Metro Express No. 13

Sana naman GUMILING,este, GUMALING na (..anoka ba Lolo Eug gulo u ha?)

si Idol Ms. Cristine R.(photo above). Wawa amansya ‘di makapag-shoot ng“Reputasyon” na-dengueraw. Kate-text lang nyapramis mga inggetero!

A.Z. Kal

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Contact Information: Tel/Fax : (045) 892-6664 (045) 599-5524Email: [email protected]

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PREMIER PILOT SCHOOL

Trainer MarioEntrolizo

coaxes “Mindan-ao” to engage

him inan “Eagle Dance”

inside thePhilippine EagleFoundation (PEF)

compound inDavao City lastweek. The PEF

breeds theendangered

Philippine“Monkey-eating

Eagle” andreintroduces them

to their naturalenvironment.

Doctors by now may have already givenCRISTINE REYES (right photo) a clean bill ofhealth following her bout with dengue. So we

presume shooting on her upcoming movie and TVseries “Reputasyon” must be rolling by now.

PAGE 6 Entertainment

BY ISMAEL “EL” AMIGO

P-Noy comes home with$13B economic package

C2 aviation ratingcosting Ph billions

MANILA — Away from thehustle and bustle of political ma-noeuvrings, crucifixion and whathave you, is the concern of thelong-lingering FAA downgradingof Philippine aviation from Cate-gory 1 to Category 2.

Continued on page 2

MetroxpressMetroExpress

Sept. 5 - Sept. 12, 2011Vol. 1. No.13

www.metroexpressnews.yolasite.com

Manila, PHILIPPINES P12.00

EMetro-SubicMetro-Subic

(See page 8/Backpage)

Two faces of Subic Freeport

ExpressExpressBUSINESS & LEISURE:

Subic BayFreeportremitsP3.71B toNationalTreasury

AILEEN CLEMENTEPTAA President

So goes the lead paragraph lastweek in “1st-APLUMA Says...” col-umn where it tackled a topic onveritable aviation and tourism rev-enue losses in billions of much-needed cash that could have feedand provided basic services to mil-lions of our less fortunate broth-ers and sisters.

SBMA ADMINISTRATOR/CEOArmand Arreza

12,500 NEWNURSES TO BE

HIRED BY GOV’TTHIS YEAR-- DRILON

(See page 5)

President Aquino delivers his message on National Heroes Day at the Libinganng mga Bayani, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Monday (August 29) or beforedeparting for a five-day state visit to China where he accordingly netted morethan $13B economic package for Ph.

A VALIANT STAND ON SPREADING PH’s BRIGHT SIDE

Classic, classic match — ArumManny Pacquiao and

Mexican champ Juan ManuelMarquez’s fight on November12 will go down in history asa “classic” bout although thisis a rematch of sorts.

This was the “fearlessforecast” given by no otherthan Top Rank founder andCEO Bob Arum at a pressconference at the ManilaHotel on Saturday kicking offthe two boxers’ world presstour for the Las Vegas match.

“The world of sports willsee a classic, classic match,”

BOB ARUMArum was quoted by theworking press as saying. “This

Cont’d on page 6

“Mission accomplished.”That would ably describe the

result of President Benigno Aqui-no’s state visit to China last weekwhere he allegedly netted around$13 billion in actual and proposedinvestments from China to thePhilippines.

President Aquino and his dele-gation of top Philippine business-men arrived in Manila early Satur-day evening.

He immediately faced the work-ing media and summarized the re-sults of his state visit that was al-legedly worth around $13 billion“of actual and planned Chinese in-vestments in the Philippines.”

36 meetingsIn all, President Aquino said “he

had 36 meetings with Chinesebusinessmen that netted pledgesof $1.282 billion in new invest-ments, $3.8 billion in “almost cer-tain” investments, and another$7.9 billion worth of possible in-vestments from corporations thatshowed interest in the country.”

“We succeeded in puttingacross the message we want tobring: the door of the Philippinesis open to investments from Chi-na,” President Aquino said in hisspeech speech at the Naia Termi-nal II.

Business opportunities“With our economic managers,

we showed them the businessopportunities in the Philippines.

In agriculture, infrastructure, en-ergy, tourism, the two govern-ments saw the good results of

Chinese continuing to look for in-vestment opportunities.”

James Villarino

NEWS2 Sept. 5 - Sept 12, 2011Metro Express

(From page 1)

Correct, the group said PH has now racked up more than P66.30billion in tourism revenue losses simply because of that C2 down-grade.

And that figure, the group said, comes from the United Statesmarket alone because of our dear Philippines’s Category 2 status.

Aileen Clemente, president of the Philippine Travel Agencies As-sociation (PTAA), said PH’s Category 2 status is delaying expansionof routes by local airlines to the US and other countries.

A good example to this she said is no other than Cebu Pacificwhose plans of spreading its wings further to the US of A remain inthe back burner because of C2.

C2 really denies the country of additional tourist arrivals from NorthAmerica (read: zero tourism revenues) observers aver.

This, they said must be studied, reviewed by the Aquino Adminis-tration, as soon as possible spearheaded by no other than brand-new DOTC Secretary and close P-Noy ally Mar Roxas.

The CAAP is a line agency of the DOTC.Of course, there is no need explaining it as the former Senator and

DTI Secretary the economic effects of FAA’s C2 as he knows Philip-pine economy better that anybody else.

Again, without further explanation, C2 also resulted into Europe’sbanning against Philippine air carriers’ entering into their radars not-withstanding the telltale unfavorable travel advisory to the Philip-pines.

Indeed, according a foreign aviation expert who requested ano-nymity, the operational ban issued by the European Union againstPhilippine Air Carriers has significant consequences for the econo-my.

As it was mentioned by the PTAA, one side effect of the ban isthat tourists from EU countries would not be able to get travel insur-ance when travelling on any Philippine carrier for inter-island travel.

Aside from Philippine air carriers being banned from flying to Eu-rope, European citizens are likewise advised and discouraged bytheir countries from travelling into the Philippines since the safetyrating of our aviation industry has tremendous implications on theirlife insurance policies.

In other words, travel aboard a Philippine aircraft is an uninsurablerisk for any European citizen. A logical consequence of this would bethat European tourists would opt to go to neighboring Asean coun-tries that offer similar tropical conditions for their recreational activ-ities.

It’s also worth mentioning about the limitations on air traffic ex-pansion for Philippine Air Carriers to the United States and its con-sequential impact to the local labor force.

Clearly therefore, the C2 Rating has a significant impact on thebusiness operations, labor and profitability of any Philippine air car-rier.

Plans of Cebu Pacific in expanding to the United States are likewiseput on hold which therefore limits its ability to increase operations,generate more jobs, and have greater revenue which redounds to thebenefit of the country.

Erosion of investor confidenceAt the outset, the Category 2 Rating and operational ban of Eu-

rope had influenced Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, and Australiato impose similar restrictions against the Philippines.

It was only through diplomatic channels and negotiations that theCivil Aviations Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) was able to avertthe actions of such states from likewise banning Philippine air carri-ers in their respective jurisdictions.

The recent political movements at CAAP through the insertion ofpolitical appointees accordingly threatened and undermined the le-gal framework and professional processes of CAAP which should bean independent safety regulator. The same source added that thesecontroversies have “exacerbated the problems of C2 since it resultedin the postponement of the International Civil Aviation Organizationaudit that would have resulted into the reinstatement of the Philip-pines to Category 1.”

“The Category 2 rating is a strong message against the state of theaviation industry which therefore discourages economic growth andinvestor confidence. The continued derogatory status of the Philip-pines and its failure to achieve Category 1 may lead to other coun-tries following the initiative of the European Union and ban Philip-pine carriers due to safety considerations,” the source said.

It was way back January 14, 2008 that a newspaper report cameabout the US’s Federal Aviation Administration downgraded to thePhilippines to C2 quoting a statement from FAA’s website as “unsafeport of origin.” Countries under C1 are those compliant with aviationsafety standards of the ICAO. Failure to meet its stringent standardsautomatically nets C2 rating.

Other countries with C2 ratings are are Bangladesh, Cote Dâvoire,Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro (former-ly Yugoslavia), and Nauru.

PH’s C2 aviation rating costing...

LRT/MRT & THE METROPOLIS

MMDA starts imposing fines on PUBsnot complying on roof-tagging scheme

Seven months after it got theapproval from Metro Manila may-ors, the Metropolitan Manila De-velopment Authority (MMDA)will now begin apprehending driv-ers of passenger buses that stillhave not complied with the agen-cy’s vehicle-tagging scheme.

At the same time, the MMDAwill start imposing fines on the ap-prehended drivers of buses with-out the required “tags” or licensenumbers painted on the vehicle’sfront, sides, back and roof.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolen-tino said the agency has given enough time to bus operators to complywith the scheme which was approved by the Metro Manila Council(MMC) last February.

The scheme calls for the tagging of all registered and franchised pub-lic utility vehicles (buses, jeepneys, GT and Asian Utility Vehicles, taxis,school buses, tourist shuttle buses and cargo trucks) plying major andsecondary thoroughfares in the metropolis.

The MMC, whose members are the 17 Metro Manila mayors, is theMMDA’s policy-making body.

Tolentino said they gave bus operators a seven-day dry-run last weekto allow them to paint the numbers on their vehicles.

“They have no reason that they cannot comply; we give them time tomeet the terms,” Tolentino said, adding that as early as 5 a.m. on Mon-day, he will personally lead traffic enforcers along Commonwealth Ave-nue in Quezon City in flagging down buses without the required tags.

Drivers of buses without tags apprehended for the first time will befined P500.

For subsequent offenses, the MMDA said it will recommend the sus-pension or cancellation of the bus firm’s franchise to the Land Trans-portation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

According to the MMDA guidelines, vehicle tagging means the paint-ing of the license plate numbers on the roof, front, back, and two sidesof the PUVs using a color scheme for easy classification.

Department of Social Welfareand Development (DSWD) Secre-tary Corazon “Dinky”Juliano-Soli-man said that Mandaluyong May-or Benhur Abalos and Rep. Nepta-li Gonzales have expressed theirwhole- hearted support to theagency’s conditional cash trans-fer (CCT) project.

Both officials also stressed thatthere was no need to tar and polit-icize the DSWD’s CCT program asit was doing its best to help thecountry’s marginalized sector.

Abalos also said that the con-vergence platform of the DSWD“creates endless possibilities andopportunities for program benefi-ciaries.

More schoolsAs this develops, Gonzales also

DSWD says Mandaluyongofficials back CCT program

pledged to build more schools andhospitals to enable compliance ofthe beneficiaries to the conditionsof the program on health and edu-cation.

The CCT is a rights-based pro-gram that invests in the conditionof children by giving assistance topoor households so they can con-tinue sending their children toschool and provide them properhealth care and nutrition.

Good healthThe program believes that by

promoting the right of children tohave education and good health,poor families have fair chances ofrising out of extreme poverty.

Beneficiaries received P1,400monthly to buy additional food andother necessities for their family.

E-bus operator seeks incentivesLocal firm Green Frog Zero Emissions Transport is asking govern-

ment to provide incentives to allow the entry of electric bus manufactur-ers into the country.

“Our bus manufacturing partner is willing to discuss opening an as-sembly plant after local demand is proven. They want to see how fastthe first 50 zero emissions buses are absorbed into the market,” PhilipGo Apostol, Green Frog managing director said.

He said the company will be importing up to 62 e-buses from a Chi-nese firm to help bring down transport costs and promote a cleanerenvironment.

Green Frog targets a total of 62 e-buses to be operational before theend of 2012.

The 36-passenger e-bus will initially be plying different routes in Makatiand will charge only P8 per passenger. Its charging station will also belocated in Makati.

Apostol said he cannot disclose the cost of manufacturing an e-busalthough he expects the price to come down following the announce-ment of China to introduce 10,000 “new energy buses” in 25 cities start-

ing this year.“Their (China) national government is subsidizing all the new energy

buses to decrease pollution levels in their cities. This is a coordinatedeffort from the national and local government to invest in the manufac-turers, subsidize purchases and speed up regulatory approvals,” hesaid.

Apostol said unlike China, there is still no government incentives inthe Philippines for importing and operating completely built-up zeroemissions buses.

“A couple of departments helping out but nothing concrete yet. Whata difference between China and our country,” he said.

“They (government) should help jump start the industry initial bywaiving import duties in CBU’s then tax breaks for manufacturing,”Apostol added.

Apostol declined to disclose the financial terms of the e-bus projectbut said local banks have agreed to extend financing.

“Our first batch of buses will be financed by a friendly forward look-ing local private bank. Awaiting PhilExim approval for the loan guarantyfor the next batch buses,” he said.

Apostol said government regulatory approvals are taking longer thanplanned which pushed back introduction of the zero emissions buses.

Apostol earlier said he expects the first batch to arrive in August.He the City of Makati, Department of Energy, Department of Trans-

portation and Communications and the Board of Investments have beenputting a lot of effort into getting the immensely e-bus project going.

NBI sets up special lane for OFWsThe National Bureau of Investi-

gation (NBI) has set up a speciallane for overseas Filipino workers(OFWs) to speed up issuance ofclearances.

OFWs are considered as “mod-ern Filipino heroes” for keeping upthe Philippine economy afloat, es-pecially during the 1997 Asian fi-nancial crisis, through remittanc-es of their hard-earned money thatruns to millions of dollars.

The NBI, which is the Philip-pines’ premier investigating body,is an attached agency of the De-partment of Justice (DOJ).

Alfredo Palmiery, president ofthe Filipino Association of Man-

power Exporters, Inc. (FAME), in astatement, said that NBI DirectorMagtanggol Gatdula alreadyagreed with their proposal of cre-ating a special lane that would at-tend to the applicants coming fromFAME.

FAME is the umbrella organiza-tion with 700 members for severalcountry associations deployingOFWs to various countries.

The secretariat of FAME willendorse applicants to the NBI tothe special lane , which will issueNBI clearance within three daysrequired by the embassies togeth-er with the visa application for awork permit.

As part of its modernization program, the city government of Parañaqueupgraded its biometric attendance registry system as it replaces the oldbiometric machines with a new type that has advance features.

Mayor Florencio Bernabe said that the new time registry biometricsread finger impression, typical of a fingerprint compares to the old setthat used the palm signature recognition signature.

No PIN code and hard pressing are required; a soft touch of a finger(index or thumb) will be sufficient to make the system match the fingersignature of the user with the same inputs that were gathered before-hand, actually, it only takes 1 second to log in/out, Bernabe said.

A total of 40 Model 628 Double Engine ZK Finger Print Stand AloneTime Recorders were purchased by the city government for the pur-pose. The city government installed 15 units at the city hall and the restin barangay halls and other local government facilities.

Bernabe says Paranaqueupgrading biometric registry

Alarming cases of dengue rocked the metropolis in recent weeks and that concerned government agencies stay in the watch specially in the Quezon Cityarea where dengue victims abounds according to reports. Photo shows Infant dengue victims lay in beds at an undisclosed hospital.

MMDA CHAIR TOLENTINO

BUSINESS 3Sept. 5 - Sept. 12, 2011METRO EXPRESS

Telco giant Smart Communica-tions Inc. last week announced ithas enhanced its postpaid plansto gain more market shares.

Called the “ultimate in consum-able,” Smart all-in allows postpaidsubscribers to use their subscrip-tion package as they please.

“While the competition’s ‘add-on’ postpaid plan stack one ser-vice on top of the other like build-ing blocks, Smart’s All-in plans letsyou ‘add-in’ services as if you’refilling a box,” Guido Zaballero,head of Smart Mobile marketingsaid.

Zaballero said all-in is like pre-paid on postpaid, adding that Smartsubscribers have full control onhow they want to use their month-ly service fees.

Available all-in services includethe popular UnliTalk, UnliText andUnliSurf packages as well as con-sumable browsing, and BlackBer-ry packages that include email, in-

Smart beefs up postpaidlineup with ‘All-in’ plans

stant messaging, and social net-works, and browsing for BlackBer-ry users.

“Demand for services has clear-ly changed. Our postpaid subscrib-ers want to be able to avail of thesame packages available to ourprepaid subscribers and that’s ex-actly what we did,” Zaballero said.

At end-June, the group of Phil-ippine Long Distance Telephone

“Demand for ser-vices has clearly

changed. Our post-paid subscribers

want to be able toavail of the same

packages available toour prepaid sub-

scribers and that’sexactly what we did,”

Zaballero said.

The Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) has pro-vided the Bureau of Customs(BOC) a US$ 10 million which willallow it to improve its customs in-telligence systems.

The latter is anchored on a data-base platform where important in-formation regarding customstransactions are stored, gatheredand systematically retrieved toenhance revenue collection, tradefacilitation and enforcement ofcustoms regulations.

For BOC to obtain the grant, theagency must first upgrade its elec-tronic-to-mobile (E2M) systemand the acquisition of additionalhardware, software and otherequipment for data extraction, asstated by the Philippine CustomsIntelligence System (PCIS) Project.

PCIS requires the enhancementof BOC’s information communica-tion technology-based infrastruc-ture to collect, process, organizeand disseminate operations-relat-ed information.

Benefits to be derived from theimplementation of the PCIS projectinclude: plugging the traditionalleakages in the tax collection ef-fort; undervaluation and misdecla-ration of shipment would bechecked because of the compari-sons that can be made in similartransactions; and customs exam-iners/inspectors, intelligence andenforcement officers and post-en-try auditors would be able to carryout more timely and deeper scruti-ny of daily operations.

The PCIS was conceptualized inmid-2003 and approved in March2004 by the Investment Coordina-tion Committee-Cabinet Committeeof the National Economic and De-velopment Authority.

JICA grantsUS$10-Mintelligencegrant to BoC

Benguet Corp. posted a consol-idated net income of P580 millionin the first six months, a reversalfrom the net loss of P88 million inthe same period last year.

This was also the first time since2001 that Benguet registered pos-itive operating results for a fiscalsemester, Benguet said in a state-ment.

The strong earnings perfor-mance during the first half of 2011was the result of increased pro-duction output in nickel and goldoperations, higher world metal pric-

Gold puts Benguet in black with P580M income in first half

Customs Commissioner An-gelito Alvarez directed the sei-zure at the Port of Manila of three40-footer container vans loadedwith P2.5 million worth of redonions from China.

This is the sixth time in the pastfour months that the Bureau ofCustoms (BOC) thwarted theeventual entry and distributionof smuggled onions in the coun-try.

“Their combined losses havenow run up to more than P33 mil-lion,” Alvarez said referring to allthe six anti-smuggling opera-tions.

The BOC chief said the latestcontraband, misdeclared by theirconsignees Interwide Tradingand Airfreight Alliance Incorpo-rated as pickles and juice, arrivedin POM last week without an im-port permit from the Bureau ofPlant Industry (BPI).

Relatively, Customs DeputyCommissioner for Enforcement Horacio Suansing said discovery ofthe misdeclared onions was made through a tip received by agents ofthe Enforcement Group and the Operations and Intelligence Officethat the shipments were not properly covered by Import and Photo-sanitary Permits.

It can be recalled that the BOC confiscated last week more than3,500 bags of smuggled onions worth more than P2 million in Tondo,

BOC seizes P2.5M worth of smuggled onionsManila. Bulk of these items werefound openly sold at warehous-es along Bilbao Street and morethan a thousand bags were con-fiscated from two vans parkednear one of the warehouses.

Last August 11, the Bureaualso seized at the POM two con-tainers of onions worth more thanP4 million from China that weretried to pass off as juice.

In mid-July, a BOC team alsoseized some 4,000 bags of onionwith a retail value of P3.5 millionthat were kept at the MarceloCold Storage in Navotas.

Also, some P6.4 million worthof onions from China that wereloaded in eight forty-footer con-tainer vans were confiscated byCustoms personnel last May inDavao.

However, the biggest opera-tion, so far, was made last May26 when some 26,000 bags ofsmuggled onions worth P16 mil-

lion were seized in a cold storage facility in Meycuayan City, Bulacan.Alvarez said these operations should come as a welcome develop-

ment for local onion growers who have long been complaining ofunfair competition from imported onions.

He also thanked the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magsisibuyasng Nueva Ecija (KASAMNE) for continuously providing the neces-sary information to fight against illegally imported onions

es, as well as, by the non-cash gainresulting from the continuing dis-counted settlement of the compa-ny’s obligations.

Operating revenues expandedby 179 percent to P374 million fromP134 million for the same period in2010. Mining operations largelycontributed to this rise, at P331million, or 89 percent of operatingrevenues, the company said.

The Sta. Cruz Nickel Project con-tributed P173 million, while theAcupan gold operation sharedP152 million.

The Acupan gold mine reportednet earnings of P46 million for thefirst semester of 2011, or 48 per-cent higher than the P31 million inthe same period in 2010. This wasattributed to increased productionand strong market price of gold.Acupan continues its expansionprogram to bring production to 150tons per day within the year and300 tons per day by 2012.

BenguetCorp Nickel Mines, Inc.(BNMI), a wholly owned subsid-iary, generated net earnings of P28million from nickel ore shipments

from its Sta. Cruz Nickel Project inthe first six months, as against nilin the same period in 2010. BNMIis currently undertaking a feasibil-ity study to develop a processingcapability for value added nickelproducts.

The Balatoc Gold ResourcesCorp. (BGRC), another wholly-owned subsidiary and operator ofthe Balatoc Tailings Project (BTP)has signed contracts for detailedengineering, rehabilitation of thetailings ponds and reinforcementof the silt dam.

BTP is expected to be the coun-try’s first large scale gold recov-ery project from mill tailings. Finan-cial closing of the project is expect-ed within 2011.

“The overall performance ofBenguet Corporation in the firsthalf of the year fulfills managementtargets for 2011”, said its presidentand chief executive Benjamin Phil-ip G. Romualdez. “We will contin-ue to build strong foundations forgenerating recurring income, whiletaking advantage of favorable met-al prices,” he said.

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)General Manager Juan C. Sta. Anaannounced that the agency willexpand and further develop portfacilities serving Cagayan De Oroand Tacloban.

“At this time, the current portsstructure plan of PPA has put pre-mium in pursuance of its mandateto provide the country’s sea trav-eling public with more efficient,appropriate and modern port facil-ities and equipment on our keyports or major gateways like theCagayan de Oro (CDO) Port, whichis the only major port serving theentire CDO and its neighboringprovinces,” the PPA chief empha-sized.

“To date, the CDO port caters toan average of 1,200 passengersdaily during regular, and 2,500 pas-sengers daily on peak seasons(and on) vessel calls, the port re-ceives seven vessels a day rang-ing from superferries, liners andtramping vessels,” Sta. Ana add-ed.

On cargoes, the port has amonthly averages around 12,500twenty-foot equivalent unit.

He said other PPA improvementin CDO will include the paving of

PPA to expand,improve portfacilities inCDO, Tacloban

around 20,500 square-meter newlydeveloped operational back-uparea to provide additional space forstorage of container cargoes; theconstruction of a new two-storypassenger terminal building de-signed to accommodate 1,500 pas-

sengers at any given time, and theconstruction of three “roll-on, roll-off” berths that would accommo-date large long-haul R0-R0 vesselsof gross register tons (GRT) rang-ing from 6,500 to 19,000 GRT andwith a minimum draft requirement

of 7.0 meters.While the ”Tacloban Port Im-

provement/Rehabilitation Project(TPIRP) involves the “expansion”of the existing wharf of the port.

“This would require the instal-lation of steel pipe sheet piles and

waling (1,456 MT), rockworks(15,378 cu. m.), fill materials (37,544cu. m.), and tie rods (14 sets of 32mm x 18 m and 90 sets of 70 mm x 24m). This port handles both foreignand domestic cargoes.

(Press Release)

MARIVELES, Bataan — D.I.Dawn Patrol Manufacturing Cor-poration (DIDPMC), one of the lo-cators at the Freeport Area ofBataan (FAB), has recently in-creased its capital stock, signify-ing an upward trend in doing busi-ness at the FAB barely a year afterit became operational.

DIDPMC has increased its cap-ital stock from P10 million to almostP100 million, a sign of economichealth at the FAB.

The rise in the company’s stockindicates the company’s run onadditional proceeds to invest inprojects or machinery that will in-crease corporate profits and/or ef-ficiency.

“This additional investmentproves the viability of doing busi-ness at the FAB and the trustwor-thiness of the Authority of the Free-port Area of Bataan (AFAB) as anauthority that will stand by itspromise to ensure locator satisfac-tion,” AFAB chairman and admin-istrator Deogracias Custodio said.

The firm, which manufacturesquality outdoor products particu-larly harnesses and packs, was rec-ognized by the AFAB as one ofthe top ranking export/import com-panies in the FAB for 2010.

DIDPMC is also among themany companies that enjoy theFAB’s superior incentives that in-clude income tax holiday (ITH)from four years to eight years; five-percent tax in lieu of local and na-tional taxes after ITH period; dutyfree importation of capital equip-ment, raw materials, consumergoods and personal items; exemp-tion from wharfage dues, exporttaxes, imports and fees; domesticsales allowance of up to 30 per-cent of total sales; and special vi-sas for investors.

The FAB is set to become thenew model for global freeport Asiaas it is also the only freeport whereinvestors can own real property.

DI Dawnhikes

investmentportfolio

...but it may not reverseP-Noy’s decision to fire him

Alvarez

“I was expecting someone who cando the same job (of apprehending smug-glers), but look what happened? I’m nothappy with his performance (at BoC )anymore.”

That was President Noy speaking toreporters during his state visit to Chinarecently and the subject is no other thanCustoms Commissioner Lito Alvarez.

Alvarez is allegedly on his way outfollowing the unexplained disappearanceof around two thousand dutiable con-tainer vans transhipped from Manila toBatangas.

HIs replacement could not be deter-

mined at presstime but Palace Spokes-man Edwin Lacierda confirmed to report-ers President Noy had a talk with losingsenatorial candidate Ruffy Biazon.

President Aquino poses for posterity with Chinese businessmen during a series of business meetings at the China World Hotel Wednesday (August 31) in linewith his five-day state visit to China.

Co. (PLDT) has 430,336 postpaidsubscribers, lower by two percentfrom 439,844 postpaid subscribersin the same period last year.

Of the total, Smart had 429,752postpaid subscribers and RedMobile, 584 postpaid subscribers.

Revenues from postpaid ac-counts amounted to P3.14 billionin the first six months, down fromP3.4 billion in the same period last

year.Including prepaid subscribers,

the PLDT group had total cellularsubscriber base of 47.8 million sub-scribers, five percent or 2.2 millionup from the end of last year.

Smart recorded net additions of800,00 subscribers to end with 26.5million subscribers while Talk ‘NText likewise added about 800,000subscribers to end with 19.8 mil-

lion subscribers.Red Mobile, the brand owned by

Smart subsidiary, CURE, had about1.5 million subscribers at the endof the period, having added600,000 new subscribers.

Red Mobile was relaunched inMarch 2010 and positioned to meetmarket demand for unlimited ser-vices, particularly for “secondSIM” holders.

OPINIONVIEWS, COMMENTARIES, OPEN FORUM

4 Sept. 5 - Sept. 12 , 2011

Ismael ‘El’ AmigoEditor

Fitzgerald Cecil ioAsst. Editor

A.Z. KalArt Director

Eugene LabadanPR, Marketing & Circulation Manager

Benjie Alejandro, Ana Cheza Montana, Noel DolorEditorial Contributors

EDITOR’S NOTE: All commentaries and or opinions submitted by columnists and hereinpublished shall remain as personal opinion of Metro Express’ column writers. As such,these cannot and never be construed nor considered as similar to that of this publica-tion (Metro Express)’s stand on issues discussed. Be that as it may, Metro Expressshall not be held liable on any legal issues related/pertaining to, or any column/commentaries that may appear herein.

el amigo media solutionsPublisher

EDITORIAL

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Metro Express

Alvarez out;Jimenez in

ARIELLE NIAMBI DELOS

REYES-AMIGO

LIVEWITH IT

SO IT’S ALL BUT RIGHT, or to their belief, to paste a penis replica on Jesus Christ’s face? At least for them, perhaps, led by bespectacled main man of“Kulo,” the infamous “nakakakulo ng dugo” art exhibit at CCP. Will somebody give them a penis, err, penny for their thoughts please and “lakas ng loob” yetto stage a mass action to express their right to peste, err, paste? Take note of the placard that says “CENSORSHIP IS OFFENSIVE.” So, whose work or deedis not offensive? We’re just asking. Marami po ang paraan para sumikat na hindi tayo makaka-offend sa kapwa.

Manny Pacquiao and Mexican champ Juan Manuel Marquez’s fighton November 12 will go down in history as a “classic” bout althoughthis is a rematch of sorts.

This was the “fearless forecast” given by no other than Top Rankfounder and CEO Bob Arum at a press conference at the Manila Hotelon Saturday kicking off the two boxers’ world press tour for the LasVegas match.

“The world of sports will see a classic, classic match,” Arum wasquoted by the working press as saying. “This match will be a credit toboxing and will be eagerly followed by all sports fans.”

Arum added that a good indicator to this is the fact that “only around50 of the more than 16,000 tickets for the fight at the MGM Grand in LasVegas are left unsold.”

It was also claimed by Arum the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch wouldbe similar to that of the two boxers’ previous fights in Las Vegas, wherehundreds if not thousands of Filipinos flooded the fight venue.

“In the week of the fight, Mandalay Bay becomes little Manila...becomes a Filipino oasis,” Arum claimed.

Arum also assured boxing fans not to be alarmed by the remaining 50tickets as Top Rank has already ordered reprints aside from live telecastjust outside the boxing venue where around 20,000 people can view thefight as added privileges.

“They can gain free admission to the weigh-in and will be around allthe excitement,” said Arum adding that the world press tour was signif-icant especially because it started in Pacquiao’s homeland in the Philip-pines.

After the Philippines, the promo proceeds to New York and Las Ve-gas before winding up in Mexico, Marquez’s home country.

Marquez arrived in the Philippines last Thursday and was warmly-welcomed by no other than Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim fanning furtherthe local chief executive’s sentiment against Pacquaio who allegedlysnubbed Lim’s invitation after Pacquiao’s fight with Shane Mosley.

Classic match; congrats to P-Noy!That too, makes one foreign

boxer’s visit to RP “classic.”Understandably, Mayor Lim

can’t get over yet with the Repre-sentative from Saranggani’s no-show on the former’s official invi-tation then.

Mayor’s Lim followers howev-er aver Manny Pac’s actuation isan act unbecoming an “adoptedson” of the city and be that as itmay have been endowed by May-or Lim’s political rival in former Ma-nila Mayor and DENR Sec. LitoAtienza.

Photos of Manny Pac’s motor-cade with then Manila Mayor LitoAtienza abound in the internet.

You can check it out if you wantproof.

***This humble representation congratulates President Aquino who ar-

rived in Manila early Saturday evening from China with nearly $13billion worth of possible investments from China to the Philippines.

President Aquino said his meetings (36 in all) with Chinese business-men “resulted in pledges of $1.282 billion in new investments, $3.8billion in “almost certain” investments, and another $7.9 billion worthof possible investments from corporations that showed interest in thecountry.”

Along with leading businessmen from the Philippines, the Presidentand his delegation touched down at around 6:40 p.m. at the NinoyAquino International Airport.

Aquino and Hu Jintao share positive assessment ofdevelopment in PHL-China relations

DBM releases P3.07B for classroom construction, repairDe Lima displeased over ‘grandstanding’ reports3 former Chief Justices oppose changes to JBC rulesChinese consortium calls on Aquino in ShanghaiAquino witnesses signing of agreements between PHL

and Chinese businessesPNP files plunder raps vs. ex-FG Mike Arroyo, 25 othersAquino, Hu Jintao agree to make 2012-2013 ‘years of

friendly exchanges’ for PHL and ChinaDe Lima calls for speedy resolution of pending cases of

nominees to JudiciaryThe country faces graft and corruption as modern-day

oppressor, says ColomaThe greatest advantage of investing in PHL is the

Filipino workforce – Aquino1,700 indigent families in Pampanga to be enrolled in

DSWD’s 4PsIloilo solon says CCT helps in solving education prob-

lemFolks hail restoration of old Gabaldon building in

PangasinanLobregat : ‘I’m not one of top 10 peace spoilers’Suspected drug courier, militiaman killed in Central

MindanaoBaguio City gov’t makes available P90M for calamity

rehabilitationLuistro sees no need to include ‘cybersex’ in curriculum6.7-hectare Iloilo City property up for auction this yearCouncil allows mayor to sign contract with relocation

site beneficiaries (Source: balita.ph)

HEADLINES Last WeekInbox

Ph’s ‘back to zero’ retrogression inpeace proposal to MILF could ruin talks

By MARYA SALAMATBulatlat.com

MANILA – Talks between the Government of the Philippines(GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) teetered onthe brink of collapse last Aug 23 in Kuala Lumpur, as thegovernment peace panel finally submitted its counter-proposalwhich the MILF peace panel described as “starting from zero.”The MILF-GPH peace negotiations have been going on for 14years now.

Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of MILF peace panel, said a“heaven and earth” gap exists between the GPH proposed peace settlement and thedraft compact submitted by the MILF last February. That is, despite the fact that theMILF has already scaled back their demand from secession to genuine autonomy,Iqbal said, in a round-table discussion with Moro Christian Peoples Alliance (MCPA)shortly after arriving from Kuala Lumpur. Iqbal and the rest of the MILF panel haddecided to reject the GPH proposal, and to send a copy to the MILF central committeewith the recommendation to reject it.

In an interview with DZRH after the August MILF-GPH formal talks was cut short,Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice-chairman, said “it is our proposal that was rejected by theGPH.” He said the MILF peace panel had expected the Aquino government tocomment on the MILF draft compact “commission by commission,” especially after theTokyo consensus of MILF chair Murad and GPH President Aquino to “fast-track thepeace negotiations.”

The peace problem in Mindanao is a Bangsamoro problem, Jaafar said. “We knowthis problem better than the GPH, so the GPH should have listened to us,” he added.

The GPH had reportedly tried to delay putting their counter proposal on thenegotiating table in their latest round of talks, as it had sought first to discuss the caseof Ameril Omra Kato, an MILF commander whom the GPH’s military troops hadbranded as “rogue.” The Aquino government has been pressuring the MILF to expelKato and his troops, a move that would allow the Philippine government troops to freelytarget Kato and his troops.

But the MILF did not brand their “brother” as rogue; neither did they fully removeKato, who is not just a commander but an ulama (a Muslim leader), too, from theroster of the MILF, as they said they have not yet fully exhausted all efforts to reachout to him.

Jaafar said Kato is not a problem. If they sign a peace settlement with the Philippinegovernment and it proves to be the solution to the Moro question in Mindanao, then “allour brothers including Nur will support that.”

Going for a ‘brand-new change’Not even an overhaul could remedy the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao

(ARMM) because it is already “paralyzed” and beyond help, said Jaafar. The MILFdoes not recognize the ARMM. They have in fact rejected overtures from the Aquinogovernment to head it, and they branded as “malicious” the recent inclusion in the listof possible temporary heads of ARMM of at least four leaders of MILF.

After more than 15 years of ARMM, there is still no change in the lives of theBangsamoro people, Jaafar said, adding that “If there had been change, it occurredonly on the lives of the ARMM leaders whose wealth had increased as they assumed

power.” Jaafar said the MILF wants change and prosperity tobe “balanced,” to be inclusive also of the ordinary citizens ofthe Bangsamoro state. Such “brand-new change” is what theMILF said they hoped to bring about in establishing aBangsamoro state.

The Moro is not just a segment of Filipino population, saidMILF peace panel member Michael Mastura, as he citedexamples of the Moro people in Mindanao conducting

themselves politically, culturally and militarily vis-à-vis other nations. They have hadtreaties, for example, with other nations. “We have a different history, power structureand culture,” said Iqbal. But because this is different from that of the Philippinegovernment, he reiterated the solution in their draft compact for the Bangsamoro self-governance and real autonomy.

From the point of view of the GPH, it would just be a “substate” because, based onMILF draft compact, in some major governance issues such as coinage, foreignaffairs, postal services and armed defense, the Bangsamoro state would still be underthe Philippine government. The MILF just wants their authority to govern themselvesbe respected and recognized, in such a way that they would have sufficient power thatthey would not have to ask the Philippine government for money, said Jaafar.

But the GPH draft counter-proposal, according to Iqbal, did not even mention theword “substate.” Instead of granting the MILF’s scaled-back demand for semi-independence or real autonomy, the GPH proposed a transition government where theMILF would constitute just a third of the governing authority. The other two would beshared by the GPH and representatives of civil service organizations.

Iqbal said the MILF proposal embodies “continuity from 1987 to now,” they haveincorporated in it the results of their peace agreements with the Philippine government,but the GPH proposal “started from zero.” The MILF is proposing “real governance,”the GPH reverted to integration, said Iqbal. The MILF reframed the MOA-AD to excisewhat its opponents had found as objectionable; the GPH did not even attempt tocorrect the MOA-AD that it had initialed. Instead, its proposal has “retrogressed”, Iqbalexplained. From a proposed “compact agreement,” he said the Aquino governmentreverted to “integration.”

Given the Aquino government’s derogating or setting aside previous peaceagreements, Mastura of MILF said the counter-proposal submitted by Marvic Leonen intheir latest formal talks in Kuala Lumpur is “not an act of the GPH but just an act of theAquino peace panel.”

In a news report published in Interaksyon, August 27, Leonen was quoted as sayingthat the GPH stands by its proposal: “The government rejects the MILF’s rejection ofour proposal.”

Leonen asserted, “The government proposal is the most principled, realistic andpractical approach to resolving the decades-old armed conflict in the south.”

Mastura, on the other hand, said that in the GPH proposal of transition governmentwhere the MILF would just be a minority, the transition government would also fall“directly under the office of the President,” and it will be created with a new organiclaw. Mastura concluded that the GPH proposal gives them “nothing but crumbs.”

They all serve at the pleasure of the President of the land. Andwith it, government appointees do come and go.

F’rinstance, Bertie Lim is now out and Ramon Jimenez, a mar-keting and advertising guro, is now on the saddle at the Depart-

ment of Tourism.The sad thing about appoin-

tees, is the fact that they mustall deliver at President Noy’spleasure otherwise, the Chief

Executive of the land will not think twice accepting his/her cour-tesy resignation or if not, the President would send feelers on hisdispleasure of an appointees’ performance.

But Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, although Pres-ident Noy already sent feelers about his displeasure on theformer’s performance, seems unconvinced that the President isalready convinced/decided of sacking him on the wake of themissing dutiable container vans numbering around two thousand.

He is very much at work, if only to convince the President thathe is very much dedicated to his job.

According to reports, while the President was away in China,Alvarez “directed the seizure at the Port of Manila of three 40-footer container vans loaded with P2.5 million worth of red on-ions from China.”

This is the sixth time in the past four months that the Bureau ofCustoms (BOC) thwarted the eventual entry and distribution ofsmuggled onions in the country, the report said.

“Their combined losses have now run up to more than P33million,” Alvarez said referring to all the six anti-smuggling oper-ations.

“The BOC chief said the latest contraband, misdeclared bytheir consignees Interwide Trading and Airfreight Alliance In-corporated as pickles and juice, arrived in POM last week with-out an import permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).”

Truly, Alvarez is doing his job. Give it to the man.But the question the good commissioner cannot answer/ex-

plain is the case of the missing container vans right now.The President was quoted as saying “I’m not happy anymore.”Let’s wait and see.

LEGIS/EXEC NEWSHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE SENATE & EXECUTIVE BEATS

5

OBEYTRAFFICRULES!

So that others may live.

Sept. 5 - Sept. 12, 2011 ExpressMetro

Gov’t to hire 12,500 newnurses this year -- Drilon

ATTENTION NURSES WORKING AT CALL CENTERS

Senator Franklin Drilon said thegovernment is planning to hire anestimated 12,500 nurses for newnursing positions this year, a workin progress that aims to cut thesurplus of nursing graduates in thecountry.

Drilon, who is the chairman ofthe Senate Finance Committee,bared that Department of Budgetand Management Secretary Flo-rencio Abad has given the go-sig-nal to grant Health Secretary En-rique Ona an authorization to hirean additional 10,000-12,500 nurs-ing professionals in the govern-ment workforce.

287,000 unemployed“We agreed that between now

and the end of the year, the De-partment of Health should be giv-

en an authorization to hire 10,000-12,500 nurses,” Drilon said in a ra-dio dzBB interview,

This, despite the DOH’s admis-sion during the agency’s budgethearing that there are currently287,000 nursing graduates who areeither unemployed or underem-ployed.

Over the weekend, it was an-nounced that another 37,513 exam-inees passed the Nurse LicensureExamination administered in July.

Additional 4,000During the Finance committee’s

hearing, it was discovered that theDBM disallowed the hiring of anadditional 4,000 in the DOH work-force due to a ban on hiring of ad-

ministrative positions, apparentlybecause of the discrepancy withthe way the DBM interpreted ad-ministrative posts.

Drilon said that there is glaringdeficiency of nursing staff in statehospitals, compounded by the factthat the allowed staffing pattern isnot actually filled up, particularlyin regional government hospitals.

“This is good news... I am gladthat our health system will be giv-en a temporary relief due to the hir-ing of additional nurses,” he add-ed.

Drilon said they will study theproposed budget for next year todetermine how many new nursingpositions will be made available.

Sen. DRILON

With its day-to-day opera-tions still based on the PrisonLaw of 1917, the Bureau of Cor-rections (BuCor) is in dire needof an overhaul to cope with themodern demands of penology.

Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escu-dero filed Senate Bill No. 2933seeking for the modernizationand professionalization of thecountry’s national correctionfacility to make it compliantwith the United Nations (UN)standards.

Escudero, chairman of theSenate committee on justiceand human rights, said thepresent state of BuCor is in subhuman conditions and rather than beingreformatory, Philippine jails have become more punitive, which runscontrary to penology standards set by the UN.

“BuCor has been running in obsolescence. Its laws, facilities andequipment, and organizational structures are all outdated and outmod-ed. It needs to be restructured so it can be as efficient and as effective toimplement its mandate on day-to-day operations,” Escudero said.

BuCor has not seen a major legislative updating since 1905, except fora change in its name –formerly called the Bureau of Prisons– pursuantto the Revised Administrative Code of 1987.

In 2009, the inmate population was at 35,400 and manned by 2,632employees, or a prison-guard to inmate ratio of 1:81. The internationalstandard of guard-inmate ratio is 1:6.

The agency has the same number of employees it had since 1989. Theratio is continuously increasing at an average rate of five percent annu-ally.

“The BuCor was created specifically to be in charge of safekeepingand instituting reformation programs to national inmates sentenced tomore than three years. Reform isn’t anywhere with its dilapidated facil-ities, congested prisons and archaic operational system and structure,”the senator explained.

In his bill, Escudero is pushing for the safekeeping of inmates thatshall include decent provisions of quarters, food, water and clothing incompliance with established UN standards.

Likewise, BuCor’s custodial force consisting of corrections officerswill be undertaken with a ranking system and salary grades similar to itscounterpart in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

BuCor lags miserably behind BJMP in terms of personnel remunera-tion. Entry level for a jail officer at BJMP is Salary Grade (SG) 10, while itscounterpart at BuCor receives a salary equivalent to the pay of SG 5.

Unlike BJMP, BuCor custodial personnel are not considered uniformedand therefore are not entitled to salary increases, bonuses and otherstandard benefits.

“Promotion system in this agency has also been subjective. There areprison guards who are retiring after 40 years or more in service withouthaving a taste of promotion,” Escudero said.

Escudero added that BuCor can only achieve modernization and pro-fessionalization if its facilities are upgraded, the number of its personnelincreased, the level of qualifications of their personnel upgraded and itsbase pay, retirement and other benefits are standardized.

Escudero pushes forBuCor modernization

Sec. De Lima welcomesCA ruling stopping jai-alaioperations outside Cagayan

Department of Justice (DOJ)Secretary Leila De Lima welcomedthe Court of Appeals’ (CA) rulingstopping permanently the opera-tions of jai-alai betting and gam-ing stations outside Cagayanprovince.

“That is good,” De Lima told re-porters in an ambush interview.

De Lima said that it only showedthat the Executive Department hada point when the DOJ, togetherwith the Department of Interior andLocal Government (DILG), issuedthe joint memorandum targetingthe closure of operations of the il-legal number betting stations and arrest their operators.

De Lima said the DOJ hoped that the CA ruling would have somebearing on a similar petition pending before another division of the CA.

The CA Special Sixth Division, which handles a separate case on jai-alai, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementa-tion of the DOJ-DILG joint memorandum.

The case before the CA Special Sixth Division is still pending.The CA’s Special Third Division, in a restraining order issued on Aug.

18 against jai-alai operations, upheld the cease-and-desist order (CDO)of Games and musement Board (GAB)against 13 jai-alai off-fronton bet-ting stations operated by Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. (MVGC) in MetroManila and Rizal province.

The CA junked the findings of the Aparri, Cagayan Regional TrialCourt (RTC), which issued a TRO and an injunction order against theGAB in favor of MVGC.

It said that GAB’s ruling was in order by virtue of Presidential DecreeNo. 871, enacted by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1975, whichestablished the GAB as the regulator of professional basketball gamesand other professional games.

The CA said that the Aparri RTC committed grave abuse of discretionin issuing the TRO and the injunction, as the place it covers is beyondits territorial jurisdiction.

MVGC has a franchise given by the Cagayan Economic Zone Author-ity (CEZA) to conduct jai-alai games inside the Cagayan Special Eco-nomic Zone and Free Port (CSEZFP).

It argued that GAB had no authority over its jai-alai operations.However, the CA said that jai-alai operations fall under GAB’s super-

visory authority.“Since pelotaris play in consideration of prizes and monetary com-

pensation, jai-alai is a professional game under GAB’s supervisory au-thority pursuant to PD 871. As PD 871 has not been repealed by anysubsequent legislation, GAB thus retains the powers conferred on it byvirtue of said decree,” the decision said.

Sen. ESCUDERO

Sec. LEILA DE LIMA

Senator Manny Villar cautionedthe government against imple-menting the plan to increase feesimposed by agencies as part of ef-forts to contain the budget deficit.

Villar, chairman of the Senatecommittee on economic affairs,said aside from looking at the pro-jected increase in government rev-enues, there is a need to assessthe effects of the planned increasein fees on the ordinary citizen whoregularly transact business withgovernment agencies.

“The economic managers of thecountry must look behind the data,figures and statistics because anyincrease in the rate of governmentfees will result in an increase inprices of goods, services, commer-cial transactions as well as tradethat are regulated or directly deal

Villar cautions gov’t vs increasingfees to contain budgetary deficit

Sen. VILLAR

with these government agencies,”Villar said.

Villar noted that the governmentis facing a budget deficit of aroundP300 billion or 3.2 percent of the

Gross Domestic Product and thatthe slowdown in global trade con-stricted the economy to a lowergrowth rate of 4.9 percent in thefirst quarter of 2011.

In a budget hearing, FinanceSecretary Cesar Purisima revealedthat the administration plans toraise the fees and charges imposedby government agencies to con-tain the budget deficit.

”The simultaneous increase inthe prices of petroleum, transpor-tation, prime commodities and oth-er products saddened me and nowhere the government planning toraise fees and charges. The financedepartment should review thisplan,” Villar said.

These fees include thosecharged by the Land Transporta-tion Office, the Land Registration

Authority, National Statistics Of-fice, the Department of ForeignAffairs, the Land Transportationand Franchise Regulatory Boardand the National Bureau of Inves-tigation.

“Special attention must be giv-en to the effect of the proposedincrease on the most vulnerablesectors of our society most spe-cially that as early as February2011, the recorded inflation ratealready reaches 3.5 percent,” headded.

Villar filed Proposed Senate Res-olution No. 568 directing the Sen-ate Committee on Economic Af-fairs and the Committee on Tradeand Commerce to look into the pro-posed increases and assess theeconomic as well as the financialimpact of its implementation.

The Aquino administration’s bid to pave all national roads by 2014has started through the release by the Department of Budget and Man-agement (DBM) of P1.42 billion for this purpose.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the fundwould be used for the preventive maintenance of national roads andinstallation of road safety devices around the country.

He said maintenance works on roads and bridges were priority projectsunder President Benigno Aquino’s term as part of his social contractwith the Filipino people.

“These infrastructure projects sustain the on-going economic devel-opment efforts of the Aquino administration to bring direct, immediateand substantial benefits to the citizens,” he said.

Abad said the fund was released to the Department of Public Worksand Highways (DPWH) and P1.33 billion of which would finance the 152preventive maintenance projects covering 141.26 kms of national roads.

Gov’t releases P1.42B for national roads improvementHe said another P85 million would be used for road safety projects,

citing that “installation of adequate road safety devices along nationalroads is important because it prevents and reduces deaths, injuries anddamage to properties.”

The Public Works department has also vowed to pave all secondaryroads by 2016.

For next year, the priorities and goals include the preservation of roadassets, decongest traffic in Metro Manila and other urban areas, sup-port infrastructure for tourism destinations, access roads to airports,and flood control and convergence program with the National IrrigationAdministration (NIA) and Department of Agriculture (DA).

The other major activities set for 2012 include the completion of theongoing or unfinished projects that will be generally given preferenceover new projects, strengthening or upgrading of national bridges andreplacement of temporary bridges into permanent ones.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has releasedP1.75 billion for the fourth year of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP)five-year modernization program.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the fundwould strengthen the Aquino administration’s bid to increase PNP’scapability to effectively fight criminality and maintain peace and orderaround the country.

He said the fund would be used to purchase around 11,000 units ofbrand new guns, 750 units of digital base mobile and hand-held radioand police cars.

He said that they made sure about the accountability in the use of the

South Koreans has topped thelist of foreign students presentlyrnrolled in various schoolsthroughout the country, followedby Chinese and Iranians.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Com-missioner Ricardo David saidthese were proof that the Philip-pines was fast emerging as a majoreducational hub in the Asia-Pacif-ic region.

PNP receives P1.75B for modernization programmodernization fund.

“Considering the recent investigation on anomalies in the purchaseof helicopters by PNP during the past administration, we have exercisedcaution in determining the amount of funds released for the PNP’s mod-ernization program,” he said.

Abad said the P1.75 billion was charged against the PNP’s budget forCapability Enhancement Program of P2 billion.

He also said that this year’s budget release for PNP’s modernizationprogram will be used to finance tools for the police’s intelligence andinvestigative activities, to strengthen its capability to manage civil dis-turbance, improve information /communications tech, data management.

Sokors top list of foreign students enrolled in PHL - BIOf more than 26,000 foreign stu-

dents in the Philippines, South Ko-reans have 11,612, followed by3,961 Chinese and 3,225 Iranians.

About 17,000 foreign studentsare taking up college courses whilethe remainder are studying in theelementary and high school, or tak-ing short-term language courses.

Those enrolled in colleges areholders of student visa while ele-mentary and high school studentsare issued special study permits(SSPs).

David said both the student visaand SSP are issued by the BI toqualified foreign students pursu-ant to Section 9(f) of the PhilippineImmigration Act.

However, all foreign students

are required to update their staywhile studying in the country asthey are still considered temporaryvisitors or tourists.

David said that at least 104 duly-

accredited schools and learning in-stitutions in the country are autho-rized by the bureau to admit for-eign students.

BI MEDIA BUREAU

SHOWBIZ6Sept.5 - Sept. 12, 2011

Metro Express

Did youknow that...

FROM THE e-MAIL

NOON NGAYON

Mainit na, summer na! Maulan na, summer na!

No. 02 What A.Z. Kal says on “weather, weather”!COMICS

Music Facts

A.Z. Kal A.Z. Kal

What is the world’s 3rd largest English-speaking nation,next to the USA and the UK? Text your answers to 0927-6098929!

FUN S& PORTSPAGE

Doctors by now may have already given CRISTINE REYES (above photo) aclean bill of health following her bout with dengue. So we presume shooting onher upcoming movie and TV series “Reputasyon” is rolling by now.

Makeway

forCristine!

THAT’S RIGHT! The Philippines is the world’s 3rd largestEnglish-speaking nation, next to the USA and the UK.

And, this week’s puzzle...

Sagot:

• The best selling rap/R&B albumever in the US is CrazySexyCoolby TLC, surpassing MC Hammer.

• Best selling latin album wasspanish singer Julio Iglesias,with reported global sales of over200 million albums.

• Best selling world music album was the 1998Grammy award-winning album Buena Vista SocialClub (1997).

• Hip Hop was first used as the name of culture byAfrica Bambatta back in the early 80’s.

• “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson was the first videoto air on MTV by a black artist.

• Michael Jackson won the most grammy’s ever witha total of eight.

• The Beatles holds the top spot of album sales in theUS (106 million).

• U2 was originally known as Feedback. To date, U2have sold more than 70 million records, grossing$1,5 billion.

• The top selling singles of all time are Elton John’s“Candle in the Wind ‘97".

• In May 1997, Paul McCartney broke his own worldrecord by obtaining his 81st gold disc.

• The longest song to reach number one on theBillboard charts on LP was “I’d Do Anything ForLove” by Meatloaf.

• The first pop video was Bohemian Rhapsody byQueen, released in 1975.

• Duran Duran took their name from a mad scientist inthe movie Barbarella.

ADVERTISE w/ Metro Express

What antibiotic did Filipino doctor Abelardo Aguilar co-discover? Hint: Brand is Ilosone, named after Iloilo.

SAHOD NA HABANG MAY TULO...

Erythromycin.

Anne Curtis is‘Icon of the Year’

ACTRESS/HOST Anne Curtiswas named as this year’s Icon ofthe Year recipient during the “UsGirls August Awards 2011”.

The said award honored Anne’s

outstanding accomplishments inpersonal life and career in showbusiness. Anne was chosen by the“Us Girls” staff, hosts and the Stu-dio 23 management for excelling inher craft and her influence as afashion icon.

Aside from dominating the localshowbiz scene, Anne is alsoknown for her numerous commer-cial endorsements and charitableworks.

Hosted by Iya Villania, ChescaGarcia-Kramer and Angel Aquino,the lifestyle magazine show on tele-vision also honored the local in-dustry’s most influential person-

alities in the field of fashion, enter-tainment, and beauty.

Named as the Faces of the Yearwere television princesses MajaSalvador, Julia Montes, JennylynMercado, and Marian Rivera.

Celebrity stylist Liz Uy, modelsIsabelle Daza and Georgina Wilson,actress Kim Chiu and host BiancaGonzales received the Most Fash-ionable Female trophy while actorsSam Milby, John Lloyd Cruz, Ger-

ald Anderson, Dingdong Dantesand entrepreneur Hayden Khowere named as Most FashionableMales.

“Us Girls August Awards” alsointroduced the Sexiest Male andFemale categories this year. Mod-el-actors Daniel Matsunaga, DerekRamsay, Xian Lim, Matteo Guidi-celli, and Azkal player Phil Young-husband topped the list for sexi-est males in the biz.

ANNE CURTIS

Lorna to take a break from showbizVETERAN actress Lorna Tolen-

tino will take a much-neededbreather after her her drama series,“Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin”(MLKI), recently ended.

“Papahinga muna, rest muna.Siyempre ilang months rin kamingnag-work nang mahaba kaya kail-angang pahinga muna,” said Lor-na.

Lorna said she will miss the restof the cast because they are likefamily due to the bond that theyhave developed while taping theentire series.

“Yung pagsasama naming lahat.Lately naging 4 times a week nakami sa halip na 3 times a week.Kaya lang siyempre ang paggawa

ng soap laging mahirap ‘pag pata-pos [dahil nagpapaalam na kayo].‘Yung gitna ‘yan ‘yung nagkakak-ilanlan na kayo, nagkakakuwentu-han talagang medyo relax ng kon-ti,” she said.

Meanwhile, the veteran actresssaid she is not surprised that bothher sons, Rap and Renz, have also

ventured into the entertainmentindustry.

“Talagang dun din naman pap-unta ang mga anak ko,” Tolentinosaid.

“Actually siguro talagang masdedicated sila. ‘Yung mga batangayon ‘yung passion, yung firenaroon. ‘Yung fire na magkaroonsila ng achievement kaya hindi mona kailangang sabihan, makikita moeh. Dedicated sila, professional allat the same time, lahat ng katraba-ho nila kilala nila ang pangalan,”she added.

Asked about rumors saying thatRenz is courting young actress KimChiu, Tolentino said, “Hindi daw.Baka magalit ang mga Kim-Gerald[Anderson fans] niyan, wala na-man, hindi pa. Sa akin naman walanamang commitment si Renz sangayon.”

LORNA T

ACTOR Matteo Guidicelli clarified he is not jealous over Maja Salva-dor-Coco Martin closeness while taping their recently concluded prime-time soap “Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin.”

Matteo said that he’s very professional when it comes to work andMaja has a mind of her own.

“I’m very happy for her kasi sobrang pumatok yung love team nila.Ang ganda and ang galing nilang pareho.”

When asked what if Coco will court Maja, is the actress still availableto go out with other guys? Matteo replied: “Free world naman tayo andokay lang naman na manligaw siya, wala naman talagang problema.”

But it was reported that both him and Maja are now exclusively datingand has an understanding already.

“We are not committed or anything but we are really very, very close.We have an understanding together but no commitment. We are justhappy.”

Matteo reiterated that they are not officially together but he’s happywhen she’s around and the lady inspires him to better his craft.

The Cebuano actor and Maja are set to continue taping their firstmovie together entitled “Basted”, which is expected to be released byfourth quarter of this year.

Matteo says Maja isfree to date anyone

MAJA MATTEO match will be a credit to boxing and will be eagerly followed by all sports fans.”Arum added that a good indicator to this is the fact that “only around 50 of the more

than 16,000 tickets for the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas are left unsold.”It was also claimed by Arum the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch would be similar to that

of the two boxers’ previous fights in Las Vegas, where hundreds if not thousands ofFilipinos flooded the fight venue.

“In the week of the fight, Mandalay Bay becomes little Manila... becomes a Filipinooasis,” Arum claimed.

Arum also assured boxing fans not to be alarmed by the remaining 50 tickets as TopRank has already ordered reprints aside from live telecast just outside the boxingvenue where around 20,000 people can view the fight as added privileges.

“They can gain free admission to the weigh-in and will be around all the excitement,”said Arum adding that the world press tour was significant especially because it startedin Pacquiao’s homeland in the Philippines.

After the Philippines, the promo proceeds to New York and Las Vegas beforewinding up in Mexico, Marquez’s home country.

Marquez arrived in the Philippines last Thursday and was warmly-welcomed by noother than Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim fanning further the local chief executive’ssentiment against Pacquaio who allegedly snubbed Lim’s invitation after Pacquiao’sfight with Shane Mosley.

‘Classic, classic match...’(From page 1)

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SUBIC BAY, PHILIPPINES Sept. 5 - Sept. 12, 2011

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TRUSTGOD.

Father Almighty. +

UnsolvedMYSTERIES

OF THE WORLD

F HEALTH &

ALEXANDERTHE GREAT

MYSTERIES

AITH,

Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC),commonly known as Alexanderthe Great (Greek: ÌÝãáòëÝîáíäñïò, Mégas Aléxandros),was a king of Macedon, a statein the north eastern region ofGreece, and by the age of thirtywas the creator of one of thelargest empires in ancienthistory, stretching from theIonian Sea to the Himalaya. Hewas undefeated in battle and isconsidered one of the mostsuccessful commanders of alltime.[1] Born in Pella in 356 BC,Alexander was tutored by thefamed philosopher Aristotle. In336 BC he succeeded his fatherPhilip II of Macedon to thethrone after Philip was assassi-nated. Philip had brought mostof the city-states of mainlandGreece under Macedonianhegemony, using both militaryand diplomatic means. UponPhilip’s death, Alexanderinherited a strong kingdom andan experienced army. He suc-ceeded in being awarded thegeneralship of Greece and, withhis authority firmly established,launched the military plans forexpansion left by his father. In334 BC he invaded Persian-ruledAsia Minor and began a seriesof campaigns lasting ten years.Alexander broke the power ofPersia in a series of decisivebattles, most notably the battlesof Issus and Gaugamela.Subsequently he overthrew thePersian king Darius III andconquered the entirety of thePersian Empire.i[›] The Mace-donian Empire now stretchedfrom the Adriatic Sea to theIndus River. Following his desireto reach the “ends of the worldand the Great Outer Sea”, heinvaded India in 326 BC, but was

eventually forced to turn back bythe near-mutiny of his troops.Alexander died in Babylon in323 BC, without realizing a seriesof planned campaigns that wouldhave begun with an invasion ofArabia. In the years followingAlexander’s death a series of civilwars tore his empire apart whichresulted in the formation of anumber of states ruled by theDiadochi – Alexander’s survivinggenerals. Although he is mostlyremembered for his vast con-quests, Alexander’s lastinglegacy was not his reign, but thecultural diffusion his conquestsengendered. Alexander foundedsome twenty cities that bore hisname. His settlement of Greekcolonists and the resultingspread of Greek culture in theeast resulted in a new Hellenisticcivilization, aspects of whichwere still evident in the traditionsof the Byzantine Empire until themid-15th century. Alexanderbecame legendary as a classicalhero in the mold of Achilles, andfeatures prominently in thehistory and myth of Greek andnon-Greek cultures. He becamethe measure against whichgenerals, even to this day,compare themselves and militaryacademies throughout the worldstill teach his tactical exploits.

It seems like there is a never ending quest for the great secret toweight loss. Everything from great grandma’s recipe to modern scientif-ic discoveries have been used and abused in an effort to lose that extrapoundage. Advertisements and commercials promise immediate andfully successful weight loss with just the use of a few pills each day.Numerous diet plans are available that supposedly provide the perfectplan for trimming down.

Of course none of these special plans or pills are free, they all come ata price, and often a rather expensive price tag at that! Unfortunately, alltoo many of these purported weight purging techniques are nothingmore than that another technique. There will always be another personwith another idea at the expense of a naïve or desperate society.

So, how can a person truly lose weight?

What is the right plan?We tend to run with greedy eyes to the newest fad, the newest diet,

and all too often with great disappointment. Sometimes going back tothe basics is the best way to accomplish some of the most formidablefeats of life. Losing weight doesn’t have to be a great struggle or costlyprocess. There are some basic ways to lose weight that are both work-

able and affordable.First, the right mindset is essen-

tial to accomplish any task or goalin life. If I am going to lose thoseextra pounds, I have to be deter-mined in my own mind that it issomething I can and will achieve.Human nature tends to dictate tous that if at first I don’t succeed

BASIC WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHTthen I need to simply stop. Weight loss is not an easy task. It takesdetermination and time. The miracle weight loss programs that maketheir grandiose claims of phenomenal, and speedy weight loss, are forthe most part scams.

Unfortunately, they tend to build a mindset that I will look like thattoned actor on television who supposedly used that weight loss prod-uct and lost an incredible 50 pounds in an unbelievable short time. Ihave to remind myself that no one product can really do that, and if I amto lose weight I must be determined that I can do this, but it may take agreat deal of dedication and time. The right mindset is the beginningplace of losing weight.

Second, a healthy weight loss diet is highly recommended, but notone that requires a drastic reduction of calories. The best rule is to takeit easy, and slowly reduce certain foods and calories. As the bodybegins to lose weight it requires less calorie intake to maintain endur-ance and good physical health. Yet, this takes time. Once again, pa-tience is going to be a key to success. Make sure that you look carefullyat a variety of food plans, and choose one that best fits your needs.

Third, eating right is great, but doing so with no physical activity issenseless. A basic exercise or workout plan is essential to burningthose calories and ultimately losing those extra pounds. Start easy andbuild as your strength and endurance builds. Just as one diet plan is notgood for everyone, so no one exercise program will work for everyone.Find a program that works for your particular, weight, age, and timeeconomy then get at it! Make it a routine or habit for your life!

There are many ways to lose weight. Check them out. See whatprogram best meets your needs and set your mind to do it! You mustown the program in your mind, will, daily routine, and diet. If you dothen you will be on the right path to weight loss.

(From page 8)

Subic Freeport remits P3.71B to National TreasuryIn June alone, BoC-Subic col-

lected a total of P661.48 million, thehighest in the six-month period,followed by P623.02 million inApril.

Apart from this, BOC postednon-cash collections of P299.82million from government-to-gov-ernment transactions.

Meanwhile, the Subic revenuedistrict registered a first-semestercash collection of P587.75 million.This represented a surplus ofP79.32 million or 15.6 percent overits collection goal of P508.43 mil-lion for the said period.

The Subic BIR office also saidits actual collection dipped by

39.64 percent, or P385.98 million,when compared to the P973.72 mil-lion it collected in the first half of2010.

Not included in the BIR collec-tions in Subic, however, was thetwo per cent share of the corpo-rate taxes paid by business loca-tors in the Subic Bay Freeport,which were directly collected bythe SBMA through a new collec-tion scheme and released to localgovernment units (LGUs) that areeither contiguous to or affectedby the Freeport.

The LGU shares, which are pro-vided for under Republic Act 7227,which created the Subic Bay Free-port, are intended to finance de-velopment projects and provide

for basic support services and live-lihood programs of the seven mu-nicipalities and one city that areadjacent to the Subic Freeport.

Early this month, the SBMA dis-tributed revenue shares collectedunder the new scheme for the firsthalf of this year.

The beneficiaries are OlongapoCity, which received P16.75; Sub-ic, Zambales, P9.28 million; Dina-lupihan, Bataan, P8.19 million; SanMarcelino, Zambales, P7.87 million;Hermosa, Bataan, P6.59 million;Morong, Bataan, P5.78 million; SanAntonio, Zambales, P5.77 million;and Castillejos, Zambales, P5.41million.

SBMA PR Office

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT –Officials from different cruise-ship terminals in Asia, includingthe biggest port in the world,converged here Thursday(September 1) for the secondPro-Tem committee meeting ofthe Asia Cruise TerminalsAssociation (ACTA).

Representatives from theInternational Cruise TerminalDevelopment Co., Ltd., whichoversees Shanghai Wu SongKou port, currently the world’slargest port, led delegates fromSingapore, Japan and Malaysiaduring the committee meeting.

The Subic Bay MetropolitanAuthority (SBMA), which is afounding member of ACTA, wasably represented by RaulMarcelo, the agency’s deputyadministrator for business, andCapt. Perfecto Pascual, who isgeneral manager of the SBMASeaport Department.

Marcelo said the meeting washeld in preparation for ACTA’sformal launch this October. ThePro-Tem committee, he explained,acts as an interim committeewhich oversees ACTA before itsformal launch.

Asian port officialshold 2nd ACTAmeeting in Subic

“The Subic meeting will alsoserve as a venue for thevalidation and ratification of theACTA constitution and by-laws,which was discussed during thefirst Pro-Tem meeting inSingapore,” added Marcelo, whowas there to represent Subicalong with Pascual.

ACTA is a non-profitorganization created in responseto a need for commonunderstanding among ownersand operators of cruise terminalsand ports across Asia toupgrade to an international levelof services and operations thatcruise lines expect.

The association aims toprovide for a cruise-friendlyenvironment, and a vehicle forregional cooperation in terminaldevelopment, operations andmanagement.

The group also seeks topromote cruise terminal facilitiesand services internationally,targeting to establish aninfluential alliance leading to theemergence of a captivating Asiacruise playground.

Marcelo said that as part ofSBMA’s thrust to make SubicBay a prime logistics, maritimeand tourist hub, the agency will

facilitate the development ofSubic as a cruise-shipdestination by being an activemember of ACTA. (SBMA Media)

SBMA Fire Department shows off their skills in rescuing victims during theWater Search and Rescue (WASAR) training simulation.

If someone asked you, “Are you a Christian?”, what would you say? Prob-ably “Yes.” But what if they asked, “Why?”

That’s where a lot of us have problems. I could be stumped if someone askedme that and tempted to say something like, “Well, my parents raised me as aChristian” or even, “Because I believe in God.” But lots of people believe inGod, and what if my parents had raised me wrong? No, that is not the reasonI am a Christian. When it really comes down to it, what would I say? Whatwould you say?

The True Definition of a Christian. The reason you are a Christian is notbecause you do good things like go to church or read the Bible. It is notbecause you were raised in a “Christian” home or nation. It’s not even be-cause you believe in the concept of God. It is because you believe that JesusChrist is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the King that will reign foreternity. Your faith in Jesus is what makes you a Christian—pure and simple.

The Proof. Look at this contrast of two men as proof. Jesus was hanging on the

cross between two criminals. Can you picture them? Neither of these men were“good” people, but they had very different attitudes toward Jesus. The onemade fun of Jesus, saying, “Aren’t you supposed to be the Messiah? Prove it!”But the other one was deeply humble and replied, “We deserve to die; this mandoesn’t.” Then he turned and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come intoyour kingdom” (Luke 23:42). That’s the clincher: He truly believed that Jesuswas the Son of God. And Jesus’ response is the proof that salvation is by faithalone: “I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise’" (Luke 23:43).

Let It Sink In. Your salvation—eternal life when you die and the complete for-giveness of your sins—is not a matter of good deeds, family heritage, or generalbelief in God. It is founded on your belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and thatHe will come back to bring you into His great kingdom. Let this simple fact be theanswer to those who ask you why you are a Christian and give you greatpeace.

Apply It: Explain to someone this week the true definition of a Christian. Let usknow if you did it by responding to this e-mail!

1. Make a full stop at intersections with stop sign orflashing red light or solid white line painted across theroad. A full stop means a complete cessation of move-ment, not a rolling stop.

2. Yield to vehicle traveling a road with a right of way andthose which have approached the intersection first.

3. Approach with caution or slow down at any intersectionwith yellow flashing traffic light.

4. All motorists should pull over to give way stop to emer-gency vehicles (Red Light/Siren).

5. Observe proper lane usage and speed limits, and givethe proper signal to other motorists.

WHEN IN SUBIC...TRAFFIC REMINDERS AND ADVISORIES

6. Obey all traffic lights and hand signals of traffic officers.

7. Load and unload at designated areas only.

8. No driving under the influence of alcohol or prohibited drugs.

9. No parking on yellow painted curbs.

10. Always have driver’s license and latest vehicle registrationwhen driving.

11. Fasten seatbelt.

12. No traveling downgrade on neutral gear.

13. No wearing of headphone/earphone while driving.

Subic Bay, PHILIPPINES Sept. 5 - Sept. 12, 2011

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email: [email protected]

Cont’d on page 7

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The SubicBay Freeport has remitted P3.71 billion tothe National Treasury in the first half ofthis year, an increase of P225 million overthe P3.48 billion posted in the same peri-od last year.

The remittances came from cash collec-tions of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) andthe Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) inthis free port.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority(SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza saidthat while there was only a slight increaseof 6.46 percent in revenue, this still goesto show that the SBMA has sustainedgrowth both in terms of investments andworkforce.

Based on the records submitted to theSBMA, the BoC posted cash collections

Subic Bay Freeport remitsP3.71B to National Treasury

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority(SBMA) Administrator & CEO ArmandArreza said that while there was only a

slight increase of 6.46 percent in revenue,this still goes to show that the SBMA has

sustained growth both in terms ofinvestments and workforce.

totaling P3.12 billion in the firstsemester of this year.

These came from duties andtaxes taken from for ship calls,transshipment operations, andthe importation of various inputs,including oil, motor vehicles, andother general merchandise.

The BoC report also disclosedthat cash collection in Subic inthe first half surpassed lastyear’s P2.51 billion by 24.33 per-cent, or a difference of P611 mil-lion.

However, the Subic revenuedistrict fell slightly short of itstarget of P3.29 billion in the firstsix months by 5.22 percent.

ADMINISTRATOR/CEO Armand Arreza