m

info@canadianinquirer.net
sales@canadianinquirer.net

facebook.com/
Philippine
CanadianInquirer CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER
twitter:
@PhilCanInquirer OCTOBER 11, 2019 www.canadianinquirer.net VOL. 10 NO. 392

DUTERTE ARRIVES
FROM MOSCOW
President Rodrigo R. Duterte is accorded foyer honors upon his arrival at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City on October 6, 2019, following his successful official visit to Russia.
Duterte said more than PHP620 million in business deals were signed during the Philippines-Russia Business Forum in Moscow which would generate more jobs and economic opportunities for
many Filipinos.
ARMAN BAYLON/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Pinay nanny freed 16

from modern-day
slavery starts a Gender wage gap narrows
to 13.3%, women earn $4.13

new life at 81
less per hour: StatCan

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — For 65 years, “Nanay Fe-
delina” lived like a modern-day slavery
victim with her employer in the United
27
States. This year, at 81, she’s ready to be-
gin the life of a free woman.
Nanay Fedelina was a nanny who was No mass transport crisis yet:
brought to the United States by the Fil- Palace
ipino-American family she was serving Teaching young people what
❱❱ PAGE 8 really matters for the sake
❱❱ PAGE 13 Pinay nanny of our collective life on Earth

Get the latest

news & updates
www.canadianinquirer.net
2 Philippine News
Palace hands off PET decision
on Marcos vs. Robredo
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — President Rodrigo
Duterte will not interfere in the
Presidential Electoral Tribu-
nal (PET) decision on the poll
protest filed by former senator
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos
against Vice President Leonor
“Leni” Robredo, Malacañang
said on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court sitting
as PET has reset the voting on
2 Chinese nabbed for bribing cops in Makati sex den raid
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Two Chinese na-
tionals were arrested for trying
to bribe police officers in ex-
change for the release of Philip-
pine offshore gaming operator
(POGO) workers, who were ear-
lier arrested in a prostitution
den in Makati City, the Nation-
al Capital Region Police Office
(NCRPO said on Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar,
NCRPO chief, identified the
suspects as Zhang Xiuquang
and Fan Jianping, who ap-
proached and negotiated with
Maj. Gideon Ines Jr., head of
Station Investigation and De-
tective Management (SIDM) of
the Makati City Police, by offer-
ing PHP1.7 million to persuade
BONGBONG MARCOS / FACEBOOK,VP LENI ROBREDO / FACEBOOK
the election protest after it did
not take any action on the case
during Tuesday’s tribunal’s ses-
sion.
Presidential Spokesperson
Salvador Panelo said the Presi-
dent will not intrude into “the
competence and the authority”
of the PET.
“We will leave it to the tribu-
nal to decide on its own, what-
ever pending cases it has,” Pan-
elo said in a Palace briefing.
He said Duterte will enforce
the law and respect whatever
them against filing charges.
In a report, the two suspects
pulled out a huge amount of
bribe money in Ines’ office,
prompting police officers to ar-
rest them.
“This serves as an opportu-
nity to protect the good name
of the organization by eliminat-
ing suspicions and speculations
and these are the kind of police-
men that we need to show our
people that they can be trusted
and that not all policemen are
corrupt,” Eleazar said.
Eleazar presented to the me-
dia on Tuesday afternoon the
two bribery suspects following
the entrapment operation con-
ducted in a prostitution den in-
side MAXX Hotel located along
Makati Avenue in Barangay Po-
blacion on Monday night.
Eleazar recognized the in-
dispensable aid of Chinese law
decision the PET arrives at.
“It has to decide on its own on
the basis of what is required by
law and the evidence,” Panelo
said.
“The President is always on
the side of the law. Whatever
the law says, he should enforce
it,” he added.
In 2016, Marcos filed the
poll protest to contest Robre-
do’s vice presidential win. Ro-
bredo won by only a little over
260,000 votes. ■
enforcers against the prolifera-
tion of human trafficking cases
involving their citizens.
“We need the cooperation of
our Chinese counterpart. Kasi
sila ang nakakaalam ng mga
sindikato na yan (They are the
ones who know these syndi-
cates better) and their opera-
tions,” said Eleazar.
The innovations introduced by
technology in crime perpetration
remain a continuing challenge
for NCRPO but Eleazar guaran-
teed to ceaselessly continue the
fight against all forms of crimi-
nality and illegal drugs.
During the entrapment oper-
ation, Makati police operatives
were able to rescue 36 Chinese-
looking females, 18 Chinese-
looking males, and 10 Filipino
female employees.
The hotel was reportedly be-
ing rented and run by a Chinese
www.canadianinquirer.net
DoJ forms panel to
probe ‘ninja cops’
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — A three-man pros-
ecution panel has been formed
by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to investigate “ninja
cops” or police officers involved
in the recycling of illegal drugs
seized during operations.
In a Department Order No.
528, Justice Secretary Men-
ardo Guevarra named Senior
Assistant State Prosecutor
Alexander Suarez, Assistant
State Prosecutor Josie Chris-
tina Dugay and Assistant State
Prosecutor Gino Paulo Santia-
go as members of the panel.
“The Special Panel of Pros-
ecutors is hereby authorized
to investigate and receive addi-
tional evidence in NPS (Nation-
al Prosecution Service) Docket
No. XVI-INV-14E-00152 en-
titled “Criminal and Investiga-
tion Detention Group (CIDG)
represented by PS Supt (Police
Senior Superintendent) Albert
Ignatius Ferro vs. P Supt. Rod-
ney Louie Juico Baloyo IV, et
al,” the order said.
The panel has a month to
complete its probe and file the
necessary criminal information
against the alleged ninja cops if
man who pays the Filipino own-
er PHP1.2 million per month.
Makati chief of police Col.
Rogelio Simon said that the
services of the Chinese women
are being offered online for
PHP20,000 to PHP30,000 and
can be booked through a Chi-
nese social media application.
The operation was launched
at around 11 p.m. Monday after
an informant tipped the au-
thorities of illegal sexual activi-
ties in the hotel.
Meanwhile, Makati City
Mayor Abby Binay on Tues-
day ordered the city’s Business
Permits and Licensing Office
(BPLO) to serve a closure order
on Maxx Hotel.
“The continuing crackdown
has been ordered by Mayor
Abby to restore order and disci-
pline in Makati and protect the
interest of legitimate business-
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
warranted by the evidence.
Baloyo and 12 other police-
men were implicated in the
2013 anti-drug operation in
Pampanga in which the so-
called “ninja cops” allowed
suspected drug lord Johnson
Lee to get away in exchange of
keeping 160 kilos of shabu and
PHP50 million.
“In the light of new evidence
unfolding, and in the interest
of justice, the DOJ will reopen
the case of Baloyo et al. and will
create a new panel of state pros-
ecutors to conduct the reinves-
tigation,” Guevarra said.
The 13 policemen were
charged for violation of Sec-
tions 27(misappropriation), 21
(planting of evidence) and 32
(custody and disposition of evi-
dence) Republic Act No. 9165,
the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act of 2001 which were
all dismissed.
Senators, who conducted
hearings on the controversy,
said the cases filed against the
13 cops were too weak that re-
sulted to its dismissal. The cops
were able to get a penalty of one
rank demotion. ■
es,” the city government said in
a statement.
This is the fourth time that
authorities raided a sex den in
Metro Manila in a span of two
months.
On September 30, operatives
of the National Bureau of In-
vestigation (NBI) rescued some
91 Chinese women and four Fil-
ipino women inside a KTV bar
also in Makati City.
In Parañaque City last
September 19, operatives of
NCRPO rescued 51 female Chi-
nese and seven Filipina wit-
nesses and arrested 13 Chinese
nationals allegedly operating a
prostitution den.
Last September 4, NCRPO
operatives rescued six Viet-
namese women and arrested
two Chinese women suspected
to be victims of human traffick-
ing. ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 Philippine News 3

PNP welcomes
lifestyle check on cops
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Philippine National Po-
lice (PNP) on Tuesday welcomed the con-
duct of lifestyle check on its personnel
amid allegations on the existence of “ninja
cops” or police officers who recycle illegal
drugs confiscated during operations.
PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Bernard
Banac, said the PNP personnel undergo
yearly lifestyle check in accordance with
Republic Act 3019 or the “Anti-Graft
and Corruption Practices,” and Republic
Act 6713 or the “Act Establishing a Code
of Conduct and Ethical Standards for
Public Officials and Employees.”
Late Carlos Celdran @CARLOSCELDRAN / INSTAGRAM He said the lifestyle check is being
conducted by the Internal Affairs Ser-
SALN. That document will be the basis
of IAS whether a policeman committed
illegal activities),” Banac told reporters.
Malacañang earlier said it was in favor
of conducting lifestyle checks among
PNP personnel.
“There should be an internal lifestyle
check among the PNP members, and for
that matter, all heads of department,”
said Presidential Spokesperson Salva-
dor Panelo in a TV interview on Monday.
Banac said the PNP is ready to provide
documents if needed during the conduct
of the lifestyle check.
“Sa ngayon, wala pa tayong nakikita
o wala pang ulat na may lumalabag sa
umiiral na batas. Subalit kung may ulat
tayo matatanggap o reklamo diumano
ay labis ang lifestyle ng isang pulis, na-
kahanda po ang PNP (na) imbestigahan
ang mga ulat ng ating IAS (As of now, we

Manila City Mayor Isko vice (IAS) of the PNP.

“Every March 31, ang lahat ng PNP
personnel ay mandato na magsumite ng
have not received any complaint of a po-
lice employee having lavish lifestyle, but
if we do, we will investigate the matter),”

Moreno mourns demise kanilang Annual Statement of Asset Li-

abilities (and Net Worth). (Yan) ang ma-
giging basehan ng ating Internal Affairs
he explained.
“Maging sinuman opisyal ng PNP su-
masailalim sa annual lifestyle check na

of Carlos Celdran Service upang tignan (kung may) pagla-

bag sa mga umiiral na batas, (all PNP
personnel are mandated to submit their
isinasagawa ng Internal Affairs Service
(Every PNP personnel will undergo life-
style check),” he added. ■

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA He dressed up as the country’s national

Philippine Canadian Inquirer
MANILA CITY Mayor Francisco “Isko
Moreno” Domagoso mourned the pass-
ing of cultural activist and performance
artist Carlos Celdran, saying that the
country’s capital lost again one of its
‘promoters.’
“Kahapon, nawalan tayo ng isang tao
na talagang pinagmamalasakitan ang
Lungsod ng Maynila (Yesterday, we lost
a man who really cared for the City of
Manila),” Domagoso said in a Facebook
post on Wednesday, October 9.
“Nawalan na naman kami ng isang
promoter, isang tagapagtaguyod ng ka-
saysayan ng mga magagandang aral na
puwedeng matutunan sa ating mahal na
Lungsod (We lost another promoter, an
advocate of history of good lessons that
we can learn from our beloved city),” he
added.
Celdran’s wife, Tesa, confirmed his
passing through a Facebook post on
Tuesday, October 8, saying that her hus-
band died of “natural causes.” No fur-
ther details have been disclosed.
Celdran, 46, was a graduate of the
Rhode Island School of Design in the
United States in 1996.
He came to prominence in September
2010 when he interrupted a service at
the Manila Cathedral to protest against
the opposition of the Catholic Church
to the then Reproductive Health Bill.
hero, Jose Rizal, carrying a placard with
the word “Damaso” in it. Damaso is an
antagonist friar in Rizal’s novel, “Noli
Me Tangere.” In his blog, Celdran de-
scribed this as his “most shocking work
to date.”
Celdran was also known for his work
“If These Walls Could Talk,” a walking
tour that aims to enlighten people about
Manila’s history between the 14th cen-
tury and World War II. There was a se-
quel of it titled “Livin’ La Vida Imelda,’
an hour and a half long monologue of
“architectural and geopolitical adven-
ture from post-war Manila until present
day.”
In 2018, he spearheaded the first-ever
Manila Biennale, a month-long art ex-
position inside the walled city of Intra-
muros, Manila.
In his post, the mayor said Celdran
promoted Manila City in his “own little
way, the way he knows it.”
“In fact some people may not under-
stand him, but one thing is for sure,
whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it for the
city of Manila,” Domagoso wrote.
Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni”
Robredo earlier extended her condo-
lences to Celdran’s family.
“I will always be grateful for his sup-
port and appreciative of his contribu-
tions to raising the awareness of our
fellow Filipinos regarding our history
and culture. He will be missed,” she
tweeted. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
4 Philippine News
Pres. Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON / FACEBOOK
New motion vs. Duterte before
ICC ‘doomed from the start’
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The supplemental motion
calling for a probe into President Rodri-
go Duterte’s drug war, which was filed by
human rights group Rise Up for Life and
Rights before the International Crimi-
nal Court (ICC), is “doomed from the
start,” Malacañang said on Monday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador
Panelo said the human rights group re-
sorted to ICC because it failed to pres-
ent proof of extrajudicial killings that
resulted from the anti-illegal narcotics
campaign.
“If Rise Up has any basis for its sub-
mission then they should have the de-
cency to honor the memory of those
who died, and file actual complaints be-
fore our courts,” Panelo said in a Palace
briefing.
“Its immediate resort to the ICC, when
our courts are able and willing to hear
any and all cases in the country, shows
that they are using the deaths to pursue
its own selfish agenda,” he added.
Panelo said the human rights group
relied on “trumped-up figures,” which
have no factual basis and that they knew
that the same allegations will not hold
up in court.
He also said the Rise Up is trying to
“blemish” legitimate operations of law
enforcement personnel, who were only
forced to protect themselves in the per-
formance of their duty.
The Palace official tagged the human
rights group as “a network of Church-
based and sectoral organizations whose
www.canadianinquirer.net
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
existence is bound by their sheer hatred
and common despise against President
Duterte and this administration.”
“Rise Up’s latest move is no different.
It aims to embarrass President Duterte
while he is busy working outside the
country to promote the Philippines,”
Panelo said.
“This action is foul to say the least as
this runs contrary to our standard norm
and behavior to be united for our leader
every time the Chief Executive is in a
foreign country building up the image of
the country in the international stage,”
he added.
Duterte was in Russia for a five-day
state visit last week.
Panelo also slammed the “noisy anti-
Duterte critics and detractors” for re-
sorting to “political theatrics and gim-
mickry,” which includes using the grief
and loss of widows and mothers whose
husbands or children had been neutral-
ized by the anti-narcotics campaign.
He said this would, in turn, catch peo-
ple’s attention with the objective of once
again demonizing the President and his
government.
Meanwhile, Panelo expressed confi-
dence that Filipinos will still support
the President despite this motion.
“The Filipino people are intelligent
and discerning. They cannot be fooled
by this cheap political propaganda,”
Panelo said.
“We are confident that they will con-
tinue to solidly support the President
for the remainder of his term and hon-
or his efforts of serving and protecting
them in obedience to the constitutional
command,” he added. ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 5

www.canadianinquirer.net
6 Philippine News OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY

De Lima getting fair Duterte says

public trial: Palace he has a nerve
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
proved by the US Senate appro-
priations committee.
that while the anti-drug cam-
paign is “far from over” with its
malfunction
“It is Senator Leahy who has “relentless and chilling” effect,
been undertaking measures all police who are corrupt are BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. You can see that the other is
MANILA — Detained Senator to place the case of Senator de hunted down and jailed. MANALAYSAY smaller, look. It is smaller. It
Leila de Lima is precisely get- Lima outside our legal process The report also recognized the Philippine Canadian Inquirer goes its own way),” which drew
ting a “fair public trial, as due and place it in a hostile envi- sentencing of three police officials laughter from the crowd.
process requires,” Malacañang ronment stacked against the involved in the Kian de los San- Myasthenia gravis, according
said on Thursday. Philippine officials. His actionstos killing, even as it noted that AMID THE health rumors to the United States National
Presidential Spokesperson smack of interference with due 1,274,148 individuals have surren- surrounding the Philippine Institute of Neurological Dis-
Salvador Panelo made this com- process, particularly that of thedered for drug rehabilitation and President, he admitted having a orders and Stroke, is a chronic
ment in response to US Senator People of the Philippines, he clearance while the government’s myasthenia gravis, which he de- autoimmune neuromuscular
Patrick Leahy’s call to accord de claims to promote,” Panelo said. unprecedented war against illegal scribed as “nerve malfunction.” disease that causes weakness
Lima a fair public trial to allow The Palace official, mean- drugs and criminality has result- “I got it from my… exactly in the skeletal muscles, which
her to defend herself. while, urged Leahy to address ed in more detainees. from my grandfather, ganun are responsible for breathing
Panelo called Leahy “igno- his country’s issues rather than Panelo admitted that there rin siya (he also has it). So I be- and moving parts of the body,
rant” anew for relying on re- meddling into another coun- may be isolated accounts of lieve really in genetics. Kung including the arms and legs. It
ports from the critics of Presi- try’s affairs. abuse on the part of its law en- anong sa kanya, nakuha ko eh may also involve muscle con-
dent Rodrigo Duterte who “Mr. Leahy cannot be more forcers, but assured that the (Whatever he had, I acquired trols on eye, eyelid, facial ex-
claim that drug charges against popish than the Pope. It may be government continues to ad- too),” President Rodrigo Roa pression, chewing, talking, and
De Lima were fabricated. best for him to address the is- dress them and hold the trans- Duterte said on Saturday, Octo- swallowing. Myasthenia gravis
“US Senator Patrick Leahy sues his country is facing rathergressors accountable. ber 5, during his meeting with has no known cure but avail-
simply does not get it. The good than looking for other concerns Meanwhile, Panelo insisted the Filipino community at the able treatments can control
senator from Vermont, through which belong to a separate and that the “most reliable source Exhibition of Achievements of symptoms.
his spokesperson David Carle, independent state,” Panelo of information on the human National Economy (VDNH) in At 74, the Chief Executive has
is showing more ignorance and said. rights situation in the Philip- Moscow. been the subject of many ru-
uttering amus- pines” are the During his speech, Duterte mors regarding his health.
ing nonsense on Filipino people was explaining why one of his Aside from this revelation,
a subject matter and not Duterte’s eyes looks smaller compared Duterte is known to suffer from
based on bogus critics. to the other saying, “Ganun ako Barrett’s esophagus, Buerger’s
narratives com- It is unfortunate that he chose to “The Filipino eh. May talent ako, magtingin disease, and nerve damage from
ing from Presi- dwell on the negative commentaries people, we be- ako sa’yo, ‘yung isang mata ko a motorcycle accident.
dent Rodrigo of the report and failed to look at the lieve, are the bumaba. Kita mo maliit ‘yung The Philippine Constitution
Roa Duterte’s entire 44 pages. most reliable isa, tingnan mo. O ‘di maliit. O Article VII Section 12 states
vocal and noisy source of infor- ‘yun. Nag-nagsasariling biyahe that “In case of serious illness
critics and de- mation on the ‘yan (That is how I am. I have of the President, the public
tractors,” Panelo human rights this talent, when I look at you, shall be informed of the state of
said in a statement. Reliable source situation in the Philippines. one of my eyes will look down. his health.” ■
He insisted that de Lima’s Panelo, meanwhile, criticized Independent surveys in the
case followed due process since Leahy for quoting the US De- country show our countrymen
the investigating prosecutor partment of State Country Re- universally believe in the Presi-
and the judge have found prob- ports on Human Rights Prac- dent’s drug war and approve of
able cause to pursue charges tices for 2018: Philippines 2018 it as well as satisfied with the
and issue the warrant of arrest Human Rights Report as a basis result,” Panelo said.
against her. of the human rights situation in Eight out of 10 or 82 percent
“For the sound legal educa- the Philippines without read- of Filipinos remained satisfied
tion of Senator Leahy, this rep- ing it entirely. by the Duterte administration’s
resentation did not say that the “It is unfortunate that he war on drugs, results of the lat-
government, or the administra- chose to dwell on the negative est Social Weather Stations
tion for that matter, has strong commentaries of the report (SWS) survey fielded from June
evidence. That is for the court and failed to look at the entire 22 to 26 showed.
to decide,” Panelo said. 44 pages,” Panelo said. Earlier, Leahy’s camp urged
“This Senator Leahy’s retort Citing the same report on the the government to give de Lima
only validates his sheer igno- illegal drug campaign, Panelo a fair trial pointing out how pros-
rance on our country’s substan- said its assessment is respect- ecutors used a variety of legal
tive and procedural rules,” he ful of the government’s deeper tactics to delay her arraignment.
added. challenges, e.g. deaths of many “Her (de Lima’s) case attract-
Panelo stressed that it was law enforcement officers during ed widespread domestic and
Leahy who has placed de Lima’s operations, even as the account- international attention with
case “outside legal process” ability of those from the same many observers denouncing
through filing an amendment ranks is guaranteed through the charges as politically moti-
to the 2020 State and Foreign investigations of “any actions vated,” part of the report read.
Operations (SFOPs) appropria- taken outside the rule of law.” De Lima, one of Duterte’s
tions bill to include a ban on the Panelo said the report also staunchest critics, has been in
entry to the US of Philippine underscored that government detention since February 2017 President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during his meeting with the
government officials involved civilian control over its law for her alleged involvement in Filipino community at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy
in her imprisonment. enforcers is exercised, citing a the illegal drug trade. However, (VDNH) in Moscow on October 5, 2019.
This amendment was ap- statement from the President she denied these charges. ■ ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Jet for Duterte, senior
gov’t officials ‘a necessity’
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Malacañang de-
fended the contract signed by
the Philippines to buy a luxury
jet from the US for President
Rodrigo Duterte and senior
government officials to use in
“crisis situations.”
Presidential Spokesperson
Salvador Panelo denied that it
was meant to serve comfort,
saying it was necessary for
times of crisis.
“Hindi naman comfort iyon.
Komportable ba iyon? (It’s not
for comfort. Is it comfort-
able?)” Panelo said in a Palace
briefing on Tuesday.
“In times of crisis, eh ‘di kai-
langan mo iyon. Kaya nga crisis
eh (If there are times of crisis
then you need it. That’s why
it’s a crisis) then there is neces-
sity. Kung necessity, papano na-
man magwawaldas ka? (If it’s
a necessity, how could you not
spend for it?),” he added.
Panelo pointed out that
Duterte, known as a frugal man,
will not allow the government
to spend for anything “unless
necessary.”
Gulfstream Aerospace Cor-
poration recently announced
on its website that the Philip-
pine Air Force has signed a con-
tract to buy a Gulfstream G280
DFA advises Filipinos on new
Saudi policy on public decency
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on
Wednesday advised overseas
Filipinos to familiarize them-
selves with the new Saudi Ara-
bia regulation on public de-
cency to avoid violations and
penalties.
“The Department of Foreign
Affairs reminds Filipino trav-
elers to Saudi Arabia to adhere
to a new regulation related to
public decency, which identi-
fies 19 offenses punishable by
Gulfstream G280 GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORPORATION / WEBSITE
aircraft for “command and con-
trol” duties.
Bagong Alyansang Makabay-
an (Bayan) Secretary-General
Renato Reyes criticized the air-
craft purchase questioning how
the government could spend
for comfort when commuters
suffer from transport woes.
Meanwhile, Panelo expressed
hope that the aircraft purchase
could be the start of “fairer
deals” between the Philippines
and the US.
On Monday, Panelo said the
US may feel “a little insecure”
about its relationship with its
only military ally due to deep-
ening ties between the Philip-
fines,” it said in an advisory is-
sued Wednesday.
The DFA said the new regula-
tion helps ensure that travelers
to Saudi Arabia are reminded of
laws that concern public behav-
ior, including rules on immod-
est clothing, public display of
affection, taking photos or vid-
eos of people without permis-
sion, playing music at prayer
times, among others.
As for implementation, Sau-
di Arabia identifies the Saudi
Police as the sole authority
responsible for monitoring of-
fenses and imposing fines
ranging from 100 Saudi riyals
(PHP1,380) to SAR6,000 Saudi
pines and Russia.
Duterte’s second visit to Rus-
sia last week secured PHP620
million worth of business deals.
Panelo said partnerships
with other countries, such as
Russia, would likely prompt the
US to give more importance to
the Philippines including “fair
deals.”
“(US) should be more open
into giving us fair deals. Like
the complaint of the President,
he wanted to buy arms from
them and choppers, but they
refused, because they placed
condition, colatillas,” Panelo
said in an interview over a cable
television program. ■
riyals (PHP83,000).
According to the DFA, of-
fenders have the right to sub-
mit a grievance claim before
the Common Courtesy Depart-
ment and to appeal any penal-
ties. But any person harmed by
offenders shall have the right to
file a lawsuit, it noted. ■
For the complete list of public
decency offenses and their cor-
responding fines, the agency
encourages Filipino travel-
ers to visit the link: https://
docs.google.com/viewerng/
viewer?url=https://www.arab-
news.com/sites/default/files/
userimages/20/violations.pdf.
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
PH-Russia nuclear
energy deal
‘uncertain’: Palace
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The nuclear energy
agreement between the Philip-
pines and Russia is “uncertain,”
Malacañang said on Monday af-
ter President Rodrigo Duterte
bared that the deal may be un-
constitutional.
“They’re discussing whether
it’s feasible or not. Kumbaga,
nasa ano pa lang ‘yun, pinag-
uusapan pa lang (It’s still be-
ing talked about),” Presidential
Spokesperson Salvador Panelo
said in a Palace briefing.
“Wala pang sigurado dun
(Nothing is certain yet),” he
added.
During Duterte’s five-day of-
ficial visit to Russia last week,
the Philippines and Russia
signed a memorandum of in-
tent to explore the possible
construction of nuclear power
plants in the country.
This was among the 10 busi-
ness agreements signed be-
tween the two countries esti-
mated to be worth USD12.57
million or about PHP650 mil-
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the members of his delegation hold a
bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Polyana 1389
Hotel in Sochi on October 3, 2019.
7
lion.
However, Duterte bared that
he would consult his Cabinet
first since the deal may be a vio-
lation of the Constitution.
“The Constitution would not
like it. That is why I have to talk
to the Cabinet. I cannot affirm
or deny that because that’s part
of the proposals,” Duterte said
upon arrival from his trip to
Russia on Sunday (Oct. 7).
In November 2017, the Phil-
ippines and Russia agreed on a
nuclear cooperation program
under a memorandum of coop-
eration (MOC) signed during
the 12th East Asia Summit.
Energy Secretary Alfonso
Cusi said this cooperation is
part of the government’s inten-
tion to develop a variety of ap-
plications for nuclear energy
that are within policies, partic-
ularly for power generation.
The Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant is the country’s first and
only nuclear power plant built
during the term of former
President Ferdinand Marcos.
However, it never became oper-
ational due to safety concerns
and corruption issues. ■
KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
8 Philippine News OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY

Correspondent/Hosts
Bea Kirstein T. Manalaysay
Joanna Belle Deala
Gianna Llanes
Arianne Grace U. Lacanilao
Violeta Arevelo
Babes Newland

Graphic Design
Shanice Garcia
Ginno Alcantara
Arlnie Colleene Talain Singca

Account Manager
Kristopher Yong

Director/Producer
Boom Dayupay

Photographers/Videographers
Ginno Alcantara
Maria Crizandra Baylon

Sales
Aireen De Asis
Dennis Cruz ANTEFIXUS21 / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

No mass transport crisis yet: Palace

Operations and Admin
Victoria Yong
Amelia Insigne

Management
Alan Yong
Victoria Yong
For photo submissions, please email
editor@canadianinquirer.net
For General Inquiries, please email
info@canadianinquirer.net
For Sales Inquiries, please email
sales@canadianinquirer.net
or contact 778-788-4998
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at
#1820-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6C 2X8 Canada
Email: info@canadianinquirer.net,
sales@canadianinquirer.net
Instagram: @pcinewsofficial
Twitter:@pcinewsofficial
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/
channel/UCGvCxcZGXZVbAWhNLRJIfTw
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly
every Friday.
Copies are distributed free throughout Metro
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Greater Toronto.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles
(including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those
of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of
Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team.
PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which
it considers to contain false or misleading information
or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser
agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages
arising out of error in any advertisement.
Member
BY AZER PARROCHA makakarating pa naman ‘yung mga “There should be improvement in the
Philippine News Agency dapat makarating sa kanilang pupuntah- LRT. So, ibig sabihin (this means) main-
an (I don’t think there is, because peopletenance ang problema (is the problem),
can still reach their destinations),” he you’re not maintaining it properly. So,
MANILA — Despite glitches in three of added. I think the management of LRT should
the country’s train systems, Malacañang Panelo said compared to the previous know how to respond to this,” Panelo
on Tuesday said it does not consider this administration, “big improvements” said.
a “mass transport crisis.” have been made in the country’s train “Hindi naman pupuwedeng forever
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador systems and glitches have lessened. tayong ganito (We can’t be this way
Panelo made this comment as he rebut- “Nabasa ko ‘yung paliwanag, dati-dati forever). As I’ve said, if the problem is
ted Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bay- daw halos araw-araw nagba-bog down. on the kind of transport we have, then
an) Secretary-General Renato Reyes’s Ngayon daw once a week na lang. So, ang there is a solution to that. You change
claim that Metro Manila is facing a mass laki daw ng improvement (I read an ex- the mean of transportation itself or if
transport crisis after there is a problem on
the Light Rail Tran- the operation with
sit-1, 2, and the Metro respect to its spare
Rail Transit-3 all ex- parts, hindi rin prob-
perienced technical What I see is traffic not transportation crisis. We lema ‘yun; madali
issues that disrupted have transportation. People can still get rides. ring gawan ng paraan
operations. (that’s not a problem;
Reyes said “the it’s easy to find a solu-
most serious situa- tion),” Panelo added.
tion” now is repairs Panelo said trans-
in the LRT-2 Santolan to Anonas sta- planation, before the trains bog down port authorities should take the blame
tions which will require around nine almost every day. Now, it’s just once a if they cannot properly maintain the
months. week),” Panelo said. country’s train systems.
Panelo said he did not consider these The Palace official said commuters, “I cannot understand why they can-
glitches as a “mass transport crisis” who want to arrive at their destination not do that. If they cannot do that, then
since there were still other ways for early, should also learn to leave their there’s something wrong with manage-
commuters to get rides to take them to homes “earlier.” ment,” Panelo said.
their destinations. Meanwhile, Panelo said it is the call
“Ano ba ang ibig nilang sabihin ng Address glitches of the Land Transportation Franchising
transportation crisis? Ang nakikita ko Panelo admitted that the Department and Regulatory Board (LTFB) whether
lang traffic hindi ‘yung transport na of Transportation (DOTr) and LRT and or not to expedite the release of fran-
iyon—mayroong transportation naman MRT management should address the chises and routes for the modernization
ah. Nakakasakay naman tayo lahat glitches encountered by the train sys- of jeepneys.
(What do they mean my transportation tems. “There must be a reason why there is a
crisis? What I see is traffic not transpor- He, however, refused to answer delay, kung may (if there is a) delay man.
tation crisis. We have transportation. whether or not he thought the nine- It should be competent to know whether
People can still get rides),” Panelo said month period to fix the LRT-2 stations or not it has to grant franchises to help
in a Palace briefing. was too long and deferred it to transport ease the problem on transport,” Panelo
“Mukha namang wala pa kasi nga authorities. said. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 Philippine News 9

PH, Japan beef up cooperation

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE / FACEBOOK
in 1st defense industry forum
BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Philippines
and Japan renewed coopera-
tion in the field of defense dur-
ing the first Philippines-Japan
Defense Industry Forum held
in Taguig City, Wednesday.
“The inaugural Philippines-
Japan Defense Industry Forum
aims to promote defense equip-
ment cooperation between our
about both countries’ policiesincreased role’ in maintaining
and procedures in doing busi- peace and stability in the Asia-
ness, specifically in the pro-Pacific region by exporting
curement and export of defensequality defense equipment to
equipment, material and tech- foreign countries, like the Phil-
nologies. ippines,” Luna said.
Luna stressed that as the In March, the Philippines re-
Philippines values the increas-
ceived spare parts for UH-IH
ing and enduring defense alli-“Huey” helicopters from Ja-
ance with Japan, the commit- pan’s Defense Ministry, making
ment to enhance its defense it the first member state of the
posture is further strengthened
Association of Southeast Asian
to guard against internal secu-
Nations (Asean) to receive ex-
rity issues and external mari-cess Japanese defense equip-

Next PNP chief countries with

the goal of con-
tributing to each
ment.
Aside
improving Ma-
from

must be honest, of our countries’

respective man-
dates and re-
In March, the Philippines received
spare parts for UH-IH “Huey”
nila-Tokyo ties,
the event is also
beneficial for the

competent: Palace sponsibilities,”

BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — President Rodrigo
Duterte wants the next Phil-
ippine National Police (PNP)
chief to be honest, competent,
and free from irregularities
amid reports of cops recycling
illegal drugs, Malacañang said
on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson
Salvador Panelo said Duterte is
selecting from four candidates
but will keep it to himself for
the meantime.
“He (Duterte) will decide on
the basis of competence and
honesty,” Panelo said in a Pal-
ace briefing.
“If you are honest, di ibig sabi-
hin wala kang kaso (that means
you have no cases) relative to
any irregularity. Pag competent
ka, di ibig sabihin magaling ka
sa trabaho mo (If you’re compe-
tent, that means you’re good at
your job),” he added.
Asked if Duterte would con-
sider appointing someone he
does not personally know, Pan-
elo said it would depend on the
President.
“Sometimes siguro (perhaps)
he appoints on the basis of rep-
utation preceding the appoin-
tee,” Panelo said.
Duterte earlier said he would
be more careful in selecting the
next PNP to avoid “stumbling”
again.
Panelo said he did not know
if Duterte was referring to PNP
chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde,
who is accused of involvement
in the illegal drug trade. but
said he would ask the President
to clarify what he meant.
“Mahirap mag-interpret sa
sinabi niya dahil hindi… hindi…
Hindi, kasi hindi masyadong
klaro kung kanino niya nire-
refer o whatever (It’s hard to
interpret what he said. It wasn’t
clear who he was referring to),”
Panelo said.
Albayalde earlier said since
an investigation is ongoing, the
public should “move on” from
the issue.
However, Panelo said Palace
could not simply move on since
the results of the investigation
have yet to be released.
“As far as Malacañang is con-
cerned, there is an ongoing in-
vestigation as instructed by the
President,” Panelo said.
“In the first place, you can’t
stop the public from talking
about it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Panelo said the
irregularities hounding the
PNP should not affect the Pres-
ident’s campaign against illegal
drugs.
“The fact is the President has
dismantled many drug appara-
tus in this country and jailed
many police scalawags involved
in the drug operation and ar-
rested many people involved
in pushing the illegal drugs and
many have surrendered, many
have been rehabilitated,” Pan-
elo said. ■
Defense Under-
secretary Cardo-
helicopters from Japan’s Defense
Ministry.
Modernization
Program of the
Armed Forces of
zo Luna said in the Philippines
his speech. to “transition it-
Hosted by the self to a credible
International Cooperation Di- time threats. and professional defense insti-
vision of the Acquisition, Tech- “We, at the Department of tution,” as it provides an oppor-
nology, and Logistics Agency National Defense, fully support tunity for the Defense Acquisi-
of the Ministry of Defense of the recent amendment of Ja- tion System Teams/Technical
Japan, the forum was attended pan’s Self-Defense Forces Act Working Groups to learn and
by defense industry and gov- that would allow the Japanese understand Japan’s defense
ernment stakeholders from government and its Ministry technologies, thus expanding
the Philippines and Japan to of Defense ‘the needed flex- the “competitive alternatives
discuss and exchange opinions, ibilities’ for the Japanese mili- for the AFP Modernization
information, and experiences tary force to play ‘a greater or projects.” ■
SOLUTIONS IMMIGRATION CONSULTING INC.
EXPERT ASSISTANCE - ALL CANADIAN IMMIGRATION MATTERS
CARI GOMBINSKY SOL GOMBINSKY ANNABELLE MIGALBIN
Owner/Licensed Consultant
R411207
President and Licensed Consultant
ICCRC ID: R411199
Immigration Services Manager
SERVICE IN PILIPINO
carig@immsol.com Immigration Specialist Since 1967 annabellem@immsol.com
Former manager, 647-765-1580
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
sollyg@immsol.com 416-661-6376
www.immsol.com
1183 Finch Avenue West Suite 508, Toronto M3J 2G2
IN CANADA SERVICES OUT OF CANADA SERVICES
• Family Class • Permanent Residence
• Extensions/Change of Status • Canadian Experience Class
• Permanent Residence • Federal Skilled Worker
• Hearings and Appeals • Skilled Trade Programs
• Humanitarian and Compassionate • Visitors Visa
• Caregiver Programs • Business
• Citizenship Applications • Family Class
• Work Permits *Student Permits

www.canadianinquirer.net
10
MMDA spox sues Facebook
page for ‘fake news’
BY RAYMOND CARL DELA
CRUZ
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Metropolitan Ma-
nila Development Authority
(MMDA) spokesperson, Assis-
tant Secretary Celine Pialago,
on Wednesday filed a cyber li-
bel complaint against an anti-
Duterte satire Facebook page
for publishing “fake news.”
In a message sent to re-
porters, Pialago said she filed
the complaint against the
publisher/s of “Pinoy Laugh
Page” at the Philippine Na-
tional Police (PNP) Cybercrime
Unit.
The spokesperson said the
complaint was for a post which
contained a picture of her cap-
tioned with: “MMDA sa com-
muters: Kung nahihirapan su-
makay, ‘wag na lang pumasok
(MMDA to commuters: if you
find it hard to commute, then
don’t go to work).”
“I never said this. And I’m ac-
tually on my way to PNP Camp
Crame to report/file a com-
plaint on this. Maging babala
sa mahilig manira ng kapwa at
sa mga mahilig magpakalat ng
fake news (Let this be a warning
against those fond of character
assassination and distributing
false news),” Pialago said.
Pialago said the Facebook
page deleted the said post but
she will continue to pursue the
identities of those responsible.
“Ipapahanap ko pa din mga
administrators nito. I suggest
na kapag biktima ng fake news
mag report sa mga otoridad (I
will still have the administra-
tors found. I suggest to those
victimized by false news to re-
port the incident to the author-
ities),” Pialago said.
The complaint-affidavit indi-
cated a friend of Pialago tagged
her on the post with the state-
Philippine News
Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago.
MMDA SPOKESPERSON CELINE PIALAGO / FACEBOOK
ment allegedly declared by her.
“The said statement is utterly
baseless and fictitious. I com-
pletely and vehemently deny
having declared/stated such,”
Pialago said in the affidavit.
She added that the post was
shared on Facebook “solely for
the purpose of discrediting my
reputation and credibility as
MMDA spokesperson.”
Pialago said the defamatory
post resulted in her becoming
a subject of “public ridicule, ha-
tred, and social bashing.
“Even mga opisyal natin,
walang nagsabi nito (our offi-
cials, nobody said this). This is
technically and obviously a fake
news, false statement,” she said.
The MMDA official said the
post had already been deleted.
Meanwhile, the Philippine
National Police (PNP) Anti-Cy-
bercrime Group on Wednesday
vowed to help Pialago in going
after the perpetrators of these
posts.
Col. Ramon Gamboa, chief of
the ACG cyber response unit,
said they will coordinate with
Facebook and trace the admin-
istrators of the social media
pages.
He said the subject social me-
dia accounts already seemed to
be fictitious.
“‘Yung mga identity ng tao
dito, naka-hide so ’yun ‘yung
ating iniimbestigahan ngayon,
kung sino ‘yung (The identity
of the person here is hidden so
that is what we are investigat-
ing now. Who is the) adminis-
trator,” Gamboa said.
Gamboa also warned those
who will publish fake news to
stop as police will track them
down and apprehend them. ■
with reports from Christopher
Lloyd Caliwan
www.canadianinquirer.net
PH to take ties with
Korea ‘further, forward,
upward’: Locsin
PHILIPPINE NEWS
AGENCY
MANILA — Foreign Affairs
Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
reaffirmed to strengthen bilat-
eral ties between the Philip-
pines and South Korea, as both
countries celebrate 70 years of
diplomatic relations with each
other.
“As we celebrate the Repub-
lic of Korea’s National Day and
70 years of fruitful cooperation
and friendship, we reaffirm the
determination of our govern-
ment and people to work with
the government of South Ko-
rea in taking our friendship
further, forward, and upward,”
Locsin said in his speech during
the reception of the National
Day and Armed Forces Day of
the Republic of Korea at the
Makati Shangri-La, Manila on
Tuesday evening.
Locsin lauded the intensified
engagements between the two
countries in defense modern-
ization and capacity building,
which “feeds into our aspira-
tions for shared peace, stabil-
ity” in the East Asian region.
He also recognized the Phil-
ippine veterans’ push for free-
dom and democracy, as they
were among the first to assist
South Korea in the Korean War.
“We join our Korean friends
in marking Armed Forces Day.
We honor the service and sac-
rifice of our men and women in
uniform. Philippine-ROK rela-
tions were solidified with mor-
tal mixed with blood and broth-
erhood,” Locsin said.
“Today, 70 years after we
forged diplomatic relations, it
gratifies us to see Philippine-
Korean ties continue to grow,
nurtured by the same values
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
that we ardently defended,” he
added.
South Korean Ambassador to
the Philippines Han Dong-man
likewise thanked the Filipino
soldiers for their contributions
during the Korean war from
1950 to 1953.
“We reiterate our deep grati-
tude. Korea will not enjoy this
democracy and economic pros-
perity without their sacrifice,
and dedication. For the past
70 years, Korea and the Philip-
pines have enjoyed an excel-
lent relationship,” he said in his
speech.
He said South Korea pledges
to boost contributions to the
Philippine economy by expand-
ing trade and foreign invest-
ment inflows, as well as bring-
ing in more tourists.
He also said that whenever he
meets with South Korean busi-
nessmen, he urges them to “in-
vest, invest, invest in the Philip-
pines and President (Rodrigo)
Duterte’s ‘Build, Build, Build’
program.”
South Korea is the Philip-
pines’ fourth-largest trading
partner, with total trade reach-
ing USD15.6 billion in 2018,
Locsin said.
Last year, Korean visitors to
the Philippines totaled 1.6 mil-
lion and Han pledged to the
President to increase the vol-
ume.
“I made a promise to Presi-
dent Rodrigo Roa Duterte to
bring up this number to 2 mil-
lion per year during my term,”
Han said. ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Pulse Asia: Duterte approval, Abu Sayyaf sub-
trust ratings go down leader falls in QC
BY BEA KIRSTEIN T.
MANALAYSAY
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
PULSE ASIA’S latest survey
showed that the trust and ap-
proval rating of President Ro-
drigo Roa Duterte went down
to 74% and 78% this September,
respectively.
There is an 11-point differ-
ence from Duterte’s trust rating
back in June this year as he got
an 85% While, there is a seven-
point difference from Duterte’s
approval rating back in June
this year, which was also at 85%.
Released on Monday, Octo-
ber 7, the pollster’s latest find-
ings in the September 2019 Ulat
ng Bayan Survey also notes that
the Chief Executive’s trust rat-
ings went down in Metro Ma-
nila, Luzon, and Visayas, but
not his home region Mindanao.
The second-in-command was
not spared from this decrease
trend, as Vice President Maria
Leonor “Leni” Robredo’s 52%
and 55% trust and approval rat-
ings dropped to 46% and 50%
respectively.
Meanwhile, Senate President
Vicente “Tito” Sotto III got
66% trust rating and 72% ap-
proval rating.
Palace tells tourists to avoid
places ‘where danger lurks’
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Malacañang cau-
tioned tourists against visit-
ing places in the Philippines
“where danger lurks” after a
British businessman and his
Filipino wife were kidnapped
by at least four gunmen in Tu-
kuran, Zamboanga del Sur.
“They should always take
care of themselves. Avoid plac-
es where danger lurks,” Presi-
dential Spokesperson Salvador
Panelo said in a Palace briefing
on Monday.
Panelo, however, said he
would not ask tourists to avoid
visiting Zamboanga del Sur say-
ing the kidnapping case is just
House Speaker Alan Peter
Cayetano got 62% trust rating
and 64% approval rating. While
Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin
received a trust rating of 34%
which was lower by a point than
what he got in the last quarter,
and an approval rating 42%
which was a point higher than
his previous.
Pulse Asia’s nationwide sur-
vey has an error margin of ±
2.8% at 95% confidence level. It
used face-to-face interviews on
1,200 adults aged 18 years old
an “isolated” incident.
“Mga isolated cases na gani-
yan. Minsan hindi mo rin mai-
wasan ‘yan (Sometimes you
cannot avoid isolated cases like
that),” Panelo said.
He said the Philippine Army
and the Philippine National
Police (PNP) are on top of the
situation.
“It’s a PNP activity, so I’m
sure the PNP is doing some-
thing about it. The PNP there
and the Army can take care of
that place,” Panelo said.
The Palace official also re-
jected claims that martial law
in Mindanao is useless since it
failed to prevent a foreigner and
his wife from being snatched.
“Well, sometimes that hap-
pens even if there’s martial
ACE MORANDANTE./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
and above and was conducted
from September 16 to 22 of this
year.
Some national developments
that the pollster noted that
may have had an effect on the
duration of the conduction of
the survey are: the investiga-
tion on the good conduct time
allowance (GCTA), the polio
outbreak, the death of a Philip-
pine Military Academy (PMA)
student linked to hazing, and
the African swine fever (ASF)
outbreak. ■
law,” Panelo said.
Without martial law, Panelo
said there could even be more
kidnapping cases in the area.
Duterte declared martial law
in Mindanao on May 23, 2017
after violent extremists belong-
ing to the Maute group attacked
and seized Marawi City.
Reports showed that Allan
Hyrons, 70, and his wife Wilma
were seized at their property —
Hyrons Beach Resort.
Zamboanga police said two of
the suspects reportedly checked
in at the resort, pointed a gun at
them, and dragged them to the
other side of the beach were mo-
torized boats were waiting.
To date, no group has claimed
responsibility for the kidnap-
ping. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Authorities arrest-
ed a sub-leader of the terrorist
Abu Sayyaf Group in Quezon
City, the National Capital Re-
gion Police Office (NCRPO)
said Friday.
NCRPO chief, Maj. Gen.
Guillermo Eleazar identified
the suspect as Ibrahim Lambog
Mullo, 26, who initially identi-
fied himself as Agimar Abi Aha-
ja to conceal his true identity.
Mullo was arrested by com-
bined personnel of Quezon
City Hall Police Community
Precinct (PCP, District Mobile
Force Battalion (DMFB), Dis-
trict Special Operations Unit
(DSOU), Batasan Police Sta-
tion (PS 6) and the Intelligence
Group (IG) of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP).
Mullo’s arrest stemmed from
a tip from a concerned citizen
that he was seen on Ilang-Ilang
St. corner Commonwealth Av-
enue in Barangay Batasan Hills,
around 7 p.m. on September 27.
The suspect yielded an unli-
censed .45 caliber pistol and a
sling bag with a fragmentation
grenade.
Before his arrest, intelligence
information disclosed that an
ASG member was spotted in
the area.
Col. Ronnie Montejo, Que-
zon City Police District acting
director, said based on the in-
vestigation, Mullo arrived in
Metro Manila along with cer-
tain Arnel Flores Cabintoy alias
Musab and Feliciano Mañas
Sulayao Jr. alias Abu Muslim,
a.k.a Rowel S. Adam, sometime
in January.
Cabintoy and Sulayao were
arrested in Barangay Culiat
last June 15 during the imple-
mentation of an order for the
apprehension of personalities
involved in the rebellion in
Mindanao issued by Defense
Secretary Delfin Lorenzana,
who is also the administrator of
martial law in Mindanao.
However, Mullo claimed that
he had just moved to Quezon
City to attend to his wife who
had recently given birth.
He said he works in a con-
struction firm in San Miguel,
Bulacan owned by his wife’s un-
11
cle in a housing project for the
Army Scout Rangers.
Montejo said the intelligence
information further revealed
that Mullo was recruited into
the ASG sub-group (Ajang-
Ajang Group) initially through
social media by ASG sub-leader
alias Pading in 2017 while he
was residing in Zamboanga
City.
Mullo was enticed to join the
ASG because of the promise of
PHP10,000 monthly allowance
and had his first monthly al-
lowance from Pading through
an unidentified female courier
whom he met in Paseo Del Mar
in Zamboanga City.
Thereafter, he finally decided
to join the ASG in Patikul, Sulu
under Pading’s group.
Mullo said their group un-
der Pading is under the Islamic
State-inspired ASG leader Hat-
ib Hajan Sawadjaan.
Mullo was issued with an Ar-
malite rifle by the ASG and ad-
mitted that he had participated
in several armed encounters
against government troops in
Patikul, Sulu.
He claimed that he and his
wife had already decided to go
to Manila in 2018 to look for
work and live a normal life.
The suspect said he was able
to leave the ASG in Sulu, after
asking permission from Pading
to allow him to have a short va-
cation in Zamboanga City with
his wife.
He never returned to Sulu
and decided to go to Manila
instead, saying he sold his Ar-
malite to a fellow ASG member.
Cases of violation of Republic
Act 10591 (The Comprehensive
Law on Firearms and Ammu-
nition) and RA 9516 (Unlawful
and Illegal Possession of Explo-
sive) were filed against Mullo
before the City Prosecutor’s Of-
fice.
Montejo said although there
is no direct evidence linking
him to any terror activities in
the city, a follow-up investiga-
tion is being done to find out
the people aiding and harbor-
ing him. ■
12
Deeper PH-Russia Albayalde welcomes PRRD’s
ties should prompt clarification on police generals
US to give ‘fair deals’
BY AZER PARROCHA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Deepening ties
between the Philippines and
Russia could make the United
States (US) feel “a little inse-
cure” about its relationship
with its only military ally,
Malacañang said on Monday.
Presidential Spokesperson
Salvador Panelo made this re-
mark after Duterte arrived
from his second visit to Rus-
sia last week securing PHP620
million worth of business deals.
“As he said it, ‘I will main-
tain our relations with the US.’
I don’t think it will be affected.
Perhaps if there is any effect, it
would be for the better because
US would now feel a little inse-
cure about it; where before we
tailor our position with that of
the United States,” Panelo said
in an interview over ANC.
Panelo, however, assured that
stronger Philippine-Russian
ties will not affect Philippine-
US ties emphasizing the Presi-
dent’s policy to be open to other
allies as well.
“While he maintains his alli-
ance with the US, he feels that
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is accorded foyer honors upon his arrival at
the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City on October 6, 2019
following his successful official visit to the Russian Federation.
Philippine News
the Philippines has to open it-
self to all those countries will-
ing to help the Philippines,
offer their friendship, so that
we can have deals with them –
trade and others,” Panelo said.
Panelo said partnerships
with other countries would
likely prompt the US to give
more importance to the Philip-
pines including “fair deals.”
“(US) should be more open
into giving us fair deals. Like the
complain of the President, he
wanted to buy arms from them
and choppers, but they refused,
because they placed condition,
colatillas,” Panelo said.
In 2016, the US State Depart-
ment halted the sale of firearms
to the Philippines over con-
cerns on human rights viola-
tions in relation to the admin-
istration’s campaign against
illegal drugs.
The Philippines started look-
ing for cheaper arms from Rus-
sia and China, two countries
that assisted the Philippines
when the Marawi siege took
place in May 2017.
Last June, Duterte said he is
open to buy arms from the US
after it stopped its purchase
three years ago. ■
KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Philippine Na-
tional Police (PNP) Chief, Gen.
Oscar Albayalde on Monday
welcomed President Rodrigo
Duterte’s recent statement
clarifying that there is no active
general in the report on illegal
drugs submitted to him by se-
curity officials.
“I am grateful as well to
the clarification by President
Duterte himself that there are
no active service police gener-
als involved in the drug con-
troversy,” Albayalde said in his
statement.
In his speech during a forum
organized by a Russian think
tank in Sochi, Russia on Oct. 4,
Duterte said two generals are
“still playing” with illegal drugs.
Duterte, however, clarified to
the media upon his arrival from
Russia that he was confused by
the old rank classification in
the Philippine National Police
(PNP) which referred to offi-
cers as superintendents.
“I must admit my ignorance
actually… Lahat ng tao nalilito
nyang supt-supt na yan. Super-
intendent pala yan, eh. Walang
generals doon, I’m sure of that…
Dalawang ano…colonel, I think.
Nalilito kasi ako d’yan sa super-
intendent-superintendent na
yan (Everyone is confused by
that superintendent. There are
no generals there, I’m sure of
that. Two colonels, I think. I am
confused by that superinten-
dent),” Duterte said in a news
conference at the Francisco
Bangoy International Airport
in Davao City on Sunday (Oct.
6).
Albayalde also welcomed
Duterte’s remark asking for
clear proof that will implicate
the PNP chief to the ‘ninja cops’
or police officers who are into
recycling of illegal drugs.
“I enjoin everyone to move
on now that the President has
spoken,” Albayalde appealed.
“In response to the President
Duterte’s continued trust and
confidence on my leadership
of the PNP, let me express my
deepest gratitude even as I pro-
fess my continued faithful ser-
vice to our country and people,”
he added.
www.canadianinquirer.net
PNP Chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde. JOEY O. RAZON / PNA
Albayalde assured the public
that the PNP will remain re-
lentless in its campaign against
crimes, illegal drugs and rogue
cops.
He also thanked Depart-
ment of the Interior and Local
Government (DILG) Secretary
Eduardo Año for giving him the
opportunity to be heard amid
reports that he intervened in
the dismissal of the ‘ninja cops’
in Pampanga in 2013.
“I am thankful to President
Rodrigo R Duterte and DILG
Secretary Eduardo M Año for
allowing me the opportunity
to be heard in a proper probe
body,”Albayalde said.
Probe on ninja cops
Meanwhile, Albayalde on
Monday ordered a thorough
investigation into the case of 13
policemen who were accused of
recycling more than 160 kilos of
shabu and earning more than
PHP60 million from a drug
bust in Pampanga in 2013.
He instructed the Director-
ate for Investigation and Detec-
tive Management (DIDM) to
take the lead in reviewing the
administrative cases of the 13
cops led by Maj. Rodney Baloyo.
“The DIDM is instructed to
coordinate with the PNP-In-
ternal Affairs Service to initi-
ate possible summary dismissal
proceedings against these er-
rant personnel,” said Albayalde.
“To complement this effort,
the Directorate for Personnel
and Records Management has
been given specific instructions
to ensure that all personnel in-
volved will remain accounted
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
for at the Administrative and
Holding Units to ensure their
availability to face investiga-
tion,” he added.
Albayalde’s order was the
first concrete measure he initi-
ated against the group of Baloyo
since the Pampanga raid was
brought up in the previous Sen-
ate hearings.
Retired general and now
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin
Magalong disclosed the anom-
aly involving Baloyo’s group in
November 2013.
Magalong said Baloyo and
his group seized some 200 ki-
lograms of shabu but only de-
clared 38 kilos. They also al-
legedly took at least PHP10
million from the house of sus-
pected drug lord Johnson Lee
and forced the suspect to cough
up at least PHP50 million for
his freedom.
“No stone will be left un-
turned and there will be no sa-
cred cows in this investigation,”
said Albayalde, who was the po-
lice provincial director of Pam-
panga when the drug bust took
place.
Albayalde also said he is open
to investigation over allega-
tions that he benefited from the
Pampanga drug raid.
“With their assurance of im-
partiality and due process, I am
ready to face investigation to
once and for all clear my name
and spare the PNP from further
embarrassment and unwanted
public opinion created by these
internal and external political
machinations,” Albayalde said.
Albayalde is set to retire on
November 8. ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Pinay nanny...
❰❰ 1 when she was just 16
years old.
She spent 65 years
in servitude.
In a June 2019 interview with
ABS-CBN’s Balitang America,
Nanay Fedelina narrated her
ordeal with the family she
served for four generations.
“Nag-alaga ko ng nanay niya,
nag-alaga ako ng anak niya, ta-
pos nanay naman niya, apat na
apo ang inalagaan ko. Lahat
‘yun ginawa ko ako lang mag-isa
— nagluluto, naglilinis, nama-
malantsa, namamalengke — ako
lahat, kayang-kaya ko, hinaha-
tid-sinusundo, dinadalhan ng
pagkain sa eskuwela (I took care
of the matriarch, I took care of
the children, and then the mom,
I watched over four grandchil-
dren. I did everything alone —
from cooking, cleaning, ironing
clothes — I did those alone),” she
said in the interview.
“Ang hinihigaan ko ang lamig,
ang dumi-dumi, butas-butas pa
Illegal shanties at NBP maximum security compound demolished
BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
CALIWAN
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — As part of the on-
going reform programs of the
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor),
the National Capital Region
Police Office (NCRPO) and
other government agencies de-
molished illegal structures and
implemented a crackdown on
contrabands within the maxi-
mum security compound of the
New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in
Muntinlupa City on Wednes-
day.
NCRPO Chief Maj. Gen.
Guillermo Eleazar, and BuCor
Director General Gerald Ban-
tag led the operation together
with personnel from the AFP
Joint Task Force NCR, BJMP
NCR, Bureau of Fire Protec-
tion NCR, PDEA, Department
of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) and the PNP Special
Action Force.
The demolition is part of the
new BuCor administration’s
reforms as it commits to insti-
tutionalize cleansing inside the
country’s main insular peniten-
tiary.
‘‘Ang problema ng BuCor ay
talagang kailangan nang mab-
igyan ng solusyon. Bilang hepe
‘yong blanket ko, salbahe silang
mag-ina (I slept on the cold
floor with my blanket hole-rid-
den. The mother and child were
cruel),” she added.
“Ngayon, maligaya na ako at
malaya. Hindi na ako nakaku-
long, hindi na ako inaapi ng mga
tao (Now, I am happy and free. I
am no longer locked up, no lon-
ger abused by people).”
In a recent Philippine Inde-
pendence Day reception in Los
Angeles she attended, Nanay
Fedelina was hailed as “a symbol
of courage and freedom, the very
essence of the annual celebration
of Philippine Independence.”
In 2018, the Pilipino Work-
ers Center (PWC), through the
help of US law enforcement,
rescued her and helped pursue
and win her case in court.
“Today, with the help of PWC,
the Consulate General, and
many other generous hearts in
Los Angeles, Nanay Fedelina is
ready to begin a new life at 81,”
ng NCRPO, na tumutok sa kam-
panya laban sa iligal na droga,
nakita ko mula sa napakarami
nating operasyon na nandito sa
BuCor ang mga malalaking ta-
ong nagpapatakbo sa malalak-
ing transaksyon na may kinala-
man sa iligal na droga. Ang
tulong natin sa BuCor ay para
din sa ating ikakatagumpay sa
ating kampanya laban sa droga
at kriminalidad (The BuCor’s
problem needs a solution. As
NCRPO chief who focused on
the campaign against illegal
drugs, I have seen from our nu-
merous operations that the big
people behind big drug-related
transactions are here in BuCor.
Our assistance to BuCor will
also help us in our campaign
against drugs and crime),” El-
eazar told reporters during the
press briefing after the demoli-
tion of shanties.
Due to the indispensable
need for collaborated effort, El-
eazar guaranteed full support
to the current BuCor chief and
his administration in the en-
deavor to end all forms of law-
lessness and institutionalize
reforms inside the NBP.
“Napakatagal na panahon,
trabaho ng trabaho ang mga pu-
lis pati ibang mga law enforce-
ment agencies hindi matatapos
ang problema sa ilegal na droga.
“Nanay Fedelina” meets Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose
Manuel Romualdez (left). She spent 65 years in servitude and was rescued in
2018 by the Pilipino Workers Center, through the help of US law enforcement.
PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES VIA PNA
the Philippine Consulate Gen-
eral in Los Angeles said.
Nanay Fedelina wants to go
home to Tacloban City and find
her family. Philippine Ambas-
sador to the United States Jose
Manuel Romualdez hopes to
help her with her dream.
At present, Nanay Fedelina is
staying at a Filipino-American
retirement home for free.
Kaya nga ng lumapit sa atin si
Dir. Gen. Bantag, naisip ko ang
BuCor naman nasa Muntinlupa,
nasa area ko naman pinaka-
maganda tulungan ko siya para
matulungan niya kami mag-
ing tahimik itong ating komu-
nidad (It’s been a long time.
The police and other law en-
forcement agencies have been
working hard but the illegal
drug problem stays. This is why
Dir. Gen. Bantag approached
us. I thought BuCor, being in
Muntinlupa, is still within my
area so I thought it would be
best to help him preserve order
in this community),” he said.
Bantag, meanwhile, said that
the constant conduct of ran-
dom raids just to clean out jail
cells off from all forms of con-
traband is their way to fulfill
the massive and aggressive ref-
ormation programs being im-
plemented at the BuCor.
“Kapag i-allow mo ang gan-
yang klaseng illegal structures
na yan, diyan na sila nagtatago
habang gumagamit ng mga
cellphones at iba pang mga ipi-
nagbabawal na kagamitan para
hindi mo na makita (If you allow
this kind of illegal structures
there, they will hide there while
using cellphones and other
contraband and you cannot see
them),” Bantag told reporters
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
“We are working on getting
her T-Visa (trafficking victim
visa) which will allow her to stay
in the US indefinitely. As soon
as she gets her visa, I promised
to fulfill her wish to get a tour
of Malacañang and maybe a
chance to see the President,” he
told the Philippine News Agen-
cy (PNA) on Wednesday.
In a meeting with her last Sep-
during the press briefing when
asked on the purpose of the de-
molition.
The BuCor chief, who has
made a name for himself as a
no-nonsense Manila “Old Bili-
bid” jail warden said he does
not care about enraging some
influential inmates over the
move.
“Hindi naman natin iniitindi
yung galit nila kase wala naman
silang karapatan, pribiliheyo
lang yan na inabuso (We don’t
mind them getting angry, they
have no rights (to put up struc-
tures), it’s a privilege that they
just abused,” he said.
The demolition yielded con-
fiscated illegal drugs, weapons,
sex toys, disallowed appliances,
pieces of machinery and bun-
dles of cash.
“Hindi mo na mabilang dahil
napakarami (There are so many
you cannot even count them),”
the BuCor chief said.
The illegally-built structures
breed corruption of BuCor per-
sonnel since authority to bring
in construction supplies and in
building structure entail a fee.
Over 65 personnel from the
Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH) person-
nel used heavy equipment for
the operation.
In the past, roving person-
13
tember 15, Romualdez reiterat-
ed the Philippine government’s
commitment to uphold the
welfare and protect the rights of
overseas Filipinos at all times.
“The President instructed us
to prioritize overseas Filipinos.
We must do our best to safe-
guard their welfare,” he said.
Nanay Fedelina came from a
generation when slave-like em-
ployment practices or highly
unregulated domestic employ-
ment were still commonplace
in the Philippines.
According to the Consulate
General, she also seems to be
one of the few to survive this
and gain freedom.
The meeting between Ro-
mualdez and Nanay Fedelina
was facilitated by PWC last
month. It was part of the joint
advocacy of the Consulate Gen-
eral and PWC to tell her story in
the hopes that no more Filipino
would fall victim to modern-
day slavery. ■
nel experienced difficulties
conducting custodial functions
because of these shanties thus,
encouraging the convicts to
continue their unlawful activi-
ties.
Justice Secretary Menardo
Guevarra, meanwhile, said
Bantag’s orders include the
dismantling of these surviving
influential parties inside the
national penitentiary.
“DG Bantag has personal
knowledge of the facts on the
ground. I am sure that inmates
with money will continue to
buy convenience, luxury and
freedom to engage in nefarious
activities while in detention.
So that’s the challenge that DG
Bantag has to overcome,” Gue-
varra told reporters.
These changes affected by
the new BuCor leadership will
lead towards the professional-
ized approach in the correction
system of the country.
The NBP maximum security
compound is occupied by an av-
erage of 18,000 PDL sentenced
with above 20 years of impris-
onment, recidivists, habitual
delinquents, and those who are
classified as highly dangerous
or high security risk. ■
with reports from Benjamin
Pulta
14

Canada News
Climate protesters Toronto Police Service launches
shut down bridges mental health and addictions strategy
in Canadian cities as BY NICOLE THOMPSON
The Canadian Press

part of global action TORONTO’S POLICE force

BY NICOLE THOMPSON
The Canadian Press
PROTESTERS SHUT down
traffic on major bridges across
Canada on Monday as part of an
international movement meant
to galvanize governments into
taking more urgent action
against climate change.
Activists with the environ-
mental group Extinction Re-
bellion blocked traffic on spans
in Halifax, Toronto, Edmonton
up to block the Bloor Viaduct
for between four and five hours.
Police said they made 20 arrests
at the end, but said the protests
were peaceful.
Organizer Kevin Imrie said
the recent turnout for global
climate change marches sug-
gests Canadians recognize the
need for urgent climate change
action even if they disagree
with the group’s approach.
“I think most Canadians
believe this is an important
thing,” he said. “I think people
is vowing to better train its of-
ficers to treat people in crisis
with compassion in a mental
health strategy aimed at imple-
menting the recommendations
of a former Supreme Court jus-
tice.
The Toronto Police Service
launched its Mental Health
and Addictions Strategy on
Monday, five years after former
Supreme Court justice Frank
Iacobucci penned a 346-page
report on police use of force.
The report was ordered after an
officer shot and killed Sammy Chief Mark Saunders. TORONTO POLICE SERVICE / FACEBOOK

and Vancouver, with similar
demonstrations planned for
Calgary and Victoria later in
the day.
The Canadian protests did
not attract the same numbers
seen in some European cities
where hundreds of activists
turned out in force, but none-
theless sparked anger among
people caught up in major traf-
fic delays.
Extinction Rebellion’s To-
ronto chapter said disrupting
traffic was a necessary, if incon-
venient, tactic.
“In a car-dependent city, in-
terfering with traffic is one of
the best ways of interfering
with business as usual,” the
group wrote in a Facebook post.
“We are not attempting to
shame or blame drivers — we all
live in a toxic system and have
few good options in our daily
lives without system change.”
Dozens of protesters showed
would disagree with disruption,
and I don’t blame them. It’s an
extreme response, but it’s an
extreme crisis.”
In Edmonton, a handful of
protesters linked arms to block
traffic on the Walterdale Bridge
connecting the city’s south side
with the downtown core.
Police kept the peace be-
tween activists and angry driv-
ers, some of whom got out of
their cars to yell obscenities.
Alberta Premier Jason Ken-
ney criticized the protesters on
Twitter, saying they were pre-
venting workers from reaching
their jobs and barring parents
from taking kids to school.
“Somehow this is all sup-
posed to be in the name of envi-
ronment, but hundreds of cars
are now idling unnecessarily as
they wait,” he wrote.
The scene was more peace-
❱❱ PAGE 17 Climate protesters
Yatim on an empty streetcar in
July 2013.
“The service is committed to
incorporating best practices and
learning from our past,” Chief
Mark Saunders said at a news
conference. “Although work be-
gan on the strategy more than
three years ago, our approach
will continue to evolve.”
The police service has said
it implemented nearly all of
Iacobucci’s recommendations
in the year after his report was
released in 2014. But commu-
nity members urged leadership
to develop a strategy on mental
health to solidify the commit-
ment, spokesman Kevin Mas-
terman said in an email Mon-
day.
The service said officer train-
ing will focus on de-escalation
techniques, bias-free policing,
risk assessment, and mental
health and addictions aware-
ness.
It will also teach harm-re-
duction principles, which aim
to mitigate the negative effects
of drug use without requiring
abstinence.
The strategy also commits
to updating training materials
with ongoing input from people
who have experienced mental
health and addiction issues.
It also says police will also
“produce an annual analytical
assessment of individuals who
have been apprehended mul-
tiple times under the Mental
Health Act” to find ways the
force can improve.
“How our police officers re-
spond to mental health and
addictions issues is one of the
most important priorities for
our organization and our city,”
said Uppala Chandrasekera,
acting chair of the Toronto Po-
lice Services Board.
The strategy also addresses
the mental health of police of-
ficers themselves, who Chan-
drasekera said “are faced with
the most difficult, intense and
challenging situations on a dai-
ly basis.”
“It is critical we not only con-
tinue to put into place the most
relevant programming and ini-
tiatives to effectively support
workplace mental health, but
also that we continue to en-
courage the cultural shifts nec-
essary to remove stigma and
inspire dialogue.”
The strategy commits to pro-
viding support to members who
may face mental health or ad-
diction issues, promising such
action “will ultimately improve
our service delivery to the com-
munity.”
“Today is a very good day. It’s
a hopeful day,” Chandrasekera
said at the news conference
Monday. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Montreal cops promise action after report
finds systemic bias against minorities
BY SIDHARTHA BANERJEE
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — An independent
report released Monday has
found evidence that Montreal
police show “systemic bias” in
conducting street checks, with
people from certain racialized
groups much more likely than
others to be stopped.
Montreal’s police chief said
he’ll take action following the
release of the devastating re-
port, which found serious dis-
crepancies among the people
who are most often subjected
to street checks.
Academics from three dif-
ferent Quebec universities
crunched numbers provided by
police and extracted some stun-
ning revelations. Among their
findings:
— Indigenous women were
11 times more likely to be ques-
tioned than white women.
— Overall, black and Indig-
enous Montrealers are between
four and five times more likely
to be subjected to so-called
street checks.
— People of Arab descent are
twice as likely to be stopped as
their white counterparts, and
those between 15 and 24 years
of age are four times more like-
ly.
The authors wrote that while
the situation can’t conclusively
be described as racial profiling,
systemic bias linked to race is
‘Job intensive:’ Study says clean energy
fast track to employment growth
BY BOB WEBER
The Canadian Press
NEW RESEARCH says job
growth from clean energy will
dramatically outpace that from
fossil fuels over the next decade
— as long as future Canadian
governments maintain or in-
crease attempts to fight climate
change.
“The clean-energy sector is a
good-news story that no one’s
talking about,” said Merran
Smith of Clean Energy Canada,
present in police interventions.
“Our analysis reveals suffi-
ciently considerable dispari-
ties to suggest the presence of
systemic bias against racialized
groups — notably black, Indig-
enous and Arab populations,”
said Victor Armony, a sociol-
ogy professor at UQAM. “They
could be the consequence of
racial profiling or the conse-
quence of other structural con-
structs that are more complex;
it’s difficult for us to pronounce
ourselves because the reasons
for the stops could not be ana-
lyzed.”
Researchers looked at three
years of street check data from
2014-17 to compile the re-
port. They noted some checks
weren’t documented at all, and
further studies must be done to
have a better idea of the under-
lying factors.
The trio also urged police
to make identifying racial dis-
crimination a central tenet in
their policies and programs go-
ing forward.
Police chief Sylvain Caron
said he will allow for further
studies, one of several mea-
sures announced on Monday
that will aim to better manage
street checks in the new year.
Caron said he was humbled
and alarmed by the numbers,
but stressed that it’s a reflection
of a lack of policy.
“The report talks about a
problem with the work meth-
ods, and not the values of our
a think tank based at Simon
Fraser University in British
Columbia. “There is nothing to
fear about moving forward on
climate action.”
Earlier this year, the group
released research that found
Canada’s clean-energy sector
— which encompasses renew-
able energy and energy conser-
vation — had already produced
300,000 jobs by 2017.
Further study made public
Wednesday projects job growth
in the sector to significantly
outperform most other parts of
SERVICE DE POLICE DE LA VILLE DE MONTRÉAL – SPVM / FACEBOOK
police officers,” Caron said. “It
is the lack of procedures that
creates a disparity…. The integ-
rity of police officers and their
professionalism is not in ques-
tion.”
Caron said he would be meet-
ing with police officers in the
coming days but deflected ques-
tions about racial profiling.
“I say we don’t have racist
police officers, we have officers
the economy.
Using recognized economic
modelling tools, it suggests that
direct jobs from clean energy
will grow at a rate of 3.4 per cent
a year between 2020 and 2030.
That’s nearly four times the Ca-
nadian average.
The same models suggest fos-
sil fuel industries will slowly
lose jobs over that time.
Smith said the data shows
clean energy employment
could reach nearly 560,000
by the end of the next decade.
That’s 160,000 new jobs, more
www.canadianinquirer.net
Canada News
who are citizens who necessar-
ily have biases like all citizens
might have. It is this that we
need to understand and it’s an
issue that complex to define,”
Caron said.
Caron said he couldn’t ex-
plain why there’s no formal pol-
icy regarding street checks but
committed to bringing in new
protocols to end the practice by
early next year.
than enough to make up for the
50,000 jobs which fossil fuels
are expected to shed.
The study also forecasts
money flowing into clean en-
ergy will grow 2.9 per cent a
year. Fossil fuel investment is
expected to shrink.
Fossil fuels will be bigger
than clean energy for years to
come. But what the research
shows, Smith said, is that new
jobs and growth will come from
the latter.
“The fast lane is clean en-
ergy,” she said. “This is where
15
“From now on, there will be
no more excuses,” said Montre-
al Mayor Valerie Plante. “The
image that we see in the mirror
is perhaps not spotless, but ac-
cepting the reality it is the first
step.”
Plante also stressed police
need to hire more minorities
to ensure its force reflects the
population it serves.
Last December, Caron pre-
sented city council with the
force’s 2018-21 plan to prevent
racial profiling — a document
that was short on details but
included building stronger ties
with communities.
Fo Niemi, co-founder and ex-
ecutive director of the Centre
for Research-Action on Race
Relations, said the study con-
firms what groups that deal
with these complaints have
seen for the past 10 to 15 years.
“We’re still sort of surprised
by it. The racial disparity in the
stops is still very high,” Niemi
said.
“The only thing optimistic
about this is that it’s inching
towards recognizing systemic
racism, even though there’s
some reluctance in recognizing
that concept and the need to re-
view policy and practices.”
In August, a Quebec Supe-
rior Court judge authorized a
class-action lawsuit against the
City of Montreal on behalf of
citizens who allege they were
unfairly arrested and racially
profiled by the city’s police. ■
we’re seeing job growth.”
Her conclusions are in broad
agreement with others in the
field.
“Deep decarbonization will
be job intensive,” said Mark
Jaccard, an energy economist
at Simon Fraser University.
Fossil fuel alternatives re-
quire more labour, he said.
Kent Fellows of the Universi-
ty of Calgary’s School of Public
Policy agreed. He said studies
in British Columbia, which has
❱❱ PAGE 24 ‘Job intensive’
16
Gender wage gap narrows to 13.3%, women earn
$4.13 less per hour: StatCan
BY ARMINA LIGAYA
The Canadian Press
WOMEN IN their core work-
ing years earned 87 cents per
hour on average for every dol-
lar earned by a man in 2018,
according to a new report by
Statistics Canada, marking a 5.5
percentage point improvement
over the past two decades.
In 2018, female employees
between the ages of 25 to 54
earned on average $26.92 per
hour — $4.13 or 13.3 per cent
less than the $31.05 in hourly
wages for male employees, ac-
cording to the research paper
released Monday.
Hourly compensation for
women has improved since
1998 when the agency’s data
showed female employees
earned $22.34 per hour. That
was $5.17 or 18.8 per cent less
per hour than males — or 81.2
cents for every dollar.
“The gender wage gap has
narrowed over time, both in
Canada and elsewhere,” the re-
searchers said in the report.
“However, given that women
in Canada have surpassed men
in educational attainment, di-
versified their fields of study
at post-secondary institutions,
and increased their repre-
sentation in higher-status oc-
cupations, the persistence of
gender-based wage inequality
warrants continued attention.”
While it is positive that the
differential has narrowed
to 13.3 per cent, most of the
catch-up happened in the first
decade of that 20 year period,
said Sarah Kaplan, director of
the Institute for Gender and
the Economy at the University
of Toronto’s Rotman School of
Management.
“We, along with a lot of the
other developed economies,
seem to be stuck right around
Canada News
that number and have had a
hard time moving beyond it,”
she said in an interview.
Of the $4.13 pay gap between
the genders, researchers con-
cluded that $1.85 stemmed
from the different distributions
of males and females across in-
dustries and occupations. For
example, more men worked in
higher-paying sectors and oc-
cupations such as construction,
manufacturing, mining, quar-
rying, and oil and gas extrac-
tion, as well as in professional
occupations in natural and ap-
plied sciences.
Changes in the distribution
of men and women in different
occupations was key to shrink-
ing the wage gap in 2018, said
the report’s authors, Rachelle
Pelletier and Martha Patterson
of Statistics Canada’s Centre
for Labour Market Informa-
tion, and Melissa Moyser of the
agency’s Centre for Gender, Di-
versity and Inclusion.
Notably in 2018, a larger
share of core-aged women were
working in professional oc-
cupations in the three areas of
law and social, community and
government services; educa-
tion services; and business and
finance, than in 1998, the re-
searchers said.
The report notes earnings
also grew faster for women than
men in two of those groups:
professional occupations in law
and social, and community and
government services, as well as
those in business and finance.
However, the distribution of
women and men in different
industries actually widened
the gap, driven by the “high-
paying and male-dominated
construction sector,” where
employment increased over the
20-year period. The decline of
employment in manufacturing
counteracted this effect, with
the percentage of core-aged
men employed in this sector
falling to 15.5 per cent in 2018
from 25.2 per cent in 1998, the
researchers added.
An increase in women’s edu-
cational attainment was the
second-most important deter-
minant in the decreased wage
gap, researchers said. In 1998,
there were equivalent propor-
tions of women and men who
held a university degree at the
bachelor level or above at 21.6
per cent and 21.5 per cent re-
spectively. But in the follow-
ing 20 years, the proportion
of women with at least a bach-
elor’s degree increased by 19.6
percentage points to 41.2 per
cent, while men saw a 10.8 per-
centage point increase to 32.3
per cent.
“As workers with higher edu-
cation earned more on average,
the relative increase in wom-
en’s educational attainment
accounted for 12.7 per cent of
the decrease in the gender wage
gap that occurred over the pe-
riod,” the report said.
Men’s decreased union cov-
erage — which is typically as-
sociated with higher average
wages — also contributed.
The proportion of men cov-
www.canadianinquirer.net
ered by a union or collective
agreement fell by 8.6 percent-
age points from 38.2 per cent
in 1998 to 29.5 per cent in 2018.
But the equivalent proportion
for women held steady at a little
less than 36 per cent.
“These differing trends
largely reflected the fact that
men with union coverage were
concentrated in manufacturing
— a declining sector through
the first half of the period —
whereas women in unionized
jobs have been concentrated
in health care and social assis-
tance, and educational servic-
es,” the report said.
Another contributing ele-
ment was women’s higher rate
of part-time work, which ac-
counted for approximately 38
cents of the hourly pay gap,
researchers concluded. The
proportion of women working
part-time —which generally has
lower compensation than full-
time work — amounted to 16 per
cent, compared to 4.8 per cent of
men, the researchers said.
Kaplan said women con-
tinue to be pushed into part-
time work or industry sectors
or roles that are more family-
friendly, given the workload
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
often associated with being the
primary caregiver at home.
“Until we either get a lot
more supports such as univer-
sal child care that’s affordable
or men sharing equally in the
care responsibilities, I don’t
think we’re going to move be-
yond this,” she said.
Progress on closing the wage
gap “feels very slow,” given that
women have earned 58 per cent
of all university degrees in Can-
ada for more than 25 years, said
Tanya van Biesen, executive
director for Catalyst Canada,
whose mission is advancing
women’s progress in the work-
place.
She doesn’t expect to attain
50-50 representation in every
industry or role, but the many
women who are studying to en-
ter construction, mining and
other lucrative sectors and occu-
pations continue to face system-
atic barriers, van Biesen said.
“Once they get into those
sectors they feel alienated be-
cause of the bias that exists
within those workplaces,” said
van Biesen. “That’s still a very,
very real factor for women who
have just as many aspirations as
men.” ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 Canada News 17

B.C. Green Leader Andrew Climate protesters...

Weaver steps aside, party ❰❰ 14 ful at Halifax’s Angus

L. Macdonald Bridge,
even when police
In New York City, protest-
ers doused a famous statue of a
charging bull near Wall Street

to elect next leader in 2020 moved in about four hours after

the demonstration got under-
way.
with fake blood. Other activists
splashed with red dye staged
a “die-in” in front of the New
Officers arrested 18 people York Stock Exchange — lying
BY DIRK MEISSNER positioned on the artery linking down as if dead while tourists
The Canadian Press the city to nearby Dartmouth. watched.
Early in the day, police said Afterward, a few participants
less than a hundred protesters, were seen mopping the fake
VICTORIA — B.C. Green Lead- many of them waving flags and blood off the ground.
er Andrew Weaver, whose party signs, had gathered near the toll “The blood of the world is
recorded a historic election plaza on the Dartmouth side. here,” said Justin Becker, an
breakthrough two years ago, is The Macdonald bridge was organizer who made a link be-
stepping aside and will not seek reopened to traffic by mid-day. tween the fossil fuel industry
re-election in the next provin- “I think this is a huge suc- and the financial interests of
cial election. cess,” protest organizer Patrick Wall Street. “A lot of blood has
Weaver said Monday he made Yancey said just moments be- been spilled by the decisions of
the decision after he took “sig- fore he was arrested. the powerful and the status quo
nificant time this summer to “I think it’s going to be great and the toxic system that we
reflect with my family on the for the whole world to see all of live in.”
reasons why I sought elected the people who are willing to Demonstrators playing steel
office as well as why I sought make this sacrifice in order to drums marched through cen-
leadership of the B.C. Greens in get some action on this climate tral London as they kicked off
the first place.” Andrew Weaver. ANDREW WEAVER, MLA OAK BAY-GORDON HEAD crisis.” two weeks of activities designed
He said the environmental Lorna McLagen of Annapolis to disrupt the city.
movement is now being led by the party in 2015 after he was crats go down to defeat. Royal, N.S., was also among the In Paris, hundreds either
youth, who will be affected by elected as the first Green in the Premier John Horgan said group arrested. She said she felt locked arms or chained them-
the impacts of climate change, provincial legislature. he and Weaver have become compelled to act. selves together in the city’s
and watching a younger gen- He has been a University of friends and forged strong polit- “I’ve been part of the prob- central square, while in Berlin
eration’s success influenced his Victoria professor for more ical bonds since the 2017 elec- lem for so long and now, be- about 1,000 people gathered
decision. than 20 years and has authored tion. fore I die, I’d like to try to do before dawn to block the Gross-
“Their momentum is grow- or co-authored over 200 peer- “I think many of you would something,” said McLagen. “As er Stern traffic circle in the
ing,” said Weaver, 57. “This is reviewed papers. He was a lead have predicted it wouldn’t last uncomfortable as it makes me middle of the German capital’s
also one of the main, if not the author on four scientific assess- but I want to say I’ve enjoyed feel, I have to do it.” Tiergarten park.
main reason, why I believe it is ments by the United Nations’ working with Andrew and we’re A protest slated to take place Founded in Britain last year,
time for the B.C. Greens to elect International Panel on Climate going to continue working to- in Montreal was postponed un- Extinction Rebellion, also
a new leader. It’s time to let an- Change, the body that shared a gether,” he said. til Tuesday due to rain. known as XR, now has chap-
other generation take the lead.” Nobel Peace Prize with former Weaver said the agreement Extinction Rebellion mem- ters in some 50 countries. The
He has asked the party to be- U.S. vice-president Al Gore in with the NDP shows minority bers usually sit or lie down in group said the protests Monday
gin the process to elect a new 2007. governments can work well and front of traffic until they are ar- were taking place in 60 cities
leader, saying he wants the In 2017, Weaver and the he highlighted their work on rested and taken away by police worldwide. ■
Greens to have his replacement Greens made history again the CleanBC economic plan as officers. Such a scene played
in place before the next elec- when the party won three seats an example of its success. out in cities around the world With files from Keith Doucette
tion scheduled “I have long throughout Monday, although in Halifax, Beth Leighton in
for the fall of said it is time we some saw more dramatic ef- Vancouver and The Associated
2021. reimagined the forts. Press
The province’s climate crisis
minority NDP Their momentum is growing, [...] It’s not solely as an
government re- time to let another generation take environmental
mains in power the lead. problem, but as
with the support an incredible
of the Greens, opportunity for
but Weaver’s de- innovation, cre-
cision will not ativity, and the
affect the New Democrats’ hold in the house and were courted advancement of our society,” he
on power because he will re- by the B.C. Liberals and the said.
main on the opposition bench- NDP as they each positioned Weaver reduced his work
es of legislature. themselves to form a govern- schedule last month as he re-
The B.C. Liberals have 42 ment. covered from labyrinthitis — an
seats in the house, the NDP The Greens eventually de- inflammation of the inner ear
41, the Greens three seats and cided to support the NDP in that can affect balance — after
there is one Independent, for- an agreement that toppled he suddenly had symptoms typ-
mer Liberal Darryl Plecas, who the Liberals from power af- ical of the condition.
serves as house Speaker. ter 16 years. The deal included The party said in a statement
Weaver is an internationally changes to campaign financing it expects to elect a new leader
recognized climate scientist and a referendum on electoral during its 2020 convention
who was first elected to the reform, which saw a proposal scheduled for June in Nanai-
legislature in the Victoria-area to switch to a system of propor- mo, with details on the contest
riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head tional representation backed being released in the coming International Rebellion Toronto Bloor Viaduct 7 October 2019.
in 2013. He became leader of by the Greens and New Demo- weeks and months. ■ EXTINCTION REBELLION TORONTO / TWITTER

www.canadianinquirer.net
18
Leaders’ debate: Trudeau defends efforts to save
SNC-Lavalin jobs. He’s right.
BY BILL FLANAGAN
Professor of Law Queen’s
University Ontario,
The Canadian Press
JUSTIN TRUDEAU used the
English-language leaders’ de-
bate to defend his position on
the SNC-Lavalin affair, stand-
ing up to a withering attack
from the other leaders by say-
ing he was advocating for Cana-
dian jobs.
“The role of the prime min-
ister is to stand up for Cana-
dian jobs, to stand up for the
public interest and that’s what
I’ve done,” Trudeau said in
response to an attack from
Conservative Leader Andrew
Scheer, who accused him of in-
terfering in a court case regard-
ing SNC-Lavalin.
“That’s what I’ll continue to
do every single day.”
But even though there is good
reason to criticize Trudeau for
his handling of the SNC-Lava-
lin file, on the matter of saving
jobs, he has it right.
SNC-Lavalin has a good
case for a deferred prosecu-
tion agreement, known as a
DPA, and Trudeau was within
his rights to request, on the
grounds of public interest and
“saving jobs,” that former attor-
ney general Jody Wilson-Ray-
bould reconsider the decision
to deny one.
Indeed, supporting deferred
prosecutions where appropri-
ate can not only help save jobs,
it can also advance the detec-
tion and punishment of bribery
in Canada.
The public interest
Central to this debate is an
amendment added to the Crim-
inal Code in 2018, whereby a
prosecutor may enter into ne-
gotiations for a “remediation
agreement” (a DPA) with a
company to stay criminal pro-
ceedings against it if it’s in the
public interest to do so. A DPA
would, among other things, re-
quire a company to admit to the
wrongdoing, identify those in
the company responsible and
pay a hefty fine.
Rather than a get-out-of-jail-
free card, the Criminal Code
states that the purpose of a DPA
is to denounce the company’s
wrongdoing, advance respect
Canada News
for the law, encourage volun-
tary disclosure of the wrongdo-
ing and — of greatest relevance
to Trudeau’s position — reduce
“the negative consequences of
the wrongdoing” for innocent
people who didn’t engage in
any wrongdoing. That includes
“employees, customers, pen-
sioners and others.”
DPAs have been highly effec-
tive in other countries in root-
ing out bribery, most notably in
the United States.
When companies come
across internal evidence that
a bribe may have taken place,
they’re then encouraged to re-
port it to the authorities in the
hope that the company might
be able to secure a DPA and
avoid criminal prosecution.
But DPAs aren’t easy. They
usually require a company to
undertake, at the direction of
prosecutors, an expensive and
lengthy internal inquiry to get
to the bottom of the corruption
and introduce costly measures
to reduce any likelihood of re-
offending, in addition to paying
a fine.
According to a recent study
by the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Devel-
opment (OECD), self-reporting
by companies is the most im-
portant single source of detec-
tion for foreign bribery, ac-
counting for the detection of 22
per cent of cases.
Police investigations account
for less than five per cent. And
100 per cent of the self-report-
ed cases resulted in a sanction
against the company, compared
to 65 per cent or less for other
sources of detection.
Self-reporting works
In other words, self-report-
ing works remarkably well
to detect and punish bribery,
much better than any RCMP
investigation or criminal pros-
ecution possibly could. But it’s
dependent upon the availabil-
ity of DPAs. Without the possi-
bility of a DPA, there is obvious-
ly little incentive for a company
to self-report.
In 2015, SNC-Lavalin was
charged with a spectacular lev-
el of bribery and corruption in
Libya that had taken place from
2001 to 2011. SNC-Lavalin ac-
tively lobbied for DPA amend-
ments to the Criminal Code,
and when enacted in 2018, the
company sought to negotiate
one.
However, the country’s Di-
rector of Public Prosecutions
denied the request. The prime
minister than asked Wilson-
Raybould reconsider the mat-
ter, which the attorney gen-
eral is entitled to do, but she
declined.
The reasons for the denial
have never been made public.
But it appears SNC-Lavalin’s
request was denied because the
prosecutor believed the com-
pany had not come forward
with voluntary disclosure when
the bribes were first discovered
around 2012. The company
maintains that it fully co-oper-
ated with the RCMP investiga-
tion from the outset.
It’s also relevant to note that
a DPA, only introduced into law
in 2018, was not even available
to the company in 2012. None-
theless, the company still main-
tains it co-operated with the
investigation.
Other factors for the denial
include the severity of the brib-
ery in question and the degree
of involvement of senior offi-
cials.
Saving jobs
But these aren’t the only fac-
tors the prosecutor must con-
sider.
As noted, the Criminal Code
also provides that a purpose of
a DPA is to reduce “the nega-
tive consequences” on inno-
cent stakeholders who will be
harmed if the company’s repu-
tation is so damaged by a crimi-
nal conviction that it’s brought
to the verge of bankruptcy or
worse.
This brings us to Trudeau’s
reiteration in the debate that he
was only advocating for saving
Canadian jobs when he pressed
Wilson-Raybould to reconsider
a DPA for SNC-Lavalin. In do-
ing so, he acted in a manner
consistent with the Criminal
Code’s provisions that permit
the prosecutor to consider the
impact on innocent stakehold-
ers.
However, in one final wrin-
kle, the Criminal Code also pro-
vides that the prosecutor must
not consider “national econom-
ic interest” when considering
whether a DPA is in the public
www.canadianinquirer.net
interest. Some have argued this
provision precludes the pros-
ecutor, and the prime minister,
from even considering the im-
pact on Canadian jobs. How-
ever, this is a misreading of this
provision.
The reference to “national
economic interest” is drawn
from the 1997 OECD Anti-
Bribery Convention that indi-
cates the prosecution of brib-
ery “shall not be influenced
by considerations of national
economic interest.” Canada, a
party to the Convention, intro-
duced its anti-bribery laws in
1998. When enacting the DPA
provisions in 2018, this phrase
from the Convention was also
included.
At the time of the Conven-
tion, some countries were of the
view that the payment of bribes
was in their national economic
interest because bribes would
help domestic companies land
major international contracts.
For these countries, bribes
were simply a cost of doing
business.
Forbid paying bribes
The Convention was intend-
ed to change all this and ex-
pressly prohibits the payment
of bribes to foreign officials
regardless of any “national eco-
nomic interest.” For this rea-
son, the Convention prohibited
the consideration of national
economic interest when pros-
ecuting bribery.
However, the Convention
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
JUSTIN TRUDEAU / FACEBOOK
said nothing about DPAs. That’s
because they were a practice
that evolved long after 1997,
starting primarily in the United
States.
In particular, there is noth-
ing in the Convention that pre-
cludes considering saving jobs
when it comes to weighing the
merits of a DPA request.
It’s therefore wrong to argue
the Criminal Code prevented
Trudeau from even raising his
concerns about the public in-
terest and innocent company
stakeholders.
The Criminal Code spe-
cifically identifies innocent
stakeholders as a legitimate
factor. And there is nothing in
the Convention that prevents
the consideration of innocent
stakeholders when weighing a
DPA request.
In other words, “national eco-
nomic interest” in the Criminal
Code means that a prosecutor
cannot offer a DPA, and go easy
on a company, because bribes
are “good for business.” Pros-
ecutors can, however, consider
jobs when weighing the merits
of a DPA request.
In fact, the potential impact
on innocent stakeholders is a
common reason why prosecu-
tors in countries like the U.S.
negotiate DPAs.
Canadian officials should
too. ■
This article is republished from
The Conversation under a Cre-
ative Commons license.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Trump defends What next as UK and EU
decision to abandon seek last minute Brexit deal
Kurdish allies in Syria
BY ROBERT BURNS,
LITA C. BALDOR,
AND MATTHEW LEE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Donald Trump on Monday cast
his decision to abandon Kurd-
ish fighters in Syria as fulfilling
a campaign promise to with-
draw from “endless war” in the
Middle East, even as Republican
critics and others said he was
sacrificing a U.S. ally and under-
mining American credibility.
Trump declared U.S. troops
would step aside for an expected
Turkish attack on the Kurds,
who have fought alongside
Americans for years, but he then
threatened to destroy the Turks’
economy if they went too far.
Even Trump’s staunchest Re-
publican congressional allies ex-
pressed outrage at the prospect
of abandoning Syrian Kurds
who had fought the Islamic State
group with American arms and
advice. It was the latest example
of Trump’s approach to foreign
policy that critics condemn as
impulsive, that he sometimes
reverses and that frequently is
untethered to the advice of his
national security aides.
“A catastrophic mistake,”
said Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyo-
ming, the No. 3 House Republi-
can leader. “Shot in the arm to
the bad guys,” said Sen. Lindsey
Graham of South Carolina.
Trump said he understood
criticism from fellow GOP lead-
ers but disagreed. He said he
could also name supporters,
but he didn’t.
Pentagon and State Depart-
ment officials held out the pos-
sibility of persuading Turkey to
abandon its expected invasion.
U.S. officials said they had seen
no indication that Turkey had
begun a military operation by
late Monday.
Trump, in late afternoon re-
marks to reporters, appeared
largely unconcerned at the
prospect of Turkish forces at-
tacking the Kurds, who include
a faction he described as “natu-
ral enemies” of the Turks.
“But I have told Turkey that
if they do anything outside of
what we would think is humane
… they could suffer the wrath of
an extremely decimated econo-
my,” Trump said.
In recent weeks, the U.S. and
Turkey had reached an appar-
ent accommodation of Turkish
concerns about the presence of
Kurdish fighters, seen in Tur-
key as a threat. American and
Turkish soldiers had been con-
ducting joint patrols in a zone
along the border. As part of that
work, barriers designed to pro-
tect the Kurds were dismantled
amid assurances that Turkey
would not invade.
Graham said Turkey’s NATO
membership should be suspend-
ed if it attacks into northeastern
Turkey, potentially annihilating
Kurdish fighters who acted as
a U.S. proxy army in a five-year
fight to eliminate the Islamic
State’s so-called caliphate. Gra-
ham, who had talked Trump out
of a withdrawal from Syria last
December, said letting Turkey
invade would be a mistake of his-
toric proportion and would “lead
to ISIS reemergence.”
This all comes at a pivotal
moment of Trump’s presidency.
House Democrats are marching
forward with their impeach-
ment inquiry into whether he
compromised national security
or abused his office by seeking
negative information on for-
mer Vice-President Joe Biden,
a political rival, from Ukraine
and other foreign countries.
As he faces the impeachment
inquiry, Trump has appeared
more focused on making good
on his political pledges, even at
the risk of sending a troubling
signal to American allies abroad.
“I campaigned on the fact that
I was going to bring our soldiers
home and bring them home as
rapidly as possible,” he said.
The strong pushback on Cap-
itol Hill prompted Trump to
recast as well as restate his de-
cision, but with renewed bom-
bast and self-flattery.
He promised to destroy the
Turkish economy “if Turkey
does anything that I, in my
great and unmatched wisdom,
consider to be off limits.”
Sunday night the White House
had said the U.S. would get its
❱❱ PAGE 22 Trump defends
BY JILL LAWLESS
The Associated Press
LONDON — Britain is due to
leave the European Union in
just over three weeks, but still
no one knows the terms of the
divorce — or even whether the
country will really meet that
Oct. 31 deadline.
With both the U.K. and the
EU saying this is a make-or-
break week in the long-running
Brexit drama, a look at what
could happen next.
Deal or no deal?
Almost a year ago, Britain
and the EU struck a withdraw-
al agreement setting out the
terms of Britain’s departure.
Britain’s Parliament then re-
jected it three times, the U.K.’s
departure date was postponed
twice and Prime Minister The-
resa May resigned in frustra-
tion and failure.
Last week, her replacement,
Boris Johnson, sent the EU
a new proposal. He calls it a
“reasonable compromise” that
solves the thorniest issue in the
Brexit talks — how to maintain
an open border between the
U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU
member Ireland.
The bloc says the proposals
don’t fulfil the U.K.’s commit-
ment to a frictionless border,
because there would have to be
customs checks on some goods,
and because the arrangement
would be subject to review by
politicians in Northern Ireland.
Johnson has urged EU lead-
ers to compromise and sit down
for face-to-face talks. So far, the
EU is resisting, saying the U.K.
must show more “realism” in
its proposals.
The last scheduled opportu-
nity to reach a deal is Oct. 17-18,
when all 28 EU leaders, includ-
ing Johnson, are due to meet
in Brussels. French President
Emmanuel Macron has said the
EU will decide by the end of this
week whether a deal is possible,
or whether the two sides should
buckle up for a rocky no-deal
departure.
Should I stay or should I go?
Johnson insists Britain will
leave the EU on Oct. 31, with
or without a divorce deal. But
many EU leaders simply don’t
www.canadianinquirer.net
World News
believe him.
Many British lawmakers be-
lieve a no-deal Brexit would be
economically devastating and
socially destabilizing, and are
determined to prevent it. Last
month, opposition legislators
with support from rebel mem-
bers of Johnson’s Conservative
Party passed a law ordering the
government to seek a delay to
Brexit if no deal has been struck
by Oct. 19.
Johnson insists he won’t ask
the EU to postpone Brexit —
but also says the government
will obey the law.
That has left some speculat-
ing the government will try to
challenge the law in the courts.
Others think Johnson is bluff-
ing, and that when push comes
to shove he will either do as
Parliament orders, or resign
and let someone else send the
extension letter.
All 27 other EU members
would have to agree to a post-
ponement. The bloc is thor-
oughly frustrated by the end-
less Brexit melodrama, but also
eager to avoid the disruption of
a no-deal Brexit, so it is likely to
agree.
Election to unblock the
deadlock?
More than three years after
voting to leave the EU, Britain
is stuck because its Parliament,
like the country as a whole,
is divided about how, or even
whether, to leave.
Both government and oppo-
19
sition say they want an election
to break the deadlock — but
they can’t agree on when.
Parliament has twice re-
jected calls by the government
to hold an early election, fear-
ing Johnson planned to time it
so Britain would leave the EU
without a deal during the elec-
tion period.
Opposition parties say they
will agree trigger a poll once no-
deal Brexit has been ruled out.
That could mean an election in
late November or December.
Opposition politicians have
discussed trying to oust the gov-
ernment with a vote of no con-
fidence, and replacing Johnson
with a national-unity leader
who would serve only until an
election. But the plan has foun-
dered because the parties can’t
agree on a unity candidate to
lead an interim administration.
When an election comes,
Johnson’s “do or die” pledge
to leave the bloc on Halloween
is likely to form the basis of a
“people vs. Parliament” cam-
paign. He will aim to win the
votes of Brexit supporters by
arguing that he tried his utmost
to take the U.K. out of the bloc
but was frustrated by Parlia-
ment and the EU.
The Conservatives hope that
will give them a majority in
Parliament, and with it the abil-
ity to leave the EU on terms of
the government’s choosing. But
there is every chance it could
produce a legislature as messily
divided as it is now. ■
20
Pope seeks ‘courageous’ debate US signs limited
over Amazon priest shortage deal with Japan on
BY NICOLE WINFIELD
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis
urged South American bishops
on Monday to speak “coura-
geously” at a high-profile meet-
ing on the Amazon, where the
shortage of priests is so acute
that the Vatican is consider-
ing ordaining married men and
giving women official church
ministries.
Francis opened the work of
the three-week synod, or meet-
ing of bishops, after indigenous
leaders, missionary groups and
a handful of bishops chanted
and performed native dances in
front of the main altar of St. Pe-
ter’s Basilica with a small wood
canoe containing religious ob-
jects.
Led in procession by the pope,
the bishops then headed to the
synod hall to chart new ways for
the Catholic Church to better
minister to remote indigenous
communities and care for the
rainforest they call home.
Among the most conten-
tious proposals on the agenda
is whether married elders could
be ordained priests, a poten-
tially revolutionary change in
church tradition given Roman
rite Catholic priests take a vow
of celibacy.
The proposal is on the table
because indigenous Catholics
in remote parts of the Amazon
can go months without seeing
a priest or receiving the sacra-
ments, threatening the very fu-
ture of the church and its cen-
turies-old mission to spread the
faith in the region.
Another proposal calls for
bishops to identify new “official
ministries” for women, though
priestly ordination for them is
off the table.
Cardinal Claudio Hummes,
the retired archbishop of Sao
Paulo and the lead organizer of
the synod, said the priest short-
age had led to an “almost total
absence of the Eucharist and
other sacraments essential for
daily Christian life.”
“It will be necessary to de-
fine new paths for the future,”
he said, calling the proposal for
married priests and ministries
for women one of the six “core
issues” that the synod bishops
must address.
World News
German Cardinal Reinhard
Marx, who himself is under
pressure to relax celibacy for
priests in his native Germany,
said the married priest ques-
tion is complicated, since any
moves taken to address the
priest shortage in the Amazon
will invariably echo throughout
the universal church.
“The participants of the
synod know, and also the pope
knows, that this is also a dis-
cussion in other parts of the
world, so they have to be very
prudent,” he said. “But they will
speak about it, that’s clear.”
Francis opened the meeting
by extolling native cultures and
urging bishops to respect their
histories and traditions, rather
than imposing ideologies on
them in a new form of coloniza-
tion.
History’s first Latin Ameri-
can pope has long had great
esteem for indigenous peoples,
and has repeatedly denounced
how they are exploited, margin-
alized and treated as second-
class citizens by governments
and corporations that extract
timber, gold and other natural
resources from their homes.
Speaking in his native Span-
ish, Francis told the bishops
how upset he became when he
heard a snide comment about
the feathered headdress worn
by an indigenous man at Mass
on Sunday opening the synod.
“Tell me, what is the differ-
ence between having feathers
on your head and the three-
cornered hat worn by some in
our dicasteries?” he said to ap-
plause, referring to the three-
pointed red birettas worn by
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
ag, digital trade
BY PAUL WISEMAN While rewarding American
The Associated Press farmers, the new U.S.-Japan
mini-deal does not resolve dif-
ferences over trade in autos.
WASHINGTON — The United Trump has said the two coun-
States and Japan signed a lim- tries continue to work on a
ited trade agreement Monday, more comprehensive agree-
a deal that would win back ment.
benefits American farmers lost Trump has threatened to
when President Donald Trump impose import taxes on for-
pulled out of a broader Asia-Pa- eign autos, claiming they pose
cific pact his first week in office. a threat to U.S. national secu-
U.S. farmers have been op- rity. At the UN general assem-
erating at a disadvantage in bly, Japanese Prime Minister
Japan since Trump withdrew Shinzo Abe told reporters that
LONG THIÊN / FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0 from the Trans-Pacific Part- Trump had assured him that
nership agreement, which had a previous agreement to spare
cardinals. been negotiated by the Obama Japan from new auto tariffs still
Francis urged the bishops to administration. The other 11 stood.
use the three weeks to pray, lis- Pacific Rim countries, includ- But Japanese automakers
ten, discern and speak without ing big farm producers such were disappointed that the
fear. “Speak with courage,” he as New Zealand and Canada, United States kept existing
said. “Even if you are ashamed, went ahead without the United auto tariffs at 2.5%.
say what you feel.” States and were The limited
The synod is opening with enjoying prefer- trade pact also
global attention newly focused ential treatment includes market-
on the forest fires that are de- in Japan. opening com-
vouring the Amazon, which “This is a Congress mitments on $40
scientists say is a crucial bul- huge victory for has yet to billion worth of
wark against global warming. It America’s farm- approve digital trade be-
also comes at a fraught time in ers, ranchers and a North tween the two
Francis’ six-year papacy, with growers. And American countries.
conservative opposition to his that’s very im- trade deal Monday’s Ja-
ecological agenda on the rise. portant to me,” Trump’s pan deal, Overby
Francis’ traditionalist critics, Trump said in a trade team said, “is impor-
including a handful of cardi- signing ceremo- negotiated tant, but it’s still
nals, have called the proposals ny at the White last year not the whole
in the synod working document House. with Canada enchilada.” U.S.
“heretical” and an invitation to But Tami and Mexico. business groups
a “pagan” religion that idolizes Overby, senior are holding out
nature rather than God. director on Asia for a broader
To that criticism, Hummes and trade issues deal that would
denounced Catholic “tradition- at the McLarty give American
alism” that is stuck in the past Associates con- companies more
versus the church’s true tradi- sultancy, said America’s com- access to Japan in businesses
tion, which always looks for- petitors in agriculture got a such as insurance and pharma-
ward. two-year head start and used ceuticals.
“The Church needs to throw it to sign multi-year contracts Trump has long complained
open her doors, knock down in Japan to sell farm products. about America’s large trade
the walls surrounding her and “We’re going to have to thrash deficit with Japan, which came
build bridges,” he said. back and fight for lost market to $58 billion last year. Japan is
But there are limits to how share,” she said. the world’s third-biggest econ-
far the church will go. Despite The deal comes at a time omy behind the United States
appeals from religious sisters when other parts of the Trump and China.
and women’s groups, no nun administration’s trade agenda News of a U.S. pact with Ja-
will be able to vote on the final have stalled. The United States pan might sound familiar. The
synod document, even though has been locked in a costly trade deal was first announced at
women do the lion’s share of war with China for more than a the August Group of 7 summit
the church’s work in the Ama- year — though negotiators are in Biarritz, France. At the UN
zon. scheduled to resume talks in gathering last month, the two
Sister Alba Teresa Cediel Washington Thursday. Con- countries signed an agreement-
Castillo, a Colombian nun par- gress has yet to approve a North in-principle. ■
ticipating in the synod as an ex- American trade deal Trump’s
trade team negotiated last year AP writer Darlene Superville
❱❱ PAGE 22 Pope seeks with Canada and Mexico. contributed to this story.
www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Climate activists block roads, march in global
protests
BY GEIR MOULSON
The Associated Press
BERLIN — Activists with the Extinc-
tion Rebellion movement blocked roads
and staged demonstrations in big cit-
ies around the globe Monday, part of a
wide-ranging series of protests demand-
ing much more urgent action against cli-
mate change.
Demonstrators stopped traffic in Eu-
ropean cities including Berlin, London,
Paris and Amsterdam. In New York, ac-
tivists smeared themselves — and em-
blems of Wall Street — in fake blood and
lay in the street.
In some cities, activists chained them-
selves to vehicles or pitched tent camps
and vowed not to budge.
“You might come from a variety of dif-
ferent groups, but we all stand against a
system that’s destroying the planet and
mankind, and we’re looking to change
that because we can’t just have little
changes, we want a real big change,” said
Pierrick Jalby, a 28-year-old nurse from
eastern France who joined the dem-
onstration in Paris. “We don’t want re-
forms, in fact, we want a revolution.”
Members of Extinction Rebellion, a
loose-knit movement also known as XR
that started last year in Britain, have
staged a series of flashy protests this
year to demand action on manmade cli-
mate change, often featuring marchers
in white masks and red costumes and
copious amounts of fake blood.
In Berlin on Monday, around 1,000
people blocked the Grosser Stern, a traf-
fic circle in the middle of the German
capital’s Tiergarten park dominated
by the landmark Victory Column. That
protest began before dawn. Another 300
people blocked Berlin’s central Pots-
damer Platz, placing couches, tables,
chairs and flowerpots on the road.
Over the weekend, demonstrators
had set up a tent camp outside German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office to
prepare for the protests, reflecting dis-
satisfaction with a climate policy pack-
age drawn up last month by her govern-
ment.
Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun,
criticized the group’s tactics.
“We all share an interest in climate
protection, and the Paris climate targets
are our standard in this,” he told ZDF
television. “If you demonstrate against
or for that, that is OK. But if you an-
nounce dangerous interventions in road
traffic or things like this, of course that
is just not on.”
He dismissed the idea of declaring a
“climate emergency,” saying that the
German constitution doesn’t provide
for such a thing and it doesn’t translate
World News 21
into “concrete action.”
Around 1,000 protesters blocked the
area around Chatelet in central Paris
and vowed to stay at least the night in the
makeshift camp they had pitched. Some
were seated, some chained to a barrel.
Demonstrators playing steel drums
marched through central London as
they kicked off two weeks of activities
designed to disrupt the city.
London police said some 135 climate
activists had been arrested. Extinction
Rebellion said protesters were arrested
as they blocked Victoria Embankment,
outside the Ministry of Defence. Well known Nga Puhi and Muaupoko activist Josie Butler, ‘dildo thrower’, staunchly let off a
Among those arrested was 81-year-old flare on parliamentary grounds - symbolising the class war’flare’ perpetuated by colonisation
Sarah Lasenby, a retired social worker #InternationalRebellion #nzrebels
from Oxford. @EXTINCTIONNZ/TWITTER
“It is imperative the government
should take serious actions and put “We must stay here and rebel until Turkey, Canada, South Africa, Mexico
pressure on other states and global pow- the government proclaims an ecologi- and elsewhere. ■
ers to radically reduce the use of fossil cal emergency and acts accordingly,”
fuels,” she said. Rackete said. Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands,
In New York City, protesters doused Founded in Britain last year, Extinc- Danica Kirka in London, David Rising in
a famous statue of a charging bull near tion Rebellion now has chapters in some Berlin, Jim Mustian in New York, Alex
Wall Street with fake blood. One pro- 50 countries. The group said the pro- Turnbull and Oleg Cetinic in Paris, and
tester waving a green flag climbed on top tests Monday were taking place in 60 Aritz Parra in Madrid, contributed to this
of the bull. Other activists splashed with cities worldwide in countries including report.
red dye staged a “die-in” in front of the
New York Stock Exchange — lying down
as if dead while tourists gawked.
Afterward, a few participants were
seen mopping the fake blood off the
ground.
“The blood of the world is here,” said
Justin Becker, an organizer who made a
link between the fossil fuel industry and
the financial interests of Wall Street. “A
lot of blood has been spilled by the deci- Are you an
sions of the powerful and the status quo Internationally
and the toxic system that we live in.”
In Amsterdam, hundreds of demon- Trained Professional
strators blocked a major road outside in need of financial
the Rijksmuseum, one of the city’s most
popular tourist attractions, and set up support for your
tents. The protest went ahead despite Foreign Credential
a city ban on activists gathering on the
road. The protesters ignored police calls Recognition?
for them to move to a nearby square.
In Spain, a few dozen activists briefly
For more information contact:
chained themselves to each other and to
an elevated road over a major artery in 778-372-6609
the Madrid, snarling traffic during the globaltalentloans@issbc.org
issbc.org/globaltalentloans
morning rush hour. The National Po-
lice said 33 activists were taken to their Global Talent Loans program
premises and three were arrested for re- is delivered in partnership with
sisting orders by anti-riot officers. Funded in part by the Government
A few hundred other protesters
of Canada’s Foreign Credential
Recognition Program
camped out in 40 tents at the gates of
Spain’s Ministry of Ecological Transi-
tion.
Those at the Berlin protests included
activist Carola Rackete, best known as
the German captain of a humanitarian
rescue ship who was arrested for dock-
ing in an Italian port without authori-
Global Talent Loans Program
zation this year to disembark migrants
rescued at sea.
www.canadianinquirer.net
22
3 country talks on Nile waters
wrap up without agreement
BY SAMY MAGDY
The Associated Press
CAIRO — Irrigation ministers
from three key Nile Basin coun-
tries wrapped up a two-day
meeting Saturday in Sudan’s
capital without resolving dif-
ferences over Ethiopia’s soon-
to-be-finished Blue Nile dam,
with Egypt calling for interna-
tional mediation to help reach a
“fair and balanced” agreement.
Sudan Irrigation Minister
Yasser Abbas told reporters in
Khartoum that progress was
made but differences on filling
the giant reservoir and operat-
ing rules of the Grand Ethio-
pian Renaissance Dam remain
unsettled.
He said Ethiopia proposed
a plan to fill the reservoir over
four to seven years, without
elaborating. He added that the
three countries would continue
consultations without giving a
time frame.
Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry,
meanwhile, said in a state-
ment after the meeting that
talks have stalemated, claiming
Ethiopia rejected “all proposals
that … avoid causing substantial
damage to Egypt.”
“Ethiopia … offered a new
proposal that contradicts pre-
viously agreed principles gov-
erning the filling and operating
process,” said Muhammed el-
Sebai, spokesman of the min-
istry.
He said Egypt has called for
international mediation “to
help reach a fair and balanced
agreement that protect the
three countries’ rights.”
President Abdel-Fattah el-
Sissi tweeted later that Egypt
would “continue to take neces-
sary measures at the political
level and in accordance with
Pope seeks...
❰❰ 20 pert delegate, said the
time will come even-
tually.
“That there must be greater
participation of women in ec-
clesial life, I think yes,” she told
reporters. “We’ll get there, but
little by little. We can’t pres-
sure. We can’t fight. We have to
dialogue.”
World News
View from Bezawit Road – Blue Nile River in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
A.SAVIN (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS · WIKIPHOTOSPACE) – OWN WORK, FAL
international law to protect its
rights” in Nile waters.
Egyptian presidency spokes-
man Bassam Radi said Egypt
was looking forward to an “in-
strumental role” by the U.S. in
the talks. He said because there
was no breakthrough in nego-
tiations, there was a need for
an “international instrumental
role to overcome the current
deadlock.”
White House press secretary
Stephanie Grisham said Thurs-
day the U.S. supports Egypt,
Ethiopia and Sudan’s negotia-
tions to reach a sustainable and
mutually beneficial agreement.
“All Nile Valley countries
have a right to economic devel-
opment and prosperity,” Grish-
am said. “The administration
calls on all sides to put forth
good faith efforts to reach an
agreement that preserves those
rights, while simultaneously re-
specting each other’s Nile water
equities.”
Ethiopia in a statement later
Saturday blamed Egypt for
the failure of the talks, claim-
ing Egypt’s delegation applied
In keeping with the meeting’s
environmental message, the
synod organizers themselves
are taking measures to reduce
their own carbon footprint.
Organizer Cardinal Loren-
zo Baldisseri told the bishops
there would be no plastic cups
or utensils at the meeting,
that synod swag such as bags
a “disruptive tactic to halt the
hydrology, environmental and
social impact assessment” on
the project. Egypt’s proposal
for international mediation
was “an unwarranted denial of
the progress in the trilateral
technical dialogue” that “goes
against the consent and wishes
of Ethiopia and the Sudan,” it
said.
It said, however, that differ-
ences among the three parties
could be resolved through fur-
ther talks.
Eighty-five per cent of Nile
waters originate in Ethiopia
from the Blue Nile, which is one
of the Nile’s two main tributar-
ies.
Egypt fears the dam could re-
duce its share of the Nile River,
which serves as a lifeline for the
country’s 100 million people.
Ethiopia has roughly the same
population and says the dam
will help its economic develop-
ment. ■
Associated Press writer Elias
Meseret contributed from Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
and pens were biodegradable,
and that the emissions spent
to get more than 200 bishops
and indigenous from South
America to Rome — estimated
at 572,809 kilograms of carbon
dioxide — would be offset with
the purchase of 50 hectares of
new growth forest in the Ama-
zon. ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Trump defends...
❰❰ 19 troops out of the way
of the Turkish forces.
That announcement
came after Trump spoke by
phone with Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
One official described that
White House announcement
as a botched effort appeared
aimed at making Trump look
bold for ending a war. The of-
ficial said attempts by the Pen-
tagon and State Department to
make the statement stronger in
its opposition to Turkey’s mili-
tary action were unsuccessful.
That official, like others in-
terviewed, was not authorized
to speak on the record and was
granted anonymity to comment.
The official added that Erdo-
gan appeared to be reconsider-
ing his earlier resolve because
he was relatively quiet Monday.
But damage done to relations
with the Kurds could be irrepa-
rable.
An official familiar with the
Erdogan call said the Turk-
ish president was “ranting” at
Trump, saying the safe zone was
not working and that Turkey
couldn’t trust the U.S. military
to do what was needed. And in
reaction, Trump said the U.S.
wanted no part of an invasion
and would withdraw troops.
The announcement threw
the military situation in Syria
into fresh chaos and injected
deeper uncertainty into U.S.
relations with European al-
lies. A French official, speaking
on condition of anonymity on
a sensitive topic, said France
wasn’t informed ahead of time.
A Foreign Ministry statement
warned Turkey to avoid any
action that would harm the in-
ternational coalition against
the Islamic State and noted the
Kurds had been essential allies.
It entirely omitted any mention
of the United States.
U.S. involvement in Syria has
been fraught with peril since
it started in 2014 with the in-
sertion of small numbers of
special operations forces to
recruit, train, arm and advise
local fighters to combat the Is-
lamic State. Trump entered the
White House in 2017 intent on
getting out of Syria, and even
before the counter-IS military
campaign reclaimed the last
militant strongholds early this
year, he declared victory and
said troops would leave.
Trump defended his latest de-
cision, acknowledging in tweets
that “the Kurds fought with us”
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
but adding that they “were paid
massive amounts of money and
equipment to do so.”
“I held off this fight for al-
most 3 years, but it is time for
us to get out of these ridiculous
Endless Wars, many of them
tribal, and bring our soldiers
home,” he wrote.
In his later remarks, Trump
asserted that American troops
in Syria are not performing use-
ful work. They are, he said, “not
fighting.” They are “just there,”
he said.
Among the first to move were
about 30 U.S. troops from two
outposts who would be in the
immediate area of a Turkish
invasion. It’s unclear whether
others among the roughly 1,000
U.S. forces in northeastern Syr-
ia would be moved, but officials
said there was no plan for any to
leave Syria entirely.
Bulent Aliriza, director of the
Turkey Project at the Center
for Strategic and International
Studies, said that a U.S. with-
drawal from Syria would be a
major boost to Russia’s position
there.
He added that other allies in
the region, including the Kurds,
will “look at this withdrawal as
U.S. unwillingness to stand up
for its rights and maintain its
alliances in the region.”
House Minority Leader Kev-
in McCarthy, R-Calif., another
strong Trump supporter, said
in an appearance on “Fox &
Friends” that he had concerns.
“I want to make sure we
keep our word for those who
fight with us and help us,” he
said, adding that, “If you make
a commitment and somebody
is fighting with you, America
should keep their word.”
Former Trump administra-
tion officials also expressed
concern.
Nikki Haley, who served as
U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, said the U.S. “must al-
ways have the backs of our al-
lies, if we expect them to have
our back. … Leaving them to die
is a big mistake.”
Turkey considers the Peo-
ple’s Protection Units, or YPG,
an extension of the Kurdis-
tan Workers’ Party, or PKK,
which has waged an insurgency
against Turkey for 35 years. ■
With contributions from Associ-
ated Press writers Zeynep Bilg-
insoy in Istanbul; Zeina Karam
and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and
Lori Hinnant in Paris.

Entertainment
James Reid teams up with Momoland’s Nancy
for upcoming TV series
BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
TWO YEARS after his last tele-
serye, James Reid is set to do
another project.
But he is not paired with his
real-life girlfriend or the other
half of the JaDine loveteam, Na-
dine Lustre. This time, James
will be working with Nancy
McDonie of South Korean girl
group Momoland, Dreamscape
Entertainment announced on
Friday, October 4.
The new show, titled “Soul-
mate,” will be produced by
Dreamscape and will be helmed
by award-winning director An-
toinette Jadaone, whom James
and Nadine have worked with
in the teleseryes “On The Wings
Four out of five small businesses broadcast music illegally: survey
BY KEITH DOUCETTE
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — You enter a
small store with a cozy atmo-
sphere and are drawn in by
the music playing in the back-
ground, bringing back memo-
ries of days long past.
The only problem is, in four
out of five cases — acording to
a recent survey — the music is
being broadcast illegally, de-
priving composers, producers,
editors and musicians of the
royalties they’re entitled to
earn.
The Leger poll found that
while 77 per cent of small busi-
nesses with 10 employees or
less played background music,
only 11 per cent paid the fees
to broadcast publicly. When
only those who play music are
counted, 12 per cent pay the fee
while 81 per cent don’t — in vio-
lation of Canadian law.
“Canadian law states that
if you use music in a business
and if the public, your custom-
ers, hear that music, you must
of Love” and “Till I Met You.”
Dreamscape did not disclose
further details about the series,
instead, it shared on Instagram
a few photos during
Sought for a comment re-
garding their series, Nancy
told ABS-CBN News that she is
“very excited” for it.
“It’s totally new to me — in a
different country and new cul-
ture,” she said.
Sharing his first impression
of his co-star, James admitted
that he had a feeling of being ”a
little bit starstruck” over Nancy
since it was his first time work-
ing with an international artist
and that he was “super excited
to work with her.”
Nancy, meanwhile said of
James, “He’s super nice, super
sweet, awesome!”
obtain authorization, a licence
from the rights holders,” said
Eric Baptiste, the CEO of Cana-
dian rights management orga-
nization SOCAN, which repre-
sents songwriters, composers
and publishers.
SOCAN and RE:SOUND,
which works with singers, mu-
sicians and producers, together
are responsible for managing
rights and collecting and dis-
tributing royalties across Can-
ada.
The Leger poll found that
non-compliance with the law
was overwhelmingly due to
ignorance: 82 per cent of the
businesses surveyed said they
had no idea they had to pay
rights for public broadcast.
“We have to educate people
who visit businesses, who find
themselves in veterinarian and
dentists’ offices, and educate
entrepreneurs and business
owners that there are rights to
pay,” said Mathieu Peloquin
of Stingray, which sells music
rights and commissioned the
survey.
While he didn’t go so far as to
On Twitter, James said he is
honored to be part of “Soulmate”
but made this one request to his
fans: “no love team names.”
“I’ve already got one #jadine,”
he wrote.
Apart from the teleserye, Mo-
moland also formally signed a
contract with ABS-CBN. It was
reported that they are going to
have a travel TV series where
they will explore beautiful plac-
es in the Philippines.
Momoland, known by many
Filipinos for their song “Bboom
Bboom,” arrived in the coun-
try for the “Good Friends in
Manila” concert at the Smart
Araneta Coliseum on Saturday,
October 5. They were joined by
former Wanna One members
Ha Sung Woon and Kim Jae
Hwan. ■
question the poll, Baptiste said
he was surprised by the level of
non-compliance found in the
survey.
“Our own numbers, our own
research found that the propor-
tion of (those who pay) is higher
than that because, for example,
SOCAN has 100,000 licensed
institutions that pay rights di-
rectly to songwriters.”
But Peloquin said the Leger
survey showed higher levels of
non-compliance precisely be-
cause it targeted small stores,
such as doctors’ or vets’ offices,
small restaurants and bars, and
independent businesses.
“Of course, the big players
make sure to pay the perfor-
mance fees for the background
music they play, but when you
look at businesses with be-
tween one and 10 employees,
that’s where the problem is
found,” he said.
Examples of illegal broad-
casting include playing the ra-
dio in one’s store or even mak-
ing a playlist of music from the
owner’s personal collection of
tunes downloaded via iTunes
www.canadianinquirer.net
@james & Nancy McDonie for @dreamscapeph new series ‘The Soulmate
Project.’
or another platform.
Almost two-thirds of the
businesses included in Leger’s
survey said they played the
radio in their public spaces,
perhaps believing the station
would have paid whatever’s
needed to obtain the broadcast
rights.
But in fact, the store owner
must also pay the rights. Simi-
larly, even music that has been
legally purchased, or streamed
on a service such as Spotify,
cannot be broadcast without
paying an additional fee.
Only one in 10 of the busi-
nesses surveyed by Leger said
they used a distributor such as
SiriusXM or Stingray, which
can be legally played because
the broadcaster covers the
rights.
Ask a person if they’d be will-
ing to pay for something already
available for free online or over
the air, and most will respond
with a no.
Business owners are no ex-
ception, according to the sur-
vey, which found that 80 per
cent of small business owners
23
@DREAMSCAPEPH / INSTAGRAM
would not pay for background
music, and of the 18 per cent
that said they would, the ma-
jority (13 per cent) specified
that they’d only pay “a small
amount.”
“Many say music is impor-
tant for their activities, for their
business prosperity, but they
have a certain reluctance to ac-
cept the price,” Baptiste said.
That price, Peloquin points
out, isn’t very expensive. Pric-
es are set according to a com-
merce’s square footage and
number of clients, meaning
that many small businesses
would pay $100 or less per year.
The Leger survey was con-
ducted between Jan. 4 and 19,
2019, and questioned 510 small
businesses with 10 employees
or less across Canada through
phone interviews with owners
and managers of small stores,
restaurants, service or enter-
tainment-based businesses,
and veterinary clinics.
The margin of error is about
4.3 per cent, with an accuracy of
95 per cent. ■
24
‘Joker’ laughs its way to
October box office record
BY LINDSEY BAHR
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The film-
makers and studio behind “Jok-
er” have reason to put on a hap-
py face. Despite concerns over
its violent themes and ramped
up theatre security, audiences
flocked to the multiplex to
check out the R-rated film this
weekend resulting in a record
October opening.
Warner Bros. said Sunday
that “Joker” grossed an esti-
mated $93.5 million in ticket
sales from 4,374 screens in
North America. The previous
October record-holder was the
Spider-Man spinoff “Venom”
which opened to $80 million
last year. Internationally, “Jok-
er” earned $140.5 million from
73 markets, resulting in a stun-
ning $234 million global debut.
“This was a much larger re-
sult at the box office than we
had ever anticipated globally,”
said Jeff Goldstein, Warner
Bros.’ president of domestic
distribution. “Putting records
aside, we’re just thrilled that
audiences are embracing the
movie as strong as they are.”
Since debuting at the Venice
Film Festival where it won the
Samulnori: A closer look at
K-culture thru percussion music
BY MA. CRISTINA
ARAYATA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Cultural exchanges
enable countries to get a peek
of each other’s culture. These
include showcasing arts, dance,
and music.
At the recently concluded
Philippines-Korea Exchange
Festival, traditional Korean
percussion music, Samulnori,
was showcased. Who would
have thought percussion in-
struments have a story to tell?
“Samul” (four objects) “nori”
(play) uses four traditional
instruments: Kkwaenggwari
(small gong), Jing (larger gong),
Janggu (hourglass-shaped
Entertainment
prestigious Golden Lion last
month, “Joker” has been both
praised and criticized for its
dark spin on the classic Batman
villain played by Joaquin Phoe-
nix. The film from director and
co-writer Todd Phillips was al-
ways seen as a bit of a gamble
with one of the studios’ most
valuable pieces of intellectual
property, hence its modest-for-
a-comic-book-film $55 million
budget.
But in the weeks leading up to
its release, hype and uneasiness
intensified beyond how audi-
ences would react to placing
this character in a realistic and
unambiguously adult setting
with “Taxi Driver” undertones.
Responding to anxiety that the
film might have the potential to
inspire violence, multiple the-
atre chains banned costumes or
reaffirmed earlier policies re-
garding masks and authorities
in numerous cities said they
were stepping police patrols
around theatres. Some rela-
tives of the 2012 Aurora movie
theatre shooting even asked
Warner Bros . to commit to gun
control causes — the studio said
it always has.
While some worried this
would impact the box office, it
did not ultimately detract audi-
drum) and Buk (barrel drum).
This Korean folk genre is
played with music, acrobatics,
folk dance, and rituals.
The Taegeuk Samulnori
Team from South Korea per-
formed energetically during
the festival on September 28.
The Philippine News Agency
(PNA) had an exclusive inter-
view with the group’s manager
and member, Kim Do-geun.
Kim plays the Janggu, which
is a Korean percussion instru-
ment.
“In Janggu, there is (the)
sound of Yin and Yang, which
represent also earth and sky.
So it can be said that we ex-
press the energy of earth and
sky with this instrument,” Kim
said, adding that because Jang-
ences from turning out opening
weekend; the box office sur-
passed industry expectations
and may rise even higher when
weekend actuals are reported
Monday. Although the film got
a B+ CinemaScore from open-
ing night audiences, the studio
is optimistic about its long-
term playability.
“Sixty-six per cent of the au-
dience was under the age of 35,”
Goldstein said. “That tells you
that the audience will expand
out with that younger group as
time goes on.” The younger au-
dience also gave the film a more
favourable A- CinemaScore.
Paul Dergarabedian, the se-
nior media analyst for box of-
fice tracker Comscore, said that
the convergence of critical ac-
claim and controversy actually
helped the film become bigger
than expected at the box office.
“It’s the ultimate water-cool-
er movie right now,” Derga-
rabedian said.
He added that it was impor-
tant that “Joker” was always
marketed as a “very dark, R-
rated film.”
“It always had an element of
mystery and danger surround-
ing it,” Dergarabedian said. “If
it were a G-rated film, contro-
versy like this would not be a
gu consists of two heads made
from animal skin, Koreans be-
lieve that it delivers the sound
of all things in the universe.
He also noted that most per-
cussion instruments are one-
sided instruments. Janggu, on
the other hand, have two sides
that one needs to play differ-
ently.
“I think the manner of man-
aging both sides (is important),
considering their harmony.
Sometimes it feels more diffi-
cult (to play Janggu) than other
percussion instruments,” he
said.
Among the four instruments
in Samulnori, Kim thinks that
Janggu is the instrument that
❱❱ PAGE 33 Samulnori: A closer
www.canadianinquirer.net
good thing.”
In the landscape of R-rated
comic book films, “Joker” is
nestled between “Deadpool”
and its sequel, both of which
opened over $125 million, and
“Logan,” which launched with
$88.4 million.
“Joker” was the only new
wide release this weekend,
which is down from last year
when both “Venom” and “A Star
is Born” opened. Holdovers
populated the top 10: The more
family friendly “Abominable”
landed in second place with $12
million in its second weekend
and “Downton Abbey” took
third in its third weekend with
‘Job intensive ...’
❰❰ 15 had a carbon tax for
more than a decade,
suggest climate mea-
sures didn’t cost jobs and may
have added some.
“They show that either you’re
pretty stable or maybe you’ve
got a little bit of an increase in
employment,” he said. “The
fears of losing jobs everywhere
are probably misguided.”
The British group Carbon
Tracker has found that while
solar and wind provide only
three per cent of global energy,
they account for one-quarter
of all new generation. And few
of the world’s cars are electric,
but they make up 22 per cent of
sales growth.
Automation is removing jobs
from the oilpatch. Between
2014 and 2016, Alberta’s pro-
duction grew by nearly 10 per
cent but 39,000 fewer people
were employed.
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
@JOKERMOVIE / INSTAGRAM
$8 million.
With awards buzz behind it,
the Judy Garland biopic “Judy,”
starring Renee Zellweger, add-
ed nearly 1,000 screens this
weekend and placed seventh
with $4.5 million from 1,458 lo-
cations.
And in limited release, Pe-
dro Almodovar’s critically
acclaimed “Pain and Glory”
launched on four screens to
a solid $160,087. Less fortu-
nate was the Natalie Portman-
led astronaut drama “Lucy in
the Sky” which earned only
$55,000 from 37 theatres re-
sulting in a dismal $1,500 per
screen average. ■
Smith points out the mod-
elling assumes that Canadian
climate measures either stay
in place or are increased — an
assumption which the current
federal election campaign has
thrown in doubt.
“We’ve got three parties that
are not only committing to
keep these policies but build on
them,” Smith said.
“We’ve got one party that has
been clear: they are going to
dismantle the policies which
are going to create these jobs.”
Fossil fuel jobs will be around
for a long time, she said, but job
growth will come elsewhere.
“Canada’s not making the
choice — the world is making
that choice. Canada is in the
game and needs to stay in the
game by moving forward on cli-
mate action.” ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 Entertainment 25

Filipino theater icon

Tony Mabesa dies at 84
BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
VETERAN ACTOR and director Anto-
nio “Tony” Mabesa, 84, took his final
bow on Friday night, October 4.
Screenwriter Floy Quintos shared
the statement from the actor’s family
on Facebook, saying, “We, the family of
Antonio Mabesa, are saddened to an-
nounce his passing. Sir Tony joined his
creator at 10:20 this evening. He was
surrounded by family and friends.”
ALFONSO MARTINEZ / FACEBOOK “We thank you for your prayers. We
hope you can respect the family’s wish
much. We will continue your advocacy).”
Tony’s colleagues from the entertain-
ment and theater industry took to social
media to pay their tribute.
On his Instagram post, singer Ogie
Alcasid remembered the late actor as
someone who is “always ready to men-
tor young aspiring actors and stage
people” and is “always pro on the movie
set.”
“Sir Tony Mabesa has just passed
away. Truly he is the ‘lion of the the-
ater,’“ Ogie wrote.
“Thank you sir Tony for the wisdom
and the inspiration. My deepest sympa-
thies to his loved ones,” he continued.

Veteran actress for privacy at this time,” it added.

Known as the “Lion of the Theatre,”
Tony established the Dulaang Unibersi-
Star Cinema, for its part, described
Tony as a “legend” and “a star whose
shine will never dim.”

Amalia Fuentes, the dad ng Pilipinas (UP) in 1976 and the UP

Playwrights’ Theatre.
The Dulaang UP remembered its
“Thank you for all your contributions
in this industry. Rest in Peace, Tony Ma-
besa,” it added.

‘Elizabeth Taylor of the founder through a Facebook post, shar-

ing a photo of Tony along with a message
that read, ”Sa isang guro, direktor, aktor,
The veteran actor’s passing came
more than three months after screen
legend Eddie Garcia died. He teamed up

Philippines,’ passes away at haligi ng teatro, maraming salamat.

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
Ipagpapatuloy namin ang iyong ad-
hikain (To the educator, director, actor,
with Eddie in the 2018 LGBT-themed
“Rainbow’s Sunset” and won the Best
Supporting Actor award in the Metro
and pillar of the theater, thank you very Manila Film Festival (MMFF). ■
nagse-seizure kahit nasa ICU (intensive
care unit) (then she had multiple organ
failure and she always had seizures even
though she was in the ICU),” he said.

THE PHILIPPINE entertainment in-
dustry has lost one of its stars on Satur-
day, October 5.
Amalia Fuentes, the legendary movie
PSYCHIC
Following a ‘heart attack’ when she
was in Korea, Niño shared that his aunt
had been “paralyzed” and “bedridden”
for the past four years.

star dubbed as the “Elizabeth Taylor of
the Philippines,” passed away at the age
of 79, according to her grandson Alfonso
Martinez. Alfonso is the son of Amalia’s
daughter, Liezl Martinez, who passed
away in 2015 after battling breast can-
cer.
“It is with great sadness that I togeth-
er with my siblings Alyanna and Alissa,
inform you that our Grandmother, Ama-
lia Amador Muhlach has taken her last
breath this morning in the Philippines,”
Alfonso wrote in a Facebook post.
“She is now reunited with her hus-
band Joey Stevens, our mother Anna-
Lissa Martinez and her ex-husband, our
Lolo Bobby. We have prayed for nothing
but peace for her and now she can finally
rest. Our family only asks that you re-
spect our privacy during this time and
join us in praying for her soul,” he added.
Alfonso did not disclose further de-
tails about his grandmother’s passing
but Amalia’s nephew, former child star
Niño Muhlach told DZMM that the vet-
eran actress succumbed to cardiac ar-
FAITH
Meanwhile, Alyanna and Alissa, re-
membered their grandmother in their
Instagram posts.
“My beautiful Lola is now reunited
with my mama. rest well Lola. I love you
so much,” Alissa wrote.
Alyanna, on the other hand, wrote a
short caption, saying, “Mama & Lola re-
united.”
Reader, Healer and Adviser
As of writing, Amalia’s family has yet
to announce details of her wake. TELL PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Amalia began her movie career when
she and fellow actor Juancho Gutierrez
won as “Mr. & Ms. Number One” of Sam- specializes on removing all types negative
paguita Pictures. They were launched energy, bad luck and evil influences
into stardom through the 1956 film
“Movie Fan.” Amalia and Juancho were
paired in several movies, including “Ro- helps in all life problems such
dora,” “Pakiusap,” and “Ang Senyorito at as love life, business matters,
Ang Atsay.”
She was also paired with Romeo immigration and family issues
Vasquez in “Pretty Boy,” “Bobby,” and
“Bilanggong Birhen,” among others. A l l i n P r i v a t e a n d C o n fi d e n t i a l
Their tandem became one of the top
loveteams during their time and later on Call today for a better tomorrow
married each other.

778-379-4070
rest at 4 a.m. Amalia bagged the best actress award 99% OVER
“Dinala po siya sa (She was brought to) from Famas for her role in “Ibulong mo
St. Luke’s [Medical Center] nung three sa Hangin” in 1966, and in the 1973 Ma- ACCURATE 30 YRS EXP
or four days ago, tapos nagkaroon ng nila Film Festival for “Pag-ibig Mo Bu-
multiple organ failure tapos lagi siyang kay Ko!” ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
26
It’s the year of Rembrandt again, to the delight
of museum audiences
BY JACQUELYN N. COUTRÉ
Bader Curator/Adjunct
Assistant Professor European
Art Queen’s University Ontario,
The Canadian Press
AMONG DUTCH-SPEAKING
art lovers, 2019 is known as a
Rembrandt-jaar (Rembrandt
year), one marking the 350th
anniversary of the death of the
artist Rembrandt van Rijn. It is
the cause for the beloved artist
— who painted in the 1600s — to
be commemorated with exhibi-
tions, publications and even de-
licious treats.
A milestone Rembrandt year
occurred 13 years ago, with the
fourth centenary of his birth.
The worldwide professional or-
ganization of curators of Dutch
and Flemish art, CODART, re-
corded 83 exhibitions between
2005 and 2007 in honour of
that Rembrandt year.
And, yet, with the 2006 Rem-
brandt-jaar still fresh in the
memories of many, one may
wonder, why are we celebrating
Rembrandt again? What appeal
does this European male artist
have for us in 2019?
The Rembrandt years
Amy Golahny, Richmond Pro-
fessor of Art History Emerita
at Lycoming College, describes
the 2006 exhibitions as focused
on newly discovered documents
and the contextualization of the
master within the economic,
diplomatic and historical role
of art. One consequence of this
year was the increase in mono-
graphic exhibitions of art by
those in Rembrandt’s orbit, such
Lifestyle
as his master Pieter Lastman
and his colleague and a competi-
tor Jan Lievens.
A substantial 53 shows dedi-
cated to the artist are listed on
the CODART web site this year.
These include Leiden circa
1630: Rembrandt Emerges, or-
ganized and circulated by the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
of Queen’s University, where
I am a curator and resident
researcher. The show focuses
on the development of Rem-
brandt’s pictorial language
among a network of colleagues
in his native city of Leiden.
The Rijksmuseum in Amster-
dam, the foremost collection of
Rembrandt’s art in the world,
took a broader perspective in All
the Rembrandts, which show-
cased its holdings of 20 paint-
ings, 60 drawings and 300 of the
finest impressions of the art-
ist’s prints. From examinations
of Rembrandt’s early years to a
comprehensive view of his ac-
complishments across media,
this year’s exhibitions delve
deeply into the development of
this singular artistic personality.
The earliest Rembrandt year
seems to have been 1906, the
300th anniversary of his birth.
That year spurred the place-
ment of a commemorative
plaque on the site of his birth
home and the erection of a
sculpted likeness in Leiden, as
well as the purchase of the art-
ist’s home on the Breestraat in
Amsterdam to create a museum.
These early acts were as
much monuments to the man
as much as to his oeuvre, which
reveal the lingering 19th-centu-
ry romanticization of the artist
as a Dutch national hero. Subse-
quent Rembrandt years — 1956
and 1969 — have concentrated
on bringing together master-
pieces by Rembrandt and his
pupils so as to further delineate
their individual oeuvres.
In anticipation of the 1969
Rembrandt year, the Rem-
brandt Research Project, which
became the authoritative voice
in determining the authentic-
ity of Rembrandt paintings, was
founded. Clearly, these com-
memorative years have had a
huge impact upon our under-
standing the artist’s oeuvre and
his biography.
The artist
There is a rich body of peri-
od documents that convey the
painter’s character. Authors
frame his personality as one
rooted in a sense of conviction
and autonomy and he seems to
have experienced many of the
trials and tribulations of mod-
ern life.
He was a late bloomer, and be-
gan his art education at the late
age of fifteen or so; he believed
so audaciously in his own skills
that he proclaimed he could sell
an unsatisfactory commission
depicting a man’s beloved to
any interested buyer.
After the death of the love
of his life, he took up with the
nursemaid and, subsequently,
the housekeeper, with whom he
had a child out of wedlock. He
declared insolvency after un-
wise financial decisions.
There is something perpetu-
ally intriguing about his depic-
tion of the human condition.
His powerful colour, robust
www.canadianinquirer.net
Self-portrait - Rembrandt van Rijn - Google Art Project.
REMBRANDT AT GOOGLE CULTURAL INSTITUTE, PUBLIC DOMAIN
forms and imaginative inter-
pretations humanize familiar
narratives in striking ways.
His early masterpiece, Judas
Returning the Thirty Pieces
of Silver of around 1629, for
example, communicates the
physical burden of treachery in
horrifying terms: clothing rent
in desperation, scalp bleeding
after a violent fit, hands clasped
in agony, body contorted in hu-
miliation and despair.
Many scholars; numerous
creative endeavours like nov-
els, movies and works of art;
and even new applications of
technology.
Rembrandt, through his acute
observation of the human condi-
tion, has incited new reflections
upon our place in the world and
our contributions to it.
The shows
Why have museum exhibi-
tions been so fundamental to this
investigation of Rembrandt?
The curatorial act is a pow-
erful strategy for imbuing the
Old Masters with agency in the
modern world. That act can
unify contemporary themes
with historical grounding, in-
viting the viewer to consider
artworks as living objects bear-
ing renewed meaning through
the interpretative material
presented in the gallery. The
curatorial act can also invoke
deeper understanding through
comparison with other objects,
illuminating new perspectives
on familiar works.
Curators, as stewards of col-
lections, have the responsibility
to think creatively and broadly
about the current pertinence of
historical artworks. This can be
seen in some of this year’s Rem-
brandt exhibitions.
Among the more incisive in-
vestigations are Rembrandt and
Saskia: Love and Marriage in the
Dutch Golden Age at Fries Mu-
seum in the Netherlands, which
explores notions of status and
social expectations within the
❱❱ PAGE 36 It’s the year
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Teaching young people what really matters
for the sake of our collective life on Earth
BY RICHARD C. MITCHELL
Professor Child and Youth
Studies Brock University,
The Canadian Press
AS YOUNG people pledge on-
going climate action following a
week of global mobilization, it’s
clear that the world faces a col-
lective existential climate crisis
signalling that we must shift
to a planetary perspective. But
why it is that massive bodies of
evidence are being ignored?
As a professor of child and
youth studies who is dedicated
to fostering critical citizenship,
and who
examines how differerent
disciplines, knowledge systems
and international charters pro-
tect young people’s rights, I be-
lieve one problem is that learn-
ing and research approaches
have become so forensically
specialized. This is the case in
both school systems and uni-
versities.
Transdisciplinary approaches
There is a 50-year-old re-
form movement that advocates
transforming western educa-
tional institutions to be more
transdisciplinary: that means
teaching in ways that help stu-
dents learn not only small pack-
ets of information, but what re-
ally matters for the sake of our
collective life on Earth.
Advocacy to reform educa-
tion to be more holistic and
cross-pollinating emerged in
the early 1970s, simultaneously
through Swiss developmental
psychologist Jean Piaget and
Austrian astrophysicist Erich
Jantsch. Each began discuss-
ing the notion after attending
a conference in France that
peered into planning for 21st
century education.
In a public school setting,
more holistic education might
look like what Finnish schools
do: As Finnish educator and re-
searcher Pasi Sahlberg shares,
Finland’s curriculum em-
phasizes teaching children so
they are able to “combine the
knowledge and skills learned
in different disciplines to form
meaningful wholes.”
Decolonizing learning
In schools, transdisciplinary
approaches also means teach-
Lifestyle
woman has been recognized by
the Nobel Academy with a 2019
nomination, although some de-
fensive adult critics have vili-
fied her because of her Asperg-
er’s diagnosis and suggested the
teen’s criticism of systems is in-
valid if she has no comprehen-
sive solution.
By contrast, we can see an-
other example of how a com-
munity acknowledges and re-
spects a young person: Autumn
Peltier, from Wiikwemkoong
Unceded Territory, is Chief Wa-
ter Commissioner with the An-
ishinabek Nation, a political ad-
vocacy body of 40 First Nations
across Ontario. Peltier recently
told an audience at United Na-
tions headquarters in New York
that “we can’t eat money, or
drink oil.”
Why are politicians, corpo-
rate leaders and adults every-
where not urgently advocating
changes to how societies are
organized — based on the im-
portant voices of young people
Autumn Peltier. AUTUMN PELTIER / FACEBOOK such as Thunberg and Peltier?
Mainstream understand-
ing the reality that there are dif- have practised for millenia — ings of what it means to be a
ferent ways of knowing. This is getting out into the land, and child or youth appear to be in-
particularly relevant in colonial speaking with Elders (lots!) to adequate to understand what
settler societies like Canada allow for development of the these young people are doing or
where Indigenous people have whole person. what they are about — or to take
resisted ongoing histories of We’re missing flexible and re- positive action as a result. How
enforced assimilation, domina- lated ways of thinking, and ways can our societies overcome this
tion and trauma — and where of organizing that foreground failure?
Traditional
Knowledge is fi- In universities
nally being more For the sake of
widely recog- the generations
nized as holding We’re missing flexible and related to come, uni-
sophisticated ways of thinking, and ways of versities as well
insights and ap- organizing that foreground the as schools must
proaches. centrality of interconnected find ways to take
Canada’s relationships between all humans, into full account
Truth and Rec- beings, nature and our so-called the outrageous
onciliation Com- school “subjects.” complexity of
mission called the 21st century.
people to hear No critical prob-
with new ears, in lem — such as
order to allow themselves to be the centrality of interconnect- climate change or the urgent
changed. While there are many ed relationships between all threat to water systems, or a
initiatives to decolonize educa- humans, beings, nature and our crisis in sky-high levels of ap-
tion in Canada, our school sys- so-called school “subjects.” prehending children into foster
tems, like those of Britain, are care — can be solved in silos.
based on 18th century (Euro- Hearing children and youth As children all over the world
centric) assumptions. speak are calling us out now, it is the
What’s needed is telling diffi- Swedish teenager Greta job of adults — as educators,
cult truths about our histories, Thunberg’s and millions- parents and politicians — to lis-
seeking justice for injustices strong recent climate strikes ten.
and changing the essentials of also suggest how our our domi- And, it’s reasonable to re-
what we’re offering young peo- nant western educational and consider how we’ve been led
ple. Public schooling needs to developmental paradigms sim- into a kind of mass hypnosis.
learn from approaches to edu- ply miss what is essential. What’s needed is listening in
cation that Indigenous peoples This phenomenal young radically new ways — with the
www.canadianinquirer.net
27
ears of “children,” so to speak,
as beginners — in relationships
where individuals and collec-
tive societies are respected, and
in dialogue.
To respond to these ur-
gent planetary problems that
threaten young people’s fu-
tures, researchers in every field
are tasked with contributing
something relevant.
‘Flipping’ how we think
University researchers might
learn something from the core
assumptions of the body of
thinking known as transdisci-
plinary thought over fifty years.
This thinking is based upon
insights from quantum phys-
ics that predictive measures
based upon Newtonian physics
and linear thinking cannot pre-
dict complex systems such as
weather, families or societies;
it’s also based on respect and
reverence for life.
Jeffrey Kripal, chair in phi-
losophy and religious thought
at Rice University, in Texas,
argues for shifting our con-
sciousness by rethinking how
knowledge is produced and
reintegrating humanities with
the social and traditional sci-
ences.
Kripal observes that much of
the global ecological crisis “is
driven by the rules of the game
we play at this moment … and
forms of knowledge that cannot
be slotted into … austere rules …
and (the) fetishization of quan-
tity.”
His slim 2019 volume The
Flip — Epiphanies of Mind and
the Future of Knowledge, was
described as “mindblowing” by
American journalist Michael
Pollan. Pollan authored How to
Change Your Mind: What the
New Science of Psychedelics
Teaches Us About Conscious-
ness, Dying, Addiction, Depres-
sion and Transcendence.
Embracing multiple ways
of knowing through educa-
tion and research is impor-
tant among the many new ap-
proaches we’ll need to honestly
and respectfully face and care
for the children and youth of
the world — and to imagine a
collective future. ■
This article is republished from
The Conversation under a Cre-
ative Commons license.
28 Lifestyle OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY

The public needs to know why health data are

used without consent
BY P. ALISON PAPRICA data. Consider how different
Assistant Professor Institute the following uses are:
for Health Policy Management An organization may use
& Evaluation University of health data generated through
Toronto, the services that they deliver
KIMBERLYN MCGRAIL to inform decisions about their
Professor of Health Services and core business. For example,
Policy Research University of an insurance company could
British Columbia, use client data to develop new
AND MICHAEL J. SCHULL products or investigate poten-
Professor Department of tial fraud. A hospital could use
Medicine University of Toronto, the data it generates to improve
The Canadian Press the quality of its services).
An organization may provide
the health data that they gener-
WITH ALL the negative media ate or collect to another organi-
coverage and public concern zation in exchange for money
related to data, it isn’t surpris- or some other anticipated fi-
ing that governments are re- nancial benefit. An example of
sponding with laws and policy this would be a company that
statements that emphasize the provides genetic testing servic-
need for consent from the data es to the general public selling
subject. People’s data shouldn’t client data to a pharmaceutical
be used in ways that they don’t company.
support. There are health research
Health data has a special studies in which all partici- example, academic researchers Incomplete data Research based on large con-
place in this discussion given pants provide consent for their
used unconsented data with- There are significant differ- sented cohort datasets is more
public concerns around the data to be used for a particular
out identifying information to ences between data that are likely to have findings that are
world, including in the United purpose, such as a clinical trial
study the opioid epidemic. gathered with expressed con- unbiased and widely applica-
States, United Kingdom, Den- of a drug, conducted at an aca- sent and data that are routinely ble, but even those studies can’t
mark and Australia. However, demic centre but funded by a Why we have unconsented gathered automatically (with- present a complete picture for
while obtaining public and pa- pharmaceutical company. health data out consent) by organizations some of the most vulnerable
tient consent can be part of how Other health research stud- Governments and health or- involved in delivering health people in our society.
we achieve transparency and ies make use of large cohort da-
ganizations routinely collect services. Consented data are This is a serious matter. If
build trust, it isn’t the whole tasets where tens or hundreds information about health-care less likely to include people we use research based on in-
story or a complete solution. of thousands of people providesystem use so they can manage, who are very young or very complete or biased data to plan
As part of a pan-Canadian consent for their data to be administer and pay for health old, who are very ill, who don’t health services, evaluate inter-
group of researchers who have used once it has been anony- services. This information is speak an official language or are ventions or develop predictive
worked with health data for mized or scrubbed of identify-referred to as administrative marginalized for other reasons. models, it can have negative
more than a decade, our com- ing information. An example data, and a new piece of admin- In fact, studies have shown consequences. Just as people
mentary “Notches on the dial: of this kind of research wouldistrative data is created every that consented data are differ- have the “right to be counted”
a call to action to develop plain be an academic study of inter-time someone has an interac- ent from unconsented data in in a census so that they are fair-
language communication with actions between genomes and tion with the health-care sys- terms of the age, sex, race, in- ly represented in resource allo-
the public about users and uses the environment that uses datatem, like a doctor’s visit. come, education and health sta- cation decisions, from an ethi-
of health data” Many people tus of the people included. cal perspective, we need health
in the Interna- don’t give this Historically, we have seen the research that includes and ben-
tional Journal of routinely gener- negative consequences when efits the whole population.
Population Data ated health data health studies focus on biased With more and more health
Science aims to If we use research based on much thought, or incomplete datasets. For ex- data becoming collected, and
raise awareness incomplete or biased data to but research- ample, we now know that data new methods like artificial in-
about situations plan health services, evaluate ers recognize and findings from cardiovas- telligence that can turn big data
where health interventions or develop predictive the power of the cular clinical trials which fo- into knowledge, it is essential
data are used in models, it can have negative data. Datasets cused mostly on men up until that we learn more about which
the absence of consequences. that cover the the 1990s resulted in women’s uses of unconsented health
expressed con- whole popula- heart attacks not being recog- data have social licence and
sent. Our team tion over long nised or treated appropriately. public support, and which do
also wants to periods of time We can and should learn not.
increase the involvement of from the Canadian Partnership can provide essential informa- things from properly designed Failing to do so could result
members of the public in deci- for Tomorrow Project or the tion about health-care needs research studies that only in- in researchers losing public
sions about health data uses. UK Biobank). and services. Because of the clude patients who have pro- trust, support and funding for
Finally, there are research invaluable information that vide informed consent. But we research related to vulnerable
Uses of health data studies that use provincial, population-wide health datas- also need to understand the sub-populations that are un-
News coverage of health re- state or national health data- ets can provide, there are pro- limits when health research is derrepresented in consented
search tends to focus on study sets in order to get a complete cesses through which research- based on these relatively small datasets. ■
findings rather than research picture of a health issue. These ers can obtain access to work datasets, such as clinical trials
methods, so people may not be studies often rely on uncon- with the data without patient that may exclude many of the This article is republished from
aware of the fact that there are sented data for entire popula- consent. people intended to benefit from The Conversation under a Cre-
many different uses of health tions or sub-populations. For them. ative Commons license.

www.canadianinquirer.net

NBA’s ties with China, worth
billions, now under strain
BY TIM REYNOLDS
The Associated Press
IT WASN’T even a month ago
that NBA Commissioner Adam
Silver sat overlooking centre
court at an arena in Beijing,
watching the gold-medal game
at the World Cup with other
basketball dignitaries.
That night was all smiles.
Silver’s return to China later
this week will be much different.
The relationship between
China and the NBA — a multi-
billion-dollar marriage that in-
volves media rights, streaming,
merchandise sales and much
more — is strained right now in
ways unlike any other since the
league first began planting roots
there in earnest three decades
ago. A since-deleted tweet from
Houston Rockets general man-
ager Daryl Morey that showed
support for Hong Kong anti-
government protesters prompt-
ed an immediate backlash, com-
plicated further by the timing of
the NBA having two preseason
games in China this week.
“We apologize,” Rockets star
James Harden said in Japan on
Monday. “We love China. We love
playing there. I know for both of
us individually we go there once
or twice a year. They show us the
most support and love. So we ap-
preciate them as a fan base and
we love everything they’re about
and we appreciate the support
that they give us individually and
as an organization.”
That support is being sternly
tested, be it from tweets that
were deleted, uproars over an
NBA statement that had some
of its meaning lost in transla-
tion when posted in Manda-
rin and even the cancellation
announced Monday of two
G League games to be played
in China between the minor-
league affiliates of the Rockets
and the Dallas Mavericks.
At least one Chinese sport-
ing goods company said it was
no longer co-operating with the
Rockets and a sports news web-
site In China said it was no lon-
Sports
ger covering the team.
“There is no doubt, the eco-
nomic impact is already clear,”
Silver told Kyodo News in an
interview Monday. “There have
already been fairly dramatic con-
sequences from that tweet, and I
have read some of the media sug-
gesting that we are not supporting
Daryl Morey, but in fact we have.”
The NBA is enormously popu-
lar in China: Oft-cited figures
from basketball executives in both
the U.S. and China say that 300
million people play the game rec-
reationally there and that about
500 million Chinese watched at
least one NBA game last season.
And the Rockets are among
the biggest team brands there,
no doubt because Chinese star
Yao Ming — a Basketball Hall of
Famer — spent his NBA career
with Houston.
Yao is now president of the
Chinese Basketball Associa-
tion, which announced over
the weekend it is suspending its
ties with the Rockets in retali-
ation for Morey’s tweet. While
Yao has not shared his personal
feelings on the topic, it’s clear
that the relationship between
Yao and his only NBA team is
currently, at best, rocky.
Silver will address the matter
at a news conference Tuesday
in Japan, where the Rockets are
playing this week. He then is
scheduled to speak in Shanghai
on Thursday, in advance of two
preseason games in China be-
tween the Los Angeles Lakers,
led by global sports icon LeB-
ron James, and the Brooklyn
Nets, now owned by Joe Tsai,
the co-founder of Chinese e-
commerce giant Alibaba.
“What is the problem with
people freely expressing their
opinion? This freedom is an in-
herent American value and the
NBA has been very progressive
in allowing players and other
constituents a platform to speak
out on issues,” Tsai wrote in a
lengthy open letter posted late
Sunday. “The problem is, there
are certain topics that are third-
rail issues in certain countries,
societies and communities.”
And in China, discussion of
the Hong Kong protests is one
of those issues, Tsai said.
The NBA’s relationship with
China dates back about 30 years
to the time when former Com-
missioner David Stern struck a
deal with Chinese television to
show games on a tape-delayed
basis. Stern even talked about
having an NBA-sponsored or
branded league in China. The
first league office there had three
employees and flimsy furniture.
Now, about 200 NBA employ-
ees work in China in offices in
Beijing and Shanghai. Games
are streamed live and Chinese
media cover all the league’s big-
gest events such as All-Star
weekend and the NBA Finals.
The league has played preseason
games there for years, has three
NBA academies in the country
— designed to find the next star
prospect — and big-name play-
ers go there every off-season to
promote their brand.
Retired Miami Heat guard
Dwyane Wade has a lifetime
contract with Chinese apparel
company Li-Ning. Golden State
guard Klay Thompson has a 10-
year deal with another Chinese
shoe company, Anta. Five-time
champion Kobe Bryant has
been visiting China annually
for about two decades and is a
massive star there, even now
that his playing career is done.
The league has navigated its
way around one thorny issue
related to the U.S. and China
in recent months: a trade war
between the nations that in-
cludes back-and-forth tariffs.
The Hong Kong tweet, though,
is likely to present a much big-
ger test for the NBA.
“What I can tell you for sure
is it’s not going to erase the de-
cades of work that, you know,
myself and everyone else in the
NBA has put in in building a
tremendous base for basketball
in China,” Golden State War-
riors COO Rick Welts said Mon-
day in an appearance on CNBC.
“And I think this will pass. And
I do think our future in China is
probably pretty remarkable.” ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Ramirez sees boxers
boosting PH campaign
in SEA Games
BY LITO DELOS REYES
Philippine News Agency
DAVAO CITY — Philippine
Sports Commission (PSC)
chairman William ‘Butch’
Ramirez is banking on the box-
ing team to lead the Philippines’
campaign in the forthcoming
30th Southeast Asian Games.
“Our boxers are always a
source of gold medals in the
Philippines’ SEA Games cam-
paign. We are banking on our
pugilists once again to help lift
our bid in the 30th edition of
the Games,” Ramirez said.
The PSC has always been
supportive not only of our box-
ers but the rest of the national
athletes. The agency did its best
to provide them support for
these Games and the next com-
petitions they are scheduled to
take part in,” he added.
The Philippines’ SEA Games
boxing team will be headed
by World Champion and two-
time SEA Games gold medalist
Eumir Felix Marcial (middle-
weight, 75 kg) and John Tupas-
Marvin (light heavyweight, 81
kg).
Marcial claimed the second
29
PHILIPPINE SPORTS COMMISSION / FACEBOOK
ranking in the world at the
Championships held in Ekater-
inburg, Russia in mid-Septem-
ber while Tupas-Marvin will be
shooting for his second straight
SEA Games gold.
Also in the lineup are Carlo
Paalam (light flyweight, 49 kg),
Rogen Ladon (flyweight, 52 kg),
Ian Clark Bautista (bantam-
weight, 56 kg), Charly Suarez
(lightweight, 60 kg), James
Palicte (light welterweight, 64
kg) and Joel Bacho (welter-
weight, 69 kg).
In the distaff side will be
Josie Gabuco (light flyweight,
48 kg), Irish Magno (flyweight,
48 kg), Aira Villegas (bantam-
weight, 54 kg), Nesthy Petecio
(featherweight, 57 kg) and Risa
Pasuit (lightweight, 60 kg).
The members will embark
on a final training camp in the
first week of November in Aus-
tralia. The SEA Games boxing
competitions will begin Dec. 4
at the Philippine International
Convention Center Forum in
Manila.
The Philippines won 2 gold,
1 silver and 2 bronze medals as
a runner-up to Thailand (2-3-1)
during the 2017 Kuala Lumpur
SEA Games. ■
30
US seeks to blacklist Chinese artificial
intelligence firms
BY MATT O’BRIEN
The Associated Press
THE UNITED States is black-
listing a group of Chinese tech
companies that develop facial
recognition and other artificial
intelligence technology that
the U.S. says is being used to re-
press China’s Muslim minority
groups.
A move Monday by the U.S.
Commerce Department puts
the companies on a so-called
Entity List for acting contrary
to American foreign policy in-
terests.
The blacklist effectively bars
U.S. firms from selling technol-
ogy to the Chinese companies
without government approval.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur
Ross said in a written state-
ment Monday that the U.S. gov-
ernment “will not tolerate the
brutal suppression of ethnic
minorities within China.”
The blacklisted companies
DTI supports former fisherfolk to become craft makers in Aurora
BY JASON DE ASIS
Philippine News Agency
DIPACULAO, AURORA —
Some 26 residents in this town
who used to earn their living
by fishing are now engaged in
making bamboo handicrafts.
The former fishermen are
now active members of the
Croppers/Sharesmen Associa-
tion, Inc. (CSAI) that is being
supported by the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI)
through the Shared Service Fa-
cility (SSF) project.
DTI provincial director Edna
Dizon said the CSAI is one of
the associations in this prov-
ince that successfully managed
the SSF project.
“Because of that, the owner-
ship of the machineries and
equipment under the SSF proj-
ect was officially transferred in
Business
include Hikvision and Dahua,
both of which are global provid-
ers of video surveillance tech-
nology.
Hikvision said in a statement
Monday that it respects human
rights and strongly opposes the
Trump administration’s deci-
sion. The company said it has
spent a year trying to “clarify
misunderstandings about the
company and address their
concerns,” and that this will
hurt its U.S. business partners.
Prominent Chinese AI firms
such as Sense Time, Megvii gets local government agencies requests for comment Monday. China is estimated to have
and iFlytek are also on the list. in China’s northwestern Xinji- The Trump administration detained up to 1 million Mus-
Sense Time and Megvii are ang region. earlier this year used the same lims in prison-like detention
known for the development of The filing said the listed blacklisting process to punish centres in the region. The de-
computer vision technology groups have been implicated Huawei, the Chinese telecom tentions come on top of harsh
that underpins facial recogni- in “China’s campaign of repres- giant targeted by the U.S. over travel restrictions and a mas-
tion products, while iFlytek is sion, mass arbitrary detention, national security concerns. sive surveillance network
known for its voice recognition and high-technology surveil- Added to the list in June were equipped with facial recogni-
and translation services. lance” against Uighurs, Kazakhs five Chinese groups working in tion technology. China has de-
The companies are among and other predominantly Mus- supercomputing. nied committing abuses in the
28 organizations added to the lim minority groups. Ross said Monday’s action will centres and has described them
blacklist Monday. Along with The Chinese embassy and ensure U.S. technologies “are as schools aimed at providing
the tech companies, the Com- several of the targeted compa- not used to repress defenceless employable skills and combat-
merce Department’s filing tar- nies didn’t immediately return minority populations.” ing extremism. ■
the name of the association,” but they are willing to take the imagine their lives when they not hesitate to help the fisher-
Dizon said in an interview on chance and make the best out of are out of their boats,” she said. men to organize an associa-
Monday. it,” she said. CSAI president Edgardo tion with a proposed project
These are one unit each of Three years ago, the DTI of- Caspe, Jr. said making a living on bamboo and coco-shell craft
table saw, board saw, bench ficial said they helped the group just by fishing is really hard. processing.
drill, air compressor, portable organize an association due to “Bilang mga mangingisda, Aside from the DTI, the CSAI
planner, portable drill, and por- the hardships of being fisher- papalaot kami na umaasang also availed of other support
table grinder with a total cost of men. may sapat kaming mahuhuli. and assistance from the De-
PHP487,500. Pero kapag wala, partment of Labor and Employ-
“It is true. hindi na rin na- ment, Department of Environ-
Sometimes, it min alam kung ment and Natural Resources,
is not enough saan kami kuku- and the local government unit
that you have a They stole our privileges and the ha ng pangtustos (LGU).
dream. Dreams youth of our tribes who they train sa mga pangan- The CSAI members under-
are made for you as child warriors to go up against gailangan namin went handicraft trainings and
to make it come the government. sa araw-araw. other related workshops that
true. This was (As fishermen, are relevant to the industry
what the CSAI we sail out in a they pursued.
did and now, they hope to catch “Now, they are producing
are setting a new goal where “Fishing goes with corre- enough fish. But when there is bamboo craft such as lamp-
they envision themselves being sponding consequences. They nothing, we did on where we shades, home furnishings, and
one of those industries known have to take risks for them to were going to get source for our various souvenir items like key
for the beauty of their products. survive on a daily basis. It is daily needs. And this is the very chains, among others. Their
They know it is not impossible either they will come back to reason why we’re eager to try hard work and determination
for them to achieve it. They their families with something new things,” Caspe said. have paid off,” Dizon said. ■
may be new in this industry, or with nothing at all. Just Thus, Dizon said the DTI did
www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019
Data privacy
has risen to new
industry: DPO
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The need to secure
data of customers and com-
panies has paved the way for a
new industry that now provides
thousands of jobs around the
globe.
This was disclosed by Sam
Jacoba, National Association
of Data Protection Officers of
the Philippines (NADPOP)
founding president, in his talk
during the data privacy and se-
curity forum dubbed SELYADO
2019 at the UnionBank Plaza in
Ortigas Center, Pasig City on
Thursday.
Jacoba explained that, for
one, Philippines’ Data Privacy
Act of 2012 not only assured
customer safety but also in-
creased the need to profession-
ally protect data that a compa-
ny holds.
“This law has also made us
take our data more seriously
and use it ethically, while push-
ing businesses to transform and
innovate,” he said during the
forum jointly spearheaded by
Union Bank of the Philippines
(UnionBank) and NADPOP’s
Alliance and Partnership group.
In an interview by journal-
ists, Jacoba explained that
when the European Union (EU)
approved the General Data Pro-
tection Regulation (GDPR) in
2016 it was estimated that the
28-member states need about
40,000 data protection officers
(DPOs).
In Singapore, the strength-
ened data protection regulation
required about 10,000 DPOs, he
said.
In the Philippines, taking
into consideration the num-
ber of registered companies
that manage personal informa-
tion, Jacoba said NADPOP sees
shortage of world-class DPOs
along with professionals who
are into data analytics and oth-
er data-related careers.
“So if you’re a Filipino look-
ing for a career shift or if you
are a fresh graduate looking for
something to specialize on be-
ing a data protection officer or
data privacy professional is go-
ing to be one of the best way for
you to improve of yourself,” he
said.
Among the companies that
❱❱ PAGE 33 Data privacy
Company making Costco
pyjamas flagged for forced labour
BY MARTHA MENDOZA
The Associated Press
THE TRUMP Administration
is blocking shipments from a
Chinese company making baby
pyjamas sold at Costco ware-
houses, after the foreign manu-
facturer was accused of forc-
ing ethnic minorities locked
in an internment camp to sew
clothes against their will.
The government is also
blocking rubber gloves sold by
industry leader Ansell whose
customers include surgeons,
mechanics and scientists
around the U.S., accusing a Ma-
laysian manufacturer of staff-
ing its factories with migrants
from Bangladesh, Nepal and
other countries who went into
crushing debt from paying ex-
orbitant recruitment fees. Im-
ports of bone charcoal from
Brazil that firms like Plymouth
Technology and ResinTech Inc.
used to remove contaminants
in U.S. water systems, diamonds
from Zimbabwe and gold from
eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo, were stopped as well.
U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
tection on Oct. 1 slapped rare
detention orders on goods im-
ported from an unprecedented
five countries in one day based
on allegations that people pro-
ducing those items might be
children, or adults subjected to
forced labour. The orders are
used to hold shipping contain-
ers at the U.S. ports of entry
until the agency can investigate
the claims of wrongdoing.
CBP did not release infor-
mation about the companies
that were importing the goods
covered by last week’s deten-
tion orders. But The Associated
Press tracked items to several
buyers, including Costco and
the U.S. subsidiary of Ansell,
an Australian protective gloves
manufacturer. The companies
said they were not aware that
their products were being made
with forced labour.
Acting CBP Commissioner
Mark Morgan said the orders,
the most issued in a single day,
“shows that if we suspect a
product is made using forced
labour, we’ll take that product
off U.S. shelves.”
Custom’s action last week
is sending ripples globally,
www.canadianinquirer.net
Business
with exporters now on notice
to improve labour conditions.
Domestically, some U.S. im-
porters were shaken to learn
their products might have
been made by people forced to
work against their will or under
threat of punishment. Human
rights experts warn as many
as 25 million people globally
are victims of forced labour. In
recent years, investigations by
media organizations and advo-
cacy groups have tracked prod-
ucts suspected of being made
by forced labour as they travel
from manufacturers, through
brokers and dealers, into the
hands of American consumers.
“CBP’s announcement is sig-
nificant because of the unprec-
edented number of actions and
for the message that it sends
across corporate supply chains,”
said labour advocates at Human-
ity United and Freedom Fund in
a joint statement. “We know that
myriad imported goods U.S. con-
sumers enjoy every day — from
clothing to electronics to choco-
late, fruits and vegetables, and
other food s-- are likely tainted
by forced labour in their supply
chains. Making real progress to
change this will require a con-
certed effort across and out-
side of government, including
through strong enforcement of
existing laws like this.”
Until recently, the detentions
orders used to block the ship-
ments last week would have
been almost impossible.
Before 2016, the Tariff Act —
which gave Customs and Border
Protection the authority to seize
shipments where forced labour
was suspected and block further
imports — had been used only 39
times over its first 85 years, large-
ly because of two words: “con-
sumptive demand” --meaning if
there was not sufficient supply to
meet domestic demand, imports
were allowed regardless of how
they were produced.
After an AP investigation
found that seafood caught by
slaves in Southeast Asia was
ending up in restaurants and
markets around the U.S. with im-
punity because of the loophole,
Congress and President Barrack
Obama changed the law . Since
then, under both the Obama and
Trump administrations, CBP has
used its detention authority 12
times to stop shipments, includ-
31
ing those last week.
Under the law, U.S. importers
have 90 days to prove no forced
labour was used to produce
their products. If they can’t,
they can either ship their prod-
ucts to another country or sur-
render them to Customs.
Costco Pajamas
One major case from last
week involves China’s Hetian
Taida Apparel, which AP re-
ported last year was forcing
Uigher Muslims and other eth-
nic minorities to sew clothes
for U.S. importers inside a Chi-
nese re-education camp.
This was one of a growing
number of internment camps
in China’s far western Xinji-
ang region, where by some es-
timates 1 million Muslims are
politically indoctrinated while
detained and forced to give up
their language and their reli-
gion. The Washington-based
Worker Rights Consortium
published further evidence this
year that Hetian Taida was do-
ing business both inside a camp,
and at nearby state-subsidized
factories where detainees are
sent once they are released.
In response, Hetian Taida’s
U.S. buyer Badger Sportswear,
in Statesville, North Carolina,
cut off imports and Hetian
Taida stopped exporting to the
U.S., according to records pub-
lished by ImportGenius, which
tracks shipping activity around
the world.
But last month, Costco
Wholesale Corp. began im-
porting baby pyjamas made by
the company. On September
21, 2019 and again on Sept. 26,
2019, Hetian Taida sent ship-
ping containers filled with
100% polyester blanket sleep-
ers for babies and toddlers to
the U.S., labeled for Costco, ac-
cording to shipping records.
In an interview with the AP,
Costco officials said “we be-
lieve (the baby sleepers) were
made in a factory other than
the one that was the subject of
the CBP detention order. As the
facts develop, we’re prepared to
consider what action we should
take relative to the issue of a
supplier to our supplier owning
factories that may have prob-
lems.”
❱❱ PAGE 36 Company making
32
New technology brings old
Tlingit hat back to Alaska
BY BEN HOHENSTATT
The Associated Press
JUNEAU, ALASKA — A Tlingit
clan hat was welcomed back to
southeast Alaska with ceremo-
ny and dance after spending
more than a century away.
A ceremony Sept. 25 included
both an original sculpin hat that
was taken in 1884 from Sitka
and became part of the Smith-
sonian Institution’s collection,
and a newer replacement hat,
which was given to the Kiks.adi
clan.
“It’s like seeing an old friend
come around the corner when
you thought you’d never see
them again,” said clan leader
Ray Wilson in an interview with
the Juneau Empire. During
part of the ceremony at Eliza-
beth Peratrovich Hall, Wilson
donned the new hat.
The team-up and technology
that led to the new hat and cer-
emony are unprecedented as
far as the Smithsonian is aware.
“As far as we know, it’s never
been done before,” said Eric
Hollinger, tribal liaison for
the repatriation office of the
Smithsonian National History
Museum. “This is the first time
that we’re aware of that an ob-
ject has been digitally scanned
and repaired and a new one
made to replace it and be made
it into a sacred object.”
The replacement hat was
made through careful study of
the original hat, 3D imaging
and consultation with the clan,
Hollinger said.
“It shows what can happen
when people work together,”
Technology
Wilson said.
The new hat came to be af-
ter Harold Jacobs, cultural re-
source specialist for Central
Council of Tlingit and Haida
Indian Tribes of Alaska, no-
ticed the hat was in the Smith-
sonian’s collection, Hollinger
and Wilson said.
Jacobs asked if it would be
possible for the original hat to
be digitized and repaired, Hol-
linger said. He said at the time
something similar had been
done to replicate Dakl’aweidi
clan hats, and it could be pos-
sible.
The Smithsonian got in touch
with Wilson and the Kiks.adi
clan, who expressed interest in
proceeding with the project.
“We began that process with
seven years of consultation and
work to try to figure out where
to get the wood, where to get
the funds for it, how to do it,
what’s the appropriate ways to
do it,” Hollinger said. “The clan
and the several units of the mu-
seum, the Smithsonian Institu-
tion Exhibits and digitization
program office of the Smithso-
nian worked with the Natural
History Museum to acquire
the wood and the materials and
work with the clan for guidance
on how to attach things.”
Funding for that effort came
from a $26,000 grant from the
Smithsonian Women’s Com-
mittee, Hollinger said. That
also helped pay for creating a
second replica, which Hollinger
said the Smithsonian wanted
to have to help it tell the hat’s
story.
Chris Hollshwander, exhibi-
tion specialist and model mak-
er for Smithsonian Institution,
who helped mill the hat, was ad-
opted into the Sitka Kaagwaan-
taan. That was done so the hat
maker would come from a non-
Raven moiety.
“I think it turned out beauti-
ful,” Hollshwander said in an in-
terview. “I’ve been adopted into
the culture and given a chance
to do a very special piece.”
The newer hat was made be-
cause the centuries-old hat is
delicate after hundreds of years
of wear and tear. Both Smith-
sonian personnel and tribe
members said it needs to be
treated carefully and kept in a
controlled climate in order to
continue to exist.
“The original hat is fragile
and can’t be danced, this hat is a
new functional hat,” Smithson-
ian National Museum of Natu-
ral History Director Kirk John-
son said in an interview.
The new hat, which Wilson
said will live at a still undeter-
mined location in Sitka, will
have staying power in South-
east Alaska.
“Our grandchildren will be
using this hat down the line,”
Wilson said.
Not entirely old hat
While the old and new hats
are extremely similar, they are
not identical. That’s by design.
“The milling (cut) is all the
same and based on it, but they
wanted to add slightly different
things,” Hollinger said.
Some of those changes re-
flect the history of the original
hat, which was gleaned in part
from a CT scan, Hollinger said.
The scan showed evidence of
www.canadianinquirer.net
The "Castle" (1847), the Smithsonian Institution's first building, which remains
its headquarters.
past repairs, which Hollinger
said indicated it had likely been
around for many years before it
was collected in 1884.
“It’s hard to tell how old it
was, but because it had all those
repairs on it, it could have been
100, 200 years old,” Hollinger
said. “We have no way of dating
something from that time.”
The carver of the hat is also
unknown.
Some of the paint used on
the old hat contained mercury,
Hollinger said, so it was likely
made post-contact — after non-
indigenous people and Alaska
Natives met. However, he said
it’s possible it existed in the
1700s, and the telltale paint
came during repairs.
The scan also showed areas
where sea lion whiskers were
likely present, so the new hat
has whiskers on one side. The
newer hat also includes shell
inlay that was not present in
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PUBLIC DOMAIN
the older hat.
“The shell inlay here was not
on the original hat, but the orig-
inal hat had an incised circle as
if they intended to put inlays in
there. They learned from the
original hat and restored it to
where they thought they would
have liked to have it.”
Wilson said the two hats are
also spiritually distinct.
At.oowu, sacred clan objects,
are considered to have spiri-
tual properties, so a repatri-
ated item is thought to come
with the spirits of ancestors at-
tached. Wilson said the old hat’s
spirits will be retained rather
than transferred to the new hat.
“It will have its own spirits,
and the old hat will still be as
powerful,” Wilson said. “We
did ask the old hat if they would
treat the new hat like it was his
child and he could pass on any
information he would want it to
have.” ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 Technology 33

Samulnori: A closer...
DOT, iAcademy to
launch AR version of ❰❰ 24 can represent his
country.
It took him more

old Intramuros soon than 20 years to learn and mas-

ter Janggu. “I can say it is really
hard to master (this),” he said.
Taegeuk was formed in 1998.
BY JOYCE ANN L. pine destinations teeming with “It has been 20 years since
ROCAMORA heritage, such as Mt. Samat and we were formed. We all met
Philippine News Agency Corregidor. from the same middle school
“We’re starting in Intramu- in Chuncheon, the capital of
ros but we want to do it in Cor- Gangwon province in Korea.
MANILA — History junkies can regidor and Mt. Samat. But let’s We were all interested in tra-
now visualize what Intramuros start first in Manila,” she said. ditional Korean music, which
was back in the day with the up- Romulo-Puyat who initially is referred to as ‘gugak’, and we
coming launch of an augmented met with iAcademy’s represen- decided to run a team,” he re-
reality app that will allow users tatives a month ago said she called.
to indulge in a 3D experience was “amazed” at the potential According to him, he and the
of the old walled of AR technology other members, Lee Jong-sub,
city. in enhancing the Sim Jae-rang, Choi Young-
On Friday, the tourists’ travel- soon, and Lee Kyu-tae, are
Department of ing experience in more focused on powerful ac-
Tourism and iAc- the country. tions in their performances.
ademy, a school We’re Through this “Aside from the beautiful Taegeuk Samulnori Team in one of its performances in the 2019 Philippines-
that specializes starting in technology, she sound of Janggu and its flexibil- Korea Exchange Festival last September 28 in Pasay City. INSET: Taegeuk
in computing, Intramuros hopes to attract ity, we show more power of the Samulnori Team manager and member Kim Do-geun tells PNA why he chose to
business, and but we want younger and instrument, as well as showcase play Janggu, and its importance in the Korean Culture.
design, signed a to do it in tech-savvy tour- masculine performance full of CRISTINA ARAYATA / PNA, INSET: SCREENSHOT FROM PNA INTERVIEW

memorandum Corregidor ists to take an in- energy,” Kim said.

of agreement to and Mt. terest in the his- When it comes to learning form harmony. That is ineffa- was part of celebrating the
produce films Samat. tory and heritage “Garak” (beats, rhythms), Kim ble,” he said. 70th diplomatic relationship
and augmented of Intramuros. said the group can master it It was Taegeuk’s fourth time between the Philippines and
reality app that “We want within a year. to visit the Philippines, and South Korea.
can deliver cut- more of the “But to be accustomed to Kim said Filipinos have always Other performers included
ting-edge pro- young people to (the) basic style of batting and been full of energy. rising P-pop group SB19; Ko-
motional materials to help the go to Intramuros, so with this getting in sync all together, it “Each time we performed, we rean artists based in the Phil-
country’s tourism efforts. technology they can go around takes a really long time,” he felt really thankful as Filipinos ippines JinHo Bae and Dasuri
The pilot destination will be and see how it was before so it noted. are so welcoming and friendly. Choi; the Philippine Madrigal
in Manila, specifically in In- is interactive,” Romulo-Puyat Kim emphasized that Tae- With that, I find that Filipinos Singers; and Jean Kiley, 2014
tramuros, but Tourism chief said. “It is a new way to attract geuk works as a team, and thus, embrace other cultures with K-pop Star Singing Category
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said more people as it’s not only ed- the members make music alto- open arms,” he said. winner.
she is hoping the initiative ucational but fun.” ■ gether. More than 2,000 people gath- A fashion show was held in
could expand to other Philip- “We need to be attuned with ered at the Aliw Theater in Pa- between concerts. Filipino
each other, considering each say City for the festival. textiles were featured in Ditta
one’s style. It may be hard The event serves as a plat- Sandico’s works, while various
sometimes, but it feels reward- form for both countries to Hanbok designed by Kim Yong-
ing that we perform together,” showcase talents and culture, ae were also showcased.
he said. said National Commission for The festival was hosted by the
Kim also said playing Janggu Culture and the Arts (NCCA) NCCA, United Korean Commu-
with other artists makes him Bernan Joseph Corpuz, Plan/ nity Association, in partnership
more fulfilled and more de- Policy Formulation and Pro- with the Embassy of Korea and
lighted. “(By) synchronizing gramming Division chief. the Korean Cultural Center. ■
each action, each rhythm, we This year’s festival, he said,

Data privacy...

❰❰ 31 strengthened their
data privacy policies
includes those in the
business process outsourcing
(BPO), health care, and finan-
cial services sectors.
Despite of this some com-
panies remain vulnerable to
breaches, which, he said, can-
not be attributed mainly to
complacency but because of
focus on other aspects of the
Atop City Walls of Intramuros. business.
JUDGEFLORO / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0 “They may not be complacent
but they were busy with other
things,” he said, citing that this
is where regulators come in.
Jacoba also raised the need
for the various sectors to come
up with their data privacy code
of ethics as soon as possible in-
stead of experiencing a bad in-
cident first before coming up
with one.
Relatively, he considers gov-
ernment measures to increase
companies’ compliance to the
Data Privacy Act as enough.
“I believe so. In my opinion
the NPC (National Privacy
Commission) is one of the best
performing government agen-
cies there are…and with the
resources that have been given
them I think they’ve deemed it
up,” he said, citing the free tool-
kit NPC has distributed to data
privacy officers (DPOs) and the
annual DPO gatherings, which,
he said, is now on its second
year. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
 OCTOBER 11, 2019 34

CANADA

#1 ASTROLOGER IN VANCOUVER
HIRING FOR 8 TIM HORTON
PANDIT: SAI GANESH STORES IN VANCOUVER
PALM, FACE AND HOROSCOPE READING
OVER 35 YEARS EXPERIENCE
Food Service Supervisors, Bakers, and Food
100% REMOVAL OF BLACK MAGIC & GIVE PROTECTION
Counter Attendants
MONEY CHILDLESS SEXUAL
ENEMY COUPLES PROPERTY VISIT ME ONCE. Permanent/Full Time. 6 mos.to 2 yrs. experience
GET 100%
FAMILY JEALOUSY WORRIED GUARANTEED Salary range $13.00 to $14.70 per hour + benefits
MARRIAGE LOVE ABOUT SOLUTIONS

EDUCATION HEALTH LOVED ONES Willing to work shifts; Spoken English knowledge
Anyone who is authorized to work in Canada can apply.
SORT OUT ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS IN 48 HOURS
Send application w/complete work history and references to:
778-667-0165 fmellin10@gmail.com

Electronic Technicians Needed

Experience in Low Voltage
Electrical System
installation and Servicing
Computers with Networking
Email resume to suda@alarmboss.com
Call 416-432-1902

TIN TIN DIM SUM Spectrum Health Care is Hiring

Proudly serving fresh
Personal Support Workers
and not frozen dim sum all day who want more!
$10.99 only More hours
Iron Platter Style (with rice & veg in soup)
Tonkatsu Combo (Chicken or Pork) Benefits plus pension
Spicy Ramen Pot

6455 Macleod Trail SW, Unit 192A, Calgary, AB T2H 0K9

$500 Signing Bonus
(Located inside Chinook Mall)

(403) 253-7742 Learn more at www.spectrumhealthcare.com

www.canadianinquirer.net

Five stars from Fido: Jet setting pooches get ‘VIP’
treatment while travelling
BY ADINA BRESGE
The Canadian Press
WHEN HEADING out on va-
cation, Bianca Kapteyn often
had difficulty finding a hotel
that would accommodate one
special family member — her
wheaten terrier, Otis.
Kapteyn couldn’t stand the
thought of leaving Otis behind
in Toronto, so she brought the
dog along on her travels. But
she said some hotels didn’t al-
low dogs, while others charged
a fee for Otis to even be allowed
in the room.
While Otis has since died,
Kapteyn, who writes about
dogs and society for caninecul-
ture.ca, said she’s noticed a shift
in the hospitality industry to of-
fer four-legged guests the same
five-star treatment as their
owners.
“I think it’s more acceptable
that dogs or companion animals
are part of the family dynamic,”
she said. “It is now a standard
practice with most hotels that
they will provide treats with
the bed-turn service, designer
water, bones, beds and also (as-
sistance from) the concierge.”
Hotels across Canada are
courting furry travellers by of-
fering luxe amenities ranging
from customized bedding, ca-
nine room service, pet-sitting
5th Cavite Travel Fair opens to boost tourism
BY DENNIS ABRINA
Philippine News Agency
GENERAL TRIAS CITY,
CAVITE — The 5th Cavite
Travel Fair formally opened on
Thursday at Robinson’s Place-
General Trias activity center to
promote primarily both the tra-
ditional and new tourism desti-
nations and holiday escapades
in the province.
Noveleta Mayor Dino Chua
led the travel opening rites,
Travel
and souvenirs from their stay.
Many Fairmont Hotels wel-
come pets for a fee of $50 per
night, while owners may face
extra charges for cleaning costs
or violating policies about leav-
ing pets unattended in the
room.
At the chain’s Vancouver lo-
cation, perks include a welcome
mat in the room, bowls with
bottled water, specialty treats,
a brochure of pet-friendly ac-
tivities and a special in-room
menu featuring such delicacies
as prime rib bones with gravy
lacquer for $12.
The hotel even has a pair of
Labradors, Ella and Ellie, who
welcome humans and pets
alike.
These “canine ambassadors”
are the second generation of
pups posted to the front lobby
of the Fairmont Hotel Vancou-
ver in a program that has spread
to its counterparts around the
country, said Fairmont Gold
Manager Darren Klingbeil, who
is also Ella’s “dad.”
“We’ve definitely seen an in-
flux in dogs coming to the ho-
tel,” said Klingbeil. “We prob-
ably have, at one time, a dozen
dogs in the hotel.”
He attributed this wave of
jet-setting pets to changes air-
lines have made to expedite
pet travel, as well as the rise of
emotional-support animals.
featuring the entry of the Sky-
jet Airline and Palladium Ho-
tel Coron, along with 31 tour-
ism and related-establishment
exhibitors including 17 travel
agencies and 10 hotels.
“This is one step to promote
our local tourist spots here
in Cavite and get good promo
and get to know the best places
here in our province” Karen
de Lara, Cavite tourism offi-
cer, said in an interview with
the Philippine News Agency
(PNA).
Emma Hutchinson, a sales
ambassador at The Loden in
Vancouver, noted that the city
itself has become more pet-
friendly with its walking paths,
verdant parks and increasing
number of establishments that
allow dogs.
“It’s like having a child,” said
Hutchinson. “They just want
their dog to be treated like a
VIP.”
To cater to these expecta-
tions, Hutchinson said the
hotel’s staff aims to go above
and beyond in greeting canine
guests by name, which is also
written on a door hanger as part
of a welcome package that in-
cludes a dog lifestyle magazine
and a Loden leash that their hu-
mans can take home.
It faces stiff competition
from the Opus Vancouver in
Yaletown, which boasts a “Bow-
Wow Butler” who can arrange
grooming, nail trimming and
even a cake from a local canine-
centric bakery.
In Montreal, the Loews Ho-
tel Vogue accepts both cats and
dogs for a $25 fee, providing
pet-sitting and walking services
so guests can explore the city
freely.
For more adventurous ani-
mals, there’s also Storeytown
Cottages, about a one-hour
drive southeast of Miramichi,
N.B., where pooches can float
De Lara said their Cavite
Tourism Office has recorded
around 6,153,361 tourist/visi-
tor arrivals in the province in
2018, where some 5,810,711
of these are local tourists and
342,650 are foreign tourists.
She said Cavite’s eco-farm
tourism is one of the most
sought after among new desti-
nations and staycations for visi-
tors/tourists.
Some of these are the Patio
Buendia Farm Resort, Bayleaf
Hotel, and Microtel Hotel in
www.canadianinquirer.net
Ella & Elly are the queens of our castle in the city.
down the river in a customized
tube with an insert to protect
against claw-induced punc-
tures.
Owner Christine Bray said
Storeytown Cottages added
the $25 “Tailwaggers’ Retreat”
package because so many guests
wanted to bring their pets, so
they thought they should offer a
“little extra something,” includ-
ing a souvenir bandana that says
“Ruffin’ it on the River.”
Pets looking to enjoy the out-
doors in the lap of luxury can
also check into the Four Sea-
sons Whistler, where the con-
cierge team has a map of dog-
friendly sites and activities in
the B.C. resort town, including
General Trias, Residence Inn in
Tagaytay City, Tanza Oasis Ho-
tel in Capipisa, Tanza, Calini-
san Resort, Caliraya Resort,
and Chateau Royale Resorts
that are among the list of hotel
resort exhibitors.
Travel Agency exhibitors
include Blessed Feet Travels,
Blessed Genesis Travels, Costa
Cruises, Easy Flowing Trav-
els, Galamore Travels, Gate-
way Tours, Kadto Travels, LC
Woodworks, Map Travels, Via-
jero Gabrielle Tours, Our Lady
35
FAIRMONT HOTEL VANCOUVER / FACEBOOK
waterfalls, snowshoe adven-
tures and more than 35 kilome-
tres of off-leash trails.
To relax from these expedi-
tions, canine guests can lounge
in customized beds including
one that offers orthopedic sup-
port, and others that are shaped
like a pineapple or a tent. They
can also mingle at the “patio
kennel,” while their owners sip
on cocktails nearby.
“There’s definitely a market
that’s opening up,” said Elea-
nor Gilkes, the hotel’s public
relations executive. “Especially
now, a lot more people are able
to more easily move around
with their dogs. And they ex-
pect all kinds of amenities.” ■
of Holy Rosary Travels, Super
Save Travels, Tift Travels, Ti-
mezone Travels, Travelex Trav-
els, and Tours.
In an interview, the travel
and tour agencies operators
also vowed to present more at-
tractive and affordable pack-
ages that would promote Cavite
tourism destinations not only
“must travel goals” but also
“a convenient, hospitable and
memorable lifetime experi-
ence.” ■
36 Travel OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY

Company making...
❰❰ 31 As of last weekend,
the microfleece, zip-
pered pyjamas, sold
under the label Absorba, were
seen by an AP reporter on some
Costco shelves in packs of two,
for $14.99.
Scott Nova, executive direc-
tor of Worker Rights Consor-
tium, said he was shocked that
Costco agreed to do business
with a firm already associ-
ated with China’s re-education
camps. “The Chinese govern-
ment has created a human
rights nightmare for the Uighur
people and Hetian Taida has
been an active partner in Bei-
jing’s brutality. The company’s
use of forced labour is well
documented and CBP is right to
act,” said Nova.
Reached by phone on Mon-
day, Hetian Taida Chairman
Wu Hongbo told the AP that the
company will co-operate with
U.S. Customs and provide the
agency with any documents it
needs. Wu declined to answer
further questions and said he
has chosen to reject all media
interview requests.
Rubber Gloves
Meanwhile in Malaysia,
which supplies half of the
world’s medical exam and sur-
gical gloves, government and
industry officials were shaken
that one of their own — WRP
Asia Pacific — had its products
detained by Customs for allega-
tions of forced labour.
The news sent Malaysian
ministry officials immediately
to the U.S. Embassy for infor-
mation on how much of the
rubber glove industry would be
affected by the U.S. government
actions. It later sparked an anx-
ious rubber glove manufactur-
er’s town hall.
“The industry has since last
year worked on social compli-
ance initiatives in order to con-
for months, house them in un-
kempt and overcrowded condi-
tions, hold their passports so
they can’t leave and don’t allow
them to quit, he said.
Hall said CBP’s detention
orders “fired a starting gun to
warn both Malaysian and Thai
governments that rubber man-
ufactured products like gloves,
condoms, medical equipment
as well as an array of other la-
bour intensive products from
the region that are currently
manufactured using systemic
migrant forced labour cannot
be exported to the US.”
WRP importers include some
of the leading medical suppli-
ers in the U.S. like global giant
Ansell, as well as smaller firms
like Bay Medical Company Inc.
in Brisbane, California.
In a statement, Ansell said
it was ending its business with
WRP: “Ansell takes the labour
practices of these third-party
suppliers seriously, and any
allegations of forced labour
among the company’s suppliers
are of the highest concern. “
Bay Medical’s owner Da-
vid Dorris was visiting WRP
last week in Malaysia when he
heard, first-hand, that his ship-
ping container had been de-
tained.
“We were completely blind-
sided,” he said. “It’s deeply dis-
turbing for me personally and
for our company.”
Dorris said he hopes the ac-
cusations are not true.
Bone charcoal, Gold and
Diamonds
Bone charcoal manufactur-
er, Bonechar Carvão Ativado
Ltd. in southern Brazil, said
accusations leading to its CBP
detention order came from a
competitor’s unfounded smear
campaign. Bone charcoal is
made by workers who burn
animal bones, mostly cattle, in
fice of the US Trade Represen-
tative in April 2019.
A handful of U.S. companies
imported bone charcoal from
the Brazilian company last
year, mostly for use in water
filtration, pigments and sugar
refining, according to ship-
ping records from ImportGen-
ius. These included Plymouth
Technology in Rochester Hills,
Michigan, Ebonex Corporation
near Detroit, ResinTech Inc. in
West Berlin, New Jersey and
American Charcoal Co. in Jack-
son, Wyoming.
AP reached out to all the firms
for comment. Ebonex Corpo-
ration, the only company that
responded to AP’s queries, said
they were aware of the trade
dispute, and that they didn’t be-
lieve Bonechar abused workers
and wouldn’t import from them
if they do. The other companies
could not be reached for com-
ment.
The CBP action also covers
any gold mined at small arti-
sanal mines in eastern Congo
and all rough diamonds from
the Marange diamond fields
in Zimbabwe, areas with a his-
tory of conflict and abuse and
already subject to other U.S.
sanctions. Those imports are
harder to track, because they
aren’t specific companies.
Zimbabwe’s government,
which insists it has cleaned up
its diamond industry, called
the U.S. decision “a blatant and
shameless lie.”
Further north, in the Congo,
as much as $600 million of gold
smuggled out annually, often by
armed groups responsible for
ongoing deadly attacks, accord-
ing to the United Nations. The
Congolese Embassy in Wash-
ington D.C. did not respond to
calls from the AP.
Advocates lauded the new or-
ders on Congo’s gold.
“Customs action sends a
San Miguel pushes
for Boracay-
Caticlan bridge
BY JOYCE ANN L. Ang said San Miguel Corpo-
ROCAMORA ration has already submitted its
Philippine News Agency proposal and is now waiting for
the government’s approval.
“Kailangan i-follow-up kasi
MANILA — San Miguel Cor- pag pinush ng cabinet rank
poration president and chief mapapabilis ang takbo niyan.
operating officer Ramon Ang Matagal na pong na-submit and
continues to push for the con- with that, gaganda lalo ang Bo-
struction of a bridge connecting racay (There’s a need to follow-
Boracay to Caticlan on main- up and a push from a cabinet
land Panay Island to reduce the rank (official). We’ve already
thousands of stay-in workers submitted (the proposal) and
residing in the island-resort. with that, Boracay will be more
In an interview with report- beautiful),” he said.
ers on Friday, Ang said the Tourism Secretary Berna-
bridge will complement the dette Romulo-Puyat said the
government’s rehabilitation ef- Boracay Inter-Agency Task
forts in decongesting the island. Force (BIATF) is looking into
“With that (bridge), the the proposal. “Our chair is (En-
25,000 workers living in Bo- vironment) Secretary (Roy) Ci-
racay can live in the mainland matu, as I’ve heard, yes,” Puyat
and the tons of solid waste a day said.
can be moved to the other side, On the next BIATF meeting,
you can also bring fresh water the official said the government
to Boracay so there won’t be no will be talking to all stakehold-
need to dig a deep well,” he said. ers involved. ■
The Department of Tourism (DOT) and Petron Corporation sign a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) to spearhead a national toilet project called “Barrier
Free and Environmentally Sustainable Toilet (B.E.S.T)”, that encompasses
immediate practical and long-term responses to the need of the travelling
foreign and domestic visitors in the country specially in tourist destinations,
thereby creating a positive impact to the Philippine tourism industry.
BEN BRIONES/PNA

tinuously improve the welfare
of the employees in the rubber
glove industry,” the Malaysian
Rubber Export Promotion
Council said in a statement.
Workers at WRP and many
other rubber glove factories
have been forced to pay stag-
gering fees as high as $5,000 in
their home countries, including
Bangladesh and Nepal, for jobs
that don’t meet their prom-
ise, said activist Andy Hall,
who has advocated on behalf
of Southeast Asian migrant la-
bourers. Some of the rubber
glove makers don’t pay workers
sealed ovens at temperatures
as high as 1,292 F (700 C). CBP
alleged that Bonechar Carvão
has deceptive hiring practices
and abusive living and working
condition.
Bonechar Carvão owner
Francisco Meira said their
workers are not abused, and
that U.S. Customs blocked the
shipment based on false allega-
tions that have been investigat-
ed and dismissed by Brazilian
authorities. Prosecutors con-
cluded Bonechar was “framed
in a criminal scam,” according
to documents filed with the Of-
strong signal to U.S. tech, finan-
cial, and other companies: ei-
ther do their homework on gold
from Congo and countries it is
smuggled or refined in, or risk
having their shipments stopped
at the border,” said Sasha
Lezhnev at the Washington-
based Enough Project, which
supports peace in Africa’s con-
flict zones. ■
Associated Press reporters Luis
Alonso in Washington D.C., Yan-
an Wang and Dake Kang in Bei-
jing, and Diane Jeantet in Rio
contributed to this report.
It’s the year...
❰❰ 26 framework of Rem-
brandt’s marriage, and
Rembrandt?350: Zim-
babwe remasters a Dutch icon,
which features local artists’
responses to Rembrandt, plus
six of the master’s etchings and
a life-sized print of The Night
Watch (which is now undergo-
ing in-gallery analysis streamed
live online.
The exhibitions on view this
year demonstrate that new per-
spectives can deepen our ac-
cess to and appreciation of the
past. Each era curates the Rem-
brandt that it desires.
So, in this Rembrandt year of
2019, how are you celebrating
the master? ■
This article is republished from
The Conversation under a Cre-
ative Commons license.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Food fraud test kits help diners detect
mislabelling at home, in restaurants
BY ALEKSANDRA SAGAN
The Canadian Press
JESSICA BURLESON shuns
all animal protein except wild-
caught fish. So when she pays
a premium for her seafood,
the Winnipeger wants to know
with certainty that somewhere
along the supply chain it wasn’t
swapped for a farmed or less ex-
pensive species.
That’s why she signed up
to help test technology from
Guelph, Ont.-based LifeScan-
ner, aimed at helping consum-
ers determine if the products
they’re buying are legitimate.
LifeScanner and other de-
velopers of low-cost food fraud
test kits believe they’re tapping
into a large market and plan to
grow their services into apps
and other features.
“People care about food,” said
Sujeevan Ratnasingham, prin-
cipal investigator at LifeScan-
ner, which makes kits for peo-
ple to collect samples of animal
or insect tissue to be tested for
identification using DNA bar-
coding technology.
LifeScanner sells kits in sets
of two or four for about $31 or
$50, respectively. The cost in-
cludes the kit, delivery to the
lab and testing. Results are
available about two days af-
ter the sample arrives at the
lab and the customer receives
a detailed report, including a
description of the species and
where in the world it can be
found.
Burleson first learned about
Cone or scoop: Guinea pig ice cream for sale in Ecuador
BY GONZALO SOLANO
The Associated Press
QUITO, ECUADOR — It’s a real
ice cream flavour: guinea pig.
Anyone who thinks of guinea
pigs as pets — cute, squishy,
squeaking bundles of fur —
Food
the technology a few years ago
when she saw a callout for citi-
zen scientists to test products
at their local grocery stores
through a LifeScanner and
SeaChoice partnership to help
determine how much incor-
rectly labelled seafood is sold in
Canada. She signed up without
hesitation.
“Wild sockeye salmon is a
little bit expensive and that’s
OK for me if I’m getting what I
want, if it’s what it purports to
be,” said the 52-year old.
“I do eat fish and I’d like it to
be exactly what I’m reading on
the label.”
In April 2017, Burleson tested
two types of fish — wild-caught
salmon and sole — from her
local Costco, and was happy
to learn they were exactly as
labelled. She repeated the
process this past May with
several sole samples from the
same store and was once again
pleased with the results.
Mislabelling of fish products
is common due to a complicat-
ed supply chain as well as fraud-
sters who mask lower-cost fish
as more expensive fillets. A
2017 LifeScanner-SeaChoice
study showed more than one
of out 15 products sampled was
mislabelled.
An Oceana Canada study re-
leased in the summer of 2018
found 44 per cent of fish sold
at retailers and restaurants in
five Canadian cities were misla-
belled — with snapper, yellow-
tail and butterfish consistently
misidentified in the tested sam-
ples.
might find that idea hard to di-
gest.
The rodents are a traditional
hot dish in some Latin Ameri-
can countries, including Co-
lombia, Peru and Bolivia. In
Ecuador, people typically cook
guinea pigs with salt and serve
them with potatoes and peanut
While these types of initia-
tives make up part of LifeScan-
ner’s customer base, another
chunk comes from folks who
want to know for themselves.
The bulk of samples come
from fish, followed by exotic
meat such as alligator or kan-
garoo.
The tool is designed to test
the restaurant or grocery store
where the person bought the
product, as well as the broader
supply chain.
“If you know you’ve been
duped, then you can take ac-
tion,” Ratnasingham said.
“You can change your pur-
chasing practices. You can ap-
proach the grocery store and
say, ‘I need to be sure. What can
you do to help me be certain?”‘
Burleson has not purchased a
kit yet to conduct a test outside
of the citizen science experi-
ments, but thinks she may in
the future.
That would allow her to test
items from the other grocery
store she frequents rather than
just Costco, which the research-
ers chose for her.
If Burleson learned the qual-
ity products she’s paying for
were actually something dif-
ferent, “it would have been
disappointing,” she said, “and I
would have stopped buying it.
Immediately.”
Once LifeScanner garners a
critical mass of users, it plans to
make food fraud results avail-
able to the public through an
app.
It hopes to add results to res-
taurant reviews on a service like
sauce. But one vendor is taking
things to another gastronomic
level, serving guinea pigs as a
cold dessert.
Some people like ice cream
made from “cuy,” as the animal
is locally known.
“I was suspicious, but it was
tasty,” said Marlene Franco, a
www.canadianinquirer.net
Yelp or TripAdvisor, said Rat-
nasingham, as well as through an
in-house app for grocery stores,
which don’t tend to be reviewed
on third-party platforms.
“There is a gap that needs to
be addressed.”
LifeScanner already offers
a scaled-down version of this
on its website. A map shows
dozens of stores where con-
sumers tested products in the
SeaChoice partnership and
identifies their labelling prac-
tices as good, OK, unsatisfac-
tory, poor or mislabelled.
IBM also sees opportunity
in this area. Its researchers are
working to develop an artificial-
intelligence assisted “tongue”
dubbed Hypertaste that could
quickly identify liquids.
The company believes both
consumers and industry play-
ers could benefit from this
technology.
78-year-old retiree who tried a
scoop at a stall next to a high-
way linking the Ecuadorian
capital of Quito to the city of
Sangolqui.
The stall owner is Maria del
Carmen Pilapana, whose off-
beat offering inspires disbelief
and laughter among first-time
37
Individuals would have to
be very concerned about what
they’re consuming to purchase
this kind of a device, said Pat-
rick Ruch, an IBM research
staff member.
“This could be people buying,
for example, expensive bottles
of wine that want to make sure
that they’re not being tricked,”
he said.
But the company is also “in
discussions with many differ-
ent types of industries,” he said,
though he couldn’t give details
as these talks were in the early
stages.
The technology could be used
to determine if ingredients
have been added to dilute milk,
for example, or to see if drink-
ing water is safe.
What excites Ruch about the
project is “the seemingly un-
limited potential” for the tech-
nology. ■
customers.
Pilapana’s operation is small.
It consists of two tables in an
open area lined with dentists’
clinics and other businesses.
Even so, demand is growing.
Every week, the entrepreneur
❱❱ PAGE 38 Cone or
38
Put down that takeout menu:
Stir fry basics for home cooks
BY KATIE WORKMAN
The Associated Press
FOR EVERY home cook hap-
pily tossing together a stir fry at
home, there are a dozen would-
be stir fryers wanting to make
chicken-broccoli-sugar-snap-
pea stir fry. and then sheepishly
reaching for the takeout menu.
Stir-fry technique has many
people intimidated. But if you
can slice and stir, you can stir
fry.
So, let’s break it down, review
the basics, and get everyone on
their way to stir-fry success.
Directions
1. Read the recipe all the way
through. The ingredients, the
steps, everything. Getting a
sense of the order of events so
you know what’s coming will
make you more confident as
you cook.
2. Prep ALL the ingredients
before you start cooking. Stir-
frying goes quickly, so make
sure your ingredients are all
cut and ready to roll. You don’t
want to realize suddenly that
you still need to mince the gar-
lic that’s supposed to be sautee-
ing along with the broccoli.
3. Make sure your ingredi-
ents are of similar size. Most
stir fries involve fairly small-
cut ingredients added in stages,
sometimes in batches, so every-
thing ends up properly cooked
at the same time. When chop-
ping broccoli for instance, or
cubing chicken, try and make
all the pieces roughly the same
size.
4. Feel free to swap or sub-
stitute ingredients. If you want
broccoli instead of sugar snap
Cone or...
❰❰ 37 prepares 150 servings
($1 for a cone) of guin-
ea pig ice cream.
She also makes 40 servings
of ice cream flavoured with
beetles, also traditionally eaten
as a salty snack, and a smaller
amount of mushroom ice cream.
“My family and my husband
thought I was crazy. They didn’t
think anyone would like these
ice creams, but now they’re our
main product,” said Pilapana,
peas, great! Again, just make
sure the vegetables you sub in
are cut comparably and have a
similar density, therefore a sim-
ilar cooking time. Or adjust the
time as needed: Sliced carrots
will need more cooking time
than spinach, for instance, so
add a few minutes to the cook-
ing time, or add them earlier in
the recipe. Cubed pork can be
used in place of chicken, tofu
can be swapped in for shrimp —
most stir fries are flexible.
5. A skillet may be better
than a small wok. The bowl-
shaped pans sold as woks are
not always the best answer for
a home cook. Because there is a
lot of sloped side area to a wok,
there isn’t much flat bottom sit-
ting directly on the heat. I like
using a very large skillet, so the
food in the pan is less crowded
and gets a better distribution of
heat. If you do want a wok, get a
big one!
6. Make sure the pan is hot.
You need high heat to get the
best flavour from the ingredi-
ents in a stir fry. And you need
the pan to be hot before the in-
gredients hit it, so they have a
chance to sear a bit, locking in
colour and flavour.
7. Cook in layers and batches.
The secret to great stir-fries
(and lots of other cooking
methods, like frying and saute-
ing) is to not crowd the pan, and
to leave the food alone between
stirs. Giving individual pieces
of food a chance to come in di-
rect contact with the hot pan on
a continuous basis is the differ-
ence between nicely browned
pieces and a pile of steamed
food. That’s why many stir-fry
recipes call for cooking ingre-
dients separately or in batches.
who acknowledges that she had
her own doubts about whether
her investment would pay off.
It was a close call. Out of work,
with three children in tow, Pilap-
ana began attending free training
courses for entrepreneurs. She
was challenged to do something
innovative and, after six months
of testing, she starting selling her
range of ice creams at the begin-
ning of September.
Pilapana manages to concen-
And because stir-fry food is cut
small, cooking goes quickly. So
doing it in stages and batches
and then combining it all at the
end adds only a handful of extra
minutes.
8. Add the sauce at the end.
Only once your ingredients are
cooked do you want to add any
liquid. Otherwise, you wouldn’t
really be stir frying, but braising
or poaching. A bit of cornstarch
mixed into the sauce will allow
it to thicken as it simmers.
9. Make some rice. It’s nice to
have something to soak up that
sauce. Choose any kind of rice
you like: white, brown, jasmine,
basmati, whichever. Noodles,
especially Asian noodles, are
another nice base for stir fries.
Ingredients
Here are a handful of condi-
ments called for in many Asian
recipes. Once you get to know
them, you can play with them
like mad.
– Soy Sauce. Indispensable in
Asian cooking (and interesting
in non-Asian recipes as well).
It packs a rich, salty taste, and
is brewed from soybeans and
wheat. You can choose regular
or less-sodium soy sauce, and
if there are gluten intolerances
in your family, go for tamari,
which is similar but without
wheat.
– Sesame Oil. Made from
toasted sesame seeds, this oil
has a nutlike and aromatic fla-
vour. It’s often added at the end
of cooking to preserve its won-
derful flavour. It’s strong, so use
in small amounts. Chili sesame
oil is a nice way to add that sesa-
me flavour and some heat at the
same time. Keep it in the fridge
to keep it from getting rancid.
trate guinea pig flavour after
cooking and preparing a pate
from the animal’s flesh, adds
milk or cream and refrigerates
the concoction until it has the
rough consistency of ice cream.
The taste is similar to chicken.
The beetle and mushroom
ice creams include fruits such
as pineapple and passion fruit.
Beetle ice cream has a slight
aroma of wet earth.
Ants, cicadas and worms are
www.canadianinquirer.net
– Hoisin Sauce. A thick, some-
what intense sauce made from
ground soybeans and some
kind of starch, seasoned with
red chilies and garlic. Vinegar,
Chinese five-spice and sugar
are also commonly added.
– Chili Garlic Sauce. Versa-
tile, spicy and garlicky, as the
name suggests. It’s got a slightly
rough texture, and a dose of
tanginess from vinegar.
– Oyster Sauce. Made from
oyster extracts combined with
sugar, soy sauce, salt and thick-
eners. This thick, dark brown
sauce is a staple in Chinese
family-style cooking. Another
way to add saltiness and umami
(savoriness) to stir fries.
– Fish Sauce, or nam pla
in Thai. A basic ingredient in
Southeast Asian cuisines, par-
ticularly Thai and Vietnamese.
It has a pungent odor, but when
used in cooking, the flavour is
much milder. The aroma comes
from the liquid given off by an-
chovies that have been salted or
fermented. This is the kind of
thing you might want to keep
used to make some desserts,
often chocolate-infused ones,
in parts of Latin America. But
incorporating such ingredients
— guinea pigs included — into
ice cream is unusual.
Carolina Paez, director of
the anthropology school of the
Catholic University in Quito,
isn’t surprised.
“The guinea pig is a very im-
portant ancient food in Andean
indigenous societies, especially
OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY
to yourself until your kids have
eaten and enjoyed fish sauce in
a recipe.
Two items to keep in the fridge
– Ginger. Fresh ginger is one
of the greatest ingredients in
stir fries. Spicy, bracing, up-
lifting. It’s an easy way to add
bang-for-your-buck flavour.
– Garlic. Usually finely
minced, sometimes thinly
sliced.
The base of garlic and ginger
heated together in oil is a sign of
a terrific stir fry in the making.
Some stir-fry recipes to get
you started
• Chicken, Broccoli and Sugar
Snap Pea Stir Fry
• Stir Fried Chicken with Scal-
lions
• Spicy Stir Fried Beef and Veg-
etables
• Pork and Bok Choy Stir Fry
• Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry
with Udon Noodles
• Chicken and Spinach Stir-Fry
with Ginger and Oyster Sauce
• Mongolian Beef ■
for its high protein content,”
she said. Other cultures eat
various types of animals, Paez
said, “so there is no reason to be
amazed that Ecuadorians eat
guinea pigs, even in ice cream.”
For Pilapana, guinea pig ice
cream is just the beginning. She
has new flavours in mind: crab,
chicken and pork.
“Seeing how my business is
picking up, I’m sure I’ll do well,”
she said. ■
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2019 39

Get the latest News & Updates

read daily news

from Philippines,
Canada & the World
www.canadianinquirer.net
The one and only daily Filipino-Canadian live news

www.canadianinquirer.net
40 OCTOBER 11, 2019 FRIDAY

www.canadianinquirer.net