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Landslide death toll rises to 11

RESCUED landslide victims from Maco, Davao de Oro were immediately rushed to hospitals for treatment of their injuries. -- PHILIPPINE STAR/JOHN FELIX M. UNSON

MORE bodies have been retrieved from the mud and rubble of a landslide that struck Tuesday night in the mining town of Maco, Davao de Oro province, raising the death toll to 11 as of Thursday afternoon.

In its 4 p.m. update, Davao de Oro’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office listed 110 people still missing and feared buried at the landslide site in Barangay Masara. Among them were a mother and her three children.

Earlier in the day, Edward Macapili, the province’s executive assistant on information and communications, said there was conflicting numbers as to the number of missing.

“That’s why we are trying to collaborate our two data so that the two entities or institutions may validate and come up with a uniformed information,” Mr. Macapili said.

Operations have shifted from “search and rescue” to “search and retrieval” due to chances that the missing persons have already died, he added.

So far, 31 people were rescued and reported injured, while 1,166 families in the vicinity of the landslide have been temporarily housed at evacuation centers.

The landslide happened amid a heavy downpour just outside the gold mine site of Apex Mining Co, Inc. Nearly all of the victims are workers of the mining firm as the area serves as a vehicle terminal for buses and jeepneys servicing Apex employees as well as members of the community. The landslide buried two of its service buses carrying workers.

But the area also had shanties and in one of those houses made of semi-permanent materials were the missing mother, Mae Sandulan, and her children Sandrex, 9, Leo, 7, and Princess, 5.

The village, which had a population of 1,125 as of May 2020, was also the site of two landslides in September 2008 that killed 24 people and left two missing. – Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and John Felix M. Unson

Senior Citizens official suspended

BAGUIO CITY — The Office of the President (OP) has imposed a three-month suspension against a high-ranking official of the National Senior Citizens Commission (NCSC) who is in-charge of affairs in the northern and central Luzon regions, pending an investigation into his alleged misconduct.

Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, acting on behalf of the President, issued the suspension order against an NCSC commissioner on Feb. 3, following the OP’s review of a complaint detailing allegations of serious dishonesty, neglect of duty, misconduct, and insubordination.

Malacañang initiated the investigation after a preliminary inquiry by the House of Representatives and a complaint filed by a civilian.

Among the allegations are misrepresentation of educational background; improper use of public funds for personal expenses; and refusal to appoint a nominated Executive Director, which dates back to the administration of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The OP said the NCSC commissioner has been given 10 days to respond to the allegations.

A similar suspension order was issued by the President last month against a commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education over allegations of misconduct and neglect of duty. — Artemio A. Dumlao

E-cigarette production bill filed

REUTERS

A BILL seeking to regulate the manufacture and export of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has been filed before the House of Representatives, highlighting what a lawmaker cited as a “shift from conventional tobacco to electronic cigarettes” in the country.

“The government must consider alternative policies that will enable it to enforce laws on electronic cigarettes more effectively,” said Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda in House Bill No. 9866, the proposed Electronic Cigarette Manufacturing Act.

Under the measure, the manufacture of e-cigarettes, whether for local consumption or export, must be subject to Republic Act No. 11900, the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act and, as such, mandates packaging and health label requirements.

With new regulations on manufacture and export, Mr. Salceda also hopes to “help address the issue of widespread smuggling of electronic cigarettes while also earning foreign currency for the country.”

Under the measure, the Bureau of Product Standards under the Trade department must develop a Philippine National Standard for e-cigarettes that follows international trade standards.

“The standard shall be periodically updated to reflect advancements in the global and local electronic cigarette industry, as well as the requirements of trading partners,” the bill reads.

The importation of capital equipment, raw materials, accessories, spare parts will be subject to duty exemptions and zero-rated value-added tax (VAT), according to the bill.

The bill is currently pending at the House trade and industry committee. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

22 LGUs cited for financial upkeep

THE ILOCOS Norte provincial government and all but one of the 22 local government units (LGUs) of the province have achieved the 2023 Good Financial Housekeeping (GFH) standards set by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The DILG regional office released its list of the 2023 GFH passers, including Adams, Bacarra, Badoc, Bangui, Banna, City of Batac, Burgos, Carasi, Currimao, Dingras, Dumalneg, Laoag City, Marcos, Nueva Era, Paoay, Pasuquin, Piddig, Pinili, San Nicolas, Sarrat, Solsona, and Vintar.

The GFH award is granted to LGUs demonstrating adherence to accounting and auditing standards, as well as compliance with Commission on Audit regulations. Compliance includes the DILG’s Full Disclosure Policy, mandating the posting of all financial documents (DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2014-39).

Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc expressed dedication to good governance, transparency, and inclusive development, highlighting the province’s commitment to implementing programs for the Ilokano community.

Last year, the Provincial Government and the same 22 towns received the 2022 GFH award. Additionally, the provincial government received the DILG’s Seal of Good Local Governance in 2023. — Artemio A. Dumlao

PSEi rallies after positive US corporate earnings

REUTERS

PHILIPPINE STOCKS rallied for the fifth straight day on Thursday as investors welcomed positive corporate earnings in the US.

Local markets will be closed on Friday for the Chinese New Year.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the shortened trading week 0.29% or 20.12 points higher at 6,850.16. The broader all-share index gained 0.2% or 7.45 points to 3,574.21.

“Philippine shares rose for another trading session as investors digested positively the health of the US economy through more fourth-quarter earnings results,” Luis A. Limlingan, sales head at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message.

“The fourth-quarter earnings season has been stronger than expected, giving investors confidence that the healthy economy could continue driving corporate profits,” he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index rose by 0.41% or 156 points to 38,677.36, while the S&P 500 Index improved by 0.82% or 40.83 points to 4,995.06. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.95% or 147.65 points to 15,756.64, while the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 0.45% or 76.84 points to 17,212.32.

The market appeared to have corrected at close, Jovis L. Vistan, vice-president at AB Capital Securities, Inc., said in a Viber message.

“The market rallied and briefly touched the 6,900 level before pulling back at the close,” he said. “The correction was probably due to liquidity concerns as we celebrate the Chinese New Year.”

“This may also be the start of a much-needed healthy technical correction. Nonetheless, downside seems to be limited as we see support at the 6,700 level,” he added.

Sectoral indexes were mixed. Financials gained 1.6% or 31.08 points to 1,964.93, while property added 0.2% or 5.94 points to 2,969.79. Services gained 0.09% or 1.58 points to 1,713.53.

On the other hand, mining and oil fell by 1.1% or 100.51 points to 8,988.38, while holding firms dropped by 0.34% or 22.47 points to 6,421.34. Industrials shed 0.001% or 0.13 point to 9,190.79.

Value turnover rose to P6.89 billion with 535.76 million issues switching hands, from 829.44 million shares worth P6.33 billion on Wednesday.

Advancers beat decliners 106 to 91, while 46 names were unchanged. Net foreign buying fell to P953.68 million from P1.21 billion. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Peso appreciates vs dollar due to Fed easing bets

BW FILE PHOTO

THE PHILIPPINE PESO continued to strengthen against the dollar on Thursday, propped up by a US Federal Reserve official’s remark that the US central bank could start its easing cycle this year.

It closed at P55.911 a dollar, 3.9 centavos stronger from its close on Wednesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

The peso opened at P55.98 against the dollar, appreciated to as much as P55.85 and weakened to as much as P56. Dollars exchanged fell to $1.2 billion from $1.29 billion.

The peso was boosted by remarks by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta J. Mester, renewing hopes about the Fed’s easing cycle, Robert Dan J. Roces, chief economist at Security Bank Corp., said in a Viber message.

Ms. Mester said on Tuesday said the US economy performing as she expected could open the door to rate cuts. But she was not ready yet to say when due to inflation uncertainty, Reuters reported.

The Federal Open Market Committee held its target rate steady at 5.25-5.5% for a fourth straight time at its meeting last week. It raised borrowing costs by 525 basis points from March 2022 to July 2023.

The peso also strengthened against the dollar due to a “mini sell-off” before the long weekend, Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union  Bank of the Philippines, Inc., said in a Viber message.

“After opening relatively flat at P55.98, the peso spent much of the morning session simply trading sideways from P55.90-P55.95,” he said. “In afternoon trading, flows ahead of the long weekend were seen, which prompted a mini sell-off.”

Financial markets will be closed on Friday for the Chinese New Year. — Aaron Michael C. Sy

January was world’s warmest, EU scientists say

FREEPIK

BRUSSELS — The world just experienced its hottest January on record, continuing a run of exceptional heat fueled by climate change, the European Union’s (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.

Last month surpassed the previous warmest January, which occurred in 2020, in C3S’s records going back to 1950.

The exceptional month came after 2023 ranked as the planet’s hottest year in global records going back to 1850, as human-caused climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, pushed temperatures higher.

Every month since June has been the world’s hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years.

“Not only is it the warmest January on record but we have also just experienced a 12-month period of more than 1.5 C (1.7 F) above the pre-industrial reference period,” C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said.

“Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing,” she said.

US scientists have said 2024 has a one-in-three chance of being even hotter than last year, and a 99% chance of ranking in the top five warmest years.

The El Niño phenomenon began to weaken last month, and scientists have indicated it could shift to the cooler La Niña counterpart later this year. Still, average global sea surface temperatures last month were the highest for any January on record.

Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to prevent global warming surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius, to avoid it unleashing more severe and irreversible consequences.

Despite exceeding 1.5 C in a 12-month period, the world has not yet breached the Paris Agreement target, which refers to an average global temperature over decades.

Some scientists have said the goal can no longer realistically be met, but have urged governments to act faster to cut CO2 emissions to limit overshooting the target — and the deadly heat, drought and rising seas that this would inflict on people and ecosystems — as much as possible. — Reuters

UN experts investigate 58 cyberattacks by North Korea

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations (UN) sanctions monitors are investigating dozens of suspected cyberattacks by North Korea that raked in $3 billion to help it further develop its nuclear weapons program, according to excerpts of an unpublished UN report reviewed by Reuters.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continued to flout Security Council sanctions,” a panel of independent sanctions monitors reported to a Security Council committee, using North Korea’s formal name.

“It further developed nuclear weapons and produced nuclear fissile materials, although its last known nuclear test took place in 2017,” wrote the monitors, who also said Pyongyang had continued ballistic missile launches, put a satellite into orbit and added a “tactical nuclear attack submarine” to its arsenal.

North Korea has long been banned from conducting nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches by the 15-member Security Council. Since 2006, it has been subject to UN sanctions, which the council has repeatedly strengthened to try and cut off funding for its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development.

“The panel is investigating 58 suspected DPRK cyberattacks on cryptocurrency-related companies between 2017 and 2023, valued at approximately $3 billion, which reportedly help fund DPRK’s WMD development,” the monitors wrote.

North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report by the sanctions monitors. Pyongyang has previously denied allegations of hacking or other cyberattacks.

The UN report is due to be released publicly later this month or early next month, diplomats said.

North Korean hacking groups subordinate to the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) — Pyongyang’s primary foreign intelligence agency — reportedly continued with a high number of cyber attacks, the sanctions monitors said.

“Trends include DPRK targeting of defense companies and supply chains, and increasingly sharing infrastructure and tools,” according to the monitors, who report twice a year to the 15-member Security Council.

LUXURY GOODS
Any further action against North Korea by the council is unlikely as it had been deadlocked for several years on the issue. China and Russia instead want the sanctions to be eased to convince Pyongyang to return to denuclearization talks.

Moscow and Pyongyang also vowed last year to deepen military relations. The US has accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, which North Korea and Russia have denied.

“The panel is investigating reports from Member States about supplies by DPRK of conventional arms and munitions in contravention of sanctions,” the sanctions monitors wrote.

The isolated Asian nation imposed a strict lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic that slashed its trade and aid access, but it slowly began to re-emerge last year.

“Trade continues to recover. The 2023 overall recorded trade volume surpassed the total for 2022, accompanied by the reappearance of a large variety of foreign consumer goods, some of which could be classified as luxury items,” the sanctions monitors wrote.

The sale or transfer of luxury items to North Korea has long been banned by the Security Council. Under UN sanctions imposed in 2017, all countries were also required to repatriate North Koreans working abroad to stop them earning foreign currency for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government.

“The panel investigated reports of numerous DPRK nationals working overseas earning income in violation of sanctions, including in the information technology, restaurant, and construction sectors,” the sanctions monitors wrote.

They also said North Korea continues to access the international financial system and engage in illicit financial operations in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. — Reuters

Gaza ceasefire hopes alive with more talks planned

FREEPIK

DOHA/TEL AVIV — Mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt scrambled to forge a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in their four-month-old war in the Gaza Strip after America’s top diplomat on a Middle East mission said there was still hope for a deal.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw room for negotiation, and a Palestinian Hamas delegation led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya was due to travel on Thursday to Cairo for ceasefire talks with Egypt and Qatar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas’ latest offer, calling it “delusional,” and Hamas urged Palestinian armed factions to go on fighting.

“There are clearly nonstarters in what (Hamas has) put forward,” Mr. Blinken said on Wednesday at a late-night press conference in a Tel Aviv hotel, without specifying what the nonstarters were.

“But we also see space in what came back to pursue negotiations, to see if we can get to an agreement. That’s what we intend to do.”

Before heading back to the US, Mr. Blinken was due to hold meetings in Israel on Thursday, including with family members of hostages still held in Gaza who have clamored for Mr. Netanyahu to make winning their freedom his top priority.

Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, proposed a ceasefire of 4-1/2 months, during which all hostages held in Gaza would go free, Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.

The Hamas offer was a response to a proposal drawn up by US and Israeli spy chiefs and delivered to Hamas last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Israel would be willing to let Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar go into exile in exchange for the release of all hostages and an end to the Hamas government in Gaza, a half-dozen Israeli officials and senior advisers have told NBC News.

In response to the Hamas plan, Mr. Netanyahu renewed a pledge to destroy the Islamist movement, saying there was no alternative for Israel but to bring about its collapse.

“Surrendering to the delusional demands of Hamas … will not only not bring the release of the hostages, it will invite another massacre. It will invite a grave disaster for the state of Israel that none of our citizens is willing to accept,” the Israeli leader told reporters on Wednesday.

“Continued military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the hostages,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

Israel began its military offensive after Hamas militants from Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Gaza’s health ministry says at least 27,585 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, with thousands more feared buried under rubble in Israel’s offensive since then.

In the only truce to date, lasting a week at the end of November, 110 hostages were released and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Mr. Netanyahu, whose domestic popularity is at rock bottom, faces public pressure to continue working with international mediators toward an agreement in Gaza.

A poll of Israelis released by a nonpartisan think-tank, the Israel Democracy Institute, this week found 51% of respondents believe recovering the hostages should be the main goal of the war, while 36% said it should be toppling Hamas.

Washington has cast the hostage and truce deal as part of plans for a wider resolution of the Middle East conflict, ultimately leading to reconciliation between Israel and Arab neighbors and creation of a Palestinian state.

Mr. Netanyahu rejects a Palestinian state, which Saudi Arabia says is a requirement for the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel.

ISRAEL EXPANDS ASSAULT ON RAFAH
Israel has recently focused on capturing Khan Younis, the main city in Gaza’s south. But last week Israel said it would expand its campaign into Rafah, where about half the enclave’s 2.3 million people are penned against the border with Egypt.

Many have relocated several times to escape Israeli attacks, and they face dire shortages of food and risk of disease.

On the ground in southern Gaza, residents said Israel stepped up its assault on Rafah in the early hours of Thursday. Israel claims Rafah is now a bastion of Hamas combat units.

Two Israeli strikes hit two houses in the area of Tel Al-Sultan in the city, residents said. Hamas media said seven people were killed and 11 injured.

Footage on Palestinian media showed frantic efforts to rush the injured to hospital. Reuters could not independently verify the details. — Reuters

Trump brings fight to stay on ballot to US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s lawyers on Thursday bring his fight against a campaign to kick him off state presidential ballots for his actions involving the 2021 Capitol attack to the US Supreme Court in a case with major implications for the November election.

The nine justices, three of whom Mr. Trump appointed, will hear arguments in his appeal of a lower court’s decision to disqualify him from Colorado’s Republican presidential primary ballot under the US Constitution’s 14         Amendment after finding that he participated in an insurrection.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars from holding public office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Mr. Trump is not expected to be Mr. present at the arguments scheduled for 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT). Instead, he plans to start his day at his Florida home and travel to Nevada, according to a source familiar with his plans. Nevada on Thursday night holds a nominating caucus that Mr. Trump is expected to win handily as he cruises towards his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic President Joseph R. Biden on Nov. 5.

The case calls on the Supreme Court to play a central role in a presidential contest unlike any since its landmark Bush v. Gore decision that handed Republican George W. Bush the presidency over Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

The justices also may soon confront another Trump-related case. Trump faces a Monday deadline to ask the Supreme Court to intervene after a US appeals court rejected his claim for immunity in one of two cases in which he faces criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.

The Dec. 19 ruling by Colorado’s top court came amid a wider — and mostly unsuccessful — drive by anti-Trump forces to disqualify him in more than two dozen other states over his actions relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Maine also has barred him from its ballot, a decision put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Colorado case.

The justices could issue a decision quickly. Colorado’s Republican primary is scheduled for March 5. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is Mr. Trump’s lone remaining rival for the nomination.

The Colorado case raises momentous questions for the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority. Trump’s lawyers have argued that he is not subject to the disqualification language because a president is not an “officer of the United States,” that the provision cannot be enforced by courts absent congressional legislation, and that he did not engage in an insurrection.

Trump supporters attacked police and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. Mr. Trump gave an incendiary speech to supporters beforehand, telling them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell.” He then for hours rebuffed requests that he urge the mob to stop.

The 14th Amendment was ratified in the aftermath of the American Civil War of 1861-1865 in which seceding Southern states that allowed the practice of slavery rebelled against the US government.

The plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit seeking to disqualify Trump — four Republican voters and two unaffiliated voters — have said a president clearly is an “officer of the United States” because “it would make no sense to read Section 3 as disqualifying all oath-breaking insurrectionists except the one holding the highest office in the land.”

The justices could resolve the case without explicitly deciding whether Trump engaged in an insurrection. The case also differs sharply from the criminal cases against him. The eventual ruling in the Colorado case, even if favorable to Trump, may not indicate how the justices would rule on his bid for immunity from prosecution as a former president.

The plaintiffs in the Colorado case are backed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group. — Reuters

Magnolia Hotshots brace for hard strike from San Miguel Beermen in Game 4

PBA.PH

Game Friday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. — Awarding of Best Import and Best Player of the Conference
7:35 p.m. — Magnolia vs San Miguel Beer
* SMB leads best-of-seven series, 2-1

BY going back to its roots as topnotch shot-stopper, Magnolia has made it a more manageable 2-1 affair against San Miguel Beer (SMB).

Now the challenge for the Hotshots is to keep their defensive machine continuously humming to make it back-to-back tonight and transform the initially one-way PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals into a “50-50” series from hereon.

If they don’t, the Beermen will emerge from the 7:35 p.m. Game 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum standing on the hill in the race-to-four dispute on second attempt.

The Hotshots denied SMB of its third victory Wednesday night via an 88-80 verdict anchored on the trademark defensive efficiency conspicuously missing in the first two games.

“We’ve been consistent on our defense for the whole conference but we allowed them to score and do what they wanted in Game 1 and 2. So we brought that defensive mentality back,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.

With Tyler Bey and Mark Barroca as defensive lynchpin, the Hotshots stifled the Beermen to an output that’s 26 points short of their average in the first two matches.  From 45.3 percent, the offensive clip of Bennie Boatwright and Co. also dipped to 34.1 percent in Game 3.

Mr. Victolero and his troops brace for a hard strike back from the Beermen.

“We know this is a powerhouse team (SMB) and we expect they will bounce back hard,” said Mr. Victolero. “We just only won one game and the only thing we need to do now is rest, recover, watch the film and prepare again for Game 4.”

With its Game 3 triumph, Magnolia not only ended talks of a sweep for San Miguel but also handed its sibling rival its first loss after an 11-game streak.

“That’s a good team we’re playing so we expected them to come out hard and play well in Game 3. They did that and they got the win,” said Mr. Boatwright.

The setback also halted Mr. Boatwright’s personal 9-0 record since his Christmas Day debut.

“It’s part of life. You win some, you lose some but you know, no need to over-react. We’re just going to be ready for Game 4,” he said.

Prior to Game 4, the PBA fetes the top individual performers of the season-opening conference in a short ceremony at 7:30 p.m.

Ginebra’s Christian Standhardinger and San Miguel’s CJ Perez lead the candidates for Best Player of the Conference honors with NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino, TNT’s Calvin Oftana and Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson as dark horses.

For the foreign reinforcements, it’s Mr. Boatwright and Mr. Bey disputing the plum against Phoenix’ Johnathan Williams III and Ginebra’s Tony Bishop.

Notes: Magnolia averted a deep 0-3 hole amid the controversy involving Calvin Abueva, who had a spat with Mo Tautuaa and his wife Aida after Game 2 and was under fire for poking fun at SMB coach Jorge Gallent’s visual impairment. He apologized to the PBA, the Tautuaas and Mr. Gallent and was fined P100,000 for the mocking gesture and given a stern warning that a repeat offense will lead to possible ban anew. “We just tried to focus on the preparations and the players did a very good job on the mental aspect of the preparations,” said coach Chito Victolero. Mr. Abueva, all business and minus the antics, had six points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block in the Hotshots’ Game 3 breakthrough. — Olmin Leyba

NCAA S99 junior basketball kicks off Friday

Games Friday
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
9 a.m. — Mapua vs AU
11 a.m. — UPHSD vs LPU
1 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies
2:30 p.m. — JRU vs Letran
4:30 p.m. — San Beda vs SSC-R
6:30 p.m. — CSB vs EAC

COLEGIO de San Juan de Letran aims to replicate its magical championship run a year ago minus its former beacon of hope Andy Gemau as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 99 junior basketball unfurls tomorrow at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

With the talented, slam-dunking Mr. Gemau, the Squires smashed the College of St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills Junior Blazers in a quick, merciless two-game finals sweep to capture the former’s first crown in more than two decades and 13th in all.

Mr. Gemau though wouldn’t be around for the Dominican school’s title-repeat bid as he failed to honor on his earlier pronouncement that he would stay and instead suited up for Veritas Academy National Prep in the United States to pursue his US NCAA Division I dream.

Nonetheless, Letran should remain willful and determined to snare a back-to-back as it opens its campaign against Jose Rizal University (JRU) at 2:30 p.m., one of the heavy five-game schedule in the inaugurals. The season will be officially launched with a simple opening ceremony at 1 p.m. to be attended by league officials led by NCAA Management Committee Chair Paul Supan of Season 99 host JRU. And then it will be San Beda University versus San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R) at 4:30 p.m. and CSB-LSGH against Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) at 6:30 p.m.

Opening up hostilities is the 9 a.m. clash between Mapua University and Arellano University and the 11 a.m. showdown between University of Perpetual Help (UPHSD) and Arellano (AU) .

After the opener, games will be regularly played during Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays using a single-round elimination format. — Joey Villar

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