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Bill seeks marshal protection of judges

A CONGRESSMAN has filed a bill that seeks to create an office for marshal services to protect judges, according to an emailed statement from the author’s office.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny T. Pimentel filed House Bill 5403, which will create the Office of Philippine Marshals under the Supreme Court, according to the statement.

The measure is in line with Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta’s plan to boost the protection of judges.

Improving security of judges, justices and halls of justice is part of Mr. Peralta’s 10-point agenda. He wants to create a security system patterned after the United States Marshals.

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Tagudin, Ilocos Sur regional trial court Judge Mario Anacleto Bañez, the 31st judge killed in the line of service since 1999.

“Right now, every active judge is a sitting duck with absolutely no protection whatsoever against potential attacks,” Mr. Pimentel said in the statement.

The bill is a “very important first step” in the creation of a Judiciary Marshal Service, high court spokesman Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka said in a mobile-phone message.

“We do hope that this initiative continues to gain traction until a law is eventually passed at the soonest time possible,” he said.

“It goes without saying that when we protect our magistrates, we also protect the rule of law. We thank our lawmakers for their prompt action on this matter,” he added.

Under the bill, the chief justice will appoint a director who will lead the marshal service. Marshals must be holders of a bachelor’s degree, at least 21 years old and not older than 35, and undergo training at the Philippine Public Safety College.

They will serve as “peace officers” and may conduct arrests, searches and seizures, and investigate and fight crimes against judges.

There are 2,561 trial judges in the country, 15 Supreme Court justices, 70 from the Court of Appeals, and nine justices from the Court of Tax Appeals, according to the statement, citing the 2019 General Appropriations Act. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Russians interested in Filipino language

RUSSIAN schools are looking for Filipino language programs for its citizens, Honorary Consul Armi Lopez-Garcia of the Russian Federation said.

Officials from the academic institutions will come to Manila this month to present their proposals, she said in an interview last week. They will also visit Cebu and Davao.

Ms. Garcia said more Russians are becoming more interested in Filipino given closer ties between the two countries.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte visited Russia last month and witnessed the signing of 10 business deals worth about $12.57 million. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Wider Bangsamoro coverage targeted in 2nd round of polio vaccination

HEALTH AUTHORITIES are targeting a wider coverage in Mindanao, especially in the Bangsamoro region, for the second round of the polio vaccination program on Nov. 25 to Dec. 7. The first round was conducted Oct. 14–27 covering Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, Davao del Sur, and Davao City. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the Philippines, said they are expecting more challenges in the second round, particularly in terms of reaching remote areas. “Because these areas are sometimes difficult to access,” he said in a media forum last week. He stressed, however, that they are determined to have as wide a coverage as possible. “If children are unprotected, we could possibly see a resurgence of polio. So if you want to break this transmission, we have to work to very high coverage and this can be only achieved if all of other partners join hands together,” he said. The vaccination program is being implemented by the Department of Health (DoH) with support from WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Mr. Abeyasinghe added that to achieve high coverage, the local government units (LGUs) must also implement a monthly vaccination program. For the long term, LGUs need to be at the forefront of a routine immunization program. “The ultimate aim is to restore every high level of coverage in the campaign,” he said.

95% COVERAGE
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III also called for assistance from the Philippine Pediatric Society chapters in Mindanao. “For high coverage in Mindanao, 95% of children need to be vaccinated… In some areas in Mindanao like BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)… we saw a very poor implementation of the campaign,” Mr. Duque said. Four polio cases in the country have been confirmed by the DoH, after almost two decades of being free from the disease. Three of these are in Mindanao, with the first two in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, while the third was not specified where. The other was in Laguna in Luzon. — Maya M. Padillo

PAGASA warns against another ‘fake news’ on super typhoon

WEATHER BUREAU PAGASA on Sunday warned the public against social media posts indicating that the low pressure area (LPA) east of the Visayas is expected to develop into a super typhoon. “There is no truth to this. This is considered as fake news,” PAGASA Weather Specialist Benison Estareja said during the 11 a.m. update for the current typhoon, Ramon (international name: Kalamaegi). A similar post circulated on social media days before Ramon, now categorized as a tropical cyclone from a tropical storm, entered the Philippine area. Mr. Estareja appealed against sharing and “liking” such posts, which he said do not come from the government weather agency. The LPA, located 2,420 kilometers (km) east of the central islands as of Sunday morning, is being monitored by PAGASA and it is likely to strengthen into another typhoon when it enters the Philippine area by Tuesday. Based on PAGASA’s typhoon name list for the year, it will be called Sarah.

LANDFALL
Meanwhile, tropical cyclone Ramon was almost stationary over the weekend and remained over sea. It is forecasted to make landfall by Tuesday in the northeastern part of Cagayan province. As of Sunday, typhoon wind signal #1 was up in Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, and the northern portion of Aurora covering Dilasag, Casiguran, and Dinalungan. Mr. Estareja said the tropical cyclone is expected to be 250 km west of Dagupan City, Pangasinan by Wednesday and out of the Philippine area by Thursday. On Monday, light to moderate with occasional heavy rains are expected over Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, Kalinga and Ilocos Norte. Light to moderate with intermittent heavy rains could be experienced over the Babuyan Islands, Abra, Ifugao, Mt. Province, Northern Aurora, and Quirino.

EVACUATION
As of noon Sunday, 98 people have moved to two evacuation centers in the Cagayan Valley Region, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Regional and city/municipal response teams remain on full alert for possible flooding and landslides. Sea travel, especially for small vessels, remains “risky” in the areas under wind signal #1 as well as the seaboards of northern Luzon, and eastern part of central and southern Luzon.

Iloilo City aims for UNESCO Creative City tag under food category

ILOILO CITY is aiming to be part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network — joining Baguio and Cebu, the only two Philippine cities in the group — through the food category. Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the Creative City tag would be part of the campaign to boost tourism. “If we will be identified by UNESCO, for our food, I don’t know if we will also be identified by architectural, probably we get to have more people visit Iloilo,” he said in an interview last week. The mayor was scheduled to hold meetings in Manila over the weekend to gather advice and information for what he described as a new “journey” for the title. “It’s going to be long and tedious process, but this will be another feather on the cap of Iloilo City. And I think everyone is working together to make sure that we achieve our goals,” he said. Meanwhile, the city government is also looking at a branding campaign, which will be bid out. IPG Mediabrands Philippines are among those tapped to come up with a proposal. “We’re here to study and to have immersion on what Iloilo can offer on its tourism segments, we know that you have Dinagyang (Festival) and half of tourist arrivals come from Dinagyang, but… you have to make them come for the whole year to be a successful brand,” said IPG Mediabrands Philippines Chief Executive Officer Venus Peralta during a visit last Thursday. Mr. Treñas said the branding is part of efforts to complement the regional tourism sector’s campaign to make Iloilo a preferred destination for the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibits (MICE) segment. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

10 tons collected from Iligan City bridge trash nets

MORE THAN 10 tons of household trash have so far been collected at the trash nets installed under two bridges in Iligan City in June, the Department of Public Works and Highways-Northern Mindanao (DPWH-10) office reported on Saturday. About 90% of the collected garbage consists of plastic bottles, food packaging, discarded clothing, and magazines. The rest are organic materials like leaves and small pieces of old furniture. The trash net system was installed to prevent domestic garbage from reaching Iligan Bay, one of the most important fishing grounds in southern Philippines. DPWH, in a statement, said “illegal fishing and the effects of burgeoning coastal communities” have contributed to the steady decline in marine catch. “We hope to stem the tide and restore back the abundance of our local fishing grounds. We feel that by protecting Iligan Bay from domestic garbage, we are moving towards the right direction,” said OIC-District Engineer Alykhan Ali of the DPWH-Lanao del Norte 2nd District Engineering Office. The trash nets are installed underneath bridges in Barangays Tibanga and Tubod.

ICT-Davao to ink deal with Amazon, SAS Technology for training

ICT-Davao, Inc., the information and communication technology umbrella group in Davao Region, is teaming up with technology firms SAS and Amazon.com, Inc. to help “re-tool” local professionals. ICT-Davao President Samuel R. Matunog said the memorandum of understanding will be signed during the LiveX 2019 (Innovation Summit 2019 and 5th Mindanao ICT Cluster Conference) on Nov. 18 to 19 at the Marco Polo Davao. “We will be signing an agreement to train our professionals on artificial intelligence, data and analytics with some of the most respected and well-known companies in the world. We are talking with SAS Technologies, the number one analytics and business intelligence platform in the world… Hopefully with the partnership with them and we can train some of you (media) to become data analysts. We are also looking forward with same arrangement with Amazon for cloud computing,” he said during last week’s Habi at Kape forum. Representatives of SAS Technologies and Amazon will be speaking during the LiveX 2019, which will also be participated in by the ICT councils around Mindanao. “We have over 20 ICT councils organized in urban centers in the whole island and will be complemented by the friends from Malaysia and Indonesia,” Mr. Matunog said. — Maya M. Padillo

MinDA TienDA to serve as livelihood development program for earthquake victims

THE MINDANAO Development Authority (MinDA) will expand the MinDA Tienda project into a livelihood development program for those affected by the series of earthquakes last October in parts of Mindanao. The Tienda project was initially rolled out in Makilala, Cotabato and Bansalan, Davao del Sur as temporary retail outlets for fresh and dry goods to give earthquake-affected residents easier access to supplies. MinDA, in a statement over the weekend, said they will be holding capacity-building and financial management trainings for the earthquake victims to help them set up livelihood projects. “After their capability trainings… they will be organized into associations and cooperatives, MinDA TienDA outlets will be established on the first quarter of 2020 in all earthquake affected areas which would be owned and managed by the victims themselves,” MinDA Chair Emmanuel F. Piñol said. MinDA is also looking for partners that will help provide funding for the outlets. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Rain or Shine remains in the hunt for QF spot

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are not about done with their Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup campaign, staying in the hunt for a quarterfinal spot after defeating the Meralco Bolts, 83-81, in their final game of the elimination round on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Needing to win to stay alive in the race entering the contest, the Elasto Painters did just that with a strong finishing effort in the game en route to outlasting the Bolts.

The win pushed Rain or Shine to a 4-7 record, still in the mix for the two remaining seats in the next round of the season-ending PBA conference.

Rain or Shine was now awaiting the outcome of the game later in the day between the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (7-3) and Northport Batang Pier (4-6) to have a clearer picture of its playoff fate.

It was a tight affair to begin the game with both teams looking to establish the tone for their respective thrusts.

Rain or Shine was slightly ahead at the end of the first quarter, 23-21, before the Bolts turned the tables around in the second canto, up, 42-41, at the halftime break.

In the third period, Meralco created some separation on the lead of Baser Amer and import Allen Durham.

The Bolts outscored the Elasto Painters, 24-13, to build a 12-point lead, 66-54, with 2:57 left in the frame.

Rain or Shine though would manage to narrow the gap to nine points, 69-60, heading into the final canto.

It picked up where it left off in the third, opening the final quarter with 11 straight points on the lead of import Richard Ross and Mark Borboran and overtaking the Bolts, 71-69, with six minutes to play.

The two teams went back-and-forth after, fighting to an 80-77 count, with Rain or Shine up, entering the last two minutes.

Rey Nambatac made it a five-point lead, 82-77, for the Elasto Painters with a floater in the paint with 1:28 left.

But the Bolts were not to allow Rain or Shine to just run away with the win, pushing themselves to within a point, 82-81, with 47 seconds left on buckets of Mr. Durham and Raymond Almazan.

They, however, could not complete the fight back as a split charity by Jewel Ponferrada to make it a two-point lead, 83-81, for Rain or Shine with 34 seconds to play proved to be enough to preserve the win for the Elasto Painters.

Mr. Ross led Rain or Shine with 26 points and 12 rebounds, with Mr. Nambatac coming up with 24 markers of his own.

For Meralco (8-3), it was Mr. Durham who showed the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds, followed by Messrs. Amer and Almazan with 18 points each.

Despite the loss, the Bolts are safe through the quarterfinals with a twice-to-beat advantage to boot.

Harden scores 49, carrying battered Rockets by Wolves

LOS ANGELES — James Harden recorded his fifth 40-plus point scoring effort during the Houston Rockets’ seven-game winning streak, posting 49 in a 125-105 victory over the host Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

Hamstrung by a roster depleted by injuries, Harden took a career-high 41 shot attempts. He finished 8 of 22 on 3-pointers and added five rebounds and six assists over 39 minutes.

A trio of guards provided Harden support offensively. Ben McLemore followed his 21-point performance Friday against Indiana with 20 points, including a pair of free throws with 1:29 left in the third quarter that gave the Rockets their first double-digit lead at 89-79.

Austin Rivers and Chris Clemons scored 19 points apiece for the Rockets, who also received a career-best 16 rebounds from center Isaiah Hartenstein. Houston shot 19 of 49 on 3-pointers.

The Timberwolves led by as many as 11 points in the first half but struggled to contain Harden. They also missed the production of their second-leading scorer, forward Andrew Wiggins, who missed his second consecutive game (personal reasons).

Karl-Anthony Towns paired 27 points with 15 rebounds to pace the Timberwolves, while Jake Layman scored 21 on 9-of-14 shooting. Robert Covington chipped in 17 points, while rookie Jarrett Culver added 13 points, all in the first half.

With the Rockets missing their second- (Russell Westbrook), third- (Clint Capela), fourth- (Danuel House Jr.) and fifth-leading scorers (Eric Gordon), Harden asserted himself offensively from the opening tip, hoisting 17 first-quarter shots to keep Houston afloat. Harden started the game 1 for 6 from the floor but went 6 of 11 down the stretch and tallied 18 points in the period, as the Rockets shot 6 of 12 from behind the arc and eked out a 31-30 advantage.

Clemons teamed with Harden to score all 13 points in a 13-3 Houston run that erased most of the Timberwolves’ 21-10 lead. Clemons, an undrafted rookie out of Campbell, matched his career high of 16 points by the intermission. With Harden producing 30 points by the break, that duo was able to offset Towns’ 18 points and the combined 24 points from Culver and Layman to lead 64-62.

HEAT STAY UNDEFEATED AT HOME
Rookie Kendrick Nunn scored 22 points as the Miami Heat stayed undefeated at home by beating the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 109-94 on Saturday night.

Bam Adebayo added 18 points and 14 rebounds, Jimmy Butler had 16 points and 13 assists, Duncan Robinson scored 15 points, Kelly Olynyk had 13 points and Tyler Herro 12 as the Heat won for the fifth time in as many home games.

Rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Pelicans, who have just three wins this season but defeated the Clippers in their last game Thursday night, with 27 points. E’Twaun Moore added 18 points, Jrue Holiday had 14 points, rookie Jaxson Hayes 12 and Nicolo Melli 10.

The Pelicans stayed in the game until midway through the fourth quarter primarily by making 3-pointers, finishing with 16. But the Heat enjoyed a 46-31 rebounding advantage.

New Orleans, beginning a set of back-to back games that ends with a home game against Golden State on Sunday, played without five of their top seven scorers, including leading scorer Brandon Ingram and third-leading scorer JJ Redick, because of injury.

The Heat led by five points at halftime, but the Pelicans pulled even at 61 on two free throws by Moore midway through the third quarter.

But Butler scored five points during a 9-0 run that gave Miami some breathing room.

Alexander-Walker’s basket stopped the run, but Robinson’s 3-pointer helped the Heat take a 78-65 lead after three quarters.

New Orleans made five 3-pointers as it trimmed the deficit to 88-83 early in the fourth quarter.

Olynyk’s 3-pointer completed a 10-point run that pushed the Heat’s advantage to 15 with less than five minutes remaining.

Nunn scored nine points and Chris Silva had the final six as the Heat took a 29-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.

MCCOLLUM HELPS BLAZERS AVOID DISASTROUS COLLAPSE
CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Hassan Whiteside added 21 points and 12 rebounds as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers built a huge early lead, gave it all back and more, but then rallied for a 121-116 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in a wild, back-and-forth game in the Alamo City.

San Antonio trailed by as many as 20 in the first quarter and 23 in the second, but rallied to take the lead in the third and lead by as many as 15 three minutes into the fourth quarter. Portland came back to tie game at 111 after a putback layup by McCollum with 2:26 to play.

The Trail Blazers were the better team down the stretch, outscoring San Antonio 10-5 in the final two minutes to snap a two-game losing streak.

Damian Lillard added 22 points for the Trail Blazers (5-8) and Rodney Hood hit for 16 points in the win.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs (5-8) with 30 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.

Bryn Forbes scored 17 points, Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan added 16 each, Patty Mills pumped in 11 points and Derrick White scored 10 for San Antonio, which has lost five straight games.

The Trail Blazers took charge in the first quarter, shooting 76 percent from the floor (and 7 of 11 from beyond the arc) while building a 41-23 lead after the first 12 minutes. It was the most points allowed by the Spurs in any quarter this season.

San Antonio forged an 18-4 run in the second quarter to claw back to within single digits, at 50-41, with 6:53 left in the period. Portland settled for a 66-58 lead at halftime as McCollum racked up 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Whiteside added 10.

Aldridge paced the Spurs with 13 points in the first two quarters, while Forbes hit for 10.

San Antonio, which has lost eight of its past 10 games after a 3-0 start, now head out on a four-game road trip. — Reuters

Ceres-Negros FC caps stellar season with Copa Paulino Alcantara title

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

CERES-Negros FC further underscored its standing as the gold standard in local club football by adding the Copa Paulino Alcantara title to its every growing trophy case.

Won its third straight Philippines Football League title in October, Ceres completed a season double by winning the Cup with a 2-1 victory over erstwhile defending champion Kaya FC-Iloilo in the finals on Saturday at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.

Robert Lopez Mendy and Tristan Robles provided the goals early for the “Busmen” and Kaya just could not recover from them.

Mr. Mendy struck in the 30th minute of the contest, turning a cross from James Younghusband to a goal for a 1-0 lead for Ceres, which took the cushion at the break.

In the second half, Ceres beat Kaya anew for the first goal as Mr. Robles converted in the 68th minute for a 2-0 lead.

Kaya tried to make up for lost ground the rest of the way, coming to within a point, 2-1, after Kenshiro Daniels found the bottom of the net in the 85th minute.

That was the closest it would get though as Ceres held on and brought home the win for the remainder of the time.

“To win the double is just fantastic. We were some players down because of the international break but we’re just happy that we won. I’m just proud of the team,” said Mr. Younghusband, who was at the losing end of the Copa finals last year as a member of Davao Aguilas FC.

Ceres played sans some key personnel, namely, Carli De Murga, Sean Patrick Kane, Mike Ott, Stephan Schrock and OJ Porteria, who are with the Philippine Azkals competing in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

Despite the loss, Kaya still kept its spot in the AFC Cup as the PFL’s second-placed team.

Filipino Jeremy Miado KO’s Chinese foe at ONE: Age of Dragons

FILIPINO strawweight fighter Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado made it a successful foray in China as he notched an impressive first-round knockout victory by flying knee over hometown bet Miao Li Tao at ONE Championship’s “Age of Dragons” live event on Saturday in Beijing.

Had early traction in the contest, Mr. Miado just did not relent in his attack on his way to the devastating victory that swung him back to the winning track and improved his record to nine wins as against four defeats.

The win also averted for the Philippines a shutout after featherweight Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly and strawweight Ramon “The Bicolano” Gonzales fell by unanimous decision to their respective opponents earlier in the event held at the Cadillac Arena.

Mr. Miado had Mr. Miao in trouble early, catching him in a deep armbar.

But the Chinese was able to power his way out of the submission attempt and pressed Miado across the ring. As Mr. Miao was about to shoot for a double leg, the Filipino unleashed the flying knee, catching his opponent coming in for maximum impact.

Mr. Miao was out before he hit the canvas, prompting the referee to stop the fight at the 3:01 mark of the first round.

With the win, Mr. Miado bounced back from his technical knockout loss (punches) last February in Singapore against Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke.

In the main event of Age of Dragons, Ilias Ennahachi of the Netherlands retained his ONE flyweight kickboxing world title by defeating “Metal Storm” Wang Wenfeng of China by split decision.

BRAVE CF 29
Meanwhile, Jeremy “The Juggernaut” Pacatiw saw his winning run at Brave Combat Federation stop at three matches as he fell to Jordan’s Ali “The Royal Fighter” Al Qaisi at Brave CF 29 by unanimous decision in Bahrain on Nov. 15.

The Team Lakay member gave his all and fought hard against his opponent but just did not get the nod of the judges, who all went Mr. Al Qaisi’s way.

The loss kept Mr. Pacatiw (5-4) winless in three fights to date in Bahrain, home of Brave CF.

But he nonetheless made history in Brave CF 29 as the fighter with the most appearance in the three-year-old promotion with nine fights, surpassing Brave welterweight world champion Jarrah Al-Selawe, who has eight. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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