6/49 JACKPOT PRIZE: P88,492,323.60 6/42 JACKPOT PRIZE: P3,000,000


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METRO MANILA NUMBER CODING LIFTED ON SONA DAY THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced Thursday that the regular number coding will be lifted Monday, to facilitate the transport of people who will attend the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Aquino 3rd at the Batasan Complex, Quezon City.


»Wesley takes solo lead in Biel chess tourneySportsA8 Founded 1898


SAMMY MARTIN


PHILIPPINES MAY REDUCE RICE IMPORTS BY HALF IN 2011 THE Philippine government is planning to reduce its rice imports next year, possibly by as much as half of what was imported in 2010, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Thursday. “[The rice imports] will surely be less than what we have imported this year. The department will have more solid figures next week,” Alcala told reporters in an interview. XINHUA


»Motorists told to brace for increase in tollBusinessB1 www.manilatimes.net


★ ★ Php15.00


FRIDAY JULY 23, 2010


3 SECTIONS 18 PAGES VOL. 111 NO. 283


Melo hides folder report C


Media access to results of probe denied


BY JOMAR CANLAS REPORTER


OMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo and his fellow commissioners disallowed the disclosure to the media and concerned parties of the contents of the report


on “Investigation on the P690-million Ballot Secrecy Folder” despite a clear recommendation from the panel of investigators to do so.


ANGAT DAM WATER LEVEL INCREASES


PUBLIC Works and Highways Secre- tary Rogelio Singson said Thursday that the water level in Angat dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan increased by 70 centimeters since Wednesday and that “the worst situation is over” in the water shortage affecting parts of Metro Manila and outlying areas. “As a bit of good news, the water


level in Angat has continued to in- crease. It is now at 158.88 meters com- pared to 158.18 meters yesterday [Wednesday]. So there’s been an in- crease of 70 centimeters,” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang. He added that the increase in wa-


ter levels at Angat was caused by the rains over the facility and the Ipo dam. Singson was not sure if the rains came from government’s cloud seeding op- erations or was a natural occurrence. “It could be a little of both,” he said. Singson added that the govern- ment will work on a roadmap that


➤IncreasesA2


Rising human trafficking cases put RP at par with Somalia Toy market unaffected by hard times


BY BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER


FAILURE to curb human trafficking and to win convictions in court have put the Philip-


»exclusive


pines on the verge of being downgraded to a category with countries like Somalia, accord- ing to a US Department of State report. The government said that the report


was unfair.


Businesses hopeful on Aquino vs. corruption


BY KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE REPORTER


THE success of President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s campaign against corrup- tion would bring in more investments to the country, New York-based Filipino businessman Loida Nicolas- Lewis said Thursday. Lewis, chairman and


chief executive officer of ➤CorruptionA6


■ New York-based Filipino businessman Loida Nicolas-Lewis PHOTO BY JESSIE LAURETA


Citing the 2010 Trafficking in Persons


Report by the US State Department, Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, president of the Visayan Forum Foundation, said that the Philippines was in “a very alarming stage” when it comes


to its human trafficking. 2 watchlist.


»exclusive BY BEN ARNOLD DE VERA REPORTER


NO amount of money can buy the joy that a toy can bring to a child. This was the view expressed Thurs- day by the local distributor of Barbie dolls and other high-end toys who also said that the toy market in the country continues to flourish de- spite the hard times. Myrna Yao, Richwell Trading Corp. chief operating officer, said the P10-billion toy market in the country has not slowed down even with the economic difficulties. “Parents are also happy when they


buy toys for their kids even if this would empty their pockets,” Yao


➤UnaffectedA6 ■ Myrna Yao of Richwell Trading Corp. PHOTO BY JESSIE LAURETA Militants ask SC to disqualify Mikey BY ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO REPORTER


AKBAYAN party-list on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the son of former President


REACH US AT: E-mail: newsboy1@manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-56-64 to 67 Address: 371 A. Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila 1018


Gloria Arroyo from sitting as a mem- ber of Congress representing secu- rity guards and tricycle drivers. Rep. Walden Bello of Akbayan and its former representative, Loretta Ann


Rosales, went to the Supreme Court and asked it to “direct the Commis- sion on Elections [Comelec] to de- clare the disqualification of the


➤MikeyA6


Vampires becoming fashionable »feature across the United States,


NEW YORK CITY: She loves the taste of blood, hates the sun, and, if you ask, will tell you she died in a train accident back in 1892: meet Seregon O’Dalley, a would-be


vampire living in New York City. She’s far from alone. Vampires are in fashion


encouraged by the hit TV series True Blood,


now in its third season, the Twilight movies and Vampire Diaries. Stories about feeding on blood are greedily consumed and eagerly published.


➤FashionableA2


The 99-page report states that within a period of 10 days from its submission to the Comelec en banc, the panel of investigators, headed by Comelec Law Department Head lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan, should be authorized to release its contents to the


■ Three men enjoy the cool waters of the Wawa Dam in Rizal which can be tapped to help alleviate the water shortage in Metro Manila and outlying areas. PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN


BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER


THE Philippines remained unattractive for foreign direct investments (FDIs) since the country still lagged behind neighboring countries in attracting FDIs, according to a report of the United Na- tions Conference on Trade and Devel- opment (UNCTAD). In its World Investment Report 2010, the UN body said FDI inflows to the Phil- ippines rose 26.16 percent to $1.95 bil- lion in 2009 from $1.54 billion in 2008. In 2007, the country’s FDI inflows amounted to $2.92 billion. The country’s FDI outflows also in- creased to $359 million in 2009 from $259 million in 2008. In the first three months, the Philip- pines’ FDI inflows reached $396 mil- lion, higher from the $345 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Despite the improvement, the country


➤InvestmentsA2 E-mail: icdemain@yahoo.com


media and other concerned parties that includes the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsi- ble Voting (PPCRV).


“The panel further recom- mends that . . . . . . members of the panel shall be authorized to release this investigation report


➤FolderA2


RP lags in investments says UNCTAD


BY I. CAÑETE DEMAIN


The Philippines is currently at the Tier “Exploitation in the Philippines is massive


➤SomaliaA6


WHEN I learned via the media about the gardener and the manicurist appointed by former President Gloria Arroyo to plum positions in govern- ment, I thought the nation had seen the worst. But now it turns out that they were just the tip of a titanic iceberg. According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the former president made 977 other last-minute, tenured appoint- ments. And there may be more. You could say that the gardener and the manicurist were more principled; they withdrew from their assignments after the media raised a ruckus. This batch of 977 is more thick-skinned. One of them, Cynthia Carrion—Mrs. Arroyo’s aerobics trainer—who got named to head the newly created and strategic Tourism Promotions Board—has clung to her post like glue. Despite all pleas from her family and the refusal of Department of Tourism staff to work with her, she hangs on grimly to her spoils. Trying to understand this presidential


act can cause a headache, but I will try. The timing of the appointments and their sheer number leave no room for seeing them as motivated by good wishes for the nation. I can only see two motives behind them. One is that Mrs. Arroyo wants her


presidency to reach beyond the grave and reward people close to her. Never mind if they are competent or not. The other reason is that she wants


President Benigno Aquino 3rd to fail by saddling him with people who could undermine his administration. This travesty of power must not be


allowed to stand. All possible remedies in the law should be exhausted to stop it. If arrogance prevails here, all hope for reform under the Aquino adminis- tration could be lost.


»LOTTO


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