Punto!PANANAW NG MALAYANG PILIPINO!

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CITY OF SAN FERNANDO–Amid news of pigs mysteriously dropping dead

in some parts of the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured consumers yesterday that they could eat their pork and feel safe.

Amid mysteriously dying pigs, DA says safe to buy, eat pork

PRE-EMPTIVE MOVE. Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda meets Monday at the Capitol with Mayors Jun Punzalan (San Simon), Jun Tetangco (Apalit), Rene Maglanque (Candaba), and Bon Alejandrino (Arayat) and representatives of the Department of Agriculture and the Provincial Agriculture Offi ce on the necessity to set preventive measures in the wake of the reported mysterious death of pigs in areas outside Pampanga. P!"#" $% B"&' L()*"&

ANGELES CITY- This city, rising from its pru-rient reputation as Sin City spawned by Ameri-can presence at the for-mer US Air Force base at Clark, is further breaking off from such image in part by launching an ear-nest campaign to rescue minors and families ex-posed to abuse in local streets.

At least 31 homeless minors and two street families were recently rounded up by a team from the city government and brought to the care of the City Social Welfare and Development Offi ce

Breaking Sin City image, AC street kids,

families rescued(CSDWO).

Street children here have been reputed to be among the victims of the local fl esh industry that fi rst catered to American concupiscence at Clark.

The attempt to uplift the ill reputation of An-geles has been a strug-gle since the Americans abandoned Clark in 1991. The process has been arduous for the city government, as the local unoffi cial red-light district in areas along the west-ern periphery of Clark survived the Americans, as various nationalities,

GARISH. A recurring image of Angeles City in the internet is the red light district of Fields Avenue. P!"#"'+($$,/ 0+"1 2,$

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CLARK FREEPORT - Over 20,000 people, mostly students, have expressed interest to the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organiz-ing Committee (Phis-goc) to act as volunteer helpers during the 30th Southeast Asian Games

20-K SEAG volunteers ‘exceeded expectations’(SEAG).

Phisgoc said the number “exceeded ex-pectations,” even as it slated for the volunteers their fi rst meeting with them Friday at the ASE-AN Convention Center here. The meeting would pave the way for their

training as helpers in the games this yearend.

“Since the volunteers program was launched last April, 36 partner in-stitutions, mostly uni-versities and colleges in Metro Manila, Northern and Central Luzon, have partnered with Phisgoc

and committed more than 6,000 volunteers from their respective schools to join this mo-mentous sports event,” Phisgoc said in a state-ment.

It noted that “out of 20,686 who have ex-

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CLARK FREEPORT— The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) has not-ed an increase in busi-ness and career growth in this freeport as it cited 54 new locators, contrib-uting an additional work-force of 5,295, in the fi rst seven months of the year.

Clark gets 5,295 workers, 54 locators

in 7 monthsAt the recent Metro

Clark Advisory Council (MCAC) meeting here, Evangeline Tejada, CDC vice president for busi-ness enhancement and business development group, cited the said in-crease saying Clark now has a total of 1,092 loca-tors as compared with 1,038 companies at the

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BALANGA CITY – A total of 120 Chinese workers at a coal power plant in Mariveles, Bata-an have been hospitalized for dengue, Mayor Jocelyn Cas-taneda and provincial health offi cer Dr. Rosanna Buccahan said Tuesday.

Castaneda said the Chi-nese are workers at the GN Power Plant in Barangay Alas-Asin.

A staff of the community relations offi ce of GN Power Plant said those hospitalized were part of about 400 Chi-nese working in the ongoing construction of an additional plant, mostly supervisors.

Castaneda said the munic-ipal government immediately undertook cleaning and fog-ging operations in the com-pound of the coal plant.

The mayor said the 120 Chinese workers were among the 400 dengue cases with one death, a 7-year-old, re-corded in Mariveles for the pe-riod January 1-August 2019.

“Sa totoo lang, maiiwasan naman talaga ang dengue kung ang paligid ay nililin-is regularly. Considered very

Dengue downs 120 Chinese workersalarming ang dengue sa Mariveles kaya nag-order ako ng cleaning at fogging opera-tions,” Castaneda said.

Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, provincial health offi cer, said the 120 Chinese workers hos-pitalized for dengue were in-cluded in their cumulative re-port from January 1 to August 15, 2019.

She said there were two dengue outbreaks in the com-pound of GN Power – on May, 2019 with 96 cases and on July, 2019 with 24 cases.

Buccahan said in cooper-ation with the municipal gov-ernment of Mariveles, they conducted search and destroy operations, health information and fogging operation in three cycles at the coal plant com-pound

“Karamihan sa mga Chi-nese workers magagaling na. Wala nang naka-confi ne,” the provincial health offi cer said. She said all those suspected of having dengue were imme-diately brought to the Pam-panga Medical Specialist Hos-pital (PMSH) in Pampanga.

“Walang serious. Lahat ng nagkakaroon ng sintomas ng dengue ay dinadala sa PMSH.

Nag-case investigation kami sa nagkasakit na Chinese workers. Lahat ng 120 cases may pangalan. Nag-search and destroy kami sa area, na-glinis at nag 3-cycle fogging operations,” Buccahan said.

She said that based on their investigation, the sur-roundings were “somewhat dirty” and the Chinese work-ers not particular with clean-liness even to their body due perhaps to exhaustion in their work.

Buccahan noted that both Filipino and Chinese workers have their own accommoda-tions but in the Filipino quar-ters they saw no breeding places for mosquitoes and no Filipino workers got dengue.

“Itong mga Chinese upon investigation, hindi maayos ang kanilang accommodation. Nakakita kami ng mga stag-nant water na pwedeng pag-bahayan ng kiti-kiti na nagiging lamok. Pati pangangatawan siguro dahil sa pagod sa pag-tatrabaho, siguro diretso nang matutulog ng naka- boxer shorts. Mga katawan nila ex-pose sa lamok, hindi na siguro makapaglinis ng katawan da-hil sa pagod,” she said.

“Batay sa vector surveil-lance upang malaman kung may lamok na nagdadala ng dengue sa lugar, nakita na may dalawang klase ng lam-ok na present sa compound ng GN Power. Ito ang Aedes

Aegypti at Aedes Albopictus,” Buccahan said.

She said that as of Janu-ary to August 15, 2019 report, there were 989 dengue cases in Bataan, 21 percent lower than last year’s 1,252 cases.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Philippine Charity Sweep-stakes Offi ce (PCSO) in partnership with the Provin-cial Government facilitat-ed the issuance of applica-tion of fi nancial assistance to Kapampangans with health-related illnesses.

This came, as thousands of Kapampangans fl ocked their way to Bren Z Guiao Convention Center on Tues-day to apply for the Individ-ual Medical Assistance Pro-gram (IMAP) of PCSO.

Governor Dennis “Del-ta” Pineda and Vice Gov-ernor Lilia “Nanay” Pineda thanked PCSO for bringing their health programs closer to Kapampangan patients.

Health, being one of the

PCSO, Capitol extend health care services to Kapampangan patients

main priorities of his adminis-tration, Governor Delta wants to make sure that Kapampan-gans are well subsidized for their health needs not only through the aid of the provin-cial government but also with the help of other government agencies like PCSO.

Amid controversies beset-ting PCSO, Marie Louise Se-rojales, consultant to the offi ce of the PCSO General Manag-er, is positive that their agen-cy will continue its health care services for the poor.

“Our direct health care ser-vices for the poor will still be available,” Serojales shared.

IMAP is one of the fl agship programs of PCSO which is intended to provide timely fi -nancial assistance to individu-

als with health-related prob-lems.

“Through this program, benefi ciaries will be provided with specifi c amount of fi nan-cial assistance to help them pay their hospitalization, lab-oratories, dialysis, and che-motherapy bills depending on their needs,” Serojales explained.

“I really thank the provin-cial government and PCSO because without their assis-tance, my son might have died soon. I hope they will continue programs and ser-vices like this for the bene-fi t of the poor,” Erlinda Cu-nanan, 69, mother of a boy diagnosed with kidney failure said. – Luise Rutao/Pam-panga PIO

Thousands of Kapampangan patients wave their applications for the Individual Medical Assistance Program of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Offi ce at the Bren Z Guiao Convention Center. P!"#" )"3+#,*% "0 J3& J(*"/P(15(&'( PIO

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LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS -- Sa gitna ng ipinaiiral na Rice Tariffi cation Law ay dagsa ang mga magsasakang nag-bebenta ng palay sa Nation-al Food Authority sa Bulacan dahil wala na halos rice trad-ers ang namimili ng palay sa bukirin.

Ayon kay Ed Camua, as-sistant provincial manager ng NFA Bulacan, dati ay nasa 10 farmers’ cooperative ang lum-alapit sa kanila para magben-ta ng palay ngunit ngayon ay umakyat na ang bilang nito sa 50 farmers’ cooperative.

Aniya, hindi lahat ng lum-alapit ay mapagbibigyan da-hil limitado lamang ang kanil-ang nakalaang pondo para sa pagbili ng palay.

Halos hindi naman natiti-nag ang kanilang mga stock na bigas sa bodega dahil nag-ing mabagal ang bentahan ng NFA rice dahil sa dagsa ang imported rice sa merkado.

Magsasaka dagsa sa NFA para magbenta ng palay

Tinatayang nasa 200,000 bags ng NFA rice ang na-ka-stock na nakakalat ngay-on sa mga bodega sa San Mi-guel, San Ildefonso, Balagtas at Malolos.

Kapag ganito aniya ang sitwasyon ay magta-traffi c na ang mga bigas at palay sa NFA dahil mula Enero hanggang Hunyo ay umabot sa 597,139 na kaban ng palay ang nabi-li na ng ahensiya at ang tar-get nila ngayong darating na anihan ay aabot ng 295,700 kaban ng palay ang kanilang bibilin sa buong lalawigan.

Samantala, napag-ala-manan din nila na huminto sa pamimili ng palay ang mga miller at negosyante sa inter-city dahil sa dami ng dating ng imported rice sa bansa.

Hindi aniya kagandahan ang unang yugto ng imple-mentasyon ng Rice Tariffi ca-tion Law sapagkat masyadong bumaba ang halaga ng palay at kawawa na ang mga mag-sasaka.

AS PART of its commitment to promote sustainable living, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Thurs-day began its series of tree-planting activities in New Clark City.

The activity dubbed “100 Trees for 100 Days” was held 100 days before the opening of the 30th South East Asian Games (SEA Games) hosted by the Philippines, and a week before na-tional athletes transfer to the New Clark City Athletes’ Village. Clark will serve as the main hub of the biennial meet.

The fi rst batch of trees — narra, bignay and dita — were planted by participants from BCDA and its business partners, MTD, the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHIS-GOC), Capas local government unit and police, and the Philip-pine Army.

BCDA Vice President for Business Development and PHIS-GOC Deputy Director General for the Athletes’ Village Arrey Pe-rez said the event “symbolizes the planting of hope.”

“We have not come this far to only go this far. We are here because we only have 100 days to go before a major event, the SEA Games. But more than that, we gather today to plant trees for our future, especially our youth,” said Perez.

“This is part of BCDA’s legacy to do small things that will last,” he added.

BCDA Vice President for Investments Promotion and Mar-keting Atty. Joanna Eileen Capones said: “BCDA is committed to develop New Clark City consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Today’s event shows that our partners, our communities, and our stakeholders share that commitment with us. We work as one, we win as one.”

Engr. Patrick Nicholas David, president of infrastructure de-veloper MTD Clark, Inc., said the initiative will ensure that New Clark City will be truly resilient.

“This is not an afterthought. This is the fi rst area we devel-oped with BCDA to ensure there is biodiversity and a good envi-ronment in building a city,” David told the participants gathered at the New Clark City River Park amphitheater.

MTD Clark, Inc. is the local unit of Malaysian fi rm MTD Cap-ital Berhad, BCDA’s partner in constructing Phase 1A of New Clark City, which is already 96% fi nished.

New Clark City is envisioned to be the country’s fi rst smart, green and resilient metropolis.

It is also the site of the new and world-class sports complex that will be used during the SEA Games. Part of the facilities are the 20,000-seater Athletics Stadium, the 2,000-seater Aquatics Center, and the 525-bedroom Athletes’ Village. –BCDA-PA

BCDA marks 100 daysto SEAG, plants 100 trees

in New Clark City

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SM SUPERMALLS takes pride in giving its custom-ers meaningful opportunities to bond with friends and family as SM kicks off Art For Everyone 2019 on Au-gust 19 to September 1 – a selling exhibit that serves as a fun venue for artists to showcase and sell their artworks and masterpieces.

Art for Everyone 2019 celebrates artist diversity –

Art For Everyone at SM TelabastaganA curated collection of multiple artists

from budding artists, art enthusiasts, and hobbyists to renowned artists and art groups. Since 2016, the art fair has been delighting mallgoers with a refresh-ing vibe in the malls through a fun-fi lled art sale and exhibit. This year, Art for Everyone has come closer to customers in 20 malls all over the country.

Sharing a renewed vision to further promote the

local art scene and to support the upcoming Filipi-no artists, the art fair invites everyone to discover art and to also get in touch with their artistic side and cre-ativity through diff erent art pieces. Participating ex-hibitors from the youth and enthusiasts are Building Blocks International Academy, Globalart Pampanga, Guhit Pinas Pampanga and Sikhay Art Group. Oth-ers are JCI Angeles Kuliat with upcoming local artists Ann Vitug and Nelson Gonzales.

“This year, Art for Everyone will give mallgoers meaningful reasons to bond with loved ones as we bring this fun-fi lled celebration of art, creativity, and family fun moments closer to them in 20 malls across the country,” said Jonjon San Agustin, SM Super-malls SVP for marketing.

Providing more opportunities for local talents to showcase their artworks and masterpieces, SM Tela-bastagan off ers a refreshing vibe in the mall through Art for Everyone 2019 – a week-long selling exhibit participated by art enthusiasts, hobbyists, art founda-tions, and renowned and upcoming artists from Au-gust 19 to September 1.

Bond and spend time with loved ones, and cele-brate Filipino art in fun and exciting ways in select SM malls. For exclusive news about SM Supermalls, vis-it https://www.smsupermalls.com or follow SM’s offi -cial social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and get an insider access to all the fun happenings at SM Supermalls nationwide through SM’s Viber Public Chat. Tweet your thoughts, up-load and share your photos about your fun memora-ble moments at Art for Everyone, then use its offi cial hashtag #ArtForEveryoneAtSM. –Press release

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E d i t o r i a l

LLL Trimedia Coordinators, Inc.Publisher

General ManagerEditor

Marketing ManagerLayout

Circulation

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

Business & Editorial offi ce at Unit B Essel Commercial Center,McArthur Highway, Telabastagan, City of San Fernando

Tel. No. (45) 625•0244 Cel. No. 0917•481•1416puntogitnangluzon@yahoo.com or marketing@punto.com.ph

http://www.punto.com.ph

acaesar.blogspot.com

Zona Libre Bong Z. Lacson

Opinion

It has been 9 years and 9 months since the

Ampatuan Massacre.Still, No Justice.

And the culture of impunity rages on.

Serving, stillNOTWITHSTANDING THE controversy it is mired in, not the least of which is the cancellation of its STL operations, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Offi ce has not relented on its mission, aye, on its very essence for being – charity.

Only last Tuesday, hundreds of seekers of medical assistance and their kin swamped the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center to avail themselves of the PCSO’s

Individual Medical Assistance Program.“Through this program, benefi ciaries will

be provided with specifi c amount of fi nancial assistance to help them pay their hospitalization, laboratories, dialysis, and chemotherapy bills depending on their needs,” said Marie Louise Serojales, consultant to the Offi ce of the PCSO general manager.

On record, PCSO has extended P1.27 billion in fi nancial assistance to some 46,000 Capampangans to support their medical needs, including dialysis and chemotherapy from the time Gov. Lilia G. Pineda took offi ce in 2010.

And will continue, as Serojales said: “Our direct health care services for the poor will still be available.”

Pampanga though has not been only at the receiving end of PCSO charity. In 2017, the provincial government extended P20 million for the construction of a building for the PCSO provincial offi ce at the Government Center in Barangay Maimpis, City of San Fernando. Instead of braving the traffi c and then the long lines at the PCSO offi ce in Manila, the Capampangans were provided with ease and convenience in their home ground. Amor con amor se paga. Indeed, as the Nanay Gov said at the time, “what is P20 million we give back to the PCSO in return for the billions of pesos it provides for the health and well-being of the Capampangan?”

Luid ya ing PCSO!

Nation buildersTAXES BUILD nations. Hail now the nation-builders in this spot of the Republic called the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

The top business taxpayers: San Miguel Brewery, Inc. (Business Tax-

Manufacturers-Non-Essential)Toyota San Fernando Pampanga, Inc.

(Business Tax-Wholesaler, Dealer, Distributor-Non-Essential)

Star Appliances Center, Inc. (Business Tax-Retailers-Non-Essential)

UNAHCO Inc. (Business Tax-Manufacturers-Essential)

United Laboratories, Inc. (Business Tax-Wholesaler, Dealer, Distributor-Essential)

Super Value, Inc. “SM Supermarket-SM City Pampanga” (Business Tax-Retailers-Essential)

NLEX Corp. (Business Tax-Contractors & Independent Contractors)

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (Business Tax-Services)

East West Bank Corp. (Business Tax-Banking & Financial Institutions)

Josefi na T. Siy of A.A Saver’s Mart (Business Tax-Single Proprietorship)

Sally G. Go of Lison Enterprises (Business Taxpayer-New Public Market)

Marina Cunanan of Pedmar Gift Shop (Business Taxpayer-Old Public Market)

The top Real Property Taxpayers:San Miguel Brewery, Inc. (Corporation)Mr. and Mrs. Melchor and Vilma Caluag

(Individual)Recognized for their outstanding tax

contributions:Barangay Telabastagan (Top Barangay

Community Tax Collector) San Fernando Electric Light & Power

Company (Top Franchise Taxpayer)SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (Top Amusement

Taxpayer)iPremiere Builders Corp. (Highest Increase

in Tax Contribution)

At their recognition rites last week, Mayor Edwin Santiago credited the city’s taxpayers for their contribution that resulted to a whopping P1.59 billion total income collection for 2018. This, as he expressed confi dence in their continuing sense of good corporate citizenship to help the city reach its target of P1.9 billion income collection for this year.

Not exactly unlost, even to the most casual observer, was the high-profi le presence of Barangay Dolores chair and Association of Barangay Captains president Vilma Caluag, recognized along with husband Melchor, as top individual real property taxpayer. It was Ms. Caluag’s fi rst coming-out public event after her bitter loss to Mayor Santiago in the May polls.

Taxes transcending politics, all for the good of the city there. Now, were Santiago’s coterie of rich and super-rich friends as tax-conscious – we would not dare say as honest and upright – as Ms. Caluag, there would certainly be more, much more than merely P1.59 billion accruing to the city coff ers.

“As we know, taxation is the lifeblood of our nation. Kung wala ang bawat isa sa inyo, mahihirapan kaming magpa-aral, magpa-kain, magbigay ng trabaho, manggamot at maghandog ng iba’t-ibang serbisyo sa bawat Fernandino.”

Fittingly, Mayor Santiago gave due recognition to what the city and its people owe the development they currently enjoy.

As fi ttingly, the mayor, perhaps, should also give due course to those who owe the city and its people in unpaid, and underpaid taxes.

Yes, so many of big corporate names, individuals with the predilection for ostentatious display of their wealth, so conspicuously absent in the city list of top taxpayers.

Shame on them.

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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) distributed checks amounting to a total P203.14 million to adjacent lo-cal government units (LGUs) that benefi t from the semi-an-nual revenue shares from the Subic agency.

SBMA chair and admin-istrator Wilma T. Eisma re-leased the shares during a lunch meeting at the Subic Bay Yacht Club on Monday to LGU executives of Olongapo City and the towns of Subic, Castilejos, San Marcelino, and San Antonio in Zambales, and Hermosa, Morong, and Dinalupihan in Bataan.

The biggest disburse-ment went to Olongapo City with P47.24 million, followed by Subic with P31.05 million; San Marcelino, P26.34 mil-lion; Dinalupihan, P25.26 mil-lion; Hermosa, P21.15 million; Castillejos, P19.01 million; Morong, P17.65 million; and San Antonio, P17.41 million.

Monday’s releases brought the total amount received by contiguous LGUs to P2.07 Bil-

LGUs receive P203.14-M shares from SBMA

lion since February 2011 when the SBMA started directly re-leasing the revenue shares to them.

As the LGU share is de-termined according to popu-lation (50 percent), land area (25 percent), and equal shar-ing (25 percent), Olongapo, which is a highly urbanized city, always received the big-gest chunk of the shares.

The shares given in Au-gust are derived from two per-cent of the fi ve-percent gross income taxes collected from business locators in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone from Janu-ary to June each year. Shares from collections in July to De-cember are released in Febru-ary.

Eisma pointed out that the LGU shares are given to aug-ment local resources and en-able stakeholder communi-ties to carry out development projects in health, education, peace and order, and liveli-hood generation.

“This is another way by which the SBMA promotes inclusive growth in the locali-ty, aside from generating em-ployment opportunities for lo-

cal workers,” Eisma said.“While we don’t have any

means to determine how the shares are utilized, we hope that these will be used for the communities to keep pace with developments in the Subic Bay Freeport,” she add-ed.

For their part, the may-ors gave assurances that the funds would be spent to fur-ther develop their respective communities.

Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. of Olongapo said the shares he received would go for de-velopment projects that would benefi t the people of the city, while Mayor Jonathan Khon-ghun of Subic said that their share would provide for schol-arship grants to deserving res-idents of the municipality. Both are neophyte mayors who won in the recent elections.

The SBMA began releas-ing the shares directly to the LGUs, after a new tax collec-tion scheme was implement-ed in August 2010. Previous-ly, corporate taxes were remit-ted fi rst to the national govern-ment, which would then dis-tribute the LGU shares.

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Napag-uusapanLangFelix M. Garcia

Hanggang saan ang saklaw?

NANG pasimulan sa parteng San Agustin(Tulauc,) San Simon itong ‘road widening.’Na ayon sa ilang nakausap natinLahat ng sagabal ay dapat tanggalin.

Gaya ng tarpaulin na pangkubli lamangSa matinding init ng sikat ng araw,Yan ay kabilang din sa pinagtatanggalKahit di istorbo sa mga ‘pedestrians’.

(May mga iskwater na pati ang rampaAy sinakop na ng naging puesto nila,Kaya kadalasan sa mismong kalsadaNa nagdaraan kung minsan itong iba).

Kung ito’y isa nang ‘national road’ ngayonMula sa ‘McArthur highway’ ng San Simon‘Down to Duyong up to famous Baliuag town,The widening of said road is just and lawful’.

Na hayan, sa gawi r’yan ng Sto. Nino,May mga ‘shanties’ at maliit na puestoSa gilid ng daan ang giniba rito,Bilang pagsunod sa batas hinggil dito.

Buti na lang halos mga bakuran langNitong ilan nating mga kabarangayAng naapektuhan nitong kautusan,Na ang nagpatupad yata’y si Sec Villar?

Kung saan ang isyu nitong ‘road widening’Ay nagresulta sa kababayan natinNg pagkabahala lalo sa maramingMga barangay ‘folks in terms of their dwellings’

Balita kasi ay luluwagan patiMga ‘barangay roads’ at damay d’yan patiAng mga bahay n’yan kung ang sinasabiNg ilang Kapitan ay hindi ‘kuryente’.

Na diumano itong mga tatamaanNg radius na mula sa sentro ng daanAy higit sa tatlong metro ang kailangan,Tiyak halos lahat na’y maapektuhan.

Sa puntong ito ay may nakapagtanongKay ‘yours truly’ kung totoo nga itongBalita, na pati ang kalsadang nayonAy kasama sa ‘road widening’ ni Digong.

Sabi ko, di kaya nag-‘over acting’ langAng isyu hinggil sa ‘road widening’ na yan,Na ikinumpara sa ka-Maynilaan Itong mahigpit na pagpapatupad n’yan?

Na hayan, may mga punong barangay na Itong nagsabi na magbibitiw sila,Dahil sila ang tiyak na magkaproblemaSa kabarangay n’yan oras gawin nila

Ang paggiba halimbawa sa bakod n’yan,‘Terrace’ at/o kaya mismong kabahayanNg tahanang dugo’t pawis ang puhunan,Bago naitayo ay sisirain lang?

Ang dagdag tugon ko sa ‘inquiry’ nila,Baka naman ito’y sa Metro-ManilaLamang ‘applicable’ at hindi kasamaSa kautusang yan ang nasa probinsya.

Mga Mayors itong dapat magsikilosAt alamin n’yan kung pati ‘barangays roads’Kabilang talaga sa ipinag-utosNa luwangan para tayo makakilos

Tutulan ang isang bagay na di sukatIsama sa ‘drastic’ na pagapatupadNg isang bagay na di karapat-dapat,Na ipairal sa buong Pilipinas!

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ANGELES CITY – Two broth-ers from this city landed at the podium in the 23rd World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA) held in Long Beach California last July 12-21.

Kapampangan brothers Cire Josh Cuyugan, 10, and Shannon Eiji Cuyugan, 8, earned silver and bronze med-als at this year’s WCOPA.

Shannon Eiji bagged three silver medals for vocals with self-accompaniment category under contemporary, pop, and rap and another bronze for R&B/soul/jazz.

His elder brother Cire Josh bagged four bronze medals in voice with self-accompani-ment under rock, country, gos-pel, and Latin categories.

Both are students of Schoolville Academy for Young Learners.

Parents Eric and Shane Joy Cuyugan were truly proud of their sons’ achievements carrying with them an unpar-alleled experience and knowl-edge they will forever remem-ber. They vowed to continue to support their kids in building their talent and character.

Popular singer Jed Made-la is the fi rst Filipino to win the title Grand Champion of the World in 2005 while the Cer-cado Sisters, Rhap Salazar, Kim Molina and Jonalyn Viray are among the notable win-ners making waves in the Phil-ippine pop culture in this gen-eration.

Regarded as the “Olym-pics of Performing Arts” for its educational experience with $350,000 worth of scholar-ships from diff erent agencies in the US, the participants also get privileged boot camp skill practice and insider know-how prior the competition.

WCOPA 2019

AC brothers bag silver, bronze in int’l performing arts contest

The competition is judged based on junior and senior di-visions and in a variety of cat-egories from singing, dancing, acting, and modeling. Each of the categories are taught by top instructors and performers in Hollywood.

The once-in-a-lifetime op-portunity allows aspiring tal-ents to build their network and interact with the who’s who in Hollywood and a chance to

perform with the best and the fi nest.

Team Philippines was a team to beat among 72 coun-tries competing in the annual talent Olympics in the world this year.

Meanwhile, aspiring talents may check the WCOPA Team Philippines in Facebook for updates about the next com-petition, auditions and require-ments.

Shannon Eiji and Cire John with their winning medals. P!"#" )"3+#,*% "0 E+7) C3%3'(&

JOINT EYEBALL. Members and offi cers of the Toyota Innova Club of the Philippines (TICP) from Bataan, Olongapo and Pampanga, meet recently at WestStar Auto Sales & Service Centre in Guagua, Pampanga led by TICP president Jeff erson Chua (center),TICP Pampanga leader Tolyts Dimla (5th, left, front row), TICP Bataan leader Daisy Villar (3rd right , 2nd row) WestStar president Gilbert Fernandez (center). WestStar is extending benefi ts to all TICP members. C"&#+7$3#,/ 5!"#"

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F��� ���! 1

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of Spouses ALBINO E. AGUAS

and SIMEONA AYSON-AGUAS who died intestate on July 25, 1974 and September 12, 1979, respectively, both in Quezon City and DOMICIANO A. AGUAS who died intestate on August 29, 2012 in Angeles City executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement on their estate, more particularly described as two (2) parcels of land (Lot No. 1591 of the cadastral survey of Porac, Pampanga situated in Calzarang Bayu, Porac, Pampanga and Lot No. 2 of the consolidation subdivision plan (LRC) Pcs-5432 located in Manibaug, Porac, Pampanga) covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title Nos. 14000 and 51973-R in the Registry of Deeds for the Province of Pampanga, before Notary Public Van Oliver V. Mempin as per Doc No. 637, Page No. 36, Book No. III, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: August 8, 15 & 22, 2019

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of GLECERIA DUMLAO RACIMO

who died intestate on January 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement on her estate, more particularly described as Philippine National Bank savings account no. 205410034724 in the amount of One Million Fifty Four Thousand Nine Hundred & 54/100 Pesos (P1,054,900.54), before Notary Public Chelin Y. Dayrit as per Doc No. 441, Page No. 90, Book No. 107, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: August 15, 22 & 29, 2019

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of ERLINDA C. SAGUN who died

intestate on July 18, 1997 in Angeles City executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement with Waiver of Rights and Deed of Absolute Sale on her estate, more particularly described as Fourteen (14) parcels of land covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title Nos. 43774, 81318, 90545, 67746, 88783, 88641, 392528-R, 392526-R, 392527-R, 391027-R, 391028-R, 391029-R, 391031-R and 391030-R, before Notary Public Aldin C. Ayson as per Doc No. 99, Page No. 100, Book No. XIII, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: August 15, 22 & 29, 2019

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of FERDINAND M. MORALES

who died intestate on June 25, 2019 in Mabalacat City, Pampanga executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement with Waiver of Rights on his estate, more particularly described as Two (2) Bank Deposits at PNB under Savings Account Nos. 203210083177 and 203210019840; and a parcel of land (Lot 3, Blk. 8, of the subd. plan (LRC) Psd-180955, being a portion of Lot 239-C, (LRC) Pcs-181160, LRC Cad. Rec. No. 132) situated in the Barrio of Mabiga, Mun. of Mabalacat, Prov. of Pampanga and covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title No. 123677-R, before Notary Public Elizardo I. Emas as per Doc No. 18, Page No. 10, Book No. LXXXI, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: August 22, 29 & September 5, 2019

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of AIDA DAVID DE GUZMAN

who died intestate on April 13, 2011 in Angeles City executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement with Sale on her estate, more particularly described as a parcel of land (Lot I-A of the subdivision plan (LRC) Psd-167522, being a portion of Lot I, described on plan Psu-82681, LRC Rec. No. 48015) located in the Poblacion, Municipality of Bamban, Province of Tarlac and covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title No. 355577, before Notary Public Ponciano V. Dela Cruz Jr. as per Doc No. 607, Page No. 32, Book No. XIV, Series of 2019.

Punto! Central Luzon: August 22, 29 & September 5, 2019

Agriculture spokes-person Noel Reyes has issued a statement say-ing that the fatal pig ail-ment is not contagious to humans, although his agency has declined to identify the disease-cul-prit. He said, however,

Amid mysteriously dying pigs, DA says safe to buy, eat pork

pressed their interest to join the volunteers program, 14,683 ap-plied through the offi cial SEAG volunteers’ online portals, which include 2,960 foreign applicants while 6,003 were com-mitted by their respective schools.”

With the conduct of 56 sports with 530 events for this year’s SEAG, the Phisgoc needs 9,000 volunteers to assist and support the diff erent functional areas working to spearhead the suc-

20-K SEAG volunteers...cess of this highly antic-ipated sporting event.

Phisgoc chief operat-ing offi cer Ramon Suzara said that for the Metro Manila events, they need 3,150 volunteers. Clark and Subic need 2,250 and 1,980 support work-force respectively, while the other clusters will re-quire 1,620 volunteers.

Deputy director for volunteers program Chris Tiu said that the Phisgoc “is grateful and overwhelmed with the resounding support from their online applicants, partner institutions and

foreign volunteers.” “Based on our expe-

rience in the recruitment stage, we felt that the spirit of volunteerism and nationalism was real-ly very strong. We hope to sustain them during and until the end of the games on December,” said Tiu.

Tiu also reported that their team has fi nished the assessment of on-line applicants, training of trainers for Clark and Subic and Metro Manila last month.

“During the inter-views, there were appli-

cants who came as far as Marawi and Cagayan and an OFW who came from Singapore. There were teachers, com-munity workers, profes-sionals and others who brought their entire fam-ily to sign up as volun-teers,” Tiu recalled.

He added, “We hope to meet more volun-teers and anticipate to hear more heart-warm-ing stories of volunteer-ism as well as pledge to serve our country and for the success of the 30th SEAG.”

–Ding Cervantes

end of 2018.This proves that this

freeport is still the pre-ferred area for business and career growth as the number of investments and workers continue to grow, she said.

Tejada also men-tioned that more job op-portunities were made available with 122,973 employees last year, the workers in this freeport also increased to a total of 128,268 as of the fi rst semester of 2019.

Clark gets 5,295 workers, 54 locators...F��� ���! 1 She added that the

increase in the numbers of locators and workers here could be attributed to the sound economic policy of the Duterte ad-ministration since 2016.

Aside from jobs and investment generation, the MCAC, chaired by CDC president-CEO Noel F. Manankil and co-chaired by Mabala-cat City Mayor Crisosto-mo C. Garbo, also tack-led various infrastructure and other community projects.

Present during the

recent MCAC meeting were Angeles City May-or Carmelo “Pogi” Laza-tin, Jr., Capas, Tarlac Mayor Reynaldo Cat-acutan, Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Jose Antonio Fe-liciano and Porac Mayor Jaime Capil.

Meanwhile, the in-dustrial fi rms here em-ploy the biggest number of workers with 46,809 or 36.49 percent of the total number of work-ers while the information communication technol-ogy industry is the sec-ond largest with 22, 827

employees or 17.80 per-cent, followed by estate developers with 21,806, service industry with 16,317, and tourism with 10,241 employees.

Other employment contributors here are commercial, institu-tional, aviation-relat-ed, logistics, utility and agro-industrial indus-tries.

A signifi cant increase in employment genera-tion is also expected in the coming years once the New Clark City be-comes fully-operational.

almost always male, took over what the Americans left, mostly along Fields Avenue.

Over the years, some success has been not-ed to upgrade Angeles’ repute. In the internet which has become a ma-jor source of information for potential tourists de-ciding on whether to visit a place, Google now has a list of decent informa-tion on Angeles, provid-ing viewers lists of family destinations in the city.

In YouTube, how-

Breaking Sin City image, AC street kids, families rescuedF��� ���! 1 ever, the city still has a

lot of work to do as the fi rst videos to come out in the popular video site are skimpy clad girls lur-ing customers in front of their bars along Fields avenue. Most of the vid-eos were posted by for-eigners actually promot-ing the city as a place for sexual escapades.

Some have proposed that the city government, off ering attractive prizes, sponsor an annual video contest promoting Ange-les as ideal destination for families and posting these on YouTube. The

number of such videos could yet overwhelm the sex-oriented videos al-ready on YouTube, or those yet to be posted by those selling the city as sex destination.

Meanwhile, the team that rescued the 31 chil-dren and two families was composed of Mayor Car-melo Lazatin’s chief ad-viser IC Calaguas, Exec-utive Assistant IV Reina Manuel, and representa-tives from the CSWDO, the Angeles City Police Offi ce Women’s Desk, the Gender and Devel-opment Offi ce, and the

Angeles City Economic Development and Invest-ment Promotions Offi ce.

Calaguas said the children and the fami-lies would later be turned over to the Tuloy Foun-dation for continuing as-sistance.

Last August 5 and 7, Lazatin met with Tu-loy Foundation president and chair Fr. Marciano Evangelista to discuss programs for “children at risk.”

He vowed to sup-port the foundation in a bid to “rescue and em-power poor, abandoned,

abused, and neglected out-of-school children.”

The administration of Lazatin has brought obvi-ous changes, particularly in the area of old down-town where the night market along Rizal St. has vanished. That’s a convenience for access to two hospitals locat-ed along the street, but some have lamented this

because the night market had been a good attrac-tion for local folk as well as tourists.

The vendors who used to do business there are allowed to sell their wares along nearby sidewalks, also at night-time. This apparently has also spread assorted garbage in wider areas.

–Ding Cervantes

F��� ���! 1 that the disease was not the African Swine Fever which recently prompted the government to ban imports of pork and pork products from aff ected countries, including Chi-na.

“Pork being sold in our markets are safe and there is no need to worry

about contamination be-cause this will not hap-pen,” Reyes said.

He said that the gov-ernment is in control of the movement of pigs in aff ected areas amid what he termed as the “1-7-10” protocol in areas where pig deaths have been reported.

“Under this proto-col, we have quarantine checkpoints and pigs in aff ected areas are killed and buried with-in one-kilometer radius from ground zero,” he explained.

He said “inspections and monitoring are also done within seven kilo-

meters radius from af-fected sites.”

The DA has so far not only refused to identify what ailment has been causing the deaths of pigs, but also refused to give information on the aff ected areas and the number of pigs which have died.

Samples from dead pigs were brought to a European laboratory for scrutiny. Findings of these laboratories are expected in two weeks, the DA said.

The price of pork, however, has dropped since news of the fatal disease spread.

THE PHILIPPINES’ leading airline, Cebu Pacifi c (PSE: CEB), strength-ens its Cebu hub network with the launch of direct fl ights to Busuanga (Coron).

Starting October 27, 2019, CEB’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cebgo, will be fl ying twice daily between Cebu and Busuanga. The fi rst fl ight departs Mactan Cebu International Airport at 7:25am, and arrives in Francisco B. Reyes Airport at 9:00am; while its re-

CEB launches Cebu-Busuanga routeFares off ered as low as PHP299

turn fl ight leaves Busuanga at 9:20am and arrives in Cebu at 11:00am. The second fl ight leaves Cebu at 10:25am, and lands in Busuanga at 12:05pm; while its turnaround fl ight departs at 12:25pm and arrives at 2:10pm.

“We believe that these twice daily fl ights will enable residents from Cebu and other parts of Visayas and Mindan-ao to explore Palawan, without having to make the trip to Metro Manila to catch their fl ights. With this direct Cebu-Bu-

suanga route, the islands of Coron and Culion are easier to get to. This will also allow locals from the rest of Southern Luzon to easily connect to Cebu and its network of over 20 domestic and six (6) international destinations,” said Alexan-der Lao, Cebgo President and CEO.

CEB is off ering seats for as low as PHP299, base fare, from today un-til August 17, 2019, or until seats last. Travel period is from October 27, 2019 to March 28, 2020.

Aside from Cebu, CEB also oper-ates fl ights out of six other strategical-ly placed hubs in the Philippines: Ma-

nila, Clark, Kalibo, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. The airline’s exten-sive network covers over 100 routes and 64 destinations, spanning Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and USA.

For bookings and inquiries, guests can visit www.cebupacifi cair.com or call the reservation hotlines (+632)7020-888 or (+6332)230-8888. The latest seat sales can be found on CEB’s offi cial Twitter (@CebuPacifi c-Air) and Facebook pages.

Guests may also download the Cebu Pacifi c offi cial mobile app on the App Store and Google Play.

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SpotlightArci Pineda

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESREGIONAL TRIAL COURTTHIRD JUDICIAL REGION

BRANCH 58ANGELES CITY

IN THE MATTER OF PETITION WITH CORRECTION OF ENTRIES 1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 20a and 20b, IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF MINOR KURT GAVYN SOTTO, UNDER REGISTRY NO. 2015-2863, DULY REGISTERED WITH CIVIL REGISTRY OF ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA, WITH CHANGE OF NAME FROM KURT GAVYN SOTTO TO KURT GAVYN SOTTO SAMIA, AND/OR FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT/ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY,

R-ANG-19-02342-SPJEANETTE SOTTO SAMIA and RICKETSGIE SALUNGA SAMIA, both in behalf of their minor child, KURT GAVYN SOTTO,Petitioners,

-vs-

OFFICE OF THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA, OFFICE OF THE CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL OF MANILA, PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY, OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL,Respondents.

x-----------------------------------------xORDER

In their verifi ed Petition dated July 3, 2019, petitioners Jeanette Sotto Samia and Ricketsgie Salunga Sotto, both in behalf of their minor child Kurt Gavyn Sotto, pray that after due notices and hearings, a Decision be issued to wit:

a. To declare the subject minor Kurt Gavyn Sotto, as the legitimate child of petitioners Jeanette S. Sotto-Samia and Ricketsgie Salunga Samia;

b. To declare petitioner Ricketsgie Salunga Samia as the biological and legitimate father of the subject minor Kurt Gavyn Sotto and for the latter to adopt and follow the surname of the petitioner Ricketsgie Salunga Samia;

c. To order the Local Civil Registrar of Angeles City, Pampanga to correct and change the Certifi cate of Live Birth No. 2015-2863, under the following entries:a. Under Entry No. 1, the “Name” of the child as Kurt Gavyn Sotto,

which should be Kurt Gavyn Sotto Samia.b. Under Entry No. 14, “Name of Father” as “__”, which should be

Ricketsgie Salunga Samia.c. Under Entry No. 15, the “Citizenship” of father as “__”, which should

be Filipino.d. Under Entry No. 16, the “Religion/Religious Sect” of the father,

stated as “__”, which should be Roman Catholic.e. Under Entry No. 17, the “Occupation of the Father”, stated as “__”,

which should be Factory worker.f. Under Entry No. 18, the “Age of Father”, stated as “__”, which

should be 29.g. Under Entry No. 19, the “Residence of Father”, stated as “__”,

which should be Purok 5, Baliti, City of San Fernando, Pampanga.h. Under Entry No. 20a, the “Date of Marriage of Parents”, stated as

“Not Married”, which should be March 27, 2010.i. Under Entry No. 20b, the “Place of Marriage of Parents”, stated as

“N/A”, which should be City of San Fernando, Pampanga.d. To Order the Offi ce of the Civil Registrar General of Manila and

Philippine Statistics Authority to annotate and correct entries nos. 1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 20a and 20b for the Certifi cate of Live Birth of minor Kurt Gavyn Sotto, under Registry No. 2015-2863;

e. To order the Philippine Statistics Authority to annotate the afore-cited decision on its records.

Petitioners state that minor Kurt Gavyn Sotto was born on March 11, 2015 at Angeles City, Pampanga. Petitioners entered marital union on March 27, 2010. When Kurt was born, his parents had marital disputes. Due to ignorance, mistake and lack of legal knowledge, petitioner Jeanette inadvertently failed to put the name and details of the father, and the facts of their marriage in the Certifi cate of Live Birth of Kurt. The child already learned his name as “Kurt Gavyn Samia” and not “Kurt Gavyn Sotto”, thus it will be gross misunderstanding to the child if he will still be using the surname of his mother “Sotto”. Petitioner Ricketsgie acknowledges Kurt as his natural and legitimate child per his Affi davit of Acknowledgment of Paternity and Authorization to use Surname of Father dated January 21, 2019. Also, petitioners are already married when Kurt was conceived and born. Therefore, his last name should follow his father’s surname.

Petitioners have three (3) other children, all full blooded brothers and sisters of Kurt, namely: Ivan Kentz Sotto Samia, born on March 23, 2009, Kaeden Thea Sotto Samia, born on May 21, 2010, and Evander Kenjea Sotto Samia, born on September 24, 2018. It will be gross injustice for Kurt to have diff erent surnames from his full blood siblings.

Petitioners attempted in good faith to submit the same Affi davit of Acknowledgment of Paternity and Authorization to use Surname of Father to the Offi ce of the Local Civil Registry of Angeles City, but they were told that a court action is necessary to annotate changes on the entries, since the parents are married when the subject child was born, and this is a simple correction of entries and not an entry of legitimation.

Petitioners intends to maintain and use the name “Kurt Gavyn Sotto Samia” and prays to correct the entries in the Certifi cate of Live Birth, and place the correct and truthful information, specifi cally his fi rst and last name, the information pertaining to child’s biological father, and the information pertaining to the marriage of the parents.

There is an urgent need to correct entry nos. 1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20a and 20b in the Certifi cate of Live Birth of minor Kurt Gavyn Sotto under Registry No. 2015-2863, issued by the Local Civil Registrar of Angeles City for purposes of setting the record straight and avoid confusion as well as possible problems in the future concerning the child’s rights as a legitimate child and his legal and school records.

Petitioners have not been convicted nor charged of any crime or violation of law, ordinance or regulation before any court or administrative agencies of the government, and have not instituted this Petition for any unlawful purposes.

Finding the Petition to be suffi cient in form and substance, the Court hereby sets the case for hearing on August 28, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Any person interested in this Petition is hereby ordered to appear on said date and time before this Court and to show cause, if any, why the Petition should not be granted. The next setting thereafter will be on September 18, 2019 at 8:30 a.m.

The petitioners, at their expense, are hereby ordered to cause the publication of this Order once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Province of Pampanga and Angeles City in accordance with P.D. 1702 before the date of hearing.

Petitioners are likewise ordered to serve copies of the Petition and its annexes upon the Offi ce of the Solicitor General, the Philippine Statistics Authority, and the City Civil Registrar of Angeles City, within seventy-two (72) hours from receipt of this Order.

Let copies of this Order be furnished to the petitioners and their counsel; to the Offi ce of the Solicitor General; the City Civil Registrar of Angeles City; the Offi ce of the City Prosecutor of Angeles City; and the Philippine Statistics Authority.

SO ORDERED.Angeles City, July 31, 2019.

IRINEO P. PANGILINAN, JR. Judge

cc: 1. Atty. Junald S. Dionaldo 2. City Civil Registrar of Angeles City 3. Philippine Statistics Authority

Punto! Central Luzon: August 15, 22 & 29 , 2019

Derek Ramsay and Andrea Torres: Are they officially on?

DEREK RAMSAY speaks about his mom’s fi rst impression of Andrea Torres: “At fi rst, I was worried introducing her. And my mom goes, ‘Wow, I like this girl. She has breeding.’”Derek and Andrea are teamed up in GMA’s “The Better Woman”“Approve ni Mommy,”“Mommy likes her. It’s the fi rst time na nagpakilala ako ng girl sa mom ko na my mom felt positive.”However, the actor stressed that it doesn’t mean her mom

disapproves of her ex-girlfriends.“My mom had to size them up. Yung iba kasi minsan nahihiya.“Because my mom has a really strong personality.“You’ve met my mom. Her appearance can scare you, e.“Hindi plastic yung tao na yun, e. Kung ayaw niya sa

iyo, mararamdaman mo talagang ayaw niya.“Kung gusto ka niya, mararamdaman mong gusto ka

niya.”In Andre’as case, the actress easily got along with

Derek’s mom.“Siya yung nag-eff ort, e,” ani Derek sa pagiging

likas na pagiging magiliw raw ni Andrea.“And fi rst time na... At fi rst, I was worried

introducing her.“And my mom goes, ‘Wow, I like this girl. She

has breeding.’ Gumanun pa siya.”“Whoa! I didn’t expect that.” “But natuwa ako na she likes her.”Derek admits that her mom and Andrea’s

parents have already met.“Yes, my parents have met her

parents,”In his tone, Derek assumes Andre’as

parents likes him too.“My parents invited her parents to

my dad’s birthday, my dad’s 76th birthday.”

Aside from being with the Ramsay’s family aff air, andrea also attended the World Flying Disk Federation 2019 Asia Oceanic Ultimate & Guts Championships in Shanghai, China - were the actor is an active member.

“We’re super close. She came with me to Shanghai. She supported me in Shangai,”

“Pinag-uusapan namin sa set na she’s never seen Frisbee.

“Then I asked her, ‘Gusto mo sumama? Shanghai? You’ll see Frisbee at the highest level ‘cause that’s the Asian championships.’

“So she came, she’s never been to Shanghai.”

It is Derek and Andrea’s fi rst out-of-the-country trip.

“Di ko siya naikot. Sabi ko, ‘Sorry.’“Because talagang we play three games

a day. It’s a hundred-minute long, so we’re there the entire day.

“If we’re going to survive to do it again the next day, talagang pahinga.

“So, we were there fi ve days. Five days ang competition. We fi nished fourth in Asia.”

Andrea hasn’t seen much on that trip, but Derek confesses that he’s so rpoud of her being that supportive.

“And ang galing niya! Wala siyang kaeme-eme.

“Kasi bipolar yung weather there, e. It was hot, it was raining...

“Walang payong... nakatutok lang talaga siya.”

If they’re this close, would Derek consider that they are now offi cially on?

“Hahaha! Ayoko i-jinx. Let’s take it slow,”But the actor professes his admiration towards

Andrea.“She’s a great woman. She’s a very talented

actress and an even better human being.”“She gives so much value to her family.”“Her mom is always on the set. Natutuwa ako dun

because you know how important family is to me.“So, it’s nice to see that she really values family.”“At the same time, bonus, she’s beautiful.”Derek fi rst met Andrea at the GMA station ID shoot in april

2019.At that time Derek was still in a relationship with his long time

girlfriend Joanne Villablanca.But after almost a couple of months, both have decided to end

their relationship.Then in June 9, Joanne posted in her Instagram account a

cryptic message. Implying of a third party involved.On the other hand, Derek did not comment on that. All he said

was the relationship had to end that way.

Andrea Torres

PUNTO! CENTRAL LUZON • AUGUST 22 - 24, 2019 • THURSDAY - SATURDAY

8