US closely `watching` Duterte, says expert

Transcription

Alvarez: No VP
in parliamentary
goverment
Duterte spent over
P371M for successful
campaign; Binay poured
P463M
Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez
DAVAO CITY - A shift to a federal-parliamentary form of government could eliminate the position
of vice-president (VP), the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives said Tuesday.
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte,
a relative outsider in national
politics, has prioritized devolving
power and resources to local governments from the national leadership based in the capital.
“In a parliamentary set-up,
walang VP,” Davao del Norte Rep.
Pantaleon Alvarez told reporters.
“Depende yan kung ano mapagkasunduan, if it’s a Con-con (constitutional convention) or Con-ass
(constituent assembly), kung ano
mapagkasunduan dun [form of
government],” he said.
The vice-president elect, Leni
Robredo, is not a member of
Duterte’s PDP-Laban party and
ran with the outgoing administration’s Liberal Party in last month’s
elections.
Robredo’s role in the Duterte
government is unclear as he has
not offered her a cabinet position,
unlike past presidents.
The Duterte administration is
eyeing a shift from a unitary to a
federal form of government by
2022.
Sen. Grace Poe
MANILA — President-elect
Rodrigo Duterte spent over
P371 million in his campaign for
Malacañang, bankrolled largely
by big businessmen and patrons
from Davao City, according to
his statement of contributions
and expenditures (SOCE) submitted to the Commission on
Elections (Comelec).
June 8, Wednesday, was the
deadline for the submission of
campaign expenditure reports.
Outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay invested a bigger
amount, P463.45 million, in his
failed bid for the presidency,
while Sen. Miriam DefensorSantiago was the most frugal,
spending only P74.6 million.
Documents submitted to the
Comelec also showed that former Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., son of the
late banana magnate Antonio
Floirendo Sr., made the biggest
contribution to Duterte’s campaign, P75 million, or 20 percent of the total contributions
to the electoral war chest of the
long-time mayor of Davao City.
Please turn to Page 17
US closely ‘watching’ Duterte, says expert
THE UNITED States is “watching very carefully” the moves of
particularly during his first 100
days in Malacañang, and his reaction to the much-awaited ruling of
a United Nations tribunal court on
the Philippines’ maritime row with
China, according to an expert of a
US-based think tank.
“It is ironic that we are watching because if you ask leaders in
Washington right now, they would
say the US-Philippine relationship is at a high point,” said Ernest
Bower, a nonresident senior adviser for the Southeast Asia Program
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In an interview with the Inquirer
on Monday, Bower said the longstanding relations between the
Philippines and the United States
were even made stronger during
Pres-Elect Rody Duterte
the Aquino administration.
“And the defense relationship is at
least at a two-decade high,” he said.
No less than President Aquino
and US President Barack Obama
visited each other’s countries
twice, he noted.
“There is no reason to believe
that a new leader of the Philippines
would sacrifice all those good
things to move into a direction that
would put the Philippines in a less
secure and less economically prosperous position,” he said.
Wait-and-see period
Until Duterte officially assumes
the presidency on June 30, it is a
wait-and-see period for everyone
else, Bower said.
“He’s been a mayor and he has
said things in the campaign that gave
people cause to watch. But again I
really think all we can do is wait and
see who he puts on his team and wait
what he does,” he said.
Bower was among the speakers
at a symposium on “Asia-Pacific
Perspectives on Implementing the
Enhanced Defense Cooperation
Agreement (Edca),” which was
Farmers remind Rody on coco levy
LUCENA CITY—A national
farmers’ group has urged President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to deliver a campaign promise to return
to farmers billions of pesos of coconut levy forcibly collected by
the Marcos regime.
“Farmers look at him (Duterte)
as their only hope to reclaim the
levy,” said Jansepth Geronimo,
spokesperson of Kilusan Para sa
Tunay na Repormang Agraryo at
Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan).
In his campaign speeches,
Duterte vowed to order the distribution of the levy within a month
of his administration.
Duterte said “political will” was
needed to enforce the Supreme
Court decision to return the fund to
farmers after it ruled that the levy
was public fund meant to develop
the country’s coconut industry.
Geronimo said coconut farmers in Quezon were waiting for
Duterte’s plans on how to return
the levy.
Last year, President Aquino
issued Executive Order No. 179,
which governs the disposition and
privatization of the coco levy assets, and EO No. 180, which provides the guidelines for the use of
2 PHILIPPINE TRIBUNE
www.the philippinetribune.com
June 9-15, 2016
June 9-15, 2016
PHILIPPINE TRIBUNE 3
Killing Season?
IN A span of three days last week, from Thursday to Saturday, five men
died by what appeared to be summary execution—two in Negros Occidental, two in Iloilo and one in Negros Oriental. All were reported to have been
suspects in the trade in illegal drugs. Two were shot dead by motorcycleriding gunmen, and the bodies of the other three were found riddled with
gunshot wounds, their hands tied behind their back. The most gruesome
case had the victim’s hands cut off and a cardboard sign placed beside the
corpse: He was a thief, an addict and a member of the Akyat Bahay gang,
and others like him will be next, according to the message.
In Cebu days earlier, another man was found dead—hogtied, a rope
around his neck. The body was wrapped in a trash bag and secured with
packing tape. It also sported a warning written on bond paper: “Tulisan ko
(I’m a bandit), DU30.” And in May, just five days after Rodrigo Duterte
emerged the winner in the presidential election, a known drug user in Davao
City was felled by four bullets fired to his head and body by two masked
gunmen. The murder hardly merited mention in the papers; it seemed to be,
in the context of Davao at least, just one of those things.
No official statistics have been issued by the Philippine National Police
on whether vigilante justice is on the rise across the nation following the
open endorsement of extrajudicial crime-fighting methods by the incoming administration of President-elect Duterte. It will probably take a while
before the police under the command of Duterte’s designated PNP head,
Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa, will begin tallying the numbers.
Dela Rosa, who served as Davao City police chief from January 2012
to October 2013, appears to be much in the mold of his mentor and boss.
He has taken to cursing in public like Duterte, and is an enthusiastic backer
of Duterte’s methods. Asked to clarify Duterte’s “shoot-to-kill” order on
suspected criminals, Dela Rosa said it would apply only “if the criminal
fights back or is armed.” And if the suspect gives up peacefully? “Make
them fight back,” he said.
From the beginning, every time Duterte was forced to give an answer
about his human-rights record as longtime mayor of Davao City—outside
of his blustery dismissal of, say, the Commission on Human Rights and
the international watchdog Human Rights Watch—this was his standard
defense: that the suspects killed by what has been called the Davao Death
Squad were resisting arrest and so had to be taken down. Apparently, all
1,400 of those killed—the conservative number documented by human
rights groups since 1998, consisting mostly of drug users, street urchins
and petty thieves, with uniformly impoverished backgrounds—were sufficiently foolhardy to slug it out with armed arresting officers, thus winding
up dead.
Human Rights Watch says that by and large, Davao police have turned a
blind eye to these summary executions; no serious, wide-ranging investigation has been conducted to get to the bottom of the vigilante killings, and,
worse, some police officers themselves may have acted in cahoots with
gunmen in identifying targets. In interviews, Duterte himself has hardly
been shy about his role in envisioning the ruthless tenor of his city: “Only
1,000?” he said in reply to a question about the number of deaths attributed
to him. “I’ve been mayor for 22 years. That’s too cheap.”
Now the incoming President has raised the stakes even more. During
his victory party in Davao over the weekend, he declared that citizens are
hereby free to arrest and shoot drug dealers and other criminals. They may
June 9-15, 2016
Quo Vadis, Bongbong?
in their psyche.
But since the three decades that
had passed since the EDSA revolution, a new breed of Filipinos – the
post-martial law babies and the
millennial generation – has come
of voting age. And they were the
sources of Bongbong’s strengths,
not to mention the vaunted “Solid
North” that had brought sons of Ilocandia -- Elpidio Quirino, Ramon
Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Ferdinand E. Marcos, and Fidel V. Ramos – to the presidency in the past.
With the clannishness of Ilocanos, it is not unusual to hear
them proclaim their loyalty to
may be attributed to a slew of corruption and plunder charges that
eroded his popularity ratings during the campaign period. Within a
few months, his ratings plummeted from number one position to
the bottom among the five major
presidential candidates.
But Binay would have been
unbeatable had he kept his nose
clean. But the corruption activities that he was allegedly involved
with when he was mayor of Makati City were hammered in by his
rivals during the campaign.
The rise of Leni
On the vice presidential derby,
Bongbong and Congresswoman
Leni Robredo fought the battle
neck and neck. In the end Leni
outvoted Bongbong by a razorthin margin of a little over 260,000
votes. Although Leni was relatively unknown – she had no prior
national election experience – her
late husband, Secretary of the
Interior and Local Government
(DILG) Jesse Robredo, was very
popular with the ordinary people.
His habit of wearing rubber flipflop slippers – or “tsinelas” -- in
public had earned him their respect and admiration.
While her husband’s legacy
helped her win the support of the
common people – masa – Leni got
a big boost from the “Kaya Natin!”
-- a good governance grassroots
movement -- that Jesse founded
together with Pampanga Governor
Fr. Ed Panlilio and Isabela Governor Grace Padaca. However, with
the defeat of Panlilio by the powerful Arroyo-Pineda political alliance and the loss of Padaca in a recount engineered by the powerful
Dy family dynasty, Kaya Natin!
was decimated of its leadership.
Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo
survived the political assault. In
2010, President Benigno Aquino
III appointed him DILG Secretary.
He served in that capacity until his
untimely death in 2012.
Solid North
On the other hand, there was
Bongbong who is identified with his
late father, whose dictatorial regime
had rubbed millions of people the
wrong way, causing deep wounds
Bongbong Marcos, the heir to the
Marcos dynasty. “Marcos pa rin
kami” (We’re always be for Marcos) became their rallying cry during the campaign.
A waiting game
With Bongbong’s Senate term
coming to an end on June 30,
2016, what’s in store for him? Is
he going to retire from public service or is he going to seek an appointment from his good friend,
president-elect Rodrigo Duterte,
so he could remain in the political limelight while he mulls over
his future? At 58 years of age, he
could still run a great deal of political mileage including another
run for a Senate seat in 2019 and
the presidency in 2022. By that
time, he’d be 64 years old, which
would be his last chance to reclaim
the glory and power his family had
held – and enjoyed -- for so long.
But Bongbong going for the
presidency in 2022 would be a lot
more complicated – and challenging – than it was when he ran for
vice president. Needless to say,
Leni Robredo would most likely
run for president too; thus, making
their face-off a rematch but at the
higher heavyweight division. But
as vice president for the next six
years, Leni would be “presidentin-waiting” and just a heartbeat
away from the presidency. Indeed, the vice presidency is the
best “on-the-job training” without
doing much… just waiting.
The clash between Bongbong
and Leni in 2022 would set the
direction of where the country is
going to be in the next quarter century. Surmise it to say, Bongbong
represents the country’s elite while
Leni identifies with the common
tao – the “tsinelas” followers of
her late husband. But while Leni’s pursuit of the presidency is a
given, Bongbong’s mission in life
appears to be to vindicate his father. If he loses, then it will give
the people a glimpse of how history will treat Ferdinand E. Marcos. It has been said, “Time heals
all wounds.” But the wounds are
deep and it might be too soon for
healing… if it ever will.
Quo vadis, Bongbong?
HAD Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Marcos Jr. won the vice presidential contest, it could have been one
of the greatest – if not the greatest
– political comebacks in the annals of politics. And the 30 years
that passed since his father, the
late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos,
was ousted and the entire Marcos
family booted out of the country,
it would have been a saga that
historians would consider as the
pinnacle of political achievement.
No political dynasty in modern
times had done such a spectacular
comeback. If history had to be repeated, the Marcoses would have
been consigned to the dustbin of
history, maligned and laughed at.
But like a snail that inched its
way – slowly but surely -- to the
top, the Marcoses cunningly calculated each movement to achieve
the desired result without alarming those who have vowed “Never
again!” to their comeback. Had
Bongbong run for president instead of vice president, the pushback would have been so great that
it would have buried his presidential ambitions for good, never to
resurface again. But he must have
known that and instead took a path
that was safer, a run for the vice
presidency.
In my article, “Who doesn’t
want to be vice president?” (August 28, 2015), I wrote: “Whoever
wins the vice presidency would
be in a good position to run for
president in 2022. Statistics show
that out of the 10 presidential elections since 1946 (excluding the
presidential elections during the
martial law), five incumbent vice
presidents ran for president in
the next presidential election and
won. They were: Elpidio Quirino
in 1948, Carlos P. Garcia in 1953,
Diosdado Macapagal in 1961, Joseph Estrada in 1998, and Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo in 2004. But
three other incumbent vice presidents had opted not to run for president, to wit: Emmanuel Pelaez in
1965, Salvador Laurel in 1992,
and Noli de Castro in 2010.
“Based on these historical data,
whoever is elected vice president
in 2016 would most likely win the
presidency in 2022, which begs
the question: Does that mean that
Poe, Roxas, and Duterte don’t
have a ghost of a chance of beating
Binay? Not necessarily. A case in
point was Aquino who – like Poe
– was an incumbent senator when
he ran for president in 2010. Out
of a field of nine presidential candidates, which included heavyweights former Senator Manny
Villar, former President Joseph
Estrada, and former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Aquino
beat them all with 42.08% of the
vote!”
The fall of Binay
There were rare exceptions as
in the case of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who ran and lost in the
recently concluded 2016 presidential elections. However, his loss
June 9-15, 2016
Prospects for Joma Sison’s return to
PH dim with US terror blacklist
DAVAO CITY — The prospects
of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria
Sison coming home to the country
have dimmed with the recent statement by the US naming the Communist New People’s Army (NPA)
in its terrorist list.
“Joma coming home is now a
ticklish issue,” said Fidel Agcaoili,
spokesperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
(NDFP).
“US has again come up with
a statement naming the NPA in the
terror list. This poses a problem,”
Agcaoili said.
There’s no direct flight between
Holland and Manila, so, US can
effect an arrest in between transit
points, according to Agcaoili.
“If Professor Sison would have
to come home, kung KLM flight
iyan (if it’s a KLM) he has to pass
by Taipei. Kung mag-intercede ang
US through its control of the Interpol (International police) [If the US
intercedes through its control of the
Interpol], then, they might present
a warrant of arrest against him in
Taipei, so, everything is kaput,”
Agcaoili said. “It’s an issue that
should be discussed seriously.”
“What if he’ll be taken in Tai-
pei and brought straight to Guantanamo?” he asked, adding this would
adversely affect the peace talks
being revived by the new government under President-elect Rodrigo
Duterte and the NDFP leadership.
Agcaoili, who had talked for the
third time with Duterte since the
latter won the presidency, said they
would like to get a guarantee from
the Dutch government, the Norwegian government and even the US
government itself that they would
respect the sovereignty of the Filipino people and “our desire to pursue
a just and lasting peace by allowing
Sison to come home.”
“But I don’t know if the US will
agree to that, it has always been a
bullying agent,” Agcaoili said.
The prospect of Sison coming
home under the Duterte presidency
was brought out by Duterte himself at the height of the presidential
campaign. Duterte, who packaged
himself as a candidate friendly with
the Left but who also had the clout
in the police and the military, said
he was once a student of Sison at
the Lyceum and that he was once
a member of the Kabataang Makabayan, a youth grouo that went
underground during Martial Law.
SFM
Are you a Watchman?
THE times we live in is very
challenging in so many ways.
Putting aside the global economic situation, events in the news
is more than enough to rattle
one’s nerves and as if these are
not enough, movies and television shows are likewise chaotic
in their portrayals of people and
their lives.
Recent popular movies, however, have “savior” themes, such
as, Captain America and Spider
Man which make people feel
good that in spite of all the problems and bad things in the world,
somebody is out there watching
for us.
The Bible warns us about a
really horrible time to happen
-- the tribulation. This period according to Biblical prophecy will
precede the return of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Jesus gave
us signs that we are to watch.
These signs would signal His return back to earth. When Jesus’
disciples asked Him for these
signs, He gave them specific information. In Matthew 24:7-10,
Jesus said that the signs preceding His return would be famine,
starvation, war, natural disasters,
pestilence, disease, hatred, and
wickedness in the world.
In the midst of all of these
world events and end-time
prophecies, it is important that
we watch what is happening in
the world today so that we are not
caught unaware and unguarded
as these events unfold before us.
You need not be scared because
the Lord is with us and He has
sent us watchmen to warn us and
to watch over us. “I have set
watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their
peace day or night.” (Isa. 62:6)
We believers are watchmen,
too. We are told in the Bible to
watch and to tell others about the
message of hope and salvation in
Christ. It is time for us believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ to know
our Savior better and to realize
that we have a real enemy, Satan,
who is trying to destroy and deceive us 24/7. The only way that
we can fight the adversary and
be strong in our faith is to have a
deeper relationship with Jesus. It
is only through prayer and obedience to His will that we will escape all these threats to our lives
now and in the future.
Are you watching? Are you
aware of what is going on around
you? Are you praying enough
to safeguard your family, your
relatives, and friends? Are you
consistently and constantly sharing your faith with others? Jesus
warns us: “Watch therefore, for
you do not know when the master of the house is coming in
the evening, at midnight, at the
crowing of the rooster, or in the
morning lest, coming suddenly,
he find you sleeping. And what I
say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
(Mark 13:35-37)
We invite you to join us in
our Sunday morning worship at
9:30 and learn more about the
Lord Jesus. We are Silver Lake
Foursquare Church, also known
as, Open Door Christian Fellowship. We meet at the social hall
of the FACLA, 1740 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, California 90026.
Hostile Fanaticism
Philippines’ first
transgender
solon to speak in
New York
NEW YORK CITY– Congresswoman Geraldine Roman, the first
transgender politician to be elected in the Philippines, will deliver
a keynote address at Asia Society’s Diversity Leadership Forum
on June 10, the organization announced. The Forum is a two-day
conference on best practices in
global diversity and leadership.
In May the 49-year-year-old
Roman won a seat in the House
of Representatives, in victory seen
as a breakthrough for LGBT community in a traditionally Catholic
country that is considered conservative, and where divorce, samesex marriage and abortion are still
illegal.
Roman, a former journalist who
speaks five languages and holds
two master’s degrees, says she
will champion equal opportunities
under broader a platform.
Roman joins speakers like Tracy
Doi, CFO of Toyota Motor Sales,
USA; Royanne Doi, chief ethics officer, Prudential; Jeff Yang,
columnist and SVP at The Futures
Company; and S. Shariq Yosufzai,
vice president, Global Diversity,
Chevron.
AS WE see on the news and television, politics is a crazy whirlwind
of events, controversies, and mostly
people chasing after two goals: money and/or power. Although not everyone has the same ulterior motives,
those who do not may be outnumbered. During the three months of
the official campaign period for the
national elections, election camps
have done well in rattling the middle
ground – all hell broke loose the moment these camps earned die-hard
fanatics. People from every sector
and class have come together for the
ultimate showdown: alliance versus
alliance, plan versus plan, and politician versus politician.
But what
exactly are these people fighting for
– the welfare of the country, or their
fanaticism?
Our President-elect, Rodrigo
Duterte, has earned himself a growing army since the campaign period
up to present. His straightforward
honesty and brusque personality
won the masses’ trust with a landslide victory, and wherever he was,
there they tailed to defend him. It
has gotten to a point that whatever
wrong President-elect Duterte did
or said, his fanatics would be quick
to find an alibi for it, and whoever
attempts to taint his name should
prepare for threats and wishes of
terrible circumstances.
As Winston Churchill puts it,
“a fanatic is a person who can’t
change his mind and won’t
change the subject”. No matter
what information against their idol
circulates around, a fanatic
would disregard it, as it would hurt
not only his ego but also his enthusiasm and support for his idol. The
possible outcomes would be that
a fanatic would defend his idol to
the death, or after a few disappointments, his fanaticism would fade
into the background. But that is not
the case for Philippine politics, and
it would take quite some time for
this fanaticism to die down, unless
these enthusiasts get a taste of their
own medicine.
In a recent press conference held
in Davao City, the president-elect
has found himself in the hot seat
again for calling out journalists when
asked about media killings. According to him, a journalist deserves to
die if he is “a son of a b****” who is
involved in media corruption.
However, the Journalism Department of the University of the Philippines Diliman writes in a statement,
“Contrary to his malicious and misinformed statements, majority of
the slain journalists were killed in
their a tempt to expose corruption
and crime in their communities.”
With a statement like this, fanatics
would rather believe in unwarranted
and unofficial opinion pages, and the
idea that this statement is only a cover-up to protect those who corrupt
the media than to believe what the
professionals are fighting for. These
enthusiasts tend to believe whatever
they see online so long as it suports
their idol, but when it comes to the
opposite, they would rather badmouth than to stay silent.
In the same press conference,
Mr. Duterte has been under fire for
breaking his own law on Women
In a recent press conference held
in Davao City, the president-elect
has found himself in the hot seat
again for calling out journalists when
asked about media killings. According to him, a journalist deserves to
die if he is “a son of a b****” who is
involved in media corruption.
However, the Journalism Department of the University of the Philippines Diliman writes in a statement,
“Contrary to his malicious and misinformed statements, majority of
the slain journalists were killed in
their a tempt to expose corruption
and crime in their communities.”
With a statement like this, fanatics
would rather believe in unwarranted
and unofficial opinion pages, and the
idea that this statement is only a cover-up to protect those who corrupt
the media than to believe what the
professionals are fighting for. These
enthusiasts tend to believe whatever
they see online so long as it suports
their idol, but when it comes to the
opposite, they would rather bad
June 9-15, 2016
Marcos alleges 4th server, to file Antidrug pastor shot
poll protest vs Robredo win
dead in Cebu
MANILA — Alleging the use of
a “fourth server” to transmit election results, the camp of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday
he would file an electoral protest
to reverse the proclamation of
Vice President-elect Leni Robredo
by the end of the month.
Jose Amor Amorado, head of
Marcos’ legal team, alleged that
the results of the voting were
coursed through a “4th server”
or a “queue server” instead of
being transmitted directly to the
Municipal Board of Canvassers
server, the Commission on Elections server, and the transparency server.
Marcos lost to Leni Robredo by
about 263,000 votes in the race for
the vice presidency.
Amorado said they have been targeting to file theprotest on June 28, a
day before the June 29 deadline.
A press release from Marcos’
office quoted Amorado as telling
reporters that, “Yes, definitely we
will file an election protest. The
truth has to come out – one way
or another.”
The protest will seek a recount
of the votes in several areas, as
well as the setting aside of the
election results in areas where
there are clear indications of election fraud and manipulation, according to Amorado.
Marcos’ lawyer said their initial
findings indicated that between 9
p.m. and 10:10 p.m. on May 9, the
transmitted election results showed
that Marcos lost in 1,689 precincts,
many of which were considered
bailiwicks of the senator, mostly in
the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Pangasinan and other areas in the Cagayan Valley region.
The Marcos camp had asked
the Comelec to preserve and secure any and all servers, as well as
other related IT equipment used in
the elections, he added.
Abakada Rep. Jonathan dela
Cruz, Marcos’ political adviser,
said the so-called fourth server
was never made public or subjected to a source code review, which
was what had been done with the
other servers.
Dela Cruz also said Marcos
wanted to file the protest, thinking
that he owed it to his supporters
and the Filipino people to find out
what happened in the elections.
“We believe that we have
enough evidence to show that
there was massive rigging and manipulation of votes,” he said.
Earlier, the Marcos camp
had complained about Smartmatic’s alteration of a script in
the transparency server, alleging
that after the script change, Marcos’ lead over Robredo started
eroding until he was eventually
overtaken.
Comelec and Smartmatic officials had said that the change in
the script only produced a cosmetic effect, which was to correct the
spelling of a candidate’s name.
Court turns down Vitangcol’s try to
pin down Abaya in MRT graft case
THE Sandiganbayan has denied
the move of sacked Metro Rail
Transit (MRT-3) General Manager
Al Vitangcol III to allow the production of material evidence that
would help him pin down outgoing Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio “Jun” Abaya in the
graft case over the MRT maintenance contract mess.
In a resolution, the anti-graft
court Special Third Division said
it denied the motion for lack of
merit because Vitangcol failed to
comply with the requirements for
MRT-3 Manager Al Vitangcol
production of material evidence in
the Rules of Court.
In a motion to allow production
of material evidence and admissions by adverse party filed before
the anti-graft court Third Division,
Vitangcol asked the court to direct
the Office of the Special Prosecutor
to produce material evidence pertaining to officials the Ombudsman
acquitted of the graft case.
Vitangcol through his counsels asked the Ombudsman prosecutors to provide authenticated
copies of the counter-affidavits of
those acquitted, claiming that the
Ombudsman did not provide him
copies during the preliminary investigation.
One of those Vitangcol wants
to have a copy of is the counter-affidavit of Abaya, who was cleared
by the Ombudsman in the graft
indictment.
The court said what Vitangcol
was requesting were the counteraffidavits of his respondents in the
case, although the Rules of Court
only allow production of material evidence pertaining to written
statements by the complainant and
other witnesses.
The court also said that Vitangcol’s plea to be given copies of
SAGOT SA PAHINA 19
CEBU CITY—A Baptist Church
pastor, who actively campaigned
against illegal drugs, was shot
dead by two unidentified men in
Barangay Bonbon in this city on
Sunday afternoon, the latest victim in cases of street killings in the
Visayas in recent days.
Crisostomo Maternal Jr., an
evangelist of the Bonbon Mission
Church, was gunned down on the
same day a suspected drug lord
and four of his underlings were
killed in a shootout with Cebubased policemen in Inabanga town
in the island-province of Bohol.
Maternal was driving his motorcycle on his way home when
two men on another motorcycle
shot him at 5 p.m. He was hit in
the left temple and died while being taken to the Perpetual Succor
Hospital.
Senior Insp. Elisandro Quijano,
homicide section chief of the Cebu
City police, said Maternal had
tipped off authorities about illegal
drug operations in Bonbon.
The victim, he said, was educated people about the ill-effects of
drugs through his church sermons.
While their information showed
that Maternal was an antidrug crusader, Quijano said police were
considering all angles in the probe.
“Personal grudge might also be
involved here. So we really have
to look at all the possibilities,”
Quijano said.
He said Maternal also campaigned for a political group during this year’s elections.
Acting Cebu City Mayor Margot Osmeña said Maternal was
one of their leaders in Bonbon, a
community about 17 kilometers
from the city proper.
Quijano said Maternal had received death threats, sent through
text messages, a day before he was
killed.
In the wake of Maternal’s death,
Quijano advised antidrug crusaders to coordinate with the police
should they receive death threats.
“Crusaders help the police in
our campaign against illegal drugs.
But it’s not easy to have that kind
of advocacy. Being an antidrug
crusader entails risks. And so, if
you received threats, please tell
the police,” Quijano said.
About six hours before Maternal was killed, a suspected drug
lord and his four companions were
slain in a gunfight with policemen
in Barangay Cawayan, about 5 km
from the town proper of Inabanga
in Bohol.
The raiding team, armed with
a search warrant, also arrested
three suspected illegal drug peddlers and recovered firearms, bullets, two grenades and 42 sachets
of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), with an estimated value of P3 million.
Insp. Rolando Lumanas Antipolo, Inabanga police chief,
identified the fatalities as David
Anunciado, a suspected drug lord,
and his cohorts Melkin Ohina, Pio
Jostol, Alipio Anuta and Leonides
Enoc.
Arrested were Rene Petecio,
Daria Nuñez and Justino Vistal, all
residents of Barangay Cawayan.
The suspects allegedly fired at
members of the raiding team who
went to Jostol’s house to conduct a
search on suspicion that it was being used as a drug den.
“We do not deny the drug trade
in Inabanga. That is why, in coordination with other law enforcement units, we have been conducting more operations to curb illegal
activities here,” Antipolo said.
The raid in Inabanga came a
week after Cebu-based operatives
killed Rowen Torrefiel Secretaria
and two of his alleged runners on
Banacon Island off Getafe town.
Secretaria was tagged as Bohol’s youngest drug lord and was
third in Cebu’s list of most wanted
illegal drug suspects.
The intensified operations
against illegal drugs came in the
wake of a strong antidrug policy of President-elect Rodrigo
Duterte.
these documents to show his innocence in the case and “negate
the wrongful accusations of the
Ombudsman” is not sufficient to
be allowed his motion.
But the court nonetheless ordered the Ombudsman to provide Vitangcol with copies of the
counter-affidavits as provided for
by the Supreme Court that a petitioner may request for copies of
the counter-affidavits of his coaccused.
The court also denied Vitangcol’s motion to require the prosecution to admit under oath that
Abaya in his counter-affidavit
said the MRT maintenance contract was above board and that the
MRT-3 had to enter into a negotiated procurement.
Vitangcol had also wanted the
prosecution to admit that Abaya
in his affidavit said that he signed
the notice of award to Philippine
Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams), that the
Bids and Awards Committee and
the negotiating team followed the
procedure and complied with the
requirements and that the contract
with PH Trams did not cause injury to government.
The court said Vitangcol’s purpose in his request for admission
is not the proper subject for the
request, as stated in the Rules of
Court which said request for admission must only pertain to the
genuineness of any material and
relevant document.
The court also denied for being premature Vitangcol’s motion
for subpoena to direct the MRT
Corporation to produce the letters
it received, saying that a subpoena
may be requested by Vitangcol
during trial.
In his motion for reconsideration on the Ombudsman’s graft
indictment against him, Vitangcol asked the reason behind why
Abaya, despite his signatures in
the documents, was not indicted
for the alleged graft-ridden maintenance contract with PH Trams.
“The award of the contract was
the product of a collegial determination. However, it was subject
to the approval of DOTC (Department of Transportation and
Communication) (Undersecretary
(Jose) Lotilla and Secretary Abaya… The contract would not have
been awarded to PH Trams and
CB&T JV had it not been for the
subsequent approval of Lotilla and
Abaya,” Vitangcol’s motion said.
Abaya is the acting president
of the Liberal Party of President
Benigno Aquino III.
June 9-15, 2016
Hostile... from Page 5
ILOILO CITY—The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in
the Western Visayas region and
the Catholic Church have raised
concerns over what appears to
be cases of summary executions
following the repeated threats of
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte
that he would order the killing of
drug lords and criminals.
While it remains unclear as to
who were behind the killings, the
CHR fears that more vigilantetype killings will happen.
“Killing, even of criminal offenders, is a crime, unless [the
death penalty] is legalized. Vigilantism will spur human rights
violations even if the intentions
could be well,” David Bermudo,
the agency’s regional director, told
the Inquirer.
Five men believed to be criminals or had records of criminal
involvement had been shot and
killed in different provinces in
Negros and Western Visayas from
Thursday to Saturday. Two in Iloilo City and Leganes town in Iloilo
province were found with their
hands tied.
Due process
Bermudo said due process should
be given those suspected to be involved in crimes. “There should
be presumption of innocence. But
now, there appears to be presump-
tion of guilt even if one is suspected of [committing] a crime,”
he said.
Even those found guilty of committing any crime should not be
killed, he added.
The CHR is also concerned
about the rising criminality and
wants an end to the proliferation of
illegal drugs, Bermudo said. “But
it should not be through [summary
killings].”
Right to life
Msgr. Meliton Oso, social action director of the Archdioces of
Jaro, said the killings “whether
these are being done by people in
government or vigilantes, violate
the basic right of persons to life.”
These could have been encouraged by “what we have heard from
the coming dispensation,” he said.
during a speech in his thanksgiving party in Davao City, said he
had raised the bounty for killing
drug lords from P3 million to P5
million.
He said he would offer P2 million as a reward for every slain illegal drug “distributor” and P50,000
for small-time drug peddlers.
Duterte also urged citizens to
arrest drug traffickers in their communities and shoot them if they resisted arrest and put people’s lives
in danger.
Oso, who has been conducting teachings and interaction with
prisoners, said he was sad that
many seemed to approve of the
summary killings of criminals.
“I also want to solve the illegal
drug problem because of the harm
that it has brought to our youth and
society. But let it be done by the law
[and with] due process,” he said.
“God does not wish the death of
a sinful man. He wishes for their
conversion,” Oso said, citing Biblical teachings.
Bermudo called on law enforcement agencies to investigate and
resolve the killings. “We can only
enforce the law in accordance with
the law. It should not be through
illegal [means],” he said.
DON’T
DRINK & DRIVE
mouth than to stay silent.
In the same press conference,
Mr. Duterte has been under fire for
breaking his own law on Women
Development after whistling at
GMA7 journalist Mariz Umali.
Chapter II, Article I, Sec. 8, Par.
11 of Davao City Ordinance No.
5004 reads that “cursing, whistling
or calling a woman in public with
words having dirty connotations or
implications which tend to ridicule,
humiliate or embarrass the woman
such as “puta”, “boring”, “peste”,
etc.”. Not only did he break his own
law, his misdemeanour as president
sends out a message that perpetuates rape culture.
Emilie Buchwald, author of
Transforming a Rape Culture, defines rape culture as “a complex set
of beliefs that encourage male sexual
aggression and supports violence
against women. It is a society where
violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture,
women perceive a continuum of
threatened violence that ranges from
sexual remarks to sexual touching to
rape itself. A rape culture condones
physical and emotional terrorism
against women as the norm…In a
rape culture both men and women
assume that sexual violence is a
fact of life, inevitable…However…
much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the expression of values
and attitudes that can change.”
When the news about the president catcalling Umali broke, several
netizens took to their social media
accounts their opinions about what
happened. Raffy Tima, a fellow
journalist and the husband of Umali expresses his distaste over what
the president-elect did to his wife
through a Facebook post that hundreds of people shared. As Raffy
Tima also shared his post on Twitter, a woman who had read it replied
“then let your wife stay home and
be a wife.” Even as many people
thought that Duterte’s catcalling
is wrong, seeing this statement
come from a woman is sad, as this
is solid evidence that the Filipinos
are stuck with the habit of blaming
the victim. Mr. Duterte’s catcalling
perpetuates rape culture in a way
that it sends the wrong message to
his constituents, regardless of sex,
age, and class. With him defending
his action as inoffensive and not improper, the people will believe that
it is okay to catcall a woman since
the president did it, and that is exactly why we cannot let this pass.
Through these events, Mr. Duterte’s
fans stand their ground for the president-elect through interviews and the
social media. Celebrity Mocha Uson
takes to her Facebook page “hanggang ngayon ay BIASED pa rin ang
MEDIA,” (until now, the MEDIA is
still BIASED).
Supporters from all over the
country take the president-elect’s
side by taunting the media to boycott all his press conferences. The
enthusiasm of these people has
taken most of them to a completely
hateful state. From smart-shaming
the students who make valid points
to wishing rape upon someone else,
these fanatics have surrendered
critical thinking to their fanaticism.
This mindset puts the Philippines in
a perilous state.
It is understandable that people
reach a point where they just get
tired of the usual. When people
are full with empty promises, they
will not have anymore. The masses
have the strongest voice in this matter, and they have long been sick of
the traditional politician madness.
They would fight for every chance
of hope they get for better living,
but the problem is that these politicians use the sick-of-the-trapo card
to their advantage. As long as our
masses are kept uneducated, our
state will never change. As long as
our people are kept ignorant, this
brainwash culture will be the slow
death of us all .—Angie Guilbert
June 9-15, 2016
UN rights execs’ criticism of Duterte wrong–Panelo
DAVAO
CITY—The
sharp
criticisms raised by two United
Nations rapporteurs following incoming President Rodrigo
Duterte’s remarks about media
killings were based on a “wrong
premise,” his spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, said on Tuesday.
“The President-elect never said
that killing a journalist is justice
because of corruption. He was
only citing an instance where corruption was (cited) prior to the
killing,” Panelo told the Inquirer
over the phone.
On Monday, the UN rapporteurs condemned Duterte’s statements suggesting that journalists
were not exempt from assassinations if they were corrupt. The
UN rapporteurs called on him to
stop instigating deadly violence.
They were reacting to the Davao
City mayor’s statements during a
press briefing last week that some
journalists were killed because
they committed corruption.
“You won’t be killed if you
don’t do anything wrong,” Duterte
said, suggesting that victims were
partly to blame for their fate.
“Irresponsible’
Cristof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on summary executions,
said the comments “are irresponsible in the extreme and unbecoming of any leader, let alone someone who is to assume the position
of the leader of a country that calls
itself democratic.”
“A message of this nature
amounts to incitement to violence
and killing, in a nation already
Cristof Heyns, UN special raporteur on summary executions and Atty. Salvador Panelo.
ranked as the second-deadliest
country for journalists,” Heyns
said in a statement on Monday
night.
David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on freedom opinion and
expression, said “justifying the
killing of journalists on the basis
of how they conduct their professional activities can be understood
as a permissive signal to potential
killers that the murder of journalists is acceptable in certain circumstances and would not be punished.”
“This position is even more disturbing when one considers that
the Philippines is still struggling to
ensure accountability to notorious
cases of violence against journalists, such as the Maguindanao massacre,” Kaye said. He was referring
to the killing of 58 people, including 32 media workers, in election-
related violence in Maguindanao
province in 2009.
Panelo said Duterte actually
“abhors violence” and that he
would never tolerate the murder of
media workers.
Duterte is committed to protect
the members of the Fourth Estate,
“not only because they are journalists, but because they are citizens of the republic,” according to
Panelo.
He said the incoming President’s remarks on media killings,
which were aired live by television networks, were not intended
to be an endorsement of “deadly
violence” as what the UN officials
claimed.
“He will never condone any
killing. He will prosecute to the
fullest under the law any person or
group of persons that will kill or
injure journalists regardless of the
motive of the killers,” Panelo said.
“He is, under the law, bound
to protect the citizenry,” Panelo
stressed. “Far from it, he does not
want violence. That’s precisely
why he has entered into peace
talks with the communists because he abhors violence. He does
not want Filipinos killing fellow
Filipinos.”
Bounty killings
Heys and Kaye also raised concern on Duterte’s promise to pay
bounties to police and military
officials for every drug lord they
turn in.
“Talk of ‘dead or alive’ has no
role to play in any state that claims
to uphold human rights in law
enforcement,” Heyns stressed,
while recalling the limits imposed
by international instruments on
the conduct of law enforcement
forces.
“Intentional lethal use of force
may only be made when strictly
unavoidable in order to protect
life and not for common policing
objectives,” he said.
“The President-elect fools no
one when he says he is not calling
on people to be killed,” he added.
Duterte had said the use of violence was allowed by law since
the “lives of police officials effecting the arrest would be in danger.”
On his plan to offer cash rewards to private citizens who
would arrest or kill drug lords,
Panelo said the law allowed such
a policy under the concept of citizen’s arrest.
Following Duterte’s remarks
about media killings, the Parisbased Reporters Without Borders
called for a boycott of his press
conferences. None among the
media organizations in the Philippines responded, however.
“You don’t threaten me with
a boycott. Go ahead, boycott
me. You really don’t know me,”
Duterte said in his speech at the
thanksgiving party at Crocodile
Park in Davao City on Saturday.
His assistant, Christopher
“Bong” Go, said press conferences
with the President-elect would no
longer be held to avoid mistakes.
Court turns down ... from Page 6
The Ombudsman charged Vitangcol with graft for awarding without
public bidding the interim maintenance contract for MRT-3 to PH
Trams.
The Ombudsman also charged
Vitangcol for failing to disclose
that one of the incorporators of PH
Trams—Arturo Soriano—is his
wife’s uncle. Soriano is now a provincial accountant of Pangasinan.
Vitangcol was charged with PH
Trams incorporators Wilson De
Vera, Arturo Soriano, Marlo Dela
Cruz, Manolo Maralit and Federico Remo.
They are charged with violating
Sections 3(e) and 3(h) of the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act
and Section 65(c)(1) of the Government Procurement Reform Act,
arising from the MRT-3 interim
maintenance contract.
Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019
prohibits public officials from
causing any undue injury to any
party, including the Government,
or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or
preference in the discharge of his
official administrative or judicial
functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross
inexcusable negligence.
Meanwhile, Section 3(h) of the
antigraft law prohibits public officials from directly or indirectly
having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract
or transaction in connection with
which he intervenes or takes part
in his official capacity, or in which
he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having
any interest.
Section 65(c)(1) of R.A. 9184
punishes the act of “submit[ting]
eligibility requirements of whatever kind and nature that contain
false information or falsified documents calculated to influence the
outcome of the eligibility screening process or conceal such infor-
mation in the eligibility requirements when the information will
lead to a declaration of ineligibility from participating in public
bidding.”
Vitangcol was recently indicted
for two counts of graft over the alleged extortion try on Czech firm
Inekon in exchange for contracts
with the railway system.
The Ombudsman said Vitangcol’s first graft charge stemmed
from allegations that he attempted
to extort $30 million from Inekon
in exchange for contracts for the
supply for additional light rail
vehicles and maintenance of the
MRT-3 in connection with the
P3.7 billion MRT-3 expansion
project in 2012.
Ombudsman
investigation
showed that Vitangcol sent his
envoy Wilson De Vera to demand
the payment of $30 million, later
reduced to $2.5 million, for the Inekon to be awarded the contract.
Vitangcol and De Vera were
accused of extorting $30 million
from Inekon Group CEO and
chair Josef Husek in the residence
of then Czech Ambassador to the
Philippines Josef Rychtar in exchange for granting Inekon the
P3.7-billion contract to supply 48
coaches for the MRT 3 expansion.
The money was later reduced to
$2.5 million.
Inekon turned down the
extort try.
Meanwhile, Vitangcol and
De Vera’s second graft charge
stemmed from the allegation that
they conspired and insisted for Inekon to sign a joint venture agreement for the maintenance contract
under a 60-40 percent sharing
scheme with a group of persons
which included De Vera, an incorporator of PH-Trams.
Amid graft-ridden contracts
under Vitangcol’s watch, the MRT
is beset with operational breakdowns, delays and long lines of
passengers daily.
June 9-15 2016
INSIGHTS and views on the
2016 US Presidentiables
IN my 18 years working with
politicians back home in the Philippines, one thing I’ve learned is
that a good speaker is not always
a good politician. A good leader
who doesn’t need good publicity or a need-to-look-good face is
not what we need. I want someone who makes decisions for the
betterment of the country regardless of who helped him on his
campaign, that is why I am likely
to choose Mr. Donald Trump
rather than traditional politicians
(TRAPO). Aside from being a
successful businessman, I like
his strong political platform of
eliminating illegal aliens. I heard
him speak, he may not be a good
speaker compared to traditional
politicians but I’d rather go with
someone who have the guts to
speak his mind than political
show offs.
On Hillary Clinton, she lied
before and that controversy is
one thing that keeps me away
from choosing her. The country needs to know the truth but
when secrets are kept, I guess
there are
more to it than meets the eye.
On Bernie Sanders, he is more
likely a better candidate than
Hillary His political platform of
universal government-paid health
care is one that I like but I’m more
with the changes Trump wants to
do.
—Joy Agcaoili
PNP, NBI findings jibe: Drugs
killed Pasay partygoers
THE PHILIPPINE National Police
on Tuesday confirmed that party
drugs—enhanced by alcohol—
were to blame for the death of two
of the five partygoers who collapsed
at an outdoor concert in Pasay City
on May 21.
In a press briefing in Camp Crame, PNP Crime Lab director Chief
Supt. Emmanuel Aranas cited the
results of forensic tests conducted
on Kenimichi Miyagawa (not
Migawa as earlier reported), 18, and
American Eric Anthony Miller, 33.
“Both victims took MDMA
(methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and other combinations and
they also took alcohol,” Aranas told
reporters. MDMA is commonly
known as the party drug ecstasy.
Both Miyagawa and Miller died
of “multiple organ failure due to effect of the drugs, enhanced further
by the alcohol,” he said.
Aranas noted that the PNP findings
were similar to that of the National
Bureau of Investigation which examined two other fatalities, Bianca
Fontejon, 18, and Lance Garcia, 36.
The family of the fifth victim, Ariel
Leal, 22, waived their right to have
his body autopsied.
Earlier, the NBI said Fontejon and
Garcia were positive for MDMA
methylene homolog, a laboratory
drug considered unfit for human
or animal use. One of them also ingested synthetic cathinones, more
commonly known as bath salts. The
substances—which are not yet considered illegal under the Dangerous
Drugs Act—damaged the victims’
hearts and internal organs.
Based on the results of the autopsy, histopathological examination
and toxicology tests, Aranas said
Miyagawa and Miller had traces of
PMA (para-methoxyamphetamine)
and MDA (methylenedioxyamphetamine)—both “metabolites” of
MDMA—in their blood and stomach contents.
At the same time, Miyagawa tested positive for MDC (3, 4-methylenedioxycathinone) and Miller, for
amphetamine.
Tests showed that both men suffered swelling in their brains and
lungs and damage in the kidney tissues and hearts. Their vital organs,
particularly their hearts and brains,
sustained a lot of strain due to the
substances they ingested, Aranas
said.
MDMA targets heart, brain
“The first target of the MDMA, especially if it’s combined with something else, are the heart and the
brain. There’s a big possibility their
heartbeat sped up and strained the
heart. And because there’s a problem with the circulation of blood,
the brain will be affected. It will be
deprived of oxygen. There are a lot
of body parts that will be affected,”
he added.
“MDMA also affects neurotransmitters … and normal chemicals in
the brain so it becomes erratic. You
then notice behavioral changes like
hyperactivity. Residual [effects]
are memory loss and [decreased]
analytical functions,” he said. “This
is a vicious cycle that doesn’t end.
You will be constantly affected until
there is a loss of function in the organs. The victims may slowly lose
consciousness.”
All five victims fell unconscious
in different areas of the concert
grounds and were brought to the
hospital where they died hours later.
They did not appear to have known
each other, authorities said.
Killing season ... from Page 4
even get a medal for the act. “Fo it
yourself if you have the gun- you
have my support,” he said, to rousing cheers from the crowd.
Citizen’s arrest, of course, is allowed under the law-but killing suspectsoutright? And why only street
lowlifes and not, say, corrupt politicians? Deputizing citizens in this
way does not strengthen the institutions of the law; it only fatallyweakens them. The Bill of Rights is itself
assaaainated. At any rate, the joke
that has been making the rounds
since last month is that in the next
six years, the surefife businesses to
get into even get a medal for the act.
“Do it yourself if you have the gun-
you have my support,” he said, to
rousing cheers from the crowd.
Citizen’s arrest, of course, is allowed under the law-but killing
suspects outright? And why only
street lowlifes and not, say, corrupt
politicians? Deputizing citizens in
this way does not strengthen the
institutions of the law; it only fatally weakens them. The Bill of
Rights is itself assassinated. At any
rate, the joke that has been making
the rounds since last month is that
in the next six years, the surefire
businesses to get into are not only
funeral parlors but also manufacturing of trash bags, packing tape and
the P74.3 billion recovered from San
Miguel Corp. (SMC). Its enforcement was stopped after coconut farmers obtained a restraining order from
the Supreme Court.
The Presidential Commission on
Good Government earlier estimated
the levy, including assets bought using it, to be worth P83 billion—P73
billion in cash (liquidated shares from
SMC) and P10 billion in shares of
stock in the United Coconut Planters
Bank and oil mills operated by the
Coconut Industry Investment Fund
Farmers remind... from Page 1
Comelec ordered to answer petition on
filing cases vs Smartmatic execs
THE Supreme Court has ordered
the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) to respond to the petition calling for the prosecution of
Smartmatic officials who altered
the script, or hash code, of the
Comelec’s transparency server on
the night of May 9.
During Tuesday’s deliberation,
the high court’s en banc ordered
Comelec to comment on the petition filed by Atty. Eduardo Bringas, Bishop Reuben Abante and
Moses Rivera.
In their petition, they urged the
high court to order the Comelec
to conduct an “independent and
thorough investigation” and eventually file a case against Smartmatic officers and other personnel
who tampered with the servers.
Smartmatic Philippines project manager Marlon Garcia confirmed that the alteration was
done but said it was only for “cosmetic” purposes and not intended
to rig the elections.
The correction was made after
an observer noticed the presence
of question marks in some candidates’ names where the letter “ñ”
should have appeared.
At the start of the counting following the closing of voting precincts last May 9, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was
leading in the vice presidential
race.
Liberal Party candidate Ma.
Leonor “Leni” Robredo upsurged
and led the counting by morning
of May 10.
Comelec Chairman Andres
Bautista earlier said that “the
change made in the script of the
transparency server is merely
cosmetic and will not in any way
affect the results, the counting,
canvassing of votes and in the
source code of the automated
election system.”
Petitioners said Bautista and
the other commissioners who
have made conclusions on the
case should inhibit themselves
from the investigation.
At the same time, petitioners also urged the high court to
require the poll body “to explain
the apparent erratic upsurge and
abrupt fall in the discrepancy
between the votes for the President and Vice-President from the
May 9, 2016 7:25pm; 7:45pm;
8:05pm; and 8:25pm; specifically, where the votes came from and
where they were later assigned.”
They said information technology (IT) experts should be
allowed to examine the source
and hash codes and provide the
petitioners and the public a copy
of the final report of the Random
Manual Audit from the 715 precincts that were audited pursuant
to the Comelec rules.
June 9-15, 2016
How Jennylyn shields her child from show biz
AT 8 years old, Jennylyn Mercado’s son, Jazz, still has a vague understanding of the work she does.
“I don’t think Jazz has an idea of
what I do,” said Jennylyn. “I want
him to see me as a normal mom.”
Jazz is her son with Patrick
Garcia.
“He knows that I have to be
away for long hours. He sees me
come home late, or sometimes,
come home just to bathe, then
leave shortly after,” the actress told
Inquirer during a media gathering
for the “Beauty for a Purpose”
campaign of Avon Fashions Intimate Apparel, which she endorses.
“I don’t let him watch my TV
shows. My recent teleserye, ‘My
Faithful Husband,’ isn’t for kids
his age. He only watches cartoons,” she added.
She admitted to being a disciplinarian. “I spank his hands if he
gets too naughty and rowdy, but
I explain to him why I do it,” she
shared with Inquirer.
They spend quality time, usually at the mall “because he likes to
run around. He probably doesn’t
even notice when people come up
to me for photo ops.”
Jennylyn said she has more time
with Jazz now that she is done
with her TV commitments.
The actress recently began
working with Ivory Records on
another album, which is set for release in September. It will feature
eight tracks, six of which are originals, including a duet with Christian Bautista.
She is likewise working on another movie, which could be an
entry in the 2016 Metro Manila
Film Festival (MMFF).
“Just the Three of Us,” her recent hit movie with John Lloyd
Cruz for Star Cinema, fueled speculation that she would soon transfer to the Kapamilya network.
When asked to confirm the rumor, Jennylyn said: “I don’t know
yet. I guess that’s between my
manager and the network.”
Asked about FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women list which she topped
in 2015, and being a two-time
MMFF best actress awardee, Jennylyn said: “I give my best to any
project I take part in. I don’t expect to win again this year. I’m just
glad that people appreciate how I
take care of my body, even if I’m
already a mom.”
entertainment
Stars fight their way back
to performing trim
LAST week, Sharon Cuneta appeared to be all over the TV
screen, guesting on a series of
shows to plug her return to regular weekly telecasting, by way of
the “The Voice Kids 3,” where she
now serves as a mentor-judge.
Sharon’s fans are happy to
see her back in the swim, on TV
at least, and approvingly note the
fact that she’s in the process of losing her excess weight, to eventually get back to performing trim.
It’s reported that she’s lost almost 40 lbs, but clearly needs to
lose more, so we hope that, this
time around, she sticks to her guns
for the long haul, because all-important health and career issues are
at stake.
Best of all, if Sharon eventually
wins her battle of the bulge in a
big way, she can help inspire other
very overweight people to free
up to their own potentially risky
health issues, and similarly slough
off all of those excess pounds that
are literally and figuratively dragging them down.
We know it’s tough, but if we
succeed, we’ll all end up feeling—10 feet tall!
Sharon and the rest of us can
get a psychic boost from the already
“succeeding” example of Aiko
Melendez, who was really big and
heavy last year but has already lost a
significant amount of pounds—and
looked good when we watched her
on TV last week. If she loses perhaps 15 or 20 more pounds, she’ll
really be good to go!
In this regard, we should also
remind other “broadening” stars
June 9-15, 2016
and starlets that it’s time for them
to lose weight now, before they
“broaden” even more.
This unsolicited advice goes
out to the likes of singer Jed Madela, who is now looking too hefty,
chunky and jowly. Please remember, it’s great to broaden our horizons, not our avoirdupois.
They should take their cue from
the currently inspiring example
being provided by Ricky Davao,
who has finally been sloughing off
all of the heavy “excess baggage”
that has been limiting his stellar
prospects for many years.
In fact, some of his most avid
“believers” no longer felt that he
could summon up the energy and
determination needed to lose all of
the persistent and insistent excess
poundage.
The last time we broke bread
with Ricky, however, we were
gratified to see that he was visibly
slimmer, and looked trimmer and
younger—so, whatever regimen
he’s on is working!
Like Aiko, Ricky still has more
pounds to lose, but the signs of
success are encouraging, so keep
it up—and off!
Pia Wurtzbach’s message
to Miss USA 2016
MISS Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach took to social media to express her excitement at getting to
know newly-crowned Miss USA
2016 Deshauna Barber who will
be her new roommate in New
York City.
In an Instagram post, Wurtzbach
told Barber: “Welcome to the family.”
“I can’t wait to meet you and
finally just chill and get to know
you @deshaunab @missusa. Welcome to the family,” the Filipina
beauty queen said.
“I secretly hope we have the same
taste in music. As I tend to turn my
speakers up. See you in a few hours
as we fly back to New York to your
new home,” she added.
Barber, 26, is an army reserve
officer who hails from the District
of Columbia. She ended the 14year Miss USA title drought of her
hometown when she won the pageant on Monday (Manila time).
Before formally welcoming
Barber to the Miss Universe family, Wurtzbach also posted a heartwarming message to Miss USA
2016 Olivia Jordan.
“Goodbyes are never easy. Olivia, I will miss you tremendously,
thank you for being my @missusa
and for always being #confidentlybeautiful and confidently YOU,”
she told Jordan.
Jordan replied to Wurtzbach’s
post: “Goodbyes really are the
hardest part. I miss you already,
Queen P. I’m so grateful for the
past six months I got to spend with
you. Thank you for inspiring me
and always keeping it real.”
Beyonce steals show as
surprise honoree at
fashion awards
ativity to give her young children
their dreams.
She also praised fashion designers for being, in her words, fairy
godmothers, magicians, sculptors
— and sometimes therapists.
people’s shoes. I learned that being considerate helps me in my life
and career.”
Explosive showmanship
from Jason Derulo
Secrets to Lee Min-ho’s
success
NEW YORK — In a surprise appearance, Beyonce delighted a
glittery fashion crowd Monday
evening, showing up unannounced
to accept the Council of Fashion
Designers of America’s Fashion
Icon award.
Usually, organizers announce
the name of the Fashion Icon winner well in advance, but this year
they kept it under wraps until the
end of the ceremony, when designer Diane von Furstenberg took
the stage to introduce the pop superstar, saying she was everything
women aspire to be.
Beyonce, dressed in a glittering
pinstriped pantsuit with a huge,
black wide-brimmed hat, spoke of
her seamstress mother, and how
she had used her talent and cre-
IT’S MORE than just talent and
luck, South Korean actor Lee
Min-ho answered when asked by
the Inquirer about the secrets to
his success in a recent e-mail interview. He explained: “Throughout
my 10-year career, I’ve met a lot
of people, experienced many different things, and learned a lot of
lessons. Whether you want to be
a good actor or singer, you need
to be responsible and professional—and you have to learn to work
well with other people and be a
team player. And it’s important to
know how to put yourself in other
IF there was one number that
would best encapsulate Jason Derulo’s recent Manila concert, it
would be the R&B-inflected club
anthem, “Breathing,” which came
midway through the international
pop star’s dynamic, 16-song set.
He peeled off his shirt, revealing
a well-toned torso as he sang and
burst into sequences of forceful
choreography. He then did a pirouette, his feet seemingly defying
friction, right before he launched
into a full-blown dance break that
had everyone at the SM Mall of
Asia Arena roaring with approval.
Since going solo in 2009, Derulo, a 26-year-old American pop-
R&B artist, has notched several
platinum-selling singles—most of
which well-crafted earworms such
as “Wiggle,” “Talk Dirty,” “In My
Head” and “Want to Want Me.”
His materials are already infectious as they are. It is, however,
the sheer athleticism that Derulo
unfailingly brings onto the stage
that makes watching his live performances a more rewarding experience.
And there was no shortage of
such displays in this recent concert, mounted by Wilbros Live.
Whether he was doing a whimsical, midtempo bop, like his opener, “Trumpets,” or a more thumping, urban-flavored banger like
“Get Ugly,” Derulo’s body never
stopped moving.
His feet were constantly doing
quick, little half-steps; his hand
doing deft mic flips every once in
a while.
In 2012, Derulo was forced to cancel a world tour when he suffered a
neck injury that left him nearly paralyzed, after attempting an acrobatic
move during rehearsals.
t0607jason derulo2Such careerthreatening incident would have
most artists erring on the side of
caution. Not Derulo. And even if
he did, it certainly didn’t show.
Derulo’s moves were alternately
Aiza urges fellow Duterte supporters:
Let’s not be blind followers
SINGER-actress Aiza Seguerra on
Tuesday took to Instagram to urge
fellow supporters of Presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte to keep their
calm and respect opposing views
amid various issues hounding the
incoming Chief Executive.
Amid Duterte’s cold relations
with the media, particularly those
based in Manila, Seguerra urged
her co-supporters to put issues into
proper context and not be mere
headline readers.
“As a Duterte supporter, I
would encourage na sana wag naman tayo maging blind followers.
It will help our president kung hindi tayo one sided at marunong tayong magbigay ng respeto sa opinion ng iba instead of fanning the
flames of hatred towards people
who don’t share the same point of
view or opinion,” Seguerra wrote.
“Wala naman problema ipagtanggol si Tay Digong. Pero ayusin naman natin. Maging responsable naman tayo dahil dala dala
natin ang pangalan niya. Read the
whole article, not just headlines.
Wag puro memes,” she added.
Seguerra said those accusing
the media of being biased should
reassess themselves before calling
for fairness and attacking those
with contradicting opinion.
“Nagrereklamo tayo na biased
ang media. Eh Kayo? Kaya niyo
bang hindi maging biased? Yung
iba nga sa inyo, ang tindi ninyong
mangutya agad agad dahil lang
hindi ninyo nagustuhan ang sinabi… Yan ba yung pinagmamalaki
ninyong pagbabago?” she said.
“There’s always a way of protecting and defending our President na hindi kailangan manira at
mambastos ng kapwa. We cannot
be blind followers na bibirahin nalang lahat ng hindi sang-ayon sa
atin,” Seguerra added.
After justifying media killings
and catcalling a reporter in a press
briefing, the brash-talking Duterte
said he would not be holding press
conferences for “now,” after daring
the media to stop covering him.
Seguerra said real change could
be achieved only if Filipinos would
unite and respect clashing perspectives regardless of political views.
“As much as gusto natin na parepareho tayo ng opinion about certain matters, imposible yon. At kung
mag-aaway tayo at mag babastusan
at mag rereklamo ng walang katapusan at maninira dahil lamang iba
tayo ng pananaw, then there can be
no peace,” she added.
Explosive ... from Page 11
falsetto, which he utilized to great
effect (read: making the ladies
swoon).
In the saccharine “Marry Me,”
Derulo dropped on one knee, as if
proposing marriage to each giddy
fan inside the venue.
Near the end of the concert—
which was fronted by American
DJ Redfoo, formerly of the EDM
duo LMFAO—Derulo plucked a
girl from the crowd.
Sitting onstage, Derulo looked
straight into the woman’s eyes and
serenaded her. Then, to deafening
shrieks, Derulo pulled out a towel
and handed it to the visibly ecstatic woman. She needed no instruction: Swiftly, she wiped the sweat
off Derulo’s abs.
fluid and spastic—he krumped and
moonwalked; he twirled and contorted his body into angular forms.
One minute, he was leaping
and kicking midair, the next one
he was on the floor doing a split—
all the while maintaining enough
breath support to tackle his repertoire that was a heady brew of pop,
dance, R&B, hip-hop and a touch
of rock and electronica.
Though a very competent singer, Derulo’s vocal abilities weren’t
quite at par with his explosive
stage showmanship. He shied
away from huge belted notes or
intricate runs, instead preferring
to deliver climaxes with his sweet
June 9-15, 2016
HIS name didn’t ring a bell until
around two weeks ago, when he
got involved in a much-publicized
scuffle with award-winning and
controversial actor Baron Geisler
at the Tomato Kick bar in Quezon
City. Videos of the incident were
uploaded on the internet and have
gone viral .
Apparenly, Geisler had found
his match in Kiko Matos.
Just who is Kiko Matos?
Worked for real estate company
Bestowed with arresting looks–
a result of mixed Portuguese-Filipino parentage–and a charming
personality, Matos has managed
to land in several supporting roles
in Filipino indie films including
“Babagwa” in 2013, “Mumbai
Getting to know Kiko Matos
Love” (2014), “Hukluban” (2014)
and “Sino nga ba si Pangkoy Ong”
(2015).
Before he entered filmdom, Matos worked for a real estate company–yes, he was just like any regular working millennial. But while
he thrived in the corporate world,
he says there was not a single day
that he didn’t think of what he really wanted to do in life: act. His
friends would usually shrug off his
statements and sometimes tease
him. No one believed he would
ever be seen on film and TV.
“I would say to my officemates
na balang araw makikita niyo na
lang ako sa TV, mababalitaan niyo
na lang ako, tapos pinagtatawanan
nila ‘ko. Sabi nila, kung mag-aartista ka, anong ginagawa mo dito sa
real estate? Lagi ko sinasabi, basta,
hindi ko alam, pero God is making
me go through here (real estate) first
before I get to where I want, eh eto
na,” Matos said in an interview with
Inquirer.net last Friday.
Growing up, Matos went
through quite some rebellious adolescent years much like any regular kid. The physical separation of
his parents dug a deep hole in his
character. A self-confessed “daddy’s boy,” his father’s absence and
an estranged relationship with his
mother led him to his a turbulent
teenage life.
“I was a runaway kid, eh, because of the depression (brought
about by a) family problem. My
parents were separated not legally but only physically because
my father is working in Portugal
to support the family, and I’m a
father’s boy eh. Being away from
my father wasn’t easy for me and
my mother was my opponent (an
antagonist). So that’s partly the
reason why I ran away. I just told
my father I just didn’t wanna stay
with my mother but as the years
went by, me and my mother…
we reconciled naman, we’re okay
now,” Matos said.
Matos describes his teenage
years as “crazy” but adulthood has
changed his perspectives and priorities. At 25, he is now definitely
a different, more responsible man
who’s eager to reach his goals in
life, he says.
“I was a rebellious kid. My teenage years were very different from
who I am now. I was very impatient and I was reckless I wouldn’t
really think of what other people
would feel about my comments
and everything but now I’m more
sensitive,” Matos explains.
He says the worst of his teen
years was when he got involved
with gangs and fights. “It was all
about pride, ayaw niya ng mukha
ko, naiinis siya sa mukha ko,
sinabihan na ‘ko ‘wag ko kausapin
si ganito, sa mga girls, mga ganon,
it was a crazy teenage life. Then
on that night sa Tomato Kick, sige
na nga. It was just one of those
fights, parang sige, bigyan natin
‘to si Geisler, baka matauhan. ”
Matos recalled that he had
commented on the viral video of
the college student whom Geisler
allegedly assaulted, not knowing
that he would be involved later in
a scuffle with him.
“I made a comment dun sa video
dun sa estudyante eh, Baron Geisler,
pick on somebody your own size,
without knowing that it was me,”
he said laughing. “Law of attraction na naman, like saying, pag ako
kaya nakatapat nito may gagawin
ba ‘to? So far so true, gusto niya ‘ko
harapin, then sige.”
Plans for his career
Even prior to the video incident that catapulted him to a notso-positive fame, Matos aimed to
eventually go from indie to mainstream. Even though it seems his
claim to mainstream fame is off to
a bad start, his video stint surely
proved there’s gold in garbage. As
they often say in show biz, a negative publicity is still publicity.
“Before nung incident, naba-
baliw rin ako, wala ako masyado
projects for film, buti na lang pumasok yung mga plays, I’m thankful for that. Then now, I’m trying
not to accept projects, I’m just
finishing my films, because I have
to concentrate muna sa training
and fights because if I would be
doing any TV shows, mapupuyat
ka, you have to train and it’s not
gonna be healthy, ayoko rin syempre madehado sa ring pano ko siya
matuturuan ng leskyon kung ako
yung [matatalo] eh he’s training
na nga eh. Haven’t started training, okay partida, mauna ka na. I
have to concentrate on the fight”,
Matos said.
Dream Role
Being a versatile actor, Matos
is ready to take on everything, saying he will never back out of a role.
“I’d do anything. I would become
a transgender sure, I would become a criminal sure but just to be
definite, kontrabida.”
In the indie film industry, reality is portrayed in its rawest form.
Therefore, indie actors are always
ready to do no-holds-barred acting
even if they have to bare it all out.
This half-Portuguese hottie has
done what most actors could not
possibly or would hesitantly do–
go nude, as in the movie Hukluban, an official entry to the Sineng
Pambansa Horror Plus Film Festival 2014. Yet, critics noticed his
acting. “I easily agreed. Yes it’s
OK. The script was a good script.
And if you would ask me if I would
do it again (Hukluban, the one and
only sexy film I did), it has to be a
better script, a better story. If it’s
not gonna be better than the last
one, then there’s no point in doing
it,” Matos says.
He’s also proven his flexibility as an actor when he gamely
did a kissing scene with veteran
actor Ronnie Lazaro in the movie
“Edna.” He was thankful for the
opportunity and though it would
June 9-15 2016
June 9-15, 2016
Why Vicki and Hayden decided to have a baby
IT WAS almost close to midnight
when Facebook friends of Hayden
Kho, who were about to get some
shut-eye, had their eyes popping
open as they saw his post of himself with a very cute baby girl.
It read: “I guess God knew fatherhood would change me completely and bring me closer to
being the kind of man He always
wanted me to be. He sent me and
Vicki an angel who is to be our
lifelong inspiration. Meet our
daughter, Scarlet Snow.”
While it must have surprised a
lot of his friends, and the public in
general (we tweeted about it), we,
in fact, had been waiting for that
“coming out” announcement for a
little more than a year now—ever
since Dr. Vicki Belo told us about it,
long before Scarlet Snow was born.
At that time, she let us in on her and
Kho’s secret—that they would have
a baby, and that a surrogate mom in
the US was bearing it.
Belo is one of the country’s
foremost dermatologists, but beyond her own medical practice,
what put her on the contemporary
lifestyle scene in the country was
how she turned beauty treatments
and procedures practically into
“must-haves” for a segment of the
Philippine population, for men and
women.
In this century, with branches
here and in Cebu, she institutionalized beauty treatments. She turned
Belo into a big beauty brand—primarily by also marketing herself
and her lifestyle.
“WHEN we decided to stay together for life, we decided to have
this baby,” Vicki Belo told Inquirer
Lifestyle.
On-and-off relationship
And that included her on-andoff relationship with Dr. Hayden
Kho, who is many years her junior, and who’s figured in juicy
controversies. But that’s all history now.
Kho, you could say, turned the
corner when he rediscovered his
religious faith—“turned Christian,” as they say—and began to
share it and preach about it two
years ago.
Now the couple, who has
been together for 11 years now,
has introduced to the world their
14-month-old baby, Scarlet Snow,
born through surrogacy.
“It’s always been my concern (in
our relationship) that we couldn’t
have a family, but Hayden would
always tell me that he was willing
to be with me, with or without a
child. When we decided, we figured a way, this surrogacy.”
Belo added, “For me this is a
wonderful time to have a child.
I have the time and money. And
Hayden has been the best dad ever.
“We talk about life now more
and more, and we’re on the same
page because of Scarlet.”
Hayden Kho with their daughter, Scarlet Snow
That was how Belo explained
how the birth of Scarlet has
strengthened their bond.
Kho described it using his biblical belief. He explained how they
came up with the name Scarlet
Snow.
“Isaiah 118 says, ‘Though your
sins be red as scarlet, I shall make
them white as snow.’”
Kho has always told people,
anyone who’s willing to listen,
how he’s been reborn with, he
said, the “transforming power of
God.”
He said, “Regardless of how far
you’ve been from God, God can
draw you back in, make your sin
as white as snow.”
He’s turning 36 this year, which
he considers an eventful year.
To say that he’s now a hands-on
father seems an understatement.
We’ve seen him look after Scarlet
Snow in a children’s party.
He’s done the regimen—change
diapers, feed the baby himself,
plan her food. Scarlet was raised
on breast milk—from friends—
then her diet progressed to congee,
misua and banana.
Now the new father brings
Scarlet to reading and language
class, swimming class, gymnastics
and music class.
The challenge, Kho said, is “inner. How do we become good examples for her?”
Belo herself is rediscovering
motherhood. Her two children
are adults: Quark is an acclaimed
movie director; Cristalle helps run
the Belo business, and will get
married in September.
Are they happy? Kho said, “We’re
beyond happy. The word is joy.”
Pop stars are marketing unhealthy food and drink—
and that’s a problem
By Joan Salge Blake
NEW research quantifies the nutritional quality of food and drink
endorsements by music celebrities
popular among teens.
Soda and other sugary drinks
are among the most common food
and beverage products endorsed
by pop stars.
Why are Justin Timberlake and
Britney Spears sweet on Pepsi?
That’s the question being addressed in a study published in the
journal Pediatrics by researchers
at New York University School
of Medicine. They investigated
the food industry’s use of music
celebrities to endorse sweetened
beverages such as sodaand lessthan-nutritious foods such as fast
foods. These celebrities can land
multimillion dollar deals for endorsing these products.
The researchers uncovered that 65
of 163 pop stars were associated
with 57 different food and beverage brands. Pop stars were identified by reviewing Billboard Magazine’s “Hot 100” song charts from
2013 and 2014 and Teen Choice
Award winners, which helped assess the popularity of these artists among adolescents. The Teen
Choice Awards, for example, rely
on the votes of adolescent audiences to honor the most popular
celebrities in the media limelight,
including the music industry. If
you’re a music artist and receive
such an award, chances are pretty
good that a huge amount of adolescents are downloading your
music from iTunes.
The researchers then looked
at the nutritional value of these
celebrity-endorsed products and
found that the majority were unhealthy; more than 70 percent of
the beverage and food endorsements were for sugar-sweetened
beverages and fast food. While
the artist Psy goes nuts over
healthy pistachios, the researchers found that there weren’t any
other celebrities endorsing foods
such as fruits, vegetables or
whole grains.
June 9-15, 2016
prints and handprints of the stars
at the TCL Chinese Theater, and
the stars on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame. The many boutiques
and stores in the area are very attractive but my friends were more
Summer Getaways Near
Los Angeles
SUMMER is upon us. That means
it is time to start planning your
summer vacation -- whether it’s an
exotic cruise, a pilgrimage tour or
a European dream vacation. However, your summer vacation does
not necessary mean overseas trips.
It doesn’t have to be expensive either. In fact, you can spend it right
here in Southern California and
still enjoy yourself immensely –
without spending a fortune.
In fact, within driving distances
from Los Angeles are some of the
best places that are perfect summer getaways. In addition, Los
Angeles has its own share of attractions and destinations that are
fun to explore during the summer
months.
As a travel specialist, I have
escorted and traveled with countless tours locally and overseas.
But it is not often that I get to be
the tour guide of visiting clients or
friends. So when my very good
friend Xirong Yang and his wife
Jie Zheng and their son Kevin
from Shanghai came to visit me
last week, I want them to experience the local scene in Los Angeles and neighboring cities. It was
their first visit to the United States
– especially Los Angeles – and
they left with some unforgettable
memories.
What made my friends’ US trip
more memorable was because it
was their 20th wedding anniversary, and had the rare opportunity
of celebrating their important day
in China, on the air aboard Delta
Airlines flight from Shanghai to
Los Angeles.
Days before their arrival, I had
already prepared an itinerary for
them, one that highlights many of
our city’s attractions.
The day after my friends arrived,
Yvonne and I packed a lunch basket and drove our friends to Mission Viejo. Mission Viejo is an
ideal summer getaway for locals
who want to spend some time outdoors. I have lived in the city of
Mission Viejo for many years and
I knew the perfect place there to
relax, play and to be entertained:
the Lake in Mission Viejo. The
lake is very popular and ideal for
boating, sailing, fishing and other
beach activities. There are picnic
areas, play structures, and venues
for summer concerts, fireworks
and other holiday events. Enjoying our packed lunch, coffee and
tea, we chatted, exchanged stories, watched the activities around
us, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves
while on the party boat.
After lunch we drove down to
Laguna Beach, another great summer getaway for locals. Laguna
Beach is Southern California’s
premier coastal destination. The
city is known for as the retreat vacation in Orange County and is a
haven for art lovers, nature enthusiasts, and beach goers. Laguna
Beach is perfect destination for
those who are seeking peace and
quiet. It is a very laid back city
and has a number of parks that can
make your vacation extra special.
All around the city are great res-
taurants where you can pick up
some lunch to bring with you to
any of the playgrounds, where you
can stretch out a blanket or snag
a picnic table, which we did to
fully enjoy the view. We went to
Heisler Park which offer an amazing ocean view. Within the park
are top-notch playground equipment that inspire kids to play, and
special features that parents can
also enjoy.
From Laguna Beach we went
to Dana Point, another one of
my favorite getaways in Southern California. Dana Point is not
only a beautiful harbor but is also
one of the most romantic areas in
California. It is a bustling port
side community with many amenities available to both residents
and visitors. Dana Point Harbor is
divided into the East and West Basin, both of which run a separate
marina. Weekend cruises from
Dana Point Harbor is very popular.
We spent the rest of our afternoon
in Dana Point, where Yvonne and I
let my friends relax and watch the
seagulls and the ospreys hovering
at low altitude as they searched
for preys, and later watched the
sun slowly go down the horizon.
It was nighttime when we headed
back to Los Angeles.
Another local destination which
gets very high rating from me as
an ideal summer getaway is San
Diego. Only about two hours
drive from Los Angeles, San Diego is a beautiful coastal city with
its own iconic and historic attractions, parks and architecture. Our
company arranged a tour for them
to the Seaport Village, where they
toured the USS Midway and Museum at the Navy Pier, the most
popular naval ship museum in the
world. After that, a visit to the Old
Town San Diego, known as the
birthplace of California. Here are
a wide range of restaurants, shops
and historic architecture, some of
which date back to the 18th century. Then they continued on to
Balboa Park, home to a number of
museums, gardens and the worldfamous San Diego Zoo. The tour
passed by the Botanical Building,
which houses a diverse collection
of plants and flowers. There are
other attractions in San Diego that
are worth seeing but the tour was
able to cover one of the most popular places.
Because it was my friends’ first
time to visit the United States particularly Los Angeles, it would be
unfair not to let them do the sightseeing tour of the city.
As part of their 20th wedding anniversary celebration,
we also arranged a tour for them
to visit Santa Monica beach, to
see the city’s famous theme park
near the pier. From there they
drove through Sunset Boulevard,
through Beverly Hills with its luxury mansions and then to Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles’ cultural
icon. They could spend a whole
day exploring Hollywood Blvd.,
with its museums, landmarks and
other attractions. My friends had
a good time looking at the foot-
interested in seeing the endless parade of activities and acts going on
in Hollywood Boulevard. Being
at the film and entertainment center of the world is quite an experience by itself. I’m sure they were
Couple Xirong Yang
and his wife Jie Zheng
doing their own version of World War II’s
most famous kiss in
front of the Unconditional Surrender
Statue in San Diego.
Jane Stark (middle)
together with (from left
to right), Xirong Yang,
Jie Zheng, Kevin and
Yvonne Huang at the
Mission Viejo Lake an
ideal summer getaway.
totally blown away by all the glitter and the glamour of Hollywood.
Before finally heading home
to an intimate dinner, the tour took
a short stop at the Staples Center
in Downtown Los Angeles, home
of the Los Angeles Lakers and the
Clippers. There are other famous
attractions in Los Angeles, but
they, too, shall have to wait for
when my friends come to visit me
again.
For more information about
tours and travels, whether local
or overseas, please contact Travel
International at (310) 327-5143
or at our toll-free number at
1-844-320-1499. You can also
check out our amazing tour packages and special promos at www.
travelinternational.net.
Travel
International Group, Inc. has a
global network of offices in Yangon, Myanmar; Hanoi, Vietnam;
Bangkok, Thailand; and Manila,
Philippines.
The Pasadena Playhouse Presents
South Coast Repertory’s Production of
THE MADWOMAN IN
THE VOLVO
Written by and starring
Sandra Tsing Loh
Directed by Lisa Peterson
June 2 – June 26, 2016
With The Official Press Opening on
June 5, 2016
PASADENA, CA (February 4,
2016) – The Pasadena Playhouse
presents South Coast Repertory’s
production of The Madwoman In
The Volvo written by and starring
Sandra Tsing Loh and directed by
Lisa Peterson as the final production of the 2015-2016 season. The
critically acclaimed production
comes to The Pasadena Playhouse
after its smash World Premiere at
South Coast Repertory last month.
Preview performances begin at The
Pasadena Playhouse (39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena) June 2,
2016 with the official press opening on June 5, 2016 at 7 p.m. The
Madwoman In The Volvo will play
through June 26, 2016.
Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director
of The Pasadena Playhouse says, “I
have long been a fan of Sandra and
her wonderfully truthful and humorous work. We were already in conversation about having her with us
here at The Playhouse. When I went
down to see the SCR production of
Madwoman, I decided right away to
bring this show to our theatre for audiences in our community. This particular play is not only exceedingly
funny, but also moving, emotional
and in the end joyously celebratory.
It will be a pleasure to have this fine
work on our stage to end a season
that has been so rich and rewarding
in a number of ways.”
In the throes of her own mid-life
change, Loh wrote an essay for the
Atlantic Monthly, which later became the basis for her memoir, The
Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year
of Raging Hormones. She identified
herself as someone who is from the
“Triple M Generation—menopausal, middle-aged and a mother.” The
New York Times selected Madwoman as one of the paper’s 100
Notable Books of 2014. Booklist
called it “hilarious, comforting and
enlightening.”
The memoir’s three-character
stage adaptation is a bumper-car ride
through mid-life madness, all sparked
by an unlikely trip to Burning Man.
Loh is a writer/performer whose
solo theatre shows include Aliens
in America and Bad Sex With Bud
Kemp (both off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre), Sugar Plum
Fairy (Geffen Playhouse, Seattle
Repertory Theatre), I Worry (The
Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of
Louisville) and, most recently, The
Bitch Is Back (Broad Stage). Her
bestselling New York Times Notable Book, Mother on Fire, was inspired by her hit solo show in 2005,
during which time Variety named
her one of America’s 50 most influential comedians. Her memoir, The
Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year
of Raging Hormones, was selected
as one of The New York Times’
100 Most Notable Books, and was
inspired by her Best American Essay in The Atlantic, for which she
is a contributing editor. The play
version of Madwoman received development support from Sundance
Theatre Lab and Ojai Playwrights
Conference. Loh has been a regular
commentator on NPR’s “Morning
Edition,” and on PRI’s “This American Life” and “Marketplace”; her
weekly segment, “The Loh Life,” is
heard on KPCC, and her syndicated radio minute, “The Loh Down
on Science,” is heard weekly by 4
million people. Loh is currently an
adjunct professor at UC Irvine in
drama and science communication.
Peterson has earned numerous
directing honors including Obie and
Lucile Lortel awards and multiple
Drama Desk nominations. She is a
Usual Suspect at New York Theatre
Workshop, a member of Ensemble
Studio Theater and serves on the
executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
In addition to playwright Loh,
the cast for The Madwoman in the
Volvo includes Caroline Aaron and
Shannon Holt.
The creative team for The Madwoman In The Volvo includes
Rachel Hauck (Scenic Design),
Candice Cain (Costume Designer),
Geoff Korf (Lighting Design), and
Lindsay Jones (Original Music/
Sound Design).
The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. The
performance schedule is Tuesday
through Friday at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.;
and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00
p.m. Tickets, priced from $25.00
to $87.00, are available online at
PasadenaPlayhouse.org; by calling
The Pasadena Playhouse at 626356-7529; or visiting The Pasadena
Playhouse Box Office, Tuesday –
Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00
p.m. during non-performance dates.
On performance dates the Box Office is open Tuesday – Saturday
from 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and
1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, visit PasadenaPlayhouse.org.
June 9-15, 2016
The 4th HFT PH (118th) Kalayaan
Parade, Bigger, Bolder and Louder
LOS ANGELES- It was a bigger,
bolder and a louder 4th Kalayaan parade around Los Angeles
Historic Filipinotown last June
04, 2016 More than 30 Filipino_
American contingents , 30 vehicles and floats and more than a
thousand of its members paraded
around Historic Filipinotown in
Los Angeles in festive mood and
held a program at Park View St.
last Saturday morning until 1 PM
The parade was led by the Filipino Jeep of the PWC, more than
30 Pinoy Harley Riders Club in
their Hurley motorcyles , a 15man FILAM BAND and scores
of the United Cordillera of Los
Angeles (UCLA) and Benguet 13
Igorot Dancers.
Enhusiastic crowd lined up
along the route in the Beverly –
Temple and gave the participants
a rousing cheers
The most applauded contingent and the loudest cheers from
the crowd went to the NUJP -USA
contingent that has a sign that
call out on PRESIDENT-ELECT
DUTERTE, STOP THE MEDIA
KILLINGS!
The Parade
The parade around Historic Filipinotewn started at Burlington and
Temple Street around 9:15 AM.
The parade of 30 vehicles and
30 walking contingents led by the
FILAM BAND and the 17 Binibining Pilipinas 2016 Candidates
and different Queens and Muses
of organizations passed thru Bonnie Brae St. right on Beverly St,.
The parade went right on Park
View St, Left on Temple St, straight
and left on Robinson St, Left on
Beverly St and at the end of the parade at Park View Street. The LAPD
contingent led the parade.
After Parade Program
The after parade program was
held at Parkview St.in front of the
Filipino AmericAN Service Group
InC (FASGI) The program was
opened by an invocation by Pastor
Obi.
The LAPD Honor Guard Detail
came in with the colors while the
FILAM BAND from South Bay
played the two National Anthems.
Speakers for the program in front
of FASGI at Park View St. were
Council Member Mitch O’ Farrell
of District 13 of Los Angeles and
Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez of
District 51 .
The speakers extolled the significance of the 118th Independence Day from colonial masters
Spain on June 12, 1898. They also
praised the Filipino American
Photos by: JOE COBILLA
community unity as exemplified
by the parade.
They were introduced by
FASGI Executive Director YeyCoronel Alcid. The Emcees for
the program was Albert Bataclam,
FASGI Communications Director
and Dr.Richard Gilkison.
The Binibining Pilipinas 2016
candidates were also presented to
the crowd during the program. The
crowd were also regaled by cultural numbers of the Silver Lake
CBAS.
Singers Agnes Paris, Dr. Richard
Richardson also presented their
numbers A martial law exhibition
by BE COOL and Magician Cecille and Mighty Show was shown
to the public Songs by Mervin Luwee and rap number from rapper
artist, BAGYO ended the program
Participating Organizations
The following organizations
composed the 4HFT Independence Day Committee (4HFTPIDC) in alphabetical order:
ALLIANCE PHILLIPINES, ANSWER-Los Angeles, Binibining
Pilipinas-USA 2016,Benguet 13/
Benguet Organization of Southern
California, Cordillera Association
of Los Angeles, District 13 Office
of Councilmember Mitch O’ Farrell, Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC), EPCC Mayor Jerry
Esguerra,
Filipino American Community
of Los Angeles Inc.(FACLA) Filipino American Service Group Inc.
(FASGI), FILAMS FOR HILLARY,
FILAM BAND, Filipino American
Press Club of California (FAPCCA)
FILAM INQUIRER, Justice for
Filipino American Veterans(JFAV).
Knights of Rizal (KOR)-Historic Filipinotown Chapter Kabataang Makabayan Pro People Youth (KmB),
Band, LAKAMBINI NG KALAYAAN 2016,
National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP)USA,Outreach for Christian
Fellowship
(OCF),Office
of
California Assemblyman Jimmy
Gomez, District 51.Pinoy Harley
Riders Club (PHRC), PCC/Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)-Alumni Association-USA, People’s Community
Organization For Reform and Empowerment (People’s CORE), Pilipino Workers Center of Southern
California(PWC-SC), Pangasinan
Brotherhood-USA,
Philippine
Independence Day FoundationCarson City,Queen of Asia Pacific
(QAP, SUNDAY JUMP, Sapphire
Media Regency(SMR), Veterans
Van c/o BAGYO and Vita Plus.
For more information please contact Bernie at FASGI at (213)4979804 and Art at (323)640-4056 or
email us at alpiegarcia@gmail.
com.
Also please visit our website at
www.jfavusa.org for more details.
June 9-15, 2016
US Watching...
from Page 1
Homeownership at an all time low and
over 1/3 households are now age 55+
HOUSEHOLDS age 55 or older
from an important part of the
home buying market. As it becomes more difficult to save up
to afford a home and with lending
guidelines continuing to tighten,
home buying has totally changed
its dynamics. A new American
Community Survey data released
by the US Census Bureau at the
end of 2015 show that, in the US
as a whole, 42% of all households
are headed by someone age 55+.
The population for 65 and over has
increased from 35 million in 2000
to 40 million in 2010 ( a 15% increase) and is projected to increase
to 55 million in 2020. By 2030
the projection is that there will be
about 72.1 million older persons,
over twice their number in 2000.
Estimated that 19% grandparents
in the survey aged 55+ or over
maintained households in which
grandchildren were present in
2010. In addition, about another
22% grandparents over 65 lived
in parent –maintained households
in which their grandchildren were
present.
A fun fact for readers in the
health care profession, a relatively small number and percentage
( 4.1%) of the 65+ population in
2009 lived in institutional settings
such as nursing homes. However,
the percentage increased dramatically with age, ranging from 1.1%
for persons 65-74 years to 3.5%
for persons 75-84 years and 13.2%
for 85+.
With seniors staying in their
homes longer and not making
changes like moving or selling,
that will lead us to continue to
rely on homebuilders creating our
housing inventory. With land value increasing and with home prices going higher, this is the main
reason why homes prices are going higher and less affordable for
our heirs. This then leads to the
fact that the homeownership rate
in the United States dropped to a
20 year low to 64.5% in 2014.
The last time we had the 64.5%
percent homeownership was in
1994. Among the 50 states, NY’s
2014 homeownership rate of
52.9% was the lowest in the nation. California was the second
lowest with 54.2%.
Lets talk about millennials and
their options of renting vs buying
a home.
Just 36% of Americans under
the age of 35 own a home, according to the Census Bureau. That’s
down from 42% in 2007 and the
lowest level since 1982, when the
agency began tracking homeownership by age.
It’s not all their fault. Millennials want to buy homes -- 90%
prefer owning over renting, according to a recent survey from
Fannie Mae.
But student loan debt, tight lending standards and stiff competition
have made it next to impossible
for many of these younger Americans to make the leap.
Many Millennials simply can’t
come up with the hefty 20% down
payments. Others don’t have good
enough credit to qualify for loans.
Making it even more difficult are
the heavy student loan burdens
many college grads carry.
Even without the $50,000 in
student loan debt they owe, affording a home in their town is difficult, Single-family homes there
cost average $300,000 and up.
Lured by tax incentives, tech
companies have been relocating to
the area and creating many highpaying jobs. That has heated up
demand -- and home prices.
Related: Buy vs. rent: What you’ll
pay in 10 biggest cities
With an average of $30,000 in
student loan debt to pay and the high
price of renting , it’s hard for millennials to save enough for a down
payment. Tech and other high paying industries have had the same
impact on home prices in many of
the cities where young adults most
prefer to live. Places like San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles
are unaffordable to most residents
seeking to buy a home, but even
more so for those who have not hit
their high earning years.
Why millennials love apartments
Competition is so stiff in these
markets that young buyers can’t
compete with older, deep-pocketed buyers who are often able to
pay for homes in all-cash.
Millennial buyers tend to want a
house that is totally move in ready
with all the bells and whistles that
they are accustomed with. Therefore, their choices are really limited.
With the recent news of a slower economic growth specially with
jobs, the housing market might see
more inventory to rise by the end
of summer, Federal Reserve Board
Janel Yellen will most likely keep
rates low and this will keep the
housing momentum flowing.
Homeownership is ultimately
where everyone will end up to be,
either you do it early in your life
or later in life. But if you have the
chance to do it earlier in life, that is
probably a better way to go. Good
luck and Happy House Hunting.
Thanks you for your inquiries
and comments, please call Ken Go
of 1st Innovative Finance Group
for your mortgage and real estate questions or needs. Call Ken
Go at 562-508-7048 or write to
[email protected].
BRE
01021123 NMLS 238636
held at National Defense College
of the Philippines at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday.
The Edca is widely seen as important for the United States and
the Philippines, a staunch ally, as
both nations are worried by China’s increasingly assertive pursuit
of territorial claims in the disputed
South China Sea.
US-Philippine ties
Signed days before Obama visited Manila in 2014, the security
deal will allow US troops to build
facilities to store equipment for
maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations, in addition to giving broad
access to Philippine military bases. The Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of Edca in January this year.
Describing US-Philippine ties,
Bower said “it is an old relationship, it is a treaty relationship, it is
a special relationship.”
“I think Washington values the
relationship with the Philippines. I
don’t think anyone in Washington
thinks a President of the Philippines would turn away from that
alliance,” he said.
Bower said the United States
was not looking at Duterte’s unorthodox statements, such as taking a Jet Ski to one of the contested islands in the Spratlys or his
threat to cut ties with Washington,
which, he added, were part of
campaign rhetoric during the recent elections.
On Monday, the American expert gave a lecture on US policy
and perspectives on the developments in the South China Sea at
the University of the Philippines.
The Philippines is awaiting a
ruling of the UN arbitral court this
month on a case it filed last year,
questioning the legality of China’s
“nine-dash line” claim over the
South China Sea under the United
Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea.
That Duterte is seemingly
warming up to China does not
bother Bower.
Elements of story
“I think the proof is really in
the pudding. In other words, what
we are watching is who he selects
to be in his Cabinet. What his first
100 days would look like, what actions he takes particularly around
things like the response to the arbitral case in The Hague,” Bower
said.
“Those are things that will tell
the story. I don’t put too much
stock in the things that he said recently,” he added.
Duterte has appointed Perfecto
Yasay, a lawyer and former chair
of the Securities and Exchange
Commission with no background
in foreign policy and diplomacy,
as acting foreign secretary for one
year until Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano takes over.
The law prohibits the incoming President from immediately
appointing Cayetano, his running
mate, who lost heavily to Leni Robredo in the May 9 elections.
Retired Maj. Gen. Delfin
Lorenzana’s designation as the
next defense chief is considered to
be a silver lining in what is apparently a shallow bench in the security cluster of the Duterte Cabinet.
Lorenzana served as a defense attaché to Washington.
Make it a habit
to read
Philippine Tribune
Duterte spent...
from Page 1
The campaign expense report
submitted by Duterte’s representatives on Wednesday showed that
Floirendo donated P25 million in
cash in March and P50 million in
April.
In total, Duterte received
P375,009,474.90 million, of
which over P298 million was in
cash and the rest in kind, such as
tables and chairs, lights and sound
systems, campaign posters and vehicles for motorcades.
Duterte’s expense report also
showed he had P3.5 million left.
Duterte reported that he spent
P200,000 of his own money for
his campaign.
Among his other top contributors were Dennis Uy of Davaobased Phoenix Petroleum (P30
million); Samuel Uy of Davao
farms and Davao Import Distributors Inc. (P30 million); Lorenzo
Te of Honda Cars Davao (P30
million); Tomas Alcantara, chair
and president of the Alsons Group
(P12 million); brother Nicasio Alcantara (P16 million) and Felix
Ang, president of CATS Motors
Inc. (P10 million).
Binay’s expense report showed
that there was over P77,000 left of
the total P463,453,000 cash contributions to his presidential campaign.
Santiago’s
report
stated
that she had spent all of the
P74,652,689.87, which was identified as “in-kind” contributions
received from her political party,
People’s Reform Party.
Among the six vice presidential
candidates, Vice President-elect
Leni Robredo had the biggest
expenditure, amounting to over
P418 million.
Robredo’s report showed
that she received a total of
P423,163,737.34, of which over
P406 million was cash received
from various sources; more than
P192,000 in kind from various
sources, and P16 million in kind
from the Liberal Party.
Her closest rival, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., reported that he
spent only P140.54 million. Of
this amount, P9.8 million was his
own money. He received a total of
P130.7 million in cash and in kind
donations from various sources.
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero received over P322 million in
contributions. Out of this amount,
he spent P320.5 million. His report showed that he did not use
personal funds for his vice presidential campaign.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano,
Duterte’s running mate, reported receiving P188.9 million in
donations. Of this amount, he
spent P189.12 million, of which
P199,872.48 was his own money.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV received P61.16 million in donations. He shelled out P736,569
from his own pocket, spending
a total of P61.89 million for his
failed vice presidential bid.
Sen. Gringo Honasan spent the
least among the vice presidential
candidates, paying only P26.25
million for his campaign. He received P25.9 million in cash and
in kind donations from various
sources and spent P296,449.20 of
his own money.
Among the senatorial candidates who submitted their SOCE
before 5 p.m. yesterday, former
Metro Manila Development Authority chair Francis Tolentino
spent the biggest amount in his
attempt to win a seat in the Senate at P199.15 million; followed
by winning senatorial candidates
Joel Villaneuva (P163.78 million),
Sherwin Gatchalian (P157.07 million) and Ralph Recto (P131.87
million).
Losing senatorial candidates
Isko Moreno and outgoing Sen.
Teofisto Guingona III spent over
P120 million and P92.30 million,
respectively. SFM
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE
On cusp, Clinton keeps focused:
‘Not over until it’s over’
COMPTON, California — Hillary
Clinton stood on the cusp Monday of having enough delegates to
claim the Democratic presidential
nomination, having overwhelmed
Bernie Sanders in a pair of weekend elections in the Caribbean.
Yet the former secretary of
state spent little time celebrating
wins Saturday in the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Sunday in Puerto
Rico, instead remaining focused
on Tuesday’s contests in California and five other states — and a
general election matchup to come
against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“I am so focused on all the
states that are voting tomorrow,”
Clinton said. “That is my singular
focus. I know there is a lot of work
still going on.”
“It’s not over until it’s over,
and tomorrow is a really important
day, particularly here in California,” she added.
After blowout weekend wins
in the two U.S. territories, Clinton
is now 23 delegates short of the
2,383 needed to win the nomination, according to an Associated
Press count.
Clinton won all seven delegates
available in the U.S. Virgin Islands
and at least 36 of the 60 delegates
available in Puerto Rico.
There are four delegates remaining in Puerto Rico, but they
cannot be allocated until the vote
count there is finished. That won’t
happen until Tuesday, because the
island’s elections workers took
Monday off after counting results
until dawn.
Clinton now has 1,812 pledged
Hillary Clinton
delegates won in primaries and
caucuses; Sanders has 1,521.
When including superdelegates,
the party insiders who can vote for
the candidate of their choice at the
party’s summer convention, her
lead over Sanders is substantial:
2,360 to 1,567.
AP surveys the superdelegates
throughout the primary season to
track whom they planned to support at the July convention.
If a superdelegate tells AP they
plan to unequivocally support a
candidate at the convention in
July, the superdelegate is added to
that candidate’s tally.
Both Clinton and Sanders
spent Monday in California, the
biggest prize among the six states
voting on Tuesday. Speaking to
reporters at a community center
in Compton, Clinton said she was
on her way to having a clear lead
in the popular vote and pledged
delegates.
She said that should she become
the nominee, she’ll be “reaching
out” to Sanders and would do what
she could to bring the party together.
President Barack Obama, who
bested Clinton in 2008 during her
first bid for the Democratic nomination, is preparing to formally
endorse her and start aggressively making the case against
Trump. White House officials
said the announcement could
come within days, although not
before Tuesday’s elections.
Obama called Sanders on Sunday
as he campaigned in California, a
Democrat familiar with the call told
The Associated Press. The person
spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized
to discuss the private conversation,
and would not reveal any details
about it.
Asked by reporters in San Fra
cisco if he had talked to Obama,
Sanders demurred. “Right now we
are campaigning,” he said.
Obama’s expected declaration
comes as no surprise. Last week, he
declared bluntly, “it’s almost over”
and suggested he was waiting for
the Tuesday contests before making
his move. While Obama has said
he’s stayed on the sideline to ensure
voters decide the outcome, “rather
than be big-footing the situation,”
he’s hardly been silent about his
preference.
At key moments, Obama has
o fered high praise and needed
defense of Clinton and little comparable support for Sanders.
Speaking Monday at a press
conference outside Oakland,
Sanders made the case he was the
best candidate to take on Trump
in the general election. Asked
whether an Obama endorsement
of Clinton would affect his campaign, Sanders deflected, saying
he was being asked to speculate
before an important primary in
California.
The Vermont senator’s tone was
more subdued Monday than over
the weekend, when he said the
Democratic convention would be
contested if no one wins the nomination based on delegates awarded
in the primaries and caucuses.
“Let me just talk to you after the
primary here in California, where
we hope to win,” Sanders said.
“Let’s assess where we are after
tomorrow.”
June 9-15, 2016
Kerry warns
China on air
defense zone
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia—US
Secretary of State John Kerry on
Sunday warned Beijing against
setting up an air defense identification zone (Adiz) over the disputed
South China Sea.
Washington would consider the
establishment of such a zone—
which would require civilian aircraft to identify themselves to
military controllers—“a provocative and destabilizing act,” Kerry
told reporters in Ulan Bator during
a visit to Mongolia.
Kerry’s remarks came on the eve
of a US-China dialogue in Beijing
and after a Hong Kong newspaper
cited Chinese military sources as
saying Beijing was mulling such
a zone, similar to one Beijing established over the East China Sea
in 2013.
China claims nearly all of the
strategically vital South China Sea
despite competing claims by several Southeast Asian neighbors,
and has pressed its claims by rapidly building artificial islands suitable for military use.
Washington has responded by
sending warships close to Chinese
claimed reefs, angering Beijing.
Tensions
Further US actions in the region
“will give Beijing a good opportunity to declare an Adiz in the South
China Sea,” a Chinese military
source told the South China Morning Post newspaper last week.
Kerry said such a move would
“raise tensions and call into a serious question China’s commitment
June 9-15, 2016
China’s Deputy Chief, Joint Staff Department, Central
Military Commission, Adm. Sun Jianguo delivers his speech
about “The Challenges Of Conflict Resolution”
China tells US: We’re
not afraid of trouble
SINGAPORE—China on Sunday
hit out at US “provocations” and
said it was not afraid of “trouble”
over its territorial disputes with
neighbors in the South China Sea.
“The South China Sea issue has
become overheated because of the
provocations of certain countries
for their own selfish interests,”
China’s Adm. Sun Jianguo told a
security summit in Singapore.
Sun spoke one day after US
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter
warned that Chinese construction
on Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal
in waters within the territory of
the Philippines would prompt “actions” by the United States and
other nations.
Carter declined to elaborate when
pressed on Saturday over what “actions” Washington might take if
China moved to construct an artificial island on Panatag Shoal.
But he proposed stronger bilateral security cooperation with China to reduce the risks of a mishap.
He also proposed a “security
network” of countries in the AsiaPacific region whose militaries
would train together and eventually operate together.
On a visit to Mongolia on Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry
also warned Beijing against setting up an air defense identification zone over the disputed waters,
saying it would be a “provocative
and destabilizing act.”
Rhetoric has escalated ahead of
a ruling from the United Nations
Permanent Court of Arbitration
in The Hague on a case brought
by the Philippines, a longtime
US ally, against China, which has
shunned the proceedings and says
it will not recognize any ruling.
Military muscles display
Sun, in a clear reference to
Washington, said “freedom of
navigation” patrols in the South
China Sea were a display of “military muscles” and that China was
being forced to “accept and honor” the tribunal’s ruling.
“China firmly opposes such
behavior. We do not make trouble,
but we have no fear of trouble,”
Sun, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Singapore forum
known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, said in prepared remarks.
Great Wall of self-isolation
In an open forum, he addressed
Pentagon chief Carter’s statement
on Saturday that Beijing risked
building a “Great Wall of self-isolation” with its military expansion
in the South China Sea.
Despite repeated notes of concern from countries such as Japan,
India, Vietnam and South Korea,
Sun rejected the prospect of isolation, saying many of the countries
present at the security forum were
“warmer” and “friendlier” to Chi-
na than a year ago.
“We were not isolated in the
past. We’re not isolated, and we
will not be isolated in the future.
Actually, I am worried some people and countries are still looking
at China with a Cold War mentality and prejudice,” Sun said in
response to questions from other
delegates.
“They may build a wall in their
mind and end up isolating themselves,” he said.
In his speech, Sun said “countries not directly concerned are not
allowed to sabotage our path of
peace for selfish gains.”
Competing claims
Hong Kong’s South China
Morning Post has reported that
China plans to establish an outpost
on Panatag Shoal, internationally
known as Scarborough Shoal, located 230 kilometers off the coast
of Zambales province in the Philippines, which considers it part of its
exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China claims nearly all of the
strategically vital sea and has developed contested reefs into artificial islands, some topped with
airstrips.
The Philippines says China took
effective control of Panatag Shoal
in 2012, stationing patrol vessels
and shooing away Filipino fishermen, after a two-month standoff
with the Philippine Navy.
Without military muscle to defend its territory, the Philippines
brought a case to the UN arbitration court, challenging China’s
sweeping claims to the South
China Sea and asking that its right
to exploit resources within its EEZ
be honored.
The court is expected to hand
down a ruling in the coming
weeks despite China’s refusal to
recognize it.
Apart from the Philippines,
Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam
also have competing claims in the
South China Sea, which encompasses vital global shipping lanes
and is believed to have significant
oil and gas deposits.
Freedom of navigation
China’s territorial claims, based
on controversial historical records,
have also pitted it against the Unit-
ed States, which has conducted
patrols near the Chinese-built artificial islands to press for freedom
of navigation.
Pentagon officials say two Chinese jet fighters last month conducted an “unsafe” intercept of a
US spy plane in international air
space over the South China Sea.
On the upcoming decision by
the UN tribunal on the Philippine
case, Admiral Sun reiterated on
Sunday that China does not recognize the court’s authority.
In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016
file photo, U.S. Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter comments on the
course an unmanned surface vehicle traveled in the bay, which he
had plotted on a computer at the
Naval Undersea Warfare Center
in Newport, R.I. China on Monday, May 30, lashed out at criticism from Carter, accusing him
of harboring a Cold War mentality
and saying Beijing has no interest
in “playing a role in a Hollywood
movie” of Washington’s design.
In this Wednesday, May 25,
2016file photo, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter comments on
the course an unmanned surface
vehicle traveled in the bay, which
he had plotted on a computer at the
Naval Undersea Warfare Center in
Newport, R.I. China on Monday,
May 30, lashed out at criticism
from Carter, accusing him of harboring a Cold War mentality and
saying Beijing has no interest in
“playing a role in a Hollywood
movie” of Washington’s design.
He said China wanted to solve
the dispute with the Philippines
bilaterally and said the door was
open for dialogue with incoming
President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte said on Thursday he
would not surrender the Philippines’ rights over Panatag Shoal.
Sun on Sunday repeated China’s pledges to seek a peaceful
solution to the territorial dispute.
“China has the patience and
wisdom to settle any disputes
through dialogue. We also believe
the related countries have the wisdom and patience to make peace,”
Sun said. “I’ve always believed
that shaking hands is better than
clenching fists.” The wires
Kerry warns...
from Page 18
to diplomatically manage the territorial dispute.”
He repeated Washington’s standard line that it does not take sides
in disputes over the sea.
‘Excessive claims’
But that stance has been called
into question by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who last
month accused Beijing of “pressing excessive maritime claims
contrary to international law.”
China blasted his remarks as expressing “typical US thinking and
US hegemony” and a “Cold War
mentality.”
Carter warned a regional security forum in Singapore on Saturday that Chinese construction on
Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, in
waters within the territory of the
Philippines, would prompt “actions being taken” by the United
States and other nations.
The United States and Mongolia have enjoyed strong ties for decades. Washington sees the country as a strategic ally against its
regional rivals Russia and China.
Mongolia depends on Russia for
three-quarters of its oil and China
for most of its trade, but sees US
relations as a hedge against its
neighbors.
Young democracy
Hillary Clinton and US Vice
President Joe Biden are among
other top officials to have visited the country in recent years as
Washington “pivots” to Asia.
Kerry met with Mongolia’s
President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj,
and was scheduled to attend a festival of horse racing and Mongolian wrestling.
“We’re delighted to be, in
a sense, your third significant
friend,” Kerry told Mongolia’s
foreign minister.
“Mongolia has made remarkable progress for a young democracy,” he told reporters.
The former Soviet nation of
about 3 million people possesses
enormous mineral resources and
deposits of gold, copper and
uranium, still largely untapped.
AFP
June 9-15, 2016
Ali’s heart beat for 30 minutes after
his body shut down, says daughter
Ford vehicle sales
surged 78% in May
Muhammad Ali with daughter Laila
THE world of combat sports lost
one of its most polarizing figures
over the weekend with the tragic
passing of Muhammad Ali, but
according to his daughter, ‘The
Greatest” went out like a true
champion.
In an emotional Twitter post on
Saturday (Sunday in Manila), Hana
Ali detailed the iconic boxer’s final
moments, noting how his heart kept
beating for 30 minutes even after
his other organs had failed.
“Our hearts are literally hurting.
But We are so happy daddy is free
now. We all tried to stay strong
and whispered in his ear, ‘You can
go now. We will be okay. We love
love you. Thank you. You can go
back to God now”, wrote Hana,
who is married to UFC middleweight Kevin Casey.
“All of us were around him hugging and kissing him and holding
his hands, chanting the Islamic
prayer. All of his organs failed but
his HEART wouldn’t stop beating. For 30 minutes…his heart just
kept beating. No one had ever seen
anything like it. A true testament to
the strength of his Spirit and Will!
Thank you for your love and
support!!”, she added.
Meanwhile, his other daughter,
retired undefeated boxer Laila Ali,
also shared a touching photo of her
dad together with her daughter.
Her Facebook post was captioned, “I love this photo of my
father and my daughter Sydney
when she was a baby!”
She also shared her gratitude
for the outpouring of support from
fans of her late father, “I feel your
love and appreciate it!!”
Deemed by many as the greatest
boxer to ever lace a pair of gloves,
Ali captivated audiences with his
incredible hand speed and crafty
footwork for a man his size.
Though mostly known for his
sharp tongue and boastful proclamations during his storied career,
Ali received global praise for his
many humanitarian efforts during
his retirement.
Ali succumbed to a septic shock
on Friday night (Saturday in Manila), after being hospitalized for a
severe respiratory illness.
Getting to ... from Page 12
already, narating ko na hanggang
dito na lang ba tayo. Then when
I got to that dream, I have bigger dreams now. Maybe I’d like
to become a director. Kasi when
I act also, it’s also directing my
co-actors, eh. It’s not just saying your lines and giving my coactors something to use,” Matos
says.
No takers among TV networks
For some actors dreaming of a
successful career, the only way
to go is to penetrate the top 3 TV
networks and sign a contract. This
is what “Sino nga ba si Pangkoy
Ong” starrer did since 2013, but
unfortunately, his call wasn’t
heeded. But patience pays off.
Kiko Matos waited and blessings
came more than he had expected.
On a hindsight, the Tomato
Kick incident might have given him murky fame, but who
knows, with the way things are
going, possibilities are endless
and this bad light could do a 360
turn and propel Matos to greater
heights.
“Ever since 2013, I’ve been
knocking the doors of the 3 networks and I’m thankful naman na
I get guestings but I wanted more
talaga like a regular show because
everybody needs to make money
diba? And doing independent
films is not that rewarding (financially) and it’s not all the time
that you have films, so the irony is
that, I’ve been knocking on their
doors and no one was answering
and now this is happening. Now
I’m trying to choose which one,”
Matos gleefully tells Inquirer.net.
never come again if he refused to
grab it.
“Ronnie Lazaro came up to me
and he offered it to me and at that
moment I said yes coz that’s Ronnie Lazaro, it’s not like kissing
anybody. To be given the chance
to kiss Ronnie Lazaro (he says
laughingly) is always an opportunity that will never come twice
and Ronnie Lazaro has never
kissed a guy, and he’s a legend,
kung tinanggihan ko yun tanga
ako,” Matos says.
Matos also dreams of directing a film one day, stressing that
he won’t stop with acting. Clearly,
this go-getter hunk definitely raises up to the challenge of his craft.
“I’d want to direct films, and
acting is a dream that happened
STRONG customer demand continued to boost vehicle sales of
Ford Philippines, which saw a
78-percent surge to a record high
of 2,933 units in May.
This brought the company’s total
sales to 13,961 units in the first five
months of the year, up 63 percent
from year-ago level—making Ford
Philippines one of the fastest growing automotive brands in the country.
According to Ford, the increases can be attributed to the strong
demand for the company’s ‘big
three’ vehicles in the Philippines,
such as the Ranger pickup, the
Everest and the EcoSport sports
utility vehicles.
“We continued to build on our
momentum since the start of the
year, allowing us to make further
progress in the Philippines. With
our expanding lineup of global
Ford vehicles in our showrooms
across the country, we are reaching out to even more customers
and further widening our brand
appeal,” Ford Philippines managing director Lance Mosely said in
a statement.
Ford Philippines said its May
sales were led by the all-new Ever-
EIJING, China — China’s imports decreased at their slowest
pace in more than a year-and-ahalf in May, official data showed
Wednesday, in a possible sign
domestic demand in the world’s
second-largest economy may be
recovering.
The country is a key driver of
world growth and its demand for
commodities has enormous implications for resource-rich nations from Australia to Nigeria.
China’s imports have been
shrinking since late 2014 as the
country’s once blistering expansion lost steam, slowed down
by manufacturing overcapacity,
a slowing property market and
mounting debt.
But the year-on-year drop of
est which posted sales of 1,069
units, boosting its year-to-date
sales to 5,907 units.
Ford recently launched the
Everest Premium Package for the
2.2L, 4×2 variant, equipped with
additional safety, smart and convenience features such as adaptive
cruise control, lane keeping system, lane departure warning, and
active park assist. The EcoSport
compact SUV delivered its best
monthly performance this year
with May sales increasing by 56
percent year-on -year to 848 units.
The EcoSport Black Edition was
recently added to the lineup.
EcoSport’s year-to-date sales
rose by more than 4 percent to
3,515 units, the company said.
The Ford Ranger pickup truck
also performed well in May with
sales reaching 786 units. This
drove total sales of the model to
3,343 units in the first five months.
The Ford Fiesta posted sales of
91 units in May, pushing its yearto-date total to 389 units, while
that of the premium Explorer SUV
rose 24 percent from a year ago to
73 units. Its year-to-date sales rose
by 12 percent to 465 units.
0.4 percent in May imports —
the 19th straight down month
— marked the slowest rate of
decline since October 2014,
when they grew 4.6 percent,
customs data showed.
The results were also well
ahead of the Bloomberg News
median forecast of a 6.8 percent
decrease based on a poll of economists.
The value for May imports
stood at $131.1 billion, according the Chinese customs office.
However, exports fell 4.1
percent last month from a year
ago to $181.1 billion, following a 1.8 percent decline in
April and leaving a trade surplus of just under $50 billion,
the figures showed.
June 9-15, 2016
Muhammad Ali, a modern-day buffalo soldier
NEW YORK CITY — F’oat like a
butterfly, sting like a bee.
In and out of the ring, Muhammad Ali did just that. And now
Death has stung Ali, at the age
of 74—afflicted by Parkinson’s,
complicated by pulmonary illness,
his motor skills, once the epitome
of grace, now forever inert.
A mall named after him stands
right by Araneta Coliseum, in Quezon City—the coliseum where on
a steamy night in October of 1975
he fought Joe Frazier for the third
time and barely survived, winning
when Frazier’s corner wouldn’t allow their man to come out for the
15th and final round, handing Ali
the match by a TKO. By then Frazier’s left eye was shut, his right
arm in excruciating pain and all
but useless. Ali himself said this
was as close as he got to dying.
It was brutal, this gladiatorial
combat, two ring-savvy fighters
with opposite styles, out to annihilate the other. The “Thrilla in Manila” was so-called after the cruel
taunt Ali, so adept with his putdown rhymes, made up to mock
Frazier, that the fight would be a
“killa and a chilla and a thrilla,
when I get that gorilla in Manila.”
The third and final match between the two focused international attention on the city and the
country, giving Ferdinand Marcos,
then on his third year of martiallaw rule, much needed favorable
press. According to an AP report,
Marcos was supposed to have said
on that occasion, “I want the world
to see that we have peace and order, people are happy, the econo-
Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston
my is doing well, and the country
is moving forward.”
Nothing could have been further from the truth, of course. Ali
versus Frazier was the regime’s
bread-and-circus for the masses,
deflecting at least for that moment
criticism of a dictatorship that routinely engaged in human rights
violations, torture and extrajudicial killings and, with its massive
crony-style corruption, forced the
economy to its knees.
The fight in the ring was a fair
one. That outside made of the nation a punching bag.
Quite by accident I got to watch
the match, on a big screen at the
Palladium, a concert hall cum
movie theater (now reconfigured
as a residence for New York University students and a gym) on
14th Street, a pay-per-view affair.
A friend and I were walking by
when we noticed that no one was
minding the entrances: apparently
the security guards and the ticket
takers had all gone into the theater
to watch the epic fight. With the
coast clear, we walked right in and
watched the final rounds.
It was an amazing, chaotic
scene: half of the packed theater
was made up of Frazier fans, the
other by Ali’s followers. Each
time either man landed a blow,
the respective section would erupt
in cheers. We were pro-Ali so we
stood behind the rows of Ali supporters and cheered along with
them. The fact that the referee was
Carlos Padilla, a Filipino, made
the fight even more unusual.
Ali was a great athlete, to be
sure, and one of the best boxers
that ever lived. But that is not the
main reason why I write this. If I
could, I would ban boxing. It beggars the imagination to view attempts to knock someone’s brains
out as a sport On the other hand,
without boxing, we may never
have had Ali.
He was also a great man, a
flawed human being, to be sure,
but unafraid to speak truth to power even when it cost him. Outside
the ring Ali fought for his beliefs,
which included shedding what
he called his slave name, Cassius
Clay; his conversion to Islam as a
member of the anti-integration Nation of Islam (which he later left);
and refusing in 1967 to answer the
draft and fight in the Vietnam War
and subsequently being active in
the antiwar movement.
He declared that he would not
take up arms for a war that did
not make sense. “My conscience
won’t let me go and shoot them.
They never called me ‘nigger’, they
never lynched me, they didn’t put
no dogs on me.” This talk from an
uppity black man was simply unacceptable to white America. He was
convicted, stripped of his title, and
prevented from boxing for three
and a half years—his peak years.
Only when the Supreme Court
overturned his conviction was he
able to return to the ring. Then followed the three fights with Frazier,
and the “Rumble in the Jungle,”
in Zaire, when in 1974 the master
boxer took a towering, muscular,
younger, seemingly invincible
George Foreman to school, winning by a knockout in eight rounds.
At the time that he refused his
nduction, I was vaguely in favor
of the war—I say “vaguely” for
though it wasn’t clear to me why
the U.S. was in Vietnam I had
yet to learn about the history of
American imperialism, particularly the 1899 Philippine-American War that foreshadowed U.S.
adventurism in Southeast Asia.
Only later, living in New York
at the start of the 1970s, and witnessing the ferocious rift between
the antiwar movement and those
fervently supporting the war, did
I begin to appreciate the enormity
of what Ali had done. By then, I
had started to read up on the 1899
War (never mentioned, let alone
discussed, at the Ateneo de Manila University), discovering part
of the larger and largely hidden
context of my own and my country’s historical provenance.
My knowing about those two
wars, separated by more than 50
years but inextricably linked, cast
Ali in a vastly different light. He
was a modern-day David Fagen,
the buffalo soldier (as African
Americans in the U.S. Army were
called then) sent to fight the Filipinos in the 1899 war. Fagen, realizing how racist the war was,
defected to Aguinaldo’s forces
to become a deadly thorn in the
American side. Both men were
fighters for racial equality and
justice. I can picture them now,
laughing and trading stories on
how to sidestep punches thrown or
bullets fired by a society rife with
inequity and still in the clutches of
racism.
—Copyright L.H. Francia 2016
June 9-15, 2016
June 9-15, 2016

US closely `watching` Duterte, says expert

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