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@PhilCanInquirer NOVEMBER 8, 2019 www.canadianinquirer.net VOL. 11 NO. 395
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte joins other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe during the 22nd ASEAN-
Japan Summit at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Center in Nonthaburi, Thailand. Story on page 10.
ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
Robredo accepts 9
appointment as
anti-drugs czar Duterte-Abe meeting tackles
cooperation in multiple
areas
BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA siderasyon para sa akin ay simple lang:
31
Philippine News Agency Kung ito ang pagkakataon para matigil
ang patayan ng mga inosente at map-
anagot ang kailangang managot, pa-
MANILA — Vice President Maria Le- pasanin ko ito, kaya tinatanggap ko ang
onor “Leni” Robredo on Wednesday trabaho na ibinibigay sa akin ng Pan-
accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s gulo (At the end, the most important Living among the dead:
appointment designating her as the co- consideration for me is simple: If this Nanay Diday’s story
chairperson of the Inter-Agency Com- is the only chance to stop the killings Inflation eases to 0.8% in
mittee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD). ❱❱ PAGE 28 October, slowest in over 3
“Sa dulo, ang pinakamahalagang kon- ❱❱ PAGE 7 Robredo accepts years
Get the latest

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2 Philippine News NOVEMBER 8, 2019 FRIDAY
PAO chief vows to file more Dengvaxia raps

BY BENJAMIN PULTA secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Marky Ferrer, Maricel Manriza,
Philippine News Agency Janette Garin, incumbent Charmel Flordeliz and Annal-
Health Secretary Francisco iza Silver filed the complaints.
Duque III, and others impli- They accused Garin and
MANILA — Chief Public Attor- cated in the deaths of school- other respondents of reck-
ney Persida Rueda-Acosta on children inoculated with anti- less imprudence resulting to
Monday reiterated her agency dengue vaccine Dengvaxia to homicide under Article 365 of
will not back down in pursu- answer the charges. the Revised Penal Code; tor-
ing criminal charges against This, after some of the re- ture resulting in the death of a
those responsible for the death spondents failed to file their person and torture committed
of schoolchildren erroneously counter-affidavits during re- against children under Repub-
subjected to the Dengvaxia an- sumption of preliminary inves- lic Act 9745, the Anti-Torture
ti-dengue vaccine. tigation at the DOJ. Act of 2009; and for violating
“Tuluy-tuloy ang pag-file “Dapat magpa-file ng reply RA 7394, the Consumer Act of
namin (We will continue with at counter-affidavit ang mga the Philippines, particularly,
the filing). We now have 147 respondents kaso hindi na- the mislabeling of drugs and
victims,” Acosta told reporters man lahat nakapag-submit. So devices, liability for defective
during the latest filing of charg- may hearing ulit sa Biyernes products, and liability for prod-
es at the Department of Justice alas diyes ng umaga dito sa uct and service imperfection.
(DOJ). DOJ. Binigyan sila ng chance The other respondents were
Acosta reiterated her plea makapag-submit kung ano former and incumbent officials
to the Supreme Court to has- dapat nila i-submit (The re- of the Department of Health,
ten the designation of a special spondents were supposed to PRESIDA V. RUEDA-ACOSTA / FACEBOOK Food and Drug Administra-
family court that will handle file counter affidavits but not tion, Research Institute for
the charges stressing that these all were able to do so. There will ers, has been charged in con- ents of Aldrid Aberia, Micaella Tropical Medicine, Philippine
cases “involve children of ten- be another hearing on Friday nection with the deaths of six Mainit, Eira Mae Galoso, Rice- Children’s Medical Center and
der age.” to give them a chance to file),” pupils who received Dengvaxia za Salgo, Leiden Alcabasa, Jon- executives of pharmaceutical
The DOJ on Monday gave Acosta explained. anti-dengue shots. nel Dacquel, Kenchie Ocfemia, firm Sanofi Pasteur and local
more time to former Health Garin, along with several oth- Represented by PAO, par- Angelica Pulumbarit, John distributor Zuellig Pharma. ■
Duterte cites contribution of APT partners

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA connected and integrated Ase- Meanwhile, Duterte cited in Parañaque City. the summit to consider harmo-
Philippine News Agency an through sustainable infra- Japan’s Expanded Partnership Similarly, Duterte recognized nizing standards on nurses and
structure, digital innovation, for Quality Infrastructure that South Korea’s ideas on innova- other healthcare profession-
seamless logistics, regulatory helps Asean countries con- tion and smart city develop- als,” Panelo said.
NONTHABURI, THAILAND – excellence and people mobility. struct state-of-the-art infra- ments, and lauded the Asean “He likewise manifested that
President Rodrigo R. Duterte Three deliverables have been structure network. Smart Cities Network (ASCN). he looks forward to the conclu-
on Monday hailed the mile- identified under this program One notable project under Under ASCN, 26 pilot cit- sion of the negotiations on the
stones achieved by the Associa- so far and this include the es- this program is the under- ies have been identified to Regional Comprehensive Eco-
tion of Southeast Asian Nations tablishment of a rolling priority ground railway called Metro have smart and sustainable nomic Partnership (RCEP),” he
(Asean) and its partners in the pipeline of Asean infrastruc- Manila Subway project, which development and these are added.
Asean Plus Three (APT) in en- ture projects aimed to attract will be financed by Japan in Bandar Seri Begawan, Bat- Asean leaders and their 6 part-
suring developments on infra- more public and private invest- through the Japan Internation- tambang, Phnom Penh, Siem ner economies aims to conclude
structure, among others. ments, development of a sus- al Cooperation (JICA). Reap, Makassar, Banyuwangi, RCEP discussion during the 3rd
“He affirmed the importance tainable urban- DKI Jakarta, RCEP Summit Monday despite
given by the Philippines on the ization strategy, Luang Prabang, questions by one partner.
strategic role of the APT Coop- and the study on Vientiane, Johor Earlier, Philippine Trade and
eration in community-building the adoption of Bahru, Kuala Industry Secretary Ramon Lo-
efforts, underscoring the 65 digital technolo- The President noted that this sub- Lumpur, Kota pez said 18 of the 20 chapters of
mechanisms in place,” Chief gy among micro, regional economic cooperation Kinabalu, Kuch- the proposed mega trade deal
Presidential Legal Counsel and small, and medi- provides a venue for the ing, Nay Pyi Taw, have been approved and trade
Presidential Spokesperson Sal- um-sized enter- development of far-flung areas like Mandalay, Yan- ministers are expected to “re-
vador S. Panelo said in state- prises (MSMEs). in Mindanao. gon, Cebu City, port a very positive develop-
ment, referring to the Presi- Relatively, the Davao City, Ma- ment” to Asean leaders at the
dent’s first engagement for the President also nila, Singapore, end of the Summit.
day which is during the 22nd thanked China Bangkok, Chon- “The mindset right now is for
ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Sum- for its commit- buri, Phuket, Da everyone to be in… We believe
mit here. ment to support the Brunei Da- The initial tranche of official Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh that even that one country is
The summit involves the russalam-Indonesia-Malaysia- development assistance (ODA) City. working doubly so that they can
10-member regional bloc plus Philippines East Asean Growth amounts to JPY104.53 billion Aside from infrastructure- assess and address all the issues
China, Japan, and Korea. Area (BIMP-EAGA), which was (USD935 million) and is pay- related measure, Duterte also (that are) pending,” he said.
Panelo said the President launched in Davao City in 1994. able in 40 years, inclusive of a noted the Asean Mutual Rec- RCEP is a free trade agree-
thanked the APT participants The President noted that this 12-year grace period. ognition Arrangements has al- ment between the Asean mem-
for the Master Plan for Asean sub-regional economic cooper- The subway will have 15 sta- lowed for enhanced people-tober-countries and six trading
Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, ation provides a venue for the tions from Quirino Highway people connections. partners namely China, Japan,
which is targeted to provide a development of far-flung areas in Quezon City to the Ninoy “PRRD (President Rodrigo R. South Korea, India, Australia
seamless and comprehensively like in Mindanao. Aquino International Airport Duterte), in particular, told in and New Zealand. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 3
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Lawmakers urged to disclose

budget amendments
BY FILANE MIKEE vidual. We have our own web- makers propose their amend-
CERVANTES sites, we should use them for ments verbally, or even scribble
Philippine News Agency this purpose, as I did for the them on napkins,” he said.
2019 budget,” Lacson said in a The senator said the people
radio interview. have the right to know where
MANILA — In the spirit of “Most if not all lawmakers their taxes are going, espe-
transparency, Senator Panfilo have their own websites. Why cially amid a growing national
Lacson on Tuesday urged fel- not post their amendments debt that stands at more than
low lawmakers to make public there, for the public to scruti- PHP7.9 trillion.
their proposed amendments to nize?” Lacson added. “The national budget in-
the 2020 national budget. He said in the past years, volves the people’s money. It
Lacson said disclosing budget some lawmakers submit their should benefit the people and
amendments could dispel any amendments to their respective not a few senators or congress-
suspicion that these are laden finance or appropriations chair- men or even government offi-
YANCY LIM / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO with “pork barrel.” persons without having them go cials who implement projects.
“We should make every- through floor deliberations. And the budget is funded by our
Palace won’t let thing public. That includes

all amendments we submit,
whether institutional or indi-
“Instead of having their
amendments undergo scrutiny
in-floor deliberations, some law-
taxes, as well as borrowings if
our tax collections fall short,”
he said. ■
guard down despite

3-year low inflation Relief stocks still sufficient
BY FILANE MIKEE
for Mindanao quake victims
eased to 0.8 percent from Sep-
CERVANTES tember 2019’s 0.9 percent.
Philippine News Agency The state statistics agency BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO en from an unverified source. centers and receive relief goods
said the latest inflation rate was Philippine News Agency Undersecretary (Ricardo) Jalad and supplies for distribution to
the lowest since May 2016’s 0.9 of the NDRRMC (National the evacuees.
MANILA — The Duterte ad- percent. Disaster Risk Reduction and “The checkpoints will also
ministration will remain vigi- The latest reading fell within MANILA — The government Management Council) who was screen those kibitzers or ’usise-
lant in managing the growth in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi- still has sufficient stocks of there until yesterday (Sunday) ros’,” the DND chief disclosed.
consumer prices, even after the nas’ 0.5 percent to 1.3 percent relief goods to aid families af- reported that it is not. Not all af- The DND chief said he has
country’s inflation in October forecast for the month. fected by the series of quakes in fected families are in the evacu- also instructed relevant au-
eased to its lowest level in over The PSA noted that the Mindanao. ation centers but opted to stay thorities on the proper man-
three years, Malacañang said downtrend of last month’s in- Department of National De- near their homes,” he added. agement of evacuation centers
Tuesday. flation was driven by the 0.9 fense (DND) Secretary Delfin More relief goods are coming to ensure order in the distribu-
In a statement, Presidential percent annual drop in the Lorenzana made this assurance from Manila which are being tion of relief goods.
Spokesperson Salvador Panelo heavily-weighted food and non- when asked if there is a need to transported by the Department He added that this instruc-
said the government would not alcoholic beverages index. ask help from the international of Social Welfare and Develop- tion was in wake of reports that
be complacent despite the con- Panelo gave Duterte’s eco- community regarding the ongo- ment (DSWD). some people are rushing to re-
tinued drop in prices of basic nomic team credit for the ing relief efforts in Mindanao. “There is sufficient relief lief vehicles and getting any-
commodities. three-year low inflation rate in “No. The international com- goods now in Kidapawan (North thing they can.
“This should be good news to October. munity is not needed in this case. Cotabato) and the DSWD is “I have also directed the
all Filipinos, especially to Pres- He also assured the public The government has sufficient transporting some more from military to remove the people
ident Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s that the country’s economic resources. Plus there are local Manila and other regions,” the from the highways begging
doubters or cynics unless they managers would continue ex- donors who have given while DND chief pointed out. and blocking vehicles bringing
see it otherwise, which would hausting efforts to further ease others are on standby,” he said in Earlier, Lorenzana directed relief goods and bring them to
then reveal that what they are the headline inflation, in an a message to reporters Monday. the Armed Forces of the Phil- their communities so they can
solely interested in is for this effort to give Filipinos a “com- Lorenzana was earlier desig- ippines (AFP) to set up check- be properly attended to,” Lo-
administration to fail,” the Pal- fortable life.” nated by Executive Secretary points in the quake-affected renzana stressed.
ace official said. “Bringing a comfortable life Salvador Medialdea, acting as areas in Mindanao to properly Relief organizations, he said,
“As inflation continues to for all Filipinos, which includes the government’s officer-in- record the arrival of relief goods can leave their donations to
drop, the current government taming inflation, is the fore- charge, as the point person for and workers. troops for distribution to the
will continue to not let its guard most socioeconomic goal of the the immediate delivery of as- “I have also issued a direc- affected families or if they want
down in monitoring the prices Duterte administration,” Pan- sistance to the victims of the se- tive for the putting up of check- to do it themselves, military
of basic commodities, especial- elo said. ries of quakes in Mindanao. points at all entry points to the units can direct them to areas
ly now that we are in the ‘ber’ “This positive development is The DND chief also clarified disaster areas so that we can needing their assistance, he
months, approaching Christ- a testament that PRRD’s (Presi- that his statement on Sunday record all relief goods and relief added.
mas season,” he added. dent Rodrigo Roa Duterte) stating that the series of earth- workers going in,” he said in a Aside from this, Lorenzana
On Tuesday, the Philippine strong political will, together quakes in Mindanao can be con- message to the Philippine News said the AFP, especially the
Statistics Authority (PSA) re- with his economic team’s sound sidered a humanitarian crisis was Agency. Army, has already deployed a
ported the increase in prices of and working macroeconomic taken from an unverified source. The said checkpoints will also task force in Kidapawan, Cota-
basic goods and services in Oc- policies and measures, contrib- “Yes, my initial statement of ensure that only legitimate and bato coordinating the military’s
tober was at its slowest pace in uted to the downward trend of (Mindanao earthquakes being authorized relief workers are operation with ongoing govern-
over three years after it further prices and goods,” he added. ■ a) humanitarian crisis was tak- granted access to evacuation ment relief operations. ■
Maguindanao massacre victims’

kin hope for justice soon
BY BENJAMIN PULTA Other victims were family filed, witnesses na tinakot, pi-
Philippine News Agency members and supporters of the natay, pina-recant. Ito lahat,
Ampatuan clan’s political foe, (There was a lot of accused, de-
Esmael Mangudadatu. fense counsels and changes of
MANILA — The victims’ fami- “(A)fter the massacre, there lawyers, a number of motions
lies see justice coming soon in were already political personnel, filed, witnesses intimidated,
the case of the Maguindanao or personages that occupied the killed and forced to recant their
massacre. different positions in the prov- statements. All these) (are) a
“We are hoping that promul- ince of Maguindanao and sev- confluence of events),” she said.
gation of judgment will be this eral politicians already occupied The Quezon City Regional
November in time for the 10th different positions aside from Trial Court earlier turned down
anniversary of the Ampatuan, the Ampatuans. Yes, they (Am- a plea by accused Datu Andal Maguindanao massacre site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
Maguindanao massacre, No- patuans) still have municipali- “Unsay” Ampatuan to delay the PCOO
vember 23, 2009,” lawyer Nena ties where they are mayors, vice promulgation of the court’s judg-
Santos, one of the private pros- mayors, or relatives are in the ment in the cases arising from them through representatives, to the motion.
ecutors in the case told a me- Sangguniang Bayan in the areas the Maguindanao massacre. claiming that he would want to Subsequently, the witness him-
dia briefing in Quezon City on where the Ampatuan clan con- In her five-page order, recant his testimony and that self denied he intends to change
Tuesday. trol, so there are about 6 of them Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn A. what he mentioned during the his testimony and said he would
Santos said they are expect- in Maguindanao,” Santos said. Solis-Reyes denied the motion presentation of evidence were not likely approach the Ampatu-
ing a guilty verdict for “all prin- Santos said a number of fac- to re-open trial with a motion not all true. ans as they would kill him.
cipal accused,” if not for all 197 tors caused the delay in resolu- to suspend period to set the The panel of prosecutors, led “With the denial made by
co-accused in the case. tion of the case. promulgation of judgment filed by Prosecutor Arthur Velasco, prosecution witness Sukarno
The attack resulted in the “Maraming dahilan (There by Ampatuan on October 14. objected to the motion on sev- Badal of his intention to recant
death of 58 people, including were a lot of reasons). They all Ampatuan’s lawyers had ini- eral grounds — that there is no his previous testimony, it is
32 journalists and media work- said napakarami ng akusado, tially asked that the proceed- newly- discovered evidence to crystal clear that the ground re-
ers, the single worst peace-time pangalawa, ang daming defense ings should be suspended and justify the reopening of the tri- lied upon by the accused for the
incident involving the killing of counsels, ang daming change of claimed that prosecution wit- al, also citing that the necessary reopening of trial has no leg to
newsmen. lawyers, ang daming motions ness Sukarno Badal contacted judicial affidavit is not attached stand on,” the court said. ■
100 modular tents ‘Ninja cop’ in assailed

from Marikina shipped Antipolo drug raid dismissed
to quake-hit Cotabato BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
grave misconduct satisfied all
requirements of due process to
boa also ordered the start of
summary dismissal proceed-
Philippine News Agency impose the penalty of dismissal. ings against the three police-
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD bato,” Teodoro said in a state- The embattled police officer men who were caught selling
CALIWAN ment. was initially recommended to drugs in Parang, Maguindanao
Philippine News Agency He said the modular tents can MANILA — Philippine National be meted with a 59-day suspen- last week.
be used by the affected families Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, sion, an action which was op- They were identified as Ex-
“to give them privacy while Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gam- posed by the Internal Affairs ecutive M/Sgt. Monger Nasar
MANILA — The 100 modular staying at their designated boa, on Monday ordered the Service which recommended Aradias, deputy chief of po-
tents donated by the city gov- evacuation sites.” dismissal of Lt. Joven de Guz- his dismissal. lice of Marantao town, 47; S/
ernment of Marikina have been On Sunday, the National Di- man, the police officer who led Gamboa also ordered a thor- Sgt. Fahmil Bangon Como, 39;
shipped to the earthquake-hit saster Risk Reduction and Man- a controversial anti-illegal drug ough review of de Guzman’s and Pat. Sandali Magundacan
Cotabato province, the city agement Council (NDRRMC) operation in Antipolo, Rizal last case. Manalao, 35.
public information office (PIO) announced that 35,661 fami- May. On May 4, de Guzman and “I would like to emphasize
on Sunday said. lies were affected by the Oct. 31 “I have ordered the dismissal two other police officers re- that the PNP Internal Cleans-
Marikina City Mayor Mar- quake and the Oct. 29’s 6.6 mag- from police service of Police portedly shot the vehicle of a ing that we are implement-
celino “Marcy” Teodoro an- nitude earthquake in 200 ba- Lieutenant Joven de Guzman certain Arnold Gramaje Jr. af- ing will be swift, decisive and
nounced last Saturday that he rangays in Regions 11 (Davao) of Antipolo City Police Station ter he declined the cops’ order uncompromising especially
immediately ordered distribu- and 12 (Soccsksargen). who led a team of seven PNP to get out of his car. against personnel involved in
tion of 100 modular tents for The modular tents earned personnel that figured in a The victim sped off his car drugs,” Gamboa said.
Cotabato after a 6.5 magnitude praises from netizens when highly irregular activity in An- and sought refuge in his house The three arrested cops were
earthquake struck the Mindan- Marikina City used them for tipolo City early this year and which the three cops raided and caught after selling a sachet of
ao province again last October evacuees affected by flooding in were recommended for dis- took away cash amounting to shabu to a poseur buyer. The
31. August 2018. missal by the Internal Affairs PHP30,000 and some gadgets. operating units were surprised
“After learning what hap- The tent, which can house at Service (IAS) as a consequence De Guzman is also one of the to know later that the three
pened to Cotabato, I ordered least seven people, has closed of their actions,” Gamboa told cops accused of recycling more people they arrested are police-
my staff to prepare 100 of our sides to give evacuees privacy reporters in a press conference than 160 kilos of shabu and ex- men assigned in Marantao, La-
tents to give to Cotabato. What and comfort while the top of it in Camp Crame. torting millions of peso from an nao del Sur.
happened to them was very un- is open for airflow. ■ Gamboa said de Guzman was arrested drug lord in Pampanga The chief of police of Ma-
fortunate so we are extending initially penalized with sub- in 2013. rantao was earlier relieved for
our help to the people of Cota- sequent findings of guilt for Aside from de Guzman, Gam- command responsibility. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Philippine News 7
BI deports close to 300 Series of ‘fake’ news

Chinese illegal workers won’t erode Duterte’s
BY FERDINAND PATINIO
Philippine News Agency
sion chief, the foreign nationals
were apprehended for violation
11 have NBI hits — including the
principal — hence we wait for
popularity: Palace
of their conditions of stay by the resolution of their local cas-
working in the country with- es before implementing depor- BY RUTH ABBEY GITA- go Roa Duterte did not receive
MANILA — The Bureau of Im- out the necessary permits and tation,” the BI official added. CARLOS a football jersey,” the Palace of-
migration on Tuesday (BI) de- visas. Before the implementation Philippine News Agency ficial said.
ported 301 Chinese nationals, “Upon determination of of their deportation, the group “The official photo of the
including seven minors, in two their age, they were ordered was temporarily detained in an President, easily accessible in
chartered flights at the Puerto released. Custody has been inn in Puerto Princesa, which MANILA — Persistent crit- the Facebook account of the
Princesa International Airport. turned over to the Chinese Em- was secured by BI and Wescom ics who continue to propagate Presidential Communications,
BI Commissioner Jaime bassy, and they have also flown personnel. “false” news against President immediately puts a lie to this
Morente said the first batch of out today (Tuesday),” he said in Meanwhile, Morente reiter- Rodrigo Duterte would not suc- sinister false news,” he added.
foreigners who were deported a statement. ated his warning against illegal ceed in eroding the Chief Exec- The latest tweet was posted,
were part of the 329 illegal Manahan added that their aliens hiding in the country. utive’s popularity, Malacañang just two days after an edited
aliens arrested in eight differ- passports have also been can- “We are targeting big compa- said on Sunday. headline of Thailand-based
ent hotels and establishments celed by the Chinese govern- nies who so blatantly disregard The statement was issued af- newspaper Bangkok Post titled,
last September 16. ment, making them undocu- our laws by hiring improperly ter Filipino blogger Loi Reyes “King orders PH Duterte, be-
They were arrested through mented aliens. documented foreign nationals,” Landicho claimed that Duterte have during Asean summit”
the operation of BI intelligence He noted that the other batch he said. did not receive a soccer jersey went viral on social media.
agents with the assistance of consisting of 28 illegal aliens “We welcome you to our during the signing ceremony On Friday, Presidential Com-
the Armed Forces of the Phil- are still being processed. country to do business as long of the memorandum of under- munications Operations Office
ippines Western Command “There is a smaller group of as you comply with our laws. If standing (MOU) between the Secretary Martin Andanar de-
(Wescom). 17 that will all be flown to Ma- you fail to follow, we will deport Association of Southeast Asian nied that Thailand’s King Maha
According to Fortunato Ma- nila, whose deportation order is you,” the BI chief added. ■ Nations (Asean) and football’s Vajiralongkorn had directed
nahan, BI Intelligence Divi- already being processed, while world governing body FIFA in Duterte to behave during the
Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday 35th Asean Summit and Re-
night. lated Summits in Bangkok on
Robredo accepts... Duterte joined his fellow November 2 to 4.
Southeast Asian leaders during Andanar, presenting a copy
the signing of MOU between of the actual Oct. 31 edition
❰❰ 1 of innocents and hold Asean and FIFA, which is part of Bangkok Post, said the fake
those responsible ac- of the regional bloc’s plan to headline replaced the original
countable, I’ll carry jointly host the FIFA World title, “Suvit calls for Thailand to
the burden, that’s why I am Cup in 2034. embrace 5G fast, or lag behind
accepting the job given by the Landicho, through his Twit- rival.”
President,” she said in a state- ter account “The Professional Panelo said the latest “dirty
ment Wednesday. Heckler,” posted a video of political stunt’ merely proves
In a memorandum dated Duterte being the last Asean that the opposition has the “ob-
October 31 and released on leader to receive the commem- session” to embarrass the Pres-
Tuesday, the Chief Executive orative jersey. ident and put him to ridicule “at
designated Robredo as co- Landicho also said in his post: every opportunity presented to
chairperson of the anti-drug “Noong bata ka, naramdaman them.”
body which is headed by the mo rin ito. Lahat nabigyan na Despite the series of “bogus”
Philippine Drug Enforcement ng candy, maliban sa’yo. Nai- news hurled against Duterte, he
Agency (PDEA). iyak ka na pero nag-pigil ka lang will remain popular, especially
The designation was made para ‘di mapahiya (When you among his supporters, Panelo
following demands by critics were a child, you also felt this. said.
and detractors that enforce- All were already given a candy, “With this succeeding bogus
ment power should be given to except you. You were already news coming in the heels of the
Robredo “through an official teary-eyed but you held your fabricated news story dragging
correspondence, and not just tears so you won’t get embar- Thailand’s monarchy, it be-
through a verbal or electronic rassed).” comes predictable that this vi-
communication.” In a statement, Presidential cious campaign of hate against
In a press conference, Robre- Spokesperson Salvador Panelo PRRD will not cease until his
do clarified that she did not air was dismayed that the Presi- last day in office,” the Palace of-
concerns over the anti-illegal dent’s critics keep on spreading ficial said.
drug campaign to chase a high- “fake” news against the Presi- “The popularity and the ac-
er position in the government. dent. ceptance of the President by
“Hindi ko hiniling ito, sa Pan- VP LENI ROBREDO / FACEBOOK “The rambunctious politi- those who overwhelmingly vot-
gulo nanggaling ang ideyang ito cal opposition is at it again in ed him into office cannot how-
(I did not ask for this, this offer handa ba ako sa trabahong ito, ing me if I am ready. My ques- its expertise in creating and ever be eroded or diminished,
came from the President),” she ang tanong ko: Handa ba kayo tion to them is: Are you ready spreading fake news as when no matter how these incorri-
said. para sa akin. Mr. President, for me? Mr. President, there are Professional Heckler, a twitter gible whiners and nitpickers try
In accepting the role, Robre- dalawa’t kalahating taon na- two and a half years left in your account allegedly associated hard to destroy him. The more
do said she wanted drug lords lang ang naiiwan sa iyong ad- administration, it’s not too late, with an official of the Aquino they throw mud at him, the
pursued and cops involved in ministrasyon, hindi pa naman we can work on this together),” Administration, uploaded more he comes out clean and
narco-trafficking jailed. huli ang lahat puwede pa nating she said. ■ a spliced video purportedly appreciated by the people,” he
“Tinatanong nila ako kung pagtulungan ito (They are ask- showing that President Rodri- added. ■
Asean leaders ‘very concerned’

about SCS disputes
BY RUTH ABBEY GITA-CARLOS
Correspondent/Hosts Philippine News Agency
Bea Kirstein T. Manalaysay
Joanna Belle Deala
Gianna Llanes
Violeta Arevelo MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte
Babes Newland and his nine fellow Association of South-
Graphic Design
east Asian Nation (Asean) leaders are
Shanice Garcia “very concerned” about the long-stand-
Ginno Alcantara ing disputes in the resource-rich South
Arlnie Colleene Talain Singca
China Sea, Malacañang said Sunday.
Account Manager Presidential Spokesperson Salvador
Kristopher Yong Panelo said Duterte and other South-
Director/Producer
east Asian leaders have agreed to have a
Boom Dayupay unity against “common enemies,” which
include the problems in the contested
Photographers/Videographers
Ginno Alcantara
South China Sea. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte poses for a family photo with the leaders from the Association
Maria Crizandra Baylon “All the Asean countries have one thing of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and the Premier of the State Council of
in common. First, all of them wanted to the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang during the 22nd ASEAN-China Summit at the Impact
Sales
Zeena Marie L. Briones
unite against common enemies. And they Exhibition and Convention Center in Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 3, 2019.
Hannah Chloe S. Amparo are all in one to cooperate in the same SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
concern,” Panelo said in a media inter-

Operations and Admin
Victoria Yong
view in Nonthaburi, Thailand. implementation of an “effective and which remains under dispute among
Amelia Insigne “More particularly, I think, from what substantive” code of conduct (COC) in four Asean member-states, Beijing, and
I observe is they are very concerned of the South China Sea. Taiwan.
Management
Alan Yong
what is happening in the South China “True to its name and nature, we as- The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia,
Victoria Yong Sea,” he added. pire to have a Code that would guide the and Vietnam are the four Asean mem-
In his intervention during the 22nd behavior of states on activities in the ber-states that are claiming parts of the
For photo submissions, please email
Asean-China Summit on Sunday, the South China Sea, in accordance with South China Sea’s vast waters believed
[email protected] President reiterated his call for all South international law, including the 1982 to be rich in oil and gas deposits.
China Sea claimants, including Beijing, United Nations Convention on the Law Meantime, China and Taiwan are
For General Inquiries, please email
[email protected]
to avoid any actions that may complicate of the Sea,” the President said. claiming almost the entire features of
the situation in the strategic waterway. Asean and China have been working the busy waterway.
For Sales Inquiries, please email Duterte also renewed his call for the on a COC in the hope of putting an end
[email protected]
or contact 778-788-4998
conclusion of the negotiations for the to hostilities in the South China Sea, ❱❱ PAGE 13 Asean leaders
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at
Meddling in ‘Aura’ incident will

#1820-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6C 2X8 Canada
Email: [email protected],
[email protected] harm livelihood of PH mariners
Instagram: @pcinewsofficial
Twitter:@pcinewsofficial BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine nationality,” Locsin said in a On his official Twitter account, Ba-
Philippine News Agency message to media forwarded by Panelo. tongbacal said Panelo’s silence on Chi-
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/
channel/UCGvCxcZGXZVbAWhNLRJIfTw
Locsin said meddling will drag Filipi- na’s assertion of jurisdiction against a
no mariners in the incident, emphasiz- Greek vessel is like saying the Philip-
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly
every Friday.
MANILA — Stepping in the incident ing that none of the Filipino crew mem- pines is not concerned that China does
involving a Chinese vessel allegedly ha- bers in the Greek oil tanker were even the same for any other state.
Copies are distributed free throughout Metro
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Greater Toronto. rassing a Greek oil tanker “Green Aura” harmed in the first place. “It’s like a person not caring that his
The views and opinions expressed in the articles
with an all-Filipino crew near the Scar- “We stick our noses in and 400,000 house is being managed by someone else
(including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those borough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) may cost Filipino mariners get embroiled in a who claims to be the owner and makes
of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of
Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team. thousands of Filipino mariners their maritime issue about which our only other people recognize he is the real
PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which
livelihood, Foreign Affairs Secretary Te- interest is the safety of the parts of the owner,” Batongbacal said.
it considers to contain false or misleading information odoro Locsin Jr. said on Monday. crew who just happen to be Filipino and The maritime law expert explained
or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser
agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages Locsin defended the statement made were not harmed,” he added. that even if the incident involved a Greek
arising out of error in any advertisement.
by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador He further said 400,000 Filipino mar- vessel, it should still be a concern because
Panelo that the incident is not a Philip- iners could lose their livelihood if the the Philippines relies on foreign-flagged
Member pine concern because the vessel alleg- Philippine government would step in an vessels for international trade.
edly harassed is not a Philippine vessel. issue better addressed by the Greek gov- Reports said the Green Aura was go-
This after maritime law expert Jay ernment. ing to China from Thailand through the
Batongbacal described Panelo’s remark “Want the employment 400,000 Pi- West Philippine Sea on Sept. 30 when it
as “wrong on several levels,” saying the noy mariners to hang in the balance of received warning from a Chinese warship
spokesperson should stop speaking on the games an idiot native media likes to against passing the Scarborough Shoal.
matters of foreign policy. play? Now that’s harming their liveli- Filipino captain Manolo Ebora ig-
“It is a Greek vessel of Greek owner- hoods,” Locsin said. nored this order and maintained the
ship flying a Liberian flag of convenience Panelo said he will be releasing a sepa- Green Aura has the right to innocent
which just happens to have a skipper of rate statement on the issue. passage in the disputed shoal. ■
House approves extended

validity of 2019 nat’l budget
BY FILANE MIKEE until Dec. 31, 2019. due to the delay in the passage
CERVANTES House Committee on Ap- of the 2019 General Appropria-
Philippine News Agency propriations chairman Isidro tions Act and the election ban
Ungab, one of the authors of on the implementation of in-
the resolution, stressed that frastructure projects and social
MANILA — The House of Rep- the unobligated and unreleased services in view of the May 2019
resentatives on Monday ap- appropriations for MOOE and national elections.
proved on third and final read- Capital Outlay for 2019 are ur- Antique Rep. Loren Legarda,
ing a priority measure which gently needed for the imple- another author of the resolu-
seeks to extend the availability mentation of priority programs tion, emphasized that extend-
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe pose of some portions of the 2019 and projects such as aid and ing the availability of the appro-
for posterity prior to the start of their bilateral meeting at the Impact Exhibition budget until December 31, relief activities, as well as for
priations is not meant to slow
and Convention Center in Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 4, 2019. 2020. down growth or
SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO With 199 af- make agencies
firmative votes, complacent so
Duterte-Abe meeting zero negative

votes, and no
abstention, the It would be such a waste if it
“they don’t work
and speed up the
utilization” of
tackles cooperation lower chamber

adopted House
Joint Resolution
expires by this year. Without really
allowing them to slow down in
utilization, I think this situation is
their funds.
She added that
some agencies
in multiple areas No. 19 seeking to

extend the avail-
ability of the
now unique. are unaware of
their allocations
and therefore do
2019 appropria- not utilize their
BY AZER PARROCHA China Sea and the situation in tions for main- budgets.
Philippine News Agency the Korean Peninsula. tenance and other operating the maintenance, construc- “It would be such a waste if
“On the South China Sea is- expenses (MOOE) and capital tion, repair, and rehabilitation it expires by this year. Without
sue, both leaders discussed the outlays (CO) to Dec. 31, 2020. of schools, hospitals, roads, really allowing them to slow
MANILA — The bilateral meet- drafting of the Code of Conduct It proposes to amend Section bridges and other essential fa- down in utilization, I think this
ing between President Rodrigo to address tensions in the af- 65 of the general provisions of cilities of the national and local situation is now unique,” Le-
Duterte and Japanese Prime fected region while on the situ- RA 11260 or the General Ap- government. garda said
Minister Shinzo Abe tackled ation in the Korean Peninsula, propriations Act of Fiscal Year Ungab argued that numer- In the past, the House has ad-
several topics such as recent both leaders talked about the 2019, which provides that all ous projects and programs for opted similar resolutions to ex-
disasters, the South China Sea Democratic People’s Republic appropriations shall be avail- the delivery of basic services tend the validity of the GAA to
Code of Conduct, and areas for of Korea’s latest ballistic mis- able for release and obligation were not implemented in 2019 the succeeding year. ■
cooperation, Malacañang said sile launch and the longstand-
on Tuesday. ing issue of abduction of Japa-
Presidential Spokesperson nese nationals,” Panelo said.
Salvador Panelo said the bilat-
eral meeting between the two
Duterte and Abe also dis-
cussed a wide range of areas
SOLUTIONS IMMIGRATION CONSULTING INC.
leaders on the sidelines of the for cooperation, such as the
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35th Asean Summit and Relat- peace process in Mindanao, the
ed Summits in Bangkok, Thai- “Build, Build, Build” infrastruc-
land on Monday “underscored ture projects (with emphasis on
the stronger strategic partner- the eagerly-awaited Metro Ma-
ship” between the two nations. nila Subway), and the develop-
During their meeting, Pan- ment of Subic Bay.
elo said Duterte congratulated Also tackled were the dis-
the recent enthronement of patch of Filipino skilled labor
Emperor Naruhito but also force to Japan, agricultural
expressed sympathy for the trade (including tariffs of Phil- CARI GOMBINSKY SOL GOMBINSKY ANNABELLE MIGALBIN
destruction and loss caused by ippine bananas and other Owner/Licensed Consultant
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President and Licensed Consultant
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Abe in turn expressed con- nast Carlos Yulo in the 2020
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that occurred in Mindanao, he BARMM assistance IN CANADA SERVICES OUT OF CANADA SERVICES
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Philippine consulate in Nagoya. of the Bangsamoro Autono- • Hearings and Appeals • Skilled Trade Programs
Both leaders touched on mous Region in Muslim Mind- • Humanitarian and Compassionate • Visitors Visa
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issue surrounding the South ❱❱ PAGE 13 Duterte-Abe meeting
PRRD’s 35th Asean summit

participation ‘fruitful’
BY RUTH ABBEY GITA- closing ceremony of this year’s ing issues, such as the “South
CARLOS Asean Summit and the handing China Sea disputes, transna-
Philippine News Agency over of the chairmanship from tional crimes, including traf-
Thailand to Vietnam. ficking of illicit drugs and ter-
On the sidelines of the sum- rorism, trade-related tensions,
MANILA — President Rodri- mit, Duterte held a bilateral export of hazardous and toxic
go R. Duterte had a “fruitful” meeting with Japanese Prime wastes, and climate change.”
participation in the recently- Minister Shinzo Abe to reaf- Duterte, as the country coor-
concluded 35th Association of firm the Philippines’ strategic dinator of the Asean-China dia-
Southeast Asian Nations (Ase- partnership with Japan. logue, reiterated his stance at
an) Summit and Related Sum- In a Twitter post on Monday, the summit on the need to craft
mits in Thailand, Malacañang Foreign Affairs Secretary Teo- an “effective and substantive”
said Tuesday. doro Locsin Jr. said the Presi- Code of Conduct in the South
Duterte returned to Manila dent missed some of the activi- China Sea at the soonest time
on Monday night following the ties organized by the Asean, as possible, Malacañang said.
conclusion of the Asean sum- the latter was scheduled to re- “Noting the strategic impor- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte joins other leaders during the Special Lunch on
mit, the Palace said in a press turn to Manila at 7 p.m. tance of the South China Sea Sustainable Development at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Center in
statement. “If he (Duterte) didn’t catch to all countries within and out- Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 4, 2019.
“President Duterte took part the plane’s takeoff at 7 p.m., side the region, the President AVITO DALAN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
in a series of interactive discus- he’d be stuck. He left at 6 p.m. stressed that the Philippines,
sions with fellow Asean leaders after Asean-Japan Summit, as Country Coordinator of the the Palace said. right for developed countries
and Dialogue Partners on re- (bilateral meeting) with Japan, Asean-China Dialogue, will do “In the context of a chang- to export their waste to devel-
gional strategic issues and pro- three hours of East Asia Sum- its utmost to conclude nego- ing regional landscape, Presi- oping countries,” Malacañang
moting partnerships for sus- mit — since he spoke first, he tiations on a Code of Conduct dent Duterte urged the United said.
tainability,” Malacañang said. stayed ‘til last spoke as a cour- (COC) as soon as possible,” it States and China to exercise “It violates international
It added that Duterte con- tesy. Others stepped out,” Loc- said. strategic restraint and contin- environmental law and is an
gratulated Thailand Prime sin said. “An effective and substantive ue on the path of inclusiveness affront to national dignity,” it
Minister Chan-o-cha on the COC is essential to maintaining and cooperation,” it added. added.
successful hosting of the sum- 44 outcome documents peace and stability in the re- Duterte also called for the The Philippines, through the
mit that was held from Novem- adopted gion,” it added. immediate conclusion of the Basel Convention it ratified in
ber 2 to 4. The three-day Asean Sum- Duterte and his fellow Asean negotiations on the crafting March 1989, allows a foreign
The Philippines, it said, mit and Related Summits led leaders were “very concerned” of RCEP, a free trade deal be- country to import hazardous
participated in all summit to the adoption of a total of 44 about the unsettled disputes tween the Asean and its six free waste, provided that it secures
meetings — the 35th Asean outcome documents, including in the South China Sea, Presi- trading agreement partners, as prior informed consent from
Summit Plenary, 22nd Asean- the Asean’s joint statement on dential Spokesperson Salvador he emphasized that “deeper” the government.
China Summit, 16th Asean-In- climate change, as well as the Panelo said on Sunday. economic integration is key to In May this year, Duterte an-
dia Summit, 10th Asean-United East Asia Leaders’ statements The proposed COC in the sustaining growth, Malacañang nounced that the Philippines
Nations Summit, 22nd Asean on combatting the spread of il- South China Sea is a legally said. would no longer accept any
Plus Three Summit, 7th Asean- legal drugs, on cooperation to binding pact that seeks to pro- “He emphasized that the waste from any country, after
United States (US) Summit, combat transnational crime, mote peace and stability in the Philippines is for an open, in- being piqued by Canada’s fail-
Special Lunch on Sustainable and on partnership for sustain- busy waterway. clusive, and rules-based order ure to take back its tons of gar-
Development, 14th East Asia ability. Malacañang said the Chief where Asean centrality is an es- bage shipped to the Philippines
Summit, 22nd Asean-Japan “The 35th Asean Summit Executive also raised concern sential element of the regional six years ago.
Summit, and the 3rd Regional and Related Summits con- over the ongoing trade tensions security architecture,” it said. The garbage row threatened
Comprehensive Economic cluded with a pledge to further between key partners “that With regard to the unlawful diplomatic ties between the
Partnership (RCEP) Summit. strengthen regional solidar- could slow down growth, thus shipping of hazardous and toxic two nations. On May 31, the
Duterte skipped several ity and cooperation to promote undermining food security and waste to developing countries, tons of trash were shipped back
events during the third and last peace and stability in the region poverty alleviation efforts.” the President opposed the act to Canada, two weeks after the
day of the summit and was in- and forge stronger partner- It was referring to the trade as it is considered as an insult deadline set by Duterte. ■
stead represented by his Cabi- ships with Dialogue Partners,” war between the US and China to a nation’s “dignity.”
net members. Malacañang noted. that is affecting Asean econo- “Amidst growing concerns
Among the engagements, the The Palace said Duterte com- mies. over hazardous and toxic waste,
President was unable to attend mended his fellow Southeast “He (Duterte) called for an President Duterte told Leaders
the 7th Asean-US Summit, the Asian leaders to decide with open, fair and rules-based in- at a Special Lunch on Sustain-
third RCEP Summit, and the one voice to address the press- ternational trading system,” able Development that it is not
DOH urged to reexamine proposed salt tax

BY FILANE MIKEE frigerators in their houses, so taxes only in terms of revenue,
CERVANTES essentially, they will buy salted but what about for the health
Philippine News Agency fish to preserve it for the next of our fellow countrymen?” she
few days,” she added. said.
The lawmaker noted that “Our public health system
MANILA — A lawmaker at the DOH’s proposal would also must not be treated as a politi-
House of Representatives on have negative effects on the cal tool but rather as a means to
Monday said the Department of livelihoods of fishermen and make every Filipino healthy,”
Health (DOH) should reexam- their families, which would she added.
ine its plan to impose addition- consequently make salty food Health Secretary Francisco
al taxes on salty food products less affordable. Duque III earlier attributed
considering the vital role of salt If there is really a pressing the plan to increase the tax on
in the Filipino diet. need to address the excessive salty foods to the decision to tax
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said consumption of salt as a health sugar-sweetened drinks to curb
that while it is laudable to push issue, she said it is high time to consumption and lessen sugar-
for a measure imposing taxes revisit the implementation of related health issues.
on food with high salt content Republic Act 8172, otherwise United Nations Interagency
for public health’s sake, such known as ASIN Law. Task Force (UNIATF) data
move to encourage Filipino “RA 8172 was enacted to ad- show that a high intake of salty
families to buy healthier food dress the lack of micronutri- foods is among the reasons for
options would quickly deplete ents in the country, and after the increase of non-communi-
the household budget. more than 20 years of its pas- cable diseases like cancer, heart
“Salt, used moderately, aids sage, a probe is necessary to dis- disease, and stroke.
our digestion and excretion. cuss solutions that are relevant In the Philippines, non-com-
The unique identification not just to health, but also in municable diseases account for
of any Filipino household is the preservation of culture and 68 percent of deaths.
marked with having a salt in means of livelihood for those UNIATF data reveal the av-
our kitchen and eating tuyo, da- families who depend on the lo- should inspect if previous leg- “We should not only think erage salt intake of Filipinos is
ing and bagoong to name a few,” cal salt industry,” she added. islations on the utilization and of taxes. We should also assess about two times more than the
said Garin, a former Health Garin said the DOH should use of excise taxes from alcohol whether taxes collected for two grams of sodium per day or
Secretary. iron out the details if it wants and tobacco have translated health are really making a dif- about 5 grams recommended
“We have to understand that additional taxes imposed for into better health care for Fili- ference. We have seen the posi- by the World Health Organiza-
many Filipinos do not have re- health reasons, noting that it pinos. tive effects of increasing sin tion. ■
Greece shouldn’t be deprived of protecting its own ship: Palace

BY AZER PARROCHA to assert its right,” he added. elo said. at risk the employment of more tain or the crew and the owner
Philippine News Agency Panelo, also Chief Presiden- For Panelo, reacting to every than 400,000 deployed Fili- of the tanker, notwithstanding
tial Legal Counsel, acknowl- incident perceived to be an af- pino seafarers and mariners, by the former being Filipinos,”
edged that each country in- front despite being “discon- sending a message to shipping Panelo said.
MANILA — Malacañang including the Philippines has the nected” will result in “unpro- companies of our country’s in- “We will not be distracted by
sisted that the government of right to be protective and be ductive and disruptive knee clination to meddle with or in- incidents such as this, hyped
Greece and not the Philippines concerned of the welfare of its jerk reactions.” terfere into their own maritime by personalities who detest the
should take a stand on the in- citizens. However, he pointed affairs for the sole reason that a independent foreign policy of
cident involving a Greek oil out that there was no threat to Process must be followed Filipino is under their employ,” the President, and who want to
tanker with an all-Filipino crew the lives of the Filipino crew. Panelo, meanwhile, slammed Panelo said. change our course and resort to
allegedly harassed by a Chinese He criticized Filipino captain maritime law expert Jay Ba- Panelo said Batongbacal’s re- erroneous measures, to the det-
warship near the Scarborough Manolo Ebora for “engaging in tongbacal for insisting that marks ignored “the dynamics riment of the Filipino people,”
Shoal (Panatag Shoal) last Sept. retorts about an issue sensitive even if the incident involved a of the issues on the ground in he added
30. to our foreign relations con- Greek vessel, it should still be an attempt to be relevant in ex- Reports showed that the
Presidential Spokesperson cerning our seas.” a concern because the Philip- pressing his square theories he Greek oil tanker “Green Aura”
Salvador Panelo said meddling The Palace official further pines relies on foreign-flagged learned from his books.” was six nautical miles off Scar-
into the alleged harassment asserted that invoking the Phil- vessels for international trade. He stressed that Batong- borough Shoal when it received
incident would “deprive” the ippine’s dominion over the dis- Echoing Foreign Affairs Sec- bacal, who also teaches in the a radio call from a Chinese
government of Greece from puted shoal is “unnecessary” in retary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Pan- University of the Philippines, is warship ordering the vessel to
protecting its own vessel. this particular instance. elo said that invoking sovereign “better off if he sticks to his per- change its course.
“We cannot deprive the coun- He also slammed a media rights over Philippine waters orations in his classroom.” Filipino captain Manolo Ebo-
try being represented by the oil outfit he did not name for re- would put 40,000 seafarers and Moreover, Panelo explained ra maintained the Green Aura’s
tanker of its right and duty to porting about issues that were mariners at risk of losing their that the Philippine government course and came within about
protect its own ship,” Panelo “motivated by the play of poli- livelihood and give Greece the is already invoking sovereign 11 kilometers from the disputed
said in a statement. tics.” impression that the Philippines rights over the Philippines’ ex- shoal.
“To do otherwise, will be ef- “The actions of the Republic meddles into their maritime af- clusive economic zones (EEZ) Claiming jurisdiction over
fectively divesting such coun- of the Philippines cannot — and fairs. through a process that will not the disputed waters, the Chi-
try of its right and competence should not — be motivated by “If we are to invoke our sov- comprise the livelihood of Fili- nese warship moved in the di-
to take the cudgels for its ship. the play of politics aggravated ereignty to protest this inci- pino seamen. rection of the Green Aura to
Such a demeanor will be a dis- by some media outfits’ pen- dent, which did not result in “Philippine sovereignty has block its passage and tailed it to
respect to it and even insulting chant to churn out interesting any of our citizens being physi- nothing to do with the employ- drive it away. ■
to the capability of that country articles for their readers,” Pan- cally harmed, we will be putting ment contract between the cap-
DA confirms Mekeni’s longganisa,

hotdogs tested ASF positive
BY LILYBETH ISON health concern, our Food Safety DOH Undersecretary and
Philippine News Agency Act of 2013 mandates that meat FDA officer-in-charge Eric Do-
from diseased animals must not mingo assured that DOH and
be used for food, or for manu- FDA would support the DA’s
MANILA — After several labo- facturing food products for hu- program to contain ASF virus
ratory tests taken from samples man consumption,” he said. in the country.
of meat products, the Depart- “Violators will be penalized As of Oct. 31, Domingo said
ment of Agriculture (DA) on with fine and imprisonment. the FDA inspected 63 manufac-
Monday confirmed that Mek- The law basically protects con- turing meat processing estab-
eni Food Corporation’s skin- sumers against unsanitary, lishments all over the country.
less longganisa and Picnic hot- unwholesome, misbranded or “There are 178 (establish-
dogs tested positive for African adulterated foods,” he noted. ments) who are licensed to op-
mrt technical problem? no. something exploded on that station. i was there. Swine Fever (ASF). The DA reminded hog rais- erate as processed meat manu-
listening to khalid on max when i heard a loud bang. then everybody started In a press conference in Que- ers on its guidelines previously facturers in the Philippines. We
screaming SUMASABOG ANG TREN PALABASIN NIYO kame. the smoke is zon City, Bureau of Animal In- issued to effectively manage, prioritized the 63 big firms for
thick. we cant breathe. it took a minute for us to open the door dustry (BAI) officer-in-charge control and contain ASF — re- inspection, and we found them
SCREENSHOT FROM @GELANISIMO/TWITTER Ronnie Domingo said the sam- quiring all pigs, sick or not, in compliance with the pre-
ples of skinless longganisa and within the one-kilometer ASF- scribed regulatory standards,”
Smoke forces hotdog sent by Mekeni for test-

ing last month are positive of
the ASF.
declared zone, be surrendered
to the local government unit
and BAI for culling, which is
he said.
Despite this unfortunate de-
velopment, Mekeni assured the
MRT-3 to unload Domingo said further testing

of the products also resulted
positive for ASF virus DNA.
called for under the globally-
accepted “1-7-10” protocol.
The DA also reiterated its
government that it would con-
tinue to cooperate in its ongo-
ing investigation to determine
530 passengers With these developments,

he said the DA
and the Depart-
call for small backyard raisers the source of ASF.
“We will also
actively support
ment of Health, the review of
BY RAYMOND CARL DELA We can’t breathe. It took a min- through the current proto-
CRUZ ute for us to open the door,” Food and Drug While ASF is not a human health cols on issuing
Philippine News Agency Gelano’s Twitter post read. Administration concern, our Food Safety Act of certifications for
The MRT-3 apologized to its (DOH-FDA), 2013 mandates that meat from both local and
passengers and was unable to have agreed to diseased animals must not be used imported raw
MANILA — Around 530 pas- immediately say the cause of jointly disclose for food, or for manufacturing food meats,” it said in
sengers aboard a Metro Rail the incident but said its main- the test results products for human consumption. a statement.
Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) train on tenance provider, Sumitomo- and name of the While only
Monday were offloaded after MHI-TESP (Sumitomo) will manufacturer. specific batches
smoke pervaded the crowded conduct a thorough investiga- “This is to were found to
train. tion. end consumers’ have DNA traces
In a statement, the MRT-3 “Rest assured that [Sumi- speculations that may have to “report to the city, munici- of ASF, Mekeni said all of its
said at 4:08 p.m., the driver of tomo], will conduct a thorough untoward effect on all other pal or provincial veterinarian pork-based products have al-
a train heading northbound investigation regarding this processed pork products to the any sign of disease or deaths of ready been pulled out from its
reported smoke emission and incident, and implement mea- detriment of other meat pro- pigs in their area, and to refrain selling areas when it initiated
immediately stopped at San- sures to prevent this from hap- cessors,” Domingo said. from swill feeding, particularly a voluntary recall last October
tolan Station to offload its pas- pening again,” the MRT-3 said. The DA, however, commend- those from airlines, hotels and 26.
sengers. At 4:30 p.m., the rail line said ed the management of Mek- restaurants.” “These products are cur-
Netizen John Gelano (@ provisional or limited service eni for recalling their products “Do not slaughter sick or rently quarantined and a batch
gelanisimo) posted a video on was implemented from Shaw from the market even before dead pigs and sell the meat to sampling has been submitted to
Twitter which showed passen- Boulevard Station to Taft Av- the laboratory tests were con- traders,” it said. an independent laboratory for
gers running out and away from enue Station with seven trains cluded. On the other hand, the DA ASF testing. We are still waiting
the MRT-3 train still in thick running. On Oct. 26, the processed urged the traders “not to buy for the results of these tests,” it
smoke. At 6:06 p.m., the MRT-3 an- meat manufacturer voluntarily and slaughter sick pigs.” added.
In his post, Gelano said a loud nounced the resumption of recalled all of its pork-based “Any backyard or illegal “Operations of our pork-
explosion was heard before the regular train operations. products amid reports that the slaughtering, or use of meat based processing area had
train started filling with smoke. Last May, the Department of dreaded ASF virus has been de- from infected pigs will con- been suspended since October
He added that the passengers Transportation initiated a mas- tected in some of its processed tribute to the spread of the 26, and the facility has been
were unable to breathe due to sive rehabilitation of the MRT- pork items. disease, and will only result to cleansed and disinfected. A
the smoke until the train doors 3 following years of troubles Domingo said the DA, further deaths, and losses to the third-party company had also
opened a minute later. hounding the rail service. through the Bureau of Animal PHP260-billion swine industry been engaged to do swabbing
“MRT technical problem? The PHP18-billion project Industry (BAI) and the Na- that supports millions of Filipi- and testing of the facility before
No. Something exploded on was awarded to Sumitomo — tional Meat Inspection Service nos,” it stressed. we resume operations. These
that station. I was there. Lis- which includes the overhaul all (NMIS), will continue to work “It is a crime to sell, trade measures are part of our com-
tening to Khalid on max when I 72 light rail cars of the MRT- closely with the DOH-FDA to and/or slaughter sick or dead mitment to support the govern-
heard a loud bang. Then every- 3, the replacement of all rails sustain the monitoring of all pigs for meat or for processed ment in its campaign to control
body started screaming ’suma- along the 17-kilometer line, meat products and ensure that pork products. Violators face the further spread of the ASF
sabog ang tren palabasin niyo among other improvements — all food sold in the country are imprisonment from six to 12 that is threatening the hog in-
kame (the train is exploding, let and will be completed by July safe for human consumption. years or fine of PHP100,000 to dustry,” it noted. ■
us get out).’ The smoke is thick. 2021. ■ “While ASF is not a human PHP1 million or both,” it added.
PRRD urges Asean to address uncertainties

without taking sides
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA decisions of all sides. in the Korean Peninsula.
Philippine News Agency “After all, the true measure During the Special Lunch
of power is not coercion, but on Sustainable Development
rather the ability to persuade on Monday, Duterte called on
NONTHABURI, THAILAND on the strength of one’s ideals. Western economies to stop
– President Rodrigo Duterte Power is also the wisdom to ex- making Asia the dumping
called on leaders of the Associa- ercise restraint even when out- ground of their wastes.
tion of Southeast Asian Nations right domination is possible,” He said the Philippines, along
(Asean) to not take sides so as he said. with Malaysia and Indonesia,
not to suffer from geopolitical Despite the bid to protect the have received shipments tagged
issues of major economies and region, Duterte cited contribu- as recyclables from developed
worsen global uncertainties. tions both of the US and China countries but in reality are haz-
During the 14th East Asia in regional and global develop- ardous wastes.
Summit (EAS) held as part of ments. “If we are talking about im-
the 35th Asean Summit and Re- He, however, implored Asean proving the ecology of the
lated Summits, Duterte said the partners against moves that place, the environment, then
country now bids “to expand will divide the region and weak- we must take into account what
the horizons of our diplomacy.” en resolve to fight their rights we dump,” he said. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte joins other leaders from the ASEAN member
“We are for an open and in- on the South China Sea and the “I think, Mr. Chair, this is as countries and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.
clusive regional order where materialization of the Code of good as any other time and any ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
the rule of law reigns. And Conduct (COC). place to tell the other countries,
where ASEAN centrality is an He also noted the impact of the Western countries, to be oped nations from doing this hance capacity building.
essential component of the re- the ongoing trade issues be- more circumspect.” again. He raised the need for the ef-
gional security architecture,” tween US and China, which, he In May this year, the Philip- Chief Presidential Legal fective implementation of the
he said. said, might result in the revival pine government sent back to Counsel and Presidential Asean-Japan Comprehensive
Duterte vowed closer tie-up, of protectionism. Canada 69 shipping containers Spokesperson Salvador Panelo Economic Partnership to en-
not just with countries within “We are alarmed by this de- full of trash. said Duterte, during the 22nd hance trade and investments.
the region, but also those out- velopment. If left unchecked, Duterte ordered the trash Asean-Japan Summit also held “We further note that the
side such as Japan, the Republic this can undermine global dumped near Canadian ports Monday, noted Japan’s priori- President manifested that he
of Korea, Russian Federation, growth, consigning millions of if Canadian authorities will not ties for Asean benefits, among looks forward to Japan’s assis-
and the Republic of India to people in the developing world accept it. others, may include the Philip- tance and support in building
further solidify regional mech- to a life of poverty,” he said. To prevent similar incidents pines’ development program. a more resilient ASEAN com-
anisms for peace and develop- The President also men- in the future, Duterte recom- He said the President urged munity as he conveyed his ap-
ment. tioned the need to sustain ef- mended that regular meetings for the full implementation of preciation of its generous con-
He also called on the Philip- forts towards the achievement be done among Asean countries the Asean-Japan Agreement on tribution in addressing climate
pines’ partners to recognize the of a lasting peace and stability and experts to dissuade devel- Technical Cooperation to en- change,” Panelo added. ■
Asean leaders... Duterte-Abe meeting...
❰❰ 8 The proposed COC is good enough,” the Palace of- in the disputed sea. ❰❰ 9 In particular, he heartfelt thanks for the Ma-
in the South China ficial said. Duterte’s fellow Asean lead- thanked Japan for nila subway. It’s the first in the
Sea, which might take “They want an effective and ers agreed with him that all funding the Road country and you are the only
three years to be implemented, substantive Code of Conduct claimants in South China Sea Network Development Project, country who proposed to give it
is a legally binding pact that that will provide regional stabil- should maintain their obser- which connects the BARMM to to us,” Duterte said.
aims to promote peace and sta- ity, as well as peace,” he added. vance of self-restraint, Panelo Mindanao’s other trade centers “I would like to again thank
bility in the hotly-contested said. and supports the region’s over- you for the air assets, the five
waters. Self-restraint “All countries have asked ev- all development. TC-90s, UH-1H, we received
Panelo said the President’s Amid talks on the sea code, eryone to observe self-restraint Japan has supported the from your government,” he
views accorded well with those Duterte said sea claimants re- to avoid any activity that could Mindanao peace process and added.
of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang main committed to the “full lead to more friction and even continues to support the Last month, Duterte was un-
who expressed China’s com- and effective” implementation armed hostilities between and Bangsamoro Transition Au- able to attend Abe’s gala dinner
mitment to work with the Ase- of the non-binding Declaration among countries in the region,” thority (BTA). in Tokyo, Japan “due to some
an leaders for long-term peace on the Code of Parties in the he said. It also made a commitment pressing matters” in the Philip-
and stability in the contested South China Sea (DOC). On July 12, 2016, the Philip- to the implementation of the pines.
waters. The DOC, signed by 10 Asean pines won before the Perma- disarmament of Moro Islam- Duterte, who was in Tokyo to
“I think countries are ap- member-states and China on nent Court of Arbitration in the ic Liberation Front (MILF) attend the enthronement cere-
preciative that China is open Nov. 4, 2002, is aimed at exer- Hague, Netherlands, after the combatants and the grant of mony of Japanese Emperor Na-
to a code of conduct. You must cising self-restraint and to pre- arbitral court ruled that Chi- socioeconomic development ruhito, had to cut short his visit
remember that China believes vent militarization within the na’s “nine-dash” claim covering assistance to the Bangsamoro to Tokyo after suffering from
that the entire seas around it South China Sea. almost the entire South China people. “unbearable” back pain due to a
are theirs. Hence, they want to The President emphasized Sea was invalid. Duterte thanked Japan for minor motorcycle accident.
control it. The fact alone that that land reclamation, military Despite Manila’s historic vic- assisting the Philippines in de- He arrived in Manila on Mon-
it’s opening itself to have a code buildup and paramilitary ac- tory, the President has opted veloping its infrastructures and day after what Panelo described
of conduct where you will be tions “erode trust and confi- to resolve the sea disputes enhancing its defense capabil- as a “fruitful” participation in
observing certain rules that will dence” among concerned par- through diplomatic negotia- ity. the 35th Asean Summit and Re-
be useful in preventing conflict ties and “exacerbate tensions” tions. ■ “I would like to give our lated Summits. ■
Duterte, Asean leaders vow to

fight ‘common enemies’: Palace
BY RUTH ABBEY GITA- “We need an open and rules-
CARLOS based trading system to sustain
Philippine News Agency growth. Thus, we should ensure
the continued relevance and ef-
fectiveness of the World Trade
MANILA – President Ro- Organization,” Duterte said.
drigo Duterte and his fellow “And Asean must accelerate
Southeast Asian leaders have deeper economic integration
agreed to address “common en- through concrete programs
emies” affecting their region, and projects, such as RCEP
which include terrorism, ongo- (Regional Comprehensive Eco-
ing trade war, and South China nomic Partnership),” he added.
Sea disputes, Malacañang said The punishing trade war be-
on Sunday. tween the United States and
“All of them wanted to unite China, which has an impact on
against common enemies. And Asean economies, compelled
they are all in one to cooperate the Southeast Asian leaders to
in the same concern,” Presi- fast-track negotiations on the Presidential Chief Legal Counsel and Spokesperson Salvador Panelo holds a press conference for the Malacañang Press
dential Spokesperson Salvador RCEP, a proposed free trade Corps (MPC) at the Impact Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 3, 2019.
Panelo said in a press confer- pact among the 10-man re- AVITO DALAN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
ence in Nonthaburi, Thailand. gional bloc and its six free trade
“The common enemy of agreement (FTA) partners, the President said. we will have to respect inter- what the US wants in this part
course is terrorism, and then Apart from the Philippines, “We should continue to national law, we will have to of the region. While it’s trying
the problem in the South China other member-states of Asean strengthen trade, investment, respect the UNCLOS,” Panelo to contain the movement on
Sea. And with respect to the fear include Brunei Darussalam, and tourism flows between said. China with respect to naviga-
of the trade war, instead of get- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Asean and China through the “We cannot be forcing others tion, I cannot even understand,
ting better, I think it’s getting Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, full and effective implementa- to succumb to another coun- like the President said, when
worse. All of them are saying Thailand and Vietnam. Mean- tion of the Asean-China Free tries’ power. In other words, we they were starting to build
that they have to do something time, Asean’s FTA partners are Trade Area,” he added. should be treating each other structures there, they did not
about it. And they are united,” China, Japan, In- equally and fair- stop China and it is only now
he added. dia, South Korea, ly,” he added. that they are doing it but it’s too
The Association of Southeast Australia, and The Philip- late,” he said.
Asian Nations (Asean) leaders New Zealand. pines won its “I think every country would
have been implementing mea- Duterte ac- I think every country would want petition against want to have a peaceful and sta-
sures to combat transnational knowledged to have a peaceful and stabilized China’s exten- bilized region for obvious rea-
crimes, including terrorism. during the 22nd region for obvious reason. It’s for sive claims to son. It’s for everybody’s inter-
To deter terror acts, the 10- Asean-China everybody’s interests. most parts of ests,” Panelo added.
man Asean adopted a Declara- Summit that the South China US President Donald Trump
tion on Joint Action to Counter Beijing is Asean’s Sea before the missed the opportunity to
Terrorism on November 5, 2011 largest trading H a g u e - b a s e d tackle pressing issues with
in Brunei Darussalam. partner, third largest external The Asean member-states Permanent Court of Arbitra- Southeast Asian leaders af-
With respect to trade-related source of foreign direct invest- and China have agreed that tion in July 2016, but Duterte ter he skipped the 35th Asean
tensions, Duterte appealed to ment, and an important source South China Sea claimants refused to bring up the arbitral Summit and Related Summits
his fellow Southeast Asian lead- of tourists. must observe “rules-based” ap- ruling during the Asean sum- in Thailand on Nov. 2 to 4, but
ers during the plenary session He also stressed that Asean proach to avoid tensions in the mit, Panelo said. Panelo believed that the Ameri-
of the 35th Asean summit to and China shared a common busy waterway, Panelo said. In a bid to cool tensions in the can leader’s absence “does not
push for a strengthened eco- interest in preserving and pro- The Palace official added that South China Sea, Panelo reiter- mean that he is not concerned
nomic integration. tecting free trade and uphold- sea disputes should be resolved ated the President’s stance that with what is happening in this
The President made the call, ing rules-based multilateral peacefully, in accordance with the Philippines would avoid be- region.”
as he expressed alarm over pro- trading system embodied in the international law, including the ing a “pawn” of any countries, “Well, we all know for the
tectionism and ongoing trade World Trade Organization. United Nations Convention on including the United States fact that Mr. Trump is trying to
war between major economic “We welcome China’s contin- the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (US) which takes a stand against survive there. There is an im-
powers that pull down econom- ued support for Asean’s effort “The President has been say- Beijing’s sweeping claims to the peachment going on, process.
ic growth among Asean mem- to narrow the development gap ing all along, that every country disputed sea. So maybe that’s the reason why
ber-states. among Asean member-states,” must be rules-based. Meaning, “Well, I do not know exactly he did not come,” Panelo said. ■
Comelec not MMDA to suspend 1K bus drivers

surprised by due to excessive violations
postponement of BY RAYMOND CARL DELA
CRUZ
barangay, SK polls Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Metropolitan

BY FERDINAND PATINIO process of re-starting the con- Manila Development Author-
Philippine News Agency tinuing registration and, in the ity (MMDA) on Tuesday said
longer term, preparing for the around 1,000 public utility bus
2022 National and Local Elec- (PUB) drivers may soon have
MANILA – The House of Rep- tions,” he said. their driver’s licenses suspend-
resentatives on Monday ap- On Monday, a total of 194 ed following their excessive
proved on third and final read- congressmen voted to approve and repeated violation of traffic
ing a bill postponing the May House Bill 4933, which seeks laws.
2020 Barangay and Sangguni- to hold the barangay and SK This, following an investiga-
ang Kabataan elections, a move elections on December 5, 2022 tion made by the MMDA which
that did not surprise the Com- and the term of office of elected found that at least 1,700 PUB
mission on Elections (Come- barangay and SK will start on drivers have recorded a mini-
lec). January 1, 2023. mum of 100 traffic violations
“This does not come as a sur- Subsequent barangay and since 2006.
prise. The Comelec had, in fact, SK elections will be held on the In a press conference, MMDA
slowed down preparations for first Monday of December 2025 general manager Arturo “Jojo” PBPA HARI NG SABLAY / FLICKR, PUBLIC DOMAIN
the Barangay Elections of 2020 and every three years thereaf- Garcia said following the probe,
in anticipation of this legisla- ter. the MMDA will coordinate with Romeo Vera Cruz, Philippine nag-meeting kami, walang may
tion,” Comelec spokesperson Incumbent barangay and the Land Transportation Office National Police Highway Patrol kasalanan eh. Kung baga, hindi
James Jimenez said in a state- SK officials will remain in of- (LTO) to strictly enforce Re- Group (PNP-HPG) Traffic En- lang napag-tuunan ng pansin
ment. fice until their successors have public Act (R.A.) 4136—which forcement Unit chief, Lt. Col. (Because of so many concerns,
Jimenez said the Comelec been duly elected and qualified. calls for the automatic suspen- Emmanuel Tabuena, and other these things were neglected.
will now be focusing on other The Senate approved its own sion of the driver’s license of a officials. Like what I said in a meeting, no
activities such as the prepara- version of the barangay, SK motorist found to have made Garcia said their target is to one was at fault. Everyone just
tion for the 2022 presidential polls postponement measure the same traffic violation with- suspend the licenses of 1,000 failed to give it the necessary at-
polls. last September. in the last 12 months. PUB drivers by 2020, or at least tention),” Garcia said.
“With the approval of the During his fourth State of the “Pag ang driver na may lisen- 100, depending on how long To ensure the enforcement of
House and the looming deci- Nation Address last July, Presi- sya nagcommit ng tatlong same the deliberation process would suspension following multiple
sion of the Senate on the same dent Rodrigo Duterte asked violation in 12 months, automat- take. violations, Valera said they will
matter, the Comelec is look- Congress to postpone the 2020 ic suspended na pala ang lisen- “They will know that this include the MMDA’s traffic vio-
ing forward to focusing on the barangay and SK elections. ■ sya niya (When a driver with a government is very serious in lations database with the LTO’s
license commits the same vio- doing our job and pagbigay suspension system.
lation three times in 12 months, ng disiplina sa mga motorista “We are coordinating with
his license is automatically sus- (meting out discipline to mo- MMDA, through GM Garcia,
pended. That’s for a) minimum torists),” Garcia said. para yung huli din nila, mai-
one year, up to a maximum of The worst violator, Garcia include na rin namin sa aming
two years,” Garcia said. said, has been cited for 533 traf- process of suspension (so that
Roberto Valera, LTO Field fic violations, consisting mostly their apprehensions will be
Enforcement Division chief, of obstruction violations, disre- included in our process of sus-
said excessive violators may garding traffic signs, and illegal pension),” Valera said.
also find their license perpetu- loading/unloading since 2006. Garcia clarified that the
ally revoked through the pow- A total of 446 of the violations 1,700 motorists found to have
ers of the relevant Secretary. have been paid, 82 of which ap- made excessive violations were
“We could even revoke their plied for amnesty, and five un- only PUB drivers and that the
driver’s license perpetually if it paid violations. MMDA has plans to also inves-
calls for that,” Valera said. “Merong PHP150, merong tigate excessive traffic violators
Section 27 of R. A. 4136 states PHP500, merong PHP1,000. among private motorists, and
that: “a decision of the (LTO) Malaki yan. Yung mga gani- public utility jeepney drivers.
Commissioner revoking or re- tong driver walang karapatan “Lahat ng lisensya na may hul-
fusing the reinstatement of a magka-lisensya ‘to (Some fines ing more than three sa 2018 and
license under the provisions of were worth PHP150, there’s 2019, pinapakuha ko na record
this Section may be appealed to PHP500, there’s PHP1,000. namin and ipapasagot sa LTO.
the Secretary of Public Works That’s a big sum. This kind of Inuna ko lang ang mga bus kasi
and Communications.” drivers shouldn’t be given a li- sila madami (All license holders
Garcia said the decision for cense),” Garcia said. who have made more than three
the strict enforcement of said He admitted that negligence violations in 2018 and 2019, I’m
regulation was made follow- occurred for such motorists to asking for their records and be
ing talks among Department of incur large amounts of viola- made accountable by the LTO.
Transportation (DOTr) Under- tions without added penalty. I put PUB drivers on top of the
secretary for Road Transport “Sa dami ng concerns, hindi list because there are more of
and Infrastructure Mark de na napapansin yung mga gani- them),” Garcia said. ■
James Jimenez. BEN BRIONES / PNA Leon, LTO executive director to. Sabi ko nga sa kanila kanina,
3 oil firms start complying with 13 ‘ninja cops’ to face

fuel marking program: Customs admin raps: DILG
BY FERDINAND PATINIO BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD Albayalde’s liability is com-
Philippine News Agency CALIWAN mand responsibility and that’s
Philippine News Agency why he was relieved as Pam-
panga chief in 2014. But then
MANILA — The Bureau of he became PNP Chief. He can
Customs (BOC) on Monday re- MANILA — The 13 police of- be relieved as PNP chief but he
ported that several companies ficers allegedly involved in the already relinquished his post so
have complied with the govern- reselling of seized illegal drugs it is moot and academic),” he
ment’s fuel marking program. in Pampanga six years ago will explained.
Customs Deputy Commis- face administrative charges, Albayalde stepped down from
sioner for Enforcement Teddy the Department of the Interior his post on October 14 amid al-
Raval, who heads the imple- and Local Government (DILG) legations of his involvement in
menting office of the program, said Tuesday. the controversial operation. He
encouraged other oil firms Interior Secretary Eduardo is set to retire from the service
that have yet to have their fuel Año said seven cases were filed on Friday.
marked to work with concerned against Maj. Rodney Baloyo IV, Año, meanwhile, said alle-
agencies and avoid unwanted Capt. Joven de Guzman Jr., M/ gations claiming that Albay-
prosecution. Sergeants Jules Maniago, Don- alde intervened for his men are
According to the BOC, three Insular Oil Corporation kicks off first marking in Subic. ald Roque, Ronald Santos, Rom- deemed “contentions and alle-
oil firms have so far had their BUREAU OF CUSTOMS PH / FACEBOOK mel Vital, Alcindor Tinio, Eligio gations.”
fuel marked in several terminal Valeroso, S/Sergeants Dindo “Kung may magsalita dun sa
facilities in the country. To date, a total of 94.9 mil- all other players to follow soon Dizon, Gilbert de Vera, Romeo 13, may nakuha tayong ibang
This after another batch of lion liters of fuel have already before the end of the washout Guerrero Jr., Dante Dizon and ebidensya, okay yan, pero wala.
Mogas Base Fuel with an esti- been marked at Unioil since its period in January 2020. Cpl. Anthony Lacsamana. (If someone among the 13 cops
mated volume of 11.6 million li- initial marking on October 22. Gasoline, diesel and kerosene Ano said the administrative will testify against him and has
ters onboard MT Sichem Mum- This is equivalent to collected found to be unmarked will be charges being pursued against evidence to prove it, that’s okay.
bai was marked at the import duties and taxes amounting to seized, and penalties will be the 13 cops include serious ir- But there is none) It remains an
terminal facility of Unioil in PHP719 million. imposed against those storing, regularity in the performance allegation and we cannot use
Bataan on Sunday. The nationwide testing of fuel transporting, importing or ped- of duty, dishonesty and grave that as basis to file charges and
Last week, the marking ac- in the retail side will be enforced dling unmarked fuel. misconduct. dismiss Albayalde,” said Ano.
tivities on petroleum products by the BOC, Bureau of Internal The government is imple- He said the charges were “Kung may dumating na
of Insular Oil Corporation was Revenue, Department of Fi- menting the fuel marking lodged before the National Po- ebidensya (if there is evidence)
conducted in Subic. nance and Switzerland-based program to minimize smug- lice Commission (Napolcom) to conduct reinvestigation, (we
Earlier, Seaoil Philippines, SICPA SA and SGS Philippines gling and misdeclaration and which he also chairs. will investigation)…But I have
Inc. and Unioil Petroleum Phil- starting February 3, 2020. increase the collections of the The charges were based on a deadline to finish. Wala nang
ippines, Inc. in Batangas and On the other hand, Commis- BOC and the Bureau of Internal the investigation report con- ibang ebidensiya na pumasok
Bataan, conducted marking sioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero Revenue, the country’s two big- ducted by the DILG-Napolcom against Albayalde so ‘yun ‘yung
activities on their petroleum is closely working with oil com- gest revenue agencies. that was submitted to President findings ng board (But no evi-
products in compliance with panies in the country to fast- On February 3, 2020, testing Rodrigo Dutere on October 25. dence has been provided against
the nationwide implementa- track the marking of petroleum of fuel in the retail side, as well “That is the findings of the Albayalde and so those are the
tion of the fuel marking pro- products before the deadline. as enforcement actions, will DILG-Napolcom review and findings of the board,” said Ano.
gram. The BOC is expecting that commence. ■ reinvestigation board and the Albayalde, former Pampanga
President approved it,” Año told police chief at the time of the
reporters in a phone interview. operation, along with the 13
Filipino seafarers’ employer While some of the 13 police-

men were already dismissed
in the service, the DILG chief
alleged ‘ninja cops’ are facing
criminal charges before the De-
partment of Justice.
coordinating with Togo authorities said they are still pursuing the
administrative charges because
their dismissal is still subject to
The PNP Criminal Investi-
gation and Detection Group
(PNP-CIDG) included Albay-
appeal. alde as a respondent in its
BY FERDINAND PATINIO agent for the safety and speedy of Lome, Togo on Monday, a Meanwhile, no administra- amended referral complaint
Philippine News Agency release of the abducted seafar- group of armed pirates board- tive case will be filed against dated October 21.
ers…,” the DOLE said in a state- ed the vessel and abducted its resigned Philippine National The case involves the sup-
ment. crew members. Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Oscar posed cover-up during the No-
MANILA — The Department It added that based on the in- Aside from the two OFWs, Albayalde, but Año said he is lia- vember 2013 buy-bust involv-
of Labor and Employment formation received, the two Fil- two Greeks were also taken by ble for command responsibility. ing Johnson Lee, owner of the
(DOLE) on Tuesday said the ipinos were identified as Elmer the pirates. “Ang liability ni Albayalde house in Woodbridge Subdivi-
employer of the two Filipino L. Padecio (Second Officer), On Saturday, nine Filipino based sa findings ng board ay sion, Lakeshore View, Pampan-
seafarers who were reportedly and Rene M. Lazaga (ordinary sailors in a ship waiting in the command responsibility kaya ga raided by 13 members of the
abducted by armed pirates in seaman). harbor of the Beninese port of siya ay ni-relieve nung 2014. So Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs
Greece is coordinating with lo- The manning agency, East- Cotonou were also abducted by ngayon, chief PNP siya, the most Special Operation Task Force of
cal authorities for the safety ern Ocean Maritime Corp., also suspected pirates. na magagawa dun sa comamnd the Pampanga Provincial Police
and immediate release of the reported that it received infor- Attacks on ships and the ab- responsibility ay i-relieve siya Office led by Baloyo.
captives. mation from its principal in ductions of the crew for ransom as chief PNP. Pero nag-reliqin- The raid yielded a substantial
“The owners/principals in Greece that the vessel MT Elka have been reported in the West qush na siya ng position. Tapos amount of illegal drugs wherein
Greece is coordinating with the Aristotle (Greek flag) while lay- African waters. ■ na yun, moot and academic na involved cops allegedly pilfered
Togo authorities through an ing down in the anchorage area (Based on the findings of board, some 160 kilos of shabu. ■
Australia, PH partners send

aid to quake-hit Mindanao
BY JOYCE ANN L. National Resource Operations dened by the devastation and
ROCAMORA Center to field offices in the Re- loss of life caused by the earth-
Philippine News Agency gion 11 (Davao) and Region 12 quake which hit Mindanao. The
(Soccsksargen). EU Delegation to the Philip-
According to the Australian pines stands in solidarity with
MANILA — Australia, Austria, embassy in Manila, the preposi- the Filipino people in this dif-
China and the European Union tioning of relief supplies is part ficult time.”
(EU) have separately offered of a broader partnership be- In his message on November
sympathies and humanitarian tween Australia and the DSWD 2, Chinese State Councilor and
aid to the people of Mindanao to enhance the agency’s disas- Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on
following the series of earth- ter response capabilities. the other hand, assured that
quakes that hit parts of the re- “These supplies consist of China is willing to offer assis-
gion last month. 9,440 trapals (laminated sacks) tance to the Philippines within
Australian Ambassador Ste- for temporary shelter and 400 its capacity, “and believes that
ven Robinson on Tuesday said solar lamps,” it said. under the strong leadership of
Canberra is in solidarity with The Austrian embassy in Ma- Philippine Government, the
the Philippines particularly nila also relayed its message of Philippine people will over-
those affected by the powerful sympathy over the weekend to come the disaster and return to
tremors. the families of those killed in normal life at an early date.”
“Our thoughts are with the the earthquakes. China had earlier announced
people affected by the earth- “My deepest sympathies and about PHP22 million in hu-
quakes that hit Mindanao last heartfelt condolences to the manitarian aid to ease the ef-
week. DSWD (Department of families and friends of the vic- fects of the earthquakes which,
Social Welfare and Develop- tims of the recent earthquakes according to the National Di-
ment) is deploying Australian in Mindanao. To all those in the saster Risk Reduction and Man- Ecoland 4000. PNA
gifted humanitarian supplies to affected communities, please agement Council (NDRRMC),

those in need,” he said. know that our thoughts and has already resulted in at least ber 5 showed that a total of As of writing, the reported fa-
On Saturday, the DSWD de- prayers are with you,” Austrian 37,716 families affected and PHP30,655,794 worth of as- talities already reached 21 with
ployed AUD144,000 (approxi- Ambassador to the Philippines more than 30,000 infrastruc- sistance was provided by the 421 injured and two missing
mately PHP5.4 million) worth Bita Rasoulian said. tures damaged. DSWD, Department of Health, persons since the 6.6 magni-
of Australian gifted relief sup- Meanwhile, the EU in a state- Data from NDRRMC’s lat- and the Office of Civil Defense tude earthquake rocked North
plies prepositioned at their ment, said: “We are very sad- est report dated Novem- to the affected families. Cotabato on October 29. ■
DA, DOH join hands to curb spread of ASF

BY ADRIAN CARLO pag hilaw na karne sa kanila, sa Pilipinas, inuna naming yung movement of animals and meat we can also monitor and regu-
HERICO pag processed sa FDA. Kaya 63 na pinakamalalaki (There products formed another chal- late them).”
Philippine News Agency lang kulang naman po talaga ng are 178 processed meat manu- lenge in controlling the spread Dar pointed to the importa-
inspectors ang FDA (The FDA facturers in the Philippines of the hog disease, which the tion of meat from ASF-affected
will also authorize NMIS in- that has a license to operate, Bureau of Customs (BOC) and countries as the main culprit
MANILA — The Department spectors to check on processed but we checked on the 63 first other border agencies could for the outbreak of the virus in
of Agriculture (DA) and the meat products, since the re- since they are the largest,” he help. the country.
Department of Health (DOH) sponsibility for inspecting raw added. “We will pursue where pos- “Na yung galing China na-
on Monday have agreed to meat are theirs and processed Bureau of Animal Industry sible now the first border in- sabat natin ay positive for ASF
strengthen their cooperation in ones are ours. This is because (BAI) officer-in-charge Ronnie spection but it will entail also also. Meaning ito talaga ang
monitoring pork meat and pro- the FDA really lacks inspec- Domingo put forward zoning as facilities to be constructed in pinaka problema natin, intro-
cessed meat products to control tors)” he said. a solution to contain the spread due time. But the Customs have duced itong ASF, meat and pork
the incidence of African swine “So we are giving our NMIS of ASF from infected areas to been very forthcoming by being products ang nakumpiska na-
fever (ASF) in the country. counterparts the authority to safe locations, stating its con- our lead inspection group at the tin at nagka-positive. This con-
At a press conference in Que- also look into processed meat tribution in eradicating foot seaports and airports; we’ll be firms our earlier hypothesis na
zon City, Food and Drug Ad- products both in storage and in and mouth disease from the na- there partnering with them,” talagang galing sa ibang bansa
ministration (FDA) officer-in- the factories,” he added. tional pig population. he said. (Seized products that came
charge Rolando Domingo said Domingo noted that there “Ibig sabihin ang bawat lugar Domingo also expressed will- from China also tested positive
the agency is going to partner have been already inspections may kulay siya. Yung movement ingness to cooperate with the for ASF. Which means that con-
with the National Meat Inspec- conducted on meat processors, ng hayop ay nakadepende sa BOC, stating that they “will also fiscated meat and pork prod-
tion Service (NMIS) under the citing the discovery of the ASF kulay ng iyong zone (It means work with the Bureau of Cus- ucts positive for ASF are our
DA to conduct inspections on virus on the longganisa and that each area will have an as- toms and the DOH Bureau of main problem, since it intro-
processed meat. hotdog products from Mekeni signed color. The movement of Quarantine to check that the duced the virus in the country.
“We will continue to moni- Food Corporation. animals and the products made importation of processed meat This confirms our earlier hy-
tor them in tandem with NMIS, “As of October 31, the FDA from them will depend on the products from ASF-affected pothesis that the disease really
so we are going to partner with has inspected the factories of 63 color from their zone of ori- countries whether for commer- came from another country),”
NMIS. The FDA will also autho- processed meat manufacturing gin),” he said. cial use or yung hina-hand carry he said. ■
rize NMIS inspectors to check establishments. There are 178 DA Secretary William Dar, nila, mababantayan din natin
on processed meat products, na merong license to operate na however, highlighted that at mare-regulate (or for items
kasi nga yung hatian naming processed meat manufacturers smuggling and the unchecked that are hand-carried so that
18
Canada News
Students get less, while
families pay more under UCP
EDMONTON — UCP Edu- ports.” have to do more with less, and
cation Minister Adriana La- According to LaGrange’s that puts a strain on us that
Grange is breaking her promise budget documents, she intends doesn’t have to be there. We
to Alberta families with a bud- to collect about $320 million get stressed about things other
get that cuts per-student fund- more in education property than our jobs, which are learn-
ing while pulling more money taxes by 2022, while spending ing and teaching, respectively.”
out of parents’ pockets. about $330 million less on sup- “The impact that the budget
“Minister LaGrange told Al- port for the K-12 school system. is going to have on myself and
bertans she would fund enrol- This money will go towards the other front line workers is the
ment as our student popula- $4.7 billion corporate handout possibility of facing layoffs, or
tion grows. Now we know that described on page 144 of the loss of hours,” said Lee Ann
was a lie,” said Sarah Hoffman, Budget 2019 Fiscal Plan. Kilam, a Educational Assis-
Official Opposition Critic for “We’ve heard lots of prom- tant. ”At the end of the day that
Education and MLA for Ed- ises that we’ll get more money means there will be less sup-
monton-Glenora. “This UCP because the student popula- ports for students, and they’re
government is raising school tion is increasing, but with this the ones who will suffer be-
fees, collecting more income budget freeze, we get a cut in cause of this budget.”
taxes and more property taxes Education,” said Timothy Lu, In budget debate today, the
while class sizes get bigger, bus a Grade 11 student attending minister also revealed that
times get longer, and kids with Old Strathcona High School. school districts are free to increase, on top of the income and various other fees increas-
complex needs lose their sup- “For students and teachers, we charge a mid-year school fee tax hike, property tax increases es contained in Budget 2019. ■
Time flies! 80th anniversary of the National

Research Council of Canada time signal
Time signal first heard on the CBC Radio One Network in 1939
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Today years quencies 3330 kHz, 7335 (7850 Quick facts • The CHU station is located
marks the 80th year that Cana- 1923: Astronomers at the since 2009) kHz and 14670 • The NRC has used cesium 15 km southwest of Ottawa at
dians can tune in to the longest- Dominion Radio Astrophysical kHz. atomic clocks, the world’s best 45° 17" 47"N, 75° 45" 22" W.
running but shortest-duration Observatory created a short- 1939: The first time the NRC timekeepers, since the 1950s. • Since 1990, Canada’s offi-
broadcast program on the Ca- wave time signal radio station. signal was heard on air across • The NRC operates a ce- cial time has been presented by
nadian Broadcasting Corpora- 1929: The regular daytime the CBC Radio One network. sium fountain atomic clock CHU broadcasts through Coor-
tion (CBC) Radio One network. transmission began in January. 1970: CHU was transferred where atoms of cesium are first dinated Universal Time (UTC)
It was on November 5, 1939, In order to cover Canada in its from astronomers to physicists launched with laser beams up and digital voice announce-
that the first time signal from entirety, the station automati- at the NRC, putting the Govern- and then under the force of ments have been used.
the National Research Council cally sent its call sign in Morse ment of Canada’s largest sci- gravity fall back down like wa- • The NRC runs two tele-
of Canada (NRC) was heard on code once per hour and pulses ence and research organization ter in a fountain. phone numbers that announce
air across the CBC network at were coded to identify the time in charge of maintaining Cana- • The NRC offers authenti- the time of day. These numbers
exactly 13:00. of day. da’s official time. cated Network Time Protocol are accessible to the general
1938: The CHU call letters 2019: Almost 50 years later, which enables all Canadians public in English: (613) 745-
A brief history of timekeeping were first used for Canadian the NRC continues to be Cana- to synchronize their computer 1576 and in French: (613) 745-
in Canada over the past 96 time transmission on the fre- da’s official timekeeper. clocks with official time. 9426. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Canada News 19
New schools to open

with fewer teachers,
bigger class sizes
EDMONTON — After decimating fund- have abandoned these kids and forced
ing for educating Alberta kids in their costs onto parents, just so they can give
brutal budget, Jason Kenney and the a $4.7 billion dollar handout to big cor-
UCP have announced that new schools porations.”
will open with fewer teachers and bigger At their news conference on Friday,
classrooms. Calgary Catholic School District Vice
While 15 new school projects is good Chair Linda Wellman reinforced that
news, Budget 2019 froze funding for the UCP’s new school announcement
students, providing no extra funding doesn’t address existing capacity issues,
for 60,000 new students arriving over saying “we are getting absolutely noth-
JASON KENNEY / FACEBOOK the next four years. While the UCP ing for growth to accommodate our stu-
promised to maintain spending, school dent growth.”
NDP joins advocates, former boards will receive at least $200 less per
student than they received last school
year.
Rocky View Schools recently an-
nounced it is facing a $10-million cut
to its K-12 programs. As more school
children in care to demand “I’m glad to see new schools, especial-

ly new high school spaces for Edmonton
and Calgary. However, it’s what happens
boards calculate the impact of the UCP’s
budget cuts, many will have to turn to
job cuts, with some estimates showing
UCP reverse cruel budget cuts inside these schools that counts, and the
UCP have chosen to increase class sizes
and cut classroom supports while forc-
as many as 500 teachers could be fired
in Edmonton and Calgary alone.
The UCP also cut $51 million from
ing school boards to fire teachers and school maintenance and $13 million
ALBERTA’S NDP CAUCUS “I was really scared and upset and raise school fees on parents,” said NDP from school transportation. The UCP has
I don’t really know what I’m going to Education Critic Sarah Hoffman. told school boards to increase school fees
do,” she said. “My goal is to be finished “Jason Kenney and Adriana LaGrange on parents to cover for these costs. ■
EDMONTON — The NDP Official Op- school by the time I’m 24. This really im-
position, former children in care, ad- pacts my future.”
vocates and members of the all-party Wallis Kendal, a longtime outreach
endorsed Ministerial Panel on Child In- worker, co-founder of the iHuman Youth
tervention are calling on Jason Kenney Society and founder of the Moving the
and the UCP Government to immedi- Mountains project to help at-risk Indig-
ately reverse their cruel cuts to the Sup- enous women, said the Kenney Govern-
port Financial Assistance Agreement ment’s cuts will cause serious harm to
program. many young adults like Shyannah.
The UCP government has dropped the “The only thing that changes a youth’s
eligibility age for the program from 24 to future is knowing they have a future,” Are you an
22, meaning 500 former foster children Kendal said. “When Sandra Bromley Internationally
will see their support eliminated as early and I found iHuman Youth Society for
as next spring. trauma-impacted youth we set the age Trained Professional
“This is just cruel. These are young range at 14 to 24 years because we knew in need of financial
people that are often without a support that youth in care would need more
network, without parents to rely on, years to reach their benchmark.” support for your
and now they have nowhere to turn,” Peter Choate, who served on the Min- Foreign Credential
said Rakhi Pancholi, Official Opposi- isterial Panel on Child Intervention,
tion Critic for Children’s Services and which provided recommendations that Recognition?
MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud. “This were accepted by all Alberta political
is a government that is willingly giving parties, including the UCP, also criti-
For more information contact:
over $4.7 billion to big corporations but cized the cuts.
can’t bother to find the necessary fund- “As a former member of the Child In- 778-372-6609
ing to preserve supports for children in tervention Panel, I am deeply concerned [email protected]
issbc.org/globaltalentloans
care that are trying to move their lives about roll backs of supports for some
forward? of the most vulnerable youth,” he said. Global Talent Loans program
“The UCP buried this cut in their bud- “If they were eligible for PDD or AISH is delivered in partnership with
get and now that they’ve been caught, funding they would, in most cases, al- Funded in part by the Government
they must immediately reverse this ready be on it. This is a moment when
of Canada’s Foreign Credential
Recognition Program
heartless decision.” we should step back and wonder if these

Shyannah Sinclair, 21, a former child changes should be reconsidered.”
in care and current participant in the The NDP Caucus will be putting for-
Support Financial Assistance Agree- ward a motion for an emergency debate
ment program, said she worries about in the Legislature Monday.
the future for her and her daughter. “We won’t let this go,” Pancholi said.
Sinclair was informed last week that “The UCP lied to Albertans. Nowhere in
she would be removed from the SFAA their platform did they say the gift to big
Global Talent Loans Program
program in 10 months as a result of the corporations would result in cuts to sup-
UCP’s decision. ports for our most vulnerable.” ■
20 World News NOVEMBER 8, 2019 FRIDAY
UN chief calls for strengthened China vows to import

efforts vs. climate change more, cut tariffs
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Hubei Region in the north, the
Philippine News Agency Philippine News Agency Yangtze River Economic Belt,
the Yangtze River Delta Region,
the Guangdong-Hong Kong-
NONTHABURI, THAILAND SHANGHAI, CHINA — Chi- Macau Greater Bay Area, and
– Gains against climate change nese President Xi Jinping said the Hainan Free Trade Zone in
continue to lag behind the de- here Tuesday that China would the south.
struction of the environment boost its imports while the Xi reaffirmed that China
that has put the lives of more government would further cut would continue its opening up
people in danger, the chief of trade costs. and reform policy amid threats
the United Nations (UN) said “China will give greater im- of trade protectionism and uni-
Sunday. portance to import. We will lateralism.
UN Secretary-General Anto- continue to lower tariffs and “The right solution is con-
nio Guterres, in a briefing after institutional transaction costs,” sultation and cooperation. All
the Association of Southeast Xi said in his speech during the problems will be settled in the
Asian Nations (Asean) – UN 2nd China International Im- spirit of equality, mutual un-
Summit here, said leaders of the port Expo (CIIE) at the Nation- derstanding and recommenda-
regional bloc have acknowledged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. @ANTONIOGUTERRES / TWITTER al Exhibition and Convention tion,” he said.
the impact of climate change on Center (Shanghai). “We need to join hands with
their respective economies. coal-fired power plants starting support for climate change ad- The CIIE hosts foreign en- each other, instead of letting
He said climate change is in 2020 and instead push for aptation and mitigation in a terprises seeking to sell to the go with each other’s hands. We
“the most dramatic threat to production of more renewable region where national disasters Chinese market. No Chinese need to tear down walls and not
sustainability today.” energy. occur frequently.” manufacturer participates in to erect walls. We need to stand
“There’s a major concern for He noted that there are a He also said that the Presi- the expo. firm against protectionism and
us all. Indeed, we are still losing number of coal-fired power dent “has once again exhibited Xi urged businesses around unilateralism. We need to con-
the race. Climate change is run- plants that are in the pipeline his broad knowledge and under- the world to sell more to the tinually bring down trade bar-
ning faster than what we are,” for construction in East, South, standing in international affairs Chinese market, as China con- riers, optimize global value and
he said. and Southeast Asia in the next before the global audience.” tinues to boost its domestic supply chains, and jointly foster
The UN chief said impact of few years. This, after the President not- consumption. market demand,” he added.
climate change has resulted to “It is very important to recog- ed that 2020 will be a promis- “China has a population of This was echoed by French
severe droughts, melting of gla- nize that the addiction to coal ing year for the regional bloc 1.4 billion. Its middle-income President Emmanuel Macron
ciers, and bleaching of corals, can undermine our efforts to because Indonesia and Viet- population is the biggest in the in his speech in the same event.
among others. defeat climate change,” he said. nam will be part of the United world. The huge Chinese mar- “No one wins a trade war. We
He said these environmental He disclosed that he has talk- Nations Security Council (UN ket points to a potential that is have seen the consequences of
changes, which have resulted in ed with country leaders where Security Council). simply unlimited,” he said in trade wars. The trade tensions
disasters, have affected the lives the new coal-fired power plants “PRRD manifested that he Chinese. between major countries in
of people around the world. will be constructed or execu- considers this as Asean’s com- “The Chinese people often the world have already hurt the
Citing the result of a study tives of companies that finance ing of age as this meant the as- say, ‘The world is a big place global economy and its damage
that was released recently, these projects to reconsider the sociation’s further engagement and I just want to see more of is being felt around the world,”
Guterres said an analysis of plan. with the world,” he said. it.’ What I want to say to you to- Macron said.
the speed of the rise of sea level “My appeal is for an emphasis He said the region can also day is that the Chinese market He added that countries
showed that it is faster than to be put on renewables and to have a huge hole in conflict res- is such a big one that you should should not resort to unilat-
what was known earlier. be able to stop the construction olution and conflict prevention all come and see what (it) has to eralism and increasing tariff
“It is now foreseen that if we of new power plants, coal power — “a job that the United Na- offer,” he added. to safeguard their respective
are not able to defeat climate plants, because, as I have said, tions is currently performing.” Aside from cutting trade economies.
change we will have, in 2050, an the addiction to coal can under- “The President thus called costs, Xi said China is devel- “Is that the way forward? I
impact on the sea level rise over mine, because of its impact in on Asean and the UN to pursue oping demonstration and free don’t think so. That is not the
300 million people,” he said. terms of CO2 (carbon dioxide), preventive diplomacy, including trade zones to promote in- choice of France or the Euro-
He, thus, reiterated the need can undermine our efforts to the advancement of women in bound trade, both for goods pean Union,” Macron said. “I do
to make sure that the rise of defeat climate change,” he said. the peace and security agenda, and services. These trade zones not think that we resort to trade
temperature is capped at 1.5 de- The UN chief also pointed which the Philippines pioneered include the Beijing-Tianjin- wars and protectionism at all.” ■
grees by the end of the century, out that “today it is clear that in the ASEAN Women’s Peace
that the world becomes carbon renewable energy is the cheap- Registry (AWPR),” he said.
neutral by 2050 and emissions est one.” Panelo said the President
are reduced by 45 percent. “Technology has evolved in also urged both the Asean and
“In the next decades, if we such a way that today renewables the UN to strengthen coopera-
miss these objectives the situ- are the most effective form to tion in sustainable security.
ation will be catastrophic with produce electricity,” he added. “Both, according to PRRD,
dramatic impact around the Meanwhile, Chief Presiden- must promote counter-narra-
world,” he said. tial Legal Counsel and Presi- tives to address the message
Guterres also called for the dential Spokesperson Salvador of hate and destruction propa-
implementation of carbon tax, S. Panelo, in a statement, said gated by violent extremists and
noting that subsidies to fossil President Rodrigo R. Duterte, terrorists,” he said, noting that
fuels that governments extend during the Asean-UN Summit “the President cited the ex-
to businessmen come from tax- “expressed his appreciation perience of the Philippines in
payers’ money. for the actions taken, with the Marawi to show such method- The 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit of leaders took place
He also raised the need to assistance of the UN, to build ology of international coopera- in Nonthaburi, Thailand from November 2-4, 2019.
stop the construction of new resilience and strengthen the tion.” ■ AVITO DALAN / PNA
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 World News 21
Asean leaders bat for removal of uncertainties

in South China Sea
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA ing the Summit between the The Finance chief said past
Philippine News Agency 10-country regional bloc and incidents that increased uncer-
China are cooperation on trade tainties in the disputed waters
and conformation of open and are worth mentioning in the
NONTHABURI, THAILAND fair trade, he said. COC.
— Removal of uncertainties in China and several Asean “I think it’s very important
the South China Sea was among countries namely the Philip- that recognition of past inci-
the topics discussed during the pines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and dences have to be referred to. I
Association of Southeast Asian Brunei have overlapping claims don’t know in detail if it will be
Nations-China Summit here in the resource-rich South Chi- referred to in the body of the
Sunday. na Sea. agreement or maybe in the an-
The summit is part of the Leaders of Asean and China nex but definitely examples of
35th Asean Summit and Re- target to have a Code of Con- how uncertainty has increased
lated Summits held here and in duct (COC) in place by 2021. has to be taken into consider-
Bangkok from November 2 to 4. Dominguez said the COC is ation,” he added.
“The biggest item that the an important document that Dominguez said Asean aims
Asean discussed with China is must be agreed upon by all par- to reduce poverty, increase
the proposal to remove one big ties to end worries on relations people’s prosperity and engage
uncertainty and that is the un- among Asean and China. in sustainable development.
certainty on the South China “Removal of uncertainty is “We are among the areas in
Sea. And the idea is essentially definitely the major goal now the world that will suffer from Satellite Picture of the South China Sea.
to push for the completion of but how that is to be achieved, climate change and definitely SERG!O - SATELLITE PICTURES, FROM NASA WORLD WIND GLOBE, VERSION 1.4, PUBLIC DOMAIN
the finalization of the Code of whether we will go into a great enhancing the cooperation and
Conduct,” Finance Secretary detail mentioning specific in- connectivity with our very large China and the Asean is to con- living and improve the possibil-
Carlos Dominguez III said in a cidents or not, is really subject neighbor is essential to achieve tinue and improve the coop- ity of sustainable development
briefing here Monday. to discussion among all the par- those goals,” he said. eration in all the fields that will and address risks of climate
Other topics discussed dur- ties,” Dominguez said. “And the agreement between improve people’s standards of change,” he added. ■
Asean countries seek free trade China, Asean countries

deals with EAEU: Russian PM to strengthen media
PHILIPPINE NEWS
AGENCY
agreements had already been
signed with Vietnam, Singa-
sanctions is increasing, they
have become a tool of political
exchanges, cooperation
pore, and China while talks are pressure and unfair competi-
underway with India. tion,” he said. PHILIPPINE NEWS Asean-China Year of Media Ex-
BANGKOK – The Philippines, Medvedev emphasized the According to Medvedev, AGENCY changes during their last sum-
Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, need to combine the potential the protectionist sentiment is mit in 2018 and agreed to take
and Thailand have expressed of the Association of Southeast growing stronger in a number more actions to further pro-
interest in signing free trade Asian Nations, EAEU countries of countries “which leads to BANGKOK — China and coun- mote the media exchanges and
agreements with the Eurasian and the Shanghai Cooperation specific political and legal deci- tries of the Association of cooperation, according to the
Economic Union (EAEU), said Organization (SCO). sions.” Southeast Asian Nations (Ase- statement.
Russian Prime “They result in an) will take more actions to The measures include great-
Minister Dmi- large-scale trade strengthen media exchanges er communication between
try Medvedev on wars,” he added. and cooperation to further en- governments on media policies
Monday. He said Asian hance mutual understanding and issues; strengthening coop-
“The Eurasian countries are be- and friendship between their eration on news coverage and
Economic Union Unfortunately, the use of sanctions ginning to real- peoples and boost ties between materials, intensifying media
has experience is increasing, they have become a ize that there is the two sides. industry cooperation in media
in creating a tool of political pressure and unfair a need to search Leaders of China and the 10 technology research and devel-
common mar- competition. for new methods Asean member-states made the opment, encouraging exchang-
ket and I would of constructive pledge in a joint statement after es in education and training of
like to point out interaction in- their 22nd Asean-China sum- media professionals, among
that the Union stead of estab- mit held here Sunday. others.
is open to co- lishing blocs and Asean-China relations are The 35th Asean summit and
operation with all interested He said the 2016 Russia- unions that oppose each other. among the most substantial of related summits are taking
partners,” Medvedev said at the ASEAN Summit had supported “The current situation in re- Asean’s dialogue partnerships, place here on Sunday and Mon-
14th East Asia Summit in Bang- the idea of establishing a broad lations between the countries with both sides committed to day. Leaders from 10 Asean
kok. Eurasian partnership. of the region and Asian coun- fostering friendly relations, countries and their dialogue
“We welcome the interest The Russian Prime Minister tries’ determination to create good neighborliness, and mutu- countries will sum up achieve-
that Brunei, Indonesia, Cam- said sanctions have become a an open and non-discrimina- ally beneficial cooperation, the ments in last year’s partner-
bodia, Thailand and the Philip- political pressure tool that trig- tory market environment are statement pointed out. ships and seek solutions to
pines have shown,” he added. gers trade wars. proof of that,” Medvedev said. ■ Both sides welcomed the des- foster development and tackle
He noted that free trade “Unfortunately, the use of ignation of the year 2019 as the regional and global issues. ■
22 World News NOVEMBER 8, 2019 FRIDAY
Thai PM cites Death toll from Iraqi protests

importance of climbs to 254: UN
Asean, external PHILIPPINE NEWS
AGENCY
found serious human rights
violations and abuses during
Iraqi protests
Iraq has been rocked by a sec-
partner tie-ups ISTANBUL — At least 254 people

the protests, the report under-
scored that thousands of other
protestors were also injured.
ond wave of protests that began
on October 25 against deep-
seated corruption, unemploy-
have so far lost their lives amid The report attributed at least ment, and lack of basic services.
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA discuss issues related to the anti-government protests in Iraq 16 deaths — and many serious Anger has been building in
Philippine News Agency promotion of sustainability in that started early October, said a injuries — to demonstrators be- Iraq in recent years due to ris-
various dimensions during the report issued by the United Na- ing hit by tear gas canisters. ing unemployment and ram-
United Nations (UN) general tions Assistance Mission for Iraq “There is no justification for se- pant corruption. Many people
NONTHABURI, Thailand — assembly in New York last Sep- (UNAMI) on Tuesday. curity forces to fire tear gas canis- in the country have limited ac-
Thailand Prime Minister Pra- tember. The report, titled “Demonstra- ters or sound and flash devices di- cess to basic services, such as
yut Chan-o-cha on Saturday Discussions on Asean’s goals tions in Iraq: update, 25 October rectly at unarmed demonstrators,” electricity and clean water.
said fostering greater relations were also made during the Cli- - 4 November 2019,” said a total said Danielle Bell, chief of the UN- According to World Bank fig-
with other economic blocs and mate Action Summit and Sus- of 97 protestors were killed amid AMI Human Rights Office. ures, Iraq’s youth unemploy-
groups will ensure the achieve- tainable Development Goals the second wave of demonstra- The UN’s earlier report cov- ment is about 25 percent. It
ment and sustainability of the Summit in New York. tions storming the capital Bagh- ering the first wave of protests is also ranked the 12th most-
10-member Association of These efforts, he said, “dem- dad and the central and southern in Iraq had said a total of 157 corrupt country in the world by
Southeast Asian Nations’ (Ase- onstrated Asean’s commitment territories of the country. protestors were killed and several transparency organiza-
an) goals. to working with the interna- Stressing that UNAMI has 5,494 others were wounded. tions. ■
In his speech during the 35th tional community in ensuring
Asean Summit Plenary here, sustainability and addressing
the Prime Minister said he was
able to explain Asean’s goals
and directions to G20 leaders
the pressing challenges affect-
ing humanity.”
“All of these undertakings es-
Mt. Samat launches 3D AR-
during the 14th G20 Summit
held last June 28-29 in Osaka,
Japan.
sentially support the building
of an Asean community that
is people-centered, leaves no
enhanced war museum
“I had the opportunity to one behind, and looks to the fu-
convey its key outcomes in dis- ture,” he said. BY JOYCE ANN L.
cussions with G20 leaders in “And in realizing these goals, ROCAMORA
Osaka, where I proposed four we have given importance to Philippine News Agency
areas of collaboration in which fostering partnerships with ex-
Asean and the G20 could en- ternal partners and various sec-
gage for concrete results,” he tors, because Asean cannot do it MANILA — Tourist can now
said. alone,” he noted. experience an enhanced trip at
These four areas are smart “And I believe that partner- the historical Mt. Samat Shrine
cities development, financial ships and friendships with exter- of Valor as it launched Thurs-
inclusion, human capital de- nal partners are instrumental in day its augmented reality-en-
velopment and environmental helping the community take for- hanced war museum, the first
protection, including combat- ward, the priorities and deliver heritage site to offer such digi-
ing marine debris. concrete outcomes in a sustain- tal innovation in the country.
Prayut said he was able to able manner,” he added. ■ “The introduction of the 3D
Augmented Reality feature
in the Underground Museum Mt. Samat’s AR enhanced war museum, first in the Philippines.
made Mt. Samat the first his- MT. SAMAT FTEZ - MT. SAMAT FLAGSHIP TOURISM ENTERPRISE ZONE / FACEBOOK
torical site and war museum

in the country with the AR while more AR codes and digi- operating officer of TIEZA for
technology,” Mt. Samat Flag- tal features are expected to be TEZ Management Sector.
ship Tourism Enterprise Zone integrated in various facilities The Philippine Veterans
(FTEZ) Administrator Francis of the Shrine of Valor in the sec- Affairs Office (PVAO), mean-
Theodore Initorio said. ond and third phases. while, extended its message of
The Mt. Samat FTEZ, under These full features will be support to the latest initiative
the Tourism Infrastructure and introduced to the public next for the war museum.
Enterprise Zone Authority (TIE- year, according to TIEZA. “The PVAO supports the use
ZA), initially proposed the proj- “The AR technology is actu- of digital innovation in the war
ect in 2018 as part of the initiative ally being eyed by the DOT to museum. We expect that this
to have a new curatorial design in be used in top tourist destina- will lure more tourists to Mt.
the Underground Museum. tions and historical sites, like Samat,” said Brig. Gen. Resti-
Its first phase includes the in- the Mt. Samat Shrine of Valor, tuto Aguilar, the chief of PVAO
tegration of computer-generat- Intramuros and Corregidor. It’s Veterans Memorial and Histor-
ed content and animation over- an added feature that will en- ical Department.
laid on the war museum exhibit, courage the youth to visit his- A series of life-sized diorama
which can be seen through an torical sites, and to understand of the Battles of Bataan in the
AR mobile application. the Philippine history better war museum is also eyed in the
The virtual reality system, by using new technology and historical landmark, which will
Thailand PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. meanwhile, will be unveiled in gadgets,” said Atty. Karen Mae be similarly equipped with AR
ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA / FACEBOOK the last phase of the project, Sarinas-Baydo, assistant chief and virtual reality. ■
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24
Entertainment
Suwag o Suko: Tough tamaraw
conservation on film
BY JANICE CAVE and how its survival is invari- ares lies the core habitat for the
Philippine News Agency ably tied to the indigenous largest remaining population
Mangyan tribes and the con- of tamaraws which only counts
tinued conservation efforts of 480, down from 523 in 2018.
MANILA — Mindoro’s hard- rangers. These bovines are considered
working rangers and the dwin- The launch also coincides critically-endangered and just a
dling tamaraw population are with the celebration of Tama- step above extinction in the In-
the lead characters in the newly raw Month this October. ternational Union for the Con-
launched documentary film, Department of Environment servation of Nature’s Red List
“Suwag o Suko,” which tells the and Natural Resources (DENR) of Threatened Species.
daily plight of some 20 volun- Tamaraw Conservation Pro- Suwag o Suko: Saving the
teers in keeping the numbers gramme (TCP) Coordinator Tamaraw from Extinction
of critically endangered dwarf Neil Anthony del Mundo, for is scheduled for nationwide
buffalos afloat. his part, believes the film will screenings in the coming
“Suwag o Suko” is a love let- not only raise awareness among months with possible interna-
ter to the tamaraw rangers and Filipinos but also advance the tional exposure through video-
everyone working in conser- advocacy for wildlife conserva- on-demand platforms.
vation. It was made with local tion. The film was produced in
audiences in mind because we “We herald this unique, bi- partnership with the Biodiver-
want to instill a sense of pride, ologically-important and cul- sity Finance Initiative (BIO-
shared identity, and ownership turally- significant animal. We FIN) of the United Nations
for our natural heritage,” said must spread awareness for con- Development Programme
Celine Murillo, who wrote the servation,” he said. (UNDP) and the DENR-TCP.
script with director Mark Ace The Tamaraw or Bubalus At present, BIOFIN Philip- Suwag o Suko is the story of the critically endangered tamaraws and those
Gatdula and other pro bono mindorensis is a wild buffalo pines is working on finance working to save it from extinction.
volunteers. found solely on the island of solutions to raise resources for SUWAG O SUKO / FACEBOOK
The hour-long documen- Mindoro in the Philippines and the tamaraw and other endan-
tary, which was launched on is among the world’s most en- gered species through creative to create additional buzz and Tamaraw conservation efforts
Wednesday at the National Mu- dangered animals. crowdfunding and diaspora. catalyze support for tamaraw either in-cash or in-kind may
seum, examines the economic, At the vast land of Mounts According to BIOFIN Philip- conservation. ■ contact BIOFIN at biofin.ph@
social and cultural significance Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIB- pines, a national caravan will undp.org. or Angelique Ogena at
of the Mindoro dwarf buffalos NP) spanning at 106,655 hect- follow Suwag o Suko’s launch People who want to support the [email protected].
Ex-wushu champ...
❰❰ 29 which is related to my in amateur boxing, and both pines,” he said. The four members of the three teammates remained
event Wai Kru and belong to the same kickboxing He added: “Actually, I re- Philippine wushu sanda team with wushu sanda, with Sangiao
Taksa, or ritual dance club. turned to Muay Thai in 2006 in 2001 went home with two moving up as a coach and train-
and choreographed fighting “Then now there is Wai Kru and trained with the national golds and a silver medal. er, while the other two contin-
with stunts,” he said in a mix of and Taksa in the SEA Games squad for the 2007 SEA Games Calica won the 54-kilogram ued to fight.
Baguio Iloko, Filipino and Eng- which is in line crown by beating Calica moved to taolu, the
lish. with my profes- Indonesia’s Arif first from the Cordillera when
Now based in Quezon City sion/passion as Arsoyo, while it was dominated by Manila-
where he works as talent at Vir- a stuntman or in Sangiao took based players of Chinese de-
tual Playground and actor at movie fighting,” the 60-kilogram scent.
Reality Entertainment, Calica he said in the lo- Unfortunately, the use of sanctions crown winning “Wen siyak ti maysa pioneer
never expected to return as a cal dialect. is increasing, they have become a over Teguh Pre- wushu Taolu. Tapos first as-
national team member. He said Muay tool of political pressure and unfair stowo also of In- signed (with) Wushu Taolu Ba-
“I never expected to return Thai is not new competition. donesia. guio Team Head Coach. Varsity
to the National Team or to any to him as he was Rexel Ngan- Coach met lang University of
combative sport for that mat- into it before hayna took the the Philippines tapos naging
ter),” he said in Ilocano. joining the Phil- silver in the 56- University of Baguio (Yes, I was
It was national Muay Thai ippine wushu kg division after one of the pioneers of Wushua
coach Billy Alumno who called team. but then Robin Padilla took falling to Vietnamese Diep Bao Taolu [in Baguio]. Then I was
him back to duty. “I am not new with Muay me in for one (movie) project. Minh. assigned as Wushu Taolu Bagu-
Alumno is one of the more Thai, before I even joined the Then, the Muay Thai event was Folayang, then only 18, failed io team head coach at the same
popular Muay practitioners in RP Wushu Sanda team, I was scrapped as an event from that to bring home a medal. After UP varsity coach and later at
the Cordillera in the 90s, who already involved with the orga- SEA Games [held in Hanoi, the 2001 SEAG, Calica took UB,” he added. ■
later became Calica’s teammate nization of Muay Thai Philip- Vietnam]).” a different route even as his
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Entertainment 25
I-Witness: 20 years of life-changing documentaries

I-WITNESS PREMIERED on Philip-
pine television at the turn of the mil-
lennium. It was a time of uncertainty in
a changing world, and GMA News and
Public Affairs saw the need to tell stories
of truth through the documentary for-
mat. Twenty years since, I-Witness has
become one of the leading TV documen-
tary programs in the country, with over
1,000 life-changing stories that have
pursued the truth about Filipino values,
culture, current events, and the human
condition.
Last October 25, the hosts of the
pioneering and longest-running docu-
mentary program—Kara David, Sandra
Aguinaldo, Atom Araullo, and Howie
Severino—renewed their commitment
to the Kapuso Network in a contract
signing attended by no less than GMA I-Witness hosts Atom Araullo, Kara David, Sandra Aguinaldo, and Howie Severino. SUPPLIED
Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Feli-

pe L. Gozon, President and COO Gilber- cluding “Askal,” Vicky Morales; “Sabah: a school in a conflict-ridden community largest protected area in the Philippines
to R. Duavit, Jr., Senior Vice President Sex Slaves,” Maki Pulido; “Boy Pusit,” and a young woman who continues to reminds us of an urgent issue that con-
for News and Public Affairs Marissa L. Sandra Aguinaldo; “Ganito Kami Noong change her family’s life through educa- cerns us all.
Flores, and First Vice President for Pub- Martial Law,” Howie Severino), and the tion. Don’t miss I-Witness, Saturdays, after
lic Affairs Nessa Valdellon. Senior AVP U.S. International Film and Video Fes- Last, but not the least, Howie, who has Studio 7 on GMA-7. ■
for Public Affairs Clyde Mercado and tivals (“Buto’t Balat,” Kara David; “Iskul advocated for environment protection
I-Witness Program Manager Joy Madri- Ko No. 1,” Sandra Aguinaldo; “Busal,” through many of his documentaries, I-Witness airs its 20th anniversary spe-
gal-Monzon were also present. Howie Severino; “Silang Kinalimutan,” returns to Isabela more than ten years cials all Saturdays of November, begin-
Atty. Gozon underscored the legacy Atom Araullo, etc.), among others. It is since first witnessing attempts to end il- ning November 2, with a special feature
of I-Witness as one of the country’s also a regular winner in local awards such legal logging in the province. In a time of on past and present hosts of I-Witness
top-notch TV shows. “Ang I-Witness ay as the Catholic Mass Media Awards, the global warming and the ruthless deple- and the remarkable stories they have fol-
talagang premium program sa Public Af- PMPC Star Awards for Television, the tion of natural resources, the state of the lowed through the years.
fairs kaya naman nagtatagal ng 20 years Gandingan Awards of UP Los Baños, and
at sangkatutak na awards ang nakukuha more.
niyan. Kaya naman we are very happy na I-Witness’ greatest strength, however,
PSYCHIC
we are continuing the excellent tradition lies beyond critical acclaim. The pro-
of I-Witness,” he said. gram’s longevity has allowed its hosts
Duavit praised the award-winning and viewers to continually follow the
documentary program, saying that I- narratives of subjects who have touched
FAITH
Witness has helped the Network ce- lives across generations. On its 20th
ment its status as the most trusted news anniversary, the I-Witness hosts learn
organization in the country. “Naging how conditions have changed, if at all, in
reputasyon na natin na nangunguna tayo some of the program’s most memorable
sa mga ganiyang uri ng programa kaya stories since they were first told.
patuloy naman ang pagturing sa atin ng Kara, known for her compassion and
mga ganitong programa sa Pilipinas. Sa empathy towards the youth, travels to
pagkakataong ito, I’d like to thank San-
dra, Howie, Kara, and Atom sa patuloy
three provinces to reunite with former
subjects, once children who have had
Reader, Healer and Adviser
nilang pagtataguyod ng hindi lamang to bear the incredible burden of pover-
ng ganitong klaseng programa kundi sa ty and dangerous labor at a tender age. TELL PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
kaledad ng features na ginagawa nila,” Now that they are teenagers and young
he said. adults, how have they risen above the
Throughout its run, I-Witness has struggles that plagued their childhoods? specializes on removing all types negative
earned the respect of journalists and Meanwhile, Atom faces issues in energy, bad luck and evil influences
viewers all over the world for its dedica- housing head on, nearly 40 years since
tion to face challenging truths. It won the the establishment of the National Hous-
Philippines’ first George Foster Peabody ing Authority. With rapidly increasing helps in all life problems such
Award in its inaugural year, with GMA urban development, how have the less as love life, business matters,
News Pillar Jessica Soho’s groundbreak- privileged residents of Manila survived
ing stories, “Kamao” and “Kidneys for despite lacking one of their most basic immigration and family issues
Sale.” The program won a second Pea- needs? I-Witness searches for answers
body in 2010 for Kara David’s “Ambulan- through the lives of those who first faced A l l i n P r i v a t e a n d C o n fi d e n t i a l
syang de Paa,” making it the only program this struggle many years ago.
to win two trophies from the prestigious Sandra has led I-Witness in confront- Call today for a better tomorrow
award-giving body. I-Witness has contin- ing issues on education, from the tri-
778-379-4070
ued to be recognized internationally with umphs of exceptional schools and teach- 99% OVER
awards from the ABU/CASBAA UNICEF ers, to glaring concerns in access, quality,
Child Rights Award (“Selda Inosente” and resources. This year, she and her ACCURATE 30 YRS EXP
and “Bata-k,” Kara David; “Batang CP,” team question the state of Philippine
Jay Taruc), the New York Festivals (in- education today, through the stories of
26
Lifestyle
Cemeteries, memorial parks abound
in Novaliches
BY SEVERINO SAMONTE the Serenity Memorial Park in priest-historian Fr. Horacio
Philippine News Agency neighboring Barangay Deparo. dela Costa, Ramon Magsay-
The oldest among these say Awardee for Journalism
memorial parks was the Holy Fr. James Reuters, and activist
MANILA — Where in the coun- Cross Memorial Park which doctor-priest Fr. Romeo “Ar-
try can you find a single place was established in early 1960s. chie” Intengan.
with concentration of 11 cem- Prior to the establishment of There is no exact figure of
eteries and memorial parks similar memorial parks in the the number of people buried in
within a diameter of less than nearby towns (now cities) of these memorial parks and cem-
20 kilometers? Valenzuela, Meycauayan and eteries in Novaliches, but it is
Go to Novaliches, a former San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, safe to say that they exceed the
town now divided between affluent families in these areas million-mark.
Quezon City and Caloocan City were burying their dead rela- One thing sure is that the
in the northernmost periphery tives at the Holy Cross Memo- presence of these burial
of Metropolitan Manila bound- rial Park. grounds in the area is creating
ing with Central Luzon’s Bu- On the other hand, the pub- grave traffic problems in Nova-
lacan province. lic cemeteries in Novaliches, liches every time All Saints’ Day
At present, there are five big QC are the Novaliches Catholic and All Souls’ Day are observed. Inside the Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches.
memorial parks (mild term for Cemetery along Gen. Luis St. in Needless to say, most of the JUDGEFLORO / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PUBLIC DOMAIN
cemeteries) and six cemeteries Barangay San Agustin; the Bag- people visiting their dead rela-
–five public and one private– bag Cemetery along Quirino tives in the five memorial parks Caloocan, were incorporated On Oct. 12, 1903, the same
located in Novaliches, a town Highway in Barangay Bagbag; on Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and 2 are car with the new Manila province. commission approved Act No.
created during the Spanish re- and the Baesa-Sangandaan owners whose vehicles move In the same year, the town of 942, reducing the 32 towns of
gime in the Philippines in 1855. Cemetery, also along Quirino bumper-to-bumper along the Novaliches was weaned from Rizal province to just 15 for
Three of the five memorial Highway. The oldest among roads leading to Novaliches, Bulacan province and annexed the purpose of economy. As a
parks are located in the Quezon these three was the Novaliches particularly along Quirino to the province of Manila. This result, the existing towns of
City portion of Novaliches, and Catholic Cemetery which was Highway from Balintawak, arrangement prevailed until Caloocan and Novaliches were
the two others in the Caloocan established in 1927. Tandang Sora Ave., C-5/Min- the outbreak of the 1896 revo- merged, with Caloocan as the
section. The two public cemeteries danao Ave., Gen. Luis St., and lution against Spain. seat of government.
Of the five public cemeteries, in the Caloocan portion are the Commonwealth Ave. At the end of the Spanish- Novaliches remained as a
three are in Novaliches, Quezon Bagbaguin Cemetery along Gen. History shows that Novali- Filipino and American-Filipino barrio of Caloocan until Repub-
City, and the two others are in Luis St. in Barangay Bagbaguin ches was created as a town of wars (1896-1901), the successor lic Act No. 333 was passed by
the Caloocan territory. and the Tala Cemetery in Baran- the province of Bulacan during American rulers created the Congress in July 1948, making
The three memorial parks in gay Bagong Silang, considered the Spanish regime on Sept. 22, Philippine Commission to re- the then nine-year-old Quezon
the QC area are the Holy Cross as the biggest barangay in the 1855. It was composed of the es- organize the local governments City as the national capital of
Memorial Park along Quirino country today in terms of popu- tates or “hacienda” of Malinta, in their new territory. the Philippines in lieu of Ma-
Highway in Barangay San Bar- lation and land area. Payatas, Tala, and Piedad. One of the first acts of the nila.
tolome; the Himlayang Pilipino The lone private cemetery in According to the book, “Ang commission was the creation of That congressional move re-
Memorial Park in Barangay Novaliches is the Jesuits cem- Kasaysayan ng Novaliches” Rizal province out of the politi- sulted in the division of Novali-
Pasong Tamo; and the Eternal etery at the compound of the (History of Novaliches) writ- cal-military district of Morong. ches between Quezon City and
Gardens, also along Quirino Sacred Heart Novitiate and ten and published in 1997 by Aside from the towns in the Caloocan City.
Highway in Barangay Baesa- Seminary along Quirino High- the historian mother-and-son Morong district, the new prov- In 1976, then President Fer-
Balonbato off the North Luzon way in Barangay Pasong Pu- team, Prof. Rosalina M. Fran- ince of Rizal annexed some dinand E. Marcos amended
Expressway. tik Proper, just off the Quezon co-Calairo and Dr. Emmanuel towns from Manila province, Republic Act 333 and returned
The two memorial parks in City-Caloocan boundary near Franco Calairo, when the prov- including the neighboring Manila as the country’s capital
the Novaliches-Caloocan area the La Mesa Dam. ince of Manila was created in Caloocan and Novaliches, un- through a presidential decree.
are the Forest Memorial Park Among those buried in the 1858, all the towns of the then der Philippine Commission Act However, the divisive state of
in Barangay Bagumbong and Jesuits cemetery were noted province of Tondo, including No. 137. Novaliches remains. ■
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Lifestyle 27
The cost of dying in PH

BY LADE JEAN KABAGANI “It will be more expensive cannot avail of paying monthly
Philippine News Agency for you if you don’t have the life memorial plans, you just have
plan,” she said. to look for a funeral parlor that
St. Peter’s Plan Inc. offers offers the best deal of memorial
MANILA — There are a lot of services from high-end clients services without breaking your
reasons to revel as we get older, to the poorest of the poor in the pockets.
but having to ponder about the Philippines through its Death Renato Mendoza started his
cost of death isn’t one of them. Care Memorial Plan. funeral parlor called Norsam
But everyone dies. It comes “We have a selection of wood- Memorial Chapels, which has
as no great surprise and is in- en and metal caskets and low- been offering low-cost price fu-
evitable, but the question is — climate caskets which are also neral services among poor Fili-
are we financially prepared for imported from the U.S. and we pinos.
death in the family? offer high-end casket for the Mendoza, who once deliv-
Zooming into the country, family do have more budget ered tombstones to funerals,
how much does it cost to die in in their funeral activities,” she says he knows how to live with
the Philippines? said. just enough for daily living.
St. Peter’s, she says, of- “I was once a deliverer of
Memorial plans fers the most affordable plan tombstones, I worked hard for
Funeral packages include which is at PHP700 a month or a living until such time that I
memorial plans with money- PHP38,800 under St. George had my own funeral parlor. All
back-guarantee for those pre- Plan and the new St. Gregory the hard works are paid off and MAGALIE L’ABBÉ / FLICKR, CC BY-NC 2.0
paring their life’s end and one- Plan worth PHP38,200 or now I am able to help the fami-
time payments for families. PHP725 per month, both pay- lies of the dead ones through Funeral homes offer packag- Roselle Castaneda explains.
Dr. Mildred Vitangcol, Chair- able in five years. my funeral,” he shared in an in- es include embalming, coffins “We are doing interviews
man of the Board of St. Peter It also offers top of the line terview. and wake arrangements. for the family of the dead and
Life Plan Inc., cited the impor- plans like St. John Plan which “We had just started a casket “We offer casket for the mid- checking an endorsement from
tance of having memorial life comes with a more elegant making before. We offer a low- dle-class families and provide DSWD, or from the office of
plans for Filipinos, especially casket for PHP300,000 or est cost of a funeral at PHP28, a casket for the poorest of the the mayor or the barangay cap-
building relationships without PHP5,700 monthly. 000 and it doesn’t matter how poor,” he said. tains, that we can assess if the
the fear of the concept of death “We also introduce a money- long the funeral activities are, family belongs to the poorest of
or dying. back guarantee. We are offering we don’t ask for additional pay- Cremation the poor,” she said.
“It is very important to have a package at the liking of our ment for that,” he said. Another dying cost to con- “The family has to comply
a death care plan. If you don’t client. The amount of the prod- “The offer includes 50 pieces sider is cremation. The cost of with the death certificate and
have any insurance coverage, uct is fixed and will be paid for of coffee, flowers, limitless fu- the memorial lot depends on burial permit, “ she added.
or if you are not aware of how a five-year span, it’s either paid neral and death documents,” he the location. The costs of burying the dead
difficult it is not to have a plan annually or monthly. Our com- added. The government-run public may be heavy, but for many
especially when you lose your mitment is to return to the per- Now, Mendoza Funeral cemetery offers much cheaper Filipinos, this doesn’t matter,
loved ones. It’s really an im- son the money invested,” she Homes offers a one-stop-shop or could be free, depending on so long as their loved ones are
portant investment wherein added. for poor families who can’t af- the status of the living fam- provided with a decent burial
it’s available when the family There are a number of ways ford to have a memorial life ily of the dead. That’s what Ma- and funeral. ■
would need it,” she said. to cut funeral costs. Or if you plan. nila North Cemetery Director
88-yr-old man in Iligan City readies own casket

BY DIVINA SUSON clear sense of hearing at 88, said of Luciano’s is the typical cof- site on their farm, about 1 km. “time.” One of their siblings
Philippine News Agency in an interview. fin. away from their house. bought Luciano a memorial
He related that he had asked Flora’s wish, as she told her But none of Flora’s wishes plan but hid it from him until
some gemelina wood from his children, was to be placed in her was fulfilled, as her children one day, a notice from the com-
ILIGAN CITY — The senior brother, saying it would be for a “plane” casket. She, however, brought her another casket pany arrived and it was Luciano
citizen in Iligan City who pre- cabinet. and she was bur- who received it.
pared his casket at home years “Because I’m ied in a private “But I will get back to them if
ago is now ready to die after his sure he will not cemetery. “She they do not use my coffin,” Lu-
wife, who also prepared hers, give it to me if I will not know ciano said.
died last January. told him I’m go- anyway. She is He, however, said it does not
Luciano Tapic, 88, of Ba- ing to make my While there is this belief that those already dead,” matter to him where he will be
rangay Kiwalan, has asked his casket. When it preparing for death would live said their second buried.
brother-in-law four years ago was done and he longer, Luciano insisted that “If it is child, Aurora “For sure, when it’s his time
to make his casket so that his saw it, he appre- your time, it’s your time.” Fernandez. to come, he will be laid beside
children would not be bur- ciated (it) and Flora’s and Lu- our mother,” Fernandez said.
dened “when my time comes.” said he would ciano’s caskets While there is this belief
“I want my children to use make his, too,” are kept on the that those preparing for death
this (the coffin) when I die. Luciano recalled. second floor of would live longer, Luciano in-
They can just paint it with any He got this idea from his wife, did not want to be buried in it. their house, beside the room sisted that “If it is your time, it’s
color, even black, it’s fine with Flora, who prepared hers in She wanted her body to instead of one of their children, where your time.”
me. I will make them dream 2000. be wrapped in white cloth, and their grandchildren sleep when Flora and Luciano have six
about me when they do not use Flora’s casket resembled for the casket to be placed on they come to visit. children, 21 grandchildren, and
it,” Luciano, who is still very ac- an airplane with protruding top of her tomb as a decoration. Fernandez said they have 16 great-grandchildren. ■
tive, with a sharp memory and a “wings” on its sides while that She also prepared the burial also prepared for their father’s
28 Lifestyle NOVEMBER 8, 2019 FRIDAY
Living among the dead: Nanay Diday’s story

BY JEAN MALANUM “When my husband died, I normal business in the cem-
Philippine News Agency had a second chance to marry etery goes on.
again, unfortunately, he died
too,” she said. “Both of them Demolition
MANILA — In the Manila died, I felt unlucky in life.” Meanwhile, a few days be-
North Cemetery (MNC), graves The scenery may scare oth- fore the day of Undas, the MNC
bring life to people who live on ers. No one could ever imagine management ordered to clear
the fringes of society. a life with the dead. But Nanay makeshifts and structures in
Mausoleums become home Diday said she has no fear of the cemetery premises where
for many poor families, en- ghosts as she sits and lies with most of the people live.
abling them to live like normal tombs. The structures built in the
communities, as they eat and She lives in a classically- tombs were already demolished
sleep beside the graves. designed mausoleum with her as these have also been used as
For more than six decades, a children and grandchildren, a means for illegal entry.
chapel — where two tombs lie in- who are also paid to take care of Hundreds of families were
side — became home to 74-year- these tombs. displaced after a team from the
old Aurora Mangampo, known “It’s peaceful here. We’re just Manila Department of Public
in the area as Nanay Diday. afraid of those unruly people Safety (DPS) went in the Manila
The adversity of life brought but its totally peaceful here as North Cemetery for the clear-
her and her family in the Ma- we live among the dead,” she ing operations, which started
nila North Cemetery in 1964. said. since October 10.
“I was brought here by my “I went through a lot of strug- Among the structures re-
brother-in-law who is a labor gles to live normally and peace- moved included Nanay Diday’s.
contractor nearby, I was then fully here. At least I am digni- Teary-eyed, she said her
tasked to guard the warehouse fied,” she said. Aurora Mangampo (Nanay Diday). SCREENSHOT FROM PNA UNDAS SPECIAL family “will stay wherever life
until I had my own family. We She added that she would brings us.”
stayed here. I entered every job, rather stay in the cemetery — a friends chat to ease boredom. ing. “I hope the government could
I became a vendor, manicurist, place where she finds peace and Inside the cemetery, there are They neither have electric- help us with this. Of course, we
I also do laundry until I became tranquility. makeshift stores selling snacks ity nor lamps to light up their also want a normal life,” she
a grave cleaner,” she shared. In mausoleums and make- and basic necessities like soaps, nights. said. “I’m just praying to what-
“I had three children with my shift structures built over shampoos, toothpaste, etc. Having no running water, ever God will give us. I will ac-
first husband, we faced a lot of tombs, her family makes ends Some of the stalls have karaoke they have to walk to the few cept it even if it means staying
struggles, my older son died and meet every day. machines. Candles are also be- public water pipes there, where here forever,” she said.
my second son went into drug ing sold to the visitors paying people line up with their empty Nanay Diday is one of those
addiction,” she added. Like normal communities respects at the grave of their containers. people who practically had no
Nanay Diday, despite her People who live in the Ma- loved one. They pay to use a toilet and choice but live among the dead.
condition, remains jolly and nila North Cemetery live like People don’t pay much take a bath. It’s quite a hassle For a moment in her life, she
hopeful. Her eyes are full of normal communities. Children thought about seeing ghosts, so for us to think, but for them, found peace living in the land of
mystery. play in these burial grounds, long that they could make a liv- that’s how they live while the the dead. ■
Grave cleaners share joy, struggles

as PH observes Undas
BY CHRISTINE CUDIS when I started cleaning here, ang pera. Yung iba mayaman
Philippine News Agency but it’s seldom),” he said. tingnan pero wala silang budget
Silvestre said he used to have para dito kaya binibigay ko lang
10 clients in his long-term kung magkano kaya nila (It de-
MANILA — The observance of cleaning service which he offers pends on the client because not
Undas is here and the cleaning for PHP1,200 per year. This is everyone has the budget to pay
business in cemeteries is alive apart from the other services he our services. Others may seem
again. gives during peak season, which well-off but they do not have
As the morning breaks, visi- is during Undas. the budget for what we do, so
tors of the Laloma Catholic “Pag mabuti ang kita, nakaka- I adjust my rate to how much
Cemetery in Caloocan can five thousand pero depende, sa they have),” he said.
find a lot of residents roaming kasunod na araw ganon din pero “Saka hindi naman porket na-
around, carrying buckets of yun lang yun (When the busi- glilinis kami dito eh mageextort
paint with cleaning brush on ness is good, I get PHP5,000 ng pera, kung ano lang ang mer-
the other hand. and on the following day too),” on. Masaya na yung nagagawa
Among them is 54-year-old he added. naming linisin ang puntod ng
Ricarde Silvestre who has been Although the labor is cheap, mga kamag-anak o kaibigan
in the business for around 10 Silvestre said, his rate would nila kasi yun yung pinunta nila
years. still vary depending on the fi- dito. Nasasayahan din sila pag 54-year old Ricardo Silvestre. PNA
“Okay naman dito, maliit pa nancial capabilities of his cus- maayos ang mga puntod (We
lang ako naglilinis na kami dito tomers. don’t extort money from other us happy that we make their came here for. They feel good
pero minsan lang (The job here “Depende yun sa daing ng mga people, whatever they have on friends’ or families’ ossuaries
is fine. I was just a young boy tao kasi hindi naman lahat sakto their pockets is fine. It makes clean because that’s what they ❱❱ PAGE 31 Grave cleaners
29
Sports
National coach impressed Ex-wushu champ
by SEAG Athletics Stadium returns to SEA
BY JEAN MALANUM
Philippine News Agency
ter inside the NCC Sports Hub
for the biennial meet. The In-
registration and performance
analyses. The package includes
Games after 18 years
ternational Swimming Federa- 99 SmarTracks timing gates,
tion (FINA) also certified it as which E-Sports Internation- BY PIGEON LOBIEN chances to win the gold in that
MANILA — With less than a Class 1 facility. al installed on the stadium’s Philippine News Agency event.
month to go before the 30th The materials used in the warm-up track to pick up the “Dakkel chance tayo ag Gold
Southeast Asian Games un- Athletics Stadium main track precise measurements of run- (in) this SEAGames (We have a
folds, all eyes are on the newly- were manufactured and in- ners who would wear sensor BAGUIO CITY — Jearome big chance of winning the gold
built New Clark City (NCC) stalled by Polytan, which also belts. Calica earned a gold medal in [in] this SEA Games),” he told
Athletics Stadium in Capas, provided the synthetic surfaces “All athletes, especially ours, the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) the Philippine News Agency
Tarlac. for the 2016 Olympic Games in deserve to compete on a level Games wushu sanda competi- (PNA) through a Facebook
The 20,000-seater Athletics Brazil and other international playing field — and it all starts tion, along with Team Lakay message.
Stadium, which was certified as sports competitions. Polytan with quality surfaces. We thank founder Mark Sangiao, but for Calica is currently in Thai-
a Class 1 facility by the Interna- is a part of Sportgroup, brands MTD Philippines for enlisting nearly 18 years, he was prac- land wrapping up his training
tional Association of Athletics dedicated to sport surfaces us as part of this endeavor,” said tically under the radar until prior to heading home for the
Federations (IAAF), has a nine- with the most installed running Audris Romualdez, E-Sports his name popped up as among 2019 SEA Games competition.
lane main track plus indoor tracks globally, 350 of which are International Managing Direc- those competing in this year’s Now 37, Calica, a Muay Thai
and outdoor warm-up tracks in Asia Pacific. tor. biennial meet. coach and stunt performer on
equipped with the IAAF-ap- To get their state-of-the-art House Speaker Alan Pe- Calica will not be with the the side, returned only last July.
proved Rekortan M sandwich materials, MTD Philippines ter Cayetano, also Philippine Philippine Wushu team this “Gradually nagpa-condition
synthetic surface system. commissioned Filipino-owned Southeast Asian Games Orga- time, but in Muay Thai, a sport ako as athlete since July this
Looking at the world-class E-Sports International, a nizing Committee (Phisgoc) that his former teammates like year (Gradually I started condi-
stadium made national ath- Sportgroup distributor, as a chairperson, along with Phil- Sangiao and Eduard Folayang tioning as an athlete since July
letics team head coach Sean subcontractor for the instal- ippine Olympic Committee were into before shifting to this year),” he said.
Guevarra want to be an athlete lation of both the competition (POC) president Bambol To- wushu. “I have been active the past
again. and warm-up tracks to ensure lentino and MTD Philippines He, however, will not com- years although there were
“When I first saw the new fa- that both the base preparation President Patrick Nicholas Da- pete in the combat side but in times when I was off. But then
cility, I wanted to be an athlete and surface system installation vid formally received the IAAF the performance category of the past years, I worked as a
again,” said Guevarra, a nation- met the IAAF Class 1 standards. certification on October 16. Muay Thai — Wai Kru and Tak- Muay Thai coach and stunt per-
al record-holder in high jump. “I really hope that Filipino “We demand excellent out- sa, alongside teammate Joemar former (for movies/television)
“During our time, we didn’t athletes can excel on these put from our athletes when Gallanza, an Ilonggo.
have this kind of equipment. surfaces. That would really be they compete for world cham- Calica is confident of their ❱❱ PAGE 38 Ex-wushu champ
I wanted to train again,” add- the icing on the cake for us: to pionships. But if we don’t give
ed Guevarra, whose team has see them starting to set world them a facility that they can
been training at the NCC since records or at least national re- use, how do we expect them to
September for the SEA Games cords on the track,” said Sport- actually compete at the elite
which the country will host for group Asia General Manager level?,” said David.
the fourth time from Nov. 30 to Shaun Goudie. MTD Philippines is the part-
Dec. 11. To further enhance the ner of the BCDA developing
Aside from Athletic Stadium, world-class track, MTD Philip- the National Government Ad-
the Bases Conversion and De- pines donated the SmarTracks ministrative Center (NGAC) in
velopment Authority (BCDA) digital diagnostics technology, New Clark City. ■
also constructed Aquatic Cen- which provides accurate time
Gilas Men pips Alab in closed-door battle

BY IVAN STEWART before keeping its opponent at son also played for Gilas Men.
SALDAJENO bay down the stretch. Kiefer Ravena, who will re-
Philippine News Agency Junemar Fajardo made 21 place the injured Jayson Cas-
points, while RR Pogoy added tro, was also in attendance.
15 for Gilas Men, who will face The game was part of Gilas
MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas Men Alab again next Monday. Men’s training for the South-
prevailed over Alab Pilipinas, Chris Standhardinger, Ja- east Asian Games.
98-95, in a closed-door tuneup peth Aguilar, Chris Ross, Matt Louie Vigil made 18 markers,
game at the Meralco Gym in Pa- Wright, LA Tenorio, Stanley while Brandon Rosser chipped
sig City on Monday night. Pringle, Marcio Lassiter, Vic in 17 for Alab, which is using the
Gilas Men held Alab to only Manuel, Greg Slaughter, Arth match to prepare for the ASE- ThrowBack! Training with the ActionStar ROBIN PADILLA!
16 points in the second quarter dela Cruz, and Scottie Thomp- AN Basketball League. ■ JEAROME CALICA II / FACEBOOK
30
Business
Ramped up spending to lift PH ‘19 7 Asean leaders skip
GDP to within target level summit with US
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA the year “because our spend- (DPWH) and the Department PHILLIPPINE NEWS were represented by foreign
Philippine News Agency ing did ramp up in the third of Transportation (DOTr) AGENCY ministers.
quarter.” would be able to lift govern- US National Security Ad-
“We haven’t quite caught up ment spending and domes- viser Robert O’Brien kicked off
NONTHABURI, THAILAND yet and we’re still 5 percent tic growth in the remaining BANGKOK — Seven out of proceedings by reading a letter
— Finance Secretary Carlos short but we’re getting there,” months of the year. the 10 leaders of the Associa- from Trump inviting the Asean
Dominguez III is optimistic he said. Bureau of the Treasury data tion of Southeast Asian Nations leaders to a “special summit” in
that growth of the Philippine The Finance chief believes show that as of last September, (Asean) were noticeably absent the US.
economy in the third quarter of that full-year growth will be at government expenditures rose at the Asean-US Summit in He was followed by US Sec-
2019 will be better than the 5.5 the lower end of the govern- by 5.5 percent year-on-year to Bangkok, at which a Washing- retary of Commerce Wilbur
percent average in first half as ment’s 6-7 percent target band PHP2.626 trillion against the ton representative read out an Ross who announced that a to-
government expenditures have for this year. PHP2.489 trillion during the invitation from President Don- tal of 19 ambassadors and eight
recovered. GDP growth in the first quar- same period last year. ald Trump to visit the United department secretaries were
In a briefing at the side- ter this year slipped from the Last September alone, gov- States for a separate “special present at the conference.
lines of the 35th Association 6.3 percent in the last quarter ernment spending jumped by summit.” Bangkok is hosting the 35th
of Southeast Asian Nations of 2018. 39.01 percent, faster than the The move comes after top US Asean Summit from October 31
(Asean) Summit and Related Authorities traced the growth 8.78 percent year-on-year in- leadership skipped the Asean to November 4. The East Asia
Summits here, Dominguez slowdown to the impact of the crease last August. Leaders Summit and the East Summit is held on the last day,
said expansion of the domestic delayed approval of this year’s Programmed spending in Asian Summit held from No- with the 10 Asean members
economy, as measured by gross national budget, which was the first nine months this year vember 2-4 in the Thai capital, joined by eight more counties —
domestic product (GDP), “most only signed into law last April amounted to PHP2.684 trillion, with Trump, Vice President Russia, Australia, India, China,
likely” exceeded the 5.6 percent 15. making the actual expenditures Mike Pence, and Secretary of South Korea, New Zealand, the
and 5.5 percent in the first and Economic managers, how- 2.14 percent short. State Mike Pompeo all absent. United States and Japan.
second quarters of the year, re- ever, believe that that catch- Meanwhile, the Philippine Three Asean leaders at- The Asean Summit has trans-
spectively. up infrastructure spending Statistics Authority is sched- tended the summit, which took formed into one of the most im-
He said better outcome is tasked to the Department of uled to report the third-quarter place in the morning before the portant regional economic and
expected for the second half of Public Works and Highways GDP figures on November 7. ■ East Asian Summit: the prime political events as the 10 South-
ministers of Thailand, chairing east Asian nations have experi-
the Asean this year, Vietnam enced prolonged relative peace
Russia favors creation of Greater and Laos.

The remaining countries of
the bloc — Brunei, Cambodia,
and steady rise in economic
prosperity in the 21st Century
as well as control of critical
Eurasian Partnership: Medvedev Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,

the Philippines and Singapore
chokepoints in global maritime
trade. ■
PHILLIPPINE NEWS by Asean leaders at the Russia- to create the most favorable
AGENCY Asean summit in Sochi in May business environment in the
2016. EAEU with clear and under-
According to him, in the long standable business rules.
BANGKOK — Russia advo- term, it will make it possible to “Our interest in trade with
cates the establishment of the link large integration and infra- the Union is growing, one of the
Greater Eurasian Partnership structure projects. Asean members — Vietnam was
involving the Eurasian Eco- Russia believes that the part- the first country the EAEU had
nomic Union (EAEU), Associa- nership should be built on the Free Trade Agreement with in
tion of Southeast Asian Nations principles of mutual respect 2015,” Medvedev said.
(Asean) and the Shanghai Co- and common benefit that it He recalled that a similar
operation Organization (SCO), will be open for accession by document was signed with Sin-
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry all interested states, Medvedev gapore and work is currently
Medvedev said at the Business added. underway with other partners
and Investment Summit of the “We took a step towards it — from the Association.
Association of Asean. Eurasian Economic Commis- ECE has already signed coop-
“We advocate the formation sion (ECE) and Asean signed a eration documents with Cam-
of the Greater Eurasian Part- memorandum of understand- bodia, Thailand and Indonesia.
nership with the participation ing on economic cooperation,” According to Medvedev, the
of member states of the Eur- the Prime Minister noted. implementation of these agree-
asian Economic Union, Asean, “Its practical implementa- ments will be an additional
SCO and other possible struction began, and a cooperation incentive and will open new
tures,” he said. program was approved in Octo- opportunities for joint work of The headquarter of Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) in Jalan
He noted that such an idea ber,” he added. the business of the countries of Sisingamangaraja No.70A, South Jakarta, Indonesia.
was unanimously supported Medvedev said Russia seeks EAEU and ASEAN. ■ GUNAWAN KARTAPRANATA – OWN WORK/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Business 31
Inflation eases to 0.8% in October, slowest in over

3 years
BY LESLIE GATPOLINTAN on petroleums and fuels for month this year countered the
AND JOANN VILLANUEVA personal transport equipment, faster inflation rate of electric-
Philippine News Agency and the index of housing, water, ity, liquefied petroleum gas
electricity, gas, and other fuels (LPG), water, and selected food
also led to lower inflation. items.
MANILA — The country’s infla- Inflation in September 2019 Core inflation, which ex-
tion eased at more than a three- was higher at 0.9 percent and in cludes volatile items such as
year low in October mainly due October 2018 at 6.7 percent. oil and food, also registered a
to lower food prices, including Last month’s figure brought slower rise of 2.6 percent from
declining prices of rice. the year-to-date inflation for the previous month’s 2.7 per-
In a press conference Tues- 2019 to 2.6 percent. cent, resulting in an average of
day, national statistician and The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi- 3.3 percent. Last year, October
Philippine Statistics Authority nas (BSP) has forecast this to be core inflation was at 4.9 per-
(PSA) chief Claire Dennis Mapa the year’s slowest as the base ef- cent.
said inflation continued to de- fects of last year’s elevated rate “The latest inflation outturn
cline to 0.8 percent last month, disappear. is consistent with the BSP’s
the lowest recorded since May Last month’s inflation rate prevailing assessment that in-
2016 when it recorded at 0.9 is a deceleration from the pre- flation has likely bottomed out
percent. vious month’s 0.9 percent and in October and could start to
Mapa attributed the down- from last year’s peak of 6.7 per- pick up slightly in the remain-
trend in October inflation cent in September and October. ing months of 2019 as base ef- tensions in the Middle East.” keep a close watch over latest
mainly to the annual drop in the It brought the average to date fects start to dissipate,” the BSP It also said “deepening trade economic developments here
index of the heavily-weighted to 2.6 percent, at the lower half said. tensions between China and and abroad to ensure that the
food and non-alcoholic bever- of the government’s 2 percent It projected average infla- the US, along with other coun- monetary policy stance re-
ages, including rice, corn, veg- to 4 percent target band this tion this year to stay within the tries in the region, have raised mains consistent with the BSP’s
etables, and sugar, jam, honey, year until 2021. target band, noting that “global global economic uncertainty, price stability objective while
chocolate, and confectionery. The central bank, in a state- crude oil prices have started to which pose a downside risk to being supportive of economic
He said the annual decline ment, noted that the lower stabilize following the recent the inflation outlook.” growth,” it added. ■
in transport index, particularly price of rice and oil in the 10th volatility caused by geopolitical “The BSP will continue to
Grave cleaners...
Thai PM cites “significant
❰❰ 28 seeing their tombs
look maintained),” he
added.
clean because that’s what they
came here for. They feel good
seeing their tombs look main-
progress” on RCEP talks
When most of his custom- tained),” he added.
ers decided to transfer to oth- “Marami talagang paraan BY JOANN VILLANUEVA said. agreement posted “substantial
er public cemeteries because para kumita basta iniisip mo Philippine News Agency RCEP will be between the progress” because it is “almost
they can no longer afford the lang ng mabuti kung paano ka concluded,” with 18 of the 20
Asean countries and six part-
yearly charges there, he said makakatulong sa iba, matutu- chapters of the text-based rules
ner-states namely China, Ja-
his earnings started to drop and lungan mo rin ang sarili mo kasi NONTHABURI, THAILAND already approved after the
pan, South Korea, India, Aus-
he needed to look for another kontento ka at alam mo na may – Thai Prime Minister Prayut tralia and New Zealand. trade ministers’ meeting last
source of income. pakinabang ka sa lugar nyo Chan-o-cha on Monday cited November 1.
Authorities said this econom-
“Sa sampu, umalis ang iba, (There are a lot of ways to earn “significant progress” on ne- Asean leaders expect to sign
ic bloc, once fully operational,
apat na lang ang alaga ko na money. Just think of how you gotiations for the agreement
natira kaya kailangan doble can help others because that the proposed by February
kayod (Of my 10 customers, way, you can also help your- Regional Com- 2020.
only four was left so I needed to self knowing that you are con- prehensive Eco- Before the
work double),” he added. tent with the thought that you nomic Partner- Amid the current global trade RCEP Summit
At night, he also works as an are a functioning citizen and ship (RCEP) environment, I believe that Monday, only
anti-crime Officer in Payatas, your community benefits from that will cover 16 successful conclusion of RCEP will one country still
Quezon City. you),” he said. economies in the greatly contribute to stable and has questions on
“Saka hindi naman porket na- “Madali lang naman ang bu- Asia Pacific. sustainable regional economic the rules and re-
glilinis kami dito eh mageextort hay, maging kontento lang (Life In his opening development. ports have iden-
ng pera, kung ano lang ang mer- is easy, we just need to be con- remarks during tified this to be
on. Masaya na yung nagagawa tented),” he added. ■ the 3rd RCEP India, whose of-
naming linisin ang puntod ng Summit here, ficials want clear
mga kamag-anak o kaibigan the Prime Minister said he is will account for one-third of the rules for fear of influx of cheap
nila kasi yun yung pinunta nila “pleased” with the recent de- world’s output, with a market of China products into their econ-
dito. Nasasayahan din sila pag velopments on RCEP talks. about 3.5 billion people. omy to the detriment of their
maayos ang mga puntod (We “Amid the current global Trade and Industry Secretary people.
don’t extort money from other trade environment, I believe Ramon Lopez represented the Asean member-countries are
people, just what they have on that successful conclusion of country to the 3rd RCEP Sum- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
their pockets is okay. It makes RCEP will greatly contribute to mit. Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
us happy that we make their stable and sustainable regional Last Saturday, Lopez said Philippines, Singapore, Thai-
friends’ or families’ ossuaries economic development,” he discussions on the mega trade land, and Vietnam. ■
32
Technology
TESDA introduces own mobile app
BY MA. CRISTINA contains things that one could The app, he said, would be
ARAYATA also find in the TESDA website. TESDA’s means to bridge in-
Philippine News Agency The difference, it said, is that formation and services to more
TESDA is taking advantage of people.
the youth’s huge presence on- The TESDA app contains a
MANILA — The Technical Edu- line. list of training programs that
cation and Skills Development “As more and more people the agency offers; addresses of
Authority (TESDA) on Monday rely on their mobile phones for registered training centers; re-
announced that the public may communication and informa- gional and provincial offices di-
now download the TESDA app tion, the more this TESDA app rectory; frequently asked ques-
via Google Play and Apple. becomes very timely and rel- tions; and news about TESDA
TESDA said the application evant. We also want to connect programs.
was in partnership with mobile closer to our younger clients, The app also contains e-learn-
TESDA officially launched the "TESDA App" today, November 4, during the app developer, Bizooku Philip- the youth, who are usually on- ing video clips and different
Flag Raising Ceremony held at the TESDA Central Office, Taguig City. pines Inc. line,” said TESDA Secretary links, as well as the steps to ap-
TESDA/FACEBOOK According to TESDA, the app Isidro Lapena in a statement. ply for TESDA scholarships. ■
Phivolcs launches web app that can analyze

tsunami risk areas
BY MA. CRISTINA (local government units),” Soli- for typhoons and other hazards,
ARAYATA dum said. Phivolcs has a monitoring body
Philippine News Agency Hazards, exposure, location tasked to relay information to
data are generated on the web- government agencies, the me-
site. Visualize assessments are dia, and other stakeholders.
MANILA — The Philippine In- in the form of charts, graphs, GeoAnalyticsPH is part of the
stitute of Volcanology and Seis- and maps to better help the GeoRiskPhilippines Initiative
mology (Phivolcs) on Tuesday public understand and prepare project of the Department of Sci-
officially launched a website for natural hazards. ence and Technology (DOST).
application that can generate The website could apparently Solidum earlier said the
maps and analytics of areas ex- calculate an area’s population DOST has allotted PHP24 mil-
posed to tsunami risk. that is exposed to tsunami risk, lion for this project from Au-
Phivolcs director Renato So- including their age group. gust 2018 to July 2019 with the
lidum said the website GeoAna- In a press conference, So- big chunk of the budget used to
lyticsPH was launched as the lidum said the website would buy computers and software.
country joined the observance of provide fast and accurate hazard The other applications under
World Tsunami Awareness Day. and risk assessment to help the this project are the GeoMapper-
He said the data that can LGUs and government agencies Exposure Data Mapper, Geo-
be accessed by anyone at in disaster management. Mapper-Situation Data Map-
https:geonalytics.georisk.gov. “If there’s a possible tsunami per, and the HazardHunter PH.
ph are provided by Phivolcs, after an earthquake, we focus He said the HazardHunter,
Philippine Statistics Authority, on the analytics. Preparations which was launched only last
Department of Education and for a tsunami are bigger than July, will help companies if the
Department of Health. preparations for a storm surge,” business location they are eye-
“We hope to improve the data he said. ing is at risk by simply using the
through GeoMapper, the LGUs He said like the preparations GeoAnalytics PH app. ■ DUTY FREE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Technology 33
Diwata-2 marks anniversary

with demo of localized
technologies and applications
BY PHL-MICROSAT site have reached over 800, which Guided tours of the Universi-
span researchers, academic insti- ty Laboratory for Small Satellite
tutions, government, non-profit and Space Engineering Systems
QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES organizations, industry groups (ULyS3ES) facility were also
— “Translating knowledge into and the general public. Diwata-2 opened to the public in the after-
local technologies and applica- also carries an amateur radio unit noon to interactively showcase
tions” was the chosen theme for (ARU), which can be used by ama- the technologies on-board the
the simple celebration marking teur radio hobbyists and first re- microsatellite, as well as the lo-
the first anniversary of Diwata-2 sponders as an alternative means calization efforts being made by
in space, which was held at the of communication during disas- the STAMINA4Space Program’s
University of the Philippines ters. The ARU payload has seen different project teams. Over 40
MOLD TECHNOLOGY. Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Diliman Electrical and Elec- increasing uptake from various people were accommodated, in-
Fortunato dela Peña (5th from left), Korean Ambassador to the Philippines tronics Engineering Institute users, with ham radio enthusiasts cluding grade school to college
Dong Man Han (3rd from right), and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (UP-EEEI) on October 29, 2019. actively posting and sharing their students, faculty members from
(PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza (2nd from left), lead guests and officials Diwata-2 is a 50-kilogram experiences with Diwata-2 in so- some Metro Manila schools, and
in the ceremonial groundbreaking of the USD6.3-million Mold Technology Earth observation microsatellite cial media and online platforms. general STEM enthusiasts.
Support Center (MTSC) project site facility in in Barangay Bacao, General Trias built by a team from the Univer- The STAMINA4Space team con- STAMINA4Space Optical
City last Oct. 30, 2019. sity of the Philippines Diliman tinues to conduct outreach activi- Payload Technology, In-Depth
BEN BRIONES/PNA (UPD) and the Advanced Science ties to further promote the use of Knowledge Acquisition and
and Technology Institute of the the Diwata-2 ARU. Localization (OPTIKAL) Proj-
DOST, Korea lead Department of Science and Tech-

nology (DOST-ASTI), in coopera-
tion with Tohoku University and
In her opening message, DOST
Undersecretary for Research and
Development Dr. Rowena Gue-
ect Leader Dr. Maricor Soriano
weighed in on what she believes
is the most important output of
groundbreaking of mold Hokkaido University in Japan. It

was successfully deployed into
600 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit
vara said, “The event’s theme,
‘Translating knowledge to local
technologies and applications’
the continuous development of
satellites like Diwata-2.
“More than having our own
tech support center on October 29, 2018. Develop-

ment of the microsatellite began
under the research program,
captures what the team has been
doing since then,” and later add-
ed, “We hope to continue this mo-
satellite, I would like to empha-
size that what’s more important…
ay hindi iyung satellite — it’s the
“Development of the Philippines mentum by fostering more local people. Kasi po pag marunong
BY MA. CRISTINA tunity to the mold industry to Scientific Earth Observation Mi- and international linkages and gumawa ng kahit ano itong ating
ARAYATA enhance capabilities. crosatellite (PHL-Microsat)” and choosing more skilled and pas- team, kahit ano pa iyung ipagawa
Philippine News Agency Mold technology, he said, is was completed under the “Space sionate researchers in this field mo sa kanila, kaya nila. It’s really
needed to develop more funda- Technology & Applications Mas- in paving the way for future satel- the investing in the people na ang
mental technologies. tery, Innovation and Advance- lites, not only future Diwatas but pinakaimportante na output ni-
MANILA — The Philippines, The Korean government has ment (STAMINA4Space)” pro- possibly even more sophisticated tong program na ito,” she said.
through the Department of Sci- allotted USD8 million as finan- gram, which continues to operate satellites that bear the names of STAMINA4Space Program
ence and Technology (DOST), cial support for the MTSC, the the microsatellite along with its more Philippine icons that can Leader and DOST-ASTI Act-
and the Korean government, ambassador added. predecessor, Diwata-1. Both pro- proudly symbolize how far the ing Director Dr. Joel Marciano,
on Wednesday led the ground- Dela Pena thanked Han for grams are funded by the DOST Filipino stamp of ingenuity and Jr. also highlighted the impor-
breaking ceremony of the Mold the support and also because Grants-in-Aid (DOST-GIA) and innovation can take us.” tance of space technology re-
Technology Support Center the ambassador has been “very monitored by DOST’s Philippine The researchers’ presentations search in developing people,
(MTSC) in Cavite, which aims instrumental” in the bilateral Council for Industry, Energy and aimed to show just that, which data and industry, representing
to provide human resource de- agreement of Philippines and Emerging Technology Research STAMINA4Space PHL-50 Project three innovation thrusts of the
velopment and technology up- Korea in the area of science and and Development (PCIEERD). Leader Dr. Marc Talampas after- STAMINA4Space program.
grading for molding companies. technology (S&T). It is the Philippines’ third satel- wards summarized in numbers: “If we don’t start and sustain
DOST Secretary Fortunato Speaking to reporters, Han lite sent to space, following the 13, the number of satellites that are this, we will forever be consum-
dela Pena said all molding com- has acknowledged that S&T is 50 kg. Microsatellite Diwata-1 either in orbit, in the lab as engi- ers of technology and data pro-
panies nationwide are welcome very important. (deployed to space April 27, 2016) neering models, or under develop- vided by other countries,” he
to use the facility. “Part of our S&T mandate is and the 1 kg nanosatellite Maya-1 ment nurtured by Filipino hands; said, and offered perspectives on
MTSC will be manned by to increase the competitiveness (deployed on June 29, 2018). 46.06%, the percentage of Philip- how space technology can feed
Filipino engineers or trainers, of our industries. The (MTSC), As a “science satellite” built in pine land area Diwata-2 has cap- into the local innovation ecosys-
who are currently being trained also intends to promote hu- an academic environment, Diwa- tured; 672, the number of screws tem. “We aim to derive economic
in Korea, he said. man capital development,” dela ta-2 is primarily intended to con- that had to be checked after every benefits from space — getting
The center will rise in a PEZA Pena added. duct scientific measurements and vibration test during Diwata-2’s data, building electronics and
(Philippine Economic Zone Meanwhile, DOST-Metals experiments for environmen- development (an example of me- instruments that can feed into
Authority)-owned land near Industry Research and Devel- tal assessment and monitoring, ticulous engineering rigor need- industry through differentiated
the Cavite Economic Zone. opment director Robert Dizon which can be carried out by its on- ed); 3, the “trinity of vision” — light products and services, training
“We want our workers to be said companies in the molding board cameras. In its first year in source, object, and detector (basic people like the young people that
skilled, world-class,” PEZA di- industry are those which man- space, Diwata-2 has acquired im- principles that Diwata-2’s optical you see here — so that we are not
rector Charito Plaza said. ufacture almost everything that ages covering 46.06% of the Phil- payloads operate under); and 101 continuously left behind. The
South Korean Ambassador one could see in a household ippines, which are being distrib- — for Philippines-Oscar 101 (PO- future lies in getting data and in-
to the Philippines, Han Dong- — bottles, gadget casings, food uted in the website http://www. 101), which was designated by AM- formation from wherever we can
man, told reporters that the containers, toilet seats, among phl-microsat.upd.edu.ph. Cur- SAT to Diwata-2’s ARU on April 11 get it (and) that includes the stra-
center would provide an oppor- others. ■ rent registered users on the web- this year. tegic vantage point of space.” ■
NOVEMBER 8, 2019 34
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35
Travel
Select Filipino travelers to get
addt’l discounts at Duty Free PH
BY JOYCE ANN L. awareness and to encourage Asia Pacific markets by inter-
ROCAMORA FITs to shop their pasalubong national outbound trips from
Philippine News Agency at DFP instead of buying them 2016 to 2021, with outbound
abroad by highlighting our travels that are expected to
price advantage and striking a reach 4.3 million trips by the
MANILA — Filipinos traveling chord with customers’ sense year 2021.
abroad who booked their trip of nationalism—that for every To keep with the trends in the
from Duty Free Philippines’ item bought at Duty Free, they travel retail industry, DFP has
(DFP) official partners will get help in the development of the recently renovated the Fiesta-
exclusive “value for money” Philippines tourism industry— mall which is expected to end
shopping deals on top of the alas we are an attached agency on November 30.
ready tax-free products offered of the Department of Tourism The renovation includes im-
at DFP. (DOT),” DFP Chief Operating provements in the food court,
The marketing campaign an- Officer Vicente Pelagio Angala building facade, area “Go Lo-
nounced on Thursday will give said. kal!” and Philippines’ Finest DUTY FREE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK
a five percent discount to out- “This campaign is expected boutique, and Customer Rela-
bound tour groups, who will to build traffic in our flagship tions Registration lobby, and also being renovated to become DFP.
shop at DFP’S flagship store store to generate new sales tourist lounge. a chocolate haven for families “We take pride that these gi-
— the Fiestamall in Parañaque leads and getting more revenue “This is just the phase 1 of especially for the little ones,” he ant brands choose to enter the
City, within 48 hours upon ar- from our existing clientele,” he this project. The second phase added. Philippine market through our
rival. Discount vouchers will be added. will start by the first quarter DFP is also expanding the list stores because of the trust and
provided by DFP’s partner trav- Based on Mastercard’s Fu- of next year which will include of exclusive brands that it car- confidence built by the Duty
el agencies to Filipino Interna- ture of Outbound Travel in Asia improvements in the atrium, ries which now includes – Gu- Free Philippines brand over the
tional Travelers (FITs) prior to Pacific 2016 to 2021 report, the building exits, and installation cci Beauty, which introduced years,” Angala said. The said
their arrival in the Philippines. Philippines ranked 8th in the of LED screens,” Angala said. its collection in the Philippines boutique is located at the new
“We target to increase brand top 10 list of fastest-growing “The confectionery section is through a partnership with Duty Free Luxe in Pasay City. ■
2 PH airports cited on
‘SleepingInAirport’s Best’ list
BY MA. CRISTINA “We expect that more Philip- Tokyo Narita Airport, Osaka
ARAYATA pine airports will be included Kansai Airport, Taipei Taoyuan
Philippine News Agency (on the list) next year. The sur- Airport, Hong Kong Airport,
vey for the 2019 list was done Kuala Lumpur Airport, New
until September. We have air- Delhi Airport, Jakarta Airport,
MANILA — Iloilo International ports that were built just re- Tokyo Haneda Airport, Mum-
Airport ranked 18th while Mac- cently,” CAAP spokesperson bai Airport, Bangkok Suvar-
tan Cebu International Airport Eric Apolonio told the Philip- nabhumi Airport, Bangalore
placed 16th on the 2019 Sleep- pine News Agency (PNA). Airport, Ho Chi Minh City Tan
ing In Airport’s Best Airports He said he sees the newly- Son Nhat Airport, Hyderabad
in Asia list, the Civil Aviation built Bohol Panglao Interna- Airport, Da Nang Airport, Is-
Authority of the Philippines tional Airport, and the airports lamabad Airport, and Kunming
(CAAP) announced on Wednes- in General Santos and Laguind- Airport.
day. ingan that are both undergoing “Top airports have a lot in
The list is based on the air- rehabilitation, would join the common: plenty of seating, rest
port sleepers’ guide and re- 2020 best list. areas, a good amount of food
source website, sleepingi- “We are very optimistic that options, helpful staff and ef-
nairports.net, which does the these airports would make it ficient check-in, and security
survey yearly. into the list,” Apolonio said. procedures. Some airports go
In the survey, travelers were Singapore’s Changi Airport above-and-beyond with perks
asked to rank their experiences topped the 2019 list, in both the like in-terminal movie theatres
on the following: comfort; ser- website’s top 10 best airports as and gardens,” the sleepingi-
vices; food options; immigra- well as its top 20 best airports nairports.net website read. ■
tion or security; customer ser- in Asia.
vice; ease of transit; cleanliness; Other airports on the list in-
and “sleepability.” clude Seoul Incheon Airport, Pre-departure area of Iloilo International Airport. GEORGE PARRILLA, CC BY 2.0
36 NOVEMBER 8, 2019 FRIDAY

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