MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabuhay) – Vice President Jejomar Binay blamed the Aquino administration for committing the “sin” of pov-erty despite claims of a booming economy.

In his speech before a crowd of residents in Barangay 178, Pasay City at the covered court on Mon-day, Binay said the administration should be faulted for ignoring the poor while making the wealthy richer as the country experiences economic growth.

Binay blamed the administra-tion for misgovernance.

He said the Aquino government is awash with funds, but it has preserved its savings instead of

spending these for social services.“Ang administrasyon na ito ay

may kasalanan kung bakit patuloy ang kahirapan dahil sa maling pamamahala,” Binay said before a frenzied crowd who cheered for him in between his speech.

“Pinagmamalaki ang magan-dang ekonomiya, pero ang maya-man, lalong yumayaman; ang mahirap, lalong himihirap,” Binay said

Binay reiterated his rosy prom-ise to provide free social services to the poor.

“Ang pag-iisip ng administra-syon na ito, mag-ipon ng mag-ipon; dahil sa pag-iipon, walang halos

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MANILA, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) – Senator Juan Ponce Enrile on Saturday criticized President Benigno Aquino III for failing to prepare the Philippines against Chinese incursion, which he said was already seen coming way back in the 1980s.

“A country that cannot defend itself does not deserve to exist in this planet,” he said.

Enrile, who served as the De-fense Minister of late President Ferdinand Marcos, claimed that then Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Attaché Fu Ying had dissuaded him against making moves to avert a looming Chinese intrusion.

China then was building two na-vies, one for the Western Pacifi c for the Bashi and Balintang Channel, and the other one in Indian Ocean, he said.

“Their preparation is 10 years. What is (our) preparation ... to pro-tect ourselves? Nothing,” he added.

Also, Enrile hit the country’s reliance on other nations to defend its borders, saying funding for some projects should have been spent for defense.

“Maybe we will not be begging America ... to save our asses. Why are we beholden to America? Be-cause we have no security cover against the regional hegemon, China.”

But he admitted that partnering with other countries, specifi cally the US, may be the only way the Philippines could protect its sover-eignty, at least for now.

“This I agree with the Aquino administration, is to maintain and strengthen our alliance with the United States of America. The United States of America will be strongest, the richest, and the most secure and stable country in the world in this century.” he said.

While the Philippines has strong bonds with the Association

MANILA, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) -- Sen. Grace Poe needs the help of her biological relatives to once and for all settle her citizenship woes, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said Saturday.

“I respect her position, that she was born not knowing her parents. I have to take her word. But you do not come out into this world without parents. The question now is who are those parents,” he explained. “If they’re alive, they should at least come to her rescue. If they’re dead, there at least their relatives who must have known, should be around to speak out for her,” Enrile said. Enrile said foundlings need to know their rel-atives to claim blood status in the Philippines. “(We’re) unlike Amer-ica- they base it on place of birth, usually. So you have to trace your blood from the race existing in the country if you are a foundling. You will be taken as part of the system,

but you are not a natural born Filipino if you are a foundling,” he said. What truly concerns Enrile in Poe’s pending disqualifi cation cases is her residency, which he views as more important in eval-uating her qualifi cations for the presidency.

“I am not saying that she is not qualifi ed... (But) you have to remember that Grace is being challenged, qualification-wise, on two grounds: citizenship and residency. I think the residency is more problematic because that is a matter of documents,” Enrile said.

Though he views Poe amiably, the senator believes she must prove to be sound in both fronts before she could represent the Philippines as its president.

“We are reposing our democratic trust on a person of doubtful qual-ifi cation. I like her as a person but we’re talking here about legalism,” Enrile said. (MNS)

Presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe gestures while addressing her supporters during the start of the national elections campaign in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo on Tuesday. Running mate Sen. Chiz Escudero and the Team Galing at Puso senatorial slate joined Poe during the sortie.(MNS photo)

MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabuhay) – Senators Francis Escudero and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. are now tied in the vice-presi-dential race while Vice-President Jejomar Binay’s lead in the pres-idential race dipped slightly in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) pre-election survey.

The latest BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations (BW-SWS) pre-election survey conducted last February 5 to 7 showed Binay’s lead in the presidential race slipping from 31 percent in January to 29 percent in February.

On the other hand, Davao City Mayor and presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte’s numbers went up from 20 percent in January to 24 percent in February. He is now tied with Sen. Grace Poe who retained her 24 percent voter support.

Former DILG chief Mar Roxas’ numbers also slipped in the latest survey, from 21 percent voter support in January to 18 percent in February. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s numbers went up from 3 percent to 4 percent during the survey period.

Voter support for former ambassador Roy Seneres went down from 0.1 percent in January to zero percent in February. Seneres passed away on February 8, right after the survey period.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 validated voters, 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mind-anao. The survey has sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas

M a n i l a , P h i l i p -pines | AFP | Sunday 2/14/2016 – The Philippines’ professional basketball league has banned for-mer NBA player Ivan Johnson for life after he cursed at its commis-sioner during a game, a spokesman said Sunday.

Johnson, who plays with local team Talk ‘N Text Tropang Tex-ters, was banned mid-game after he used “the F-word” in an argu-ment with Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Chito Narvasa, said PBA media offi cer Willie Marcial.

Talk ‘N Text were playing the Meralco Bolts on Saturday when Johnson was ejected for two tech-nical fouls. However an angry Johnson contested this, Marcial told AFP.

“That is when he stood up.

Aquino failed to prepare PHL vs. Chinese incursion: Enrile

Poe’s biological parents, blood relatives ‘must come to her rescue’: Enrile

Specialists from Christie’s examine the confi scated jewelries of former First Lady Imelda Marcos during an appraisal authorized by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas headquarters in Manila Tuesday.(MNS photo)

Binay hits Aquino administration for ‘sin’ of povertyMock polls prove glitches in software already ‘resolved’

Ex-NBA player banned in PHL for cursing commissioner

Binay lead slips; Chiz, Marcos tied in VP race: SWS

STA. ROSA, LAGUNA, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) – Top offi cials from the Commission on Elections said Sat-urday’s nationwide mock elections show that the glitches found in the components of the automated election system last week have been resolved.

Commission on Elections Chair-man Andres Bautista said the simulation of the May 9 polls was able to proceed—from voting to

See LEAD SLIPS, page 12

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Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Undersecretary Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr.(right) leads the destruction of P2.67 billion worth of dangerous drugs at the Integrated Waste Management, Inc. in Cavite City on Thursday. Destroyed through thermal decomposition were 1.6 metric tons of assorted drugs. (MNS photo)

MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabu-hay) – Senator Francis Es-cudero on Monday vowed to “work harder” and reach out to more people after Senator Ferdinand Marcos tied him for fi rst place in the latest Social Weather Station’s (SWS) survey for the vice presidential race.

“It means we have to work harder and, given our limit-ed resources, fi nd innovative yet not-so-expensive ways to reach our more people with our message of hope and progress,” Escudero, an in-dependent candidate, said in a text message to reporters.

The senator was the con-sistent frontrunner in vari-ous surveys until the latest SWS survey conducted from February 5 to 7, showing

him and Marcos sharing the top spot with 26 percent votes of the 1,200 respon-dents.

Escudero’s rating dipped two percent from last month’s 28 percent while Marcos gained one point.

In third place is adminis-tration’s bet, Camarines Sur representative Leni Robredo with 19 percent, followed by Senator Alan Peter Cayeta-no with 16 percent, Senator Gringo Honasan with 6 per-cent and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with 5 percent.

Escudero is running mate of presidential aspirant, Senator Grace Poe, who shared the second spot in the same survey with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte with 24 percent. Vice

President Jejomar Binay remained the voters’ top choice for president with 29 percent.

But like in the past, Poe’s camp was unfazed by her standing in the latest sur-vey. “Like all other survey results, we will use the data provided as guide for our next moves,” Poe’s spokes-man, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, said in a statement.

“Our resolve is to contin-ue to focus on our message of inclusive governance: Gobyernong may Puso. We will also continue to detail to our voters that Sen. Poe is still a candidate in the running in the upcoming elections,” Gatchalian add-ed.(MNS)

M A N I L A , F e b 1 5 (Mabuhay) – Vice Pres-ident Jejomar Binay on Monday said he will issue an executive order man-dating access to govern-ment records as a way of promoting transparency and addressing graft and corruption.

The EO would be similar to the Freedom of Informa-tion bill.

“Sa first 100 days ko, magpapalabas ako ng exec-utive order para ‘yong FOI natin ay magkatotoo na – para maging transparent,” Binay said.

He lamented the delay in the passage of FOI bill which has been languish-

ing in Congress for years.Binay said that, as Pres-

ident, he would take mat-ters into his own hands.

“Dahil sa matagal ho ang nangyayari diyan sa Kongreso ay gagawa ako ng executive order. Yon ay isang magandang pama-maraan upang mabawasan o mawala ang graft and corruption,” he said.

The Vice President also emphasized the impor-tance of choosing former Cabinet members and those with successful track records as public servants, saying they would part of his future Cabinet.

He specifi ed Cavite Gov-ernor Juanito Victor “Jon-

vic” Remulla, whom he would like to appoint as secretary of Interior and Local Government.

He reiterated that If his runningmate Senator Gregorio Honasan II wind the vice presidential race, Binay said he would ap-point the former Army offi -cial as his administration’s anti-crime czar.

“Para wala nang learn-ing curve [dahil] maiksi ang panahon. At naging successful na Cabinet at kilala naman na magaling magtrabaho… Karanasan, kakayahan – ‘yon ang ma-giging qualifications sa simula’t simula,” the Vice President said. (MNS)

MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabu-hay) – Vice President Je-jomar Binay reiterated Mon-day his openness to make public his bank accounts as he pushed for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill to fi ght corruption.

Binay said the Anti-Mon-ey Laundering Council (AMLC) has already scruti-nized his bank accounts and even those of his friends.

“Unang-una ay open ako diyan (na buksan ang bank account) pero ‘yung AMLC e hinalukat na lahat. Pati nga ‘yung mga account ng kaibigan ko ichinarge pa sa akin,” he said in an inter-view after his guesting on Unang Hirit’s Hiritan.

He further said that his Statement of Assets, Liabil-ities, and Net Worth gives authority to the Ombuds-man to check on his bank accounts.

“Meron naman SALN e. Nakalagay dun ‘yung bank accounts. ‘Yun nga lang hindi identified pero ‘pag pinaano e tignan mo kung magkano ‘yung pera dun,” he said.

Binay scored the Aquino administration’s failure to pass the FOI bill.

“Pagdidiinan ko ‘yung Freedom of Information e nakakalungkot, panahon pa ni President GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo).

“E itong panahong ito

hindi makapasa-pasa sa Kongreso. Siguro maraming interest ang pinag-iinga-tan,” he said.

“Pero ako , lab is na naniniwala na ang FOI isa hong pamamaraan ‘yan para harapin ang problema ng graft and corruption,” he said.

The FOI bill seeks to promote transparency in government transactions and data.

Binay is facing plunder, graft and corruption charges before the Ombudsman in connection with alleged cor-rupt acts, among them the overpricing of the Makati City Hall parking building. (MNS)

PANGASINAN—Independent vice-pres-idential candidate Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero is looking forward to a favorable Supreme Court ruling for his presidential running mate Sen. Grace Poe as they expect the high court to hand down its decision next month.

During the campaign sortie of the Parti-do Galing at Puso in vote-rich Pangasinan province, Escudero said the SC was expected to conclude within the month hearing the oral arguments on Poe’s consolidated peti-tion against two Commission on Elections (Comelec) decisions canceling her certifi cate of candidacy (COC) for president.

“Inaasahan namin na matatapos sa bu-wan ng Pebrero ang oral arguments sa kaso ni Sen. Grace. Inaasahan namin na lalabas sa buwan ng Marso ang kanilang (SC) pasya at desisyon, at buo ang pag-asa namin na ito’y papabor kay Sen. Grace,” Escudero told a press conference.

In canceling Poe’s COC, the Comelec claimed that she made “material misrepre-sentations” regarding her citizenship and residency.

Poe, the frontrunner in recent presiden-tial voter preference surveys, had petitioned the SC to reverse the Comelec rulings on

ground that the poll body committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction.

She also insisted that just like all other foundlings found in the Philippines, she is a natural-born Filipino citizen, and that she complied with the 10-year residency requirement for presidential candidates having been a resident of the country since May 24, 2005.

Escudero believes the 15-member tri-bunal will not go beyond its 2004 decision that declared Poe’s father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., whose citizenship was also questioned when he ran for president at the time, a natural-born Filipino.

“Sa kaso tungkol sa kababayan nyong si FPJ, sinabi ng Korte Suprema sa pama-magitan ni Chief Justice (Reynato) Puno, sa wikang Ingles: ‘We cannot leave to the un-elected members of this court the power and right to decide who the next president will be. That decision is best left to the sovereign Filipino people,’” Escudero said referring to the late actor, who is a native of San Carlos City in Pangasinan.

“Kung susundin nila (SC justices) ‘yun, walang rason para hindi sila pumabor kay Sen. Grace,” he added.

B e i j i n g , C h i -n a | A F P | M o n d a y 2/15/2016 –The possible US deployment of a missile defence system on the Ko-rean peninsula in response to Pyongyang’s ballistic missile programme would threaten China’s strategic interests, Beijing said on Monday. Washington and Seoul will begin talks about the Terminal High Alti-tude Area Defence System (THAAD), they said a week ago following a surprise nuclear test and satellite launch by the hermit king-dom that raised fresh con-cerns about its weapons ambitions.

“We are fi rmly opposed to the relevant country’s attempts to damage Chi-na’s strategic and security interests, with the nuclear issue as an excuse,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefi ng.

China was “seriously con-cerned about the possible deployment of the THAAD system”, he added, saying

it “covers a range that is far beyond the needs of defence of the Korean peninsula”.

Beijing argues that the THAAD deployment would trigger an arms race in the region.

The system fi res anti-bal-listic missiles into the sky to smash into enemy missiles either inside or outside the Earth’s atmosphere during their fi nal fl ight phase.

The interceptor missiles carry no warheads, instead relying on kinetic energy to destroy their targets.

China summoned the South Korean ambassador in Beijing following the country’s announcement that it would begin talks with the US, expected as early as this week.

“We will not allow our legitimate rights and na-tional security interests to be damaged,” Hong said.

China has long urged a resumption of talks over North Korea’s nuclear pro-gramme, arguing that sanc-tions are not an end in

themselves.The government-pub-

lished China Daily said in an editorial Monday that new United Nations mea-sures “should truly bite”—but added that the proposed THAAD deployment could prevent agreement on a resolution.

The potential collapse of North Korea is a perennial worry for Beijing, which sees it as a buffer against the US military presence in South Korea and wor-ries that instability could unleash a fl ood of refugees across its border.

Washington says it will not sit down with Pyong-yang until the country takes steps towards halting its nu-clear programme, a position that Beijing argues has led to the current impasse.

For its part, the US has long called for Beijing to use its role as one of Pyong-yang’s most important eco-nomic lifelines to pressure the country into changing its behavior.

Escudero vows to work harder as Marcos ties him in SWS poll

VP Binay bats for gov’t transparency

VP Binay ready to open bank accounts

US missile system in S. Korea would hurt China’s interests: Beijing

Chiz hopeful of favorable SC ruling for Poe in March

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By Cecil MorellaLOS BAÑOS, Philip-

pines | AFP | Monday 2/15/2016 – Rice-growing techniques learned through thousands of years of trial and error are about to be turbocharged with DNA technology in a break-through hailed by scientists as a potential second “green revolution”.

Over the next few years farmers are expected to have new genome sequenc-ing technology at their dis-posal, helping to offset a myriad of problems that threaten to curtail produc-tion of the grain that feeds half of humanity.

Drawing on a massive bank of varieties stored in the Philippines and state-of-the-art Chinese technology, scientists recently complet-ed the DNA sequencing of more than 3,000 of the world’s most significant types of rice.

With the huge pool of data unlocked, rice breeders will soon be able to produce higher-yielding varieties much more quickly and under increasingly stress-ful conditions, scientists involved with the project told AFP.

Other potential new va-rieties being dreamt about are ones that are resistant to certain pests and diseas-es, or types that pack more nutrients and vitamins.

“This will be a big help to strengthen food security for rice eaters,” said Ken-neth McNally, an American biochemist at the Philip-pines-based International Rice Research Institute

(IRRI).Since rice was first do-

mesticated thousands of years ago, farmers have improved yields through various planting techniques.

For the past centu-ry breeders have isolated traits, such as high yields and disease resistance, then developed them through cross breeding.

However, they did not know which genes con-trolled which traits, leaving much of the effort to lengthy guesswork.

The latest breakthroughs in molecular genetics prom-ise to fast-track the process, eliminating much of the mystery, scientists involved in the project told AFP.

Better rice varieties can now be expected to be de-veloped and passed on to farmers’ hands in less than three years, compared with 12 without the guidance of DNA sequencing.

Genome sequencing in-volves decoding DNA, the hereditary material of all living cells and organisms. The process roughly com-pares with solving a giant jigsaw puzzle made up of bil-lions of microscopic pieces.

A multinational team un-dertook the four-year project with the DNA decoding primarily in China by BGI, the world’s biggest genome sequencing fi rm.

Leaf tissue from the sam-ples, drawn mostly from IRRI’s gene bank of 127,000 varieties were ground by McNally’s team at its lab-oratory in Los Banos, near Manila’s southern outskirts, before being shipped for

sequencing.A non-profit research

outfi t founded in 1960, IRRI works with governments to develop advanced varieties of the grain.

Threats to rice -Farmers and breeders

will need the new DNA tools, which scientists take pains to say is not genetic modifi cation, because of the increasingly stressful con-ditions for rice growing ex-pected in the 21st Century.

While there will be many more millions to feed, there is expected to be less land available for planting as farms are converted for ur-ban development, destroyed by rising sea levels or con-verted to other crops.

Rice-paddy destroying fl oods, drought and storms are also expected to worsen with climate change. Mean-while, pests and diseases that evolve to resist herbi-cides and pesticides will be more diffi cult to kill.

And fresh water, vital for growing rice, is expected to become an increasingly scarce commodity in many parts of the world.

As scientists develop the tools necessary to harness the full advantages of the rice genome database, the hope is that new varieties can be developed to combat all those problems.

“Essentially, you will be able to design what prop-erties you want in rice, in terms of the drought resis-tance, resistance to diseas-es, high yields, and others,” said Russian bioanalytics expert and IRRI team mem-ber Nickolai Alexandrov.

Drawing on a massive bank of varieties stored in the Philippines and state-of-the-art Chinese technology, scientists recently completed the DNA sequencing of more than 3,000 of the world’s most signifi cant types of rice.

Food revolution -Scientists behind the

project hope it will lead to a second “green revolution”.

The first began in the 1960s as the development of higher-yielding varieties of wheat and rice was cred-ited with preventing mas-sive global food shortages around the world.

That giant leap to pro-ducing more food involved the cross-breeding of unre-lated varieties to produce

new ones that grew faster and produced higher yields, mainly by being able to respond better to fertiliser.

But the massive gains of the earlier efforts, which earnt US geneticist Norman Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, have since reached a plateau.

Although the DNA break-through has generated much optimism, IRRI scientists caution it is not a magic bullet for all rice-growing

problems, and believe that genetically modifying is also necessary. They also warn that governments will still need to implement the right policies, such as in regards to land and water use.

One of the key priorities of IRRI is to pack more nu-trients into rice, transform-ing it into a tool to fi ght ail-ments linked to inadequate diets in poor countries as well as lifestyle diseases in wealthier countries.

By Jean-Louis DE LA VAISSIERE / Yemeli ORTEGA

San Cristóbal de las Ca-sas, Mexico | AFP | Mon-day 2/15/2016 – Pope Francis asked Mexico’s indigenous population on Monday for forgiveness over the exclu-sion they have suffered as he led an open-air mass in native languages in impov-erished Chiapas state.

The pope said a short phrase in one of the southern region’s native tongues in a sign of his effort to reach out to indigenous communities of the country’s poorest and least Catholic state.

Tens of thousands of peo-ple fl ocked to a sports fi eld in the southern city of San Cristobal de las Casas for the service, as women dressed in embroidered dresses led bib-lical readings and hymns in the Chol, Tzotzil and Tzeltal languages.

“On many occasions, in a systematic and organized way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society,” the 79-year-old Argentine-born pontiff said. “Some have considered your values, culture and tra-

ditions to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contam-inated them. How sad this is,” he said.

“How worthwhile it would be for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, ‘Forgive me!’”

The pope issued a decree allowing indigenous lan-guages to be used during Catholic masses. More than a quarter of Chiapas’s popu-lation speaks an indigenous language.

“If the church is to stop the hemorrhaging of in-digenous (populations) in Chiapas and across Latin America, it must offer more masses in indigenous lan-guages and recruit indige-nous priests who are very small in numbers,” Andrew Chesnut, religious studies professor at Virginia Com-monwealth University, told AFP.

While Mexico is the world’s second most popu-lous Catholic nation after Brazil, with 82 percent of its population of 122 million identifying with the religion,

only 58 percent are loyal to the Vatican in Chiapas.

Environmental crisis “Long live the pope of the

indigenous people!” some shouted from the roofs of their homes as the pope arrived at the fi eld, where a replica of the yellow facade of the city’s cathedral served as background to the large stage.

The pope’s visit comes in the middle of an intense, five-day trip that he has used to speak out against crime and corruption.

Francis also used the mass to warn that the Earth faces “one of the greatest en-vironmental crises in world history,” saying that indig-enous people have much to teach about how to “interact harmoniously with nature.”

After the mass Francis will visit San Cristobal’s cathedral, where he is ex-pected to visit the tomb of Samuel Ruiz, a bishop who defended the causes of the Mayan people and acted as mediator between the gov-ernment and the Zapatista guerrilla movement that rose up in 1994.

By James PhebyLondon, United King-

dom | AFP | Monday 2/15/2016 – Pope John Paul II had a close relationship with a married woman which lasted over 30 years according to letters which feature in a documentary being shown by the BBC on Monday.

The documentary does not claim he broke his vow of celibacy with Polish-born philosopher and writer An-na-Teresa Tymieniecka, although the tone of some of his letters to her points to intense feelings between them, the broadcaster says.

The two spent camping and skiing holidays togeth-er and went on country walks.

In one letter from Sep-tember 1976, he calls her a “gift from God”.

“My dear Teresa,” he writes. “You write about being torn apart, but I could find no answer to these words.”

Also in September 1976, he writes: “Already last year I was looking for an answer to these words, ‘I belong

to you’, and fi nally, before leaving Poland, I found a way – a scapular.”

A scapular is a piece of cloth worn as part of the habit of monastic orders and the then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla gave Tymieniec-ka his. “The dimension in which I accept and feel you everywhere in all kinds of situations, when you are close, and when you are far away,” he adds.

Edward Stourton, the senior BBC journalist who made the documentary, said more than 350 letters were found at the National Library of Poland, the fi rst dated in 1973 and the last a few months before his death in 2005. “I would say they were more than friends but less than lovers,” he said.

“One of the fascinating stories that comes out of these letters is of a strug-gle to contain what was certainly a very intense relationship which mixed emotions and philosophical ideas in proper Christian boundaries.”

But the Vatican said there was “nothing out of

the ordinary in the fact that pope John Paul II had close friendships with different people, whether men or women.”

“Nobody will be amazed at this information,” a spokesman said.

Denials of ‘fi ancee’ -The Polish library also

rejected the BBC’s inter-pretation of the correspon-dence, saying that John Paul II had many friends and that such relationships were not confi dential or “ex-ceptional”.

A close associate of John Paul II said it was “possible” that a married woman had fallen in love with him be-fore he became head of the Roman Catholic church.

“Women fall in love with priests all the time, and it’s always a big headache,” Father Adam Boniecki, ed-itor-in-chief of the progres-sive Tygodnik Powszechny Catholic weekly, told AFP.

“If she was in love with (Karol) Wojtyla, she was most likely not alone,” said Boniecki, himself the au-thor of a detailed account of the pontiff’s life.

W a r s a w , P o -land | AFP | Monday 2/15/2016 – Poland’s national library on Monday said there was “no basis” for sugges-tions that pope John Paul II had improper relations with a married woman, after a BBC documentary, based on letters from its archives, de-tailed their “intense” 30-year friendship.

While the report does not claim the late pontiff broke his vow of celibacy with Pol-ish-born philosopher An-na-Teresa Tymieniecka, it does say that the tone of some of his letters to her point to intense feelings between them.

But the library said its documents did not point to anything improper in their relationship. “The state-ments made in the media

have no basis in the content of the letters of John Paul II to Anna Teresa Tymieniecka which are in the National Library of Poland’s archives,” it said in a statement Monday ahead of the programme’s broadcast.

“John Paul II was sur-rounded by a circle of friends – including clergymen, nuns and laypeople—with whom he stayed in close contact.

“Anna Teresa Tymieniec-ka was within this circle of friends – John Paul II’s friendship with her was nei-ther secret nor extraordi-nary.” But a close associate of John Paul II said it was “pos-sible” that a married woman had fallen in love with him before he became head of the Roman Catholic Church.

“Women fall in love with priests all the time, and

it’s always a big headache,” Father Adam Boniecki, edi-tor-in-chief of the progressive Tygodnik Powszechny Catho-lic weekly, told AFP.

“If she was in love with Wojtyla, she was most like-ly not alone,” said Boniec-ki, himself the author of a detailed account of the pope-turned-saint’s life. Ty-mieniecka “translated Karol Wojtyla’s books into English, making his work known to US academics... but her translations caused tension between the two,” Boniecki told AFP. Edward Stourton, the senior BBC journalist who made the documentary, said more than 350 letters were found at the National Library of Poland, the fi rst dated in 1973 and the last a few months before his death in 2005.

DNA rice breakthrough raises ‘green revolution’ hopes

John Paul II had ‘intense’ friendship with married woman: BBC

Pope Francis asks indigenous Mexicans for forgiveness

‘No basis’ for claims John Paul II had improper relationship: library

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OPINIONTABACO CITY, Albay, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) – Former

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman on Saturday urged the electorate not to vote for candidates who benefi ted from the Martial Law era.

“I think the people should reject all those who benefi ted from Martial Law until now,” Lagman told reporters on the sidelines of the Liberal Paty’s campaign sortie in Albay province.

Lagman, who is running for a Congress seat representing the province’s First District, joined national candidates of the LP-led Daang Matuwid coalition in the Tabaco City leg of the campaign sortie.

“There is no reason why we should elect people who are identifi ed with Martial Law that had brought so much sac-rifi ces and abuses to the Filipino people,” he said.

“Ang lahat nang nakabenepisyo sa Martial Law, katu-lad nitong tumatakbo ngayon bilang Bise Presidente, ‘wag iboto,” he added.

Lagman’s brother, Hermon, was among the victims of enforced disappearances during the Martial Law era.

He said he is supporting the candidacy of LP vice-pres-idential candidate Leni Robredo, the incumbent congress-woman of Camarines Sur, and “the true Bicolano.”

Three other vice-presidential candidates are said to split the votes of the Bicol Region: Senators Francis “Chiz” Es-cudero, Gringo Honasan, and Antonio Trillanes IV.

“Ang sinasabi ko ay ang katotohanan na doon sa mga nagsasabi na Bicolano sila at tumatakbo pagka Bise Pres-idente, isa lamang ang ipinanganak sa Bicol, isa lamang ang nag-aral sa Bicol, isa lamang ang asawa ng Bicolano, isa lamang ang ngayon, dito sa Bicol nakatira at ang ma-gulang, purong Bicolano,” he said. (MNS)

MANILA, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) – Opposition kingpin Juan Ponce Enrile on Saturday labelled President Benigno Aquino III as “the worst president this country ever had”.

The Senate minority leader made the statement in a media forum where he gave his assessment of Oplan Exodus or the police mission that resulted in the infamous Mamasapano encounter in January 2015.

He said the mission’s failure could be laid entirely at the feet of President Aquino.

“Yung mga sundalo, theirs is not to reason why, theirs is just to do and die... Who can defy a president? In this country, a president is the precipatory power. He is the head of state, head of government, chief ex-ecutive, commander in chief, and the top policeman,” Enrile said in a media forum.

“Sabi ni (Justice Secretary Leila) de Lima, walang command chain ang police. Paano aandar yung ka-pulisan kung walang command chain? The command chain is from the chief executive,” he added.

Enrile was defense secretary in the Marcos and the fi rst Aquino administration.

The 91-year-old opposition lawmaker said he did not expect Aquino to turn out to be a “lousy” leader.

“I measure him, he’s the worst president this coun-try ever had,” he said.

“He is the one guilty,” Enrile later remarked.He said while then Special Action Force command-

er Getulio Napeñas made his share of mistakes during the police operation, he couldn’t have defi ed orders from the president even with the knowledge that these instructions were inadequate.

“Sinasabi ninyo tanga si Napeñas. Ipagpalagay nating tanga, pero sino ang mas tanga? Yung inutu-san na tanga or yung nag-utos ng tanga?” Enrile said.

He then cited, despite his misgivings about the US, President Barack Obama’s famous order to get US forces to safety after taking down Al Qaeda head Osa-

ma Bin Laden as an action Aquino should emulate. “The president can use the power of being the king,

the head of state... he is the only one who can save anybody in this country. He can pardon you... he can use the powers of the police or the military to save your life if necessary,” Enrile remarked.

“Ang narinig ko na lang na sinabi, okay, be calm, keep your head. ‘Di natin pababayaan ang tropa na-tin- patay nang lahat sila nung sinabi ‘yun,” he added.

While the US downplayed their involvement in the operation, Enrile said the bounty on suspected bombmaker Zulkifl i Abdhir alias Marwan showed how much Washington valued his capture or death more than the Philippines did.

“The dollar reward is $5 million. At P40 per dol-lar, that’s P200 million. What is the reward given by PNoy? P7 million. That is the worth of Marwan as a threat to us compared to the threat to America,” he said. Recent statements by US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg also proved the gov-ernment’s attempt at portraying the Mamasapano encounter as a purely Filipino attempt at combating terrorism as false.

“Kinonfi rm na ni Goldberg na they participated at the request of the Philippine government. What more proof do you need? Second: if this is solely a Philippine project why was there a dollar reward bigger than the peso reward?” Enrile said.

The country’s inability to defend itself at home made it clear that the government was unprepared to engage China, whom Enrile insisted had designs on the Philippines.

“This government is not serious, they don’t under-stand what’s going on... They talk big. They cannot even handle the Mamasapano, do you think they can handle an invasion?” Enrile said.

“China is a vulnerable country. But against us, they can impose their will,” he added.(MNS)

LIGAO CITY, Albay, Feb 13 (Mabuhay) – Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II on Saturday shrugged off the challenge of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to prove that he’s circumcised.

“Wala akong panahon para sa mga walang kwen-tang bagay na ‘yan,” Roxas told reporters in an am-bush interview here. On Friday, Duterte said he was willing to disclose his medical records in response to Roxas’ statement that presidential candidates should make public their state of health.

But Duterte said he will only do this on one con-dition, “Dapat ipakita muna ni Roxas na tuli na siya

(Roxas should prove that he’s cut).”Both Roxas and Duterte are gunning for the pres-

idency in the May elections. LP spokesperson and Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo

said Duterte offers nothing more but “great enter-tainment.”

“He offers great entertainment value and people will realize, you know what he offers is just that. We’re not here for laughs,” Quimbo said.

“We’re here for the welfare of the 104 million peo-ple. He makes good fantastic entertainment. We’re not here to elect a comedian,” he added. (MNS)

MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabuhay) – Presidential candidates are not required to disclose their medical records to the public, but health concerns may be considered an “import-ant” campaign issue, Commission on Elections chair Andres Bautista said on Monday.

Bautista said the poll body cannot force the candidates to bare their medical records, as it is not mandated by law.

“Hindi po [namin maaaring i-require] kasi walang man-dato ang batas o ibinibigay na kapangyarihan na hingin ang impormasyon na ito,” he said.

However, he admitted that any doubt raised about a candidate’s health may be part of the public’s criteria in choosing their next president. “Hindi po nakasaad sa batas na kailangang sabihin ‘yan sa taumbayan, pero ito po ay mahalagang campaign issue. And again, tingnan natin—nasa sa mga kandidato ‘yan kung gusto nilang ibunyag ang kanilang records. Kung sakaling meron mang duda, maaar-ing maging batayan ‘yan ng mga botante,” Bautista said.

All fi ve presidential candidates have said they are healthy enough to go through the 90-day nationwide campaign and take over the highest elective post if elected in May.

Three of them—Vice President Jejomar Binay, Sen. Grace Poe, and former Interior Sec. Mar Roxas—are open to releasing their medical records.

However, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte refuse to do so.

Santiago, who announced in June 2014 that she had Stage 4 lung cancer, said her disease is “in remission.” There have been calls for her to release her medical records, to which she invoked her right to privacy.

Duterte, meanwhile, said he has stopped smoking, which has “controlled” a disease that affects blood circulation.

Last week, he was forced to skip a speaking engagement at a doctors’ convention due to migraine.

Before announcing his presidential bid, the tough-talking local executive was hounded by rumors that he had throat cancer, which he said came from Roxas’ camp.

MANILA, Feb 15 (Mabuhay) – Presidential candi-dates on Monday expressed optimism following the release of the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that Vice President Jejomar Binay remains to be the most preferred presidential candidate but by a dipping margin.

The camp of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that the tough-talking mayor’s four-point gain in the Feb. 5-7 SWS poll supposedly shows that the electorate is seeking “real change.”

The results of the February SWS poll showed Duterte and independent presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe tied at second place at 24 percent.

“We are hopeful that as the campaign progresses, we would be able to continue this upward trend and gain more supporters,” Duterte spokesperson Peter Laviña said in a statement.

“This is proof of the rising clamor for genuine change. Our country is mired in increasing drugs, crime, corruption and poverty,” he added.

On the other hand, the camp of administration bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said that despite the former Interior secretary’s current fourth place ranking, they are positive that his numbers will improve.

Daang Matuwid Coalition spokesperson and Akbayan Representative Barry Gutierrez said that with the survey’s three percent margin of error, Rox-as—who posted 18 percent in the latest poll—should be in second place along with Duterte and Poe.

“We started out at 4 percent last year, now we’re tied with our rivals. We’ve defi nitely made progress,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

He said that with the tight race, the only poll that would matter to them is the May 9 elections.

“We’re confi dent that Mar’s numbers will con-tinue to improve and that we will emerge on top in the most important survey—the May elections,” the lawmaker said.

Binay topped the survey with 29 percent, suffer-ing a two-point slip from his rating last January.

Roxas also suffered a dip in his numbers: from January’s 21 percent, he only got 18 percent in the February poll.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago remains in last place with four percent of respondents choosing her as the country’s next president.

The survey was conducted with 1,200 validated voters as respondents and with sampling error margins of +/-3 percent.(MNS)

Reject candidates identifi ed with Martial Law: Lagman

Baring health status not required, but ‘important’ campaign issue: Comelec chief

Noynoy Aquino, the worst president of all time: Enrile

Roxas on Duterte’s ‘tuli’ challenge: Wala akong panahon dyan

Duterte ‘buoyed’ by gain in SWS poll; Roxas says he’s made progress

IRIGA CITY, Camarines Sur, Feb 12 (Mabuhay) -- Senatorial candidates of the Liberal Party (LP)-led Daang Matuwid coalition hope to convert President Benigno Aquino III’s trust and popularity ratings into votes for the administration bets come election day.

Aquino earlier said he will be active in tagging along the campaign sorties of their candidates led by standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

“Kung titingnan ang recent history, I think this is the only President who has maintained such a high rating at this late a stage,” Senate President Franklin Drilon, a re-electionist, told reporters here.

“We are confi dent that the popularity of President Aquino will carry us through the elections,” he added.

Former Senator Francis Pangilinan, who is eyeing a return to the Senate, said Aquino’s presence in sor-ties is “very important” as the coalition seeks to win “every percentage point” in the surveys in case of a close match on May 9.

Citing an example, Pangilinan mentioned that Vice President Jejomar Binay won a close fi ght against Roxas in the 2010 vice-presidential race. Roxas lost by 700,000 votes to Binay.

Binay and Roxas are both running for president

in the May elections.“If it’s gonna come to that, and it’s a close fi ght,

every percentage point matters,” Pangilinan said.COOP-NATCCO party-list Rep. Cresente Paez, one

of the least popular candidates of the administration coalition, remains confi dent that he will make it to the Top 12 because of Aquino’s support.

“Ang problema lang ngayon is information drive. ‘Yung trustworthiness ng President at sinusuportah-an kami, that will radiate sa mga kandidato kaya excited ako kahit hindi ako masyadong kilala,” said Paez.(MNS)

Admin bets confi dent PNoy ratings will translate into votes

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“MERON na ba? Ilan na ba? Talaga? E di wow.”

This was the response of Sunshine Cruz when asked by the entertainment press on rumors circulating in showbiz grapevine that her estranged husband Cesar Montano has fathered a child.

“Whatever it is, every-body deserves to be happy. He deserves to be happy, he deserves to be in love and ganun din naman ako. Kung totoo ‘yan, karapatan niya ‘yan bilang isang tao,” she said at the media launch of the newest primetime series “Dolce Amore”.

Cruz also said that it was none of her business because they have been separated for three years now. She said her main concern is only her children.

“Sa totoo lang, kahit ano pang maging isyu sa kanya, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s none of my business at buhay na niya yan. We’ve been separated for three years and ang akin lang e cooperation na lang sa mga cases. Yun na lang talaga. And I also hope that he will exert more effort sa mga kids,” she said.

When asked if her daugh-ters are aware that there are rumors about Montano allegedly having a child out of wedlock, she said they are old enough to learn about this kind of issue.

Cruz said that if the ru-mor was indeed true, she knows her children will understand it.

“Noon pa merong nag message sa kanila. Someone telling them that is someone is pregnant. It was them who told me that, ‘Mom, someone messaged me on Instagram”.

“Wala silang problem kung sakaling totoo ‘yan or hindi. Wala namang kas-alanan ang mga sanggol. Of course, they will accept, kung totoo ‘yan, with open arms.”

Meanwhile, Cruz ques-tioned the timing of news re-ports about the Quezon City Prosecutors Offi ce decision junking the child abuse case she fi led against Montano.

The actress explained that the decision was re-leased two weeks ago but it was only recently when the news story is coming out.

“The timing lang e bakit parang ngayon pa? Pwede naman kahapon or last

week. How come just now?” she said.

“We’ve know it for two to three weeks already kaya it is so surprising na kung kailan ako may presscon e may lumabas about it. As much as I want nga sana, I don’t want to talk about it.”

She said her lawyer is taking care of the case and her children were informed about the result.

Cruz added that she wants to focus more on her children because they need her now more than ever.

“They’re doing okay. They’re are happy kids, they’re doing good in school. And open kami with each other. They know what is happening now.”

“Whatever it is, nandiyan naman ang lawyer ko to fi x everything,” she ended. (MNS)

EUGENE Domingo revealed she has no plan to settle down or have kids, but keen to fall in love.

In an interview with the seasoned actress at the “Dear Uge” press launch, her latest comedy anthology on GMA-7, which pre-miered on Valentine’s Day, the 44-year-old said she is contented with her professional and private life.

Domingo hinted that there is someone special and added that she is at her happiest.

“I’m very happy right now. I care for someone,” she said.

The actress continued: “I’m not yet in love on a romantic level but I’m really inspired. I now understand how to care and to look forward to someone, to seeing someone.”

With her stature in the industry, Do-mingo admitted that it is diffi cult to fi nd someone who is not intimidated of her job or personality.

“Medyo (mahirap maghanap), but that’s not my fault. Hindi naman madami (nan-ligaw) pero meron naman. Pero mas madami akong attempt e.”

The actress said she’s more open now when it comes to falling in love even if it will sometimes lead to heartbreak.

“I should be open. I should give myself a chance to realize and to give in to the feeling. Huwag matakot masaktan, ma-frustrate, mag-expect,” she said.

“Babangon ka rin naman. Andiyan ang mga kaibigan mo para bigyan ka ng pag-asa. Ang importante ma-in love. Nakaramdam ka that you care... that someone cared for you,” she added.

But when asked about kids and marriage, she said no to both.

Domingo said it would be “selfi sh” to have children at her age.

“Ayoko ng magka-baby. That’s being too selfi sh. I’m already 44. Yung lusog na meron sa akin ngayon e sa akin na lang yun. Pwede ko naman masubaybayan but it’s not my objective,” she said.

Amid having no kids or not being married at 44, the seasoned actress reiterated that she regret nothing.

Domingo said she is happy that she pri-oritized her career because she is living the life she dreamt of.

“Corny man sabihin pero masyado akong nag concentrate sa passion ko sa acting. But I am happy. Parang you’re just happy where you are. Of course I wish better health for me and my family, but I am okay. I’m happy,” she ended. (MNS)

Irma Adlawan and her teen son sur-vived a home invasion, sustaining gashes and bruises, the actress’ daughter Mara Marasigan shared on Facebook Friday af-ternoon.

According to Marasigan, a knife-wielding burglar entered their family home in Cavite around 11 p.m. Thursday night. Her brother Ben and mother, however, were able to sub-due the burglar, who was identifi ed to be a man named Ricardo Estorres.

“Ben went out to the family room at around 11 p.m. last night because he thought that he left the fan turned on. He saw a man with a bandana wrapped around his nostrils and mouth. Man took out a bali-song (a large knife), pointed it at my brother and said, huwag kang maingay,” narrated Marasigan.

“My brother attributes his next moves to watching Walking Dead- grabbed the bali-song by the hilt with his bare hand, wrestled the guy, got him in a headlock and shouted for my mom.”

“The guy bit Ben and my brother tried to bite back but couldn’t so he pushed the guy on the fl oor and hit him on the head.. My mom came out of the room and helped Ben tackle the guy.”

Marasigan’s brother Ben fought off the burglar who was wielding a balisong. Luck-ily, he only sustained bite wounds. Photo from Marasigan’s Facebook page

“My grandfather, woken up by the com-motion, came out with a gun but couldn’t fi re because the guy was wrestling with my mom and my brother. The man pleaded with my brother and my mom to stop when my mom had pinned him down on the fl oor with the knife at his neck.”

“The noise woke up our neighbors and Jun (Gretchen) called over the tanods and they rushed immediately to help my family.”

Marasigan added that the man had two other accomplices, who have yet to be iden-tifi ed and caught. She then expressed her gratitude towards those who came to help her family.

“My grandfather and my mom cannot sleep what with my 16 year old brother having to defend our family from that un-speakable evil who had every intention of killing him.”

“Dear lord, no one should have to go through that and at 16! I’m so proud of my brother, so thankful that he was there but

what I would give for him to not have gone through that.

“And my grandparents - to feel unpro-tected and vulnerable at their age and my grandpa having to pull out a gun in the mid-dle of the night - thank god that encounter didn’t cause a heart attack.”

Marasigan continued: “Pinaghihirapan po namin ang kung ano mang meron kami. Hindi kami nagnanakaw. Hindi kami nanglalamang. How dare you let them go through this traumatizing experience.”

“How dare you intrude in our home. How dare you make us feel afraid and vulnera-ble. How dare you threaten their lives. Mga hayop kayo.”

“Constant vigilance for everyone. Our house has been there since my mom was a kid and we always thought that we knew the people our neighborhood, but no one is spared,” she concluded. (MNS)

Eugene Domingo says no to kids, marriage

Eugene Domingo

Sunshine on rumors of Cesar fathering a child: ‘E di wow’

Sunshine Cruz

Irma Adlawan, teen son fi ght off armed burglar

Irma Adlawan

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Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Tuesday 2/9/2016 − Some 605,000 undocumented immigrants who live in California were granted driver’s licenses in 2015, the fi rst year they have been able to enjoy that benefit, officials said Monday.

The law known as AB60 took effect on January 2, 2015. The California De-partment of Motor Vehicles

(DMV) expects a total of about 1.4 million people will get their license under the law by late 2017.

Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed the law in October 2013 to give a legal document to the 2.5 million undocumented immigrants in California alone − most from Latin America and particularly neighboring Mexico.

California officials be-

lieve the program − which does not give license holders any US federal benefi ts − does make roads in the most populous US state safer, several state sources said.

It does not allow license holders, for example, the right to fly on airplanes inside the United States, nor does it give anyone legal residency status, the right to work or to seek a US passport.

But among the upsides are that California drivers with the document can drive legally across the entire vast United States, with-out being fined or facing fear of having their vehicle impounded. “If you can ap-prove policies that integrate immigrants, I think it’s a win-win for all people in a big state like California,” said Luis Alejo, a California Assembly.

in court papers as “D.L.”Liang “was caught on

hours of video and audio recordings selling and mar-keting his abilities to D.L. to help smuggle her out of the United States in violation of court orders, in exchange for a $6,000 fee to himself and a $1,500 to $3,000 fee for three co-conspirators that would assist him,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief fi led with the court.

The Chinese national had been designated as a mate-rial witness in the federal investigation, meaning she was subject to a court order preventing her from leaving the United States without authorization from the gov-ernment or court. Liang had represented the witness in the matter for about a month until the court removed him as attorney of record, over his objections, in April 2015.

“As an attorney and offi -cer of the court, Mr. Liang owed a heightened duty to respect and follow court

orders,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Instead Mr. Liang chose to violate those court orders, and induced others to vi-olate court orders, for his own personal profi t. Today’s sentence is a reminder of the importance of court orders and protecting the integrity of federal investigations.”

The federal investigation, which became known when authorities executed dozens of search warrants nearly a year ago, focuses on so-called birthing houses that “pro-vided services to Chinese nationals, who travelled into the United States from Chi-na, for the purpose of giving birth to children so that the children could obtain United States citizenship,” accord-ing to court documents.

Unbeknownst to Liang at the time, D.L. was cooperat-ing with federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement’s Home-land Security Investigations, who were monitoring con-

versations between Liang and the witness. Liang was arrested on May 15 by fed-eral authorities as he was walking with the witness towards his car, supposedly to begin a trip to a coffee shop in Corona, where he was going to introduce D.L. to the co-conspirators. After his arrest, Liang led agents back to his offi ce, where he returned the $6,000 he had accepted from the witness. Liang has remained in cus-tody since his arrest last spring.

According to court docu-ments, Liang provided assis-tance to two other material witnesses who fl ed to China, and to another material wit-ness who was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport onApril 15.

The investigation into the birthing houses is being con-ducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investi-gations and IRS – Criminal Investigation.

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Wednesday 2/10/2016 − Los Angeles, sometimes called the homeless capital of America, adopted a $1.87 billion plan Tuesday to help its 44,000 down-and-out people without homes.

The 10-year plan adopted by the city council, with the ambitious goal of ending LA’s growing homelessness, includes hiring social workers, offering quality housing and building permanent housing.

In addition, Los Angeles County supervisors also agreed to release $100 million over several years ($42 million in the fi rst 12 months) toward housing the homeless.

Homelessness is “the most serious humanitarian crisis confronting our county today,” said county CEO Sachi Hamai.

Plans for funding the initiatives still must be adopt-ed, with the city of Los Angeles scheduled to vote on its budget in April.

City Councilman Jose Huizar, who co-chairs the Homelessness and Poverty Committee, acknowledged that a series of past plans to reduce homelessness had failed.

Between 2013 and 2015, the number of homeless in Los Angeles County soared by 12.4 percent, with the percent of those living in the street or in their car—with-out access to emergency shelter—soaring by 85 percent.

Of the 44,000 homeless people living in the county, some 29,000 or two-thirds, sleep in the streets, tents or their cars, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

The 2008-2009 economic crisis took a hefty toll on Californians, while housing infl ation has drastically limited affordable options.

In addition, many homeless opt to live in Los Angeles due to its mild weather and social services, notably near Skid Row, where some 5,000 homeless live.

By comparison, the homeless population in New York, America’s largest metropolis, is larger at 57,000 people, but 95 percent of them live in shelters or temporary housing funded by local authorities and the state.

Los Angeles County spends around $1 billion a year on medical, psychiatric and social welfare care for its homeless, not including police expenditures.

“A real bed is much less expensive than a jail bed or a hospital bed,” Phil Ansell, director of the county’s Homeless Initiative, told the Los Angeles City Council.

Sacramento – The Cali-fornia State Board of Equal-ization (BOE) will consider lowering the excise tax rate for gasoline by 2.2 cents for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17 during its February 23, 2016 meeting in Culver City. If adopted, the excise tax rate on gas will be 27.8 cents per gallon from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. The current excise tax rate of 30 cents per gallon remains in effect until June 30, 2016.

California drivers pay two types of state taxes on gas: sales tax, which is a percentage of the price and a per-gallon excise tax. Before AB x8 6 and SB 70 – collectively referred to as the “fuel tax swap”—took effect in 2010, drivers paid the

full sales tax rate (then 8.25 percent), and an excise tax rate of 18 cents per gallon. The fuel tax swap lowered the sales tax rate on gasoline to 2.25 percent and requires the BOE to set a per-gallon excise tax rate annually be-fore March 1.

“What is probably most important to California drivers is the fact that this excise tax rate is calculated such that drivers still pay the same amount in overall taxes at the pump that they would have paid before the swap,” said BOE Chairman Jerome Horton.

In FY 2014-15, the BOE collected nearly $5.4 bil-lion in excise tax for the state’s Motor Vehicle Fuel Account, which helps pay

for highways, roads, and other public transportation projects. The sales tax on gasoline also helps fund a variety of state and local road programs.

How the rate is deter-mined

The excise tax rate takes into account a number of factors including: projected gas price, forecasted amount of gallons sold, sales tax rev-enue that would have been collected prior to the fuel tax swap, and tax revenue over- or under-collected in the prior fi scal year.

The rate ensures that over a three-year period, motorists do not pay more or less in overall gas taxes than they would have prior to the swap.

SANTA ANA, Califor-nia – An Irvine-based im-migration attorney has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for obstruct-ing justice in relation to a scheme in which he agreed to help a Chinese national fl ee from the United States after the woman had been designated as a “material witness” in a criminal in-vestigation into “birthing houses” operating in South-ern California.

Ken Zhiyi Liang, 39, of Irvine, was sentenced yes-terday afternoon by United States District Judge An-drew J. Guildford.

Liang was found guilty in September of conspiring to obstruct justice, obstructing justice, and tampering with a witness, who is referred to

By Shaun TandonN e w Y o r k , U n i t e d

States | AFP | Monday 2/8/2016 − With slogans against police brutality and celebrations of African beauty in her new song, Be-yoncé has suddenly trans-formed from crowd-pleasing entertainer to outspoken spokeswoman for the bur-geoning Black Lives Matter movement.

The 34-year-old super-star, who had been relative-ly quiet in 2015, returned in spectacular fashion Sat-urday with a surprise new song, “Formation,” marked by a video rich in political imagery and a raw bounce beat in the style of Southern hip-hop.

One day later, Beyon-cé took the message to the largest possible audi-

ence as she performed the song during the halftime show of the Super Bowl, the most watched US television broadcast of the year which drew more than 111 million viewers.

Trading her soaring vocal range for a rap delivery, Beyoncé − who is estimat-ed with her husband, rap mogul Jay Z, to be worth a combined $1 billion − takes on much of the attitude of hip-hop and boasts of her success.

But in Beyoncé ’s version, the bragging also turns po-litical as she insists that she remains true to her African American heritage.

She describes herself as a “black Bill Gates in the making” − referring to the Microsoft billionaire turned philanthropist.

“Earned all this money but they never take the country out of me / I got hot sauce in my bag, swag,” sings Beyoncé , who was born in Houston to parents from Louisiana and Ala-bama.

‘Stop shooting us’ -The video brings together

fl eeting but poignant scenes of African American strug-gles, especially the string of killings of black men by police in the past two years that have triggered the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

In the most striking im-age, a boy in a hoodie dances before a phalanx of police in riot gear. Later, the police raise their hands up like people under arrest as graf-fi ti on the wall reads, “Stop shooting us.”

Los Angeles passes $1.87-B homeless plan California grants driver’s licenses

to 605,000 undocumented

OC atty. jailed for helping witness in ‘Chinese birthing house’ probe try to fl ee from US

BOE considers lowering gasoline excise tax rate for third year in a row

Beyoncé takes US by storm with new activist role

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WASHINGTON, D.C. − Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. received yes-terday at the Philippine Embassy a high-level dele-gation from the Philippine Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) that is in the United States in con-nection with the Philippines Procurement Assistance Program under the Global Procurement Initiative of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

The Philippine delega-tion is composed of Under-secretaries Carlo Carag (Finance), Ardeliza Mede-nilla (Public Works and Highways), Analiza Rebuel-ta Teh (Environment and Natural Resources), Edwin Enrile (Interior and Local Government), Catherine Gonzales (Transportation and Communication), Raul Aguilos (Energy), Carol Yo-robe (Science and Technolo-

gy) and Rolando Tungpalan (NEDA); and other offi cials from the Departments of Budget and Management, Education, Health, Public Works and Highways, and Trade and Industry, as well as the GPPB Technical Support Office. The dele-gation is in Washington, DC on 6-10 February, and will then proceed to Boston (10-11 February), New York (11-14 February) and Los Angeles (14-17 February).

The study visit is a fol-low-up to the three-day workshop held in Septem-ber 2015 in Manila that pro-vided training to fi fty (50) public procurement offi cials from various Philippine government agencies with respect to incorporating life-cycle cost analysis and value for money elements into government procure-ment practices in order to obtain the best value for government funds and im-prove overall procurement

outcomes.Ambassador Cuisia ex-

pressed full support for the project and emphasized the importance of improving ef-fi ciency in government pro-curement during his brief remarks to the delegation.

“While the Aquino Ad-ministration has imple-mented a menu of crucial policy reforms, the in-ter-agency effort to reform the public procurement process may be one of the most critical, yet relatively underemphasized, initia-tive in ensuring bureau-cratic effi ciency while the Government gears public procurement and govern-ment spending towards attaining the best value for the Filipino people,” the Ambassador remarked.

Executive Director Den-nis S. Santiago of the GPPB Technical Support Office echoed the message of the Ambassador, reiterating his earlier statement during

the Manila workshop that, “as the Philippine econo-my further accelerates, it becomes even more crucial for government to work efficiently to support the country’s growth.”

According to USTDA, the Procurement Assistance Program will advance the Philippine Government’s 2016 agenda to reform pub-lic procurement and in-crease infrastructure spend-ing.

Andrea Lupo, Director for Global Programs at the USTDA, said, “It has been an honor for USTDA to host our partners from the Gov-ernment of the Philippines to strengthen our coopera-tion under the Global Pro-curement Initiative. Such high-level representation on this visit demonstrates the Government’s commitment to obtaining the greatest value for public funds and the best development out-comes for the citizens of the

Philippines.”In Washington, DC, the

delegation is expected to have a briefing on Best Value for Money, Innova-tions and Best Practices in Government Acquisi-tion, as well as an overview of the U.S. Procurement System. In the other cit-ies, they are expected to meet with procurement officials and to view case studies in value-based pro-curement. In Boston, the delegation will also visit MIT’s Concrete Sustain-ability Hub to hear about innovative life-cycle cost analysis models for public infrastructure projects. The USTDA Global Procure-ment Initiative (GPI) aims to educate public procure-ment offi cials about the use of best value and life-cycle cost analysis in the pro-curement process. Through the GPI, the USTDA has partnered with world-class experts from the George

Washington University Government Procurement Law Program to provide in-country workshops, ori-entation visits/study tours to the United States, and in-house procurement tech-nical advisors. Ambassador Cuisia thanked the USTDA offi cials who accompanied the Philippine delegation for the Philippines Procure-ment Assistance Program. He said that the program will promote transparency and accountability, and contribute to the sustain-ability of good governance and reform in government procurement.

“This program and visit of the GPPB delegation early on in the 70th year of Philippine-US diplomatic relations is also a clear manifestation of our dy-namic bilateral ties, and a testament to the strength of our partnership for mutual prosperity,” the Ambassa-dor added.

San Beda College Alumni Association of Southern California (SBCAASC) is having their 34th Annual Induction Ball on April 16, 2016(Saturday) to be held at Anaheim Marriott Suites located at 12015 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove, CA 92840 from 6:00 pm to midnight.

This annual event is one of their ongoing yearly event to help indigent students in the Philippines to pursue their college dreams thru their scholarship program. Every Bedan, their family and friends are all invited to their “Our Fellowship Never Ceases” formal dinner and dance night. Tickets are available at the venue or by calling the 2016 SBCAASC President Rey Castillo at (714) 749-2971.

Sponsorship and advertisement on their souvenir programs are also available. Submission of artwork and payment must be received beforeMarch 16, 2016 (Wednesday). Please contact Teddy Relatos at (818 468-2429.

PHL procurement policy makers exchange best practices with US counterparts

18-member advisory group to give voice to diverse stakeholders

Sacramento, CA, Febru-ary 11, 2016 – The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has announced the formation of the Cal-ifornia Council on Carpet Recycling (Carpet Coun-cil), an 18-member ad-visory group, selected to provide guidance to CARE on California’s carpet recy-cling efforts. The Council represents diverse stake-holders from across the state and carpet recycling industry, including carpet retailers and installers; collectors, haulers and pro-cessors of recycled carpet; manufacturers of products made from recycled carpet;

as well as non-governmen-tal organizations (NGO’s) and local government agen-cies.

”Carpet recycling, both in California and nation-ally, is a challenging and complex endeavor that needs the input and feed-back from all parties that have a stake in this emerg-ing industry. CARE wel-comes the talents, exper-tise and commitment to our goals that our Council members share and are very much looking forward to working with them,” said CARE’s Executive Director Dr. Robert Peoples.

The principal tasks of the Carpet Council will be to ensure all aspects of the product chain are tak-en into account as CARE works to increase the

amount of carpet divert-ed from landfi ll, improve waste prevention and re-use efforts, raise recycling rates and strengthen the economic viability of re-cycled carpet products, as required under the Cali-fornia Carpet Stewardship Plan (commonly referred to as AB 2398). In perform-ing this work, the Carpet Council will maximize the collaboration with the ex-isting infrastructure stake-holders, to make the Cali-fornia Carpet Stewardship Program as successful and effective as possible.

Carpet Council member Christine Flowers, Assis-tant Executive Director at the California Prod-uct Stewardship Coun-cil (CPSC), supports the effort: “CPSC applauds

CARE’s initiative to form the Council to assure great-er communication among stakeholders resulting in timely program improve-ments.”

The fi rst meeting of the California Council on Car-pet Recycling will take place on Wednesday, Feb-ruary 24th in Sacramen-to. For more information about the Council and for a full list of Council members visit www.carpetrecovery.org/carpetcouncil.

In addition to launching the Council, CARE is invit-ing feedback from all inter-ested parties at two free public stakeholder work-shops, hosted in Southern and Northern California on March 8th and 10th. For details and to register vis-it https://carpetrecovery.

CARE launches California Council on Carpet Recycling Bedans of SoCal induction April 16

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A team from Cornell Uni-versity, Ithaca, New York, USA, studied the behavior of 112 adults who didn’t fol-low any kind of restrictive diet and who managed to stay slim without any par-ticular effort, and another group of 35 adults who reg-ularly dieted, thought about food often and were highly conscious of what they ate, particularly in terms of calories.

The participants, who signed up to the study vol-untarily, answered a series of 92 questions about eating habits, exercise and daily routines.

“We wanted to see what health behaviors differed between those struggling to lose or maintain weight and the mindlessly slim,” explains Brian Wansink, the study’s co-author and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

After comparing answers from the two groups, the scientists were surprised to fi nd that those who stayed slim naturally chose strat-egies that differ from tradi-tional advice about how to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight. They real-ized that mindlessly slim

individuals tended to choose high-quality foods and cook them at home, and that they listened to their body’s inner cues in order to stay slim. Another important factor was their attitude to food, as the slim participants didn’t feel as guilty about the idea of overeating, and generally approached food and eating with enjoyment.

The questionnaire found that chicken was the favor-ite meat of 61% of the mind-lessly slim participants and that 35% had salad for lunch every day. Plus, 65% ate vegetables at dinner time, 33% didn’t drink al-

cohol and 7% were vege-tarian. For breakfast, 31% included eggs in their meal and 51% included fruit and vegetables. Fresh fruit was a favorite snack for 44% and nuts for 21%. For drinks, 37% never consumed soda, while 33% mentioned a “diet” soft drink and 25% drank regular sodas.

The study showed that exercise played a key part in the lifestyles of the mind-lessly slim, with 42% exer-cising fi ve to seven times a week, 27% exercising three to four times a week and 32% working out zero to two times a week.

American researchers have investigated how some people manage to stay slim all their lives without following strict diets and with no apparent effort. They found that the secrets of success among the “mindlessly slim” include approaching food with pleasure rather than guilt and home cooking with quality produce.

A new study has found that for some patients, im-mersion in a virtual real-ity world could help treat symptoms of depression.

To test virtual reality therapy as a possible new treatment for patients with depression, teams from UCL (University College London) and ICREA-Uni-versity of Barcelona, re-cruited 15 patients with depression aged 23 - 61. The patients were asked to wear a virtual reality headset which gave them a new per-spective from the point of view of a life-size ‘avatar’, or virtual body. The patients could see this avatar in a mirror, moving in the same way as their own body, giv-ing participants the feeling that it was in fact their own body, an experience known as ‘embodiment’.

During the study the patients were embodied in two different avatars. In the fi rst, participants were in an adult avatar, and were trained to express compas-

sion. They had to use this training to express compas-sion towards a distressed and crying virtual child, who eventually stopped crying and became calmer in response to the patient’s compassionate behavior.

So that they could then experience this compassion, the patients then switched roles and were then embod-ied in a virtual child before they saw their own adult avatar behave compassion-ately towards them.

This short, eight-minute experience was repeated with the patients three times at weekly intervals.

When there was a fol-low-up with the patients a month later, the team found that nine reported a decrease in the severity of their depressive symptoms, with four of the nine report-ing a clinically signifi cant reduction in symptoms. The researchers also saw an increase in self-com-passion and reduction in self-criticism, both common

problems in patients with depression.

Although this study shows promising results, as a small trial without a control group it does have limitations, making it dif-fi cult for the researchers to say for sure that it was the virtual reality world that was responsible for the re-duction in symptoms.

The study’s co-author Professor Mel Slater said, “We now hope to develop the technique further to conduct a larger controlled trial, so that we can confi -dently determine any clini-cal benefi t. If a substantial benefit is seen, then this therapy could have huge potential. The recent mar-keting of low-cost home vir-tual reality systems means that methods such as this could potentially be part of every home and be used on a widespread basis.”

The fi ndings were pub-lished in the journal British Journal of Psychiatry Open.

A new study has found that immersing patients in a virtual reality world could help treat patients suffering from depression. © Jochen Schoenfeld/Shutterstock.com

New study reveals the secrets of the effortlessly slim

Virtual reality therapy could help people with depression

The study, carried out by researchers at the Uni-versity of Bath, UK, looked at a possible link between breakfast, body weight and health and builds on previ-ous research as part of the three-year BBSRC-funded ‘Bath Breakfast Project’.

In this new study, re-searchers from the Uni-versity’s Department for Health split 23 partici-pants aged 21- 60 into two groups, ‘breakfasting’ and

‘fasting’. The researchers asked

the breakfasting group to eat at least 700 calories by 11 am for a six-week period.

The group could choose whatever they wanted to eat, but the first half of the calories had to be con-sumed within two hours of the participant waking up.

The fasting group how-ever could not consume anything except water un-

til at least midday. The team found that

during the day both groups consumed a similar amount of calories overall, with those who fasted compen-sating for the lack of morn-ing calories by eating more later in the day, whereas the breakfasting group ate less; however the team also found that the breakfast-ing groups participated in more physical activity in the mornings.

Eating breakfast can boost activity levels says new study

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PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Holy Spirit Thou who make me see everything and show me the way to reach

my ideal, You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that

is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short

want to be separated from You no matter how great the material desires may

be. I want to be with You and my loved ones in Your perpetual glory. Amen. A

person must pray this for three consecutive days without stating his wish. After

to publish this as soon as your favor has been granted. Joel

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TRD stands for Toyota Racing Development, and it’s a department within the company that has helped the brand break into all kinds of endurance and off-road competitions. And it’s the TRD’s expertise that ensures the new pickup can cut it, no matter how hard it’s pushed.

So the Tacoma gets tuned front springs and rear sus-pension, tuned FOX 2.5 internal Bypass shocks, a special front aluminum skid plate and its 16-inch wheels are wrapped in Kevlar-rein-forced tires.

Under the hood is a 3.5-li-ter V6 with variable valve timing that can send power to any of the four wheels as traction demands. There are a number of electronic off-roading aids including crawl control, Hill Start As-

sist Control and electronic locking differentials.

The truck also gets the Toyota Multi-terrain Select system and active traction control features found on its fl agship Land Cruiser SUV.

So that owners can take the rough with the smooth, the interior is a place of comfort with leather heat-ed sports seats, a premium sound system, smartphone connectivity and a number of active driver aids includ-ing Blind Spot Monitor and rear parking assist sonar.

The fi nal touch for off-road and endurance fanat-ics is simple integration for GoPro action cams. There’s a dedicated mount on the dashboard.

The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro will go on sale this fall, just as the weather starts to turn.

Keeping its promise to bring hybrid power and greater fuel efficiency to more cars in its range, BMW will be showcasing the 740e iPerformance, a more en-vironmentally responsible take on its high-tech fl ag-ship executive sedan, at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, taking place March 3-13.

T h e a n n o u n c e m e n t comes as the company is also preparing to reveal a fire-breathing, super-car-baiting version of the 7 -Ser ies—the M760Li

xDrive V12 -- at the same event.

And while the 6.6-liter, 592bhp executive sedan can go from 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds and on to an elec-tronically limited 250km/h (155mph) top speed, it emits 294 g/km in CO2 and re-turns 12.6 l/100 km (22.4 mpg) in terms of fuel effi -ciency in the process.

In stark contrast, the 740e iPerformance is a plug-in hybrid with just 322bhp on tap. It can ac-celerate from 0-100km/h

in 5.6 seconds. But it has a similar top speed to its V12 brethren and thanks to a hybrid system that enables the car to cover up to 25 miles (40km) just on electric power as well as stepping in to give the four-cylinder 2-litre gas engine a helping hand, the 740e boasts a fuel economy of 134.5mpg (2.1l/100km).

And it gets better. The 740e is available with the same X-Drive four wheel drive system for even great-er grip, control and fun

in the bends. Tick the op-tions box and the system shaves 0.1 seconds off that 0-100km/h time.

For those that prefer comfort, there’s also a long wheelbase version. Howev-er, both these variants will impact very slightly on fuel economy and the standard car’s CO2 emissions of 53g/km.

Regardless of variant, the battery pack powering the electric motor can be recharged from a domestic power socket in four hours.

BMW is doing everything in its power to ensure the 740e isn’t short of driving fun as well as environmen-tal responsibility. As well as full electric and comfort modes, the car has a proper ‘Sport’ setting and the fact that the company is going to start calling its hybrid mod-els ‘iPerformance’ is meant to make potential clients think of the capabilities of the i8 (BMW’s hybrid su-per sports car) rather than of making a performance sacrifi ce for the good of the

planet.The fi nishing touch is the

interior. Although BMW is yet to announce prices for the new model, owners won’t have to select many extra equipment options as the 740e will come with a host of features from satel-lite navigation to its Con-nectedDrive infotainment platform as standard.

The BMW 740e iPer-formance and the M760Li xDrive V12 will both be unveiled on March 1 at the Geneva Motor Show.

Toyota’s new pickup dares you to get it dirty

BMW plugs in to the trend for greener luxury with hybrid fl agship sedan

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FAMILY FEATURES

An ancient grain with roots that trace back as far as 8000 B.C., sorghum is seeing a resurgence as demand for non-GMO and gluten-free food grows.

Sorghum is an excellent substitute for those with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, and can be used to make both leavened and unleavened breads, various fermented and unfermented beverages

“Sorghum is light in color, has a pleasing texture and tastes similar to wheat, which makes it perfect for use in gluten-free baking,” said gluten-free expert and cookbook author Carol Fenster.

management.

gluten-free versions of some of America’s favorite foods, thanks to these recipes.

Pearled Sorghum Tangy Pear Salad

Salad: 1/2 cup cooked Nu Life Market Pearled Sorghum Grain 8 cups prepared mixed baby greens 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced 1/3 cup dried cranberriesToppings: 2 red Anjou pears, halved vertically and thinly slicedDressing: Favorite dressing or balsamic vinaigretteTo cook sorghum, a ratio of one part sorghum to four parts water should be used. In appropriate size saucepan, add water and heat until boiling. Add sorghum and allow to simmer on medium heat, stirring

minutes or until desired tenderness.Once cooked, drain water from

pan and rinse cooked grain. Allow

before adding to salad, to avoid wilted lettuce.

Toss together cooked sorghum,

cranberries in large bowl. To serve, place desired amount

of tossed lettuce mixture onto

slices and drizzle with desired amount of dressing.

Thin & Crispy Sorghum Pizza Crust

2/3 cup potato starch 4 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons xanthan gum 1/2 cup shortening 2/3 cup rice milk Olive oil Garlic powder or granules

to form ridge.

Mushroom and Garlic Pearled Sorghum

1/2 cup of Nu Life Market Pearled Sorghum Grain 2 cups vegetable stock 1/4 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup mushrooms, quartered 3–4 asparagus shoots 1/4 cup thyme, choppedBring sorghum and veggie stock to a boil and simmer for

In small skillet, over medium heat saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until tender. Add to cooked sorghum. Garnish with

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AQUINO FAILEDFrom page 1

RESOLVEDFrom page 1

BINAY HITFrom page 1

BANNED From page 1

LEAD SPLITFrom page 1

of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said each econ-omy is looking after their own interests.

“It is a (group) of coun-tries with separate national

interests. Do we profit by it? Economically, militarily, security-wise, or politically, do we benefi t from ASEAN, I don’t know,” Enrile said. (MNS)

ginagastos para maging dekalidad ang serbisyo,” Binay said.

“Tama bang pamamaha-la ‘yan, ipon ng ipon? Ang trabaho ng goberyno ay gumastos para tumaas ang serbisyo sa bayan,” Binay said.

Binay said his admin-

istration would signal the dawn of change as he vowed to provide free social ser-vices to the poor.

“Bisperas na po ng maka-buluhang pagbabago,” Binay said.

As the vice president gave out his promise of giving social services for children,

an elderly lady was heard saying: “Sige, push mo ‘yan,” before walking out.

Despite this, Binay was generally received by the crowd with a warm response, cheering for him with his ev-ery promise, especially his vow to improve the condi-tional cash transfer.(MNS)

transmission—because the “rebuilds” on the system have been successful.

“Kung may problema man, hindi natin matatapos ‘yung halalan,” he said.

“So ‘yung mock elections in itself is a proof... May mga source code kasi lahat ‘yan, so this is a positive development in respect of the glitches.”

For his part, Commis-sioner Luie Tito Guia said, “Generally, I think this is the test that will prove that, by and large, the software issues have been addressed.”

“You’ve seen the result. I mean, basically, okay naman. Of course, there are things we have to im-prove on, but the solution might be just procedural—in other words, hindi naman technical—but of course we would want to wait for the complete results of the mock elections,” he said.

Series of glitchesThe simulation involved

a total of 40 precincts in 20 sites around the Philippines.

It came at the end of the week when Comelec announced that issues were found in the trusted builds of the vote counting machine

(VCM) and canvassing con-solidation system (CCS).

The creation of CCS’s ISO image—or the “installable” part of the software—had to be repeated.

This was after connec-tivity trouble was found in the system, which in turn merited a rebuilding of the software of the EMS, con-sidered the “brains” of the automated polls as a whole.

Meanwhile, the VCM’s “threshold” for stray marks was lowered after units rejected 1 to 2 percent of ballots in a verifi cation test conducted Monday, Feb. 8.

The rebuilds forced the Comelec to put off the re-quired depositing of all three sets of codes at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from Tuesday, Feb. 9, to Friday, Feb. 12.

Asked then if putting the codes on escrow was the indicator that there were no

longer any problems, Bautis-ta said, “We have the mock elections. Let’s wait and see.” “We’re going through a process. Having issues is not something that should be feared. I think it can help us improve in terms of making sure that come election day, all systems go and clear,” he told reporters.

Guia pointed out that it was a “risk” for the poll body to push through with Satur-day’s mock elections.

“People would say the more prudent thing to do would have been to hold the test in private muna, and make sure everything is okay before you showcase it,” he said.

He added: “The idea for us is for the public to share with us their observations. They might see things that we’re not able to see. This is our elections. Ambag ambag tayo sa panukala.” (MNS)

and Mindanao.The survey asked respon-

dents to choose which can-didate they would vote for if the May elections were held today. The latest survey also showed vice-presidential candidate Marcos tied with Escudero at the top of the vice-presidential race. Both candidates now have 26% voter support in the latest SWS survey.

This is the fi rst time that Escudero has lost the lead in the vice-presidential race since the surveys were con-

ducted.The tie came after Mar-

cos’ numbers improved by one percentage point, from 25 percent in January to 26 percent in February. On the other hand, Escudero’s num-bers dipped slightly from 28 percent in January to 26 percent this month.

Three other vice-presi-dential candidates - Leni Ro-bredo, Alan Peter Cayetano and Sonny Trillanes - also showed improved numbers in the latest SWS survey.

Support for Robredo im-

proved from 17 percent in January to 19 percent in February, while Cayetano’s numbers improved from 14 percent in January to 16 per-cent in February. Trillanes’ numbers improved from 3 percent to 5 percent voter support during the same period.

Support for Sen. Gregorio Honasan, the vice-presiden-tial candidate of the United Nationalist Alliance, de-clined from 8 percent to six percent during the survey period.(MNS)

He was told to calm down. But that was when he said the F-word and that is to a commissioner, the highest offi cial of the PBA,” Marcial recalled.

Narvasa then convened a technical committee at the game’s halftime and had Johnson banned and fi ned 250,000 pesos ($5,600) even before the game was over, said Marcial.

Foreign imports are high-ly-valued in the basket-ball-crazy Philippines where they can play a dominant role in the highly-competi-

tive PBA.But Johnson, 31, had

already been in trouble, having previously been sus-pended for one game earlier this month for fi ghting with players of an opposing team.

The six-foot, eight-inch (two metre)-tall power for-ward was previously banned for life by the Korean Bas-ketball League in 2010 for making an obscene gesture at a referee and also had a controversial career in the NBA.

Johnson, who played with the Atlanta Hawks from

2011-2013, was initially defi ant over his latest ban, posting “the devil is working overtime,” and “what’s the hate against me?” on his Twitter account.

But he later appeared contrite, apologising to Nar-vasa and his fans for the incident. “Maybe he should refl ect on what happened. Maybe he should undergo anger management. It is a shame. He is a good player,” said Marcial.

Many fans expressed shock and anger over the speedy decision.

MANILA, Feb 13 (Mabu-hay) – Lauro Vizconde, the man who lost his entire family in what later came to be known as the Vizconde massacre in 1991, has died, his niece Jonah Vizconde de Luna confi rmed.

Vizconde died at 5:15 p.m. today in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Uni-health-Parañaque Hospital, where he had been confi ned

since Friday. He was rushed to the hospital following his fourth heart attack.

In June 1991, Vizconde, who was then overseas, lost his wife and two daughters. The Vizcondes were stabbed to death in their home in Parañaque. His daughter Carmela was also raped.

Several men, including former Senator Freddie Webb’s son, Hubert, were

charged for the crime. They were eventually convicted by the trial court in 2000.

The Supreme Court, how-ever, overturned the deci-sion in 2010 and acquitted all of the accused.

Vizconde was the chair-man emeritus of the Vol-unteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), a group he co-founded with Dante Jimenez in 1998.(MNS)

Lauro Vizconde dies

MANILA, Feb 13 (Mabu-hay) – Opposition kingpin Juan Ponce Enrile on Saturday labelled President Benigno Aquino III as “the worst pres-ident this country ever had”. The Senate minority leader made the statement in a me-dia forum where he gave his assessment of Oplan Exodus or the police mission that resulted

in the infamous Mamasapano encounter in January 2015. He said the mission’s failure could be laid entirely at the feet of President Aquino. “Yung mga sundalo, theirs is not to reason why, theirs is just to do and die... Who can defy a president? In this country, a president is the precipatory power. He is the head of state, head of

government, chief executive, commander in chief, and the top policeman,” Enrile said in a media forum.

“Sabi ni (Justice Secretary Leila) de Lima, walang com-mand chain ang police. Paano aandar yung kapulisan kung walang command chain? The command chain is from the chief executive,” he added.

Noynoy Aquino, the worst president of all time: Enrile