Manila Standard Today - April 17, 2012 Issue

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Symbol of unity. US Marine Brig. Gen.Frederick Padilla (left) and Rear AdmiralEmmanuel Martir of the Philippines un-furl the Balikatan flag during the open-ing of the Balikatan exercises in CampAguinaldo in Quezon City.

Beach landing. US and Philippine marines take their position onthe beach after a landing exercise in Zambales last year. A similarexercise will be made this year.

Read our message. Demonstrators put up protest signs outside the Chinese consulate in Makati Cityagainst poaching by Chinese fishermen in Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

Stitching the split. President Aquino and VicePresident Binay needed a quick stitch after thepresident denied their inevitable parting of ways.The same photo was ripped in the middle on Mon-day to denote their split.

Beauty queens. Janine Tugonon (center), a cum laude graduate of the University of Santo Tomas whotopped the Pharmacy Board examinations in 2010, was crowned Miss Philippines-Universe 2012 at theAraneta Coliseum on Sunday night. She is flanked by Miss Philippines-International Nicole Schmitt (left)and Miss Philippines-Tourism Katrina Dimaranan. TEDDY PELAEZ

By Vito Barcelo

MORE than 350 ground crewsof the low-cost airline Zest Airon Monday threatened to leavetheir posts because they had notreceived their differential andovertime pay for the past threemonths.

But the Labor Department ap-pealed to them to defer their planand to discuss their problem withthe people supposed to pay them.

The airline on Monday saidit was not directly liable for theworkers problem because itsground services were being out-sourced.

Zest Air chairman AlfredoYao said he had instructed hispersonnel department to talk tothe agency handling the morethan workers and pay them.

I would like to clarify that.Its the manpower agency thathas failed to pay the workers,Yao said.

US and Philippine militaryofficials said Monday nearly7,000 American and Filipinotroops had begun two weeksof major military exercises but

stressed that China was not animaginary target.Army Maj. Emmanuel

Garcia said the annual drills,called Balikatan or shoulder-to-shoulder, would include

combat maneuvers involvingthe mock retaking by US-backed Filipino troops of anoil rig supposedly seized byterrorists near the South China

Sea.US Marine Lt. Col. CurtisHill said most other eventswould focus on humanitarianmissions and disaster-responsedrills.

By Maricel Cruz

MALACAANG on Mondaydenied Chief Justice RenatoCoronas claim over the week-

end that a Palace emissary hadasked him to surrender andleave the high court.

Presidential spokeswomanAbigail Valte said Corona, whois undergoing an impeachmenttrial at the Senate for allegedcorruption, should be concen-trating on defending himself.

Perhaps it would be bet-ter for the chief justice to takeadvantage of the break in theimpeachment trial to concen-trate on his defense rather thancontinuing to cast unwarrantedaspersions on the Office of thePresident, Valte said.

In a statement he released

THE members of a group supplying cooking gas on Monday cuttheir prices by P1 per kilogram or P11 per 11-kilogram tank toreflect declining world market prices.

Arnel Ty, president of the LPG Marketers Association, said thecontract price of liquefied petroleum gas had gone down to $120 ametric ton, which represented a reduction of P11 from the price of11-kilogram tanks that previously sold at P769 to P845 per tank.

The new rates reflect the decline in world contract prices,Ty said.

His groups members include Omni Gas, Pinnacle Gas, Island

PRESIDENT Beningo Aquino IIIon Monday said the Philippineswould not start a war with Chinaover a disputed shoal where theirships have figured in a tense navalstandoff for a week.

He said Manila would assertits sovereignty over the Scarbor-

ough Shoal off the northwesternPhilippines but had pulled out awarship and replaced it with acoast guard vessel to de-esca-late the situation.

Mr. Aquino said the Philip-pines would continue talks withChina to resolve the impasse,

which began on Tuesday lastweek when two Chinese shipsprevented the crew of the BRPGregorio del Pilar, the countryslargest warship, from arrestingseveral Chinese fishermen.

Mr. Aquino, quoting the late

The statement Sunday by Abi-gail Valte effectively ruled out an

alliance between Binays UnitedNationalist Alliance and Mr.

By Christine F. Herrera

TWO lawmakers from Mindan-ao on Monday said Energy Sec-retary Jose Rene Almendras hadno right to dare his critics to signa petition asking him to resignif he understood the meaning ofdelicadezaor honor.

Secretary Almendras shouldno longer wait to be told [toresign] when he knows howineffective he has become inhandling the power crisis, saidAgham Rep. Angelo Palmones,who comes from Cotabato.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. RufusRodriguez criticized Almendrasfor supposedly doing nothingabout the power crisis now grip-ping Mindanao and cripplingcommerce on the island since

By Joyce Pangco Paaresand Christine F. Herrera

PRESIDENT Benigno AquinoIII said Monday he was open toa proposal to use nuclear tech-nology in Mindanao to solve thepower shortage in the region.

But he said it was important

to ensure that whatever nuclearplant was built in Mindanaowould conform to internationalsafety standards, citing the en-vironmental disaster in Fuku-shima, Japan.

Former Pangasinan Rep.Mark Cojuangco proposed the

www.manilastandardtoday.com [email protected]

TODAY

StandardManila

Vol. XXVI No. 51 12 Pages, 2 SectionsP18.00 TUESDAY, April 17, 2012

Aquino: NoyBi splitnot inevitable

LPG price rollback

President open to nucleartechnology in Mindanao

Quit now,dont wait,solons urgeAlmendras

PH wont start war with ChinaPNoy

7,000 troops start drillsnear disputed sea area

Corona dared:Name emissaryof Malacaang

Airline hit by labor turbulence over wage issue

Dismisses statement of Palace mouthpiece

Next page

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By Joyce Pangco Paares and Maricel Cruz

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III onMonday denied a statement from hisdeputy spokeswoman that he and VicePresident Jejomar Binay would inevitably

part ways in the 2016 elections because oftheir political differences.

Aquinos Liberal Party, a possibility that the Presi-dent left open Monday.

I dont know if it that is inevitable, Mr. Aqui-no said.

Vice President Binay is part of the adminis-tration. He has been helping us in improving ourcountrys situation.

If the [administration] helps you [Binay] inyour political career, will you oppose it? I believeit is in his interest as a member of our Cabinet tohelp ensure our administration succeeds, espe-cially in the area concerning our overseas Filipinoworkers and housing.

Binay on Monday said his working relationship

with the President remained healthy.In politics there is no impossible, Binay said

in response to a question about a possible alliancebetween his group and the Presidents party. But

Explaining the blackouts. President Aquino points to the chart to explain to reporters the load capacity of the Mindanao Grid in connection with the recurring blackouts on the island.


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News ManilaStandardToday [email protected] 17, 2012TUESDAYA2

Corona ...through his lawyers Sunday,Corona said a Palace emissaryhad approached him and askedhim to resign or retire early. Hedid not name the emissary.

I was told that I had alreadyserved as chief justice for one-and-a-half years, and that myservice as the 23rd top magistratewould always be part of this na-tions history, Corona said.

He said he was also toldthat all the baseless allegationsagainst him could easily be for-gotten if he surrendered.

He was urged to save theentire judiciary from the dangerit might undergo and to spareother justices, judges, court of-ficials and employees from un-certainties.

Corona said he refused to re-sign because surrendering wouldmean the destruction of the ide-als set forth by the Constitution,which calls for a constitutionaldemocracy, where the separationof powers, judicial independenceand the rule of law reign.

Valte made her statement evenas the House prosecution panelon Monday demanded that Coro-na name the Palace official whohad asked him to resign.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo

Angara, the spokesman for theprosecution panel, said the failureof Coronas camp to identify theMalacaang official meant the is-sue was mere propaganda.

Angara made his call as theimpeachment trial is set to re-sume on May 7 after a Lentenbreak of more than a month.

He said Coronas campshould not be blamed for sow-ing intrigues in light of the re-cent surveys claiming that themajority of Filipinos believedin the prosecutions case againstthe chief magistrate.

It is best if the chief justicenames the Palace official he isreferring to, Angara said.

It could also be an attempton the Chief Justices part to

elicit public sympathy.Another administration

ally, Western Samar Rep. MelSenen Sarmiento, a member ofPresident Benigno Aquino IIIsLiberal Party, said the Coronacamps latest statement waspart of the propaganda war.

We will just have to wait forthe judgment of the impeach-ment court, he said.

Minority Leader and QuezonRep. Danilo Suarez said Co-ronas defense panel would havenothing to lose if they named thePalace official.

With Joyce Pangco Paares

LPG...Gas, Cat Gas and Nation Gas.The major distributors such asPetron, Total and Isla Gas con-tinue to sell their products atthe old prices

An estimated eight to 12 mil-lion 11-kilogram cylinders aresold nationwide. The pricesvary depending on the brand,location and market forces.

The LPG Industry Associa-tion on Monday said up threemillion LPG tanks were rustyor dented and needed to be test-ed by the Trade Department toensure those conform to safetystandards.

Group executive directorMercedita Pastrana said about1,782 fires ha been attributedto LPG tank explosions in thepast 10 years and called onCongress to pass an LPG bill.

She said reforms were needto regulate the use of dilapi-dated cylinders, under-filledcylinders, illegal refilling andcylinder tampering.

Alena Mae S. Flores

PH...British Prime Minister WinstonChurchill, said: Its better to jaw,

jaw, jaw than to war, war, war.Manila lodged a protest with

China Monday, accusing Chineseships and aircraft of harassing the

M/Y Saranggani, a Philippine-reg-istered boat doing archaeologicalresearch in the area.

The Philippines demanded thatthe Chinese ships and aircraft ceasethe harassments of and fly-bysover M/Y Saranggani so that theboat and its crew can complete itswork, said Foreign Affairs spokes-man Raul Hernandez.

Any attempted acton by Chi-nese ships or aircraft against the

M/Y Saranggani will be consid-

ered by the Philippines as a gross

violation of its national laws andof international law.

A high-ranking military officialon Monday said the situation in theScarborough Shoal remained un-stable because the two Chinese ves-sels refused to leave the area evenafter eight Chinese fishing boats es-caped with their loot of giant clams,corals and other endangered mari-time species.

Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara saida second Philippine Coast Guardship arrived in the area to resupplythe first, which arrives Thursday.

We are continuously monitor-ing the situation in the area, hesaid, adding that the Gregorio delPilarremained on standby at PoroPoint in La Union.

On Monday, 6,800 troops

from the Philippines and the

United States started their year-ly military exercises in Palawannear the disputed Spratly Islandslocated in the West PhilippineSea.

Military officials said the jointexercises had nothing to do withthe Scarborough Shoal standoff.

Also on Monday, the Presidentsaid he was likely to appoint anew ambassador to China afterbusinessman Domingo Lee wasbypassed thrice by the Commis-sion on Appointments.

Mr. Aquino said he needed anambassador skilled enough tosteer the bilateral relations be-tween the Philippines and Chinaand address sticky issues such asthe recent standoff in the Scarbor-

ough Shoal.

That is a possibility, a dis-

tinct possibility Mr. Aquino saidwhen asked if he was inclined tonominate an ambassador to Bei-

jing other than Lee.The President said his admin-

istration had two missions: to de-escalate the tensions with Chinaand to protect the countrys sov-ereignty and patrimony.

We have been ready to protectour sovereignty to the limits ofour capability. But again, I appealto you [not to escalate the situa-tion], Mr. Aquino said.

Even in boxing we wouldlose. There are 1.3 billion Chineseand we are only 95 million. Whatwould we gain if we escalate thetension?

Mr. Aquino said the Philip-

pines was in constant touch

with China. The Association of

Southeast Asian Nations musttake a more active role in ad-dressing the maritime disputesin the region.

During the recently concludedAsean summit meeting in Cam-bodia, Mr. Aquino insisted thatChina should not be part of theteam to draft the Code of Conducton the South China Sea.

The code, which will be a bind-ing pact among the 10-memberstates of the Asean, will governmaritime territorial disputes with-in the region.

The Philippines and Chinaaside, the other countries claim-ing the whole or parts of the WestPhilippine Sea are Malaysia, Viet-nam, Brunei and Taiwan. Joyce

Pangco Paares, with AP

Quit...President Benigno Aquino III as-sumed office two years ago.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Ca-sio said Almendras inactionmerely reflected what the Presi-dent wanted to do, which wasnothing.

President Aquino wanted toprivatize [the] Agus-Pulangui[hydroelectric plants], Casiosaid.

So they ignored the clamor ofMindanao to rehabilitate the hy-droelectric plants and the power

barges because they wanted tosell these assets at a lesser cost.

Rodriguez said Mindanao suf-fered the worst energy crisis in itshistory from November 2009 toMay 2010.

The six to 12 hours a day of[rolling blackouts] crippled in-dustry and commerce and af-fected the residents on the entireisland, Rodriguez said.

He said that as early as August2010 he had asked Almendrasto dredge the Agus and Pulangirivers, rehabilitate the Agus andPulangi plants, rehabilitate thefour diesel power barges of Pow-

er Sector Assets and LiabilitiesManagement Corp. and operatethem in Mindanao, and operatethe Iligan diesel power plants.

Rodrigues said Almendrastossed the ball to Congress andsaid he would have to ask law-makers if the Energy Departmentcould defer the sale of the hydro-electric plants and to rehabilitatethem instead.

We in Congress approved therehabilitation of Agus... This wasone year and seven months ago,Rodriguez said.

He said he filed a House reso-lution on Oct. 4, 2010 urging the

energy committee to probe theworsening power situation inMindanao.

The same month, he filed aresolution urging the PowerSector Assets and LiabilitiesManagement Corp. not to bidout the remaining four powerbarges and instead make themavailable to provide power inMindanao.

In the early part of 2011 I re-iterated my petition for the foururgent actions proposed to Secre-tary Almendras, this time duringthe Joint Congressional PowerCommission hearings as a mem-

ber of this Commission, Rodri-guez said.

Once again, Secretary Almen-dras promised to act on my fourmeasures.

On Jan. 12, 2012, Rodriguezsaid, he filed House Resolu-tion 2041 directing the en-ergy committee to probe thedelay in the rehabilitation ofthe Agus-Pulangi Hydropowercomplex in Mindanao and helpaddress the power shortage onthe island.

Up to now nothing has beenactually done by the Energy De-partment about the proposals and

resolutions, Rodriguez said.Mindanao has a power supply

deficit of 180 to 400 megawattsthat could have been easily ad-dressed by Secretary Almendrashad he fulfilled the dredging ofthe Agus and Pulangi rivers andrepaired the Agus and Pulangiplants, Rodriguez said.

In a position paper that he sub-mitted to the President during theMindanao Power Summit lastweek in Davao City, Rodriguezsaid, Almendras caused the pow-er crisis in Mindanao by failingto act on any of his recommenda-tions.

President...use of small modular reactors, a rela-tively new and safer form of nuclearpower, for Mindanao during lastweeks power summitin Davao City.

Cojuangco said small modu-lar reactors were favored by theUnited States Nuclear RegulatoryCommission.

There is an ongoing study [onthe possible use of nuclear powerin Mindanao] by the Departmentof Science and Technology, Mr.Aquino said.

But he was lukewarm to theproposals to stop the planned

privatization of the Agus and Pu-langi hydroelectric power plants.I never said I [was] totally

in favor of privatizing it. But inLuzon, we have privatized a lotof plants and this resulted in in-creased capacity, he said.

What we want is to makepower rates reasonable so therehas to be excess capacity to spurcompetition.

Mr. Aquino also ruled out thepossibility of subsidizing thepower rates in Mindanao.

That is not a good strategy.Where would we get the fundsfor the subsidy? And if we makethe power rates artificially low,we will not encourage citizens toconsume only what they need.

All 15 presidential appointees tothe Mindanao Commission, com-

posed of Regional DevelopmentAuthority chairmen, will meetEnergy Secretary Jose Rene Al-mendras and the President on April19 in Manila to discuss the powercrisis.

The Manila meeting comes asMindanaos residents were toldto brace for 10- to 12-hour roll-ing blackouts starting today dueto the shutdown of the 180-mega-watt Pulangi hydroelectric plantsfor dredging.

Ramon Floresta, RDC co-chairman of General Santos CityMayor Darlene Antonino-Custo-dio, said the Mindanao Commis-sion would argue against the sale

of the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectricplants and power barges.

We believe the MindanaoPower Summit has failed, sowe will recommend and hopeto enlighten and ask SecretaryAlmendras and the Presidentto heed the sentiments of Min-danao against privatizationand spiking power rates, saidFloresta, also president of theKidapawan Chamber of Com-merce and Industry.

Ronald Barrios, KCCI memberand owner of two conveniencestores, a coffee shop and an ex-clusive distributor of San MiguelCorp.s B-Meg feeds and CocaCola Bottlers, said that contraryto what the President claimed atthe summit, the businessmen inMindanao were doing their share

in absorbing the losses.It is disappointing for the Pres-

ident to tell the people of Mind-anao to pay more for electricity ifwe do not want blackouts, Bar-rios told the Manila Standard.

We are hurting enough... Pay-ing more and getting less is whatwe have been doing,

Barrios said it was ironic thatKidapawan, which is host to106-megawatt Mt. Apo geother-mal plant, was experiencing up toeight hours of blackouts daily.

Floresta, who owns a 250-hect-are banana plantation and a furni-ture business that employs morethan 1,000 workers, said the crip-

pling outages had been hurtingthe businesses in Mindanao.

Floresta, whose woodworkfirm RNF Summit Industriesproduces 1,500 pallets a day thatare used to transport the bananasand pineapples being exportedabroad, has not been meeting hisdelivery deadlines.

Elmer Alipuyo, RNF Summitproduction manager, warned ofpossible layoffs if the cripplingblackouts continued.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Ca-sio called on President Aquinoto take off his blinders on theMindanao power crisis and real-ize that paying a little more forelectricity will have dire conse-quences on the islands economyconsidering that the present ratesare already high compared to the

key cities in Asia.The premise that Mindanao

has been unjustifiably enjoy-ing cheap power rates is totallywrong, Casio said.

True, Mindanao has lowerpower rates than Luzon and theVisayas, but Mindanao is actuallypaying much more than most ofthe major cities in Asia.

Casio said the latest availablecomparative data showed thatMindanao had an effective resi-dential rate of P6.69 per kilowatthour. Luzon had P9.84 while theVisayas had P8.19.

Except for the CARAGAarea, all the areas in the Mind-

anao had more expensive resi-dential power rates than HongKong, he said.

All in all, Mindanao is payingan average of P1.82 per kilowatthour more for electricity than the31 major cities in Asia and Ocea-nia surveyed by the Japan Exter-nal Trade Organization, he said.

If we make Mindanaos powerrates at par with the Visayas andLuzon, the island will lose itscompetitive edge. Good publicpolicy dictates that power ratesshould be kept as low as possibleto spur investments and keep theprices of commodities low. Butthe Presidents policy is to in-crease prices to attract private

power firms whose objective is tosell power at the highest possiblerates. Its just crazy!

7,000...The Metro Manila Devel-opment said it was part of theexercises that also focused onhumanitarian assistance and di-saster mitigation.

The main objective of the Ba-likatan exercises is to extend as-sistance to our country, MMDAChairman Francis Tolention said.

Beijing has protested themilitary drills involving Ameri-cans near the South China Sea,where it is locked with the Phil-ippines and four other nations interritorial rifts.

The same day that the exercisesstarted, left-wing protesters splat-tered paint on the seal of the US

Embassy in Manila to demand apullout of American troops takingpart in the annual war games.

About 70 student activ-ists took police and embassyguards by surprise early Mon-day when they threw blue-and-red paint at the seaside mis-sions main gate and scrawledU.S. troops out now. Theyalso chipped away letters fromthe bronze signage and burneda mock American flag.

No arrests were made as theprotesters outnumbered the po-lice and later walked away.

The protesters condemnedthe continuing history of USoppression and colonialism.

AP, with Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja

Aquino...he said there had been no for-mal talks on the subject.

Binay has been fortifying theUNAs senatorial line up for the2013 midterm polls.

His partys possible senato-rial candidates include boxingchampion and Saranggani Rep.Manny Pacquiao, who recently

joined his party, the Partido ngDemokratikong Pilipino-Laban.

Mr. Aquino said it was tooearly to talk about 2016, andthat he would rather focus onthe reform agenda at hand.

The 2016 election is fouryears and two months fromnow. My job is to think of whatis happening now, not the nextelections, the President said.

In the House, the oppositionlawmakers said a split betweenMr. Aquino and Binay wouldnot bode well for the adminis-trations candidates in the 2013elections.

Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fuasaid the announced split in 2016was a lame excuse to cover upthe big cracks that were slowlyeroding the foundations of thepolitical coalition behind theAquino administration.

The coalition is very weak,Fua told the Manila Standard,referring to the Liberal Party.

He said the LP was takenaback when Binay talked offielding a super Senate slatewithout any Liberal Party stal-warts.

If this coalition behindPresident Aquino is as strongas it claims to be, then why didUNA beat them to the punch inannouncing their lineup? Fua

said.He said Binays alliance withousted President Joseph Estra-das party would foil Mr. Aqui-nos plan to gain full control ofthe Senate by 2013.

The LP today controls the285 members of the House ofRepresentatives, but has beenforced into an alliance in theSenate, which installed Sena-tor Juan Ponce Enrile as SenatePresident over the known LPsenators who wanted the job.

The Presidents ally in theHouse, Deputy Speaker andQuezon Rep. Lorenzo TaadaIII, a Liberal Party spokesman,said that talk of a split in 2016was highly speculative andpremature.

House Deputy Speaker andCavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Re-mulla, a Nacionalista Partystalwart, agreed, saying manythings could happen before the2016 elections.

House Minority Leader andQuezon Rep. Danilo Suarez saidan endorsement from PresidentAquino would be valuable whetheror not he split with Binay.

The President will alwaysplay a vital role. I dont think hewill be politically irrelevant by2016. It is a big thing if a can-didate is backed by the adminis-tration, Suarez said.

House Deputy MinorityLeader and Zambales Rep. Mil-agros Magsaysay, who was in-

vited to join Binays senatorialslate, said officials should focuson good governance and whatthe people needed instead of theelections and politics.

With officials speculating onthe vice presidents actions whenthere really is no basis for sus-picion, they are creating unrestamong the people who are count-ing on the government to providestability and direction for thecountrys development, she said.

Airline...If the agency is amiss, we

will pay the workers and thenchange it.

Hundreds of Zest Airs bag-gage loaders, customer serviceagents, ramp agents and loadcontrollers say they have notreceived their overtime andnight differential pay.

The affected employees in-clude those in Manila and in 20provincial destinations.

For the past three monthswe have only received our ba-sic salary of P3,900 per pay pe-riod, one of the workers said.

It is so hard to live by ourbasic salary alone because weare forced to work overtime.And whenever we work over-time we spend more on foodand other items.

We have also been working

without any contract.

By Arctic standards, the regionis already buzzing with militaryactivity, and experts believe thatwill increase significantly in theyears ahead.

Last month, Norway wrappedup one of the largest Arctic ma-neuvers ever Exercise ColdResponse with 16,300 troopsfrom 14 countries training on theice for everything from high in-

tensity warfare to terror threats.Attesting to the harsh conditions,five Norwegian troops werekilled when their C-130 Herculesaircraft crashed near the summitof Kebnekaise, Swedens highestmountain.

The US, Canada and Den-mark held major exercises twomonths ago, and in an unprec-edented move, the military chiefs

Cold War II looms as ice cap meltsYOKOSUKATo the worlds militaryleaders, the debate over climate change is

long over. They are preparing for a newkind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipat-ing that rising temperatures there will openup a treasure trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes and a slew of poten-tial conflicts.

of the eight main Arctic powers Canada, the US, Russia, Iceland,Denmark, Sweden, Norway andFinland gathered at a Canadianmilitary base last week to specifi-cally discuss regional security is-sues.

None of this means a shootingwar is likely at the North Pole anytime soon. But as the number ofworkers and ships increases inthe High North to exploit oil andgas reserves, so will the need forpolicing, border patrols and ifpush comes to shove militarymuscle to enforce rival claims.

The US Geological Surveyestimates that 13 percent of theworlds undiscovered oil and30 percent of its untapped natu-ral gas is in the Arctic. Shippinglanes could be regularly openacross the Arctic by 2030. AP


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APRIL 17, 2012TUESDAY A3

News [email protected]



Bounty up for ex-Palawan gov

SC tacklesforeignersinvestmentissue today

Customs presses bid for Cebu Palace National Grid intensifiesanti-pilferage activities

WB okays $3.6m for health program

Angry youth. Student activists are caught vandalizing the United States Embassy on Roxas Blvd. toprotest the opening of Philippine-Balikatan military execercises on Monday. DANNY PATA

Asean ally. Singapore Ambassador V.P. Hirubalan reviews honor guards who welcomed him upon his arrival at Malacaang Palaceto present his credentials to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Lauro Montellano Jr.

Pagcor setsnew incomerecord for10th monthTHE state gaming firm Philippine Amusementand Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has posteda phenomenal P3.67 billion gross income inMarch 2012, which is the 10th time under its newmanagement that Pagcor was able to break itsprevious monthly income record.

Pagcor Chairman and CEO Cristino Nagu-iat Jr. said the agencys March income wasP686 million higher compared to the P2.98billion earnings in March 2011.

It was also much better than our P3.56-billion target for March by P109 million, andfar better by P104 million against our P3.56-billion gross income last February, he noted.

According to Naguiat, the feat now goesdown in history as Pagcors highest totalincome ever posted for a single month sincethe Philippine government went into the di-

rect management of casino operations 26years ago.

The Pagcor chief said the income fromPagcors own gaming operations in March2012 reached P2.49 billion, which was a hugeP526-million increase compared to the sameperiod in 2011.

Our upbeat operations during the quartergot an added boost from the strong perfor-mance of the other gaming establishmentswe regulate, like the private licensed casinos,e-games, commercial bingo and poker clubs.They contributed P1.17 billion to our March2012 earnings, higher by P160 million com-pared to the same month last year, he noted.

The state firms robust income performanceenabled the corporation to increase its remit-tances to its mandated beneficiaries.

Last March, we were able to allocate a totalof P1.85 billion as the agencys contribution tonation-building. This was P556 million, or 43%

over the P1.29 billion contributions we made inMarch 2011, Naguiat stressed.

Among the recipients of Pagcors fundingcontributions in March were the Bureau ofInternal Revenue (P125 million for the 5%franchise tax); the National Treasury (P1.18billion); the Philippine Sports Commission(P59 million); cities hosting Pagcor casinos(P41 million); the Presidents Social Fund(P200 million); socio-civic projects (P221million); Board of Claims (P3.5 million); andcontributions to the BIR in fringe benefitstaxes amounting to P13 million.

According to Naguiat, his managementsbasic thrust is to make Pagcor a reliablegovernment ally in moving the countrytowards progress. Our mandate is not only togenerate more revenues for the governmentsvarious nation-building projects. We are alsocommitted to help in other areas where we canmake a difference and undertake programs

that will directly benefit our fellow Filipinos,he added. Rey E. Requejo

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima andInterior Secretary Jesse Robredo willdiscuss the amount that will be given toanyone who could pinpoint Reyes, whowent into hiding after he was indictedfor the killing of radio broadcaster GerryOrtega in Puerto Princesa City on Jan.24 last year.

De Lima said they will announcetomorrow or on Wednesday how muchwould be the reward money that willcome from the funds of the the DOJ andDILG.

He really would not be able to leave

the country unless he uses some othermeans, like [the] backdoor. But werealso on guard over these possible portsof exit, De Lima said.

The DOJ chief warned anyone who isaiding or abetting Reyes that they couldalso face criminal charges.

There always is a liability on their part.If theyre coddling fugitives from justice,whether public official or private citizen,then they can be charged, she warned.

De Lima broached the idea of a possiblereward for the arrest of Reyes after the for-

mer governor still refused to surrender.

Asked for a comment on the fugitivesstatement that he will not surrender, De

Lima said: Well, I have to advise himthat it would be better that he faces hiscase squarely, frontally. Because if he be-lieves in his innocence, the best way forhim to do so is to prove it in court.

You cannot prove it outside of thecourt system. You have to submit your-self to the jurisdiction of the court if youthink, if you believe that you are inno-cent, she said, adding that flight is in-dicative of guilt in the law.

Reyes was a client of the Justice Secre-tary in an electoral protest case when shewas still practicing lawyer.

Earlier last month, the DOJ ordered theindictment of Reyes, his brother CoronMayor Mario Reyes Jr., former provincialadministrator Romeo Seratubias, personalaide Arturo Regalado and Valentin Leciasafter a reinvestigation by a second panel ofstate prosecutors on the complaint filed by

the Ortegas wife Patria Gloria.

The DOJ panel composed of Asst.State Prosecutors Stewart Allan Mariano,

Vimar Barcellano and Gerard Gaerlanjunked the denial made by Reyes andinstead upheld the testimony of RodolfoEdrad Jr., another suspect who tagged theformer and his brother as masterminds ofthe killing.

The DOJ prosecutors cited the admis-sion made by the Reyes brothers in theircounter-affidavits that Edrad went toMayor Reyes house in Ayala Alabang,Muntinlupa City to receive money.

The admission, they said, weakenedthe respondents denial of a close asso-ciation with the gunman who had turnedwitness for the complainant.

Edrad, in his earlier affidavit, confessedhiring gunman Marlon Recamata and othermen and then claimed that Mayor Reyes,on instructions of Gov. Reyes, gave himP500,000 as reward for the killing of Orte-ga. The Reyes brothers admitted paying the

gunman but only for P5,000.

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE tug-of-war over theMalacanang sa Sugbo intensifiedyesterday after CustomsCommissioner Ruffy Biazonurged President Benigno AquinoIII to visit the Bureau of Customsoffice in Cebu City and see forhimself how the former warehousehas become a grave threat to thelives of the agencys employees.

Biazon said he has sent a secondletter to the President asking him

to inspect, personally or through arepresentative, the bureaus officein Cebu after it was structurallydamaged by the 6.9-magnitudeearthquake last February.

The extensive damage on thebuildings structure, interiorwalls, ceiling and floors havemade the place an unsafe

building for Customs employees,industry stakeholders and otherCustoms clients.

Biazon reiterated his requestthat the bureau regain the theMalacanang sa Sugbo, whichis a property of the BoC, butwas taken from them by formerPresident Gloria Arroyo.

But the Cebu City governmentis also eyeing the Malacanang saSugbo for itself.

Thats a BoC property and wehave the right of first refusal. Our

default action is to get back whatwe already have. It is cheaper forus, in the first place, he said.

Biazon said he was told by Cebubuilding officials to vacate theircurrent office due to the structuraldamage on the building.

Four major cracks of about 20centimeter in width and about

five meters long were noticed bythe building officials upon theirinspection. Cracks were alsoobserved in certain columns ofthe building.

Biazon said Mr. Aquinohimself will see that therelocation of the BoC office inCenu is of paramount concern.

There was also an invitationfor the President to see thecurrent premises, Biazon said,referring to the converted PPAwarehouse, but there ahs been

no word if the President hasaccepted the invitation.

Our compelling reason isthe state of the present buildingwe are occupying. It has beencondemned, Biazon said.Another big earthquake andthe place could entomb BoCemplooyees alive, he added.

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Department of Justice and the Depart-ment of Interior and Local Government willsoon decide how much reward money to put upfor information leading to the arrest of fugitiveformer Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes.

THE Supreme Court will heartoday oral arguments of thelawyers of the Philippine LongDistance Telephone Companyand other businesses seekingconsideration of its June 28,2011 decision, which redefined

the term capital in relationto the constitutional provisionlimiting foreign ownership ofdomestic public utilities to 40percent.

But the petitioner, humanrights lawyer Wilson Gamboa,manifested before the SC thathe has waived participation inthe oral arguments on the mat-ter during its en banc publichearing in Baguio City.

In a statement, Gamboasson Lauro stressed that hisfather has raised all possiblearguments in the memorandaand answers to the motions forreconsideration, which he filedbefore his father died last year.

Let them argue until theyturn blue, Lauro said, adding

that it is the turn of the PLDTand other parties to raise theirarguments.

Aside from PLDT chairmanManuel Pangilinan, other re-spondents who sought the re-versal of the Court ruling wereSmart Communications headNapoleon Nazareno, the Secu-rities and Exchange Commis-sion (SEC), Philippine StockExchange (PSE), Departmentof Finance (DOF), and thePresidential Commission onGood Government.

Earlier, Chief Justice RenatoCorona disclosed that severalconcerned individuals andbusinesses have warned of thedire economic repercussions ofthe decision.

Corona admitted that thehigh court did not considerthe economic implications ofits ruling on the PLDT case asnone of the parties raised thesame in their pleadings.

He said this prompted theCourt to hear the parties in anoral argument. Rey E. Requejo

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

THEWorld Bank has approveda total $3.6-million grant toincrease access to affordablematernal health services forlow-income families in the

provinces of Leyte, SouthernLeyte, Samar, Northern Samarand Eastern Samar in theEastern Visayas region.

The grant will be releasedthrough the Global Partnershipon Output-Based Aid (GPOBA)which explicitly targets the poorto help address some of thebarriers to their access to qualityhealth services, according toWorld Bank Country DirectorMotoo Konishi.

He said the scheme consistsof a three-part approach:accreditation of 45 serviceproviders in the project areato ensure improved quality of

care and the capacity to meetincreased demand; enrollmentof about 145,000 families,identified and determined aspoor by the National HouseholdTargeting System and asubsidized voucher scheme

to bridge the gap between co-payments charged by healthservice providers and theamount that target projectbeneficiaries can afford to payfor approved services.

This output-based aidscheme supports the newgovernments reform agendato achieve universal access tohealth care, said Konishi.

He said the project alsomakes access to quality healthservices affordable through thesubsidized voucher componentand more inclusive by explicitlytargeting the poor.

He assured it will address bar-

riers to health services access byexpanding insurance coverage ofthe poor and by supporting theupgrade of additional service pro-viders to meet the national Phil-ippine Health Insurance Corpo-ration (PhilHealth) accreditation

requirements.The National Health

Insurance Program (NHIP) hasa mandate to provide universalhealth insurance coverage to allFilipinos and a solution to thelarge numbers of indigent andinformal sector workers thatremain excluded from socialhealth insurance coverage.

A 2010 Philippine HealthSector Review found that reformsin the past decades have improvedoverall health outcomes.

However, disparities inaccess to quality health servicesand health insurance coverageremain an issue for the poor.

THENational Grid Corporation of the Philippines, operator of thecountrys s power transmission network, has intensified its anti-pilferage program with a series of visits to barangays traversed bytransmission lines.

National Grid said in a statement that coordination efforts with localauthorities are part of the companys program to curb the pilferage oftransmission line hardware and other materials in some communities.

The program already commissioned the services of 32 transmissionline inspectors and caretakers in various host barangays in theprovince of Zambales, where there were reported cases of pilferage.

National Grid said that as a result of the joint efforts of the

barangay and law enforcement agencies, two suspected pilferers inZambales and Pampanga were already apprehended.

Cases were already filed against the perpetrators for violatingR.A. 7832 or the Anti-Electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994.

RA 7832 prohibits the possession, control, or custody of electric powertransmission line/material by any person not engaged in the transmissionor distribution of electric power, or in the manufacture of such electricpower transmission line/material. Alena Mae S. Flores


4/12

OpinionAdelle Chua,Editor ManilaStandardToday [email protected] 17, 2012TUESDAYA4

NORTH Koreas twentysomething leader,Kim Jong Un, delivered his first public speechSunday during the 100th birth anniversaryof his grandfather, Kim Il Sung. The youngKim bears a striking resemblance to hisgrandfather, who established the country andwas revered by the North Korean people.

Kim told his people that he wouldstrengthen the military to make it a superiorforce and at par with the imperialists. Aparade then showed off the militarys cacheof weapons, including a missile.

Nobody dared mention that the speechand the parade took place two days after theembarrassing failure of North Koreas rocketlaunch , which perhaps best showed the stateof North Koreas military capability despiteKims grand pronouncements.

That rocket launch, to be sure, rattledsome nerves in the Philippines. Severalairlines anticipated debris falling intotheir flight paths and adjusted those flightsaccordingly. The National Disaster RiskReduction and Management Councilconvened a meeting to prepare parts ofNorthern and Eastern Luzon for the effectsof the launch.

The United States condemned the planand canceled food aid to North Korea, whichthe millions of North Koreans need badly.

Kim made no mention of those setbacksin his fiery speech, of course, promising hispeople that they would never have to tightentheir belt again, reported The New YorkTimes. Despite this rosy promise, Kim didnot say exactly how he intended to achieve

that goal. It is believed that millions of NorthKoreans go hungry, with the government

spending inordinately on the military and onother items to glorify the regime.The young leader was groomed to speak

this way, extolling the might of the NorthKorean military, speaking ill of the Westand controlling what the population thinksand feels.

North Korea causes anxiety to the rest ofthe world primarily because of the mysterythat shrouds it. The reclusive state revealsso little of itself to the outside world. In thesame way, it isolates its own citizens fromexternal influences by tight censorship ofinformation.

This is the environment in whichleaders like the Kims thrive and are able

to pursue their personal designs withoutfear of agitating their citizens. One can

only commiserate with the North Koreans,kept ignorant of what goes on outside theirborders and bombarded with propagandathat extolls their leader despite the desolateconditions they mistake for utopia.

Count it as a good thing that we Filipinosare able to speak out about our hopes anddissatisfactions. We are awaresometimestoo awareof what is wrong in thegovernment and in our society because wesee through our leaders and know wherethey are coming from.

Amid all the things that we find wrong, orlacking, in our country, our might is that wecan agree or disagree. So long as we do itfairly, no one will run after us for doing so.

Show of might

Noynoyingin Mindanao

EDITORIAL

Save Jessica!

READERS whove been tracking thephenomenal progress of 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez through the finalrounds of the hit TV show AmericanIdolnow 11 years on the air, onlyfive years shorter than Jessicas ownlifetimegot the shock of their liveswhen the precocious singer was votedoff the show by American televiewers.

The shows veteran judge, recordingproducer Randy Jackson, spoke fora lot of viewers when he describedlast weeks selection of the bottomthree contestants as the worst such

combination hed seen in his entire stayon the show. His outrage was shared

by the other two judges, musical iconsSteven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. Atthe end of the show, all three of them

jumped onstage, cutting Jessica off mid-song, in order to cast their once-onlysave option for her.

Jackson admonished the showsviewers to be sure next time to cast theirvotes only for the bestan appealfor the shows integrity as much as forJessica. As often happens, whenever acontestant displays outstanding talent,viewers may not bother anymore to votefor him or her because they assume thattalent alone will carry the contestantthrough. And in Jessicas case, withher powerful voice, effortless delivery,and instinctive showmanshipset off

by an Asian kind of demurenessthatassumption might well be forgiven.But at the end of the day, it all boils

down to how many votes can be coaxedout of an American TV audience thatspans three time zones and a bewilderingdemographic stew. And in Jessicascase, we see once again the complicateddynamics of race and culture that

pattern the everyday lives of millions ofimmigrants and other people of color inthe US, periodically surfacing in public

events like TV shows to remind us thatAmerica can be so different from therest of the world, but so much the sameas well.

In this instance we have JessicaSanchez, a typical California teenager,whose father is Mexican and whosemother is Filipina. The parents are later-generation immigrants, with no traceof homeland accents. Jessica herselfwith her dusky complexion, sloe eyes,generous lips, and slight builtlooksnothing like her father (could he be justher step-dad?). And of course, those

pipes and that talent could only comeout of Manila, not Mexicoas anyFilipino would assure you.

The Mexican and Filipino Americancommunities share a lot of the samespace, mostly in California. Relations

between both groups are generallyamicablethe product of sharedhistory going as far back as thegalleon trade between the two Spanishcolonies centuries ago, and as recentlyas the regular battles between boxingicons like Manny Pacquiao and JuanMiguel Marquez (three times now).The pugilists from both countries willinvariably kneel and cross themselves

before a bout in deference to a sharedCatholic heritagethough the Churchfared much better here than in Mexico,where it was long marginalized from

public life by an anti-friar tradition ofinsurrection.

These two communities are the firstand second largest immigrant groups,respectively, in the US. It is much easierfor Mexicans to slip across the border

into the country, wide swathes of whichused to be Mexican territory. Onceinside, with their limited education andEnglish skills, Mexicans gravitate tothe lower-level jobs. A proud people,they thus become very prickly abouttheir ethnic identity and tend to voteDemocrat, the home party of identity-

based politics.By contrast, Filipinos wishing to

immigrate to the US face more dauntingobstacles from an ocean away. Once

they get there, though, they can rely onrelatively higher education and Englishskills to win higher-level jobs, which inturn facilitates their natural inclination to

blend into the American mainstream asquickly as possible. This is why they tendto vote Republican, and also why thereare much fewer political leaders fromtheir communitybecause, by seeking tointegrate so quickly, Fil-Ams also give upthe loyalty to each other that immigrantsneed to launch political careers.

Unfortunately for these two groups,other Latin American and Asiancommunities tend to look down onthem, despite their size and rapidgrowth. Blacks tend to be threatened

by immigrants in general, who come inwilling to take the jobs they are likelyto disdain. And among many white

Americans, Mexicans and Filipinos areregarded as just more people of color,

burdened with additional baggagepurveyors of a different language andculture (in the Mexicans case, to the

point of deliberate cultural separatism);new immigrants, often illegal, and

prolific breedersarrivistes whohavent yet paid their dues to theAmerican melting pot.

This is the heritage that Jessicalikeit or notwill be presenting to millionsof American televiewers. It will not beworking in her favorone reason why

both Filipino and Mexican Americansneed to turn out as never before to throwtheir support behind her in the weeks tocome.

If the combined strength of bothcommunities could lift this shared child

of theirs to well-deserved success, what astatement indeed that would make to herglobal audienceabout the generosity,the equity, the exceptionalism of theAmerican experience! And thereinlies the real reason why she should besupportedbecause of the opportunityit gives her home communities tomake their adoptive country shine, onceagain, before the rest of the world.

[email protected]

PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino likesto brag that his closest allies are as

pure as the driven snow, unsullied byeven a whiff ofcorruption. Butsometimes youhave to wonder ifhe really knowsthese peopleand, if he does,chooses to ignoretheir shady pasts.

Just beforeHoly Week, agaggle of three(yes, three)h e l i c o p t e r sforming theofficial party ofAquino arrivedat the birthday party of a SouthernLuzon congressman. This wascertainly high praise for the neophytelawmaker, who basked in the gloryof being important enough to deservesuch an extravagant visit from Aquinowhile power outages were bedeviling22 million people in Mindanao.

The congressman is facing chargesthat he absconded with half a billion

pesos in public funds intended tobuy land for a government projectin his province, filed initially by thelocal Commission on Audit officeand now being heard by the CoAheadquarters in Quezon City. Apartfrom the disappearance of the funds,the congressman also stands accusedof taking illegal commissions fromthe purchasesomething unheard ofin all purchases made by government.

But the congressman apparentlymoved heaven and earth to makeAquino come on his birthday,to send the message that he wasuntouchable. And Aquinomay not have known about thecongressmans checkered past, since

he was apparently convinced to visitby another lawmaker representinga nearby district; this secondcongressman plays a very importantrole in the House-led prosecutionof impeached Chief Justice RenatoCorona in the Senate.

Its either that or Aquino, as hasbeen widely rumored in the past,just cant resist a party. And showeveryone that while some big shotscan drop in riding a chopper, it takesAquino to really darken the sky withthree whirlybirds when he comesa-visiting.

You have to wonder, though,whos paying for the fuel of all threehelicopters Aquino uses like theywere mere Nissan Safaris belongingto the Presidential Security Group.And who owns the choppersand

what they expect to get in return fromAquino.

* * *Speaking of Mindanao, that was

a well-thought out speech given byAquino during last weeks energysummit at Davao City. The onlytrouble with Aquino telling the peopleof the island that they needed to paymore money if they wanted moreelectricity is that, in true noynoying

fashion, the President told them to doso nearly two years too late.

Yes, Mindanaos long-predictedelectricity supply shortfalls shouldhave been addressed by Malacanangfrom the get-go, when it assumedoffice in the middle of 2010. And no,Aquinos former classmate and close

buddy EnergySecretary ReneAlmendras, whoknew about

the Mindanaosituation, cannotbe absolved fornoynoying aboutthe problem also,even if his bossis guilty of thesame thing.

For instance,Almendras musthave known thatthe rehabilitationof the Agus-

Pulangi hydropower complex, whosedeterioration is the main cause for theMindanao blackouts, was one of histop priorities when he assumed office.Almendras must also have pushedfor the creation of a power grid forthe entire Mindanao, to facilitate theuse of excess power in one part of the

island to other parts where demandis high. (Mindanao, unlike Luzonand the Visayas, still has no grid tocentralize and distribute power to thisday.)

Almendras could have made it hisbusiness to connect Mindanao to theVisayas grid as a backup, something heknew (as a former Aboitiz executive)was perfectly possible. Knowing alsohow Aboitiz had entered into forwardsupply contracts for its power bargesto ensure supply and shield consumersfrom price spikesas both blackout-

proof Cagayan de Oro and DavaoCity have doneor even tried Cebusunique system of paying businessesto use their generators regularly, withthe power supplier paying for the costdifference.

Heck, as Aquinos energy czar,Almendras could have convincedthe many power cooperatives inMindanao to accept that they hadto pay higher for steady electricityusing a supply mix that wasnt toodependent on seasonal hydropower, ifhe had really wanted to. At the veryleast, he would have started biddingand work on new power plantssomething Almendras knew wouldtake at least three years for each one.

But Almendras, for reasonsidiotic like noynoying or sinister like

privatizing power assets, did nothingof the above. In fact, prior to thestart of the island-wide blackouts,Almendras only claim to fame wasallowing Aquino to use his cellular

phone to contact women who caughtthe eye of his noynoying boss

who must now reap the whirlwindfor the mess that neither he nor hisenergy secretary thought was all thatimportant to begin with.

In other countries, a Cabinetmember like Almendras would have

been fired if he did not resign in shamefirst. But because he is a card-carryingKKK member directly influenced

by the reality distortion field of hisboss, thats just not going to happen.

JOJO

A. ROBLES

LOWDOWN

GARY

OLIVAR

BYPASS

ROLANDO G. ESTABILLO PublisherRAMONCHITO L. TOMELDAN Managing Editor

CHIN WONG/ RAY S. EANO Associate EditorsRALEIGH J. JALECO News Editor

JOEL P. PALACIOS City EditorROMEL J. MENDEZ Art Director

Published Monday to Saturday by Kamahalan Publishing Corporation at3rd Floor Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas corner Perea Street,Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers659-4830 (connectingall departments), 659-4826; 659-4827 (Editorial),659-4803, 659-4802(Advertising), 527-5016 (Sales and Distribution/Subscription) and 527-2057 (Credit and Collection). Fax numbers: 659-4804 (Advertising)and 527-6406 (Subscription). P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office,Manila. Website: www.man ilast andar dtoda y.com E-mail: [email protected]

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StandardTODAY

CLIMACO E. CALIWARA ControllerANITA F. GREFAL Treasury Manager

EDITH D. ANGELES Advertising ManagerEDGAR M. VALMORIDA Circulation Manager

ROGELIO C. SALAZAR President & CEO

Aquino, intrue noynoying

fashion, steps into aproblem two yearstoo late.


5/12

APRIL 17, 2012TUESDAY A5

OpinionAdelle Chua,Editor [email protected]

IN SEPTEMBER or October lastyear, concerned employees of theDevelopment Bank of the Philippinesfiled a complaint before the Officeof the Ombudsman against theirchairman, Jose Nuez Jr., for graft andcorruption and violation of the Codeof Conduct and Ethical Standards forPublic Officials.

The same complaint was alsofiled before the Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas.

This happened after the suicide ofDBP lawyer Benjamin Pinpin, whotook his own lifebecause of a show-cause order fromNuez.

Nuez isa protg ofb u s i n e s s m a nSalvador BuddyZamora, acontributor toPresident BenignoAquino IIIscampaign in 2010.

S t r a n g e l y ,eight months havepassed and noaction has beentaken by Ombudsman ConchitaCarpio-Morales or BSP GovernorAmando Tetangco.

I have written about this before

and I do so again now. How doesthe inaction of the two agenciesfit into the much-vaunted DaangMatuwid or straight and narrow pathof President Aquino?

The bank employees say thatfor the first time in the historyof the bank, the chairman of theboard of directors, Jose A. NuezJr., has entirely thrown caution tothe wind and has acted with utmostimpropriety by:

Cavorting in his provincial sorties,under the guise of project visits, butactually to play golf;

Worse, in these sorties, he solicitedand used, in gross violation ofethical standards for public officersand employees and for his personal

benefit , the private plane of a bankclient, who has several accountswith the bank, the approval of whichare often within his and the boardauthority; and

When the accounts of saidclient were taken up in the boardfor approval, the chairman of theboard, being a known lackey of theclient and a director of the latterscompany, did not even bother toinhibit himself from the proceedingseven for delicadezas sake, and hadthe temerity to preside in the votingfor the approval of the clientsaccounts.

The client referred to is Zamora,a friend of President Aquino. Nuezwas reportedly a former chief of staffof Zamora. This was why Nuezmanaged to be named bank chairmaneven though he was not known in

banking circles.The complaint listed violations of

the Anti-Graft and Corrupt PracticesAct by Nuez in using Zamorasplanes as follows:

September 2, 2010to GeneralSantos using the bank clients

Lear Jet,

Sometime in November 2010to Cagayan de Oro using the bankclients Lear Jet again,

November 25-26 2010to Vigan,Ilocos Sur using the bank clientsKing Air plane,

Sometime in January 2011toBatangas for a golf tournament usingthe bank clients private plane.

Zamora reportedly has severalloans from the DBP.

So why isnt Ombudsman Carpio-Morales acting on the employeescomplaint?Daang matuwid, my foot!

And why isnt the Bangko Sentralalso not doing anything?

Section 16 of the General BankingLaw of 2000 prescribes the fitand proper rule of bank directorsand officers, stating that after due

notice to theboard of directorsof the bank, theMonetary Boardmay disqualify,suspend or removeany bank directoror officer, whocommits or omitsan act whichrender him unfitfor the position.In determiningwhether anindividual is fitand proper tohold the position

of director or officer of a bank,regard shall be given to his integrity,experience, education, training andcompetence.

Well, isnt Nuez a bank officerwho must be subject to the samefitness standards?

Its quite obvious that theres adouble standard of accountability hereone for friends of the President, andanother one for his political enemies.

***Vice President Jejomar Binay need

not explain the organization of theUnited National Alliance, a joining offorces of his PDP-Laban and formerPresident Joseph Estradas Partidong Masang Pilipino, as well as otherpolitical parties like the NacionalistaParty, Nationalist Peoples Coalition,and some members of formerPresident Gloria Arroyos Lakas-Kampi.

Why should he? Binay is not

beholden to President Aquino foranything. He ran under his ownparty, and not under the Liberal Partywhich the President heads.

If Malacaang and the LiberalParty are having sleepless nightson the formation of the UNA, Icant blame them. The UNA doespresent a formidable challenge to theadministration party.

Maybe the Liberals should alsoseek a coalition with others. I doubtwhether it could do this, though. UNAis now the predominant politicalparty.

***Pilipino Mirror, a mass-circulated

daily tabloid in Taglish, was launchedMonday by the ALC media group.ALC stands for Antonio CabangonChua, whose conglomerate also

publishes Business Mirror andGraphic and a dive magazine calledView. The ALC Group also hasDWIZ, and Insular BroadcastingSystem.

I wish the ALC Group the best inthis new venture.

A case of graftand corruption

Mindanaos energy future (2)

IN CONTINUING to make the casethat Mindanaos energy future shouldbe bet on renewable energy I rely again,as I did last Saturday, on the argumentsof Mr. Ramon C. Abaya, deceasedChairman of the Cagayan ElectricPower and Light Company, Inc. andrenewable energy visionary, who justbefore he died, sent me an article onwhy solar energy is affordable and theright choice for Mindanao. Accordingto Abaya, arguing for Feed-in-Tariffs(FiTs) for solar energy:

FiTs are productivity based; eachcentavo raised hinges on each usersconsumption, thus incentivizing more

production on the developers part; itis clearly the opposite of a take or payscheme whereby a minimum is paid

regardless of consumption. Subsidiesfrom the government hinge on taxrates and its collection performance.

How stable and certain are those?How efficient has any governmentconducted its income transfers? Guesswhich system can potentially underminethe economys macro-economy, whendeficits are exacerbated by imports with

fluctuating prices outside of anyonescontrol.

Solar hardly competes with base loadplants running on coal; it competes withtechnologies that are available duringthe day, over and above base loads. In

Mindanao, where supply is tight, solar

will displace oil fired units forced to runeven at the start of day, turning whatare otherwise suppliers of energy athigh costs into replenishing reserves.Compare solars rate impact of only

2.28 centavos to the variable costs ofrunning an oil fired plant, now hittingmore than 9 pesos per kwhr. Solarsaddition to blended rates are 2.28centavos, while that of oil is estimatedto be about 3x higher. In either case,solar wins hands down.

Under a feed-in tariff scheme, thesubsidies are the difference betweenFiTs and the costs of units displaced(at 4.50 according to NREB). They aremultiplied by solar s generation, beforethey are spread over the countrys totalconsumption, resulting in what areknown as retail impactsthe increase

per kwhr that each customer pays.The volume produced (139 284 MWH)by solarless than half a percent oftotal demandis so small that when

you blend it with total nationwideconsumption (67,743,000 MWH), you

turn the wholesale costs of 17.95 pesosto a mere 2.28 centavos at retail.

FiTs are not the same as FiTimpacts; FiTs are wholesale rates,while impacts are at retail. FiTs arein terms of kwhr produced; whileimpacts in kwhr consumed. FiTs arethe cost of production while impactsare the price of consumption. Thecontrasts are stark. Our experiencein running oil fired units as standbyin the past 16 years show thatoil prices have been on a markedupward trend of about 9 % to 12%a year; but who is to say what theywill be next year, or 4 years from

now. You can be sure they will go upin the long term. And yet one of thecomplaints against renewables is thattheir rates are fixed for 20 years! Theywill decline in real terms.

You cannot repeat it often enough:solars impact on retail when 100mwshall have been reached within 3 years,is 2.28 centavos per kwhr. Solars retailimpact is lower than those for wind(3.74), biomass (4.12) even if its FiTsare the highest. And there are otherbenefits as well: the taxes and feesthat 400 million US dollar investmentswill add to the national treasury; andthe number of new jobs generated,the benefits of clean air and a pristineenvironment, the dampening of extremeweather patterns, and the reduction in

public health hazards. While these arehard to value, they are anything buttrivial, and you ignore them at your andthe future generations peril.

Energy independence, the useof inexhaustible resources, andeconomic growth without harming

the environment: these are some ofthe Renewable Energy Acts policydeclarations. Are these goals stilldebatable? Isnt it time to get on withthe implementation?

Abayas call to implement the REact is a good way to sum up this two-part column on the energy situationof Mindanao. To go renewable isnot only environmentally sound buteconomically efficient; and yes, it is theethical, right thing to do to secure theenergy future of our great island.

E-mail: [email protected] Facebook:[email protected] Twitter: tonylavs

EMILP. JURA DO

TOTHEPOINT

DEAN TONYLA VIA

EAGLEEYES

By Giorgia Denise Danga

GREENthe fourth color of therainbow, the hue of the go-signal on atraffic light, the shade of my checkereduniform, Kermit the frogs skin tone.But theres much more to the green. Itis the pigment that gives color to plants.Green is life.

That day in September 2009 was aneye-opener for all of us. It was raininghard. I love the rain, I really dobutnot this one. I was eating lunch withmy family when flood water enteredour house. I lost my appetite seeingtetra packs, plastic bags and useddiapers floating around our residence. Inever believed that I could actually see

what I saw, just like the movies-trucksloaded with people, houses completelysubmerged in rain water and motherscarrying their children to safety.

Ondoy brought loss of lives andproperties. And after that day, I askedmyself: What has happened to our world?Is this what they warned us about over andover, that we should take care of MotherNature before it strikes back?

I realized the Earth has alreadystricken, Im sure that theres more tocome.

There are billions of people aroundthe globe. What can a 16-year-old do?

Life is a series of causes and effects.Its a huge game of domino; one wrongmove and the rest will follow. Imaginehow a piece of candy wrapper can lead toyour death. You eat a candy then throwthe packaging along the sidewalk. Theweathers kind of windy and leads it tothe canal which is where rats and pestslive. Your candy wrapper clogged thedrainages and unfortunately the weatherforecast is not very good. It rained sohard that it flooded the whole town. Andas you dive into the waters to go to theevacuation center, you got a laceration

from the broken glass that you didntsee because of the dark waters. Aftera while, you realize that you got theleptospirosis and then eventually dieof the rats urine. Now this may soundexaggerated but the whole point here isthat every single action has its parallelreaction.

Now, what really causes Earthsdestruction; primarily three things-carbon dioxide, pollution and humanignorance. The carbon dioxide beingemitted by our consumption of energyleads to the so-called global warming.Global warming that results in climatechange which is slowly murdering ourplanet. Species extinction due to lossof habitat, rampant diseases, extreme

temperature change, all of these areslowly killing us. We cannot actuallyblame Mother Nature for all thecalamities that have happened. Well infact, we people are the root cause of thechaos. We people have needs and Godhas given us everything we need. Its

just that we tend to become selfish andignorant that we dont realize that weare becoming so abusive. After cuttingthat tree, throwing that garbage in thesea and taking a long hot bath in thatshower, we human beings still dontknow how to appreciate and give back.

Im quite sure we all are guilty ofbeing irresponsible inhabitants of planetEarth. Its not too late. We could stilldo tons. Start step by step and create aGreen Schedule on your planner. Ona Monday start by remembering thethree Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.The next day, you could convince momand dad to switch to organic food.Theyre healthier and better for theland. On Wednesday wear shirts withenvironmental friendly slogans. Whenyou see litter, pick it up and throw it inthe nearest trash bin on Thursday. Andon Friday, use both sides of the scratch

paper of your math test. Why not spendyour Saturday giving your computer arest and spending more time outdoorswith your bike? And on Sunday, try

joining the community clean-up eventsnear your home. The next week, whynot grow your own garden, remindeveryone to unplug appliances andswitch off lights when not in use, carryan eco-friendly tote bag when shopping,turnover your recyclable materials tothe junkshop or save water by takingshorter showers? The list goes on. Andif you continue doing this regularly, inno time youll be realizing that yourlittle help does big wonders.

We really should take care of theblue planet before its too late. Even if

NASAs already working on it, I stillbelieve that you cannot find life in anyother place besides Earth. Earth I cansay is the most blessed place in theuniverse simply because of the wordlife. There is only one Earth, once itsgone, we can never bring it back. Weshould begin actually listening to all thewarnings and start living green. Lifeis short, Earth is slowly dying. Dont

just stand there and stare. Make a movewhile you still can.

Ms. Danga just graduated fromhigh school from St. Matthew College,San M ateo Rizal.

Everyman isManila Standard Todaysnew column for citizens commentary onpressing issues in the Philippines andin the world. Anybody who feels he orshe has something of value to add tothe discussion on the pertinent issue isencouraged to contribute.

Articles must be between 600 and 800words. Please send them in MS Word orany compatible format to adellechua@

gmail.co m or mst.le ttertotheedit [email protected]

Earth: limited edition

TheOmbudsman andthe Bangko Sentralhave not acted onthis complaint.Why?

EVERYMAN

By Richard Rubin

PRESIDENT Barack Obama and hiswife, Michelle, paid 20.5 percent in fed-eral taxes on $789,674 in adjusted grossincome for 2011, injecting his personalfinances into the political fight over taxpolicy.

The Obamas reported earning less

than half of the $1.7 million they madein 2010 and less than 20 percent of the$5.5 million they made in 2009, accord-ing to tax returns released yesterday bythe White House. Their tax rate declinedfrom 26.3 percent in 2010 and 32.6 per-cent in 2009.

Obama, whose salary as president is$400,000 a year, received most of therest of his 2011 income from sales of hisbooks. His gross income from book salesdeclined to $487,928 for 2011 from morethan $1.5 million the previous year.

As the April 17 tax-filing deadlinenears, Obama has been emphasizing histax-fairness campaign theme and promot-ing a proposal to impose a minimum taxon those earning $1 million or more ayear. That measure, known as the BuffettRule, was scheduled for a procedural votein the Senate on Monday, April 16.

The administration put a Buffett Rule

calculator on the White House and cam-paign websites. With a few keystrokes,a taxpayer can determine how manymillionaires pay a lower effective taxrate than you.

If the Buffett Rule were in effect, theObamas wouldnt be subject to its pro-visions because they earned less than $1million for 2011. They would be affected

by other tax policies the president is pro-posing.

Paying more taxesUnder the presidents own tax pro-

posals, including the expiration of thehigh-income tax cuts and limitations onthe value of tax preferences for high-in-come households, he would pay more intaxes while ensuring we cut taxes for themiddle class and those trying to get in it,Jay Carney, the White House press secre-tary, said in a blog post.

The Obamas overpaid taxes during theyear and requested that their $24,515 re-fund be applied to their 2012 tax payment.They donated $172,130 to charitable or-ganizations, or 21.8 percent of their ad-

justed gross income.The charitable donation figure is a

lower dollar amount and a greater per-centage of their income than for 2011,

and its a big reason why their tax rate is

lower than that of many households withincomes in that range.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Poli-cy Center in Washington, households withcash income of between $500,000 and $1million in 2011 paid an average of 23.7percent of their adjusted gross incomes infederal income taxes.

Military charity

The largest recipient of the Obamasdonations was the Fisher House Founda-tion, which provides lodging to relativesof hospitalized members of the militaryand scholarships to children of deceasedand disabled soldiers. The Obamas gave$117,130 to the organization in 2011.

In 2011 they donated $5,000 each tothe Boys & Girls Club, Habitat for Hu-manity, the United Negro College Fundand Sidwell Friends School, which theirdaughters attend.

Unlike last year, the Obamas were sub-ject to the alternative minimum tax, theparallel tax system for high earners. TheAMT added $12,491 to their tax bill for2011.

Steven Bankler, an accountant in SanAntonio, Texas, said the presidents re-turns dont show smart money manage-ment because his investments are in low-

yield US government securities and he is

most likely paying interest on the mort-gage of his Chicago home at a higher ratethan he is earning.

He manages his money pathetically,Bankler said. Hes got it backwards. Thisis a man thats trying to tell us how tomake decisions on managing our money.

Book earningsBankler also questioned Obamas de-

cision to report his book earnings as busi-ness income subject to self-employmentpayroll taxes. He wouldnt have to paythose taxes if he reported the income asroyalties.

More than half of Obamas book salesoccurred outside the US, according to hisforeign tax credit form.

Anthony Nitti, a tax partner at Withum-Smith & Brown in Aspen, Colorado, saidObama appears to have taken a relativelyconservative approach to his tax return.

To me, his return looks like its beencarefully considered for public release,he said.

Use of the White House doesnt countas income under a section of the tax codethat allows the exclusion for people whoare provided meals and lodging for theiremployers convenience. Presidentshavent reported the personal use of gov-

ernment resources tied to their security,

such as Air Force One, as income.Secretarys rate

Obama pays a slightly higher tax ratethan his secretary, said Amy Brundage,a White House spokeswoman. Anita J.Breckenridge is paid $95,000 a year, ac-cording to the 2011 White House report toCongress on staff salaries. Brundage de-clined to provide details about Brecken-

ridges tax rate or return. The Buffett Ruleis named for billionaire investor WarrenBuffett, who says he pays a higher tax ratethan his secretary does.

Vice President Joseph Biden and hiswife, Jill, reported paying $87,900 in fed-eral taxes for 2011 on $379,035 in adjust-ed gross income for a 23.2 percent rate.The White House released the Bidens taxreturns on Friday.

Citizens ought to be able to knowthat everyone one else is paying their fairshare as well, Biden said April 12 at acampaign event in Exeter, New Hamp-shire.

But the truth is you know theyrenot, he said. The truth is, when you paythose taxes, you know not everyone ispaying their fair share.

The Bidens donated $5,540, or 1.5percent of their adjusted gross income, to

charity in 2011. Bloomberg

The Obamas and their taxes


6/12

News ManilaStandardToday [email protected] 17, 2012TUESDAYA6

Customs trims press corpsto 40 from 400 mediamen

IN BRIEF Vagrants get Luneta jobsIsabel Olis househelptakes off with P100,000ACTRESS Isabel Oli has lost

P100,000 in cash and personalbelongings after her maid of fourmonths took off while the actress wasworking out of town.

Oli told police she leanred ofthe theft when she found her roomin disarraty after returning home inFairview, Quezon City at around 8p.m. on Sunday from an out-of-townvideo recording. She lost some cash,two expensive wrist watches, twocell phone units and a digital camera,all worth around P100,000.

The actress said her house maid,Lorna Baliba, 38, was also missing.Oli said she hired Baliba solely onthe maids claim that she was oncea housemaid of her friend, actressAngel Locsin, but she failed to verifythe claim.

It was only after the theft that shecalled Locsin, who told her that Balibahad been victimizing other actors andactresses. Rio N. Araja

Victims urged to testifyvs. 2 extortionist copsMANILA Mayor Alfredo S. Limyesterday urged those who have beenvictimized by two Manila policemento come out and lodge a complaintagainst the cops whom he orderedsummarily dismissed for extortingmoney from two Koreans .

Lim issued the call after IwasakiKinitchi surfaced with the samecomplaint against PO2 ReynaldoFaller Olivo, 37, and PO1 Vincent

Paul Ubaldo Medina, 26, bothassigned to Station 5 of the ManilaPolice District.

The two allegedly extorted moneyfrom Korean nationals Lee Jun Heeand Baek Sung Kyun, who were justwalking around the Malate Churchlast April 7. The Koreans allegedlygave the policemen P20,000 in cash.

Kinitchi, for his part, complainedthat the two policemen accostedhim on April 4 and threatened tofile unknown charges against him ifhe does not give them money. Thetourist gave them a total of P155,000in cash. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Model citizens. Taxpayers try to cheerfully comply with their obligations to the countryas they qeue to file their tax returns at the Bureau of Internal Revenue on Quezon Avenuein Quezon City. MANNY PALMERO

CRACKING down on psuedo-journalistspeddling influence at the Bureau of Customs,the agency has officially accredited 40reporters, cameramen and photographers,only 10 percent of 400 who were accreditedin the past.

Elenita Abano, head of the CustomsPublic Information and Assistance Division(PIAD), said about 55 media outfits officiallysought accreditation with the bureau, aheadof the No-ID, No Entry policy scheduledto be implemented soon.

So far, some 117 media practitionershave applied for accreditation. Of the117, 40 have already received their RadioFrequency Enhanced ID cards (RFID)which grants them access to any office inthe bureau.

The rest of the ID applications are stillbeing assessed and processed, Abano added.

Two media groups have questioned thepolicy before the Supreme Court for allegedviolation of freedom of the press and asked that

it be struck down, but the high court did notissue a temporary restraining order and allowedCustoms Commissioner Ruffy Biazon to pushthrough with the accreditation policy.

Biazon ordered the Enforcement andSecurity Service to enforce the policy aimedto weed out fake journalists who allegedlyprotect smugglers.

Biazon said those without accreditationcan still enter BoC premises as long as theyhave visitors pass.

However, they cannot perform theirfunctions as media, covering BoC andinterviewing officials since they are notaccredited, he pointed out.

The Customs Media Association Inc.and the Customs Tri-Media AssociationInc. earlier asked Biazon to recognize themas legitimate media entities, and to honorthe use of the CMAI and CTMAI IDs asvalid instrumentality in covering Customsactivities, but Biazon turned down therequest. Joel E. Zurban o

National Parks DevelopmentCommittee (NPDC) executivedirector Juliet Villegas saidaround 200 vagrants between18 to 59 years old were hiredunder the program and are nowgetting a wage of P303 a dayfor their services.

Although we pity them,

we do not want to teach themto rely on begging for alms fortheir livelihood, Villegas saidas she explained the partnershipher agency is pursuing with the

National Capita l Region officeof the Department of SocialWelfare and Development. Wewant to provide the poor withclean, decent jobs.

Villegas said the project is inline with DSWDs campaign toprovide assistance to Filipinoswho make a living by asking foralms all over Metro Manila.

She said NPDC isconscientiously working withDSWD to provide alternative

jobs to street dwellers aroundthe Luneta instead of leaving

them to beg for money, whichonly encourages them to dependon hand-outs for the needs oftheir families.

The NPDC was createdby Executive Order No.30, issued in January 14,1963, by then PresidentDiosadano Macapagal for thedevelopment of the QuezonMemorial Circle, Luneta, andother national parks.

It is now currently taskedto develop, administer andmanage the Rizal Park inErmita, Manila, the Paco Parkin Paco, Manila and the Pook

ni Maria Makiling Forest Parkin Los Banos, Laguna.

Meanwhile, a group ofchildren, aged 10-17, gatheredat the Lancaster Hotel on ShawBoulevard in MandaluyongCity yesterday for a three-dayconference.

Participants from different

parts of the country are expectedto articulate their understandingof a Child Friendly Philippinesas a Caring and ProtectiveSociety for Children andcraft a Childrens Statementarticulating how they canbe engaged by governmentin building a child-friendlyPhilippines.

Likewise, they will selectthe children-delegates to theASEAN Childrens Forum,a mechanism for child-participation within theASEAN.

Emerging issues and threatsto making the Philippines achild-friendly society willbe discussed during the

conference such as violenceagainst children, Internetsafety Access, impact of mediaon young minds, disaster riskreduction and managementand how children can help inthe changing climate and theASEAN Childrens Forum.

The event is organized bythe Council for the Welfare ofChildren, an attached agencyof the Department of SocialWelfare and Development, incollaboration with the NationalCommittee on Child and YouthParticipation and UNICEF-Philippines.

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Public Works and Highways

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEERDavao del Sur 2nd District Engineering Ofce

Buhangin, Malita, Davao del Sur

INVI TATION TO BID

The DPWH Davao del Sur 2nd District Engineering Ofce, Buhangin, Malita, Davaodel Sur, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to applyto bid for the following contracts:

1. Contract ID # : 12LE0012

Contract Name : Installation of Thermoplastic Pavement Marking

Contract Location : Digos-Makar Road and Malalag-Malita Road(including Pedestrian lane) and Road Sign alongMalalag-Malita Road

Brief Description : Pavement Markings and Road Signs

Approved Budget forthe Contract (ABC)

: Php 6,999,920.70

Contract Duration : 30 CD

Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures inaccordance with R.A. 9184 and itsRevised Implementing Rules and Regulations.

To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) andmust meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipinocitizen or 75% Filipino-owned p artnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venturewith PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion ofa similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d)Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitmentfor at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in theeligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. The BAC w ill receive LOI uponpayment of a non-refundable fee of (N/A).

Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications forregistration to the DPWH-POCW Central Ofce before the deadline for the receiptof LOI. The DPWH POCW-Central Ofce will only process contractors applicationsfor registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractors Certicate ofRegistration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH websitewww.dpwh.gov.ph.

The signicant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below:

1. Issuance and Availability ofBidding Documents

From: April 16, 2012-May 7, 2012

2. Pre-Bid Conference 10:00AM-April 23, 2012

3. Receipt of LOIs from ProspectiveBidders

Deadline: 5:00 PMof May 2, 2012

4. Receipt of Bids Deadline: 2:00 PMof May 2, 2012

5. Opening of Bids May 7, 2011 @ 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH, Malita,Davao del Sur, upon payment of a non-refundable fee ofTen thousand pesos (Php10,000.00). Prospective bidders may likewise download the Bidding Documents(BDs), if available, from the DPWH website. Prospective bidders that will download

the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submissionof their bids documents. Bid must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount andacceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR.

Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specied inthe BDs in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The rstenvelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include theeligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the nancial componentof the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid asdetermined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualication.

The DPWH, Davao del Sur 2nd District Engineering Ofce, Buhangin, Malita,reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding processanytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

(Sgd.) JOSEPHINE C. VALDEZBAC ChairmanDPWH, Davao del Sur 2nd DEOBuhangin, Malita, Davao del Sur8012

NOTED:

(Sgd.) NOE V. PLACERDistrict Engineer

(MST-Apr. 17, 2012)

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

Regional Ofce No. IV-A (CALABARZON)OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEERQuezon 3rd Districtr Engineering Ofce

Catanauan, Quezon

(MST-Apr. 17, 2012)

Invi tat ion to Bid No. 2012-05

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Quezon 3rd DistrictEngineering Ofce, Catanauan, Quezon, through its Bids and Awards Committee(BAC), invites contractors to bid for the following contract(s):

1. Contract ID: 12DM0026Contract Name: Improvement/Rehabilitation of Padre

Burgos-Pototanin Junction RoadContract Location: Agdanga-Unisan SectionScope of Work: Asphalt OverlayApproved Budget for the Contract: Php10,000,000.00Contract Duration: 60 Calendar DaysCost of Biding Documents: Php10,000.00

2. Contract ID: 12DM0027Contract Name: Construction of Segaras-Yugno and

(Umagos) Sections Farm to Market RoadNet Length: 7.20 k\Kms.Contract Location: Brgy. Camplora, San Andres, QuezonScope of Work: ConstructionApproved Budget for the Contract: Php