-billion plunder case, has asked the
Sandiganbayan not to issue a warrant of arrest against him based solely
on a March 29, 2012 decision of the Ofce of the Ombudsman which
had found probable cause to indict him for plunder.
In his motion led before the anti-graft courts Special Division,
Dichaves stressed that he still has a right to appeal the ruling which
is replete with a number of errors.
Dichaves also said he was denied due process because the special
panel of prosecutors and investigators who reviewed his case relied
on records of which he was not even given copies.
He pointed out that the lawyers of the Ofce of the Ombudsman
erred when they supposedly relied on hearsay evidence and when
they rejected the new afdavit of the principal witness Willy Ng
Ocier of Belle Corp.
On the basis of the above grounds, it is respectfully submitted
that the Joint Resolution of the Ofce of the Ombudsman should be
reviewed and reconsidered by that Ofce in the interest of justice,
Dichaves said in his motion signed by his lawyer, Pacico Agabin.
Dichaves, a close friend of the former president, has maintained
up to this time that he owns the controversial Jose Velarde account.
Late last month, the Ofce of the Ombudsman ordered the ling
of plunder charges against Dichaves before the Sandiganbayan
after nding enough evidence to indict him.
A FISHING boat with six
people on board sunk in waters
off Cuyo Island in Palawan,
the Coast Guard reported on
Wednesday.
Coast Guard spokesman
Lt. Cdr. Algier Ricafrente said
the shing boat Ellah was
approaching Capusan Beach
when it was accidentally hit by its
anchor creating three big holes.
Ricafrente said responding
divers from the Coast Guard
station in Cuyo rushed to the area
and conducted search operations
and rescued the six shermen.
The six passengers were
identied as Jake Villagrace,
Eldwin Castillo, Jojie Bristol,
Richardo Campo, Jerry Rayno
and a certain Rudy. They were
brought to their respective
families in good physical
condition while the shing
boat was towed to the shallow
portion of Capusan Beach.
Ricafrente said FB Ellah is
a two-year old shing banca
owned and operated by one Jay
Cardona.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard
commandant Admiral Edmund
Tan directed his men to intensify
their campaign against illegal
shing to protect the countrys
marine ecosystem.
This was after two boats were
seized for using ne-meshes
nets or active gears while shing
in Barangay Canaoy in San
Fernando City, La Union.
Members of the Task Force
Karagatan were on their routine
patrol operations when they saw
the two shing boats.
Joel E. Zurbano
The military initially reported 10
dead but regional commander Lt.
Col. Benjie Hao later revised the
death toll.
The bomb went off on the bus as
it pulled into a terminal in Carmen
town in North Cotabato province, said
another military ofcer, Col. Leopoldo
Galon.
Among the 16 wounded were four
children aged 6, 9, 10 and 11, he said.
Hao said that extortion gangs linked
to Muslim rebels have been suspected
in previous attacks targeting bus
companies in the region.
A bomb at the same terminal in
2010 killed one man and wounded
two others, and a month before that,
10 passengers died in a bomb targeting
the same bus company.
Muslim rebels and criminal
gangs are behind decades-long
By John Anthony Concepcion
SUSPECTED extortionists bombed a
bus in North Cotabato in Mindanao on
Wednesday, killing three passengers and
wounding 16 others, the Armed Forces of
the Philippines said.
unrest in Mindanao.
Hundreds of US troops have been
stationed in the south as part of a
program to train Filipino troops to ght
militants.
Meanwhile, Malacaang on
Wednesday said the government
will be conducting a thorough probe
into the recent bomb blast that
ripped through a bus North Cotabato
that killed two while injuring ve
passengers.
In a regular press brieng in
Malacaang, Presidential Spokesperson
Edwin Lacierda condemned the
irresponsible acts of violence that
targeted the civilian population.
Any act of violence against the
civilian population is an act that is
always condemnable and certainly we
will look into the incident, Lacierda
said, adding that the Palace will look
into possible assistance that can be
extended to the victims and their
families.
He said that the administration will
coordinate with Interior and Local
Government Secretary Jesse Robredo in
looking into the incident.
We will investigate rst we will
have to defer to Secretary Robredo as
to the status and we will ask him if
we can provide any assistance to those
who were affected, injured and slain
in that bombing incident...certainly
we condemn the bombing, Lacierda
stressed.
The explosion occurred when a
Cagayan de Oro-bound Rural Transit
bus reached Carmen Terminal in
North Cotabato.
With a report from AP Lacierda
Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com APRIL 12, 2012 THURSDAY
A4
CONTRARY to what the Aquino
administration would have us believe, these
are trying times for Filipinos.
While there has been a break from the
trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato
Corona, Filipinos are aware that come May
7, and onward to the day senator-judges cast
their vote, the trial will once again dominate
the headlines.
Pressing issues will again have to be
pushed to the sidelinesat least until
Coronas fate is determined.
What would happen, for instance, to the
people of Mindanao suffering from a power
crisis that cripples businesses and hampers
the residents quality of life? A so-called
power summit has been scheduled in Davao,
but some critics have bared the Palaces
hasty deals to use coal-red power plants.
This development is incongruous to the
administrations declared preference for clean
energy. Worse, it betrays the absolute lack
of foresight of our ofcials. The solutions to
these problems are planned over time.
Oil prices continue to rise, and an
agitated public is scoring the government
for enjoying the higher value-added tax
collections on petroleum products
revenue that the administration does not
seem too keen on spending meaningfully,
anyway.
In fact, the Asian Development Bank has
just lowered its 2012 growth forecast for the
Philippines, from 5.1 percent last year to
4.8 this year. The ADB says long-standing
structural weaknessespoor infrastructure
and weak governancemust be addressed
for growth and development to be attained.
At both Houses of Congress, not much
legislation is seeing actioneven the
promised freedom of information and
responsible parenthood bills have not yet
been addressed.
In recent days, we have seen politicians
starting to position themselves for the 2013
polls. And if it becomes apparent that the
administration will nd itself weakened
with the Senates likely new composition,
then the country must prepare for even
more acts of desperation.
The troubles do not stop at our borders.
We have a standoff with China even as it
remains a signicant economic partner. A
rocket launch by North Korea has prompted
airlines to re-route to avoid possible debris.
The country remains vulnerable to
disasters and even more unable to cope with
their effects.
The self-congratulatory tone of the
President in his Easter message, like
in many of his other speeches, does not
give us much reason for hope. Nearly two
years into his term, Mr. Aquino continues
to oversimplify his governance style by
presenting himself as the best thing that
has happened to the country after his evil
predecessor.
The sooner he snaps out of this mindset,
the sooner he can begin rolling up his
sleeves and buckling down to work.
The question after two years is whether
Mr. Aquino knows how to do this.
Presidential disconnect
Panic in the Palace
THE looming standoff with China
is scary, not for ordinary Filipinos
but for the Aquino administration.
If I were advising President Noynoy
Aquino, Id tell him to take a good,
hard look at the Armed Forces, which
wants no war with the Chinese.
And Id make sure the soldiers
dont turn against their government
rst before they take orders to die
ghting the Red Army. Seriously.
* * *
The Aquino administration was
never good at pretending to be, like
the name of its leader, benign. Its
always more
b e l i e v a b l e
when it gets
in character
and pursues
its take-no-
p r i s o n e r s
policy against
those who
would dare
stray from the
hacienda.
A couple
of attack
dogs of the
administration
have demanded that Vice President
Jejomar Binay declare if he supports
the government of President Noynoy
Aquino or not. The somos o no
somos tack taken by Budget
Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. and
Cavite Rep. Joseph Abaya, while
more familiar to those who have
long observed the black and white
world that Aquino inhabits, is a
radical departure from the limp-
wristed statements emanating
from Malacaang in response to
the formation of Team Binay, the
powerhouse senatorial lineup formed
by the vice president for next years
elections.
Earlier declarations made by the
usual, interchangeable Palace talking
heads diplomatically opined that its
basically a free country and that Binay
may choose the Senate candidates
for his and former President Joseph
Estradas new United Nationalist
Alliance coalition that he wants.
Apparently, that politically correct
tact has now been abandoned in favor
of the regular combative attitude
that Aquinos scorched-earth policy
engenders.
Presumably, if Binay will not
drop a couple of candidates who
are unacceptable to Aquino and turn
around and declare his absolute fealty
to the Palace, he will also be declared
persona non grata. And his position
as head of the government housing
programs of the administration will
be taken away if he continues to
consider the likes of known critics
Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay and
former Senator Ernesto Maceda on
his ticket.
But instead of coming off as the
tough guys who have the unbeatable
numbers that they want to project,
both Abad and Abaya merely
appear to be panicking in the face
of Binays vaunted teamwhich
isnt even complete yet. And when
this administration pounds on the
panic button on any issue (be it a
hostage crisis or just the lethargy of
Aquino) it always loses adherents
and credibility.
But the strategy is now clear: Why
soft-pedal when it comes to Binay,
after all, when he is not one of us,
having been elected from outside
the Liberal Party despite Yellow
credentials forged when many of
Aquinos current sycophants had
other political leanings? And forget
about how hard Binay fought Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo at the height
of her powers when all Aquinos
henchmen like Abad were working
in Malacaangif hes not with us,
Binay is against us.
* * *
Binay shouldnt even dignify these
statements from
Aquinos (and
Mar Roxas,
if the truth be
known) Liberal
gangsters with a
reply. The only
a p p r o p r i a t e
response to
these Palace
canines should
be to ask them if
Aquino, Roxas
and their LP can
even complete
a Senate slate
that is not loaded with patsies who
will not even win councilor elections
come next May.
And to those who say that
Binay seems concerned only with
winning even if he consorts with
known anti-Aquino forces, well,
the vice president should say that
hes not sending out invitations and
scouring the country for conscripts
to his cause, like Roxas has been
doing almost 24/7. When known
Palace associates with excellent
winnability like Chiz Escudero
and Alan Peter Cayetano would
rather join Binay than Aquinos
slate, its not hard to see that nobody
of any real political standing wants
to be associated with the incumbent
(who is supposed to have resources
and popularity coming out of its
ears); Times Street, we have a
problem.
Its not Binaysor even Eraps
fault that not one major candidate
seems willing to cast his or her lot with
Aquino next May. Franklin Drilon,
after all, is not up for reelection and
Antonio Trillanes has already lost all
of the aura that got him a Senate seat
six years ago.
When Roxas, the highest-ranked
administration ofcial in various
surveys of potential Senate winners
next May, considers it safer to stay in
the Cabinet than to tangle again with
Binay through his surrogates, the battle
may have already ended. And when
the Senate falls almost completely into
anti-Aquino hands, this administration
will really begin to squawk and waddle
like a severely crippled duck towards
the last three years of its benighted,
non-benign term.
If Binay gets all the biggest Senate
bets, its not because the Veep has
turned pro-Arroyo. Perhaps hes just
the beneciary of a population that
has begun to become irreversibly
anti-Aquino.
EDITORIAL
The magic of UP
I JUST returned from the United States
where the University of the Philippines
College of Law moot team had, in the
words of Marnie Tonson of GMA News,
a magical nish.
The team consists of Christopher Louis
Ocampo, Michelle Go, Danilo Corpus,
Neil Nucup, and Margarita Lim. It also
has Cuayo Juico as its manager, and Atty.
Maricel Seno as my assistant coach.
The UP team nished third in the worlds
biggest and most prestigious moot court
competition, the Jessup Cup. This years
competition drew as participants an
unprecedented 137 teams from all over
the world, from an original 600 schools
that competed in the different national and
regional rounds held worldwide. While
the UP Law team yielded in the semi-
nal round to the Russian team from the
Moscow State University, the same team
that would later beat Columbia University
to emerge as this years champion, the UP
feat was nonetheless sweet if only because
the stories of those who constituted the
team tell the world what a UP education
is all about.
Each member of the team represents
a section of UPs student body. It is
this kind of a student body, not just
nancial resources, that will ensure the
preeminence of the National University
in the years to come.
Two members of the team, Chris and
Neil, are children of overseas Filipino
workers: a mariner and a Rome-based
housekeeper, respectively. They are
portraits of the many other young Filipinos
who have become a sociological reality
in a country with a diaspora of at least 14
million. Their story has become all too
familiar: they grew up with one parent
and have had to content themselves with
the occasional phone calls from the other
parent laboring abroad to nance their
education in this country.
A third member, of the team, DS, is
a portrait of a young Filipino who had
the option to reside in the United States
his parents had provided him with the
coveted green card. Nonetheless, he
opted to stay because he could not see a
future outside of the Philippines.
Michelle Go, the cerebral heavy weight
in the group and perhaps, in the entire
competition, risked the title of being
the class valedictorian because of the
many hours she devoted preparing for
the Jessup Cup. While we all hope that
she will still graduate on top of her class,
Mitch claims that the Jessup experience
of having to argue issues relevant to the
world todaythe use of force to prevent
humanitarian disasters and remedies to
victims of war crimes has enriched her
education far beyond any title to being
class valedictorian.
Margie, on the other hand, is a child of
a Filipino professional who once worked
as an expatriate in the Middle East. She
is a portrait of one who nished her rst
degree at the Ateneo but opted to do her
law in UP to be great lawyer, to quote
from the words of the great American
jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes etched in
stone in Malcolm Hall.
This is of course not the best showing
for the UP Law team at the Jessup
cup. In 1995, the UP Law team with
Undersecretary Chito Gascon was the
rst Filipino team to emerge as world
champion at the Jessup. This feat
was followed by an Ateneo team that
emerged as champion in 2004, the same
year when UP Laws Diane Desierto,
Neil Silva, and Ruben Acebedo emerged
as co-champions with Cambridge
University in the equally prestigious Jean
Pictet International Humanitarian Law
Competition held in France.
In 2005, the UP Law team made history
in the Red Cross IHL Moot Competition
in Hong Kong when both its Applicant
team with Dr. Celia Torres-Villanueva
and now Assistant Secretary William
Varias; and its Respondent team with
Mark Rabe and Marlon Marquez -landed
rst and second, respectively, with an
all-UP team slugging it out in the nal
round. In 2006, my rst time ever to
coach the Philippine team at Jessup,
Abraham Acosta, Mark Perrete, Charles
Allaine Veloso, and Mark Rabe landed
as quarternalists . Previously, in 1989,
the UP Law Team with former PCGG
Commissioner Ruben Carranza , soon
to be Ambassador King Sorreta, with
legal eagles Leni Villareal and Evalyn
Ursua, also emerged as semi-nalist in
the Jessup.
But this is not just about a record of
winning moot competitions. Its about
being poor or middle class -getting a
top-notch education at UP paid for by
Filipino taxpayers, and emerging world-
class. This is the UP story.
This is why a UP victory is always
sweeter. This is why the students who
competed in Washington DC this year
sang UP Naming Mahal before every
match: because UP is beloved not only
because it is a revered institution; more
importantly, it is, for all its graduates, the
stuff that dreams are made of, and the
story of magical beginnings and nishes.
JOJO
A. ROBLES
LOWDOWN
Binay may not
have turned pro-
Arroyo. Perhaps the
people have become
anti-Aquino.
ATTY. HARRY
ROQUE JR.
VIEW FROM MALCOLM
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
CLIMACO E. CALIWARA Controller
ANITA F. GREFAL Treasury Manager
EDITH D. ANGELES Advertising Manager
EDGAR M. VALMORIDA Circulation Manager
ROGELIO C. SALAZAR President & CEO
A5 Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
mst.lettertotheeditor@gmail.com
I READ the Easter Sunday message of
Malacaang where the resurrection of
Christ was likened to the resurrection
of the economy. I nearly burst out
laughing.
Resurrected economy, my foot!
Did President Benigno Aquino III
mean that the economy died under
former President Gloria Arroyo and
only came alive when he came to
power?
Was the economy dead when
gross domestic product grew at an
unprecedented 7.9 percent? A year
after, when it was
Aquino who was
in charge, growth
slowed to 3.4
percent. How is
that a resurrection?
I admit that
our economic
f u n d a me n t a l s
remain sound
and sustainable.
But compared
to Thailand,
M a l a y s i a ,
Indonesia and
even Vietnam, we are considered a
laggard in Asia.
Its the economy, student! were
the words of Arroyo to Aquino, who
was her student in economics at the
Ateneo.
***
The economy is not the only thing
that worries the public. There is
also the rising number of criminal
incidents. Criminals appear to defy
even the police, committing crimes
in broad daylight and right under the
nose of authorities.
And then, the price of oil has
gone up constantly. It has triggered
a domino effect on the prices of
everything else.
Drug trafcking and human
trafcking as well as smuggling have
also been rampant.
**
I have a friend who claims to watch
the impeachment trial of Chief Justice
Renato Corona every day. He asked
me: Do you think the 23 senator-
judges will be fair?
I told him: It depends. Indeed
the case is being tried not only at the
Senate halls, but also before the bar of
public opinion.
The President has staked the future
of his administration on his xation to
jail his predecessor and persecute her
allies like Corona.
But note that 2013 is an election
year. It is crucial to the Aquino
administration and could mean a
turning point in Mr. Aquinos six-year
term.
I told my friend that if President
Aquino cannot control the Senate, and
local government as well, beginning
next year, hell become a lameduck
President.
But remember that Malacaang
still holds the purse strings of the
P200 million annual pork barrel of
the senators. If an additional P100
million can spell the difference, what
will happen?
I would like to rephrase my friends
question: Can they be fair?
I know there will be senator-
judges who will be fair and who can
be fair.
They are Senate President Juan
Ponce Enrile, Senator Miriam
Santiago, Senate President
Protempore Jinggoy Estrada, and
Majority Floor Leader Tito Sotto.
You also have Senators Gregorio
Honasan and Joker Arroyo. I know
they are staunch believers in the rule
of law.
I also believe that Senators Francis
Escudero, Loren Legarda, Bongbong
Marcos, Manny Villar and perhaps
Koko Pimentel will decide on the
basis of evidence.
But there
are others who
have shown bias
from Day One:
Senators Frank
Drilon, Kiko
Pangilinan, TG
Guingona and
Ralph Recto.
There is also
Senator Antonio
Trillanes, who
is seeking re-
election and is
salivating for a
slot in the administration slate.
Senator Panlo Lacson is also
a known ally of the President.
Senator Edgardo Angara has a son,
the spokesman for the prosecution,
who is likewise seeking a slot in the
administration ticket. Senator Lito
Lapids son is chief of the Philippine
Tourism Authority.
And then, there are the question
marksSenator Bong Revilla, and the
Cayetano siblings Alan Peter and Pia.
***
I would like to think that the senator-
judges decisions would be based on
two things: The quantum of evidence
used by both sides, and the veracity of
the chief justices Statement of Assets,
Liabilities and Net Worth.
As I said before, I think the
Corona couple must testify before the
impeachment court so they can address
all the allegations hurled at them.
I still cant say whether Corona
will be convicted or acquitted. What I
can observe is that the senator-judges
are slowly becoming polarized on the
matter. They are, after all, politicians
rst and foremost. They can be
swayed by public opinion. And thats
what Malacaang is working on.
***
Despite denials from Malacaang,
the scheduled power summit in Davao
is a Moro-Moro.
All the stakeholders who will be
there will just bow to the wishes
of the Palace on how to resolve the
power outages in Mindanao that have
resulted in blackouts of up to eight
hours per day.
Several contracts for coal-red
power plants have already been
signed. Rehabilitation of existing ones
are already on track.
Mr. President, what we need is
action, not summits and press releases.
The people do not need to see more
noynoying.
Can the senator-
judges be fair?
Holey Week
LAST Good Friday, two photos spread
all over Facebook and other Internet
sites. Both elicited comments of outrage.
Only one made it to the traditional news.
One photo was taken by Karlos
Manlupig, who uploaded it to Facebook
and tagged it Public. Inside a church, a
uniformed security guard points a rattan
baton at a shirtless man whose back
is to the camera, his prole blurred to
preserve his identity.
Heres the caption Manlupig posted:
FILTHY HYPOCRITES. As I was
shooting in Davao Citys San Pedro
Cathedral during the observance of Good
Friday, I noticed a Tagalog-speaking man
instructing this security guard to throw
out a half-naked man who is (sic) silently
kneeling and praying inside the church,
saying that the churches in Manila
prohibit persons with mental disabilities
and vagrants to enter its premises.
The security guard then assaulted the
poor man without any warning, poking
him in the ribs several times using a ratan
truncheon I immediately took several
burst shots of the detestable incident.
Suddenly, an old man with a Bible
in his hand tapped me on my shoulder
and told me that it is improper to take
photos of the incident and that it is also
improper to take photos inside their
heavenly church.
What the hell is wrong with you
people? the aghast photographer asked.
In less than three hours of the upload,
the image had been shared on Facebook
1,967 times.
The second photo shows a pretty
young girl in sexy shorts and sleeveless
oral top, her eyes covered with
sunglasses, clinging to a cross, in a
manner and position construed by
viewers as sexy.
It was taken in Barangay Lourdes
Northwest, Angeles City, where a
traditional senakulo was held. The young
girl wasnt the only one who posed
that way that day; two other images on
the Internet are of a woman in a body-
hugging black maxi dress, pink shawl,
and sunglasses, and of a young man in a
blue shirt and khaki shorts.
Another photo taken there shows two
women in a jump shot.
The majority of the comments on
the photos scored the security guard
for being cruel and unkind, and the
cross-posers and jumpers for behaving
inappropriately, showing disrespect and
impropriety.
Only the incident of the girl on the cross
was picked up by traditional media. That of
the security guard in Davao was not.
This question, accompanied by the
photos, made the rounds on Facebook:
Which of the two was worse?
A Mindoro-based physician
answered, Both are disgusting! Both are
a mockery!
These two incidents reinforce
the perception of our society as a
hypocriciety, as I wrote about in an
earlier column. Religion in this country
has been trivialized. Churches and other
places of worship are treated as tourist
destinations, in the sense that people who
visit there behave as tourists would in
secular places such as museums or parks.
Worse, the incident of the security
guard and the shirtless man shows that
poverty and mental illness are stigmas
that negatively inuence a persons
standing in society; that our culture
allows the marginalized to be treated
without compassion and respect.
And for this incident to happen inside
a cathedral on a Good Friday underscores
the idea that Christianity is only lip
service to a great many believers.
Poor shirtless man, scorned and
repulsed by those who should have helped
him. Jesus Christ himself said, And the
King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Blessed are the poor, Jesus also
said, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Its too bad that they cant get
a decent break here on earth.
Believing is not doing. There are
gaps in our sensibilities, great big holes
through which common sense has
evaporated, leaving a mindset which sees
nothing wrong with this sort of behavior.
Can our society change for the better?
Or is this decline into desensitization an
overwhelming, unstoppable juggernaut? Is
there a force strong enough to turn the tide?
Public opinion might do it. Reality,
after all, is socially constructed, created
by people. If enough people want to
bring about change, with awareness and
determination they can.
I hope so. Otherwise, well be seeing
more images like these next year, if not
worse.
Email: jennyo@live.com, Blog: http://
jennyo.net, Facebook: Gogirl Caf,
Twitter: @jennyortuoste
By J. D. Batac
THERE is irony in the latest tidbit about
the local medical landscape. Apparently,
one of the countrys leading private
medical institutions snagged a spot in
the elite circle of the 25 most beautiful
hospitals in the world. While this may
come as a surprise for many, particularly
among outside observers whose
knowledge of Philippine medicine is
limited to faith healers and shamans, it
comes as doubly surprising among locals
who have to grapple with the exodus
of doctors and nurses and deal with
crumbling medical facilities, if at all.
According to the news, St. Lukes
Medical Center in Bonifacio Global
City, Taguig edged out other hospitals
from more developed nations in
HealthExecNews list of the 25 most
beautiful hospitals in the world. Ranking
11th, the network for healthcare
executives praised SLMCs interior
and exterior features and their health-
promoting qualities.
For those in the know, the inclusion
of SLMC in this veritable list by
HealthExecNews afrms a bright spot
in the domestic health sector, but not
quite. On the one hand, the country is
never bereft of world-class hospitals and
medical professionals who can compete
head-on with the worlds nest. On
the other hand, St. Lukes as a medical
institution isnt exactly renowned to
cater to patients from a broad economic
spectrum. In fact, whatever rst-
rate service it provides comes with
a hefty price tag, therefore making
its accessibility limited to those with
pockets deep enough to afford the whole
thing, swanky suites and all.
So while top public ofcials, CEOs,
and their kin experience the ultimate in
medical treatments for their ailments at
top-tiered hospitals like St. Lukes, the
rest of the population have to contend
with understaffed hospitals saddled by
poor facilities. A cursory look at any
given public hospital in the country
would reveal the extent with which the
health sector has miserably failed to
address the needs of a sizeable percentage
of Filipinos, thanks in large measure to
the governments institutional neglect of
this vital eld.
This inequitable, not to say pathetic,
state of the local medical industry
negates radical reforms, if not sustained
nancial and technical support from the
national government. Universal health
care as a policy may be far-fetched at
this point, although the legislation of
national health insurance via PhilHealth
is laudable only up to a certain point;
insurance is worthless if theres no decent
medical facilities to avail of.
What makes things even more
deplorable is the supposed plan
hatched by the Aquino administration
to jumpstart the privatization of public
hospitals. This is done under the guise of
unburdening the government from huge
expenditures used in maintaining these
hospitals, and facilitate improvements
via private capital. Understandably, this
proposal is met with erce resistance by
marginalized sectors, who stand to lose
from this arrangement. If the urban and
rural poor couldnt even manage to shell
out enough money to buy decent dinner
every night, one can just imagine the
profound sense of deprivation they are
set to encounter should they get sick.
The governments inability to fulll
its mandate of providing adequate social
services for its citizenry is compounded
by misplaced priorities and corruption.
What the government essentially does
is violate the very same constitution
it is sworn to uphold and protect by
institutionalizing hardship as a national
policy, and fostering sustained oligarchy
under the premise of scal rationalization.
All things considered, it is perhaps a
tad too myopic to pronounce St. Lukes
inclusion in the aforementioned list as
something akin to a national honor. If
anything, it does nothing but highlight the
tragic disparity between those who can
afford such a level of medical attention
and those who cannot. Such disparity
often spells who get to live and die.
J. D. Batac works as an editorial
assistant at a local publishing rm.
Everyman is Manila Standard Todays
new column for citizens commentary on
pressing issues in the Philippines and
in the world. Anybody who feels he or
she has something of value to add to
the discussion on the pertinent issue is
encouraged to contribute.
Articles must be between 600
and 700 words. Please send them in
MS Word or any compatible format
to adellechua@gmail.com or mst.
lettertotheeditor@gmail.com
Not a national honor
EMIL
P. JURADO
TO THE POINT
By William Pesek
ETHIOPIA isnt the rst place you
would look for clues about Asias
economies. Nor does Jose Rabacal,
a 29-year-old Filipino sipping beer
at an Addis Ababa airport cafe, think
hes a human economic indicator.
But he is, and so are his 10
compatriots as they bided their time
recently during a multihour layover.
Each moved to Africa from the
Philippines for opportunities that
leaders failed to offer at home. Each
left behind a family they see once a
year, if they are lucky.
I havent seen my three kids in 14
months, says Rabacal, who works
in mining in South Africa. But the
money I make here is more than I
could ever hope to make at home.
It would be nice if my government
thought about the sacrices we
Filipinos, we Asians, are forced to
make.
The good news is that the
Philippines now has a president who
not only gets the problem, but is doing
something about it and offering an
example to other developing nations
that think its just ne for ambitious
people to seek opportunities outside
their homeland.
Since taking ofce in 2010,
Benigno Aquino has homed in on the
reasons why the Philippines remains
a junk credit. He attacked corruption,
got a handle on public expenditure,
improved infrastructure and worked
to boost competitiveness. These days,
the Philippines can raise funds almost
as cheaply as investment-grade Italy.
Misunderstood strengths
Yet the issue of remittances
from expatriate earnings has long
been as ignored in Manila as it
is misunderstood. Its the human
equivalent of Chinas vast currency
reserves. The conventional wisdom
is that hoarding $3.2 trillion of cash
is a strength, the ultimate rainy-day
fund. In reality, its a weakness. The
reserves are a trap; if China sells
them, markets crash.
Remittances are often called the
Philippines secret weapon. About 10
percent of the nations 102 million
citizens work overseas and the cash
they send home supports domestic
consumption. That helped insulate
the nation from the global nancial
shocks after Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. blew up in 2008.
But there is a growing realization
that remittances are a trap of a
different kind. Sending so many
young, hard-working citizens abroad
causes a brain drain that lowers
the quality of the labor force and,
ultimately, growth. It leads to social
problems as entire generations of
children grow up without one or both
parents present.
The president wants to make
being an overseas Filipino worker
a choice, not a necessity, Finance
Secretary Cesar Purisima said
recently.
Purisima is very matter-of-
fact about the pros and cons of
remittances. We play the hand we are
dealt, he says, referring to a three-
decades-old practice of exporting
ever- growing numbers of workers.
The government would be remiss in
not seeing the short-term benets of
all that cash pouring in. But in the
meantime, Purisima says, we need
to create conditions for the workers
to come back.
The Aquino administration is
overhauling the outmoded education
system. Increased funding is being
met with efforts to upgrade the
national curriculum to improve
competitiveness in the Philippines.
This coincides with rooting out
the corruption that stymies the
construction of world-class roads,
bridges, ports, telecommunications
systems and power grids.
Harnessing beauty
It means doing two things
previous administrations talked
a great deal about but took little
action: attracting more foreign
direct investment and cultivating
long-neglected sectors, such as
tourism. For the former, the focus
includes expanding the back-
office outsourcing industry and
bringing more manufacturing jobs
to the Philippines. For the latter,
the goal is to harness the natural
beauty and vast biodiversity of the
archipelagos 7,000-plus tropical
islands.
The government is working to see
that money arriving from abroad is
used productively, including getting
more of it invested in financial
assets.
The thing about remittances
is, used properly, they can help
strengthen countries in the long run,
not just provide instant gratication
today, says Eric-Vincent Guichard,
the chief executive ofcer of London-
based Homestrings LLC, which helps
members of the Filipino diaspora
with investment opportunities.
Aquinos team is taking on the
issue of overpopulation by offering
family-planning services. That has
been a third-rail topic in a nation in
which the Catholic Church wields
great power. Condoms, birth-control
pills and other contraceptives are
becoming more widely available.
Finance ministers are one
part economic manager, one part
cheerleader and one part shrink.
Along with stabilizing nances
and waving the investment ag, it
often falls to them to sell the idea
that change is afoot. Thats easier
to do if your policies are working,
which seems to be the case in the
Philippines.
Im a big believer in the
Pygmalion conceptif people
believe things can change for the
better, they will, Purisima says.
And Filipinos are beginning to
believe againto hope again.
So at long last, the Philippines
economic exiles might be working in
their home country and seeing their
kids more than once a year.
Bloomberg
Man with beer in airport is economic indicator
EVERYMAN
They are
becoming more
polarized by the
day.
JENNY
ORTUOSTE
POP GOES THE WORLD
News
ManilaStandardToday
mst.daydesk@gmail.com APRIL 12, 2012 THURSDAY
A6
Travel agencies back Pagcor project
Politics behind graft rapsCalixto
2 kids hurt in shootout
of quarelling neighbors
MMDA announces trafc
rerouting in Manila, Makati
Philippine Travel Agencies
Association president Aileen
Clemente said the $5-billion
Entertainment City project
will also create employment
opportunities for tourism,
travel, hotel, food and related
industries.
This will spur domestic
tourism and generate huge
employment following the
rise of several world-class,
landmark establishments,
Clemente said.
PTAA is an organization
of the national associations of
outbound travel agencies and
inbound tour operators sitting
in the tourism councils of local
government units.
She said Pagcors mixed
hotel, gaming and entertainment
complex will spawn a
signicant increase in foreign
exchange gross receipts.
This Pagcor project will
be a big contribution to the
countrys tourism industry as it
will draw foreigners attention
to the Philippines, Clemente
said.
But she added that while the
project is expected to generate
awareness among foreign
travelers, the government
should ensure that gaming is
not made the main draw of
Philippine tourism.
Clemente said gaming can
only be one of the elements of
entertainment that the country
will offer tourists through the
Pagcor project.
Earlier, Tourism Secretary
Ramon Jimenez expressed
optimism that the Entertainment
City project will help DOT
achieve its target of 10 million
PASAY City Mayor Antonio
Calixto dismissed as mere
politicking the recent graft
complaint filed against him
before the Ombudsman over
the supposed anomalous lease
of the city-owned Pasay City
Market Mall.
Calixto said the lease con-
tract of the city government
with the Widescope Property
Management Corp. was above-
board and was done to cut the
city governments losses in op-
TWO minors, aged 10 and 13,
were critically wounded after
being caught in the crossre of
two quarreling neighbors during
a erce gun duel in Makati City
on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said Ronalyn Baligiuat,
10, and 13-year-old Julius
Cris Melgar remained under
observation at the Pasay City
General Hospital for multiple
gunshot wounds.
SPO1 Rico Caramat of the
Makati police said they are
hunting down suspects Gary
Pagaran, 36, and one Michael
Roxas following the shootout
that took place along Marconi
Street in Barangay San Isidro
past 5 p.m. last Tuesday.
Caramat recounted that
Baligiuat and Melgar were
along the banks of a creek when
Pagaran saw Roxas across the
Pasay portion of the waterway,
near the vicinity where the two
children were playing.
A heated exchange of words
led to the duo opening re at
each with other with improvised
shotguns, hitting the victims.
Melgar was hit in the lower
abdomen while the girl was hit
on her right hand and left leg.
It was a neighbors ght
that ended in a gun duel.
Unfortunately, it was the
two children who were hit,
Caramat said.
Ferdinand Fabella
THE Metro Manila
Development Authority
on Wednesday announced
rerouting schemes in Manila
and Makati City over the
closure of Sales Bridge along
the South Luzon Expressway
from April until June 10.
The MetroBase said the
eastbound lanes from Villamor
toward Taguig City will
be closed one by one. On
Wednesday, two lanes were
closed, while three lanes will
be closed today.
All lanes will be totally
closed from April 13 until
rehabilitation work is finished.
From Manila and Makati
City, motorists may take
Osmea Highway, turn right
at Buendia Avenue, take
Roxas Boulevard or Diosdado
Macapagal Avenue to
destination.
Also from Makati along
EDSA, motorists can take
Tramo, Roxas Boulevard
or Macapagal Avenue to
destination.
From the south, motorists
are advised to take C5 Road.
From Port Area, Manila, all
trucks [Class 3 vehicles] going
to FTI can take the Bicutan
Exit to reach their destination.
Ttrucks may also take A.
Bonifacio, turn into Mindanao
Avenue, take C-5, then turn
left to the East Service Road to
reach their destination.
Rio N. Araja

TRAVEL and tourism operators are
upbeat over the Entertainment City
project of the Philippine Amusement and
Gaming Corp., saying this would further
boost the countrys tourism industry.
tourist visits by 2016.
He said the mixed-use
entertainment complex,
expected to attract at least one
million tourists yearly once it
becomes fully operational, will
complement the DOTs programs
under the slogan Its More Fun
in the Philippines.
Any development that
involves attracting tourists
is benecial to our program
to boost the tourism sector.
Pagcors Entertainment City
will be benecial to Philippine
tourism, Jimenez said.
Pagcors Las Vegas-style
facility is expected to generate
$10 billion annually in gaming
revenues alone, of which 25
percent or about $ 2.5 billion
will go to the government.
Jimenez also cited Pagcor
Chairman Cristiano Naguiat
for his commitment to the
project amid accusations of
impropriety hurled by casino
magnate Steve Wynn.
Jimenez said Wynns
accusations will not have
a major impact on the
Entertainment Citys tourism
potential. The project is not
personality-based and Chairman
Naguiat has the situation well
in hand, he said.
erating the mall located along
Libertad Avenue.
The city was bleeding fi-
nancially from running the
mall, the Pasay mayor point-
ed out, expressing regret over
the political mudslinging
against him.
Our political opponents
and detractors cannot even
wait for the campaign period
to start. It appears that there
are unseen hands behind these
unfounded cases who would
like to gain political points
with the electorate at my ex-
pense, Calixto said.
A Pasay resident, Bautista,
led the complaint against Cal-
ixto, Vice Mayor Marlon Pese-
bre and the citys 14 councilors
where he alleged that the city
council approved the lease con-
tract in just 12 days and without
undergoing the requisite public
bidding.
The city government had
been earning P2 million a month
from the operation of the mall.
But with the new lease contract
with Widescope, the city govern-
ment will allegedly receive only
P900,000 a month for 15 years,
which is disadvantageous to the
city government, he said.
Calixto explained that while
the city was previously collect-
ing some P2 million per month,
this was gross income and did
not factor in the expenses and
utilities being shouldered by the
city government.
Ferdinand Fabella
Green technology unveiled. PacicTech Philippines launched on Wednesday green products
and services that include water and wastewater treatment systems and marine craft technology.
Photo shows [from left] Advance Marine Technology CEO Sang Hong Lee, PacicTech Phils. CEO Justin
Kim, PacicTech president Chang Jung Park, and EcoWin president Young Go Park at the launching
ceremonies held at the Century Park Hotel in Manila. LINO SANTOS
Calixto
I nvi t at i on t o Bi d f or Ei ght (8) Lot s Two-Year Pr i vat e Sec ur i t y Agenc y Ser vi c es
f or Casi no Fi l i pi no Her i t age Mai n Br anch, Sat el l i t e Casi nos and Sl ot Mac hi ne
Ar c ades under I TB No. 04-02-2012HER
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders
in its forthcoming public bidding for Eight (8) Lots Two-Year Private Security Agency Services for
Casino Filipino - Heritage Main Branch, Satellite Casinos and Slot
Brief Description Eight (8) Lots Two-Year Private Security Agency Services for
Casino Filipino - Heritage Main Branch, Satellite Casinos and Slot
Machine Arcades
Delivery Schedule Thirty (30) days upon issuance of the Notice to Proceed
Approved Budget: Lot 1: Php28,697,687.04 for CF-Heritage Main Casino
Lot 2: Php3,138,809.52 for Networld Mini Casino
Lot 3: Php2,690,408.16 for Majestic SM Arcade
Lot 4: Php2,690,408.16 for Atrium SM Arcade
Lot 5: Php3,587,210.88 for Softel SM Arcade
Lot 6: Php2,690,408.16 for Softel Satellite Casino
Lot 7: Php15,245,646.24 for Midas Satellite Casino
Lot 8: Php3,587,210.88 for Madison
TOTAL: Php62,327,789.04
(all VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction)
Source of Fund: Internally Funded
Location/Branch No. of Guards Annual Budget Budget for 2 years
Main Casino Branch 64 Php14,348,843.52 Php28,697,687.04
Networld Mini Casino 7 Php1,569,404.76 Php3,138,809.52
Majestic SM Arcade 6 Php1,345,204.08 Php2,690,408.16
Atrium SM Arcade 6 Php1,345,204.08 Php2,690,408.16
Softel SM Arcade 8 Php1,793,605.44 Php3,587,210.88
Softel Satellite Casino 6 Php1,345,204.08 Php2,690,408.16
Midas Satellite Casino 34 Php7,622,823.12 Php15,245,646.24
Madison SM Arcade 8 Php1,793,605.44 Php3,587,210.88
TOTAL 139 Php31,163,894.52 Php62,327,789.04
SG / LG Manpower Distribution per Area
Location No. of LGs No. of SGs Total SGs/LGs
Main Casino Branch 21 43 64
Networld Mini Casino 4 3 7
Majestic SM Arcade 3 3 6
Atrium SM Arcade 3 3 6
Softel SM Arcade 5 3 8
Softel Satellite Casino 3 3 6
Midas Satellite Casino 5 29 34
Madison SM Arcade 2 6 8
SUB - TOTAL 46 93 139
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
and 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 11-30, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference April 16, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
3. Deadline on Submission of Bids April 30, 2012, 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids April 30, 2012, 10:00 a.m. onwards
Complete details of the project are indicated in the bid documents which will be available to prospective
bidders at the BBAC Secretariat, Procurement and Property Section (PPS), Casino Filipino Heritage,
upon payment of a non-refundable bidding fee of:
LOT BIDDING FEE
1 20,088.38
2 2,197.17
3 1,883.29
4 1,883.29
5 2,511.05
6 1,883.29
7 10,671.95
8 2,511.05
TOTAL P43,629.47
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 shall pay the non-refundable bidding fee not later than the date of the submission of bids.
The Pre-bid Conference is open to all interested bidders; however, only those bidders who have
purchased the Bidding Documents and presented the PAGCOR Offcial Receipt as proof of
payment, may participate in the discussion at the said conference or submit written queries
or clarifcations. Prospective bidders should present to PAGCORs Cashier at the 3rd Floor, Casino
Filipino Heritage, The Heritage Hotel, EDSAExtension corner Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City either
the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from the PPS or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment
for the Bidding Documents. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable
forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.
PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses
incurred in the preparation of their bids.
PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject
all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected
bidder or bidders.
Please address all communications to Mr. Delio N. Magsumbol, Jr., Chairman, Branch Bids and
Awards Committee (BBAC), Casino Filipino Heritage, The Heritage Hotel, Roxas Boulevard corner
EDSA Extension, Pasay City; Telephone Nos. (DL) 854-7343; (TL) 854-8751 52 / 61 62 local
211; 854-8888 Local 7580; 854-7343; Fax No. 854-8693.
(SGD) DELIO N. MAGSUMBOL, JR.
Chairperson
Branch Bids and Awards Committee
Casino Filipino Heritage
Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation
A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MANILA
The Health Sciences Center
Taft Avenue, Manila
Tel. # 554-8400 loc. 3025/3026; 526-4359
E-mail Address: bac1.upm@gmail.com
I NVI TATI ON TO BI D
1. The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) hereby invites UPM-PGH
registered suppliers and interested parties to participate in the bidding for the
supply of the following commodities as funded by UPM and PGH Fund 164, 184,
and 648-101:
Description Contract Duration Approved
Budget
Dropping/Opening
until
9:00 AM/10:00 AM
2D Echocardiography System Single Bid only 6,150,000.00 08 May 2012
Commissary Supplies March 2012-April 2013 2,368,692.83 08 May 2012
Foodstuffs March 2012-April
2013`
6,514,847.00 08 May 2012
Dental Supplies and Materials Single Bid only 1,556,916.50 08 May 2012
2. Interested parties not registered with UPM-PGH can secure application for
registration at the BAC I Secretariat, Purchasing Offce, PGH, any time during
offce hours.
3. Prospective bidders should have undertaken a similar project within the last
two (2) years amounting to at least 50% of Approved Budget for the Contract.
The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids
shall use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria. Post-qualifcation of the lowest
calculated responsive bid shall be conducted.
4. All particular relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security,
Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Post-
Qualifcation and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions
of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
5. Application for Eligibility and bidding documents containing general conditions
and specifcations including the schedule of pre-bid conference shall be issued
starting 12 April 2012 at the PGH Purchasing Offce any time during offce hours
upon payment of a non-refundable amount to be determined upon issuance to
the UP Manila Cashiers Offce. Pre-bid Conference is scheduled on 23 April
2012; 10:00 oclock in the morning at the Bidding Room. Purchasing Offce,
PGH.
6. Sealed bids in duplicate copies of the respective commodities shall be received
on or before 9:00 A.M. of 08 May 2012, at the UP Manila Internal Audit Offce,
8
th
foor, Central Block Building, PGH, Manila. Late bids will not be accepted.
7. Sealed bids will be opened on 08 May 2012 at 10:00 A.M. at the Bidding Room,
Purchasing Offce, 2
nd
Floor, Right Service Wing Bldg., near Ward 8, Philippine
General Hospital, Taft Avenue, Manila by the Bids and Awards Committee I in
the presence of the attending bidders.
8. The University of the Philippines Manila hereby reserves the right to reject any/
and or all proposals, or to waive any formality therein and/or accept the bids or
not to make an award as may be considered most advantageous to UP Manila.
9. For further information, prospective bidders may call the BAC-I Secretariat and
look for Mrs. Teresita T. Venturina at Tel. Nos. (02) 554-8400, local 2257, 2250..
(Sgd.) Dean VICENTE O. MEDINA, III, D.DM, Ph.D.
Chair, Bids and Awards Committee 1
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
BUSUANGA ISLAND ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.
(BISELCO)
Coron, Palawan
Email Add: biselco@yahoo.com
The Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BISELCO) thru its
Pre-qualifcation Bids and Awards Committee invites accredited suppliers
of BISELCO to submit bid quotation for the construction of distribution
lines for six (6) barangays including the supply and delivery of materials
and wood poles to be funded through Barangay Line Enhancement
Program (BLEP) subsidy.
Issuance of Bid Documents shall be issued to qualifed bidders upon
payment of non-refundable amount of P5,000.00 which shall be available
on April 13 to 16, 2012 and the Bidding Proper will be April 20, 2012, 2:00
p.m. at BISELCO Offce, Barangay Poblacion 6, Coron, Palawan.
The BISELCO Bids and Award Committee reserves the right to
accept or reject any Bid and annul the bidding the process and reject
all bids at anytime prior to contract award without thereby incurring any
liability to the affected Bidder or Bidders.
(Sgd.) DOVELITO V. MENDENILLA
Chairman BAC
ROMELCO
Approved:
(Sgd.) RUTH L. GALANG
General Manager
BISELCO
A7 Sports Riera U. Mallari, Editor
ManilaStandardToday
sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
Whats not to like about that?
CBS Sports said its overnight rating from
the nal round of the Masters, which Watson
won in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen,
drew an 8.1. That was down from the 10.4
the previous year when eight players
including Tiger Woodshad a share of the
lead at some point and Charl Schwartzel won
it with four birdies at the end.
Theories abound on the television
audience. It was Easter Sunday, which
typically brings lower ratings. Woods
wasnt aroundhe tied for 40
th
for his
worst nish in a major except for the
three times he missed the cut. And to a
broader audience, Watson didnt have
much of a Q-rating unless someone
happened to see some of his crazy videos
or they just liked hearing his name.
That should change.
The winning shot for Watson, which
instantly became part of Augusta
National lore, was a gap wedge that he
hooked out of the woods, around the
trees and onto an elevated green that
set up an easy par on the second playoff
hole. He referred to it as a crazy shot
and pretty easy. For him, it was both.
Watson has been doing that stuff for years.
Just last month at Doral, with a tree
in front of him and the green 135 yards
away, he hit a 9-iron and aimed it 20
yards right of the green, and then sliced it
back beyond the ag until the strong left-
to-right wind pushed back on the other
side of the hole, 6 feet away.
Team Amoils: The Vanderbilt
Champions
Bubba shows new
way to win Masters
AUGUSTA, GeorgiaBubba Watson is the
Masters champion and a guy worth watching,
whether that means spending money on a ticket or
time in front of the TV. He keeps life simple, hits
outrageously difcult shots and makes golf look fun.
IN BRIEF
Dymons bag Caballes Cup
THE Harbour Centre Dymons dethroned
the Gatorade San Mateo Spurs, 67-
54, to capture the second PGBL Willie
Caballes Cup Monday night at the Rizal
Memorial Coliseum.
Youngster Christian Cortez hit the
chunk of his 14 points in the payoff
period to power the Dymons to their
rst title in this tournament composed
mostly of scribes and media practitioners
covering the sports beat.
Cortez, an incoming fourth year high
school student and the 17-year-old son
of coach Noli Cortez of Malaya, was
adjudged as the Finals Most Valuable
Player after his short jumpers enabled
the Charlie Dy-managed Dymons to
pull away in the nal canto.
Season MVP Eric Uy led the inaugural
champion Spurs of Philippine Star
reporter and playing mentor Joey Villar
in a losing effort with 20 points, four
rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Uy, Masigan and Sabio were joined by
the Spurs Jerome Lagunzad of Malaya
and AKTV play-by-play commentator
Chiqui Reyes of the Tigerscribes in the
Mythical First Team.
The Mythical Second Team was
composed of San Mateos AJ Bolando
of Abante, AKTV writer Diego de la Paz
and Summit Medias Dodo Catacutan of
the Tigerscribes and the Antonov Vodka
Smileys duo of Ethan Tiu and Reuben
Terrado, also of Summit.
CONGRATULATIONS to Team
Amoils (Leslie Amoils, Darren Wolpert,
Curtis Cheek, Joe Grue, Thomas Bessis,
Ishmael DelMonte) the new Vanderbilt
champions in the Vanderbilt Knockout
Teams Memphis 2012. They defeated
the Diamond team (Platnick, Fred
Gitelman, Moss, Greco, Hampson)
Tanjangco Team wins Mixed Teams
Championship
The 2012 National Mixed Team
Championship held last March 24, 2012
at the Quimson residence in La Vista
had this nal result:
1. TanjangcoManny Tanjangco, Viksi
Egan, Martin Anastacio, Ito Velhagen 90
2. La VistaNonot Carreon, Nene Qui-
mson, Gerry Alquiros, Ann de Guzman 88
3. Surety 2Nalin Samarasingha,
Hiranthi Samarasingha, Ditas Jalbuena,
Andrew Falcon 85
4. KatipunanPhil Manalang, Suena
Manalang, Justo Manlongat, Susan
Kwee 67
5. UnknownsGeorge Francisco,
Nena Ramirez, Ian Cabillos, Cat
Dequito 61
6. WinnersRomy Virola, Margaret
Kwok, Benny Laperal, Isabel Maloles 59
I feature an interesting article by
Alan Truscott. Thanks to our bridge
colleague Joli Kansil who had played
with Von Zedtwitz in New York brought
this article to my attention. Here is
Truscotts A Final Tribute To Von
Zedtwitz (October 21, 1984).
The last link with the birth of contract
bridge was severed earlier this month
SYLVIA LOPEZ
ALEJANDRO
ACTION in the International Container
Terminal Services Inc.-Philippine Golf
Tour shifts to Baguio next week with
another power-packed cast slugging it
out for top honors in the ICTSI Camp
John Hay Championship slated April
18 to 20 at the John Hay Golf Club in
Baguio City.
Miguel Tabuena annexed a record feat in
the circuits kickoff leg at ICTSI Splendido
Classic in Tagaytay two weeks ago, scoring
his maiden victory and becoming the
youngest winner on the pro circuit at 17.
But the former Asian Games
silver medalist will not be around
in the upcoming event sponsored
by International Container Terminal
Services, Inc., opting to compete
instead in the Indonesia Open set in the
same week along with Elmer Salvador,
Jay Bayron, Artemio Murakami,
Angelo Que, Mars Pucay and Tony
Lascuna.
Asian Tour No. 1 Juvic Pagunsan,
who also topped the Order or Merit of
the ICTSI-PGT with four leg victories
last year, has also begged off from
competing as he kicks off his campaign
on the lucrative Japan PGA Tour in the
Tsuruya Open in Hokkaido.
That leaves Ferdie Aunzo, Marvin
Dumandan, Jhonnel Ababa, Mhark
Fernando, Cassius Casas, Runo Bayron,
Elmer Saban, Richard Sinfuego, Robert
Pactolerin, Jerson Balasabas, Gerald
Rosales, Dante Becierra, Jun Bernis and
former national champion Clyde Mondilla
as the chief contenders for the top P200,000
purse in the 54-hole event organized by
Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.
Camp John Hay hosts ICTSI-PH Golf Tour 2
nd
leg
PBA celebrates 37
th
year with promo
THE Philippine Basketball Association
will be giving away two round-trip
tickets with accommodation in Palawan
in celebration of the leagues 37
th

founding anniversary.
Tickets from all sections bought from
Day 1 of the seminals up to the last day
of Finals of the PBA Commissioners
Cup are qualied for the rafe promo.
To qualify, ticket holders must write
name and contact number at the back
portion of the ticket and drop at the
designated dropboxes located at the
entrance gates of the PBA venues
Smart-Araneta Coliseum, Ynares Sports
Center and Cuneta Astrodome.
Also in store during the PBA
Anibersaya Fiesta promo are two
Nintendo WII, 30 gift packs from
adidas, 10 eyewear from Ideal Vision
and 1 Sony cybershot camera.
Rafe draw is scheduled the day after
the last game of the Finals. Winners will
be notied through phone call. Awarding
of prizes will be held on May 7, 2012 at
the PBA Ofce.
Meanwhile, the league is also
encouraging PBA fans to wear their best
PBA Retro jerseys every Sunday and be
one of the 20 PBA fans to receive gift
packs from Soyami chips and adidas.
TRIATHLON action in the sum-
mer continues as the opening
leg of Unilab Active Healths Tri
United series for 2012 is all set to
begin on April 14 and 15 at Playa
Laiya, San Juan, Batangas.
Organized by BIKEKING,
headed by Raul Cuevas, in coop-
eration with Triathlon Associa-
tion of the Philippines, the event
will challenge participants with
a 1,000-meter swim at Playa
Laiyas sea water, 30-kilometer
bike route reaching San Juan and
a 7-km run within Playa Laiya.
Participants may register
under the elite categories, Team
Relay, Team Competition and
age-groups (18-24, 25-29, 30-
34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, Female
45-above, 50-54, 55-Above).
The organizers will implement
a point system for age-groupers
and teams to determine the
eventual champions of the series.
At stake in the event sponsored
by Unilab Active Health, Alaxan
FR, Enervon HP, I-ON Energy
Drink, Landco, BIKEKING, 3rd
District of Bohol, Pocari Sweat,
TIMEX, Crystal Clear, Orbea, Run-
ners World, Mens Health, Wom-
ens Health, Weekend Warrior and
SwimBikeRun.ph are P44,000 in
total cash prizes. P10,000 and spe-
cially made trophies will be award-
ed each to the Elite Male and Elite
Female champions.
Also at stake for other categor-
ical winners are gift certicates,
premium items and medals.
First placers will earn 20
points in the race, which can be
carried over to the next two races
in the Tri United trilogy.
Registration is ongoing at
BIKEKINGs store in Bonifacio
Global City, G Stop stores in Ala-
bang and Greenhills, Starting Line
in Alabang, and Second Wind
branches in Ortigas and Quezon
City. Interested parties may con-
tact the organizer at 856-3362 or
visit Unilab Active Healths official
Facebook page at https://www.face-
book.com/UnilabActiveHealth.
Unilab
triathlon
1
st
leg set
GLOBE Telecom mounts the third Globe Cordillera
Challenge on May 5, an event which aims to raise
awareness for the need to protect and rebuild our
mountains forest areas and challenge recreational
bikers to race for the environment.
This years bike challenge will support 20 seedling
nurseries for the greening of the Cordillera mountains,
one of the Northern Luzons major watersheds.
Globe Bridging Communities, the corporate social
responsibility arm of Globe Telecom, renewed their
partnership with the Cordillera Conservation Trust, a
non-stock, non-prot organization dedicated to help
preserve the Cordillera mountain ecosystem led by
its executive director, JP Alipio.
Globe is committed to work with local community
partners to help restore the Cordillera mountains.
With its renewed partnership with Cordillera
Conservation Trust (CCT), Globe will support the
establishment of 20 seedling nurseries through
Roots and Shoots, a nursery building program in
public elementary schools. Other Globe Telecom
Inc. sponsored CSR programs like Text2Teach,
LEADCOMM (Leadership Communities) and
micro-nance mobile banking will also be brought
to the province of Benguet, said Rob Nazal, Globe
Corporate Social Responsibility Head.
CCTs Roots and Shoots nursery building program
aims to build seedling nurseries in public elementary
schools in the Cordillera area. The Globe Cordillera
Challenge will not only help support the nurseries
but build a community of environmental stewards of
students, parents, public ofcials and volunteers.
Globe Telecom is also set to sign a partnership agreement
with Foundation for the Philippine Environment this
April for the use of mobile technologies in enabling the
production, planting and maintenance of 50 million
seedlings in 2012. The partnership will help FPE meet their
contribution to National Greening Project, an Executive
Order signed by President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III
in February 2011.
This years trail highlight includes conquering
two summits: Mt. Cabuyao and Mt. Sto. Tomas. The
bike challenge will start at 6 a.m. In Burnham Park,
Baguio and bikers will continue on an 11 kilometer-
ride to the Mt. Cabuyao Summit Pag-asa monitoring
station. Those aiming for a more challenging ride
may continue on to the Mt. Sto. Tomas Summit
which involves steep grades, loose rocks, and tricky
descents with the best views of the Lingayen Gulf,
Mossy and Pine Forests. Riders will receive a wrist
band for every station they are able to complete.
Globe Telecom greens Cordillera via a bike meet
when Waldemar Von Zedtwitz died
in Hawaii at the age of 88. He was
legendary gure who, in a long career,
had made a major impact on the game
in several areas.
As an infant Von Zedtwitz inherited
the title Baron from his German father.
He fought in the German cavalry in
World War I and then came to the
United States for a different ght: a
successful legal battle for the Kentucky
estate of his American mother.
By the time he was 30 this young
aristocrat with a talent for languages
and a taste for old masters, had settled
in New York, abandoned his title in
exchange for American citizenship, and
became a devotee of bridge during the
twilight of the auction game. He was
a close friend and partner of Harold
Vanderbilt, the railroad tycoon who won
the Americans Cup, and improved on
some European prototypes to produce
contract bridge
In the next half century Von
Zedtwitz was constantly active at
the bridge table. He played with
the Culbertson team in the earliest
international matches, won 19
national titles and eventually, with
Barbara Brier, won the world mixed
pair title. This last was achieved, in
spite of failing eyesight, at 74, surely
the greatest age at which anyone
has won a world title in a serious
competitive activity.
Away from the tables Von Zedtwitz
made many vital contributions. As
President of the American Contract
Bridge League, he singled-handedly
rescued that organization from
impending collapse. He helped found
the World Bridge Federation and
worked diligently on the laws of the
game.
Playing before anyone attempted
to impose time-limits on contestants,
Von Zedtwitz like to take his
time, studying every angle before
committing himself to a crucial play.
While in contemplation he would
pull his ear-lobe, a habit which he
eventually replaced, on medical
advice, with hair pulling.
In major matches his team-mates
nearly always had to wait for him to
appear at the end of a session; but
they were usually well-satised with
his efforts. On two occasions his
leisurely but accurate play of the last
deal decided a major national team
championship. One of these was in
the nal of the 1932 Vanderbilt Cup,
when he helped his old friend capture
his own trophy by bringing home a
ve diamond contract that the pundits
had expected to fall. The other was in
the 1937 Spingold Knockout Teams,
when he was faced by the lay-out
shown in the diagram.
When this deal had been played
by his team-mates, East had been
permitted to play four spades and had
been defeated by a trick. Von Zedtwitz,
however, arrived in ve hearts doubled
after the auction shown and received
a spade lead. His study of the dummy,
accompanied by the usual ear-pulling,
seemed likely to be protracted: and his
partner, Edward Hymes Jr., could not
stand the strain. He left the room and
went to consult with his team-mates
who were pacing outside.
(To be continued)
Uy, Handog take on Macatangay
HOSTS Dominic Uy and Geleen Handog
challenge pro Terence Macatangay in a
surprise game at Armed Forces of the
Philippines Golf Club (formerly Camp
Aguinaldo GC) in the main feature of
tonights A Round of Golf on Solar
Sports at Global Destiny (Channel 35),
Sky Cable Digital (Channel 70), and
Cablelink (Channel 31).
Also on tap in Episode 9, Season 11
of the only golf and lifestyle TV show
in the country, presented by Air21 and
produced by UBE Media, at 8 p.m.
are golf conditioning with Sky Fitness
Manilas Kirk Hidalgo talking on the
active stretching techniques, and golf gigs
featuring Nike Golfs launch of its newest
line of golf balls 20Xi during the Pilipinas
Amateur Golf Series at Orchard.
Gin Kings meet fans.
Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings
fans Michael Jeffrey Ramos,
Joy Ramos and Michelle Abao
recently met their hard-court
heroes Kerby Raymundo, Rico
Maierhofer, Willie Wilson,
Mike Cortez, Allein Maliksi
and Rudy Hateld and Ginebra
San Miguel, Inc. ofcials,
led by marketing manager
Nelson Elises after they won
items at Ginebras Gintastic
auction through Facebook
account www.facebook.com/
barangayginebra, which to
date has over 40,000 fans.
Auctioned off were personal
items of Barangay Ginebra
players like jerseys, shirts,
basketball shorts and shoes,
among others. The fans were
also introduced to the st-
bump, the modern gesture of
approval and acceptance as
seen in Ginebra San Miguels
ongoing Lahing Ginebra
television commercial.
Yeah, pretty easy.
Watson made the rounds Tuesday,
typical of a Masters champion, but with
a few twists. Golf Channel wasnt on
his list, but he paid a surprise visit in his
green jacket for the Morning Drive
show. Then, it was off to New York for
scheduled interviews, concluding with
David Letterman.
Asked about the TV ratings, Watson
said golf was in a good place with younger
players starting to emerge, and how he
might reach some who arent on tour yet.
Hopefully, I can inuence some kids to
start playing ... and build the game bigger
and bigger, Watson said on CNBC.
Hes a tough act for anyone to follow
because no one hits the ball the ball like
Bubba. Thats why Woods used to invite
him along for practice rounds early
in the morning at the majors. He was
curious to see this self-taught guy from
the backwoods of Bagdad, Fla., hit shots
that went high or low, left or right, as if it
were a whife ball, which is how Watson
learned to play as a kid. AP
Those questions will be
answered today as hostilities
between the two protagonists
resume in the seminals of 2012
Philippine Basketball Association
Commissioners Cup at the Ynares
Center in Antipolo City.
The Energy look to continue their
NBA RESULTS
Azkals climb to their highest-ever world ranking
By Peter Atencio
AFTER placing third in the
recent 2012 Asian Football
Confederation Challenge Cup
last month, the Philippine Azkals
national football team has gone
up in the world rankings.
The Azkals, under national coach
Hans Michael Weiss, have reached
their highest ranking ever, climbing
to no. 148 in the FIFA world
rankingseight notches above their
previous placing of 156.
According to the FIFAs ofcial
website, FIFA.com, alongside
Libya and El Salvador, the
Philippines (148
th
, up 8) has
achieved its highest-ever position
since the introduction of the global
ladder, thanks to its excellent
performance at the AFC Challenge
Cup, where they nished third.
Because of this, the Azkals are
now ahead of Nepal (149) and a
notch behind St. Vincent and the
Grenadines (147).
At the Asian level, the Philippines
is now at no. 22, some 12 notches
behind AFC Challenge Cup
champion North Korea and a rung
behind runner-up Turkmenistan.
At the Southeast Asian
level, the Azkals are now third,
overtaking reigning Southeast
Asian Games champion and
ASEAN Football Federation-
Suzuki Cup champion Malaysia,
which is 156
th
in the world, 27
th
in
Asia and fth in the region.
Vietnam, ranked 97
th
in the
world and 15
th
in Asia, remains
the regions top football power,
followed by Thailand, which is
147
th
in the world and 20
th
in Asia.
On the other hand, Indonesia,
which is Southeast Asias fourth,
is now at no. 151 in the world,
and Asias no. 24
th
.
FIFA.com also stated that
Asian representatives Turk-
menistan (142
nd
, up 24) and Ko-
rea DPR (86
th
, up 25) were the
months strongest teams, each
topping their group and sailing
through to the nal of the AFC
Challenge Cup unbeaten.
Manila Standard TODAY
Sports
Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports@manilastandardtoday.com sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
By Jeric Lopez

WILL Barako Bull continue to roll? Or will
Talk N Text finally be able to shake of the rust?
LOTTO RESULTS
6/55 000000000000
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P0.0M+
P0.0M+
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
LIGHTWEIGHT Charly
Suarezs quest for gold and a
berth in the London Olympic
Games later this year continues
when he battles two-time
Japanese national champion
Daisuke Narimatsu in the fourth
bout of the seminals at around
9 p.m. today, Manila Time.
Suarez needs to win a gold
medal to be able to qualify for
the London Olympics later this
year.
After erce competition in
Astana, Kazakhstan, 12 of
the 25 slots available in the
quota for the 2012 AIBA Asian
qualifying event have already
been decided, while the other
13, including that of Suarezs
division, will be decided during
two intriguing days of seminal
and nal battles.
Amateur Boxing Association
of the Philippines president Ricky
Vargas told Manila Standard that
Suarez, who scored a 14-5 win
over Asian Championships bronze
medalist Abdlay Uulu Anarbay of
Kyrzgystan in the quarternals on
Monday, is well known here and
is called the Bombay Tiger.
This is an obvious reference to
his stint with the Mumbai Fighters
team of India in the World Series
of Boxing, where he scored
a stunning shutout win over
world no. 4 Semen Gribachev of
Azerbaijan last March.
Suarez has matured a lot
from his World Series of Boxing
stint as part of team India, said
Vargas.
India has already qualied ve
boxers for the London Olympic
Games, while four more are in
contention in the seminals in
Kazakhstan today, aside from
Beijing Olympics welterweight
bronze medalist Vijender Singh,
who has already secured a spot
in the Olympics, but will also
see action today.
Singh, who combines his
boxing skills with good looks,
is credited with giving the sport
in India a major boost and this
can be gleaned from the number
of boxers India will send to the
Olympics.
With only 17-year-old Mark
Anthony Barriaga having
qualied, Suarez is the last hope
among the Philippine mens
team to make it to London.
He goes up against a talented
Japanese in Narimatsu in the
semis and will have to display
the same relentless style he
showed against Anarby, using
his hand-speed and movement to
overcome the Japanese southpaw
and make it to the nals.
Suarezs search for gold continues
JONAR Austria and Dottie Ardina
took charge of their respective
divisions despite over par cards
with the former shooting a 73 for
a one-stroke lead over Reymon
Jaraulla and John Kier Abdon and
the latter wresting a four-shot lead
over Sunshine Baraquiel with a 76
in the Philippine Amateur Match
Play (Closed) Championship at
the lightning-fast greens of the
challenging Sherwood Hills Golf
Club, in Cavite.
Sherwood HIlls, a Golf Digest
top 100 golf course showed its
grit and toughness with its course
conditions. The elements made
the all-natural terrain of Sherwood
Hills not an easy target for the
cream of the crop competitors.
Jonar Austria, hit two birdies
against three bogeys for a 35-
38 card as he led the eld in the
36-hole medal play elimination.
Jaraulla eagled the par-5 15th to
close out with a 35 and salvage a 74
as he tied Abdon, who oundered
with a 39, while Magno Arancon
stood a shot farther back at 75
and Gio Gandionco wavered in
scorching heat with a 78 for fth.
Ardina, on the other hand,
made two birdies but had six
bogeys, including on the holes
that marred her 76 card .
The event serving as the third leg
of the Globe Amateur Golf Circuit,
backed by Suntrust Properties .Inc.,
Airphil Express, Titleist, Empire
Golf, Pancake House, Golf Depot
and official hotel Microtel Suites.
Ardina, winner of the
WWWEx-DHL crown at
Cangolf, took a four-shot lead
over Baraquiel, who made an 80
in tough condition while rising
star Rainstar Roque put herself in
the mix with an 84 followed by
Apple Fudolin, who had an 85 in a
tie with reigning Hong Kong Am
Open champion Jayvie Agojo.
Austria,
Ardina
lead elims
JOEL Pimentel halved the
point with National Master
Albert Florendo to win the
Open Under-20 category of
the National Age Group Chess
Championships Visayas leg on
Tuesday at the Gov. Cabagnot
Training Center in Kalibo, Aklan.
The pride of Negros Oriental
and member of 2011 collegiate
chess champion St. Benilde
tallied 4.5 points, a full point
ahead of his closest pursuers
Franz Robert Gral of La Salle,
Florendo of University of Santo
Tomas and Marc Christian
Nazario of University of the
Philippines.
Veteran internationalists Vince
Angelo Medina of Far Eastern
University and FIDE Master
Paulo Bersamina also topped
their respective categories.
Medina, the 74th University
Athletic Association of the
Philippines Most Valuable Player
in the juniors division, grabbed
the title in the OU-16, with a half-
point edge over Allan Pason of
Cebu, while Bersamina proved
too much for his rivals as he ran
away with the title in OU-14.
Pimentel leads winners
A8
CELTICS 115, HEAT 107
WIZARDS 93, MAGIC 85
76ERS 107, NETS 88
CAVALIERS 103, BOBCATS 90
MAVERICKS 110, KINGS 100
BULLS 98, KNICKS 86
stellar rise by aiming for another
upset win against the Tropang
Texters in Game 2 of
their best-of-ve tussle
slated at 6:45 p.m.
Clearly the heavy
underdog entering the
series, Barako Bull, in
a sudden twist of fate,
now has the edge with a 1-0 series
lead after a stunning 84-77 Game
1 upset victory over the defending
champions Tuesday
night.
Barako Bull coach
Junel Baculi, who
got his rst seminal
victory as a PBA
mentor, likes where
his squad is right now. But once
PHILIPPINE Davis Cup
administrator Randy Villanueva is
condent of the countrys chances
against Indonesia in the nals of
the Asia-Oceania Zone Group II
tie, which will be played in Jakarta
on Sept. 16 to 18.
Villanueva told the Manila
Standard that the additional
good news is that the papers
of 24-year-old Fil-German ace
Marc Sieber are moving and
he could be ready to play in the
cup tie against the Indonesians.
Sieber, who is certain to
strengthen the squad, is currently
ranked 406th in the world.
Its nice that we have a
young team and more players to
choose from, said the youthful
Philta executive and a former
member of the Philippines
junior squad, mentioning the
likes of Treat Huey, the world-
ranked doubles player, Jason
Patrombon, Nino Alcantara and
Ruben Gonzales, aside from
Sieber. Ronnie Nathanielsz
RP Cuppers
condent vs
Indonesians
again, he hopes to duplicate what
they did the other day for a more
comfortable stand.
Hopefully, we can pull off
another upset win. We will prepare
well again for us to have another
chance of beating them once
more, said Baculi. The team
is motivated and condent and it
showed in our last two games.
However, he also acknowledged
that the Tropang Texters, as
dominating as they are the last
two seasons, will denitely come
out better in Game 2 with an aim
of leveling the series.
We have to be ready for that.
We expect a tougher ght, added
Baculi. They did not shot the
ball well, maybe due to their rust. I
expect them to make adjustments
and be better.
BarakoWARY
OF TNT COMEBACK
Weiss
Barako Bulls Gabe Freeman
(left) covers the vision of TNTs
Dorell Harvey, who is looking
for a teammate to pass the ball
to in a PBA Commissioners Cup
seminal game won by the
Energy, 84-77.
Game Today
(Semifinals Game 2
Ynares Center , Antipolo)
6:45 p.m. Barako Bull
vs. Talk N Text
Business
B1
Ray S. Eano, Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com
Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor extrastory2000@gmail.com
HIGH P42.720 LOW P42.910 AVERAGE P42.813
VOLUME 908.850M
PSE COMPOSITE INDEX
Closing April 11, 2012
5,017.44
4.85
OIL
PRICES
TODAY
P780-P895.00
LPG/11-kg tank
P54.55-P61.02
Unleaded Gasoline
P46.10-P49.90
Diesel
P52.35-P57.85
Kerosene
P38.50-P39.20
Auto LPG
FOREI GN EXCHANGE RATE
Currency Unit US Dollar Peso
United States Dollar 1.000000 42.7980
Japan Yen 0.012396 0.5305
UK Pound 1.587600 67.9461
Hong Kong Dollar 0.128788 5.5119
Switzerland Franc 1.089206 46.6158
Canada Dollar 0.996314 42.6402
Singapore Dollar 0.792959 33.9371
Australia Dollar 1.025200 43.8765
Bahrain Dinar 2.652661 113.5286
Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266667 11.4128
Brunei Dollar 0.789827 33.8030
Indonesia Rupiah 0.000109 0.0047
Thailand Baht 0.032331 1.3837
UAE Dirham 0.272264 11.6524
Euro Euro 1.308500 56.0012
Korea Won 0.000878 0.0376
China Yuan 0.158441 6.7810
India Rupee 0.019429 0.8315
Malaysia Ringgit 0.325256 13.9203
NewZealand Dollar 0.815328 34.8944
Taiwan Dollar 0.033874 1.4497
Source: PDS Bridge
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
PESO-DOLLAR RATE
40
42
44
46
48
P42.760
CLOSE
Closing APRIL 11, 2012
5200
4460
3720
2980
2240
1500
1200
IN BRIEF
ADB expects faster growth
Atlas
copper
output
up 21%
PNOC to run natural gas station in 9 months
PH gold
reserves
hit P7.3t
Vista Land sees net income rising 20% to P4.2b
ATLAS Consolidated Mining
and Development Corp. said
Wednesday its copper unit
achieved record production
and sales in March.
Atlas said in a disclosure to
the stock exchange Carmen
Copper Corp. produced a
record 7.35 million pounds
of copper in March alone,
enabling rst quarter copper
production to grow 21 percent
from a year ago.
The miner said the surge
in productivity enabled
Carmen Copper to complete
three shipments of copper
concentrate to Chinese smelters
in March and generate a
monthly revenue of more than
$30 million for the rst time
since the start of commercial
operations in 2008.
Clearly, the investments
we made in 2011 are starting
to pay off, and our operating
results, together with the
success of our $300-million
bond offering, are giving us
condence to forge ahead with
our expansion projects over
the next two years with the
goal of optimizing operations
by enhancing productivity and
reducing cost, Atlas executive
vice president Adrian Ramos
said.
Carmen Copper has made
63 shipments of concentrates
to China and Korea, totaling
310,153 dry metric tons since
December 2008 until the last
bulk loading in 2011.
Carmen Copper issued last
month $300-million xed rate
notes which will be used to
renance debt and fund capital
spending plans for 2012.
Atlas is a diversied mining
conglomerate in the Philippines
while unit Carmen Copper is
the largest exporter of copper
in concentrate in the country.
Carmen Copper operates the
Toledo copper mine in Cebu.
The copper miner reported
earlier a net income of P2.541
billion in 2011, up from P670
million in 2010.
Jenniffer B. Austria
By Elaine Ramos Alanguilan
THE Philippine economy is now expected to grow
at a much faster pace of 4.8 percent this year on
higher public spending, investments and private
consumption, the Asian Development Bank said
Wednesday.
The Manila-based multilateral lender
also projected in its Asian Development
Outlook 2012 the countrys gross domestic
product growth would accelerate to 5
percent in 2013, after posting a lackluster
3.7-percent expansion last year.
It said slumping exports and
restrained government spending
undercut the impact on economic
growth of strong private consumption
in 2011. The government stepped up
its capital outlay and relaxed monetary
policy this year, laying the groundwork
for an upturn in GDP growth that is
projected to continue through 2013.
The ADB, however, said long-standing
structural weaknesses remained an
obstacle to reaching the governments 7-
to 8-percent growth target, the minimum
level of growth that is needed to make
substantial reductions in unemployment
and poverty.
Remittances and lower ination
will sustain private consumption,
and strong business sentiment will
continue to support private investment.
A pickup in public investment and
accommodative monetary policy will
also aid the Philippine economy, said
ADB country director Neeraj Jain.
However, issues such as poor
infrastructure and weak governance must
be tackled if the countrys economic
gains are to benet all, he added.
The bank said that after 2011s
lower-than-expected GDP growth,
prospects looked brighter this year
as the government stepped up social
sector spending, and moved ahead with
planned public-private partnerships to
build badly-needed infrastructure.
An increase in household
consumption, fueled by a rise in
remittances from overseas workers
and accommodative monetary policy
will also underpin growth, with
sovereign rating upgrades and better
business sentiment expected to boost
investment, said the ADB report.
The drag on growth from exports is
seen diminishing with a modest rebound
of about 5 percent in merchandise
exports in 2012, although Europes
troubles and softer growth in China are
likely temper gains.
Imports are seen picking up as
consumer demand and investment rise,
while services will be the main growth
contributor as the countrys booming
business process outsourcing industry
maintains its momentum.
Ination, which tracks the increase
in prices of goods and services, is set to
dip slightly this year to an estimated 3.7
percent on the assumption of broadly
stable global commodity prices, while
the peso is seen little changed against
the US dollar.
More favorable global economic
conditions and headway on infrastructure
will underpin a further uptick in growth
in 2013, but the government will need a
sizable increase in new revenue if it is
to meet its goal of trimming the budget
decit 2 percent of GDP next year, said
ADB chief economist Changyong Rhee.
By Alena Mae S. Flores
BUS operators will have to wait
for another six to nine months
before PNOC Exploration Corp.,
a unit of Philippine National Oil
Co., takes over the compressed
natural gas station of Pilipinas
Shell Petroleum Corp.
We have to nalize the
transition plan. The transition
period takes about six to nine
months. The drivers alone will
take six months to train, PNOC
Exploration vice president
Joseph Omar Castillo told
reporters during the signing of
three agreements Wednesday.
The three agreements signed
include an amendment to the
Compressed Natural Gas for
Public Transport Pilot Project
between the Energy Department
and the Malampaya consortium
of Shell Philippines Exploration
B.V., Chevron Malampaya LLC
and PNOC Exploration; the
takeover of the Mamplasan CNG
station; and the sale of CNG
between PNOC Exploration and
the CNG bus operators.
The agreement between
the department and the SC 38
consortium extended the pilot
phase from 2015 until 2018
by ensuring the required CNG
supply for 200 buses. The
Malampaya gas eld provides
the CNG supply to the program.
The Shell-PNOC Exploration
agreement transferred Shells
rights and privileges, which
include ownership and
management of the CNG station
in Mamplasan, Laguna to the
government, while the deal
between PNOC Exploration and
the CNG bus operators provides
an updated pricing mechanism
for the retailing of CNG.
Energy Undersecretary Jay
Layug assured that despite the
transition period, Shell would
continue to supply CNG to the
bus operators.
Castillo, meanwhile, said the
government plans to sell CNG at
around P24 per liter, or half the
current price of diesel. Shell was
earlier selling CNG to the bus
operators at P14.25 per liter but
the supply had been intermittent
due to technical constraints at the
Mamplasan station.
VISTA Land & Lifescapes Inc. aims to
increase net income this year by 20 percent
to P4.2 billion after posting record revenues,
prot and reservation sales in 2011.
Vista Land chief nance ofcer Ricardo
Tan said in a brieng the company would
sustain growth this year by focusing on the
affordable and low-end market segments.
The company expects revenues in 2012 at
a little less than P16 billion after earmarking
P15 billion in capital expenditures this year.
We expect continued growth in 2012
despite scaremongering and the big discounts
being offered to the condominium market,
Tan said.
Vista Land in 2011 registered a record net
income of P3.53 billion, up 17 percent from
P3.01 billion in 2010, on higher real estate
sales.
Revenues hit a record of P13.5 billion in
2011, up 19 percent from P11.3 billion in the
previous year, while reservation sales reached
a high of P30.5 billion, ups 23 percent from
P24.7 billion in the previous year.
2011 turned out to be better than we
expected. We are pleased to have exceeded
our internal targets. Our strategy of targeting
the affordable and low-end market segments
has been very successful, Tan said.
Vista Land president Paolo Villar said
the company would continue to accelerate
project developments in three main agship
projects, namely Evia in Las Pias, Lakefront
in Sucat, Muntinlupa, and Sta. Elena in Sta.
Rosa, Laguna.
The company plans to further expand its
geographic reach by launching new house and
lot projects in several parts of the country.
Jenniffer B. Austria
BPO revenues hit $11b
THE information technology and business
process outsourcing industry ended 2011
with $11 billion in revenues, up 24 percent
from $8.9 billion in 2010, the Business
Processing Association of the Philippines said
Wednesday.
BPAP president and chief executive
Benedict Hernandez said the number of people
employed by the sector increased 22 percent to
638,000 by end-2011 from 525,000 in 2010.
We hit the targets. This is a good start to
our ve-year plan to grow at an average of 20
percent a yearabove projected global annual
growth rates of 10 percent to 15 percent, he
said.
Hernandez said at a compound annual
growth rate of 20 percent, the IT-BPO sector
would become a $25-billion industry by 2016,
contributing about 9 percent to gross domestic
product and capturing 10 percent of the global
IT-BPO market share.
He said the countrys world no. 1 status
in contact centers grew further in 2011,
according to the Contact Center Association
of the Philippines. The sector ended 2011 with
416,000 employees providing $7.4 billion in
services to the world. Julito G. Rada
Phoenix hikes capital
PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines Inc.
approved an increase in capital stock to P2.55
billion from P800 millon.
Phoenix said in a disclosure to the stock
exchange Wednesday that the higher capital
would consist of 2.5 billion common shares
and 50 million preferred shares with a par
value of P1 apiece.
Holding company Phoenix Petroleum
Holdings Inc. is subscribing 193 million
common shares from the capital increase of
1.75 billion common shares.
The Philippine Stock Exchange stopped
the trading of Phoenix shares for one hour
Wednesday.
The Phoenix board last month approved a
capital and equity fund-raising activities to
nance expansion plans.
It said the fund-raising activity includes
follow-on offering of shares, top-up offerings
or placement and subscription transaction.
Phoenix is embarking on an aggressive
expansion program by opening around 100
stations with a capital expenditure requirement
of over P500 million this year.
The company posted a consolidated net
income of P510 million in 2011, up 19 percent
from P427 million in 2010.
Alena Mae S. Flores
By Bernadette Lunas
THE National Statistical Co-
ordination Board estimated
the countrys gold reserves
at more than P7 trillion as of
2011, which it said is enough
to eradicate poverty.
NSCB secretary-general
Romulo Virola said the poten-
tial quantity of gold that can
be mined in the Philippines
is about 4.914 billion metric
tons.
Using 2011 world market
prices, our gold resources/re-
serves can amount to P7.36
trillion, equivalent to about 76
percent of the countrys GDP
of P9.73 trillion in 2011. This
is also equal to more than 65.1
times the income gap of P113.1
billion for 2011, the amount
needed to completely eradicate
poverty in the country, said
Virola.
He noted that gold prices
were in uptrend in recent
years, with world market price
reaching a phenomenal level
$1570 per troy ounce in 2011.
Virola said the countrys
biggest gold resource can be
found in Region 12, with 2.189
billion MT or 44.4 percent of
the total. The Cordillera Ad-
ministrative Region has 982.7
billion MT; Region 11, 893
million MT; Region 6, 338.4
million MT; and Region 13,
330.4 million MT.
The highest quality of gold
reserves can be found in Re-
gion 8, with an average grade
of 11.4 gold gram per ton.
Sands Cotai Central opens. Sheldon Adelson (center), chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and wife Miriam
Adelson look at a model of the Sands Cotai Central resort during its opening in Macau, China. Adelson is preparing for a global
expansion drive with plans to spend $35 billion on Spanish resorts and to add a new Macau location. BLOOMBERG
SHARES VALUE
FINANCIAL 15,441,906 836,931,191.595
INDUSTRIAL 554,192,584 555,874,972.68
HOLDING FIRMS 105,576,130 859,119,490.34
PROPERTY 144,206,875 479,148,173.11
SERVICES 51,915,615 592,976,749.48
MINING & OIL 924,273,553 391,702,928.729
TRADI NG SUMMARY
FINANCIAL a,231.08 (down) 4.68
INDUSTRIAL 7,780.91 (down) 9
HOLDING FIRMS 4,150.43 (down) 4.64
PROPERTY 1,847.08 (down) 9.86
SERVICES 1,725 (down) 3.98
MINING & OIL 25,376.87 (down) 167.27
PSEI 5,017.44 (down) 4.85
All Shares Index 3,395.6 (down) 20.96
Gainers: 44; Losers: 117; Unchanged: 39; Total: 200
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
Vitarich Corp. 0.580 16.00
Salcon Power Corp. 4.70 12.17
Forum Pacic 0.290 9.43
Basic Energy Corp. 0.310 6.90
Greenergy 0.0190 5.56
Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 1.51 4.14
Ayala Corp. Pref À' 570.00 4.01
Tanduay Holdings 4.00 3.90
Megaworld Corp. Warrants2 0.94 3.30
Seafront À' 1.65 3.12
STOCKS Close
(P)
Change
(%)
Republic Glass 'A' 1.95 (27.78)
Filipino Fund Inc. 12.00 (23.08)
Euro-Med Lab. 2.25 (11.76)
2GO Group' 2.47 (9.85)
Lorenzo Shipping 1.80 (8.63)
Bloomberry 27.50 (7.56)
Apex À' 5.00 (7.41)
PNOC Expls `B' 48.05 (6.70)
Alcorn Gold Res. 0.0150 (6.25)
Union Bank 95.00 (6.13)
TOP GAI NERS TOP LOSERS
Stocks slump; Atlas,
BDO defy downtrend
Business
ManilaStandardToday
business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com
B2
52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign
High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying
MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012
M
S
T
FINANCIAL
70.00 46.00 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 62.25 63.50 62.15 62.90 1.04 4,723,600 (39,429,668.50)
76.80 50.00 Bank of PI 73.00 73.00 72.10 72.50 (0.68) 530,320 (6,687,931.50)
1.82 0.69 Bankard, Inc. 0.80 0.79 0.78 0.79 (1.25) 541,000
459.00 370.00 China Bank 479.40 479.40 470.00 478.00 (0.29) 3,820 (119,250.00)
1.90 1.42 BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. 1.72 1.95 1.73 1.73 0.58 3,804,000 (27,420.00)
23.00 12.40 COL Financial 22.80 23.50 22.80 23.50 3.07 328,500
15.00 7.00 Filipino Fund Inc. 15.60 15.00 11.50 12.00 (23.08) 18,100 41,400.00
80.00 40.00 First Metro Inv. 65.90 63.05 63.00 63.00 (4.40) 2,000
3.26 1.91 I-Remit Inc. 2.59 2.60 2.45 2.58 (0.39) 27,000
775.00 475.20 Manulife Fin. Corp. 546.00 540.00 540.00 540.00 (1.10) 310
25.00 3.00 Maybank ATR KE 23.30 23.60 23.00 23.10 (0.86) 62,600 (254,000.00)
89.50 60.00 Metrobank 86.00 86.10 85.90 86.00 0.00 1,157,150 (2,771,101.00)
3.06 1.30 Natl Reinsurance Corp. 2.39 2.45 2.38 2.43 1.67 346,000 (97,800.00)
72.90 41.00 Phil. National Bank 73.50 73.50 72.00 72.25 (1.70) 1,020,040 (24,198,334.50)
85.00 57.70 Phil. Savings Bank 80.00 80.00 80.00 80.00 0.00 110
539.50 204.80 PSE Inc. 375.00 371.00 364.00 368.80 (1.65) 285,040 7,549,700.00
42.25 25.45 RCBC À 40.90 40.70 40.35 40.70 (0.49) 651,500.00 (3,404,925.00)
147.00 77.00 Security Bank 139.00 138.90 137.60 138.60 (0.29) 482,030 (27,880,520.00)
1390.00 950.00 Sun Life Financial 982.00 983.00 982.00 982.00 0.00 160
140.00 58.00 Union Bank 101.20 101.00 94.80 95.00 (6.13) 912,820 (42,605,787.00)
1.98 1.43 Vantage Equities 1.84 1.86 1.84 1.85 0.54 283,000
INDUSTRIAL
34.00 26.50 Aboitiz Power Corp. 33.75 34.50 33.50 34.10 1.04 4,843,100 9,888,050.00
13.58 7.32 Agrinurture Inc. 11.60 11.56 11.40 11.40 (1.72) 20,800 3,426.00
23.50 11.98 Alaska Milk Corp. 23.50 23.45 23.45 23.45 (0.21) 13,100 (136,010.00)
1.86 0.97 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.58 1.58 1.56 1.58 0.00 667,000
55.00 26.00 Alphaland Corp. 29.90 29.45 29.30 29.30 (2.01) 300
1.65 1.08 Alsons Cons. 1.41 1.41 1.37 1.37 (2.84) 3,396,000 (182,540.00)
Asiabest Group 47.20 49.80 46.75 47.80 1.27 14,600 (4,790.00)
102.80 3.02 Bloomberry 29.75 29.80 27.50 27.50 (7.56) 325,000 280,000.00
26.55 12.50 C. Azuc De Tarlac 18.48 18.50 18.50 18.50 0.11 300
2.88 2.24 Calapan Venture 2.34 2.33 2.30 2.30 (1.71) 84,000 108,100.00
144.00 36.00 Conc. Aggr. À 75.00 74.00 74.00 74.00 (1.33) 250
3.07 2.30 Chemrez Technologies Inc. 2.71 2.71 2.71 2.71 0.00 60,000
8.33 7.41 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 8.13 8.20 8.06 8.16 0.37 738,400 (40,900.00)
7.06 4.83 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.85 5.89 5.80 5.88 0.51 11,249,900 15,302,305.00
5.77 2.80 EEI 5.93 5.93 5.80 5.88 (0.84) 1,247,400 2,450,075.00
2.14 1.00 Euro-Med Lab. 2.55 2.52 2.21 2.25 (11.76) 87,000
15.58 11.88 First Gen Corp. 13.52 13.52 13.42 13.52 0.00 940,000 8,794,402.00
67.20 51.50 First Holdings A 64.50 64.50 62.90 63.00 (2.33) 468,550 (22,846,608.50)
32.90 22.50 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 23.70 23.50 23.50 23.50 (0.84) 7,000
0.10 0.0095 Greenergy 0.0180 0.0190 0.0180 0.0190 5.56 498,300,000 (9,000.00)
13.80 7.80 Holcim Philippines Inc. 11.90 11.82 11.68 11.68 (1.85) 175,900 263,968.00
1.66 0.95 Ionics Inc 1.720 1.720 1.700 1.720 0.00 228,000 24,080.00
120.00 80.00 Jollibee Foods Corp. 114.90 117.00 114.60 114.90 0.00 94,860 (1,251,682.00)
91.25 25.00 Liberty Flour 57.00 57.00 57.00 57.00 0.00 20
8.40 1.04 LMG Chemicals 3.63 3.61 3.48 3.50 (3.58) 235,000
1.55 0.99 Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 1.45 1.51 1.40 1.51 4.14 101,000
3.20 1.05 Manchester Intl. A 2.30 2.40 2.18 2.25 (2.17) 80,000
24.00 17.60 Manila Water Co. Inc. 23.90 23.90 22.70 23.90 0.00 262,200 (3,293,125.00)
6.95 0.60 Mariwasa MFG. Inc. 4.62 4.54 4.51 4.54 (1.73) 12,000
13.28 8.12 Megawide 14.56 14.50 13.90 14.00 (3.85) 2,436,800 (31,732,500.00)
295.00 215.00 Mla. Elect. Co À 262.00 261.00 255.80 260.00 (0.76) 63,550 1,840,304.00
17.40 9.70 Petron Corporation 10.68 10.68 10.52 10.60 (0.75) 5,223,800 (12,579,960.00)
15.24 9.60 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 9.74 9.72 9.60 9.70 (0.41) 41,600
1.65 1.01 RFM Corporation 2.34 2.42 2.25 2.25 (3.85) 7,394,000 5,234,160.00
2.49 1.10 Roxas and Co. 2.55 2.55 2.55 2.55 0.00 3,000
5.00 2.90 Salcon Power Corp. 4.19 5.00 4.45 4.70 12.17 13,000
33.00 27.70 San Miguel Brewery Inc. 30.00 30.00 28.50 30.00 0.00 19,100
175.00 105.70 San Miguel Corp À 113.80 114.00 113.40 114.00 0.18 477,300 26,681,902.00
1.90 1.25 Seacem 1.81 1.80 1.76 1.78 (1.66) 1,223,000
2.60 1.85 Splash Corporation 1.96 1.94 1.94 1.94 (1.02) 5,000
0.250 0.112 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.149 0.149 0.143 0.143 (4.03) 6,910,000
5.46 2.92 Tanduay Holdings 3.85 4.00 3.82 4.00 3.90 27,200 595,120.00
4.15 1.99 TKC Steel Corp. 2.51 2.50 2.47 2.47 (1.59) 85,000
1.37 0.90 Trans-Asia Oil 1.25 1.28 1.25 1.25 0.00 3,761,000
65.50 33.50 Universal Robina 62.10 62.25 61.90 62.00 (0.16) 522,130 (8,958,274.00)
1.12 0.285 Vitarich Corp. 0.500 0.580 0.480 0.580 16.00 1,730,000
7.40 2.55 Vivant Corp. 12.40 12.50 12.30 12.50 0.81 4,200 (3,750.00)
1.22 0.68 Vulcan Indl. 0.97 1.00 0.96 0.97 0.00 343,000
HOLDING FIRMS
1.18 0.65 Abacus Cons. À 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.73 (2.67) 1,882,000
59.90 35.50 Aboitiz Equity 49.00 49.50 49.00 49.10 0.20 1,785,900 39,428,010.00
0.019 0.014 Alcorn Gold Res. 0.0160 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 (6.25) 19,100,000
13.48 8.00 Alliance Global Inc. 11.88 11.82 11.66 11.80 (0.67) 19,411,300 (99,766,420.00)
2.97 1.57 Anglo Holdings A 2.03 2.09 2.05 2.05 0.99 163,000
4.29 3.00 Anscor À 4.47 4.47 4.35 4.47 0.00 53,000
6.98 0.260 Asia Amalgamated A 4.50 4.55 4.09 4.23 (6.00) 607,000
3.15 1.49 ATN Holdings A 2.04 2.06 1.96 2.05 0.49 72,000
4.16 2.30 ATN Holdings B 2.73 2.73 2.33 2.72 (0.37) 46,000
431.00 272.00 Ayala Corp À 405.60 407.40 405.00 407.00 0.35 195,900 38,241,768.00
56.60 30.50 DMCI Holdings 53.35 53.40 53.00 53.35 0.00 1,096,790 (22,994,138.50)
4.19 1.03 F&J Prince A 2.76 2.77 2.70 2.70 (2.17) 144,000
5.25 3.30 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.70 4.65 4.62 4.65 (1.06) 267,000
0.98 0.10 Forum Pacic 0.265 0.290 0.265 0.290 9.43 190,000
4.35 2.90 House of Inv. 4.72 4.70 4.55 4.60 (2.54) 66,000
28.60 19.00 JG Summit Holdings 29.50 30.50 29.10 29.40 (0.34) 2,953,100 (10,137,145.00)
5.17 2.30 Keppel Holdings À 4.25 4.26 4.25 4.26 0.24 6,000
5.70 2.30 Keppel Holdings `B 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 0.00 5,000
6.95 4.00 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.63 5.60 5.40 5.60 (0.53) 1,749,300 (622,500.00)
1.54 0.61 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 1.19 1.18 1.14 1.16 (2.52) 3,866,000
0.91 0.300 Mabuhay Holdings À 0.670 0.650 0.630 0.630 (5.97) 309,000
3.52 1.500 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 3.370 3.340 3.150 3.220 (4.45) 5,566,000 (131,010.00)
4.25 2.56 Metro Pacic Inv. Corp. 4.09 4.12 4.04 4.08 (0.24) 27,193,000 7,951,840.00
6.24 2.10 Minerales Industrias Corp. 4.90 4.90 4.90 4.90 0.00 10,000
0.0770 0.054 Pacica À 0.0600 0.0610 0.0600 0.0600 0.00 4,520,000
0.82 0.44 Prime Orion 0.510 0.510 0.500 0.500 (1.96) 4,679,000
4.10 1.56 Republic Glass A 2.70 2.07 1.95 1.95 (27.78) 23,000
2.40 0.90 Seafront À 1.60 1.65 1.40 1.65 3.12 7,000
0.490 0.285 Sinophil Corp. 0.355 0.355 0.350 0.350 (1.41) 1,030,000
699.00 450.00 SM Investments Inc. 645.00 645.00 642.50 644.00 (0.16) 198,250 (18,249,990.00)
1.78 1.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.28 1.29 1.28 1.29 0.78 370,000
1.57 1.14 South China Res. Inc. 1.26 1.25 1.23 1.25 (0.79) 370,000
1100.00 97.50 Transgrid 503.00 485.00 480.00 480.00 (4.57) 160
0.420 0.09 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2900 0.2950 0.2850 0.2850 (1.72) 2,010,000
0.620 0.056 Wellex Industries 0.4100 0.4200 0.4000 0.4000 (2.44) 2,950,000
1.370 0.171 Zeus Holdings 0.680 0.680 0.650 0.650 (4.41) 1,618,000
P R O P E R T Y
0.74 0.31 Araneta Prop À 0.560 0.570 0.570 0.570 1.79 4,000
0.218 0.143 Arthaland Corp. 0.183 0.182 0.181 0.181 (1.09) 650,000
22.10 13.36 Ayala Land `B 20.45 20.65 20.00 20.65 0.98 3,308,500 12,067,780.00
6.12 3.08 Belle Corp. À 4.94 4.98 4.81 4.86 (1.62) 4,277,000 (12,653,650.00)
7.55 2.20 Cebu Holdings 6.95 7.02 6.65 6.90 (0.72) 593,700 33,750.00
5.66 0.26 Century Property 1.60 1.61 1.58 1.60 0.00 1,735,000 (967,430.00)
1.65 1.07 Cityland Dev. À 1.19 1.17 1.16 1.16 (2.52) 35,000
1.25 0.67 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.90 (1.10) 407,000 23,140.00
0.90 0.54 Empire East Land 0.630 0.620 0.620 0.620 (1.59) 426,000 1,240.00
3.80 2.90 Eton Properties 3.40 3.46 3.30 3.30 (2.94) 24,000
0.310 0.10 Ever Gotesco 0.194 0.194 0.194 0.194 0.00 590,000 19,400.00
3.06 1.76 Global-Estate 1.97 1.96 1.93 1.95 (1.02) 461,000 167,680.00
1.35 0.98 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.26 1.26 1.24 1.25 (0.79) 9,557,000 (9,304,750.00)
2.55 1.21 Highlands Prime 2.33 2.30 2.10 2.24 (3.86) 85,000 (2,140.00)
2.14 0.62 Interport À 1.70 1.70 1.60 1.60 (5.88) 796,000 14,740.00
2.48 1.51 Megaworld Corp. 1.94 1.92 1.88 1.90 (2.06) 64,285,000 (69,019,820.00)
0.83 0.220 MRC Allied Ind. 0.2260 0.2250 0.2220 0.2230 (1.33) 1,090,000 22,300.00
0.910 0.072 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.9000 0.9000 0.8600 0.8700 (3.33) 33,639,000 63,400.00
0.71 0.41 Phil. Realty À 0.540 0.540 0.540 0.540 0.00 11,000
4.90 1.80 Polar Property Holdings 3.50 3.50 3.42 3.50 0.00 85,000
17.08 10.00 Robinsons Land `B 16.34 16.34 16.22 16.24 (0.61) 2,296,300 2,914,890.00
2.60 1.70 Shang Properties Inc. 2.48 2.42 2.40 2.40 (3.23) 10,000
9.55 6.50 SM Development À 7.00 7.09 6.95 6.99 (0.14) 373,900 (1,149,381.00)
18.20 10.70 SM Prime Holdings 16.70 16.60 16.26 16.30 (2.40) 8,911,700 (77,660,066.00)
1.15 0.64 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.77 0.76 0.75 0.75 (2.60) 237,000
4.00 2.60 Vista Land & Lifescapes 3.830 3.870 3.800 3.840 0.26 7,497,000 (7,787,320.00)
S E R V I C E S
2GO Group 2.74 2.80 2.30 2.47 (9.85) 12,000
45.00 28.60 ABS-CBN 40.00 40.00 39.30 39.40 (1.50) 18,700
12.98 1.60 Acesite Hotel 14.30 14.00 13.04 13.96 (2.38) 67,000 355,900.00
0.80 0.45 APC Group, Inc. 0.690 0.690 0.690 0.690 0.00 1,000
0.5300 0.0660 Boulevard Holdings 0.1850 0.1830 0.1780 0.1780 (3.78) 16,120,000 53,450.00
98.15 62.50 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 67.30 68.30 67.45 68.10 1.19 132,260 1,478,059.00
9.70 5.40 DFNN Inc. 7.31 7.45 7.10 7.20 (1.50) 1,030,300 72,000.00
5.90 1.45 Easy Call Common 3.54 3.89 3.38 3.59 1.41 23,000
1750.00 760.00 FEUI 930.00 950.00 950.00 950.00 2.15 300
1270.00 692.00 Globe Telecom 1111.00 1118.00 1111.00 1118.00 0.63 33,925 3,139,910.00
10.34 6.18 GMA Network Inc. 9.10 8.95 8.70 8.80 (3.30) 365,100
62.70 39.90 I.C.T.S.I. 67.80 67.90 67.10 67.90 0.15 1,170,610 34,238,820.50
18.40 5.00 Imperial Res. À 9.00 9.02 9.00 9.00 0.00 2,700
6.00 3.80 IPeople Inc. À 5.44 5.46 5.27 5.46 0.37 87,200
4.29 2.20 IP Converge 3.08 3.00 3.00 3.00 (2.60) 6,000
34.50 0.169 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.154 0.154 0.145 0.150 (2.60) 15,640,000 174,400.00
3.87 1.16 IPVG Corp. 1.25 1.26 1.23 1.23 (1.60) 959,000 (974,720.00)
5.1900 2.900 ISM Communications 3.0700 3.1200 3.0500 3.1200 1.63 88,000
3.79 1.58 JTH Davies Holdings Inc. 2.50 2.50 2.38 2.38 (4.80) 394,000
12.18 5.90 Leisure & Resorts 7.77 7.77 7.65 7.75 (0.26) 685,100
4.75 2.65 Liberty Telecom 2.80 2.85 2.77 2.80 0.00 135,000 (14,250.00)
2.35 0.92 Lorenzo Shipping 1.97 1.80 1.80 1.80 (8.63) 4,000
3.96 2.70 Macroasia Corp. 2.98 2.95 2.95 2.95 (1.01) 51,000
0.72 0.57 Manila Bulletin 0.68 0.70 0.68 0.70 2.94 354,000
3.25 1.00 Manila Jockey 1.55 1.53 1.48 1.48 (4.52) 80,000
8.25 4.49 PAL Holdings Inc. 7.99 8.15 7.95 7.95 (0.50) 536,500
2.93 1.05 Paxys Inc. 2.96 2.96 2.80 2.84 (4.05) 2,575,000 (598,680.00)
43.00 17.02 Phil. Seven Corp. 40.50 40.50 40.50 40.50 0.00 100
16.72 14.50 Philweb.Com Inc. 16.76 16.76 16.60 16.68 (0.48) 246,600 334,420.00
6.90 3.80 PLDT Comm & Energy 4.35 4.40 4.33 4.35 0.00 34,000 (4,400.00)
2886.00 1990.00 PLDT Common 2628.00 2620.00 2600.00 2620.00 (0.30) 127,955 (16,111,260.00)
0.48 0.23 PremiereHorizon 0.335 0.350 0.330 0.335 0.00 3,320,000
23.60 10.68 Puregold 21.50 21.50 21.15 21.20 (1.40) 2,226,900 45,973,730.00
0.79 0.26 Waterfront Phils. 0.540 0.540 0.530 0.540 0.00 1,046,000
MINING & OIL
0.0083 0.0035 Abra Mining 0.0056 0.0057 0.0056 0.0056 0.00 187,000,000 22,800.00
6.20 3.01 Apex À 5.40 5.30 4.89 5.00 (7.41) 3,170,300
6.22 3.00 Apex `B 5.30 5.25 5.00 5.00 (5.66) 834,400
25.20 14.50 Atlas Cons. À 18.52 19.20 18.12 18.82 1.62 3,920,200 5,937,428.00
38.80 20.00 Atok-Big Wedge À 23.75 23.75 23.75 23.75 0.00 300
0.380 0.148 Basic Energy Corp. 0.290 0.315 0.290 0.310 6.90 45,490,000 (438,900.00)
30.35 12.50 Benguet Corp À 24.25 24.75 24.25 24.50 1.03 11,000
34.00 12.10 Benguet Corp `B 27.00 26.00 25.35 25.40 (5.93) 11,500 (247,220.00)
2.51 1.62 Century Peak Metals Hldgs 1.80 1.79 1.74 1.74 (3.33) 891,000
47.50 4.34 Dizon 48.70 48.70 47.50 48.05 (1.33) 186,600 48,120.00
1.21 0.50 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.85 0.85 0.81 0.81 (4.71) 11,316,000 (391,780.00)
1.82 0.4550 Lepanto À 1.420 1.420 1.390 1.410 (0.70) 21,053,000
2.070 0.4750 Lepanto `B 1.510 1.530 1.480 1.510 0.00 15,575,000 1,286,720.00
0.085 0.030 Manila Mining À 0.0770 0.0760 0.0750 0.0750 (2.60) 185,600,000
0.087 0.031 Manila Mining `B 0.0760 0.0760 0.0750 0.0750 (1.32) 18,460,000
25.70 15.04 Nickelasia 33.25 32.95 32.50 32.75 (1.50) 595,500 (5,670,475.00)
12.52 2.08 Nihao Mineral Resources 11.50 11.56 11.38 11.50 0.00 1,883,600 (11,440.00)
7.70 2.12 Oriental Peninsula Res. 8.010 8.020 7.810 7.860 (1.87) 1,377,900 (18,783.00)
0.032 0.012 Oriental Pet. À 0.0230 0.0230 0.0210 0.0220 (4.35) 124,000,000
0.033 0.013 Oriental Pet. `B 0.0230 0.0230 0.0230 0.0230 0.00 37,200,000
7.20 5.10 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 6.30 6.36 6.33 6.33 0.48 6,700
28.95 14.30 Philex À 20.60 21.00 20.10 20.50 (0.49) 4,842,700 (12,439,715.00)
14.18 3.00 PhilexPetroleum 11.80 11.80 11.50 11.80 0.00 139,200 11,500.00
0.058 0.013 Philodrill Corp. À 0.053 0.052 0.051 0.051 (3.77) 176,250,000 117,300.00
80.00 20.25 PNOC Expls `B 51.50 51.50 48.00 48.05 (6.70) 14,450
252.00 161.10 Semirara Corp. 246.60 248.00 245.20 248.00 0.57 106,180 774,624.00
0.029 0.011 United Paragon 0.0210 0.0210 0.0210 0.0210 0.00 84,100,000
PREFERRED
47.90 27.30 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 42.50 42.00 42.00 42.00 (1.18) 54,200 2,276,400.00
570.00 520.00 Ayala Corp. Pref À 548.00 570.00 555.00 570.00 4.01 1,710
11.02 6.00 GMA Holdings Inc. 9.08 8.90 8.45 8.53 (6.06) 2,179,500 (8,152,665.00)
116.70 106.00 PCOR-Preferred 115.00 115.00 115.00 115.00 0.00 3,670
80.00 74.50 SMC Preferred 1 77.30 79.10 78.00 79.00 2.20 3,400
1050.00 990.00 SMPFC Preferred 1034.00 1034.00 1034.00 1034.00 0.00 610
WARRANTS & BONDS
1.35 0.62 Megaworld Corp. Warrants 0.96 0.95 0.93 0.93 (3.12) 2,791,000
1.38 0.67 Megaworld Corp. Warrants2 0.91 0.94 0.94 0.94 3.30 15,000
STOCKS fell for the fourth straight
session on Wednesday, following
overnight losses on Wall Street amid
renewed worries over the European debt
crisis.
The Philippine Stock
Exchange index, the 30-company
benchmark, shed 4 points, or 0.1
percent, to close at 5,017.44, its
lowest level in nearly a month.
The gauge has fallen 2.5 percent
from its record peak of 5,145.89
on March 16.
The heavier index representing
all shares also tumbled 20
points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,395
on Wednesday, as all six sub-
indices recorded losses. Losers
outnumbered gainers, 117 to 44,
with 39 issues unchanged.
Atlas Consolidated Mining
and Development Corp. rose
1.6 percent to P18.82, after it
reported unit Carmen Copper
Corp. increased its copper output
by 21 percent in the rst quarter
of 2012.
Banco de Oro Unibank Inc.,
which is raising $1 billion to
increase its capital, was up 1
percent to P62.90. Vista Land
& Lifescapes Inc. was up 0.3
percent to P3.84. The property
developer said net income
jumped 17 percent to P3.53
billion in 2011 as revenues
surged 19 percent.
Miner Geograce Resources
Philippines Inc. fell 4.7 percent
to 81 centavos, the lowest close
since Feb. 9, after a measure
of metal prices dropped to the
lowest in three months. Benguet
Corp. Class-B shares, which
overseas investors can own,
sank 5.9 percent to P25.40, the
lowest close since Oct. 25. The
London metals index, a basket
of six metals futures contracts
including copper and nickel,
fell 3 percent on Tuesday to the
lowest level since Jan. 11.
SM Prime Holdings Inc., the
nations biggest shopping mall
operator, fell 2.4 percent to P16.30,
the lowest close since March 12,
after a court stopped the company
from cutting down 182 trees to
expand its mall in Baguio City.
A court issued a temporary
environmental protection order
to stop SM from cutting down
trees. The company said it
planned to build a retaining wall
to stop soil erosion that might
eventually affect the structural
integrity of the mall.
Meanwhile, Asian shares
also fell Wednesday, plagued
by renewed worries over the
European debt crisis and an
overnight sell-off on Wall Street
that gave the US markets their
worst loss so far this year.
Tokyos Nikkei 225 fell 0.9
percent to 9,451.11 by early
afternoon, dipping at one point
to its lowest level in about two
months. Hong Kongs Hang Seng
dropped 1.2 percent to 20,113.44
and Seouls Kospi edged 0.1
percent lower to 1,994.41.
Concern at weak data from China
and the US was compounded by
fears over Spains nances after
the countrys cost of borrowing
crept closer to levels that have
forced other countries to seek
bailouts.
The correction mainly reects
uncertainty over the situation in
Europe, especially for Spain and
Italy, said Samuel Chua, a senior
vice president at KGI Securities
in Hong Kong.
Chinese shares erased early
gains, as investors awaited the
release later in the week of GDP
data and other indicators.
With Bloomberg, AP
RAY S. EANO
BCDA pursues Sobrepea
over mounting John Hay bills
IF BUSINESSMAN Robert John Bob
Sobrepea of the Fil-Estate Group thinks he can
leave his problems in Manila Southwoods Golf and
Country Club in Carmona, Cavite and settle for a
cozier place in Baguio City, he is wrong.
The Bases Conversion and Development
Authority has also been hounding Bob for his
alleged questionable business practices and unpaid
Camp John Hay lease rentals. It has dared Bobs
Camp John Hay Development Corp. to open its
books to substantiate his claim that the company is
losing millions of pesos.
In pursuit of Bob and his erring company is BCDA
president and chief executive Arnel Casanova,
who vowed to collect from the delinquent lessee.
Casanova says as steward of public property, the
BCDA is determined to make Bob and his company
pay their overdue accounts. CJHDevco really owes
the people of the Philippines and people of Baguio,
and collections from the rm would be funds that
would nally go to development projects that have
been long overdue.
Casanova has been building up dossiers to pin
down Bob and the company. He says CJHDevco
has violated several laws while operating in the
John Hay Special Economic Zone, including the
non-ling of audited nancial statements with the
Securities and Exchange Commission since 2002.
CJHDevco owes P3 billion in unpaid rent to the
BCDA, the agency governing the Baguio industrial
zone. Bobs company stopped paying lease to
the BCDA starting in 1997, the second year of
its stay in the zone, claiming it was experiencing
operational losses.
Dividend-paying
Casanova doubts Bobs claim. He cited an
audited 1998 nancial statement of CJHDevco to
shareholders showing a declaration of dividends
amounting to P378 million. Bobs company declared
P350 million in dividends in 1999 and another P200
million in 2000. In all these three years, CJHDevco
did not pay rentals to the BCDA.
How can they claim losses during those years
while they have been declaring dividends?
Casanova asked. Bobs company is apparently
exploiting the government by using public property
to generate revenues without paying lease.
CJHDevco stopped submitting audited nancial
statements to the SEC in 2002, when the BCDA
discovered that the company had been declaring
dividends to stockholders. This is inconsistent
with their claims of losses, says Casanova, adding
we have records to show that they have been
earning while operating in the JHSEZ.
Unrest in Southwoods
Bob similarly has angered many golfers at the
Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club in
Carmona, Cavite. He declared in June last year a
no-quorum during the much-anticipated annual
shareowners meeting of the club and drew the ire
of an increasing number of member-golfers.
Members, including those belonging to reform
group, openly protested Bobs decision. One
member was unable to control himself in committing
vituperation on the unpopular businessman.
Bob and his group had increased the number of
delinquent members in the club to keep his hold in
the board. With more delinquent members, Bob
and his chosen team retained their numbers and
could perpetuate their tenure in the board.
Many members have banded themselves into
a reformist group in the hope of bringing about a
change in the management of the golf and country
club and restoring transparency to the awarding of
contracts and services in their enclave.
They have condemned Bob and his group, saying
they have been inimical to the interest of the
shareowners of Southwoods. It wants to ease out
Bob and his group from the board and management
of the club. The members felt the club had been
mismanaged after membership dues rose.
Members had resented being charged with a
special assessment on top of their monthly dues
for some club expenses that management initiated
from repairs of the fairways to everything.
The members also claimed that Bob and his group
had cornered contracts ranging from security and
catering to golf carts, and demanded transparency.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com;
extrastory2000@gmail.com
1,795,606,665 3,715,753,505.935
Republic of the Philippines
OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL MAYOR
BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE
Binmaley, Pangasinan
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
The Municipality of Binmaley, through the bids and Awards Committee (BAC) invites
suppliers to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder project.
Name of Project : Supply and Delivery of Complete Set of School Supplies for
Public School Elementary Pupils and High School Students
Location : Binmaley, Pangasinan
ITEM
NO.
ID DESCRIPTION QTY. UNIT APPROVED BUDGET
FOR THE CONTRACT
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Grace I
(1 bag, 1 umbrella, a pair of Scissors,
2 T-shirts, 1 sharpener, 8 notebooks,
1 jumbo pencil, 1 ruler, 1 eraser,
1 crayon, 1 pad paper
Grade II
(1 bag, 1 umbrella, 1 pair of scissors,
2 pencils, 1 ruler, 1 eraser, 1 crayon,
1 pad paper)
Grade III
1 pad paper)
Grade IV
1 pad paper)
Grade V
(1 bag, 1 umbrella, 1 pair of slippers,
2 T-shirts, 8 notebooks, 2 ballpen
1 ruler, 1 pad paper)
Grade VI
2 T-shirts, 8 notebooks, 2 ballpens
High school (1st-4th year)
(1 bag, 1 umbrella, 1 pair of slippers,
2 T-shirts, 8 notebooks, 2 ballpens
2,000
1,850
1,650
1,650
1,650
1,600
3,900
sets
sets
sets
sets
sets
sets
sets
Php 6,500,000.00
2012 General Fund
Contract Duration : 60 days
Prospective bidders should have experienced in undertaking a similar project within
the last three (3) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for
bidding. The eligibility check/screening as well as the preliminary Examination of the
bids shall use non-discretionary "pass/fail" criteria. Post qualifcation of the lowest
calculated bid shall be conducted.
Prospective Bidders are also advised to be guided on the following conditions:
- Price Quotation for the items shall be by set;
- The bidder or his representative must be present during conduct of Pre-Bid
Confere;
- Sample per item should be presented during Pre-Bid Conference
- A penalty shall be imposed if delivery of items is not done within the prescribed
period
- Strict compliance as to specifcation on items for delivery herein stated.
All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance
Security, Pre bidding conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualifcation and Award of
Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its implementing
Rules and Regulations (IRR).
The complete schedule of activities is listed as follows:
BAC Activities
1. Pre-Procurement Conference
2. Issuance of Bid Documents
3. Pre-Bid Conference
4. Opening of Bids
5. Bid Evaluation
6. Post-Qualifcation
7. Notice of Award
8. Notice to Proceed
March 22, 2012/8:30AM - Conference
Rm., Municipal Hall, Binmaley, Pangasinan
March 31, 2012 to April 20, 2012-BAC Offce,
Municipal Hall, Binmaley, Pangasinan
April 4, 2012-2PM/Conference Rm.,
April 21, 2012-2PM/Conference Rm.,
April 22, 2012
April 23, 2012
April 26, 2012
April 30, 2012
Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of a non-
refundable amount of Php65,000.00 to the offce of the Treasurer, Binmaley, Pangasinan.
The Municipal Government of Binmaley assumes no responsibility whatsoever to com-
pensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid.
Likewise, the Procuring Agency reserves the right to annull the bidding process and
reject all bids at anytime prior to contract award without incurring any liabiility to the
affected bidder; and to waive any formality, informatity, and/or defect and make an
award to the bidder whose proposal is most advantageous to the government.
CONTACT PERSON:
(Sgd.) EVANGELINE L. PAYUMO
BAC Secretariat
Poblacion, Binmaley, Pangasinan
Tel. No. 075-543-3943
APPROVED BY:
(Sgd.) PETER F. PATALUD
BAC Chairman
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER
Sorsogon Second District Engineering Offce
Bagacay, Gubat, Sorsogon
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
ANNEX A
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH, Sorsogon Second District
Engineering Offce, Bagacay, Gubat, Sorsogon invites contractors to bid for:
Contract ID : 12FL0006
Contract Name : Repai r /Rehabi l i t at i on/Impr ovement of Daang
Maharlika (KO613+739 to KO614+589) with exceptions
Contract Location: Irosin Section, Sorsogon (Brgy. Bolos, Irosin, Sorsogon)
Scope of Work : Asphalt overlay 80mm x 4,692 sq.m.
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 9,900,000.00
Contract Duration: _15_ calendar days
The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised
IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected
at the opening of bid.
To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase
bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration
with DPWH, (b) Filipino Citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation,
cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and
cost of this contract, (d) completion of similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC
within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least
equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC
will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary
examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration
to DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LO. The DPWH-
POCW Central Offce will only process contractors' applications for registration with
complete requirements and issue the Contractors' Certifcate of Registration (CRC).
Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below
1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From April 10, 2012 to May 03, 2012
2. Pre-Bid Conference April 20, 2012 at 10:00 AM
3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from
Prospective Bidders
April 27, 2012 at 3:00 PM
4. Receipts of Bids Deadline: May 03, 2012 at 10:00 AM
5. Opening of Bids May 03, 2012 at 2:00 PM
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD's) at DPWH Sorsogon
2
nd
DEO, Bagacay, Gubat, Sorsogon upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P
10,000.00. Prospective bidders may also download the BD's form at the DPWH
website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD's 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 BD's. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable
form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as 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 a copy
of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid.
Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined
in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
The DPWH, Sorsogon 2
nd
DEO, Bagacay, Gubat, Sorsogon reserves the right
to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract
award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s.

Approved by:
(Sgd.) ROMEO F. CIELO
BAC Chairman
NOTED:
(Sgd.) JUANITO R. ALAMAR
District Engineer
Region III
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER
Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering Offce
San Antonio, Guagua, Pampanga
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering
2IFH, through the FY 2011 Budget invites contractors to bid for the
aforementioned projects:
1. Contract ID : 12CH0020
Contract Name : Repair/Rehab of Porac District Hospital
Contract Location : Babo Sacan, Porac, Pampanga
SARO No. : BMB-A-11-T000002644
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php24,533,941.34
Contract Duration : 180CD
Non-Refundable Bid Doc Fee : Php20,000.00
The BAC will conduct the procurement process with the Revised IRR
of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically
rejected at the opening of bid.
To bid for its contract, a contractor must submit a letter of Intent (LOI),
purchase of bid documents and must meet the following major criteria:
(a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned
partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) the PCAB
license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion
of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10
years, and (e) Net fnancial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or
credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use
non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary
examination of bids.
Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for
registration, to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for
the receipt of LO. 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). Forms may be
downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown
below:
1. Receipt of LOIs for Prospective Bidders Until 5:00 P.M. of May 3, 2012
2. Issuance of Bidding Documents On : April 11, 2012 to May 7, 2012
3. Pre-Bidding Conference On : April 24, 2012 at 2:00 P.M
4. Receipt of Bids May 8, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. to
2:00P.M.
5. Opening of Bids May 8, 2012 at 2:00 P.M..
The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD's) at
DPWH-Pampanga 2
nd
District Engineering Offce, San Antonio, Guagua,
Pampanga, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of please see above.
Prospective bidders may also download the BD's from the DPWH website,
if available. Prospective bidders that will downloaded the BD's from DPWH
website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid
Documents. Bid must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount
and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.
Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as
specifed in the Bidding Documents (BD's) to the BAC Chairman. The
frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall
include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial
component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated
Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation.
The DPWH-Pampanga 2
nd
DEO reserves the right to accept or reject
any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract
award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

(Sgd.) GENE D. GONZALES
BAC Chairman
Business
ManilaStandardToday business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com APRIL 12, 2012 THURSDAY
B3
Ortigas
sees IPO
this year
FAO asks govt
to help the poor
Wilcons advocacy. Wilcon Builders
Depot, the leading home improvement and
construction supplies company, donated 62
school furniture packages worth approximately
P3 million to Cagayan de Oro City to provide
a better learning environment for future
generations in the provincial capital. At the
turnover rites (from left) are Wilcon executive
vice president and chief operating ofcer
Rosemarie Bosch-Ong, Wilcon president
and chief executive William Belo, Education
Secretary Armin Luistro, Assistant Education
Secretary Reynaldo Laguda and Adopt-A-School
Program operations manager Merlie Asprer.
By Elaine Ramos Alanguilan
UNITED Coconut Planters Bank said
Wednesday net income may hit P4 billion
this year, driven by strong growth in loans,
remittance business and fees as well as
expansion of branch network.
We are optimistic that we
can sustain UCPBs growth
momentum for the past year given
our associates commitment to
building a bigger and stronger
nancial institution and our
clients loyalty to the UCPB
brand, bank president and chief
executive Jeronimo Kilayko said
in a statement.
The bank said net prot last
year rose 24.5 percent to P3.05
billion from P2.45 billion in 2010.
It posted a prot of P1.66 billion
in 2009, a turnaround from a loss
of P2.71 billion in 2008.
The bank attributed the
strong growth in net income
last year to a robust increase in
interest income due to growth in
loan portfolio, higher treasury
trading income, aggressive sale
of acquired properties, cost-
effective long-term negotiable
certicates of deposits and high-
yielding instruments.
It said the increase in net
interest income was due to
the low funding costs of loans
booked during the period, coming
from inexpensive checking and
savings accounts generated by
the branches, which grew by 9.9
percent from P99.87 billion in
2010 to P109.76 billion in 2011.
UCPB said of the P57.5-
billion loans booked in 2011, P42
billion or 73 percent came from
the corporate segment, while the
biggest growth came from the
consumer loan segment, which
expanded by 34 percent to P15.5
billion from P11.6 billion a year
ago.
Deposits also increased by 7.4
percent or P11.1 billion from
P149.9 billion to P161 billion
with checking and savings
accounts comprising 68 percent
of the total.
Non-interest income in 2011
went down by 13.6 percent to
P1.9 billion from P2.2 billion
in 2010 due to the change
in government policies on
clearing as well as lower foreign
exchange gains due to a strong
peso.
Operating costs were lower by
13 percent from P5.4 billion to
P4.7 billion as the bank embarked
on various automation projects
designed to streamline the banks
processes.
UCPBs capital adequacy ratio
improved from 10.6 percent to
11.92 percent, which is higher
than the 10-percent minimum
regulatory requirement of the
Bangko Sentral.
The bank plans to open ve
new branches this year, bringing
its branch network to 193 by
year-end.
The bank said with the
growing demand for mobility and
convenience, it also upgraded its
phone banking service to include
mobile banking.
UCPB is also continuously
tapping major property
developers to make the banks
consumer loans accessible to a
bigger clientele and has been
forging tie-ups with both Internet-
and ofce-based remittance
companies to boost its remittance
operations.
By Othel V. Campos
THE Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday
the government must put in place safety nets to arrest the
steady decline in income of poor Filipino families.
The Philippines [is facing a] disparity problem.
While the economy is growing in a healthy way, there
are rich people and there are poor people and these poor
people are being left behind, FAO assistant director-
general Hiroyuki Konuma said at the sidelines of the
Asian Irrigation Forum at the Asian Development Bank
in Mandaluyong City.
Konuma said safety nets or government assistance
should be directed to those who are really poor.
He said the widening income disparity in Asia-Pacic
countries including the Philippines is making it difcult
for the region to reduce hunger incidence to 10 percent by
2015 as stipulated in the UN Millennium Development
Goals.
The region [Asia and the Pacic] is falling behind [in
terms of hunger reduction]. It is very difcult to achieve
the target for reducing hunger [incidence] because of
the widening income disparity, Konuma said in a press
brieng.
Konuma said the target was to reduce hunger incidence
in the region to 10 percent, from the current 20 percent
by 2015.
He said three years before the deadline, the hunger
incidence in the region remained at 16 percent.
Javed Hussain Mir, director of Asian Development
Banks Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture
Division in the Southeast, also underscored the need to
increase investments in agriculture if food security is to
be achieved in the region or any part of the world.
By Jenniffer B. Austria
THE Ortigas group will pursue
a planned $200-million initial
public offering this year,
despite talks of the possible
entry of the Sy family in the
property developer, a company
executive said.
Joselito Santos, general
manager for real estate
division of Ortigas & Co. Ltd.
Partnership, said in an interview
the company appointed CLSA
as the nancial adviser for the
IPO.
Santos, however, declined
to comment on negotiations
between the Ortigas group and
the Sy family.
SM Investments Corp.
chief nance ofcer Jose Sio
conrmed earlier reports the
Sy group was in discussion for
the acquisition of a majority
interest in Ortigas & Co., which
owns the 16-hectare Greenhills
shopping center and the 10-
hectare Capital Commons in
Pasig City.
Santos said there would be
strong interest in the companys
IPO, since the developer had a
good mix of recurring income
from retail and ofce spaces as
well as real estate sales from
high-rise developments.
He said rental income
through Greenhills Shopping
Center, Tiendesitas and ofce
buildings that cater to business
process outsourcing companies
would contribute P2 billion
in revenues for the company
while residential sales would
amount to P1 billion this year.
We have a good mix of
recurring and non-recurring
income just like SM and Ayala
Land, he said.
The company targets a
double-digit growth in net
income and revenues this year,
as it continues to launch new
residential condominiums and
expands its leasing portfolio.
The Ortigas group formed
OLCP Holdings, in place of
Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partnership,
in preparation for the planned
IPO.
UCPB expects P4-b net profit
Depar t ment of Tr anspor t at i on and Communi cat i ons
CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
OLD MIA ROAD, PASAY CITY,
METRO MANILA
IN RE: PETITION FOR AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE
UPWARD ADJUSTMENT OF FUEL
SURCHARGE ON ITS INTERNATIONAL
PASSENGER TICKETS
CAB Case No. EP-54559/HED032012/5J/2220-PFS1
CEBU AIR, INC. (CEBU PACIFIC),
Petitioner,
x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x
NOTI CE OF HEARI NG
Pursuant to the provisions of R.A. 776. as amended. notice is hereby given
that CEBU AIR, INC. (CEBU PACIFIC) has fled with the Civil Aeronautics Board a
petition for authority to mpose upward adjustment of fuel surcharge on its international
passenger tickets. detailed as follows:
Route (v. v.) From
(Php)
To
(Php)
Route (v.v.) From
(Php)
To
(Php)
Manila-Bandar Seri
Begawan
15.00 15.00 Manila-Macau 10.00 15.00
Manila-Beijing 25.00 35.00 Clark-Macau 15.00 20.00
Manila-Guangzhou 15.00 25.00 Manila-Kuala Lumpur 20.00 30.00
Manila-Shanghai 20.00 25.00 Manila-Kota Kinabalu 10.00 15.00
Manila-Hong Kong 10.00 15.00 Manila-Singapore 20.00 25.00
Clark- Hong Kong 15.00 15.00 Clark-Singapore 15.00 20.00
Cebu-Hong Kong 30.00 30.00 Cebu-Singapore 15.00 25.00
Manila-Jakarta 15.00 25.00 Manila-Bangkok 20.00 30.00
Manila-Osaka 16.00 45.00 Clark-Bangkok 15.00 20.00
Manila-Incheon 30.00 45.00 Manila-Taiwan 15.00 20.00
Manila-Busan 30.00 50.00 Manila-Hanoi 25.00 30.00
Cebu-Incheon 30.00 45.00 Manila-Saigon 20.00 25.00
Cebu-Busan 20.00 25.00 Manila-Xiamen 15.00 20.00
Kalibo-Hong Kong 30.00 35.00 Manila-Siem Reap 20.00 25.00
The above entitled case Is scheduled for hearing on April 24, 2012 at 10:30 A.M.
at the CAB Conference Room. Old MIA Road, Pasay City, before the undersigned
Hearing Offcer. at which hearing the petitioner shall present evidence.
Under Section 16 of R.A. 776. the applicant is hereby required to have this Notice
of Hearing published at least once. two (2) weeks before the scheduled hearing in a
newspaper of general circulation and have copies hereof and, the application be sent to
all Philippine carriers with nternational scheduled operations, either by personal service
or by registered mail with return card at least fve (5) days before the scheduled hearing.
Let a copy of the petition and this Notice of Hearing be posted at the CAB Bulletin
Board beginning today.
26 March 2012.
Pasay City, Philippines.
(Sgd.) MARIA ELBEN SL. MORO
Hearing Offcer
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Manila
(MST-Apr. 12, 2012)
Contract Id: 12Z00039
Contract Name: Reconstruction of Pangasinan-Tarlac Road along Mangatarem
Section, Km168+859 to Km171+323, Km171+424 to Km173+332, Km173+490 to Km
177+000, Km177+000 to Km 177 +088, Km 177 +088 to Km 183+040, Mangatarem,
Pangasinan
1. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), through the General
Appropriations Act intends to apply the sum of Php 195,005,004.15 being the
Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for
the Reconstruction of Pangasinan-Tarlac Road along Mangatarem Section,
Km.168+859 to Km.171+323; Km.171+424 to Km173+332; Km.173+490
to Km.177+000; Km177+000 to Km177+088; Km177+088 to Km183+040,
Mangatarem, Pangasinan. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be
automatically rejected at bid opening.
2. The Department of Public Works and Highways now invites bids for the
Reconstruction of Pangasinan-Tarlac Road along Mangatarem Section,
Km.168+859 to Km.171+323; Km.171+424 to Km173+332; Km.173+490
to Km.177+000; Km177+000 to Km177+088; Km177+088 to Km183+040,
Mangatarem, Pangasinan. The net length of the road is 13,639.04m. with
roadway width of 6.10 meters carriageway which involves PCC Pavement
Concrete Reblocking width of 3.05 m/lane at 0.28 meter thick and 3.65 meters
shoulder at both side to be made of 0.28 meter thick of PCC Pavement and
0.10 meter thick Aggregate Subbase Course. It also includes stone masonry
as slope protection work, Thermoplastic pavement markings, Relocations of
signages/marker and metal guardrails. Completion of the Works is 600 cal.
days.
Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of
submission and receipt of bids, a single contract similar to the Project, equivalent
to at least ffty percent (50%) of the ABC.
3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using
nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (RR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the
Government Procurement Reform Act.
Bidding is restricted to Filipino Citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or
organizations with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding
capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.
4. Contractors/applicants who are interested in the DPWH civil works are required
to register prior to the set schedule of submission of bid while those already
registered shall keep their records current and updated. Contractors eligibility
to bid on the project will be determined using the DPWH Contractor Profle
Eligibility Process (CPEP) and subject to further post-qualifcation. nformation
on registration can be obtained at DPWH website www.dpwh.qov.ph or
Central Procurement Office (CPO), 5
th
Floor, DPWH Bldg., Bonifacio Drive,
Port Area, Manila from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
5. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH-Reg. I and CPO
and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.
6. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders
from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the
Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 40,000.00.
t may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine
Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of
the DPWH, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents
not later than the submission of their bids.
7. The Department of Public Works and Highways will hold a Pre-Bid Conference
on April 24,2012, 9:00 A.M. at CPO, 5
th
Fir. DPWH Bldg., Bonifacio Drive,
Port Area, Manila, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have
purchased the Bidding Documents.
8. Bids must be delivered on or before May 8, 2012, 10:00 A.M. at CPO, 5
th
Fir.
DPWH Bldg., Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila. All bids must be accompanied
by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in
ITB Clause 18.1.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders' representatives who choose
to attend at the aforesaid address. Late bids shall not be accepted.
9. The DPWH reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding
process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby
incurring any Iiability to the affected bidder or bidders.
10. For further information, please refer to:
(Sgd.) VENIEDO O. REYES, CESO IV
Regional Director, DPWH-Reg. I
Aguila Road, Sevilla, San Fernando City, La Union
(072) 242-9333
(Sgd.) JAIME A. PACANAN, Ph.D., CESO I
Undersecretary for Support Services
Chairman BAC for Civil Works Central Offce
Provinces
Edited by Leo A. Estonilo www.manilastandardtoday.com mst@manilastandardtoday.com
B4
Imports killing small piggeries
Soldiers seize
illegal lumber
SM complies with court order
3,000 townsfolk
back economic zone
URDANETA CITYPangasinan-Northern
Luzon Hog Raisers Cooperative president
Rosendo So said importation of meat and
offal has resulted in the displacement
of around 20 percent of hog farmers
nationwide in three years.
In 2009, the backyard
piggeries had 9.78 million
headcount in 2011 they
had 8.03 million but as of
March 2012 the number
has dipped to 7.8 million,
head said. The government
must do something to arrest
the continuing decline in
backyard hog raising.
So blamed increased
misdeclaration in the importation
of pork and leftover parts
discarded after butchering.
The Philippines signed the
World Trade Organization
agreement with the safeguard
that the collected tariff from the
Minimum Access Volume will
be used to support farmers.
Bureau of Animal Industry
said the country imported 50
million kilograms of pork,
increased to 114 million kg in
2009 and again increased to 178
million kg in 2010.
Pork importation for 2011
stood at 169 million kg and out
of this gure, 114 million kg was
offal from which government
collected only 5% tariff.
One problem that arose is
that out of the 169 million
kilograms, only 25% or 42
million kilograms was included
in the MAV, he said.
So said meat imports were
then allowed as raw materials
for meat processors but the
stocks managed to reach
the wet markets all over the
country.
The freshly slaughtered meat
or warm meat sold in the wet
markets generally comes from
backyard hog raisers, he said,
adding that undue competition
has forced many piggeries to
close down in an alarming rate.
He said that a list of the top
20 importers of offal submitted
to Congress showed how small
raisers could bare survive.
According to So, government
should not allow the backyard
piggeries to perish considering
that it comprises 70% of the
entire hog industry.
He said authorities must go
after and punish erring importers
and government employees
responsible for the misdeclaration
and undervaluation of imported
pork.
MAITUMThe municipal government
has taken custody of seized illegal
lumber and two cargo trucks in Sarangani
province.
Soldiers led by 1st Lt. Ferdinand Ragos
of the 73rd Infantry Battalion intercepted
the two trucks (KFY 493) driven by Romeo
Delemio and (MCS 973) driven by Salik
Nanding who had no drivers license.
Rolando Tuballes, provincial
environment and natural resources ofcer,
told Sarangani Governor Migs Dominguez
that the apprehended Saddam trucks
loaded with illegally sawn lumber have
no documents.
Tuballes said MCS 973 owned
allegedly by a resident of Barangay
Badiangon, Palimb in Sultan Kudarat
was loaded with 4,471 board feet of
lumber while KFY 493, in the name
of Raida Sinsuat of Cotabato City, had
3,557.2 board feet.
This matter is now turned over
to CENRO-Kiamba (Community
Environment and Natural Resources
Ofce) to conduct administrative
proceedings for proper disposition of the
case, Tuballes said. SIA
By Ferdie G. Domingo
CASIGURANSome 3,000
residents of this remote coastal
town want themselves counted in
a show of support to the Aurora
Special Economic Zone.
At a recent assembly led by
Governor Bellaor Angara-
Castillo, Vice Mayor Lordan
Roxas and other local executives
were joined by Dumagat
tribalfolk, women and students in
a forum at the multi-purpose hall
in Barangay Bianoan.
The assembly drew up a manifesto
pushing for change and progress
and also uphold the peoples
social rights to have decent jobs,
orderly lives, a peaceful society, a
healthy and balanced environment
and progress responsive to social
justice.
Roberto Mathay, Apeco president
and chief executive ofcer, welcomed
the show of unity and cooperation for
peace, respect for human rights and
the progress and development of
Aurora.
Apeco signies the growth and
development of Aurora and in the
course of developing the province,
we go through lawful processes,
he told Manila Standard.
Mathay said the ecozone was
standing by its commitment to
uphold the indigenous peoples
right to their ancestral lands.
He said development included
the concreting of unpaved
sections of the 120-kilometer
Baler-Casiguran Road, the
expansion of the Casiguran
airport, establishment of an
agro-industrial park and other
infrastructure to attract investors
in food processing, mariculture,
footwear, call center and other
job-generating industries.
Mathay said tourism is being
integrated in a masterplan for
hotels and retirement houses along
with community housing, sh
cages for aquaculture and seaweed
plantations and livelihood training
for high-value crops.
Kent Avestruz, Apeco deputy
administrator, said other localities
in the northern part of the
province will also benet from
the ecozone.
With Apeco, we will not only
have good roads and transport
systems but also an improved
economic situation in this part of
Aurora, he said.
Globe
sets 20
upland
nurseries
By Dexter A. See
BAGUIO CITYSM Investment
Corp. respects the 3-day Temporary
Environment Protection Order
on earthballing activities within
its 34-hectare property located at
Luneta Hill, a representative said.
Karen Padilla, public relations
manager of SM City Baguio,
said SMIC ofcials received
|Tuesday morning the TEPO of
Judge Cleto Villacorta, presiding
judge of Baguios Regional
Trial Court Branch 6, who is the
pairing judge of Judge Antonio
Esteves of RTC Branch 5.
Despite the compliance,
rallyists protesting SMs P1-
billion upgrade massed on
Session Road to coninue their
march.
The mall expansion project is
a spin off from the top soil erosion
for many years now that might
eventually affect the structure
of the existing building, she
said, adding that technical
consultants exhausted all efforts
to remedy the problem through
the installation of appropriate
stone walls and compaction but
the problem of erosion in the
property persists.
Padilla said has taken full
environmental protection
including other aspects such
as air quality and energy
efciency.
Bishop Carlito Cenzon appealed
to concerned government agencies
to heed the call of the opposition by
reconsidering their Environmental
Compliance Certicate.
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond
Palatino appealed to Environment
Secretary Ramon Paje to suspend
the permits given to SM even as
he called for a public inquiry in his
House Resolution 2069.
Some traders opposed the
expansion, claiming their
business had weakened.
Supt. James Allan Logan,
trafc chief Baguio City Police,
said SMs upgrade would help
ease road congestion with
underground parking space for
about 1,000 vehicles.
With Gigi Muoz David
By Othel V. Campos
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
provider Globe Telecom is
taking its Cordillera greening
challenge a notch higher in
2012 by putting an initial 20
seedling nurseries for endemic
and fruit-bearing tree species.
Before our focus is just on re-
planting (trees). Now, were try-
ing to raise as much as P800,000
to fund 20 nurseries which will
be put up in 20 different public
schools in the Cordillera, espe-
cially in Benguet, said compa-
ny social responsibility manager
Roberto Nazal.
Globe corporate communi-
cations manager Yoly Crisanto
on Wednesday said seedlings
planted in the rst and second
year will be cared for to reach
maturity stage.
Last year, the survival rate
was 90 percent. Were really
glad that we have the support
of the local agencies and forest
volunteers, she said.
On its third year, the Globe
Cordillera Challenge supports the
drive of the Cordillera Conserva-
tion Trust, a non-stock, non-prot
organization dedicated to protect
the mountain ecosystem.
The fund-raising event will
engage about 250 bikers to take
on the Cordillera Challenge 3
and to invite corporate sponsors.
Globe Telecom will partner
with Foundation for the Philip-
pine Environment for the use
of mobile technologies in en-
abling the production, planting
and maintenance of 50 million
seedlings in 2012 under the
National Greening Program of
the Environment Department.
Swing-win. House Assistant Minority Leader and Leyte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Martin FM Romualdez hands over a P10,000
cash prize to members of Zero Gravity Dance Group who will represent the Visayas in the grand DANCE OFF with contestants
from Luzon and Mindanao at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. VER S. NOVENO

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