Punto! Central SCTEx toll plazas · V 12 N 63 T - S+ M, 16 - 18, 2019 P*/& 6 4#&*5& B, D7:/ C&(;*:+&5 CLARK FREEPORT -- Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) chairman Dr.

Punto!PANANAW NG MALAYANG PILIPINO!

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CLARK FREEPORT -- Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) chairman

Dr. Irineo Alvaro has expressed confi dence that Congress would honor the government’s already signed contracts granting special tax privileges to investors in this and other freeports nationwide under Package 2 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

Clark investors hopeful TRAIN 2 to honor old contracts on tax perks

STILL VM. The board of canvassers proclaims incumbent City of San Fernando Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin as re-elected vice mayor at the sanggunaang panlungsod session hall past midnight of May 15. Lazatin won over rival councilor Angie Hizon by some 10,000 votes. C!"#$%&'#() *+!#!

BAKLAS. Staff of Angeles City Mayor-Elect Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. clear walls of election posters in a clean-up drive he initiated all around the city. C!"#$%&'#() *+!#!

ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA - Staff of Angeles City Mayor-elect Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. on May 15, 2019 went around the city to clean up left-over campaign materials, posters, and other election propaganda post-ed in various locations.

Pogi staff clean up campaign trashTwo teams consisting of sev-

en members each were deployed to clean up election propaganda along major roads - one team started out from Arayat Boulevard in Barangay Pampanga while another team start-

P*/& 6 4#&*5&Alvaro

He warned that oth-erwise, over 50 percent of investors in the free-port would move out and transfer to nearby coun-tries.

“There’s still a Da-mocles Sword having over us and we have to be vigilant,” Alvaro said, even as he expressed confi dence that Con-gress would fi nally come out with the Package 2 version after the mid-term elections.

In a recent forum with the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) here, Alvaro said congressio-

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CITY OF SAN FERNAN-DO – The NLEX Corp. will construct 20 more lanes strategically locat-ed in SCTEX toll plazas to further improve cus-tomer processing time at the expressway.

In a statement, NLEX Corp. said the toll plaza capacity expansion proj-ect is expected to start in July and to be com-pleted by November this year covering Clark North, Clark South, San Miguel, Bamban, and Tarlac toll plazas.

One new toll lane each will be built in Clark North entry/exit and Clark South B exit. Two

SCTEx toll plazas to get more lanes

new toll lanes each will be added at Clark South A exit and Tarlac entry/exit to serve the grow-ing number of motorists traveling in these areas, the statement said.

The NLEX Corp. will also bolster the service capacity of San Miguel (Luisita) and convert it into a full interchange. This means that San Miguel will be more ac-cessible to motorists, as those coming to and from San Miguel will now have complete entry and exit points from both northbound and south-bound directions.

Meanwhile, two lanes each will be construct-

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MAGALANG, Pam-panga – An air of un-certainty still hangs in this bucolic town as the result in the tight-ly contested mayoral-ty race was delayed due to technical glitch-es in the SD cards of the vote counting ma-chines (VCMs).

As of 10:05 am. Thursday, former mayor Romy Pec-son is leading his ri-val with 24,560 votes as against incumbent Mayor Malu Lacson with 24,266 with 89.77 percent of the votes tallied.

Only 294 votes separate the candi-dates, considered a slim margin, as the last votes are about to be tallied by the Board of Canvassers (BOC).

It was reported that votes coming from 16 clustered precincts still remain uncounted after the SD cards of VCMs were purported-ly corrupted.

The Commis-sion on Elections (Comelec) local offi ce suspended the count-ing while waiting for the SD cards to be reconfi gured by the

Air of uncertainty

hangs in Magalang

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CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The conduct of the just con-cluded midterm elections last Monday was generally peace-ful.

This was the statement of the Police Regional Offi ce 3 in assessing the 2019 elections in the region.

PNP SAYS

Polls in CL generally peaceful“There were only three

election-related incidents vali-dated by us and the Commis-sion on Elections (Comelec) since the start of the election period last January 13,” re-gional director Police Brig. Gen. Joel Napoleon Coronel said in a statement on Tues-day. He said incidents of vio-lations of the liquor ban, vote

buying and vote selling were recorded.

Coronel said a total of eight persons were arrested for vote buying and selling in Tarlac and Pampanga while a fl ying voter was apprehended also in Pampanga. A total of 68 indi-viduals were arrested for viola-tion of the 48-hour liquor ban.

“As a result of the stern im-

plementation of the gun ban which took eff ect at the start of the election period last Janu-ary 13, a total of 776 assort-ed fi rearms and 5,039 dead-ly weapons were already confi scated with the arrest of 564 suspects. We will contin-ue to monitor until the end of the ban on June 12,” Coronel said.

Meanwhile, the police will continue to secure the vote counting machines (VCMs) until they are all transported back to their provincial hubs.

“The success of the elec-tions here in Central Luzon was the result of the concert-ed eff orts of the Comelec, PNP and the Armed Forces

of the Philippines through the Regional Joint Security Co-ordinating Council and other partner agencies who worked hand-in-hand to ensure the safety and security as well as guarantee the smooth fl ow of this national exercise,” Coro-nel pointed out.

“I wish to commend the men and women of Police Re-gional Offi ce 3 and our AFP counterparts for their exem-plary performance of election duties and also the support of our media practitioners as well as the general public which paved the way for the attain-ment of our goal for a safe, clear and credible elections,” the offi cial said.

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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT - The Zambales of-fi ce of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and City Government of Olongapo opened Thursday the two-day Diskwento Car-avan at the Main Gate of this Freeport.

DTI provincial director Leonila Baluyut said

the Diskwento Caravan will be followed by a job fair conducted by diff erent locators in the Freeport for the new graduates seeking jobs.

Participated in by 40 exhibitors, the Disk-wento Caravan hews to its objective “Presyong Panalo para sa Mamimiling Zambaleño.”

“Patuloy natin i-promote Ang Diskwento Caravan. Ito ay nationwide, a priority project of DTI”, Baluyut added.

Diskwento Caravan held in Subic Freeport

DTI provincial director Leonila Baluyut (3rd from right) leads the opening of two-days Diskwento Caravan at Subic Bay Freeport Zone. P+!#! &, J!+"", R. R(&-/")!

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DINALUPIHAN, Bataan: Re-electionist Mayor Maria Ange-la “Gila” Garcia of this town won by landslide and her com-plete slate declared winners in the May 13, 2019 elections.

The Municipal Board of Canvassers proclaimed Gar-cia and her group at 12:44 in the morning of Thursday.

The mayor on her last term got 48,881 votes as against 3,271 votes of her rival Marites Quisayang.

Also declared winners were Dr. Rey Matawaran as vice mayor and Sherry de Aus-en, German Santos, Emmanu-el Bajada, Joseph Catli, Dani-lo dela Cruz, Armando Buniag, Carmen Sandoval and Elizal-de Torno as members of the

Mayor reelected by landslide

Sangguniang Bayan.Dinalupihan has 70,727

registered voters with 97 poll-ing precincts in 46 barangays.

In the rest of Bataan, ear-lier proclaimed were mayors Ramil del Rosario of Bagac, Aida Macalinao of Samal, Lib-erato Santiago of Abucay, Jo-pet Inton of Hermosa, Charlie Pizarro of Pilar, Antonio Ray-mundo of Orion, Cynthia Es-tanislao of Morong, Nelson David of Limay, and Jocelyn Castaneda of Mariveles.

Although still not pro-claimed, sure winners being unopposed are mayors Fran-cis Garcia of Balanga City and Efren Pascual, Jr. of Orani. They are expected to be pro-claimed Thursday before the proclamation of congressional and provincial winners.

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LUNGSOD NG CABANATU-AN -- Ipinroklama na ng pro-vincial board of canvassers sina 3rd District Rep. Rosan-na Vergara at dalawa nitong kapartido sa pagka-bokal ni-tong Martes.

Sa pangunguna ni provin-cial election supervisor Atty. Jonalyn Sabellana, idineklara ng PBC si Vegrara na muling nahalal sa botong 160,298.

Kasama niya sina reelect-ed board member Jojo Ma-tias at incumbent Cabanat-uan City councilor EJ Joson bilang kinatawan ng ikatlong distrito sa sangguniang pan-lalawigan.

Tinalo ni Vergara sa pagka kongresista si incumbent Gov. Czarina Umali.

Sa panahon ng kampanya ay inulan ng batikos si Ver-gara sa kanyang pagpabor sa kontrobersyal na Rice Tariffi -cation Law.

Pero naniniwala ang mam-babatas na nakita ng kanyang mga ka-distrito ang kanyang mga nagawa dahilan para muli syang mahalal.

Pinasalamatan naman niya

si Gov. Umali dahl nagpokus aniya ito sa plataporma.

Nito ring Martes nang por-mal na ipahayag ng provin-cial board of canvassers ang panalo sa pagka kongre-sista ng 4th District Nueva Ecija ni Dra. Maricel Nativi-dad-Nagaño.

Sa pagbilang ng PBC, si Nagaño ay nagkamit ng 137,829 na boto, higit na mataas kaysa sa 125,666 na nakiha ni incumbent Rep. Magnolia Antonio at 1,769 ni Bondong Punongbayan.

Ayon kay Nagaño, malak-ing bagay para sa kanyang trabaho bilang mambabatas ang kanyang karanasan bil-ang dating alkalde ng Gapan City.

Bilang duktor ay umaasa rin siyang makatutulong sa pagbuo ng implementing rules and regulations o IRR para sa bagong Universal Health Care Law.

Naantala ang proklam-asyon ng iba pang provin-cial winners dahil hinihintay pa naman ang reconfi gured SD cards mula sa mga bayan ng Aliaga, Cuyapo, Talavera, Rizal, Gen. Tinio at Cabiao.

Proklamasyon ng mga nanalo sa NE

SAMAL, Bataan: The complete slate of munic-ipal winners in only three out of 11 towns and one city in Bataan have so far been proclaimed as of Wednesday.

Named as offi cial winners were Vice May-or Aida Macalinao as mayor of Samal, Liberato Santiago as reelectionist mayor of Abucay, and Ramil del Rosario as mayor of Bagac, father of incumbent mayor Louise Gabriel.

Of the three, Santiago ran unopposed. The municipal board of canvassers in the

two towns declared Macalinao and Santiago as offi cial winners at dawn of Wednesday while del Rosario was proclaimed early morning of Tues-day.

The respective vice-mayors and eight mem-

Winners in only 3 towns proclaimedbers each of the sangguniang bayan in the three towns were also proclaimed.

Proclamation of winners in nine towns and one city in Bataan was delayed due to defective secure digital (SD) cards that have to be recon-fi gured in the Region 3 offi ce in San Fernando, Pampanga of the Commission on Elections.

No winner in the provincial and congres-sional slates was proclaimed by the provincial board of canvassers as of Wednesday due to incomplete vote results.

A report from the offi ce of the provincial elec-tion supervisor in Balanga City showed that 36 SD cards in nine towns and one city were found defective and sent to San Fernando.

– Ernie B. Esconde

ORION, Bataan -- Three chil-dren, all girls, died of suspect-ed suff ocation after they were trapped for hours inside a parked car here last Monday.

Capt. Dennis Orbista, Ori-on police chief, identifi ed the victims as Shamel Algehla Mo-rales, 8, Grade 3; Agatha Mo-rales, 9, Grade 4 and Paulaine Keziah Morales, 6, Grade 1, all from Barangay Sto. Domin-go here.

He said that one of the vic-tims is a daughter of Jessie Morales, a safety offi cer of an

oil company who is using the company vehicle, while the two were neighbors and play-mates.

It was, however, learned from relatives at the wake that all three were cousins. The parents begged off to be inter-viewed and asked not to video the wake. They said that being relatives, they have settled the problem among themselves.

The police chief said a neighbor reported that the vic-tims were last seen playing near the parked company ve-

hicle.Orbista said that hours lat-

er when Jessie went near the car at about 4 p.m. he noticed that the children were inside the car and no longer moving.

“Binuksan niya ang pintuan at nang hindi na nagrerespond ang mga bata, dinala ang mga ito sa ospital kung saan nama-tay dahil nasuff ocate,” he said.

Investigation showed that the car’s door can be opened from outside but cannot be opened from inside, the police chief said. –Ernie B. Esconde

3 kids suffocate inside parked car

PUNTO! CENTRAL LUZON • MAY 16 - 18, 2019 • THURSDAY - SATURDAY

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E d i t o r i a l

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORYLLL Trimedia Coordinators, Inc.

Publisher

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Atty. Gener C. EndonaCaesar “Bong” LacsonJoanna Niña V. CorderoDondie B. VenturaLacson Macapagal

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Tel. No. (45) 625•0244 Cel. No. 0917•481•[email protected] or [email protected]

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Zona Libre Bong Z. Lacson

Opinion

Tactics of the thugONCE AGAIN, the foul-mouthed misogynist who is the leader of our nation turns to personal insults when he will not or, most likely, cannot off er a credible explanation to his badly concocted and fi ctitious accusations against critics.

Asked by reporters in Davao City to explain the so-called “matrix” purporting to show a plot to oust him, which his spokesman Salvador Panelo at fi rst attributed to him only to later claim it came from an unknown source, President Rodrigo Duterte insisted it was “authentic” as “Bikoy,” the erstwhile hooded character who appeared in a series of videos accusing the chief executive and members of his family of involvement in the drug trade and was later claimed by Peter Joemel Advincula.

He then vented his ire on veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas of Vera Files, one of those implicated in the matrix, who he called “every inch a prostitute.”

And while he did not name them, Duterte was apparently referring to other journalists included in the document when he referred to “professional twisters” who “are bayad sa (paid by the) Western …”

There is no question Duterte’s tiresome habit of spewing personal insults is intended to intimidate his targets into silence or submission.

Alas for him, his fi ts and tantrums speak more about his character than those he would smear.

His are the tactics of the thug who resorts to the bludgeon because he cannot reason, and even then, he fails miserably.

We know for a fact that Ellen possesses more courage than he can ever hope to have beyond his macho posturing. So, too, do the other journalists he vilifi es. As do all those who comprise the community of independent Filipino journalists.

Mr. Duterte may choose to ignore the lessons of history but does so at his own peril.

But of one thing we are sure, as history has amply proven. Despots come and eventually go. The truth and freedom will always outlast them.

(NUJP statement on Duterte’s insult of Tordesillas, 14 May 2019)

Scoring the INCNOT EXACTLY the X – as in mysterious – having been publicly announced, but the no-less magical, indeed, material factor that spelled the diff erence in the Angeles City mayoralty race was the Iglesia ni Cristo vote.

All one needs is a quick look at the numbers. Winner Pogi Lazatin posted 59,192 votes, runner-up Bryan Nepomuceno had 45,711. The diff erence of 13,481 corresponded closely to the vaunted, if approximated, 13,000 to 15,000 INC bloc votes.

Thereby reinforced anew the long, long held belief, aye, a political dogma, that no one, absolutely no one could ever be elected Angeles City mayor without the INC anointment.

A city council seat though is a diff erent story. The always-non-anointed Amos Rivera has consistently won. And the now-unblessed Jay Sangil still made it.

While not so “potently decisive” as in AC, the INC factor in the City of San Fernando did add up to the numbers of incumbent Mayor Edwin Santiago at 74,125 – not exactly serving as some loose change, with Vilma Caluag managing 52,225.

It was in the vice mayoralty race that the INC ballots played a pivotal role. Taken out of Jimmy Lazatin’s winning 66,277, the sect’s bloc votes would have had Angie Hizon won with her base votes of 56,264. The 10,000-gap easily bridged with the voting kapatid in the capital city.

TigerAs in AC, so in CSFP, and more spectacularly

so. INC-unchosen BJ Tiger Lagman topped the council race, leading his closest pursuer by 6,213 votes and the tailender in the Magic 10 by 21,503 votes, with the two included in the INC ballot. The other Lagman candidate that the INC blessed did land in the winning circle, 17,156 votes behind BJ.

Not a single Iglesia vote and Lagman still managed to score 70,978! Some rethink is imperative here for political strategists – as much on the effi cacy, if not the actual strength of the INC bloc, as in the emergence of a shining nova in the city’s political fi rmament.

What eluded his father Ely the Tiger – the unbeatable vice mayor but the best mayor San Fernando never had – could well be opening up for BJ, grandly.

The ambivalence, okay, uncertainty of the INC votes is perhaps best exampled in the 1st District of Pampanga.

With the INC support, Coach Yeng Guiao won the congressional contest of 2013 against former Rep. Blueboy Nepomuceno.

Without the INC vote, Guiao lost his seat in 2016 to Rep. Jonjon Lazatin.

With the INC again backing him in the return bout in the polls just past, Guiao lost again – 149,398 to 104,796 – swept in all two cities and one town of the district.

RimpyIn the 4th District congressional polls, ruling

Rep. Rimpy Bondoc appears to have been immunized from the INC vote.

As in his fi ght against former Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo in 2010, so in his battle against former board member Ric Yabut in 2019 – Rimpy annihilating his INC-backed rivals.

Speaking of Candaba, former Mayor Rene Maglanque made a stunning comeback against

the INC-anointed incumbent Mayor Dan Baylon.The INC votes likewise failed to launch Vice

Mayor Dexter David to the mayorship of Porac, and to keep incumbent Sto. Tomas Mayor Johnny Sambo in his post. The latter losing by a little over 100 votes to VM Gloria “Ninang” Ronquillo who crafted history as the fi rst lady mayor of Pampanga’s smallest town of only seven barangays.

The ineffi cacy of the INC votes in the 2019 polls was most pronounced in Mabalacat City.

The already formidable tandem of VM Christian Halili and once-forever-mayor Marino “Boking” Morales in reversed roles was even made more invincible – on paper – with the anointment of the INC.

GarboWhy a plus-10,000 for incumbent Mayor

Cris Garbo was reported to have been proff ered by some oddsmakers, with nobody biting. Convinced – seemingly – as the voting public was of his opponents’ vaunted invincibility.

Stunning thus came the report of Garbo (at 52,517) trouncing Halili (at 34,694) by 17,823 votes.

Neither stunned nor even surprised though were those in the know. Ranged against his rival’s INC bloc, Garbo earned the “solid” support of the Born-Again evangelicals and fundamentalists, as well as what little of the so-called conservative Catholic vote. An even greater entity going Garbo all the way is the patriarchal “INT.” Don’t ask me what it means, else I blaspheme and go excommunicado.

BokingAs bitter, aye, bitterest, as it can ever get,

the Mabalacat City outcome for one man. In the 2016 local elections, he garnered

39,919 votes, more than the combined total of his three rivals – the closest at 17,553, the next at 10,696, and the last at 5,750.

In the polls just past, he managed 30,022 – still winnable by the 2016 standards. However, he had just one opponent this time, getting 52,509 votes.

In less than two years after his Comelec-ted eviction from the Mabalacat City hall, once eternal mayor Boking Morales got the worst drubbing of his political life, the pain of losing by landslide exacerbated by at least two factors: 1) that it was infl icted by his own nephew; 2) the prize at stake was only the vice-mayoralty, below Boking’s stature of hizzoner for 22 years.

Maybe, the electorate just got tired of Boking. But then, someone who looked like his go-to-guy Deng Pangilinan cried: Pang- mayor lang si Boking. Hindi pang-vice.

Yeah, I remember then-vice mayor Boking lost too in his fi rst attempt at the mayorship in 1992, despite INC backing. He won all elections since with the INC. Now losing anew, still with the INC.

Gone full circle there, as much for Boking as for the INC. Whence, a new beginning evolving.

Yeah, this epic loss notwithstanding, it is too premature to write fi nis to Boking. And the INC vote too.

ON MAY 16, 1899, La Democ-racia, the fi rst Filipino news-paper to recognize the sover-eignty of the United States in the country, started publica-tion. It urged the Filipino peo-ple to accept the new gov-ernment and to help heal the wounds of war.

In its editorial announce-ment under the heading “Our Purposes”, it declared:

“We want peace. We are Filipinos, we deplore and con-sider useless the shedding of more blood of our brothers. No more human lives should be sacrifi ced. There is no neces-sity to resort to violence to se-cure our liberties. We believe in the noble purposes of the American people and in con-formity with the proclamation of the commission and we pro-

pose through La Democracia to lend them our cooperation for the benefi t of the just aspi-rations of our own people.”

While it proclaimed itself to be independent, it became the organ of the Federal party, which supported the American government. The Federal par-ty gradually lost prestige and La Democracia ceased publi-cation in 1908.

La Democracia starts publication

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Halo-haloDing Cervantes

OpinionNapag-uusapanLangFelix M. Garcia

Ban e ta’ isumpa ing inalal ta’laNGENING nung wari sa’ keng dase pigkeranMakalulun na ing eleksyong miralan,At ing bukud bakas malino melakuanPulyetus a dakal karing pipagbotuan

Iti karaniwan nang na mu ping eksenaKeti Pilipinas keng bie pulitika,Nung nu’ kaibat itamu ken ing magdusaKeng pamaglinis king likuan dang basura.

At ding pulitiku a dapat maglinisKing likuan dang kalat ding dipa’ning dyaskis;Pasalamat ka nung atin ka pang akitBan ing basurang yan akua rang iligpit.

E ko’ tutodusan… ding keraklan karenMasipag la kabang atin lang buri ren,Pablasang kaibat na pin ning alalan kenMetung man kareti e ta’no alelen.

Ing metung at metung kareting tinagalMika-istorya lang king bie ra malakuan;King meging makalman, dangalan at galalKabang king mesambut, korona yang lakal.

Antiti kayumu’t kapait nung misanIng maging bunga ning tagumpe’t kabiguan,Inya nung ala kang matibe parasanMekad isumpa mu ing bage makanian.

Insa’ mang alalan ating masasambutPablasang nung misan malyap ing paniambut,Nung kabilang ka man karetang mesambutO mealang kalma, e mu kalulungkut.

Lalu pa’t uli na ning bage pikatsaIkua ra ka reting king balen asira,Deti mapalyaring bukas o makaduaIla namang takman salpak at palyasa.

Talagang makanian ing bie pulitiku,Misan kipmuan pait , misan sari yumu;(Ina’nak – siran ne ing Ninong na mismuKing ba’nang akua ing pagnasan nang puestu).

Pati mikapatad, king panaun ngeniDen e na’la naman mipapanatindi,Uli na ning balang metung pin karetiBuri na yang lukluk king likuan nang Daddy

O maski nanu mu a e pimamanan,E baling malasak pamanang dangalanDing pengaring igagalang ning lipunan,A sukat sesen da at paka-ingatan!

Pulitika mu yan, at iti e dapatMaging dalan banting ing matibe aptasNing relasyun at/o pamikamaganak,Muling alang kuenta at lubus malasak.

Pamikaluguran a sadiang matibeDing adua, uli na ning antiting bageMasira ing tapat deting pamiyabeKabud ken la naman deti pepaytake.

Inia ikayu ken a makasoso naKing bie ngara pin alang pirming kasangga,Antining iti yang kapad yung talagaSamasan yu namung mamiling baraha.

Yan e makakua keng kabud mu diritsuPotang ikayu na ing ken makapuestu,Uling nung misan mu kilub parumingguKarin kayu lulub nanung agawa yu?

Ing kalulung balen ya rugung magdusaKaring pasuelduan nang e naman magobra;Sana’ing sadiang gawi lubus mibayu naBan e ta’ isumpa ing inalal ta’la!

Ominous? Vatican OK’s Medjugorje sorties

A BELL rings when we hear May 13. For some, the date automatically associates with the Fatima apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917, that spectacular dancing sun event witnessed by some 70,000 people in Portugal.

Now the date assumes more supernatural signifi cance, for last May 13, Pope Francis made a signifi cant announcement. The timing is apt. Perhaps ominous.

THE POPE HAS AUTHORIZED PILGRIMAGES TO MEDJUGORJE.

“The Vatican said that this approval does not mean it has authenticated the apparitions themselves — a fact the secularized Catholic media will focus upon — but very heavy odds are now that they will be, and while it will go unmentioned by most media, a Vatican commission assembled by Pope Benedict XVI studied Medjugorje in tremendous depth for four years and concluded that the Virgin Mary, at least during the fi rst week (its research could not branch beyond that, into individual apparitions that then occurred), did in fact appear there,” explained Catholic author Michael Brown.

Former Medjugorje doubter Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the Vatican representative at Medjugorje is now a Medjugorje believer, calling it the “confessional of the world” and the “spiritual lungs of Europe.”

Those who have followed Medjugorje know its supernatural truth.

But how signifi cant is the latest development in Vatican’s move on Medjugorje? One signifi cance is the truth of its messages. Nay,

its prophecies for our times.The visionaries were supposed to be given

10 secrets from the Blessed Mother. The secrets diff er for each, but it would seem that some were common to them all.

At one time, visionary Mirjana said: “The seventh secret troubled me greatly.”

She also said: “I cannot divulge much about the secrets but I can say this…Our Lady is planning on changing the world. She did not come to announce our destruction; she came to save us and with her Son she will triumph over evil.”

“If Our Mother has promised to defeat evil, then what do we have to fear?” Mirjana added. For many of us, this is easier said than done.

The Medjugorje seers have been so far more secretive than the visionaries of Medjugorje and Akita. That’s because they were given time, at present in the future, to reveal them.

But if it is true, as I believe it is, that Medjugorje, Garabandal and Akita complement each other, then there is no reason to be in the dark about those unrevealed in Medjugorje. Add to this the revelations of Jesus Himself to St. Faustina Kowalska of the Divine Mercy and the tableau of revelations is laid wide on the table.

Initially, I can’t help but be afraid.

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LUBAO, Pampanga- Outgo-ing House Speaker and for-mer President Gloria Maca-pagal Arroyo plans to spend time to fi nish her memoirs, now that she is fi nally retiring from politics.

This was among the re-tirement plans she revealed when she arrived at the San Nicolas Elementary School here to cast her votes last Monday morning.

The former president, who

Retiring, GMA to fi nally fi nish memoir

is on her last term as con-gresswoman representing the second district of Pampan-ga, said, however, that she would continue to serve her “cabalens” as consultant to the provincial government.

She was listed as 74th in the voters’ list posted at the entrance to Precinct 001A.

Her husband Miguel and eldest son MIkey and his wife Angela also cast their votes at the school.

MIkey, a former Pampan-ga vice governor and con-

gressman, got overwhelm-ing votes for Congress in his mother’s second district in Pampanga.

Arroyo told media at the precinct that her presiden-tial term had brought fi nan-cial and fi scal stability to the country, reducing the poverty rate from 39 to 26 percent.

Arroyo is known to be a close ally of outgoing Pam-panga Gov. Lilia Pineda who run opposed for vice gover-nor, even as her son Dennis got landslide win as governor.

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MACABEBE, Pampan-ga- Malacanang has de-clared June 3 as a special non-working holiday in this town in observance of Maca-bebe Day marking the death of the country’s fi rst war-rior-hero named Tarik Sulay-man.

By authority of the Pres-ident, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea issued Proclamation 275 on the hol-iday, a Monday, saying “it is but fi tting and proper that the people of the Municipality of

Macabebe be given full oppor-tunity to celebrate and partic-ipate in the occasion with ap-propriate ceremonies.”

“Now, therefore, I Salvador Medialdea, Executive Secre-tary, by authority of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, do here-by declare, Monday, 02 June 2019, a special (non-working) day in the Muunicipality of Ma-cabebe, Province of Pampan-ga,” the proclamation said.

The proclamation would be eff ective only this year.

June 3 is not Macabebe’s fi esta. Rather, it marks the her-oism of Tarik Sulayman, a na-

tive who led local folk against the Spanish forces of Miguel López de Legazpi during the Battle of Bangkusay Channel on June 3, 1571. Historians also refer to him as Bambali-to who was killed during the battle.

Sulayman is at times re-ferred to by historians as “nameless hero,” but he fi rst appeared as “Toric Solei-man” in Pedro Paterno’s His-toria de Filipinos and has since been used, though with diff erent spellings, to prevent people from confusing him with Manila’s Rajah Soliman.

June 3 holiday in Macabebe

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESREGIONAL TRIAL COURTTHIRD JUDICIAL REGION

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGAOFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT & EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF

RURAL BANK OF ANGELES, INC., Petitioner-Mortgagee, EXTRA-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF ~ versus ~ REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE NO. 08-19SPOUSES LOURDES CABIGTING DE GUZMANAND CONRADO T. DE GUZMAN, represented bytheir Attorney-In-Fact, NINO ADONIS P. SARMIENTO Respondents-Mortgagors.

x--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------xNOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SALE

WHEREAS, upon Extra-Judicial Petition for Sale under Act No. 3135 as amended by the Act No. 4118, fi led by RURAL BANK OF ANGELES, INC., mortgagee, with postal address at No. 1229 Miranda corner Sto. Entierro Streets, Angeles City against SPOUSES LOURDES CABIGTING DE GUZMAN AND CONRADO T. DE GUZMAN, represented by their Attorney-In-Fact, NINO ADONIS P. SARMIENTO, mortgagors, with postal address at Brgy. Parian, Mexico, Pampanga to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of March 11, 2019 amounted to ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTEEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED TWENTY PESOS AND 85/100 (PHP1,817,620.85) Philippine Currency, excluding penalties, Attorney’s Fees and expenses of foreclosure, the undersigned authorized Sheriff IV will sell at public auction on May 16, 2019 at 9:00 in the morning or soon thereafter at the Regional Trial Court, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, to the highest bidder in CASH or MANAGER’S CHECK and in Philippine Currency the property with all the improvements thereon, to wit:

TRANSFER CERTIFICA TE OF TITLE NO. (92915-R) 042-2018004490REGISTRY OF DEEDS OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA

A PARCEL OF LAND (LOT 1035-A OF THE SUBDIVISION PLAN PSD-2154, BEING A PORTION OF LOT NO. 1035 OF MEXICO CADASTER, G.L.R.O. CAD. REC. NO. 125 WITH ALL BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS; EXCEPT THESE HEREIN EXPRESS BY NOTED AS BELONGING TO OTHER PERSONS, SITUATED IN THE BARRIO OF SANTO DOMINGO, MUNICIPALITY OF MEXICO. BOUNDED ON THE NE. BY SAPANG LUCUNG, ON THE SE. BY LOT NO. 1035-B OF THE SUBDIVISION PLAN AND LOT NO. 1033; ON THE SW. BY LOT 1033; AND ON THE NW. BY LOT NO. 1951, LOT NO. 1045 AND LOT NO. 1046. BEGINNING AT A POINT… CONTAINING AN AREA OF FORTY ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY TWO (41,522) SQUARE METERS, MORE OR LESS…

Prospective bidders are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title of the above-described property and to the encumbrances existing thereon, if any there be.

All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above-stated time and date.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on May 23, 2019 at the same time and at the same place mentioned above without further notice.

City of San Fernando, Pampanga, April 2, 2019.

REGINALDO D. SERRANO Sheriff IV

(Regional Trial Court Br. 48)Copy Furnished:

Rural Bank of Angeles, Inc. - 1229 Miranda corner Sto. Entierro Streets, Angeles CitySpouses Lourdes Cabigting De Guzman and Conrado T. De Guzman - Brgy. Parian, Mexico, Pampanga

PUNTO! Central Luzon: May 2, 9, 16, 2019

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESDepartment of Transportation and

CommunicationsLAND TRANSPORTATION FRANCHISING

AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Offi ce No. III

City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Application for Extension of Validity of aCertifi cate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ service.

R-EV-PJ-2019-d-2004-00330JOSEPHINE R. SANTOS /Applicant x----------------------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant is a grantee of a Certifi cate of

Public Convenience to operate a PUJ Service for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: MALOLOS-MEYCAUAYAN via BALAGTAS, MAC ARTHUR HIGHWAY and vice versa with the use of one (1) unit/s, which certifi cate is valid up to April 29, 2019. In the application fi led on April 26, 2019. Applicant request for the Extension of Validity of said Certifi cate with the use of the same number of unit authorized.

NOTICE is hereby given that this Application will be heard by this Board on May 27, 2019 at 9:00 A.M. at its Offi ce at the above address.

Applicant is hereby ordered to publish this Notice at least FIVE (5) days before the above date of hearing once in a newspaper of general circulation in REGION III.

Parties opposed to the granting of the Application must fi le their written oppositions supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date, copy of the same be furnished to the applicant, and may if they so desire appear on the said date and time.

This application will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of the records of this case submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary evidence for the judicious resolution of the same.

WITNESS the Honorable AHMED G. CUIZON, Regional Director this 30th day of April 2019 in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

JE-JESUS D. SISON Hearing Offi cer

PUNTO! Central Luzon: May 16, 2019

nal committees have been holding hearings here to tackle proposals to apply without excep-tion a lowered 20 percent corporate tax nationwide under Package 2 of the TRAIN Law, offi cially Re-public Act No. 10963

The Lower House has changed the name of the Package 2 bill into Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (TRABA-HO). In the Senate, it is SB 1906.

Investors here and other economic zones have been enjoying only a fi ve percent tax on gross income earned (GIE), an incentive ini-tially off ered by the gov-ernment to attract foreign and local investments af-ter this former US mili-tary base was devastat-ed by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and converted

Clark investors hopeful TRAIN 2 to honor old contracts...

ed at San Miguel north-bound entry and south-bound exit and another toll lane will be added to the northbound exit.

The soon-to-open Bamban Interchange will likewise have three entry and three exit lanes. The new interchange will be-come the direct connec-tion to New Clark City, the main venue for this year’s Southeast Asian Games.

SCTEx toll plazas to get more lanes

into an economic zone.Alvaro said the coun-

try would lose face in the investments world by reneging on such con-tracts.

He expressed con-fi dence, however, that Congress would adopt proposals of CILA and other groups from eco-nomic zones to at least reduce the corporate tax proposals to merely 12 percent instead of the proposed 20 for econom-ic zone investors, while respecting provisions in contracts already signed with the government.

Alvaro said that “un-less the TRAIN 2 pack-age becomes fi nal, it is like us being threatened by a volcanic eruption.”

“Remove the perks and there’s no reason to be here,” he said, noting that at present, Clark in-vestors still pay only 5 percent GIE while wait-ing for the fi nal Package

2 TRAIN legislation.Amid fi gures from the

Commission on Elec-tions showing him win-ning in the electoral race, Sen. Sonny Angara said he was in favor of honor-ing old contracts grant-ing special tax privileges to investors at Clark and other freeports.

Highest rateBusinesses in the

Philippines pay the high-est corporate tax rate in the ASEAN region—30 percent, compared to an average 22.5 per-cent rate in neighboring countries.

The Department of Finance (DOF) has maintained that “cutting taxes on corporations makes our businesses more competitive and that by lowering taxes, businesses will face low-er costs and higher profi t margins, potentially gen-erating more employ-

ment and investment.”The Lower House’s

TRABAHO propos-al will lower the tax rate paid by corporations by 2 percent every two years, settling on a fi nal tax rate of 20 percent by 2029. On the other hand, SB 1906 will im-mediately bring the tax rate down to 25 percent in 2019.

While big corpora-tions are to benefi t from a huge tax cut, a lower tax rate would also ben-efi t 90,000 small and medium enterprises compared to the 4,000 large businesses in the country., the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has said.

The DTI said, howev-er, that a main drawback to lowering taxes would be a substantial loss in government revenue. The DOF has estimat-ed that lowering the cor-porate income tax rate

from 30 percent to 29 percent in 2019 would result in P26 billion of uncollected revenue.

TRAIN Package 2 aims to harmonize doz-ens of incentive laws into one Omnibus In-vestment Code, mod-ernizing the available in-centives given to fi rms,

making incentives time-bound and based on key performance indicators, institutionalizing a more Strategic Investment Priorities Plan, and in-creasing the transparen-cy and accountability of receiving fi rms through stronger and more re-sponsive governance.

F��� ���! 1 Luigi Bautista, pres-ident and general man-ager of NLEX Corp., said “the additional toll lanes will help improve SCTEX’s connectivity in its areas, particularly in Clark, which is being positioned as Asia’s next aerotropolis and invest-ment center.”

The new lanes aim to enable speedy toll transactions even during peak hours and holidays when traffi c volume on the expressway rises

sharply.In the previous years,

the NLEX Corp., together with the Bases Conver-sion and Development Authority, implemented several enhancement projects along SCTEx’s 94-kilometer stretch. These projects include the NLEx-SCTEx elec-tronic toll collection in-tegration, the expansion of Tipo Toll Plaza and the Mabiga Interchange. NLEx also completed the pavement rehabil-

itation of the entire ex-pressway.

CCTV System, LED lights, emergency call boxes, crash cushions, and refl ective delineator plates were also installed at the expressway to en-hance the safety of mo-torists. A new traffi c con-trol room was built in Do-lores, Mabalacat City to track real-time traffi c at SCTEx.

This is our commit-ment to the public, Bau-tista said.

ed out along Friendship Highway.

This comes after Lazatin’s offi cial procla-mation last night, May 14, at the New Legisla-tive Building, City Hall, alongside his running mate and Vice May-or-elect, Ma. Vicenta “Vicky” Vega-Cabigting.

Following his proc-lamation, Lazatin ex-pressed heartfelt grat-itude towards his sup-porters and called for unity, urging Angeleños

to clear partisan political lines and work together for the development of the city.

“Sa lahat ng su-muporta sa akin at sa Team Lazatin, sa lahat ng naniwala, sa lahat ng nagtiwala, maraming maraming salamat po sa inyo,” said Lazatin, “Ing tagumpe ayni, para ya kekatamungan.”

Lazatin came fi rst in the race for Angeles City Mayor with a total of 59,192 votes.

For his platform, Lazatin had present-

ed his Six-Point Agenda focusing on improving public services, espe-cially public health and education, improving the city’s solid-waste man-agement and infrastruc-ture, promoting youth and sports development, and making Angeles a ‘drug-cleared’ city.

Also joining Laza-tin and Vega-Cabigting in the proclamation are two councilors-elect from Team Lazatin, Atty. Arvin “Pogs” Suller and Marino “Nik-Nok” Bañola.

–Press release

Pogi staff clean up campaign...F��� ���! 1

agency’s regional offi ce Wednesday, May 15.

This developed as Lacson called on her supporters to remain calm and wait for the offi -cial election results.

“I understand that the glitches in the offi -cial counting of votes are causing unrest to

Air of uncertainty hangs in MagalangF��� ���! 1 the people of Magalang,”

Lacson said.Lacson said she is

“saddened” by the de-lay of the election re-sults and hopes that the votes would come in and would be offi cially count-ed as soon as possible.

Lacson said her team “One Magalang” advo-cates for clean and hon-est elections and as-

sures the public that they will not act on anything that would taint the sanc-tity of the election as she called on her rival to do the same.

Lacson said the lo-cal government unit sus-pended work at the mu-nicipal hall to prevent any untoward incident and protect the ongoing counting of votes by the

BOC.Lacson said she re-

mains hopeful that she will get the highest num-ber of votes after all the votes are tallied.

–Ashley Manabat

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SpotlightArci Pineda

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESOFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT

REGIONAL TRIAL COURTTHIRD JUDICIAL REGION

ANGELES CITY

ALLAN RAZON GARCIA, FC CASE NO. 2019-2001Peteitioner/Mortgagee, Extrajudicial Foreclosure of -versus- Real Estate Mortgage under Act No. 3135 as AmendedSPS. MARINA F. LUGTU and by Act No. 4118HILARIO S. LUGTU represented byhis attorney-in-fact, MARINA F. LUGTURepsondents/Mortgagors.

x------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------xNOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE

Upon extra judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended, fi led by the above-named Mortgagee against the Mortgagor SPS. MARINA F. LUGTU AND HILARIO S. LUGTU represented by his attorney-in-fact, MARINA F. LUGTU, with residence and postal address at No. 453 Purok 3, Brgy. Sta. Cruz, Porac, Pampanga to satisfy the mortgage debt which as of March 18, 2019 amounts to ONE MILLION THREE HUNDRED SIXTY SIX THOUSAND PESOS (Php.1,366,000.00) Philippine Currency, together with the agreed interests, and penalties until fully paid and fi fteen (15%) percent of all amounts due as by way of attorney’s fees, the undersigned Sheriff IV will sell at public auction on June 4, 2019 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning or soon thereafter at the Offi ce of the Clerk of Court Regional Trial Court, located at G/F Jose Abad Santos Hall of Justice, Pulung Maragul, Angeles City, Pampanga, to the highest bidder, for cash or manager’s check and in Philippine Currency, the following parcel of land with all the improvements existing thereon, to wit:

TCT NO. -045-2013002523-“A parcel of land (Lot 19, Block 7, of the subdivision plan Psd-

03-138514, being a portion of Lot 1, Pcs-03-012747, LRC Rec. No.) situated in the Barrio of Pampang, City of Angeles. Bounded on the NW., along lines 1-2-3 by Road Lot 2, on the NE., along line 3-4, by Lot 18, Blk. 7, on the SE., along lines 4-5-6, by easement Lot, and on the SW., along line 6-1 by Lot 20, Blk. 7, all of the subdivision plan. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx …Containing an area of TWO HUNDRED FOURTEEN (214) SQUARE METERS more or less x x x”.

Prospective buyers may investigate for themselves the above-described property and encumbrances thereon, if there be any.

All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above-stated time and date.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on June 11, 2019 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning without further notice.

Angeles City, April 29, 2019.

GLENN P. CARLOS Sheriff IVCopy furnished:

ALLAN RAZON GARCIANo. 724 Valenzuela St.,Brgy. Lourdes Sur EastAngeles CityPampanga

SPS. MARINA F. LUGTUAND HILARIO S. LUGTUNo. 453 Purok 3, Brgy. Sta. CruzPorac, Pampanga

ATTY. EDGAR VICENTE D. OCAMPO2/F Mendoza Bldg., Mirand St.Angeles CityPampanga

PUNTO! Central Luzon: May 2, 9 & 16, 2019

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of MARIO ESGUERRA who died

intestate on June 14, 1998 in Mexico, Pampanga executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement with Special Power of Attorney on his estate, more particularly described as a parcel of land (Lot 16 of the subdivision plan Psd-03-029312 (OLT), being a portion of Lot 2 Pcs-03-000300 and L.R.C. Rec. No. __), situated in the Barrio of San Nicolas & San Lorenzo, Municipality of Mexico, Province of Pampanga and covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title No. 11837, Emancipation Patent No. 412398 in the Registry of Deeds of Pampanga, before Notary Public Gener C. Endona as per Doc No. 195, Page No. 40, Book No. 56, Series of 2017.

Punto! Central Luzon: May 9, 16 & 23, 2019

NOTICE OF SELF-ADJUDICATIONNotice is hereby given that RODOLFO SOTO UYENGCO, 89 years old,

Filipino, married, resident of No. 13 Narra St., L&S Subd., Angeles City and sole heir of LUIS D. UYENGCO and MARIA D. SOTO-UYENGCO who both died intestate on April 7, 1961 and December 18, 1994, respectively, executed an Affi davit of Self-Adjudication with Sale on their estate, more particularly described as a parcel of land (Lot No. 931 of the Cadastral Survey of Bacolor) situated in San Vicente, Bacolor, Pampanga and covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title No. 16598-R in the Registry of Deeds for Province of Pampanga, before Notary Public Bryant R. Canasa as per Doc No. 375, Page No. 76, Book No. 1, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: May 16, 23 & 30, 2019

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given that FRANCISCO A. UMBLAS, of legal age,

Filipino, widower and resident of Block 3, Lot 11, Villa Remedios Homes, Cutud, Angeles City executed an Affi davit of Loss on the Certifi cate of Registration and Offi cial Receipt of the following vehicle, described as follows:

Registered owner : EDWIN AND MA LUISA SORIANOMake and type : SUZUKI MTCPlate no. : YS 6991Engine no. : QS157FMI-20405100504Chassis no. : NF41H-102462File no. : 0304-78170

Registered owner : ALBINO MAGBAGMake and type : YAMAHA MTCPlate no. : CY 5753Engine no. : 17V-00725KChassis no. : 17V-000725File no. : 2A-19943

before Notary Public Ricardo C. Pascual as per Doc No. 164, Page No. 30, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: May 16, 2019

Jasmine Curtis Smith: No more crying over social media’s negative effects

JASMINE CURTIS SMITH, who was called “anorexic, bobo, ingrata, mang-aagaw,” has found ways not to be discouraged by social media’s negative eff ects. She became the receiving end of bashing from the overzealous fans of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, aka AlDub, who accused her of being “mang-aagaw.”

In a previous interview she recounted, “My fi rst Instagram post to get 500 comments, in fact, teemed with bashers. After that, my insecurities grew, and I started to doubt myself. I used to be too sensitive about it, at times, to the point of crying.”

She was also criticized for being skinny, and was called anorexic. In her December 2018 interview, the 25-year-old sister of Anne Curtis said, “Personal na siya and it’s about my weight. And ako kasi, pagdating sa timbang ng tao, huwag mong i-discriminate.

“Wala iyan sa timbang, wala iyan sa hitsura, nasa kalusugan iyan ng tao. Ako naman, lagi akong nagtatanong, ‘Okay ba ang katawan ko?’ Kaming nasa spotlight as celebrities, napakalaki ng pressure na naibibigay sa amin na maging ganito ang korte ng katawan. ‘Ang pangit, wala siyang shape! Ay, diretso ang katawan! Ay, may taba dito.’ Gosh, ano pa ba, heto na nga payat na nga ako, sa’n pa ba ako lulugar?”

For a time, the ill eff ects of social media unnerved her, and aggravated her feeling of being “inadequate.” But Jasmine eventually found ways to address all the online negativity. First, she became a fan of the “mute” function of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that allows users to follow personalities without their posts appearing on their newsfeeds.

“Thank God, there’s a mute button now,” Jasmine told the press during the opening of Oppo’s pop-up store in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. She continued, “That helps a lot so that... people’s level of sensitivity nowadays, you also don’t want to off end a lot of people kahit na social media lang iyan.”

“Kasi it has become that embedded in our lives. So what I’ve done, I muted a lot of people that I follow.”There was also the “delete” option. Remember when she was referred to as “bobo,” “plastic,” and “ingrata”

because she did not give outright confi rmation of joining Alden and Maine in the movie Imagine You and Me?In her July interview she said, “PS. I deleted the nega comments na para tapos na. Dapat positivity lang

ang buhay. Let’s set a great example!”But apart from muting and deleting, Jasmine had to totally adjust her mindset. In her Octorber 2018

interview she said, “I cannot choose to ignore the bashers or avoid social media forever.”“The negativity, that’s just one aspect; and the bashers, I cannot change the way they think. Yun na sila.

No matter how you feel or what you say, that’s their opinion. So what I did was change the way I see things.“It was tough, actually, quite a struggle siya for me. Kasi, iniisip ng iba na lahat ng tao na i-bash nila,

pare-pareho ang tolerance sa ganyang klase ng pain, but let me reiterate na hindi. Those who do not love themselves enough, parang doble pa yung pain.”

Instead of being sensitive or balat sibuyas, she learned not to take things too personally, and stop comparing herself to others.

She said, “I’ve just come to terms with a lot of my insecurities by facing them, fi nding a way, to turn it into inspiration para I don’t get frustrated with my insecurities.”

“Also, always listing, when I can, to remind myself, list down the things that I have and that I’m grateful for and that I’ve accomplished already. Para I don’t forget how far I’ve come, and I stop comparing myself through social media.

“Kasi we end up spending more time looking at and watching at people’s lives than you actually living your own so ayun. I make people or just give myself enough time to breathe and rest from all of that para I learn how make it parang work for me kapag nag-check ako.”

Asked for an advice to people who are experiencing the same, Jasmine said, “I think you start looking at yourself, your core, your beliefs, your goals.”

The Maledicto star expounded, “Lay it out for yourself parang nakikita mo siya, kasi kapag nakikita mo yung mga bagay na iyan, parang bagay lang.”

“Pag nakikita mo yung gamit mo laging naka-display, hindi mo iisipin na bilhin iyan or hindi mo siya makakalimutan. When you also lay out your plans for yourself and put it somewhere where you can constantly look at it and be reminded by it, maa-align mo yung sarili mo lagi.

“And you can allow yourself to be just you, without having to pressure yourself against or compare to other people’s timelines for you and in comparison to other people of your contemporaries of your industry.

“Sadly, I’d have to say more than I like. Parang siguro, accumulative in a day, around four hours. If not more, probably around six hours. And that’s, you know, constantly checking the phone. Three minutes dito nagche-check or ten minutes nakaupo ka lang or nasa banyo ka and all those things so madami rin.”

Jasmine said reading articles and scrolling through Instagram usually take most of her social media time.

The star of the Kapuso network’s remake of Descendants of the Sun said, “I like to read a lot of articles, yung parang nagpa-pop up sa homescreen na website.”

“And then I go from there, article to article. Or I respond to work messages or Instagram, pag nawili sa isang post like, ‘O, sino itong isang girl na ito?’ or ‘Ano itong item of clothing na ito?’ Kung saan-saan ka nang page napunta. That’s usually what I do lang.”

And with a total of 2.49 million followers on Twitter, 2.7 million followers on Instagram, and 3.5 million likes on Facebook, she has chosen to take advantage of her astounding numbers to promote brands and advocacies, and raise awareness on societal issues.

Does she consider herself a techie?“I would say that I attempt a lot like, I really wanna learn and

confi gure the settings of my camera. Try to use it on manual mode. The same with my phone, I try to fi nd the most effi cient way of using it. So that I don’t feel hassled downloading new apps or switching or upgrading from model to model. I think because of the fact na yun nga, papali-palit yung phone ko, parang nagiging ano na siya almost automatic to be a techie and learn about the phone that I’m using.”

Jasmine Curtis Smith

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IF ONE looks in a dictionary the mean-ing of the word “home,” the answer would come out to be, “The place where one lives permanently.” How-ever, for anyone who has had an ac-tual home, they would know that such a term goes much beyond its concrete description.

A home is more than the structure built to shelter us through day and night; a home is where we fi nd the values and foundation of nurturing. A place built to witness life’s most pre-cious moments and milestones.

And such is always the mindset of The Hauslands as they continually pro-vide homes for the Kapampangan mar-ket – to instill the feeling of being “at home.”

Last 2017, the company opened another community in Pampanga, marking their second project in City of San Fernando. The Hauslands – Pam-panga aims to cater the refi ned taste of a more discriminating market: the mid-dle class.

Two years later defi nes anoth-er milestone for the company and its market as The Hauslands-Pampanga welcomes its fi rst batch of homeown-

The Hauslands-Pampanga welcomes its fi rst homeownersers last May 11, 2019. More than 100 homeowners are set to live in the community starting from the turnover period.

The day of welcoming the home-owners was made more special as The Hauslands also launched one of the amenities inside the community, The Pavilion. Gracing the ribbon cut-ting ceremony are the following: [See attached photo and list of names]

The homeowners are welcomed by the management after the Eucha-ristic celebration and blessing of The Pavilion offi ciated by Rev. Fr. Fernan-do Urbano.

Utility fair is also organized to aid the homeowners regarding their home essentials and needs. The Hauslands partnered with Converge ICT Solutions, Inc., Abenson and SB Furniture to assist the homeowners.

Now that The Hauslands – Pam-panga community is set to accom-modate its very fi rst homeowners, more opportunities lie ahead for oth-er families to be part of this beauti-ful neighborhood. The homeowners can fi nally say, “I am Home” with The Hauslands. –Press release

The Hauslands executives grace the ribbon cutting ceremony during the launch of Pavilion. (L-R) Hausland Group director Jane Tan–Glinoga, COO Glenn Martin Glinoga, deputy COO for marketing & operations Michael Carlo Tan, corporate sales manager Cristina Santos and deputy COO for administration & fi nance Maricel Soliman.

The blessing of The Pavilion, led by Rev. Fr. Fernando Urbano, was conducted right after the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The Hauslands management and the homeowners’ batch representative, Perissa Lopez (Center), share a toast as part of the welcome ceremony.

The newly-opened Pavilion comprises of swimming pool where the homeowners can enjoy and maximize their outdoor experience.

HAUSLAND GROUP added a feather in its cap as the leading Kapam-pangan homegrown developer in North and Central Luzon bagged twin awards in the re-cently concluded Prop-erty and Real Estate Ex-cellence Awards Night held at Makati Shan-gri-la, Makati City orga-nized by the Internation-al Real Estate Federa-tion – Philippines, Inc. or FIABCI Philippines, Inc.

Mansfi eld Residenc-es, a project of Hausland Development Corpora-tion, gained the gold in Residential Low-Rise Category while its affi l-iate company, FIESTA Communities, Inc., re-ceived gold in Residen-tial-Aff ordable Housing Category with FIESTA Communities Castillejos as the winning project.

This recognition marks the second win for both companies as they have won last year in the same categories for two other residen-tial developments. The awards received serve as Hausland Group’s crusade in fulfi lling their vision of enriching lives and empowering the Fil-ipino family.

–Press release

Hausland Group reaps two gold at Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards

From left to right: Florentino S. Dulalia, Jr., Incoming FIABCI World President, 2020-2021; Arch. Nestor S. Mangio, President, FIABCI-Philippines; Mariano Tan, Chief fi nancial Offi cer, Hausland Group; Wilfredo Tan, President and Chief Executive Offi cer, Hausland Group; Assen Makedonov, FIABCI World President; and Reghis M. Romero II, Chairman, FIABCI-Philippines.

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CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Fernandino farmers and farm-er leaders graced a sympo-sium on the Philippines’ Rice Tariffi cation Law on May 15, 2019 at Heroes Hall.

The program was part of the Farmers’ Week celebration of the City Government of San Fernando. Resource speak-ers from the National Food Au-thority (NFA) Pampanga Pro-vincial Offi ce and Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Offi ce 3 led the discussion on the said enactment.

As the benefi ts of this law to farmers are still unclear, City Agriculturist Cristina Sang-umay said the symposium aimed to enlighten the farmers about the measures that NFA and DA are doing to help the farmers.

“Dapat naiintindihan ninyo yung ‘gray area’ ng rice tar-iffi cation law para malaman ninyo kung paano i-treat ang batas at kung paano i-adjust yung farming ninyo. Nagka-in-tervention ang national gov-ernment para magkaroon ng option ang mga farmers para hindi maipit sa batas na ito,” said Sangumay to the farmers.

Formally known as Re-public Act 11203 or “An Act Liberalizing the Importation, Exportation, and Trading of Rice, Lifting for the Purpose the Quantitative Import Re-striction on Rice and for other Purposes,” this law aims to im-ply tariff s to rice importers for a certain rate, instead of giv-ing restrictions to them, which will result to a higher number of rice importers to the country.

This law is believed to give good benefi ts to consumers through aff ordable prices of rice coming from other coun-tries, but will bring negative

Fernandino farmers attend tariffi cation law symposium

LEADING Philippine carrier Cebu Pacifi c (CEB) is open-ing applications for a sev-enth batch of Cadet Pilots to be trained at the prestigious Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) in Australia through CEB’s “study now, pay later, zero-in-terest” training program. The carrier will be selecting 16 cadet pilots to join six other batches currently undergoing pilot training in Australia.

Application period for the seventh batch of Cebu Pacifi c Cadet Pilots will run from May 17 to 26, 2019. Interested ap-plicants may visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YFDGF-GM to apply for the program starting 12 noon on May 17, 2019.

There is no application fee for the program. Only ap-plicants who pass the online pre-screening will proceed with the next stages of the se-lection process. The selection process consists of interviews, computer aptitude tests, med-ical examinations, psycho-logical tests and spoken En-glish tests. Only successful applicants undergo an on-site screening for core skills and pilot aptitude tests, among oth-ers, where a fee of AU$425.00 (about PHP19,000) will be charged.

The Cebu Pacifi c Cadet

CebPac opens applications for new batch of cadet pilots

Pilot Program is a multi-mil-lion dollar initiative that aims to provide a steady fl ow of highly-skilled, international-ly trained airline pilots over the next fi ve years. Applicants must be Filipino citizens who are college graduates who are profi cient in English. There are no preferred college degrees, and applicants need only have an average grade of at least 80% or its equivalent in sub-jects related to Math, Physics and English.

Cebu Pacifi c shoulders the entire cost of the pilot training. Cadet-pilots who successful-ly complete the training are assured of employment with the carrier. They then reim-burse the cost of the program through monthly salary deduc-tion over a maximum of ten years at zero-interest.

One of these applicants was Darryl Dave Ditucalan from Iligan City. A certifi ed Electronics and Communi-cations Engineer, Ditucalan graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. His parents are farmers and local government offi cials in the province of La-nao del Norte. Ditucalan took a chance and applied for the program. After undergoing a comprehensive selection pro-

cess, he became part of the fi rst batch of CEB Cadet Pilots.

After a year of training in Adelaide, Australia, Ditucalan and 11 other cadets are set to return to the Philippines by mid-June where they are as-sured of positions as First Offi -cers in the carrier’s pilot corps.

“To those wanting to be pi-

lots but are fi nancially or other-wise constrained, take advan-tage of this opportunity off ered by Cebu Pacifi c. The ten year payback period is very aff ord-able compared to what this ca-reer can bring to you and your family,” said Ditucalan.

Since the program was launched in late-2017, CEB

has deployed 80 cadet pilots to FTA, selected from over 38,000 applicants, with a sixth batch set to depart for training by July 2019.

For more information, vis-it http://www.fl yfta.com/pi-lot-training/cebu-pacific-ca-det-program.

–Press release

CEBU PAC cadet private pilot Darryl Dave G. Ditucalan.

TO CELEBRATE the 50th anniversary of Philippine-Sin-gapore diplomatic relations, Philippine Airlines (PAL) is off ering a Special Singapore Sale on the Manila-Singa-pore-Manila route with tickets as low as $50 for one-way economy base fare.

PAL has partnered with the Singapore Tourism Board for the Singapore seat sale that runs from May 16-22, 2019. Travel period is from May 16 to December 31, 2019.

PAL was tagged by the Singapore Tourism Board as offi cial airline partner of the golden anniversary celebra-tions of Philippine-Singapore relations this May 2019.

Diplomatic relations were formally established between the Philippines and Singa-pore on May 16, 1969.

PAL fl ies to Singapore four times a day with the lux-urious tri-class Airbus A330 jet utilized on select fl ights.

For further details, con-tact the PAL website – www.philippineairlines.com – or call PAL Reservations (632) 855-8888, or visit the PAL Facebook page.

For more information on the Lion City, look up VisitS-ingapore.com/ph or the Vis-itSingapore Facebook page.

PAL seat sale fetes 50 years

of Phl-Sin relations

eff ects to farmers in terms of their income.

As a response, Arturo Sau-log and Roberto Mariano, Jr., both Warehouse Supervisors of the NFA Pampanga, impart-ed insights on their “palay pro-curement program,” wherein local farmers and farmer orga-nizations are able to sell rice grains to the agency, with min-imum requirements to pass.

This action is one of the agency’s ways to support the produce of the Fernandino

farmers.Edwin Paningbatan, DA

RFO 3 Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Chief, mean-while shared a brief back-ground on the rice tariffi cation law and its features, including the Rice Competitiveness En-hancement Fund, which will create diff erent programs for the farmers and their income.

Paningbatan explained that this fund includes the pro-vision of rice farm machiner-ies, rice seed development,

propagation, and promotion, expanded rice credit assis-tance, and rice extension services, which will be imple-mented by various agencies.

He also discussed other proposed regular rice pro-grams/projects of the agen-cy, including the provision of seeds, trainings, irrigation, and agricultural machineries and equipment. This activity is also part of the Pyestang Fernandino 2019 celebra-tion.

Farmers and farmer leaders of the City of San Fernando pose with some personnel of the City Agriculture and Veterinary Offi ce, National Food Authority, and Department of Agriculture as they grace a symposium on the Philippines’ Rice Tariffi cation Law on May 15, 2019 at Heroes Hall. C!"#$%&'#() *+!#!

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SM FOUNDATION recently awarded college scholarship grants to around 500 high school graduates nationwide. Simultaneous awarding were held in NCR, Tuguegarao, Cauayan (Isabela), Baguio, Rosales (Pangasinan), Tar-lac, Cabanatuan, Olongapo, Pampanga, Clark, Lucena, Naga, Legazpi, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, Ormoc, Roxas, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zambo-anga, and Butuan.

The SM college scholar-ship recipients had under-gone tedious screening and selection process. Of the 500 new SM college scholars, 35% are from NCR and 65% are from the other provinc-es, bringing the total number of college scholars to 1,200 for school year 2019 – 2020. This year also marks another milestone for the program as it expanded its reach to stu-dents from Bataan, Daet and Sorsogon.

As the fl agship program of SM Foundation, scholars enjoy full tuition and miscel-laneous fees subsidy. They also receive monthly stipend and are exposed to job op-portunities at SM malls during summer or Christmas breaks. They are given the option to enroll around 100 partner schools nationwide under the following fi eld of studies: Computer Science, Informa-

tion Technology, Engineering (Civil, Electrical, and Elec-tronics), Education (Elemen-tary and Secondary); Accoun-tancy, and Financial Manage-ment, among others.

The awarding of schol-arship certifi cates at SM’s Headquarters in Mall of Asia (MOA) was witnessed by Nanang Felicidad T. Sy, wife of SM founder, the late Tatang Henry Sy, Sr.; son Harley Sy, executive director; Jose Sio, chairman of the board; Deb-bie Sy, executive director and trustee; Dr. Lydia Echauz, trustee; and Ramon Gil Ma-capagal, trustee.

“It’s not only SM that can make things happen. Par-ents and guardians, you can help encourage and support your kids to do well. Students, please commit and believe that you can – it’s a mindset. Congratulations and welcome to the SM Family!” said Har-ley Sy addressing the new SM scholars and their par-ents. He also urged the stu-dents to focus on their stud-ies and strive hard to achieve their dreams, the same tenets that drove Tatang to great-ness.

Meanwhile in Olongapo, 25 out of the 500 were given the opportunity to enter into the SM College Scholarship program, the awarding was held at the training room of The SM Store where chosen

students from Bataan, Olon-gapo and Zambales signed the grant together with their parents and guardians.

SM City Olongapo Down-town Asst. Mall Manager Mi-chelle Charlene Chua shared some of the 14 Life Principles of Henry Sy to the scholars, she reminded them to be ‘a person of integrity’ because being honest and having strong moral principles makes each one a respectable per-son.

To date, the program has

already produced 3,274 col-lege scholar-graduates from its inception in 1993. SM scholars who have fi nished their degrees are now em-ployed and helping their fam-ilies, some of whom are em-ployed under the SM Group of Companies.

Founded on Tatang Hen-ry Sy, Sr.’s belief that educa-tion is the greatest equalizer, the program aims to provide thousands of Filipino youth the chance for a better fu-ture through higher educa-

tion. Tatang believed that if he could help send one child to school, that child can then help his or her siblings fi nish schooling and together, they can help uplift their family out of poverty.

SM Foundation is the so-cial development arm of the SM Group of Companies. Its programs are focused on pro-viding better access to edu-cation, healthcare, food secu-rity through farmers’ training, shelter, and social inclusion.

–Press release

24 out of 500 incoming SM scholars from Olongapo, Bataan, Zambales