ESPITE the slowdown in inflation in June, the uptick in commodity prices further eroded the purchasing power of Filipinos nationwide, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
On Friday, the PSA reported that inflation slowed to 3.7 percent in June 2024 on the back of cheaper energy prices. The PSA noted lower electricity and gasoline prices as the primary reasons for the downtrend in commodity prices (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2024/07/05/psa-inflationin-phl-slows-down-to-3-7/).
High inflation and its impact on purchasing power is one of the reasons the P35 increase in wages is not enough, some economists had said earlier. Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo Lanzona Jr. said that the increase in wages “is just enough to cover the current inflation.”
“But inflation has been existing throughout the year. Hence, it is clearly not enough to cover the rising cost of living. Assuming all things constant, the real wage is not just flat but has been decreasing because of inflation,” Lanzona told the BusinessMirror Lanzona, however, said raising wages is “not simple” because there is a need to also raise productivity. If wages increase without an
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increase in productivity, higher pay may become inflationary.
“Wages are linked to labor productivity. So if labor productivity is rising, workers should not be demanding for higher minimum wages. The problem is that the
Recto: Inflation rate likely to stay within target band for rest of ’24
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
WITH the slowdown in high commodity prices in June 2024 at 3.7 percent, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto expressed confidence the inflation rate will remain within the government’s target band for the rest of the year.
“We expect inflation to fall within our 2 to 4 percent target this year especially after the government has taken decisive and data-driven steps to control the rising price of rice,” Recto said.
“This will help alleviate the
burden of high rice prices that disproportionately affect the poor and vulnerable households,” the Finance chief added.
June’s inflation rate went down by 0.2 percent to 3.7 percent from the 3.9 percent recorded in May due to cheaper energy prices. Year-to-date, inflation rate remains within the government’s target band at 3.5 percent (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/07/05/psa-inflation-inphl-slows-down-to-3-7/).
Although food inflation increased to 6.5 percent in June from 6.1 percent in May, the De -
partment of Finance (DOF) said the government expects high food prices to slow further on the back of rice tariff reduction.
Rice tariffs were cut to 15 percent from 35 percent, which is expected to pull down rice prices by 10 percent.
To further mitigate food inflation, promote policy stability and investment planning and enhance food security, Executive Order (EO) 62 also maintained the reduced tariff rates on corn, pork and mechanically deboned meat until 2028.
TPB pushes ‘Wedding Season’ for Indian visitors in the PHL
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
THE Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) is eagerly awaiting the easing of tourist visa procedures for Indian nationals, acknowledging their sizeable market and growing penchant to travel abroad. In a Viber message, TPB Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles told the BusinessMirror, “It’s a market we want to grow. We’ve been meeting with the Indian Chamber [of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines] for possible promotion strategies.” TPB, the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), is specifically eyeing the “Indian weddings” market, she added.
Earlier, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered the fasttracking of the electronic visa (e-visa) processing for Indian citizens, which at present still requires applicants to make a personal appearance at the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has been pilot-testing the e-visa system in India, seen as among the major tourism markets the Philippines can pursue more intently, amid the sluggish arrivals from China.
The issue was discussed during the 6th meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Tourism Sector Group at the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday. (See, “Marcos orders speedy e-visa process for Indians,” in the BusinessMirror, July 4, 2024.)
Indians spend P850K on weddings
TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco welcomed the President’s directive: “[This] will not only attract more visitors but also strengthen the cultural and economic ties between our nations. We are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of this initiative and look forward to a closer collaboration with our Indian counterparts.”
Last year, there were 70,286 tourists from India, some 48-percent less than the 134,963 who arrived in 2019. In 2023, Indian tourists accounted for 1.3 percent of the 5.5 million total arrivals in the Philippines, and ranked 13th among the top
JUNE INFLATION AT 3.7%,
PRICES STILL HURT POOR
government has not been able to raise productivity in the past 10 to 15 years,” Lanzona said.
Purchasing power
BASED on the data, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached 125.6 in June 2024, leading to a purchasing power estimate of 0.7962 centavos for every peso. This means Filipinos need to spend P120.38 today for P100 worth of items in 2018.
The price to be paid by the poorest Filipinos is also steeper since the CPI for the bottom 30 percent of the population reached 129.1 in June 2024.
This means the purchasing power of the poorest Filipinos is only 0.7746 for every peso. This means low-income Pinoys need to spend P122.54 today for P100 worth of items in 2018.
Last year, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Economic Research and Development Impact Department Statistician Arturo Martinez Jr. said the poor pay a poverty premium, which makes goods and services about 20 percent more expensive compared to the country average (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/08/25/poor-pay-
poverty-premium-in-phl-aspac-adbreport/).
This premium accounts for smaller purchases or, in Filipino, tingi, which makes goods cheaper, but in the long run turn out to be expensive as they need to buy more to meet their needs.
More affluent households, however, have greater financial resources and are able to buy in bulk, which turns out cheaper as this prevents them from buying as frequently as poor households do.
The problem right now is that commodity prices may continue to be elevated. National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said signals from its price monitoring is not yet clear on the strength of the downward trend in prices.
Mapa noted that an adjustment in electricity prices is imminent in July as well as higher liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) costs due to adjustments in price.
These will feed into the country’s CPI as electricity accounts for 20 percent of the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels commodity group, while LPG accounts for 1.3 percent of the CPI.
He also noted this: given that meat and vegetables, tubers and others have posted higher inflation
“Higher prices of food items other than rice, transport charges and electricity rates continue to pose upside risks to inflation.” —BSP
in June, it is likely that these will remain among the threats to higher inflation in July.
Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals has a weight of 6.43 percent in the CPI for all income households and 6.15 percent in the CPI for the bottom 30 percent of households.
The data also showed that Vegetables, Tubers, Cooking Bananas and Pulses have a CPI weight of 2.798 percent for all income households and 4 percent in the bottom 30 percent of households.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also noted that while inflation risks shifted to the downside on the back of the approved reduction in rice tariffs, there are still risks to high prices.
The PSA data showed food inflation increased to 6.5 percent, the highest in eight months or October 2023 when food inflation posted a 7.1-percent increase.
“The balance of risks to the in-
flation outlook has shifted to the downside for 2024 and 2025 due largely to the impact of lower import tariffs on rice under Executive Order (EO) 62 (Series of 2024),” BSP said.
“Nonetheless, higher prices of food items other than rice, transport charges and electricity rates continue to pose upside risks to inflation,” it added.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the increase in food prices was mainly driven by higher prices of vegetables and meat.
Vegetables recorded an inflation rate of 7.2 percent in June, up from 2.7 percent in May, as the onset of the rainy season affected supply.
The uptick in meat prices, with an inflation rate of 3.1 percent for the month compared to 1.6 percent the previous month, was due to higher pork prices at 3.9 percent; chicken, 2.4 percent; and beef, 2.8 percent inflation.
“Pork inflation rose amid the rise in active African swine fever cases. Chicken inflation increased as the temporary import ban on poultry products from the United States and Australia affected supply,” Neda said. “While rice inflation slightly declined, it remained high at 22.5 percent in June from 23 percent in May.”
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the government will continue to monitor inflation and ensure that it remains within the 3- to 4-percent target this year.
DBCC goal THE Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) earlier also expressed its determination to achieve price stability and return to the country’s average inflation rate target range of 2 to 4 percent between 2025 and 2028.
Neda said the DBCC aims to reach this target by proactively implementing monetary policy measures and well-targeted government interventions that address the primary drivers of inflation.
“We will continue to work closely with the government, stakeholders and other priority sectors to implement neces-
sary measures to ensure that the country will have a sufficient and affordable food supply—including rice—for every Filipino,” the country’s chief economic planner said.
Apart from lower rice tariffs, Balisacan noted that efforts to protect the purchasing power of Filipinos include the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) program, Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP).
Balisacan said DSWD distributed P1.37 billion in cash assistance to farmers and fisherfolk affected by El Niño, with each recipient receiving P10,000 under AKAP.
The Neda chief also said that in addition to cash assistance, family food packs were provided to the affected families and individuals nationwide.
Under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028, the current administration aims to protect the purchasing power of Filipinos by attaining sufficient and stable supply of food commodities.
The government also aims to increase the access of consumers to affordable, safe and nutritious food as well as improving nutrition across all ages.
RECTO: INFLATION RATE...
Continued from A1
Moreover, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will release the implementing guidelines under Administrative Order (AO) 20, which seeks to streamline administrative processes and remove non-tariff barriers to enhance the country’s agricultural importation policy regime.
Bigas 29
THE large-scale trial of the DA’s Bigas 29 program (P29) in 10 Kadiwa sites in Metro Manila and Bulacan was also launched, offering P29 per kilo of aging rice to poor families and other vulnerable groups.
The number of Kadiwa sites is aimed to be doubled by August to expand their reach in the Visayas and Mindanao, according to DA.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC), meanwhile, will intensify measures to prevent undervaluation to correctly impose duties and taxes on imported rice and expedite the unloading of im -
ported agricultural products pursuant to Administrative Order (AO) 20.
The DOF said trucks transporting agricultural goods are also exempted from toll hikes to prevent the second-round effects of toll rate increases on food inflation and ensure that food prices are kept stable for consumers.
On non-food inflation, the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) proposed a staggered implementation of Meralco’s cost recovery to mitigate its inflationary impact on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The DOF added the government implements subsidy programs to support the purchasing power of Filipinos and protect the vulnerable sector from the impact of food and non-food inflation.
The DA has already distributed P9.23 billion of assistance to 1.2 million farmers and fisherfolk beneficiaries across eight regions as interventions on the
effects of dry spells and El Niño as of June 6.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has also provided cash assistance of P1.37 billion to farmers and fisherfolk under the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk and their Families (PAFFF).
The DA aims to finish the distribution of P12-billion cash assistance to 2.38 rice farmerbeneficiaries by September as part of the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) program. Jeepney, taxi, tricycle and motorcycle delivery service drivers will also be given fuel subsidies worth P2.5 billion in 2024.
“We will not be complacent in managing inflation as it is the topmost priority of this administration. Rest assured, the government will remain steadfast in coming up with data-driven policies and interventions for the benefit of the greater population,” Recto assured.
TPB pushes ‘Wedding Season’ for Indian visitors in the
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tourist markets. In 2019, Indian tourists placed 11th, with a market share of 1.63 percent.
Indian weddings normally last three to five days, which gives a destination a large source of income for its accommodations, restaurants, tour guides, and other tourism services. According to travel news site Skift, Indians spend some $14,400 (roughly P849,600) on weddings, and estimated the Indian wedding industry at $120 million.
Nograles said, “We are definitely working with the local Indian community, who have experts on mounting Indian weddings.”
US-based Indian wedding planner Shanqh Luxury Events recommends the Philippines for destination weddings, listing specific partner high-end resorts in destina-
tions such as Panglao Island, Bohol; Boracay Island, Siargao, El Nido, Arrecife Island, and Amanpulo.
Carriers willing to fly to India if… UNDER current DFA regulations, Indian tourists can travel visa-free to the Philippines for 14 to 21 days, only if they hold permanent resident visas, or current tourist visas from the United States, Schengen countries, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Japan. The strict visa regulations in the Philippines have affected the appetite of local carriers to offer direct flights to India, citing low market demand and lack of planes. While the Philippines and India have had an air service agreement since 1949, there are currently no direct flights between both countries.
To get to the Philippines, Indian nationals “take Singapore Air-
lines, Cathay Pacific, Air Asia and other carriers,” passing through third countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, or Kuala Lumpur, said Officer-in-Charge, Undersecretary for Tourism Development Planning Verna Buensuceso, in a text message. “Hopefully we will soon have direct flights. We’re encouraging Indian carriers, too,” she added.
Several studies showed some 21 million Indians traveled internationally in 2022, making India the largest source market of outbound tourists in Asia. Prior to the pandemic, Indian outbound travelers reached 27 million.
United Nations Tourism also showed Indian tourists spend about $1,200 per capita on a holiday, versus Americans who spend $700, and Europeans, $500.
BusinessMirror receives Narra Award from DOST-FPRDI at 67th anniversary
BUSINESSMIRROR received the Narra Award as “knowledge dissemination partner” from the Forest Products Research and Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FPRDI) during the latter’s 67th anniversary celebration at the Lima Park Hotel in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas, on July 5.
DOST-FPRDI said the B usiness M irror has been a “reliable partner in sharing the results of its research and development programs and technology transfer activities.”
The newspaper, represented by its Science Editor Lyn Resurreccion, and all the awardees each received a wooden trophy carved with images of leaves and trees, depicting the institute’s research in forest products and protection of the environment.
The Narra Awards was launched during the event to recognize the institute’s industry partners who are making an impact in the ongoing efforts toward forest products sustainability.
The awards aim to honor micro, small, and medium enterprises, cooperatives, and other industry players that have improved their products and have contributed to their communities after adopting and using the institute’s technologies or services.
Similarly, agencies that have helped DOST-FPRDI to amplify its stories and initiatives on environment, forest products utilization, and innovation were also recognized. These include media partners and DOST offices.
Dubbed as “Lawig Gubat,” this year’s anniversary celebration underscores the institute’s commitment to further provide science and technology solutions that protect the environment and ensure the people’s economic sustainability.
“Lawig” stands for Lasting, Adaptive, Wealthy, Innovative, and Green.
Awardees
BESIDES the B usiness M irror , also awarded as Knowledge Dissemination Partner was DOST Regional Office IV-A (Calabarzon).
Awardees as Knowledge Utilization Partners are:
n Green Beauty and Wellness Center
n Thega Coconut Farm
n CS First Green Agri-Industrial Development Inc.
n Polyfoam-RGC International Corp. (Uratex)
n Bureau of Internal Revenue
n National Printing Office
n Suri Pallet-making and Wood Working
n Novelita Upholstery and Furniture Center
Preserve forest resources
“DOST-FPRDI aspires for lasting solutions that will preserve our forest resources. Through adaptive strategies, we hurdle the challenges of changing environments.
We aim for a wealthy nation, not only in economic resources, but also in biodiversity.
Using innovative approaches to forest products utilization, DOST-FPRDI strives to advance the green economy,” explained DOST FPRDI OIC Director Rico J. Cabangon.
Besides the Narra Awards, the following activities were held during the celebration:
(1) Disenyo: A multi-functional Furniture Design Contest, it is a competition that showcased innovative multi-functional furniture using sustainable wood or nonwood forest materials.
(2) Salin Lawig Technology Transfer Fair: It highlighted DOST-FPRDI’s research and development initiatives and innovations, technology demonstrations, and a trade fair featuring some of the institute’s Luzon-based adopters as exhibitors-sellers. The event was open to the public.
(3) Tesoro Research Chair: It featured the paper presentation of Engr. Elvina O. Bondad on “Philippine Forest Vines: Physico-Mechanical Properties and EndUses.” Bondad is the 2023-2024 Research Chair Holder.
The event will be livestreamed via the DOST-FPRDI Facebook page on July 10 at 8 a.m.
(4)18th F. Tamolang Technical Poster Contest and Exhibit: It ran from July 2 to 5 that showcased select DOST-FPRDI R&D and technology-transfer projects with significant findings or impact in terms of contribution to socio-economic development, environmental protection, and sustainable use of forest-based products.
“The institute’s initiatives toward sustainability are wide and varied. [They are] from studying industrial tree plantation species and non-wood forest products as substitute to premium tree species, to making use of agro-forest wastes that would have otherwise been discarded,” Cabangon pointed out.
He added that the institute will continue to contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are committed to making the local forest-based industries more competitive while ensuring the sustainability of the environment, society, and the economy,” he said.
Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. applauded the recipients of the Narra Awards for their impactful contribution in the attainment not only of DOST-FPRDI’s but of the Department’s strategic objectives, particularly the institutionalization of sustainability.
For Solidum, Lawig means “Likas-yamang luntian Ating Walang-tigil na Isusulong at Gagawin [for the communities which are our partners in development and for the benefit of the next generation],” he said in Filipino.
Solidum assured the DOST-FPRDI and its stakeholders and partners of the Department’s support to initiatives that will make the local forest-based industries more competitive, while ensuring sustainable environment.
For her part, Undersecretary for Research and Development Leah Buendia said: “I commend DOST-FPRDI on your initiatives to lessen the strain on natural forests, including research on non-timber forest products that go unused for food, medicine, flavors and essences, R&D and practices that promote the green economy.”
UAE deports Pinoy with eye tattoo
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
THE United Arab Emirates has deported a Filipino tattoo artist and social media personality apparently due to the tattoos all over his body, including his eyes.
June Eric Gabriel, a.k.a. “Solar Boy,” posted on Facebook Thursday about his and his wife’s ordeal at the Dubai International Airport. The post went viral with 4.5 million views as of Friday. Gabriel said he and his wife, Cza Billones, were planning to attend an event in Dubai for four days and had been previously issued tourist visas by the UAE. The UAE immigration cleared Billones to enter Dubai, but not Gabriel.
“Nagkaproblema daw sila sa pag-scan ng mata ko [They said they had a problem scanning my eye],” he narrated. Billones then refused to leave her husband behind.
Immigration then transferred them to a holding facility on the other part of the airport, together with other foreigner deportees.
Gabriel said he had travelled to Hong Kong and Taiwan before and the eye scanners were able to read his iris.
“Retina lang naman ang scan eh wala naming tinta ang retina,” he lamented. “O baka ayaw lang nila ako papasukin.” [The
DOTr chief: Naia fee hikes necessary, part of upgrade
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday allayed fears on the alleged sudden spike in airport fees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
In a press conference on Friday, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista explained that the adjustments are scheduled under Administrative Order No. 1, but the rates are still subject for approval by an interagency council composed of seven Cabinet officials.
For this year, only the airport charges, including the landing and takeoff fees, will be adjusted.
scan only covers the retina, and the retina does not have ink....Or maybe they just didn’t want me to enter]
He said he appealed to the immigration officers and requested a rescan of his eyes.
Billones said a new set of UAE immigration officers attended to their appeal. After consideration, these officers “refused” to rescan his eyes and cited, this time, the many tattoos all over his body, including his face, as the reason for their refusal to enter Dubai. In UAE, it is considered “haram” or forbidden under Islamic law to have a permanent tattoo, as it is considered a form of self-injury. The couple spent four days at the airport as UAE immigration was not able to rebook their flights.
Upon their flight back to the Philippines, the two also had a bit of a scare in China as Chinese immigration authorities also held briefly them during their layover.
Billones said they were questioned in separate holding rooms by Chinese immigration on why they were deported by the UAE. After showing their boarding passes and convincing them that they have no intention to stay in China, they were cleared and allowed to board the plane to Manila. “Goobye, Dubai!” a visibly irked Gabriel said.
The terminal fees for Naia will be increased by 2025.
He underscored the necessity of “the increase to compensate for their investments,” which are expected to enhance the airport’s capacity and efficiency from 32 million passengers per annum to 62 million passengers per year.
“What we are looking at is to increase the terminal fee to P950.
This will be charged to the passengers and will be added to the cost of the ticket,” Bautista said.
He also highlighted that this is part of the terms of reference signed by the government and San Miguel Corp.-led consortium New Naia Infrastructure Corp.
The transport chief noted that the last time there was an increase in terminal fees at Naia was in 2000.
Currently, Naia charges P550 as terminal fee, still lower than that in Cebu and Clark, both of which charge P750.
The proposed fee increases have faced significant opposition from consumer advocacy groups and aviation industry stakeholders. CitizenWatch Philippines, through its Co-Convenor Kit Belmonte, has been vocal against the hikes, labeling them as “premature” and “brazen.”
Belmonte argues that improvements at Naia should precede any fee increases to avoid unjustly burdening passengers. Belmonte has highlighted the economic struggles of many Filipinos, suggesting that the fee hike would discourage both tourists and businesses from engaging with the Philippines.
Belmonte questioned the timing of the fee increases, arguing that the public should not bear additional costs before the promised airport improvements are realized.
Earlier, three aviation groups— the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines, the Board of Airline Representatives, and the Airline Operators Council—called on the DOTr to reject the proposed hikes, deeming them “unreasonable and unaffordable.”
Salceda says outright Pogo ban won’t solve problem
By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
HOUSE Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey
Sarte Salceda strongly opposed the proposed ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos), saying a regulatory approach, rather than an outright ban, is the key to addressing these challenges effectively.
Salceda said banning Pogo would undermine regulatory efforts and incentivize illegal operations. A similar view was earlier expressed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) president Alejandro Tengco.
“The government should not introduce a Pogo ban. Period,” Salceda stated. “It will kill any inducement to good behavior in that sector. It will also completely wipe out the incentive for legally compliant licensees to tip off the illegal operations of non-compliant competitors.”
Salceda emphasized the importance of the role that tax-compliant companies play in reporting illegal activities within their industries.
“In the tobacco sector, a lot of the tips on smuggling and illicit trade come from tax-compliant companies. The same is true for Pogos. It’s a bad idea to even contemplate a total ban,” he explained.
Salceda warned that banning Pogos would not solve the underlying issues related to illegal foreign operations.
“Even if you ban Pogos completely, you will continue to face the kind of problems that cause any illegal foreign operations of any kind here: porous immigration, poorly-equipped intelligence and infiltration capabilities, law enforcement that does not speak Chinese,” he said.
“The problem was never mainly the Pagcor regime or the tax enforcement,” he stressed.
Instead, Salceda advocates maintaining existing regulations and improving law enforcement.
“Keep the Pagcor rules. Keep the Pogo Tax Law, which at least sets what the government can do to apprehend offenders. Funnel some of the revenues towards law enforcement capabilities. That’s what we should do,” he added.
Meanwhile, in response to recent alarming reports of criminal activities associated with illegitimate Pogos, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Friday ordered a comprehensive congressional investigation.
This move, Romualdez said, underscored the government’s commitment to curbing illegal activities and ensuring that existing regulations are effectively enforced.
“We cannot allow these rogue Pogo operators to persist in their illicit actions,” Romualdez said.
OSG wants Guo birth cert voided; DOJ gives her time
Joel R. San Juan
By
THE Philippine Statistics Office, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), on Friday filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tarlac City seeking the cancellation of the birth certificate of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the petition was filed on the ground, among others, of failure to comply with the legal requirements for late registration.
Guevarra said Guo failed to submit required supporting documents for late registration.
Also on Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) gave Guo and her 13 other corespondents more time to answer the qualified human trafficking case filed against them for their alleged involvement in the illegal activities of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in the province.
In seeking cancellation of Guo’s birth certificate, the chief government counsel noted that although the suspended mayor was already 19 years old at the time, it was her father who belatedly registered her birth certificate in violation of Section 1(B), Rule 25 of the National Statistics Office Administrative Order No. 1-93.
The OSG added that the fact of delayed registration was not indicated on the upper right margin of Guo’s birth certificate, in violation of Rule 14 of NSO Administrative Order 1-93. There were also glaring inconsistencies between the entries in her birth certificate and information contained in other public records.
Guevarra said the local civil registrar registered her certificate of live birth (COLB) although it was incomplete, in violation of existing mandatory rules on late registration by the PSA. In her birth certificate, her parents were called Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal and both were declared as “Filipinos.”
However, the PSA said it has no birth records of Guo’s supposed parents.
The OSG noted that the “pattern of falsehoods” is not only present in Guo’s birth certificate but also in the birth certificates of Shiela Leal Guo, alleged sister of the mayor and her brothers Seimen Leal Guo and Wesley Guo.
Guevarra said the birth certificates of Guo’s siblings will also be subject to cancellation in separate petitions.
“These are not mere mistakes or errors in making the entries but are deliberate falsehood which render all of the COLBs void,” the OSG declared.
Guevarra said the petition to cancel Guo’s birth certificate “will lay the groundwork for the subsequent filing of a petition for quo warranto.”
However, he clarified that it “is not a precondition for the filing of the quo warranto petition.”
A quo warranto proceeding is initiated against an individual who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office; a public person who commits an act that serves as a ground for the forfeiture of the position; or an association which acts as a corporation in the Philippines without being legally incorporated or without lawful authority to act.
The OSG is expected to file a quo warranto petition against Guo soon.
“If her birth certificate is cancelled, she will lose her most important defense: evidence about her identity,” Guevarra explained.
In case of the denial of the petition to cancel the birth certificate, Guevarra assured that this would have no bearing on the petition for a quo warranto.
“The quo warranto petition can be supported by preponderant independent evidence. It’s not dependent on the outcome of the cancellation petition,” Guevarra pointed out.
“Her foreign citizenship will not be proved in the cancellation petition but in the quo warranto petition,” he added.
Guo’s lawyers vowed to disprove allegations against her by providing “substantial evidence” to prove that she is a Filipino.
Guo’s real identity was placed under scrutiny after she was linked to illegal activities in an offshore gaming operation hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
Guo is being investigated by the Solicitor General, the Senate and other government agencies on allegations she is a Chinese spy and for her alleged involvement with illegal Pogo operations.
Human trafficking case
MEANWHILE , on the human trafficking case, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, UndersecretaryIn-Charge of Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), said none of the respondents personally appeared before the panel of prosecutors assigned to conduct preliminary investigation on the case.
Ty, however, said their lawyers were present during the proceedings.
“The prosecution panel gave them 15 days or until July 22 to file their counter-affidavits,” Ty told reporters.
He also disclosed that the complainants led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) have manifested during the hearing that they will submit additional affidavits to bolster their case against Guo and the others respondents.
Ty explained that Guo and the other respondents were not required yet to appear before the panel but they are expected to be present when they file their respective counteraffidavits which they have to subscribe and sworn to before the panel.
“The respondents’ counteraffidavit will not be accepted by the panel if they fail to present themselves before
Batangas fiscal sued for abetting illegal act
BATANGAS prosecutor Edelwina E. Ebreo has been sued for abetting and condoning an illegal act with the warrantless arrest of employees of Eternal Gardens Memorial Park in Batangas. Batangas deputy prosecutor Evelyn P. Jovellanos was also included in the complaint regarding the incarceration of Jocelyn Ann Buendia, Eternal branch manager, due to the inquest proceedings that the complaint said was made even without the presence of lawyers of the accused.
Eternal Gardens lawyer Alexis Oco said that Buendia, who is now suffering from the traumatic experience of spending three
days in a Batangas jail, brought suit against prosecutors Ebreo and Jovellanos for their acts in connection with the warrantless arrest that was complained of. The case has interesting facets, according to Oco, and is expected to result in jurisprudence that would ensure that prosecutors conduct themselves in manners that comply with the Codes of Conduct required of them.
Oco said that both respondents violated the provisions of Code of Conduct of Prosecutors, as well as the Code of Professional Responsibility as well as the provisions of RA 3019.
“Respondent Ebreo used her influence
over the police authorities for them to effect a warrantless arrest when there is no legal ground to effect the same,” the complaint said. Jailed together with Buendia was Arnel Alibuzo.
The two were held responsible by Ebreo for the theft of the” lapida “of her father. Ebreo was accused of the conduct of an illegal custodial investigation since Buendia and Alibuzo were not represented by a lawyer, a clear no-no in cases that have been decided by the courts and enshrined in the Constitution.
Section 12 (1) of the Constitution states that a counsel must be provided for an accused. “These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of the counsel.” Also, the right to counsel extends
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Clark and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested the consignee of a shipment containing P8.522 million worth of liquid cocaine.
In a statement, the BOC said a 32-year-old Columbian national was arrested during a controlled delivery operation by the BOC and PDEA in Makati City on June 25, 2024. The suspect violated Republic Act (RA) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and is undergoing custodial investigation,
the panel to subscribe to their counteraffidavits,” he explained.
Ty also appealed to some of the respondents who claimed that their names were illegally used as co-incorporators of Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. to air their side by participating in the preliminary investigation.
“I’m appealing to these respondents to show up and give their answer to the complaint because if they fail to do so they would likely be charged before the court,” Ty said.
Ty was referring to Merly Joy Manalo Castro and three other Filipinos whose names appeared as coincorporators of Hongsheng.
Castro, who appeared before the Senate investigation on illegal Pogo activities in the country last June 26, told Senator Risa Hontiveros that she was shocked to learn that her name was mentioned as co-incorporator of Hongsheng which led to her inclusion as respondent in the qualified human trafficking case.
Guo’s lawyer Alex Avisado said his client would submit its counter-affidavit in the next hearing.
Avisado, however, maintained that the documentary evidence presented by the complainants were insufficient to prove the alleged crime being attributed to Guo.
“There must be an overt act. This case filed against her is weak, with all due respect. The filing of the case is forced. If you will read the complaint, there was an admission on the part of the complainants that there is no direct evidence of human trafficking against Mayor Alice Guo,” he added.
Aside from Guo, respondents in the complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) were former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, Guo’s business partner Huang Zhiyang and corporate officers of Zun Yuan Technology Center, a POGO operator.
The case stemmed from the implementation of search warrants against Zun Yuan Technology last March 13, which resulted in the arrest of several foreign nationals found within the premises.
to the waiver of Article 25 or delay in the delivery of detained persons to judicial authority.
Lawyers are awaiting the result of the complaint brought against the top Batangas prosecutors due to the case folder that cites “the blatant display of arrogance and flaunt of power in front of ordinary people as if telling them that they are above the law.”
Citation was made on the case of De la Victoria vs. Orig-Maloloy-on 530 SCRA 1, which requires lawyers to act with the highest standards of truthfulness, fair play and nobility in the conduct of their litigation and their relations with their clients, the opposing parties, the other counsel and the court.
Another facet of the case that Oco cited was the fact that there was an apparent attempt to cure the clear disregard of rights of the Eternal Gardens employees.
according to the BOC.
A physical examination led to the findings of three plastic bottles of yellowish liquid substance. Xray Inspection Project (XIP) personnel also marked the same for physical examination due to unusual X-ray images while K-9 sniffing was also conducted, which indicated the possible presence of illegal substances. The presence of “Mixture of PET Plastic, Ephedrine and Ethyl Benzoate, Cyclohexyl Fentanyl, Controlled Product: Opiod” was found in the samples during field testing. A chemical laboratory analysis further confirmed that the substances contain
Lacson laments ugly exchange between Alan, Nancy; Robin files reso on new Senate bldg
INVOKING the public’s right to know, Senator Robin Padilla on Friday pressed for an inquiry to verify the actual cost of moving the Senate to a new building in Taguig City. Padilla on Thursday filed Senate Resolution 1063 directing his Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media to handle the investigation in aid of legislation on the actual costs incurred both to construct the four-tower structure and to move all offices of 24 senators, as well as other costs not covered by the initial estimate of “core and shell” of P8.3 billion.
The controversy—amid innuendos of possible overprice—have shaken the Senate and caused an ugly exchange in the first hearing of the Senate Committee on Accounts between its chair, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and his predecessor, Sen. Nancy Binay.
On Friday, Binay’s predecessor, former Sen. Ping Lacson, weighed in on the raging issue.
“While the public hearing conducted by the Committee on Accounts is a correct call by the present Senate leadership since the issue involves public funds, the ensuing exchange between two former colleagues last Wednesday was painful to watch, to say the least,” Lacson said in a statement.
“As a background, after a lunch meeting requested by then newly installed Senate President Chiz Escudero with former SP Tito Sotto and myself when Sen. Chiz mentioned to us his plan to conduct a review of the price escalation [from P8.9B to P23.3B], I initiated contact with Sen. Alan Cayetano and requested him that in the interest of a smooth transition and transfer of responsibility, while it was ultimately his decision to retain or terminate the Senate Coordination Team, it would be better if they briefed him first and get a lowdown on the status and other details of the ongoing construction, which also did when Sen. Nancy Binay assumed as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Accounts.”
Lacson said he also suggested that, “subject to our individual schedules, if he
[Cayetano] was amenable, I may be present if he and Sen. Nancy would agree to meet regarding some possible issues pertaining to the ongoing construction. My offer to mediate was actually a request from Sen. Nancy after she visited me in my office with my two former staff who now work in her office.”
According to Lacson, Cayetano “actually agreed to both, although the meeting has yet to be scheduled.”
Lacson lamented that “while a century-old dream for the Philippines Senate to finally have its own home, one that is iconic, secure, functional and green is about to come to fruition, it is sad that it is now perceived, rightly or wrongly, as another symbol of government abuse of public funds.”
Padilla signaled Friday that setting right the record and easing fears of any wrongdoing was behind his filing of a resolution for an inquiry. Cayetano’s hearing earlier this week was just part of what he called a “review,” ordered by Escudero, and not an investigation.
“Informing the public of the processes undertaken in the construction of the NSB including the increased costs, is necessary to ensure that the public does not lose its trust in the Senate as an institution,” Padilla said, in filing his resolution.
“There is a need to let the public know of the partner contractors if any, and subcontractors of Hilmarc’s Construction Corp.,” he added.
Padilla noted that Senate President Escudero had ordered Cayetano as chairman of the Committee on Accounts to review the cost of the NSB, as it had reportedly increased to P23 billion from an initial P8.9 billion. He added the Committee on Accounts, in its public hearing last July 3, reported that the current total cost of the project is P23.38 billion, of which P8.9 billion is for the core and shell; P2.5 billion for the fit-out; P1.6 billion for land acquisition; and P10.33 billion for works to complete. Butch Fernandez
Trillanes files plunder raps vs Duterte, Go
FORMER Senator Antonio “Sonny” F.
Trillanes IV on Friday filed plunder and graft charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against former President Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and two others.
The complaint stemmed from the contracts awarded to companies CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders and Supply, owned by Go’s father Deciderio Go and brother Alfredo Go, respectively, worth at least P 6.6 billion from 2007 to 2018.
Deciderio and Alfredo were also named respondents in the complaint.
Trillanes said he filed the complaint based on the documents submitted by the Commission on Audit (COA) and other relevant agencies to his office in 2018 when he was still a member of the Senate.
He said he sought the records, including audit reports on CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders in line with his proposed resolution before the Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation to conduct an inquiry on the matter, in aid of legislation.
Trillanes admitted that he sought the inquiry based on the report released by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) exposing how the two companies secured infrastructure projects worth billions of pesos with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
However, Trillanes said the proposed resolution was referred by the leadership of the Senate then to the Committee on Rules, where no hearing was conducted.
Thus, documents and records were
cocaine, a dangerous drug listed under RA 9165 after representative samples were turned over to Pdea. A Warrant of Seizure and Detention was also issued against the subject shipment for violation of
archived without proper investigation.
Trillanes specifically charged Duterte and Go with violations of multiple laws, including Republic Act 7080 (The Anti-Plunder Act), Republic Act 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and Republic Act No. 6713 (The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).
“It is also publicly known that when Respondent Duterte was elected as President in 2016, the Office of the Special Assistant to the President was created and tailor-made specifically to accommodate Respondent Go, and he was given the rank of a Cabinet Secretary and made a Cabinet member despite of the fact that his principal duty is merely to act as the personal aide of then President Duterte,” Trillanes said. He pointed out that all of the government projects on record awarded to both CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders & Supply were implemented and/or are being implemented within Region XI (Davao Region) only, where Go and Duterte “undoubtedly possesses and exercised authority, connection, and/or influence.”
“The aggregate amount of government contracts illicitly and dubiously awarded by and/or upon the behest of Respondent Duterte and his personal aide, Respondent Go, to CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders & Supply, entities owned by Go’s immediate family members, when combined—run up to P6.6 billion—far exceeds the threshold amount for the application of the AntiPlunder Act, as amended, which is at least P50 million,” the former senator explained.
Joel R. San Juan
Time BusinessMirror Our
FDA approves a second Alzheimer’s drug that can modestly slow disease
By Matthew Perrone AP Health Writer
WASHINGTON—US officials have approved another Alzheimer’s drug that can modestly slow the disease, providing a new option for patients in the early stages of the incurable, memory-destroying ailment.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s Kisunla on Tuesday for mild or early cases of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. It’s only the second drug that’s been convincingly shown to delay cognitive decline in patients, fol lowing last year’s approval of a similar drug from Japanese drug maker Eisai.
The delay seen with both drugs amounts to a matter of months—about seven months, in the case of Lilly’s drug. Pa tients and their families will have to weigh that benefit against the downsides, including regular IV infusions and poten tially dangerous side effects like brain swelling.
More than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. Only those with early or mild disease will be eligible for the new drug, and an even smaller subset are likely to undergo the multi-step process needed to get a prescription.
The FDA approved Kisunla, known chemically as donanemab, based on results from an 18-month study in which patients given getting the treatment declined about 22 percent more slowly in terms of memory and cognitive ability than those who received a dummy infusion.
Physicians who treat Alzheimer’s say the approval is an important step after decades of failed experimental treatments.
“I’m thrilled to have different options to help my patients,” said Dr. Suzanne Schindler, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s been difficult as a dementia specialist—I diagnose my patients with Alzheimer’s and then every year I see them get worse and they progress until they die.”
Both Kisunla and the Japanese drug, Leqembi, are laboratory-made antibodies, administered by IV, that target one contributor to Alzheimer’s—sticky amyloid plaque buildup in the brain.
Questions remain about which patients should get the drugs and how long they might benefit.
The new drug’s approval was expected after an outside panel of FDA advisors unanimously voted in favor of its benefits at a public meeting last month.
That endorsement came despite several questions from FDA reviewers about how Lilly studied the drug, including allowing patients to discontinue treatment after their plaque reached very low levels. Costs will vary by patient, based on how long they take the drug, Lilly said. The company also said a year’s worth of therapy would cost $32,000—higher than the $26,500 price of a year’s worth of Leqembi.
The FDA’s prescribing information tells doctors they can consider stopping the drug after confirming via brain scans that patients have minimal plaque.
The main safety issue was brain swelling and bleeding, a problem common to all plaque-targeting drugs. The rates reported in Lilly’s study—including 20 percent of patients with microbleeds—were slightly higher than those reported with competitor Leqembi. However, the two drugs were tested in slightly different types of patients, which experts say makes it difficult to compare the drugs’ safety. Kisunla is infused once a month compared to Leqembi’s twice-a-month regimen, which could make things easier for caregivers who bring their loved ones to a hospital or clinic for treatment.
“Certainly getting an infusion once a month is more appealing than getting it every two weeks,” Schindler said.
Lilly’s drug has another potential advantage: Patients can stop taking it if they respond well.
In the company’s study, patients were taken off Kisunla once their brain plaque reached nearly undetectable levels. Almost half of patients reached that point within a year. Discontinuing the drug could reduce the costs and safety risks of long-term use. It’s not yet clear how soon patients might need to resume infusions.
Logistical hurdles, spotty insurance coverage and financial concerns have all slowed the rollout of competitor Leqembi, which Eisai co-markets with US partner Biogen. Many smaller hospitals and health systems aren’t yet setup to prescribe the new plaque-targeting Alzheimer’s drugs.
First, doctors need to confirm that patients with dementia have the brain plaque targeted by the new drugs. Then they need to find a drug infusion center where patients can receive therapy. Meanwhile, nurses and other staff must be trained to perform repeated scans to check for brain swelling or bleeding.
“Those are all things a physician has to have set up,” said Dr. Mark Mintun, who heads Lilly’s neuroscience division.
“Until they get used to them, a patient who comes into their office will not be offered this therapy.”
Centenarian WWII vet returns to Normandy
HELEN, Ga.—A profile of Andrew “Andy”NegraJr.,ofHelen,Georgia, one of a dwindling number of veterans took part in the Allies’ European war effort that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. BORN: May 28, 1924, near Avella, Pennsylvania.
SERVICE: Army’s 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. Landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on July 18, 1944. Fought in the battle of Brest among other battles. Later served in the Occupation of Germany. He was honorably discharged on December 17, 1945.
‘Because we saved the world’ IT was 1943, and Andrew “Andy” Negra Jr. had just finished high school. He was thinking of attending the University of Pittsburgh. “But Uncle Sam had that finger pointed at me. ‘I need you.’ And, I was drafted.” The third of four children born to immigrants from Austria-Hungary, Negra expressed no qualms about entering the service. “There was a war going on, so I went along with everybody else. I just went into the service with an open mind.” Now, he proudly lays claim to being part of “The Greatest Generation.”
“Because we saved the world,” he said. He has made the trip back to France before but says his return this year for the 80th anniversary of D-Day is special
LGUs’ fiscal space enough for seniors, PWD programs
By Filane Mikee Cervantes
MANILA—A lawmaker on Tuesday said local government units (LGUs) would have enough fiscal space to spend on programs for the benefit of senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWD) as they are set to receive national tax allotment (NTA) worth P1.034 trillion in 2025.
In a statement, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. said LGUs could use a portion of their NTA shares for spending on senior citizens, PWD, protection of children, gender and development, prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and disaster risk reduction and management.
Citing data from the Depart -
ment of Budget and Management, Villafuerte said the P1.034 trillion budget allocation for LGUs next year shall be divided among 83 provinces; 149 cities; 1,485 municipalities; and 41,905 barangays.
Villafuerte further noted that the NTA for next year is P163.229 billion or 18.73 percent higher than this year’s outlay of P871.38 billion.
“Hence, our local executives will have fiscal space to spend big -
ger in 2025 on their development programs, as well as on PPAs [programs, projects and activities] for the benefit of our elderly, PWD, women and for the protection of our children, among others,” Villafuerte said.
Twenty percent of the NTA shall go to development projects, under the respective Development Funds of
at least 5 percent of LGU revenue from regular sources shall go to the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund of local governments based on RA 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. PNA
Conversation with a friend who lost his religion
LBy Nick Tayag
my sixty-zen’s WORtH
AST Ash Wednesday in February of this year, I was having a casual chat with a friend named “V” who’s now in his 70s, married and dad to three adult children. We were in a small coffee shop, and some customers who came in from the morning mass still had patches of black ash on their foreheads. He then eyed my forehead, which was ash-free.
“Do you still go to church?” he suddenly asked me.
“Sometimes,” I said.
“Are you still a Catholic?”
“Yes I believe so but I am not religiously so,” I demurred.
“Do you still pray?”
“I still I do but it’s a mix of formula and extemporaneous prayers.”
for the people of Europe, and for himself. “I’m talking about the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. All of them are coming to this and there’ll be 35 different countries,” he told The Associated Press ahead of his trip.
“So it’s going to be a pretty big event. And at the same time, I’m saying to myself, they’re going to celebrate my birthday,” said Negra, who turned 100 on May 28. He considers himself lucky to have survived uninjured. “I saw a lot of bad things. A lot of death,” he said. But he also recounts meeting his wife at a dance while he was deployed there. “Second song they played was “People Will Say We’re in Love.” And I told her, I said—at that time, I’m 19—I told her, I said, this is going to be our song for the rest of our lives. And I only knew her 10 minutes.” As the D-Day anniversary approached Negra was making plans to visit the scene of one of his life’s most harrowing moments. He recalled being on the road with the 6th Armored Division, part of a push to retake the French port city of Brest, when his column was strafed by five German planes. He scrambled out of his half-track and hid behind a well.
“These five airplanes all dove for that well,” Negra recalled. “And I was behind that well. So, when they strafed, fortunately it was a brick one, and solid.” AP
When I asked him why he was all of a sudden asking me those questions, he answered that he no longer has a religion.
non-believers or self-proclaimed atheists. As long as you don’t impose or inflict your beliefs on any one, you’re alright with me. Peace. Namaste. As-Salaam-Alaikum, Amitabha.
In spite of the so-called evangelical revival and born-again movements as well as the onslaught of bible quotes I receive on my digital devices, I feel there’s a sense of
Religion as I remember it from my College Theology class is about “relating to God.” If this is so, then “relating to God” may be expressed in various ways.
And this is exactly the point, said “V,” an act of faith does not have to be confined to just observing religious rituals, avoiding sin and adhering to set dogmas. He then elaborated: “If I offer my irritations as prayer, read spiritual books, volunteer in my community, watch spiritual programs, give away my old clothes and possessions to charity, show compassion to a friend in crisis, am I not basically practicing my faith?
Listening to Bach’s “Air on G String” or “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” can bring me closer to God than listening to inaudible and shallow homilies on Sundays.”
“But I still have my faith,” he immediately qualified. “Perhaps I may still be a Catholic but my faith is a relationship, not a religion. You can consider me an agnostic Catholic. I don’t just blindly take tenets or set of beliefs. I now ask questions.”
I was flabbergasted. To be honest, “V” was the last person I expected to tell me that. I always thought he was the most “priestly” among my circle of senior friends because he elicited a sense of serenity, empathy and moral fortitude. He had a firm grasp of the Catholic fundamentals that most of us lacked.
I wish my friend didn’t have to bring up the said topic. Truth be told, there are two things I hate to discuss with other people, even close friends: politics and religion.
I know there would be no satisfactory resolution at the end, and most likely we would part ways, feeling angry or offended or both.
But one thing people like about me is my openness and tolerance. I am always willing to listen. I also consider myself an “equal opportunity believer.” I greatly respect all people of any faith, including
spiritual malaise among my senior friends and acquaintances.
“V” was not the only senior I encountered who expressed the same sentiment. I, too, have similar feelings. Most likely we are going through a spiritual maturing process. We’ve probably reached the end of the rope of traditional Christian religion as it was taught to us by priests, nuns, and our religion teachers in childhood.
Many of us used to be practicing Catholics but we no longer go to church regularly on Sundays, or at least not religiously. We no longer observe many of the traditional Catholic rituals and practices. What we have in common is that we choose to practice our faith independently and privately.
It’s not that we are losing our faith, we are just shedding off some of the outer vestiges of religion and focus on doing more “acts of faith” that we deem more meaningful. In truth, we are rediscovering faith after being burned or disenchanted by religion.
To which I agreed. I am now more and more inclined towards everyday practical spirituality, which simply means that the sacred is all around us at all times, and all our activities can be ways to connect with the great Divine. The limping stray cat that finds its way to your front yard is an opportunity to show compassion for one of God’s creatures.
The young papaya that suddenly springs out from the ground in your backyard is a cause for joy and wonder for the mystery of creation. When you have an attitude of sensitivity and openness to God, these simple ordinary matters can have more stirring impact on your spirit than all the traditional knowledge imparted to you through the years.
When I become conscious of it, I make it a point to offer all my activities no matter how trivial to the Divine in gratitude for my life. Cleaning the toilet, collecting kitchen scraps and burying them in the backyard for composting, feeding food scraps to the stray cats in our yard, sealing a hole in the gutter, sweeping the floor—these are my equivalent versions of lauds, prime, vespers and compline, the round of prayers that Benedictine monks chant every day. The famous American naturalist Henry David Thoreau’s way of professing his faith was “always to be alert, to find God in nature, to know God’s lurking places, to attend to all the oratorios and the operas in nature.”
Rather than put down our conversation word for word, I have here
distilled the thread of our series of long conversations. “V” basically said that to be spiritually mature means to find your unique path to God. It means having the courage to entertain a healthy doubt that compels you to seek answers to your questions. It means letting go of some of your received beliefs and summoning the willingness to see your faith practice in a new more meaningful way. “If the price of my effort to grow more and more spiritually mature is to lose my shallow surface of religion, so be it, said “V.” He even quoted St. Paul in Thessalonians 5:21: “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” Being a follower of Christ is not so much assent to doctrines or to an institution but to a process that keeps expanding and deepening your belief and spirituality. Our faith must constantly seek and pursue new fields of wonder in the world around us. Quoting Andy Otto, the editor of a website devoted to Ignatian spirituality, ‘V’ said: “A church does not contain God more than a field of corn. A priest is not more holy than a single mother. God is uncontained and unconfined.” The words were voiced out so lovingly and so sincerely, they felt like they were flowing out from the lips of a sadhu, a holy man in Hindi. Before I go, let me relate a telling scene. It happened in a mall, and since I had a previous appointment, “V” and I decided to call it a day. As we were walking, we happened to pass by a live solo performer, playing his violin in a passageway. “V” suddenly stopped and listened intently. Then when the piece was over, he heartily applauded. “That was Brahms,” he casually whispered to me. He then approached the young fellow who I surmised was a music student, probably struggling to pay for his tuition and bed and board and chatted with him for a while. Then before leaving, he took out his wallet and took out two hundred and put them in the box. Then as we were walking away, he uttered to no one in particular: “Who will help the poor artists if not his fellow artists? Sad is the society where artists have to beg for doing what people need most badly.” It happened so casually and it was so inconsequential. But it made me realize that “V,” my friend, has not really lost his religion. He lives it. As the Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying: “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Keen attention on Pinoy students’ alarming PISA test results urged
ARESEARCH firm has raised concerns over the recent results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, which ranked Filipino students among the bottom five in creative thinking.
Capstone-Intel Corp. emphasized that these results should serve as a basis to improve the education system and ensure that local graduates are globally competitive.
From June 18 to 25, CapstoneIntel conducted sentiment analysis on publicly available Facebook pages. It revealed that the “sad” reaction dominated at 46.9 percent, followed by “ha-ha” emoji at 24.4 percent, “like” at 23.1 percent, “love” at 4.3 percent, “wow” at 1.1 percent, and “anger” at 0.2 percent. The report covered up to two petabytes of available Facebook data.
“These reactions from Filipinos on social media provide valuable insights into the public sentiment regarding the PISA test results in creative thinking,” said Ella Kristina Coronel, who is the research director at Capstone-Intel. She added that developing creative thinking is now more complex due to massive digital acceleration, artificial intelligence or AI, and social media.
The PISA creative thinking test assessed the capacity of students from 81 countries to generate original and diverse ideas in simple imagination or daily problemsolving tasks. Learners from Singapore, Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, and Finland scored highest in creative thinking. Conversely, those from Albania, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic were the lowest-performing. Coronel noted that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, which included the PISA results, dominated public discussions on Facebook with up to 104 daily posts during the analysis period. There were 359 posts on PISA which generated 32,232 comments, 50,127 shares, and a total of 128,514 reactions, resulting in an engagement score of 66,201.6.
The OECD report highlighted that effective classroom pedagogies
are critical for developing creativity of students. Those who scored high in the PISA tests reported that their teachers encouraged them to produce original answers, and allowed them to express ideas in school. Additionally, active participation in school activities such as art, drama, creative writing, or programming classes at least once a week was associated with better performance in creative thinking.
“We have to take the PISA results as one of the metrics in evaluating and elevating our standards, because creativity cannot be replaced; it is innate among individuals,” Coronel said. She pointed out that developing students’ creativity is a responsibility shared by parents, communities, and schools, as “it takes a village to raise a creative child.”
PISA assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in mathematics, reading, and science, exploring how well students can solve complex problems, think critically, and communicate effectively. The Philippines participated in the assessment for the first time in 2018. By comparing results internationally, policymakers and educators in the Philippines can learn from other countries’ policies and practices.
In the latest PISA test on creative thinking, only 3 percent of 15-yearold Filipino students matched the
average creative thinking skills of students in top-ranked Singapore, highlighting significant deficiencies in the creative thinking abilities of local learners, according to Capstone-Intel.
Between June 19 and 22, 2024, the top five Facebook posts discussing the Philippines’s performance in the PISA creative-thinking assessment attracted significant engagement. Philstar.com’s June 19, 2024 post had the highest engagement score of 27,145.9, which highlighted the low percentage of Filipino students matching Singapore’s creative skills.
Other notable posts included reports from Rappler and GMA News, which also emphasized deficiencies in Filipino students’ creative-thinking abilities.
The PISA assessment measures students’ capacity to generate, evaluate, and improve ideas in four areas: creative writing, visual expression, scientific problem-solving, and social problem-solving. This provides governments with data to help students and young people reach their full potential in the changing economies and societies, said Capstone-Intel.
Based on the 2022 PISA results, the Philippines ranked sixth-lowest among the 81 participating countries and economies, with Filipino learners continuing to lag in reading, math, and science.
Creating waves of culinary success: CCA Manila graduates tell their story
TOP culinary school Center for Culinary Arts (CCA Manila) is renowned for producing toptier culinary professionals who are now making waves both in the local and global culinary scenes.
In modern times, a culinary arts graduate can choose from a diverse range of career opportunities beyond working in a kitchen. They venture into food entrepreneurship by starting their own food-related businesses such as catering services, food trucks, or specialty food products. There’s also a huge opportunity in agriculture and food production. Culinary arts graduates can find roles in nutrition and dietetics, helping to develop the healthcare and wellness industries.
“CCA Manila continues to be proud of its graduates’ diverse and successful career paths. They are garnering awards, leading kitchens of top hotels and cruise ships, and elevating Filipino cuisine to greater heights. Our graduates are tangible proof of the effectiveness of CCA Manila’s comprehensive training and hands-on approach,” said Dr. Veritas Luna, who is CCA Manila’s chancellor.
Aspiring culinary artists can embark on their exciting journey with CCA Manila’s upcoming intakes this August and October 2024. They can follow in the footsteps of these outstanding CCA Manila alumni:
Chef Thirdy Dolatre
THIRDY DOLATRE is head chef and owner of Hapag—one of the most sought-after restaurants in Manila located in Rockwell, Makati City. He began as a line cook, then further pursued training as a stagiaire (a cook who works briefly, for free, in another chef’s kitchen) in San Francisco, California’s Michelin-starred diners. His story is a testament to the global opportunities waiting for the center’s graduates.
“CCA Manila provided me with essential knowledge, [as it transformed] us from culinary students into professional chefs,” Dolatre said. “We were given the confidence and expertise needed upon graduation. It equipped me with the fundamental skills, and allowed me to enter any food establishment with confidence.”
He added: “Knowledge is truly power. As students at CCA, you already have the advantage of fundamental knowledge to jumpstart your career. In the culinary world, you must also work diligently with integrity, passion, intentionality, purpose and authenticity. These qualities are what make an excellent professional chef.”
Chef John Martho Buenaventura ANOTHER shining star from CCA Manila, Chef John Martho Buenaventura has ascended to the prestigious position of executive chef at Emirates Flight Catering for VIP flights, private jets, and presidential planes. His role involves overseeing the creation of exquisite in-flight meals, catering to a global clientele with high culinary expectations. Buenaventura’s journey exemplifies the heights of success that CCA Manila graduates can achieve in the international culinary scene.
For achieving this level of success, he credits his training at the center: “Taking a culinary course has transformed my cooking skills and opened up exciting new career opportunities. I’ve learned essential techniques: from basic knife skills, to advanced culinary methods that have greatly enhanced my confidence in the kitchen. The course has also encouraged my creativity [and allowed] me
to experiment with different cuisines and food presentations.”
For anyone passionate about cooking, whether for personal growth or career advancement, Buenaventura highly recommends taking a culinary course: “It’s a fulfilling and enjoyable journey that equips you with the skills and knowledge to succeed in the culinary world.”
Chef Enrico Caparas
ANOTHER graduate of CCA Manila, Chef Enrico Caparas has dedicated his career to education and training. As a baking and pastry instructor and pastry coach for the culinary team of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology based in Canada, he has developed five new courses and contributed significantly to the field of culinary education.
His professional experience spans leading kitchens in hotels in Asia and Canada, specializing in various pastry products and culinary techniques.
Chef Sonny Mariano
ANOTHER alumnus of CCA Manila,
Chef Sonny Mariano is an in-demand recipe developer and culinary consultant. Known for his innovative approach to flavors, he has been instrumental in creating some of the most exciting culinary experiences, including the recently launched Mag -
From numerous malls to school halls, SM banks on innovation for greater good
JUST a few short years after its first store opened doors, SM’s founder Henry Sy Sr. had set his sights beyond one establishment. The chain of malls would come later.
When SM City-North Edsa opened in 1985, the vision was clear: People’s access to products is vital, but Filipinos’ access to quality education is priceless.
In 1991, Sy turned his foresight into reality through a milestone linkage SM Foundation Inc. and IBM Philippines. This collaboration led to the establishment of Asia Pacific College (APC), which embodies the timeless adage: “Give man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“Right from the start, the vision was very clear: It was inclusivity,” said APC’s president Dr. Teresita ‘Tata’ Medado. “Quality education should be available to all, and this was [the college’s way of helping the youth to be competitive information technology [IT] professionals for the industry.”
The SM Group emphasized this commitment to inclusivity when the company insisted that APC will operate as a non-profit and non-stock institution.
It was the ‘90s, and the IT sector’s boom was unabated. Encapsulated in the core values of industry, integrity and innovation, APC took on the mission to educate students into becoming world-class workers with a strong, IT-based foundation.
num mango yogurt parfait.
Starting one’s culinary journey ASIDE from the success stories of the alumni, CCA Manila graduates have ventured into various other exciting career paths as personal chefs, food stylists, food vloggers, research and development specialists, and educators.
“Aspiring chefs and culinary enthusiasts have the perfect opportunity to start their culinary journey with CCA Manila’s upcoming intakes this August and October. With a curriculum designed to blend practical kitchen training with comprehensive food service management, students will be well-prepared to join the ranks of these successful graduates,” imparted Dr. Luna.
CCA Manila’s flagship course, the “Diploma in Culinary Arts & Technology Management,” provides students with a robust foundation to become culinary chefs. The program combines practical kitchen training with comprehensive food servicemanagement education, fostering entrepreneurial and management skills essential for running institutional or commercial kitchens.
For inquiries, visit www.cca-manila.edu.ph, @ccamanila on Facebook and Instagram, or send an e-mail to talktous@cca-manila.edu.ph.
Today, the college continues its legacy of providing quality education after earning a perfect 5-star ranking from education-solutions provider Quacquarelli Symonds in four categories: inclusivity through a wide array of scholarships; online learning via “hyflex” or hybrid-flexible setup, which emphasizes empathy, equity, and engagement; flexible teaching methods; and employability, with 92.8 percent of graduates securing key positions in the industry.
The higher education institution has upheld its legacy of inclusivity by supporting 9,300 scholars: 7,000 from public schools, 1,000 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, plus more than 1,300 from SM Foundation. Overall, APC provides scholarship support to 80 percent of its students, with P9 million awarded in 2023, and a total of P700 million in education grants over the last 18 years.
What started with only about 15 students, APC today has over 7,221 graduates. Beyond SM’s scholarship program through its corporate foundation, its advocacy to promote quality education through APC also allows any accepted public-school student to pay only half of the posted tuition fee.
World-class students
AMONG the graduates is Rey
Buyco, who is a former SM scholar and cum laude graduate in 2017. He recalled that his journey, albeit tough, did not deter him to give up on achieving his dream.
Looking back, Buyco shared how he and his mother had to sleep on a cardboard box along the streets of Manila when their home burned down. He also remembers the times when Sy used to attend APC’s general assembly.
“It was very inspiring for him to do that,” the graduate said. “It goes to show that SM really wants to help us…It ignited our passion to continue our studies.” Buyco is currently employed as a senior qualified auditor for Ernst & Young in London, United Kingdom.
APC’s excellence and impact on the local IT industry marked another milestone with one of its alumni Rom Gapuz, whose path to success was also supported by SM and APC. Some months ago, he achieved a feat of sorts by becoming the first Filipino to earn all 15 Amazon Web Services certifications, including three already retired ones. Gapuz and Buyco are only two of the numerous successful APC graduates. In fact, from the graduating classes between 2020 and 2022, the employability rate is at 92.8 percent within 24 months from graduation.
“We are immensely proud of [them],” said Dr. Medado. “Their journeys echo our core values... Successes like these, with the likes of [Gapuz and Buyco], serve as inspirations not only to our students but also to us, their teachers.”
Championing education WITH over 20 million enrollees for School Year 2023-2024 and classroom deficits reaching the thousands, the SM group continued addressing these challenges by raising the country’s quality of educational facilities and capabilities.
SM Foundation and SM Prime Holdings Inc., together with the Department of Education, have partnered and built 108 school buildings to date. With 366-plus classrooms constructed, the SM group has been serving 18,300 public school learners in single-shift classes. These efforts have helped close the gap between students and access to quality education, one school building at a time. By the end of 2023, the program was able to hike the average classroom-student ratio to 1:49 in schools where SM built new rooms.
“APC was created 30-plus years ago to empower students with accessible, affordable, and quality education,” Dr. Medado noted. “Our mission stays the same today, as we help more students in realizing their dreams.”
Editor: Mike Policarpio
ASIA PACIFIC COLLEGE campus stands as a beacon of hope for over three decades, fostering leaders of tomorrow.
R ESTAu RAn T owner Chef Thirdy Dolatre, head chef and owner of Hapag restaurant.
J OH n M ARTHO Bu En Av En T u RA works as the executive chef at Emirates Flight Catering for vIP Flights, private jets, and presidential planes.
Tourism Editor: Edwin P. Sallan
BAGUIO MAKEOVER
WhAt’s nEW (And REnEWEd) In thE CIty Of PInEs
Story & photos by Benjamin Locsin Layug
Baguio City has been around for nearly one and a quarter of a century and most visitors to this city are familiar with the usual city sights such as Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Wright Park, the Mansion House, the Baguio Cathedral and Session Road. However, new attractions have begun to sprout and some of the old ones have received a facelift, mostly during the Covid-19 lockdown.
For starters, there’s the 6,000 square meter Igorot Stone Kingdom, the newest and, now, one of the most popular attractions in the city. This man-made theme and amusement park, surrounded by tall trees, was built on a mountainside by owners Engr. Pio (also known as Ama Bagowan) and Haiji Velasco to showcase the indigenous culture of Cordilleras, as well as the practices, traditions, values and way of life of its people. Construction began on March 15, 2020 and it formally opened to public in May of 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming viral in social media. Its highlights are its stone walls, inspired by the ladder—like layout of the rice terraces of Batad in Banaue, that were built in in traditional riprap (locally called kabite) where stones or boulders are interlocked together to form a wall.
Baguio City has, since as far as anyone can remember, been known by the moniker “City of Pines” and, pretty soon, it may also be called the “City of Bamboo” as it is now home to two bamboo plantation sites - the Baguio Bamboo Educational Demo Farm and the Mirador Heritage and Eco- Spirituality Park. Both where opened in late 2019 and were gaining traction with local tourists in March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic started and the parks had to be closed.
The tranquil, 3-hectare and very Instagrammable Baguio Bamboo
MaNiLa ToDaY
Educational Demo Farm (also called the “Little Kyoto” and the “Kawayan Ecopark”), a nature reserve within St. Francis Xavier Seminary, stands on the former site of the Irisan (Baguio City’s largest barangay) open dumpsite. This popular tourist destination, where people can relax and enjoy nature, has paved trails, a bamboo nursery, a bamboo bridge and a meditation garden. To showcase the beauty and diversity of bamboo, there are a number of walking trails (Aurea Trail, Vivax Trail, Cardio Trail, Dulcis Trail, etc.) that you can follow where pathways are lined with lush bamboos trees and bordered by vibrant red bamboo fences.
The 5-hectare, multi-tiered and enchanting Mirador Heritage and EcoSpirituality Park, at Dominican Hill, located on top of the Jesuit-managed Mirador Hill, near the famed Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, has different sections and attractions and has a commanding panoramic view of the hills and valleys of the western section of Baguio City. Some parts of the park are based on known tourist destinations in Kyoto, Japan, including the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (its namesake is near the Tenryu-ji Temple) and the iconic red Torii Gate at the Mirador Peace Memorial (inaugurated on December 14, 2020).
Speaking of facelifts, one original Baguio tourist spot that underwent a near total makeover was the laid-back,
A dose of history, culture and nature
IT S almost needless to say that Manila has a lot to offer and with NLEX Connector in place, it has opened doors to unforgettable Manila experiences. Regardless, if you’re coming from the north or south of the metro, you can access some of the most iconic and valued places in the city for culture and nature appreciation.
Blasts from the past
M ANILA has been one of the key cities that sits at the forefront of im -
portant historical events that shaped our nation. To better understand and learn about this, you can visit the museums which house the biggest collections of artifacts and artworks from the pre-colonial period up to this day.
A prominent landmark in Manila, the National Museum of Fine Arts is a must-visit, as it showcases the evolution of Philippine art with 29 galleries and hallway exhibitions comprising of 19th century Filipino masters, National Artists, leading modern painters, sculptors, and printmakers. There’s also the National Mu -
seum of Natural History at the former Department of Tourism with neoclassical architecture which has 12 permanent gaĺleries that exhibit the Philippines’ rich biological and geological diversity. Go deeper into the heart and soul of the Philippines when you also visit the National Museum of Anthropology. It is a treasure trove of cultural artifacts in Manila that offers a meaningful journey into the Philippines’ rich history and diverse ethnicities.
All these museums are just walking distance from each other as attractions are situated just within the
same area. If you’re starting with the National Museum of Fine Arts, take NLEX Connector España Exit going to Quiapo, Manila then head towards Ermita and find its building along P. Burgos. For the National Museum of Anthropology, head towards Finance Road and Agrifina Circle inside Rizal Park while the National Museum of Natural History is just located ar T.M. Kalaw, also within Rizal Park.
Another museum to visit in España, Manila is the UST Museum which was established in 1867, considered the oldest existing museum in the Philippines. It showcases pre-colonial artifacts, the Philippine Revolution era, and an ethnographic collection. It’s also rich in collections of flora and fauna specimens including fossils, insects, and marine life.
There’s also something to discover at the official residence of Philippine presidents. By heading towards the
Malacañang Complex in San Miguel Manila via the NLEX Connector Magsaysay Ave. Exit, you’ll find a cluster of heritage houses that shows a glimpse of how the past presidents lived their lives and the Filipino culture, as well.
There’s Bahay Ugnayan which is also a museum that highlights President Marcos Jr.’s presidential journey. The Goldenberg Mansion, a French-inspired mansion; the Teus Mansion, a 19th century historical residence that now serves as Presidential Museum.
urban oasis
D UBBED as Manila’s Last Lung, Arroceros Forest Park is a refreshing delight to see and experience at the heart of the metro. Guests can exercise, walk, admire the landscaped gardens, and breathe in fresh air with over 3,000 trees surrounding the
16-hectare Baguio Botanical Garden. In the past, this peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of the city went by a few different names. It was formerly the Botanical & Zoological Garden when the park was a zoo. It was also called the Igorot Village due to the culture-inspired carvings, sculptures, and huts scattered around the park. In the 1970s, it was renamed Imelda Park by Ferdinand Marcos for the former first lady Imelda R. Marcos and, in 2009, it was renamed Centennial Park in honor of Baguio being “the Summer Capital” of the Philippines for 100 years. However, people still refer to it by its old name. During its ten-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it underwent a renovation which made the park more aesthetic and added ramps. Since its reopening, at least 100,000 people have visited the park each month. Now it is home to a vast array of plants, including a variety of flowering plants, trees, and shrubs. You’ll find everything from blooming azaleas to towering pine trees. The park is divided into two different sections. It contains a number of friendship pocket gardens developed and maintained by Baguio’s sister cities in the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Thailand. Each contains elements of the country’s culture, such as temples and statues. Another old city institution that got a facelift is the Baguio Museum. After three years of improvements via a grant from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) of the United States Embassy Manila. the renovated Baguio Museum was inaugurated on July 4, 2022. Inspired by Ifugao architecture, this timehonored museum was built with of stone and wood and features a striking pyramidal roof and two huge concrete poles, at the stair entrance, that resembles a traditional Ifugao home with an elevated floor supported by posts. The second floor, housing the permanent Ethnological Exhibit, has an extensive display of various tribal artifacts from the six provinces of the Cordillera region: Abra, Apayao, Benguet (of which Baguio City is a part), Kalinga, Ifugao and Mountain Province.
area. The park is located at Antonio Villegas St., Manila beside Metropolitan Theater. It is accessible via the NLEX Connector España Exit. Whether you’re up for unwinding at Arroceros or you’re enthusiastic to learn more about the Philippines, there are so many great places to explore in the country’s capital city. As NLEX Connector streamlines your travel between these destinations, you can now truly get lost in these cultural treasures and natural beauty.
JP Ordoña (Manilakad) leads Manilakad Walks in Intramuros, Binondo, Quiapo and more. Let him guide you to several walking destinations in Manila. Manilakad (Jing Ordoña) can be reached on Facebook Messenger or through text at 0916-3597888 and Viber (George Ordona) at 09606975930.
Baguio Bamboo Educational Demo Farm
Th E Builders, a sculpture by Ben-hur Villanueva, at the Centennial garden
Th E ifugao hut-inspired Baguio Museum
aRRoCERoS Park
Th E revitalized Baguio Botanical garden
Th E Cordillera gallery of the Baguio Museum
arashiyama Bamboo grove
Th E Torii gate at the Mirador Peace Memorial
By George Ordoña
Photos from NLEX Lakbay Norte
GCash introduces GCash jr. and other innovations like a tap-to-pay feature
THERE is no doubt that GCash has changed the way we all handled money. Only older people like myself carry cash these days. Most kids (anyone younger than me) just have online banking and GCash. About 94 million Filipinos now have GCash, imagine that.
During FutureCast 2024, GCash made several announcements that, as GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon said, will “Change the Game.” FutureCast is an annual assembly where the finance app showcases the incoming innovations and updates.
One of the most exciting announcements is “GCash jr.” which will allow kids to cash in, pay, and save money under parental supervision. Children can get their first debit card with GCash Jr. Visa Cards. Of course, it’s up to the parents to set wallet limits as the kids make supervised purchases and subscriptions. GCash also introduced GSave jr. to encourage kids to save money. GCash executive Fatima Javellana said a digital finance account for kids would help them to become independent.
The new GCash innovations will help people make more seamless payments. Tap To Pay, powered by NFC (Near Field Communication), will help make people’s daily commutes easier. This is how Tap To Pay will work: Once you’re logged on to your GCash app, you can just tap your phone on the fast lane turnstile to make a payment. Watch Pay, in partnership with Huawei, is the first payment method via smartwatches in the Philippines. You can wear your GCash wallet on your Huawei smartwatch and
make seamless payments with just a scan of the QR on your wrist. Borrow on the Spot gives more Filipinos a chance to borrow money. Powered by Fuse, Borrow on the Spot lets users, with just one tap of a button, instantly request to reassess their creditworthiness and get a higher credit limit via GGives.
Fraud is a big issue when making online payments so GCash introduced Online PaySafe, an added security feature when you add to cart. With this feature, you are directed to the GCash app during their payment process to complete your transaction using multi-factor authentication. This enhances security by reducing open windows and tabs that expose user accounts to possible takeovers, payment scam links, and website spoofing. GCash partnered with Chubb for Money Protect, which covers transactions from potential scammers who pretend to be someone they know or disguise themselves as a legit store. For as low as P30, you can now insure their transactions of up to P15,000 for 30 days.
GCash also launched Gigi, which is powered by generative AI to handle common queries and escalate complex issues seamlessly. Gigi can also conduct security checks, access past conversations, and connect users to live agents when needed.
GCash also introduced three new app designs.
Dashboard 3.0 has a new look with easy navigation that lets you access their your GCash products at a glance. With its new save, borrow and grow tabs, users can now view their most-used features in the app. The new and improved GCat & Friends will help make money management more fun and educational.
Joining GCat are her friends Corey G, who will sniff out all the hottest deals, and Graf, who will remind customers when it’s time to start saving and investing.
Meanwhile, Money Manager is a real time spend tracker that visualizes spending on the app.
GCash also introduced AI-powered innovations, including GScore AI, GCash’s customer trust score powered by AI, to help you borrow better. This feature calculates users’ creditworthiness and loan eligibility based on their daily app behavior.
Hyper-Personalized Ads powered by AI is GCash’s
ad-serving platform that tracks users’ shopping preferences and matches them with personalized offers from GCash partners and merchants. GCoach AI is your go-to guide for all things related to money.
Using generative AI, it educates users on how to effectively spend, save and grow their money.
GCash will continue its international reach to 16 countries including the US, Canada, Italy, UK, Australia, Japan, Spain, UAE, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, Qatar, Singapore, KSA, and Kuwait. This will make GCash available to 10 million overseas Filipinos. International Bank Cash-In, allows users to cash-in to GCash with over 12,000 US Banks, with Europe to follow soon.
You can now use GTravel to book and pay for flights and hotel as it streamlines international travel experiences helping users book experiences, buy e-sims, and even plan visa requirements for trips. Travelers can now apply for travel insurance powered by Standard and Malayan with coverage of up to P2.5 million while OONA Insurance allows travelers instant lounge access for flight delays by an hour. Soon, travelers to European destinations such as Spain, Italy, France, Germany and more can also digitize and claim travel tax refunds with GCash. Meanwhile, the GCash Tourist product allows foreigners visiting the Philippines to pay like locals, giving them 30-day access to GCash features like Scan to Pay and Send Money.
Finally, GCash unveiled its green innovations. GImpact is part of GCash’s commitment to promote climate action. This new feature allows users to see how every transaction they have in the app leads to carbon reduction. These reduced emissions are converted into Green Points, which they can use to plant real trees through GForest’s partner NGOs. Finally, GFarm is a new category for planting fruitbearing trees. This initiative helps Filipino farmers plant one tree at a time by supplying them with fruit tree seedlings like coffee, avocado and jackfruit. All proceeds from these go directly to the farmers, providing them and their communities a more sustainable livelihood. ■
CRETA taps PHL as springboard to SEA market
BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES
DUBAI, United Emirates-based pioneering metaverse game platform company CRETA recently announced it will make the Philippines its launching in its initial foray in the Southeast Asian region.
“We will be beta-testing the Philippine market as we make our inroads into Southeast Asia,” Ray Eiichiro Nakazato, chief creative officer of CRETA, told BUSINESSMIRRO� in a recent one on one interview at Bonifacio Global City.
Nakazato said CRETA will be inviting Filipino gamers to join the company and help them develop their services. He added the entry of CRETA in the local market will lead to a paradigm shift in the gaming development industry as it offers a comprehensive ecosystem toward game development anchored on blockchain technology.
He stressed that CRETA sees the Philippines as a
rich market to promote web platforms as it offers a lot of opportunities because Filipino Web3 gamers have a higher literacy rate compared to their Asian counterparts such as the Japanese gamers.
Described as the next iteration of internet, Web3 is built on blockchain technology and is communally controlled by its users.
“Moreover, we want to enter the Philippine market because we are aware that gamers from the emerging market such as the Philippines are more open to new ideas compared to their counterparts from the developed countries who are keen to accept new ideas.
Together with Nakazato, Thomas Vu, producer of global phenomenon League of Legends and Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Arcane, said the CRETA is excited to enter the local market.
“Oftentimes, when you see people build ecosystems, it’s piecemeal. With CRETA, our team has been really thoughtful and strategic about building
all the pieces together harmoniously, and I think that connective tissue is really important. It’s designed to be ubiquitous in all these different ways, and I suspect that it’s going to catch a lot of people off guard,” said Vu. Aside from Vu, comprising the team of veteran producers and developers behind CRETA are Kay Youn, CEO of CRETA affiliate CCR and lead developer of the iconic game Fortress; Yoshiki Okamoto, the legendary developer behind Street Fighter 2 and Monster Strike; Joohyung Jang, the game producer behind iconic titles like Lineage and Aion; and Nakazato, Chief Creative Officer and Head of Japan.
“Currently, the team is working on some interesting business models, and the scalability of what we’re building is impressive,” said Vu. “When you think about it, very few teams have 25 plus years of gaming experience – this just doesn’t exist, so the next evolution of existing genres that CRETA is working on is going to be interesting.”
One tech tip: What to do when you have too many passwords to remember
LONDON—Everyone has too many passwords. The credentials we need to remember to navigate online life keep multiplying, not just for frequently used email, banking, social media, Netflix and Spotify logins, but also, say, the little-known e-commerce site you’re not sure you’ll buy from again.
According to some unscientific studies, the average person has hundreds of passwords. That’s a lot to keep track of. You might be tempted to recycle them, but it’s one of the bad password habits that cybersecurity experts warn against.
Instead, use a password manager. They’ve been around for a while and can be useful tools to keep on top of your credentials. But they can also be intimidating for those who aren’t tech-savvy.
Here’s a guide on how to use them:
■ Why should I use a password manager?
Many people just use the same password for all their online accounts, mainly because it’s the most convenient thing to do. Don’t!
If your credentials are caught in a cyber breach, the hackers could try using the stolen passwords to get into other services.
Other no-nos: Using easily guessed information like birthdays, names of family members, favorite sports teams, or simple phrases like abc123.
The best strategy, experts say, is to use a different password for each account, the longer and more complex the better, backed up by two-factor authentication where possible.
But it’s impossible to remember all those various codes. So let a password manager do the job.
■ How does a password manager work?
The basic concept is simple: Your passwords are stored securely in a digital vault. When you need to access an online service, it auto-fills the login and password fields. The only thing you’ll need to remember is a single password to open the password manager.
Most password managers have a smartphone app that works with mobile browsers and other apps and can be opened with a thumbprint or facial ID scan. If you’re using a computer, you can also log in to your password vault through a browser plug-in or by going to a website.
A good password manager should also be able to generate complex passwords with letters, numbers and symbols, for whenever you’re setting up a new account. And it should also recognize that you’re signing into an online service for the first time and ask if you want to save the credentials you’ve entered.
Password managers can also help you avoid falling prey to phishing scams. Those deceptive emails from fraudsters trying to trick you into clicking a link to a phony website designed to harvest login details? A password manager won’t automatically fill in the details if the web address doesn’t match the one linked to the saved password. They don’t just store passwords. You can save bank and credit card PINs, for example. Many also support passkeys, a new technology that companies like Google have been rolling out as a safer alternative to passwords.
■ Are they secure?
Cybersecurity worries around password managers flared up after one service, Lastpass, reported a security breach, leading experts to recommend avoiding it.
Don’t let that put you off. For one thing, experts advise that saving credentials in a password manager is much safer than letting, for example, e-commerce sites do it.
Good password managers use strong encryption that prevents anyone else from seeing your data. Many services use AES-256 encryption, which is considered the most secure type “and impossible to be brute-forced by today’s technology,” said Pieter Arntz, senior malware intelligence researcher at cybersecurity company Malwarebytes.
Strong encryption “ensures that even if your computer or your password manager is compromised, the attacker cannot simply read all your passwords, because they are stored encoded and the attacker will need the master password to decode them,” Arntz said.
A good password manager should also hold regular security audits and inform users quickly if there’s a breach. Many services store data in the cloud. If you’re worried about that, some let you store them only on your local device, but it can be a complicated process. AP
www.businessmirror.com.ph
BusinessMirror
Keeping it real with Jacky Chen, realme PHL country manager
Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI
BY ALEXA ST. JOHN The Associated Press
THREE years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030. But a report from the company on Tuesday shows it is nowhere near meeting that goal.
Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13 percent in 2023 over the year before. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48 percent.
Google cited artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year’s growth.
Making that electricity by burning coal or natural gas emits greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet, bringing more extreme weather. The company has one of the most significant climate commitments in industry and has been seen as a leader.
Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, said Google should be doing more to partner with cleaner companies and invest in the electrical grid. “The reality is that we are far behind what we could already be doing now with the technology that we have, with the resources that we have, in terms of advancing the transition,” she said.
Google chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt told The Associated Press, “Reaching this net zero goal by 2030, this is an extremely ambitious goal. “We know this is not going to be easy and that our approach will need to continue to evolve,” Brandt added, “and it will require us to navigate a lot of uncertainty, including this uncertainty around the future of AI’s environmental impacts.”
Some experts say the rapidly expanding data centers needed to power AI threaten the entire transition to clean electricity, an important part of addressing climate change. That’s because a new data center can delay the closure of a power plant that burns fossil fuel or prompt a new one to be built. Data centers are not only energyintensive, they require high voltage transmission lines and need significant amounts of water to stay cool. They are also noisy. They often are built where electricity is cheapest, not where renewables, such as wind and solar, are a key source of energy.
Global data center and AI electricity demand could double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency. Other major tech company sustainability plans are also challenged by the proliferation of data centers. They caused Microsoft’s emissions to grow 29 percent above its 2020 baseline, the company said in an environmental sustainability report in May.
Tech companies make the case that AI, including tools such as ChatGPT, is not only partially causing climate change, it’s also helping to address it.
In the case of Google, that could mean using data to predict future flooding, or making traffic flow more efficiently, to save gasoline.
Amanda Smith, senior scientist at the climate nonprofit Project Drawdown, said those who use AI—both large companies and individuals just making memes—need to do so responsibly, meaning using the energy only when it benefits society.
“It’s up to us as humans to watch what we’re doing with it and to question why we’re doing that,” Smith added. “When it’s worth it, we can make sure that those demands are going to be met by clean sources of power.” Google’s emissions grew last year in part because the company used more energy; 25,910 gigawatt-hours more, an increase from the year before and more than double the hours of energy consumed just four years earlier. A gigawatt-hour is roughly the energy that a power plant serving several hundred thousand households puts out in one hour.
On the positive side, as Google’s consumption grows, so has its use of renewable power.
The company said in 2020 it would meet its massive need for electricity using only clean energy every hour of every day by 2030, all over the world. Last year, Google says, it saw an average of 64 percent carbon-free energy for its data centers and offices around the globe. The company says
1.8
SINCE its arrival in the Philippines in 2018, realme has evolved from an upstart brand celebrating youth with the slogan “Proud To Be Young” to the country’s leading smartphone brand, encouraging users to “Dare To Leap.” Throughout its journey, realme Philippines has remained dedicated to pushing boundaries by offering cutting-edge technology and stylish designs at affordable prices.
This year, realme embraced another rebranding with the “Make It Real” philosophy, a move that reflects its evolution from a young brand to an established one that aligns itself with the aspirations and lifestyles of its young users.
Following the launch of its new flagship, the realme GT 6, I had the opportunity to interview realme Philippines country manager Jacky Chen, who shared his insights on this strategic shift and the future goals of the company.
LOOKING BACK: ON BECOMING NO. 1
What was your initial reaction when you achieved the status as the No. 1 brand in the Philippines in such a short time? How did this achievement impact the company’s morale and future goals?
Becoming the No. 1 smartphone brand in the Philippines in such a short time was a moment of great pride and validation for realme. It affirmed our strategy of offering innovative, affordable technology that resonates with Filipino consumers. This achievement has significantly motivated our team and reinforced our commitment to provide excellence and customer satisfaction. Moving forward, we are focusing on deepening community engagement to sustain our leadership and continue empowering Filipinos through our products.
What do you think were the critical factors that led to realme becoming the No. 1 brand?
There were several factors that contributed to (that) milestone. Our focus on innovation aligned perfectly with the dynamic preferences of young Filipino consumers. By consistently introducing fresh technology at competitive price points, we captured the attention and loyalty of our target market who value both quality and affordability in their tech choices. Additionally, our commitment to understanding and prioritizing the needs of our target market played a pivotal role. Through social media, events and customer support, we actively engaged with our community and learned about their needs and priorities. Moving forward, these factors will continue to guide our strategy as we aim to maintain our leadership in the smartphone industry.”
forward, we are dedicated to enriching the tech experiences of our customers by consistently exceeding their expectations and staying ahead of market trends. This commitment drives us to continually deliver value and satisfaction to the Filipino youth, even after achieving such milestones.
How has the pressure from headquarters evolved as realme has grown and achieved more success?
The pressure was largely self-imposed as we worked hard to establish a presence from scratch. Right from the start, it was about entering and solidifying our position in the market. Now, having successfully grown and established ourselves, the focus has shifted. It’s not just about meeting customer expectations anymore; it’s about continuously raising the bar and staying competitive.
Does regaining the top spot remain the utmost priority for the brand? If not, what is the brand’s goal?
Achieving the top spot in the smartphone market is undoubtedly significant, but in realme Philippines our primary focus is meeting the demands of our target market. Being No. 1 is simply the outcome of successfully fulfilling our core mission. Moving
What would you consider your biggest achievement for realme Philippines besides steering it to the top?
I take pride in saying that our impact goes beyond market success—it extends to our community and our employees. We’re proud to have created employment opportunities and fostered an environment where our team can grow and develop their skill sets. This collaborative effort is key to achieving greater success together.
What are the biggest challenges you face in the current market?
Consumers have numerous options in today’s market; thus, our main challenge is to stand out. To achieve this, we prioritize continuous innovation by discovering and developing appealing new features that align with our target consumers’ evolving tastes and preferences.
How big is the Philippine market compared to the rest of Southeast Asia?
The Philippine market is a significant player within Southeast Asia, characterized by its vibrant consumer base. I consider it one of the most influential markets in the region, consistently attracting attention from global smartphone makers. With over 100 million people and a strong appetite for innovative technology, the Philippines has immense opportunities for growth and expansion in the smartphone sector.
MAKING IT REALME
How has the “Make It Real” philosophy influenced the brand’s overall direction and strategy? What were the key factors that led to the adoption of this new slogan?
Adopting the “Make It Real” philosophy was driven by our mission to provide tech experiences that exceed expectations. This direction reflects our commitment to evolving from a young brand to an established one that aligns itself with the aspirations and lifestyles of young people. Furthermore, it underscores our position as a brand that resonates with young audiences, consistently delivering on our promise of excellence and accessibility.
What were the biggest changes within the company with this shift to a new company philosophy? In what ways has “Make It Real” changed the way realme approaches product development and innovation?
Our strategy focuses on finding the right balance between software and hardware. We maximize the potential of our hardware to deliver highperformance devices while ensuring that the software complements and enhances the user experience. We can produce high-quality devices at competitive prices by optimizing resource utilization and focusing
on essential features that offer real value.
This approach not only makes advanced technology accessible to a broader audience but also maximizes the efficiency of our manufacturing processes. Ultimately, “Make It Real” guides us in creating innovative, reliable, and cost-effective tech solutions that resonate with the needs and aspirations of today’s youth. ■
Cone and Gilas Pilipinas: Amazing!
By Josef Ramos
THE Philippines is in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) and Tim Cone did not mince words, clearly depicting how surprising the turn of events were so far in Latvia.
“It’s the first time I felt good about losing,” Cone told the post-game press conference at the Arena Riga where his wards took a 94-96 loss to Georgia. Those quotes were from the mind of a genius tactician who owns a gold medal from last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games where he floored the Chinese right on their home court and made Jordan weep in the final.
“We already had our tickets to leave tomorrow, we’ve bought the tickets,” he said. “I guess we have to move them back a little bit. That’s how surprised we are.” Nobody expected Gilas to go this far in the OQT where they’re up against teams ranked many rungs higher to their No. 37 spot on the global stage. Brazil is up next for the Philippines with the game set at 8:30 p.m. (Manila time) on Saturday.
The Brazilians are entering the semifinals tucked with an 81-72 win over Montenegro from Group B with all the semifinalists—Latvia faces Cameroon in the other duel— toting 1-1 win-loss records from the eliminations.
Gallant effort The Alas Pilipinas celebrate a point against Vietnam but winds up absorbing a 25-14,25- 22, 25-21 setback to exit from the International Volleyball Federation Women’s Volleyball Challenger Cup in a jampacked Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday night. Vietnam advances to the semifinals along with the Czech Republic, which eliminated Argentina, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16, also on Friday. The winner of the knockout tournament will join the Volleyball Nations League next year. NONIE REYES
SBG and his field of dreams in Sta. Josefa
“The equipment came as a symbol of renewed hope, promising to help the children swing not just for bases but for their bigger dreams,” he said.
Go reiterated his belief in sports as a crucial element of personal development and nation-building with his advocacy, embodied in his legislative work and compassionate brand of public service, continuing to champion the idea that access to sports can indeed positively alter the trajectory of young lives.
Latvia advanced after with its 88-55 win over with Cameroon also reaching the semifinals after nipping Brazil, 77-74, also on Friday.
Team manager Richard del Rosario pitched in his own brave and optimistic words.
“Very happy but not content,” del Rosario told BusinessMirror via chat.
“We just focus on the next game and see where it takes us…can’t think too far ahead.” Only the winner
of OQT—which is also happening in Greece, Puerto Rico and Spain—will qualify for the Paris Olympics that open on July 26. Looking back at Gilas’s two games in the eliminations—including the 89-80 shocker over Latvia—del Rosario said the task isn’t easy at all.
“Both games were very tough. We played against all odds and in a hostile
environment, but we managed to find a way to win,” he said.
“Players played with a lot of grit and determination and everyone contributed,” he added.
Kai Sotto has been contributing a lot with his hounding 7-foot-3 presence in the shade. But he’ll be a game-time decision against Brazil.
charge for Brazil are Leo Meindl and Lucas Dias, who fired 19 points and 16 points, respectively, in a losing effort with Cameroon, along with the Houston Rockets’ Bruno Caboclo, who’s averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.
“Kai has no rib fractures and he will be a game-time decision,” Cone said.
Sotto sustained a minor rib injury after taking a hit from Georgia’s Orlando Magic big man Goga Bitadze. Expected to take
Go played a pivotal role in authoring and co-sponsoring Republic Act No. 11470 that created the National Academy of Sports (NAS) in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac. The NAS combines secondary education with a sports-focused curriculum, offering a dual path for student-athletes to excel in their sports and academic endeavors.
Go also principally sponsored and is one of the authors of Senate Bill No. 2514, the proposed Philippine National Games (PNG) Act, which recently passed the Senate on its third and final reading.
LONDON—There were tears from Andy Murray. Standing ovations from the Centre Court crowd. A video tribute replete with messages from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams.
And, yes, a doubles match Murray played alongside his brother Thursday, all part of the first stop on the two-time Wimbledon singles champion’s farewell tour at a tournament that meant so much to him.
The Murrays lost, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in the first round of men’s doubles against Rinky Hijikata and John Peers—but the result was, truly, beside the point on this evening.
“The match itself, it was tough, physically. It was hard for me.... I was
fortunate I was even able to get on the court to play,” said Murray, who had surgery to remove a cyst from his spine less than two weeks ago, forcing him to withdraw from singles.
“It was pretty emotional,” Murray said about the post-match tribute.
“Watching the video was nice, but hard as well, for me. Because you know it’s coming to the end of something that you absolutely loved doing for such a long time. So that was difficult.”
It was the first time a men’s doubles first-round match was played in the event’s main stadium in nearly 30 years, a fitting way for him to begin to say goodbye—and for his many fans to offer their thanks and well wishes, too. AP
“This was mission impossible today,” said Georgia coach Aleksander Dzikic of the victory that didn’t help them any in their Olympic bid. Georgia needed to win by at least 19 points to get a semifinals seat and their desperation showed—an unorthodox ploy to send the game to overtime on Chris Newsome’s missed free throw didn’t work to their advantage. Regardless of Saturday’s outcome touch, Cone and Gilas are to come back home from an amazing campaign in Riga.
ANDY MURRAY looks a tad uncomfortable while playing. AP
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Labour Party sweeps to power in election, Keir Starmer to become UK prime minister
By Brian Melley & Jill Lawless The Associated Press
LONDON—Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory—but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation.
Labour leader Keir Starmer will officially become prime minister later in the day, leading his party back to government less than five years after it suffered its worst defeat in almost a century. In the merciless choreography of British politics, he will take charge in 10 Downing St. hours after Thursday’s votes are counted—as Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is hustled out.
“A mandate like this comes with a great responsibility,” Starmer acknowledged in a speech to supporters, saying that the fight to regain people’s trust after years of disillusionment “is the battle that defines our age.”
Speaking as dawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day.” Sunak conceded defeat, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”
Labour’s triumph and challenges WITH almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the
650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.
For Starmer, it’s a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.
“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
And that’s what Starmer promised, saying “change begins now.”
Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.
“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able
to think beyond the very short term to medium-term objectives,” he said.
Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years—some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not—that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K.’s exit from the European Union followed by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.
Rising poverty, crumbling infrastructure and overstretched National Health Service have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”
Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy further with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. Truss lost her seat to Labour, was one of a slew of senior Tories kicked out in a stark electoral reckoning.
While the result appears to buck recent rightward electoral shifts
in Europe, including in France and Italy, many of those same populist undercurrents flow in Britain. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has roiled the race with his party’s anti-immigrant “take our country back” sentiment and undercut support for the Conservatives and even grabbed some voters from Labour.
Conservative vote collapses as smaller parties surge
THE result is a catastrophe for the Conservatives as voters punished them for 14 years of presiding over austerity, Brexit, a pandemic, political scandals and internecine conflict.
The historic defeat—the smallest number of seats in the party’s two-century history—leaves it depleted and in disarray and will likely spark an immediate contest to replace Sunak as leader.
In a sign of the volatile public mood and anger at the system, the incoming Parliament will be more fractured and ideologically diverse than any for years. Smaller parties
Germany fears victory for the far-right National Rally could harm its close relations with France
By Kirsten Grieshaber The Associated Press
ERLIN—German Chancellor Olaf
BScholz is worried about the outcome of the run-off election in France.
Scholz, who is normally tightlipped when asked about domestic politics in other European countries, has in recent weeks more than once expressed concern that the far-right, nationalist National Rally may win the second round of elections in neighboring France on Sunday.
Earlier this week, the decidedly proEuropean German chancellor even revealed that he and beleaguered French President Emmanuel Macron are texting on a daily basis as the election draws closer.
“We are discussing the situation, which is really depressing,” Scholz said at a summer gathering of his Social Democratic Party in Berlin on Tuesday, according to German news agency dpa.
“In any case, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the French, whom I love and appreciate so much, the country that means so much to me, will succeed in preventing a government led by a right-wing populist party,” Scholz added in an unusually emotional way.
Germany worries about French election outcome
THE German chancellor’s concerns may be well founded. If the French elect a far-right nationalist government on the weekend, German-French ties are likely to deteriorate, with effects felt across the European Union, experts say.
The specter of a far-right government in France comes after the European Parliament elections last month strengthened hard-right parties overall, though their performance varied from
country to country. In Germany, the farright Alternative for Germany also surged.
Several countries in the European Union such as Italy, the Netherlands or Sweden have veered to the right in national elections as voters cast their ballots for euroskeptic parties promising nationalist solutions for European issues such as inflation, migration, and Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine that has brought in millions of refugees looking for shelter.
Why would a victory for the National Rally hurt GermanFrench relations?
GERMANY and France, the EU’s two biggest economies, have long been viewed as the motor of European integration. The two countries in the heart of Europe have overcome hundreds of years of wars and animosity and, after the end of World War II, built a close relationship on many different levels.
Both countries are also founding members of the European Union, which was created in large part to prevent a new war between Germany and France given their bellicose history.
Generations of high school students have participated in exchange programs, there are city partnerships, regular bilateral government consultations, joint arms projects, and, not to forget, countless binational German-French families living in both countries.
However, the National Rally pursues a “France First” policy. It wants to move away from the close partnership of France and Germany, experts say, which would be a stark turnaround from decades of close and celebrated friendship.
Even though the leaders of the two countries have had political differences in the past over topics such as how strongly to
support Ukraine in defending itself against Russia, they have—until now—always tried to coordinate their positions on EU and foreign policy.
“German-French relations are actually unique in international politics in terms of their cooperation and intensity,” says Ronja Kempin, an analyst of Franco-German relations at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
It comes therefore as no surprise that “in Berlin, people are now particularly nervous about the fact that the National Rally in France could represent a party with a large majority in parliament that is very critical of Germany, perhaps even hostile to Germany,” she added.
Even though National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella said last month, that if he becomes France’s prime minister after the election, he hopes “to have the occasion and the opportunity to talk with the German chancellor,” he has also stressed that he would defend his country’s interests and sees Scholz as a political rival.
If the Franco-German relationship sours, all of the EU is affected GERMANY , which is the EU’s most populous country and has the continent’s biggest economy, is often perceived by its European neighbors as overpowering and too dominant in the 27-country bloc. Populist parties in particular have been using this sentiment to rile up their voters.
If a future far-right French government were to join that choir of nationalists, no longer singing from the same hymn sheet as Berlin, that would have repercussions for all of the EU, says Jacob Ross, an expert on Franco-German relations at the German
Council on Foreign Relations.
“Many EU projects could potentially be blocked,” he says, adding that future cooperation on European financial and banking policies, and European armaments projects, as well as everyday collaboration on the EU’s administrative level could suffer.
The further expansion of the EU, which Scholz has been advocating, could also be in question, Ross said.
“The National Rally is certainly not a supporter of rapid EU expansion into the Western Balkans, and certainly not into Ukraine or Georgia,” he added.
Too close to fail?
Despite the potentially grim outlook, some European political veterans think that German-French relations are too strong to fail.
Martin Schulz, the former president of the European parliament and a member of Scholz’s Social Democrats, says that the relationship is close that even a populist government cannot derail it.
“No French president can do without Germany and, conversely, no German chancellor can do without France,” Schulz told weekly Der Spiegel on Thursday. “The two countries are too intertwined for that—economically, in terms of monetary policy, socially and culturally.”
“After all these decades of cooperation, no one can flip the switch from one day to the next and unwind this connection.
The majority of people in France are also interested in a close relationship with Germany,” he added. “So: Franco-German relations will continue—the question is in what form.”
Sylvie Corbet contributed reporting from Paris.
picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and Farage’s Reform UK. It won four seats, including one for Farage in the seaside town of Clacton-onSea, securing a place in Parliament on his eighth attempt.
The Liberal Democrats won about 70 seats, on a slightly lower share of the vote than Reform because its votes were more efficiently distributed. In Britain’s first-past-the-post system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.
The Green Party has won four seats, up from just one before the election.
One of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland’s 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but handful, mostly to Labour.
Labour was cautious but reliable LABOUR did not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.”
But the party’s cautious, safety-first campaign delivered the desired result. The party won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers,
including the Rupert Murdochowned Sun tabloid, which praised Starmer for “dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics.”
Conservative missteps THE Conservative campaign, meanwhile, was plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.
In Henley-on-Thames, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of London, voters like Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired, sensed the nation was looking for something different. The community, which has long voted Conservative, flipped to the Liberal Democrats this time.
“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ Mulcahy said ahead of the results. “But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”
Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town
By Hanna Arhirova
KThe Associated Press
YIV, Ukraine—Ukraine’s army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a monthslong Russian assault, a military spokesperson said Thursday.
Chasiv Yar is a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town that occupies an elevated location. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
forces formation, told The Associated Press in a written message Thursday.
Ukraine’s defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” he said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”
Months of relentless Russian artillery strikes have devastated Chasiv Yar, with homes and municipal offices charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000 has been left deserted.
Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of the 255 assault battalion which has been based in the area for six months, said after Russian troops captured the neighborhood, they burned every building not already destroyed by shelling.
Shyriaiev said Russia is deploying scorched-earth tactics in an attempt to destroy anything which could be used as a military position in a bid to force troops to retreat.
“I regret that we are gradually losing territory,” he said, speaking by phone from the Chasiv Yar area, but added, “we cannot hold what is ruined.”
Russian troops outnumber Ukrainians 10-to-1 in the area but Shyriaiev suggested that, even with that ratio, they have not been able to make significant progress in the past six months of active fighting.
The intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s defensive line in the area of Chasiv Yar has increased over the last month, Voloshyn said.
In the past week alone, Voloshyn said Russia has carried out nearly 1,300 strikes, fired nearly 130 glide bombs and made 44 ground assaults. Other Russian attacks in recent weeks have focused on capturing nearby settlements that would allow them to advance to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the biggest cities in the Ukrainiancontrolled part of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian commanders in the area say their resources remain stretched, largely due to a monthslong gap in military assistance from the United States, which threw Ukraine’s military onto the defensive.
Shyriaiev, the assault battalion commander, said ammunition from allies is arriving, but more slowly than needed by the army.
“We are determined to hold on to the end,” said the commander, who has been fighting on the front line since the outbreak of the war.
Elsewhere, Russia launched 22 drones over Ukraine the previous night and nearly all of them were shot down, according to the air force’s morning update. One hit a power infrastructure facility in the northern Chernihiv region, leaving nearly 6,000 customers without electricity, said the governor, Viacheslav Chaus. Russia is continually targeting Ukraine’s badly damaged energy infrastructure, resulting in hours of rolling blackouts across the country. Ukrainian officials have warned that the situation may worsen as winter approaches.
The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighborhood in the town, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia ground
IN this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Russian soldiers fire from their 152-mm “Giatsint-B” howitzer from their position at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
Fierce fighting breaks out as militias launch new attacks against regime in Myanmar’s civil war
By David Rising The Associated Press
BANGKOK—New fighting has broken out in northeastern Myanmar, bringing an end to a Chinese-brokered cease-fire and putting pressure on the military regime as it faces attacks from resistance forces on multiple fronts in the country’s civil war.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of three powerful militias that launched a surprise joint offensive last October, renewed its attacks on regime positions last week in northeastern Shan state, which borders China, Laos and Thailand, and the neighboring Mandalay region with the support of local forces there.
Since then, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has joined in, and by Friday, combined forces from the two allied militias had reportedly encircled the strategically important city of Lashio, headquarters of the regime’s northeastern military command.
This is the next phase of October’s “1027” offensive, said Lway Yay Oo, spokesperson for the TNLA, which last week said the military provoked retaliation with artillery and airstrikes despite the cease-fire.
“In phase two, our number one aim is the eradication of the military
dictatorship, and number two is the protection and safety of local people,” she said.
Thet Swe, a spokesperson for the military regime, which seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, accused the militias of putting civilians in jeopardy by restarting the fighting.
“As the TNLA are starting to violate the cease-fire, the Tatmadaw is protecting the lives and the property of the ethnic people,” he said in an email to the AP, referring to the military by its Burmese name.
There was no indication that the third ethnic armed organization that makes up the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the powerful Arakan Army, has joined in the renewed fighting in Shan state, but its troops have never stopped fighting in its home Rakhine state, which was not covered by the January 11 cease-fire.
Post-communist generation is hoping for new era of democracy in Mongolia
By Ken Moritsugu Associated Press
LAANBAATAR, Mongolia—Tsenguun
USaruulsaikhan, a young and newly minted member of Mongolia’s parliament, is unhappy with below-cost electricity rates that she says show her country has yet to fully shake off its socialist past.
Most of Mongolia’s power plants date from the Soviet era and outages are common in some areas. Heavy smog envelops the capital Ulaanbaata r in the winter because many people still burn coal to heat their homes.
“It’s stuck in how it was like 40, 50 years ago,” said Tsenguun, part of a rising generation of leaders who are puzzling out their country’s future after three decades of democracy. “And that’s the reason why we need to change it.” Democracy in Mongolia is in a transition phase, said Tsenguun, who at 27 is the youngest member of a new parliament sworn in this week. “We are trying to figure out what democracy actually means,” she said in a recent interview.
Discontented voters deliver a ruling party setback
‘ MONGOLIA became a democracy in the early 1990s after six decades of one-party communist rule. Many Mongolians welcomed the end of repression and resulting freedoms but have since soured on the parliament and established political parties. Lawmakers are widely seen as enriching themselves and their big business supporters from the nation’s mineral wealth rather than using it to develop a country where poverty is widespread.
Voters delivered an election setback to the ruling Mongolian People’s Party last week, leaving it still in charge but with a slim majority of 68 out of the 126 seats in parliament.
Tsenguun was one of 42 winning candidates from the main opposition Democratic Party, which made a major comeback after being reduced to a handful of seats in the 2016 and 2020 elections. She articulates a vision for Mongolia that dovetails with small government Republicans in the United States. In her view, too many people think the government will take care of them, and the large budget just feeds corruption. Government should be as invisible as possible, she said, and give people the freedom and responsibility to build their own lives.
“I don’t think that (the) free market has developed yet because the people are not used to this mentality,” she said. “People are afraid of competition.”
The detention of a couple of journalists in the past several months has fueled worries that the government may be edging backward, eroding the freedoms that democracy brought.
Tsenguun said her age group, who only know the post-communist era, needs to push back. “I think we also need to fight for it, because our generation didn’t have to fight for freedom,” she said.
Younger voters and female representation THE ruling party, which also ran the country during the communist period, is wellentrenched and enjoys the support of many older voters.
Retired community leaders, one wearing service medals from the government, showed up before polls opened at 7 a.m. in an Ulaanbaatar neighborhood. Elders are pioneers, one said, coming first to encourage others to vote.
Younger voters historically have not voted in large numbers, but anecdotal reports suggest their turnout may have risen in Ulaanbaatar in last week’s election. Nearly half the country’s population of 3.4 million people live in the capital.
“It was really encouraging to see so many young people in such a long line to vote as early as possible,” said Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, a former Democratic Party lawmaker and Cabinet minister who founded her own party two years ago.
“When I met with them during the election campaign, I saw it in person,” said Oyungerel, whose Civic Unity Party didn’t win any seats. “I saw their desire to fight and desire to change, really strongly.”
The proportion of female representatives rose from 17 percent to 25 percent in the new parliament, but most of those came in 48 seats that are allocated to parties based on their share of the vote. Female candidates did not do well in the head-to-head competition to represent 13 multi-member districts.
As a young woman, Tsenguun sees requirements that political parties nominate female candidates as a two-edged sword. She has to fight against the assumption that she got her position only because of a quota.
The TNLA claims to have already captured more than 30 army outposts, and to now control the western part of Mogok, whose ruby mines make it a lucrative target.
There is also fighting for the town of Kyaukme, which sits at a highway crossroads, and Nawnghkio to the southwest, which leads toward the major military garrison town of Pyin Oo Lwin along the same highway.
“That’s where you need to cut it off to prevent the military from sending reinforcements,” said Morgan Michaels, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies who runs its Myanmar Conflict Map project.
In Mandalay, the region west of
Shan, a local People’s Defense Force— one of many armed resistance groups that have sprung up in support of the underground National Unity Government, which views itself as Myanmar’s legitimate administration—joined the TNLA’s offensive.
Osmond, a spokesperson for the Mandalay People’s Defense Force who would only give his nom de guerre because of safety concerns, said his and other local resistance groups have seized nearly 20 military outposts.
The October offensive by the Three Brotherhood Alliance made rapid advances as the militias took large expanses of territory in the north and northeast, including multiple important border crossings with China and
several major military bases.
The alliance militias have close ties to China, and it’s widely believed that the offensive had Beijing’s tacit approval because of its growing dissatisfaction with the military regime’s seeming indifference to the burgeoning drug trade along its border and the proliferation of centers in Myanmar at which cyberscams are run, with workers trafficked from China and elsewhere in the region.
China then helped broker the cease-fire in January, bringing the major fighting in the northeast to an end, even as other ethnic armed organizations and PDF groups launched their own attacks on regime positions elsewhere around the country.
With the renewed violence in the northeast, China’s Foreign Ministry told the AP it stood ready to again provide support for peace talks, but would not say whether it had been in direct contact with the Three Brotherhood Alliance or the military State Administration Council.
“China urges all parties in Myanmar to earnestly abide by the ceasefire agreement, exercise maximum restraint, disengage on the ground as soon as possible, and take practical and effective measures to ensure the tranquility of the China-Myanmar border and the safety of Chinese personnel and projects,” the ministry said in a faxed reply to questions.
The Myanmar army doesn’t appear to have been surprised by the TNLA attacks, with evidence that it mobilized forces and prepared defenses as well as security checkpoints and patrols ahead of the renewed offensive,
Michaels said.
“They didn’t get caught completely off guard, although they’ve not been able to respond yet, there’s been no counter-offensive,” he said.
It is not yet clear what the TNLA’s objectives are, and it could be that the group is just looking to expand gains and consolidate positions now while the military is stretched thin by fighting on several fronts, and before new batches of conscripts are trained for service. Already, 5,000 conscripts have been added to the military’s ranks and 10,000 more are expected before the end of the year. Thet Swe said they would not be sent into combat, but instead be used as sentries and other such duties, which would then free up better trained solders for the front lines.
“If the conscription carries forward and the military can halt these offenses and make it through to the end of the year, the next year there could be a counter-offensive,” Michaels said. “So this is the closing window to get this done.”
Likewise with the MNDAA, it is not clear whether it is planning to join the broader offensive or whether it intends to take encircled Lashio by force, lay siege to it, or simply tie up the troops now trapped there. The group did not respond to requests for comment.
“If you compare it to the first time, it’s not the same rapid collapse of the military,” Michaels said.
“The military is still taking losses but it’s just not the same kind of scale or pace. But if the MNDAA completely joins, then we’re looking at a different situation.”
India’s Modi will meet with Putin on 2-day visit to Russia starting Monday–Kremlin
By Vladimir Isachenkov & Ashok Sharma
The Associated Press
MOSCOW—The Kremlin on Thursday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will visit Russia next Monday and Tuesday and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian officials first announced the visit last month, but the dates have not been previously disclosed.
Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trading partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the US and its allies that shut most Western markets for Russian exports.
Under Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s action in Ukraine while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement.
The partnership between Moscow and New Delhi has become fraught, however, since Russia started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the hostilities in Ukraine.
Modi on Thursday skipped the
summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances.
Modi sent his foreign minister to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending the meeting.
Indian media reports speculated that the recently reelected Modi was busy with the Parliament session last week.
Modi last visited Russia in 2019 for an economic forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok. He last traveled to Moscow in 2015. Putin last met with Modi in September 2022 at a
summit of the SCO in Uzbekistan. In 2021, Putin also traveled to New Delhi and held talks with the Indian leader.
Tensions between Beijing and New Delhi have continued since a confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed China-India border in which rival troops fought with rocks, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
After his reelection to a third straight term, Modi attended the G7 meeting in Italy’s Apulia region last month and addressed artificial intelligence, energy, and regional issues in Africa and the Mediterranean. In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union was the source of about 70% of Indian army weapons, 80% of its air force systems and 85% of its navy platforms. India bought its first aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, from Russia in 2004. It had served in the former Soviet Union and later in the Russian navy. With the Russian supply line hit by the fighting in Ukraine, India has been reducing its dependency on Rus
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