Makati City News February 2013

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Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

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Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.
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Monument of Ninoy Aquino

Megaworld sees robust business in central Makati projects

By : SIEGFRID O. ALEGADO,


Eyeing one-off projects in the business and financial district of Makati City, listed property developer Megaworld Corporation is unfazed by the competition in horizontal mixed- use developments near the area.

“If you noticed most of our projects, basically the key selling point that these have is the location,” Eugene Em Lozano, Megaworld assistant vice president for sales and marketing, told reporters at the sidelines of a project launch late Wednesday. “All our projects are very strategic [in terms of ] locations.”

The Megaworld sales strategy is hinged to developing available land in the center of Makati.

“Developments at the fringe are selling their projects because of their proximity to Makati. Our projects is within the core, within the heart of the district,” said Lozano.

“It's within Makati, so the take up is very nice. The percentage of our sales is going up because the economy is doing good,” he added.

According to Megaworld, the luxury two-tower condominium “Three Central” in Salcedo Village is nearly 90 percent sold and its “Greenbelt Hamilton” project in Legazpi Village “is selling very quick.”

Megaworld also sold 40 percent of its newly unveiled “Paseo Heights” even before project launch. “We started soft selling in the last quarter of last year. So, actually we're 40 percent sold already,” said Lozano.

Harold Geronimo, Megaworld strategic marketing and communications director, noted that soft selling involves exclusive buyers who are regular patrons of Megarworld properties.

“This entails no marketing push, no events, no launch,” he said.

Lozano expects to fully sell all units by the third quarter of 2013, shoring up total sales of P1.8 billion. Officials did not disclose the investment cost of the project.

“Paseo Heights” is a 30-story condominium building with 320 studio and two-bedroom units situated in a 982-square meter lot beside the popular weekend market Jaime Velasquez Park.

The project, which will have its groundbreaking in second to third quarter of 2014, is eyed for completion on April 2017. Units are worth P3.3 million to P4 million for studio type (22 to 32 sq. m.), and P7 million to P10 million for two-bedroom (up to 90 sq. m.).

A former parking space, “Paseo Heights” in one of the last available lands in central Makati.

Lozano, however, said Megaworld still has “two to three lots” up for development in Makati.

“We have more to launch, but we can't disclose the total area. We'll have one more to launch in the second half of the year,” said Geronimo. — VS, GMA News





Holcim rides on higher sales, lower costs

By : bworldonline.com


CEMENT MAKER Holcim Philippines, Inc. grew its net income by 78.93% to P3.627 billion last year from P2.027 billion in 2011 on the back of increased volume of cement sold and reduced costs, the company reported yesterday.

Holcim Chief Executive Officer Eduardo A. Sahagun, in a press briefing yesterday in Makati City, attributed the increase in net income to “the growth in volume [of cement sold] and reduction in costs.”

According to the 2012 consolidated statement of comprehensive income it released through the stock exchange, Holcim sold 6.4 million metric tons (MT) of cement last year, 23% more than 2011’s 5.2 million MT. “Strong construction activity in both public and private sectors drove the growth,” the company said in a separate statement.

Holcim shares lost six centavos to P13.10 apiece yesterday.

Makati earmarks P2.17-B for city education

By : Mike Frialde


MANILA, Philippines - The city of Makati has earmarked P2.17 billion of its budget for this year to finance its education projects for the pre-school, elementary, high school and college levels.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said the budget does not include the allocation for the K-12 program on its pilot implementation at the University of Makati, since it is being funded by the Mayor’s Special Projects Office.

Last year, Makati through the city-owned University of Makati piloted the K to 12 program, offering Grades 11 and 12 or Senior High School dubbed “Higher School ng UMak” (HSU). Around 5,000 students enrolled in Grade 11 when the program was launched. Just like students of the city’s public preschools, elementary and high schools, K to 12 students are also entitled to receive free school supplies and uniforms.

Binay said the bulk of this year’s budget amounting to P1.5 billion has been allocated for expenditures in the pre-school to junior high school levels, while the remaining P717, 380,000 constitutes the budget for the operations of the UMAK.

Aside from the city-owned and run UMAK, Makati city has 28 public elementary schools and 10 public high schools.

Of the P1.5 billion budget for preschool to junior high school, P459 million has been earmarked for the purchase of textbooks and instructional materials; P49.3 million for school supplies; P5.3 million, bags; P64.7 million, P. E. T-shirts; and P120 million for school uniforms of students.

Binay said this year’s budget appropriation for free school supplies and instructional materials has been increased by P82 million from P377 million the previous year to cover the anticipated rise in enrollment this coming school year.

The increasing trend in enrollment in the city’s public schools has been observed for the past years, which is why the city government has sustained an annual increase in its budget for education, particularly for school supplies and uniforms.

Meanwhile, DepEd-Makati superintendent Dominico Idanan pointed out a significant increase in this year’s allocation for school uniforms, which has been doubled from last year’s P65-million budget.

Idanan said the increased allocation was in line with the plan of the city government to provide ready-to-wear (RTW) school uniforms instead of just textiles that were previously given to parents upon school opening.

“The city government is actually giving in to the request of the majority of the parents for ready-to-wear uniforms for them to save money on the cost of tailoring services,” Idanan said.

Makati nabs more than 5,000 smoke belchers

By : Mike Frialde


MANILA, Philippines - A total of 5,023 smoke belchers were nabbed by the Makati Pollution and Control Office (MPCO) in anti-smoke belching operations last year in the city’s major and inner roads.

The anti-smoke belching operations were carried out to enforce Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act.

In a report to Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, MPCO chief Ricardo Suarez said that although there was a slight drop in the total number of apprehended smoke belching vehicles in 2012 as compared to 5,214 violators in 2011, the total annual fines collected from offenders last year increased to P1. 499 milllion from P1.398 million in 2011.

Suarez said the increase in income generated were from repeat offenders who committed violations repeatedly last year.

Under City Ordinance 2004-032, Makati’s enabling law against smoke belching, first-time offenders are fined P1,000, while second-time and third-time offenders are fined P2,000 and P3,000, respectively. The driver’s license and car plates are also confiscated in some instances.

Suarez said all the apprehended vehicles exceeded the smoke emission level set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Topping the list of air polluters last year were delivery vans and other utility transportation with 2,574 of these vehicles caught, followed by trucks with 1,972; public utility jeepneys and tricycles, 238; cars, 181; buses, 53; and taxis, five.

The stricter campaign against smoke belching vehicles was based on the standing directive of Binay to clear all the city’s streets of air polluting vehicles, Suarez said.

“Clean air is a major concern of the Makati City government. This is why we have conducted our intensified anti-smoke belching campaign without letup,” he said.

The MPCO deploys its anti-smoke belching enforcers from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily in the city’s streets and main avenues like J. P. Rizal Street, Kalayaan Avenue, Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue and Magallanes.

Makati is one of the few localities in the country recognized by the DENR for its strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act. - Mike Frialde

MMDA announces schedule of road closures for EDSA Anniversary

By : Lucia F. Broño


MAKATI CITY, February 24, (PIA) -- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday announced the closure of several portions of EDSA until Monday (February 25) in line with the celebration of the 27th anniversary of the People Power Revolution.

At 9 pm Saturday, White Plains Drive from Temple Drive to EDSA (westbound) was closed for the setting up of the event stage.

Motorists are advised to avoid the affected areas and instead use alternate routes, Chairman Francis Tolentino said. The following traffic schemes shall be in effect today:

• Both directions of White Plains Drive will be closed at 2:00 a.m. for the "Run for Juan"

• At 5 a.m., EDSA northbound bus lanes and third lane from Julia Vargas to Guadix Road and all three lanes of the EDSA Ortigas flyover (northbound) will be partially closed. The flyover will remain open for motorists turning left to Ortigas Greenhills. Likewise, the EDSA northbound service road, from Guadix to EDSA Shrine will remain open.

• Full closure of EDSA northbound from Ortigas Avenue to Santolan will also be in effect starting at 5 a.m. Motorists may turn right to Julia Vargas to destination or pass through EDSA flyover then left to Ortigas Greenhills to destination.

• By 7 a.m., the entire stretch of EDSA will be opened. White Plains Drive, however, will be opened at 8 a.m.

At 9 p.m., two lanes of EDSA northbound from the People Power Monument to Gate 3 of Camp Aguinaldo will be used for the rehearsals.

"The road closures are necessary to ensure the safe and orderly celebration of the People Power anniversary. Alternate routes may be used by motorists for their convenience," Tolentino said.

On Monday, February 25, the following scheduled road closures will be observed: • 12:01 a.m. - Lanes 3-5 of EDSA will be partially closed (inner lanes from Corinthians to Aguinaldo Gate 3). Platform construction will be undertaken by DPWH. One lane of both directions of White Plains Drive will be passable. • 12:01 a.m. - Lanes 3-5 of EDSA will be partially closed (inner lanes from Corinthians to Aguinaldo Gate 3). Platform construction will be undertaken by DPWH. One lane of both directions of White Plains Drive will be passable. • 1:00 a.m. - Total closure of White Plains from Temple Drive to EDSA • 2:00 a.m. - Total closure of White Plains from EDSA to Temple Drive • 5:00 a.m. - Total closure of EDSA northbound from Ortigas flyover approach to Santolan. Likewise, EDSA northbound service road from Guadix Drive to EDSA Shrine will be totally closed. • 11:00 a.m. - entire stretch of EDSA will be opened to traffic.

Meanwhile, Tolentino clarified that the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the number coding scheme will be enforced on Monday.

"February 25 is declared as a special holiday only for all schools nationwide. Therefore, the number coding is not lifted," Tolentino pointed out.

Vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are not allowed to use major roads from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (RJB/LFB/PIA-NCR-MMDA)

Globe advances new data center, cloud computing solution

By : Tam Noda


MANILA, Philippines -- Globe Telecom's corporate arm Globe Business, announced Friday the expansion of its flagship MK2 data center to address the increasing demand for data center and cloud services in the country.

The company also conducted a test drive of its new cloud computing solution called "game-changer". The system is up and running and is currently installed in the data center in Los Angeles California and MK2 facility.

Located in Magallenes, Makati City, MK2 occupies a two storey building with each floor occupying 700 square meters of data center space.

The facility also has 41 closed-circuit TV (CCTV) networks both fixed and rotating ones with 30-meter zoom in features and motion detector functions.

Maximo Bernales Jr., Head of Globe Business' Services Operations, said the already operating data center has redundant power and cooling through Building Management System (BMS) integration for the generator set, uninterrupted power supply and precision air conditioning units.

He said a down blast of cold air underneath the raised floors separates hot and cold aisles in-between the racks.

"In terms of safety, MK2 has cable trays isolate power and data cables. It also has fire suppression systems and smoke detectors. Security is fortified with steel doors, card readers, door sensors, anti-tailgating and hand keys in the mantrap facility. And access-wise, a link-way from the old building serves as entry and exit points to the expansion areas," Bernales added.

The executive also shared that the entire infrastructure is adherent to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) 942 Tier III standards.

Jesus Romero, Head of Globe Business, confirmed that the company is now more than ready to meet the computing challenges of enterprises.

Globe Business later on conducted a test drive of its game-changer cloud computing solution during Friday night's Globe Devathon event held at the Globe Valero Telepark in Makati City, where top developers, IT professionals, students, business managers and members of the Globe Labs community programmed new applications from the readily-available app templates.

According to Francisco Claravall, Head of business products and services of Globe Business, the game-changer platform is available for self-subscription to build an entire cloud and launch applications from gaming to business software such as customer relationship management suites in less than two minutes.

After signing up, a user can assume the role of being an administrator, who can then add new app templates and make it available to customers anytime.

Claravall added the public cloud platform is ideal for developers, app-building entreprenuers, solutions providers who write applications and system integrators doing freelance work for companies, especially for small and medium businesses.

All Globe Business data centers located in Makati City, Mandaluyong City, Quezon City, Cebu City and an upcoming one in Cavite City are all backed-up by three global industry certifications, namely: ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management System, ISO 27001:2005 for Information Security Management System and BS 25999:2007 for Business Continuity Management System. It is also distinguished wth the ISO 20000-1:2011 certification for IT Service Management System with Globe being the first to earn the accreditations.

MMDA opens earthquake learning house

By : Lucia F. Broño


MAKATI CITY, Feb 22 (PIA) - - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) opened, Wednesday, to public its “Shake, Rattle and Learn House.”

The house is an earthquake-learning facility with an earthquake simulator to train rescue personnel and educate the public about earthquake and its effects.

MMDA Chairman Tolentino said, “To better understand earthquake and be prepared for it, we have to experience what it feels like. Shake, Rattle and Learn House will help raise the public awareness and knowledge about the earthquake phenomenon.”

The learning house resembles a bungalow complete with furniture. It has a living room, a classroom setting that can accommodate up to 10 people. Its quake simulator can produce seismic movement equivalent to a magnitude ranging from 4.0 to 8.0.

Tolentino said the simulator is similar to the one being used by experts from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (Pagasa).

Shake, Rattle and Learn House is located at the MMDA compound and is open to local government units and to visiting students and school children who are on educational tours.

“Earthquake simulation teaches safe personal behavior and practice in case of an earthquake. This is a learning tool against the perils of earthquakes by providing a scenario to practice protective procedures, the MMDA chief concluded.

Public Safety is one of the mandated task of MMDA and this includes formulation and implementation of programs and policies and procedures, especially the preparedness for preventive or rescue operations during times of calamities and disasters. (RJB/LFB-PIA NCR)

Lady medrep arrested in drug bust in Makati

By : Dennis Carcamo


MANILA, Philippines - Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency nabbed a lady medical representative during an entrapment operation in Makati City, seizing a total of 10 boxes of the prohibited drug, oxycodone hydrochloride.

The PDEA said that the confiscated illegal drug has the brand name Oxycontin that comes in tablet form, with a dosage of 40 milligrams each. It said that each confiscated box contained 28 tablets of the illegal drug.

"Oxycodone is a dangerous drug included in the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol. It is an opioid narcotic pain reliever that has similar effects to morphine,” PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac. Jr said, citing an annex in Republic Act, 9165, or the Comprehensive dangerous Drug Act of 2002.

Reports showed that last Feb. 18, agents of PDEA Regional Office 3 arrested Cherry Anne Que, 33, a medical representative, of Block 13, Lot 79, Phase 6, Carmona Estates Subdivision, Carmona, Cavite City after she sold the tablets to a PDEA poseur-buyer in front of a popular drug store along Amorsolo Street, Makati City.

Another 20 tablets placed inside a resealable zipper container were seized, bringing to 300 the number of Oxycodone tablets were seized during the operation.

The PDEA said that the confiscated drugs are worth at least P100,000.

Also seized from the suspect were a Toyota Vios( ZMX-986), a mobile phone and the buy-bust money.

“She (Que) is reportedly engaged in the selling of pharmaceutical products and medical drugs to licensed practitioners and establishments, but unfortunately, she opted to peddle the dangerous drugs to the underground market, thus putting in danger innocent lives,” Cacdac said.

Que is now facing charges for selling dangerous drugs in violation of the anti-drug law.

Isko Moreno files admin complaint vs Manila cops over bingo incident

By : Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency


MANILA, Philippines - Re-electionist Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno Tuesday filed administrative and criminal cases against a group of Manila policemen who arrested him and five other city councilors over the bingo incident last February 16 in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Moreno (Francisco Domagoso in real life) filed grave misconduct and abuse of authority against Inspector Eduardo Morata, chief of the Blumentritt’s Police Community Precinct (PCP3) of the Manila Police District, and 30 “John Does”, presumably Morata’s men.

Moreno was accompanied to the National Police Commission (Napolcom) in Makati City by incumbent Manila councilors Joel Chua, Ernesto Isip, John Marvin Nieto, Ma. Asuncion Fuguso and former Manila councilor Manuel Zarcal.

In their seven-page joint complaint affidavit, Moreno and the Manila councilors said prior to the disrupted bingo game, they held a barangay consultation at the compound of the Manotoc family on Tambunting Street.

Moreno said the holding of the bingo game was made to make the consultation livelier and to attract the crowd.

Moreno said that when he and the other councilors arrived at the scene for the 2 pm bingo game, they were surprised to see several uniformed policemen at the site.

“Our staff was informed by the residents of the barangay that a day prior to the scheduled event and also early morning of that date, several policemen went house-to-house in the said area and threatened to arrest any and all persons who will participate in our consultation and bingo event on the alleged ground that the bingo we would be conducting was considered as illegal gambling citing Presidential Decree No. 1602,” said Moreno in their complaint.

The Manila police had contended that the bingo game had no permit and was held in violation of the laws on street obstruction and illegal gambling.

Special Investigator Anna Marie Baluyot of the Napolcom’s Inspection, Monitoring, and Investigative Service said the respondent-policemen will be summoned and given five days to appear and formally receive the complaint.

Morata and his men will also be asked to file their respective counter-affidavits, after which the complaint will be evaluated.

If a probable cause is determined, the case will be forwarded to the Legal Service of the Napolcom, which will hear the merits of the case.

Grave misconduct and abuse of authority is punishable by dismissal from the service, according to Baluyot.

Publishers hold 17th congress

By : Manila Standard Today

The Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc. will host the 17th National Press Congress on Feb. 21 and 22 at Berjaya Hotel in Makati City.

PAPI president Luis Arriola said members from as far as Tawi-Tawi have already arrived to take up in substantive discussions on reforms in the electoral system, political and party systems and an indepth look into the electorate’s socio-political maturity.

The annual congress is mandated by Presidential Proclamation 1187 toward the continued growth of the media industry.

Arriola said the congress speakers are former Ambassador Tita de Villa, chairwoman of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting along with political analyst Prof. Ramon Casiple and Sociologist-journalist Prof. Randy David. Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes will keynote a luncheon session.

Kuwaiti envoy’s guard stopped for gun

By : Jaymee T. Gamil

Philippine Daily Inquirer


MANILA, Philippines—The Makati City police stood firm in its implementation of the nationwide gun ban, charging a bodyguard of an ambassador to Manila with violation of the election prohibition. Makati police chief Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban Jr. said city police on Saturday afternoon apprehended Noel Aspa, 31, a “protective agent” of Accuria Executive Protection and Detective Services Inc. who was hired to provide security for the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines. Aspa was stopped at 1:40 p.m. by a security guard manning the entrance to Greenbelt 5 as he entered ahead of Ambassador Waleed Ahmad Al-Kandari. Aspa refused to deposit his firearm, a 9-mm pistol, with 15 rounds of ammunition, prompting the mall guard to radio policemen patrolling near the area for help. Lukban said that out of respect for the diplomat, and so as to “not jeopardize his security,” the police confiscated the gun but allowed Aspa to enter with the ambassador. The Makati police, however, went ahead and filed a complaint in court against Aspa for violating the Omnibus Election Code. “If the judge issues a warrant of arrest for him, then we’ll arrest him,” Lukban said. High profile requires exemption Lukban reminded private security agencies that no matter how high profile their clients were, they were still “specifically required to seek an exemption from the Commission on Elections.” Once an exemption is approved, private security guards are required to be in uniform when they carry their guns, and they must wear their IDs visibly on their fronts. Aspa was in civilian clothes and could not present any papers showing that he was exempted from the gun ban. “They filed for an exemption but it has not yet been approved,” Lukban said. According to National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, between Jan. 13 and Feb. 17, the NCRPO arrested 239 persons in Metro Manila for violating the election gun ban. The NCRPO has confiscated 136 firearms, nine hand grenades and other explosives, and 111 deadly weapons, he said.





Kuwaiti Diplomats’ Bodyguard Nabbed in Makati Mall

By : Anna Liza Villas-Alavaren


MAKATI CITY, Philippines — A security officer reportedly hired by the Kuwaiti Embassy in Manila to guard their diplomats was arrested this weekend at a mall in this city for carrying a gun.

Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban, Makati City police chief, said Noel Aspa, 31, who works for Accuria Executive Protection and Detective Services, was arrested for violating the Commission on Elections (Comelec)-imposed gun ban.

Aspa was arrested by police alerted by mall security guards inside the Greenbelt 5 on Ayala Avenue at 1:40 p.m. Saturday.

Lukban said Aspa yielded a 9mm pistol loaded with 15 bullets.

Mall security personnel told police they asked Aspa to deposit the firearm before entering the mall, but he refused and insisted that he was providing security for diplomats.

Police called at the scene arrested Aspa after he failed to produce any documents exempting him from the gun ban.





New PHL envoy prepares for ‘strategic’ China mission

By : Gloria Jane Baylon / Special to the BusinessMirror


FOREIGN Undersecretary for Policy Erlinda F. Basilio leaves for her new post as Philippine ambassador-designate to Beijing in March, soon after Xi Jinping officially becomes China’s fifth-generation president and head of state; he will receive her credentials at the Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. Basilio had been ambassador to European countries and to the Philippine mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

Basilio intimated a few things about her appointment during a private dinner this week at the Tower Club in Makati City with a dozen Filipino and Chinese well-wishers; among them Special Envoy Carlos Chan, represented by his son, Carlson, and lawyer Charito Planas, who founded the Philippine-China Friendship Association and distributed calling cards that showed her shaking hands with the venerable Premier Zhou Enlai, who co-founded the People’s Republic of China with Mao Zedong and other select elites.

Also present were Golden Acres Farms President Salvador Chan; he brought along Beijing University history professor Dr. Bao Maohong, who is on a short-term exchange lectureship at the Ateneo de Manila University. Dongdong Wang of China Central Television was also around and his Tagalog skills learned at Beijing U clearly impressed the ambassador, an Ilocana. The youngest guest, 21-year-old Christina Ma. Grace R. Salinas, an Asian Studies magna cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, and dreaming to become a diplomat, was wide-eyed and “feeling inspired” by all the tales she was hearing from the silver-agers.

Basilio said she was pleased to be the choice of President Aquino, adding that she learned of the initial confirmation of her designation from a text message on the mobile of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, her strongest endorser. This prompted a comment from her well-wishers that the China post, a most-coveted assignment, would be a great way to cap her diplomatic career; she’s turning 69 in November. She is a political appointee, having retired as a career officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) when she was 65.

She did not have to be interviewed, partly since she is the most senior of the current foreign office elites and she was in the negotiating team on the Spratlys/Scarborough issue.

While all diplomatic posts are important and strategic, that of the very amiable Basilio takes even more meaning because it comes at crucial time in Beijing-Manila bilateral relations when prickly concerns include territorial boundaries and Xi himself would be presiding over a new China that has slowly weaned itself from unwieldy Maoist practices as it forges ahead onto what outgoing President Hu Jintao has repeatedly articulated as the “socialist path of development with Chinese characteristics.”

Their mutual concerns are also global in nature: climate change and the environment, workers’ migration, populations, imbalanced trade and commerce, maritime commerce and freedom of navigation, cyberspace and freedom of speech, crimes and punishment, graft and cooperation, among others.

So how does an envoy of a small country like the Philippines that’s schooled in American-style liberal democracy and other Western notions such as human rights, free assembly and speech and rule of law deal with an economic giant like China, which also has a strong intellectual tradition, is fiercely independent and permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?

Basilio, who has a master’s in Asian Studies from the University of the Philippines, which also gave her a bachelor’s in political science, said she is rising to the occasion, guided by notes from Mr. Aquino and “the Philippines’s long-term interests.” The response is certainly “diplomatese,” but that’s how closely she holds the cards to her chest—because, as a Filipino veteran China hand observed, “right now there are clouds over the horizon” and “2012-2013 as years of Philippine-China Friendship has been underplayed by both sides.”

Long before she ever knew that she’d be in China as chief of Philippine Mission and ambassador extra-plenipotentiary, Basilio has sometimes commented that she is aware of China’s position that the issue of territories is a core aspect of its diplomatic history. But now that the Philippines has brought the issue for mediation before an international court, with China ignoring it, are the two “frenemies” (friends yet enemies), so to speak? “We have agreed to disagree,” is how del Rosario describes it. “We are always friends,” declares China’s ambassador to Manila Ma Keqing. “Our long historical ties cannot be ignored.”

“Now, as for you media persons,” Ma recently told a trio of Philippine journalists with whom she shared a Chinese meal at her embassy, “please try to focus on the positive. We have other areas of concern that are conducive to our great relations.” Chinese journalists in Manila confirm that Ambassador Ma would also tell them this refrain but would not comment further. Ma is hard at work because not only must she often parry questions about the Spratlys and Scarborough—“they’re always asking the same questions,” she complains through her spokesman Zhang Hua—she has to deal with renegotiations on some agreements concluded before Mr. Aquino entered Malacañang.

Visiting parliamentarians of the European Union (EU) have added their spiel to the dispute. At a press conference here on Friday afternoon, they expressed that it is a good option for the Philippines to observe the process of mediation. But they clarified that while they support the process, the respective positions of Beijing and Manila as to sovereignty is another matter altogether. “However, we are quite willing to help find ways so that China may consider coming to the mediation table.”

Through the EU Delegation in Manila, German parliamentarian Langen released this statement to this writer: “The EU has been consistent in its calls to all parties to seek peaceful and cooperative solutions on the basis of international law and in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The EU has also consistently called for a formal Code of Conduct to be agreed between Asean and China, to strengthen the Declaration on Conduct of parties in the South China Sea (DOC) of 2002.

“International Law and Unclos provide a number of different tools that may be used for the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes. The path chosen by the Philippines—arbitration under Article 287 and Annex VII of Unclos—is one of those tools. While the EU does not take a position on the respective territorial claims, we do appreciate any effort made by the parties to continue to pursue the resolution of the disputes through all the peaceful diplomatic means at their disposal.”

China claims its diplomacy is based on a harmonious world of sustained peace and common prosperity. The world is watching how Xi Jinping, who also holds the important positions of commander-in-chief of its military as well as secretary-general of the Communist Party of China, will interpret that for his countrymen.

That, without being accused of reneging on Beijing’s responsibility as a world leader—unfortunately often also pitted and contrasted in its ways and norms against another giant, the US, which, also unfortunately, believes that its own are the universal and gold standard.

Japan’s so-called peace Constitution was formulated with much guidance, nay, interference and dictation, from the US in the aftermath of World War II. Every so often, hawks in Tokyo say that the MacArthur Constitution must be replaced, in keeping with Japan’s place in the world as a free nation.

The current move to amend the Constitution (so that Japan can claim a constitutional mandate to go to war, if need be, to defend its claimed territories) is rooted in Tokyo’s mess with China over the Senkakus, near Okinawa. These are US-occupied islands when China was largely isolated from the world because of civil war and other internal problems. These were reverted to Japan four decades ago.

So now, the Philippines has a commonality with Japan, a closer ally than China. Japan and the Philippines are Washington’s closest allies in the Pacific region.

Japan has been one of the longest previous assignments of Basilio, so her knowledge of that other northeast giant is immeasurable. Surely, her Tokyo experience would serve her in good stead and for her country.

In Photo: Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy and Ambassador-designate to China Erlinda F. Basilio (seated, fourth from left) was recently honored with a send-off dinner by Filipino and Chinese friends wishing her well in her new assignment in Beijing. At the gathering at the Tower Club in Makati City were Carlson Chan, director of Liwayway Marketing Corp.; lawyer Charito Planas, founder of the Philippine-China Friendship Association; Beijing University Prof. Bao Maohong; Foreign Affairs Executive Director for Asia-Pacific Division Bernardita Catalla; China mediamen Dongdong Wang and Fu Zhigang; Golden Acre Farms President Salvador Chan; Star columnist Wilson Lee-Flores; researcher Krissy Salinas; and Calendola barangay official Alma Gutierrez, among others.





SC allows transfer of Daza ex-lover's slay case to Makati

By : Janvic Mateo, The Philippine Star


MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has allowed the transfer to Makati City of the trial against former Quezon City congresswoman Nanette Castelo-Daza’s son-in-law, who is accused of killing the ex-lawmaker’s boyfriend in her house last year.

In a letter sent to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 218, SC First Division clerk of court Edgardo Aricheta said the high court on Jan. 14, has allowed the transfer of the homicide case against Bulacan provincial board member Allan Robes, the husband of city councilor and Daza’s daughter Jessica.

The transfer order was made following the request of the heirs of Noel Orate, Daza’s slain boyfriend, who was shot dead in her house in Teacher’s Village on Feb. 10, 2012.

In a letter dated June 11, 2012, lawyer Eduardo Bringas – representing Orate’s children – asked to the SC to allow the transfer of the case.

“My clients firmly believe that there will be a travesty of justice if the case of their father will remain in Quezon City,” said the lawyer, who noted that the Castelo political clan is very powerful in the city.

“My clients have vital witnesses but (they) are afraid to testify freely for fear of reprisal,” he added.

The request was opposed by Robes’ lawyer, Raul Ibay Tolentino, who said the transfer request shows the “writer’s disagreement with certain orders or resolutions of the presiding judge in the case.”

Tolentino also noted that Bringas did not state any justification why they wanted the case to be transferred to the Makati City Regional Trial Court (MCRTC).

Presiding Judge Zenon Maceren did not object to the request and submitted the matter to the discretion of the high court. The SC ordered the Quezon City court to forward all documents and records concerning the case to MCRTC, where it will be re-raffled.

Robes, who earlier claimed that he acted in self-defense, pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him. He is out on bail after posting the P40,000 bond set by the prosecutor, who downgraded the charges from murder to homicide.

The Orates sought the reinvestigation of the incident and insisted the suspect be charged with murder.

In a resolution, however, the Department of Justice affirmed the filing of homicide charges against Robes.





Couples exchange vows in Pag-ibig- and city-sponsored mass weddings

By : Roel Pareño and Mike Frialde


Rebecca Tubillera was not aware that the man she would be living in with was her younger sister’s ex-boyfriend. For Angel Atilano, love is sweeter the second time around as he finally got wed with the woman whose sister turned him down and ran away with another a few years back.

Tubillera, 34, who had came back from working abroad, found Atilano crestfallen, felt pity and fell in love with the man.

“My younger sister one day called me up and told me that my lover was her former boyfriend. But I shrugged it off because the man was too good to be let down. He has been with me through thick and thin,” Tubillera said.

Their story added color to 105 other couples, who were literary given love by the by the Pag-Ibig Fund, the state-run Home Development Mutual Fund in a mass wedding here during the Valentine’s Day.

Cora Mamauag, information officer of Pag-Ibig Fund, said the newlyweds in the mass wedding they have sponsored are only part of the 4,439 couples wedded in nine cities nationwide as part of their annual activity during Valentine’s Day.

She said the free wedding was provided to members of the Pag-Ibig Fund and their partners.

Mamauag said the objective of the activity was to continue and reinforce its previous programs to provide non-traditional marketing strategy that would further reinforce the image of Pag-ibig Fund as an institution that takes care of the needs of its members.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, chairman of the Pag-ibig Fund, in a taped video message, urged the newlywed couples to stay truthful and committed to their marriage through their married life.

Binay also assured the newlywed couples who are Pag-ibig Fund members of its continuous benefits while appealing to them to be committed as members.

Meals, symbolic wedding rings and wedding cakes, were also provided free, and items that included livelihood package worth P25,000 and house and lot package worth P400,000 were raffled off for lucky couples.

Meanwhile, in Makati City, 365 couples exchanged vows in another Pag-ibig-sponsored ceremony, dubbed as “I Do, I Do! Araw ng Pag-ibig.”

“By owning Feb. 14 as Araw ng Pag-ibig, the Fund helps couples who wish to get married but have no monetary means to do so,” said Darlene Marie Berberabe, Pag-ibig president.

“We hope that these couples will see Pag-ibig as an integral part of their lives. Pag-IBIG wants the couples and their families to have a house that shelters them from the elements and a happy home that nurtures them through the years,” Berberabe added.

When the Valentine’s Day mass wedding event was launched by Pag-IBIG last year, some 2,000 couples took part nationwide. On Thursday, including those married in Makati, some 4,381 couples took part in the Pag-ibig Fund’s sponsored mass weddings in 30 locations nationwide.

Vice President Binay, Pag-ibig board chairman, said the agency is planning to write the Guinness Book of World Records and have Thursday’s event recognized in the records as the most number of couples married in one day.

“This is indeed something for the records. Hindi madali ang pag-aasawa. Nandito ang Pag-ibig Fund para maging sandigan ninyo sa lahat ng inyong pangagailangan,” said Binay.

For 21-year old Tomas Conde, a resident of Pasay City, Pag-ibig’s mass wedding proved to be the solution to a problem long plaguing him and Sharmaine Aquino, 27, his partner of 11 years.

“We were supposed to get married in 2010 but then we had financial problems and the wedding did not happen. We are happy for this opportunity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Makati residents Richardson Billones, 51 and his wife Marichu, 49, of Barangay San Lorenzo – who have been married for 25 years - decided to take advantage of the mass wedding to renew their wedding vows.

Billones said his wedding date is supposed to be on April 12 but he and his wife decided to renew their vows on Valentine’s Day.

“In a way, we saved some money by joining this mass wedding. We also did not bother anymore with the arrangements,” he said.

In Taguig City, some 150 couples were also married in the Taguig City University auditorium in Barangay Bicutan.

Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano said the mass wedding is an initiative by the city government in recognition of the family’s importance in the community.

“I believe that a well-ordered family leads to a well-ordered community. Marriage between a man and a woman is quite important for the sake of their children and their entire family,” she said. Cayetano said couples often tend to place marriage plans behind because of financial reasons.

Also present at the mass wedding were the mayor’s husband Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, members of the city council and barangay officials.

Aside from the couples’ cake, wine, and candles, each of the newlyweds were also given 25 kilos rice and a wedding photo souvenir.

The city government also gave Ramon Maestro, 59, and his wife Epifania, 55, of Barangay Pinagsama, District a P2,000 cash gift after being recognized as the oldest couple present. ​




Makati’s May intramurals heating up

  • Source: Makati’s May intramurals heating up
  • Wednesday, February 13, 2013
By : Ferdinand Fabella


REP. Rodolfo G. Valencia, together with housing and real-estate groups advocating for responsible and equitable land-use planning, called for a “more inclusive, more consultative and more comprehensive” national framework for the management and allocation of the country’s resources.

This developed when Senate Bill 3091, also known as the National Land Use Act (NLUA), underwent its third reading on February 5 following President Aquino’s certification of its passage in Congress as urgent.

“All of us here are in support of a ‘real, honest-to-goodness’ National Land Use Act. In fact, we have been trying to push this for so many, many years, but it has got to be a balanced national land use, [and] not an imbalanced national land use that only favors a segment of our society,” the Oriental Mindoro First District congressman and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Committee of the House of Representatives said during a press conference held last week in Makati City.

Joining him in opposing the immediate passage of SB 3091 were the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations Inc. (Creba), Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA), Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines Inc. (OSHDP), National Real Estate Association Inc. (NREA), Philippine Association of Real Estate Boards and Philippine Institute of Real Estate Services Practitioners Inc.

Just like the speedy progress of its counterpart measure House Bill 6545, or the National Land Use and Management Act (NLUMA), which hurdled its third and final reading in the House of Representatives in September 2012, they were alarmed by reports that the proposed NLUA, which has been languishing in Congress for almost two decades, is being fast-tracked even when it has not been submitted to wide-ranging official consultations with stakeholders.

“We are very concerned that the land-use bills now pending in Congress have proceeded without an exhaustive consultation from the very sector that will primarily be affected by it,” said lawyer Ryan T. Tan, president of OSHDP.

“We’d like to see a bill that is not rushed, but a bill that takes into consideration the experts that are needed to make a very comprehensive land-use plan for our country,” added Paul H. Tanchi, SHDA president.

They also found flaws in their provisions, which could have a negative impact on the economic upsurge of the Philippines. One of these is the creation of the National Land Use Policy Council under the House version of the bill or the National Land Use Commission under the House draft, which not only limits the representation of the private sector but also sets aside the powers of the local government units over the proper planning and management of its land use conferred upon it by the Local Government Code.

Another feared effect of the NLUA/NLUMA is the definition of all agricultural lands as protected areas, leaving nothing of the land pie for other uses, such as settlements, infrastructure, tourism, real-estate development and other non-agricultural developments.

“The property sector has never been against the allocation of the best and most productive lands for agricultural purposes to provide food security for our people,” said Charlie A. V. Gorayeb, national president of Creba. “However, modern times dictate that mere allocation of land is not enough. We need to apply modern technology in food production, which we lack.”

Once the two similar bills will be passed into law in their present forms, moratorium on conversion of agricultural lands shall follow.

“The land that will be mostly affected by this will be those in the countryside because the urban areas, of course, are not subjected to conversion,” said NREA President Benigno T. Cabrieto Jr. “So, what will happen is that the development in the countryside will be gravely affected. It will slow down. There will be more urban migration.”

While these bills would result in a Policy Framework Law, they also contain special penal provisions, which actually violate the Bill of Rights.

“If these [and some other administrative provisions] will not be amended, I could say clearly that these will terribly affect the economic boom that we now have or we claimed to have under the administration of President Aquino,” said Valencia.






Solon, housing groups oppose National Land-Use bills in Congress

By : Roderick L. Abad


REP. Rodolfo G. Valencia, together with housing and real-estate groups advocating for responsible and equitable land-use planning, called for a “more inclusive, more consultative and more comprehensive” national framework for the management and allocation of the country’s resources.

This developed when Senate Bill 3091, also known as the National Land Use Act (NLUA), underwent its third reading on February 5 following President Aquino’s certification of its passage in Congress as urgent.

“All of us here are in support of a ‘real, honest-to-goodness’ National Land Use Act. In fact, we have been trying to push this for so many, many years, but it has got to be a balanced national land use, [and] not an imbalanced national land use that only favors a segment of our society,” the Oriental Mindoro First District congressman and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Committee of the House of Representatives said during a press conference held last week in Makati City.

Joining him in opposing the immediate passage of SB 3091 were the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations Inc. (Creba), Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA), Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines Inc. (OSHDP), National Real Estate Association Inc. (NREA), Philippine Association of Real Estate Boards and Philippine Institute of Real Estate Services Practitioners Inc.

Just like the speedy progress of its counterpart measure House Bill 6545, or the National Land Use and Management Act (NLUMA), which hurdled its third and final reading in the House of Representatives in September 2012, they were alarmed by reports that the proposed NLUA, which has been languishing in Congress for almost two decades, is being fast-tracked even when it has not been submitted to wide-ranging official consultations with stakeholders.

“We are very concerned that the land-use bills now pending in Congress have proceeded without an exhaustive consultation from the very sector that will primarily be affected by it,” said lawyer Ryan T. Tan, president of OSHDP.

“We’d like to see a bill that is not rushed, but a bill that takes into consideration the experts that are needed to make a very comprehensive land-use plan for our country,” added Paul H. Tanchi, SHDA president.

They also found flaws in their provisions, which could have a negative impact on the economic upsurge of the Philippines. One of these is the creation of the National Land Use Policy Council under the House version of the bill or the National Land Use Commission under the House draft, which not only limits the representation of the private sector but also sets aside the powers of the local government units over the proper planning and management of its land use conferred upon it by the Local Government Code.

Another feared effect of the NLUA/NLUMA is the definition of all agricultural lands as protected areas, leaving nothing of the land pie for other uses, such as settlements, infrastructure, tourism, real-estate development and other non-agricultural developments.

“The property sector has never been against the allocation of the best and most productive lands for agricultural purposes to provide food security for our people,” said Charlie A. V. Gorayeb, national president of Creba. “However, modern times dictate that mere allocation of land is not enough. We need to apply modern technology in food production, which we lack.”

Once the two similar bills will be passed into law in their present forms, moratorium on conversion of agricultural lands shall follow.

“The land that will be mostly affected by this will be those in the countryside because the urban areas, of course, are not subjected to conversion,” said NREA President Benigno T. Cabrieto Jr. “So, what will happen is that the development in the countryside will be gravely affected. It will slow down. There will be more urban migration.”

While these bills would result in a Policy Framework Law, they also contain special penal provisions, which actually violate the Bill of Rights.

“If these [and some other administrative provisions] will not be amended, I could say clearly that these will terribly affect the economic boom that we now have or we claimed to have under the administration of President Aquino,” said Valencia.






Good year ahead seen for property sector

By : Doris C. Dumlao

Philippine Daily Inquirer


The Philippine property market is headed for another good year this 2013, with urban land values and rental rates in Metro Manila likely to firm up alongside benign vacancy rates, according to property consultant Colliers International. Colliers International Philippines associate director Julius Guevara said in a briefing that prospects were bright for the residential, office, commercial and hotel/leisure segments in the metropolis over the next 12 months. Demand for industrial estate, a laggard over the years, has also picked up, not from heavy manufacturing players but mostly from logistics and warehouse providers, Guevara said. Aided by better-than-expected local economic growth and low interest rates, Colliers reported that land values in the Makati central business district (CBD) rose by 5 percent in 2012 to P291,000 a square meter and were likely to increase to P307,000 in the last quarter of this year. However, this will still be lower than the P400,000/sqm valuation in end-1997 before the Asian currency crisis erupted. The upswing is more pronounced at the Bonifacio Global City, where land values rose 28.1 percent last year to an all-time high P237,000/sqm and were seen to increase to P250,000/sqm by the fourth quarter of 2013. In the Ortigas CBD, land values increased by 4 percent last year to P134,000/sqm and were seen by Colliers to rise to P139,000/sqm this year. In the residential segment, Colliers reported that demand for the premium segments remained high in the fourth quarter of 2012, driving vacancy levels below 5 percent over the last three quarters. As vacancy remains low, rental rates are seen to improve by more than 6 percent in Makati CBD this year. For the office sector, the overall vacancy rate dropped to less than 3 percent mainly driven by the strong demand from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. Average monthly rental rate for commercial office in Makati CBD in end-2012 was estimated at P915/sqm for premium grade office (up 7.6 percent year on year) while rents for Grade A and B buildings increased by an average 5 percent to P735 and P510/sqm a month. This year, premium office space in the Makati CBD is seen to command an increase of 6-8 percent in monthly rental rate as landlords gain more pricing power resulting from the relatively low vacancy rate. BGC rental rates, estimated at P740/sqm a month last year, are seen to rise by 4-5 percent this year. In Ortigas, rental rates are forecast to hit P585/sqm this year, up 4.5 percent year on year. The average vacancy rate in Makati for all grades of office space stood at 3.48 percent in end-2012. In BGC, the vacancy rate ended last year at 3.58 percent, which Colliers expected to increase to more than 5 percent this year with the entry of new supply. In Ortigas, the vacancy rate stood at 2.94 percent last year but is seen to rise to 3-4 percent as new office buildings will be completed by the fourth quarter. Colliers said it expected total commercial office supply in Metro Manila to reach a total of 7 million sqm by end-2014 from 6.2 million sqm in end-2012. As developers anticipate sustained demand coming from the industry, new supply in 2013 and 2014 would reach record highs of more than 500,000 sqm a year, Colliers said. “The Philippine commercial office sector is still very competitive,” Guevara said, noting that rental rates were still much lower compared to major cities across the region. Annual rental rate in the Makati CBD is estimated at around $20 a square foot compared to close to $120 in Hong Kong, more than $100 in Tokyo and about $40 in Ho Chi Minh, Shanghai and Mumbai. On hotel and leisure, Colliers noted that developers have been banking on increasing tourist arrivals to justify new hotel development. In Metro Manila, it estimated that more than 15,000 new rooms would be introduced in a span of four years, half of which would be in the upcoming Entertainment City of Pagcor. But Guevara said rates per room were now expected to soften.






Double standard

By : HIDDEN AGENDA By Mary Ann LL. Reyes


It’s been three years since the residents of West Tower Condominium in Bangkal, the most populated barangay of Makati saw their lives practically turned upside down due to the effects of the FPIC (First Philippine Industrial Corp.) pipeline leak. To this day, the residents continue to deal with the uncertainty as the leaked gases remain underground.

According to Dr. Carlo Arcilla of UPNIGS (UP Diliman National Institute of Geological Sciences), it’s disturbing how “some recent news reports (especially those coming from a network whose owners also own the pipeline) have mentioned that there is very little left of the contaminant plume beneath Bangkal.”

While it’s true that there’s an ongoing remediation courtesy of the Multi Phase Extraction (MPE) system commissioned by FPIC (cleaning approximately 500,000 liters of contaminated water per day), the remaining 25-30 percent of the leaked fuel now forms a contaminant plume that is largely absorbed by the groundwater and soil that cannot be easily removed. So, no, ladies and gentlemen, the seemingly “very little left of the contaminants” as claimed by the FPIC group only becomes less visible, but in actual fact becomes a harmful cloud of contaminants that are more dangerous since these are not visible to the naked eye.

FPIC’s pronouncements that MPE will only operate within two to three years before cleanup is stopped is a very misguided assumption given that more than 700 liters of the fuel underground is believed to be decomposing per day.

First of all, it’s not for FPIC to decide when the cleanup should be put to a halt. The Department of Health heads the Inter Agency Committee on Health and Environment (IACHE), designated by the Court of Appeals, and it’s up to them to determine the final condition of the cleanup process being done and no one else. Makati City has also sought the help of UP-NIGS as consultants for this disaster. According to Dr. Arcilla, Makati City has every right to argue that carcinogenic compounds disposed of in the city’s groundwater and soil should be cleaned even if there are no active groundwater wells used for drinking (underscoring ours). Future constructions in the area may need access to groundwater and this could expose residents and workers to serious health threats.

In the report of Dr. Arcilla, who is also the director of UP-NIGS, he explained that a disaster or calamity can only be considered finished or over if the principal causing force like floodwaters, tsunami or earthquake had dissipated. However, the Makati pipeline leak is definitely far from over precisely because the causing force is still present even if remediation is being conducted.

The FPIC leak is a disaster that began three years ago, and it’s still happening up to the present and may be an even bigger threat in the future if the cleanup is incomplete. Surface calculation also shows that MPE cleanup efforts should take not just three years but six.

Well-meaning environment watchdogs bare their fangs and fiercely growl at environmental causes like the case of Philex Mining Corp.’s tailings pond leak. However, there is clearly a double standard here when it comes to labeling or defining what constitutes a massive environmental disaster. The tailings spill has been described as “massive” and perhaps this may be so in terms of the volume spilled in the river. But in the said mining incident, the spilled materials are non-toxic (even MGB’s Leo Jasareno admitted so), there were no casualties, no residents were displaced and Philex has been transparent as far as the disaster and the subsequent cleanup and remediation efforts are concerned. And yes, it is set to pay a fine of P1 billion.

Compare that with the way FPIC handled the disaster, and how efforts were made to hide the real nature and the extent of the spill. To this day, the FPIC Makati pipeline continues to be a serious threat to the West Tower and Barangay Bangkal resident homeowners with a massive contaminant plume remaining underground. The fact that this huge volume of carcinogenic materials is unseen makes it all the more sinister and dangerous, because it gives a false sense of safety. As Arcilla correctly pointed out, the FPIC leak is a very clear example of “what you can’t see could really hurt you.”






Perfect dining experience at strand café

By : Eleanor A. Leyco / Wine&Dine Editor


CREATING a perfect fine-dining experience can be difficult because it’s more than just delectable and quality foods. It is about the encounter with the different aspects of a banquet—the ambiance, service by wait staff, and the enjoyable conversation with family or friends.

Visiting our favorite restaurant is one of the enjoyable indulgences in life, it’s the perfect way to receive a new rendezvous, celebrate a special occassion or spend a special moment with someone dear to you, or honor a friend.

In one of the busiest districts of Makati City, a plethora of dining options is available for everyone but there is one place along Salcedo Village that will help you craft your perfect dining experience—One Pacific Place. Located right in the heart of the city, One Pacific Place promises to answer the needs of the central business district’s many working executives and corporate accounts.

The modern, 38-story structure is filled with the best in full-service amenities. Its 144 serviced residence rooms are designed to replicate an actual living space at your home, complete with kitchenette, an electric stove and refrigerator. Each room has Wi-Fi access, an LCD TV, DVD player, mini-bar, microwave, and other utilities and bathroom amenities. Also available are studio, one-room and two-room units.

Eric Bernie Corpus, One Pacific Place Serviced Residences general manager, said, “One Pacific is a condotel which differs from other condotels. With other condotels, a part of the building is run like a hotel but the serviced residences are scattered. At One Pacific, each of these rooms is grouped together.” All rooms receive the same level of quality service, whether it is a hotel guest or serviced residence.

Corpus stressed, “The location of One Pacific is strategic because it is in the middle of all these corporate accounts. We are surrounded by local and international corporate accounts.” The hotel enables guests and business travelers to have a convenient and accessible location that is near many major commercial establishments, multinational offices, banks, and financial institutions, embassies, schools and hospitals. Well-known malls Greenbelt and Glorietta are a few minutes’ drive away; Makati Medical Center is practically right around the corner for all of your medical needs; the Ayala Triangle offers both business and leisure in one area; and along One Pacific’s street at H. V. de la Costa, numerous restaurants abound, leading all the way to Makati Avenue where many more dining options are available.

During the launched held last Friday, coinciding with the Chinese New Year festivities, guests and visitors were amused by the traditional dragon dance and at the same time treated with mouthwatering Chinese gastronomy at the hotel’s Strand Café and Restaurant at the ground floor.

Upon entering the 70-seater restaurant, we were greeted by the staff who led us to our seats. The elegant ambiance is highlighted by the nice layout of the room. It is noteworthy to mention that Strand Café’s attention to details elaborates the kind of service it has for their clients. The guests might not even notice how good the service was until after the feast. Strand Café’s wait staff’s attention to small details like taking your used plates away as soon as you have finished, replacing cutlery between courses and refilling your drinks consistently were laudable because these are some of the things that diners usually don’t think about. A good service employees know that dining can be hampered by dirty plates cluttering a table and waiting for drinks to come.

“One Pacific Place is a serviced residences and our company wants to live by its name, when we say service we really mean service and this dedication is evident in Strand Café. The restaurant offers lunch and breakfast buffets. We have ample number of main dishes, salad bar and dessert bar. We position Strand Café as a dining place for those who want value for money and who always look for the atmosphere and service in a hotel setting,” said Mabel Tobias, director of sales and marketing of One Pacific Place.

Tobias also stressed that amid the cornucopia of buffets you can find everywhere, Strand Café is definitely the restaurant to beat with its affordable price.

“We all know that a diner doesn’t only pay for the food, he is paying for everything—the atmosphere, service, presentation of everything inside the resturant, and even the enjoyment of just being in that establishment. Our breakfast and lunch buffets are priced at P288 and P499, respectively. For this much you can enjoy sumptuous food, elegant ambiance and quality service,” Tobias noted.

“Because we are located in one of the busiest business districts of Makati City, most of our clients come from the corporate world. For some of us, having breakfast or lunch is meant to be a social experience, so encouraging conversation and letting your guests enjoy a good converstaion while dining is very important. The atmosphere of a room is incredibly crucial. At Strand Café, we make sure that the atmosphere can charm our patrons to relish their dining experience,” she added.

The quality of food at Strand Café is also notable, the choices of foods are well-prepared and planned. The balance in the menu is evident with the kinds of dishes they serve. “We are serving a smogasboard of delicious meals, from a la carte to lunch buffets, from Filipino dishes to international food choices. We use high quality and fresh ingredients and we don’t recycle our foods. Knowing what to serve is paramount in making your customers come back to your place. We are happy that for a short span of time that we’ve been in this area, our repeat clients continue to grow,” Tobias quipped.

For Strand Café, there is nothing quite like a great dining shared with those who matter to you in the best atmosphere over a great meal, the satisfied feeling that can last for a long time will always leave a guest wanting to repeat the moment as soon as possible.






Residents complain vs embassy

By : Sara Susanne D. Fabunan


RESIDENTS of Salcedo Village a condominium in Makati City urged the Malaysian Embassy to do something about the 8- to 10-hour noise created by its three cooling towers.

According to Ellen Paulete, property manager of Two Lafayette Square Condominium Association Inc., the Malaysian embassy has been informed about the residents’ complaints since August 2012 but they have not seen any improvements to lessen the noise.

“A number of tenants have been driven away from the condominium as a result of the noise from the coolers,” Paulete said in a letter sent to Zakaria Nasir, head of Chancery of the Malaysian embassy.

“Remaining condominium owners fear the noise will result in more tenants being forced to move out, causing significant reduction in the price value of the units,” she added.

Two Lafayette Square Condominium is located just beside the Malaysian Embassy on Tordesillas Street, Salcedo Village in Makati.

In response to the complaints, Nasir said in a letter to Paulete last year that they have already conducted a noise measurement level test to their coolers while fully functioning and the test showed that the coolers emitted 80-85 dB of noise which far exceeds the 65 dB maximum limit of noise allowed by the Makati Commercial Estate Association’s Memorandum Circular 97-06.

Nasir said they immediately referred the matter to their mechanical consultant who in turn proposed to install acoustic louvers noise barrier within the area where the coolers are located.





2 motorcyle-riding men rob Malaysian national in Makati

By :Noli Ermitano, Philippine Daily Inquirer


MANILA, Philippines – Two motorcycle-riding men robbed a Malaysian national of his gadgets in Makati Wednesday night. Police identified the victim as Harvinder Singh Gurnam Singh, a BPO company employee in Taguig City who is currently staying at Manila Peninsula Hotel at the corner of Ayala and Makati avenues. The crime happened at the corner of Rada and Legaspi Streets, San Lorenzo village around 9 p.m., police said. Singh said the men took away company-owned gadgets, such as Samsung Galaxy cell phones and a camera, a Le Novo notebook, headphones and an Apple iPad. The robbers also made off with his cash money worth more than P43,000 and a gold chain. Case investigator Senior Police Officer 1 Romeo G. Peñaflor said that two men pretended to be lost and approached Singh to ask him for directions. Suddenly, one of them pointed a knife and forced him to surrender his belongings. Singh did not recognize the men because the street was dimly lit.






MMDA: 12 hurt in bus accident in Makati

By :RSJ, GMA News


Twelve people were reported while early rush hour traffic along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) was snarled after two buses figured in an accident in Makati City.

Vincent Lizada of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's Metrobase said the incident occurred at 7:20 a.m. at the corner of EDSA and Buendia.

"Dalawang bus ang nagbanggaan sa southbound ng EDSA at Buendia. 12 ang sugatan," Lizada said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said the MMDA's rescue team rushed to the scene to provide first aid to the injured passengers.

Citing initial information, Lizada said one of the buses hit the other from behind after its brakes supposedly failed.

Lizada said the incident snarled traffic from Buendia all the way to theTimog Flyover in Quezon City.






Police asset slain in Makati

By :Rizal S. Obanil


Manila, Philippines – A tricycle driver, who reportedly served as a “police asset,“ was gunned down the other night by an unidentified man in Makati City. Victim Rodolfo Benitez Jr. died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds in the body. Police probers said the victim was seen running away from someone when he was shot several times in front of a church in Barangay Rizal, Makati City.

Investigators learned that the victim had received death threats prior to the incident. Police recovered nine bullet shells from the crime scene.

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