The Filipino Express v28 Issue 34

Transcription

VOL. 28 w
NO. 34 w
August 22-28, 2014 w
NATIONAL EDITION w
NEW JERSEY w
NEW YORK w
(201) 434-1114 w
$1.00
Former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. looks pensive shortly after being sentenced to death
by musketry by a military tribunal in 1977 (left), and on his flight home from the United States
on August 21, 1983 (right), moments before being shot dead (center) on the tarmac of the
then Manila International Airport. Inquirer Photos
Undelivered speech of Senator
Benigno S. Aquino Jr.
(Upon his return from the United States of America on Aug. 21, 1983)
I have returned on my free will to
join the ranks of those struggling to
restore our rights and freedoms
through nonviolence.
I seek no confrontation. I only pray
and will strive for a genuine national
reconciliation founded on justice.
I am prepared for the worst, and
have decided against the advice of my
mother, my spiritual adviser, many of
my tested friends and a few of my most
valued political mentors.
A death sentence awaits me. Two
more subversion charges, both calling
for death penalties, have been filed
since I left three years ago and are now
Filipino on trial
in California for
terrorist plot
RIVERSIDE, California -Jurors must weigh whether two
Inland Empire men, including a
Filipino, posed a true threat
with their plans to travel
overseas and join Al Qaeda or if
investigators exaggerated, as
their trial resumed in federal
court here.
Ralph Kenneth Deleon, 25,
of Ontario, and Sohiel Omar
Kabir, 36, of Pomona, face five
counts of conspiracy, including
plans to provide support to
overseas terrorist groups,
commit terrorist acts overseas
and receive Al Qaeda training,
reported the Los Angeles
Times. Kabir, a naturalized
American citizen who was born
in Afghanistan, allegedly
persuaded Deleon, a Filipino
citizen and legal resident of the
United States, and two other
men to go to Afghanistan to
fight alongside the Taliban and
later join Al Qaeda.
The other men, Miguel
Alejandro Santana, 23, of
Upland and Arifeen David
Gojali, 23, of Riverside, are
scheduled to testify against the
remaining two defendants.
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Page 13
pending with the courts.
I could have opted to seek political
asylum in America, but I feel it is my
duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to
suffer with his people especially in time
of crisis.
I never sought nor have I been given
assurances or promise of leniency by
the regime. I return voluntarily armed
only with a clear conscience and
fortified in the faith that in the end
Suspect Ralph de Leon
justice will emerge triumphant.
According to Gandhi, the willing
sacrifice of the innocent is the most
powerful answer to insolent tyranny
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Page 8
Islamic militants plan Southeast Asian caliphate
Page 13
DFA hits harassment of
PH fishers by Chinese
By Christine O. Avendaño and Redempto D. Anda
The Aquino family and friends attended the mass commemorating the 31st death
anniversary of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Kristine Sabillo
Commemoration of Ninoy Aquino
death anniversary generally peaceful
By Julliane Love De Jesus
MANILA -- Except for pockets of
anti-corruption rallies in Makati and
Quezon City, the commemoration of
the 31st death anniversary of Benigno
“Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Thursday,
August 21 was generally peaceful with
no untoward incidents reported, the
police said.
Police Director Carmelo Valmoria,
National Capital Region Police Office
(NCRPO) chief, told INQUIRER.net
over the phone that as of 3 p.m., no
crime or troublesome incidents were
reported in Metro Manila.
“There are no untoward incidents
except the lightning rallies. In Makati
City, 300 members of a group against
corruption gathered there,” Valmoria
MANILA -- The Department of Foreign Affairs
will include incidents of Chinese harassment of
Filipino fishermen exercising their right to fish in
Philippine seas, in its new diplomatic protest to
be filed this week against China's “illegitimate
sovereignty patrols” in Philippine waters.
Incidents like this would show proof of the
Philippines' concern over the “constant and
overwhelming presence” of China in Philippine
waters, said Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the
DFA spokesman. He said they will be included in a
new diplomatic protest “because this is the result
of the presence of China, they are harassing
(fishermen) and this is affecting our ability to
exercise our sovereign rights there.”
Jose made the remarks in reaction to an
incident last Aug. 1 where a Chinese Coast Guard
vessel allegedly harassed a small fishing boat
carrying local officials led by Pag-asa island
Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr. and journalists to the
island off Palawan.
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Page 5
Pope: Thanks for prayers
for my family's grief
said. Earlier Thursday, various groups
held a protest against corruption and
political dynasties near the Ninoy
Associated Press
Aquino Monument along Ayala
VATICAN CITY -- Saying “even the pope has a
Avenue. Some also called for a special
family,” Pope Francis has expressed thanks for the
investigation of the Commission on
prayers and condolences sent him after the death of a
Audit (COA) on the allegedly
nephew's wife and her two young children in a car
overpriced Makati City Hall building.
crash in the pontiff's native Argentina.
In Quezon City, Mayor Herbert
During his weekly public audience Wednesday,
Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte
Francis listened as priests expressed condolences
led a wreath-laying ceremony at the
expressed in several languages. As the appearance
Ninoy Aquino monument on Timog
ended, Francis told his audience that one of his 16
Avenue.
nephews had a car accident, “lost his wife and two
But while the ceremony was
little ones and is in critical condition” in a hospital
ongoing, protesters from human
after Tuesday's highway accident. Francis said “I
rights groups Karapatan, Bukluran ng
thank you very much for your condolences and
Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP),
Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience prayers.”
Sanlakas, and Samahan ng ExThe injured nephew, Emanuel, is the son of one of
in the Paul VI hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug.
detainees Laban sa Detensyon at
the pope's four siblings. Inquirer.net
20, 2014. AP
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Page 4
August 22-28, 2014
Page 2
THE FILIPINO EXPRESS
Senate President Franklin Drilon. Ryan Leagogo
Drilon calls for LP meeting on
Charter change, Aquino 2nd term
By Kristine Angeli Sabillo
MANILA -- Senate President Franklin
Drilon on Thursday, August 21 confirmed
that he had endorsed a meeting among
Liberal Party (LP) members to discuss the
issue of Charter change.
However, he said it would also tackle
President Benigno Aquino III's decision not
to push through with a second term.
“(Budget) Secretary (Florencio) Abad
suggested that a meeting should be held
(and) I endorsed that,” Drilon told media
after a mass for the late Ninoy Aquino at the
Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque.
He said there is no schedule yet.
Asked what they would discuss, he said,
“Para liwanagin na talagang ang sabi nga ng
Pangulo ay hindi nga s'ya interesado sa
second term.”
(To clarify that what the President said
was that he is not interested in a second
term.)
“Hindi s'ya interesado doon sa pagamyenda ng saligang batas during his term
so para matapos din ('yung usapin),” Drilon
added. (He is not interested in amending
the Philippine Constitution during his term
so the issue should stop there.)
Drilon said he believes Aquino is
“averse to a second term.”
Meanwhile, he said their agreement at
Congress was to let the House of
Representatives push through with their
resolution on amending the economic
provisions of the Constitution.
“Kung matapos nila maipasa nila,
dadalhin sa Senado,” he said. (If they are
able to approve it, it will be brought to the
Senate.) Inquirer.net
From left, former Makati City Representative Butz Aquino, PNOC director Paul Aquino and Tarlac
Representative Peping Cojuangco. Inquirer file photos/www.pia.gov.ph
Aquino uncles back
Binay's presidential bid
By Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA -- The uncles of President
Benigno Aquino III are rooting for Vice
President Jejomar Binay for President in
2016, Radyo Inquirer 990AM reported on
Thursday, August 21.
The report said former senator Agapito
“Butz” Aquino said it is not only he who
supports Binay but also the president's two
other uncles Paul Aquino, the brother of the
late senator Ninoy Aquino, and Jose “Peping”
Cojuangco, Jr., the brother of late former
president Corazon Aquino.
Sought for a reaction, Binay said he was
flattered that the two Aquinos and
Cojuangco, who he calls his friends, have
expressed support for him.
“Sa akin, mahalaga kasi mga kaibigan ko
talaga 'yun, kasama sa hirap at ginhawa. Iyon
bang reiteration ng aming pinagsamahan
(It's important for me because they are my
friends, in hardship and comfort. It's a
reiteration of our friendship),” Binay said in
an interview.
However, Aquino's uncles said in case
Aquino is allowed to seek reelection if
charter change moves succeed, they would
still choose President Aquino over Binay.
Inquirer.net
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August 22-28, 2014
Page 3
Want to marry a Filipina? Bill
seeks additional requirements
on foreign boyfriends
By DJ Yap
MANILA -- Want to marry a
Filipina? Submit an
employment certificate and a
certificate of good moral
character first.
A bill pending in the House
of Representatives sets certain
requirements before male
foreigners can wed Filipino
women.
The proposed
legislation, according to the
author, seeks to protect
Filipino women from
exploitation.
The House approved on
second reading House Bill
2387 prescribing additional
requirements for interracial
unions after it received
sponsorship in the committee
on revision of laws chaired by
Pa n ga s i n a n Re p . M a rly n
Primicias-Agabas.
The bill was a substitute for
House Bill 2387 authored by
Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn F. Garcia,
who described her measure as
protection against “vagabonds
or social and moral derelicts in
their own country” and whose
real motive is to abuse Filipino
women.
T h e o r i g i n a l ve r s i o n
amends Article 66 of the Civil
Code, which requires
foreigners to submit a
certificate of legal capacity to
contract marriage to be issued
by diplomatic or consular
officials.
The new version will revise
Article 21 of the Family Code, a
more recent law amending
sections of the old one.
“The bill shall protect
Filipino women against
exploitation of foreigners who
marry without evident means
to support a family,” PrimiciasAgabas said.
Garcia cited a need to
protect Filipinas from
foreigners whose “real motive
for marriage is only to take
advantage and exploit our
women by making them work
for the family and worse, by
sending them to prostitution
and other degrading and
dehumanizing occupations.”
“The exploitation of our
Filipino women, through the
so-called mail-order or penpal, Facebook, website-made,
and other internet-made
marriages, has not only caused
untold miseries and suffering
to our Filipino women but it
has also brought dishonor and
disgrace to the Filipino
womanhood,” she said.
The bill requires
prospective foreign husbands
to provide a certificate of good
moral character and a
certificate that he has a gainful
trade, business, employment
or other lawful source of
incometo be issued by his
country's diplomatic or
consular official.
The two new certificates
are in addition to the existing
requirement of a certificate of
legal capacity.
Garcia's co-authors to the
bill are Representatives Henry
Oaminal of Misamis
Occidental, Ibarra Gutierrez III
of Akbayan, Nicasio Aliping Jr.
of Baguio City, Rodel Batocabe
of Ako Bicol, Silvestre Bello III
of 1 BAP, Al Francis Bichara of
Albay, Arthur Defensor Jr. of
Iloilo), Evelina Escudero of
Sorsogon, Elisa Kho of
Masbate, and Roman Romulo
of Pasig City. Inquirer.net
Italian envoy pleads
not guilty to child
abuse, trafficking raps
By Maricar Cinco
LOS BAÑOS, Laguna -- Italian
diplomat Daniele Bosio pleaded not
guilty to charges of abuse and trafficking
of three Filipino children.
Accompanied by his legal counsel
and his brother, Bosio was arraigned
Wednesday afternoon before Judge
Teodoro Solis at the Regional Trial Court
Branch 25 in Biñan City, Laguna.
Also present at the arraignment
were members of the non-government
child rights group, Bahay Tuluyan
Foundation, whose member had alerted
the authorities and prompted the arrest
of the diplomat at the Splash Island
resort in Biñan City on April 8.
The foundation claimed their
members saw Bosio “touching and
caressing” the three young boys he was
with at the resort. Bosio, the Italian
ambassador to Turkmenistan, was on a
holiday in the Philippines when he was
arrested.
In a phone interview, Solis said the
arraignment lasted less than an hour.
“The arraignment was set at 2 p.m. but
they (parties) were there around 1:45
(p.m.),” he said.
He said Bosio, who was wearing a
suit at the arraignment, “looked just
fine.”
Ambassador Daniele Bosio in a photo taken
from the official website of the Italian
Embassy in Ashgabat.
The arraignment pushed through
despite a petition, filed by the
prosecution at the Supreme Court, to
have the case transferred to Manila.
Bosio's camp, on the other hand, has a
petition filed at the Department of
Justice to have the case reviewed.
Bosio is on temporary release after
posting a P900,000 bail in July.
T h e B i ñ a n C i t y p o l i c e h ave
confiscated Bosio's passport to ensure
he would not flee the Philippines.
Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 4
Filipino crewmen stranded on
ship ask for 'humanitarian parole'
By Rocelle Tangi
LOS ANGELES, California - Filipino crew members
aboard a 700-foot freighter
are asking for “humanitarian
parole” from the US Customs
and Border Protection after
being stuck for over four
months on a shop anchored in
the Delaware River.
The ship is manned by 17
Filipinos (not 18 as previously
reported), aged 23 to 54, two
Ukrainian officials and an
Egyptian captain.
Although provided with
cell phones, Internet
connection, food and water
and regular paychecks, the
Filipino seamen demanded
they be let out of the ship Nikol
H.
“They want to get out, so
n o w, S e a m a n ' s C h u r c h
Institute is helping them to get
humanitarian parole that
would allow them to go
outside the ship,” Philadelphia
Filipino community leader
Ruth Luyun said.
“If you can imagine,” said
the Rev. Peter Stube, Seamen's
Church executive director,
“being on a small boat for
three or four months without
being able to get off, and land
within sight. We have made a
point of making sure they can
s t ay i n to u c h w i t h t h e
families.”
“Most of them have visas
when they arrived, which
allowed them off. [T]he visa
however is only good for 29
days so once the 29-days limit
was up then they were
restricted to their ship,” Stube
said.
The Greek-owned ship,
Nikol H failed to pass a
routine maintenance test that
caused it to dock at Pier 48 in
South Philadelphia for a
month. The US Coast Guard
d e t a i n e d t h e f re i g h t e r,
because its owner, Derna
Carriers, failed to pay its
docking bills amounting to
more than $1 million.
“Their morale is still OK,
but of course, we really don't
know, maybe they get lonely
sometimes because of their
families [who are not with
t h e m ] ,” H e r m i e A c z o n ,
another community leader,
said.
The Seaman's Church
Institute is continuing to
negotiate with US Border
authorities to grant the crew
members an extension to
their visas. Meanwhile,
Consul General Art Romua of
the Philippine Consulate in
New York confirmed that
there is no assurance of when
the ship will be able to leave.
Derna Carriers claims not to
have the money to pay,
according to Philadelphiabased maritime lawyer Alfred
Kuffler.
Recently, there has been
an attempt to sell the ship and
pay the vendors, but the
negotiation did not push
through.
“If no buyer comes soon,
once the ship goes to berth for
repairs, it likely may be
auctioned,” Pastor Bill Rex of
the Seamen's Church
Institute said. Inquirer.net
US labor, wage, hour issues
forum set at PH Consulate
SAN FRANCISCO, California --The
Philippine Consulate and the Philippine
American Press Club will host a
discussion of “Labor and Employment
in the United States” observance of US
Labor Week
Free and open to the public, the
Talakayan will be held on Friday, 29
August 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
at the Philippine Center, 447 Sutter
Street.
A discussion and open forum will be
held at the Consulate's waiting area on
the 6th floor from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30
a.m., featuring resource speakers from
the Department of Labor's Wage and
Hour Division, the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, the Equal
Employment Opportunities
Commission, and the San Mateo County
Government's Job Information Center.
The resource speakers will then
hold a labor and employment clinic at
the ground floor of the Philippine
Center, from 1O:30 to 12:30 p.m. to offer
one-on-one counseling sessions on
matters pertaining to labor and
employment.
For more information regarding the
clinic, or to indicate your interest in
participation, kindly email
[email protected],
subject line: TALAKAYAN LABOR
WEEK. Inquirer.net
Commemoration ...
medal of valor by the Ninoy Aquino
Movement (NAM).
For his part, Senior Superintendent
Ariel Andrade, Parañaque City Police
chief, the commemoration was carried
out peacefully at the Manila Memorial
Park, where the hero was laid to rest
since his death on August 21, 1983.
President Benigno Aquino III and
siblings Kris Aquino, Maria Elena
“Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz, Aurora Corazon
“Pinky” Aquino- Abellada, and Victoria
Elisa “Viel” Aquino-Dee. Kris's children
Josh and Bimby gathered for a mass in
Manila Memorial.
Officials who joined the mass
include Senate President Franklin
Drilon, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar”
Roxas II, Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin, Social Welfare Secretary
C o ra z o n “ D i n k y ” S o l i m a n , a n d
Congresswoman Gina De Venecia.
Inquirer.net
From page 1
Aresto (Selda) tried to penetrate the
blockade set up by the police near the
residence of the President on Times
Street.
The rallyists opposed against calls
for Aquino's term extension.
“No one was hurt in the
demonstration. The rallyists were
dispersed even before lunch time,”
Valmoria said.
In Pasay City, Vice President
Jejomar Binay and some relatives of the
late Aquino patriarch went to the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport (Naia)
terminal 1 tarmac, where Aquino was
assassinated in 1983.
A mass honoring Aquino was also
attended by Binay, who received earlier
in the day a Ninoy Aquino Memorial
EU gives P1.8B for
PH health services
By Department of Health,
DoH, European Union, Health
Services
MANILA -- The European
Union has extended a grant of
30-million euros, or around
P1.8 billion, to the Philippines
to help the government push
for initiatives that would
improve the health sector,
according to the Department
of Health (DOH).
The DOH said that under
the agreement, 20.5-million
euros, or roughly P1.2 billion,
would go directly to the
National Treasury while the
rest of the grant would be
used to fund various technical
assistance and capacitybuilding programs to boost its
health delivery systems.
“The DOH has continually
aspired to strengthen
national and local health
systems by rationalizing and
improving the quality of
health services and ensuring
better access to these services
by Filipinos, especially the
poor and the disadvantaged,”
Health Secretary Enrique Ona
said in a statement.
“The partnership of the
Philippines and the EU
provides the much needed
boost to further the health
sector reforms towards the
achievement of universal
health care for Filipinos,”
added Ona.
The latest agreement
brings to three the number of
EU-funded programs
supporting the Philippine
Health Sector Reform Agenda,
which was launched in 2005
t o s p e e d u p t h e
implementation of critical
health interventions.
Under the Aquino
administration, the
government launched the
Aquino Health Agenda
highlighting the Universal
Health Care Strategy, which
aims to provide health
insurance coverage to all
Filipinos and improve their
access to quality hospital and
health care facilities.
The new deal between the
Philippines and the European
Union also augmented the
latter's support to the health
sector to a total of 118-million
euros (P7.2 billion) from
2006 to 2018, noted the DOH.
The DOH said the
European Union had been
persistent in supporting its
programs that had achieved
significant progress over the
past years.
DOH records showed that
health programs for mothers
and children helped bring
down child mortality in the
country from 58 in 1998 to 30
deaths per 1,000 live births in
2011.
Insurance coverage for
the population also climbed
from 62 percent in 2010 to 83
percent in 2012, of which 53
percent come from the
poorest and most vulnerable
families in the country, data
s h owe d . J o c e ly n R . U y.
Inquirer.net
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August 22-28, 2014
Page 5
Life on the run: Palparan tells of 32 months as a fugitive
By Tonette Orejas
Dec. 19, 2011, when Bureau of
Immigration personnel at the Clark
International Airport in Pampanga
stopped him from leaving for
Singapore.
With the help of a friend, he was
able to obtain the use of a safe
house near Fort Bonifacio, he said.
It was from this location less
than a week later that a person he
only identified as a “classmate”
volunteered to negotiate for his
surrender to President Aquino
through a contact in Malacañang.
“I wanted to face the case and
wanted assurances of security for
myself and my family,” he said.
Nothing came of the attempt
because the President “did not
agree to the proposal,” he said.
MALOLOS, Bulacan -- In the two
years and eight months that he was
being hunted by the authorities,
retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito
Palparan Jr. was hiding in seven
places around Metro Manila.
In all that time, Palparan said he
was on his own, without the
support or help of active or retired
generals, soldiers or communities
he had worked with in his 33 years
in the Armed Forces.
He said he stayed in Metro
Manila to be near his wife, a
daughter and two sons.
“I had to be ready to defend
them while I was in hiding,”
Palparan said in an interview
Thursday in his prison cell at the
Bulacan Provincial Jail here.
Family's safety
He said he feared for the safety
of his family because the
communist New People's Army
(NPA) had threatened to kill him
and his family.
Palparan, the former
commander of the Army's 7th
Infantry Division in Central Luzon,
is on trial on charges of kidnapping
and serious illegal detention in
connection with the disappearance
of University of the Philippines
students Sherlyn Cadapan and
Karen Empeño, who were last seen
in Hagonoy, Bulacan, in June 2006.
Jovito Palparan. Inquirer photo/Joan Bondoc
After his arrest in Sta. Mesa,
Manila, last Aug. 12, he was
temporarily held at the National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
headquarters.
Following his arraignment at
the Malolos Regional Trial Court
Branch 14 on Monday, Palparan
was detained at the provincial jail
here.
Palparan said he was worried
DFA hits
harassment ...
From page 1
According to Jose, the DFA has not
received a report on the Pag-asa island
incident, explaining that the department
gets intelligence reports involving Filipino
fishermen being harassed by Chinese
ships in Philippine waters.
He said the diplomatic protest will be
made through a note verbale sent to the
Chinese Embassy in Manila.
Jose earlier said diplomatic protest
will deal not only with the incident
reported by President Aquino involving
the presence of two Chinese research
vessels on the oil-rich Recto Bank in the
West Philippine Sea, but also to what
appeared to be China's “constant and
overwhelming presence” in areas where
the Philippines has exclusive sovereignty
rights.
Illegitimate patrols
Jose said the government was
concerned not only about the Chinese
intrusion in Recto Bank but the overall
situation where Chinese ships were
conducting “illegitimate sovereignty
patrols” in Philippine waters.
China's conduct violated the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea and the
2002 Declaration on the Conduct in the
South China Sea, he said.
Jose also said the government was
considering taking other measures to
address Chinese intrusions but declined to
give details.
Meanwhile, Bito-onon on Tuesday
urged the government to protest the
harassment by a Chinese Coast Guard
vessel of a boatload of journalists,
including himself, as they approached the
disputed Ayungin Shoal of Pagasa island
more than two weeks ago.
“We were on our way to Ayungin Shoal
when a Chinese Coast Guard vessel with
that he could be jailed for life
because of the case.
On Monday, he filed a motion to
quash the case for lack of
jurisdiction. He said it was the
Sandiganbayan that should try him
as he was still in the military service
when the crime allegedly
happened.
He also said he did not want to
submit to the lower court's
jurisdiction because the case filed
by the Department of Justice was
not among the nine complaints that
he had answered during the
preliminary investigations.
Palparan's life on the run began
on Dec. 20, 2011, a day after the
regional trial court here issued an
arrest warrant against him and
three coaccused.
He was last seen in public on
'Leave it to Gazmin'
“Leave it to General Gazmin
(Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin),” the Malacañang contact
with whom Palparan's classmate
discussed his surrender was
supposed to have said.
Palparan said he abandoned
the idea of asking Gazmin for help
because, in his assessment, the
defense secretary had no influence
on the agencies that would have
been able to help in dropping the
case against him.
“I wasn't his 'bata' (favorite)
either,” Palparan said. His next
hideout was in the Pateros-Pasig
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Page 6
body number CCG 311 tried to block our
path and stopped in front of us that we
almost collided with them. It was a
dangerous and irresponsible maneuver,”
he said.
“It was already dark when it happened
last Aug. 1 and the sea was very turbulent.
Anything could have happened to us if we
were not able to maneuver because they
were just about 50 meters right in front of
our boat,”
Bito-onon said in a text
message sent from Kalayaan on Pag-asa
island.
Bito-onon said they managed to slip
past the Chinese vessel despite the rough
seas by maneuvering into the shallow
waters before finally reaching the BRP
Sierra Madre wreck where a detachment of
Philippine soldiers is stationed.
The mayor explained that they were
stranded on the Sierra Madre for five days
because of Typhoon “Inday.”
Responsible power
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Albert
del Rosario said the Philippines does
acknowledge China's rise as an economic
giant and its role in world affairs.
However, for Beijing to be viewed as a
“positive force and responsible power, it
must adhere and respect the rule of law,
especially in settling the South China Sea
disputes, he said.
Del Rosario made the statement at the
51st National Defense College of the
Philippines founding anniversary and
alumni homecoming at Camp Aguinaldo in
Quezon City.
The foreign secretary talked about the
approaches that the Philippines has
undertaken to help keep peace, security
and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Del Rosario said that China has been
manifesting an “increasing pattern of
aggressive behavior and provocative
actions” in the South China Sea which
“seriously threaten the peace, security,
stability and freedom of navigation and
overflight in the region. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 6
Filipino hairstylist makes
cutting-edge difference in
New York City
By Frances Mangosing
He does the hairstyles of
wealthy clients in an upscale salon
in New York City, but on Sundays,
his only day off, he does it for the
homeless.
Mark Bustos, a 30-year-old
Filipino-American hairstylist of
Three Squares Studio, is making
the rounds in social media after a
story made by The Huffington Post
on his Instagram posts about
giving a cutting-edge look to the
needy.
Bustos has been offering
sophisticated haircuts for the
homeless since May 2012 when he
travelled to his family in the
Philippines to visit relatives. While
abroad, he rented a barber's chair
to offer his services to
impoverished children. So far, he
has also given free haircuts to the
less fortunate in Jamaica, Costa
Rica and Los Angeles.
“The feeling was so rewarding, I
decided to bring the positive
energy back to NYC,” he told
Huffington Post.
Most of his free haircut services
Mark Bustos. Facebook photo
are done on the streets based on his
Instagram posts.
It comes with hashtag
#BeAwesometoSomebody.
Bustos explained that he does
his services in open spaces not for
people to see him, but for others to
be inspired to do a good deed to the
needy.
“Even a simple smile can go a
long way,” he said. Inquirer.net
Filipino caregiver in Alaska
shot dead by patient
SAN FRANCISCO, California
-- A 51-year-old resident of a
small assisted-living home in
Anchorage, Alaska called 911
Tuesday evening, August 12, to
report that he had shot his
c a re t a ke r, a 6 3 - ye a r - o l d
Filipino man.
Anchorage police found
Paul Miller waiting outside of
the home, at 309 E. 24th Ave,
with a .380-caliber
semiautomatic handgun sitting
on the railing of the front porch,
reported the Alaska Dispatch
News.
Police took Miller into
custody. He was charged with
first- and second-degree
murder. Court documents say
Miller told the 911 operator he
“ j u s t s h o t t h e F i l i p i n o ,”
according to the Dispatch
News.
Inside the home, Allison
Assisted Living Home, police
officers found the body of 63year-old Eduardo Escalante,
who died from multiple
gunshot wounds to his neck,
arm and torso, said the
documents filed in Anchorage
District Court.
Family members of
Escalante said he worked at the
Shooting suspect Paul Miller in police custody. Alaska Dispatch News photo
assisted-living home with his
wife. The couple moved to
Anchorage from the
Philippines in March. A witness
said that before the shooting,
E s c a l a n t e wa s wa t c h i n g
television in the kitchen. Miller
was outside on the phone. The
man said he did not see the
shooting, but heard three to
four shots inside the house.
Miller made his first court
appearance August 13 at the
Anchorage Correctional
Complex. For each murder
charge, Miller faces up to 99
Life on the run ...
From page 5
area, in the care of a woman who was a
supporter of the Bantay party-list
group, which he briefly represented in
Congress. But he said the woman's
daughter feared for their family's safety
so he decided to move out after a few
weeks there.
He described the third location as
being on the western section of Metro
Manila, where he stayed for five
months.
The fourth hideout was the family's
house in Taguig City, where he stayed
from May to mid-June of 2012.
When his son received information
that raids were about to be launched in
the properties of Palparan and when
relatives of soldiers living near his
house reported seeing men surveiling
the area, Palparan transferred to an
exclusive subdivision in Quezon City.
Small but safe
That was where he stayed the
longest, from June 2012 to May 2014,
accompanied by two people.
Palparan said the place was small
but he felt safe and comfortable, adding
he had Internet access and cable
television. His hideout allowed him to
see people coming in and out of the
village, he said.
It was his pension from the military
that financed his life on the run, said
Palparan.
His daily routine was limited to
cooking, eating and sleeping. “It was
like I was already in prison,” he said.
The sixth location was in the PasigMandaluyong area where Palparan
stayed for a few days.
Lawmen finally caught up with him
in a house on Teresa St. in Sta. Mesa,
years in jail and a fine of up to
$500,000.
M i l l e r h a s a l e n g t hy
criminal record in Alaska.
Between 1982 and 1991, he
was convicted of assault at
least five times, as well criminal
trespassing, disorderly
conduct, driving while
intoxicated and shoplifting.
Miller's bail was set at
$500,000 cash. If he posts bail,
he is to stay away from 309 E.
24th Ave. and not possess
firearms. Inquirer.net
Manila, which Palparan described as a
“transit house” as he was preparing to
return to the Quezon City subdivision.
He said he had to stay in Sta. Mesa
from about May so he could be
examined and treated by a doctor for
ulcers, low blood pressure, stiff
shoulder and intermittent loss of
memory - ailments that Palparan
believes are related to the stress of his
life on the run.
“I was much on my own,” he said,
refusing to seek help from other people
as he did not want them to become
involved in his problems. He subsisted
on sweet potato, bananas and
vegetables.
No gadgets
“I had no sophisticated network. I
had no gadgets,” he said.
But he had several mobile phones
and used prepaid SIM cards.
He said he was caught because he
let his guard down.
“I did not follow my plan to stay for
just a few days in the Sta. Mesa house. I
trusted some people. I should have
instructed them to withdraw from an
ATM (automated teller machine) that
was far from my [hiding] place. I should
have withdrawn bigger amounts. Nagrelax ako,” Palparan said.
Those who withdrew money for
him were a teenaged girl and a boy, he
said. “If [government agents] located
me through my ATM [transactions], the
bank or the government violated the
Bank Secrecy Law,” he said.
He suspected that a young man,
who is known in the Sta. Mesa
neighborhood as a petty thief, must
have been the contact of the arresting
teams.
“I don't regret hiding because I
came out alive,” he said. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 7
Ballet Philippines in Oct. tour of US West Coast, British Columbia
SEATTLE, Washington -- Now in
its 45th year, Ballet Philippines will
be back in the US West Coast and
British Columbia in Canada for a
month-long tour in October, in time
for Filipino-American Heritage
Month.
The company will perform
“Master Pieces,” which showcases
some of the best works from the
company's wide-ranging
repertoire.
Ballet Philippines (BP) is the
premier classical and
contemporary dance company in
the Philippines; it is a resident
dance company of the Cultural
Center of the Philippines.
Former Miss Universe Margie
Moran-Floirendo is on her sixth,
year leading the longest running
dance company in Southeast Asia.
Alice Reyes, recently declared
Philippine National Artist for Dance
and co-founder of Ballet Philippines
said, “I think Margie is the perfect
match for the company.”
Founded by Reyes with the help
of Eddie Elejar, BP has come a long
way i n p ro d u c i n g exc e l l e n t
productions and outstanding
dancers, with an unparalleled 400
c h o re o g ra p h i c wo rks i n i t s
repertoire.
“Ballet Philippines has been
touring around the world in all its
years. The last time we were in the
US was in 1998,” said Moran. “We
performed in The Kennedy Center.
We don't take it lightly that the
company reached this milestone.
Being here for 45 years is a big
achievement. We ought to celebrate
and what better way than to share
the gift of dance with Pinoys and the
Filipinos-at-heart abroad.”
Moran added: “It is my hope
that this tour would open more
doors for Ballet Philippines on the
international dance scene. I have
seen local and foreign audiences
stand and applaud in awe. In the
Yeosu Expo in South Korea in 2012,
audiences crowded outside the
performance hall and waited for a
chance to come in and watch Ballet
Philippines.”
Being company president is a
volunteer job, but the responsibility
is great. Moran has to raise funds
meet the salaries of dancers and
staff, as well as production costs for
the season's concerts.
Ticket sales only make up less
than 40 percent of company
income; the larger chunk comes
from donations from individuals
and corporations.
“We were fortunate that we
were able to get sponsors and thus
make both ends meet,” said Moran.
“Being president of Ballet
Philippines involves taking care of
some 50 dancers. We book a
hundred performances a year,
including mall and school shows.”
The Philippine Council for NGO
Certification categorized Ballet
Philippines as a donee foundation.
BP is only one of two arts
companies awarded with the
distinction.
“In other words, sustaining a
dance company is not just about
passion,” Moran said. “You also need
discipline in getting the company's
financial ledger in order. We have to
be credible to the donors and
patrons of the arts.”
Margie has bigger plans for the
company. “One is that Filipinos
would come to know Ballet
Philippines and say with pride that
Ballet Philippines is homegrown.
Another is to make the company
more sustainable. We recently
launched our page in Give2Asia
where international donors can
easily and securely send their
contributions to Ballet Philippines.
We also have a recurring donation
option in our website where
supporters can send their
donations monthly. It helps the
regular cash flow needs of the
company.”
When asked what made her go
through the difficult times, Margie
shared, “When you see the dancers
give their best in performances this
is the best reward for me. After all,
not everything in this world is about
money.” Dancers do not perform for
money but money will certainly
help them.
Ballet Philippines' North
American tour includes the
following dates and venues:
Pasadena Civic Center Los Angeles
(Oct.4), California Theater San Jose
(Oct.12), Lincoln Hall Portland
State University (Oct 15), Kenneth J.
Minnaert Center for the Arts
INQUIRER.net stock photo
2 Filipino students win gold, silver
medals in China math tourney
By Jerry E. Esplanada
MANILA -- Two young Filipino
n u m b e r s a c e s h ave m a d e t h e
Philippines proud anew by winning
two medals - a gold and a silver - in the
just-ended 2014 China Western
Mathematics Invitational (CWMI)
competition, held Aug. 14 to 18 in
Chongqing city, located in the
southwestern Chinese province of
Sichuan.
The good news was relayed to the
Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday
night by Dr. Simon Chua, president of
the non-government Mathematics
Trainers' Guild Philippines (MTG),
which trained gold medalist Clyde
Wesley Ang, a student of the Chiang Kai
Shek College in Manila, and bronze
medalist Albert John Patupat, a student
of the Holy Rosary College in Sta. Rosa,
Laguna.
Both Ang and Patupat bagged
individual and team gold medals during
last month's Korea International Math
Competition in Daejeon, South Korea.
In a text message, Chua said the
Chinese team topped the nine-nation
contest with a medal haul of four golds
and four silvers.
Aside from the Philippines and host
China, the other participating countries
were Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, and
Kazakhstan. Four other members of the
Philippine team had backed out so they
could take the University of the
Philippines College Admission Test, or
UPCAT.
Chua cited the two MTG wards,
saying he was “very proud of their
p e r fo r m a n c e , c o n s i d e r i n g t h i s
competition is one of the toughest in
the region.”
This year's CWMI contest was the
12th edition of the contest. After the
suspension of the annual event in 2012,
said to be due to Tibet-related issues, it
was held again last year. Inquirer.net
Ballet Philippines President Margie Moran Floirendo
Olympia (Oct . 17), Highline
Performing Arts Center Seattle
(Oct.22) and Chandos Pattison
Auditorium British Columbia
(Oct.25). Call and get your tickets
now!
To c o n t r i b u t e t o B a l l e t
Philippines through GIVE2ASIA
visit http://www.give2asia.org/BP
and to support the company
through recurring donations, visit
BP's website www.ballet.ph or send
an email at [email protected] to know
more about how to send your
donations. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 8
Republic or can we sit down as
brothers and sisters and
discuss our differences with
reason and goodwill?
From page 1
I have often wondered how
many disputes could have been
that has yet been conceived by s e t t l e d e a s i l y h a d t h e
God and man.
disputants only dared to define
Three years ago when I left their terms.
for an emergency heart bypass
So as to leave no room for
operation, I hoped and prayed misunderstanding, I shall
that the rights and freedoms of define my terms:
our people would soon be
1. Six years ago, I was
restored, that living conditions sentenced to die before a firing
would improve and that blood- squad by a Military Tribunal
letting would stop.
whose jurisdiction I steadfastly
Rather than move forward, refused to recognize. It is now
we have moved backward. The time for the regime to decide.
killings have increased, the Order my immediate execution
economy has taken a turn for or set me free. I was sentenced
the worse and the human rights to die for allegedly being the
situation has deteriorated.
leading communist leader. I am
During the martial law not a communist, never was
period, the Supreme Court and never will be.
heard petitions for Habeas
2. National reconciliation
Corpus. It is most ironic, after and unity can be achieved but
martial law has allegedly been only with justice, including
lifted, that the Supreme Court justice for our Muslim and
last April ruled it can no longer Ifugao brothers. There can be
Defense lawyers Soc Rodrigo, Joker Arroyo and Lorenzo Tañada Sr. support Ninoy Aquino in his defiant stand against
entertain petitions for Habeas no deal with a Dictator. No
Marcos. Edgardo Santiago
Corpus for persons detained compromise with Dictatorship.
under a Presidential
3. In a revolution there can
Commitment Order, which really be no victors, only
By Joker P. Arroyo
generals and colonels appointed by
Military Commission No. 2
covers all so-called national victims. We do not have to
Marcos.
resumed its proceedings after Ninoy
security cases and which under destroy in order to build.
Six acts of defiance, one of which
The strongman had already
regained his health.
present circumstances can
4. Subversion stems from
ended in the death of a man, sparked
prejudged him guilty as charged,
cover
almost
anything.
economic,
social and political
a seventh, which started the rebirth
and the military commission took
Third act
The country is far advanced causes and will not be solved by
of a democracy.
his cue.
In his third act of defiance, Ninoy
in her times of trouble. purely military solutions; it can
In 1972, when the late dictator
Ninoy argued that the Articles of
challenged the individual
Economic,
social and political be curbed not with ever
Ferdinand Marcos contemptuously
War that governed the proceedings
competence and impartiality of each
problems bedevil the Filipino. increasing repression but with
padlocked Congress and the media,
of the military commission were
and every member of the
T h e s e p ro b l e m s m ay b e a more equitable distribution of
placed the entire country under
designed only for men in uniform
commission.
surmounted if we are united. wealth, more democracy and
martial rule and ordered the arrest
and not for civilians like himself
On Nov. 25, 1977, two days
But we can be united only if all more freedom, and
of opposition leaders and
when civil courts were functioning.
before Ninoy's birthday, the
the rights and freedoms
5. For the economy to get
journalists, it would have been most
And so he refused to participate
commission, in a supreme act of
enjoyed before September 21, g o i n g o n c e a g a i n , t h e
expedient for Sen. Benigno “Ninoy”
in the trials. Convict me if you must,
sadism, sentenced him to die by
1972 are fully restored.
workingman must be given his
Aquino Jr. to simply collaborate with
he told the commission, but I will not
musketry. But the international
The Filipino asks for just and rightful share of his
the dictator.
dignify your illegal trials with my
outcry that followed prevented
nothing more, but will surely labor, and to the owners and
participation.
Marcos from confirming the death
First act
Military Commission No. 2
order.
accept nothing less, than all the managers must be restored the
Marcos was just waiting for that.
responded by having Ninoy dragged
r i g h t s a n d f r e e d o m s hope where there is so much
But Ninoy, the most prominent
from his prison cell where he was
Fourth act
g u a ra n te e d by t h e 1 9 3 5 uncertainty if not despair.
among the arrested oppositionists,
held in solitary confinement to the
Ninoy made his fourth act of
Constitution - the most sacred
On one of the long corridors
flatly refused. So Marcos ordered
gymnasium in Fort Bonifacio, the
defiance in 1978, when Marcos
legacies from the Founding of Harvard University are
him tried on false charges of
venue of his trial.
allowed the election of the members
Fathers.
carved in granite the words of
rebellion, murder and illegal
of the Interim Batasan Pambansa.
Yes, the Filipino is patient, Archibald Macleish:
possession of firearms by a military
Second act
Ninoy filed a certificate of candidacy
but there is a limit to his
“How shall freedom be
commission, under the rules and
Ninoy staged his second act of
to lead the opposition group Laban,
patience. Must we wait until defended? By arms when it is
procedures that govern courtdefiance by going on a hunger strike.
launching his campaign from
that patience snaps?
attacked by arms; by truth
martial proceedings for officers and
On May 13, 1975, the 40th day of his
solitary confinement.
The nation-wide rebellion when it is attacked by lies; by
soldiers.
protest fast, Ninoy's condition
The unprecedented success of a
is escalating and threatens to democratic faith when it is
That started Ninoy's defiance of
became critical.
noise barrage on the eve of the
e x p l o d e i n t o a b l o o d y attacked by authoritarian
Marcos and a war of attrition
But Marcos would not have the
elections forced Marcos to proclaim
revolution. There is a growing dogma. Always, and in the final
between the tormentor and the
blood of a political martyr on his
all his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan
cadre of young Filipinos who act, by determination and faith.”
tormented. It was a battle of wills all
hands, and Ninoy was forcibly
candidates winners with only 25
have finally come to realize that
I return from exile and to an
the way.
rushed to V. Luna General Hospital to
percent of the votes canvassed.
freedom is never granted, it is uncertain future with only
In his first act of defiance, Ninoy
be medically revived. Marcos knew
In 1980, Ninoy was afflicted with
taken. Must we relive the determination and faith to offer
challenged the jurisdiction and
that anointing Ninoy a hero would
a heart problem while in the
agonies and the blood-letting of - faith in our people and faith in
independence of Military
be sheer folly. History would later
stockade. Believing that he would be
the past that brought forth our God.
Commission No. 2, composed of
prove him right.
u
Page 14
Ninoy Aquino's
seven acts of
defiance
Undelivered
speech ...
[email protected]
August 22-28, 2014
Page 9
Remembering Ninoy
THE TRIAL. Aug. 27, 1973, Fort Bonifacio. Sen. Benigno Aquino “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. challenged the jurisdiction and
independence of the military commission of Marcos-appointed generals and colonels. He refused to participate in the
trial. On Nov. 25, 1977, the military tribunal sentenced him to die by musketry. Photos by Ed Santiago
Cory Aquino with toddler Kris and older brother Noynoy (partly seen).
THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR. Ninoy is shown with fellow members of the Liberal Party
Jovito Salonga and Gerry Roxas.
Photographs and
memories by Ed Santiago,
photojournalist
Ninoy's funeral
By Emmie G. Velarde
MANILA -- For 41 years,
photographs on this page were
stashed in a sealed envelope that
occupied a place of honor among his
“chaotic” files - a vast collection of
black-and-whites, his life's work.
“I should start seriously
organizing these files,” veteran
photojournalist Edgardo “Ed”
Santiago said. “I'm 79; there are
many things I wouldn't remember if
not for my pictures. I consult them;
they talk to me.”
The first day in Ninoy Aquino's
trial by a military court is among the
other “things,” he wouldn't forget.
He didn't even listen to the
proceedings, he admitted; he
couldn't help tuning in to what had
been unspoken.
From Ninoy's evident agitation,
Ed sensed how intense the
questioning was. “Intense. He was
driven to tears.”
'Dead man walking'
He recalled becoming
increasingly certain that his subject
was a dead man walking. It was
August 1973. “I realized they would
kill him.”
From that moment on, he could
see only the main characters in the
unfolding scene: the prosecutors,
the accused, the weary family.
Ed, already an awarded photo
essayist at the time, had found his
“story”Ninoy this close to
crumbling, the wife stoic, their
youngest daughter mercifully
spared the sense of foreboding but
felt in his gut that it could not be told
anytime soon.
Dangerous time
Back at work, no one asked Ed
for photographs of the coverage,
and he wasn't surprised. “I had
known that beforehand, but I still
went to cover because it was my
assignment; also, because it was
clearly bound to be a page in our
history.”
He processed the negatives and
printed the pictures himself, then
brought them home. “I was right to
do that,” he said. True enough, when
the Daily Express shut down in
January 1987, heaps of negatives
were left behind. “Many pictures
about martial law were destroyed.”
Everything of his that he felt
important, Ed saved “for when the
right time came.” Meanwhile, he
avoided talking about the pictures
from that trial. “A few colleagues
asked for prints; I gave away one or
two, and a few portraits. Everything
else, I kept. I had little choice; it was
a dangerous time.”
Originals
Before Ed's visit to the Inquirer
three weeks ago, he had long
planned to entrust the pictures to
editor in chief Letty JimenezMagsanoc. The prints he presented
to the editors were remarkably
clear and sharp. “Originals,” he told
u
Page 14
August 22-28, 2014
Page 10
A terrible blunder
Is President Aquino gunning for a second term? He dropped
broad hints in a television interview conducted last Wednesday
but aired only on Sunday night: “When I took this office, I recall
that it was only for one term of six years,” he told TV5. “Now,
after having said that, of course, I have to listen to my bosses” alluding to a supposed clamor from the people for a second
term. His spokespersons, however, have denied there was any
actual plan to push for a second term, which requires the use of
the still-untried process of constitutional amendment. “What I
remember the President say was that he's thinking about it. He
didn't say, 'Let's do this tomorrow,'” deputy presidential
spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters on August 15.
But the fact alone that Mr. Aquino was considering a second
term, even tentatively (openness to the idea, he was careful to
say in the interview, did not necessarily mean that he “would
automatically go after an additional term”), was a startling
about-face for a reluctant politician who had always been
against changing the Constitution that his own mother
midwifed into existence. Why did he even raise the possibility?
We can think of at least three plausible reasons; each one
demeans the memory of his mother, the first President Aquino,
who personified the post-Marcos ideal of a single presidential
term. Not one of the reasons comes close to being even an
adequate justification. Whatever the rationale, the damage to
the President's reputation has been done.
The President was testing the idea. One of his close allies in
the Senate, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, said as much: “It was a trial
balloon to begin with.” In that case, Mr. Aquino besmirched the
memory of his own mother merely in an attempt to plumb
political waters. Just three weeks ago, the second President
Aquino echoed the first when he used his penultimate State of
the Nation Address to say, again, that he was counting down the
days until the end of his presidency. The abrupt turn sharpens
the contrast between mother and son; it also undermines the
most effective part of his fifth Sona. He had choked up when he
recalled his parents' sacrifices: “If I had turned my back on the
opportunity [to serve by running on a reform platform], then I
might as well have turned my back on my father and mother, and
all the sacrifices they made for all of us; that will not happen.” A
second term would run counter to the spirit of self-abnegation
that Sen. Ninoy Aquino proved during seven years in prison and
three years in exile and that Cory Aquino displayed not only
when she willingly stepped down from office but when she
counseled her successors against term extensions.
He was trying to intimidate the Supreme Court. During the
interview, the President actually had more to say about the
threat of judicial overreach, and the need to strike a balance
between the three branches of government, than his own term
extension.
“Before all of these happened, I admit I had a closed mind.
But now I realized that there is judicial [over]reach. Congress
and the executive may act but they can be punished anytime.”
Valte offered a variation on the same theme. In the TV interview,
she said, the President “indicated his openness to Charter
change to restore the balance” between the three powers.
This is not only a misreading of the true source of judicial
review (that power is rooted not in the Constitution per se but
in the existence of a judicial branch in the first place), but an
Does Obama Have Authority
to Stop Deportation?
As House Republicans closed
its doors to any possible
compromise on immigration
reform, the President announced
in a press conference recently that
he will act on his own to address
the issue.
Presidential action, according
to sources from the White House,
would include measures that
would provide temporary relief to
a significant number of the 11
million undocumented in the
country. The measures would
presumably allow them to remain
in the U.S. without fear of
deportation and provide them with
work permits.
Hou se Rep u b lica n s have
accused the President of
overstepping his authority with his
executive orders. They even
approved a lawsuit against the
President for abuse of authority in
the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act. As to the
President's intention to use his
executive power to unilaterally
provide a solution on immigration,
Senator Jeff Session (R-Alabama)
stated that the President cannot do
this and that a large-scale
“administrative amnesty” would
p ro m p t c o n f ro n t a t i o n w i t h
Congress.
While it is true that the
President cannot grant legal status
to the undocumented, the
President by virtue of his office has
executive authority to grant the
undocumented temporary
reprieve from deportation as part
of his “prosecutorial discretion.”
The executive branch is
charged with the implementation
of immigration laws and has the
duty to exercise “prosecutorial
discretion” in its enforcement.
“Prosecutorial discretion” is the
authority of an enforcement
agency or officer to decide whether
to enforce the law against an
individual.
The Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) has issued several
internal memos which deal with
prosecutorial discretion. In June
2011, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Director John
Morton issued a memo instructing
ICE agents and officers to avoid
deportation of “low priority” or
non-criminal aliens and prioritize
deportation of aliens who have
been charged or convicted of
crimes and those who pose a threat
to public safety.
It called on enforcement
officers to regularly exercise their
discretion to prioritize the use of
the agency's limited resources.
However, reports show that the
memo has been widely ignored by
enforcement officers. u
Page 12
Amnesia antidote
u
Page 12
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Lito A. Gajilan, Jr.
Columnists: Reuben S. Seguritan, Esq.,
Juan L. Mercado, Joseph G. Lariosa
Correspondent: Grace G. Baldisseri
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do
not reflect the opinion of the paper nor that of the publisher.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 201-434-1114 Fax 201-434-0880
2711 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07306
“National amnesia causes us to
forget who and what we are.” Is that
the fix we're in when the country
marks, this Thursday, the 31st
anniversary of Sen. Benigno Aquino
Jr.'s airport tarmac murder?
The most concise summary of
that assassination is perhaps found
in the tape recorder of then Time
magazine's Sandra Burton. She
propped it against a window of
China Airlines Flight 811 jet, when
it parked at what is today's Ninoy
Aquino International Airport.
Three soldiers escort Aquino
out. The tape catches the gangway
exchange. “Eto na, eto na! Ako na,
ako na! Pusila, pusila (This is it, this
is it! Let me, let me! Shoot, shoot)!”
Gunfire erupts and Ninoy's
bloodied body crumples on the
tarmac.
“What happened?” a woman
passenger screams, Burton's tape
continues. More gunshots. The
wailing becomes louder. “Inside,
inside, inside!” several men scream.
“The soldiers… shot Ninoy. He's
dead out there,” the woman cries
out. “They shot Ninoy?” asks a
passenger. Burton: “Yeah.” Man:
“Where?” Burton: “Right at the
bottom of the stairs.” Man: “When
Ninoy was still on it or when?”
Burton: “No, when he got off. I'm
sure he's dead.”
Man: “What did you see? Who
did it?” Burton: “Soldiers.” Man:
“How many of them?” Burton: “I
don't know. I think we'd better
wait.” Man: “Did you recognize
Aquino?” Burton: “Yeah.”
Man: “What's your name?”
Burton: “No, I'm not gonna… this is
not the place to talk. We had just
seen two assassinations take place
right outside our window.”
As Time bureau chief, Burton
flew with those covering Ninoy
Aquino. She was later called to
testify at the Agrava Fact-Finding
Board and she turned her tape over
to prosecutors. Then Justice
Manuel Pamaran acquitted all
respondents, including Marcos'
ally, AFP chief of staff Gen. Fabian
Ver.
A f te r Pe o p l e Powe r, t h e
Supreme Court ordered a retrial.
Constable Rogelio Moreno (tagged
by the Sandiganbayan as the one
who shot Aquino) and 15 others
were convicted. But the
mastermind(s) were never held to
account until now.
Burton was 62 when she died in
Bali in May 2004. “She was a female
u
Page 12
August 22-28, 2014
Page 11
If President Aquino were
allowed to run for re-election, it is
like letting a player change the rules
in the middle of the game. Mr.
Aquino is just a part, who cannot be
larger the whole.
Letting Mr. Aquino run for reelection, like Marcos, is like an
employee giving himself a raise
when the 1987 Philippine
Constitution does not even allow
Congress to increase their salaries
in the middle of their term nor
allow the grant of royalty or
nobility.
That is why the gravies better
known as PDAF (Priority
Development Assistance Fund) and
DAP (Disbursement
Appropriations Program) were
found by the Supreme Court so
revolting because Aquino gave
senators and congressmen millions
of pesos of perks as a bait (bribe) to
convict Supreme Court Chief Justice
Making
life worth
living
Ellen Tordesillas
Faced with overwhelming
opposition to a Charter Change to
allow President Aquino to extend
his term beyond 2016, Malacañang
has backtracked and assured the
public that he is not supporting
changes in the Constitution in the
last two years of his presidency.
Press Secretary Herminio
Coloma Jr and Deputy Presidential
Spokesperson Abigail Valte can
resort to all kinds of spins but it is
on record (TV5's interview Aug. 13
interview) that Aquino said he was
open to charter change to clip the
powers of the Supreme Court and
to another term.
But why did Aquino float it in
the first place?
We can think of five possible
reasons:
Children of God!
JGL Eye
Renato Corona.
The Philippine Constitution has
always given premium on morality
of an action, not its result. The end
never justifies the means. Because
if this were otherwise, then Mr.
Aquino could have allowed Cudia to
graduate in the PMA to justify lying
or cheating in class to pass a test or
to allow extra-judicial killings of
journalists in order to silence them.
When Alexander the Great was
dying and was asked by his
subordinates who would succeed
him, Alexander mentioned the
name, “Krateros,” a general, who
was not around. But others, who
heard it, thought it was “Kratistos,”
the strongest. There were
speculations that Alexander
bestowed leadership only on
someone, who does not crave for it.
Is history repeating itself?
When President Aquino
By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA
(© 2014 Journal GlobaLinks)
warmed himself up to the proposal
to amend the 1987 Philippine
Constitution that will extend his
term of office, it reminded me of
former President and now detained
Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
pardoning my friend former
President and now Manila Mayor
Joseph Erap Estrada so she would
also be pardoned by her successor
in case she ended up being prisoner
herself, too.
Perhaps, finding himself in the
same boat with President Arroyo,
Mr. Aquino made public his deepest
secret on Aug. 13 (unlucky 13?)
when he told listeners of TV
Channel 5 that he is now listening to
the clamor of his bosses (Filipino
voters) that he should extend his
term because he is the only one who
could preserve the gains that he
started. Isn't it idiotic, self-serving
and Marcosian?
“Si PNoy na lang ba ang anak ng
Diyos sa kawawang Pilipinas?” (Is
PNoy the only child of God in the
forsaken Philippines?). Paging my
friend, Atty. Mel “Batas” Mauricio:
Mr. Aquino is a potential convert of
your sect.
Mr. Aquino's fear merely made
presumptive front-runner Vice
President Jojo Binay not only quiver
because like Mr. Binay, Mr. Aquino
will also likely face similar plunder
charges brought against Mrs.
Arroyo, not even considering the
four impeachment charges filed
against Aquino now pending in
Congress. And Mr. Binay might also
not be there to rescue him or
pardon him either. Mr. Aquino's
apprehension will soon become
moot if the Philippine Supreme
Court would deny his motion for
reconsideration in his
Disbursement Appropriations
Program (DAP) appeal.
And this unease was made
more possible when Mrs. Arroyo
was charged with plunder and is
now under detention; the Supreme
Court Chief Justice Corona was
impeached and convicted; three
senators, including once powerful
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile,
and even the elusive General Jovito
“The Butcher” Palparan, are now all
locked behind bars.
So, here are my suggestions:
Any presidential candidate in
2016, who wants my vote, should
make a campaign pledge to the
Filipino voters and to repeat after
u
Page 12
5 possible reasons why PNoy floated Chacha
and term extension
1. He doesn't want to be
considered a lameduck.
Online dictionairies define
“lameduck” as “A president who is
completing a term of office and
chooses not to run or is ineligible to
run for reelection; politicians who
are known to be in their final term
of office, when colleagues and
electors look toward a successor.
Politicians gravitate to where
their interests are served. That
means being allied with someone
who will be in a position of power
for a long time. A possible second
term will dissuade those who are
thinking of going to the other side
to stay on with him.
It's understandable that
Aquino is anxious that he should
continue being seen as having
formidable political clout by
members of Congress because he
still has some important
legislations to pass, one of them the
Bangsamoro Law.
Impeachment complaints have
been filed against Aquino. It is
unlikely to pass in the House with
the administration coalition in the
majority. A possible second term
for Aquino would make an effective
disincentive for those who are
being convinced to sign on to the
complaint.
2. He has not gotten over the
unanimous rejection that he got
from the Supreme Court of his
Disbursement Accelerated
Program or DAP.
With his own appointees voting
against his pet initiative, Aquino
felt betrayed. He had expected
some justices voting against it and
was told that it would be a close
vote, 7-6 in their favor. When it was
13-0, declaring parts of DAP
unconstitutional, Aquino couldn't
take it.
As playwright William
Congreve said “Hell hath no fury
like a woman scorned.”
3. Aquino's party, the Liberal
Party, is desperate who to put up
against Vice President Jejomar
Binay, the political opposition's
candidate in the 2016
presidential elections, who is far
ahead of other possible
presidential candidates, in the
surveys.
The numbers of Interior
Secretary Mar Roxas are not
u
Page 14
performing administration are
enough to elicit knee-jerk
expressions of admiration and easy
mass distraction. As Dorothy soon
realized in The Wizard of Oz, we're
way past Kansas now.
After all, to all the old
accusations of incompetence and
noynoying have been heaped the
serious, jail-inviting charges of
corruption on a scale never before
heard of. The massive illegal
impounding and misuse of both
pork barrel and Disbursement
Acceleration Program funds, to the
tune of hundreds of billions of
hard-earned taxpayers' money,
have ensured that all the fake tears
from Aquino or any member of his
family, any attempts to bring back
the fading memories of his dead
parents or even any ploys to raise
the bogeyman of Chinese
hegemony will fail.
Consolidating all the Yellow
propaganda forces, hiring all the
shady American political advisers
and ramping up all the Internet
trolling operations will only be a
further waste of government time
and assetswhich are, of course,
public assets collected at
extortionist rates from all of usin a
renewed and ultimately futile
attempt to shore up Aquino's
flagging popularity will be to no
avail. Even Aquino's few remaining
boosters who have been backing
him up in good faith (another
phrase that has been grossly
devalued by its abuse by this
government, by the way)
decamped when tampering with
the Charter and floating an illegal
term extension were floated, never
to return after they witnessed for
themselves the petty, selfish and
dictatorial tendencies of their
former idol.
Aquino will not be saved by
ratcheting up the propaganda. And
the sooner he gets that through his
thick C-student's skull and starts
concentrating on the things he can
do while he still holds the reins of
power, the better off he will be.
The blowback will be as
terrible as it is now inevitable. Bet
on it.
***
Speaking of Aquino's family,
one other member is now being
linked to a non-government
organization that has run afoul of
state auditors for alleged improper
use of pubic funds to pay for a milkfeeding program for indigent
children. Presidential sister Viel
Aquino-Dee is, after all, the cochairman of the Assisi
Development Foundation, one of
the private groups involved in a
P229.6-million milk-feeding
program implemented by the stateu
Page 12
Pres. Aquino
Blowback
Those who live by propaganda
and image-making could get killed
using those tools, as well. But as he
limps, lame-duck fashion, toward
the final months of his thoroughly
underwhelming, time- and
opportunity-wasting term,
President Noynoy Aquino sees no
reason not to go back to the well
that has always been good to him the harnessing of the marketing,
advertising and media “assets” of
his administration to once again
bail him out of his latest and most
destructive self-inflicted crisis.
That Aquino's response to the
monster he himself created by
floating the idea of amending the
Constitution to give himself a
second term and to clip the powers
of the Supreme Court is to ramp up
the propaganda comes as no
surprise. As they say, if your only
tool is a hammer, you see every
problem as a nail to be hammered
down.
(By the way, that foolish woman
spokesman's feeble attempt to spin
her boss out of trouble by saying
that Aquino was merely “thinking”
about these things when he talked
to a former lawyer of Cory Aquino
who now pretends to be a
television journalist should be
dismissed out of hand. A President
speaks on matters of policy and
direction all the time - to argue that
he doesn't is to say, like another
ineffectual spokesman memorably
posited, that his declarations
should not be taken seriously.)
But more and more Filipinos
understand that the time is long
gone when catchy slogans, blametossing and all the other breadand-circuses ploys of this non-
August 22-28, 2014
Page 12
Children of
God!
From page 11
me: “I will not pardon a senator,
congressman or government
cabinet official if they are
convicted for plunder and graft
and corruption for complicity in
PDAF, DAP, Malampaya scandals,
etc. Let justice take its course.
So, help me God.”
The only smart guy
Letting Aquino run for reelection is not only a violation of
the 1987 Philippine
Constitution but also it assumes
that not one of the 100-million
Filipinos is smarter than him.
Besides, Art. III Sec. 31 of the
Constitution is explicit: “No law
granting a title of royalty or
nobility shall be enacted.”cralaw
Okay, if Mr. Aquino now
wants to run, he can call for a
snap election, like Marcos. But in
order to level the playing field,
Mr. Aquino should relinquish his
presidential position to a noncandidate successor, so he
cannot use the arsenal of his
office, including the P500billion discretionary funds, to
outspend and intimidate his
rivals, including Mr. Binay.
Because it will take an
amendment to the Constitution
for Mr. Aquino to run for reelection, I suggest Congress also
insert the following
amendments:
1. All candidates for
president, vice president,
s e n a t o r, c o n g r e s s m e n ,
governors, mayors and justices
of the Supreme Court and Court
of Appeals and chairmen of
Constitutional bodies should get
a “clearance” (at least valid for
one year) from a soon-to-becreated Constitutional
Commission (similar to Judicial
Bar Council) that states that
prior to their filing for candidacy
or application for their positions
they have at least an average, if
not better, not only academic (at
least a four-year college Liberal
Arts education) record but also
to have legal, SOUND, repeat
SOUND mental and physical
capacities to run and/or occupy
those offices.
Anti-political dynasty, FOIA
should be self-executing!
2. The provisions in the
Constitution that require
Congress to pass implementing
laws to abolish political dynasty
and establish Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) should
be deleted. Instead the new
amendments -- abolishing
political dynasty and
establishing FOIA should be
kept but should be selfexecuting and should take effect
as soon as the Filipino people
approve them in a plebiscite or
referendum. These anti-political
dynasty law and FOIA, if passed,
are harmful to the well being of
immoral government officials.
3. Another amendment is
for political turncoats to be
ineligible to run for elective
position for at least six years.
Turncoats should start at the
end of the line, like a rookie
partisan.
4. If a government is mired
in deficit, all senators and
congressmen are automatically
disqualified for re-election.
5. There should be block
voting when it comes to the
elections of the president and
vice president so that the
winning tandem will come
under the same party to avoid
constant bickering by these two
officials throughout their terms
of office.
6. Any Filipino citizen or
Filipino taxpayer can file
bribery, corruption of public
official, plunder and graft
charges against any government
official, including the President,
the senator, congressman,
judges and justices during their
terms of office, even if this
citizen or taxpayer does not get
any bribe.
7. The two-term limit, fouryear term should be restored
without further extension even
if the government turned in a
surplus. And
8 . I f t h e re i s a
preponderance of evidence of
mismanagement of the office by
the president, the president
should step down upon finding
of probable cause by an
independent Constitutional
body and be hauled to court to
answer for criminal charges and
not wait for his term to lapse
before he is charged in court.
After all when Mrs. Arroyo was
charged in court after leaving
office, she was immediately
arrested. Why prolong the
agony?
([email protected])
Blowback
From page 11
owned National Dairy Authority, the
funds for which were sourced from the
unconstitutional DAP.
The Commission on Audit has
questioned “dubious signatures,
conflict of interest in buying milk
products and insufficient monitoring”
that attended the implementation of
the program, as well as the propriety of
using DAP funds intended to jump-start
the national economy for a feeding
program for pregnant women, senior
citizens and children in day care, preschool and grade school levels. I only
hope the CoA auditors who are
questioning Assisi's involvement in the
feeding program have alternativecareer options, because they could very
well lose their current jobs once
5 possible
reasons ... From page 11
improving. It is doubtful if Aquino's
endorsement could carry Roxas to
Malacanang in 2016.
If not Roxas, who in LP? Senate
President Franklin Drilon? His numbers
are no better than Roxas's.
Does Obama have ...
From page 10
Deferred Action is a form of
prosecutorial discretion where the DHS
may grant temporary relief from
deportation when it determines that
enforcement is not warranted for that
particular time.
This authority springs from the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
which sets forth its overall authority for
immigration enforcement.
Beneficiaries of deferred action do not
attain legal status; however, regulations
allow the DHS to grant travel
authorization as well as work permits
for a specified period of time.
The DHS granted deferred action to
certain categories of individuals in the
past such as battered individuals under
the Violence Against Women Act and
potential U visa beneficiaries before
regulations were put in place.
Nurses, who had not passed their
licensure exam, were also beneficiaries
of deferred action. In 1977, I was the
lawyer of the National Alliance for Fair
Licensure of Foreign Nurse Graduates
which obtained for these nurses, who
were under deportation threat,
“deferred voluntary departure status”
and this halted their deportation and
allowed them to work and be reinstated
to H-1 status.
Malacañang gets into the act to rescue
Dee's reputation.
The CoA investigation into Dee's
foundation is way different from the
coffee-shop insinuations about the
involvement of another Aquino sister,
Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, in the purchase of
MRT coaches from Czech supplier
Inekon, after all. And if Malacañang
went after those who were impugning
Cruz' honorand, by extension, the wellguarded image of incorruptibility of the
entire familyto the point where even
MRT general manager Al Vitangcol was
fired, then there is no telling how harsh
it will be on the CoA personnel who
dared to launch an official probe of Dee.
My only hope is that some time in
the future, we end up with a government
that will make sure that no probe of any
anomalous transaction is halted simply
because a presidential relative is
involved. I can dream, can't I?
Aquino's desire to have a partymate
as successor is understandable not only
to continue his programs but also to
make sure that he would be protected
from cases that are expected to be filed
against him when he is no longer in
Malacañang.
4. He is enjoying being president.
Kung makalusot, why not?
5. Type lang niya i-gudtime ang
madlang pipol.
Widows or widowers of U.S. citizens
who were married less than two years
at the time of death of their U.S. citizen
spouse and who were residing in the
U.S. at that time were also granted
deferred action in June 2009 to allow
them to remain in the country while
obtaining legal status. And most
r e c e n t l y, q u a l i f i e d y o u n g
undocumented immigrants who were
brought in the U.S. as kids benefited
from President Obama's Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program.
House Republicans will without
doubt oppose efforts similar to the
DACA program and accuse the
President of overreaching his executive
authority. Presently, the Obama
administration is studying measures
which would provide similar relief
granted to DACA recipients to a broader
population of undocumented
immigrants.
While it may seem that House
Republicans have succeeded in
impeding the passing of any kind of
immigration bill in the Congress, they
simply cannot stop the President from
exercising his constitutional authority
to deal with immigration.
(Editor's Note: REUBEN S. SEGURITAN has
been practicing law for over 30 years. For
more information, you may log on to his
website at www.seguritan.com or call (212)
695-5281.)
A terrible blunder ... From page 10
unfortunate continuation of the war over the Disbursement Acceleration
Program by other means. Yes, the judiciary can overreach, but the solution
is not a constitutional overhaul (no one is dense enough to suggest doing
away with judges) but naming better candidates to the bench.
The President wants to continue the reforms he started. On its face, this
rationale appears to be substantial, but in fact it only shows that the Aquino
administration has failed to provide for something fundamental:
continuity of program. With less than two years to go, the administration
does not yet have a viable candidate to succeed Mr. Aquino. His sudden
openness to Charter change, then, is best understood as a president's worst
lame-duck fears come to life. Not only is his signature budget reform
initiative under attack; the durability of reform now looks uncertain.
The President's surprise semi-announcement only adds to the
uncertainty. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 13
Filipino on trial ... From page 1
Deleon, Santana and Gojali were arrested in
November 2012 as they prepared to leave California to
rendezvous with Kabir, who had relocated to
Afghanistan, according to the LA Times. Kabir was
seized by American soldiers in Afghanistan and
returned to the United States to face charges.
A confidential informant who became close with the
men recorded audio and video of them as they spoke
openly of their plans. The suspects allegedly began
physical and weapons training. Deleon dropped out of
college and sold his car to raise money for the trip,
prosecutors say.
Defense attorneys argue that overzealous federal
authorities misinterpreted the men's “sometimes
immature actions as true threats,” and said their clients
never intended to actually join or assist terrorist groups.
“This was a very carefully planned out plot by the
government from the investigation stage onwards,” the
LA Times quoted David Thomas, who represents
Deleon. “It was a manufactured prosecution, is our
argument. They had their target two years ago and
executed.”
On Friday, August 15, the second day of testimony,
witnesses included a firearms range manager and a
Customs and Border Protection inspector who testified
about the men's actions before their arrest.
After the prosecution showed video from a hidden
camera reportedly taken by the informant of Deleon
firing weapons at the range, defense attorneys
challenged the evidence, saying that only the informant
could verify the authenticity of the video. The defense
has subpoenaed the informant to appear.
Although U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips
determined that the video evidence was admissible, the
confidential informant remains a sticking point in the
case.
The Los Angeles branch of CAIR, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy organization,
alleges that the frequent federal use of informants in
terrorism cases can lead to entrapment of suspects.
“We've seen other communities targeted by the FBI
with informants sent into communities and mosques,”
said Fatima Dadabhoy, senior civil rights lawyer for CAIR
in Los Angeles. Inquirer.net
Islamic militants plan Southeast Asian caliphate
Agence France-Presse
KUALA LUMPUR -Malaysian police have foiled
plans for a wave of bombings
drawn up by radical Islamic
militants inspired by Iraq's
extremist jihad group the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(Isis), a top counterterrorism
official said on Tuesday,
August 19.
The 19 suspected
militants arrested from April
to June were formulating
plans to bomb pubs, discos
and a Malaysian brewery of
Danish beer producer
Carlsberg, said Ayob Khan
Mydin, deputy chief of the
Malaysian police
counterterrorism division.
Ayob Khan told Agence
France-Presse (AFP) that the
group, all Malaysians, had
visions of establishing a hardline Southeast Asian Islamic
caliphate spanning Malaysia,
Indonesia, Thailand, the
Philippines and Singapore,
and planned to travel to Syria
to learn from Isis.
The plotters included
professionals and two
housewives.
Inquirer report
A recent Philippine Daily
Inquirer report, from
correspondent Arlyn de la
Cruz, said Manila officials
were on alert following an
increase in the number of
Filipinos going to Iraq and
Syria to fight with Isis
militants.
Felizardo Serapio Jr.,
executive director of the
Philippine Center on
Transnational Crime, said
Syria had grown to be an
attractive destination for
foreign fighters and Muslim
Filipinos were among those
lured to join Isis, according to
the Inquirer story.
Close to 200 Filipinos may
have joined Isis. The Inquirer
story quoted a government
report in March as saying
about 100 Filipinos had
undergone training in Iran
before going to Syria and that
two Filipinos had died for
taking part in the conflict.
The arrested Malaysians
were only in the early stages
of discussing their plans and
did not have heavy weapons
or bomb-making knowledge,
Ayob Khan said.
Seven have already been
charged with offenses ranging
from promoting terrorism to
possession of homemade
rifles.
They planned “a
campaign of violence and
armed struggle and to die as
martyrs,” Ayob Khan said,
adding that police believed
that there could still be
coplotters at large in
Malaysia.
Middle Eastern caliphate
280 Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Some of those arrested
were apprehended at airports
on the way to Turkey and
Syria to seek training and
other support from Isis.
Also known as Islamic
State, Isis espouses an
extreme brand of Islam. It is
believed to have thousands of
Islamist fighters in Syria and
Iraq, some of them
westerners.
brewery near Kuala Lumpur
were apparently targeted
because alcohol consumption
is forbidden by Islam, Ayob
Khan said.
He said the suspects also
had hoped to create networks
with regional and global cells.
He said police believed
that up to 40 Malaysians had
gone to Syria to join the civil
war there.
Money via Facebook
It has overrun large
swathes of Iraq as it wages a
ruthless campaign to
establish a Middle Eastern
caliphate under conditions
akin to those of the religion's
early years.
The Malaysian plotters
were ages between 20 and 50.
Some of the arrests had been
previously announced by
authorities, but police had not
yet detailed the group's
suspected plans and ideology.
Some had begun raising
money - including via
Facebook - to travel to Syria,
typically under the pretext of
“humanitarian work,” Ayob
Khan said.
“From interrogating them,
they talk about Isis ideology,
including the killing of
innocent people and also
Muslims who are not in their
group,” he said.
Breeding ground
Muslim-majority
Malaysia practices a moderate
brand of Islam and has not
seen any notable terror
attacks in recent years.
But concern has risen in
the multifaith nation over
growing hard-line Islamic
views and the country's
p o te n t i a l a s a m i l i t a n t
breeding ground.
According to local media
reports, 26-year-old
Malaysian factory worker
Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki blew
up 25 elite Iraqi soldiers in a
suicide car-bomb attack there
in May.
Malaysia has previously
been home to several
suspected key figures in
groups such as the al-Qaidalinked Jemaah Islamiyah, a
Southeast Asia-based
organization blamed for the
deadly 2002 Bali bombings
and numerous other attacks.
Inquirer.net
Global cells
Bars and the Carlsberg
201-333-8060
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
August 22-28, 2014
Page 14
Ninoy Aquino’s 7 acts ...
From page 8
rid of his most potent rival, Marcos allowed Ninoy to go to the
United States for a heart bypass. After his operation, Ninoy
energetically barnstormed the United States and other
countries to denounce the Marcos regime.
Fifth, sixth acts
But by 1983, Ninoy felt he had to go home. He felt that as
the acknowledged leader of the opposition, his place was in
the Philippines.
In his fifth act of defiance, Ninoy came home. He paid for
the act with his own life. Filipinos responded by showing up
by the millions at his wake and funeral.
In 1985, or two years after Ninoy's death, Marcos called a
snap presidential election, and Ninoy's widow took up what
could be called his sixth act of defiance. She took up the
challenge against Marcos.
Value of preservation
Photographs and
memories ... From Page 9
his promptly engaged audience. “No
one else had seen these until now.”
Let alone their mint condition, he
was proud of the photos' integrity.
“Negatives don't lie,” he said. He had
shot the trial proceedings in color as
well but, he insisted, some narratives
just naturally lent themselves to blackand-whites.
This headstrong veteran of five
daily broadsheets has yet to cross over
to digital photography. He has kept
three beloved Nikon Fs, an enlarger
and several lenses, even if they're stuck
up. “They no longer move.”
That trial was not his first, or last,
encounter with Ninoy. “I used to cover
President Marcos' trips abroad as part
of the official entourage,” Ed said. “I
chanced upon Ninoy on one of those
trips, in Washington, DC. He and
(newspaper columnist) Teodoro
Valencia were friends. I have shots of
him being interviewed there by The
Associated Press. It looked serious. I
was shooting through a glass window
from outside the hotel.”
On Aug. 31, 1983, Ed covered
Ninoy's funeral procession from a
Amnesia ... From page 10
rarity in the sometimes aggressively
gung-ho masculine world of foreign
correspondents: courteous, fairminded and intellectually honest,”
Philip Bowring wrote then in the
South China Morning Post.
These traits stood Burton in good
stead when she led Time's Beijing
bureau during the drama of
Tiananmen Square and the horrors of
the June 4 killing. “She was never a
combat journalist, but when firing
began around Tiananmen she showed
resolve to stay and find the facts.”
The journalist-to-the-bone is also
seen in the work she did, as Time
bureau chief in Hong Kong, from 1990
through the wrenching handover of
the British colony in March 1997.
In the Philippines, “everyone got a
little carried away by the euphoria of
the 'People Power' revolution against
Ferdinand Marcos.” But she did not let
it divert her from covering Philippine
e v e n t s a s d i s p a s s i o n a t e ly a s
circumstances allowed.
Her search for hard facts anchored
sources for her 483-page book “The
Impossible Dream.” Published by
Warner Books, it is one of the more, if
n o t t h e m o s t a c c u ra te - a n d
spellbinding - accounts of the
Philippines' turmoil of the 1980s.
Burton had intimate access to the
building on Roxas Boulevard. This one
was not an assignment. “I should be
part of my country's history. My
grandchildren know I am a
photojournalist. I should be able to tell
them what happened in my time,
through my pictures.”
Part of the funeral cortege found its
way to the Aquino Museum in
Hacienda Luisita, a friend told Ed. “I
haven't gone there to check,” he said. “It
might hurt to look.” But that's just
because, he jested, “My friend said it
was cropped (pointed to the lower
part) here.” Seriously, what he told his
friend was, “I'll first have it published
in the Inquirer. Then we can go.
Attention: Jaime Zobel
In several other sealed envelopes
at home, Ed keeps a few more visual
history capsules waiting for the right
time and platform. A set from the day
that journalists, arrested at the onset
of martial law, were released? “I'd like
to show them to Jaime Zobel de Ayala
and maybe exhibit them in his gallery.
His appreciation would mean much to
me because he's a photographer, too.”
And that would be his most
preferred addition to a long list of solo
and group exhibits he has held or
joined, here and abroad (Nauru, Japan,
Holland).
Ed is content for the most part. His
two sons (out of seven children) are
professional photographers. He has
ventured into art photography
(“distortion, abstraction”) and, though
he has found some joy in color, is happy
to have also found a camera shop in
Makati that still offers black-and-white
negative processing. He gets his R&R
every six months in the United States,
where a sibling resides.
Now, if he could only organize
those files.
“My father, Manuel Ma. Santiago,
was a science illustrator who worked
at the National Museum,” Ed said. “He
taught me the value of preservation
and I should honor that.”
Manuel also bought his son's first
camera. Ed likes telling this story: “I
took up fine arts at the University of
Santo Tomas. One of my professors,
Vicente Manansala (who would be
National Artist) told my father, 'Your
son can't paint but he sees things that
no one else does. Get him a camera.'”
His hair all white, Ed still goes
around in Levi's 501 jeans but now
wears what he calls “proper” shirts
(cotton, button-down) more often than
his trademark work tops, sleeveless
white tanks. “Give me a press ID,” he
joked, “and I'll shed 50 years right
before your eyes.” Inquirer.net
Aquinos and Marcoses, during the
crucial four years when their roles
reversed to recast society, wrote
journalist Stanley Karnow in his book
“In Our Image” (Random House). Her
insights do not portray “the Marcoses
as unredeemable villains or the
Aquinos as sinless saints.”
“For the first time, I could imagine
what the Filipino voters, who had
elected him twice and then tolerated
his takeover, must have seen in him,”
Burton writes of her first meeting with
Marcos in September 1983 at
Malacañang. “He was the kind of
lawyer you would hire to get you off if
yo u we re re a l ly i n t ro u b l e particularly if you were guilty. He was
the kind of maverick you would elect
president when you deemed the
system to be beyond the power of
conventional leaders and remedies to
repair.”
Imelda is trounced in the Burton
reports as an insatiably grasping
woman who fabricated her family
history, then scrambled to make it
reality.
She recalls a night-long interview
with Imelda: “People said awful
things…. But they were describing a
rational woman, full of malice
aforethought. The woman I was
listening to could not be judged by
normal standards. She was manic.
Mad, perhaps. Touches of brilliance
and insight here and there. But how
was one to judge them in this tidal
wave, this glut of diagrams, equations
and pop geostrategy?”
Burton reports the transformation
of Corazon Aquino from a self-effacing
housewife into the quiet, determined
president. Her friendship with the
bereaved widow “enabled her to
witness the change and to hear from
Cory herself how it came about.” She
takes readers from the moment Cory
returns to the Philippines, overseeing
her husband's funeral, to the day she
spends 10 hours in a Carmelite
convent, meditating whether to run
for president.
The courage of Cory Aquino comes
through, And so do her “weaknesses.”
Burton describes a world leader who
takes time out to watch “Dallas” and
“Falcon Crest,” but who never makes
important decisions - no matter how
urgent - without pausing to pray.
Journalists are often regarded as
abrasive. Skepticism is a necessary
tool of a good journalist, Bowring
wrote. Like idealism, it can easily turn
into cynicism at the sight, up-close, of
dishonesty, avarice and vacuousness
of celebrities.
The 17-year-old Manila Times
correspondent who covered the
Korean war, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino
Jr., would have agreed. The 31st
anniversary of Ninoy's murder also
shows Journalism 101 can provide an
antidote to national amnesia.
Final act
Marcos cheated, as he did in the 1978 elections. The
people responded resoundingly and trooped to Edsa, in a
final, seventh act of defiance that jolted the world.
Ninoy's sacrifice on Aug. 21, 1983, served as a whiplash
on the national conscience. His assassination unleashed a
torrent of pent-up resentment against the dictatorship that
led the country to penury, perdition and ruin.
The shock of Aug. 21 turned to hurt, outrage and quiet
courage, and led the nation to new hopes two and a half years
later.
(Reprinted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug. 20, 2000).
Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 15
Why they are coming home and retiring in good old Pinas
By Chit Roces-Santos
As if it's the most natural thing,
Filipinos who have spent their most
productive years abroad come
home not only to retire but also to
share both wealth and know-how.
Not a few of them could resist
the nostalgic call of the islands, the
tug of family ties, the long-missed
feeling of belonging, or the
challenge that a young growing
country offers and, yet for some, the
lure of wanting to give back.
To be sure, as many as there are
who have come home, there are
those who for some reason cannot.
But that's another story.
Hedy Taylor-Toolen
“I look at it not as retirement
but as a return to the place where I
was born and raised, where I lived
happily during my first 20 years. I
am half-Filipino, half-American,
seeking a kind of cosmic balance,
and I had this wild idea that if fate
was kind I would live half my life in
each country and reconcile the
'separate sides' of my head. With
the first 20 years in the Philippines,
the next 40 in the US and, fingers
crossed, the last 20 back in the
Philippines, I will have made it.
“I also hoped that 20 years
would allow me sufficient time to
fulfill a simmering sense of
obligation to the country, unclear
though the form it would take, and
I'm not certain after nine years that
I've come close to it.
“After an absence of 40 years, I
Annabelle and Tom Wisniewski
Jim and Hedy Toolen
could also look at the Philippines as
a travel adventure to a new exotic
destination. My American husband
viewed it similarly, even if it meant
leaving his family, although today,
leaving family does not have the
same dire permanence as in the
past. We have had to make many
adjustments, he more than I, but on
the whole, it has been positive…”
Jim Toolen
“Consider this: Born a month
after my uncle, a US Army doctor
had been liberated from
internment camp during the Battle
of Manila. I grew up enthralled by
stories of his heroism and his
a d m i ra t i o n fo r h i s F i l i p i n o
comrades. Later in life I was hired
as an onstage escort for the Miss
International beauty pageant and
got randomly chosen to escort Miss
Philippines. She was surely the
most beautiful woman I had ever
seen and she won!
“We were reunited after 48
years, and Gemma Cruz-Araneta
and I have since become wonderful
friends.
“After college, my teaching
career took me to a seaside
community near Los Angeles,
where many of my students were
Fil-Am youngsters whose parents
had migrated to the region seeking
employment in the fishing industry.
That's when I first learned to love
Filipinos and their cuisine. This
path seemed preordained to lead
me to the love of my life, my
beautiful wife. So, is there any
doubt why I felt instantly at home
here? My new Filipino friends are
like family. True, I will always love
America, but it is the Philippines I
now proudly call home.”
Bobby Jimenez
“I was brought back by one of
the visionaries of local business. I
didn't care much for his emissary,
but he was somebody I knew from
Harvard days; he knew which
buttons to press. It was a new
challenge when everyday life in
Manhattan had become routinely
boring. The project didn't happen,
but it reintroduced me to
Philippine life.
“The depth and range of the
country's problems came into
focus, and they were awesome. The
u
Page 29
Did you know?
The late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Inquirer file photo
Former Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was
assassinated on the tarmac of Manila
International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983. His 11hour funeral march 10 days later from Sto.
Domingo Church in Quezon City to Manila
Memorial Park, Parañaque, is considered one of
the longest in Philippine history. Ninoy Aquino
Day is marked every Aug. 21 under Republic Act
No. 9256 signed by then President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo on Feb. 25, 2004.
Inquirer.net
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FPJ. A worker at Mowelfund Plaza in
Quezon City prepares a figurine of the late movie legend and
2004 presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. for his 75th
birth anniversary. Lyn Rillon
August 20 is the 75th birth anniversary of National
Artist for Film Ronald Allan Poe, more popularly
known as Fernando Poe Jr. Born in 1939 in Manila, the
“King of Philippine Cinema” was known for his roles in
iconic films including the “Panday” series, which made
him a legend in the local film industry. On July 20, 2012,
President Aquino signed Proclamation No. 435
confirming his posthumous declaration as a National
Artist as conferred in Proclamation No. 1069 dated
May 23, 2006. Poe died on Dec. 14, 2004. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 16
By Cathy Yamsuan
Four sets of traditional native
garb in varying shades of red
project a commanding presence at
the entrance to the permanent
textile exhibit of the Museum of the
People in Manila.
The floor-to-ceiling glass case
features a two-piece formal female
attire worn by the Gaddang of
Ifugao. Beside it is a sa-ul, a set of
shirt and trousers traditionally
worn by males of the B'laan tribe of
Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Next to this is the more subdued
mid-calf-length formal wear of a
Tinguian female from Abra,
followed by a brightly hued dagom
and sawa worn exclusively by a
male Mandaya of high rank in
Davao Oriental.
The clothes, along with other
textiles from different parts of the
Philippines, all came to the city with
stories to tellbirths, coming-of-age,
weddings and other milestone
rituals, and, ultimately, death.
The clothes and fabrics are
showcased at the fourth floor of the
former Department of Finance
building that is now an annex of the
National Museum.
Bold attempt
Dubbed “Hibla ng Lahing
Pilipino: The Artistry of Philippine
Textiles,” the exhibit is a bold
attempt to isolate the Filipino's
DNA through fabric.
Unlike old-school exhibits that
classify specimen through ancient
standards like materials and dates,
“Hibla” does not hesitate to bring
clothes and their stories together
using their similarities in design as
basis for an unconventional mix
that actually works better.
Common among the four sets of
traditional clothes is the use of
cotton, dyes and beads. But more
than that, they all have bold
g e o m e t r i c d e s i g n s t h a t a re
unmistakably Filipino, even to the
untrained eye.
“Hibla means thread or fiber,
which is the basic thread that binds
all of us. These are the ties that bind
us, whether [the fabric is] ikat or
malong, inabel or hablon,” said Sen.
Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate
cultural communities committee
and well-regarded patron of the
museum.
It was through Legarda that the
museum was able to put up the
exhibit, initially housed in the
nearby old Legislative building. It
moved last September to the
Museum of the People beside the
Agrifina Circle along Taft Avenue.
The guest book boasts the
signatures of Queen Sofia of Spain,
Paolo Zegna of the Europe-based
design house Ermenegildo Zegna,
and Lady Lynn Forester de
Rothschild.
Legarda said National Museum
director Jeremy Barns and senior
director Ana M. T. Labrador
proposed some years back an
exhibit of Filipino indigenous
textiles based on design, not
chronological or geographical
criteria as now observed in more
modern countries.
“I like it that we juxtapose [the
Queen Sofia of Spain was one of the first visitors of the “Hibla” textile exhibit.
Intricate, colorful ensemble of albong (blouse), malong and belt of Sebaan beads
worn by B'laan women of southern Mindanao. Anthropologists have noticed that
some indigenous groups now recycle plastic and mold it into beads to embellish
their traditional garb. Photos by Jilson Seckler Tiu
Senate cultural communities chair Loren Legarda and National Museum director
Ana Labrador take turns explaining how similarities and distinctions in design
became basis for curating the textile exhibit at the Museum of the People in Manila.
Details of a blouse, belt and lufid skirt used by Bontoc women.
designs from] the Cordillera and
Mindanao, so you really see unity in
diversity,” the senator said.
Fibers or threads from more
than 100 kinds of textiles, including
abaca, banana, pineapple and
cotton, are seen in the exhibit. The
works of more than 100 indigenous
groups are featured.
Intricate tapestries
“Hibla” offers a glossy colored
catalog that details the stories
about each item of clothing, from
the source of material to how it is
painstakingly handcrafted, the
occasion it was worn in and who is
allowed by traditional edict to wear
it.
The intricate tapestries of the
Tausug's pis siyabit signified the
wearer's social rank.
The tangkulu, a headcloth worn
by Bagobo warriors or magani, can
display varying shades from
chocolate to blood red, depending
on the number of lives taken by the
wearer.
As expected, there are tribes
that consider fabrics as a form of
currency. Marriages can be
forbidden among some groups
without the possession of the
proper cloth.
The T'boli woman who cannot
weave well was considered low in
social status and disallowed from
demanding a high bride wealth or
dowry, while Bontoc girls were
required to learn weaving when
they reached 12 years old.
The museum has photos, taken
by director Labrador, of the funeral
of a ranking Bontoc male whose
status afforded him to wear an
exclusive finangulawan of dark
cloth designed with an intricate
white pattern during his burial.
Labrador, an anthropologist,
noted that Cordillerans are fond of
red.
“Others believe it's because
they are a warring people, but I
don't think so. In the past, red dye
was difficult to get so it has an
added value. Besides, they plant
twice a year so the environment is
green 70 to 80 percent all year
round. Red is a complementary
color, so I believe this is why they
like it,” she said.
Accessories
Aside from garments narrating
personal histories, the exhibit also
features accessories worn by
indigenous peoples.
Enclosed in a glass case are
necklaces worn by the Gaddang to
indicate social status. Materials
include beads, cowrie shells,
mother of pearl, horn, turtle shell,
brass and strings.
Labrador explained that people
of the Cordillera descended to the
lowlands between planting and
harvest time, using the furlough to
trade with people of the plains and
coastal areas, even foreigners.
“You see these things and you
realize the people traded
extensively with other cultures. You
have glass, agate, semiprecious
stones. Glass beads with gold leaf.
It's important for people to wear
these things because they connote
rank,” she said.
Studies show the glass came
from Indonesia and India. Beads
that showed up in the highlands
implied interactions with Muslim
traders.
Fo r s o m e t i m e n o w,
academicians have expressed
concern over the vanishing
weaving traditions of indigenous
p e o p l e s . L e ga rd a d e s c r i b e d
weaving as “a vanishing tradition,”
adding that in many cases, the
master weavers of a tribe could not
find a worthy protégé among
members of the younger
generation.
She recalled the case of a young
Gaddang girl who was only forced
to take to her mother's loom when
the elder woman got sick and their
family income dwindled.
“Weaving is also a tedious
process. It usually takes a week,
even a month to finish a garment,”
the senator added.
Unscrupulous middlemen
would also sometimes exploit the
weavers by pressuring them to sell
at unfairly low prices.
Modern trends
Labrador noted that there is
also concern about how some
tribes have begun using modern
materials like acrylic to make
fabrics, or adopt the trends of the
modern world. Members of one
group, for example, collect the
plastic shells that house the ink
tubes of ballpoint pens, melt these
and mold the plastic into beads.
M e a n w h i l e , t h e yo u n g e r
Bontocs drape their lufid in a way
that the skirt has ruffles instead of
flowing straight down from their
waists.
“Sometimes there are purists,
especially in the academe, who
object to such things because they
want the indigenous people to stay
traditional, but I think it's a good
thing, especially for young people
when they adjust because they
make [whatever is new] relevant
[to themselves],” Labrador said.
“When traditional people face
modern times, I think they should
be given that certain freedom, and
they can always innovate because
they already do that in their
materials,” she added.
Labrador said that as an
anthropologist, she sees the
decision to use synthetic materials
to adjust to the times as “a reason to
celebrate.”
“It means people change.
Problem is, sometimes we want to
view indigenous people as static,
kind of fixed because it's too messy
for us if we try to understand they
[could be] just like us,” she
explained.
This does not mean, however,
that Labrador and others who
continually study and support the
indigenous tribes make no effort to
preserve their weaving traditions.
Since the temporary textile
exhibit opened in 2012, the
National Museum had already
hosted numerous forums in an
effort to make the weaving and dyemaking traditions known to the
urbanized world.
Dr. Maria Stanyukovich, curator
of Philippine and Southeast Asian
textiles at the St. Peter the Great
Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia,
spoke when the temporary exhibit
opened two years ago.
u
Page 29
August 22-28, 2014
Page 17
August 22-28, 2014
Page 18
Filipino arts and eats fest
goes mainstream in Toronto
TORONTO, Canada -- Kain
Kalye or the Filipino Street
Eats Competition drew lines of
eager tasters at the 9th Annual
Kultura Filipino Arts Festival
August 7 to 10 at Wychwood
Barns.
Grazers shelled out $3 to
$7 for halo-halo, longganisa,
chicken and pork barbecues
and other traditional Filipino
dishes, from local eateries like
H a l o - H a l o Wo r l d C a f é ,
TitaFlips, Lola Kusina, Tocino
Boys and Lamesa. The sixmonth-old Lola Kusina's crispy
siopao won the popular vote.
With “cultural pride and a
progressive outlook on the
Filipino-Canadian experience,
Kultura Filipino Arts Festival
has captured the broader
Toronto public for a decade
with its innovative
programming of live
performances, traditional and
modern cuisine, curated
interactive art installations
and a bustling marketplace,”
reports CBC News Toronto.
The Kultura Filipino Arts
Festival Marketplace offered
wares from Filipino-Canadian
a r t s a n d c ra f t s s e l l e r s .
Inquirer.net
Janmer, 14, and Maximo, 13, are both visually impaired
Crowds at Kultura Filipino Arts Festival at Wychwood Barns.
Tocino Boys barbecue a big hit at Kain Kalye
Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture photos
Special Education Brings Hope
to Two Boys from Meycauayan
M E YC AUAYA N , B u l a c a n - Sometimes all a child needs is a
second chance. Two brothers,
Janmer and Maximo Obedencio,
fulfilled a lifelong goal when they
attended school for the first time two
years ago. But their time in the
classroom was short. Janmer, 14, and
Maximo, 13, are both visually
impaired. They could not succeed
without specialized instruction. In
addition, expensive, unreliable
transportation made it difficult to get
to school each day. Janmer and
Maximo left school just months after
they enrolled.
Janmer and Maximo's second
chance for an education came last
summer. It started with a knock on
the door from Ludy Anile, a travelling
education specialist from Resources
for the Blind, Inc. (RBI). Ms. Anile had
learned of the brothers' difficulties
and visited their home to offer help.
“ I i m m e d i a te ly s aw t h e i r
willingness to attend school,” said
Ms. Anile. “They were excited when
they realized that they could go back
to class with their sighted peers.” The
brothers returned to school in
August 2013 this time with more
reliable transportation paid for by a
local church. RBI also arranged for
u
Page 19
TFC stars and tourism shine at Fiesta In America
Concert King Martin Nievera
and superstar Jericho Rosales,
ABS-CBN contract artists, and
famed comedienne Fe de los Reyes
wowed the packed concert
audience on both days of Fiesta In
America (August 16 and 17) at the
Meadowlands Expo Center in
Secaucus, New Jersey.
Widely considered as the most
significant indoor expo on the east
coast for and about Filipino
Americans, Fiesta In America
marked its 16th anniversary with a
special focus on Philippine
tourism. “We purposely shone the
spotlight on promoting tourism
throughout the Fiesta,” said
Nanding Mendez, Fiesta In
America President and CEO, “by
devoting more than five full pages
on TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure
and Enterprise Zone Authority) as
well as the DOT (Department of
Tourism) in Fiesta Talks Magazine,
by featuring DOT videos on the
jumbo screen, by installing
tourism-related banners all over
the Expo Center, and by peppering
the concert hosts' script with
exhortations to the audience to
proudly spread the word about the
Philippines as a world-class
attraction.”
Comic and singer Fe de los
Reyes set the stage for the TVC
stars with her hilarious and, at
times, bittersweet take on the
plight of overstaying or
undocumented Filipinos. De los
Reyes punctuated her rendition of
Martin Nievera and Consul General Mario De Leon Jr. (10th and 11th from left, respectively) cut the ribbon to formally open the
Fiesta in America at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, NJ on Saturday, August 16.
Lionel Richie's melancholy “Hello,
Is It Me You're Looking For?” with
jarring blasts of her phone's ring
tone and the amusing ways Pinoys
w o u l d n e r v o u s l y a n s w e r,
depending on their illegal
immigrant situation. Swooning
female members of the concert
audience, meanwhile, proved why
Jericho Rosales is the reigning film
and TV heartthrob. By coming
down from the stage and engaging
in “selfies” with his smart phoneand IPad-wielding fans, the actorsinger gave the concert audience a
night to remember and to share on
the social network.
On the other hand, the
Philippines' reigning Concert King,
Martin Nievera, oozed with the
cool-crooner charm that has
thrilled Filipino record-buyers and
concert audiences throughout the
world for more than 15 years. As a
welcome surprise, Nievera was
joined on stage by his son Robin on
guitar and vocals. The younger
Nievera showcased the talents of
three generations of Nievera
performing artists (Robin's
grandfather, Bert, was a member of
the celebrated Society of Seven, a
popular '70s pop group). The
concert was capped by a rousing
finale featuring Jericho and Martin
on stage with the “Ambassadors of
Original Pinoy Music (OPM),” the
Sounds of Manila.
Fiesta In America's 16th
anniversary edition also featured
AARP workshops on caring for
elderly loved ones, presented by
retired Major General Antonio
“Tony” Taguba, and on how to
ensure financial stability for the
50+, by financial expert Donna
Ortega from AARP's headquarters
in Washington, D.C. AARP made its
debut at the Fiesta as major
s p o n s o r. O t h e r w o r k s h o p s
included an instructional
p re s e n t a t i o n fo r f i r s t - t i m e
homebuyers by Melvin Castillo of
the United Northern Mortgage
Bankers (also a first-time Fiesta
sponsor); seminars on chronic
pain by Drs. Michael Lacap and
Michael Failla; and free skin
diagnosis by cosmetologist Joey
Bautista Cruz.
Tru e to i t s t ra di t i o n o f
promoting new Filipino
performing artists, Fiesta In
America presented a varied cast
that included the Sounds of Manila,
the award-winning dancing duo of
Craig and Samantha CamposAbaya, pop standouts Oliver
Dagum and Alyssa Jade Shoemaker,
as well as rock and pop bands
Friends of Enemies, Heart's Desire,
and Take the Stage. And as a
reflection of Fiesta's growing
inclusiveness, performers from the
Asian community (Cherry Hill
Chinese Dance Group, the Jung
Tra d i t i o n a l Ko re a n D a n c e
Academy) and the Latino
community (Anayka, Pagia Musik
and Tailon) rounded up the live
concerts on both nights of the
Fiesta with widely varying styles.
“Together with the trade
pavilion that overflowed with
export-quality products from the
Philippines, the coronation of the
first Fiesta King and Queen
International, the seniors' pavilion
that included a simultaneous chess
exhibition by chess master Nonoy
Rafael, the children's pavilion, and
a food court stocked with dishes
from various Philippine regions,
Fiesta In America's Sweet 16 was a
complete day of entertainment for
the whole family and an avenue for
Filipino small business to directly
m a rke t t h e i r p ro d u c t s a n d
services,” said Nanding Mendez.
“The event will continue to be a
strong bond that keeps the Fil-Am
community of the northeast
cohesive.”
To participate in 2015 Fiesta in
America, please call (212) 6826610; email: [email protected]
or visit www.philippinefiesta.com.
(Photography: YetBo/LoveRita)
August 22-28, 2014
Page 19
Jersey City's State
of the Art Wellness
Center at Route 440
By Grace G. Baldisseri
The Hudson Rehab Spa is a
modern wellness center located
at the Hudson Mall at Route 440
in Jersey City. It is a physical
therapy, rehabilitation center
and a health and spa rolled into
one - fully equipped with modern
equipment you do not usually see
in a regular Rehab and Spa Clinic.
The wellness center has its
grand opening on June 7, 2014
which is just 77 days old but they
have already reached their one
year goal in terms of the number
of regular patients who
patronize the clinic everyday.
The business partners behind
the success of the Hudson Rehab
Spa are ELIZABETH
D I V I NAG R AC I A a n d M I K E
FLORENDO, both highly
experienced in the field of
wellness program (Beth as a
practitioner and Mike as PRO &
Marketing expert},
h a r dw o r k i n g , a n d
compassionate professionals
who put their clients/patients
above themselves.
Most of the patients who
come here are those who suffer
from ankle sprains, sports injury,
body pains, fractures, muscle
sprains, neurological disorders
and they come not only from
Jersey City but from Livingstone,
Old Bridge and Staten Island.
In an exclusive interview
with MIKE, co-owner and
Marketing Director of the Clinic,
he said that he is blessed for
having a trusted business
partner, a dedicated staff who
sometimes extend their time to
work for as long as there are
customers, and most of all having
valued customer/patients who
experienced quality service :
yoga, physical therapy, massage
and acupuncture.
Their website explains their
Core Values as a team spelled
HEALS:
Honesty - Adhering to
truthfulness, fairness and
trustworthiness in all
interactions and facets of our
practice.
Excellence - Consistently
providing advance technology
Special education ...
From page 18
them to work with a trained special
education teacher using curriculum that
meets their unique needs.
The brothers started the new school
year on June 4 in regular second grade
classes with teacher Marilyn Reyes, whom
the students call ma'am Len. “Ms. Reyes is
impressed with the brothers'
perseverance in their study and with their
active participation,” said Amy Mojica, RBI
training director and supervisor of low
vision services. During a classroom visit,
Janmer told Ms. Aline, “I am happy for I
have new friends in our regular class. They
were curious about how we read and write
in Braille.” Maximo added, “I like my math.
Although it is a little noisy in my class, I
listen very well to ma'am Len's lesson.”
Janmer and Maximo also work with
special education teacher Bernice
Antonette Dagsaan, who helps Ms. Reyes
adapt lessons for the brothers. Ms.
Dagsaan is one of 28 teachers who RBI
recently trained at Philippine Normal
University in Manila, with support from
Lions Club International and Perkins
International. Perkins began working in
the Philippines in 1989. Its partners,
including RBI, have helped provide quality
education to students like Janmer and
Maximo.
“Occasionally, we still meet parents
who do not send their children who are
blind to school,” said Ms. Mojica. “In the
case of the brothers, their mother believed
her children's visual impairments would
not allow them to succeed in regular
school. She thought of bringing them to a
nearby private special school but they do
not have the money.
Janmer and Maximo each have
congenital cataracts and nystagmus in
both eyes. Nystagmus causes the eyes to
make uncontrolled and repetitive
movements, often reducing vision. In
and using the best sources in the
delivery of service to patients
through specialized and
individualized treatment
programs that would best fit the
individual client.
Accountability - Taking full
responsibility for the quality of
care extended to patients and the
conduct of our staff in every
aspect of operation.
Learning - Continuous
education of staff and patients
with the latest trends, concepts,
breakthroughs, practices and
methods toward better
treatment and service.
Social Responsibility - By
promoting mutual trust between
our facility and society in
response to health and wellness
needs of individuals and the
community we serve.
When in Jersey City, come
v i s i t t h i s s t a te - o f - t h e - a r t
wellness center, the Hudson
Rehab Spa at 701 State Route
440, Jersey City, NJ 07305. Or call
and set an appointment at 201305-9859.
2006, Maximo went to first grade, but that
lasted only a few weeks. Classmates teased
and picked on him and the boy refused to
go back. Because of Janmer's vision
problems, his parents did not send him to
school until 2012.
Since the brothers returned to school,
Ms. Mojica reports that both the school
and the community in Meycauayan are
more friendly and more accepting of
Janmer and Maximo. The boys inspire the
RBI team in their ongoing effort to help
other children with visual impairments in
the Philippines particularly those living in
isolated rural areas.
Educating children who are blind or
have low vision also brings joy to their
families. According to Ms. Mojica, Mrs.
Mercedes Obedencio is thankful that her
sons can now read and write along with
their younger siblings.
“The brothers' interest in learning and
improving their lives encourages us to
continue searching for more visually
impaired children in the community who
are just staying at home,” said Ms. Mojica.
“Children like Maximo and Janmer if given
the opportunity and appropriate training
will discover and develop their skills and
capabilities, which will prepare them to
have a quality life in the future.”
Elizabeth Divinagracia and Mike Florendo
Got hurt at work?
LISA A. ARKIN, ESQ.
NO CHARGE CONSULTATIONS
“Dedicated to helping
injured workers”
201-444-1078
About Perkins:
Founded in 1829 as the first school for
the blind in the U.S.A., Perkins now
provides education, products and services
that build productive, meaningful lives for
nearly a million people around the world.
www.Perkins.org
Wwww.lisaarkinlaw.com
www.lisaarkin.com
August 22-28, 2014
Page 20
Solon bats for full
foreign ownership of
retail businesses in PH
By Aries Joseph Hegina
MANILA -- In a bid to boost
foreign direct investment in
the retail and wholesale sector,
a lawmaker is pushing for a bill
allowing foreign investors to
fully own retail businesses in
the country.
Isabela fourth district
representative Giorgidi
Aggabao filed House Bill (HB)
4402 that seeks to amend
Republic Act 8762 or the Retail
Trade Liberalization Law by
removing the capital
requirement provision in the
law that prohibits foreign
investors to fully own retail
businesses in the country.
Under HB 4402, foreign
investors may be allowed to
wholly own a retail business in
the country with a paid up
capital of $2.5 to $7.5 million.
A l s o , fo re i g n e r s m ay
wh o l ly ow n e n te r p r i s e s
specializing in high-end or
luxury products with a paid-up
capital of only $250,000 per
store.
“It proposes to do away
with these restrictions by
removing the equipment and
capitalization requirements in
the Retail Trade Liberalization
Law in order to provide a more
attractive and favorable
investment climate in the
country,” Aggabao said.
HB 4402 also stipulates
that foreign investors shall be
required to maintain a full
amount of their capital or the
unsold amount of their capital
in case any part of the capital is
sold to a Filipino citizen or a
local corporation when they
cease operation in the country.
Under the proposed bill,
foreign investors who will fail
to maintain the prescribed
capital in their retail
businesses will be sanctioned
by the Department of Trade
and Industry and the
Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Foreign direct investment
(FDI) in the field of retail and
wholesale sector amounted
only to one percent of the total
FDI from 2000-2009, Aggabao
claimed.
Currently, under Section 5
of RA 8762, businesses with
paid-up capital of less than
$2.5 million shall be reserved
exclusively for Filipino citizens
and corporations wholly
owned by Filipinos.
Inquirer.net
Baguio offers
investors new profit
opportunities
Photo by Tessa R. Salazar
Gov't entices shippers
to Batangas port
PPA hopes port perks will reduce Manila cargo traffic
By Miguel R. Camus
Malacañang has approved financial
incentives to lure shippers to the
underutilized Batangas Port in a bid to
decongest Manila's seaports, which
serve as the primary gateway to the
capital district and nearby areas.
The Philippine Ports Authority said
in a statement over the weekend that
the Office of The President approved a
reduction in port charges and other
vessel-handling fees at the Batangas
Port.
Specifically, direct callers at
Batangas Port will get a 90-percent
discount on port dues from the existing
fee of $0.081 per gross revenue ton
(GRT) per day to only $0.008 per GRT
per day as well as a 90-percent cut in
dockage-at-berth from $0.039 per GRT
to only $0.004 per GRT per day.
The new rates, however, will be
applicable only for six months, wherein
the discount for the succeeding six
months will be reduced by half for both,
or from $0.081 per GRT to $0.040 per
GRT per day, and from $0.039 per GRT
to $0.020 per GRT per day. The new
rates took effect at the start of this
month.
“This is a big boost in our bid to
increase utilization of the Batangas
Port,” PPA General Manager Juan C. Sta.
Ana said. “The new directive has
likewise changed the basis in the
computation of the dockage-at-berth
from per GRT per calendar day, or a
fraction thereof, to per GRT per block of
24 hours, or a fraction thereof.”
Currently, there are at least six
international carriers calling at the
Batangas Port since June: MCC
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Page 22
Investors advised to stay on course
PINE IS FINE. Baguio residents have been vigilant about the city's remaining trees, which help sustain its aquifer.
Investments that could protect the forest are welcome. Richard Balonglong
By Vincent Cabreza
BAGUIO CITY -- Rains have
pounded the summer capital
again and, for a city that lives
off rationed water, each
unused drop could be money
down the drain.
Rainwater could become a
commodity that might be sold
to neighboring provinces in
the future, if Baguio and likeminded towns in the
Cordilleras were to spend on a
network of reservoirs in the
region's forests that would be
treated for potable water use,
experts said.
Rainwater is but one of
many unconventional
business options that
investors may consider as
residents push for the
reshaping and improvement of
Baguio, which turns 105 years
old on Sept. 1.
The Baguio Heritage
Foundation (BHF) is
promoting a sustainable urban
mobility program (SUMP) that
invites investors to develop
environment friendly mass
transport systems, such as the
electric jeepney suited to
mountain terrain.
Heavy traffic in the city has
forced the Baguio government
to seek out investors who are
accomplished in parking
management systems. Green
architecture is also in great
demand here, given the
construction projects around
the downtown area.
Raining profits
But Baguio's exposure to
heavy rainfall grants it a
resource that could quickly be
developed.
During the National
Competitiveness Council
roadshow here in March, the
World Wide Fund for Nature
Philippines (WWFPhilippines) said rainfall could
be a profit center for Baguio,
which receives the highest
rainfall in the country.
The mountain resort has a
population of 325,000 (as of
2010), taxing the city's aquifer
and watersheds, records
showed. The city has been
living off rationed water since
the 1980s.
“But why depend on
watersheds when rainfall is
your prime source of water?”
asked Moncini Hinay, WWFPhilippines project manager,
who spoke at the roadshow.
A WWF-Philippines
business risk assessment
report urges cities like Baguio
to “steer new investment
toward climate-appropriate
The local stock market is still on a
“secular” bull cycle as it maintains the
index target of 10,000 by 2018, stock
experts from Philequity group said.
Despite a string of recent negative
news here and abroad, the fact that the
Philippine Stock Exchange index broke
past the 7,000 barrier suggested the
market possessed an “underlying
strength,” enabling investors to buy on
dips, said Miguel Agarao, an analyst
handling institutional sales at Wealth
Securities.
Last week, PSEi jumped 128.17
points, or 1.86 percent, week-on-week
to close at 7,008.51 on Friday,
getting a boost from the latest MSCI
rebalancing. The index is now trading
at 14-month highs.
Wealth Securities is “neutral” on
the market over the short-term, but
bullish over the long term, Agarao said
in a briefing for Philequity investors
last Saturday.
Agarao also advised investors to
stay on course.
Jerome Gonzales, head of research
at Philequity Management Inc. - a fund
management firm whose equity funds
have consistently outperformed the
PSEi over the last 20 years - said the
previous consolidation phase would
act as a strong support for the market.
Gonzales said the Philippine stock
market had recently finished the fourth
of five Elliot waves - a tool for technical
analysis which tracks repetitive
patterns or waves to anticipate market
cycles.
Gonzales said that, while the peak
of the wave was around 7,400, which
was hit last year, wave 5 would hit a
new high of 8,290.
The group maintained the view
that the record high of 7,400 would be
revisited by the first quarter of 2015
and further reach 8,100 by the first
quarter of 2016. The long-term goal is
10,000, assuming that the pace of
reforms will continue, while structural
changes are delivered and other
important growth drivers developed.
“Technical analysis is not an exact
science,” Gonzales said. “Sometimes
the waves are shorter, sometimes they
extend. What's important is the
direction moving forward is higher.”
Wilson Sy, director of Philequity,
said that while there had been
concerns on what would happen by
2016 - when the Philippines will elect a
new president - the market could take
comfort in the view held by global
rating agency Standard & Poor's that
the structural reforms in the country
would endure beyond 2016.
Inquirer.net
u
Page 22
August 22-28, 2014
Page 21
CALLBOX Sales and Marketing Solutions celebrated its 10th year last July 4 with
Callbox CEO and founder Rom Agustin (right) giving out awards to employees,
including Ian Van Cubing (left).
Iloilo-based BPO
rises to become
among world's best
By Hazel P. Villa
ILOILO CITY -- A FilipinoAmerican systems engineer visited a
relative here in July 2004 and
chanced upon an Internet cafe in La
Paz district.
Little did Rom Agustin know that
the fateful visit to the cafe would lead
him to establish Iloilo City's first and
largest homegrown business
process outsourcing (BPO)
marketing company, providing
business-to-business (B2B) multichannel marketing services to a
number of leading multinational
companies in industries such as
software development, information
technology and financial, medical
and business services.
Callbox Sales and Marketing
Solutions marked its 10th year here
on July 4 and celebrated how it
overcame the many challenges it
faced in an industry dominated by
inbound call centers that continues
to grapple with the shifting tides of
the international economy.
Agustin and his college friend,
Glen Norris, originally wanted a
virtual answering companyhence
the name Callboxbut saw that
manpower was more affordable in
the Philippines compared to the
United States where they had prior
business experience.
With the majority of BPOs here
handling inbound calls, Callbox
decided to venture into the more
difficult service of outbound calls
such as making appointments for
sales representatives and qualifying
prospective customers for a product
or service. This work is done
according to a script and information
on rebuttals to negative responses.
“If there are companies who
want lead generation, the first name
they think of is Callbox. We are now a
household name in Singapore and
Australia,” said Ian Van Cubing,
Callbox's IT manager.
The job of lead generation
companies such as Callbox is to look
for potential buyers of their clients'
products and services and qualify
them through phone calls or through
an “intelligent” online system. The
names of potential buyers are then
sent to clients who, in turn, are free
to “chase” them and make a sale.
On the other hand, B2B is a
service or product not sold directly
to the consumer but to another
business.
One such service is selling IT
networking products for another
company. Considering the cost and
the decision-making process
involved, B2B services and products
are not purchased on the spot.
Rather, they are “considered
purchases,” thus, the need for a
pipeline through which client and
buyer information is generated so
that decision makers can make
informed choices.
According to Van Cubing, Ilonggo
software developers were able to
develop a unique pipeline that
helped boost Callbox's productivity.
“It used to be that an agent can
manage an account that earns $200
to $300 a month in 2005. But now, an
agent has been earning $2,000 a
month for the company since 2013
because the pipeline is very
targeted,” said Van Cubing, an
electrical engineering graduate of
Central Philippine University whom
Norris immediately hired as IT
manager in 2005.
Callbox's operations started
with only two Ilonggos hired in 2004
and by 2005, three more joined the
team that worked on basic search
tools and basic controls for
telephone systems.
The systems became more
complex as the business grew.
“We made the pipeline from the
ground up and made software for
each feature, with Rom giving us the
ideas and the IT team working on the
tools,” said Van Cubing.
“As a lead generation company,
we give our clients an online system
TO ADVERTISE, PLEASE CALL
Through the Great Women Project, packaging and design of local
products are improved. Photos by Annelle Tayao-Juego
Locally made products with great potential for
sales growth include handwoven bags
Women find their place
in market value chain
By Annelle Tayao-Juego
Women helping women.
This simple concept is the
driving force behind a countrywide public-private partnership
program that is giving female
micro-entrepreneurs a leg up in
the market value chain.
Dubbed Great Women, the
program is spearheaded by
Jeannie Javelosa, Chit Juan and
Reena Francisco, the three
women behind Echstore, a small
retail chain that sells local
artisanal and organic products.
The Echotrio, as the three
business partners are
collectively called, started Great
Women as a partnership with the
Philippine Commission on
Women (PCW). PCW initially
implemented a five-year project
on electoral empowerment for
women in underprivileged
communities called Great, which
was funded by the Canadian
International Development
Agency (Cida).
“However, [PCW] realized
they couldn't fully empower
these women, because
empowerment meant making
their own money. Eight months
before the project (Great) ended,
PCW approached us for help,”
said Javelosa, who was with Juan
and Francisco at the soft opening
of their newest Echostore (now
with an Echodeli) in Salcedo
Village, Makati.
“Our innovation, under the
Echosi Foundation, was to
provide market access for the
women micro-entrepreneurs
[through the Great Women
program,” she added.
Echosi (Empowering
Communities with Hope and
Opportunities through
Sustainable Initiatives)
Foundation, according to its
website echosi.org.ph, “is a
nonprofit foundation that
teaches sustainability issues for
e m p owe r i n g m a rg i n a l i z e d
groups, women's groups and
cultural communities.”
The Echotrio put up the
foundation to further improve
their suppliers' product
development and marketing.
Javelosa is Echosi president.
The Great Women program
started about two years ago, with
the Echotrio conducting design
clinics, product development
training using available local
materials and skills training.
Toget her w it h pa rt ner
government agencies such as
Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) and Department
of Science and Technology
( D O S T ) , a s we l l a s l o c a l
government units, the Echotrio
c o n d u c t e d t h e s e t ra i n i n g
sessions in Bohol, Quezon, Iloilo,
Bicol, Ifugao, Leyte and Davao.
Designers such as Ann
Pamintuan, Len Cabili and Lulu
Tan-Gan also lent their talents to
the program.
Around 20-30 women
micro-entrepreneurs were
chosen for Great Women,
including 62-year-old Princess
Kumalah Sug-Elardo, a coffeemaker from Panamao, Sulu; 39year-old Bagobo weaver
Vivencia Mamites, who makes
inabal, a traditional cloth of the
u
Page 22
Finance chief open to income tax cuts
But wants revenue-raising bills passed, too
T h e Ta x M a n a g e m e n t
are taxed at 32 percent. This is
Association of the Philippines
significantly higher than
Finance department officials
(TMAP) said income taxes in the
Malaysia's 11 percent, Thailand's
are open to amending the
Philippines were the highest in
10 percent, Vietnam's 20 percent
country's current income tax
the region. The World Bank
and Singapore's 2 percent.
structure to bring rates and
likewise said the government
Among the measures
brackets in line with regional
should consider lowering income
Purisima wanted passed before
norms, but support would be
taxes to make Filipino workers
touching income taxes included
contingent on the passage of
more competitive in Southeast
the rationalization of fiscal
other measures to raise revenues.
Asia.
incentives for corporations and
Speaking at the Senate
For ordinary employees,
the fiscal responsibility bill,
Tuesday, August 19, Finance
TMAP said the country's top
which mandates that lawmakers
Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said
earners should be taxed 30
identify funding sources for
what was vital was that the
percent - at most - of their gross
legislation that requires fresh
government's spending program
incomes. TMAP said a tax rate
outlays for incentives.
for infrastructure and social
somewhere between 20 and 30
Purisima said the
services remained funded.
percent would be appropriate
Department of Finance (DOF)
“Once we pass the other
and would be more in line with
and the Department of Trade and
measures, we'd be open to review
regional standards.
Industry (DTI), which grants
this,” said Purisima, head of the
This change should be done,
incentives to companies, have
Cabinet's economic cluster. “We
the industry group said, “in order
reached an agreement on a
u
Page 22
can't tweak just one part. We
to make the Philippine workforce
version of the bill that would be
should run models to see the
more competitive with its
passed to Congress this week.
effects,” he said.
(Southeast Asian) neighbors.”
Senate President Franklin
Calls to amend the current
Under existing laws, ordinary
Drilon, a member of the Senate
income tax regime, which has
employees are taxed
committee on finance, assured
defined top earners as
progressively according to their
Purisima that amendments to
individuals earning P500,000 a
salaries. Those earning at least
income tax would not be passed
year, has snowballed in recent
P500,000 a year - the prevailing
without parallel revenue-raising
weeks.
threshold for the top tax bracket measures. Inquirer.net
201-434-1114
By Paolo G. Montecillo
August 22-28, 2014
Page 22
Women find ...
From page 21
B a g o b o - Ta g a b awa t r i b e ;
Ludivina Boston, 66, from
Midsayap, North Cotabato,
another weaver who has
trained women on handloom
weaving at the Rural
Improvement Club; Emelia
Galia, 44, heads a group of
makers of cassava chips called
the Bubon Food Processors
Food Association in Baybay,
Leyte; 38-year-old Ronavelle
Amen from Iloilo who makes
peanut products; and Teodora
Aquino of Gainza, Camarines
Sur, who makes crab paste.
Javelosa said they had to be
specific in their workshops,
teaching the women how to
price their products based on
cost of materials and labor, and
how to create more appealing
designs to capture the niche
lifestyle market.
“There was one group that
made wine. [We asked them],
'Where are you going to bring
that?” Said Javelosa. “We can't
compete internationally with
other wine-making countries.
So we said, 'This tastes more
like vinegarlet's make it
vinaigrette.'”
Javelosa added that they
were also very strict in
choosing which entrepreneurs
would be allowed to join the
program.
“I told them, if you don't
have the discipline to become a
Iloilo-based
BPO ...
From page 21
where they can get the
information, which in turn
comes from our existing
database that is constantly
updated. If the client says, 'I'd
like to contact a thousand IT
managers,' we could do that,”
said Van Cubing.
He added that companies
approach Callbox just to buy
its targeted and updated
information from the pipeline
that Ilonggos were able to
build.
businesswoman, then we don't
have anything to talk about,”
she said.
The women microentrepreneurs had to go
through four levels of
assessment and workshops at
the start of the project: First
was product assessment and
workshop; second, a design
clinic and a check of the quality
of food products; third,
another clinic wherein
participants were assigned
“homework” to improve their
products, and were taught how
to cost their products and
p r o d u c t i o n ; a n d l a s t l y,
preparation of their products
for market testing and usage.
Those who weren't able to
meet the requirements or turn
in their homework were cut
from the group.
Phase 1 of Great Women
ended last February, when the
brand and its products were
officially launched. Best-selling
products include flavored
peanuts, crab paste, flavored
chips, vinaigrettes and dried
noodles.
With the program's
success, the Echotrio is taking
it one step further by making
Great Women the country's
gender platform at the next
Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (Apec) Summit,
which the Philippines is
hosting in 2015.
“[Cida] has approved the
next phase [of Great Women]
for the next five to six years,”
The pipeline of
information is a major revenue
earner for Callbox that now
has 800 employees in its Iloilo
and Davao offices.
It also has 20 software
developers seeking to further
f i n e t u n e t h e c o m p a ny ' s
pipeline.
Callbox chief executive
officer Agustin, whose family
comes from Pangasinan, said
that when he set up the
company's first office in Iloilo
City, he wanted Callbox to be
known as a Philippine-born
company that is globally
competitive.
His goal has been achieved.
Callbox is now one of the
said Javelosa. They are now
concentrating on introducing
the Great Women brand and
products to the international
market.
Thanks to a grant given by
the Peace and Equity
Foundation, Javelosa and Juan
will be at the New York Artisan
Resource Trade Show this
month to showcase chic bag
designs by local weavers,
including those created by
Bagobo weaver Vivencia
Marites.
“I, personally, am focusing
on the indigenous textiles and
design,” said Javelosa. “I want
this to become more culturedriven.”
Javelosa added that, under
the Echosi Foundation, the
Great Women brand will be
open for licensing.
“We are targeting big
companies (for the licensing)
so we can really spread the
Great Women brand,” she said.
The Echotrio are also
tapping the Department of
Agriculture, National
Commission for Culture and
the Arts, Center for
International Trade
Expositions and Missions
(Citem) and the USAID to
further strengthen Great
Women.
“I'm so passionate about
this,” said Javelosa, “because
I've seen the good that can
come out of it.” Inquirer.net
Baguio offers ...
From page 20
technology, skills, infrastructure and
systems that deliver on both current
and future needs.”
“At 3,914 millimeters (mm) a year,
Baguio City already has the highest
average rainfall in the Philippines. In
1910, it established a Philippine record
for highest annual rainfall at 9,006 mm.
In 1911, it garnered the world record [at
the time] for highest rainfall in 24 hours
at 1,168 mm. In 1950, it posted another
world record for rainfall in 48 hours, at
2,009 mm,” the study said. “And more
recently, in 2001, Baguio City registered
the Philippine record for highest rainfall
in one hour, 1,085 mm.”
This means that the mountain
resort city has substantial water
resources that may be harnessed, Hinay
said.
The Baguio Water District (BWD)
operates only one rain reservoir on Mt.
Sto. Tomas, which it built in 1985 using a
government loan.
Recently, four water distribution
companies expressed their interest in
supplying Baguio water, among them
businessman Manuel Pangilinan, who
chairs the Philex Mining Corp.
According to Edilberto Carabbacan,
Cordillera regional director of the
Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH), towns or cities can
invest in P10-million small impounding
dams, or share in building a common
rain reservoir that may cost up to P100
million.
Selling potable water outside the
region is a viable idea, he said,
considering that the Cordillera has yet
to see any economic windfall from being
Lu zon's wa tershed cra dle. The
headwaters of many Luzon rivers are in
the upland Cordillera provinces.
has been the expensive stage of water
distribution for many utilities.
Investors, however, can tap into new
filtering technologies being developed
for a mass-based clientele.
The Cordillera Studies Center of the
University of the Philippines Baguio (UP
Baguio) has been studying various home
filtration processes to draw out a costeffective filter that uses indigenous
materials.
One study focuses on a filtering
device developed by the Mariano Marcos
State University (MMSU). The device
reduces the bacterial content of
rainwater before it undergoes the
conventional treatment process.
UP Baguio is piloting a three-stage
rain water filtration process for its
campus.
Green mobility
Baguio groups have also been
seeking technology to clean the city's air
and unclog its jammed streets.
Last year, Toshio Harashima of the
Baguio-based Japanese Association in
Northern Luzon set up a booth at the
Benguet State University in La Trinidad
town in Benguet province to popularize
electric vehicles.
This year, BHF began drawing
signatures to a petition that calls for the
institutionalization of SUMP. This urban
renewal plan proposes to use batterypowered shuttles, instead of the
conventional jeepneys and taxi cabs, on
the side streets of downtown Baguio.
BHF said the SUMP would free up
downtown Session Road for purely
pedestrian traffic, which would benefit
local businesses based on an urban
behavioral study that showed that less
stressed residents are more prone to
spend.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan has a
different mass transport solution, having
commissioned a feasibility study for a
light rail transit system that would
accommodate people from neighboring
Home filtering
Water harvesting also opens up a Benguet towns who travel to Baguio to
world's largest and most
potential side business in water work or to study.
recognized companies in the
Domogan had also asked the private
filtration systems, which investors
B2B marketing industry.
sector
for ideas concerning parking in
could
design
for
single
household
use.
I t wa s a wa r d e d To p
Baguio households have been the central business district.
Outsourcer of outbound
On July 23, Kim Peter Glassborow,
collecting rainwater each time the
services
by i n d u s t r y
Parkwise Philippines chief executive
monsoon
season
sets
in.
Owners
of
authority Contact Center
houses and buildings in the city invest in officer, and Brian Cole, CW Developments
World in 2009 and in 2010 and
water tanks, recycled containers and Inc. president, discussed a proposal to
named Leading Provider of
plastic drums, which they use to collect dig the Melvin Jones football grounds in
Outsourced Sales and
water that they can use in cleaning and Burnham Park to build underground
Marketing Services by
parking spaces, on the suggestion of
toilet flushing.
D a t a m o n i t o r, w h i c h
Four drums, a resident said, may cut Domogan.
investigates hundreds of top
But Glassborow said a feasibility
down his family's water delivery
performing BPO organizations
expenses by as much as P1,000 a month, study would have to be done to ensure
around the world in an
the project would not affect Burnham
when rains pour daily in Baguio.
independent survey.
Carabbacan said water treatment to Park's aquifer. Inquirer.net
“Companies don't hire us
convert rainwater into potable water
because we are cheap, but
because we are good,” said
Agustin. Inquirer.net
The PPA hopes that the reduction in
fees will encourage ICTSI, as port
operator, to shoulder the cost of moving
From page 20
out all overstaying cargo at the Port of
Transport Corp., NYK Shipping Lines, Manila. The vessel will ship about 6,000
SITC Container Lines, American containers out of Manila's ports to Subic.
Presidents Lines, Regional Container ICTSI is chartering a vessel with a
Lines/Pacific International Lines, and capacity of about 1,300 twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs) with a GRT of
CMA-CGM.
PPA said it also approved incentives 18,321 tons for at least 14 days to ferry
for International Container Terminals empty containers and other overstaying
Services Inc. (ICTSI) to declog the Ports containers from the Ports of Manila to
Subic.
of Manila.
During its stay in the country, the
PPA said the port dues for the vessel
chartered by ICTSI to bring out vessel is expected to ship about 4,000overstaying cargo from the Port of 6,000 TEUs out of the Manila ports.
Congestion at Manila's ports
Manila to Subic would be reduced from
$0.081 per GRT per call to only $1 per continues to decline, with yard
call, while dockage-at-berth would be utilization almost down to the desired
cut to $1 per vessel from $0.039 per GRT level of 80 percent, the PPA said.
Inquirer.net
per calendar day, or a fraction thereof.
Gov’t entices ...
To advertise please call
201-434-1114
August 22-28, 2014
Page 23
Marian, Dingdong
detail wedding plans
Jose Mari Chan
By Marjorie S. Duran
'A love to last
a lifetime’
By Crispina Martinez - Belen
For its 8th anniversary,
Outbox Media Production (OBM)
Agency and partners will present
a concert to help rebuild Tacloban
communities.
The concert, billed “A Love to
Last a Lifetime,” is a plated dinner
affair top-billed by multi-awarded
singer-composer Jose Mari Chan,
Ate Gay and the Baihana trio.
“Passion. Dedication.
Diversity. Through the years,
these three words continue to
sum up what the OBM team is
committed to. This concert is
another proof of that. It will be a
night of great music, delicious
food, and a good cause,” says
Rossel Taberna of OBM. Manila
Bulletin
Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes
look forward to spending forever together.
The two, known to fans as DongYan, will
exchange “I do's” on Dec. 30 at the
Immaculate Conception Cathedral in
Cubao, Quezon City.
At a press conference dubbed “The
Royal Engagement,” the couple shared why
they chose the venue and date.
“Gusto namin mangyari sa simbahan
bilang we're both Roman Catholic and yung
(Immaculate Concepcion) ang isa sa mga
simbahan na madalas naming
puntahan…and Dec. 30 because gusto
namin a day before the year ends, and we
also wanted na mapaghandaan siya,” said
the actor.
Marian echoed his future husband's
statement, adding, “Importante talaga sa
akin na sa simbahan. Gusto ko talaga
andiyan si God.”
The couple hasn't decided yet on other
wedding details, including the entourage
and the reception venue; nor has Marian
chosen a designer for her wedding gown.
If anything, they are certain of two
things: Marian's best friends, Roxanne
Barcelo and Ana Feleo, will both be maids of
honor; while Dingdong's younger brother,
Angelo Dantes, will be best man.
Marian and Dingdong will become one on Dec. 30 via church
u
Page 24
wedding (Photo by Michael Varcas)
'Barber's Tale:'A tribute
to strong women
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Anne Curtis
If provoked, Anne Curtis
would fight for her man
By Marinel R. Cruz
Anne Curtis will not hesitate to
jump into a catfight for her man.
“If a girl who is trying to seduce
my boyfriend provokes me, I could
get really physical with her. I'm
speaking for every woman in love,”
said Anne, who has been dating
French-Filipino Erwan Heussaff
since 2011.
In her movie opening Sept. 3,
the Chris Martinez romantic
comedy “The Gifted,” Anne's
character Zoe figures in a fight with
childhood friend Aica (played by
Cristine Reyes) over a classmate
(Sam Milby).
Anne recounted fighting for a
relationship once. “My guy really
Filmmaker Jun Robles Lana
recalls having soldiers, priests
and insurgents in his clan.
As a kid living with his family
in Bicol during martial law, he
would hear the grown-ups talk
about volatile social and political
problems. But he never joined in
the discussions.
Now an adult, the awardwinning filmmaker gets to
participate in the discourse
through the film “Barber's Tales,”
currently in local cinemas.
The internationally-lauded
film is based on an old script that
won for Lana a Palanca Award in
1997.
tried to avoid a girl who was
Jun Robles Lana (right) directs the cast, led by Eugene Domingo (second from
seducing him.” She added, “But if
left) and Iza Calzado (third from right), in a remote town in Quezon province.
you see that he's also entertaining
Facebook photo
the girl, walk away - they deserve
each other.”
Nonstop
problems. It makes me wonder transcend the difficulties.”
She addressed the persistent
“I wanted to make a film on how much progress we've
He described his ensemble rumor that she and Erwan had
women empowerment, in honor actually achieved.”
led by Domingo, Eddie Garcia,
broken up: “This will just keep
of my mom and all the strong
Shoot for the film, in a remote Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine
[spreading] because we're not very
women who had a profound town in the mountains of Quezon Buencamino, Gladys Reyes and
public with our relationship. We
influence on my life,” he said. province, was quite arduous, he Iza Calzado - as “brilliant and
don't post mushy pictures on
Lead actress Eugene Domingo's recounted. “We shot nonstop for dedicated.”
Instagram.”
character Marilou is a tribute to almost a month - working 20
As a bonus, he got to direct
As for settling down, the 29his mentor, the late filmmaker hours a day, at the height of the Nora Aunor. “I was shocked that
year-old actress said she'd like this
Marilou Diaz-Abaya.
typhoon season. There was no she agreed to do a cameo. It was
to happen in three or four years. “In
Lana elaborated: “[The] electricity and no cell phone an extremely thrilling experience
our industry, you stop being
1 9 7 0 s s a w o u r c o u n t r y signal there. We stayed in an to direct the Superstar.”
leading-lady material when you
struggling against poverty, abandoned and dilapidated
“Barber's Tales” has won
become a wife. But happily, times
insurgency, corruption and schoolhouse.”
awards in Udine (Italy), Tokyo
are changing. People seem to be
domestic issues like
He lauded his hard-working (Japan) and Madrid (Spain), but
u
Page 24
reproductive health. It's 2014 c a s t a n d c r e w . “ T h e i r Lana's fondest wish is for his film
u
Page 24
and we're facing the same c o m m i t m e n t h e l p e d u s
August 22-28, 2014
Page 24
Cristine happy with
role in 'The Gifted'
By Shirley Pizarro
Cristine Reyes is happy
with her role in Viva Films'
“The Gifted” because it didn't
require her to bare skin unlike
in past outings, including “The
Trophy Wife.”
She was vocal in saying
that she is not inclined to
pursue sexy roles after her
last one because she wants to
be able to try other portrayals
that would help her become a
better actress. She even
announced that “The Trophy
Wife” was to be the last time
her male fans will see her bare
on the big screen.
In “The Gifted,” co-starring
Anne Curtis and Sam Milby,
Cristine plays the role of
scholar Aica Tabayoyong, a
poor and nerdy student with a
bad case of acne and is given to
wearing thick glasses. She
used to be best friends with
another outcast, rich and
obese Zoe Tuazon (played by
Anne Curtis), until they both
fell for the same guy, Mark
Ferrer (played by Sam). To
win the affection of Mark, both
If provoked ...
From page 23
warming up to the idea of moms playing
lead roles. Jodi Sta. Maria ('Be Careful
With My Heart') is proof of that.”
Anne hopes to become a mom in five
years. “I'd rather get married before
having a baby but, if it happens [the
other way around], it would not be an
issue to me.”
How do you react when people say
you drink too much?
I've heard worse. I don't deny that I
drink and that I get drunk sometimes.
How would you assess your
recently concluded TV program,
“Dyesebel”?
It's safe to admit that it suffered
because it wasn't canned, pero naitawid
naman namin.
Did you have to adjust to working
with your ex-boyfriend?
Sam and I didn't speak for four
years. The long break helped. He may
not have worked out for me as a
boyfriend, but he's amazing as a friend.
Was Erwan ever jealous of Sam?
Not anymore. Erwan just [felt]
Barber’s Tale ...
Cristine Reyes
will go to great lengths to
change their appearance.
The interesting part about
the movie is that both Cristine
and Anne allowed themselves
to be deglamorized for their
respective roles, cooperating
fully with film director Chris
Martinez's requirements.
Audiences should watch out
for the catfights between the
two. Playdate is Sept. 3. Manila
Bulletin
Davao City declares
Ramon Bautista as
'persona non grata'
By Aries Joseph Hegina
MANILA -- The Davao City
Council, led by Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte, on Tuesday, August
19 declared comedian Ramon
Bautista as “persona non
grata” in Davao City, citing
that “he is an extremely
corrupt influence to the
youth” and “his abusive
behavior should not be
tolerated,” a TV report said.
The resolution stemmed
from Bautista's remark in a
rave party in Davao City
during Saturday's
Kadayawan Festival
celebration, saying, “Ang
daming hipon dito sa Davao.”
He also led the people in
chanting “hipon.”
“Hipon” or shrimp is a
colloquial term for a person
who only has an attractive
body but an unattractive face.
Bautista later apologized
after Davao City Vice Mayor
Paolo Duterte reprimanded
him.
He also issued an apology
to be embraced by his countrymen as
well.
Realistic
“Foreigners loved our film [but] I am
realistic in my expectations. It's not the
usual box-office fare, but I still hope it
will find an audience here,” said Lana.
“At its core, it's about every Filipino's
struggle for identity and recognition.
But I made it entertaining and
compelling, since cinema is primarily
Marian, Dingdong ...
From page 23
As to Principal Sponsors, DongYan
has veteran star Vilma Santos and
President NoyNoy Aquino in mind.
“We have not spoken to (Pnoy) yet
but we would love to have him if ever,”
said Dingdong.
Why public?
Dingdong shrugged off
insinuations that he made the wedding
proposal public because he aims to run
for public office in 2016.
He finds the accusation “unfair,”
explaining that all he wanted was to
share the “happy” moment with fans.
“Everyone has been part of our
story. We can choose to keep this
private but hindi namin ginawa. We
can't deny the fact that we both started
in GMA…”
Marian and Dingdong first worked
together on GMA-7's “Marimar” in
2008.
Ramon Bautista.
Inquirer photo
on Twitter on Monday,
admitting that he made a
mistake and is willing to
accept any consequence
which may stem from his
deed.
The resolution also cited
an incident where Bautista
posted a picture of him with
three young girls on his
Instagram account during the
said party with a caption, “Ito
From page 23
ang kabataan ngayon hihi.
# k a d a y a w a n
#PasisikatinKitaHijaFoundat
ion”.
The City Council said that
Bautista's action “willfully
and arrogantly intended to
propagate a culture of sexism
and male chauvinism that
promotes rude and
disrespectful behavior
against women.” Inquirer.net
Happy family
The two plan to start a family the
soonest time possible.
In fact, Marian, an only child, is
already readying herself as a mom - and
to a lot of children at that.
She said, “Hanggat kaya gumawa ng
madaming anak, bakit hindi? Mahirap
awkward about the setup in the
beginning. He complained that I spent
more time with my ex than him. Now,
he's cool with it. He's not jealous; he
trusts me. That's the best part of being
in a relationship with someone mature.
How did you make him understand
show biz culture?
It helped that I was already in the
biz when we met. Also, he's half-French,
and very liberated in that sense.
What was your reaction to making
Time magazine's list of “50 smartest”
celebrities?
I didn't expect that. It's a great
feeling!
Time's smartest celeb Leonardo
DiCaprio often tweets about
environmental conservation. What do
you think helped you earn the 28th
spot?
I think they based the result on
several things, like the way you tweet or
spell. All my (6.8 million) followers
know that my Twitter account is a
bunch of everything. It can be about
social or environmental awareness or
random things, like my outfits in “It's
Showtime,” or my movie. Inquirer.net
for entertainment.”
He hopes the government will help
make Filipino movies become more
competitive here and abroad. “We need
government's support to build an
audience that is more open to other
types and genres of cinema.”
In the works is the third part of
Lana's small-town trilogy that began
with “Bwakaw” and continued in
“Barber's Tales.” “The last one is 'Ama
Namin (Our Father),' about an
orphaned 14-year-old boy who finds
out that his father is alive, but that he's a
priest,” he said. Inquirer.net
maranasan na nag-iisa ka lang, ayokong
maranasan ng anak ko 'yun. Ang sarap
kaya ng malaking pamilya!”
In a serious tone, Dingdong said,
“Ako, basta mahalaga sakin merong
(anak).”
To infinity and beyond
With God in the center of their
marriage, the couple is confident that
the union will stand the test of time.
“ Wa l a n g i m p o s i b l e k a p a g
nananalig sa kanya. Lahat ng bagay
nadadaan sa pagdadasal,” Marian said.
“Wala namang relasyon na palaging
smooth kasi lahat ay kahit papaano may
pinagdadaanan.”
Dingdong couldn't agree more,
citing this as the very reason it is a must
for them to be wed in church.
The actor believes that once they
are one through the sacrament of
matrimony, “'yung paghihiwalay at
pagtatapos ng relationship should not
be an option.”
To further strengthen their bond,
the Kapuso actor also considers
attending wedding seminars, saying he
is “very much willing to take part in
that.”
“I believe may ibang mga groups
who offer seminars and it won't hurt to
add something great and good to what
we already have,” said he. Manila
Bulletn
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August 22-28, 2014
Page 25
Lav Diaz’s epic 'Mula sa Kung Ano ang
Noon' wins top prize at Locarno fest
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Lav Diaz showing the trophy of his recent masterpiece “Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon (From
What Is Before)” for winning the Golden Leopard (or Pardo de Oro) in Locarno International
Film Festival in Switzerland. Contributed photo/Sailas Vanetti.
MANILA -- Filipino
filmmaker Lav Diaz's five-anda-half-hour epic “Mula sa Kung
Ano ang Noon (From What is
Before)” won the top prize at
the 67th Locarno International
Film Festival. The awards
ceremony was held in
Switzerland, Saturday (August
16) evening (Swiss time).
Diaz's film won the Golden
Leopard (or Pardo de Oro) in
the fest's main competition.
Locarno is considered one of
the top 14 film festivals in the
world, along with Cannes,
Venice and Berlin.
Diaz, who attended the film
fest in Switzerland, told the
Inquirer in an email interview,
that he dedicated the honor to
the country: “This award is not
just for me; it's for Philippine
cinema.”
According to the Locarno
web site, the film won a cash
prize of 90,000 CHF to be
shared equally between the
director and the producer of
the Best Picture.
Diaz's film also brought
home the Fipresci prize, which
is handed out by the
International Federation of
Film Criticsan organization of
movie experts and reviewers.
Earlier, on Friday, Filipino
actress Hazel Orencio won the
Boccalino de Oro Independent
Critics Award for her work in
“Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon.”
Diaz's film also earned rave
reviews from foreign critics from various publications like
indieWire, the Hollywood
Reporter and Filmmaker
Magazine.
On the Locarno's official
web site, five critics singled out
Diaz's film as their “favorite” in
the festival: Emanuele Sacchi of
MyMovies.it, Tereza Fischer of
Filmbulletin, Antonio Mariotti
of Corriere del Ticino, Ugo
Brusaporco of La Regione and
Stéphane Gobbo of L'Hebdo.
Inquirer.net
'Peksman' album a fairytale-come- Another Filipina makes the
true for Hannah Nolasco country proud
For 16-year-old rising star Hannah
Nolasco, getting to record an album is like a
fairytale-come-true.
Hannah exemplifies the typical teenage
Filipina. But what sets her apart from her
peers is her being a free spirit. She also has the
gift of being able to narrate her personal
experiences through songs.
She shares, “I want to capture the moments
to remember what I am going through.”
Hannah describes her music as fun and
youthful. “My music will always reflect what I
believe in.”
Just like any father, Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco
Jr. PAF (Ret), is quite supportive of her
daughter. He explains, “The album is my
humble way of bringing Hannah closer to the
realization of her dreams.”
With the prayers and support of her Lola
Josie, her Tita Jackie and well-meaning friends
from the media, “Peksman,” was successfully
completed in no time.
Hannah, a fourth year high school student
from San Beda Alabang, will launch “Peksman”
last August 17 at the Hard Rock Café as part of
the advance celebration of her birthday on
August 19.
Hannah Nolasco
Filipina beauty Joyce Peñas Pilarsky
was recently crowned Classic Mrs. Asia
International Global 2014. She is the first
Pinay to win the title, besting 14 other
finalists in the competition held in Kuala
Lumpur.
In a press conference held at Roma
Salon at Manila Hotel, Joyce shared, “It has
been my dream to become an international
beauty queen and praise God, it happened!”
Winning titles and awards is not new to
Joyce, who is also a fashion designer. In
2000, she was named Mrs. PhilippinesGermany, and in 2013, she was chosen as
Magnificent Women Icon Philippines.
Other honors she's receieved are the
Asian Achiever award as Outstanding
Fashion Icon from the Asia Pacific Council;
the 2014 Dangal ng Bayan award; and the
2014 Seal of Excellence award.
Joyce's ultimate dream is to establish an
international fashion brand with Angelina
Jolie as signature model. Local celebrities
who've worn Joyce's clothes include Solenn
Heusaff, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and
Miss World Megan Young. Manila Bulletin
Joyce Peñas Pilarsky
August 22-28, 2014
Page 26
Two Filipino films selected KC Concepcion joins
in Asian Project Market
'Ikaw Lamang'
By Jonathan M. Hicap
The Asian Project Market
(APM) will be held as part of
the 19th Busan International
Film Festival in South Korea in
October.
A total of 30 projects from
20 countries were chosen for
this year's APM, and two these
are Filipino gems directed by
two award-winning Pinoy
directors: Hannah Espia's
“Learning to Build a Fire”; and
Brillante Mendoza's “Fowl,” a
co-production of the
Philippines, France and
Germany.
Mendoza won the 2005
Locarno International Film
Festival Golden Leopard (for
“Masahista”) and the 2009
Cannes Film Festival Best
Director (“Kinatay”) awards.
Espia, on the other hand, has
b e e n awa rd e d fo r B e s t
Direction at this year's Gawad
Urian Awards for the film
“Transit.”
The APM is the biggest
investment and coproduction market in Asia,
according to the organizers. It
connects promising film
projects to investors.
KC Concepcion
Directors Brillante Mendoza (left) and Hannah Espia (Photos:
Mendoza's Instagram and Espia's Facebook)
The 19th Busan
International Film Festival
will run from October 2 to 11;
the Asian Project Market will
be held from October 6 to 8.
According to the film
festival organizers, Korean
a c t re s s M o o n S o r i a n d
Japanese actor Ken Watanabe
(who appeared in this year's
“Godzilla”) will host the
opening ceremony slated on
October 2. Manila Bulletin
MANILA -- Mega daughter KC
Concepcion will return on
television this August via the hit
ABS-CBN primetime series
"Ikaw Lamang."
After the success of the
soap's book one, Kim Chiu and
Coco Martin's character will
continue as next members of the
Hidalgo and Severino families.
Coco will now play Gabriel
while Kim will breathe life to
Andrea. KC, on the other hand,
will take on the role of Natalia,
the elder sister of Chiu's
character.
A s i d e f r o m KC , " I k a w
Lamang" will also feature
seasoned actors such as Amy
Austria, Joel Torre, Rio Locsin,
u
Page 27
Isabelle's second wind
By Marjorie S. Duran
She is still known to many as
“Duday,” her character in the now
defunct GMA-7 sitcom “Daddy DiDoDu.”
It's been eight years since her child
acting turn but Isabelle de Leon noted,
“hanggang ngayon Duday pa rin ang
tawag sa akin.”
Though grateful for having made her
mark via the show, Isabelle maintains
that it's high time she reintroduces
herself to the public.
“'Yung effort na lumayo from Duday
feeling ko natural naman po kasi
nagdadalaga na rin ako, nag-mamature,” she said.
Isabelle now wants to be recognized
as a singer-songwriter-actress.
The 20-year-old made a splash in the
recording scene via her debut album
“LoveZone” released last year.
She is now set on furthering her
musical career via TV5's upcoming
musical series “Trenderas,” along with
Nora Aunor and newbie actresses
Katrina Velarde and Lara Mauige.
The former child star is hopeful that
the series will propel her career to
greater heights.
“I'm just praying and doing my best
sa bawat eksena,” she said.
The devout Christian also added,
“Kung saan man Niya ako dalhin, tuloy
ang career o maging simple lang ako, I
believe I'm content dahil alam ko na may
plano ang Panginoon for me.”
Isabelle is grateful for having a show
that allows her to showcase her skills in
acting and singing. “Parehong puso ang
pinapagana sa dalawa. They are the arts
na mahal na mahal ko talaga,” she said.
“Trenderas” tells the story of three
trinkets seller dreaming of becoming
singing professionals.
Starstruck
If there's one thing that Isabelle
would always cherish about being part
of the show, it's the day that Nora heaped
praises on her and fellow stars Katrina
and Lara.
She recalled Nora telling them,
“Naku, ang gagaling nitong mga batang
'to.”
The singer-actress considers herself
lucky to work with the veteran actress
whom she describes as “very kind,
sobrang humble at napaka-generous.”
Isabelle is cast in the upcoming series
'Trenderas' (Photo by Marjorie S. Duran)
She said meeting Nora had left her
“starstruck.” Thankfully, it helped that
their scenes together required her to act
just that.
“Ang role niya (Nora), siya 'yung idol
n a m i n n a m a g m e m e n to r s a m i n
kalaunan,” she related. “'Yung (required
emotion) sa eksena namin with her, 'yun
din 'yung emosyon namin in real life.
Starstruck na starstruck kami so
inilalabas lang namin 'yung totoo
naming nararamdaman.”
Isabelle said Nora offered her some
acting advice: “Magrelax lang. 'Wag
kakabahan.”
On 'daddy' Vic
Some months back, Isabelle was
reunited with “Daddy DiDoDu” lead
actor Vic Sotto via “Eat Bulaga!”
She said Vic uttered in surprise,
“Dalagang dalaga ka na!”
Isabelle added, “Tuwang-tuwa
silang lahat (to see me again), including
tito Joey de Leon, Michael V and tita Ruby
(Rodriguez) kasi hindi nila akalain na
marunong ako magsulat ng kanta.”
Isabelle hopes to work with her
'daddy' Vic again and certainly wouldn't
mind if an offer comes her way. Manila
Bulletin
August 22-28, 2014
Page 27
Solenn Heussaff: I've
already settled down
Coco Martin. Inset: Joel Torre (top) and Christopher de Leon
Coco looks up to
Christopher, Joel
By Rowena Tan
Actor Coco Martin hopes to follow in
the footsteps of veteran actors Joel Torre
and Christopher de Leon, both of whom
he is working with in the series “Ikaw
Lamang.”
“Sina Tito Boyet at Tito Joel, isa po
silang inspirasyon para sa'kin. Sabi ko,
sana dumating ang araw na marating ko
'yung narating nila na matatandaan ka
ng tao dahil sa ginawa mo,” he told
Bulletin Entertainment in a recent
interview.
The 32-year-old said he admires
Torre and de Leon not only for their
dedication and discipline as actors but
also for their kind heart.
“Siyempre nandoon din po 'yung
marami akong natutunan sa kanila
pagdating sa personal na buhay,” he
added.
Martin said that he notice a lot of
“similarities” between him and Torre,
revealing, “kapag nasa set kami, inaaral
ko siya 'di lang bilang aktor (kundi pati)
bilang tao.”
He didn't discuss these parallels in
depth, but he acknowledged that he still
has a long way to go before reaching his
status.
“Nandoon pa lang ako sa gumagawa
ako ng direksyon para sa sarili ko,” he
said.
Not pressured
Martin's main priority at this point is
to save for the future.
He shared that this is so he can
provide a good life for his future wife.
“Siyempre dapat 'pag mahal mo ang
isang tao… kapag nakita mo na ang
taong minamahal mo, ipaglalaban mo na
'yan habang buhay eh, dapat nakapagipon ka na,” he said.
Coco's is not aiming to be a multibillionaire, stressing that he only wants
a comfortable life.
“Sabi ko nga dati pa na hindi naman
sobra-sobra 'yung gusto o pangarap ko
para sa pamilya ko. Mataas 'yung
pangarap ko pero alam ko lang kung ano
'yung para sa akin…” he said. Manila
Bulletin
KC Concepcion joins ... From page 26
Nonie Buencamino, and Christopher de Leon.
Completing the new cast are Smokey Manaloto, Arlene Muhlach, Jojit
Lorenzo, and Mylene Dizon. "Ikaw Lamang" started with the love story of Samuel
and Isabelle, played by Coco and Kim, respectively. Their love was tested by time,
personal and political conflict.
The soap also featured performances of Jake Cuenca, who recently won the
Best Male Kontrabida trophy at the 4th Yahoo! Celebrity Awards, Julia Montes,
Angel Locsin, Cherie Gil, Cherry Pie Picache, Tirso Cruz III, Ronaldo Valdez and
more. The Kapamilya series, which is under the production of Dreamscape
Entertainment Television, is directed by Malu Sevilla, Manny Palo, and Avel
Sunpongco.
The Filipino Express is only $40 (52
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MANILA -- For Solenn
Heussaff, settling down
doesn't mean getting
married.
The 29-year-old actress
was asked what age she
intends to settle down with
her boyfriend, Argentine
businessman Nico Bolzico.
"Settled down na naman
ako, almost three years nagli-live in na kami. Pag may
singsing, same, wala namang
mag-iiba," she answered.
On whether she still
hopes to walk down the aisle,
Heussaff added: "Hindi ako
pressured. Siyempre naman,
it's every girl's dream, but if it
doesn't happen now, hindi
ako iiyak."
If she and Bolzico do get
married, Heussaff said she
would prefer to have the
ceremony done outside the
Philippines, with only close
friends and family members
in attendance.
"Pag magkasal ako, sa
abroad for sure, kasi gusto ko
maliit 'yung wedding," she
said. "Ayoko mag-invite ng
mga hindi close. Kahit sa
family ko, I'm not so close to
Solenn Heussaff
everyone, so gusto ko lang 60
people sa wedding. Thirty sa
side ko, 30 sa side niya."
Among the few celebrity
guests, Heussaff said, would
be Lovi Poe, Heart
Evangelista, Rufa Mae Quinto,
Michelle Madrigal, Bianca
King, and Rhian Ramos,
among others.
Heussaff's preference to
keep her relationship private
extends to possible work
opportunities with Bolzico,
who was recently tapped as
an ambassador of a watch
brand.
While she will not
prohibit her boyfriend from
endorsing products, Heussaff
said it is unlikely that she will
agree to work with him in a
similar project.
"Parang ayoko, kasi after,
maraming intriga. You all
know I hate intriga. He can do
his own thing. Kung gusto
niya, gagawin ko, pero choice
ko lang, ayaw ko. His work is
his work, mine is mine," she
said.
Meanwhile, the
"Seduction" star said she is
happy for her brother, food
blogger Erwan Heussaff, and
actress Anne Curtis, who have
been a couple for four years
and a half now.
"Happy naman ako kasi
love ko si Anne. Pag
mangyayari ng something,
susubukan kong... I'd hit my
brother!" she quipped. "I love
Anne so much, so I'm happy
na sila parin. Strong naman
'yung relationship nila."
August 22-28, 2014
Page 28
Big names in billiards
playing in tournament
organized by Pacquiao
By Aquiles Zonio
Alekhine Nouri to train in the US for world chess championship. Facebook photo
8-year-old PH chess prodigy
gets world-class training in US
By Bert Eljera
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- An 8-year-old
Filipino chess prodigy is seeking
s p e c i a l i z e d c h e s s t ra i n i n g a n d
instructions in the United States in a bid
to contend in the World Youth Chess
championships.
Alekhine Nouri, a student at Far
Eastern University-FERN, left August 10
for California to get world-class training
at the North California House of Chess.
“Yes, we are sponsoring his trip here,
including the camp fees and lodging,”
said Ted Castro, who owns the chess
school, in a Facebook posting.
While at the facility, Nouri will be
tutored by a group of grandmasters and
international masters that includes GM
Enrico Sevillano and IM Ricardo de
Guzman. He was accompanied by his
father, NM Hamed Nouri, himself an
accomplished chess player.
“Gratitude is the memory of the
heart. Thank you, Sir Ted Castro & North
California House of Chess,” Alekhine
posted on his Facebook page. “I'm so
excited to see you.”
NorCal House of Chess conducts
chess camps for kids with grandmaster
coaching, and many of its students have
won national titles at the scholastic and
junior levels. In addition to Sevillano and
de Guzman, FM Ronald Cusi also teaches
at the school. Former women's world
champion Susan Polgar and Varuzhan
Akobian, who is currently playing for
Team USA at the Chess Olympiad in
Tromso are also visiting teachers at the
facility.
“This kid needs all the support that
he can get,” Castro said. He added that
the boy's father solicited sponsorship,
but could only get a little, not enough to
sustain long training regimen for the
youth championship.
Castro said Nouri will attend the
NorCal summer chess camp that usually
last 10 weeks, but arrangement are
being made for the boy to stay longer.
This year's world youth championship
will be in Durban, South Africa, Sept. 18
30. Next year, it will be held in Porto
Carras, Greece. Nouri is following the
footsteps of Wesley So, the Philippines'
best player, who has decided to study in
the United States and sought foreign
coaching to improve his game.
However, So's situation is in limbo
because the NCFP, the chess governing
body in the Philippines has not
consented to his move to transfer
federation to the United States.
Inquirer.net
Algieri not in Pacquiao's league - Roach
By Nick Giongco
There's nothing in Chris Algieri that
turns Hall of Fame trainer Freddie
Roach on.
In the eyes of Roach, the 30-yearold Algieri is just an ordinary guy
although he's “tall and got a lot of reach
advantage,” said the Wild Card guru in
an interview with fightnews over the
weekend as he gets ready to whip
Manny Pacquiao into form for the Nov.
23 clash in Macau with the unbeaten
American of Italian and Argentine
extraction.
While Algieri caused Roach some
pain following his victory over Ruslan
Provodnikov, a one-time sparring
partner of Pacquiao, Roach doesn't see
anything special in the native of Long
Island, New York.
“He's not in Manny's class. He is
jumping a little bit too soon,” said the
54-year-old former fighter.
But before Roach and Pacquiao get
reunited once again for the nth time
since 2001, Algieri and his Filipino rival
are going on a press tour of Macau and
Shanghai and four cities in the US
mainland beginning early next week.
The kickoff event of the promo tour
will be in Macau on Aug. 25 with The
Venetian, site of the November
showdown as host of the press
conference.
From the former Portuguese
colony, Pacquiao and Algieri and their
respective camps and the Top Rank
team, will travel to Shanghai for
another media gig there on Aug. 26 and
head to the US for similar stops in San
Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and
New York City.
Algieri stands 5-foot-10 and has a
three-and-a-half inch advantage,
possesses a longer reach and a pistonlike jab.
Still, Roach is still being nice and
diplomatic in assessing Algieri's overall
skills.
“He's a good boxer,” said Roach,
who wants to set up training camp in
General Santos City, and not in Metro
Manila, where Pacquiao's basketball
team Kia Motors will be headquartered
in preparation for the opening of the
PBA on Oct. 19. Manila Bulletin
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -International billiards artists
such as Mika Immonen of
Finland, Thorsten Hohmann of
Germany, Earl Strickland of the
United States and Ralf Soquet
of Germany, are coming to
town in September, Sarangani
Representative Manny
Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao told the Inquirer
in a telephone interview on
Friday these professional cue
artists were among billiard
players from 30 countries who
will be competing in the fiveday International Open Double
10-Ball Tournament that he
has organized.
The P5-million
tournament will be held at the
Pacman Multi-Sports
Gymnasium in the Tambler
district of General Santos
September 1 to 5. It will also
feature other noted foreign
players like Jason Shaw of
Canada, Darren Appleton of
the United Kingdom and
American Rodney Morris.
Rep. Manny Pacquiao. Inquirer photo
“Top billiard players from
30 countries have already
confirmed their attendance,”
said Pacquiao, himself a
billiards enthusiast.
He said he himself would
play alongside international
pool champion Marlon Manalo
during the tournament.
Pairs of Filipino
professional cue artists will
also be playing during the
Wo r l d P o c k e t B i l l i a r d s
Association-sanctioned event.
They include Nickoy Lining
and Ramil Gallego; Jeff de Luna
and Jeffrey Ignacio; Gaga
Gabica and Israel Rota; Efren
'Bata' Reyes and Django
Bustamante; and Dennis
Orcollo and Carlo Biado.
Pacquiao said the
tournament was part of
various activities lined up for
the city's week-long Tuna
Festival. The city will also be
celebrating its 46th charter
anniversary on September 5.
But he said his main goal in
inviting international pool
players over was “to promote
not just the image of Sarangani
and General Santos but of the
entire Mindanao.”
“So, it's a great opportunity
for us to prove to them that
there's more to Mindanao than
sensationalized reports of
v i o l e n c e a n d c o n f l i c t ,”
Pacquiao added.
Pacquiao said that the
tournament champion will
take home $40,000 plus a
trophy, while the first runnerup will pocket $15,000.
Cash prizes will also be
given even up to the 16th
placer, he said. Inquirer.net
August 22-28, 2014
Page 29
Hibla’ exhibit ...
From page 16
When the exhibit moved to its
permanent location, Sonja
Villarica Garcia discussed the
crafts of the Bagobo Tagbawa
ethnic group. A Bagobo master
weaver, an inabal weaver and an
abaca fiber dyer were with her to
show their skills.
In celebration of Women's
Month last March, the museum
hosted “Abel Ilokana: Celebrating
Women Weavers from Ilocos Sur,
La Union, Ilocos Norte and Abra.”
Showcased then were the
traditional occasions where abel
cloth was used, such as childbirths,
weddings and funerals. More
modern uses of abel cloth such as
those in fashion were also
featured.
Legarda recalled that aside
from lectures on traditional
textiles, the museum also makes
an effort to invite weavers from
different provinces like Laguna
and Aklan as well as dye-makers
like the Talaingod from Mt. Apo in
Davao.
Shortage of materials
More than the fear that
traditional textile making would
stop, the senator expressed
concern over how climate change
would affect the supply of
indigenous materials used to
create the fabrics. As it is, the
shortage of raw materials is
already cause for concern.
“Our indigenous textiles are
very dependent on raw materials.
The threads they use are made of
abaca, piña, cotton and silk; while
the dyes they use come from local
plants and herbs,” she pointed out.
Legarda said the Philippine
Fiber Industry Development
Authority and the Philippine
Textile Research Institute have
already raised concerns on the
frequency and strength of heavy
rains and typhoons, which affect
the quality and quantity of fiber
raw materials available for local
textile producers.
In the meantime, more effort
would be exerted to ensure that
people would remain aware of
traditional fabric making.
“This exhibit and the issues
surrounding it may not be a
priority of politicians because this
is not a matter of political savvy.
We just don't want a textile
exhibit, we want interactive
learning and continuous
education in textiles,” she
stressed.
For now, Legarda said the
National Museum hosts quarterly
lectures on indigenous textiles
and traditional knowledge.
“These are things to engage
people. We are starting it by
lighting a fire, and we hope it
would ignite a passion and this fire
would really germinate so every
school perhaps or local
government unit would have local
museums or contemporize the
way they present these. I hope this
exhibit sets an example to inspire
others,” Legarda said. Inquirer.net
EXPRESS SUDOKU
HOW TO PLAY: Place a number from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers from 1 to 9
Solution to Issue 33 Sudoku
Solution to Issue 33 Crossword
Why they are
coming home ...
From page 15
country was at the top of the heap
regionally when I left, and in just
30 years it had sunk to the
bottom.
“I returned, rather
disillusioned, to New York City,
but family considerations got into
the picture and I'm back in
Manila. Retirement was
premature and unplanned, but
my dad's death and the
circumstances around it forced
the issue, and I realized family
matters meant so much more to
me now as well as my other health
advocacies for which I've all but
given up my medical practice.
Aurora Noriega, MD
“Six months before my
retirement, I started having back
problems and feeling homesick at
the same time. I had lived in the
US from 1966 to 2000. I did a
yearlong internship in
Philadelphia, another year in
Ohio, another four years back in
Philadelphia before settling down
to OB-GYN practice in New Jersey.
“Mostly I missed family, my
sister's grandchildren, old
friends, and the good old Filipino
ways. I missed the food, too. It's
also cheaper to live here in
retirement. After living more than
half of my life in the US, I realized I
h a d l e f t my h e a r t i n t h e
Philippines. I've been back and
never had second thoughts about
it. But I have also left many
friends, as well as a part of me, in
the States. But, again, I brought
home with me lots of good
memories.”
“It was only in the year 2000,
after we had set up Ascott Manila,
Discovery Suites, Enterprise
Center and Food Park, that I was
able to tell myself that we had
done the right thing.”
Annabelle Wisniewski
“Destiny - that's what brought
us, my Polish-American husband
Tom and I, back to the Philippines.
N o t h i n g wa s c l e a r i n t h e
beginning. Tom and I had met in
Cornell University and settled in
San Francisco after living in Subic,
where Tom managed the Officers
Club. All our three sons were born
in Makati Medical Center.
“One day in 1994 I got an offer
to be a consultant to the Ascott
group in Singapore, an offer I
could not refuse. Singapore was
close enough for me to visit the
Philippinesmy mom was still very
much aroundotherwise I'd be
constantly calling Tom in tears
from the then boring and
unexciting Singapore. We opened
Ascott Jakarta, Ascott Mayfair
London, Ascott KL, and, finally in
1996, Ascott Manila.
“From being employed and
being made partners, no matter
how big our partners were or how
well-compensated we were, Tom
and I decided in the long run that
we'd be better off setting up our
own business here. Thus
Raintree, our family corporation,
was born. Tom came home in
1998. One by one our children, all
schooled and gainfully employed
and on their own in the US and
Europe, started coming home.
Tom Wisniewski
“More than Annabelle, it was I
who wanted to live, work and
grow old here. She could have
settled anywhere. We had lived
here in the early part of our
marriage when I managed the
Officers Club in Subic. And I was
hooked. I loved the lifestyle and
the close family ties.
“It's hard to believe how
things worked out for us. I
thought the US would be our
permanent home. We now live in
the house of my late mother-inlaw, the same house my three
boys stayed in as children and
where Annabelle hosted
classmates and friends since even
before my time. But such is life
hereties run deep.
“My wife is not bothered by
politics, the only negative side of
living here, which seems to
consume everybody else,
although now and then she can
still feel aghast at some of the
shenanigans. But it won't get in
the way of what she has set out to
do for the day. She'd say, instead of
complaining about the darkness,
people should light a candle. I'd
like to think we've come home to
do just that - light as many candles
in as many places as we can.”
Inquirer.net
EXPRESS CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Honor
6. Garments of goat hair
10. Blackthorn
14. Bushbaby
15. Start over
16. Distort
17. Nutritious
19. Therefore
20. Pass by
21. New Zealand parrot
22. Quaint outburst
23. Seminal fluid
25. Redress
26. Catholic church
service
30. Fit for farming
32. An abusive word or
phrase
35. Brown coal
39. High regard
40. Complex in design
41. Hopelessness
43. Noblewoman
44. Layers
46. Rice beer
47. Foundation
50. Type of vacuum flask
53. Historical periods
54. Knight's title
55. Flower part
60. Defeat decisively
61. A disorder of
memory
63. Feudal worker
64. At the peak of
65. Tumbler
66. Rip
67. Arid
68. Wash out with a
solvent
DOWN
1. Wings
2. Water source
3. Dogfish
4. Backside
5. Put on clothes
6. Paintings
7. A chemistry cup
8. An endocrine gland
9. Kind of bean
10. Enticements
11. Very slow in tempo
12. Keyboard instrument
13. Lyric poem
18. Born as
24. A thick flat pad
25. Seaweed
26. A fitting reward
(archaic)
27. Church alcove
28. Seats oneself
29. Daughter of a
step-parent
31. Remain
33. Warms
34. Arab chieftain
36. Bright thought
37. Chore
38. If not
42. Emit
43. Animal foot
45. Panic
47. Type of cap
48. Got up
49. Steam bath
51. Supply with
weapons
52. Cooktop
54. Resorts
56. Mobile phone
57. Brother of Jacob
58. Fog
59. Leisure
62. Gorilla
August 22-28, 2014
Page 30
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shopping malls and
entertainment.
Weekly, Monthly
and Six Months rates
reasonable.
Please call
Call 6098121940
917-379-4478
MED-TECH
WANTED
The Filipino
Express is only
$40 (52 copies)
for one year.
That’s only 77
cents per copy
and mailed
right to your
home !
Wanted Med-Tech
with experience.
Part time
(10 am to 6 pm)
in 33 Bowery,
Chinatown, NY
10002.
Please call
917-578-4260
Email:
[email protected]
For details, call us
at 201-434-1114
or send an email to
[email protected]
September 30, 2014
September 30, 2014
August 22-28, 2014
Page 31
August 22-28, 2014
Page 32

The Filipino Express v28 Issue 34

Transcription

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