20 NOVEMBER 2018

8
METRO
John Henry Dodson, Editor
Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Daily Tribune
Trucking protest
effect minimal
By Elmer N. Manuel
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (PCCI) yesterday assured the
public that the six-day truck holiday will
have minimal effect on the economy if major
trucking groups will refuse to join the protest
action.
“I understand that the companies which
joined the protest are just small, independent
groups, so they can be covered by the CTAP
and ACTOO,” PCCI honorary chairman Sergio
Ortiz-Luis Jr. said.
Big hauling groups not joining six-day
holiday.
CTAP stands for Confederation of Truckers
Association of the Philippines Inc. while
ACTOO refers to the Alliance of Concerned
Truck Owners and Organizations.
Both trucking groups have issued
statements they would not participate in the
protest move, Ortiz-Luis, who is also acting
president of the Employers Confederation of
the Philippines, said.
Ortiz-Luis said participation by big trucking
By Gladys Mae Ablon
Transport network vehicle services
(TNVS) provider Grab yesterday said it has
deactivated from its online platform the
account of the driver who was arrested
Sunday for allegedly selling drugs.
The driver, identified as Kristofer Jay
Gavino, reportedly swallowed suspected
sachets of shabu when confronted by
policemen. However, he was unable to swallow
By Raymart T. Lolo
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday
blacklisted two South Korean fugitives arrested
recently for cyber fraud. The suspects undergoing
deportation proceedings were identified as Jang
Kilwan, 36, and Lee Junhee, 28.
“We will ban them from the Philippines to
ensure they will not transfer their illegal activities
here,” said BI Commissioner Jaime Morente of
the suspects arrested last 10 November in a
condominium unit in Fairview, Quezon City.
“Foreign criminals are not welcome to
hide here. We are in close coordination with
our foreign counterparts to ensure that these
fugitives will be sent back to their countries
to face justice,” he added.
The suspects will face charges of maintaining
an illegal sports gambling site in Korea where
companies in the truck holiday would
already be an act of “economic sabotage.”
“If they decide to join, then ports will be
paralyzed,” said Ortiz-Luis. “It would amount
to an economic sabotage if these big truck
groups would also protest and join the
truck holiday.”
The holiday was organized by a
group of truckers in protest of the
government’s phase-out program
for truck 15 years and older, as
part of measures to address port
congestion.
“The group Aduana, through its
president Mary Zapata, said it is
protesting the cramped container
yards of some shipping lines, which
delay the operation of truckers,”
she said.
“Truckers, after delivering
shipments to warehouses, are
supposed to return empty
container vans to the shipping
lines. Several firms, however,
admitted last week that their
container yards are over-utilized,”
Zapata said in an earlier interview.
Grab suspends ‘drug-dealing’ suspect
all the evidence, police said.
Grab said it will ban Gavino and will
include his name in the blacklist to be
submitted to the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB),
if he is proven guilty of drug-dealing.
“On the part of the driver, who is accused
of committing a crime, he is automatically
deactivated from our platform,” Grab
spokesman Leo Gonzales said.
“Once confirmed (that he is a drug dealer)
Korean fugitives blacklisted
By Kuhlin Ceslie Gacula
they allegedly pocketed $200,000 from their
operations.
Suspects hiding in PH for three years
nabbed for cyber fraud.
Jang and Lee’s modus operandi involved
asking their customers to transfer money
to bank accounts which would then prove
inaccessible for gambling purposes.
“Having them remain in the country poses
a risk against public interest and safety,”
Morente added, saying the information
against the suspects came from the Korean
Embassy.
The two had been staying in the Philippines
for over three years now. The BI Board of
Commissioners has already issued a summary
deportation against them.
then he is perpetually banned and his name
becomes part of a blacklist we submit to the
LTFRB,” Gonzales added.
Suspect fails to ingest all shabu
evidence.
Grab said it will not tolerate any criminal
activity involving its partner drivers as it
vowed to cooperate with any investigation
with its security and safety team.
Gavino was nabbed in an apartelle in
Cubao after he sold a policeman poseur-buyer
P500 worth of shabu. Police said a barangay
kagawad was present during the operation.
The police said the amount of shabu seized
from Gavino will allow them to charge him
in court although he ingested some of the
drugs. Also serving as evidence against him
is the P500 marked money.
The suspect is detained at the Cubao
police station.
Controversial footbridge
being retrofitted
Reconstruction work on the controversial “Stairway to Heaven”
footbridge located along Scout. Borromeo in Kamuning, Quezon City
is now underway, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
(MMDA) yesterday said.
But the 13.8-meter high footbridge will remain a challenge to climb
for the elderly, the differently abled and pregnant women because
its height will not be reduced.
The MMDA said only a landing and railings are being added on top
of the footbridge at the top of the Metro Rail Transit-3. The original
project cost of P10 million left no budget for an elevator or escalator,
the agency added.
The landing will break the structure into two smaller bridges,
ready for the use of pedestrians on 27 November.
The MMDA said the bridge was constructed in the area to prevent
pedestrians from crossing Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. It said at
least 10 pedestrians are hit by vehicles in the area each month.
Francis Earl Cueto
Skin-whitening products tarred
An environmental and health advocacy group yesterday
warned the public against the extensive use of skin
whitening products which, it said, pose a serious threat
to people’s health.
The group Ecowaste Coalition claimed that all 15
whitening products it subjected to X-Ray
fluorescence analyser were found
contaminated with toxic mercury
ranging from 710 to 30,000 ppm.
Beauty quest Even for Asians, having lighter, even complexion is a plus especially for those seeking beauty titles. As such, whitening creams
are among the most sought-after products in the market.
AFP
Mercury is highly toxic when ingested, inhaled or when it breaks
through the skin.
The products found laced with mercury were purchased from 4
to 16 November for P60 to P280 from stores selling cosmetics, herbal
supplements and Chinese medicines in Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina,
Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig and Quezon Cities.
The group’s latest test purchases coincided with the second meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury
(COP2) on 19 to 23 November in Geneva, Switzerland.
15 beauty creams found laden with toxic mercury.
The treaty aims “to protect human health and the environment
from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury
compounds.”
Among other targets, the treaty requires the phase-out of
cosmetics, including skin lightening products, with mercury
above 1 ppm by the year 2020.
“The 2020 phase-out deadline for mercury-laced skin
lightening products is fast approaching, and we still
find these smuggled products in store shelves. Jiaoli
Miraculous Cream, for example, is still up for sale despite
being banned by the FDA in 2010,” the group said.
According to the World Health Organization, “the
main adverse effect of the inorganic mercury
contained in skin lightening soaps and creams
is kidney damage.”
It also warned that “mercury in skin lightening
products may also cause skin rashes, skin discoloration
and scarring, as well as a reduction in the skin’s
resistance to bacterial and fungal infections.”
The 15 products found to contain mercury were
the Parley Herbal Beauty Cream with Avocado (with
30,000 ppm of Mercury), Goree Beauty Cream (22,800
ppm), Goree Day & Night Whitening Cream (20,000
ppm), Yudantang 6-Day Specific Eliminating Freckle
Whitening Cream (19,200 ppm), Golden Pearl Beauty
Cream (11,600 ppm), Erna Whitening Cream (8,957
ppm), Feique Lemon Whitening Freckle-Removing
Cream (6,122 ppm), S’Zitang-golden box (2,539
ppm), S’Zitang 10-Day Eliminating Freckle Day &
Night Set, (2,470 ppm), S’Zitang 7-Day Specific
Eliminating Freckle AB Set (1,995 ppm), Jiaoli
Miraculous Cream (1,888 ppm), Jiaoli 7-Day
Specific Eliminating Freckle AB Set, (1,452
ppm), Collagen Plus Vit E Day & Night Cream
(1,139 ppm) and JJJ Magic Spots Removing
Cream (710 ppm).
Majority of the products were already
banned by the Food and Drug Administration
due to their high mercury content.
Hardly a dent
With the two biggest trucking
organizations in the
Philippines
not joining
the protest
move
against the
phase-out of
haulers 15
years and
older, the effect
on the economy
of the six-day truck
holiday was seen to be
minimal.
ROMAN PROSPERO
Car park
probe set
San Juan council to
look into shopping
center’s possible
liability
An investigation will be
launched by the city council
of San Juan on why an Asian
utility vehicle (AUV) driven
by the father-in-law of Sen.
Grace Poe-Llamanzares fell
from the third floor of a
parking structure in the
Greenhills Shopping Center
last Sunday.
The black Toyota Innova
driven by Dr. Teodoro
Llamanzares, 83, hit the
steel railings serving as wall
of the parking structure and
plunged three levels below.
Llamanzares was in
stable condition at press
time yesterday, according to
sources close to his family.
In a radio interview,
San Juan City Police
chief Senior Supt. Dindo
Reyes said the city council
wanted to determine if
the management of the
shopping center can be
made answerable for the
accident.
The railings and the
tire stoppers were unable
to stop wayward vehicles.
Aside from Llamanzares’
AUV, a sedan driven by
a 73-year-old man had
also fallen off the same
structure.
Reyes said they’ve
noticed some issues
on the stopper and
the GI pipe barriers in
the parking structure.
“There was a stopper
on the floor, but it only
accommodates one tire of
a vehicle,” he said.
Llamanzares’ Innova
was reported by witnesses
to have climbed the
structure at a fast pace.
It turned turtle after
breaking through the
barrier and hitting the
pavement.
Luckily, no one
was below the parking
structure when the AUV
fell.
Suggestions had
been made to designate
parking zones for senior
citizens on the ground to
prevent similar accidents
being blamed on drivers’
errors.
The council will pass
a resolution to support
the investigation it wants
conducted on the accident,
Reyes said.
Elmer N. Manuel