Chicago Gasoline Jumps After Exxon Joliet Plant Sh
By Lynn Doan
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) — Chicago gasoline strengthened for the first time in four days after Exxon Mobil Corp. shut a coker compressor at the Joliet oil refinery in Illinois.
Conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Chicago jumped 6.5 cents to trade at a 2.5-cent premium to gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first premium in almost two months Replica Watches, according to data compiled by Bloomberg at 4:25 p.m. in New York. Prompt-delivery of the fuel in Chicago rose 8.01 cents to $2.7766 a gallon.
“There’s a lot of independents out in this area, and the minute they hear something go down Replica Watch, they’re buying,” Phil Flynn, an analyst with PFGBest in Chicago, said during a telephone interview. “It’s definitely a buy-first-and-ask- questions-later area.”
Irving, Texas-based Exxon shut a compressor at the 238,000- barrel-a-day Joliet refinery coker’s main fractionator two days ago, according to a filing with the National Response Center. The compressor was returned to service and production at the plant wasn’t affected, Tricia Simpson, a spokeswoman for the refinery, said in an e-mail today.
Ultra-low-sulfur diesel in Chicago was unchanged at a discount of 13.5 cents to heating oil futures.
The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in the Gulf Coast widened 0.25 cent to 5 cents versus futures. The same fuel in New York fell 0.12 cent to a discount of 1.13 cents.
Conventional, 87-octane gasoline in the Midwest gained 1.25 cents to a 19.25-cent discount.
California-blend gasoline, known as Carbob, in Los Angeles strengthened for the first time in four days, by 0.12 cent to a premium of 12.25 cents against futures. The same fuel in San Francisco also climbed 0.12 cent to 8.25 cents above futures.
–Editors: David Marino, Margot Habiby
To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Doan in San Francisco at ldoan6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION
Canadian Dollar Weakens on Anemic European Growth,
By Chris Fournier and Joe Ragazzo
Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — Canada’s dollar fell the most in almost a week as crude oil declined and European expansion slowed more than forecast, adding to evidence the global recovery is in jeopardy.
The loonie, as the currency is sometimes known, has lost 4.4 percent against the greenback since reaching a three-year high on July 26. Canada’s dollar has weakened on speculation tepid global growth will hinder demand for the nation’s exports. Inflation slowed in July, a report later this week is forecast to show.
“The risk-off session with global stocks and commodities being lower, along with some weaker-than-expected Canadian data today, has led to the loonie’s weaker tone against the greenback,” said Joe Manimbo, a market analyst in Washington at Travelex Global Business Payments, a currency-exchange network.
The Canadian dollar depreciated 0.3 percent to 98.24 cents per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. in Toronto, from 97.92 cents yesterday. It weakened as much as 0.8 percent, the biggest intraday drop since Aug. 10. The currency rallied on July 26 to 94.07 cents, the strongest since November 2007, before plunging to C$1.0010 on Aug. 9. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0179.
The loonie briefly pared losses as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they were working on “ambitious” joint proposals to defend the euro. It slid after they rejected a mechanism for the euro region to jointly issue bonds to contain its sovereign-debt crisis.
‘Short-Lived’ Rally
“It was initially a positive for risky assets, but the rally proved to be short-lived,” Manimbo said.
The Canadian dollar and the currencies of two other commodities exporters, the Australian dollar and the South African rand, were the worst performers against the greenback after the Swiss franc. Crude oil for September delivery fell 0.8 percent to $87.15 a barrel in New York trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1 percent.
Canadian manufacturing sales dropped 1.5 percent in June, more than double the 0.7 percent decline in the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, according to data released today by Statistics Canada.
The consumer price index Replica Watch, a measure of inflation, rose 2.8 percent in July from a year earlier, after a 3.1 percent gain in the previous month, according to forecasts from economists in a separate Bloomberg survey. The statistics agency is due to release the data on Aug. 19.
‘Good Buy’
“Around the 99-cent level, we’ll start to see a lot of the U.S. dollar sellers come out of the woodwork: Canadian corporates looking to do some longer-term hedging,” said Blake Jespersen, director of foreign exchange in Toronto at Bank of Montreal’s BMO Capital Markets unit, in a telephone interview. “You see good interest from reserve managers as well, generally Asian, some South American. The view is that the setback in the market will be short-term, and the Canadian dollar is a good buy on any weakness.”
Canada’s currency pared earlier declines after government data showed U.S. industrial production rose in July by the most this year, and Fitch Ratings affirmed America’s AAA credit rating, saying the outlook was stable.
That tempered data from the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg that showed gross domestic product in the euro area rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter, from a 0.8 percent expansion in the first quarter. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey was for 0.3 percent expansion.
Canadian government bonds rose, pushing the benchmark two- year note yield down two basis points Replica Watch, or 0.02 percentage point, to 0.99 percent. The yield touched 0.783 percent on Aug. 9, the lowest in Bloomberg records dating to 1989. The price of the 2 percent security due in August 2013 rose 4 cents to C$101.96.
Canada’s two-year note yield narrowed one basis point to 81 basis points above the equivalent-maturity U.S. security. The so-called spread shrank last week to 55 basis points, the tightest since February 2010.
–Editors: Greg Storey, Dave Liedtka
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net; Joe Ragazzo in New York at jragazzo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION
‘Smash’ blends drama with original songs in Broadw
NEW YORK — As TV series go, “Smash” does a smashing job of abstaining from the usual: no courtrooms, no operating rooms, no interrogation rooms.
Meanwhile, this new CTV musical drama puts a bright, sexy sheen on one of filmdom’s most timeless tropes: Hey, kids, let’s put on a show! Which “Smash” does, embedding original songs and dance into the TV drama’s narrative.
Premiering on Feb. 3 on CTV.ca and Feb. 6 on CTV, “Smash” tracks the genesis of a Broadway musical from multiple perspectives, including those of composer and lyricist, producer and director-choreographer, and the two rival actresses competing for its title role: Marilyn Monroe.
Ah, Marilyn!
“There was something about her — how much she wanted to love and be loved,” says Debra Messing, who plays the lyricist, getting all dreamy-eyed as she imagines the project’s possibilities.
Her early vision of Marilyn is soon turned into a number called “Let Me Be Your Star” (“To do what she can/ For the love of one man/ And for millions who love from afar”), with both would-be Marilyns performing it in an explosive finale to the first episode.
But “Smash” is no more single-minded about charting a Broadway show’s long journey from raw concept to opening night than “The West Wing” was about obsessing over how a bill wends its way from Congress to the president’s desk.
“Their day job happens to be putting together a show, but their lives aren’t really about that,” says Craig Zadan, who, with partner Neil Meron, is among the many “Smash” executive producers. “We also have adoption, divorce, infidelity and disapproving parents from the Midwest in our story lines. We’ve put in as many human, universal qualities as we can: It’s a story about wish fulfilment.”
Rest assured, no one solves a crime or diagnoses a disease. Even so, Meron suggests that “Smash” could still be called a procedural.
“The goal would be to have a Broadway show created every season, and have our characters involved with creating each of them,” he says.
What “Smash” won’t be, he quickly adds, is a sort of “Glee”-for-adults, as some viewers may have assumed.
“We don’t think that it’s anything like ‘Glee,”‘ Meron declares. “But we thank God for ‘Glee,’ because it got viewers used to watching people sing on TV dramas.”
One big difference: While “Glee” does covers of popular songs, “Smash” will introduce and compile original songs (splendidly conceived by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman of “Hairspray”) for the “Marilyn the Musical” show-within-a-show. Then, possibly, that pretend musical might be mounted for real.
“By season’s end, we’re going to have at least 15 songs,” Meron says, “and if we really like how the ‘Marilyn’ musical is turning out, we might actually put it on Broadway. Why not?”
Presumably, this attempt would go better than the first shot Replica watches, “Marilyn: An American Fable,” which opened in 1983 and ran for 17 performances. “A huge flop!” composer Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) and his collaborator Julia Houston (Messing) say in unison.
And yet they can’t resist giving Marilyn another chance.
In the large “Smash” ensemble, Messing plays perhaps the series’ central character in Julia, who is torn between her happy domestic life with a loving husband and son, and the addictive, all-consuming demands of the musical.
“I hate the theatre, I really do,” says Julia’s schoolteacher husband (Brian d’Arcy James) when he learns she has broken her promise to take some time off for the family, and instead has plunged into the Marilyn project.
As a youngster, Messing, best known for the long-running comedy “Will & Grace,” had her own dreams of being a Broadway musical star. She remembers seeing “Annie” when she was 8 “and wanting to jump on stage and be in ‘It’s the Hard-Knock Life’ with all the other girls.” Then she sang in high school musicals.
On “Smash,” she finally has a taste of that professional world: “I got to sing a song my character wrote, and it was thrilling and terrifying, especially considering the company I’m keeping with this cast.
“The rest of the time, I get to watch the really talented singers, and enjoy.”
Initially proposed a couple of years ago by Steven Spielberg (another “Smash” executive producer along with his DreamWorks colleagues Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank), the show quickly became a passion project of Robert Greenblatt, then head of pay-cable network Showtime, for which it was being developed. But when he jumped to NBC as its chairman last January, he wasn’t about to leave “Smash” behind.
Greenblatt unveiled the finished product at a gala premiere party last week at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, in a refreshingly unguarded moment, he told the gathered what “Smash” means to him and the rest of the team: “You work hard on every single show, but your heart isn’t always in it. Well, with ‘Smash,’ everyone’s heart is in it.”
Of course, it’s Greenblatt’s best shot at redeeming his first year at NBC, which remains in the ratings cellar after a slate of lacklustre fall premieres. There’s no mystery why NBC is hyping “Smash” like mad.
Greenblatt’s arrival with “Smash” at NBC pleased Zadan.
“Sometimes you have a series that you wish to be on cable, because you want the edge,” he says. “But this is a universal-appeal show, and really works better on a network than on cable.”
Zadan (whose many credits with Meron include the musical films “Hairspray” and “Chicago” and the Lifetime series “Drop Dead Diva”) is talking with a reporter at “Smash” production headquarters in a converted factory in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighbourhood. He is in the rehearsal studio, which is both a set for the show and the actual rehearsal space where “Smash” dance numbers are created by the series’ choreographer, Josh Bergasse. (As often happens with “Smash,” reality and make-believe are intertwined.)
“This,” says Zadan, “is a Cinderella story.” But just who will be crowned, launched from unknown status to Broadway royalty, remains in flux the first season, as the characters Ivy (played by Megan Hilty) and Karen (played by Katharine McPhee) go head-to-head for the Marilyn role, their prospects alternately rising and falling. Week after week, viewers will surely be rooting for their favourite, as if this were a scripted version of “American Idol” (on which McPhee, of course, was runner-up in 2006).
“The show gives viewers a chance to see the behind-the-scenes deal when producers and writers have to choose between two people they think are both great,” says McPhee.
She has been on the receiving end of such torturous choices.
“Karen is more naive than I am,” McPhee says, “but her struggle — trying to get attention, better representation, a casting person to see you, callbacks — I know what that’s like. I’ve lived it.”
While Karen is talented but green, Ivy is experienced — maybe a little too experienced — but has never been able to escape the chorus line.
“I think a lot of people can relate to her, simply because everybody knows what it’s like to be stuck in their career and desperate to make that next step,” Hilty says. “Ivy is at the point where she’s willing to do just about anything” — a knowing laugh — “to get there. The stakes are that high for her.”
Like Ivy, Hilty grew up in the theatre, and she starred on Broadway in “9 to 5: The Musical” in the Dolly Parton role. “I think we’re both ambitious that way. I think Ivy’s willing to do a little bit more than I am” — another laugh — “but I admire her for her aspirations.”
“Smash” has radiant moments as a feel-good fantasy. But it boasts savvy footing. It’s populated by Broadway pros on both sides of the camera (for example, creator-executive producer Theresa Rebeck, who wrote a number of the episodes Replica Watch, is currently represented on Broadway as writer of the new comedy “Seminar”).
Observes Christian Borle (whose Broadway credits include “Legally Blonde: The Musical” and “Spamalot”), “There’s a real theatre pedigree among everyone on the ‘Smash’ creative team. You have a sense they’re trying to get all the details right for all the people who live in New York and work on Broadway, who will be watching to see if we get it right.”
“Smash” gets it just right, according to show-biz veteran Anjelica Huston, who plays the Broadway producer spearheading “Marilyn The Musical.”
“I think it’s kind of right on the money,” Huston says. “It’s not without a certain gloss, but at the same time, I think it’s very reflective of what goes on in show business, and in life. It captures how people move up — and how people are moved out.”
That’s the drama of “Smash” — honest, but dazzling and magic, with brand-new songs and dance. For the viewer, it borders on the miraculous. Who wouldn’t want to get into this act?
Lady Gaga talks about duet with Lady Maria
MANILA Replica Watch, Philippines – International superstar Lady Gaga expressed how elated and grateful she is to have finally met Filipino-Canadian YouTube senstation Maria Aragon.
In Lady Gaga’s tweet, she said: “Myself +10 year Old Lady Maria of Winnipeg. She signed my t-shirt, she ate my heart, just like you.”
Lady Gaga tweeted a photo of her and Aragon where they were wearing shirts with each other’s faces printed on it.
She then posted a video link of their production number the day after. She said Aragon reminds her of the reason why she wrote the song.
“Maria and I singing Born This Way together. She(You) is why I wrote the song. Thanks for making it #1 for a 3rd week,” her post said.
Lady Gaga and Maria Aragon played piano and sang “Born This Way” together Thursday night (Friday morning in Manila) during the Monster Ball Tour concert of the famous singer in Toronto.
Their duet was one of the most awaited after Lady Gaga personally invited Aragon whose YouTube video of her cover of "Born This Way" moved the international singer to tears.
Aragon’s YouTube video brought her instant fame in the past 2 weeks.
Lady Gaga tweeted about Aragon and added a link to the 10-year-old’s video. It currently has over 18 million hits.
During an interview with Aragon on Canada’s Hot 103 radio station, Lady Gaga called in and personally affirmed Aragon. They had a duet. The invite to the Toronto concert was made.
Following that were Aragon’s appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “Good Morning America.”
Amid all these, Aragon remains grounded.
In an interview with ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, she revealed that they, as a family, are taking everything slowly and don’t want hasten things up.
“We’re still making a decision as a family… I don’t want to be so quick and do everything at once. I still want to finish my education,” she said.
She also added that she is proud to represent the Philippines.
“I’m just proud to represent the Philippines. I try to keep up with tradition..I’m not disconnected with the Filipinos..I watch TFC too,” she said.
Meanwhile Fake Watches, she stressed that all that is happening will definitely be an unforgettable experience for her. – With a report from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
2011 deficit could be 4.4% of GDP with no new taxe
MANILA Replica Watch,Philippines – The Philippines’ budget deficit may widen to 4.4% of gross domestic product next year against a goal of 3.3% if the incoming government did not impose new taxes or unwind new tax exemptions, the finance minister said on Tuesday.
A higher-than-target budget deficit in 2011 would also mean the poor Southeast Asian country would have to resort to more borrowing, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said. The term of the current government ends on June 30.
"If in case they do not agree to these (new tax) measures Replica Watch, our projection — if they want to maintain the level of spending that is projected in 2011 — our deficit as a percent of GDP would rise from the projected 3.3% to 4.4%," Teves told reporters.
"To cover that deficit, we need to borrow more and if we borrow there will be a consequence on the debt service payments."
Charice thanks fellow artists for their support
MANILA, Philippines – Pop singer Charice said international composer David Foster allowed her to skip the Singapore leg of her concert tour after hearing the tragic news about her father’s death.
“Pagkatapos namin malaman ‘yung nangyari, nalaman din po nila Sir David [Foster]. Sobrang worried sila sa akin, sinabi nila sa akin na OK lang po na hindi na ako sumama sa Singapore show. OK daw na bumalik ako agad sa Pilipinas, pati ‘yung mga kasama kong artists worried sila sa akin,” she said.
Charice arrived in Manila around midnight Tuesday from Jakarta.
Charice also thanked her fellow artists in the US and friends abroad for sending their love online.
"Glee" stars Lea Michele and Jenna Ushkowitz extended their condolences to Charice via Twitter.
"My thoughts and prayers go out today to my girl @OfficialCharice and her family for their terrible loss.. Thinking of you Charice," Michele said on Twitter.
In the popular US musical TV series Glee Fake Watches, Charice plays the character of Sunshine Corazon, a rival of Michele’s character Rachel Berry.
"Saddened to hear about @officialCharice ’s loss. Sending all my love to you and your family," said Ushkowitz, who is also part of Glee.
Charice’s father, Ricky Pempengco, was stabbed to death in Laguna on Monday night.
The suspect in the killing, Angel Capili Replica Watch, surrendered to authorities on Thursday.
AC Milan striker gives teammate congratulatory kic
Football players have funny ways of celebrating a victory. Moments after AC Milan won the Serie A title Fake Watches, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic delivered this congratulatory round-house kick to the head of teammate Antonio Cassano during a television interview. ANC Top Story Replica Watch, May 11, 2010.
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Lady Stingers edge Cobras, near Final 4
MANILA, Philippines – University of St. La Salle-Bacolod recovered in time to edge Southwestern U, 25-15, 25-14, 22-25, 12-25, 15-9 Replica Watch, and zero in on the first semifinal berth in Group B of the eighth Shakey’s V-League first conference at The Arena in San Juan last night.
The Lady Stingers blew a 2-0 set lead but outhit the Cobras in the early going of the decider before holding sway to complete the victory, their second straight, counting their elims round victory over groupmate National U.
Patty Orendain, the league’s leading scorer, fired a career-high 27 points and drew solid backup from Cha-Cha Moralde, who came through with 14 hits for the Lady Stingers, who will gun for a sweep of the single round quarters against Far Eastern U on May 3.
Earlier, Lyceum fought back from a set down by sweeping the next three, including an extended duel in the third frame, as it eked out a 21-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-20 victory over Perpetual Help in a Group A encounter of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.
The Lady Pirates leaned on their net defense to stymie the Lady Altas’ attack, coming up with 10 blocks while guest player Mary Jean Balse, Joy Cases and Jamie Peña took care of the team’s offense to pound out the win in one hour and 37 minutes.
Dahlia Cruz, the team’s other reinforcement, and Christiana Casanova made three blocks each as the Pirates bucked the presence of Thai ace Jeng Bualee to tie their victim at 1-1.
Perpetual Help tapped Bualee, a resident guest player of San Sebastian, to backstop its title campaign after the Lady Stags took an early exit for the first time in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel and Mikasa.
USLS came out smoking after dropping the third and fourth sets, taking nine of the first 10 points in the fifth set behind Orendain, Kay Aplasca and April Hingpit.
Danika Gendrauli came away with 15 hits while Princess Pido and Rap-Rap Aguilar had 12 points apiece for the Lady Cobras, who dropped to 1-1.
Bualee played true to form and made 23 hits but failed to draw much support from the rest of the Altas with Honey Tubino churning out the only other double-digit output of 13 points.
In contrast, the Pirates had four players scoring in double figures with Balse, a former two-time MVP, and Cases delivering 16 hits apiece and Cruz and Peña adding 15 and 12 points, respectively.
But to get a crack at the semis berth Replica Watch, Lyceum will have to beat Adamson on May 3 at the close of the single round quarters of the tournament backed by Accel as official outfitter and Mikasa as official ball.
Sandra delos Santos had nine points for the Altas, who also drew seven hits from guest player Jennifer Manzano, five points from Jane Diaz and three hits each from Arianne Argarin and April Sartin.
Mia Farrow a film star who fights for children
THE HAGUE – US actress Mia Farrow, who testified on Monday in the trial of Liberia’s Charles Taylor, is a Hollywood star who has become known in latter years for her work for children’s rights.
A goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), her activities in favour of children, in particular in Africa, have put her in the spotlight over the past 10 years.
Throughout all her life an impassioned Farrow, 65, with her long blond hair and pure demeanour, has fought on several fronts.
Her struggle started in her childhood when she contracted polio. Then came her prestigious career, in which she featured in more than 60 films and television series.
Then her adulthood has been marked by several difficult relationships, including marriage to US singer and actor Frank Sinatra and a 12-year partnership with Woody Allen, whom she never married.
Finally she took up the cause of children, especially those who are victims of war. Of her 15 children, 11 were adopted.
Farrow Fake Watches, whose real name is Maria de Lourdes Villiers-Farrow, was born on February 9, 1945 in Los Angeles, of an Australian film writer, director and actor and a mother known for playing the role of Jane in Tarzan films.
After having played in several films, in 1966 she married Sinatra. The marriage did not last as Sinatra demanded that she give up on playing in what would be her first big success, "Rosemary’s Baby" by Franco-Polish film director Roman Polanski in 1968. When she refused, they got divorced.
She spent several months meditating in India with the Beatles, then married the German-born American conductor Andre Previn in 1970. Her love of children took her to Asia, where she adopted three children.
She had another success with Jack Clayton’s "The Great Gatsby" in 1974.
The 1980s were marked by a passionate love affair with Woody Allen who gave her important roles, notably in "Hannah and her Sisters" and "Alice". Allen left Farrow in 1992 to marry her adoptive daughter Soon-Yi.
Her acting continued into her later life, in 2009 and 2010 playing the role of the grandmother in "Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard", and "Arthur and the War of Two Worlds" by France’s Luc Besson).
In her humanitarian work she has in particular become very involved in the conflict in Sudan. She has visited the conflict-ravaged region of Darfur several times to help the refugees and even proposed in 2007 to be imprisoned in exchange for the freeing of an opponent of the Khartoum regime.
She opposed the holding of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, saying the games would be known as the "Genocide Olympics" due to China’s support for Sudan’s government.
She went on a three-week hunger strike in April-May 2009 after the expulsion of 13 humanitarian workers by Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.
Farrow has also committed herself to helping survivors of the Rwandan genocide Replica Watch, spoke out on behalf of Palestinian children in Gaza in October 2009 and in March 2010 she went to Chad as part of a campaign against polio and malnutrition.
Going on a road trip this Undas Heed these tips
MANILA, Philippines – With the long 3-day weekend up ahead, many Filipinos have already made plans to head to the provinces for All Saints’ Day when they can visit the tombs of their departed loved ones.
At the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) alone, at least 20,000 vehicles are expected to pass through this weekend on their way to the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, and La Union Replica Watch, among others.
Bus terminals are also starting to get crowded as Filipinos prepare for the yearly trek. At the Araneta Center Bus Terminal in Cubao Fake Watches, Quezon City, around 9,000 passengers are expected to arrive and board the 600 buses to be deployed.
The crowd at Araneta Center Bus Terminal
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is closely monitoring the security situation in bus terminals, sea ports, and other transportation terminals, even as it warned the public to be more vigilant this weekend against the modus operandi of unscrupulous elements.
Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the PNP’s National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), shared these security tips on ANC’s "Headstart" for people heading to the provinces:
1. Travel light, especially for those who will be taking public utility buses. "Most of the time, people are inconvenienced inside the different buses because they bring so many packages with them," said Bartolome.
2. Check your vehicle before you leave your home, for those traveling by their private vehicles.
3. Be observant when on the road. "There are some unscrupulous elements that would take advantage of the situation," said Bartolome.
"For example, bigla ka na lang sesenyasan na may diperensya ‘yung sasakyan mo, which will make you stop and perhaps get out of your vehicle and check. The best way to do that is to stop at a well-lighted place where people are present so these unscrupulous individuals, baka posibleng holdaper o carnapper or carjacker ‘yan eh, maiwasan ‘yung may mangyaring karahasan sa inyo," said Bartolome.
He added that there are many ways unscrupulous elements may carry out their plans. "Una, they will signal na flat ang sasakyan mo. Pangalawa, baka banggain ka nila ng konti. If they do that, if they bump you and it’s only a minor situation, it’s better if you stay in an area where people can see you so if there are any problems, you can easily call for assistance," he advised.
4. Secure your respective homes by checking if locks are properly secured.
5. Unplug appliances. Leaving appliances unplugged may cause a fire during your absence.
6. Report any incident to the PNP by calling the hotlines 117 or 290. In cemeteries, approach the police assistance desks by the gates, or the roving policemen assigned.
Driving at night
At night, motorists’ vision is reduced from 20/20 to 20/50, said Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), owner and builder of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), in a previous statement.
“As a rule, the speed limit that is reasonable for daytime is too fast at night,” said Robert Gervacio, SCTEX program manager and spokesperson. “Motorists must observe night driving safety as soon as the sun goes down.”
The SCTEx Motorist’s Handbook offers these safety tips for motorists driving at night:
1. Never look directly into oncoming headlights; look instead at the right side of the road to stay on course.
2. Be sure to dim your lights for approaching traffic and for vehicles traveling ahead of you.
3. Be sure your windshield is clean inside and out, and that the windshield wipers are adequately clean and are in good condition.
4. Keep your headlights clean; dirty headlights can reduce visibility by more than 50%.
It also advised motorists to keep headlights on when driving at twilight so other drivers can see you. "Twilight" according to the Handbook, "is one of the most difficult times to drive because your eyes are constantly changing to adapt to the growing darkness."
Motorists are advised to observe the limit at Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Credit: Bases Conversion Development Authority
Officials of SCTEx and Tollways Management Corporation (TMC) also advised motorists to avoid hitting the road during rush hours, from 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. as queues at toll plazas are longer.
Gervacio also advised SCTEx motorists to observe the speed limit — 60 kph minimum and 100 kph maximum.
Motorists who may find themselves in need of help along SCTEx may call the SCTEx hotlines (0920) 96-SCTEx (72839), (045) 865-2030, (02) 362-9997 and (02) 362-2246. — With reports from Doland Castro and Jerome Lantin, ABS-CBN News