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Los Angeles Angels use six-run inning to rally past Texas Rangers

LOS ANGELES — Mike Trout homered, doubled, scored twice, drove in two and walked once to help lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.

Trout’s RBI double in the seventh was part of a six-run inning that turned a 5-1 deficit into a 7-5 lead, and eventually the Angels’ second win in the three-game series.

David Fletcher chipped in with three hits, a run scored and a stolen base as the Angels finished with 11 hits in all.

Los Angeles reliever Justin Anderson gave up an RBI double to Shin-Soo Choo in the ninth, but closed it out for his first save of the season.

Rangers starter Ariel Jurado held the Angels to one run through six innings, helping the Rangers to a 5-1 lead. But when he gave up a one-out single to Fletcher in the seventh, Rangers manager Chris Woodward gave him the hook.

The Angels took advantage of the Rangers’ bullpen, sending 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scoring six runs to take a 7-5 lead.

Luis Rengifo’s two-run single off left-hander Jeffrey Springs (2-1) made it 5-3, and an RBI double by Trout cut the Rangers’ lead to 5-4. After a sacrifice fly by Shohei Ohtani tied the game at 5-5, the Angels scored their next two runs on wild pitches by reliever Kyle Dowdy.

Trout scored on Dowdy’s first wild pitch to make it 6-5, and Kole Calhoun scored on the very next pitch by Dowdy, which also went to the backstop. — Reuters

Power chess

GRENKE Chess Classic 2019
Karlsruhe/Baden Baden
April 18-29, 2019

Final Standings

1. Grandmaster (GM) Magnus Carlsen NOR 2845, 7.5/9

2. GM Fabiano Caruana USA 2819, 6.0/9

3-4. GM Arkadij Naiditsch AZE 2695, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2773, 5.0/9

5-7. GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2774, GM Levon Aronian ARM 2762, GM Peter Svidler RUS 2735, 4.5/9

8. GM Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2693, 4.0/9

9-10. GM Georg Meier GER 2628, IM Vincent Keymer GER 2516, 2.0/9

Average Rating: 2724 Category 19

Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes play-to-finish. 30 seconds is added to your clock after every move starting move 1.

Before we go to our main topic I’d like to point out the name of IM Vincent Keymer, the last-placer. You might be wondering what a mere IM with a rating of 2516 is doing in the company of such elite chessplayers. The answer is that he had qualified for it. Alongside the Chess Classic there was the GRENKE Chess Open. Keymer won it in a great upset last year and qualified to play in the main event. This year the winner of the Open was the German #3 Daniel Fridman who took the top honors. There were seven other grandmasters who tied for first: Anton Korobov, Andreas Heimann, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Gukesh, Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko and Tamas Banusz.

Anyway GM Daniel Fridman (the husband of the American WGM Anna Zatonskih) had the best tiebreak score and was declared the tournament winner with the option to participate in the Grenke Chess Classic next year. This is in addition to the first prize of €13,000.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way it is time to show you another powerful win by the current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen.

Several years ago Cadogan Books came up with “Chess Secrets,” a series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most important aspects of chess strategy, attack, opening play and gambits, classical play, endgames and preparation. In each book the author studies a number of great players from chess history who have excelled in a particular field of the game and who have undeniably influenced those who have followed.

There was a book on “Heroes of Classical Chess.” According to its introduction these “heroes” play “classically direct” chess, a universality of play that embraces all styles. These so-called heroes are: Akiba Rubinstein, Vassily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. By the way, I think the publishers did the great Paul Keres an injustice here, for he is the one who is synonymous with the term “universal player” and even Bobby Fischer acknowledged that.

Then another book came out on the “Giants of Strategy” showcasing the games of Vladimir Kramnik, Anatoly Karpov, Tigran Petrosian, Jose Capablanca and Aron Nimzowitsch.

Next in the series were the “Great Attackers,” i.e., Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Tal and Leonid Stein.

Then there were the “Giants of Innovation,” Wilhelm Steinitz, Emmanuel Lasker, Mikhail Botvinnik, Victor Korchnoi and Vassily Ivanchuk. Followed by the “Great Chess Romantics” Adolf Anderssen, Mikhail Chigorin, Richard Reti, Bent Larsen and Alexander Morozevich.

And then the last volume came out: “The Giants of Power Play” Veselin Topalov, Yefim Geller, David Bronstein, Alexander Alekhine and Paul Morphy. What the heck is “power play”? It is the art of putting opponents under constant pressure. The methods of doing so are numerous, including gaining rapid development in return for material to build up an initiative, preparing powerful opening ideas in advance, or even developing completely new opening systems.

Magnus Carlsen is not known for his opening erudition, usually his goal is to get a playable middlegame and from there to outplay his opponent. But once he does get a plus in the opening there is no one more capable than him to bring it home. The following game is a prime example.

Carlsen, Magnus (2845) — Aronian, Levon (2761) [D39]
Grenke Classic 2019 Karlsruhe/Baden Baden (7.3), 27.04.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4

This is the Vienna Variation of the Queen’s Gambit, sort of the halfway point between QG Accepted and QG Declined.

5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4

White can also continue 7.e5 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qa5 9.exf6 Bxc3+ (9…Qxg5? 10.Qa4+ Nc6 11.Nxc6 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Bd7 13.Qb4! the threatened mate on e7 ensures that White keeps his extra knight. Dreev,A (2689)-Landa,K (2550) playchess.com INT 2004 1–0 23) 10.bxc3 Qxg5 11.fxg7 (11.Qa4+ Nd7 12.fxg7 Qxg7 13.Qb4 a5 14.Qd6 Qe5+ 15.Qxe5 Nxe5 takes the queens off the board and leaves the position equal. In fact, in the game Lputian, S (2540) vs Yudasin, L (2480) from Lvov 1987, they agreed to a draw here immediately) 11…Qxg7 and now White has either Qf3 or Qd2, in both of which we can look forward to an uncompromising battle.

7…cxd4 8.Nxd4

A mistake is 8.Qxd4. There will follow 8…Qxd4 9.Nxd4 Nxe4 Black is simply a pawn up.

8…Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bd2!?

For some reason no one has ever played this before. The usual lines are:

10.Bb5+ Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 gxf6 13.h4 and;

10.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 11.Kf1 gxf6 (not 11…Qxc4+ 12.Kg1 and Black is in a quandary as to how to meet White’s threat of Rc1) 12.Rc1 Qa5 13.h4. In both cases we have a very complicated game with chances for both sides.

10…0–0

The critical line is 10…Nxe4 11.Qg4 Nxd2 12.Qxg7 Nxc4 (12…Rf8 13.Kxd2; 12…Qxc3? 13.Qxh8+ Kd7 14.Bb5+ Nc6 15.Ke2 White is clearly winning) 13.Qxh8+ Ke7 14.0–0 Nd7 Black has two pieces for the rook but his king is in the center of the board. This is probably easier to play for White, and obviously part of Magnus’ preparation so Aronian avoids going into it.

11.Qe2 e5 12.Nb3 Qc7 13.0–0 Bg4 14.f3 Rc8 15.Bd5

The tactic 15.Bxf7+ Qxf7 16.fxg4 does not win a pawn for Black can come back with 16…Qc4! and win the pawn on e4.

15…Nxd5 16.exd5 Bh5 17.c4!

This pawn cannot be taken because after 17…Qxc4 18.Rfc1! the threat of a back rank mate forces Black to give up his queen. Now, with his passed pawn on d5 well-protected it is clear that White has the advantage.

17…Nd7 18.Rfc1

Now threatening to push his c-pawn to c5.

18…b6 19.a4 a5

Aronian’s game goes steadily downhill and it is not clear where his mistake was committed. Some annotators pointed to this move as the error as now the b6–pawn is weakened and Carlsen soon zeroes in on it. I am not so sure that is right. Methinks that when Magnus is as dominant as this whatever move you make will give him something to pounce on!

20.Qf2 Qd6 21.Be3 Bg6 22.Qd2!

Carlsen prevents Black’s maneuver of …Bd3 followed by …Qg6 and …h7–h5 and he has now got something going on the kingside.

22…f6 23.Qb2 Rc7 24.Nd2 Nc5 25.Qa3 Rd8 26.Rc3

Watching out for …Nd3.

26…f5?!

This attempt to lash out backfires on Aronian. He is in that sort of position where the best course of action is just to wait around and see what White does.

27.Re1! e4 28.fxe4 fxe4 29.Bxc5 Rxc5

Taking the queens off the board with 29…Qxc5+ 30.Qxc5 would make it harder for Black to defend his weaknesses. After the game Carlsen said that he will just “put the rook on the b-file and bring the king to e3 — it should be at least very bad for Black.”

30.Nxe4 Qe5 31.Rce3 Rcc8 32.h3!

Just a waiting move to illustrate how helpless Black is.

32…Qc7

[32…Rxc4 33.Nd2 wins the exchange for White]

33.Nd2! <D>

POSITION AFTER 33.ND2

White’s rooks will be penetrating down the e-file. Black’s position surprisingly collapses quickly.

33…Re8 34.Re7! Rxe7 35.Rxe7 Qd8

Or 35…Qc5+ 36.Qxc5 Rxc5 (36…bxc5 37.Ra7) 37.Rb7 Carlsen wins the b6–pawn and wins with his passed d-pawn. Black can try to counter against the c4–pawn, but 37…Bd3 38.d6! Bxc4 39.d7 costs Black his bishop]

36.Qe3

The threat is 37.Qe6+ Kh8 38.d6 Qg8 39.Qe5 Rd8 40.d7 and then Nd2–f3–d4–e6.

36…Rc7

[36…Bf7 37.Qe5 followed by Nd2–e4–d6]

37.Re6 Rc5 38.Qb3 1–0

On Thursday we will take up the Ivory Coast Rapid/Blitz chess tournament, the first event in this year’s Grand Chess Tour. It is still part of Magnus Carlsen’s great show of force and remarkably he has dropped the Berlin Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6) and replied with the Sicilian every time he had Black and his opponent played 1.e4.

Great games to play over! Don’t miss it!

 

Mr. Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Healthy Nadal

Rafael Nadal began his quest for a third straight — and record-extending 12th — title at Roland Garros yesterday, and he couldn’t have done so under more favorable circumstances. He’s lumped in a relatively easier bracket that has him going up against qualifiers in his first two rounds and then, assuming things fall into place, against longtime nemesis but on-the-wane Roger Federer in the semifinals. And, what’s more, he has momentum, too, fresh off a triumphant run at the Italian Open; with a podium finish at stake, he wound up handing World Number One Novak Djokovic a first-ever bagel en route to a three-set victory.

True, Nadal won’t be negotiating the next fortnight with the same aura of invincibility that defined his earlier triumphs at the French Open. He may be only 32, but he’s a relatively old 32 with a self-punishing style of play that makes him routinely susceptible to injury. In recent memory, he has seemingly been in a continual state of convalescence from ailment after ailment. It’s why he appeared out of sorts early on in the clay-court season, absorbing Round-of-Four setbacks to Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, and Stefanos Tsitsipas — all opponents he would have otherwise waxed on his best surface — at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona and Madrid Opens, respectively.

Nonetheless, he’s not Rafael Freaking Nadal for nothing, and his exploits in the grandest stages on red clay underscore the extra gear he invariably finds with the Coupe des Mousquetaires at stake. And, no doubt, it factored in on his hot start and win against Djokovic in Rome. With the latter aiming for a second Nole Slam, he felt he needed to highlight his status as the de facto pacesetter in Paris notwithstanding the seeding and current point standings of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour.

Indeed, talk in the sport’s circles centered on his evidently inconsistent form prior to his mastery of Djokovic. This year marked the first time since 2004 that he had failed to take a tournament prior to his Madrid stop, and even he sounded prepared to accept his increasing mortality inside the lines. “I have to accept things naturally,” he said then. After the Italian Open, however, he looked to be confident anew. “Win a title is important, but, for me, the most important thing is feel myself competitive, feel myself healthy, and then with the feeling that I am improving, no?” He definitely is, and, given his unparalleled history at Roland Garros, perhaps enough to carve a three-peat.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

PHL shares tumble as market awaits MSCI impact

By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

LOCAL EQUITIES tumbled on Monday as investors waited for the impact of the MSCI rebalancing that will take effect next week.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated 0.28% or 22.08 points to close at 7,725.01 yesterday, marking its third straight session in negative territory. The broader all-shares index likewise shed 0.34% or 16.42 points to 4,765.43.

“Investors were largely on the sidelines today in anticipation of the MSCI rebalancing soon,” Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail on Monday.

MSCI’s quarterly review of index weights will take effect on June 3. It reduced the weight of blue-chip stocks SM Prime Holdings, Inc.; Ayala Land, Inc.; BDO Investments, Inc.; SM Investments Corp.; and JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; while increasing the weight of Ayala Corp. and International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan attributed the PSEi’s performance to lingering fears on the US-China trade war.

“Philippine shares suffered losses with investors worried the US-China trade war is hurting economic growth. US markets will be closed today for the Memorial Day Holiday, leaving no catalysts to buy into the market today,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message on Monday.

Sectoral indices were equally split between gainers and losers. The mining and oil counter led those in positive territory, rising 0.57% or 41.02 points to 7,238.20. Holding firms added 0.15% or 11.53 points to 7,387.54, while property eked out a gain of 0.3 point to 4,172.61.

Those that ended in the red were services, which dropped 1% or 16.68 points to 1,640.79; industrials with a 0.9% decline or 101.43 points to 11,114.30; and financials with a decrease of 0.25% or 4.40 points to 1,702.39.

Some 706.12 million issues valued at P5.53 billion switched hands on Monday, lower than the previous session’s P7.42-billion turnover.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 99 to 83, while 56 names were unchanged.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the 16th consecutive day at P388.98 million, less than half Friday’s net outflow worth P736.08 million.

Wall Street indices edged higher last Friday, mainly on bargain hunting after steep losses in previous sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.37% or 95.22 points to 25,585.69. The S&P 500 index rose 0.14% or 3.82 points to 2,826.06, while the Nasdaq Composite index firmed up 0.11% or 8.73 points to 7,637.01.

Financial markets in the US were closed on Monday to commemorate Memorial Day.

Meanwhile, Asian markets ended mixed Monday as investors focused their attention on US President Donald J. Trump’s Japan visit.

Peso weakens on profit taking

THE PESO weakened against the dollar on Monday, dragged by profit taking after it hit its support levels intraday.

The local currency closed Monday’s session at P52.22 versus the greenback, six centavos weaker than the P52.16 finish last Friday.

The peso opened yesterday’s session stronger at P52.15 against the greenback. It soared to as high as P52.075 intraday, while its worst showing stood at P52.23 per US currency.

Trading volume thinned to $633.31 million from the $846.86 million that changed hands the previous session.

Traders interviewed yesterday said the peso moved within range.

“Actually the dollar-peso is consolidating. We saw a lower open, but it closed near the high. It’s showing signs of consolidation,” a trader said in a phone interview.

Another trader said the peso consolidated the whole day as financial markets in the US were closed in observance of the Memorial Day. However, the trader added that the peso was stronger in the morning session as it tracked the lower dollar overnight following “weak” durable goods data in the US.

“Later in the afternoon, we saw heavy buying (of the dollar),” the second trader said. “We saw dollar-peso trending lower for the past few days. Maybe the banks’ perspective were all about shorting the dollar-peso. But as we saw that we’re already on the support levels, maybe they were trying to take profit or reverse their positions.”

Meanwhile, a third trader attributed the peso’s weakness to “heightened geopolitical risks from the US-China trade tensions and uncertainty over the European parliamentary elections over the weekend.”

For today, the first two traders expect the peso to move between P52.05 and P52.35, while the other gave a P52.15-P52.35 range. — K.A.N. Vidal

Duterte vows to be neutral over House speakership; says he will resign if son makes a bid

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte on Monday said he will resign if his son, incoming Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Z. Duterte, runs for House speakership.

“My son Paolo, he’s being rooted to run. I will tell my son publicly now, we would have a talk. For the life of me, whether you believe it or not, Inday (Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio) and I, my daughter, we have not talked about politics,” the President said in his remarks during the oath-taking of newly-appointed government officials at the Malacañan Palace.

Addressing his son, he said, “…if you run for speakership, let me know. Kasi kung tatakbo ka, magre-resign ako. Kasi marami na tayo (Because if you run, I will resign. Because there’s too many of us).”

Paolo, however, posted on his Facebook page: “I did not say I want to be Speaker…. May nagkamali na naman [ng] bulong sa tenga mo (Someone whispered wrong information to you again), Mr. President.”

The President also said anew that he does not like seeing his children in politics.

Apart from Paolo and Ms. Duterte-Carpio, the youngest Duterte son, Sebastian, has also just been elected Davao City vice-mayor in the May 13 elections.

“With the vice mayor, anak ko (my child), ‘yung youngest son ko si Baste (Sebastian) and Pulong as speaker, ako ang (me the) Presidente, hindi na maganda tingnan (It is not a good thing to see),” he said.

He said congressman-elect Alan Peter S. Cayetano of Taguig, his former foreign affairs secretary, and reelected Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Q. Velasco had told him that they would run for speakership.

“At hindi ako nagbigay ng (And I did not give any) commitment… I will not because there is no way of telling you will win,” Mr. Duterte said.

Others who informed him of their intent to run for speakership, although through intermediaries and not directly, were: Pantaleon D. Alvarez of Davao del Norte and Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez of Leyte.

The President stressed that he will remain neutral.

“Sa speakership, wala akong kinakampihan (I am not taking anyone’s side). I am on my last three terms. Gusto ko lang (All I want is) to do good and if that good is not good for everybody, well I’m sorry. ‘Yan lang ang makaya ko (That is all I can do).”

Meanwhile, the President also acknowledged that he has all sorts of illnesses, including in the “colon.”

At the Philippine Military Academy graduation rites Sunday, Mr. Duterte was visibly not well and skipped some of the traditional ceremonies, but his spokesperson dismissed this saying the President simply lacked sleep. — Arjay L. Balinbin

CA’s Inting moves to Supreme Court

COURT OF Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting is the new Supreme Court associate justice, taking the position vacated by Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin.

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, a member of the Judicial and Bar Council, confirmed Mr. Inting’s designation, but noted that his appointment paper has yet to be released.

Mr. Inting, 61, graduated cum laude from the Ateneo de Davao University and served as senior corporate attorney of the National Housing Authority Government Corporation in 1983.

He became a supervising staff assistant at the Intermediate Appellate Court, now the CA, in 1984.

He then served at the Public Attorney’s Office where he stayed from 1986 to 1995 before becoming a prosecutor at the Quezon Prosecutor’s Office. He was then appointed as presiding judge of the Quezon City (QC) Municipal Trial Court in 1998.

He was a judge at QC regional trial court before he was appointed to the CA in October 2012.

Mr. Inting is the brother of former CA justice and now Commission on Elections Commissioner Socorro B. Inting. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

POEA warns vs work-reside in New Zealand scams

THE PHILIPPINE Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has warned the public against paying high fees for schools in New Zealand that promise residency, noting that this is not in line with any existing policy of the country nor between the two nations.

POEA, in Advisory 10-A, said they have received reports over such trafficking scams by schools in New Zealand that assure both work and residency in the country, but charge “exorbitant” rates.

“According to these reports, Filipino applicants, particularly students were falsely promised work and permanent residency in New Zealand after studying in the country in exchange for exorbitant fees,” the advisory said.

In 2017, the Philippines and New Zealand signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the comparative analysis of the countries’ college education system.

The agreement also gives Filipinos access to education in New Zealand.

The POEA stressed that despite the current Philippine-New Zealand bilateral relations, there are no existing policies that guarantee employment and residency after studying in New Zealand.

In the latest available data of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), there are over 40,000 Filipinos residing and working in New Zealand as of 2015.

“Securing employment and permanent residency after finishing study in New Zealand are not guaranteed under the said country’s relevant policies and regulations,” POEA said.

The POEA called on the public to report to their office if they encounter or know of the education scam. — Gillian M. Cortez

DA to help ask for suspension of pork importation from ‘high-risk’ countries

THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) said it will be requesting for an immediate temporary suspension of importation of pork and pork products from high-risk countries in support of the local hog industry.

“The stakeholders agreed to draft and sign a petition for an appeal addressed to the President. I would personally hand carry that letter,” DA Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said at the sidelines of a meeting with local hog raisers Monday.

High-risk countries are those that are not yet infected by the African Swine Fever (ASF), but there is a high chance of getting infected. These countries are yet to be determined.

The meeting also discussed possible loopholes in the coordination among relevant agencies that take on the issue, citing the entry of luncheon meat brought in by an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Hong Kong, a country now infected by the ASF.

“I have to admit na mukhang kulang kami sa (it seems like we lack in) coordination… and this is something that we really have to look into,” Mr. Piñol said, acknowledging that the government would be to blame if ASF enters the country.

Mr. Piñol is also set to discuss the temporary suspension with local importers, and appeal to them to buy local for the meantime.

He said there is a buffer stock in cold storages enough for about five months.

There will also be discussions on Tuesday with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the recall of processed meat products from ASF-affected areas that were manufactured after August 2018.

As for other security measures, the agriculture chief said they are also considering the installation of x-rays mainly for quarantine purposes. This is aside from the deployment of meat sniffing dogs in airports. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Albay representative asks SC to stop EDSA provincial bus ban

ALBAY 2ND District Rep. Clemente Joey S. Salceda asked the Supreme Court (SC) to halt the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from implementing its regulation banning provincial buses along EDSA.

This is the second petition to be filed against MMDA Regulation No. 19-002, dated March 26 this year, which prohibits the issuance and revokes existing permits of public utility bus (PUB) terminals and operators along EDSA.

AKO Bicol Partylist, in a petition filed last April 29, sought to nullify the new policy, which is planned for full implementation by June.

In his 15-page petition, Mr. Salceda sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against the regulation, saying its implementation “will not resolve the traffic congestion in EDSA.”

Citing statistics from Land Transportation Office, Mr. Salceda noted that there are only 4,000 provincial buses that pass along EDSA compared to the 2.8 million cars in the National Capital Region. Only 1,500 going to Metro Manila are from the south while 2,500 are from the north. Of the north-bound buses, 236 are from Albay.

He also said that transferring the bus station to designated hubs north and south of the capital will aggravate the situation and cause “additional burden” to people from the provinces.

“There is no correlation between the original rooms of the affected PUBs and the congestion of traffic in EDSA since the traffic congestion in EDSA during office hours are caused by private vehicles and city public buses, not by affected PUBs,” he said.

The Albay representative also assailed the regulation saying it violates existing franchises of PUBs issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and lease agreements between the operators of the buses and terminal owners.

He said that most of the affected passengers are “poor people, if not, small time businessmen from the provinces carrying their goods to and from Metro Manila or travel to the big city for some other personal business,” he said. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

40 new prosecutors appointed

MALACAÑANG ON Monday announced the appointment of 40 new prosecutors.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the appointment papers of the following officials on May 22:

Jose Emmanuel D. Jabido, Prosecutor I

Clara A. Baquilod, Prosecutor II

Renato M. Abastillas, Jr., Prosecutor II

Roberto-Damian A. Morico V, Prosecutor III

Arnold C. Abejaron, Prosecutor II

Josefina C. Fria, Prosecutor II

Gary Dominador B. Guyguyon, Prosecutor II

Carlo Oscar P. Boacon, Prosecutor I

Maria Cecilia Gertrudes R. Salvador, Prosecutor II

Aurora N. Ventura-Villamor, Prosecutor II

Lourdes Philina B. Dumlao, Prosecutor I

Christine Marie L. Naranjo, Prosecutor II

Ma. Louisa M. Viloria-Yap, Prosecutor II

Laurence Joel M. Taliping, Prosecutor IV

Ramoncito Bienvenido T. Ocampo, Jr. Prosecutor IV

Maria Cecile P. Moreno-Andrade, Prosecutor II

Yuseff Yardley Cesar C. Ybañez, Jr., Prosecutor III

Sarah Vanessa M. Lacno, Prosecutor II

Marcelina Q. Calamba-Limpot, Prosecutor II

Julius T. Ompad, Prosecutor II

Eraño G. Prado, Prosecutor II

Zoraida P. Zozobrado, Prosecutor II

George A. Ged-ang, Jr., Prosecutor IV

Andres M. Gondayao, Prosecutor IV

Christian P. Castro, Prosecutor I

Nemitz F. Negado, Prosecutor II

Alexander J. Tradio, Prosecutor I

Jonel P. Torregosa, Prosecutor I

Joseph G. Romano, Prosecutor II

Virgilio R. Follosco, Prosecutor II

Adones V. Obsioma, Prosecutor I

Persephone Meir B. Belena, Prosecutor II

Jaime P. Bawagan, Prosecutor I

Glynda B. Lupian-Cordero, Prosecutor II

David A. Mapala, Prosecutor II

Djhoana Gene A. Clemencio, Prosecutor II

Ralph David D. So, Prosecutor II

Irish-Kay J. del Valle, Prosecutor II

Maureen M. Dangwa, Prosecutor I

Marianita J. Caoile-Gayaman, Prosecutor II

— Arjay L. Balinbin

Monday morning in Marikina

Heavy traffic is experienced along Marcos highway on Monday morning after the Marcos Bridge was closed for a four-month rehabilitation work starting May 25. A zipper lane has been opened at the westbound lane approaching Marcos Bridge. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said the 40-year old bridge has an average daily traffic of 6,400 vehicles per hour in both directions.

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