Manila Standard Today - Wednesday (October 3, 2012) Issue

Missed your copy of Manila Standard Today?Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: [email protected] CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Next page Next page Next page Next page Common term UNA, LP hurl at each other Still stars galore on day 2 of COC filing ‘Dynastism’ scourge of PH politics–Ramos Cybercrime law takes effect amid Supreme Court inaction Aquino names Padaca Comelec commissioner Sotto inserted libel clause, Angara agreed Boat sinks off HK; 38 revelers dead 12 die in vehicular accident in Ilocos www.manilastandardtoday.com • [email protected] TODAY Standard Manila Vol. XXVI No. 197 18 Pages, 3 Sections P18.00 Wednesday, October 3, 2012 By Joel Zurbano and Macon Ramos-Araneta ON Tuesday, the second day of the five-day period for fil- ing of certificates of candi- dacy for the election in May, movie-personalities-turned- politicians continued to draw crowds that marked the onset of the political season with street parties, marching bands and cultural dancers. Grace Poe Llamanzares, daughter of the late movie ac- tor Fernando Poe, Jr, who was accompanied by his mother, actress Susan Roces, filed her certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Manila, mobbed by supporters and reporters and amid the glare of televi- sion cameras. Sen. Francis Escudero, who was running for another term, also filed his certificate of candidacy but questions from reporters still focused on his movie actress girl friend, Heart Evangelista, and the status of their relationship. “There are those in the adminis- tration coalition who are attempt- ing to recast themselves as true-blue believers in reform and good gover- nance,” said UNA secretary general and Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco. “The truth is that these per- sonalities were among the most rabid defenders of Mrs. Arroyo when she was in power, but have found it po- litically convenient to wear yellow and proclaim themselves as advocates of the straight path. These political hypo- crites know who they are.” By Eric B. Apolonio FORMER President Fidel V. Ramos on Tues- day deplored what he called the worsening “dy- nastism” or oligarchy in Philippine politics as evidenced by the big number of families who on Monday filed their certificates of candidacy for a government position. He made the statement before his departure for Singapore for a speaking engagement, and with- out naming names cited the fathers and sons, hus- bands and wives, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters, and cousins and siblings aspiring for the same office. “How many husbands and wives, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters, in-laws and in-laws, cousins and siblings are aspi- rating for the same office?” Ramos said. “Is that the way Filipinos want themselves to be governed? Within all the senatorial, pro- vincial, city and municipal contests, you can see the pernicious hand of dynastism at play, which is prohibited in the Philippine Consti- tution of 1987. “It’s been 25 years and four presidential By Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz THE Supreme Court on Tuesday de- ferred action on the petitions filed by various groups question- ing the constitu- tionality of some provisions in the Cybercrime Preven- tion Act, paving the way for the law to take effect the same day. The Court, meeting as a group, did not issue an order freezing the ques- tioned provisions to allow them to study those before before tackling the case again next Tuesday. “The [Supreme Court] did not is- sue a [temporary restraining order] in the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 petitions which are up for fur- ther study,” high court spokeswoman Maria Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said in an interview. She said the Court also did not re- quire the petitioners to submit their comments. In the House, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he was confident that the controversial provisions in the new law--including the higher penalties for libel--would pass the THE senator who proposed an amendment to the Cy- bercrime Prevention Act of 2012 to include a libel clause on Tuesday said he saw the need for it to protect people from mali- cious attacks. Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, who claims to be a victim of “cyber-bullying” following accusations of plagiarism in his speech against the Reproduc- tive Health bill, said he merely wanted to “level the playing field” between journalists and social media users. He insisted that the amend- ment, which was inserted in the proposed measure, was not intended to suppress press free- dom. The libel clause was meant to protect ordinary people from verbal attacks and character as- sassination by people who do not observe responsible journalism. On Saturday, Sotto told report- ers that he was one of the two senators who inserted the libel clause in Republic Act 10175 that President Benigno Aquino III signed into law on Sept. 12. “Yes, I did it,” Sotto said. “I inserted the provision on libel because I believe in it and I don’t think there’s any addi- tional harm.” But in an article he wrote for CBS News, Barnaby Lo said By Joyce Pangco Pañares PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday appointed former Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca as commissioner of the Commission on Elections. Padaca, who has a standing arrest warrant for a graft case before the Sandiganbayan, will serve as the poll body’s seventh commissioner. Her term will end on February 2, 2018, or four years from now. In a text message, Padaca bared that she has yet to post bail in connection with a P25-million malversation case filed against her by former Isabela Rep. Santiago Respicio. “For four months now, I’ve had an By Dexter See and Florante Solmerin SARRAT, Ilocos Norte–At least 12 people died, in- cluding a five-year-old boy, when a passenger jeepney and a 14-wheel truck collided head on along the na- tional highway here, east of the provincial capital of Laoag City, police said on Tuesday. Police regional public information officer Supt. Jovencio Badua said the jeepney, which was loaded mostly with high school students, was overtaking a slow-moving vehicle when it smashed onto the truck coming from the opposite direction. HONG KONG—Hong Kong police on Tuesday ar- rested six crew members from two boats in a collision that killed 38 holiday revelers, but offered no theory about how the vessels ran into each other on a clear night in one of the safest and most regulated water- ways in Asia. The Monday night crash was Hong Kong’s deadliest accident in more than 15 years, and the worst maritime accident in more than 40. Some relatives of the dead went to the scene off Hong Kong island’s southwest coast to toss spirit money in honor of the victims Political hypocrites WEATHER 38 died here. Rescuers check out a half-sub- merged boat after it collided Monday night with a tugboat, killing eight people. AP 12 died here. A minibus lies along a road in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, after it collided with a truck, killing 10 people. AP Bad weather now a tropical storm Protect the kids. Members of the Al- liance for Children’s Concerns post their wishes at a mural at the University of the Philippines. Manny Palmero They’re running. Former President Joseph Estrada, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, MTRCB head Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, and Senator Francis Escudero filed their certificates of candidacy on Tuesday. Next page Next page Next page THE tropical depression off the West Philippine Sea had intensified into tropical storm and could enter the country on Tuesday night or Wednes- day morning, the weather bu- reau said on Tuesday. Weather forecaster Samuel Duran said Next page Villar Llamanzares Escudero Angara Sotto Next page By Christine F. Herrera THE United Nationalist Alliance on Tuesday accused Liberal Party coalition candidates of being hypocrites by posing as reformers when they were among the “most rabid defenders” of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she was in power. The accusation triggered an im- mediate response from former Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar, who is running for senator under the LP coalition. She said the Nacionalista Party headed by her husband, Senator Manny Villar, has been consistent in opposing the misdeeds of the Arroyo administration. “Wait a minute. I hardly speak but let us put the record straight. Under the Arroyo administration, the NP and I stood against cor- ruption and voted to impeach Ar- royo,” Villar told the Manila Stan- dard. “We were deprived of CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK News ManilaStandardToday [email protected] OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A2 UN urged to settle sea disputes Cybercrime... constitutional test before the Su- preme Court. He said the law would protect people from defamatory postings in the social media like Facebook and Twitter. “I am very confident that the bill we have approved will pass the legal hurdle because the inten- tion of this is to protect people’s rights and not to curtail freedom of expression,” Belmonte said. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo An- gara, a co-author of the Cybercrime bill, said he was surprised that the libel provision had been inserted in it when there was no such clause in the House-approved version. Earlier, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she was opposed to some provisions of the Cy- bercrime Prevention Act, but her department had no choice but to implement it now that it had been signed into law. And on Tuesday she warned that plagiarism could be a crime under the Cyrbercrime Prevention Act “if committed under certain circumstances,” citing copyright infringement and when “commit- ted in the form of online piracy by using the Internet or other tele- communications networks and the same act constitutes copyright infringement.” De Lima said the penalties were imprisonment of three up to nine years and a fine of P50,000 up to P1.5 million. Still, Senator Francis Escudero on Tuesday filed an amendment to the Cybercrime Law to remove the criminal liability on libel. That would be in consonance with his bill filed in 2007 to de-criminalize libel. “If there’s a liability on the part of media people, it should only involve the civil aspect and not the criminal,” Escudero said. “There should only be damages and no imprisonment.” Guerra saif four of the 14 jus- tices were not present in Tuesday’s meeting of the Supreme Court. As- sociate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta and Mariano Del Castillo were abroad for official business, and Associate Justice Ro- berto Abad was on leave. A total of seven petitions against R.A. 10175 were includ- ed in the agenda of the full-court session of justices. All were con- solidated and assigned to Asso- ciate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., who will write the decision on the Supreme Court’s action on those petitions. Among the provisions in the new law that are being ques- tioned in the petitions is section 4, which includes cyber defama- tion, cyber threats and Internet libel in the list of cybercrimes subject to prosecution by the Justice Department. All the petitioners claim that section 6 of the law, which hands down a higher degree of punish- ment for people found guilty of li- bel and allows them to be charged separately under the Revised Pe- nal Code for the same offense, is unconstitutional. They are also against section 19 of that law, which gives the secretary of Justice the power to block or restrict access to any content on a prima facie finding of a violation of the law even without a trial. The petitioners and their sup- porters trooped to the Supreme Court on Tuesday and staged a “Black Protest” rally against the new law. 12... “The jeepney was a total wreck,” Badua said. “The truck sustained only mior damage on its front.” Sarrat police chief Christo- pher Danao said: “I cannot de- scribe the gruesome accident. Four of the jeepney passenges were dead on the spot. I was informed that three of the nine passengers, who were rushed to the Don Mariano Marcos Me- morial Hospital were declared dead on arrival. Some of the in- jured victims were still in criti- cal condition.” It could be one of the worst accidents in this fourth-class mu- nicipality with about 23,000 pop- ulation. The jeepney was taking high school students to the Santa Rosa National High School in Sarrat early in the morning when the accidents happened. The Sarrat accident was the second road collision to hap- pen along the national highway in the northern provinces in the past several days. At least nine people were killed and nine in- jured last week in Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija when a bus and a fuel tanker collided on the highway. Danao said investigators were interviewing eyewitness- es and the truck driver, who was facing charges of multiple homicide and multiple seri- ous physical injuries as well as damage to property. He said the lone survivor, 12-year-old Joshua Bolibol, sustained head and body inju- ries and was fighting for his life in the hospital. Badua identified those who died on the spot as Mikee Win- nie Agbayani of Barangay Suyo, Dingras; Jessica de la Cruz Darupan, of Barangay San Marcos, Sarrat; Evelyn Canon- izado of Barangay Suyo, Din- gras; and Ferdinand de la Cruz, the jeepney driver. Thos declared dead on arrival at Dingras District Hospital and the Gov. Roque Ablan Memorial Hospital in Laoag City were An- gelica Cruz Pumaras of Baran- gay San Marcos, Sarrat; Glister Romero, the jeepney conductor from Barangay Albano, Dingras; Ludwig de la Cruz of Barangay Agitap, Solsona; Rylee Agustin Canonizado, the five-year-old boy of Barangay Suyo, Dingras; and Jeremy Bueno Burgos of Ba- rangay San Marcos, Sarrat. Sotto... “Sotto may actually have an axe to grind with the Filipino online community after coming under fire for allegedly plagia- rizing an American blogger and the late Senator Robert Ken- nedy for his speeches against a controversial family planning and reproductive health bill.” But Senator Teofisto Guingo- na III disagreed and warned the public that the Cybercrime Law clearly suppressed freedom of speech and expression that was guaranteed by the Constitution. Senator Edgardo Angara, the au- thor of the measure in the Senate, agreed to the amendment because, he said, he believed that cyberspace was just a new avenue for spread- ing malicious materials. “With this law, we hope to en- courage the use of cyberspace for information, recreation, learning and commerce,” he said. “By protecting all users from abuse and misuse, we enable netizens to use cyberspace more productively. “This measure will deter people from committing crimes because the virtual world will no longer be a lawless realm. Its enactment sends out a strong message to the world that the Philippines is serious about keeping cyberspace safe.” Macon Ramos-Araneta ‘Dynastism’... terms. Until now, there is no law to define, prohibit and pun- ish dynastism. “No law has ever been en- acted by Congress because the lawmakers today are of a dif- ferent breed. They have not the public good in mind but their private interests.” Ramos said dynastism had become worse and worse since 1987. “Are the common Filipinos going to stand for this forev- er? Are we going to be domi- nated by a handful of power- ful, wealthy and influential families?” Ramos said it was necessary that any relative of a politi- cian within the fourth degree of affinity or consanguinity be prohibited from running in the same office within an adjacent political jurisdiction until the lapse of three or six years. And to prevent “turncoatism,” whoever wanted to change po- litical parties at any time must be prohibited or disqualified from running for office for three years, “so that no family can control the top positions.” In a speech he delivered be- fore the 67th session of the United Nations General Assem- bly on Tuesday, Manila Time,, Foreign Affairs Secretary Al- bert del Rosario said there was an urgent need for all UN mem- bers to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes through the rule of law or the UN Con- vention on the Law of the Sea. “All States must respect their obligations to settle their maritime disputes by peaceful means, without threats or use of force, under Unclos,” Del Rosa- rio said. “A rules-based approach un- der Unclos can peacefully re- solve these Asian maritime dis- putes.” Although he did not mention the country’s ongoing dispute with China, Del Rosario said the Philippines was facing its “most serious challenge” on the security of its maritime domain, the in- tegrity of its national territory, as well as its effective protection of its maritime environment.” To address those challenge and come up with an enduring solution, the Philippines and the UN must rely on the rule of law and not on military force. “We must rely on the body of rules that state that disputes must be resolved peacefully. We must rely on the norms and rules enshrined in the UNCLOS,” he said. He called on all “friends and allies” and all those who believe in the peaceful and fair manage- ment of the seas and oceans to “uphold the rule of law and Un- clos” and protect the weaklings against the strong. “Natural disasters plague mankind. The forces of nature are difficult to contain. This By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Philippine government on Tuesday urged the United Nations to push for a rules-based approach in peacefully resolving the maritime disputes which had sparked tension between China and its neighboring countries in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea. Bad... “Duran,” the weather distur- bance, would be named Marce and would be the 13th tropical cyclone to hit the country this year. Marce will be affecting the western section of Luzon. It was 530 kilometers west of Northern Luzon with maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of 80 kilometers per hour. Metro Manila, the Cor- dilleras, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog region will experience moderate to heavy rain. The Bicol region and East- ern Visayas will have occa- sional light to moderate rain or thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy with brief rain showers or thunderstorms. Strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the western seaboard of Northern and Central Luzon, where the coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, the winds will be light to moderate and the seas slight to moderate. Jona- than Fernandez Still... \But it was former movie actor and ex-president Joseph Estrada, who is is running for mayor of Manila, and his running mate, movie actor Isko Moreno, who brought the show busi- ness hoopla to the Comelec. Supporters followed by ati-ati- han and Chinese dragon perform- ers dancing to the beat of snare drums marched from Liwasang Bonfiacio to the Comelec office and Estrada drove his “Jeep ni Erap” ahead of a convoy of ve- hicles that caused traffic gridlock in many areas. Llamanzares and Escudero filed their certificates as independents but they were reported as common candidates of the two major parties contending to control seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and local positions in the provinces, towns and cities across the land. Llamanzares said she was giv- en the “go signal” by the United Nationalist Alliance led by Vice President Jejomar Binay and Estrada to join the Liberal Party sorties despite earlier pronounce- ments that “two-timing” candi- dates will not be allowed. “I was given a post under the Aquino administration so I talked with Ninong Erap and vice Binay. They said they understand my po- sition and they would still adopt me as their candidate,” Llaman- zares told reporters. “I’m with the LP because of Presi- dent Aquino. I will join them in their campaign sorties. There is no need for me to join UNA,” she said. Binay said that it would be differ- ent with two other common candi- dates—Escudero and Senator Loren Legarda—who would not be allowed to join the UNAif they attend the LP campaign, and UNA’s support will be withdrawn if they will not attend its political meetings. “Their condition with me is dif- ferent because I’m new in poli- tics,” Llamanzares said. Escudero said he would settle the issue with UNA before the start of the official campaigning in February although he preferred to use the traditional and new me- dia rather than rely on campaign sorties. But reporters love to hear about Heart Evangelista when they talk to Escudero so they asked about her and he replied: “She’s resting.” Will she join you in your campaign sorties? Escudero an- swered: “Most likely not.’’ Boat... Tuesday, while other people waited at the morgue for tragic news about loved ones. Police Commissioner Tsang Wai-hung said crew members from both boats were detained on suspicion of endangering pas- sengers by operating the craft unsafely. “We expect further per- sons to be arrested,” he said. Tsang said police suspect both crews had not “exercised the care required of them by law,” but he did not elaborate. A ferry collided with the Lamma IV, which was taking more than 100 employees of Power Assets Holdings Ltd. and their families to famed Victoria Harbor to watch a fire- works display in celebration of China’s National Day and mid- autumn festival. The government said in a state- ment that 101 people were sent to hospitals; 66 were discharged, and four had serious injuries or were in critical condition. The ferry was damaged but completed its journey, and some of its passengers were treated for injuries. Local TV later showed images of the fer- ry, with its bow chewed up and chunks missing. Hong Kong and Kowloon (Ferry) Holdings Ltd., the ferry operator, did not return calls seeking comment. The government said 28 bod- ies were recovered overnight, and eight more victims were declared dead at hospitals. Two bodies found aboard the vessel Tuesday raised the death toll to 38, according to government statements. At least four of those killed were children. Salvage crews raised the half-submerged Lamma IV us- ing three crane barges that sur- rounded it Tuesday. At the same time, several dozen relatives of victims trav- eled by boat to take part in a traditional Chinese mourning ritual, praying alongside Taoist priests and tossing spirit money into the wind. AP Aquino... overnight bag in the car, ready to be arrested anytime. I planned not to voluntarily post bail as my way of pro- testing the process by which the case was decided upon and the warrant of arrest is- sued,” Padaca said. “Things may have to change now and I may need to post bail and let the judicial process take its course,” she added. The standing arrest warrant was not the only legal impedi- ment to Padaca’s appointment. Under the law, any one who is appointed Comelec commissioner must not have been a candidate in a preced- ing election. Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes, however, said it may be argued that the Octo- ber 2010 barangay elections and not the May 2010 national elections was the last pre- ceding election prior to next year’s midterm polls. Padaca ran for Isabela gov- ernor in the 2010 elections but lost to three-term Isabela Rep. Bojie Dy. Brillantes said he expects the issue to be tackled in the Com- mission on Appointments. Mr. Aquino also appointed Bank of the Philippines se- nior executive vice-president Gil Buenaventura as president and chief executive officer of the Development Bank of the Philippines. Buenaventura will replace Francisco del Rosario Jr. and will have a term ending on June 30, 2013. The 59-year old banker pre- viously served as president of Prudential Bank and head of Citytrust Banking Corp. He finished his Masters in Fi- nance at the University of Wis- consin and his economics degree at the University of Sto. Tomas. Meanwhile, film director Emmanuel Borlaza will serve as acting head of the Movie and Television Review and Classifi- cation Board. Del Rosario should not be the case in man’s quest for peace. While natural disasters are impossi- ble to prevent, the same is not true for war and conflict,” Del Rosario said. “The United Nations was cre- ated to protect the weak from the strong, to provide for the equal- ity of all sovereign states, and to enshrine the rule of law as the governing principle in regulating international disputes.” The Philippines and China have been locked in a bitter territorial dispute along with other countries such as Viet- nam, Brunei, Taiwan and Ma- laysia, which also have over- lapping claims on the islands and waters of the oil-rich West Philippine Sea. The conflict between Ma- nila and Beijing started in April, when Chinese authori- ties prevented the Philippine Coast Guard from arresting Chinese fishermen who were caught poaching in the Pana- tag Shoal, which is within the Philippine’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Political... our pork barrel for doing so.” “When Manny [Senator Vil- lar] was Speaker, he had im- peached Erap [deposed Presi- dent Joseph Estrada] on plunder charges and jueteng kickbacks. When Manny was Senate Presi- dent, wasn’t he ousted and re- placed by Senator [Juan Ponce] Enrile? And who voted for En- rile but the allies of Arroyo?” Villar said. Enrile and Estrada were lead- ers of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, which formed an alli- ance with Vice President Jejo- mar Binay’s Partido Demokra- tikong Pilipino to form the UNA, which presents itself as an “alternative” to the Liberal Party coalition. Earlier, Liberal Party officials Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Budget Secretary Floren- cio Abad said UNA would find it difficult to define itself, after President Benigno Aquino III established the administration coalition as being supporters of reforms under his “straight path” policy. Abad said the President’s speech during the coalition’s proclamation of its 12-member senatorial ticket was to remind the people how and why his ad- ministration came into power. “He was put into power by a people fed up with corruption, hungry for justice, and crying for food and jobs,” Abad told the Manila Standard. But Tiangco said UNA mem- bers had proven “their commit- ment to truth, freedom and good governance” even during the Arroyo administration. In contrast, he said, those who supported cheating against Fer- nando Poe Jr., Mrs. Arroyo’s rival for the 2004 presidential elections, were now part of the administration, as were those who blocked her impeachment. While Tiangco did not iden- tify them by name, he referred to Senator Francis Pangilinan, who as co-chairman of the com- mittee on justice at the time, had dismissed the electoral fraud charges against Mrs. Arroyo, and Senator Franklin Drilon, who had offered to move the presidential palace to his home- town of Iloilo when civil society groups in Manila began calling for Arroyo’s ouster. Drilon is now the campaign manager of the Liberal Party co- alition. That’s the kind of support they gave Mrs. Arroyo and now they’re trying to appear clean and are posturing as reformers,” Tiangco said. But Abad said Mr. Aquino had challenged UNA to define itself during his speech. “If UNA is opposition, what is it that it opposes in the Aquino administration? If it is an alter- native, under what platform is it presenting itself to our people?” Abad said. UNA senatorial candidate Zambales Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay, said the opposi- tion would be the voice of the people and the conscience of the administration to stick to its straight path. Tiangco added that UNA should be seen as a partner of the Aquino administration and not an obstructionist force. With Macon Ramos- Araneta and Maricel Cruz OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A3 News ManilaStandardToday [email protected] CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK High court junks realtor’s petition IN BRIEF In a notice of resolution, the high court’s Third Division resolved to dis- miss the petition of Lee who sought to reverse the ruling issued by the Court of Appeals last April. This rul- ing allowed the Department of Justice to proceed with Lee’s indictment for syndicated estafa along with other of- ficials of the firm. The SC stressed that the petitioner failed to “show any reversible error in the challenged decision as to warrant the exercise of the Court’s discretion- ary appellate jurisdiction.” The high tribunal also blamed Lee for his failure to file the required num- ber of copies of the petition “in viola- tion of section 4, Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima welcomed the ruling, which her office received on Sept. 27. “This is another significant development in the quest for justice – to have the fugitive Del- By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court has paved the way for the criminal prosecution of fugitive developer Delfin Lee of Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. in connection with the allegedly anoma- lous housing projects in Pampanga using loans from the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG). Pag-IBIG taps barangay execs fin lee answer for his actions. The ju- diciary has consistently affirmed the findings of the DOJ on this particular case given the clear facts and the cul- pability of the respondent Lee,” she said in a statement. The Justice chief said Lee should now come out from hiding. “He should not further strain the government’s re- sources by his continued evasion of a duly issued warrant of arrest.” Pag-IBIG earlier said Lee’s petition in the SC was a mere tactic to prevent the DOJ and the Pasig regional trial court from proceeding with the case. Vice President Jejomar Binay, chairman of Pag-IBIG Fund;s board of trustees, said they expect the syn- dicated estafa case against Lee and the other accused - his son Dexter Lee, GA officers Christina Sagun and Cristina Salagan, and Pag-IBIG Fund legal department employee Alex Al- varez – to now proceed. The DOJ has approved the criminal indictment of Lee and others in Au- gust last year in connection with the allegedly anomalous housing projects in Pampanga. In a 50-page resolution, the DOJ task force on securities and business scam has found probable cause to file charges of syndicated estafa against respondents. The Justice department ruled that there was sufficient basis in the alle- gation of Pag-IBIG Fund and Nation- al Bureau of Investigation that Lee and the four others had conspired in securing at least P6.6 billion in hous- ing loan proceeds from buyers of their housing projects. Investigating fiscals stressed that all elements of syndicated estafa, in- cluding existence of “false pretenses, fraudulent acts or means committed prior to or simultaneously with the commission of fraud, upon which the offended party relied on,” are present in this case. Pag-IBIG Fund and the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas have signed a part- nership that would provide all barangay officials and workers Fund membership. The agreement signing was held during the 5th National Convention of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City . Vice President and Pag-IBIG Fund Board Chairman Jejomar C. Binay attended the event, with league’s national president, Ricojudge Janvier M. Echiverri presiding. Under the agreement, all barangays shall register their respective officials and work- ers with Pag-IBIG. Once members, the said officials and workers can enjoy Fund bene- fits such as savings, and access to affordable short term and housing loans. Barangay officials can now join the Fund as voluntary members. This should further increase Pag-IBIG membership and further expand the institution’s reach, allowing more individuals to enjoy benefits that are exclusive to members. Pag-IBIG Fund cur- rently has 11.5 million members worldwide. THE 2012 search for The Outstanding Filipino Physicians organized by the Jun- ior Chamber International (JCI) Senate Philippines and San Miguel Corporation aimed at honoring exemplary medical pro- fessionals will end on October 15. This was jointly announced by JCI Sen- ate President Antonio H. Cerilles and TOFP 2012 National Chairman Gonzalo T. Duque who said that the revival of the TOFP, first launched in 2007 in cooperation with the Department of Health, has elicited interests and support from a broad sector of society. The search’s objective is to inspire Filipino doctors to stay in the country and serve their countrymen, particularly in the far-flung, hard-to-reach provinces and cities. San Miguel Corp through its presiden Ramon S. Ang has thrown its full support behind the noble efforts of JCI Senate Philippines to recognize the country’s best doctors and encourage them to stay in the Philippines to serve their countrymen. “Aside from the outstanding doctors in major urban centers, this year’s search will zero in on rural or community doctors who are able and willing to sacrifice and serve our countrymen who have neglected in terms of proper health care due to the lack of medical practitioners,” said TOFP 2012 Executive Director and TOFP 2008 Chair- man Melandrew T. Velasco. In the last five years, TOFP has honored 25 outstanding Filipino doctors, including Health Secretary Ona, himself among the pioneer physicians. The TOFP search has carved a special niche in JCI history and has joined the league of prestigious annual searches of the Jaycees, such as The Out- standing Young Men and The Outstanding Filipino. Ex-military men vie for local posts Govt-MILF peace talks reach make-or-break situation Search for top doctors By Willie Capulong SUBIC BAY FREEPORT— The plan to convert the Subic International Airport complex into a Singapore Sentosa-type family-oriented entertainment and casino resort center has been deferred. Instead, the airport complex is now being eyed to serve as a forward base for the joint operations of the Philippine Air Force and the United Air Force Pacific alliance. The joint operation, according to sources, was aimed at maintaining regional balance in the light of the continuing ter- ritorial dispute between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea. According to the same sources in the Freeport, the top man- agement of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority held a whole day emergency strategic meeting at the second floor of the SBIA main building to discuss the downgrading of the airport conversion project. The meeting was presided by SBMA chairman-administra- tor Roberto V. Garcia. Also in attendance were the majority of the board of directors, senior deputy administrators, deputy administrators and department managers. Also, sources claimed that a group of American nationals have been some offices at the airport. The Americans were al- legedly using these offices as their base of operations. During the meeting, Garcia explained that some long term programs adopted earlier this year during SBMA strategic planning sessions held at the Clark Freeport are being modified in view of prevailing economic changes affecting the Freeport operations. The original plan embodied in the Freeport five-year stra- tegic plan (2012-2016) was to convert the 200-hectare SBIA into an integrated family-oriented tourism destination with developments and amenities such as a hotel-Casino enter- tainment complex, science and technology park, duty free shops, convention center, waterfront villas, family hotels, golf course,BPO city, international theme park , super yacht club, office/residential condominium, luxury villas and SBMA cor- porate headquarters. Although the proposed airport conversion was strongly op- posed by siblings former Sen. Richard Gordon and Olongapo City Mayor James L. Gordon Jr., the SBMA said it decided to go ahead with the plan in its aim to solve ots huge financial losses after air-cargo giant Federal Express (FedEx) moved iits hub from Subic to China in 2005. From an annual revenue of P 255.187 million in 2005, the income dwindled to only P 36.571 million last year. Without additional revenues, SBMA had been having a hard time in meeting the debt servicing of the World Bank loan secured by Gordon 18 years ago to modernize the former US Navy airport into a world-class complex. Apart from the airport project, SBMA planned to undertake a massive facelift of the Subic Bay Freeport Economic Zones (SBFEZ) with focus on making it the Theme Park Capital of the Philippines, a top sports tourism destination as well cruise ships destination. The SBMA management also wanted to change its direction from landlord to developer of unused and underutilized properties and to focus on high-value industrial and commercial leases that would provide a worry-free environment for investors. But according to Freeport locators, these plans had become unrealistic, since several small-business locators had moved out due to the imposition of Common Use Service Area (CUSA) fees, which were considered more harmful to small firms doing inside the Freeport. By Joyce P. Pañares THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front has warned that the series of negotiations it is trying to hammer out with the Philippine government may make or break efforts to end the decades-long conflict in Mindanao. “Negotiations, contrary to what many believe, is a risky business. If we cannot conclude it soon successfully, now that we are at the brink of the exercise, we will be in trouble,” MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said during the opening of the 32nd round of formal talks in Malaysia on Tuesday. “For all we know, the greatest source of risk comes from spoil- ers, leaders, and parties who be- lieve that these emerging from negotiations threatens their pow- er and interests, and use violence to undermine attempts to achieve it,” he added. President Aquino earlier ex- pressed hope that a peace pact may be signed before the year ends. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdul Najib Razak, during his meeting with Mr. Aquino in Russia last month, already expressed desire to attend the signing ceremony. Government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen, for his part, said negotiations have now reached a “historical” level. “Let us persevere, respect our differences but engage our best creativity in finding commonali- ties despite the differences. Now is the time to fulfill our promises to our people,” Leonen said. “We are on the brink of lay- ering the written predicates that can frame the process of build- ing trust as we usher in an era of peace, of hope and of recovery,” he added. Leonen said the new politi- cal entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will require a new law to amend the ARMM Or- ganic Act. Technical working groups of both panels are now in the thick of drafting proposals for wealth- sharing and power-sharing for the proposed autonomous politi- cal entity. Both sides will soon discuss the disarmament and reinte- gration of MILF fighters once they have ironed out the issue on territory. The government and the MILF earlier signed a Decision Points on Principles (DPP) during their April meeting, which states that the future political entity will have a “ministerial form of gov- ernment” with the power to enter into economic agreements. It will also have the power to “create its own sources of rev- enue and to have a just share in the revenues generated through the exploration, development or utilization of natural resources” and shall also have the powers over the Shariah justice system. The powers that would be re- served for the national govern- ment, however, are as follows: defense and external security; foreign policy; common market and global trade; coinage and monetary policy; citizenship and naturalization; and postal service. By Florante S. Solmerin TWO retired military officers will slug it out for an elective position in the Visayas during the 2013 election. Maj. Gen. Raoul Reyes and Brig. Gen. Ramon Go, both from the Army, have opted for retire early to run for mayor in Murcia, Negros Occidental and San Enrique, Iloilo, re- spectively. Reyes was former Armed Forces’ Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel while Go was assistant J1. “Actually, it was a very hard decision that I made since I still have six more months be- fore retirement. But I think if I will not resign, I forego the chance to run for an elective office. Pity our town; it needs to progress,” Reyes said in a phone interview. He said he will be facing in- cumbent Mayor Andrew Mon- telibano and former Mayor Sonny Coscoluela. Reyes said he will be filing to- day his certificate of candidacy and run as an independent. “I’m a true-blue Murciah- ano. I think I could serve the town much better if I will be the mayor of Murcia,” Reyes said. He served the military for 36 years. Go, on the other hand, who retired three days ago, filed her COC on Monday. “Yesterday, I filed my can- didacy for mayor in our town. I’m running under the Liberal party (LP),” she said in a sepa- rate phone interview. “It is not really my dream to be in politics but the situation calls that I have to join. Our town was once a part of a town, Passi, and my great great grandparents were the once who segregated it from Passi. I want my town to be improved because of my network I could bring progress to my town,” she said. Go served in the service for 33 years. Her mandatory retire- ment would still be on March 21, 2013. She was the first fe- male officer in the Army to get a one-star general rank. Joint PH-US base in the works in Subic Double celebration. Incoming president Jose Go of the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (left) and incumbent president Lester Lino offer a toast during the twin celebrations to mark the mid- autumn mooncake festival and the 63rd founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China at the Century Park Sheraton Hotel. SONNY ESPIRITU Surety cover eyed for poll employees THE House of Representatives has supported a meas- ure creating a compulsory insurance for officials and workers during national and local elections. In House Bill 6528, authored by party-list congress- men led by Rep. Juliet Cortuna, the proposed compulsory insurance would cover members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI), Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), the Board of Election Tellers (BET) and their sup- port staff for every national and local election. “The compulsory insurance is one way the State could concretely express its recognition of the crucial role of the members of the BEI, SBEI, the BET and their support staff and the dangers that attend every election,” the bill’s authors said. The bill mandates that the death benefits shall in- clude the awarding of P200,000 to the beneficiaries on the first year of implementation of the proposed law and the insurance coverage shall also include hospitalization and medical expenses of the injured beneficiary until his/her recovery notwithstand- ing benefits provided for by the Government Secu- rity and Insurance System (GSIS) or any institution granting the same to the insured. Maricel V. Cruz Delfin Lee Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor ManilaStandardToday [email protected] OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A4 ON the road to political reform, the law of unintended consequences can lead us down some twisted backstreets that get us nowhere. A prime example of this is the party-list system enshrined in our Constitution by well- meaning but ultimately short- sighted do-gooders who never anticipated the ease with which unscrupulous politicians could abuse the mechanism to give “marginalized” groups a voice in Congress. Over the years, we have seen the scions of powerful political clans passing themselves off as guardians and representatives of the downtrodden to “win” a reserved seat in Congress without having to go through the usual rigors of an honest-to-goodness political campaign. We have seen women—who comprise more than half of our population and from whose ranks we have already drawn two Presidents —treated still as a politically marginalized group, while more clearly under-represented groups such as the gay community are denied the same privilege. Sometimes, the contradictions are not so obvious, but they are there nonetheless. For example, a party-list group calling itself the Citizens Battle Against Corruption has two representatives in the House, both of them lawyers. One is even the assistant majority leader. The group describes itself as “a multi-sectoral political organization dedicated towards fighting graft, corruption and cronyism in government.” But as admirable as that objective might be, we do not see how such a group would qualify as a marginalized, less privileged or under-represented sector, particularly in an administration that has put the same anti- corruption goal at the heart of its own philosophy of governance. This contradiction might explain why the group reacted defensively when the chairman of the Commission on Elections said the party-list system had become a joke because of the attempts by “fake” groups to win accreditation. The marginalized and less privileged sector of the society should be represented well in the legislature, the House assistant majority leader said—without really explaining how his own group fit into the picture. Other party-list representatives criticized the Comelec chairman for his remarks and blamed the poll body for the current sad state of politics. Certainly, the poll body must accept its share of the blame for failing to screen party-list groups, but we contend that the system of guaranteeing minority representation was flawed from the start. We also do not believe the Comelec chairman should be taken to task for speaking the truth. In fact, we believe the chairman did not go far enough, given how the Senate race, too, is shaping up to be a joke, with unremarkable, undistinguished, uninspired, and unabashedly cynical candidates who wear their party affiliation like a shirt that they can change every day. There is no hope of any meaningful change with the roster of candidates before us, from any of the parties. That, to us, is an even bigger and more cruel joke. Perhaps somebody should take a cue from the Comelec chairman and form a party-list group of politicians who tell the unadorned truth. That, in the context of our national and local politics, would at least be a truly marginalized group. Cruel joke EDITORIAL Losing friends, making enemies FROM Beijing’s point of view, the United States is containing China’s rise in the region by encircling it with allies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and maintaining military bases in Japan, Korea and Okinawa. The US pivot to redeploy its naval forces in Asia in keeping with America’s role as a Pacific power appears to lend credence to that perception held by China. But the US forces’ redeployment and the defensive reaction of nations in the region were triggered by China’s aggressive claim of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. While Asean is still far from closing ranks, the Philippines and Vietnam bear the brunt of Chinese bullying. They also share solid legal ground under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which grants them a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Malaysia and oil-rich Brunei are not as keen on the possible oil, gas and mineral resources under the sea bed of the disputed area as gleaned from their half-hearted claims. Taiwan’s interest can be seen as just another proxy claim by mainland China. With Beijing’s aggressive advance in the region, there is unspoken speculation the renegade Chinese province could go the way of Special Autonomous Regions like Hong Kong and Macau. With another flashpoint—the territorial row in the East China Sea over a group of islands the Japanese call Senkaku and Diaoyu to the Chinese— a new front has been opened to stoke memories of the Japanese invasion and occupation of China. Despite the huge loss of business wrought by rampaging Chinese mobs, the Japanese are standing firm on Senkaku. China is a big market for Japan’s electronic products and motor vehicles. Without having to cite figures, the economic tsunami is staggering to Japanese companies like Sony, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Toyota , Nissan, Honda and Mazda. Competitor Korean companies manufacturing the same line of products are raking it in as a result of the political fallout from Japan’s Senkaku stand. Senkaku, little known before the territorial row, has reached the UN General Assembly in New York with China and Japan trading barbs. Beijing has accused Tokyo of “stealing” Senkaku Speaking at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda , said Japan’s purchase of Senkaku from a private owner is legal and binding under international law. While China opted to internationalize the issue of Senkaku, it rejects the Philippine bid to bring the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) dispute to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. Beijing can only do so much since Japan by its proximity to Senkaku occupies the island on and off. And unlike pushover Philippines, Japan drove off a fleet of Chinese fishing boat in a battle of water cannons in the vicinity of Senkaku. It’s frightening to imagine the number of casualties if live ammunitions were fired. It will be recalled that Chinese patrol boats also retreated when Russian gunboats fired on them when they strayed into waters being claimed by both sides. As a consequence of its ambition for hegemony, China is fast losing friends and gaining enemies. There is no formal declaration of alliances among Russia, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. These countries have no intention of surrounding China but they have circled their wagons to ward off further Chinese aggression. Australia, which is not a party to the conflicting claims in the South China Sea, has weighed in with a proposal to the Philippines for a military alliance in the form of a strengthened visiting forces agreement. With reports of continued Chinese buildup of fortifications on the shoals and rock formations near Panatag, the Philippines dispatched 80 marines to Palawan to protect the Kalayaan group of islands. Japan has offered patrol boats to help the Philippines protect its maritime borders. Meanwhile, Washington, which Beijing blames as fanning Sinophobia, is keeping US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton busy finding a diplomatic solution to the potential powderkeg in the South and East China Seas. Citing the imperatives of Asia’s stability and continued prosperity as vital to the global economy, Secretary Clinton met with the heads of delegations of China, Japan, Russia and Asean. More than half of the world’s cargo vessels pass through navigational lanes in the South China Sea. Any armed confrontation in the South and East China Seas would inevitably draw in the United States, a situation the US is trying to avert. ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO BACK CHANNEL JOJO A. ROBLES LOWDOWN Shutting down online dissent THINK before you click, they say on the Net. Yes, or you could actually land in jail, even just for “liking” or sharing something libelous on Facebook. Upon the passage of Republic Act 10175, or the Anti-Cybercrime Law recently, I noted that the most onerous and unpalatable section of the new statute was the one which made libel on the Internet a crime. It took some time for netizens to appreciate this fact—but when they did, they certainly made their opposition known. On social networks like Facebook and Twitter, on blogs and various other online fora, a protest against RA 10175 is gaining strength. A group of more militant cyber- warriors calling itself Anonymous Philippines has taken the battle a step further, by hacking into and defacing every government Web site it can enter. But the online mass action is not getting the government to budge one bit. The Supreme Court has deferred action on seven petitions seeking to declare the law unconstitutional, and Malacañang Palace has been acting like there is no protest at all. Meanwhile, in the Senate, where the section making online libel punishable by the same penalties meted out to those found guilty of traditional libel laws that govern media was born, no one seems to want to take responsibility. Those who signed the bill—including the section on online libel—could only admit that they didn’t read the provision. Senator Tito Sotto, the supposed author of an amendment which introduced the cyber-libel provision, has denied that it came from him— despite the mute testimony of the Senate journal of Jan. 24, which clearly states that he inserted the offending provision. Sotto complained that he’s become the favorite whipping boy in the social media, even if he insists he has nothing to do with the libel provision. Meanwhile, reelectionist Senator Francis Escudero, who signed off on the Senate bill, said he is filing a new piece of legislation that will amend the libel portion, in a belated move at damage control that did not escape the notice of online protesters. Does Escudero even read the laws he signs? But without Supreme Court action to stop the law’s implementation, there is no stopping its taking effect starting today, Oct. 3. And the cherished anonymity, raucous freedom of expression and democratic noise that has defined the use of the Internet in this country could come to an abrupt end. * * * The move of the Aquino administration and its allies in Congress to rein in the freedoms of Internet users, as I’ve noted previously, is truly ironic. This, after all, is a government that was installed in part through its use of social media and the Internet in the last elections—and which even has an entire bureaucracy geared towards the cultivation of Facebook, Twitter and other online media to continue to drum up popular support for it. And yes, this administration promised us a landmark Freedom of Information bill that would make its dealings transparent, only to hit us over the head with a cybercrime law that makes criticism of official action an actual crime. Apparently, freedom of expression online for President Noynoy Aquino is limited to praising whatever the administration does—and since it cannot control Netizens the way it has co-opted the traditional media of print and broadcast, it has decided to pass a law against its Internet critics. (It comes as no surprise that the top proponent of the proposed FOI law, Rep. Erin Tañada, was dropped from the Liberal Party Senate lineup in favor of the returning Jamby Madrigal, who now shares the LP stage with wannabe senator Rep. Cynthia Villar, wife of Madrigal’s Enemy Number One Manny Villar. As Cynthia Villar explains it, everyone has moved on—including, apparently, the administration, in its support of transparency and freedom of expression.) But now, there is simply no other way for the Aquino administration but to suspend the implementation of the cybercrime law, if it truly cares about its online image. A reversion to the original bill, which rightly criminalized hacking, fraud and child pornography, among other clear online crimes (but which was silent on libel), is the only way the government can get out of this controversy unscathed. Apart from the gargantuan, China- like monitoring apparatus required to implement RA 10175, which this government certainly cannot afford, there is also the constitutional provision which states that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of people to peaceably assemble and petition government for redress of grievances (Article III, Section 4). The constitutional protection of the freedom of speech certainly looks like it is under direct attack from RA 10175’s libel provision, which should at the very least be reviewed before it is implemented. Of course, it’s perfectly possible that Aquino has convinced himself that he does not owe anything to the netizens who campaigned for him in 2010, which is why he feels he can now trample on their rights with impunity. For these people, the line for disillusioned former Aquino supporters forms there, where the Iglesia ni Cristo and other forgotten Noynoy boosters are. ROLANDO G. ESTABILLO Publisher RAMONCHITO L. TOMELDAN Managing Editor CHIN WONG/ RAY S. EÑANO Associate Editors JOEL P. PALACIOS News Editor ROGELIO C. SALAZAR President & CEO MEMBER Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers PPI can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com ONLINE MST Manila Standard TODAY Published Monday to Sunday by Kamahalan Publishing Corporation at 3rd Floor Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas corner Perea Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone CLIMACO E. CALIWARA Controller ANITA F. GREFAL Treasury Manager FRANCIS LAGNITON Senior Deskman ARMAN ARMERO Senior Deskman LEO A. ESTONILO Senior Deskman ROMEL J. MENDEZ Art Director ROBERTO CABRERA Chief Photographer numbers 659-4830 to 32 (connecting all departments), 659-4827 (Editorial), 659- 4803, 659-4802 (Advertising), 527-5016 (Sales and Distribution/Subscription) and 527-2057 (Credit and Collection). Fax numbers: 659-4804 (Advertising) and 527- 6406 (Subscription). P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: mst@ manilastandardtoday.com MA. EDITHA D. ANGELES Advertising Manager EDGAR M. VALMORIDA Circulation Manager MARLON C. MAGTIRA Online Editor Aquino has convinced himself that he does not owe anything to the netizens who campaigned for him in 2010. OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A5 Opinion Adelle Chua, Editor ManilaStandardToday [email protected] THE circus is in town. Filing of certificate of candidacies has started this week. There are clowns, gymnasts —even nuisances. The tragedy is that Philippine politics is all about personalities. This explains why we have politicians bringing in their wives, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren into the business. How then can we expect change? *** The United Nationalist Alliance may claim that it’s not the opposition— only the alternative. Baloney. That’s a copout; they have to say that because Vice President Jejomar Binay, who leads the coalition, is still with the Aquino administration. But the administration has said that “if you are not with us, you are against us.” That’s a clear dividing line. The 2013 polls is a proxy fight between Binay as a presidential candidate and whomever President Aquino will endorse as his successor. *** I remember writing a column favoring retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio- Morales when she was still being considered to be Ombudsman. I said then that I believe she was competent and independent. Now I am having second thoughts. Morales seems to be targeting people close to the Arroyo administration. I could be wrong, of course, and I really wish I could be convinced otherwise. I refer in particular to the case of businessman Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin, who was sued by Development Bank of the Philippines chairman Jose Nuñez Jr. and retired president Francisco del Rosario Jr. in connection with two loans amounting to P660 million. What is strange is that the state bank was in no way disadvantaged by the loans. They were above board, fully collateralized and paid for in full even before maturity. The bank even made P1.4 billion out of it. How could there be graft? In connection with the case, a young lawyer from the bank, Benjamin Pinpin, committed suicide because Nuñez had asked him to show cause why he should not be cited in the case. There has been an investigation into this but we have not determined who should be made accountable for Pinpin’s decision to kill himself. But some concerned officers and employees of the bank also filed a graft and corruption case against Nuñez before the Ombudsman. That was over two years ago and nothing has happened. Nuñez is an unknown entity in banking circles. He was only the chief of staff of businessman Salvador Zamora, a big contributor to the 2010 campaign of President Aquino. The case against Nuñez arose from his use of planes belonging to Zamora—a client of the bank with outstanding (actually, restructured) loans amounting to P3 billion. Clearly this is graft. Nuñez has the power to approve or disapprove Zamora’s loans. It is also a violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. The complaint was filed, not just before the Ombudsman but before the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral as well. It has since been swept under the rug. So much for “daang matuwid!” *** P h i l e x Mining Corp. has good reason for resisting the order of the Mines and Ge os c i e nc e s B u r e a u r e q u i r i n g bus i nes s man Manny Pangilinan’s mining firm to pay P1.034 billion in environmental damages caused by a tailing spill in its mine in Padcal, Benguet. As its vice president for communications said, the company found it absurd that the government would still impose penalties on Philex when the MGB itself, in its investigation, said that the incident was force majeure. This simply means that Philex is absolved from any liability after the bureau found out that the monitoring system of Philex was sound and reliable. An investigation report by the MGB conceded that the heavy rainfall brought about by typhoons Ferdie and Gener reached 33.80 millimeters on the day of the spill. This was in excess of normal levels and even the record rainfall for Padcal. So why is the mining company being asked to pay? What is the bureau up to? *** There is no doubt that the young will dominate the next Senate. I think this is a good thing. Young people have idealism and a fresh approach. Perhaps they would be in a better position to address our nation’s seemingly insurmountable problems. *** I attended the September 27 launch of the autobiography of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. I saw all these personalities from all sides of the political fence: President Aquino himself, Vice President Jejomar Binay, former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, the Lopezes who published the book, even Edna Camcam, Fabian Ver’s friend. It dawned on me that it IS possible to attain national healing and reconciliation if only our people think of our country first and themselves second. The complaint against the DBP chairman The Constitution, the Church, Ateneo and the RH bill MANUEL V. Pangilinan, the telcos tycoon, has withdrawn his financial support for the Ateneo basketball team and all of Ateneo de Manila University’s other projects because of irreconcilable differences with the university on mining and the reproductive health bill. This shows MVP is so smart he will not allow morality to interfere with money-making. But more than that, it shows Ateneo is really Catholic, and will remain faithful to the Church Magisterium, even at the risk of losing a very rich and powerful donor. Recently some learned Ateneo professors issued a not-so-learned paper proclaiming support for the RH bill. Rev. Father Jett Villarin, the university president, was quick to assure the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines that the professors were not speaking for the university and that their position was at total variance with Ateneo’s position, which was (is) the same as that of the episcopal conference. This calls attention to the position of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J., a noted constitutionalist and columnist and dean emeritus of the Ateneo School of Law, who sat in the 1986 constitutional commission that drafted the present Constitution. In a recent column (in another paper), Fr. Bernas says some of his readers have been confused by what he has written on the RH bill. He says the confusion is inevitable because he discusses the subject from the point of view of a priest teaching Catholic doctrine and from that of a law professor teaching constitutional law. Religion and constitutional law operate in two different spheres, he says, and it is necessary to maintain the distinction. Very few will quarrel with that statement, but there must be an easier way of dealing with the situation. The Church teaches that contraception and sterilization are intrinsically evil. It is not a Catholic “dictate”, as one uninformed foreigner calls it, but a teaching, and most Catholics try to follow it, even if not all do. The Church does not expect Congress to pass a law enforcing that teaching among Catholics, least of all among non-Catholics. But Congress has no right to tell Catholics or any religious group what to believe and what not to believe. It has no right to enact a law that tramples upon any of their beliefs. That is not only a Church teaching but also a moral and constitutional precept. But what happens to those who believe that contraception and sterilization are good for the body and the soul, and that they have a “right” to practice it? Will their “rights” not be adversely affected by the non-passage of the RH bill? I cannot see how. Without an RH law, everyone is free to practice contraception and sterilization, and more than 50 percent of Filipino women of reproductive age are already practicing. They do not need an RH law to continue practicing; non-passage of the bill will not prevent anyone from doing so. The only thing that the bill’s non- passage will do is prevent the state from dictating on anyone to practice birth control. For that is what the bill wants you to do. You are given the choice of method or means (artificial or natural, although the natural is scantily discussed), but you are ordered to practice birth control. So even if you believe you have a right to practice birth control, the RH bill wants to turn that “right” into a “duty.” This should make the bill repugnant even to those who are already practicing contraception or sterilization. And this is what I thought should have been very clear to someone like Fr. Bernas who helped draft all those pro-life and pro- family provisions in Articles II and XV of the Constitution. The core of those provisions is the oft-quoted Section 12 of Article II: “The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception…” We obviously need a specific legislation to define what the State can do to protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. But with or without a specific legislation, it is clear what the State cannot do. As the constitutionally mandated protector of conception, the State cannot be the source, channel or even promoter of contraception. It cannot be the preventer of conception. On that principle alone, the RH bill falls. But that is not the only constitutional principle involved. As we saw earlier, Catholics believe that contraception is intrinsically evil, and the State has no right to pass upon the validity or lack of validity of any particular religious belief. The only duty of the State with respect to any religious belief is to recognize and respect it. Otherwise, we cannot talk of religious freedom. Now the RH bill wants to tread upon Catholic belief, under the false pretext (as we have shown) of protecting pluralism. That is religious persecution, which in certain places in the past has caused great upheavals and revolutions. [email protected] EMIL P. JURADO TO THE POINT FRANCISCO S. TATAD FIRST THINGS FIRST Why isn’t the Ombudsman acting on this one? Mutant candidates in the making By Rodne R. Galicha NOBEL laureate and former United States vice president Al Gore, when asked about the inaction of politicians on the present climate crisis, answered poignantly: “Political will is a renewable resource.” To my surprise, in another instance, I heard him suggest that in a crisis wherein governments and businesses are unable to act, the people power revolution of the Philippines should be emulated. People power? Where is it now? Gone were the days when we had to take up arms, kill or be killed, for our sovereignty as a nation. Gone were the days when we held our arms close to each other to bring down a dictator. We are facing a bigger crisis. Economic downfall? No. It is rather a crisis we ourselves created. We are puppets of those in power, those who are supposed to lead us and defend our inherent human rights. This crisis was brought about by apathy and blind obedience to the mutant power. The only cure is for the people to reclaim that power. Make it, again, of the people, by the people, for the people. Recent studies say that the Philippines is the most typhoon-vulnerable country in the world, second in economic risk for natural disasters and third most prone to hazards of climate change. We have waded through floodwater. We have seen others buried in landslides or drowning in raging seas. From the bellies of Manila Bay, tons of plastic wastes show how irresponsible we are and how useless our laws are. We seem to be a sovereign state of dump. We have not learned from the lessons of the past such as the Marinduque mine disaster. Now we have water and sediment waste leaking from a mine in Padcal, Benguet. The mutant power behind the venerable flag of the country is bullying our officials to continuously flaunt our mineral resources to be given free to aliens. These officials are forced to grant an environmental compliance license to the future biggest mine in Southeast Asia situated in South Cotabato. This will displace indigenous peoples communities, cause thousands of trees to be cut, and create huge mine waste pits near an active volcano with thousands of hectares agricultural land downstream. Gradually, the mutant power opened wide the gates of our gardens and farms to mutant agricultural species, or monsters —controlled by one or few transnational corporations. Unknowingly, in our veins flow unnatural modified nutrients which will result eventually to a mutation of our genes. Safe food mixed with genetically modified organisms—less rationality with more profits. In this country where freedom of expression is recently suppressed, how can we reclaim the power we just lent to the leaders who have now become mutants? We put our hopes in the chosen few. There are still a handful trusted leaders in our society. But they are endangered, either by suppression or death. Today, we commemorate the fifth anniversary of a man who sacrificed his life for his people. He was elected councilor for his staunch stand to defend the fragile ice-age island ecosystem of Sibuyan in the province of Romblon. As he joined the island’s defenders, they successfully kicked out the world’s largest nickel mining company. Though he only served for three months, he lived by his principles and public trust to the last breath of his life – we have given him the power and together with the community, nourished and made it a platform for selfless public service and payment for ecological services. How many of our leaders are willing to stand up selflessly for the general welfare, for a healthful and balanced ecology? This week, people who seek power started lining up, asking us to lend our sovereign power to them. We shall not allow them to abuse it. Rodne Galicha is executive director of Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment Inc. He works for the Haribon Foundation’s Alyansa Tigil Mina project and is Philippine district manager of Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project. IN OUR eight-year-old minds, our class adviser and mathematics teacher Miss Erlinda Bigaw was a figure that loomed large. What she said was law. We girls had to memorize the multiplication table. We had to come to school with fingernails trimmed. We had to be combed and powdered—cologned, if possible. We had to make sure our class did well in the Mission Drive. We had to sway our hips well for the Abaruray dance we were performing for the field demonstration. Otherwise, her stern countenance— and the threat posed by the wooden ruler she always carried—would be upon us. Miss Bigaw did not fit the stereotyope of the strict schoolteacher. She was just out of college in ‘84, slim-waisted and sporting vivacious red lipstick. She was friends with many of her co-teachers even though she was just new to the school. She even got along with her students’ parents and guardians. And that was why our conversation over our lunch of baked ziti and white cheese pizza last Friday—our reunion after at least 10 years—hit a sad note. Miss Bigaw remembered my family well, and was shocked that all of them are now gone: My mom, who was always a headturner during recognition ceremonies (a cross between Vilma and Lorna, the other parents would say), my uncle Edwin, on whom the titas and the teachers had a crush (he was not openly gay at the time), and my grandmother who was always there to explain why a fat, bespectacled, bookish girl could sometimes just look out the window and stare into the trees, like she was not the least bit interested in the math lesson. “But even if you were not looking, you were always able to answer my exercises,” she told me. (I do not now remember being particularly good at math—this was why I majored in literature and journalism—but I took her word for it.) “That was why I took a special interest in you.” My life, even then, indeed seemed interesting. The summer before second grade, I was prevailed upon by my mother to join a beauty pageant for little girls in a noontime show that aired from Aparri to Jolo. One of the hosts is now a controversial senator. I was also a bit player in an action flick about a thief who took money from the rich to give to the poor. The lead actor is also now a senator, a conspicuously silent one. I did not relish these extra- curricular activities— in fact I was embarrassed by them—but I enjoyed being class president, did well in my subjects and discovered I could write. Alas, 1984 was also the last year I would believe in Santa Claus. My classmates and I moved on to the next grade level and before we knew it, we were in high school. Miss Bigaw and I lost touch. Oh, she and I still went to the same school, but I had a lot on my mind and she had started her TAGIM class—Talented And Gifted In Math, a special group of students whom she mentored all the way to the international levels of math competitions. It was only sometime in 2000-2001 that I reconnected with Miss Bigaw, who had at that time had become mathematics coordinator. I think it started when I was invited by the school to give a talk on Career Day. I visited her in her office at the top landing of the grade school building, and I filled her in on what I had been up to in the intervening years. She was still stern, scolding me— good naturedly, if there was such a thing—for doing this, not doing that. Her eyebrow still shot up and she still pressed her lips tight together. As a young adult, I welcomed it. She did open up about her own affairs —her pursuit of advanced degrees, her personal relationships. This was a side of her I never knew before. We became such good friends that she agreed to be the godmother of my son, Elmo. And then I disappeared again. When Miss Bigaw and I reconnected over the weekend, she teased me about that disappearance and I said I was then dealing with many things—again. But that now I was fine. She nodded and said I looked happy and relaxed. I beamed. And then she added, her forehead creased, that I needed to lose more weight. She then launched into a talk on getting my priorities straight. “Wala kayong kupas (You have not lost your luster),” I told her, laughing. Secretly, I was touched big time. Her inaanak is now 10 and Miss Bigaw has recently retired from the school. At 52, she feels she has to try new things instead of sticking to what have been her familiar surroundings all her adult life.She insists she has mellowed. Dealing with college students, after all, is a lot different from managing grade schoolers. She is also busy taking care of her nephew. Having no family of her own, she has taken it upon herself to help out in sending one child of every sibling to school. “This is the last one,” she says, and tells me that all her wards have turned out well. I am not surprised. Our next date will be at my townhouse, where she will meet Elmo for the first time. I told her I would cook for her. “Good,” she remarked in a way only teachers can. She also reminded me, a bit sternly, to invite Bates, one of my best friends from grade school and to whom—and to whose family, in fact— she was also close. I think I will dust and sweep and cook extra hard that day. But I am looking forward to it. [email protected] ADELLE CHUA CHASING HAPPY In the strictest sense CYAN MAGENTAYELLOW BLACK Classifeds ManilaStandardToday [email protected] OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A6 Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Caraga, Region XIII OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Agusan del Norte Engineering District Butuan City DPWH INFRA -07- Standard Advertisement-Revised IRR INVITATION TO BID The DPWH DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE, J. Rosales Avenue,Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, through its Bids and Awards Committee ( BAC ), invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): Contract ID: 12NA0031 Contract Name: Concreting of Upper Olave-Afga Road Contract Location: Buenavista,Agusan del Norte Station Limits: Sta. 1273+337-Sta. 1274+420 Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php9,679,986.95 Contract Duration: 60 Calendar Days Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent ( LOI ) and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/ fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their application for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH POCW Central Offce will only process contractor’s applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 11, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. 2. Issuance of Bid – Documents September 28, 2012 to October 17, 2012 3. Pre-Bid Conference October 5, 2012 10:00 PM 4. Receipts of Bids October 17, 2012 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. 5. Opening of Bids October 17, 2012 10:15 a.m. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, upon payment of a nonrefundable fee of (P 10,000.00), each. Prospective bidders may also download the BDs, if available, from the DPWH web site. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplishment forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelop shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the Bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The DPWH DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE, J. Rosales Avenue, Agusan del Norte, reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract Award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) CLARO S. COMILING Chief MQC Section BAC Chairman (MST-OCT. 3, 2012) (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Regional Offce XII Mabini Street, Corner Alunan Ave., Koronadal City RE-I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Bids and Award Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works Highways Regional Offce XII, Mabini Street Corner Alunan Avenue, Koronadal City, under GAA Year CY 2012, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: Contract ID: 12-M000011 Contract Name: REPAIR/MAINTENANCE OF DPWH REGIONAL OFFICE XII BUILDING Contract Location: KORONADAL CITY, SOUTH COTABATO Scope of Work: DEMOLITION, CARPENTRY, PAINTING, MASONRY ETC. Approved Budget Cost: P2,615,180.23 Source of Fund: RA FUND 101-GENERAL FUND SR- 2012-06005558 CY2012 Contract Duration: 90 Calendar Days Amount of Bid Documents: P5,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino Citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their application for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipts of LOI. The DPWH complete requirements and issue the Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the website. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From: Oct. 2, 2012 to Oct. 9, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference Sept. 27, 2012 at 10:00 A.M 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 9, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. 4. Receipts of Bids October 9, 2012 at 10:00 A.M 5. Opening of Bids October 9, 2012 at 10:00 A.M The BAC will issue copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH Regional Offce XII, Mabini St Corner Alunan Avenue upon payment of non-refundable fee of Twenty Thousand (P5,000.00) Pesos for the Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only for interested parties who have purchased the BDs. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BDs in two (2) separate sealed envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the evaluation and post qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways, Regional Offce XII, Mabini Street, Cor. Alunan Avenue, Koronadal City reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved By: (SGD) HADJI DIAMPUAN I. RANGIRIS, MPA Engineer V BAC Chairman Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Contract ID: 12AA0064 Contract Name: Concreting of Laoag La Paz Road to Sand Dunes Location of the Contract: Brgy. La Paz, Laoag City Revised DPWH-INFR-07-09- DPWH-1ST ILOCOS NORTE ENGINEERING DISTRICT Airport Ave., Brgy. Cavit, Laoag City September 27, 2012 INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH-1 ST ILOCOS NORTE ENGINEERING DISTRICT, through the GAA 2013 (Appropriation P17,000,000.00), invite contractors to bid for the aforementioned project: Contract ID. : 12AA0064 Contract Name : Concreting of Laoag La Paz Road to Sand Dunes Contract Location : Brgy. La Paz, Laoag City Scope of Work : Road Concreting (t=200mm, w=6000mm, l=1.5475 km) Approved Budget For the Contract (ABC) : Php16,489,837.88 Contract Duration : 75 C.D. Note: SHORT OF AWARD The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R. A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary “pass/ fail” criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH Central Procurement Offce (CPO) before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH Central Procurement Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant time and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: Activities Schedule 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From: October 3-October 22, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Pro- spective Bidders October 17, 2012 (11:00 A.M.) 4. Receipt of Bids Deadline: October 22, 2012 (2:00 P.M.) 5. Opening of Bids October 22, 2012 (2:20 P.M.) The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH-1 ST ILOCOS NORTE ENGINEERING DISTRICT, upon presentation of two (2) valid ID’s and payment of a non-refundable fee of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00). Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Mailed intents shall not be entertained. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The DPWH-1 ST ILOCOS NORTE ENGINEERING DISTRICT reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved by: (Sgd.) RICHARD A. RAGASA BAC Chairman LCD____ RVR ERA MLP____ FSD (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) (MST-Sept. 28 & Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Region IV-B, MlMAROPA OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Marinduque Engineering District Boac, Marinduque I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH Marinduque Engineering District Office, Boac, Marinduque, through the SARO No. SR2012-07-005817 dated July 6, 2012 invites contractors to bid aforementioned projects. Contract ID: 12 EA 0028 Contract Name: Repair/Maint. of Various Flood Control and Drainage System (Nangka I, Ihatub, Masiga, Banto, Pag-Asa & Landy) Contract Location: Mogpog-Boac-Gasan-Sta. Cruz, Marinduque Scope of Work: Repair of damaged of existing concrete revetment Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 5,598,677.52 Contract Duration: 90 calendar days The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino- owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50 % of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e )Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines for procurement are shown below: 1 Issuance of Bidding Documents September 27 - October 19, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 8, 2012 / 10:00 AM. 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 10, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids October 19, 2012 / 2:00 P.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 19, 2012 / 2:00 P.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH, Marinduque District Engineering Offce Boac Marinduque, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P 10,000.00 for (BD’s). Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH Website. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from DPWH Website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’ s in two (2) separate bid envelops to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelop shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelop shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualifcation. DPWH, Marinduque Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process at any time before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved by: (Sgd.) ARISTEO L. LINGA BAC Chairman Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Zamboanga del Sur 1 st Engineering District Pagadian City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Zamboanga del Sur 1 st Engineering District, Pagadian City, through the Fund (FY 2013 Regular Infrastructure Projects), invites Contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: 1. Contract ID: 12JE0035 Contract Name: Road Upgrading (gravel to paved) Based on Gravel Road Strategies, Traffc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis) Intermittent Section Contract Location: Sindangan-Siayan-Dumingag-Mahayag Road K1689+000-K1689+140 Scope of Work: Concrete paving of graveled national road with line canal and slope protection. Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 3,484,880.00 Contract Duration: 45 Calendar Days Cost of Bid Documents: Php 5,000.00 2. Contract ID: 12JE0036 Contract Name: Road Upgrading (gravel to paved) Based on Gravel Road Strategies, Traffc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis) Intermittent Section Contract Location: Jct. Blancia-Molave-Josefna Road K1682+460-K1683+000 Scope of Work: Concrete paving of graveled national road with line canal and slope protection. Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 19,012,000.00 Contract Duration: 80 Calendar Days Cost of Bid Documents: Php 10,000.00 3. Contract ID: 12JE0037 Contract Name: Road Upgrading (gravel to paved) Based on Gravel Road Strategies, Traffc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis) Intermittent Section Contract Location: Lanao-Pagadian-Zamboanga City Road K1646+490-K1647+(-247) and K1647+(- 247)-K1648+(-332) Scope of Work: Concrete paving of graveled national road with line canal and slope protection. Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 20,832,840.00 Contract Duration: 80 Calendar Days Cost of Bid Documents: Php 20,000.00 4. Contract ID: 12JE0038 Contract Name: Asset Preservation of National Road Generatedfrom Pavement Management System/Highway Development and Management-4 (HDM-4) Intermittent Section, Preventive Maintenance Contract Location: Lanao-Pagadian-Zamboanga City Road K1648+000-K1651+000 Scope of Work: Asphalt overlay of damaged paved national road with corrections. Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 32,556,580.00 Contract Duration: 90 Calendar Days Cost of Bid Documents: Php 20,000.00 5. Contract ID: 12JE0039 Contract Name: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged Paved National Roads, Intermittent Section Contract Location: Jct. Aurora-Monte Alegre-Jct. Labangan Road K1650+923-K1650+993; K1651+000-K1652+290 and K1652+790-K1654+000 Scope of Work: Upgrading of damaged asphalt concrete pavement into Portland cement concrete pavement Approved Budget for the Contract: Php 38,321,920.00 Contract Duration: 110 Calendar Days Cost of Bid Documents: Php 20,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the revised IRR of R. A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchased bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino Citizen of 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing atleast 50 % of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH- POCW-Central Offce will only process contractor’s application for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be download at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 02, 2012 to October 23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference 10:00 A.M. October 12, 2012 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders 5:00 P.M. October 18, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids 10:00 A.M. October 23, 2012 5. Opening of Bids 1:00 P.M. October 23, 2012 The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH, Zamboanga del Sur 1 st Engineering District, Pagadian City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download BD’s from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable from, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved By: (Sgd.) VIOLETA S. TAGAYUNA Engineer III BAC-Chairman (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Region IV - A CAVITE II DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE Tagaytay City Tel. No. (046) 413-1347; Telefax # (046) 413-2936 I NVI TATI ON TO BI D (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH Cavite II District Engineering Offce, through FY 2013 REGULAR INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM, invites contractors to bid for the following projects: 1. Contract I.D. 12DG0079 Contract Name : Preventive Maintenance (MFO-1), Asphalt Overlay with corrections along Tagaytay-Batangas Arterial Highway ; K0055+(-1015) - K0055+040 Contract Location : Cavite Major Category: Roads-Rehabilitation-Asphalt of Work Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 11,737,970.00 Contract Duration: 46 calendar days 2. Contract I.D. 12DG0080 Contract Name : Preventive Maintenance (MFO-1),Asphalt Overlay along Mahogany Avenue; K0059±990 to K0059±156 ; K0059±156 to K0059+852; K0059+852 to K0060±015 ; K0060±015 to K0060+096; K0060+096 to K0060+605; K0060+605 to K0060+630 (Package 032-2012) Contract Location : Cavite Major Category : Roads-Rehabilitation-Asphalt of Work Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 43,840,360.86 Contract Duration: 180 calendar days The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bids. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the Eligibility Check, Preliminary Examination of Bids. Interested bidders are also required to present to the BAC Secretariat, DPWH-Cavite II District Engineering Offce, Tagaytay City the original copies of the following documents for authentication and issuance of Bid Documents: a)PCAB License; b)Contractors Registration Certifcate; c)Certifcate of Materials Engineer Accreditation; d) Latest copy of Authorizing Offcer together with machine copy of two(2) valid IDs; e)Certifcate of Safety Offcer Seminar from Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE); f) Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System(PHILGEPS) Order Form(Documents Request List) and g).CY 2012 1 st Quarter CPES Rating. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH- POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW-Central Offce will only process contractors’ application for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Receipt of LOI’s from Prospective Bidders : October 2 - October 18, 2012 2. Issuance of Bidding Documents to registered : October 2 - October 23,2012 Contractors 3. Pre-Bid Conference : October 10,2012 at 10:00AM 4. Receipt of Bids : Deadline: October 23,2012 Until 10:00A.M. 5. Opening of Bids : October 23, 2012 @ 2:00PM Prospective bidders may download the LOI Forms from DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The BAC will issue hard copies of LOI forms at DPWH, Cavite II District Engineering Offce, Tagaytay City. The BAC will issue hard copy of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at the DPWH ,Cavite II District Engineering Offce, Akle St., cor. Mahogany Avenue, Brgy. Kaybagal South, Tagaytay City, upon payment of non-refundable fee of P 10,000.00 for project #1 and P 20,000.00 for project #2 for the proposal booklets. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH website and shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties. Only those who have purchased the BD’s are enjoined to attend the said Pre-Bid Conference and may ask questions pertaining the project, so that they shall be properly informed of some important matters regarding the above projects. Bid must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents (BD’s) in two (2) separate sealed bid envelope to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The technical and fnancial components of the bid should be book bound and each sheet properly paginated (ex: Page 1 of 200). The DPWH, Cavite II District Engineering Offce, Tagaytay City reserves the right to 1) reject bids, 2) declare a failure of bidding, and 3) not to award the contract without incurring any liability if the funds /allotments for said program/project/activity have been withheld or reduced through no fault of its own. Approved by : (Sgd.) PRESCILA R. RAMOS BAC Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) CARLITO C. JOSE District Engineer CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A7 Classifeds ManilaStandardToday [email protected] Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar Second District Engineering Offce OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Cor. Balite and Garcia Streets Catarman, Northern Samar Telephone No./Fax No. (055) 251-8254 INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Northern Samar 2 nd District Engineering Offce, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: 1. Contract ID: 12II0074 Contract Name: Concreting of Pangpang-Palapag-Mapanas-Gamay- Lapinig Road, Mataon-Mapanas Section KO823+(- 172)-KO823+730, Contract Location: Mapanas, Northern Samar Scope of Work: P.C.C.P. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): PhP 19,901,178.89 Contract Duration: 92 Calendar Days The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) shall be automatically rejected at the opening of Bids. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least equal to 10% of Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC). The Bids and Awards Committee (ABC) will use nondiscretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Regional Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH POCW Regional Offce will only process contractor’s applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate. Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH websi te www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 3-23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 11, 2012 – 2:00Pm – NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI October 17, 2012 until 5:00 Pm 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 -8:30 Am-2:00 Pm NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 – 2:00 Pm. NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar The Bids and Awards Committee will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents at DPWH, NS 2nd DEO Catarman, Northern Samar, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P10,000.00. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH web site, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be opened only to interested parties who have purchased the Bid Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of Contractor’s Registry Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. The Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) ROMULO D. GONZALES BAC Chairman (MST-OCT. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar Second District Engineering Offce OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Cor. Balite and Garcia Streets Catarman, Northern Samar Telephone No./Fax No. (055) 251-8254 INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Northern Samar 2 nd District Engineering Offce, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: 1. Contract ID: 12II0075 Contract Name: Concreting/Upgrading of gaps along Lapinig-Arteche Road, May-igot Boundary Section, KO866+825.52 - KO867+685.52 Contract Location: Lapinig, Northern Samar Scope of Work: P.C.C.P. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): PhP 20,561,713.10 Contract Duration: 95 Calendar Days The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) shall be automatically rejected at the opening of Bids. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least equal to 10% of Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC). The Bids and Awards Committee (ABC) will use nondiscretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Regional Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH POCW Regional Offce will only process contractor’s applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate. Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH websi te www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 3-23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 11, 2012 – 2:00Pm – NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI October 17, 2012 until 5:00 Pm 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 -8:30 Am-2:00 Pm NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 – 2:00 Pm. NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar The Bids and Awards Committee will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents at DPWH, NS 2nd DEO Catarman, Northern Samar, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P20,000.00. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH web site, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be opened only to interested parties who have purchased the Bid Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of Contractor’s Registry Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. The Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) ROMULO D. GONZALES BAC Chairman (MST-OCT. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar Second District Engineering Offce OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Cor. Balite and Garcia Streets Catarman, Northern Samar Telephone No./Fax No. (055) 251-8254 INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Northern Samar 2 nd District Engineering Offce, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: 1. Contract ID: 12II0076 Contract Name: Upgrading/Concreting Paving along Palapag Mapanas Gamay-Lapinig Road, Palapag-Mapanas Section KO807+060-KO824+000, w/ exception Contract Location: Mapanas, Northern Samar Scope of Work: P.C.C.P. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): PhP 33,126,904.85 Contract Duration: 141 Calendar Days The Bids and Awards Committee will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) shall be automatically rejected at the opening of Bids. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least equal to 10% of Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC). The Bids and Awards Committee (ABC) will use nondiscretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Regional Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH POCW Regional Offce will only process contractor’s applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate. Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH websi te www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 3-23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 11, 2012 – 2:00Pm – NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI October 17, 2012 until 5:00 Pm 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 -8:30 Am-2:00 Pm NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 – 2:00 Pm. NS 2 nd DEO Sub Offce, Brgy. Rawis, Laoang, N. Samar The Bids and Awards Committee will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents at DPWH, NS 2nd DEO Catarman, Northern Samar, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P20,000.00. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH web site, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be opened only to interested parties who have purchased the Bid Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of Contractor’s Registry Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. The Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) ROMULO D. GONZALES BAC Chairman (MST-OCT. 3, 2012) (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Region I PMO-AGNO FLOOD CONTROL SYSTEM OFFICE Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan Date: October 01, 2012 The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), PMO-Agno Flood Control System Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan through 3 rd District En- gineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan. Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), through the FY 2012, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: CONTRACT NO.: 12AI0184 NAME OF CONTRACT: Construction of Boulder bank Protection, Mitura RCP at Brgy. Pinmaludpod. LOCATION: Urdaneta City BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Repair/Maint. of Boulder bank Protection APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT: P9,999,828.24 CONTACT DURATION: 90 C.D. The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be auto- matically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contactor or his duly authorized representative as refected in the National Registry of Contractors for Civil Works must submit in person a Letter of Intent (LOI), present original copy of Contractors Registra- tion Certifcate (CRC), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership/corporation/cooperative/or joint venture (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-Pangasinan 3 rd District Engineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan before the deadline for the receipts of LOI. The DPWH POCW Central Offce will only process contractor’s application for registration, with complete requirements, and issue its Contractor’s Registration Ceritifcate (CRC). Registration Forms maybe downloaded at the DPWH website www. dwph.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 01 to October 23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 12, 2012 – 10:00 A.M. 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 01 to October 19, 2012 until 10:00 A.M. 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 – 10:00 A.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 10:00 A.M. The BAC will also issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s), Pangasinan 3 rd District Engineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan, upon presentation of two (2) valid ID’s and payment of a non-refundable fee of TEN THOUSAND PESOS ONLY –P10,000. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be opened only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Mailed intents shall not be entertained. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accompanied forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualifcation. The DPWH, PMO, Agno Flood Control System Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan reserves the right to 1) to accept or reject any bid 2) annul the bidding process at anytime prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidders. APPROVED: (Sgd.) EMMANUEL P. RIBOROSO BAC Chairman I NVI TATI ON TO BI D (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Region I POM-AGNO FLOOD CONTROL SYSTEM OFFICE Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan Date: October 01, 2012 I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), PMO-Agno Flood Control System Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan through 3 rd District Engineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan. Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), through the FY 2012, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: CONTRACT NO.: 12AI0185 NAME OF CONTRACT: River Improvement along Viray-Depalo River-Viray- Depalo RCP at Brgy. Casantamariaan LOCATION: Urdaneta City BRIEF DESCRIPTION: River Improvement APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT: P9,999,947.21 CONTACT DURATION: 60 C.D. The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contactor or his duly authorized representative as refected in the National Registry of Contractors for Civil Works must submit in person a Letter of Intent (LOI), present original copy of Contractors Registration Certifcate (CRC), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership/corporation/cooperative/or joint venture (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-Pangasinan 3 rd District Engineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan before the deadline for the receipts of LOI. The DPWH POCW Central Offce will only process contractor’s application for registration, with complete requirements, and issue its Contractor’s Registration Ceritifcate (CRC). Registration Forms maybe downloaded at the DPWH website www.dwph.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 01 to October 23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 12, 2012 – 10:00 A.M. 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 01 to October 19, 2012 until 10:00 A.M. 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 – 10:00 A.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 10:00 A.M. The BAC will also issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s), Pangasinan 3 rd District Engineering Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan, upon presentation of two (2) valid ID’s and payment of a non-refundable fee of TEN THOUSAND PESOS ONLY –P10,000. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be opened only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Mailed intents shall not be entertained. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accompanied forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post qualifcation. The DPWH, PMO, Agno Flood Control System Offce, Tumana, Rosales, Pangasinan reserves the right to 1) to accept or reject any bid 2) annul the bidding process at anytime prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidders. APPROVED: (Sgd.) EMMANUEL P. RIBOROSO BAC Chairman Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Region VI – Western Visayas ILOILO CITY DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Fort San Pedro Road, Iloilo City INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Iloilo City District Engineering Offce, invites Contractors to apply for eligibility and to bid for the herein Contract: 1. Contract ID: 12GJ0086 Contract Name: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged Paved National Roads at LaPaz La Granja Road K0001+000-K0001+891 Contract Location: Iloilo City Scope of Work: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged Paved National Roads Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P 25,170,656.26 Contract Duration: 110 CD Bid Documents: P 25,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected during the opening of bids. To bid for this Contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH, (b)Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this Contract, (d) completion of similar contract costing at least 50% of the ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to the ABC, or a credit line commitment of at least 10% of the ABC. The BAC will use non- discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH Procurement Offce for Civil Works (POCW) will only process the contractors’ application for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From: October 3-24, 2012 @ 9:00 AM 2. Pre-Bid Conference Date: October 11, 2012 @ 10:00 AM 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders Date: October 18, 2012@ 4:00 PM 4. Receipt of Bid Deadline: October 24, 2012 Time: 2:00 P.M. 5. Opening of Bids Date: October 24, 2012 Time: 2:01 P.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at the Offce of the BAC-TWG, Iloilo City District Engineering Offce, Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee as indicated above for every project. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH Website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC or the eligibility requirements pursuant to Section 23.1 of IRR. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the Bid Evaluation and Post Qualifcation. Only the proprietor in case of sole proprietorship or his duly authorized representative and the duly authorized representatives in case of the corporations who are stated in their Contractor’s Registration Certifcate are allowed to submit letters of intent, purchase and receive bidding documents and to drop bids. The Head of the Procuring Entity, DPWH-Iloilo City District Engineering Offce, Iloilo City, reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior to the contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) FEMA G. GUADALUPE BAC Chairman (MST-OCT. 3, 2012) News ManilaStandardToday [email protected] OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A8 Health benefits of sin tax cited IN BRIEF Erap, other Metro candidates file candidacies Diocese suspends nightclubbing priest Reclamation will stop floods, architect claims (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The City Government of Makati, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites registered suppliers/manufacturers/ distributors/contractors to bid for the hereunder projects: NO. NAME OF PROJECT AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION LOCATION APPROvED BuDgET 1 HIVAg/Ab Combo Reagent test kits and other laboratory supplies for the use of Ospital ng Makati OSMAK P10,605,880.00 2 CT & MRI Dryview Laser Films for the use of Ospital ng Makati OSMAK P2,625,000.00 3 Complete Rehabilitation of Medical Air Plant Central System (includes supply of labor and materials) OSMAK P2,563,000.00 Prospective Bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examinations of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-Qualifcation of the Lowest Calculated Bid shall be conducted. All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualifcation and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIvITIES SCHEDuLE 1. Pre-Bidding Conference at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor October 11, 2012 (02:00 P.M.) 2. Opening of Bids at BAC Conference Room, 9th Floor October 25, 2012 (02:00 P.M.) Bidding Documents will be available only to Prospective Bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of ______________________to the City Government of Makati Cashier. (fee for Bid Documents) (Procuring Entity) The City Government of Makati assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for (Procuring Entity) any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid. The City of Makati reserves the right to disqualify any or all proposal, to waive any defects or informalities therein and to accept such proposal as may be considered most advantageous to the Government. Approved by: (Sgd.) MARJORIE A. DE vEYRA Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988 www.makati.gov.ph INvITATION TO BID REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS LuNgSOD Ng MAKATI Running again. Former President Joseph Estrada signs a logbook at the Commission on Elections office at Arroceros Street in Manila as he registered his candidacy for mayor of Manila on Tuesday. The former president will run against incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim, who he had also faced during the presidential election of 1998. EY ACASIO No to cybercime law. Members of the National Press Club, led by its president Benny Antiporda, and militant groups stage a protest rally in front of the Supreme Court which is now considering seven public interest lawsuits contesting the constitutionality of the new law that President Aquino signed into law last Sept. 12. DANNY PATA Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa said revenues from cigarettes will be used to expand coverage for the Aquino admin- istration’s universal healthcare program. “As the tobacco industry targets the poor in marketing their products, the poor will benefit from the sin tax as mon- ey collected from the industry will be used to enroll millions of poor families into socialized healthcare and for the im- provement of the whole healthcare ser- vice delivery,” he stressed. Herbosa said the 2012 survey of the Philippine Institute for Development Stud- ies showed that the prevalence of smoking in the country is higher among the poor- est of the poor with 40% belonging to the lowest quintile while 36% come from the second lowest quintile. He also said that it is the opposite among the rich where 25% of smokers are consid- ered affluent. The DOH also plans to use revenues from the sin tax to hire an additional 10,000 doctors, 50,000 nurses and midwives, and 100,000 community health teams to fill in gaps in health personnel. Tobacco farmers said they are not op- posed to the government’s move to gener- ate additional revenues but they are merely pleading for a reasonable increase on the excise tax on tobacco products. However, they remain optimistic that Senate will come out with a balanced stand on a pending proposal seeking to increase excise taxes on liquor and cigarettes. At the same time, they slammed to- bacco critics for misleading the public by pre-empting the Senate committee report on the excise tax. He rebuked certain sectors for mislead- ing the public by saying that the Senate committee had agreed on the points pre- sented by tobacco control advocates dur- ing the hearings. These critics even called the Senate report a “sellout” to big tobacco players when it has not even come out. They said the unfounded allegation by tobacco control advocates that the Recto committee report would be a “big sellout” to Big Tobacco betrays their ig- norance, if not total unconcern, for the plight of farmers and other small stake- holders in the tobacco industry. “Why do they always claim that ‘Big Tobacco’ is strongly lobbying against the sin tax hike? Isn’t it true that the version the DOF and the anti-tobacco groups want- ed was the one approved by the House of Representatives? Congressmen for mod- erate tax hike were outnumbered by the pro-DOF congressmen,” asked Saturnino Distor, president of the 20,000-strong Phil- ippine Tobacco Growers Association. By Macon Ramos-Araneta SEVENTY-six percent of the 17.3 million adult smokers in the Philippines are poor and they will be the ones who will benefit from the amended excise tax on tobacco products, a Department of Health official said on Tuesday. By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Joel Zurbano FORMER President Joseph Estrada and other local candidates in Metro Manila registered their bids for next year’s elections at various offices of the Commission on Elections. Showbiz hoopla marked Estrada’s submission of his certificate of can- didacy for mayor of Manila and was accompanied by his running mate, incumbent Vice Mayor Isko Moreno (Francisco Dumogoso in real life), who is seeking his third and last term of office. Other mayoral and vice-mayoral candidates who registered their can- didacies are Caloocan Rep. Oscar Malapitan who is running for may- or with vice mayoral hopeful Nani Almeda, Valenzuela Rep. Rexlon Gatchalian, who is hoping to replace his brother incumbent Mayor Sher- win, and incumbent Vice Mayor Eric Martinez. But the campaign bandwagon of Estrada, a former matinee idol, was the most colorful by far with fans and supporters making streets around the Comelec office in Manila impassable. Estrada, fellow actor Moreno and the other candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance filed their cer- tificates of candidacy at around 10:45 a.m. of Tuesday amid street dancing fans and dragon dancers. In Caloocan City, Malapitan and his slate were the first to register their candidacies and they were accom- panied by supporters who turned A. Mabini Street in front of the Caloocan City Hall into a “sea of orange” whcih is Malapitan’s campaign color. Despite a drizzle, Malapitan and his running mate Nani Almeda ac- companied the bets for the city coun- cil, Dean Asistio, Jay Africa, Onet Henson, Lolit Corpuz, Karina Te, Obet Quizon, Obet Samoson, Jerrboy Mauricio, James Lao, Lando Doloso, Dennis Macalintal, Wewel de Leon, as they marched from the San Roque Church to the Comelec office. Malapitan will be running against the son of incumbent Mayor Enrico Echiverri Ricojudge while the incum- bent mayor will challenge Malapitan’s son Along for the congressional seat of the city’s first district. In Valenzuela City, Congressman Gatchalian registered his bid to re- place his older brother Mayor Sher- win who, in turn, will run for one of the city’s two congressional seats. Congressman Gatchalian and his running mate Martinez, were also ac- companied by their city councilor bets Tony Espiritu, Cora Cortez, Marlon Alejandrino, Jenny Pingree-Esplana, Rovin Feliciano Ricarr Enriquez, Lai Nolasco, Lorie Natividad-Borja, Adrian Dapat, Martell Soledad, Kim Galang and Charee Pineda. Gatchalian and his running mates, all clad in red shirts, began the day yesterday by hearing Mass at the Holy Rosary Parish Church in Maysan, before proceeding to the Valenzuela Comelec office. With Gigi M. David By Vito Barcelo THE only solution to Metro Manila’s perennial flood problem is land recla- mation and this has proven to be ef- fective in many parts of the world, ac- cording to architect and urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr. Palafox made the suggestion during the Dredging and Land Reclamation 2012 Conference, organized by global business think tank International Qual- ity and Productivity Center, where he said reclaiming a big portion of Ma- nila Bay could reduce Metro Manila’s vulnerability to flooding even during heavy rains and high tides. “The Philippines has third longest waterfront in the world but we don’t use our waterfront as front doors to development,” said Palafox, who is the urban planner of Dubai, which was able to expand its waterfront from 70 kms. to 2,000 kms. through reclamation. In Netherlands, he said land recla- mation was used as a disaster-mitigat- ing measure by reclaiming 7,000 sq. kms. from the sea to build dikes that hold back floods. Singapore expanded its territory through reclamation by nearly 25 per- cent without negative environmental impact. The same supposedly holds true for Japan and China. Over the last decades, various coun- tries have utilized safer, greener rec- lamations techniques and technology to expand land resource for anything from economic to agricultural and en- vironmental purposes. For countries like populous China and miniscule Singapore, it has been successfully implemented to main- tain the balance between limited land resource and a constantly growing population. In the Philippines, notable land- marks Philippine International Con- vention Center and Cultural Center of the Philippines, stand on reclaimed land. Asia’s biggest mall, the SM Mall of Asia, was also built on re- claimed territory. A PARISH priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao was suspended after he was found to be fond of going to a nightclub, a diocesan spokesman said over the church-owned Radio Veritas. Diocesan spokesman Rev. Aries Sison identified the priest as Bong Guerrero, parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the city’s Cubao district, who was suspended by Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco last Sept. 25. Sison said the diocese was already imposing disciplinary sanctions on Guerrero even be- fore the priest’s activities was revealed by the television news program XXX of the ABS-CBN network. “The fist measure was to re- move him as parish priest. Sec- ondly, Bishop Ongtioco suspend- ed his priestly functions. These two measures were done to avoid further harm, further scandal and to stop him from falling into greater sin,” Sison said in the ra- dio interview. Sison also extended the dio- cese’s apologies for the scandal and asked the faithful to pray for the wayward priest instead of condemning him. “We priests are called to ho- liness in a very special way be- cause of our vocation. So when there are priests who commit mistakes, I am imploring the faithful not to condemn him but to pray for him,” Sison said. Earlier this year, the Vatican suspended another priest from the Archdiocese of Cebu over charges that he sexually abuse an altar boy when he was a priest in Los Angeles, California more than 20 years ago. The Vatican said the abuse charges against Monsignor Cris- tobal Garcia is being investigat- ed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and was suspended from ministry last June by the Archdiocese of Cebu where he fled after being expelled by the Order of Preachers. The Dominicans expelled Garcia after a nun reported that an altar boy was found in his bed at a Los Angeles rectory and Garcia later fled to Cebu. Last week, Garcia was linked to alleged ivory smuggling after the National Geographic maga- zine featured his collection of religious figurines carved from ivory. SSS raps 600 companies THE Social Security System has filed criminal complaints against over 600 companies in the first half of 2012, or 17 percent higher compared to the 518 sued firms during the same period a year ago. SSS assistant vice president for pperations and head of its legal de- partment Santiago Agdeppa said that 494 out of the 606 employers charged in January to June period were for failure to remit monthly premiums amounting to P209.34 million, in- cluding penalties of more than P118 million. Agdeppa also said that SSS has collected P155.63 million in the first semester from employers that settled their delinquencies after the state- owned pension fund initiated legal actions against them. Aside from non-remittance of monthly premiums, the agency also sued 109 firms for failure to register their workers for SSS coverage and refusal to present company records to SSS authorities. Maria Bernadette Lunas LPG prices hiked again TWO more oil companies implemented a P2 per kilogram increase or P22 per 11-kilo cylinder tank in the price of cooking gas effective 6 a.m. Tuesday following the move of rival Isla LPG Corp. Petron Corp. and Total Philippines made the announcement in separate media advisories. Petron said this reflects the increase in international LPG contract prices for the month of October. LPG contract price in the world mar- ket went up to $983 per metric ton in October from $942 per MT in Septem- ber, according to data from the Energy Department. Isla LPG had earlier raised LPG prices by P2 per kilo starting 6am Mon- day. LPG now sells at a range of P698 to P817 per 11-kg tank. Alena Mae S. Flores OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY A9 Sports Riera U. Mallari, Editor ManilaStandardToday [email protected] Friendly matches against Bahrain on Oct. 12 and Kuwait on Oct. 16 are expected to be a stern test for the Az- kals as they prepare for the Suzuki Cup from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1. “I want to bring many players and I want to take the group that played here in the Peace Cup and the professionals will Azkals’ stars join Bahrain camp By Ronnie Nathanielsz EVEN as the fate of ace striker Phil Younghus- band and brother James was to be decided at a meeting of the top officials of Philippine football late yesterday, coach Michael Weiss indicated many of his stars currently playing in Europe will join an almost two-week camp in Bahrain, where they will play two or three matches. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK come in and we hope we can mix it well together because this is the main camp,” Weiss told the Manila Standard. The Azkals ruled the Peace Cup last week, beating Guam, 1-0, crushing Macau, 5-0, and overcoming Chinese Taipei, 3-1, to win the Philippines’ first international tournament in 99 years, having captured the Far Eastern Games championship by beating China in 1913. Weiss said Angel Guirado, who is now playing for a top club in India and his brother Juan, Dennis Cagara, Ray Jonsson, Jerry Lucena, hopefully Stephan Schrock, will be in the camp. “It will be interesting to see how they mingle with the new players,” said Weiss. Meantime, the qualifying tournament for the Suzuki Cup kicks off in Yangoon on Friday, with host Myanmar, which was Asian Cup runners-up in 1968 and Asian Games gold medalists in 1966 and 1970, trying to recapture its glory days. Myanmar, which figured in a score- less draw with the Philippines in 2010, finished at the bottom of Group B after losing to Vietnam and Singapore. In order to qualify for the Suzuki Cup this year, they need to finish among the top two in the group that includes Bru- nei, Cambodia, Laos and Timor Leste, with Laos, which qualified along with the Philippine Azkals, looking good in their build-up to the qualifiers. TOP contenders dispute crucial wins that will seal their title hopes as two-wheel road racing comes to an exciting climax with the championship rounds of the 2012 Bridgestone Philippine Super- bikes Championships, the 2012 Philippine Scooter Racing Cham- pionships and the 2012 Philippine Underbone King Championships this Sunday at the Clark Interna- tional Speedway. Raniel Resuello of Kawasaki Racing Team-Castrol-Motolite is set to formally seal this year’s Superbikes crown and earn the distinction as the first Super- bikes champ in the new genera- tion of Philippine Motorcycle Racing under the helm of the new governing body Super- bikes Racing Association that sanctions the 2012 Bridgestone Philippine Superbikes Champi- onships, with Bridgestone as the official Superbikes tires. Anthony Roman of Castrol- Dudshop is all set for his back- to-back Underbone King plum in the 2012 Philippine Under- bone King Championships, while Miko Erich Montano of JVT Racing will go all out to clinch the overall title of the 2012 Philippine Scooter Racing Championships, which are both sanctioned by the Underbone and Scooters Racing Associa- tion and supported by FDR, the official tires. Th 22-year-old Resuello aims to wrap up the series with a bang, looking forward to a big victory that will serve as a fitting finale to his first ma- jor career milestone. With four wins and a runner-up finish so far in this series, he currently holds a total of 122 points or 22 points ahead of second- running Anthony Roman, who garnered 100 points. Spotlight on ace riders IN BRIEF UP Gamma Sigma Pi holds golf tourney THE University of the Philippines Gamma Sigma Pi Alumni Association Inc. will hold its first benefit golf tournament on Oct. 12 at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club, Clark Free- port Zone, Angeles City. The tournament aims to raise funds for its schol- arship grants in the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, to be awarded to deserving but financially challenged sophomore students, pri- marily in the College of Engineering. “Scientific progress is at the forefront of our ob- jectives and this is why we want to support the fu- ture engineers of our country,” said UPGSPFAAI president Romel Cortez. “We hope to make this benefit tournament an annual event.” The UP Gamma Sigma Pi Alumni Asso- ciation is a non-stock, non-profit organization composed of members of the Gamma Sigma Pi Fraternity. Those who wish to join the tournament may text Prof. Ralph Ante at +63 917 520 0669 for more details. Rizal Tech, La Salle in semis DEFENDING champions Rizal Technologi- cal University and De La Salle Zobel clinched semifinal slots in the 43rd Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament over the weekend. RTU survived San Beda College Alabang, 25- 23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-13, to arrange a semi- final showdown against Centro Escolar University in senior volleyball at the St. Scholastica Manila gym. Miriam College and Philippine Women’s University will dispute the other finals slot. Host DLSZ stunned defending champion Mir- iam in the midgets semifinals, 25-14, 25-21, and will take on San Beda in the finals slated Oct. 13. San Beda advanced to the finals after a 25-21, 25- 21 victory over Poveda in the tournnament being supported by Goody, Mikasa, Molten, MJC Pho- tography, network partner AKTV and radio partner Monster Radio RX 93.1. Recycle, Feed, Run slated AROUND 3,000 runners are expected to take part in the Tetra Pak RFR-Recycle, Feed, Run on Nov. 18 at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. Race director Ralph Soguilon said this last Friday during the event launch at the Megaworld Showroom in McKinley Hills with Tetra Pak ex- ecutive Sheila Sorel. The footrace will feature competitions in the 3-km, 5-km, 10-km and the 21-km category will be for the benefit of the underprivileged kids of the Chosen Children Foundation. Participants are encouraged to bring in two empty and clean Tetra Pak cartons for recy- cling, and in exchange, one ready-to-drink milk in a carton will be donated to the Founda- tion. Peter Atencio Coach E classes start Oct. 13 WITH more than 200 students benefiting from Coach E Bas- ketball’s program the past two quarters, the academy will open its third quarter begin- ning Oct. 13 in four differ- ent venues and Oct. 18 at the Xavier School in San Juan. Coach E Basketball is com- mitted to continuous excel- lence in teaching the youth and the academy, which boasts of a low teacher-student ratio and has included varsity-type training modules in celebra- tion of its eighth year. On Oct. 13, the third-quar- ter classes will start at Club- sixfifty in Libis, Quezon City, The Zone in Makati and san Beda College-Alabang from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and Ateneo in Loyola Heights, Quezon City from 2 to 4 p.m. Classes will end on Dec. 9. On Oct. 18 Xavier School will start its Thursday class- es from 4 to 6 p.m. Students will be divided according to their skill level —Li’l Ones, Rookies and All-Stars. Parents can call Coach-E Basketball School at tel. nos. 684347 and 6311195 or mobile no. 0908-8846947. You can also e-mail us at info@coach- e.com. To know more about Coach-E Basketball School, you can also visit our Web site at www.coach-e.com or fol- low us on Facebook (www. facebook.com/coachebasket- ballschool) and Twitter (www. twitter.com/coachebball). Thousands run, ride roll for Pasig River KAPIT Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig’s “09.30. 2012 Run, Ride & Roll for the Pasig River” made a stronger call for cleaner esteros with around 70,000 actual participants despite heavy rains in Quezon City Sunday. Around 87,000 registered to participate in the advocacy event that will raise funds for the clean-up of esteros in Quezon City. This number was higher than the turnout in “11.20.2011 Run for the Pasig River” that was the largest single racing event last year with 86,547 runners. “There were still a lot of people despite the rain. They ran in the rain, they biked in the rain. It shows conviction. If people want it bad enough, we’re going to clean the Pasig River,” said Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation that operates KBPIP. Over 86,000 participants registered in the 5km race, which start- ed at 6 a.m. at the Quezon Memorial Circle going to the Tandang Sora Flyover and Luzon Avenue, then back to QMC. Another batch of 1,000 participants, who were composed of run- ners, cyclists, and skateboarders left the QMC earlier at 4 a.m. and took the 15km route to Commonwealth Elementary School, then back to the QMC for the finish line. Among the runners were Senator Pia Cayetano, ABS-CBN chair- man and Chief Executive Officer Eugenio ‘Gabby’ Lopez III, Gina Lopez, ABS-CBN Cable Channels and Print Media Group Ernie Lopez, Kapamilya stars Kuya Kim Atienza, Matteo Guidicelli, Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador, and Xian Lim. ABS-CBN Safety and Events Risk Management head Martin Aguda said the advocacy event was generally peaceful despite the rains, the huge crowd, and the expectedly heavy traffic congestion around the Elliptical Road. He said the traffic stream along Com- monwealth Ave. was also smoothly flowing unlike other previous races held on the major road. Titans are back. Members of the Manila Titans Ice Hockey Team, which placed third runner-up in the Malaysia Ice Hockey Championship in Kuala Lumpur, are shown upon their arrival. They are Jan Aro Regencia, team captain; JM Mapili and Gelo Tigaronita (assistant captains), goalie Kenken Sze, Andrei Alejandria, David Joshua Avelino, Matthew Cole, Nychie Vincent Goto, Jacques Aylmer Hale, Einzenn Ham, AJ Ramos, Eiji Sunagawa, Jack Thornley and Jann So. The team was coached by AJ Alvarez and his assistant, Rhafi Tawano. Winners of the 11th SM Bowling Cup- second National Finals at the SM Bowling Center Fairview display their awards and prizes, namely champion Ruel Zuñiga (center), who won a brand new Chevrolet Cruze, runner-up Nida Lagrisola (right), who took home P100,00 and third placer Rose Navena, who pocketed P50,000. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) i nvi tati on to Bi d The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Ilocos Norte 2 nd District Engineering Offce, San Pablo, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte through the GAA 2013, invite contractors to bid for the aforementioned project: 1. Contract ID: 2012-AB-0077 Contract Name: Asset Preservation of National Roads Generated from Pavement Management System/Highway Development and Management – 4 (HDM-4) (Preventive Maintenance) Batac-Espiritu (Banna) Road Contract Location: KO471+402- KO472+416 Scope of Work: Asphalt Overlay Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 12,349,960.00 Contract Duration: 46 calendar days 2. Contract ID: 2012-AB-0078 Contract Name: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged National Roads Generated from PMS/HDM-4, Intermittent Sections Batac-Espiritu (Banna) Road Contract Location: KO470 + (-373) – KO471 + 117 Scope of Work: Asphalt Overlay Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 3,952,000.00 Contract Duration: 28 calendar days 3. Contract ID: 2012-AB-0079 Contract Name: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged National Roads Generated from PMS/HDM-4, Intermittent Sections, Ilocos Norte-Abra Road Contract Location: KO503 + (-078) – KO504 + 850 (Int. Section) Scope of Work: PCCP Roadway & Shoulder Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 11,968,640.47 Contract Duration: 90 calendar days 4. Contract ID: 2012-AB-0080 Contract Name: Road Upgrading (Gravel to Paved) based on Gravel Road Strategies, Traffc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis) Batac-Pinili via Maipalig Road Contract Location: KO480+112 – KO481 + 104 Scope of Work: PCCP Roadway & Shoulder Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 9,799,439.26 Contract Duration: 60 calendar days 5. Contract ID: 2012-AB-0081 Contract Name: Replacement/Rehabilitation/Strengthening of Permanent Bridges Generated from Bridge Management System (BMS) Currimao Bridge along Pias-Currimao-Balacad Road Contract Location: Currimao, Ilocos Norte Scope of Work: Const. of 12LM RCDG Bridge Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 5,762,092.40 Contract Duration: 150 calendar days The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R. A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH Central Procurement Offce (CPO) before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH Central Procurement Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant time and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: Activities Schedule 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents From : October 3-23 , 2012 until 2:00 P.M. 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 at 9:00 A.M. 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders On or before 2:00 P.M. on October 18, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids Deadline: October 23, 2012 until 2:00 P.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 at 2:00 P.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at Department of Public Works and Highways, Ilocos Norte 2nd District Engineering Offce, San Pablo, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, upon presentation of two (2) valid ID’s and payment of a non-refundable fee of Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00) for Contract ID No. 2012-AB-0078 & Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) for Contract ID Nos. 2012-AB-0077, 2012-AB-0079, 2012-AB-0080 & 2012-AB-0081. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their Bid Documents. The Pre- Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Mailed intents shall not be entertained. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The Department of Public Works and Highways , Ilocos Norte 2 nd District Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved: (Sgd.) SUSAN P. SIMEON BAC Vice Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) ERNESTO C. FARAON OIC-District Engineer Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Ilocos Norte Second District Engineering Offce San Pablo, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte Telefax 781-3710 / 781-3709 Revised DPWH-INFR-07-09 i nvi tati on to Bi d Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Regional Offce No. IV-A CAVITE DISTRICT ENGINEERING OFFICE Trece Martires City Tel. No. (046) 419-0058 /Tel. Fax No. (046) 419-0694 (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH-Cavite District Engineering Offce, through the (stated below), invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned projects: Contract ID: 12DF0151 Contract Name: Concreting of Road at Navarro to Pasong Camachile, Gen. Trias Contract Location: Gen. Trias, Cavite Scope of Work: Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 5,000,000.00 Contract Duration: 28 calendar days Cost of Bidding Documents: PhP 5,000.00 Contract ID: 12DF0152 Contract Name: Const. of Multi-Purpose Bldg. at Gen. Aloña Memorial E/S, Biclatan and Brgy. Santiago, Gen. Trias Contract Location: Gen. Trias, Cavite Scope of Work: Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 5,000,000.00 Contract Duration: 60 calendar days Cost of Bidding Documents: PhP 5,000.00 Contract ID: 12DF0153 Contract Name: Assets Preservation of National Roads Generated from Pavement Management System/Highway Development and Management-4 (HDM-4), Preventive Maintenance (MFO-1) (Intermittent Sections) Secondary Road, Asphalt Overlay of Cavite-Batangas Road, Km. 18+974 – Km. 19+303.80; Km. 19+303.80 – Km. 19+827.10; Km. 19+827.10 – Km. 19+858.90; Km. 22+000 – Km. 22+268.80; Km. 23+000 – Km. 23+026.4; Km. 24+237 – Km. 24+296.80 and Km. 25+000 – Km. 25+248.40 Contract Location: Imus, Cavite Scope of Work: Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Php 29,335,710.00 Contract Duration: 60 calendar days Cost of Bidding Documents: PhP 25,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To Bid for the contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino Citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and € Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examinations of bids, evaluation of bids and postqualifcation. Interested bidders are also required to present to the BAC Secretariat, DPWH-Cavite District Engineering Offce, Trece Martires City the original copies of the following documents for authentication and issuance of Bid Documents: a) PCAB License; b) Contract’s Registration Certifcate; c) Certifcate of Materials Engineer Accreditation; d) Latest Copy of Authorizing Offcer together with machine copy of two (2) valid ID’s; e) Certifcate of Safety Offcer Seminar from Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); f) Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Order From (Documents Request List) and g) CY-2011 CPES Rating. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH- POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH POCW-Central Offce will only process contractor’s applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: BAC Activities Schedule 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 1 – 23, 2012 until 9:00 A.M. 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 8, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 18, 2012 until 10:00 A.M. 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 at 10:30 A.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH-Cavite District Engineering Offce, Trece Martires City, upon payment of non-refundable fee of (stated above). Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in the BD’S in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The DPWH-Cavite District Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved by: (Sgd.) TEOFILO A. AYON BAC Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) OSCAR U. DELA CRUZ District Engineer ANNEX “A” Sports OCTOBER 3, 2012 Manila Standard TODAY WEDNESDAY A10 Shootout looms at Cangolf AN early shootout among the favorites is expected as local ace Rupert Zaragoza and Apo Golf’s Micah Shin clash in one of the fea- tured flights in today’s start of the Canlu- bang Amateur Open’s Championship Divi- sion at Cangolf’s north course in Laguna. Zaragoza, the for- mer national and ju- nior champion, and Shin, the 15-year-old Korean expat, who teamed up with Ramil Bisera to win the re- cent Samsung-Emcor Davao National Pro- Am crown, have been pitted against each other in the 8:50 a.m. flight that includes Or- chard’s Agustin Mata and Riviera’s Song Seung Hyo. National pool main- stay Jik-Jik Abdon of Southwoods drew Bino dela Paz, and Eagle Ridge’s Choi Min Sik and Lee Jong Chan in the 8:10 a.m. group while AR Ra- mos, also of South- woods, will tee off at 8 a.m. with Eastridge’s Noel Florendo, Or- chard’s Cho Byu Kyu and Yoon Chun Byung of Eagle Ridge in the event serving as part of the Globe Business Amateur Golf Circuit. Alabang’s Andres Saldaña, another Phl pool mainstay, hopes to cash in on his early 7:50 a.m. start with Cangolf’s Kris Etter, Cho Phil Kyu of Or- chard and Riviera’s Kim Young Sik while Joey Huerva, also of Canlubang, will play alongside Capitol’s Kenneth Kano, Royal Northwoods’ Moon Jin Young and Eagle Ridge’s Park Jin Young in the 8:30 a.m. group. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK All eyes Boosters’ Fajardo, Painters’ Tiu By Jeric Lopez QUESTIONS abound on how top overall pick June Mar Faja- rdo will perform once he finally hits the big stage. All of these will be an- swered once the highly touted giant makes his pro debut to- day at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of the Philippine Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association. Fajardo and Petron Blaze start the season facing an acid test as they play reigning Governors’ Cup champion Rain or Shine at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Before that battle of the jug- gernauts, sister teams Barako Bull and Air21 collide in the 5:15 p.m. curtain raiser. Aside from Fajardo, the Boosters will have a couple of new faces in the team. New coach Olsen Racela will make his mentoring debut for Petron, even as another prized rookie in Alex Mallari, the third overall pick in the draft, also makes his first outing. The last time the Elasto Paint- ers were at the Big Dome was when they finally copped their first ever PBA championship af- ter winning Game 7 of the Gov- ernors’ Cup finals. “This is another challenge for us. This time, our goal is to win the Philippine Cup, so we have to climb our way up again. I know this team can do it again. We have a good chance,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. Unlike the other teams, the Elasto Painters will be intact af- ter they kept their championship core together. The Painters only made one significant move in the off-season. Chris Tiu, the immensely pop- ular rookie, will finally make his much-awaited pro debut for Rain or Shine. He took the ros- ter spot of Ronjay Buenafe. who was dealt to Meralco. “He (Tiu) will play a big role for us. We need him since Paul Lee is still recovering from his injury,” said Guiao of his cel- ebrated rookie. [email protected] [email protected] Riera U. Mallari, Editor JAPETH TRIES DLEAGUE CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Pacman better prepared now LOTTO RESULTS 6/49 000000000000 6/42 000000000000 6 DIGITS 000000000000 3 DIGITS 000000 2 EZ2 0000 P0.0M+ P0.0M+ JAPETH Aguilar is now trying his luck with the Bakersfield Jam in the NBA D-League. The 6’9” former Western Kentucky University standout made this move after he failed to get a training-camp spot with San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Hornets. He had a successful workout with the Jam’s assistant general manager Brian Levy in Los Angeles last week. “Levy saw some positives in Aguilar’s game during his two-day workout with the club,” Hoopshype.com reported. Peter Atencio Arum said this may be the reason why the Filipino ring icon started training earlier than usual. Pacquiao began training last week at the gym of longtime friend and mentor Ray Golingan in General Santos City, where he started his ca- reer fighting on the weekend amateur Finalists want fair officiating OFFICIALS of both Ateneo and University of Santo To- mas want fair and consistent officiating in the coming Uni- versity Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s bas- ketball Finals. Tigers coach Pido Jarencio and Eagles team manager Paolo Trillo made the call Tuesday at the Philippine Sportswrit- ers Association Forum in the aftermath of the controversy that marred the latest meeting between the two schools prior to the best-of-three title series. The Tigers put their 68-66 loss to the Eagles under protest as they questioned the goal-tending violation slapped on Karim Ab- dul in the final 5.1 seconds, with the outcome of the match hang- ing in the balance. The team likewise rued that no technical foul was slapped on Ateneo coach Norman Black for charging to the refer- ees and disputing a non-call on a tripled-team Ryan Buenafe. But citing the two cases as judgment calls, commissioner Ato Badolato denied the UST protest. Jarencio said the team had since moved on following the incident, but appealed to league officials to let the players decide the outcome of the game. “Bahala ang players na mag-decide ng game. Sila ang pinapanood dito, not the offi- cials o kung sino man,” Jaren- cio said. “Tapos na `yun (pro- test incident). Back to zero na ulit. Wala na silang maririnig ngayon, pero sana maging fair lang ang decision sa lahat.” cards staged by the gym owner. Golingan said Pacquiao was working out under Filipino trainer and childhood friend Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez and had worked out a couple of times at the gym. “Pacquiao looks better prepared now,” said Arum. The Fighter of the Decade, who has decided to abandon his usual two-week training camp in the Philippines’ sum- mer capital of Baguio City and will set up camp at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, is scheduled to leave for Los Angeles on Oct. 15. Arum told the Manila Standard that Pacquiao had started training early be- cause “he told me he wants to make a statement and I think the other guy (Marquez) does, too. This is terrific.” The promoter added: “They are not going to fight a cautious fight like they did last time and they’ll go for a knock- out. I really believe it’s going to be that kind of a fight.” Arum, who is ecstatic over early ticket sales, told the Manila Standar d: “Eve- rything is going very well for the fight and the first weekend of ticket sales was unbelievable. We sold more than 13,000 and we have less than 3,000 to go. We are well on the way to a sell-out and everybody is excited about the fight.” By Ronnie Nathanielsz TOP Rank promoter Bob Arum believes that Manny Pacquiao is determined to settle all doubts in his fourth fight with Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez and wants to make a statement when they clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 8. Pangasinan, UE favored in volleyfest RIVAL teams from the Uni- versity of the East and a home team from Pangasinan will fight for supremacy in the 2012 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Battle of Champi- ons’ crown when it reels off on Thursday at the provincial capitol beachfront grounds in Lingayen. UE’s Francislyn Cais and new teammate Kryssel Cueva are tipped to go into a head-on col- lision for the crown with former La Salle Dasmarinas standout Jennifer Manzano and new part- ner Cindy Benitez. Cais will be defending the crown she won with Jessica Paron last year, when they came up with a 21-18, 21-17 repuls- ing of University of the Philip- pines-2’s Pauline Genido and new teammate Liezchel Tiu in Puerto Princesa. Organizer Tisha Abundo said this after she presented the list of competing teams during the weekly Philippine Sportswrit- ers Association Forum at the Shakey’s Pizza Restaurant in Malate, Manila. With Giselle Bembo as part- ner, Manzano made it to this year’s Battle of Champions after beating Cais and Paron, 21-9, 21-6, in the Dasmarinas leg. But, Manzano will see action with Benitez instead under the Pangasinan banner. Bembo, on the other hand, will try to make it to the semi- finals and maybe the finals with Iari Yongco in this spikefest sup- ported by Speedo, Mikasa and Molten Balls, with Business Mirror as a media partner. Their quest for glory, howev- er, won’t be easy. LA Consolacion College-Manila leaned on the heroics of Josue Quintal and Tanzanian center Jim- my Brown to pull off a stunning 58-56 win over Philippine Mer- chant Marine School to inch closer towards capturing the fourth In- terscholastic Athletic Association basketball crown yesterday at the Makati Coliseum. The 6-foot Quin- tal hit a go-ahead three in the dy- ing seconds, be- fore Brown came through with two blocks to help the Blue Royals hand the favored Mariners their first loss in the tour- nament. Game 2 of the best-of-three se- ries will be held tomorrow at the same venue, with LCCM looking to capture its first-ever champi- onship of the cagefest backed by Molten and Mikasa of Sonia Trad- ing, Globe and Abot Kaya Pinoy. The Mendiola-based cagers of coach Bong dela Cruz entered the series as heavy underdogs after de- throning Technological Institute of the Philippines in the final stage of the stepladder phase. PMMS, for its part, gained the outright finals berth when it won all six classifica- tion-round games by double-digit margins. Quintal, who finished with 13 points, gave LCCM a 57-56 lead after nailing a triple with 30 sec- onds left, but the Mariners had a chance to force an overtime when Ryan Sagrada split his charities, 12 ticks remaining. However, the 6’9” Brown de- nied the Mariners that opportunity when he thwarted two shots on the final two plays to seal the deal. La Consolacion zeroes in on basketball crown Badminton stars Mark Shelly Alcala (left) and his elder sister Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala (right) display the gold medals they won in the 2012 Swiss Junior International Badminton Championships. Mark ruled the boys’ under-17 division, while Malvinne topped the women’s under-19. They arrived yesterday from Switzerland via Dubai. ERIC APOLONIO Game Tomorrow (Makati Coliseum) 9 a.m. • La Consolacion vs PMMS (La Consolacion leads series 1-0) Participants of the 2012 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Battle of Champions link hands with organizer Tisha Abundo (center) at the PSA Forum. The two-day volleyball extravaganza starts on Thursday at the provincial capitol beachfront grounds in Lingayen, Pangasinan. River rehab. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista signals the start of the five-kilometer “2012 Run for the Ilog Pasig” at the Quezon Memorial Circle, an annual advocacy by the ABS-CBN Foundation to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the Pasig River and its tributaries. At the flag-off rites were ABS- CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez; the mayor’s chief of staff, Aldrin Cuña; environmental protection and waste management department head Frederika Rentoy; and department of public order and safety chief Elmo San Diego. Story on A9 OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY B1 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Business Manila Standard TODAY Ray S. Eñano, Editor [email protected] Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor IN BRIEF RPN9 union rejects package PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing October 2, 2012 OIL PRICES TODAY P575-P705 LPG/11-kg tank P49.00-P56.57 Unleaded Gasoline P39.38-P43.99 Diesel P47.69-P53.00 Kerosene P27.20-P31.00 Auto LPG FOREI GN EXCHANGE RATE Currency Unit US Dollar Peso United States Dollar 1.000000 41.8180 Japan Yen 0.012824 0.5363 UK Pound 1.612900 67.4483 Hong Kong Dollar 0.128979 5.3936 Switzerland Franc 1.065984 44.5773 Canada Dollar 1.017708 42.5585 Singapore Dollar 0.813537 34.0205 Australia Dollar 1.037990 43.4067 Bahrain Dinar 2.652872 110.9378 Saudi Arabia Rial 0.266667 11.1515 Brunei Dollar 0.810241 33.8827 Indonesia Rupiah 0.000104 0.0043 Thailand Baht 0.032489 1.3586 UAE Dirham 0.272264 11.3855 Euro Euro 1.288700 53.8909 Korea Won 0.000899 0.0376 China Yuan 0.158667 6.6351 India Rupee 0.019804 0.7981 Malaysia Ringgit 0.326904 13.6705 NewZealand Dollar 0.830082 34.7124 Taiwan Dollar 0.034161 1.4285 Source: PDS Bridge Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, October 2, 2012 PESO-DOLLAR RATE 40 42 44 46 48 P41.600 CLOSE Closing OCTOBER 2, 2012 5,348.68 40.16 VOLUME 915.000M HIGH P41.590 LOW P41.700 AVERAGE P41.641 5200 4460 3720 2980 2240 1500 1200 Ayala buys out Saudi partner Philex may lose mining permit on waste discharges Subject: GUIDELINES ON REQUESTS FOR MONETARY BOARD OPINION ON THE MONETARY AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTS IMPLICATIONS OF PROPOSED DOMESTIC BORROWINGS BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUS), PURSUANT TO SECTION 123 OF R.A. NO. 7653 Circular No. 769 Series of 2012 OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Pursuant to Monetary Board Resolution No. 1444 dated 6 September 2012, the following guidelines shall govern the domestic borrowings of local government units (LGUs) in line with Republic Act No. 7653 (The New Central Bank Act), as well as other pertinent laws/regulations. I. Coverage This circular shall govern borrowings of LGUs within the Philippines, the procedures to be observed, as well as documentary requirements, for requests for Monetary Board (MB) opinion on the probable effects of the proposed credit operation on monetary aggregates, the price level and the balance of payments, pursuant to Section 123 of Republic Act No. 7653. II. Procedures 1. The LGUs, directly or through the lending bank, shall submit a written request to the BSP for Monetary Board (MB) opinion on the monetary and balance of payments (BOP) implications of its proposed borrowing prior to the loan release. The request shall include the required supporting documents/information listed in Annex 1. 2. The BSP shall acknowledge receipt of the request, with an initial evaluation of the documents/information submitted. Ìn case of incomplete submission of documents/information, the BSP shall require that the defciency or lacking documents/information be complied with or submitted. 3. Once the LGU or lending bank has submitted the required documents/information, the matter shall be elevated to the Monetary Board for an opinion on the probable monetary and BOP implications of the proposed LGU loans. 4. The MB opinion shall contain the following conditions: a. The loan proceeds shall only be released by the lending bank to a proponent LGU subject to the requirements stipulated in relevant laws. b. The MB opinion on the proposed LGU borrowings is being issued pursuant to Section 123 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7653 (The New Central Bank Act). The opinion of the MB is limited to the assessment of the monetary and BOP implications of the proposed borrowings. The said opinion is based on: (i) the information contained in the documents submitted; and (ii) the assumption that the proceeds of the borrowing will be used for the intended purpose described in the documents submitted. c. The MB opinion is valid only for six (6) months from the date of issue. 5. No opinion will be issued by the MB in cases where the LGU borrowing/loan has already been partially or fully disbursed. 6. Extension of the six-month validity period of the MB opinion may be granted based on meritorious reasons and subject to submission of supporting documents as may be prescribed by the BSP. III. Post-Borrowing Reports The borrowing LGU, or its duly authorized representative or through the lending bank, shall submit to the BSP a post-borrowing report that will indicate the actual amount of the domestic borrowing as well as the fnal terms and conditions thereof within 30 calendar days from the date of the full release of loan proceeds and other reports as may be required by the BSP. IV. Sanctions Any violation of this Circular shall be subject to the sanctions provided under Sections 36 and 37 of Republic Act No. 7653, as well as those contained in other applicable regulations of the BSP. V. Repealing Clause This circular supersedes BSP Circular No. 402, s. 2003. All other BSP regulations or issuances or any provision thereof that may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Circular are hereby repealed and superseded accordingly. VI. Effectivity This Circular shall take effect ffteen (15) days after its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. For the Monetary Board: (Sgd.) AMANDO M. TETANGCO, JR. Governor 26 September 2012 By Jenniffer B. Austria AYALA Land Inc. through a wholly-owned unit has acquired the entire stake of Saudi Arabian conglomerate Kingdom Hotel Investments and an affiliate in luxurious Fairmont and Raffles Suites and Residences project in Makati. Ayala Land, the country’s biggest property company, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange unit Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. paid $24.11 million to acquire the interest of KHI and an affiliate in the project. KHI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabian conglomerate Kingdom Holding Co., which is headed by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. Ayala Land investor relations officer Pamela Ann Perez said in a text message Ayala Land Hotels bought the full equity of KHI and affiliate Kingdom Manila BV in KHI- ALI Manila Inc. and KHI Manila Property Inc. “This effectively will give ALI 100 percent in both companies,” Perez said. The property firm said the acquisition was in line with its thrust to expand its commercial leasing business. The $153-million luxury project will add 32 Raffles Suites and 280 Fairmont Hotel rooms to the company’s hotel portfolio. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012. “The company expects that the continuing sale of units in the Raffles Residences will generate cash, while the operation of the hotel and serviced apartments will augment and diversify the sources of recurring revenues,” Ayala Land said. The luxury hotel complex is located on a 7,377- square meter property along Makati Avenue corner Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road). Ayala Land operates 634 branded hotel rooms between Hotel Intercontinental and Cebu City Marriott and 150 island resort rooms in Lagen, Miniloc and Apulit Island in Palawan. Ayala Land this year is set to open four hotels, including the 349-room Holiday Inn in Ayala Center and three Kukun brand facilities in Bonifacio Global City, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. New DBP president VETERAN banker Gil Buenaventura was sworn in as the new president and chief executive of state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines. Buenaventura, who will take over the post vacated by Francisco del Rosario Jr., who resigned effective Sept. 30, was sworn in by Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras at the bank’s headquarters in Makati City. He will assume the post on Oct. 22. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work in the public sector, and at the same time challenged to serve in government,” Buenaventura said. Buenaventura was the senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Bank of the Philippine Islands prior to joining DBP. He was president of Prudential Bank, which was absorbed by the Bank of the Philippine Islands in 2005. Buenaventura, a former Citibanker, started his banking career in 1973 when he was trainee in two US banks—Chemical Bank and First National City Bank. He said he would bring the experience and lessons he learned from a fruitful career in private banking to his stint in development bank. Buenaventura obtained an economics degree from the University of San Francisco in 1973 and finished his MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin in 1975. Anna Leah G. Estrada Manila Water loan MANILA Water Co. Inc., the Ayala- led water concessionaire for the east zone of Metro Manila, said Tuesday it obtained a $137.5-million loan for a waste water project. The water distributor said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it signed the 25-year subsidiary loan agreement with Land Bank of the Philippines. “The loan is funded by the World Bank, through its Metro Manila Wastewater Management Project, to partially finance the North and South Pasig Sewerage project of Manila Water,” the water utility firm said. Manila Water is constructing sewage treatment plants to address the sewerage and sanitation needs of its concession area. Its services include the operation and maintenance of networks of sewer pipelines that collect and convey sewage to STPs, which then treat wastewater before being safely returned to water bodies. Manila Water has 38 facilities with a capacity to treat 135 million liters per day, with each unit using world- class technology to comply with standards set by the Environment Department and the Laguna Lake Development Authority. Jenniffer B. Austria By Lailany P. Gomez UNION members of Radio Philippines Network Inc., operator of television station Channel 9, on Tuesday rejected the compensation package offered by the management. Raymon Tomale Jr., president of RPN Directors/ Supervisors Union, said the management of RPN 9 was offering only 15 days for every year of service, instead of one whole month as originally signed under a collective bargaining agreement. The management on Monday announced a retrenchment program affecting at least 200 employees. “We cannot accept what is being offered to us, because it is total disregard of our CBA. But we have ongoing talks with the management. We hope to settle it immediately,” Tomale, who is also secretary-general of the National Alliance of Broadcast Union Federation, said in a telephone interview. Tomale said if no “just compensation” would be agreed upon between the union and the management, the union, together with the Nabuf, would file a case before the Labor Department. “We will conduct a series of consultations with the management. We are still operational until Nov. 15,” he added. The government, which has a 20.8-percent stake in the broadcast company, conceded it was helpless in stopping the retrenchment of some 200 employees of RPN, since it did not have majority shares in the debt-ridden media outfit. Other owners of RPN9, which was founded by the late Ambassador Roberto Benedicto in 1960, are Solar Entertainment Corp., Far East Managers Investors Inc. of the Benedicto family and other private investors. The heavily-indebted RPN9, which employs 250 individuals, announced Monday it would cut at least 200 jobs with the closure of its central office in Capitol Hills, Quezon City by Nov. 15, but said it had no plan to file for corporate rehabilitation, as the network was still operating, especially in the provinces. The retrenchment stemmed from the company’s decision to stop producing shows, as airtime had been assigned to blocktimers, namely Solar and ETC. Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Herminio Coloma said the government would ensure that employees would get all the benefits due them. “This [retrenchment] must be fully compliant with the provisions of the Labor Code,” Coloma said. RPN acting president Robert Rivera said Tuesday it was “business as usual” for the company. “We continue to air Newswatch [RPN-9’s main news program] until such time all concerned parties are duly notified, including some sponsors,” Rivera said. Coloma said the government was pushing through with its plan to fully privatize RPN as well as IBC-13. There will only be one state-owned television, PTV-4, Coloma said. The government plans to use proceeds from the privatization of RPN and IBC amounting to at least P2.5 billion to beef up PTV-4 operations. Coloma said the Cabinet economic cluster had approved in principle a P5-billion capital infusion for PTV-4. With Joyce Pangco Pañares By Othel V. Campos PHILEX Mining Corp. faces the risk of losing its environmental compliance certificate for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. Philex said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it had received a “notice of adverse findings” from the Environment Department’s Environmental Management Bureau about its the violation under Republic Act No. 9275. “It was found out that condition no. 2 of the original ECC was violated, which states that pond effluent discharges shall conform with the standards set forth under RA 9275, or the Clean Water Act of the Philippines and its implementing rules and regulations,” the EMB said in a letter to Philex. The EMB also warned the non-compliance with the provisions of the ECC might lead to the revocation of the permit or fine of P50,000 per violation. Philex senior vice president for corporate affairs Michael Toledo said the company was still reviewing the accusation. “Our technical people, lawyers and consultants are still reviewing it,” he said Tuesday. The Environment Department said it would collect as much as P1 billion for environmental damages from Philex for the tailings spill at the company’s Padcal mine in Benguet. Philex, however, said studies commissioned to attest to the hygienic state of areas affected by the mine tailings accident showed no chemicals could have grossly affected the waters near the mine so as to jeopardize to livelihood and lives of families living in the area. It said an independent science and technology test also showed that harmful chemicals had not been detected in a fish sample taken from the waters near mines. The yardstick used by the Sentro sa Pagsusuri, Pagsasanay at Pangangasiwang Pang-Agham at Teknolohiya Corp., or SentroTek, for detection method in the report was 0.05 mg/kg for cadmium, 0.10 mg/kg for lead, and 0.005 mg/kg for arsenic in the tilapia fish it analyzed in early September. TRADI NG SUMMARY SHARES VALUE FINANCIAL 17,891,385 1,139,866,118.5 INDUSTRIAL 92,799,256 921,214,951.53 HOLDING FIRMS 5,141,372,286 1,638,512,105.838 PROPERTY 164,548,165 511,924,812.28 SERVICES 111,077,804 909,279,248.64 MINING & OIL 889,867,897 436,185,305.239 GRAND TOTAL 6,417,556,793 5,556,982,542.03 FINANCIAL 1,379.38 (up) 11.84 INDUSTRIAL 8,155.09 (up) 56.31 HOLDING FIRMS 4,513.8 (up) 53.61 PROPERTY 2,058.55 (up) 2.85 SERVICES 1,789.43 (up) 2.78 MINING & OIL 19,222.87 (up) 166.07 PSEI 5,348.68 (up) 40.16 All Shares Index 3,548.17 (up) 17.14 Gainers: 83; Losers: 68; Unchanged: 58; Total: 209 Business ManilaStandardToday [email protected] OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY B2 52 Weeks Previous % Net Foreign High Low STOCKS Close High Low Close Change Volume Trade/Buying MST BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012 M S T FINANCIAL 70.50 46.00 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 64.55 66.00 64.60 65.90 2.09 6,250,850 93,466,098.50 77.45 50.00 Bank of PI 79.30 80.10 79.30 80.10 1.01 2,759,420 38,851,276.50 595.00 370.00 China Bank 53.05 53.40 53.10 53.25 0.38 101,550 558,970.00 23.90 13.80 COL Financial 20.50 20.50 20.05 20.50 0.00 32,400 (186,550.00) 20.70 18.50 Eastwest Bank 22.75 23.30 22.55 22.60 (0.66) 1,055,600 (1,635,965.00) 89.00 50.00 First Metro Inv. 74.00 76.00 75.00 76.00 2.70 11,000 3.26 1.91 I-Remit Inc. 2.90 2.90 2.78 2.85 (1.72) 151,000 39.20 3.00 Maybank ATR KE 25.50 25.00 25.00 25.00 (1.96) 1,100 102.50 60.00 Metrobank 92.25 93.40 92.35 92.95 0.76 1,694,410 57,708,458.00 3.06 1.30 Natl Reinsurance Corp. 1.94 1.94 1.90 1.93 (0.52) 2,514,000 77.80 41.00 Phil. National Bank 73.00 73.20 72.50 73.00 0.00 35,200 (481,635.00) 95.00 69.00 Phil. Savings Bank 86.00 86.00 84.30 86.00 0.00 150 500.00 210.00 PSE Inc. 375.00 375.00 374.00 374.00 (0.27) 102,220 7,837,500.00 45.50 29.45 RCBC `A’ 45.55 46.10 45.55 46.00 0.99 548,800.00 2,542,310.00 155.20 77.00 Security Bank 166.70 167.00 162.40 166.40 (0.18) 853,950 39,697,141.00 1100.00 879.00 Sun Life Financial 940.00 990.00 990.00 990.00 5.32 500 140.00 58.00 Union Bank 105.10 106.50 105.00 105.00 (0.10) 117,040 3,276,000.00 2.06 1.43 Vantage Equities 1.88 1.88 1.88 1.88 0.00 60,000 INDUSTRIAL 35.50 26.50 Aboitiz Power Corp. 33.25 33.35 33.25 33.25 0.00 1,154,200 20,020,300.00 13.58 8.00 Agrinurture Inc. 8.46 8.46 8.41 8.46 0.00 59,700 23.95 11.98 Alaska Milk Corp. 23.45 23.00 23.00 23.00 (1.92) 1,500 1.70 0.97 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.78 1.81 1.76 1.81 1.69 2,903,000 48.00 25.00 Alphaland Corp. 29.50 29.50 29.50 29.50 0.00 200 1.62 1.08 Alsons Cons. 1.41 1.44 1.42 1.44 2.13 443,000 Asiabest Group 21.00 22.00 20.70 20.70 (1.43) 18,300 2.96 2.12 Calapan Venture 2.82 2.82 2.82 2.82 0.00 2,000 2.75 2.30 Chemrez Technologies Inc. 2.74 2.75 2.74 2.75 0.36 143,000 356,200.00 9.74 7.41 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 11.76 11.80 11.38 11.76 0.00 4,500 6.41 4.83 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.10 6.22 6.06 6.22 1.97 15,946,200 (2,863,176.00) 7.77 2.80 EEI 8.49 8.70 8.50 8.60 1.30 840,500 1,246,113.00 3.80 1.00 Euro-Med Lab. 2.05 2.05 1.82 1.85 (9.76) 63,000 19.40 12.50 First Gen Corp. 19.70 19.94 19.70 19.88 0.91 3,305,400 9,477,640.00 79.30 51.50 First Holdings ‘A’ 79.10 79.70 79.15 79.50 0.51 117,400 (13,522,348.50) 27.00 17.50 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 17.62 18.10 17.50 18.10 2.72 18,800 0.02 0.0110 Greenergy 0.0160 0.0160 0.0150 0.0160 0.00 20,600,000 13.10 7.80 Holcim Philippines Inc. 12.90 13.10 12.90 13.00 0.78 670,900 3,038,090.00 6.00 3.80 Integ. Micro-Electronics 4.00 4.02 4.01 4.01 0.25 64,000 (232,580.00) 2.35 0.61 Ionics Inc 0.620 0.630 0.620 0.620 0.00 342,000 (124,750.00) 120.00 80.00 Jollibee Foods Corp. 100.20 100.10 99.70 99.70 (0.50) 308,200 (10,254,990.00) Lafarge Rep 9.01 9.28 9.00 9.28 3.00 784,500 91.25 25.00 Liberty Flour 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 0.00 1,500 8.40 1.04 LMG Chemicals 2.00 2.07 2.01 2.01 0.50 39,000 1.90 1.11 Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 1.51 1.51 1.51 1.51 0.00 6,000 27.45 18.10 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.45 28.15 27.45 27.90 1.64 2,889,400 (2,200,240.00) 18.10 8.12 Megawide 16.800 17.000 16.900 16.960 0.95 602,200 280.60 215.00 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 257.00 265.00 256.00 264.00 2.72 163,230 21,452,052.00 12.20 7.50 Pancake House Inc. 8.00 7.80 7.75 7.80 (2.50) 900 3.65 1.96 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.11 4.25 4.12 4.18 1.70 9,861,000 9,250,330.00 16.00 9.70 Petron Corporation 10.50 10.80 10.48 10.76 2.48 10,360,600 3,180,326.00 14.94 8.05 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 8.10 8.22 8.10 8.22 1.48 31,400 4.42 1.01 RFM Corporation 4.20 4.22 4.10 4.16 (0.95) 1,255,000 1,452,340.00 3.90 2.01 Roxas Holdings 2.74 2.51 2.51 2.51 (8.39) 4,000 6.50 2.90 Salcon Power Corp. 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 0.00 1,600 34.60 26.50 San Miguel Brewery Inc. 34.45 34.40 34.00 34.40 (0.15) 100,300 129.20 110.20 San Miguel Corp `A’ 110.40 110.50 110.20 110.50 0.09 157,040 5,346,007.00 2.62 1.25 Seacem 2.48 2.53 2.44 2.49 0.40 4,464,000 2.44 1.73 Splash Corporation 1.80 1.80 1.79 1.79 (0.56) 103,000 (55,370.00) 0.196 0.112 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.136 0.144 0.134 0.142 4.41 8,700,000 14.66 3.30 Tanduay Holdings 12.02 12.10 11.98 12.00 (0.17) 624,700 71,820.00 1.41 0.90 Trans-Asia Oil 1.20 1.22 1.20 1.21 0.83 122,000 69.20 37.00 Universal Robina 66.75 68.20 66.00 66.00 (1.12) 2,663,930 108,109,214.00 5.50 1.05 Victorias Milling 1.25 1.26 1.25 1.25 0.00 335,000 0.77 0.320 Vitarich Corp. 0.870 0.890 0.840 0.860 (1.15) 914,000 18.00 2.55 Vivant Corp. 8.10 8.15 8.15 8.15 0.62 13,200 1.22 0.77 Vulcan Ind’l. 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.00 4,000 (3,680.00) HOLDING FIRMS 1.18 0.65 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.70 0.71 0.69 0.70 0.00 10,691,000 59.90 35.50 Aboitiz Equity 48.65 49.00 48.65 48.75 0.21 1,001,900 31,270,830.00 0.019 0.014 Alcorn Gold Res. 0.0210 0.0230 0.0200 0.0230 9.52 4,943,500,000 1,600,000.00 13.70 8.00 Alliance Global Inc. 14.60 15.02 14.60 14.96 2.47 23,758,300 214,837,704.00 2.60 1.80 Anglo Holdings A 1.98 2.00 1.98 2.00 1.01 140,000 5.02 3.00 Anscor `A’ 4.78 4.79 4.70 4.73 (1.05) 607,000 (14,100.00) 6.98 0.260 Asia Amalgamated A 5.11 5.10 4.96 4.96 (2.94) 19,000 2.98 1.49 ATN Holdings A 1.52 1.53 1.45 1.52 0.00 52,000 4.16 2.30 ATN Holdings B 1.65 1.65 1.60 1.65 0.00 222,000 485.20 272.00 Ayala Corp `A’ 419.00 423.00 416.00 420.00 0.24 1,067,990 (145,046,634.00) 64.80 30.50 DMCI Holdings 57.90 58.00 57.85 58.00 0.17 1,991,180 (8,053,262.50) 4.19 1.03 F&J Prince ‘A’ 2.55 2.57 2.57 2.57 0.78 20,000 5.20 3.30 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.15 4.18 4.15 4.15 0.00 133,000 556.00 455.40 GT Capital 548.00 553.50 546.00 550.00 0.36 120,570 17,529,250.00 5.22 2.94 House of Inv. 5.80 5.81 5.63 5.80 0.00 95,500 36.20 19.00 JG Summit Holdings 31.99 33.40 32.00 32.95 3.02 322,500 (31,916,160.00) 4.19 2.27 Jolliville Holdings 3.99 3.95 3.80 3.94 (1.25) 152,000 6.21 4.00 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.44 5.45 5.42 5.44 0.00 4,762,000 (15,073,178.00) 1.54 0.61 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 1.15 1.20 1.14 1.15 0.00 25,519,000 (3,020.00) 3.82 1.800 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 2.21 2.25 2.17 2.20 (0.45) 452,000 4.65 2.56 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.18 4.23 4.19 4.21 0.72 18,984,000 2,881,040.00 6.24 3.40 Minerales Industrias Corp. 5.07 5.10 5.00 5.08 0.20 27,300 9.66 1.22 MJCI Investments Inc. 5.80 5.82 5.82 5.82 0.34 1,700 0.0770 0.045 Pacifica `A’ 0.0480 0.0480 0.0480 0.0480 0.00 500,000 2.20 1.20 Prime Media Hldg 1.350 1.310 1.310 1.310 (2.96) 20,000 4.10 1.56 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.99 2.99 2.90 2.90 (3.01) 23,000 2.40 1.01 Seafront `A’ 1.45 1.45 1.41 1.45 0.00 2,000 0.490 0.285 Sinophil Corp. 0.315 0.320 0.315 0.320 1.59 101,490,000 760.00 450.00 SM Investments Inc. 728.00 742.00 728.00 740.00 1.65 285,050 30,048,535.00 2.71 1.08 Solid Group Inc. 1.98 2.04 1.96 1.99 0.51 965,000 (318,600.00) 1.57 1.14 South China Res. Inc. 1.17 1.15 1.15 1.15 (1.71) 200,000 850.00 425.00 Transgrid 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 0.00 20 0.420 0.101 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2490 0.2400 0.2390 0.2400 (3.61) 40,000 0.620 0.082 Wellex Industries 0.3300 0.3300 0.3150 0.3300 0.00 870,000 0.980 0.380 Zeus Holdings 0.390 0.400 0.400 0.400 2.56 210,000 P R O P E R T Y 48.00 18.00 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 18.42 18.00 16.90 18.00 (2.28) 4,300 3.34 1.70 A. Brown Co., Inc. 3.00 3.01 2.91 2.94 (2.00) 279,000 0.83 0.42 Araneta Prop `A’ 0.570 0.520 0.510 0.520 (8.77) 30,000 0.195 0.150 Arthaland Corp. 0.170 0.170 0.170 0.170 0.00 200,000 24.15 13.36 Ayala Land `B’ 23.30 23.65 23.35 23.40 0.43 2,037,000 (11,913,120.00) 5.62 3.08 Belle Corp. `A’ 5.15 5.25 5.12 5.18 0.58 5,572,500 5,968,166.00 9.00 2.26 Cebu Holdings 5.29 5.20 5.17 5.17 (2.27) 96,900 2.85 1.35 Century Property 1.48 1.49 1.48 1.49 0.68 1,170,000 577,200.00 2.91 1.20 City & Land Dev. 2.84 2.83 2.99 2.80 (1.41) 286,000 1.50 1.05 Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.10 1.14 1.09 1.09 (0.91) 352,000 0.092 0.060 Crown Equities Inc. 0.074 0.065 0.065 0.065 (12.16) 200,000 1.11 0.67 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.81 0.81 0.79 0.81 0.00 1,365,000 139,320.00 0.94 0.54 Empire East Land 0.840 0.850 0.830 0.830 (1.19) 8,059,000 (58,800.00) 3.80 2.90 Eton Properties 3.70 3.79 3.69 3.69 (0.27) 47,000 3,690.00 0.310 0.10 Ever Gotesco 0.196 0.198 0.191 0.196 0.00 2,100,000 (89,250.00) 2.74 1.63 Global-Estate 1.88 1.90 1.88 1.88 0.00 1,940,000 (1,884,740.00) 1.44 0.98 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.36 1.36 1.35 1.35 (0.74) 59,937,000 55,306,590.00 2.14 0.65 Interport `A’ 1.16 1.17 1.14 1.14 (1.72) 308,000 35,340.00 2.34 1.51 Megaworld Corp. 2.23 2.26 2.23 2.25 0.90 38,518,000 3,277,780.00 0.36 0.150 MRC Allied Ind. 0.1540 0.1640 0.1590 0.1590 3.25 5,370,000 0.990 0.089 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.6900 0.7000 0.6800 0.6800 (1.45) 1,766,000 0.67 0.41 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.490 0.470 0.470 0.470 (4.08) 1,800,000 38.10 12.60 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 22.50 21.00 19.00 19.00 (15.56) 200 1,900.00 19.94 10.00 Robinson’s Land `B’ 19.36 19.40 19.06 19.26 (0.52) 1,775,700 11,368,264.00 7.71 2.51 Rockwell 3.38 3.45 3.37 3.41 0.89 256,000 8.95 6.00 SM Development `A’ 6.06 6.09 6.06 6.08 0.33 972,100 474,097.00 18.20 10.94 SM Prime Holdings 14.06 14.08 13.96 13.98 (0.57) 7,187,600 (48,200,266.00) 0.91 0.64 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.00 10,000 4.55 1.80 Starmalls 3.79 3.70 3.61 3.70 (2.37) 298,000 0.64 0.45 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.510 0.510 0.510 0.510 0.00 20,000 4.66 2.60 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.690 4.770 4.720 4.750 1.28 3,327,000 11,351,400.00 S E R V I C E S 4.72 1.20 2GO Group’ 1.70 1.75 1.75 1.75 2.94 8,000 42.00 24.80 ABS-CBN 32.55 32.65 32.40 32.55 0.00 27,800 18.98 1.05 Acesite Hotel 1.40 1.43 1.37 1.38 (1.43) 308,000 0.78 0.45 APC Group, Inc. 0.650 0.630 0.630 0.630 (3.08) 101,000 10.92 7.30 Asian Terminals Inc. 9.15 9.00 9.00 9.00 (1.64) 3,000 27,000.00 102.80 4.45 Bloomberry 11.14 11.54 11.22 11.34 1.80 8,348,800 1,934,476.00 0.5300 0.1010 Boulevard Holdings 0.1500 0.1500 0.1460 0.1470 (2.00) 24,600,000 (592,060.00) 24.00 5.20 Calata Corp. 6.42 6.52 6.25 6.25 (2.65) 2,441,700 (41,252.00) 82.50 60.80 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 55.20 55.95 55.00 55.45 0.45 612,050 (9,593,584.50) 9.70 5.44 DFNN Inc. 5.75 5.96 5.62 5.85 1.74 117,400 5.90 1.45 Easy Call “Common” 2.09 2.10 2.09 2.10 0.48 6,000 1750.00 800.00 FEUI 990.00 1010.00 1000.00 1010.00 2.02 710 1270.00 831.00 Globe Telecom 1140.00 1148.00 1134.00 1134.00 (0.53) 31,035 13,211,115.00 11.00 6.18 GMA Network Inc. 9.50 9.55 9.30 9.50 0.00 417,300 77.00 43.40 I.C.T.S.I. 70.05 70.75 70.15 70.60 0.79 502,740 1,974,846.50 0.98 0.36 Information Capital Tech. 0.405 0.415 0.405 0.405 0.00 50,000 4,050.00 18.40 5.00 Imperial Res. `A’ 4.70 5.50 5.50 5.50 17.02 1,000 6.80 4.30 IPeople Inc. `A’ 7.00 7.04 7.00 7.04 0.57 1,100 4.70 1.75 IP Converge 2.10 2.19 2.12 2.12 0.95 45,000 2,120.00 34.50 0.036 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.020 0.021 0.020 0.021 5.00 59,100,000 40,000.00 3.87 1.00 IPVG Corp. 1.00 1.01 1.00 1.00 0.00 608,000 0.0760 0.042 Island Info 0.0450 0.0450 0.0450 0.0450 0.00 200,000 5.1900 2.550 ISM Communications 2.9900 2.8700 2.8700 2.8700 (4.01) 2,000 10.30 5.90 Leisure & Resorts 8.28 8.43 8.21 8.36 0.97 1,070,000 322,590.00 3.70 2.60 Liberty Telecom 2.50 2.52 2.50 2.50 0.00 57,000 3.96 2.70 Macroasia Corp. 2.90 2.90 2.85 2.85 (1.72) 56,000 0.84 0.57 Manila Bulletin 0.68 0.68 0.67 0.67 (1.47) 94,000 4.08 1.21 Manila Jockey 2.99 3.04 2.98 2.98 (0.33) 626,000 (600,000.00) 9.60 6.50 Metro Pacific Tollways 7.00 6.50 6.50 6.50 (7.14) 100 22.95 13.80 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 14.10 14.04 14.00 14.00 (0.71) 133,800 8.58 5.35 PAL Holdings Inc. 6.40 6.40 5.30 5.69 (11.09) 1,285,000 63,545.00 3.39 1.05 Paxys Inc. 2.73 2.81 2.74 2.79 2.20 397,000 10.00 5.00 Phil. Racing Club 9.51 9.60 9.50 9.54 0.32 1,001,000 136,086.00 71.00 18.00 Phil. Seven Corp. 73.00 71.70 71.70 71.70 (1.78) 2,670 108,267.00 17.88 12.10 Philweb.Com Inc. 17.00 17.04 16.96 17.04 0.24 771,600 10,067,524.00 2886.00 2096.00 PLDT Common 2760.00 2790.00 2760.00 2760.00 0.00 178,875 (98,204,110.00) 0.39 0.25 PremiereHorizon 0.315 0.320 0.320 0.320 1.59 1,750,000 30.15 10.68 Puregold 29.70 30.10 29.70 29.95 0.84 3,562,400 (20,916,785.00) STI Holdings 2.10 2.02 1.85 1.85 (11.90) 490,000 4.75 3.30 Touch Solutions 3.83 4.05 3.83 4.05 5.74 115,000 3.30 2.42 Transpacific Broadcast 2.59 2.50 2.42 2.50 (3.47) 6,000 0.79 0.34 Waterfront Phils. 0.450 0.450 0.440 0.450 0.00 120,000 MINING & OIL 0.0083 0.0038 Abra Mining 0.0048 0.0049 0.0046 0.0048 0.00 171,000,000 6.20 3.01 Apex `A’ 4.77 4.79 4.60 4.77 0.00 124,000 6.22 3.00 Apex `B’ 4.85 4.85 4.60 4.60 (5.15) 140,000 9,200.00 20.80 14.50 Atlas Cons. `A’ 17.26 17.28 17.24 17.24 (0.12) 757,400 4,374,372.00 0.345 0.170 Basic Energy Corp. 0.255 0.260 0.255 0.255 0.00 870,000 29.00 19.98 Benguet Corp `A’ 24.00 23.35 23.30 23.35 (2.71) 900 34.00 21.20 Benguet Corp `B’ 23.10 23.95 23.90 23.95 3.68 1,600 61.80 6.96 Dizon 22.50 23.00 21.40 21.90 (2.67) 182,300 45,780.00 1.21 0.50 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.58 0.58 0.57 0.58 0.00 178,000 1.81 1.0600 Lepanto `A’ 1.150 1.170 1.140 1.150 0.00 8,767,000 2.070 1.0900 Lepanto `B’ 1.200 1.220 1.180 1.200 0.00 27,871,000 19,004,330.00 0.085 0.042 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0530 0.0560 0.0530 0.0550 3.77 92,560,000 0.840 0.570 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0530 0.0550 0.0530 0.0540 1.89 40,520,000 36.50 15.04 Nickelasia 17.48 17.70 17.50 17.50 0.11 1,260,100 1,548,120.00 12.84 2.91 Nihao Mineral Resources 7.70 7.92 7.65 7.78 1.04 10,301,700 1.100 0.008 Omico 0.6200 0.6200 0.6200 0.6200 0.00 210,000 8.40 2.99 Oriental Peninsula Res. 4.500 4.530 4.430 4.500 0.00 107,000 0.032 0.014 Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0180 0.0190 0.0180 0.0190 5.56 2,600,000 0.033 0.014 Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0190 0.0190 0.0190 0.0190 0.00 100,000 7.05 5.10 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 6.00 5.97 5.97 5.97 (0.50) 25,000 28.25 18.40 Philex `A’ 14.20 14.90 14.32 14.58 2.68 11,577,800 (65,263,766.00) 48.00 3.00 PhilexPetroleum 23.75 25.80 24.00 24.90 4.84 155,400 (374,020.00) 0.062 0.017 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.048 0.049 0.047 0.048 0.00 456,500,000 297,600.00 257.80 161.10 Semirara Corp. 222.40 224.20 222.20 222.60 0.09 111,890 14,004,040.00 0.029 0.015 United Paragon 0.0150 0.0150 0.0140 0.0150 0.00 7,400,000 PREFERRED 50.00 23.05 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 32.40 32.75 31.80 32.65 0.77 770,700 (17,413,225.00) 580.00 535.00 Ayala Corp. Pref `A’ 539.00 539.00 539.00 539.00 0.00 60 103.50 100.00 First Gen G 103.50 103.50 103.50 103.50 0.00 1,110 11.02 6.00 GMA Holdings Inc. 9.42 9.40 9.28 9.40 (0.21) 1,007,500 503,518.00 116.70 108.90 PCOR-Preferred 107.70 108.00 107.70 107.90 0.19 316,820 (366,520.00) SMC Preferred A 75.00 75.00 74.90 74.90 (0.13) 39,600 80.00 74.50 SMC Preferred B 80.00 81.50 80.00 80.00 0.00 1,600 SMC Preferred C 75.00 75.00 75.00 75.00 0.00 215,960 1775000.00 1050.00 1000.00 SMPFC Preferred 1013.00 1013.00 1013.00 1013.00 0.00 630 WARRANTS & BONDS 1.31 0.62 Megaworld Corp. Warrants 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.23 0.00 50,000 0.210 0.00 Omico Corp. Warrant 0.0200 0.0210 0.0100 0.0100 (50.00) 51,200,000 2,100.00 GERRY GERONIMO THE TRUST GURU English bridges and English muffins Philracom suspends owner THE three-month suspension handed down by the Philippine Racing Commission against a horse owner/trainer has become a hot topic in the horse racing circuit. In its Board Resolution No. 43-12, the Philracom headed by chairman Angel Castaño Jr. suspended the license of Nemesio Sy for three months, with the suspension order extending to all the horses owned and trained by the latter. According to Happy Hour insiders, the decision stemmed from an incident that happened at the Saddle and Club Leisure Park on Sept. 2 where a very irate Sy stormed the premises and allegedly hurled insults and issued threats against a young Philippine Racing Club vet who had earlier ordered the 21-day decommissioning of Snake Me Spaghetti, a horse of Sy. Apparently, the PRCI vet observed the horse limping after participating in Race 8 of the Sept. 1 races, and an inspection showed that the horse’s left fore limb was lame. But instead of appreciating the vet’s intention to give the horse sufficient time to recover and keep the injury from getting worse, the owner reacted negatively to the doctor’s order. Obviously, Sy (who sources claim is also known by his moniker “Mr. Siopao”), instilled such fear in the young vet (who probably knew he was no match for the hefty owner) that the poor guy had to be escorted by leisure park personnel just to get home. Notwithstanding the threats—or perhaps because of them—the horse doctor decided to report the incident both to the police and the Philracom. The suspension order should serve as notice to everyone that the racing body really means business when it comes to upholding the safety of race horses—and that it will not tolerate arrogant and boorish behavior from horse owners and trainers. Triple cheers! Government sanctioned hoarding A party list congressman is urging government to hoard rice, corn, soybeans and other essential grains in anticipation of a potential explosion in global prices. Noting the soaring corn and soybean prices in the aftermath of a harsh drought in the US Midwest that demolished crops, Congressman Arnel Ty urged the National Food Authority to engage in a “strategic stockpiling” of milled soya and other indispensable grains apart from rice and corn as buffer just in case of supply shortfalls. “Brutal climate change all over the world has betrayed the helplessness of food importers such as the Philippines amid volatile commodity prices due to severe dry spells half of the year and excessive flooding in the other half,” he said. Hog growers in particular could be severely hit since they are totally dependent on milled soya coming from a handful of importers because the Philippines, surprisingly, is not a soya grower. Limited supplies at steep prices could affect hog raising and result in the slowing down of pork production as hog raisers grapple with rising prices. Ty also noted that no less than the UN Food and Agricultural Organization has called for government-controlled strategic stockpiles of key commodities to tame volatile prices and secure food supplies. In short, this is the kind of hoarding that government should really sanction. Ateneo’s astrophysics queen Albert Einstein would have been so proud of young astrophysicist Reinabelle “Reina” Reyes who, at the very young age of 26, did what much older colleagues have not been able to accomplish over the years: prove that Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity holds true at cosmic scales. Along with a couple of teammates from Princeton University, Reyes showed just how out of this world Einstein’s brain was when, after spending two years studying astronomical data (70,000 galaxies), they proved that the universe—at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from the earth—indeed plays by the rules laid out in Einstein’s theory that describes the “interplay between gravity, space and time.” While there have been others who have tested the theory which has come to be widely accepted in the scientific world, no one has been able to display the magnitude of its truth in such “galactic” dimensions. Reyes—or make that Dr. Reyes—completed her BS Physics from the Ateneo de Manila University, summa cum laude in 2005, and obtained her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Princeton University in 2011. She will be the star attraction at the 10 th All Ateneo Alumni Convention slated on Oct. 18 to 21 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada via a symposium titled “This is Reina Reyes” where the young physicist is expected to talk about the “Birth and Death of the Milky Way.” When she came over earlier this year, Reyes—who is a fellow at the prestigious University of Chicago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP)— noted the country’s need for more scientists, even mulling the possibility of coming back here (after finishing her stint with KICP) and perhaps even getting a teaching position to lend her knowledge and expertise as a physicist to the academe. Now that would be cosmic! * * * For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may e-mail to [email protected]. THE British Embassy’s description of Mabey and Johnson that was issued by Her Majesty’s Ambassadors, both addressed to the Philippine government as “the sole United Kingdom manufacturer and supplier of prefabricated panel style steel bridges” by Paul Dimond in 2004 and as “the sole United Kingdom manufacturer and supplier of pre-fabricated modular steel bridges” by Peter Bekingham in 2005, could have easily passed off as no more than routine endorsements by an embassy of the products of its home country to its host. Let us disregard for a moment (even if a suspicious reader were to sense the possibility of a single author) the nearly uniform description of the offered steel bridges. For Dimond, the product was “panel style steel bridges” and, for Bekinghan, it was “modular steel bridges.” What is more arresting is the use of the word “sole” by both Dimond and Beckingham. The word “sole” is not an idle adjective. On the contrary, describing the Mabey and Johnson as the “sole manufacturer and supplier” serves the important function of removing from the UK government’s process of assessing the suitability of a product to the buyer the best practice requirement in the conduct of public works, namely public bidding. After all, if there is only one supplier, who else could offer the same product at a better price? The British government favors, and rightly so, that whenever possible the selection of the supplier be done through public bidding. The summary of the matters taken up in a meeting, held way back in 1996, between UK’s delegation headed by Adrian Davis of the British Overseas Development Administration and the Philippine panel headed by Assistant Director- General Augusto Santos of the National Economic and Development, affirms this British bias for public bidding. The summary, in part, said: “All projects proposed for British financing shall be subjected to a national competitive bidding in the UK... Should there be only one British supplier with the capability to undertake a Philippine project, the British Government shall issue an official certification indicating such case.” This need to issue an official certification from the British Embassy accounts for the letters to our government from the highest officials of their mission, first from Dimond and then Beckingham regarding Mabey and Johnson. What was being foisted upon us, poor Filipinos, is that the according to the UK gentlemen, only one British supplier could provide the bridges we wanted. Hence, “a national competitive bidding in the UK” was not conducted. Mabey and Johnson, was therefore, it. This unanimity of Dimond and Bekinghman on the singularity of Mabey and Johnson, as sole manufacturer and supplier of bridges, did not jibe, however, with what Her Majesty’s embassy told the Philippine government less than five years earlier. Writing to Jose Pardo, then secretary of the Department of Finance, United Kingdom’s Deputy Mission Head David Campbell boasted: “Britain has long expertise in bridge construction. British companies such as Balfour Kilpatrick Limited remain at the cutting edge of British design and technology. I can confirm that Balfour Beatty Power Networks Limited is the sole UK supplier of the Callender-Hamilton unit Construction Bridging System which I understand has been under discussion with the Department of Interior and Local Government. The use of such bridges, whose distinctive qualities are unlike any other supplied from the UK, is endorsed by the British Government... ” So, where was the deception when Campbell talked of Callender-Hamilton Bridges and Dimond/Beckingham talked of “panel” or “modular” bridges? Good old dependable Wikipedia, unfortunately for the Brits, tells us that the Callender-Hamilton unit Construction Bridging System was designed by New Zealand civil engineer A. M. Hamilton in 1935. He was inspired, continues Wikipedia, “by his work between 1928 and 1932” when he “became aware of the need for strong, adaptable bridges made from simple components that could easily be transported and erected in remote locations or on difficult terrain.” The Callender-Hamilton bridge system, continues Wikipedia, “is a prefabricated Panel/Floor Beam/Deck system designed to span bridging lengths ranging from 30 to 150 meters with road widths of one to three or more lanes.” Ah, so. Both Callender-Hamilton bridges and Mabey and Johnson bridges are “panel” type bridges. The same banana. So, if Callender-Hamilton bridges are also prefabricated panel systems, then they do not essentially differ much. Hence, I ask: What then precisely makes them different from Mabey and Johnson’s panel style or modular steel bridges? The cost of construction per linear meter? The ease of putting them up, in terms of time and expertise needed by the engineers and their workers? Their adaptability to varying terrain and vulnerability (or resistance) to changes in temperature and/or weather? For many in the know, both are essentially truss bridges. Hence, the Callender-Hamilton bridge is as different from the Mabey and Johnson bridge in the same way that the English muffin of Starbucks is different from the English muffin of the Village Gourmet. Both muffins, my palate says, are boring. Perhaps because English. Assuming then that my knowledge of engineering is anywhere near the discrimination of my taste buds, why was there an obvious attempt on the part of Her Majesty’s mission in the Philippines to describe the two bridges differently? Why did Dimond and Beckingham not candidly state that the Callender-Hamilton’s of Campbell is the same as their Mabey and Johnson’s? Moreover, why was there a change in the identity of the Queen’s (or, more precisely Her Majesty’s emissaries’) fair-haired bridge boy? It is possible that there was a local boy here who made the difference? If so, how much was made? I am not Professor Higgins; but I’d love to hear the English speak come the Senate investigation next week. For feedback, email [email protected]. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY B3 Classifeds ManilaStandardToday [email protected] Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Regional Offce No. VIII Government Center, Baras, Palo, Leyte Telefax No.: (053) 323-5553 Email Add: [email protected] I nvi t at i on t o Bi d f or I. Contract ID : 13IO0002 Contract Name : Construction of Baybay Diversion Road, Sta. 0+000 – Sta. 5+346.67, with exceptions, Baybay, Leyte Contract Location : Baybay, Leyte Brief Description/Scope of Work : Construction/Opening of 5,040.57 Meters Roadway; Construction of CHB Lined Canal; Installation of RC Pipes Cross Drainage (0.91M Dia.) and Provision Coconet on Cut/ Embankment Slopes with Coco Log/ Fascine and Vegetation Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php 96,974,023.41 (Subject for Approval by DPWH- CO) Contract Duration : 280 Calendar Days Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 30,000.00 II. Contract ID : 13IO0003 Contract Name : Construction/Rehabilitation of Jct. Abuyog – Silago Road, Cadac-an – Malaguicay Road Section, Abuyog, Leyte Contract Location : Abuyog, Leyte Brief Description/Scope of Work : Construction/Opening of 2,400.00 Meters Roadway, including Concrete Paving of 640.00 Meters Carriageway; Construction Grouted Riprap Lined Canal; Installation of RC Pipes Cross Drainage (0.91M Dia.) and Provision of Coconet on Cut/Embankment Slopes with Coco Log/Fascine and Vegetation. (Limits for Subgrade Preparation & Subbase Course = Sta. 0+000 – Sta. 2+250) Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php 55,271,628.67 (Subject for Approval by DPWH-CO) Contract Duration : 170 Calendar Days Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 30,000.00 1. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte, through the FY-2013 GAA intends to apply the sum above stated being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the abovementioned contracts. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. 2. The DPWH Regional Office No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte now i nvi t es bi ds f or the abovementioned description of works. Completion of the Works is required for the above stated contract duration. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. 3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion in the Eligibility Check and Preliminary Examination of Bids as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (lRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, organizations or joint venture with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. 4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. 5. Acomplete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount stated above. Issuance of Bidding Documents will be on October 8-23, 2012. It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids. 6. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on October 8, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. at the BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte which shall be open to all interested parties. 7. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 23, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. at the BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Bids will be opened on October 23, 2012 at 2:00 P.M. in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. 8. To bid for this contract, a contractor must purchased bidding documents and meet the following major criteria: a) prior registration with DPWH, BAC-CPO, Manila; b) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract; c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or Credit Line Commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. Bidders shall submit their bids through their duly Authorized Liaison Offcers only as specifed in the Contractor’s Information (CI). Submission of Letter of Intent (LOI) is no longer required to participate in the bidding, per D.O. No. 64, Series of 2012. 9. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability or obligation to the affected bidder or bidders. 10. For further information, please refer to: EDGAR B. TABACON, CESO IV Assistant Regional Director (BAC Chairman) Attention: Head, BAC Secretariat BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte Telefax No.: (053) 323-5553 Email Add: [email protected] (SGD.) EDGAR B. TABACON, CESO IV Assistant Regional Director (BAC Chairman) NOTED: (SGD.) ROLANDO M. ASIS, CESO III Regional Director (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Regional Offce No. VIII Government Center, Baras, Palo, Leyte Telefax No.: (053) 323-5553 Email Add: [email protected] I nvi t at i on t o Bi d f or I. Contract ID : 13IO0004 Contract Name : Upgrading of Guiuan – Sulangan Road (Brgy. Ngolos – Brgy. Sulangan), K1011+245 – K1018+300.39, with exceptions, Guiuan, Eastern Samar Contract Location : Guiuan, Eastern Samar Brief Description/Scope of Work : Concret e Pavi ng of 4, 592. 07 Met ers Roadway (Thickness=0.23m., Width=6.70m.); Installation of Road Safety Devices and Pavement Markings. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php 96,973,437.73 (Subject for Approval by DPWH-CO) Contract Duration : 210 Calendar Days Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 30,000.00 II. Contract ID : 13IO0005 Contract Name : Concreting/Upgrading of Gaps along Lapinig – Arteche Road, K0963+812.40 – K0969+970, with exceptions, Arteche, Eastern Samar Contract Location : Arteche, Eastern Samar Brief Description/Scope of Work : Rehabilitation of 4.196 Kms. Roadway to include Concrete Paving of 2.871 Kms. (Thickness=0.23m., Width=6.70m.); Installation of RC Pipes Cross Drainage (0.91M Dia.) and Provision of Lined Ditch Canal. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php 82,427,609.72 (Subject for Approval by DPWH-CO) Contract Duration : 200 Calendar Days Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 30,000.00 III. Contract ID : 13IO0006 Contract Name : Strengthening of Palanit Bridge along Daang Maharlika Road, San Isidro, Northern Samar Contract Location : San, Isidro, Northern Samar Brief Description/Scope of Work : Repair/Rehabilitation of Steel Truss Bridge by Replacement of High Tension Bolts, Steel Plate adding at top chords, bottom chords and portal frame of the truss, metalizing of main span members, Painting of steel girders of span 2 and span 3, and Redecking of Main Span. Construction of 108.00 meters Detour Structure. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : Php 50,174,950.60 (Subject for Approval by DPWH-CO) Contract Duration : 210 Calendar Days Cost of Bidding Documents : Php 30,000.00 1. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte, through the FY-2013 GAAintends to apply the sum above stated being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the abovementioned contracts. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. 2. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte now invites bids for the abovementioned description of works. Completion of the Works is required for the above stated contract duration. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. 3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion in the Eligibility Check and Preliminary Examination of Bids as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (lRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, organizations or joint venture with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. 4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. 5. Acomplete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount stated above. Issuance of Bidding Documents will be on October 8-25, 2012. It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids. 6. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on October 8, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. at the BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte which shall be open to all interested parties. 7. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 25, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. at the BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Bids will be opened on October 25, 2012 at 2:00 P.M. in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. 8. To bid for this contract, a contractor must purchased bidding documents and meet the following major criteria: a) prior registration with DPWH, BAC-CPO, Manila; b) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract; c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or Credit Line Commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. Bidders shall submit their bids through their duly Authorized Liaison Offcers only as specifed in the Contractor’s Information (CI). Submission of Letter of Intent (LOI) is no longer required to participate in the bidding, per D.O. No. 64, Series of 2012. 9. The DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability or obligation to the affected bidder or bidders. 10. For further information, please refer to: EDGAR B. TABACON, CESO IV Assistant Regional Director (BAC Chairman) Attention: Head, BAC Secretariat BAC Offce, DPWH Regional Offce No. VIII, Baras, Palo, Leyte Telefax No.: (053) 323-5553 Email Add: [email protected] (SGD.) EDGAR B. TABACON, CESO IV Assistant Regional Director (BAC Chairman) NOTED: (SGD.) ROLANDO M. ASIS, CESO III Regional Director I nvi t at i on t o Bi d (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The National Housing Authority (NHA), through the Corporate Budget approved by the NHA Board for the year 2012 intends to apply the sum of the Approved Budget for the Contracts (ABCs) to payments for the following contracts: Ref. No. Projects ABC/ Source of Funds (P) Duration (c.d.) Required PCAB License Work Description 2012- 086 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Ciudad Adelina, Brgy. Luciano, Trece Martires City, Cavite 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 087 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Southville 10 Housing Project, Brgy. Daong, Plaza Aldea, Tanay, Rizal 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 088 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Southville 7 Housing Project, Brgy. Sto. Tomas, Calauan, Laguna 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 089 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Southville 6 Housing Project, Brgy. Kay- Anlog, Calamba, Laguna 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 090 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Southville 5 Housing Project, Brgy. Timbao, Biñan, Laguna 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 091 Construction of One (1) Unit, Three (3) Storey 15-Classroom School Building, Southville 3A Housing Project, Brgy. San Vicente, San Pedro, Laguna 24,776,082.00/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “B” & “Medium A” for Building Const. of 3-storey school building 2012- 092 Telecom Subdivision Project (PP1538), Brgy. Quintin Salas, Jaro, Iloilo City 14,998,737.91/ NG Subsidy 180 At least Cat. “C & D” & “Small B” for Roads Land development & road works 2012- 093 Replacement of MRB Roof at the Philippine Centennial Village, Western Bicutan, Taguig City 5,984,019.26/NG Subsidy 108 At least Cat. “C & D” & “Small B” for Building Repair of Roof, tinsmithry, plumbing works Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. The NHA now invites bids for the above-cited project. Completion of the Works is required within the duration herein cited upon receipt of the Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed within 10 years from the date of submission of bids, a single contract similar to the Project costing at least ffty percent (50%) of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non- discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. A complete set of Bidding Documents shall be issued only to bidders/authorized offcial representatives or employees of the bidder who can show proof of Notarized Authority to secure bid documents for the specifc Project and Offcial Company ID upon submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI), presentation of original PCAB License, Contract Agreement and Certifcate of Completion/Acceptance for completed similar project/s and upon Cash Payment of non-refundable fee of P20,000.00 for Ref. Nos. 2012-086 to 091; P12,500.00 for Ref. No. 2012-092; and P6,000.00 for Ref. No. 2012-093; at the Offce of the NHA-BAC Secretariat, 3 rd Floor NHA Main Building, Diliman, Quezon City from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. starting on October 03, 2012. Deadline of submission of LOI is on October 12, 2012. The BAC Secretariat may be contacted at Tel/FAX No. 929-8016. The NHA will hold a Pre-bid Conference on October 15, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.at the NHA Operations Center, 3/F NHA Main Building, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City, which shall be OPEN ONLY to bidders who have purchased the Bidding Documents. Bids must be delivered at the NHA Operations Center, 3 rd Floor NHA Main Building, Diliman, Quezon City not later than 9:00 a.m. on the dates specifed below. Schedule of opening of bi October 30, 2012 - Ref. Nos. 2012-086 to 091 October 31, 2012 - Ref. Nos. 2012-092 to 093 All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount as stated in Bid Data Sheet (BDS). Bid opening shall follow immediately after the deadline of submission of bids at the same venue. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. The NHA reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) FROILAN R. KAMPITAN Assistant General Manager/ Chairperson, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY Manila Notice is hereby given to all bidders that the pre-bid conference for Contract Package I – Luzon with Contract ID No. 12700075, Lot 1.1, Bauang-Baguio Road, La union and Benguet Provinces and with Contract ID No. 12700076, Lot 1.2, Olongapo-Bugallon Road, Zambales Province, both under the Road Improvement and Institutional Development Project (RIIDP) was postponed by the DPWH Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Civil Works on 11 September 2012 to review the use of geotextile paving fabric in said projects. In view of this, the new schedules of pre-bid conference and opening of bids (originally scheduled on 02 October 2012), to be held at the Central Procurement Offce (CPO), 5 th Floor, DPWH Building, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila, are as follows: Pre-bid Conference Opening of Bids Date: 09 October 2012 Date: 23 October 2012 Time: 9:00 A.M. Time: 9:00. A.M. Moreover, the following are the changes/revisions in design and scope of work as a result of the review: Lot 1. 1 , Bauang-Baguio Road Item No. Description Quantity Original Revised 310(1)a Bi t umi nous Concret e Surf ace (Wearing) Course, Hot laid (50mm. thick) 258,234.00 sq.m. 111 ,547.00 Sq.m. SPL 314 Geotextile Paving Fabric with Glass Reinforcement 7,000.00 sq.m. - 310(1)c B i t u m i n o u s C o n c r e t e Surface(Wearing) Course, Hot Laid (100mm thick) - 146,687.00 sq. m. Lot 1.2, Olongapo-Bugallon Road Item No. Description Quantity Original Revised 310(1)c Bi t umi nous Concret e Surf ace (Wearing) Course, Hot Laid (100mm thick) 19,719.00 Sq.m. - 310(1 )d Bi tumi nous Concrete Surface, (Wearing) Course, Hot Laid (125mm thick) 56,070.00 sq.m 75,789.00 sq.m. SPL 314 Geotextile Paving Fabric with Glass Reinforcement 67,185.00 sq.m. - The revised Plans and Bill of Quantities Forms shall be obtained at the CPO starting 05 October 2012 Please be guided accordingly (Sgd.) EUGENIO R. PIPO, JR. Assistant Secretary for Technical Services Vice-Chairman, BAC for Civil Works NOTICE 01 October 2012 (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY Bonifacio Drive, Port Area Manila REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE UPDATING OF THE FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THE AGNO RIVER FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT, PHASE III 1. The Department of Public Works and Highways, through the GAA 2012 intends to apply the sum of PhP 12,475,405.05 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Consultancy Services for the Updating of the Feasibility Study of the Agno River Flood Control Project, Phase III. 2. The Department of Public Works and Highways now calls for the submission of eligibility documents for: Project: Consultancy Services for the Updating of the Feasibility Study of the Agno River Flood Control Project, Phase III Location: Region I Objective: The objectives of the Consultancy Services are: 1. To review, verify and update the existing scheme and preliminary design of the food control works formulated for the Upper Agno River, as recommended in the Feasibility Study of 1991. 2. To develop alternative food control measures in consideration of the IWRM concept and potential climate change impacts. 3. To update the scope of works of the priority projects selected for the Feasibility Study. Outputs/Deliverables: Expected Output The results of the Feasibility Study updating will be used by the DPWH in identifying and prioritizing projects for local and foreign fnancing. 3. Interested consultants must submit their eligibility documents not later than 2:00 p.m on October 11, 2012 at the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Consultancy Services, Room 502-B, 5 th Floor, DPWH Building, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila. Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non- discretionary “pass/fail” criterion. The Eligibility Forms will be available at www.dpwh.gov.ph. The BAC shall draw up the shortlist of Consultants from those who have submitted (eligibility documents/Expression of Interest) and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”, and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The shortlist shall consist of fve (5) prospective bidders who will be entitled to submit bids. The criteria and rating system for the short listing are: Applicable Experience - 35 pts. Qualifcation of Personnel - 40 pts. Job Capacity - 25 pts. Total - 100 pts. 4. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specifed in the IRR of RA 9184. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest of outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. 5. The Procuring Entity shall evaluate bids, using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/Selection (QCBE/QCBS) procedure. Only bids whose technical proposals pass the minimum technical evaluation score of seventy fve percent (75%) shall have their fnancial proposals opened and evaluated. The technical proposal shall carry eighty percent (80%) weight in the evaluation. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of bids shall be provided in the Instructions to Bidders. 6. Contract Duration: seven (7) months 7. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to reject any and all bids, annul the bidding process, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. 8. For further information, please refer to: Undersecretary RAUL C. ASIS Chairman, BAC for Consultancy Services Department of Public Works and Highways 5 th Floor, DPWH, Central Offce Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila Tel. No. (+632) 304-3302 Fax No. (+632) 304-3572 (Sgd.) RAUL C. ASIS Undersecretary Chairman, BAC for Consultancy Services (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY Bonifacio Drive, Port Area Manila REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE CONDUCT OF MASTER PLAN AND FEASIBILITY STUDY OF KORONADAL CITY URBAN DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT 1. The Department of Public Works and Highways, through the GAA 2012 intends to apply the sum of PhP 10,464,855.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Consultancy Services for the Conduct of Master Plan and Feasibility Study of Koronadal City Urban Drainage and Flood Control Project. 2. The Department of Public Works and Highways now calls for the submission of eligibility documents for: Project: Consultancy Services for the Conduct of Master Plan and Feasibility Study of Koronadal City Urban Drainage and Flood Control Project Location: Region XII Objective: The objectives of the Consultancy Services are to formulate an Urban Drainage Master Plan for the central area of Koronadal City, a Flood Control Management Master Plan for Bulok Creek and to prepare a feasibility study for a priority project. Outputs/Deliverables: Expected Output The results of the feasibility study will be used by the DPWH in identifying and prioritizing projects for local and foreign fnancing. 3. Interested consultants must submit their eligibility documents not later than 2:00 p.m on October 11, 2012 at the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Consultancy Services, Room 502-B, 5 th Floor, DPWH Building, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila. Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion. The Eligibility Forms will be available at www.dpwh.gov.ph. The BAC shall draw up the shortlist of Consultants from those who have submitted (eligibility documents/Expression of Interest) and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”, and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The shortlist shall consist of fve (5) prospective bidders who will be entitled to submit bids. The criteria and rating system for the short listing are: Applicable Experience - 35 pts. Qualifcation of Personnel - 40 pts. Job Capacity - 25 pts. Total - 100 pts. 4. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specifed in the IRR of RA 9184. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest of outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. 5. The Procuring Entity shall evaluate bids, using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/ Selection (QCBE/QCBS) procedure. Only bids whose technical proposals pass the minimum technical evaluation score of seventy fve percent (75%) shall have their fnancial proposals opened and evaluated. The technical proposal shall carry eighty percent (80%) weight in the evaluation. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of bids shall be provided in the Instructions to Bidders. 6. Contract Duration: seven (7) months 7. The Department of Public Works and Highways reserves the right to reject any and all bids, annul the bidding process, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. 8. For further information, please refer to: Undersecretary RAUL C. ASIS Chairman, BAC for Consultancy Services Department of Public Works and Highways 5 th Floor, DPWH, Central Offce Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila Tel. No. (+632) 304-3302 Fax No. (+632) 304-3572 (Sgd.) RAUL C. ASIS Undersecretary Chairman, BAC for Consultancy Services CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Zamboanga del Sur 3 rd District Engineering Offce Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur Tel. No. (062) 211-3598 I NVI TATI ON TO BI D (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH-3rd District Engineering Offce, Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur, invites contractors to bid for the following project/s: Contract ID: 12JG0042 Contract Name: Preventive Maintenance along Jct. Dumalinao-Margosatubig National Secondary Road Asphalt Overlay, 50mm thk. (K1691+045-K1692+1750) re-aligned to Asphalt Overlay, 50mm thk. (K1691+553-K1693+067) Contract Location: San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur ABC P17,338,300.00 Contract Duration: 89 CD Project Category: Roads and Bridges Source of Fund: Regular Infra CY 2013 Major Items of Work: Item 310 (b), Bituminous Concrete Surface Course, Hot Laid, 50mm thk. Contract ID: 12JG0043 Contract Name: Preventive Maintenance along Jct. Dumalinao-Margosatubig National Secondary Road Asphalt Overlay, 50mm thk. (K1719+000-K1719+794) re-aligned to Asphalt Overlay, 50mm thk. (K1714+820-K1715+305) Contract Location: Lumbog, Vincenzo Sagun, Zamboanga del Sur ABC P4,932,400.00 Contract Duration: 44 CD Project Category: Roads and Bridges Source of Fund: Regular Infra CY 2013 Major Items of Work: Item 310 (b), Bituminous Concrete Surface Course, Hot Laid, 50mm thk. Contract ID: 12JG0044 Contract Name: Road Upgrading (Gravel to Concrete) based on Gravel Strategies, Trafñc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis), Lakewood-Bayog- Sindangan Road K1716+820-K1717+000 re-aligned to K1717+160-K1717+340 Contract Location: Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur ABC P3,591,000.00 Contract Duration: 40 CD Project Category: Roads and Bridges Source of Fund: Regular Infra CY 2013 Major Items of Work: Item 311 (1), Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Contract ID: 12JG0045 Contract Name: Preventive Maintenance along Lakewood-Bayog-Sindangan Road, National Secondary Road Asphalt Overlay, 50mm thk. (K1735+731-K1736+481) re-aligned to Road Upgrading (Gravel to Concrete) Based on GraveI Strategies, trafñc Benchmark for Upgrading to Paved Road Standard (HDM-4 Project Analysis) , Lakewood-Bayog-Sindangan Road K1732+462.30-K1732+718 (Depase-Poblacion Bayog Section) Contract Location: Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur ABC P4,517,250.00 Contract Duration: 47 CD Project Category: Roads and Bridges Source of Fund: Regular Infra CY 2013 Major Items of Work: Item 311 (1),Portland Cement Concrete Pavement The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH- POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOÌ. The DPWH POCW-Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor's Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 5-22, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 17, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids October 22, 2012, 10:00 A.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 22, 2012, 2:00 P.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH-3rd District Engineering Offce, Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Php 10,000.00 for CID#’s12JG0042 & 12JG0043 & Php 5,000.00 for CID#’s 12JG0044 & 12JG0045. Filing of Letter of Intent (LOI) is free of charge. Prospective bidders may also download the BD’s from the DPWH web site, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BD’s from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD's in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation. The DPWH-3rd District Engineering Offce, Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process at any time prior contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. Approved by: (Sgd.) INOCENCIO P. SABUGAL BAC Chairman Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Second Cotabato Engineering District Villarica, Midsayap, Cotabato Fax No. (064) 2298925 Tel. No. (064) 2298494 I NVI TATI ON TO BI D (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) , Cotabato Second Engineering District, Villarica, Midsayap, Cotabato through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): 1. a. Contract ID: 13-MD-0001 b. Contract Name: Concreting(Upgradingof Gravel toConcrete) alongMidsayap- Makar Road c. Location of the Contract: Midsayap, Cotabato, km. 1714+(-104.20) to km. 1715+263.80 (0.368 km) d. Scope of Work: Embankment, Aggregate Sub-base Course, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Metal Guardrails (Metal Beam) including post, Refectorized Thermoplastic Pavement marking (white), Safety and Health, Mobilization/Demobilization e. Cost of bid documents: 5,000.00 f. ABC : P 7,528,899.89 g. Duration: 52 CD h. Source of Fund: GOP-Regular Infrastructure CY-2013 2. a. Contract ID: 13-MD-0002 b. Contract Name: RoadUpgrading(Gravel toConcrete) alongDualing-Baliki-Silik Road, Baliki c. Location of the Contract: Midsayap, Cotabato, a) 690+556 to 1692+184 b) 1693+078 to 1693+580 (2.13kms) d. Scope of Work: Indi vi dual Removal of Trees (Large), Surpl us Common Excavation, Embankment, Sub grade Preparation (in common excavation), Aggregate Sub base Course, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Stone Masonry, Road Sign, Tree Planting, Refectorized Thermoplastic Pavement Making (white), Facilities for Engineer, Offce Supplies and Rental of Field Offce, Facilities for Engineer, Service Vehicle (Purchase), Safety and Health, Mobilization/Demobilization. e. Cost of bid documents: 20,000.00 f. ABC : P 48,092,422.21 g. Duration: 154 CD h. Source of Fund: GOP-Regular Infrastructure CY-2013 3. a. Contract ID: 13-MD-0003 b. Contract Name: Road Upgrading (Gravel to Concrete) along Dualing-New Panay-Midsayap Road, c. Location of the Contract: Aleosan, Cotabato, km. 1693+047 to km. 1694+260 (1,158.33 meters) d. Scope of Work: Individual Removal of Tree (Large), Surplus Common Excavation Structure Excavation ( Common Soil), Embankment, Sub grade Preparation (in common excavation), Aggregate Sub base Course, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Stone Masonry (Slope Protection), Stone Masonry (Line Canal), Road Signs, Tree Planting, Refotorized Thermoplastic Pavement Marking (White), Facilities for Engineer, Rental for feld offce, Facilities for Engineer, Service Vehicle (Purchase), Construction Safety and Health, Mobilization/Demobilization. e. Cost of bid documents: 20,000.00 f. ABC : P 28,090,311.26 g. Duration: 149 CD h. Source of Fund: GOP-Regular Infrastructure CY-2013 4. a. Contract ID: 13-MD-0004 b. Contract Name: Road Upgrading (Gravel to Concrete) along Dulaing-New Panay-Midsayap Road, New Leon Section c. Location of the Contract: Aleosan, Cotabato, km. 1701+(-421) to km. 1702+527.50 (1.91kms.) d. Scope of Work: Surplus common excavation, Excavation Structure, Embankment, Sub grade Preparation, Aggregate sub-base course, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (shoulder), Pipe culverts (36”dia) and headwall, Metal Guardrails (metal beam) including post, Refectorized thermoplastic pavement Markings (white), Road Sign, Safety and Health, Mobilization/Demobilization, Facilities for engineer, service vehicle (purchase), Facilities for engineer, Rental of Field Offce and Offce Supplies. e. Cost of bid documents: 20,000.00 f. ABC : P 48,321,176.18 g. Duration: 155 CD h. Source of Fund: GOP-Regular Infrastructure CY-2013 5. a. Contract ID: 13-MD-0005 b. Contract Name: Road Upgrading (Gravel to Concrete) along Kapinpilan- Lumopog Road c. Location of the Contract: Midsayap, Cotabato, km. 1704+(-294) to km. 1706+270.20 (2.454 km) d. Scope of Work: Individual Removal of Trees (small b, 301-, Individual Removal of Trees (large a, 501-, Removal of Structure and Obstruction (other than concrete), Roadway Excavation (Unsuitable), Foundation Fill, Embankment, Sub grade Preparation (unsuitable excavation), Aggregate Sub-base Course, Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Pipe culvert and storm drain, Stone Masonry, Construction Safety and Health, Mobilization/Demobilization, Rental of Field Offce, Rental of Service Vehicle. e. Cost of bid documents: 20,000.00 f. ABC : P 48,298,119.08 g. Duration: 165 CD h. Source of Fund: GOP-Regular Infrastructure CY-2013 Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulation. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with the DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen of 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative or joint venture with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion of similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity of at least equal to ABC, or Credit Line Commitment of at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOÌ. The DPWH POCW-Central Offce will only process contractor's applications for registration, with complete requirement, and issue the Contractor's Certifcate of Registration (CRC) . The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: BAC Activities Schedule 1. Issuance of Bidding documents From: September 27 to October 17, 2012 2. Pre-bid Conference for Contract ID No. 13-MD-0001-13-MD-0005 Date: October 5, 2012 3. Receipt of Bids Deadline: 2:00 AM Date: October 17, 2012 4. Opening of Bids Right after the dropping of bids Date: October 17, 2012 Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents (BD's) in two (2 separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman, The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, including the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. Prospective bidders may download the Registration from the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents at DPWH –Cotabato Second Engineering District, Villarica, Midsayap, Cotabato. Prospective Bids must accompanied by a bid security in any acceptable form in the amount stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents (BDs), if available, from the DPWH website. The BAC will also issue hard copies of the BDs at the same address to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fees of the amount stated above for Bidding documents. Bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids. The DPWH-Cotabato Second Engineering District, Midsayap, Cotabato reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract Award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. APPROVED BY: (Sgd.) BARTOLOME T. PAGADUAN (BAC Chairman) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Region 7, Central Visayas OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Siquijor District Engineering Offce Larena, Siquijor I NVI TATI ON TO BI D (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) The DPWH-Siquijor District Engineering Offce, Larena, Siquijor, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): 1. Contract ID: 12HM-034 Contract Name: Construction of River Control Along Siquijor Circumferential Road, Cangmangki, Enrique Villanueva Contract Location: Siquijor Scope of Work: Clearing & Grubbing; Structure Excavation; Grouted Riprap Class “A”; Hand Laid Rock Embankment; Concrete Slope Protection; Cement Mortar Finish; Mobilization/ Demobilization and Construction Safety & Health Program Approved Budget for the Contact (ABC): Php 9,700,000.00 Contract Duration: 171 calendar days Non-refundable payment for bid forms & plans: Php10, 000.00 2. Contract ID: 12HM-0035 Contract Name: Construction of River Control Along Siquijor Circumferential Road, Olave, Enrique Villanueva Contract Location: Siquijor Scope of Work: Clearing & Grubbing; Structure Excavation; Grouted Riprap Class “A”; Hand Laid Rock Embankment; Concrete Slope Protection; Cement Mortar Finish; Mobilization/ Demobilization and Construction Safety & Health Program Approved Budget for the Contact (ABC): Php 8,730,000.00 Contract Duration: 171 calendar days Non-refundable payment for bid forms & plans: Php10, 000 .00 3. Contract ID: 12HM-0036 Contract Name: Cluster X Projects: 1. Construction of Shore Protection Along Siquijor Circumferential Road at Poblacion- Binoongan-Camogao, Enrique Villanueva 2. Construction of Shore Protection Along Siquijor Circumferential Road at Poblacion-Tulapos, Enrique Villanueva Contract Location: Siquijor Scope of Work: Project 1 and 2 - Structure Excavation; Reinforcing Steel; Structural Concrete Class “A”; Grouted Riprap Class “A”; Hand Laid Rock Embankment; Cement Mortar Finish; Mobilization/Demobilization; and Construction Safety & Health Approved Budget for the Contact (ABC): Project 1 = 5,820,000.00; Project 2 = 3,000.00; Grand Total = Php 8,820,000.00 Contract Duration: 170 calendar days Non-refundable payment for bid forms & plans: Php 10, 000.00 4. Contract ID: 12HM-0037 Contract Name: Cluster XI Projects: 1. Construction of Shore Protection Along Siquijor Circumferential Road at Dumanjug, Siquijor; 2. Construction of Shore Protection Along Siquijor Circumferential Road at Sawang, Maria Contract Location: Siquijor Scope of Work: Project 1 and 2 - Structure Excavation; Reinforcing Steel; Structural Concrete Class “A”; Grouted Riprap Class “A”; Hand Laid Rock Embankment; Cement Mortar Finish; Mobilization/Demobilization; and Construction Safety & Health Approved Budget for the Contact (ABC): Project 1 = 3,000.00; Project 2 = 3,000.00; Grand Total = Php 6,000,000.00 Contract Duration: 170 calendar days Non-refundable payment for bid forms & plans: Php 10, 000.00 Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DWPH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (c) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (d) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the Deadline for the receipt of LOÌ. The DPWH-POCW Central Offce will only process contractor's applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractor's Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 18, 2012 2. Issuance of Bidding Documents Oct. 03, 2012– Oct. 25, 2012 3. Pre-Bid Conference Time and Date 10:00 A.M. October 12, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids Deadline: 10:00 A.M. October 25, 2012 5. Opening of Bids 10:00 A.M. October 25, 2012 The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH-Siquijor District Engineering Offce, Larena, Siquijor, upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Php10, 000.00 per project for Bidding Documents as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the BDs, if available, from the DPWH website. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD's in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the eligibility requirements. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The DPWH-Siquijor District Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) ERMIE P. GONGOB Engineer III (Acting BAC – Chairman) CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY B4 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila Standard TODAY Provinces Edited by Leo A. Estonilo www.manilastandardtoday.com•[email protected] Mindanao blackouts to worsen over plant shutdown ‘No to NFA import monopoly’ Recognizing top farm performers By Florencio P. Narito LEGAZPI CITY—Silverio Bonto, president of Angat- Ahon Magsasaka Inc., a nationwide farmers group, has opposed the plan of National Food Authority to be the sole importer of rice. “The right solution is to empower farmers organizations by giving them the financial capacity through loans from the Landbank of the Philippines,” he told the media in a forum here last week. “If this happens, farmers organizations will no longer rely on the financing of big rice traders, thus they will no longer be beholden to these unscrupulous traders who exploit their lack of capital to buy imported rice.” Bonto called on Malacañan Palace to have LandBank open a special loan window for farmers cooperatives and other groups that will allow them to finance their rice importation and prevent a cartel from controlling NFA’s public bidding. He said the loan collateral will be the imported rice won in the bidding to be stocked in an NFA warehouse, the release of which is preconditioned on the loan amount taken out by the farmers organization from LandBank. Bonto, also AAM chairman, serves as interim president of the National Confederation of Irrigators Associations and the Bicol Confederation of Irrigators Associations. According to Bonto, authorities need to curb technical smuggling which involves the recycling of import permits. In practice, NFA takes charge of the bidding while the Bureau of Customs minds the shipment, he said. AAM is seeking accreditation as party-list representative. By Alena Mae S. Flores MINDANAO’S power shortage is seen to worsen this month until early November once the 210-megawatt coal plant in Misamis Oriental goes on maintenance shutdown which could result to 3 to 11 hour brownouts. STEAG State Power, which operates the power plant through a build-operate-transfer contract, will switch off unit 1 with a capacity of 105 MW from October 6 to November 4, and unit 2 (105 MW) from Oct. 29 to Nov. 10. But Energy Undersecretary Josefina Asirit said cooperatives without supply contracts with Therma Marine Inc., which owns two power barges in Mindanao with a capacity of 192 MW, will likely bear the brunt of the maintenance shutdown. Sources said places such as Bukidnon with 8-hour outages face up to 11 hour blackouts. Asirit said around 140 MW of the barges’ capacity are being utilized and the cooperatives can tap the remaining 52 MW to deal with the coal plant shutdown. “The impact will be high prices because they will blend TMI rates (which is diesel),” Asirit said, referring to the cooperatives without TMI contracts. National Grid Corporation of the Philippines spokeswoman Cynthia Alabanza said the shutdown will only result in an average of 2 to 4 hour outages in Mindanao, given bilateral capacities with TMI and all other plants continuing to operate. Alabanza said only about 105 MW will be lost to the grid except from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4 where demand is expected to be low. Asirit also said the Agus-Pulangi complex could augment capacities especially with the high rainfail availability and other private utilities can utilize power from their embedded generation facilities. STEAG is principally owned by Steag GmbH, one of the largest electricity producers in Germany and a leader in clean coal technology and biomass power plants. THE search for young achievers among The Outstanding Farmers of the Philippines is accepting nominees until October 30. The project started by the Junior Chamber International Philippines in ‘70s is now undertaken along with Universal Harvester Inc., a Filipino firm involved in the direct manufacturing, local distribution and exportation of a number of world-class quality fertilizers. Rommel Cunanan, TOFARM project chairman, JCI Ph, said nominations are open to farmers, farmer entrepreneurs, farming institutions, local government units, cooperatives, agriculture NGO’s. “The program is being revived this year to promote farming in the youth sector across all classes,” he said. “We want to increase the number of youth venturing into agriculture so we can invigorate investment and scientific advancement. The end goal is to achieve sustainable food supply for the country.” Milagros Ong-How, UHI executive president, called on a new breed of advocates. “Our farmers face great challenges but also have new opportunities,” she said. “If they get the much-needed support, they can turn the agriculture sector around so it can provide a steady food supply for present and future generations.” How said young people and second generation farmers should pursue this noble livelihood. “Agriculture is now an exciting field where they will welcome new technology, new products and business opportunities that will help them raise the volume of their crops or livestock while adhering to new environmental standards.” Nomination forms can be downloaded at <www.tofarm.org.> or contact TOFARM Secretariat at 709-5011 to 5004 or 709-5006 (Fax). CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK [email protected] home work relationship THE REAL MEANING OF CONVENIENCE Robinsons Malls’ Lingkod Pinoy Center now houses nine government agencies, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and National Bureau of Investigation. W H A T ’ S I N S I D E NEW WINE DISCOVERIES The wine scene in China, especially Shanghai, is alive and kicking. By Ed Biado AUTHOR, and now, director, Stephen Ch- bosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is an epistolary novel, and now, movie, that ex- plores themes of introversion and social awk- wardness in a high school setting—topics that are highly relevant in today’s virtually-connect- ed-but-physically-detached world. Published in 1999 and set in the early 1990s, the book saw a surge in popularity in 2010 when actress Emma Watson (of the Harry Potter movie series fame) was announced to appear in the film adaptation. What started out as simple curiosity among Hermione Granger fans turned into a loyal cult following. “Wallflower” became an instant favorite in the young adult department as the must-read title for a generation that rarely picks up a printed-on-real-paper book. If you’re a fan of the novel, chances are you’ve memorized a lot of passages that qualify as quotable quotes. And you probably love it because you identify with Char- lie, the eponymous wallflower and head misfit. However, even if you don’t care much for 90s-style adolescent problems, “Wallflower” is still a great read because of its literary and pop culture references, quite similar to Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel, “High Fidelity,” which, itself, was adapted into a movie in 2000. “To Kill a Actually, one of the books mentioned in “Wallflower” is noted for be- ing its greatest inspiration, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger. The interesting thing about the novel is that it’s very meta—the way Charlie thinks is large- ly influenced by the books he reads, like “Peter Pan,” the same way that “Wallflower” influenc- es its impressionable audience. It’s a great way to introduce literary classics, such as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Hamlet” to younger readers. Now, a reason to see the movie—even if you’ve outgrown “The Breakfast Club” and other similar tales—is the music. Just like “500 Days of Summer,” “Wallflower” is set against a soundtrack of musical gems (some of which are obscure) that you might remember having heard at least once back in the day, including “Asleep” by The Smiths, “Heroes” by David Bowie and “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Mid- night Runners. Why ‘Wallflower’ works sha.re/ Manila Standard TODAY Gianna Maniego, Editor Dinna Chan Vasquez, Assistant Editor C1 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 3, 2012 “AMAZING,” is how young singer Jessica Sanchez describes her experience as an endorser for top Filipino brand Jollibee. JESSICA joins Jollibee By Dinna Chan Vasquez Jessica is pretty amazing herself, having wowed the world with her singing prowess on the reality singing show “American Idol.” Jessica’s Philippine visit, her first, was short but sweet. After the American Idol 2012 Live! Tour’s standing-room only gig at the Araneta Coliseum, she had to do TV guestings, personal appearances and pictorials. Jessica left the country only late last week. “Everything and everyone has been amazing! I can’t say one bad thing about the Philippines. The people are amazing. The food is great and the Filipino culture is so welcoming,” says Jessica, whose mother is from Bataan. “We’re very happy to welcome Jessica to the Jollibee family. Aside from being very talented, she embodies the qualities of a true idol— hardworking and determined while staying true to her roots,” said Jollibee’s vice president for Marketing Alber t Cuadr ant e. “She truly is a world-class Filipino star who is destined to go places.” “Jollibee is synonymous to being Filipino, and that’s why I am so thrilled to be a part of this family,” she says during her introduction to members of the press as the new Jollibee endorser. “The fact that I’m representing this well-loved and successful Filipino brand makes my heart swell with pride.” Jessica’s first Jollibee experience in the Philippines was at her photoshoot where she met the mascot Jollibee and ate Chickenjoy. “There are so many yummy treats to choose from, but right now, I can’t get enough of their famous Chickenjoy!” she said. “I love the crispy skin!” Jessica’s second favorite is the spaghetti. Challenges Jessica hopes to come back to the Philippines next year. Her year has been very hectic because of American Idol. “It’s been an amazing experience,” she says.”But I wasn’t prepared for the ehctic schedule. I was home-schooled so everything was new to me. I came from doing nothing to this.” The best advice Jessica has received is from her Filipino grandmother, who told her that whatever happens, “family always comes first.” Right now, the young singer is at a good place, after struggling for years to be recognized for her talent. “This is what I always dreamed of, to be surrounded by people that I love and to be making music,” says Jessica. Jessica Sanchez gets a warm welcome from the Jollibee family, led by (from left) president Jose Miñana and members of Jollibee’s Regional Business Unit heads Joan Aquino, Bambi Bejo, Rose Caalam, Commisary head Wilma Bocaya, and RBU head Jojo Subido. Jessica and her new BFFs. The young superstar bonds with Hetty, Yum, Twirlie, Jollibee, and Popo during her homecoming party held recently at Jollibee Greenmeadows. Jollibee and the company’s senior marketing manager Kent Mariano introduces Jessica Sanchez as the leading fastfood chain’s newest endorser during a recent press launch at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK WEDNESDAY C2 OCTOBER 3, 2012 home work relationships [email protected] Gianna Maniego, Editor Dinna Chan Vasquez, Assistant Editor ManilaStandardToday sha.re/ Less than one year after Lingkod Pinoy Center made its debut, Robinsons Malls’ innovative, pioneering and exclusive concept is now host- ing nine government agencies. These include the National Bureau of Investigation, So- cial Security System, Gov- ernment Service Insurance System, Philippine Health In- surance Corp., Home Devel- opment Mutual Fund, Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs, Land Transportation Office, Land Registration Authority, and Department of Tourism. DFA National Capital Re- gion Central recently inaugu- rated new spaces at Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Place Lipa and Robinsons Place GenSan. Robinsons Malls is the first and only mall chain that offers gov- ernment-related services that are housed in a self-contained facility. “By hosting some of the busiest government agencies, Robinsons Malls Lingkod Pi- noy Center (RMLPC) is pro- viding a very welcome and appreciated service to Filipi- nos who have been spared the difficulty, inconvenience and discomfort of transacting busi- ness in the national or regional headquarters of these offices. To date, more than 5 million MEDICARD members can take advantage of a 20-percent dis- count on Lifeline’s Driver on Call service, an innovative ser- vice that gives motorists a safer and more convenient way to get home should their ability to drive become compromised by intoxication, medication, illness or other causes. “There have been moments when people feel unfit to drive yet still do so for fear of leaving their car overnight in a place where theft, damage, towing or steep parking fees are an issue,” says Dr. Nicky S. Montoya, president, MediCard Philippines, Inc. Driver on Call is available to both members and non-members of Lifeline or MediCard. Once a call is received, Lifeline dispatch- es a company vehicle with two drivers: driver number 1 drives the client’s vehicle, with the client as passenger and driver number 2 follows behind them in the Life- line vehicle to ensure safety and collect driver number 1 after the job is completed. To book a driver, dial Lifeline’s hotline 16-911 or 839-2520 to 30 and 0917-5416911 30 minutes in advance. A P500 fee per trip within Metro Manila, paid after the service will be collected. Discount for Medicard members THE wine scene in China con- tinues to be very much alive and kicking despite predicted econom- ic slowdowns. I am now in Bei- jing but just came from Shanghai, where I stayed for 3 nights and I saw so much wines being served and consumed almost everywhere, from restaurants, bars and clubs, to surprisingly even small cafeteria type places. Shanghai and Beijing are China´s two largest wine con- sumption cities. Shanghai itself in my talks to key importers is already around 20% of China´s entire wine business which is estimated to be in the ballpark of 27 million cases (of 9 liters) or 243,000,000 liters, and still growing. While my visit is purely on business and not to uncover new wines to try and enjoy, my being a freakishly hardcore oenophile made me note some excellent wines that I have never encoun- tered before till now, but surely worthy of notice. Given that there are billions of wines in the universe, and no one in their multiple lifetimes can actually cover them, any opportunity I get to add a few new wines, va- rietals, regions or brands to my list of personal wine almanac is always welcomed. Here are three of the sev- eral wines I tasted that I have fond sensory memories of here in China´s two largest cities of VISITS to your dermatological clinic can be more rewarding with a Citibank Credit Card. Enjoy an exclusive 20 percent discount at Dermclinic for the various skin care treatments that you need. Drop by any Dermclinic branch and enjoy the discount when you avail of their special treatments like Blue Peel to restore your skin’s firm- ness and correct pimple scars, fine lines and other facial blemishes, or a Fruit-Based Peel for problems on skin discoloration, large pores, pigmentation and pimples. It even includes the Intense Diamond Peel that exfoliates the skin and results in a smoother and clearer face. This offer can also be used for other dermatological services such as IV Glutathione that helps you detoxify, boost the immune system and lighten skin. Remove warts without scarring and pigmentation with the Wart Clear treatment at 20% off with a minimum spend of P5,000, or control acne and clear your face of pimples with the Acne Clear Advance treatment, also at 20 percent off for one session. This exclusive discount also ap- plies when you purchase Dermclin- ic’s specialty skin care products such as the NuDerm Supreme Kit and all NuDerm Supreme Singles. To avail of the discount, just use any Citibank Credit Card when paying for your treatment at vari- ous Dermclinic branches. This of- fer is good until December 31, 2012 and may not be used together with other promotions. Skin care bonus from Citibank ROBINSONS Malls has made it possible for us to see a movie and grab a bite to eat while renewing our passport at the Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs or getting a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation. Gone are the days when one had to wake up at 3 a.m. to be at a government agency and fall in line for hours under the heat of the sun or pouring rain. The real meaning of CONVENIENCE Filipinos have been served by the Lingkod Pinoy Centers,” said Robinsons land Corp. presi- dent and chief operating officer Frederick Go. The concept was developed by the Robinsons Malls group, the second largest operator of malls with over 30 in key cities and provinces and still expand- ing, to make a positive differ- ence in the people they serve. The public service is designed to provide mall customers the con- venience of hassle-free transac- tions with different government agencies, saving them time and money. Strategically located in ma- jor urban centers and easily accessible by public transport, RMLPC is evolving into a mini-government hub, a one- stop destination for people needing to transact business with different agencies. It is proving to be a winner for all partners, the public included. For government agencies, lo- cating outlets in Robinsons Malls is helping ease congestion in their offices. Even more important, they are demonstrating their com- mitment to public service by going to their clientele, sparing them the hassle of traveling long distances and waiting for hours, which could mean lost income, as they often have to be absent from work. With more and more gov- ernment agencies joining the Lingkod Pinoy circle, people who live or work close to a Robinsons Mall can quickly transact their business and still have plenty of time to do other things or to return to the office. They can even come after they finish their work as the agencies located at the cen- ters have adopted mall hours, remaining open a few hours beyond the usual closing time of public and private offices. Some agencies also adjusted work days so the public can transact business on week- ends. If waiting is unavoid- able, people can do so in the comfort of air-conditioned, covered and secure and safe premises. They can do some window shopping or have a snack in one of the many es- tablishments in Robinsons Malls. Overseas Filipino workers and other travelers can apply for new passports with DFA while real estate owners can verify deeds to their properties with the LRA. Job seekers can get clearances from the NBI and social security numbers from SSS all in one day, as they do not have to travel to opposite ends of Metro Manila. “During recent calamities, Pag-ibig members experi- enced the convenience of ap- plying for calamity loans at the Lingkod Pinoy Centers,” said Arlene Magtibay, RLC general manager for commer- cial centers division. “What makes RMLPC even more convenient is that the gen- eral public pays directly to the agencies concerned--no add ons for the services,” adds Mag- tibay. Dinna Chan Vasquez New wine discoveries in Shanghai (Part 1) Shanghai and Beijing: Silver Heights Family Reserve Red 2010, Ningxia, China: It would really have been a bit strange if being in China and drinking different Chinese wines, and yet I not being able to even pick one to consider. But this one which I tried at the Bar Level 87, Park Hyatt Hotel, the tallest hotel in China stretching up to the 93rd Floor (starting from 79th Floor) of the Shanghai World Financial Center in Lujiazui business dis- trict in Pudong is as good a choice as I got. This wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% of the unheard-of Caber- net Gernischt. The Cabernet Gernischt, as I researched is said to be one of the long lost red varietals of Bordeaux, and resembles both Carmenere and Cabernet Franc. Even the Gernischt name was supposed to be Gemischt, which means mix, or Cabernet Gemischt, meaning`mixed Cabernet´. The Cabernet Gernischt vari- ety has a long history in China dating back to the pioneering effort of Changyu Winery, who introduced this varietal in the Shandong wine region as early as late 19th century. Changyu Winery is still selling the Cab- ernet Gernischt blend wine (made of majority Cabernet Gernischt) in the market. This wine is the only Chinese wine in the Park Hyatt by-the-glass winelist which has over 2 dozen selections. Tasting Notes: `Jammy notes on the nose, very ripe, stewed berries, a lot of smokey grassy elements, pleasantly dry unlike many of the Chinese reds, me- dium bodied, complex and pep- pery on the finish; it is a very decent wine, but lacks some roundness in its flavor profile to be a really special Chinese Bor- deaux´ (To be continued) Silver Heights Family Reserve Red made in Ningxia, China The half bottle Bodega Enguera Verdil sweet wine from Valencia DO, Spain The public falls in line at the NBI Clearance Center The SSS counter CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS Albay 1 st Engineering District Airport Site, Legazpi City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH- Albay 1 st Engineering District, Airport Site, Legazpi City, invites contractors to bid for the aforementioned project (s): Contract ID #12-F-A-0045 Contract Name Const. of Road, Sitio Minalubong Contract Location Brgy. San Roque, Malilipot Albay Scope of Work Const. of Road Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) P9,699,772.00 Contract Duration 89 CD Cost of Tender Documents P10,000.00 The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid. To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) , purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH , (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) Completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years and, (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration, with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: Issuance of Bidding Documents October 3-23, 2012 Pre-Bid Conference October 11, 2012 at 10:00am Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 18, 2012 at 10:00am Receipt & Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 at 2:00pm The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents at DWPH- BAC Offce, DPWH-Albay 1 st Engineering District Airport Site, Legazpi City, upon payment of a non-refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents, from the DPWH Website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the Bidding Documents from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the Bidding Documents (BD’s) in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the post-qualifcation. The DPWH- Albay 1 st Engineering District, Airport Site, Legazpi City reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime prior Contract Award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder/s. (Sgd.) RAFAEL B. PRESBITERO OIC, Assistant District Engineer Chairman, BAC APPROVED: (Sgd.) ROBERTO M. RITO OIC, District Engineer (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No. 10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the hereunder project under CY 2013 Regular Infrastructure Program: 1. Contract ID: 12K00107 Contract Name: Widening of Butuan City-Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Road, Opol to Laguindingan Section, Misamis Oriental Contract Location Misamis Oriental, (2 nd Legislative District) Brief Description: Widening of Road Appropriation: P 105,427,000.00 Contract Duration & ABC: To be discussed & announced on Pre-bid Conference Cost of Plans & Bid Documents: P 40,000.00 Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration, to the DPWH-POCW, Central Offce before the scheduled date of bidding. The DPWH-POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Oct. 3, 2012 to October 23, 2012 @ 12 noon 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 @ 2:00PM 3. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 from 8:00AM-12:00 noon 4. Opening of Bids 2:00 PM on October 23, 2012 The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH- Regional Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non- refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the BDs from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation. The DPWH-Regional Office No. 10 reserves the right to accept or rej ect any or al l bi d and to annul the bi ddi ng process anyti me before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) EFREN A. BERBA, CEO VI OIC, Assistant Regional Director BAC-Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) EVELYN T. BARROSO, Ph.D. Regional Director (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS, REGION X OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No. 10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the hereunder named project whose fund is taken from savings implemented under CY 2011 GAA, to wit: 1. Contract ID: 12K00150 Contract Name: Rehab/Reconst/Upgrading of Damaged Paved National Roads along Malabang-Dobleston- Tukuran Road, Lanao del Norte Contract Location: Lanao del Norte Brief Description: Rehab/Reconst/Upgrading of Road Appropriation: P 5,685,000.00 Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P 5,508,287.56 Contract Duration: 45 CD Cost of Plans & Bid Documents: P 10,000.00 Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration, to the DPWH-POCW, Central Offce before the scheduled date of bidding. The DPWH-POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Oct. 3, 2012 to Oct. 23, 2012 @ 12 noon 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 @ 2:00PM 3. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 from 8:00AM-12:00 noon 4. Opening of Bids 2:00 PM on October 23, 2012 The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH- Regional Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non- refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the BDs from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation. The DPWH-Regional Offce No. 10 reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) EFREN A. BERBA, CEO VI OIC, Assistant Regional Director BAC-Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) EVELYN T. BARROSO, Ph.D. Regional Director (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS, REGION X OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Regional Offce No. 10, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the hereunder named project funded under CY 2012 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), to wit: 1. Contract ID: 12K00153 Contract Name: Concret i ng of Pant al an-Chi nat own Road, Malabang, Lanao del Sur Contract Location: Lanao del Sur Brief Description: Concreting of Road Appropriation: P 7,000,000.00 Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): To be announced on Pre-bid Conference Contract Duration: 90 CD Cost of Plans & Bid Documents: P 10,000.00 Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and regulations. To bid for this contract, a contractor must purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration, to the DPWH-POCW, Central Offce before the scheduled date of bidding. The DPWH-POCW, Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents Oct. 3, 2012 to Oct. 23, 2012 @ 12 noon 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 10, 2012 @ 2:00PM 3. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 from 8:00AM-12:00 noon 4. Opening of Bids 2:00 PM on October 23, 2012 The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at DPWH- Regional Offce No. X, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City, upon payment of a non- refundable fee as stated above. Prospective bidders may also download the BDs from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bid documents. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the Contractor’s Registration Certifcate (CRC). The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and postqualifcation. The DPWH-Regional Office No. 10 reserves the right to accept or rej ect any or al l bi d and to annul the bi ddi ng process anyti me before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders. Approved by: (Sgd.) EFREN A. BERBA, CEO VI OIC, Assistant Regional Director BAC-Chairman NOTED: (Sgd.) EVELYN T. BARROSO, Ph.D. Regional Director (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways Cordillera Administrative Region OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Abra District Engineering Offcer Bangued, Abra I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bangued, Abra through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors to apply to bid for the following contract(s): Contract ID : 12PA0052 Contract Name : REPAIR/REHABILITATION/IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL ROADS Contract Location : Abra-Ilocos Norte Road, KO 413 + 168 to KO 414 + 328 Scopes of Work : Item 302, 310, Spl.1, Spl.2, Spl.3 Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : P9,717,845.00 Contract Duration : 16 calendar Days Source of Fund : FY 2012 SRSuF, RA No. 8794 (MVUC Act) Procurement will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures in accordance with R.A. 9184 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations. To bid for the contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria: (a) prior registration with DPWH, (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB license applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment at least equal to 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids. Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the DPWH-POCW Central Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The DPWH-POCW Central Offce will only process contractors’ applications for registration with complete requirements and issue the Contractor’s Certifcate of Registration (CRC). Registration Forms may be downloaded at the DPWH website www.dpwh.gov.ph. The signifcant times and deadlines of procurement activities are shown below: 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents October 2 – October 23, 2012 2. Pre-Bid Conference October 11, 2012 3. Deadline of Receipt of LOI from Prospective Bidders October 17, 2012 4. Receipt of Bids October 23, 2012 until 10:00 A.M. 5. Opening of Bids October 23, 2012 @ 10:00 A.M. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BDs) at DPWH, Abra Engineering District, Bangued, Abra upon payment of a non-refundable fee of 10,000.00 for Bidding Documents. Prospective bidders may download the BDs from the DPWH website, if available. Prospective bidders that will download the BDs from the DPWH website shall pay the said fees on or before the submission of their bids Documents. Bids must accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specifed in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The frst envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the fnancial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and post-qualifcation The DPWH-Abra Engineering District, Bangued, Abra reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process anytime before Contract Award, without incurring any liability to affected Bidders. APPROVED (Sgd.) AGNES B. BERNARDEZ Chief, Construction Section (BAC Chairman) Tel. # 752-7734 OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY C3 Classifeds ManilaStandardToday [email protected] Page Compositor: Diana Keyser Punzalan (MST-Oct. 3, 2012) Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER Bacolod City I NVI TATI ON TO BI D The DPWH, Bacolod City District Engineering, through the Regular Infrastructure Projects CY 2013, intends to bid for the following projects: Contract ID No. 12GC0068 Project Name: Co n s t r u c t i o n / Wi d e n i n g / Up g r a d i n g / Rehabilitation of Access Roads to Declared Tourism Destinations along Bacolod City- Boundary Road Project Description: removal of trees, roadway excavation, structure excavation, embankment, sub-grade preparation, aggregate sub-base course, PCCP, pipe culvert, manhole, inlets & catch basins, grouted riprap, concrete curb & gutter, sidewalk, reconstruction/relocation/repair of streetlights Contract Duration: 132 calendar days Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P24,960,000.00 Cost of Bidding Documents: P25,000.00 Contract ID No. 12GC0069 Project Name: Rehabilitation/Reconstruction/Upgrading of Damaged Paved National Secondary Road along Bacolod Circumferential Road (S), K0003+700 – K0004+851, Bacolod City Project Description: removal of trees, removal of existing concrete pavement, roadway excavation, structure excavation, embankment, sub-grade preparation, aggregate sub-base course, PCCP, pipe culvert, manhole, inlets & catch basins, grouted riprap, concrete curb & gutter, sidewalk, health & safety program Contract Duration: 148 calendar days Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): P28,730,880.00 Cost of Bidding Documents: P25,000.00 Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. The Bidder should have completed, within ten(10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II of the Instruction to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specifed in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizen/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy fve percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. Interested bidders may obtain further information from DPWH, Bacolod City District Engineering Offce and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 AM to 5:00PM starting October 2-19, 2012). A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of P25,000.00. It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of DPWH (www.dpwh.gov.ph), provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids. The DPWH, Bacolod City District Engineering Offce will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on October 9, 2012 at 10:00 AM at the BAC Conference Room, which shall be open to all interested parties. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 22, 2012 at 9:00 AM at Zardonyx Street, City Heights Subdivision, Brgy Taculing, Bacolod City. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Bids will be opened on October 22, 2012 at 2:00PM in the presence of the bidder’s representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. The DPWH, Bacolod City District Engineering Offce reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. For further information, please refer to the BAC Secretariat at DPWH, Bacolod City District Engineering Offce, Zardonyx Street, City Heights, Brgy Taculing, Bacolod City at telefax number (034) 707-7188. (Sgd.) RAMON S. BELLEZA, JR BAC Chairman CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK OCTOBER 3, 2012 WEDNESDAY C4 Isah V. Red, Editor [email protected] showbitz Manila Standard TODAY ISAH V. RED SIMPLY RED NICKIE WANG WITHOUT WANG 2 Pacman with Rochelle Pangilinan, Onyok and Pekto dancing to Gangnam style The Hollywood episode of the popular Kapuso game show hosted by Manny Pacquiao was brought to the US by the network as a feature of the network’s US presence via the GMA Pinoy TV’s 7 th anniversary celebration. Some 5,000 filled the venue to watch the pound-for-pound champion along with the show’s co-hosts Paolo Con- tis, Mike “Pekto” Nacua, and Onyok Velasco. Traveling with the show’s host were Dingdong Dantes, Rhian Ramos, Solenn Heu- ssaff, Rochelle Pangilinan, Elmo Magalona, and Julie Ann San Jose. Pacquio entertained his US- based fans with songs with wife Jinkee and a “Gangnam” dance that brought everyone screaming. On a serious note later, he introduced Lola Leoning Ten- orio, 87, who lives alone in a garage in West Covina. She ekes out a living by picking up empty bottles and cans in the city’s streets. Manny made her wish come true as he gave him a ticket and $2,000 so she could be reunited with her fam- ily in Nueva Vizcaya. Apart from that, he also gave the old woman a seed money for a business so she could have a decent source of income. The show also gave the grandson a college scholarship. Other prizes that “Ninong” Manny gave away included a two-bedroom condo unit from San Jose Builders, brand new Nissan Urvan apart from cash prizes amounting to several thousand dollars. Before the actual show, the Kapuso network held pre-event competitions that were a big hit among the audience. Amateur singers and dancers tried their very best to impress the judges at the Globe Theater. An ama- teur singing contest was held on Sept. 16 as a well as a ballroom dancing in search of a Ballroom Dancing King and Queen. The day before, a press con- ference was held at Celebrity Center. Manny sang “Some- times When We Touch” with GMA Pinoy TV’s RSVP host Tess Mauricio. Elizabeth Ramsey’s daughter, Sansu who hosts GMA Pinoy TV’s The Sansu Show, was granted her wish to kiss the boxing champion. The Hollywood episode of the show will be seen in the Philippines on Oct. 7 and 14 on GMA 7. 60 Minutes starts today TalkTV will start airing to- day one of the longest running news magazine program in US television history—60 Min- utes. It won 95 Emmy Awards, the show provides hard-hitting investigations, interviews and high-profile news stories. Hosted by Steve Kroft, the show covers a wide variety of topics from politics, business, environment, entertainment/ showbiz, health, science and other newsmakers. The pro- gram is one of the highest rat- ing news magazine programs in the US and, in 2002, was ranked No. 6 on TV Guide’s “50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.” 60 Minutes will air every Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Jackie Evancho performs in The Today Show Following the success of her footwear line, Hart of Dixie star Rachel Bilson unveils her first handbag collection co-de- signed with celebrity stylist Ni- cole Chavez, including the en- tire 13-piece accessory line of satchels, clutches and totes in The Today Show today. Bilson first came to Hollywood prom- inence in the drama series The O.C., and she has made great use of her fame by engaging in an assortment of designer lines for DKNY Jeans and Macy’s. America’s Got Talent Sea- son 5 runner-up Jackie Ev- ancho performs live in the studio. Her album Songs from the Silver Screen, was arranged by Bill Ross and it features a dozen songs used in popular films that everyone can surely relate to. The Today Show! airs Monday to Friday 9 to 11 p.m. via Satel- lite with next day replays at 4:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on TalkTV—Ch. 16 on SkyCable, Ch. 28 on Des- tiny and Ch. 21 on Cignal and Ch. 12 on Cable Link. New newscasts on TV Two months after the launch of Solar Network News and Solar Nightly News, TalkTV is debuted two more shows on Oct. 1 – Solar Newsday and Solar Daybreak. Solar Daybreak is a one-hour morning news show hosted by Jing Magsaysay while Solar News Day is a 30-minute noon- time newscast show anchored by Mai Rodriguez. Magsaysay and Rodriguez have a consider- able experience in news. Both newscasts feature head- lines and segments on national/ local news, weather, traffic, sports, foreign, entertainment and “feel good” stories. Solar Daybreak (6-7 a.m.) and Solar Newsday (12-12:30 p.m.), Monday to Friday. Drop dead diva WHAT if you woke up one day and re- alized you’re dead? Then suddenly St. Peter appears saying he’s sending you back to Earth for a second chance to live. Would you choose to be the same person or swap bodies with someone entirely different from you? No matter what’s the answer to this question, it will have a big re- semblance to the premise of a series that airs weekly on beTV, Drop Dead Diva, because the story gives the main star two roles to play: a vapid, outgo- ing model wannabe and a brilliant, thoughtful but shy lawyer. The television series tells the sto- ry of a beauty-centric model that is killed in a car accident. Before being accepted into the gates of Heaven, she manages to punch a button at St. Pe- ter’s desk that sends her back to Earth, but in another woman’s body. That woman just happens to be her exact opposite. She’s an intelligent, a witty, a workaholic and an overweight law- yer named Jane Bingum, who on the other hand, died protecting her boss. In a phone interview with the Stan- dard Today, Brooke Elliot, the star of hit American series Drop Dead Diva, answered our freaky Friday question. She said she would want to be a man, though she did not mention any name or person in particular, she explained that she found men very mysterious. “I would love to know what they’re thinking and feeling and how society pressures them in a certain way. I would like to know how they handle things. I found men kind of mysterious and I would like to know what’s going on in their world,” she furthered. Brooke, who first played the mixed-up character in 2009, was ex- cited in telling us the latest develop- ments in the series’ new season. She said, apart from the appearance of Kim Kardashian in three episodes, fans will see massive changes playing in Jane’s romantic life. During our in- terview, the actress also expressed her delight knowing that the series has a strong following in Asia. She cited Drop Dead Diva’s universal theme as the main reason. “It’s a kind of comforting to me to know that our cultures are so dif- ferent and we are halfway across the world, and yet we are all similar? We all go through the same stuff. Our struggles and our joys are universal,” she stressed. The season opener kicked off with Jane in Italy being swept off her feet by her new beau Owen (Lex Medlin). For a second, it looks like she might finally be getting her happily ever after until Grayson (Jackson Hurst) steps back into the picture. Brooke, who is also a singer, starred on Broadway in The Pirate Queen, an original musical from the writers of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. She also starred on Broadway in Taboo, the musical composed by Boy George and produced by Rosie O’Donnell. She toured nationally with Beauty and the Beast and was in the original cast of the first national tour of Wicked. Drop Dead Diva premiered on Oct. 1 on beTV (SkyCable, channel 35, Dream Satellite, channel 36 and Cignal Digital TV, channel 37). It airs Monday to Friday at 8:30 p.m. Apl.de.ap rocks Oktoberfest The much-awaited San Miguel Oktoberfest kicked off on Sept. 28 featuring the performance of the most popular bands on the local music scene. The grand welcome party of this year’s festivities was held at the Aseana City in Macapagal Blvd and was led by Apl.de.ap no less. The 37-yeal-old rapper shared the stage with rock groups Slapshock and Groovejackz in welcoming the thou- sands of people that graced the annual event. SMB endorsers Michael V., Ely Buendia, Pepe Smith and Sam Pinto, bands Tanya Markova, Techy Romatics, Brownman Revival and Razorback, duo Moymoy Palaboy, and Somedaydream were also there to spice up the five-hour long party. Following the Sept. 28 Manila kick-off party, the San Miguel Okto- berfest Beer Festival also held a ma- jor music party on Sept. 29 in Santa Rosa, Laguna. The same festivities will be staged on Oct. 13 at MEPZ II in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; Oct. 19 at Limketkai in Cagayan de Oro; and Oct. 20 at Robinson’s Starmills in San Fernando, Pampanga. The Filipino-American RnB and hip-hop artist became an official en- dorser of SMB early this year when he partnered with the iconic beer brand in raising funds for the underprivileged communities in the country. Their goal is to build 10,000 classrooms all around the archipelago. Prior to the SMB Octoberfest kick- off event, apl formally turned over his donation of two new classrooms to one of the five school recipients of their ongoing school build program. This year, apl is expecting the completion of two more classrooms for the bene- fit of the students of Bayawan, Negros Oriental. On top of the construction of new classrooms, the school build program also includes learning mate- rials for the students and training for school teachers. MANNY PACQUIAO in Hollywood ON Sept. 16, Filipinos in North America flocked to the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal Studios in Hollywood, California to experience the Philippine TV show Manny Many Prizes. Dear Ninong segment winner Lola Leoning Tenorio Solenn and Paolo with Richard Caringal, winner of the brand new Nissan Urvan and 5000 USD Pacman with wife Jinkee and guests Dingdong Dantes (left) and Rhian Ramos (right)