LEDGES made by foreign and Filipino nationals through the government’s Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) grew more than five-fold in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the Approved Foreign Investments (FI) report, the PSA said IPAs approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals worth a total P541.29 billion. This represented an increase of 542.1 percent from the reported amount of P84.29 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. Of this amount, a total of P146.75 billion in pledges came from foreign
businesses and P394.54 billion or 72.9 percent share of the pledges came from Filipino nationals in the third quarter of the year.
“Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals in the third quarter of 2024 were expected to generate a total of 33,727 employment,” PSA said.
The PSA said this indicated an increase of 49.4 percent from the 22,571 expected jobs in the same quarter of the previous year.
Further, out of the total generated employment, a total of 19,265 jobs would be absorbed by FI projects.
Meanwhile, FI pledges represented an increase of 434.4 percent from the P27.46 billion in the same quarter of 2023.
Filipino pledges, meanwhile, posted a growth of 594.2 percent from the P56.83 billion in the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, in terms of foreign pledges, the PSA said the manufacturing industry received the largest amount of approved FI at P70.57 billion or 48.1 percent of the total approved FI.
This was followed by Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply with P51.92 billion and real estate activities with P13.13 billion, or shares of 35.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.
Among the regions in the country, Calabarzon received the largest share
See “Pledges,” A2
TBy Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
HE Philippines slipped by two notches to the 61st spot in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking this year out of the 67 economies covered.
Based on the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2024, the country’s overall ranking this year is its lowest in five years.
Across Asia-Pacific, the Philippines placed second to the last, as it ranked 13th out of the 14 economies in the region.
The IMD World Digital Competitiveness (WDC) Ranking ranks the “extent to which countries adopt and explore digital technologies leading to transformation in government practices, business models and society in general.”
The WDC ranking defines digital competitiveness based on three factors: Knowledge, Technology and Future Readiness.
IMD explained that Knowledge is the know-how necessary to discover, understand and build new technologies. Technology, it noted, is the overall context that enables the development of digital technologies while Future Readiness is the level of country preparedness to exploit digital transformation.
In the case of the Philippines, it ranked 64th in the Knowledge pillar. The sub-factors that support this pillar are Talent, in which the country placed 60th; Training and Education, 62nd; and Scientific concentration, 61st.
INVESTMENTS made by the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), in Asia and the Pacific posted double-digit increase in the fiscal year ending June 30.
In a statement, the IFC said it invested $12.2 billion to 123 projects in Asia Pacific which marked an 11-percent year-onyear increase compared to the previous fiscal year.
The fiscal year of the IFC and the World Bank Group ends in June 30 and begins in July 1.
“Amid persistent and intertwined global challenges, IFC is
resolved to foster innovation and deliver more sustainable private sector solutions across Asia Pacific,” said Riccardo Puliti, IFC’s Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific. “The private sector continues to play a key role in addressing urgent development needs of countries in the region.”
IFC said these investments are composed of $6.2 billion in long-term financing from its own account; $3.3 billion in mobilization; and $2.7 billion in shortterm trade and supply-chain fi
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE 2024 national budget has been increased to P5.931 trillion from the programmed P5.768-trillion budget due to additional funding for unprogrammed appropriations.
Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed P98.904 billion has been added to the national budget to finance unprogrammed appropriations in October.
In September, the government also infused P65.173 billion to the budget for unprogrammed appropriations, bringing the total to P164.077 billion.
Unprogrammed appropriations may only be availed of when revenue collections exceed targets, through new revenue collections from new tax or non-tax sources and approved loans for foreignassisted projects.
About P36.934 billion was allotted for infrastructure and social programs of the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in October.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) also received a P2.926billion boost as support to its foreign-assisted projects.
tOWIng thE lInE Metropolitan Manila Development authority c hairman atty. Don artes (middle), Pasig c ity Mayor Vico Sotto, and Philippine reclamation authority
To finance the government counterpart of foreign-assisted projects, P5 billion was allocated to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
The Department of Health (DOH) was given P10 billion to increase its funding of priority social programs for health, social welfare and development. Some P900 million was released to the National Electrification Administration (NEA) as financial subsidy for the purchase of Photovoltaic Mainstreaming (Solar Home
System) for rural electrification. Another P5.965 billion was added to the budget for the payment of personnel benefits of various departments, agencies, state universities and colleges. Recently, the Supreme Court ordered a stop to the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion in excess funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), which was supposed to bankroll the projects and programs under the unprogrammed appropriations. About P30 billion worth of projects under unprogrammed appropriations will be delayed for a year on average and will be allocated another budget next year.
BIR raid on illicit cigarette hubs bare ₧8.5-B liabilities
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
Paper in Bobbins or Rolls, Cigarette Tipping Paper or Cigarette Filter Tips.)
ANOTHER large-scale raid by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against the illegal cigarette trade uncovered P8.544 billion in tax liabilities.
The investments also included sustainability-linked loans to finance industrial decarbonization in India and green buildings in India and the Philippines; a green data center in Malaysia; and the first fund to combine public, private and philanthropic capital with a specialized focus on clean-energy investments in Southeast Asia. In fiscal year 2024, IFC committed a record $56 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions, and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. Cai U. Ordinario
“Our projects this last financial year reinforce IFC’s commitment to offering targeted solutions that can be implemented at scale to maximize impact, ultimately improving lives and livelihoods across Asia Pacific,” Puliti said. IFC said 36 percent of long-term financing from IFC's own account was invested in projects that will help tackle climate change and marineplastic waste. This included investments in the first blue bond and first local currency sustainability-linked bonds in Viet Nam, the first distributed generation financing through corporate power purchase agreements in India.
In a statement, the BIR announced it simultaneously raided an illicit cigarette factory in Bulacan and three illicit cigarette warehouses in Valenzuela City, suspected to be part of one criminal enterprise, on November 6.
The BIR authorities seized about 11.513 million packs of illicit cigarettes. It also seized raw materials, cigarettemaking and cigarette-packing machines, all allegedly used for illegal manufacturing of cigarettes.
Six Chinese nationals were appre -
hended at the scene, but the BIR did not disclose their roles in the illegal operations.
Charges against those involved include violations of Section 236 in relation to Section 258 (Unlawful Pursuit of Business), Section 263 (Unlawful Possession or Removal of Articles Subject to Excise Tax without Payment of Tax), Section 265-B (Unlawful Possession of Any Apparatus or Mechanical Contrivance for the Manufacture of Cigarettes), and Section 260 (Unlawful Possession of Cigarette
Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said this was the agency’s largest operation against illicit cigarettes for the year.
“The BIR will not stop raiding factories and warehouses involved in illicit cigarettes,” Lumagui was quoted in a statement as saying.
Last October 7, the BIR raided four large-scale manufacturers of illegal cigarettes in Clark, Pampanga, with a total tax liability of P8.061 billion.
Conducting raids is part of the BIR’s efforts to crack down on illegal operations that deprive the government of much-needed revenues.
Pledges...
Lumagui reminded the public earlier that companies intending to manufacture cigarettes must register their machines and the cigarette brands they will produce first since the BIR needs to have visibility over them.
If the cigarettes are to be sold locally, excise taxes must also be paid to the government, Lumagui added.
Total excise taxes collected by the BIR reached P224.575 billion as of the end of September 2024, or P4.074 billion short of the P228.649-billion goal for the period.
The gap in excise tax collections, particularly from so-called “sin products,” usually targeted for smuggling, is seen to widen due to the shifting preferences of consumers.
of pledged investments amounting to P58.86 billion or 40.1 percent of the total approved FI for the third quarter of 2024. This was followed by Bicol Region with P51.84 billion and Central Luzon with P15.2 billion. These accounted for 35.3 percent and 10.4 percent of the total FI, respectively. Among the 13 Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), six reported foreign investment pledges in the third quarter of the year.
These included the Board of Investments, BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Clark Development Corporation, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
Among the subfactors under Knowledge, the report showed that the Philippines’ ranking in terms of Talent slipped by four rungs to fall to the 60th spot while its ranking in Training and education remained at 62nd. On Scientific concentration, its ranking slipped by three notches to the 61st spot. For the Technology pillar, the country’s ranking plunged to the 56th spot this year from last year’s 51st.
This can be gleaned from its rankings across three subfactors which also plummeted. On regulatory framework, the country’s ranking fell three notches down to the 66th spot. On capital, it slipped by four rungs to the 45th spot. In terms of technological framework, the country plunged to the 53rd spot from the 43rd ranking in 2023.
The report noted that the country’s overall top weaknesses under the Technology pillar are: starting a business, enforcing contracts and securing internet servers, among others.
In contrast, the only pillar on digital competitiveness which saw the country improve its ranking is the Future Readiness factor. The Philippines climbed a notch to the 58th spot in 2024.
As to the subfactors under Future readiness, the report indicated that the country’s adaptive attitudes improved as its ranking increased by seven spots to the 52nd rank this year. On Business agility, the country’s ranking fell four notches to the 54th spot while its ranking in IT integration climbed two notches to the 58th spot.
Under the Future Readiness pillar, the report said the country’s overall top strength is its “flexibility and adaptability.”
With the Philippines’s current standing on digital competitiveness, José Caballero, Senior Economist at IMD World Competitiveness Center, told the BusinessMirror that the results of the study “shows several areas for improvements” for the country.
“For instance, the development of relevant talent can be a priority as it is the strengthening of the Philippines’ R&D capabilities,” Caballero told this paper via e-mail.
He added: “There is space for improvement in the support that its regulatory framework provides for the support of new technologies.”
Caballero noted that the adoption and integration of new technologies at the societal and private sector as well as public sector levels can also be strengthened.
The IMD Senior Economist attributed the decline in the country’s ranking in the global digital competitiveness to the result of “restricted access to relevant talent, inadequate R&D capabilities and limited adoption and integration of new technologies.”
Caballero also underscored that digital competitiveness is “crucial” for long-term economic growth.
“It involves using digital technologies for innovation, productivity, and efficiency. For instance, such technologies can streamline processes, automate tasks, and reduce costs across industries. In addition, they foster innovation which can lead to new markets, industries and job creation,” the IMD Senior Economist told the B usiness M irror
“In other words, digital competitiveness goes beyond the mere adoption of new technologies. Its focus is on ensuring the transformation of a given economy into one that can adapt to rapid changes, foster innovation, and promote sustainable growth,” he further explained.
Ofel batters Northern Luzon; 2 more threaten plus La Niña
By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
EATHER disturbance
WOfel, international code name Usagi, developed into a super typhoon on Thursday morning and battered Northern Luzon with strong winds and heavy rains, the state weather bureau said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) at the same time warned that two more tropical cyclones may enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in December amid the developing La Niña characterized by a wetter wet season.
Pagasa Deputy Administrator for Research and Development Marcelino Villafuerte, in a radio interview, said storms may even occur in the first quarter of next year.
Villafuerte attributed the higher number of tropical cyclones to the warmer sea surface in the western section of the Pacific Ocean and the developing La Niña phenomenon owing to the cooler Equatorial Pacific.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the combined effect of Nika and Ofel affected a total of 85,415 families, or 309,518 persons living in 1,189 barangays in 159 cities and towns across 17 provinces, mostly in the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley.
The 15th storm to hit the country this year, Ofel Pagasa to raise Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal 5 over the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan (Santa Ana, Gonzaga).
Meanwhile, the southeastern portion of Babuyan Islands (Camiguin Is.), the northern and eastern portions of mainland Cagayan (Santa Teresita, Ballesteros, Aparri, Camalaniugan, Buguey, Lal-Lo, Allacapan, Gattaran, Baggao, Peñablanca), and the northeastern portion of Isabela (Maconacon, Divilacan, Palanan) were placed under Signal 4.
By Thursday at 7:00 a.m., Ofel was at its peak, battering Echague, Isabela, and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 230 kmh and central pressure of 935 hPa, the state weather bureau reported.
“After making landfall over Baggao, Cagayan, at 1:30 p.m. Ofel slightly weakened and moved toward the northeastern portion of mainland Luzon.
In its 2:00 p.m. Tropical Cyclone update, Pagasa said the center of the eye of Ofel was located 50 kilometers east-northeast of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, and is moving westnorthwestward at 20 kmh.
It is still packing a maximum sustained winds of 175 kmh near
See “Storm,” A4
PH firm on WPS position–Marcos
By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos said the country will not budge in its position on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), which was recently strengthened with the signing of two maritime laws, despite the Chinese government’s opposition against it.
The Chief Executive made the statement when asked by a Palace reporter if he issued any marching orders to Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime A. FlorCruz after he was summoned by Chinese authorities after the passage of Republic Act 12064 or the Maritime Zones Law (MZL) and RA 12065 or the Archipelagic Sea Lanes (ASL) Law last week.
The Chinese government opposed RA 12064 since it included the Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands as part of the Philippine maritime territory.
The MZL established the extent of the country’s maritime jurisdiction in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
“They [China] said they are objecting to it. They said they do not agree—and they will continue to
protect what they defined as their sovereign territory. Of course, we do not agree with their definition of sovereign territory,” Marcos said partly in Filipino.
Marcos assured that the opposition of China that it will not result in any changes in the country’s position when it comes to the WPS, parts of the South China Sea within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“Nothing will change because our position is still the same,” he said.
He also noted that he did not issue any new marching orders to FlorCruz, when it comes to the said disagreement with Beijing.
Rules-based order
THE Philippines and Australia have committed to work together in maintaining regional stability and upholding a rules-based order in the region.
This was reached during the inaugural Australia-Philippines Defence Ministers’ Meeting (DMM) where Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles convened on November 12 in Canberra.
Both leaders underscored their commitment to bolstering defense cooperation as a crucial element of the Australia-Philippines Strategic Partnership, advancing shared interests in maintaining regional stability and upholding a rulesbased order.
“We are two democracies with shared values, and appreciation of the rule of law both at home and internationally, and a determination to promote the global rules-based order around the world and within our region,” Marles said.
He also added he is pleased with the progress of the PhilippinesAustralia relations over the last couple of years.
Meanwhile, Teodoro acknowledged the challenges for the two countries amid a complex regional security landscape mentioned by the Australian defense official.
“Coming off from what you stated, that the world is indeed volatile and unpredictable, it behooves all of us to share the same values, to strengthen our relationships, to form bedrocks of stability amidst this sea of volatility and unpre -
dictability. Our people deserve no less. The world deserves no less,” he added.
The Philippine defense chief said that he is happy with the country’s relationship with Australia, both in bilateral and in multilateral engagements, which he described “has been tremendous in the past few years.”
“It is in no doubt because of the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister here and his team, and our diplomats on both sides of the fence. I believe that the reason also that this relationship has sped up so quickly, it’s because it was a deeply believed need that needed to be expressed,” Teodoro added.
The two officials expressed deep concern over the ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea, noting the necessity for all states to pursue peaceful resolutions to disputes in accordance with international law.
The leaders also highlighted that both countries remain committed to ensuring freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea, in line with the Unclos, to protect the rights of all Southeast Asian nations.
In the meeting, Teodoro also confirmed that the Philippines would participate in Australia’s Exercise Talisman Sabre for the first time in 2025.
See “WPS,” A4
Pagcor disowns control over raided Bataan BPO
By Henry Empeño
SUBIC BAY FREE PORT—The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has denied having jurisdiction over Central One Bataan, a business process outsourcing (BPO) company in Bagac, Bataan, that was raided by authorities on October 31 for allegedly operating as a scam hub.
Lawyer Joseph Lobo, Pagcor regulatory officer, issued the clarification on Wednesday night during a meeting of the Bataan Provincial Peace and Order Council chaired by Bataan Gov. Jose Enrique “Joet” Garcia.
In a video released by the Bataan Provincial Information Office, Lobo said Pagcor issued a certified list of all its licensees following reports that Central One had no secondary license from Pagcor.
“What we issued is a list of the [licensees] we have,” Lobo said, adding that the list showed that Central One is not a licensee of Pagcor.
“It was established in the dis -
cussion that Central One Bataan is a locator of Afab [Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan], and under Executive Order 13, which defines online gaming, it was clear that Afab has the jurisdiction since it is their locator, and not Pagcor,” Lobo added.
Executive Order 13 provides that the license to operate online gambling granted to qualified operators shall not be assigned, shared, leased, transferred, sold or encumbered to any other party.
The statement by Pagcor contradicted claims by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (Paocc) that Central One needed a permit to operate online gambling from Pagcor.
A team led by Paocc agents raided the Central One facility on October 31 on the strength of a search warrant issued by a court in Malolos, Bulacan. Paocc officials said that Central One ran love scams, cyberscams, and online gambling operations in a six-building complex in Bagac. PAOCC also claimed that the
facility is located in a property owned by Camaya Land Development, which made the private real estate firm the primary lessor of Central One. Afab, however, had contented that the facility is under an expansion area of the state-run company.
In a statement on November 9, Central One denied all allegations of illegal activities made by suspended Paocc Director Winston Casio, calling them “malicious.” It added that it will exhaust all legal means to protect and clear its name, and prove that the claims of Casio were “fabricated and baseless.”
Afab has also expressed support to the beleaguered company, saying in a statement on Tuesday that Central One has been “a vital contributor to the economic development of the Freeport Area of Bataan,” with employment of over 1,500 workers, approximately 95 percent of whom are Filipinos. As a registered enterprise, Central One “has consistently demonstrated adherence to Afab’s regulatory framework” and
has complied with operational, labor, and safety standards, the authority added.
Meanwhile, Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia expressed deep concern over the Central One raid, saying it deeply affected the welfare of Bataeños and the dignity of the labor force and investors in the province.
“The recent events involving Central One…have exposed serious lapses and an alarming disregard for due process by our law enforcement agencies,” Garcia said in a privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Monday.
He said the raid quickly turned into a nightmare, as employees were forcibly detained, denied their freedom to move curtailed, and were released “only after exhaustive hours of profiling and harassment.”
“In the name of justice, we cannot allow any institution to act with a heavy hand and bring distress upon our law-abiding citizens without a thorough and cautious approach,” Garcia added.
PSA notes slight drop in farmgate palay prices
LOCAL traders purchased unmilled rice at a slightly lower price in October, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The average quotation for palay dipped by 0.4 percent to P20.51 per kilo in October from P20.60 per kilo last year.
“Farmgate prices refer to the prices received by farmers for the sale of their produce at the first point of sale net of the total marketing cost paid by the farmers,” the PSA explained.
“These prices are determined at the farmgate or first point of sale transactions and are also known as ‘producer prices’.”
WPS. . .
Continued from A3
This reflects on the growing interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Teodoro also welcomed Australia’s involvement in Exercises Balikatan and Salaknib next year, marking new milestones in bilateral training and defense collaboration.
The two officials also outlined plans to develop and formalize a new arrangement in 2025 under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program,which will guide official dialogues, training, leadership development, and infrastructure initiatives.
This strategic direction aims to ensure sustained collaboration between the AFP and ADF amid an increasingly complex security environment in the Indo-Pacific. With Rex Anthony Naval
On a monthly basis, the average farmgate price of palay in October declined by 8.2 percent from P22.33 per kilo recorded in September.
PSA data showed that the highest increase was observed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), where the average prices registered a year-on-year growth of 39.3 percent.
The average palay farmgate price in BARMM reached P24.18 per kilo in October, higher than the previous year’s P17.36 per kilo.
This was followed by Central Visayas which recorded a 19.9 percent growth to P24.30 per kilo in
Storm.
. .
Continued from A3
the center, and gustiness of up to 240 kmh.
In its 2:00 p.m. heavy rainfall outlook, Pagasa forecast intense to torrential rainfall (more than 200 mm) over Cagayan and Isabela, two of the provinces with the highest number of landslide-prone barangays, until Friday afternoon.
Pagasa warned that widespread incidents of severe flooding and landslides are expected. Meanwhile, in the next 24 hours, heavy to intense rainfall (100-200 mm) is forecast over Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Quirino, and Aurora.
Pagasa attributed the heavy rainfall also to the occurrence of tropical storm Man-yi, which continues to intensify while moving
October from P20.27 per kilo in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, agricultural groups urged the government to revert to the previous tariff levied on key agricultural commodities when it conducts its periodic review and boost local production.
According to SINAG Executive Director Jayson Cainglet, however, the framework and parameters for the review of Executive Order (EO) 62, particularly for rice, should hinge on a few factors.
This includes the production cost of farmers which currently stands at P16 to P17 per kilo, the farmgate price of palay, and the actual retail price of rice notwith -
west-southwestward.
The center of the eye of Tropical Storm Man-yi was spotted 1,375 km east of Northeastern Mindanao, outside PAR, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kmh near the center and gustiness of up to 105 kmh. It is moving west-southwestward at 25 kmh.
Meanwhile, the state weather bureau forecast that Ofel will make another landfall in the vicinity of Babuyan Islands before shifting direction northward to Batanes and go toward the direction of Taiwan during the weekend.
Pagasa said that hazards on land and coastal waters may still be experienced in areas outside the landfall point and the forecast confidence cone.
“Furthermore, the track may still shift within the limit of the forecast confidence cone,” it said.
According to Pagasa, Ofel has started to
standing the increase or decrease of inflation.
“As it is, the farmgate price of palay went down faster than the retail prices of rice,” Cainglet told the BusinessMirror, partly in Filipino.
He noted that from the P26-P30 per kilo farmgate prior to the issuance of EO 62, prices dropped to P16-P17 per kilo for fresh or wet palay and P20-P22 per kilo for clean and dry palay.
“A big drop between P5-P10 per kilo farmgate of palay is a major concern,” Cainglet said.
“We are yet to approach peak harvest, there is concern that the farmgate price of palay will plunge even further.” Ada Pelonia
weaken owing to its increasing interaction with the landmass of Luzon.
“It will continue to weaken throughout the forecast period due to frictional effects of land, as well as the increasingly unfavorable environment over the Luzon Strait and the sea east of Taiwan,” it said.
The past four typhoons, Marce, Leon, Nika, and Ofel directly hit Northern Luzon, which weather specialists from Pagasa attributed to the delayed entry of the northeast monsoon.
The absence of the northeasterly wind, locally called amihan, allows the storm to go in the direction of Northern Luzon, Pagasa Weather specialist Chenel Dominguez earlier told the B usiness M irror in an interview.
She said that amihan usually sets in between October to November but added in the next few days, the northeasterly wind will eventually come.
Town in Bulacan bans obsolete induction furnace in steel plants
By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
STA. Maria, Bulacan, has banned steel plants and metal smelting companies from using old induction furnaces in producing steel products.
The town’s Sanggunian approved an ordinance mandating the modernization of steel plants and metal smelting facilities to protect the environment and promote the health and welfare of the community.
Ordinance 704 approved by the Sanggunian presided over by Vice Mayor Pablo L. Juan and signed by Mayor Bartolome R. Ramos last month took effect this week.
Section 13 of the ordinance prohibits the use of obsolete and hazardous induction furnace in the production of steel products.
The ordinance made Sta. Maria just the second town in Central Luzon to impose a ban on the use of obsolete and hazardous induction furnaces after San Simon, Pampanga.
Steel plants in the town were given six months to shift to more advanced and eco-friendly technology.
“An extension of six months is given to the existing steel plants to carry out the rehabilitation and improvement of their pollution control devices,” Section 14 of the ordinance added.
The ordinance was enacted to reduce, if not eliminate, air pollution in Sta. Maria that was brought about by the operation of steel plants and other industries in the town, especially the smelting of metal scraps using induction furnaces.
“This is a testament to our commitment to protect the environment and the people of Sta. Maria from the hazards brought about by highly polluting activities. While we want investors to come in, we also need to make sure that their operations are not harmful to the environment and the health of our constituents,” Ramos said
in a statement.
The communities around a steel plant in Sta. Maria has been complaining of the foul smell, dirty air, and noise emanating from the factory’s induction furnace. San Simon town in Pampanga has also banned induction furnaces through an ordinance last year.
The local steel industry and environmental groups have been asking the government to ban the use of induction furnaces, which found their way into the Philippines immediately after they were banned by Beijing in 2017 for causing widespread air pollution in China.
The phased-out induction furnaces were refurbished and then exported by China to the Philippines.
SEEDS PH, an environment advocacy nongovernment organization, called on other local governments to follow in the footsteps of San Simon, Pampanga, and Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
The group said based on its investigation, induction furnaces are now being operated by steel plants in different areas of the country—Pulilan in Bulacan, Valenzuela City in Metro Manila, and Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao.
“Worse, the reports we got revealed that these steel plants are being owned and operated by mainland Chinese, using Filipinos as dummies. Practically, these Chinese operators just transferred their environmentally destructive operations here in the Philippines,” SEEDS PH said. It added: “Not only that, the products being produced by these IFs do not conform with the Philippine National Standard, putting at risk the lives and properties of Filipinos, especially since the country is prone to strong typhoons and earthquakes. These plants are expected to produce substandard products because induction furnaces are not capable of removing impurities in steel smelting, thus making their quality inconsistent.”
Fisheries production down by 5.1% in Q3
FBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
ISHERIES output declined by 5.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
Data from the PSA showed that the total volume of fisheries production from July to September 2024 was 965,715 metric tons (MT), lower than the 1.02 million metric tons (MMT) recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
“Decreases in production were noted in all subsectors, namely, commercial, marine municipal fisheries, inland municipal fisheries, and aquaculture,” the PSA said in its latest fisheries situation report.
The production of commercial fisheries slid by 8.4 percent to 210,850 MT from the previous year’s 230,190 MT. The subsector’s share accounted for 21.8 percent of the total output.
The PSA said marine municipal fisheries dropped by 5.4 percent to 196,130 MT in the reference period from the 207,210 MT recorded last year. This accounted for 20.3 percent of the total fisheries production.
The PSA said inland municipal fisheries production fell by 12.2 percent to 46,260 MT from the 52,690 MT recorded in the same period last year. It accounted for 4.8 percent of the total output.
Aquaculture production declined by 2.8 percent to 512,470 MT from the previous year’s 527,150 MT. The subsector constituted the highest share of the total fisheries output in the quarter at 53.1 percent. The PSA said that of the 21 major species, reductions were noted in roundscad (galunggong) down 17.2 percent to 39,952 MT; bigeyed scad (matangbaka), 23 percent to 25,353 MT; milkfish (bangus), 6.9 percent to 82,158 MT; seaweed, 1.5 percent to 363,258 MT; and yellowfin tuna, 18.6 percent to 23,225 MT. Output gains were reported in skipjack (gulyasan), up 18.9 percent to 62,327 MT; P. Vannamei (putian), 19.4 percent to 11,415 MT; bigeye tuna, 40.1 percent to 5,007 MT; blue crab (alimasag), 9.5 percent to 5,475 MT; and threadfin bim (bisugo), 7.2 percent to 7,528 MT. Agricultural production in terms of value shrank by 3.7 percent in the third quarter. The crop, livestock, and fisheries subsectors registered declines. Among all the subsectors, only the poultry subsector recorded growth in the reference period, according to data from the PSA. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier authorized the importation of 30,000 MT of pelagic fish to augment supply during the closed fishing season. The three-month closed fishing season starts November 1 in waters northeast of Palawan and from November 15 in the Visayan Seas and Zamboanga Peninsula. All three areas are spawning grounds for small pelagic fishes like sardines and mackerel.
Reserving
parking
slots by ‘standing’ to be penalized
PARKING spaces are on a first-come-first-served basis, but standing and reserving a parking space has become a recent big problem.
Unfortunately, there is no law against standing and reserving a parking space.
In response to growing concerns, the Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) whose members are the 17 Metro mayors, have agreed to pass an ordinance penalizing people who stand on parking slots to reserve them.
“This is as soon as possible, we will just study it well,” MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said in a press briefing at the MMDA’s main office in Pasig City. Besides coming up with a uniform ordinance, Artes also said they will also need to coordinate with the management of shopping malls and other establishments.
The MMDA chief said the Metro mayors decided to come up with such ordinance after several videos showed fights breaking out over parking slots and people who “reserve” them by standing.
Towing T HE MMC also approved a regulation on revised guidelines for towing and impounding operations of the MMDA.
The revised guidelines, contained in MMDA Regulation No. 24-004, are pursuant to the objective of professionalizing and harmonizing towing and impounding procedures of illegally-parked and stalled vehicles in Metro Manila.
“We want to professionalize the towing services due to numerous complaints regarding practices of towing operators. The revised guidelines aim to streamline the towing process, enhance the regulation on towing and impounding of illegally-parked and stalled vehicles, ensuring that they are conducted fairly and transparently while protecting the rights of vehicle owners,” said Artes.
According to Artes, one aspect of the regulation for stalled vehicles gives vehicle owners the option to transport their vehicles to their homes, auto repair shops or gasoline stations instead of being automatically impounded and brought to the Tumana impounding site in
Marikina City.
“Towing procedures and towing rates must be clearly displayed at towing vehicles. There will be no increase in towing charges, but we ensure that it will be reasonable,” said Artes.
The guidelines shall apply to all towing services and trucks operating in Metro Manila, including those operated and/or owned by government agencies or instrumentalities. There shall only be one towing service company per sector, to be selected through a bidding process.
For purposes of the towing guidelines, Metro Manila shall be subdivided into five sectors: North, East, West, South, and Central. It shall also include, among others, tow trucks operated or owned by motor vehicle repair shops, business establishments, transport groups, public utility companies and private clubs, groups or associations.
Winning towing service companies shall have the sole responsibility in their respective areas of operations to remove any stalled and/or unattended illegally parked vehicle within the shortest time possible.
The guidelines are intended to improve the services of the towing operators to vehicle owners that are transparent, accountable, and organized.
New documentary requirements include Certificate of Completion issued by the MMDA for following training courses for every tow truck personnel: Basic Traffic Rules and Regulations; Basic Road Safety and Troubleshooting; and Land Transportation, Franchising, and Regulatory Board Franchise (yellow plate)/ provisionary authority.
All towing companies must be registered with the MMDA. Tow trucks of the winning towing service companies must be in excellent running condition and must be equipped with radios and/or cell phones, and all the other required devices, including Global Positioning System (GPS), dash cam, and QR Code; schedule of towing rates posted on the tow truck; and a working speedometer.
As to the implementation, Artes said the regulation has yet to be published. Moreover, the agency will conduct bidding for towing service companies. Information drive will be launched as part of the initiative. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
BM
reporter gets PHA award for heart health advocacy
Leasing military hardware eyed to earn AFP savings
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
THE defense hierarchy was urged on Thursday to seriously consider leasing certain hardware crucial to national security and the military’s humanitarian operations, as a good fiscal strategy for managing scarce resources without having to provide upfront all the billions needed for the Armed Forces modernization program.
The suggestion came from Majority Leader Francis Tolentino as the Senate deliberated on the 2025 budget of the defense and military, amid concerns the P10-billion cut the House of Representatives made on the P50-billion budget for the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program could further derail the latter.
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, sponsor of the budget of the Department of National Defense, the AFP and attached agencies, on Tuesday had urged the Senate to restore the P10-B House cut in the ‘25 budget for AFP modernization. At Thursday’s plenary deliberations, he received support on this restoration and for the 2025 DND and AFP budget from key Senate leaders, including Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sherwin Gatchalian, Bong Go and Tolentino, among others.
Dela Rosa said the P10-billion budget reduction for the Revised AFP Modernization Program for 2025 will affect these vital projects—cyber systems, forward support equipment, aviation and engineering equipment, additional aircrafts, joint tactical combat vehicles and radar-basing support systems. He said the disaggregated amount of the modernization program amounts to only 0.17 percent
held a dazzling Media Awards Night at the Marquee Tent of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel with style and salutation.
Every October, it is the association’s turn to hype and honor media for its patriotic and noble efforts in spreading very important heart health news: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the greatest threats to the human body. CVD refers to diseases of the heart and the blood vessels like stroke.
With the PHA’s monthly online Usapang Puso sa Puso (UPP), onsite yearly major events like the PHA annual and midyear convention Advocacy Hour, Heart Month, World Heart Day celebrations and the National CPR Day celebrations, as major news sources, — news platforms and sites have consistently stepped up to serve as vital channels for conveying credible preventive and reactive CVD news report.
of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), one of the lowest budgets in the region.
For his part, Tolentino cited many cases of countries in the West, in Asia and the Asean, that have considered leasing military hardware as an option to avoid having to produce upfront huge budgets for purchasing all of the materiel needed for their defense.
He cited South Korea, Australia, and Nato countries like Germany,
among those that have turned to leasing as an option for having vital defense hardware. In Asean, Singapore is looking to lease its requirements for aerial refueling and transport.
“The leasing concept spreads the cost across the years without requiring huge upfront costs,” Tolentino explained in his interpellation of Dela Rosa.
He asked the sponsor to have the DND craft a “definitive study,” possibly by an internal think tank, that would provide the basis for leasing as a strategy for military procurement, instead of purchasing all of the war materiel that cost hundreds of billions.
The senators all agreed with Dela Rosa on the need to restore the P10-billion cut made the House on the 2025 modernization budget. Dela Rosa had said the budget reduction to the modernization program runs counter to the pronouncements of politicians who appear supportive of the AFP whenever they were being harmed while protecting the country’s territories, particularly the West Philippine Sea.
Comparing the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the General Appropriations Bill (GAB)
approved by the Lower House, Dela Rosa lamented that the House reduced the Executive Department’s proposed P50-billion for the Revised AFP Modernization Program to P40 billion. The changes were adopted by the Senate Finance committee in its committee report on the budget bill.
“Being a former member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a former member of the Philippine National Police, and now a senator of the Republic, I cannot help but point out a glaring contradiction that I see. Because every time untoward incidents are reported in our resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal...our immediate reaction is like this: ‘We condemn in the highest terms this incident, and we have to see to it that we have to modernize our Philippine Navy,’” Dela Rosa said.
“That’s always our line as politicians, as legislators. And now, here comes the budget deliberations, a P10-billion cut was made on the NEP of Department of National Defense,” dela Rosa noted. He expressed hope for a “synchronized” response between the words and actions of politicians to the AFP’s needs, “as legislators who have the power of the purse.”
newspaper correspondent for Today Newspaper until 2005.
Within those five years in Today Newspaper, she was assigned to cover the Eastern Police and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Rizal Province, and the Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Tourism (DOT). In October of 2005, she became a correspondent for the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc. She covers Health, Education, MMDA, the local government units in the eastern and southern portions of the metropolis, and Rizal Province. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, the PHA
Recipients were evaluated based on several factors including the depth and quality of substance, the significance of the content, its impact on audiences and readers, the breadth and consistency of coverage, and the quality of the relationship fostered with the PHA.
This year’s Awards is marked by the first “Media Program” category with the addition of “Individual” category, “The People Behind the Scenes,” “Hall of Famer,” “Journalists and Media Outfits who worked with the PHA for at least 10 years,” “Best News Coverage of World Heart Day 2024,” and “Best News Story.” Reporters and media outfits that have adhered with PHA are getting the big Heart trophy.
BusinessMirror health and fitness editor Anne Ruth Dela Cruz,
UN climate talks fall short: World still on track for 2.7C warming as emissions continue to rise
By Seth Borenstein, Melina Walling & Sibi Arasu The Associated Press
BAKU, Azerbaijan—For the third straight year, efforts to fight climate change haven’t lowered projections for how hot the world is likely to get—and recent developments in China and the United States are likely to slightly worsen the outlook, according to an analysis Thursday.
The analysis comes as countries come together for the 29th edition of the United Nations climate talks, hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, where nations are trying to set new targets to cut emissions of heattrapping gases and figure out how much rich nations will pay to help the world with that task.
But Earth remains on a path to be 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, according to Climate Action Tracker, a group of scientists and analysts who study government policies and translate that into projections of warming. If emissions are still rising and temperature projections are no longer dropping, people should wonder if the United Nations climate negotiations known as COP are doing any good, Hare said.
“There’s an awful lot going on that’s positive here, but on the big picture of actually getting stuff
done to reduce emissions...to me it feels broken,” Hare said.
Climate action is stifled by the biggest emitters THE world has already warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s near the 1.5-degree (2.7 F) limit that countries agreed to at 2015 climate talks in Paris. Climate scientists say the atmospheric warming, mainly from human burning of fossil fuels, is causing ever more extreme and damaging weather including droughts, flooding and dangerous heat. Climate Action Tracker does projections under several different scenarios, and in some cases, those are going up slightly.
One projected track based on what countries promise to do by 2030 is up to 2.6 degrees Celsius, a tenth of a degree warmer than before. And even the analysts’
AP/EFREM LUKATSKY
Against the clock: Ukrainian soldiers race to outmaneuver Russian forces
By Vasilisa Stepanenko & Yehor Konovalov The Associated Press
KHARKIV
REGION,
Ukraine—The four drones were designed to carry bombs, but instead the men of Ukraine’s Khartia brigade pack them with food, water and handwarmers and launch them in darkness toward the front line, a 15-minute flight away.
The unit commander who goes by the callsign Kit, or “cat,” pilots the tiny uncrewed aircraft from a basement room he jokingly calls their Airbnb. Guided by the drone’s night-vision camera, he drops the 10-kilogram (22-pound) packages one by one as close as he can to the position where as many as five infantrymen battle Russian forces in the late autumn chill. The delivery will hold them for two or three days. That’s about as far as Kit dares look into the future. He knows that the reelection of Donald Trump will change something in his life, but as far as he and other Ukrainian soldiers on the front are concerned, trying to figure out how is a game for politicians. For him, all that matters
most optimistic scenario, which assumes that countries all deliver on their promises and targets, is at 1.9 Celsius, also up a tenth of a degree from last year, said study lead author Sofia Gonzales-Zuniga of Climate Analytics, one of the main groups behind the tracker.
“This is driven highly by China,” Gonzales-Zuniga said. Even though China’s fast-rising emissions are starting to plateau, they are peaking higher than anticipated, she said.
Another upcoming factor not yet in the calculations is the US elections. A Trump administration that rolls back the climate
an President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman on Earth” for winning US aid.
Zelenskyy was among the first world leaders to publicly congratulate Trump, and said the two discussed how to end “Russian aggression against Ukraine” when they met in September.
Between now and Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the Biden administration has said it will send as much aid to Ukraine as possible to help hold back Russian forces and possess a strong hand in any potential peace negotiations. But Russia is pressing just as hard for an advantage in what most believe are crucial weeks to come.
is the distance he measures in the meters (yards) that Russian forces advance or retreat in the front-line sector that is his responsibility.
“We are trying with all our might to destroy them and win back our territories, so that it does not go any further, so that there are no more destroyed cities and destroyed lives,” Kit said. “We need to focus on the present in our work and try to do it effectively in the here and now.”
But he cannot escape the sense of a gathering storm.
Russia is increasingly hitting the Kharkiv region with unstoppable, building-leveling glide bombs and swarms of drones and chipping away at territory there. Its troops are advancing in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia’s Kursk border region to help beat back Ukrainian forces there, according to US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments.
Trump, who has called President Vladimir Putin “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine, has repeatedly criticized American backing of Ukraine. He characterized Ukraini-
Aviator, a Khartia soldier launching the supply drones, said he can only do his job and hope for the best. His attention is fixed on how many hours remain before the coming dawn, when Russian forces will be able to spot the uncrewed aircraft and shoot them down. If his mission fails, he knows that the men he calls brothers will suffer.
“You feel you’re useful, that you are in the right place, that the lives and health of our brothers depend on your work,” said Aviator, who returned to Ukraine from a job in Poland to join the army. “We’re just doing our job, we don’t have time to worry about the election.”
Tolstiy, who runs a drone repair workshop not far away, knows firsthand what happens to territory captured by Russia. A former infantryman, he fought in Bakhmut and watched the city fall to Russian forces that bombed it to rubble. He confessed that sometimes, reading the news makes him want to give up. But that’s simply unthinkable.
“It’s like we’re in another world here,” he said. “When you see that your comrades are injured or killed, it motivates you.”
Lori Hinnant contributed from Kyiv.
policies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and carries out the conservative blueprint Project 2025, would add 0.04 degree Celsius (0.07 Fahrenheit) to warming projections, Gonzales-Zuniga said. That’s not much, but it could be more if other nations use it as an excuse to do less, she said. And a reduction in American financial aid could also reverberate even more in future temperature outlooks.
“For the US it is going backwards,” said Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare. At least China has more of an optimistic future with a potential giant plunge in future emissions, he said.
“We should already be seeing (global) emissions going down” and they are not, Hare said. “In the face of all of the climate disasters we’ve observed, whether it’s the massive floods in Nepal that killed hundreds of people or whether it’s the floods in Valencia, Spain, that just killed hundreds of people. The political system, politicians are not reacting. And I think that’s something that people everywhere should be worried about.”
Experts say $1 trillion is needed in climate cash for developing nations
THE major battle in Baku is over
how much rich nations will help poor countries to decarbonize their energy systems, cope with future harms of climate change and pay for damage from warming’s extreme weather. The old goal of $100 billion a year in aid is expiring and Baku’s main focus is coming up with a new, bigger figure.
A special independent group of experts commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued its own estimate of costs and finances on Thursday, calling for a tripling of the old commitment.
“Advanced economies need to demonstrate a credible commitment” to helping poor nations, the report said.
A coalition of poor nations at the Baku talks are asking for $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance. The independent experts’ report said about $1 trillion a year is needed by developing nations from all outside sources, not just government grants. The report detailed how expensive decarbonizing the world’s economy would be, how much it would cost and where the money could come from. Overall climate adaption spending for all countries is projected to reach $2.4 trillion a year.
“The transition to clean, lowcarbon energy, building resilience to the impacts of climate change, coping with loss and damage, protecting nature and biodiversity, and ensuring a just transition, require a rapid stepup in investment in all countries,’’ said the report.
Biden to hold high-stakes meeting with Xi Jinping ahead of Trump’s anticipated White House return
By Aamer Madhani The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden will hold talks Saturday with China’s Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in Peru, a face-to-face meeting that comes as Beijing braces for Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the meeting will take place while the two leaders are in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. That will come just over two months before Trump’s inauguration.
Sullivan was opaque about how Biden and administration officials will answer expected questions from Xi and his aides about the incoming Trump administration.
“Transitions are uniquely consequential moments in geopolitics. They’re a time when competitors and adversaries can see possible opportunity,” Sullivan said. “And so part of what President Biden will communicate is that we need to maintain stability, clarity, predictability through this transition between the United States and China.”
During his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump promised to slap blanket 60% tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US, a move that would jolt the already tumultuous relationship between Beijing and Washington. Washington and Beijing have long had deep differences on the support China has given to Russia during its war in Ukraine, human rights issues, technology and Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy that
Beijing claims as its own. A second Trump administration is expected to test US-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term, when the US imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in Chinese products.
That brought Beijing to the negotiating table, and in 2020, the two sides signed a trade deal in which China committed to improve intellectual property rights and buy an extra $200 billion of American goods. A couple of years later, a research group showed that China had bought essentially none of the goods it had promised.
The White House has been working for months to arrange a final meeting between Xi and Biden before the Democrat leaves office in January.
Sullivan traveled to Beijing in late August to meet with his Chinese counterpart and also sat down with Xi. After that, Sullivan indicated that there could be a final meeting between Xi and Biden at APEC or at next week’s summit of the Group of 20 top economies in Rio de Janeiro, which both leaders are scheduled to attend.
Biden has sought to maintain a steady relationship with Xi even as his administration repeatedly has raised concerns about what it sees as malign actions by Beijing.
Tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States. And the Biden administration has criticized Chinese military assertiveness toward Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
On the campaign trail, Trump spoke of his personal connection with Xi, which started out well during his first term before becoming strained over disputes about trade and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a congratulatory message to Trump after his victory over Harris, Xi called for the US and China to manage their differences and get along in a new era, according to Chinese state media.
Biden, for his part, is expected in the meeting with Xi to focus on efforts to stem the flow of Chinesemanufactured chemicals used to make fentanyl, concerns about Beijing’s indirect support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, cybersecurity concerns and the importance of maintaining military-to-military communications.
Sullivan added that he expected that Biden would also raise an ongoing US investigation into an alleged Chinese hacker operation targeting cellphones used by Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and people associated with the Harris campaign.
Saturday’s talks will be the third meeting between Biden and Xi during Biden’s presidency. They met in Woodside, California, last November on the sidelines of the 2023 APEC summit, and the leaders last spoke by phone in April.
US intelligence officials have assessed China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine. The administration last month imposed sanctions against two Chinese companies accused of directly helping Russia build longrange attack drones used against Ukraine.
A SOLDIER of Ukraine’s Khartia brigade, callsign Tolstiy, inspects a FPV drone in a drone repair workshop close to the front line in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine on Thursday, November 7, 2024.
Editor: Francine Medina
IABC PH TRIPLE P SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS
HONORS CHAMPIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY AT INAUGURAL GATHERING
TThe Triple P Awards recognizes companies for their impactful efforts in promoting the ESG principles as they take part in the country's vision for a sustainable and transformative future.
Melody del Rosario, chairperson of the IABC ESG Committee said, " Through these awards, we honored companies that truly embodied the spirit of sustainability and set new standards within their respective industries. These winners exemplify the power of strategic sustainability in not just enhancing reputation in creating not just real, measurable impact in society, the environment, and for people."
Sustainability Chanpions
THE International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, in partnership with Deloitte and the Makati Business Club, gathered industry leaders on October 25 at the Marriott Hotel for the first IABC PH Triple P Sustainability Awards, an event showcasing remarkable dedication to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. Grounded in the pillars of People, Planet, and Progress,
Inc. (Meralco’s electric mobility company).
Model of ESG Leadership at Meralco
As ESG Thought Leader of the Year, Ravelo has shaped and driven Meralco’s sustainability agenda, “Powering the Good Life,” elevating the company as a recognized steward of sustainability. Under his distinctive leadership, Meralco launched its Long-term Sustainability Strategy (targeting a coal-free future by 2050), as well as pioneering initiatives such as Green Mobility (to drive vehicle fleet electrification), Race to Zero Waste (to boost waste diversion), and #Mbrace (to champion diversity and inclusion).
He also helped institute robust sustainability governance by establishing a Board-
level Sustainability Committee and a cadre of Sustainability Champions across all line and subsidiary units, by integrating sustainability metrics into corporate KPIs, and by leading award-winning sustainability reporting efforts. His work has garnered Meralco all-time best ESG scores and inclusion in prominent indices like MSCI, CDP, FTSE Russell, and Bloomberg GEI. Recognized by prestigious global organizations like the International Business Awards, Stevie Asia-Pacific Awards, and Environmental Finance, Ravelo is celebrated as a thought leader and sustainability hero in the energy sector.
Reflecting on this recognition, Ravelo remarked, “On behalf of the close to 6,000 women and men of One Meralco, it is truly my humble honor and privilege to receive this award. This win is for all of them. We are grateful to the IABC for recognizing our efforts, not only in ‘keeping the lights on’ for our 8 million customers but also in driving our sustainability agenda as we continue powering the good life for our customers, communities, constituents, and the country.”
Collaborative effort for lasting impact
Melody del Rosario, Chair of the IABC ESG Committee, praised Mr. Ravelo’s contributions to
sustainability, stating, “Raymond’s leadership at Meralco exemplifies the depth of commitment and innovative spirit that defines the ESG Thought Leader of the Year. His work reflects the Triple P Awards’ vision to inspire sustainable change across all sectors, showing us what is possible when we prioritize both corporate responsibility and meaningful impact.”
5.
4.
campaigns for branding or product launches.
Basic Qualification: Ability to work under pressure and motivation to succeed in a competitive environment. Should have a bachelor’s degree in journalism, marketing, communications or a related field.
Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
6. CHEN, JIAFA Project Coordinator
Brief Job Description: Plan, organize, and direct the activities of a construction project, under the direction of a general manager.
Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s degree in business or related field of study. Competent in Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, and Outlook. Knowledge of
margin and overhead management, budget and forecast determination and attainment, risk and opportunity reviews, cost controls, accounts payable/billing and cash collection. Basic Qualification: Must be University Degree in relevant discipline, and project management professional (PMP), associate in project management (APM) or equivalent certification is preferred.
City Of Makati
14. KAWAGUCHI, MAIKA Customer Service Officer Brief Job Description: Responsible in providing timely & quality customer service support for BDO products, eBanking & credit cards. Perform other duties/tasks that may be assigned from time to time.
44. WU, LIANBIN
Marketing
Brief
BusinessMirror
45.
Brief
48.
52. TAN, HUI Operation Manager
53. WANG, QINGJUN Operation Manager
Brief
54. WANG, QINGTAN Operation Manager
Brief
55. YU, XINRONG Operation Manager
Brief
56. LI, KUN Purchasing Manager
Brief
TENERITY PHILIPPINES CORP. 12th Floor, W Fifth Avenue Building, 32nd St. Cor. 5th
Bonifacio, City Of Taguig
95. GRANADOS KOPP, CRISTIAN ALBERTO Customer Care Specialist
Brief Job Description: Respond professionally, accurately and in a timely manner to customer contacts (primarily inbound calls and may also encompass outbound calls, email, etc.). Actively demonstrate and behave in accordance with company values. Achieve individual performance objectives and standards that help meet departmental objectives and organizational service level agreements.
Trump administration’s second term looms over United Nations and global organizations
By Edith M. Lederer & Jamey Keaten The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations and other international organizations are bracing for four more years of Donald Trump, who famously tweeted before becoming president the first time that the 193-member UN was “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
In his first term, Trump suspended funding for the UN health and family planning agencies, withdrew from its cultural organization and top human rights body, and jacked up tariffs on China and
even longtime US allies by flaunting the World Trade Organization’s rulebook. The United States is the biggest single donor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of its regular budget.
Trump’s take this time on the world body began taking shape this week with his choice of Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York for US ambassador to the UN
Stefanik, the fourth-ranking House member, called last month for a “complete reassessment” of US funding for the United Nations and urged a halt to support for its agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA. President Joe Biden paused the funding after UNRWA fired several staffers in Gaza suspected of taking part in the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas.
Here’s a look at what Trump 2.0 could mean for global organizations:
‘A theater’ for a conservative agenda SPECULATION about Trump’s future policies has already become a parlor game among wags in Washington and beyond, and reading the signals on issues important to the UN isn’t always easy.
For example, Trump once called climate change a hoax and has supported the fossil fuel industry but has sidled up to the environmentally minded Elon Musk. His first administration funded breakneck efforts to find a Covid-19 vaccine, but he has allied with anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“The funny thing is that Trump does not really have a fixed view of the UN,” said Richard Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group think tank.
Gowan expects that Trump won’t view the world body “as a place to transact serious political business but will instead exploit it as a theater to pursue a conservative global social agenda.”
There are clues from his first term. Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accord and is likely to do it again after President Joe Biden rejoined.
Trump also had the US leave the cultural and educational agency UNESCO and the UN-backed Human Rights Council, claiming they were biased against Israel. Biden went back to both before recently
opting not to seek a second consecutive term on the council.
Trump cut funding for the UN population agency for reproductive health services, claiming it was funding abortions. UNFPA says it doesn’t take a position on abortion rights, and the US rejoined.
He had no interest in multilateralism—countries working together to address global challenges—in his first term. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls it “the cornerstone” of the United Nations.
A new ‘Cold War’ world?
THE world is a different place than when Trump bellowed “America First” while taking office in 2017: Wars have broken out in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has grown, and so have fears about Iran’s rapidly advancing atomic program.
The UN Security Council— more deeply divided among its veto-wielding permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US—has made no progress in resolving those issues. Respect for international law in war zones and hotspots worldwide is in shreds.
“It’s really back to Cold War days,” said John Bolton, a former national security adviser at Trump’s White House.
He said Russia and China are “flying cover” for countries like Iran, which has stirred instability in the Middle East, and North Korea, which has helped Russia in its war in Ukraine. There’s little chance of deals on proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction or resolving conflicts involving Russia or China at the council, he said.
Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN, expects Stefanik will have a “tougher time” because of the range of issues facing the Security Council.
“What had been fairly sleepy during the first Trump term is not going to be sleepy at all in the second Trump term,” he said.
The Security Council has been impotent on Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion because of Russia’s veto power. And it has failed to adopt a resolution with teeth demanding a cease-fire in Gaza because of US support for Israel.
The Crisis Group’s Gowan said Republicans in Congress are “furious” about UN criticisms of Israeli policies in Gaza and he expects them to urge Trump to “impose severe budget cuts on the UN, and he will do so to satisfy his base.”
Possible impact on UN work
THE day-to-day aid work of global institutions also faces uncertainty.
In Geneva, home to many UN organizations focusing on issues like human rights, migration, telecommunications and weather, some diplomats advise wait-andsee caution and say Trump generally maintained humanitarian aid funding in his first term.
Trade was a different matter.
In a veiled reference to Trump’s victory at the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan, Guterres said the “clean energy revolution is here. No group, no business, no government can stop it.”
Allison Chatrchyan, director of the AI-Climate Institute at Cornell University, said global progress in addressing climate change “has been plodding along slowly” thanks to the Paris accord and the UN convention on climate change, but Trump’s election “will certainly create a sonic wave through the system.”
“It is highly likely that President Trump will again pull the United States out of the Paris agreement—yet under the rules of the treaty, this can only take effect after four years,” Chatrchyan, who was attending the COP29 climate summit, wrote in an email. “United States leadership, which is sorely needed, will dissipate.”
During Covid-19, when millions of people worldwide were getting sick and dying, Trump lambasted the World Health Organization and suspended funding. Trump’s second term won’t necessarily resemble the first, said Gian Luca Burci, a former WHO legal counsel. “It may be more extreme, but it may be also more strategic because Trump has learned the system he didn’t really know in the first term.”
If the US leaves WHO, that “opens the whole Pandora’s box,— by stripping the agency of both funding and needed technical expertise—said Burci, a visiting professor of international law at Geneva’s Graduate Institute. “The whole organization is holding its breath—for many reasons.”
But both Gowan and Bolton agree there is one UN event Trump is unlikely to miss: the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly, where he has reveled in the global spotlight. Keaten reported from Geneva.
The Associated Press writer Sibi Arasu contributed from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Trump bypassed World Trade Organization rules, imposing tariffs on steel and other goods from allies and rivals alike. Making good on his new threats, like imposing 60 percent tariffs on goods from China, could upend global trade. Other ideological standoffs could await, though the international architecture has some builtin protections and momentum.
Republicans win 218 US House seats, giving Trump and the party control of government
By Stephen Groves & Lisa Mascaro
WThe Associated Press
ASHINGTON—Republicans have won enough seats to control the US House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on US government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.
A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats.
With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country.
The incoming president has promised to carry out the country’s largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government’s most powerful tools and reshape the US economy. The GOP election victories ensure that Congress will be onboard for that agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it. When Trump was elected president in
2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but he still encountered Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. Not this time.
When he returns to the White House, Trump will be working with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his “Make America Great Again” movement and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three that he appointed.
Trump rallied House Republicans at a Capitol Hill hotel Wednesday morning, marking his first return to Washington since the election.
“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s good, we got to figure something else,’” Trump said to the room full of lawmakers who laughed in response.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who with Trump’s endorsement won the Republican Conference’s nomination to stay on as speaker next year, has talked of taking a “blowtorch” to the federal government and its programs, eyeing ways to overhaul even popular programs championed by Democrats in recent years. The Louisiana Republican, an ardent conservative, has pulled the House Republican Conference closer to Trump during the campaign season as they prepare an “ambitious” 100-day agenda.
“Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate,” Johnson said earlier this week. “The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda.”
Trump’s allies in the House are already signaling they will seek retribution for the legal troubles Trump faced while out of office. The incoming president on Wednesday said he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, a fierce loyalist, for attorney general.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has said GOP lawmakers are “not taking anything off the table” in their plans to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, even as Smith is winding down two federal investigations into Trump for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Still, with a few races still uncalled the Republicans may hold the majority by just a few seats as the new Congress begins. Trump’s decision to pull from the House for posts in his administration—Reps. Gaetz, Mike Waltz and Elise Stefanik so far—could complicate Johnson’s ability to maintain a majority in the early days of the new Congress. Gaetz submitted his resignation Wednesday, effective immediately. John -
son said he hoped the seat could be filled by the time the new Congress convenes Jan. 3. Replacements for members of the House require special elections, and the congressional districts held by the three departing members have been held by Republicans for years. With the thin majority, a highly functioning House is also far from guaranteed. The past two years of Republican House control were defined by infighting as hardline conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly defying their party leadership. While Johnson—at times with Trump’s help—largely tamed open rebellions against his leadership, the right wing of the party is ascendant and ambitious on the heels of Trump’s election victory. The Republican majority also depends on a small group of lawmakers who won tough elections by running as moderates. It remains to be seen whether they will stay onboard for some of the most extreme proposals championed by Trump and his allies. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation that passes Congress, an effort that will depend on Democratic leaders unifying over 200 members, even as the party undergoes a postmortem of its election losses.
Trump’s promise to end TPS sparks fear among immigrants, advocates warn of deportation crisis
NBy Anita Snow & Cedar Attanasio The Associated Press
EW YORK —Maribel Hidalgo fled her native Venezuela a year ago with a 1-year-old son, trudging for days
through Panama’s Darien Gap, then riding the rails across Mexico to the United States. They were living in the US when the Biden administration announced Venezuelans would be offered Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows people already in the United States to stay and
work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. People from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and recently Lebanon, are currently receiving such relief.
But President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have promised mass deportations and suggested they
would scale back the use of TPS that covers more than 1 million immigrants. They have highlighted unfounded claims that Haitians who live and work legally in Springfield, Ohio, as TPS holders were eating their neighbors’ pets. Trump also amplified disputed claims
made by the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, about Venezuelan gangs taking over an apartment complex.
Snow reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.
ÃO PAULO—A man who failed in an attempt to break into Brazil’s Supreme Court killed himself in explosions outside the building Wednesday that forced justices and staff to evacuate, authorities said.
The two strong blasts were heard about
7:30 p.m. after the day’s session finished and all the justices and staff left the building safely, Brazil’s Supreme Court said in a statement.
Local firefighters confirmed one man died at the scene in the capital Brasilia, but did not identify him.
Celina Leão, the lieutenant governor of Brazil’s federal district, said the suspect had earlier detonated explosives in a car
in a Congress parking lot, which did not cause injuries.
“His first action was to explode the car. Then he approached the Supreme Court and tried to get in the building. He failed and then there were the other explosions,” Leão said in a news conference.
Local media reported that the car that exploded belonged to a member of Brazil’s Liberal Party, the same of former President
Jair Bolsonaro. Leão said only investigations will determine whether the owner of the car is the same man who died in the blasts.
Leão recommended that Congress be closed Thursday to avoid new risks. Brazil’s Senate heeded her call and the lower house will be shut until noon, speaker Arthur Lira said.
“It could have been a lone wolf, like others we’ve seen around the world,” Leão said
in a news conference. “We are considering it as a suicide because there was only one victim. But investigations will show if that was indeed the case.”
Leão added only forensics will be able to identify the body, which remained outside the Supreme Court for three hours after the blasts. The blasts outside the Supreme Court took place about 20 seconds apart in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where Brazil’s main government buildings, including the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace, are located. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not in the neighboring presidential palace at the time, spokesman José Chrispiniano said. Police blocked all access to the area and the presidential security bureau was conducting a sweep of the grounds around the presidential palace.
₧194,000 a month: Is AmBisyon Natin 2040’s middle-class dream achievable?
AT the heart of AmBisyon Natin 2040 lies a transformative vision: By 2040, the Philippines will have become a thriving, middle-class society where poverty is eradicated. Its citizens will enjoy long, healthy lives, characterized by intelligence, innovation, and creativity. Moreover, the country will be a beacon of trust, where families flourish amidst vibrant, culturally rich, and resilient communities.
To achieve the AmBisyon Natin 2040 vision, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) highlights the importance of sufficient income and savings for maintaining a middle-class lifestyle. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan rightly emphasizes that nurturing a robust middle class is central to realizing this national aspiration. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Adequate incomes, savings crucial for middle-class living,” November 12, 2024).
The recent pronouncement by Neda that a middle-class lifestyle in the Philippines costs a staggering P194,000 a month for a family of four has sent shockwaves across the nation. This amount, which is out of reach for many Filipinos, has sparked concerns about the country’s growing wealth disparity and the dwindling middle class.
The country’s middle class, traditionally the backbone of any society, has been shrinking at an alarming rate. This trend is worrying, as a strong middle class is essential for social stability and economic growth. The absence of a thriving middle class can lead to severe social and economic imbalances, ultimately resulting in unrest and instability.
Neda’s estimate of the monthly expenses required to sustain a middle-class lifestyle is a sobering reminder of the challenges facing many Filipinos. The breakdown of these expenses, which include owning a car, private education for children, and occasional trips around the country, paints a picture of a lifestyle that is increasingly unaffordable for many.
However, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon’s suggestion that these costs can be significantly reduced to around P92,000 a month with the right economic and social policies offers a glimmer of hope. This underscores the importance of policy reforms that prioritize poverty reduction, job creation, and social protection.
It would do well for the government to take concrete steps to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, which are major obstacles to achieving a middle-class lifestyle. This includes implementing policies that promote employment opportunities, improve the employability of Filipinos, and strengthen social protection programs.
Furthermore, the government must also focus on creating an environment that fosters economic growth and development, such as promoting higher productivity sectors, reducing barriers to entry, and enforcing competition. This will help create quality jobs and increase the chances of Filipinos ascending to the middle class.
The World Bank’s Lead Economist Gonzalo Varela’s emphasis on the need to reduce trade and investment costs is also crucial in achieving outwardoriented growth and creating a more competitive economy.
When everything is considered, the country’s shrinking middle class is a pressing concern that requires immediate attention. The government must work towards creating an environment that supports economic growth, job creation, and social protection. By doing so, we can hope to achieve the goals of AmBisyon Natin 2040, which envisions a resilient, comfortable, and peaceful life for all Filipinos.
BusinessMirror
T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez
A. Ng
V. Vitug Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso
Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes
Generative artificial intelligence and copyright infringement
ArTIfIcIAl Intelligence (AI) technologies introduce exciting new opportunities but also bring challenges for content creators, regulators and companies across all industries.
AI is the discipline concerned with the design and development of automated intelligent systems that perceive, reason out, formulate decisions, and act in an environment to achieve a set of measurable goals.
AI systems embody computational structures that mimic human or animal cognition to process data, learn from experiences, and decide, plan, and act autonomously to satisfy a programmed objective.
AI provides software that can reason on input and explain on output. AI will provide humanlike interactions with software and offer decision support for specific tasks.
AI technology has the ability to dramatically impact the economy, education, politics, and lifestyle of people.
Intellectual property (IP) rights issues associated with AI will be one of the issues to be discussed in the upcoming 76th Asian Patent Attorneys
Association (APAA) Council Meeting at the SMX Convention Center and Conrad Hotel in Pasay City from November 18 to 21, 2024.
Many content creators such as news providers, authors, visual content agencies and other creative professionals allege that their work is being unlawfully used to train AI models.
Content creators lament that millions of texts, parts of texts and other literary material and images have been scraped from publicly available websites without consent.
An existential threat is the infringement of their copyright and often their database rights when the scraped content is used as an input to train and develop AI models, which can then create images and texts that replicate their artistic style.
One of the issues is that publishers and content creators are not being rewarded for the use of their content to train AI models.
The use of Large Language Mod-
els (LLMs) such as ChatGPT also disrupts the business model of consumers who search online via a search engine for content, no longer being directed to publications on their websites where the traffic attracts revenue made through digital advertising.
The billions of works produced by generative AI are unowned and can be used anywhere, by anyone, for any purpose.
Delegates will discuss possible liability and legal action, including what entity (the AI developer, the AI operator, or both) that must be held liable for copyright-infringing AI outputs and the safe harbor provisions available to intermediaries like AI datacenters.
Copyright infringement is a trespass on a private domain owned by the copyright owner and protected by law. Copyright infringement occurs when someone performs an act that is the exclusive right of the copyright holder, without obtaining the copyright holder’s permission. In other words, copyright infringement involves using copyrighted material in an unauthorized way. (Columbia Pictures Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 329 Phil. 875, 926). Copyright infringement is committed by any person who shall use original literary or artistic works, or derivative works, without the copyright owner’s consent in such a manner as to violate the latter’s economic rights. (Olano v. Lim Eng Co, 783 Phil. 234, 250).
Markets see 80% chance of December Fed cut after inflation data
By Liz Capo McCormick
Tr Aders added to wagers that the federal reserve will cut interest rates by another quarter point next month after in-line inflation data, spurring gains for Treasury debt.
The rally trimmed yields on twoyear notes, more closely tied than longer tenors to Fed rate decisions, by as much as 10 basis points to 4.24 percent. Swaps traders boosted to about 80 percent the probability that the Fed will cut rates again on December 18, up from around 56 percent earlier Wednesday. Through June, they priced in just over 60 basis points of cumulative reductions.
The October consumer price index data quelled concern about halting progress toward lower inflation even before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Bond traders in the weeks leading up to the November 5 election—which pollsters said was too close to call— had lowered their expectations for additional Fed rate cuts over the coming year.
“Bang in-line core inflation leaves the Fed on track to cut rates in December,” said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “After a run of unseasonably hot autumn data, today’s number cools fears of an imminent slowdown in the pace of rate cuts.”
Longer-dated rates declined less, then rebounded amid the latest surge in new corporate bond sales. Yields remain near the highest levels in months, reached in the week since the election of Trump, whose tax policies have been predicted to be inflationary. Republicans also won control of both chambers of Congress, news networks said Wednesday after the final House races were called, facilitating implementation of the policies. Consumer prices rose 2.6 percent
year-on-year in October overall and 3.3 percent excluding the volatile food and energy categories. Both figures matched the median forecasts of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The figures underscore the slow and frustrating nature of the battle against inflation, which has often moved sideways—sometimes for months at a time—on its broader path down.
“The biggest news we are interested in is the fiscal adjustment and what that is going to look like” under the new administration, said Frances Newton Stacy, economic strategist and wealth manager at Scarlet Oak Financial Services. “Bonds are having a hard time pricing all this in.”
Before the CPI data, traders had been piling into bets that the Trump agenda would lead to further losses in Treasuries. Open interest—the number of contracts in which traders have positions—in Treasury futures suggests an increase in new hedges for higher yields since the election.
Wednesday’s Treasury futures activity after the data included a couple of large block trades in the five-year
Established in December 1969, APAA membership is open to individuals practicing the profession of patent attorney in the Asian region as well as organizations that comprise such individuals and are constituted in the Asian region.
Some of APAA’s activities include exchanging information and views concerning IP protection on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, patents, designs, trademarks, and emerging IP rights.
The Intellectual Property Association of the Philippines (IPAP) was founded on March 31, 1977 with the aim of professionalizing the steadily growing practice of IP law in the Philippines.
The Organizing Committee of the 76th APAA Council Meeting in Manila is led by Chairman Atty. Lorna Kapunan and Co-Chairman Atty. Pablo Gancayo. The Intellectual Property Association of the Philippines is led by Atty. Rico Domingo, IPAP President, and Atty. Ferdinand Fider, IPAP Chairman. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero will be the guest of honor during the opening ceremonies. The Philippines hosted the APAA council meetings in 1990 (Manila Hotel), 2000 (Cebu), and 2011 (Shangri-La Makati).
Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho is a Junior Partner who heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.
note contract that appeared to contribute to the rally.
“We maintain our call for a 25-basis-point cut at the December FOMC meeting, but believe that it could still be a close call, given there will be one more payroll report and CPI report,” Barclays economists Pooja Sriram wrote in a note with her colleagues on Wednesday. Last week, the team revised upward their baseline CPI forecast for 2025 to incorporate Trump’s proposed policies, mainly reflecting plans for increased tariffs. Fed policymakers have been delivering the message that—after their initial half-point rate cut in September and a quarter-point reduction on November 7—future moves are contingent on inflation continuing to show improvement.
Officials echoed that after the CPI data were released Wednesday. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, speaking on Bloomberg Television, said he views inflation as “heading in the right direction” but the December decision would take See “Markets,” A19
Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon
Amicus Curiae
Dennis Gorecho
Palm Beach is MAGA’s mecca as Trump plans his White House takeover
By Michael Smith, Nancy Cook & Anna J Kaiser
SinCe Donald Trump won a second term as president, Wall Street has been rallying and Washington has been bracing for his return—but the real action is unfolding a thousand miles south of the White House.
Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club in the wealthy South Florida enclave of Palm Beach, has been transformed into a hub for planning his transition to the Oval Office. Well-wishers, job seekers and lobbyists have been jamming the marble-lined hallways while the president-elect has been holed up in his private quarters, speaking to foreign leaders and weighing picks for top roles in his administration, according to people familiar with the meetings.
The resort has functioned as Trump’s home and political headquarters ever since his first term as president ended four years ago. But his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris has raised the activity level to a fever pitch—and magnified the immense economic and political power that has amassed on this barrier-island town an hour north of Miami.
On election night, Elon Musk, a constant presence on the trail in the late stages of the campaign, was spotted drifting through Mar-a-Lago.
The next day, the Tesla Inc. billionaire listened in on a call that Trump placed from the club to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“It’s a wonderful place, a place you can go and see colleagues, friends from the previous Trump administration, friends from the current campaign,” said Brian Ballard, a lobbyist and Mar-a-Lago member.
While Mar-a-Lago is the center of the Trump universe, the surrounding area has remained stubbornly blue. Palm Beach County, which is home to 1.5 million people, is one of only six Florida counties that Harris carried in the election.
Yet several affluent, influential Palm Beach homeowners quietly played a big part in helping Trump become the first president in more than a century to win two nonconsecutive terms—and have helped make the elite coastal haven into a MAGA mecca. Activist investor Nelson Peltz threw open his Montsorrel mansion to exhort other billionaires to back Trump. Investor John Paulson hosted a party at his South Ocean Boulevard home that raised $50 million. Other Palm Beach mainstays, including casino tycoon Steve Wynn, Blackstone co-founder Steve Schwarzman, sugar magnate Pepe Fanjul and money manager Paul Singer, mustered support for Trump.
Now, those donors are about to find out the advantages of sharing a ZIP code with the president-elect. At stake are important details on Trump’s policies toward China, tariffs and taxes that could affect the fortunes of corporations and captains of industry, including the ones perched in Palm Beach.
Winter White House
PALM Beach has served as a backdrop for presidential politics in the past; John F. Kennedy made it his “winter White House.” But Trump, who has been a presence in the area for decades, has fundamentally transformed the town into a sunsplashed hub for political horsetrading.
Mar-a-Lago is likely to be a hive of activity at least through Jan. 20, when Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US president in Washington— and to remain a Trump stronghold after he takes the oath. The president-elect’s advisers and allies expect him to spend plenty of time in Florida, and political operators are expanding their presence there, seeking out office space within range of the club.
“I expect it to be, probably even more so than the first term, the cen-
Holding on to the hands of our ancestors
Many animal species live in complex social groups, only humans live in cultures. Thus three social scientists named Michael Tomasello, ann Cale Kruger, and Hillary Horn Ratner, spoke of what has always separated us from other beings.
ter of the universe outside of DC,” said lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who is opening a Palm Beach office for his firm, Capital City Consulting.
Trump has helped Palm Beach’s rise in other ways. The cap he introduced to state and local tax deductions during his first term helped spur a large migration of wealth south, benefiting places with no state income taxes, including Florida.
The cap, along with much of Trump’s 2017 tax law, expires at the end of 2025.
Some of Trump’s Palm Beach neighbors had high-level roles in his first term. Schwarzman served as an emissary to China. Financier Wilbur Ross was Trump’s commerce secretary. Former Marvel Entertainment chairman Isaac Perlmutter was an unofficial adviser overhauling the Veterans Administration.
So far, Trump’s reported early picks for his second administration have also had a Florida flavor: Senator Marco Rubio is in line to be Secretary of State, while Congressman Mike Waltz is set to be national security adviser. A spokeswoman for the Trump transition team said appointments will be announced as they are made.
Along with wealthy Trump partisans, the Palm Beach area is home to Democratic megadonors and Republicans such as Ken Griffin, who passed on backing Trump but put his financial muscle behind GOP congressional candidates.
Local real estate agents are preparing for a new wave of transplants. Gary Pohrer, a broker with Douglas Elliman, said he has been scheduling more showings of big-ticket homes than average in Palm Beach since the election.
“There will be some people who will try to buy access to Trump through property in Palm Beach,” Pohrer said. “You’d have a good shot if you’re willing to pay up for membership at Mar-a-Lago.” Such memberships are hard to come by. Trump’s club manager said in June that the cost of a new membership was being raised to $1 million, and only a few were left.
“It’s power. You’ve got a new class of people joining,” said Laurence Leamer, the author of the 2019 book Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace and a part-time Palm Beach resident. “What is the million dollars for membership if you can get a $2 billion deal from the White House?”
Changing community
PUBLIC-RELATIONS executive Melissa Rein Lively said she has been hanging out at Mar-a-Lago for the past few days, after flying in from her home in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“I want somebody to treat the DC-Palm Beach circuit like TMZ,” said Lively. “Politics has replaced Hollywood.”
The frenzy has irked some Palm Beach mainstays, who fear things will now only get busier. A development boom was already choking roads and parking and upending the town’s stringent limits on construction.
Additionally, Palm Beach County had been spending $93,000 a day to protect Trump following two assassination attempts, with 24-hour roadblocks snarling traffic when he’s in town.
“There is going to be more security here than Fort Knox,” said Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs. “The cost of protecting him is astronomical, and the traffic and road closures are a nuisance for residents.” With assistance from Amanda Gordon/ Bloomberg
We produce cultures by way of cultural products like material artifacts, social institutions and languages, and they are dynamic elements. Once adopted or borrowed, these cultural elements never stay as they are. We modify them or take off from them, shifting strategies but with the elements to which we are responding remaining in sight, staying in our minds or hearts. They are almost reminders. They are the pebbles tossed on the ground to guide us back. They are twisted twigs that will alert us how we have passed by said clump of trees, that the place is not strange but familiar, either welcoming us or warning us.
The changes are seen by other members and other human groups begin from the modified practice. Across generations, we notify ourselves—quietly, silently, tacitly, unconsciously, unselfconsciously—of what could be inventions or coping mechanisms.
The passing of knowledge from one generation to another is not a grand procession of ideas. They take place everyday, each moment, from the time we look up to the oldest members of our family and each time we react to ideas we believe not to our liking. The fact is we are always
looking, learning, responding to or against ideas.
Last month, in a visit to Sagay, Negros Occidental, I was listening to one of our companions commenting on the beauty of the cogon grasses, the white blooms that resemble cotton tufts at the end of each tall grass. But I was not thinking much; I was remembering my grandparents and all the grand-aunts who thought of cogon grasses as harbingers of, first, cool air, and, second, the wind that will blow those white feathers away. Now, the wind will be here. I do not stop reminiscing with the wind. Literature abound also about how invasive the cogon grasses are. Its seeds are effective dispensers but then the power of the cogon grass can be found underground. Cogon grass has a rhizome system that enables it to spread fast and develop a monoculture. It can live by itself, killing other plants. Who modifies my romance with the grasses and the wind?
The other day, I received a message from my sister as she passed on to me photos of a lovely sunset. The orange and the red glow on the horizon made the distance between us more pungent. That which separated her from me became more vital. Living. The one-hour difference did not matter. I was watching the same space. Late autumn there on her side of the world; the arrival of a storm and the departure of another in my world. And yet, the same childhood, the same past, was coloring our view.
Are you still able to predict the coming of the typhoon by the persistence of the red hue from afar? Are you bothered by the unmoving clouds and how they seem not to say goodbye at all?
We, of course, know how the clouds bring on the orange and the incarnadine but the past, more than the present, has modified for us the knowledge of the world.
I wanted to tell her but no one ever predicted the flooding. We were avoiding it. No stock knowledge about the flood has ever been part of our memory. There was the Bible and the fortydays-and-forty-nights. But we could not confront the punitive histories and the cleansing of humankind. Too much. Just too much. We both do not subscribe to the myth of the Fall of Man. In the literatures on the Primitive Man, it is often told how, during trials, our ancestors are always there holding our hands. When we climb mountains and we, by the law of gravity, are about to fall, there are unseen forces that stop our fall. When we try to survive the rising waters, and we could not feel anymore with our feet the ground now lost in the swollen river, then our great, great grandfathers and great, great uncles are there holding us up, telling us this is not yet your time. It is a voice modified by the past and the present, the progeny of ideas, present because destiny wills it so. And so it is that when the next natural dangers come, when Nature appears to be unpredictable, the mind and heart of cultures spring forth. As we struggle with our homes against the storm, behind us is a long line of ancestors, an unbroken procession of kinship, defining for us the world unfolding before us—familiar, dangerous, but, soon, will be within our control once more.
E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com
Xi’s key players to lead China in another Trump trade fight
By Josh Xiao
DonalD TRuMp’S return to power has raised the chances of another trade war between the uS and China, making Beijing’s potential negotiators some of the most important people in Xi Jinping’s government.
Here’s a look at the key figures that could be sitting at the table if trade tensions escalate.
Vice Premier He Lifeng
He, 69, is a Politburo member and Beijing’s point person for US-China economic and trade affairs, taking over from Liu He, who played a central role in the trade war during Trump’s first term.
He is a close confidante of Xi, having known him since the 1980s when they worked as officials in the coastal city of Xiamen.
He didn’t directly participate in the negotiations during the trade war but he was working at the nation’s top economic planner at the time. That gives him insight into some of China’s tactics for countering Trump.
Commerce Minister Wang Wentao Wang, 60, is China’s commerce minister, a role that traditionally handles trade relations. He has experience across the world’s No. 2 economy, working in the financial hub of Shanghai but also in the rust belt province of Heilongjiang and interior provinces like Yunnan.
Markets.
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into account future economic data.
Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the Fed should “proceed cautiously at this point” because of the risk inflation remains elevated. Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid on Wednesday sounded a note of caution about how much more the US central bank will need to lower interest rates. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said the central bank is within sight of its inflation
He has hit back at accusations that the dominance of China’s electric vehicle sector was due to overcapacity and government aid, instead pointing to innovation, advanced supply chains and intense competition.
Earlier this year he met with top global executives, including Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, to boost slowing foreign investment amid geopolitical tensions.
Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen Wang, 58, participated in the talks during Trump’s first term. The Chinese government’s international trade negotiation representative and fluent English speaker said during the tensions at the time that his country won’t yield to “blackmail.”
He once oversaw North American affairs at the ministry. Wang cochairs a trade working group with Marisa Lago, the US undersecretary of commerce for international trade. And in that role, he expressed concerns with US efforts to cut China off from key semiconductor tech. Two of Wang’s underlings, Ling Ji and Li Yongjie, could play a role in
and employment goals.
Trump’s agenda—which includes tax cuts—is seen expanding the federal budget deficit, requiring increased US debt issuance. Investors are accordingly demanding higher Treasury yields as the price of providing additional financing. While some have predicted 10-year yields will return to the 5 percent as Treasury supply increased, not all are convinced.
Stephen Jen, Eurizon SLJ’s chief executive officer, said the US 10-year Treasury yield is already too high, and he sees 3.5 percent as fair value. He wrote that consensus Trump trades
talks, too. Ling has engaged Europe on the EV tariffs that were recently imposed, while Li rose through the ranks at the ministry’s department of treaty and law.
PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng Pan, 61, is helping steer the world’s second-largest economy through a growth slowdown and safeguarding the roughly $60 trillion financial system.
An English speaker, Pan has pushed for reforms in areas such as the banking sector and the exchange rate, earning him a reputation as a problem solver with a wealth of experience in the country’s state banks and the central bank.
In September, Pan unveiled a broad package of monetary stimulus measures to revive an economy teetering on the brink of deflation. Pan would likely play a crucial role in the debate within China over whether the yuan should be allowed to weaken to boost exports, and by how much.
Vice Finance Minister Liao Min Liao, 55, has broad experience working in the financial industry, including at the central bank and the banking regulator. The fluent English speaker was a key member of China’s previous team of trade-war negotiators. As part of that, Liao traveled to the US as an aide to Liu He and met Trump in the Oval Office.
More recently, Liao greeted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen when she visited China in April. Last month, Liao met Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh in Washington as part of series of talks. On that visit, Liao said China was worried about tariffs imposed by the US and sanctions related to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Some other possibilities
ZHAO CHENXIN vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission, could also play a negotiating role given his experience dealing with American officials and businessmen.
It’s unclear who from the Foreign Ministry could participate in the negotiations this time around, but one possibility is Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. In recent years he has been busy interacting with delegations from the US, contributing to speculation he could one day be named foreign minister.
Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Agriculture Ministry would also likely have a role in negotiations. Zhang Yunming, a vice minister at MIIT, is one name to watch given his experience in working with other nations on tech issues. Another is Wu Hongyao, vice agriculture minister, whose predecessor was involved before he won promotion. With assistance from Zheng Li /Bloomberg
are at risk of faltering as the incoming administration’s policies might produce more positive results on the fiscal front than markets are assuming. “Treasury moves in the coming months are going to come in reaction to economic and inflation data influenced by past fiscal and monetary policy—from as distant as 12 or 18 months ago. Any inflation from the future Trump administration’s policies won’t be felt until well into the future. In the here and now then, the question is whether the Fed has helped to stick the soft landing, and whether, having done so, has allowed inflation to remain elevated well above target. This report doesn’t answer that question,” said Bloomberg strategist Edward Harrison. Many of Trump’s ideas “are progrowth policies, though having said that, the wild card is tariffs,” said Earl Davis, head of fixed income and money markets at BMO Global Asset Management in a telephone interview. Investors are “still trying to find how much risk premium is needed now—and the market is saying it’s definitely not less.” With assistance from Kristine Aquino, Edward Bolingbroke and Anchalee Worrachate/Bloomberg
Tito Genova Valiente annoTaTions
A20 www.businessmirror.com.ph
Friday, November 15, 2024
Election preps go on amid calls to void Miru-led JV
By Justine Xyrah Garcia & Joel R. San Juan
HE Commission on Elections
Tsaid on Wednesday that its election preparations for the 2025 polls will continue as planned, amid calls to nullify its joint venture with the South Korean firm Miru Systems Ltd.
In an ambush interview at Comelec’s warehouse in Biñan, Laguna, Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia said he sees no problem if certain people would still like to question the validity of the partnership.
“It’s fine with us if people want to file manifestations. We will continue our preparations. Again, we are grateful to the Supreme Court…They have not ordered us to stop our preparations. So, all our activities here continue,” said Garcia, speaking partly in Filipino.
Garcia’s comment came a day before former Caloocan second district representative Edgar “Egay” Erice asked anew the Supreme Court to stop the contract agreement between the poll body and Miru.
In his supplement motion, Erice argued that the partnership was effectively dissolved when St. Timothy Construction Corporation—Miru’s
local partner—withdrew from the joint venture.
“St. Timothy as a part of the Joint Venture was instrumental to the award of the Contract to the Joint Venture...
In the absence of St. Timothy, Comelec is no longer transacting with the winning bidder much less, any entity. There being no entity to transact with, there is no contract to speak off,” Erice said in a press release.
Erice asked the SC to immediately issue a temporary restraining order and eventually declare null and void the Comelec resolution awarding the P17.9-billion Automated Election System (AES) contract to the joint venture headed by Miru Systems Co. Ltd. for the 2025 national and local elections following the withdrawal of its partner St. Timothy Construction Corp..
Erice said St. Timothy’s withdrawal from the joint venture would compromise the conduct of the 2025 elections and has rendered the award of the contract to Miru null and void.
He disputed Chairman Garcia’s view that St. Timothy’s withdrawal will not affect the elections.
“Chairman Garcia is mistaken. The mere fact that St. Timonth withdrew from the Joint Venture effectively nullifies the latter’s contract with Comelec,” Erice told the Court.
Even Miru’s compliance with the Comelec’s directive to submit a revised Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC) to replace the one that was submitted by St. Timothy would not make the contract with Miru valid, Erice insisted.
In a minute resolution it earlier released, Comelec said the replacement NFCC amounting to P19.25 billion is sufficient to cover the contract price of P17.9 billion.
“Miru’s purported submission of a replacement NFCC does not cure the defect that upon St. Timothy's withdrawal from the Joint Venture, there is no longer an NFCC legally existing with the Bids and Awards Committee,” Erica explained.
Partnership broken I N October, St. Timothy broke off the Miru-Comelec partnerships after one of its owners filed her certificate of candidacy for public office. (Related: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/10/04/ st-timothy-breaks-off-from-miru-comelecpoll-venture/)
As a local partner, the construction firm served as a financial intermediary between Miru and the Comelec. Together with three other companies, it helped Miru with the necessary financial backing to meet the net financial
contracting capacity requirements.
However, for Garcia, St. Timothy’s exit in the venture should not be much of an issue as the delivery of automated counting machines (ACMs) and other election paraphernalias remain on time.
“As you can see, we’re here in Biñan, Laguna. Almost 88 percent of the [machine] deliveries have already arrived. All election peripherals are here already. Miru’s obligation to us is almost complete,” the chairman pointed out.
According to the Comelec, it has already received 85,994 out of the 110,000 ACMs that Miru was contracted to supply. Deliveries are expected to be completed within November—a month ahead of schedule.
“It means they probably don’t need the money or that guarantee anymore because they were able to produce the machines. This only means that Miru can finance the entire manufacturing of all the machines on their own,” the chairman added.
With deliveries nearly complete, the Comelec said that Miru’s remaining commitment is to deploy technicians in the 110 repair hubs across the country. (Related: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2024/11/04/comelec-setting-up110-technical-hubs/)
GOVT CAN DRAW DOWN P1.28B BALANCE OF DISASTER FUND
ABALANCE of P1.284 billion remains under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF), which the government can still access until the end of the year.
With calamity funds down to about a billion pesos, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said agencies may tap other available sources, such as the Contingent Fund, Unprogrammed Appropriations, and Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to supplement their Quick Response Funds.
QRFs are built-in budgetary allocations or stand-by funds for agencies to immediately assist areas affected by catastrophes and crises. When agencies' QRFs are depleted, they may ask the DBM for replenishment, a request to be approved by the Office of the President.
Pangandaman noted that the Continent Fund currently has about P7 billion, which could be the first source of funding instead of the NDRRMF.
The latest status of the NDRRMF, commonly known as calamity funds, from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed P2.637 billion has been released in October, mostly to replenish first response agencies’ QRFs.
Calamity funds are meant to provide aid, relief and rehabilitation services to affected communities, as well as for repairing, rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructure in the aftermath of natural or human-induced disasters that occur within the current year or the two
preceding years.
During the January to October 2024 period, about 94.35 percent, or P21.452 billion, out of the P22.736 billion allotment for the year have already been disbursed.
For October alone, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received P437.500 million twice, obtaining a total of P875 million, to boost its QRF. Additionally, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was allocated P1 billion for its QRF while the Department of Agriculture (DA) received P500 million.
For the same purpose, the Office of the Civil Defense under the Department of National Defense (DND) was granted a total of P237.500 million while P25 million was also given to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
For November, the DBM approved the release of P875 million to replenish the DSWD’s QRF chargeable against the NDRRMF. The requested replenishment will used to procure various family food packs and non-food items for the stockpiling of relief resources in DSWD warehouses and the implementation of Cash for Work for the affected families of Typhoon Julian in Region I. Next year, calamity funds are set at P31 billion, 51.22 percent higher than the P20.500 billion allocation in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
B1
November 15, 2024
‘MPTC ready to offer foreign assets in merger with SMC’
By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan
Jakarta, Indonesia—Metro Pacific tollways Corp. (MPtC) is pulling out all the stops to ensure a 50-50 shareholding in its ambitious merger with San Miguel Corp. (SMC), even offering up its international tollway businesses to make it happen.
In an interview Wednesday evening, incoming MPTC President Arrey A. Perez highlighted the importance of a balanced partnership, stressing that the 50-50 structure aligns with the long-term vision of Metro Pacific’s top executives, including its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.
“For us, the 50-50 split is a very ideal scenario. It’s a balancing act. Our preference from our side is 5050,” he said. “(But) it’s something that we cannot speculate (about) because for these kinds of mergers, we have financial advisors and we’re in that stage where they’re studying (the valuation of the companies).”
to finalize the merger expeditiously, the complexity of the assets involved means a timeline is still unclear.
“These things take time. These are huge assets. When you do a merger, you have to set your house in order,” Perez said, emphasizing that financial advisors are diligently examining the terms.
He said the ultimate goal of the merger is to enhance operational efficiency and improve services for motorists.
“The objective of that merger is to make sure that we are able to provide a more convenient and safer service to our motorists.”
this done immediately.”
The merger plans were first announced in November 2023, with Pangilinan saying that it holds strategic significance, as both entities boast profitable tollway ventures across the Philippines and neighboring countries.
The Pangilinan-led toll titan operates the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), Nlex Connector, SubicClark-Tarlac Expressway (Sctex), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
NGCP plans to invest in more grid projects
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is ready to implement more than 100 transmission projects worth over P600 billion that are aimed at addressing the needs of the power grid, ensuring its reliability and stability to prevent transmission-related outages.
In a press briefing, NGCP officials said the grid operator annually updates its Transmission Development Plan (TDP), which forms part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Philippine Energy Plan.
Caticlan-Boracay 13kV line, BarolacViejo-Unidos 230kV line, and PanayGuimaras 138kV interconnection.
The NGCP also cited the Laguindingan 230kV substation and the Kabacan 138kV substation in Mindanao. Recently, the NGCP unveiled its long-term grid development plan in nationwide consultations.
The public consultations for North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, gathered input and provided updates for the expansion and improvement of the nation’s power grid under the proposed 20242050 TDP, which is a roadmap of transmission projects for the next 20 to 25 years.
Its unit PT MPT Indonesia Services holds a 96.07-percent shareholding in Indonesian firm PT Nusantara Infrastructure that operates a network of expressways, including the massive Trans-Java Toll Road.
MPT Asia also holds a 44.9-percent share in Vietnamese firm CII Bridges and Roads Investments Joint Stock Co. (CII B&R), the operator of the Hanoi Highway Expansion Phase 2 and the Rach Mieu Bridge.
“Whatever it takes to make that happen—the 50-50—if we’re going to include the international assets, we will include,” Perez said. “For now, our mandate is to have a 50-50 arrangement.”
Perez noted that while MPTC aims
To support this equal division, the Pangilinan-led company is prepared to leverage its international investments, including stakes held by its subsidiary, Metro Pacific Tollways Asia (MPT Asia).
According to Perez, bringing MPTC and SMC’s tollway assets together is a logical step toward improving operations.
“It’s easier to collaborate. It’s easier to manage these things when you have both the experience of both big companies,” he said. “We’re banking on synergies.”
While discussions are advancing, Perez wagers that the merger might not be finalized within this year, especially with the holiday season approaching.
“It’s not in our hands because the ball is still with our financial advisors. And of course, there are regulatory approvals that we need to secure,” he said. “But as early as this could be resolved, then we’ll be happy to implement this…We want
DOE seeks bidders for RE auction
THE Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday issued the bid invite for the third round of the Green Energy Auction (GEA-3), targeting over 4,000 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy (RE) projects.
Under the Notice of Auction (NOA) and Terms of Reference (TOR), the GEA-3 will target a total of 4,475 MW of new RE capacity, covering both non-FIT-eligible and FIT-eligible technologies.
The government aims to conduct the conduct before the end of the year.
“We are pleased to release the Notice of Auction and Terms of Reference of the GEA-3, a pivotal mechanism in accelerating our nation’s energy transition. By promoting competition and transparency, we are ensuring that the Philippines remains at the forefront of the global move towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future,” said DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.
The capacities for non-FIT (feedin-tariff) eligible RE technologies are 300 MW from impounding hydro; 4,000 MW from pumped-storage hydro; and 100 MW from geothermal.
The target start of deliveries for
impounding hydro and pumped storage hydro is 2028 to 2030 and 2025 to 2027 for geothermal.
GEA-3 will also cover run-of-river (ROR) hydro, which is a FIT-eligible RE technology.
An estimated 75 MW of RE capacity from ROR hydro is expected to be auctioned off, with a target delivery starting in 2027 to 2029.
“By unlocking more capacity for renewable energy, GEA-3 provides a clear pathway to meet our electricity demands and in an environmentally sustainable way,” Lotilla added.
The supply contract for FIT-eligible renewable energy projects will be for 20 years, starting from the commercial operation date (COD). Similarly, non-FIT-eligible projects will also have a 20-year delivery period, beginning from their respective CODs. Qualified suppliers wishing to participate in GEA-3 must register with the DOE by submitting the necessary documentation as outlined in the TOR.
The GEA Bids Evaluation and Awards Committee will review these applications, and a list of qualified bidders will be published on the DOE’s official website prior to the pre-bid conference.
The registration of qualified suppliers will start three working days after the publication of the Price Determination Methodology (PDM) and Green Energy Auction Reserve (GEAR) Price by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Meanwhile, the DOE has endorsed to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) 23 RE projects with a combined capacity of 5,601 MW for the conduct of system impact study (SIS).
The conduct of SIS is necessary to determine the adequacy of the grid and its capability to accommodate a request for power delivery service.
The DOE released on Thursday the SIS endorsement list for October to the NGCP.
The list also includes one battery energy storage system (BESS) project. The largest RE project in the list is the 2,000MW wind power project of Bondoc Wind Corp. in Masbate.
“In October, the DOE issued 24 SIS endorsements to the NGCP which are all new applications.”
This brings the total number of endorsed power projects for SIS to 172 since the start of the year. Of the 172 proposed RE projects, 166 are RE. Lenie Lectura
Report: Mang Inasal is fastest-growing brand in Asean
brand value to $1.9 billion.
PHILIPPINE restaurant brand Mang Inasal emerged as this year’s fastest-growing brand in the Asean region, according to a report by Brand Finance, a global brand valuation consultancy firm. According to the Asean 500 2024 report, Mang Inasal’s brand value tripled to $374 million from last year’s $124 million.
Meanwhile, SMC operates the South Luzon Expressway (Slex), the Star Tollway, the Tarlac-PangasinanLa Union Expressway (Tplex), the Skyway, and the Naia Expressway.
Should they decide to pursue the merger, the groups will have to consolidate their franchises into a unified franchise, an initiative that SMC big boss Ramon S. Ang described as “easy.”
Among the major grid development projects include the planned Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection, Tuy-Dasmarinas 500kV line, Western Luzon 500kV backbone stage 2, and Balaoan-Laoag 500kV line in Luzon.
In Visayas, the NGCP cited the Cebu- Lapu Lapu 138kV line, Amian-Dumaguete 138kV line, LuzonVisayas HVDC bipolar operation, Calbayog-Allen 138kV line, Nabas-
The DOE, National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), Meralco, and power generators and customers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were among the key stakeholders present during the consultations.
Continued on B2
Brand Finance said the brand has moved up by 136 notches to claim the 146th most valuable brand in the region this year, on high scores in Brand Finance’s market research data for the “familiarity” and “recommendation” metrics. Other Philippine brands from different sectors also posted higher values this year.
“With a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 85.4 of 100, it is also the only Philippine brand among Asean’s top 10 telecoms brand,” said Brand Finance.
Jollibee, a homegrown fastfood giant and is Mang Inasal’s sister brand, saw its value rise by 51 percent to $2.3 billion. It went up 19 spots this year to become the 23rd most valuable brand in Asean. Within the region’s telecommunications sector, Globe Telecom was hailed as the fifth strongest telecoms brand this year despite a 4-percent decline in its
In the banking landscape, the report noted that the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) brand value jumped by 22 percent to $1.5 billion this year and ranked as Asean’s 45th most valuable brand.
“This growth is driven by its higher scores in the ‘familiarity’, ‘consideration’, and ‘reputation’ metrics’ according to market research data,” Brand Finance said. Andrea E. San Juan
www.news.businessmirror@gmail.com
Travel to tomorrow
IAM not writing about a science fiction but on a visionary initiative of the Visit Flanders Convention Bureau (VFCB) called “Travel to Tomorrow,” aimed at reshaping tourism and the MICE (meetings, incentive travels, conventions and exhibitions) industry in Flanders to be more sustainable, purposeful, and beneficial for local communities and travelers.
Flanders is a region in Belgium known as the Flemish Region, or Vlaanderen. The region is located in the heart of Europe, south of the Netherlands, west of Germany and north of France. The capital of Flanders is Brussels, home to the European Commission, the European Union Council, and the European Parliament. I came to know more about the VFCB and its sustainability vision from Tuya Beyers, international impact and sustainability expert, who conducted a webinar titled “Sustainable Transformation of Business Events.”
“Travel to Tomorrow” is rooted in the belief that tourism and MICE events should be a force for good, positively impacting both the destination and those who visit. This approach shifts the focus from tourism and MICE growth, to sustainable development, fostering well-being, social cohesion, and environmental resilience. Here are its key elements:
1. People-centric tourism. At the heart of the initiative is the idea that tourism and MICE events should enhance quality of life. The VFCB believes that travel can help people connect more deeply with one another and with the places they visit, encouraging meaningful engagement rather than transactional tourism.
2. Purpose-driven experiences
The initiative emphasizes travel that is intentional, where visitors and locals share enriching experiences. This involves crafting events and tourism activities that bring people closer to the culture, heritage, and spirit of Flanders in authentic ways, encouraging visitors to engage mindfully with local communities.
3. Regenerative tourism. Going beyond sustainability, the initiative embraces regenerative principles, which
Banking&Finance Traders giddy with promised less power cost in RA 12066
seek to restore and revitalize environments, economies, and communities. The goal is for tourism and MICE in Flanders to leave a positive legacy, where business events and tourism contribute to the regeneration of local ecosystems, culture, and social structures.
4. Collaborative community impact. The VFCB works closely with local communities, business leaders, and the government to ensure that tourism activities align with local needs and aspirations. They encourage partnerships that involve local businesses, cultural institutions, and residents in the tourism process, ensuring that benefits are widespread and rooted in local collaboration.
5. Rethinking success metrics
Instead of traditional tourism and business events metrics like visitor numbers, the VFCB is exploring ways to measure the real impact of tourism activities on local well-being, cultural vitality, and environmental health. The focus is on long-term value and positive change, which aligns with their commitment to sustainable, impactful tourism.
Through “Travel to Tomorrow,” the VFCB envisions a future where Flanders serves as a leading example of tourism and MICE that is regenerative, inclusive, and in harmony with both people and the planet. This vision is designed to inspire a transformative shift in how destinations approach tourism, showing that by prioritizing well-being and positive impact, the industry can drive a brighter, more sustainable future for all.
Octavio Peralta is the founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), the “association of associations.” The PCAAE and SustainablePH will hold a joint summit on sustainability at the PICC on November 27, 2024. The views he expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror E-mail: bobby@pcaae.org.
Crop insurer indemnifies farmers, fishers in Mindoro
By Ada Pelonia
HE Philippine Crop Insurance
TCorp. (PCIC) issued indemnification checks worth P24.73 million to farmers and fishers from Oriental and Occidental Mindoro as compensation for the damage brought by recent typhoons.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. led the distribution of the indemnity checks to 1,437 insured farmers.
“The timely release of these indemnity payments is part of government’s commitment to immediately provide assistance to farmers and fisherfolk who suffered due to typhoons,” Laurel said.
According to the PCIC, P16.046 million was given to 918 beneficiaries in Occidental Mindoro, while P8.684 million was allocated to 519 affected farmers and fisherfolk in Oriental Mindoro.
The government insurer added that the compensation could aid in their recovery from the typhoon’s damage to crops, fishing equipment, and other livelihood assets impacted by the storms.
“PCIC’s swift action follows the series of typhoons that battered the provinces in recent weeks. The storms caused widespread destruction in areas that heavily depend on agriculture and fishing
YUCHENGCO-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) posted a lower net profit in the first three quarters of the year. Based on its statements of income, RCBC’s net profit in the first three quarters declined 31.18 percent to P6.215 billion in 2024 from a profit of P9.031 billion in the same period last year. In the third quarter, the financial statements showed, RCBC posted a 37.21 percent decline in net profit to P1.765 billion in 2024 from P2.811 billion in 2023.
for economic survival. The indemnity checks provide critical financial relief for farmers and fisherfolk.”
The agency stressed the critical role of crop insurance, particularly in regions prone to natural disasters like Mindoro. It encouraged farmers and fisherfolk to enroll in the program to “safeguard their livelihood against future calamities.”
According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), it also delivered P261-million worth of interventions to the farm sector. These included financial assistance, hybrid rice seeds, hybrid and OPV (open-pollinated variety) corn seeds, fertilizer discount, and hauling trucks. Meanwhile, the PCIC earlier issued P24.4-million worth of indemnity checks to 2,644 farmers from Bicol, which was one of the regions most affected by typhoon Kristine.
PCIC President Jovy C. Bernabe said the crop insurer distributed the checks in line with the “government’s commitment to support the farmers in the countryside by providing insurance protection and financial assistance through indemnities to help farmers recover from setbacks and continue to contribute to the country’s food security and economic growth.”
However, RCBC said its total assets reached P1.3 trillion and total capital at P158.1 billion. Its core income increased by 28 percent due to an 11-percent growth in its loans and a general improvement in yields.
The bank attributed its loan expansion to the consumer segment, with Credit Card and Personal Loans receivables growing by 58 percent.
TBy Andrea E. San Juan
HE additional deduction on power expenses under the “Create More” law bodes well for local industries into manufacturing and data centers, according to member-businesses of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
The association of private businesses pointed out this would come from the provision for deduction in the “Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy” law. The PCCI said by increasing to 100 percent the additional deduction on power expenses will “boost the expansion of key industries” amid the high cost of power in the country.
PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio explained that investors take into account the cost of power in their
decision-making process.
“One of the major considerations for investing in energy-intensive industries such as manufacturing and data centers where our country is emerging as a preferred destination is high cost of power,” Mangio was quoted in a statement the PCCI issued last Thursday.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror last week, PCCI Executive Vice President Ferdinand A. Ferrer said the Philippines should focus first on offering lower cost of power to investors while the country
is still undergoing the transition to renewable energy.
Ferrer emphasized this as more global manufacturing firms are looking to shift their operations from China to the Asean region. These companies, he added, also require countries within the region to be ESG-compliant.
“It’s important to be able to give investors, especially manufacturing that uses heavy electricity, lower cost of power. So that’s our priority: lower cost of power rather than renewable first. If we can get lower cost of power through other means, let’s do it for now and then slowly transition to, you know, more environmentalfriendly [ones],” Ferrer told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the “High-Level Dialogue on Asean-Italy Economic Relations.”
“When you look for example at electricity, our baseload and most of our power come from coal, which is you know, not ESG-compliant. So now, as more renewable energy is coming into stream, slowly, we will be compliant. But it’s not tomorrow,” he added. (See related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/11/06/global-firmseyeing-asean-must-give-more-
time-for-esg/)
The PCCI, touted as the largest business organization in the country, lauded the signing into law of Republic Act (RA) 12066 by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. two days ago. Mangio said they consider the “Create More” law as “a crucial step toward further enabling local businesses, empowering small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and enhancing the country’s attractiveness as an investment destination.”
Apart from reduced power expenses, other features of RA 12066 that PCCI welcomed are the simplification of tax administration, clearer guidelines for applying for tax incentives and the “refinements” made in the tax exemption system that offer performance-based tax holidays depending on an enterprise’s specific economic contributions.
“These provisions significantly improve tax certainty and create a more sustainable incentive framework. Under a more favorable and predictable tax environment, businesses can better plan for long-term growth. We can, likewise, expect to foster more foreign direct investments to come in,” Mangio added.
Acceleration of net loans lifts SECB’s 9-mo income
PBy Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
UBLICLY-listed Security Bank
Corp. (PSE: SECB) posted a double-digit growth in its net income in the first three quarters of 2024.
In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the lender said its net income reached P8.5 billion in the first three quarters, a 12-percent growth compared to the same period last year.
The bank said its revenue growth also grew 28 percent year-on-year compared to the 24 percent posted in the first semester of 2024.
Security Bank President and CEO Sanjiv Vohra was quoted in the statement as saying the lender is “pleased” with its third-quarter results.
“The combination of our client engagement, significant investments in our team and our technology has accelerated the bank’s growth. We are excited about delivering on our Better Banking promise,” Vohra added.
The bank’s net loans accelerated to 24 percent from the 19 percent posted in the second quarter of 2024. Quarter-on-quarter, net loans increased eight percent, amounting to P623 billion as of September 30, 2024.
The lender said retail and micro-scale, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) loans business sustained its growth, up 38 percent year-on-year.
The growth in retail and MSME loans was driven by the following: home loans, which grew 21 percent; credit cards, which rose 70 percent; auto loans, which grew 51 percent;
“The bank’s ability to combine its core strengths with its innovative digital platforms has been key to the growth of the consumer loan portfolio,” RCBC said in a statement.
Data science and digital innovations have contributed to the growth in customer and loan volumes while the auto loan portfolio grew by 39 percent as RCBC leveraged new marketing and sales strategies to expand its market reach.
The bank also said while consumer loans now represent 39 percent of the bank’s total consumer portfolio, the Corporate and SME portfolios constitute the remaining 61 percent.
“At RCBC, we are committed to fostering growth for Filipino con -
and, MSME loans, which increased 58 percent, according to Security Bank.
In a roundtable discussion with reporters last Thursday, Security Bank Senior Vice President and Business Banking Segment (BBS) Head John David Yap said the bank’s MSME unit still has a lot of room to grow next year.
“By combining this value proposition, we will be able to grow our existing base as well as well as get other customers into Security Bank because of the new features that will attract them,” Yap said.
“(From a) market standpoint, [our] GDP [gross domestic product] forecast next year [is around] 6 percent; so, we believe that as the economy will continue to expand, there will be need for financing,” he added.
However, Yap said there are still headwinds that could affect his outlook for MSME loans next year. These include the policies of the United States and how these will impact on the country.
Yap also said the country’s own midterm elections could also be a factor as well as climate change risks that could see the entry of more typhoons into the Philippines.
“If something hits an area where you have multiple MSMEs that will be affected, then there will be definitely an impact on your portfolio quality. So these are the things that we’re monitoring and we’re doing our best to mitigate,” he added.
Yap’s segment offers a range of products and services designed to help businesses expand and thrive such as the Business Express Loan and Business Mortgage Loan, provid -
sumers by leveraging digital solutions that make financial services more accessible and convenient,” RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo said. Capital ratios remained robust, with CET1 at 13.75 percent and CAR at 16.31 percent, both well above regulatory requirements and supporting continued loan portfolio growth.
As of September 30, 2024, RCBC’s consolidated network numbered at 463 branches, 1,482 automated teller machines, and 7,013 ATMGo terminals deployed across the country. Cai U. Ordinario
ing essential financial support for growth and expansion. The lender recently launched new initiatives to support MSMEs in “other impactful ways.”
Meanwhile, the bank maintains healthy liquidity, with Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) at 186 percent and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) at 135 percent as of September 30, 2024.
Security Bank’s capital ratios remain strong. Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio was 13.3 percent and Total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was 14.2 percent. Total assets increased to P1
trillion, up 26 percent year-onyear. Shareholders’ capital likewise increased to P143 billion, up 8 percent year-on-year. On October 29, 2024, the Bank’s Board of Directors approved the second semestral regular cash dividend of P1.50 per common share with payment date on November 27, 2024. This will bring the total cash dividends for the year to P3 per common share. The Bank had earlier paid regular cash dividend for the first semester of P1.50 per common share on April 29, 2024.
Octavio Peralta
Association World
The joys (and pain) of traveling
AS one gets older, it becomes more of a hassle to travel. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a domestic trip or an overseas journey, I find it a pain, for one, just to pack my luggage. A lack of information about the events one is obliged to attend, for instance, normally leads to overpacking. As such, the traveler will likely end up with a fuller suit case than usual, taking up more space, which could have otherwise been allocated to one’s shopping purchases at the destination. In my case, overplanning led to me having forgotten some vital items important to my survival during a recent overseas trip. Like pharmaceutical aids. Even as I purchased enough statins to last my
recent trip, I forgot them at home, although I managed to pack my other maintenance medicines and vitamins. I have no explanation how that happened, but bless my good internist/cardiologist, he sent me a scrip via Viber, which helped people still in Manila to buy the needed drug. But hassles can occur even before one starts actually packing to travel. While I love the UK, and London is easily among my favorite cities in the world where every visit brings a new surprise and discovery, let’s face it—it’s such a struggle to answer their visa application form, where each question and the applicant’s response is equivalent to one page. I understand these are all part of security measures that will enable the embassy to determine whether or not the applicant should be granted a visa, no matter how brief or long the intended stay is. I’m just saying, it’s one of the most exhausting to fill up among most countries in Europe.
In the case of Tourism Promotions Board Chief Operating Officer Marga Nograles and her team, who were flying to London to represent the Philippines at the World Travel Market, only one of them was actually granted a visa by the UK Embassy in Manila before the event. And it’s not like she and her team didn’t attend the same event last year, but for some
reason, as per COO Marga, the people at the VFS, a third-party processor of visa applications for the UK and other European countries, suddenly didn’t know how to process government passports. So what she and her team did was to reapply so the embassy could fasttrack their visas.
Leaving the Philippines is also quite messy.
As most travelers know, the queue alone to the Immigration is a huge obstacle. They also ask the traveler to fill up the e-travel form, which isn’t quite as interactive as government tells us it is, especially in the drop-down date. Then, we’re supposed to present the QR code generated after the form is filled up to the Immigration counter, which in the end doesn’t ask for it aside from taking your biometrics.
Part of the difficulties in this recent trip was my roaming connection. I must profusely thank my mobile service provider Smart Communications for the difficulties. Imagine trying to navigate some unfamiliar part of London on Google Maps and you can’t find your way because, alas, Smart’s roaming gave up on me. Or while in the middle of filing my stories while covering the WTM, my piece never gets received by my editor in Manila because, yes, Smart
SEE “TRAVELING,” B5
Your guide to gift shopping like a pro this holiday season
SHOPPING for gifts is one of the most fulfilling activities during the holidays.
With the holiday rush now in full swing, it’s time to gift-shop like a pro. Robinsons Department Store has you covered with a variety of brands and products you can explore for loved ones of all ages, as well as promos to get the most out of your purchases.
If you’re off to your next holiday shopping spree, check out Robinsons Department Store’s festive e-catalogue over at tinyurl.com/4v9mtnnh. Also, check out these helpful tips:
■ HAVE A LIST OF GIFTS TO BUY AND PROMOS READY. Buying gifts can be a lot of work, especially if you have a big family and friends. It helps to have a list of presents to get in time for your holiday gatherings. That
way, you won’t miss anything important from the department store.
If you want to beef up your list even more, you can keep track of promos to help you save money while shopping.
For the whole month of November, you can avail of exclusive stackable promos at Robinsons Department Store, such as Red Fridays from 11 am to 3 pm on all Fridays of November, which gives you P200 off and 2x Go Rewards points (minimum receipt of P3,500); and Weekend Deals on November 16 to 17, November 30, and December 1 from 11 am to 3 pm, which offers P500 gift certificates when you shop (minimum purchase of P5,000).
■ EXPLORE ALL KINDS OF BRANDS. Are you looking for a gift for a loved one who loves to cook and decorate their
home, or a kikay relative? No matter their interests, you can find many brands at Robinsons Department Store, like clothing, shoes, beauty and other essentials. Robinsons is also holding its annual Warehouse Sale, the biggest sale event of the year at the World Trade Center from November 15 to 17. The sale includes Robinsons’ popular brands with items up to 70-percent off and buy-one-getone offer, as well as freebies.
Robinsons Appliance and Daiso are perfect places to find gifts for homeowners and condo dwellers; Pet Lover Center has deals on furbaby essentials; No Brand offers great snack and beverage gift options, and so much more. The event is exclusive to Mastercard cardholders, but other modes of payment—such as cash and digital
payments are accepted as well.
■ ALWAYS HAVE FLEXIBLE PAYMENT OPTIONS. It’s always convenient to pay by credit card or debit, especially if you’re buying multiple items. Whether you’re shopping in-store or online, you can enjoy zero percent interest on installment payments using participating credit cards with Robinsons Department Store’s Holiday Shop Now Pay Later promo. There’s a promo for RCBC cardholders and Salmon Bank clients. Plus, you can the store’s holiday e-Raffle from November 15 to December 31, where one winner can take home P1 million and 50 winners can receive P10,000 worth of GCs.
More information can be found at Robinsons Department Store’s social media pages.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Action speaks louder than words. Get things done and head into the weekend filled with gratitude. There is power in knowing that you’ve done your best. An interesting suggestion will encourage you to address something that concerns you. ★★
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Experience things firsthand, and you’ll benefit from each encounter. Getting information and feedback from a direct source will help you expedite your plans succinctly and encourage the best results. Someone close to you will overreact or exaggerate, or an estimate you receive will be over market value. Get additional quotes. ★★★★★
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Fill your head with information. Sign up for a lecture or course, or let travel lead to insight and life choices you haven’t been exposed to before. Today is all about expansion, gaining perspective and considering what you want to do next. Follow your heart instead of letting someone make choices for you. ★★★
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Share your thoughts and plans with like-minded people, and the back-and-forth will help you adjust to a lifestyle that offers personal gain, contentment and plenty of room for growth. Let go of what’s no longer applicable and embrace the future optimistically. ★★★
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Absorb information and consider every angle before signing up for something with hidden costs. Time is on your side; checking out all the possibilities and weighing the pros and cons will ensure no one takes advantage of you. ★★★
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Stick to statistics, truth and facts. Someone will make you look bad if you give them the chance. Host an event or do what you can to adapt your life and surroundings to accommodate your goals.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Explore what’s possible. Take the path of least resistance. If you make changes without proper preparation, you will face setbacks and personal interference from someone you least expect. Leave no room for
John Krasinski named ‘People’ magazine’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive
LOS ANGELES— Let the office debates begin—John Krasinski is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024.
The magazine announced the actor-writerdirector as its pick on Tuesday night during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Krasinski starred in The Office before launching the Quiet Place franchise and leading the action series Jack Ryan. He joked in an interview with the magazine that he’s hoping his wife, fellow actor Emily Blunt, makes good on a promise to plaster the cover as wallpaper at their home.
He takes the mantle from last year’s honoree, Patrick Dempsey.
Krasinski, 45, told People that his immediate reaction to the honor was “just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts.” He added that he thought he might be getting pranked.
He burst to fame playing the floppy-haired, lanky Jim on the US version of the mockumentary The Office, and transitioned into the clean-cut, muscular action star on Amazon’s Jack Ryan, playing the Tom Clancy character previously portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck on the big screen. He also co-wrote, directed and starred in A Quiet Place, which has grown into a three-film franchise, and created the short-lived but immensely popular pandemic-era webseries Some Good News
Earlier this year, he debuted his sixth directorial effort, IF, a film about imaginary friends that also featured Blunt.
The couple have two daughters together.
Krasinski told People in the issue that’s on newsstands on Friday that the honor is likely to result in more than just jokes at home.
“I think it’s going to make me do more household chores,” he quipped.
Now in its 40th year, the first Sexiest Man Alive was Mel Gibson. AP
Traveling...
failed me again.
PLDT/Smart’s Sarah Reodica can attest to the number of times I managed to Viber her about their spotty roaming platform. I know she couldn’t do anything about it because she wasn’t involved on the technology or engineering end of things, but I just had to bitch at someone about it. The roaming subscription isn’t cheap after all. I paid P1,899 just for a measly 3GB service for about 8 days or so. But even as I haven’t used up my allocation, Smart continued to give up the ghost. On the odd time that it did work, it was like a minicelebration on my end, complete with a party hat, noisemaker and confetti. What did work—and this completely took me by surprise—is GoTyme’s banking facilities. I applied just a few days before my trip commenced, and got my debit card right on the spot, with my name even printed on it — even before I had made an actual cash deposit! The reason I opened an account with GoTyme was because I didn’t want to use abroad my regular debit card, which holds my main savings account. I needed a separate account and card to hold my travel spending money safely.
GoTyme worked like a charm. I first transferred funds with a minimal charge from my main savings account in another bank; I started with just P10,000. It was so easy to use anywhere in London (and I assume other parts of the world) as it is linked with Visa. What’s more, the currency exchange it applies on foreign purchases is much lower than other debit cards. On my London purchases, the forex rate used was about P76 plus to a pound (GBP). In my regular debit card, the forex rate used was P77 plus to one GBP. I have yet to find out what the forex rate will be used by my credit card.
So I’m glad I followed the advice of JG Summit’s Red Samar to open an account with GoTyme. It has a pretty satisfied client here.
As I travel on my way home, the least of my concerns is jet lag. It’s easy to sleep that one off. What I don’t look forward to is arriving at Naia where I suspect I will be as harried as the other travelers who managed to survive the government’s receiving process. There are e-gates that can be used for sure, but many report that it’s often such a task to line up there, and many end up using the human Immigration counters.
(When I arrived in London on my recent trip, the Immigration guy was a charming old man, who merely asked why I was in town, and upon learning I was from the Philippines, he said the only Asian country he had traveled to was North Korea. I’m guessing he’s a retired military man. This exchange took place in an easygoing, friendly manner. In contrast, most Naia Immigration personnel I’ve encountered have been cold and unpleasant. Guys, smiling at departing and arriving travelers don’t take away your power and authority. Try it sometime!)
Another task I am so not up to is unpacking my luggage. Then checking over the apartment to see if everything’s in order, and then dealing with the laundry thereafter. For sure I made a lot of good memories and met a great number of people while traveling abroad, but at the end of the journey is another exhausting experience. Of course, I still want to see visit more places abroad, or revisit grand cities like London. Just saying...traveling can be a pain. n
Show BusinessMirror
The tales we tell on land and out at sea
AUNTY comes home with Cu Li, a slow loris that she got from her dead husband. Native to Asia, including the Philippines, the primate resembles a sloth and tarsier, the closest one can recognize the animal that is now a pet that, with its big eyes, stands as a whimpering, crying witness to a woman and her past.
In the hands of upcoming auteur Phạm Ngọc Lân, the story of a woman longing for the past becomes the narrative of a nation, Vietnam, reeling from histories that have gone through upheavals and changes.
The “aunty” is weak and all she does each day is to take care of the slow loris that was taken out of the forest, and yet she is fond of telling everyone the pet came from Europe with her. Displaced, all the woman has is a treasure trove of memories. She visits a store that provides insects for her pet while the owner there offers her medicine for her ailment—the loss of strength, and even isolation and loneliness. There is something else about that store—a link to history and the hero, Ho Chi Minh, and how her kin provided salve for the hero and martyr.
And yet, Aunty has another affliction: how to marry off her niece, lovely and ethereal even as she misses an arm, a condition that implies she was born without it. But she is in love and she longs for a ring, among other wedding artifacts. Along the way, a prenuptial pictorial provides surreal exercise in beauty and infirmity. In the absence of a husband or anyone that will assure her the love in her life exists, Aunty goes to a dancing hall where older men and older women dance among themselves, and swing to the tune of music that reminds everyone of the nation’s sensual past. Almost like the last tango or the final waltz in dear old Vietnam.
All this time, the young lovers about to be married are lost in the planning for a future that is not bleak but is neither bright, as well.
In Cu Li Never Cries, a cinema re-imagines a land
that is caught at the cusp of an unidentified change and all the characters could manage for certainty is how to control day-to-day events for that is all the future offers them. No more and no less. In the absence of a formal urn, any container is fit to hold the ashes of the deceased and, when the said contents are spilled, any kind of sand can be used to fill the container. From there, grieving can go on and remembering is again possible.
Cu Li Never Cries is Phạm Ngọc Lân’s debut feature. It is an Epicmedia co-producing collaboration.
Epicmedia Productions Inc. is a Philippine-based film production company, founded in 2011 by Bianca Balbuena and Pepe Diokno; it is currently led by CEO Bradley Liew and COO Patti Lapus. The film was featured in Panorama, Berlinale 74th in its World Premiere and won the Best First Feature Award.
How does one explain the condition of a Dayak girl whose nose bleeds whenever she sets foot on land?
In Tale of the Land, May, a young girl, lives out in a house on the sea with her grandfather. Whether by being a Dayak, a person is subject to being a non-land person is not the crucial trait of those belonging to the said ethnicity. Literatures abound where the Dayak is described as having the identity option of being part of the land or of a body of water. Riverine is one modifier that classifies one of these groups.
Cinema therefore and cinematic imagination have created further this Dayak character that, because of certain issues faced on land, has consigned a girl to live out on the sea. “Cursed” is how the grandfather explains the situation of May.
At the core of the narrative of Tale of the Land is a displacement. Neither here nor there, May and her grandfather seemingly have two options: to go to the land or to stay in their home surrounded by a body of water. It is both an isolation and a possibility—the first almost a natural trait of their identity, the second a promise of hope and violence.
All throughout the film, one senses a foreboding— the skies crack, the winds howl, and the water buffalo lets out a dark moaning from afar.
Images after images tell us being out on the sea is not safe and yet the land, the other haven for refuge, does not offer any respite. It is as if culture and history, two monolithic justifications for living, are suddenly declared lacking in assurance of survival.
In Tale of the Land, the world has become once more an open space and only humans and their groups are able to chart their own fate. It gives us life as an empty space where anyone can design the direction for living as well as dying.
Tale of the Land is a 2024 film directed and written by Loeloe Hendra in his directorial debut. It stars Shenina Cinnamon as May. The film had its world premiere at the 29th Busan International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Award. Cu Li Never Cries and Tale of the Land are two significant Asian films in the 12th Quezon City International Film Festival, where this writer served as one of the jurors. n
GMA Network celebrates the Christmas season with its 2024 Christmas Station ID, Ganito Ang Paskong Pinoy: Puno ng Pasasalamat. Launched on November 11 following 24 Oras the heartwarming video places gratitude at the center of the holiday celebration— serving as a timely reminder and tribute to what Paskong Pinoy really is. Being one with the Filipino, GMA wholeheartedly embraces a culture of gratitude as Filipinos come together to celebrate the season with and give thanks to the Lord, family, friends and loved ones. Approaching its 75th anniversary next year, the network reflects on its journey with deep appreciation for the unwavering support of the Filipino audience. GMA Network also aims to express its heartfelt gratitude by continuously giving back. Through GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF)’s Christmas project “Give A Gift: Alay sa Batang Pinoy,” donors are encouraged to spread more cheer and hope during the holiday season with donations that will provide children and their families with Noche Buena food packs.
GMA’s 2024 Christmas Station ID gathers its biggest stars and personalities, together with the network’s executives led by GMA Network chairman Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, and president and CEO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., showcasing the GMA family’s deep bond. Ganito Ang Paskong Pinoy: Puno ng Pasasalamat evokes the joy and warmth of a family reunion, with scenes of GMA personalities celebrating, sharing heartfelt moments, and embracing the essence of togetherness.
Making the Christmas Station ID more festive are Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera, Alden Richards, Michael V., Dennis Trillo, Jennylyn Mercado, Rayver Cruz, Bea Alonzo, Carla Abellana, Sanya Lopez, and David Licauco. Also joining them are some of the country’s most awarded broadcast journalists—Jessica Soho, Arnold Clavio, Vicky Morales, Howie Severino, and Mel Tiangco, together with other personalities from GMA Integrated News and GMA Public Affairs.
Other artists taking part in the celebration include Gabbi Garcia, Khalil Ramos, Christian Bautista, Mark
Bautista, Richard Yap, Michelle Dee, Rhian Ramos, Glaiza de Castro, Rabiya Mateo, Elle Villanueva, Derrick Monasterio, Megan Young, Mikael Daez, Sofia Pablo, Allen Ansay, SB19’s Pablo and Stell, Billy Crawford, Rocco Nacino, Katrina Halili, and Kim Atienza, among many more. Helping to spread the spirit of gratitude further are other GMA officers and employees, plus members of the Kapuso Brigade. Ganito Ang Paskong Pinoy: Puno ng Pasasalamat was performed by Julie Anne San Jose and the powerhouse roster of GMA singers comprised of Aicelle Santos, Rita Daniela, Jessica Villarubin, Hannah Precillas, Mariane Osabel, Garrett Bolden, Anthony Rosaldo, Thea Astley, John Rex, and Cloud 7. Lyrics were written by Christine Autor, Natasha L. Correos, Joe-Edrei Cruz, Ann Margaret Figueroa, Lorraine Intes, and Samantha Toloza, with composition and arrangement by Natasha L. Correos, Joe-Edrei Cruz, and Ann Margaret Figueroa. GMA Network’s 2024 Christmas Station ID and its lyric video can be viewed at the network’s official YouTube channel and www.gmanetwork.com.
CLOCKWISE: Marian Rivera with Raphael Landicho; GMA Network president and CEO Gilberto R. Duavit. Jr., Dingdong Dantes, chairman Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, and Marian Rivera; Mel Tiangco; Dennis Trillo and Jennylyn Mercado; and David Licauco
MVP Group Triumphs at IABC PH Triple P Sustainability Awards, Showcasing Leadership in ESG Excellence
THE MVP Group of Companies has secured a remarkable victory at the inaugural Triple P Sustainability Awards, hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines last October 25, 2024 at the Marriott Hotel, Pasay.
A total of four companies from the MVP Group earned seven distinguished awards, reflecting the Group’s integrated approach to sustainability, where sustainable practices are embedded in the core operations of each company. These achievements highlight how the business practices of every member organization align with the broader mission of creating long-term value for people, the planet, and progress, demonstrating a deeprooted commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.
Leading the awards was Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), which earned multiple recognitions, including the coveted Triple P Award for its outstanding sustainability programs across its operations. MPIC also took home the award for Best ESG Program for its Gabay Kalikasan Program, a key initiative that integrates environmental stewardship with community development. Furthermore, MPIC clinched the Best Internal Communications Award for its “EESG: Making Positive Impacts and Contributions” program, strengthening the importance of engaged employees in
driving sustainability.
In the utilities sector, Maynilad Water Services Inc. was recognized with the Excellence in Environmental and Social Sustainability Award, validating its leadership in water conservation and community engagement. Similarly, Manila Electric Company (Meralco) received the same distinction for the energy distribution industry, reaffirming its position as a leader in sustainable energy practices. Meralco also celebrated an individual achievement, with Raymond Ravelo named ESG Thought Leader of the Year for his pioneering role in advancing ESG principles across industries.
The transportation arm of the Group, Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), was honored with the Excellence in Social Sustainability Award for its impactful initiatives that enrich communities and look after inclusive workplaces within the mass transportation sector.
The Triple P Sustainability Awards acknowledged organizations that exceed compliance, inspiring innovative and measurable ESG outcomes. The awards celebrate those making a meaningful
Co Fitness Redefines Wellness after a year in operation
O Fitness celebrated its first anniversary with a grand event themed “One Year in Motion” at Retail
C1-C2 GF One Central, Sen. Gil Puyat, H.V Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati. The celebration attracted enthusiastic guests and fitness aficionados who gathered to mark a year of empowering fitness experiences.
In just one year, Co Fitness has rapidly expanded its membership base, establishing itself as a haven for fitness enthusiasts committed to achieving their health and wellness goals. The gym boasts cuttingedge strength training and cardio machines, providing members with the essential tools for effective workouts. Complementing these facilities, the Co Fitness app offers personalized workout plans, real-time progress tracking, and wellness insights, all designed to help members reach their full potential. The anniversary event featured the BIG 12K Anniversary Promo, offering members substantial discounts on various services, including non-invasive treatments, personal training sessions, and recovery services. This promotion aims to provide comprehensive support to members on their wellness journeys and enhance their overall experience at the gym. New members joining Co Fitness can also participate in the exciting Fit and Explore promo, which includes a chance to win an incredible trip to Bali. This initiative is designed to inspire new members to engage with their fitness journey while providing an enticing incentive to join the Co Fitness community.
Looking ahead, Co Fitness is set to host a major Spartan Race event in collaboration with Rockwell Land Corporation and Fit and Explore, aiming to attract more participants and promote an active lifestyle within the community. The Spartan Race promises to be an exhilarating challenge for fitness enthusiasts and newcomers alike, fostering camaraderie and a spirit of competition. The anniversary celebration was further
enlivened by the generous support of major sponsors, including Fitbar, Poten-Cee, Rockwell Land Corporation, and others, whose contributions helped create a festive atmosphere and engaging experience for all attendees.
During the event, Co Fitness introduced new treatments such as Co Slim and Co Sculpt, focusing on fat reduction and muscle toning. Co Slim and Tone offers a comprehensive approach to burning fat and improving muscle tone, while Co Lifting & Tightening uses advanced 12D HIFU technology to rejuvenate the skin, providing a youthful and radiant post-workout appearance. Additionally, Co Fitness offers Cellulite Reduction through powerful RF techniques and Mesolipo Therapy, a popular non-surgical method for targeting stubborn fat through injection procedures.
“We are now embracing wellness because we realize that people’s evolving needs go beyond just having good facilities, equipment, and training,” said Pablico, a representative of Co Fitness. “Our goal is to give everyone a new life and new hope, proving that anybody can be fit even in their worst situation,” she added.
Pablico’s statement underscores a modern understanding of fitness that prioritizes overall well-being while enhancing physical performance. By embracing a holistic approach, Co Fitness aims to support members in all aspects of their mental, emotional, and social health, recognizing that everyone’s wellness journey is unique. This commitment fosters an inclusive community where individuals can find empowerment and encouragement, regardless of their starting point. Ultimately, Pablico envisions Co Fitness as a place where fitness serves as a source of hope and transformation, enabling members to create lasting change in their lives.
For more information about upcoming events and exclusive deals, visit the Co Fitness website and follow them on social media: Co Fitness PH on Facebook, @cofitnessph on Instagram, and www.cofitness.com.ph.
difference by focusing on People, Planet, and Progress, all pillars reflected in the MVP Group’s diverse efforts across industries. Reflecting on the Group’s triumphs, Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman of the MVP Group, remarked: “Sustainability isn’t just a checkbox for us; it’s a guiding principle for everything we do. Each award our companies have earned today underscores our core mission: to drive progress that elevates lives and preserves the environment for the future.” The MVP Group’s recognition in the inaugural Triple P Sustainability Awards highlights its dedication to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Through innovation, collaboration, and
purposeful action, the Group continues to drive meaningful change across industries and set new benchmarks for sustainable business practices. The awards at the IABC Philippines’ milestone event presents the MVP Group’s standing as a thought leader in the realm of sustainability, embodying the spirit of responsible corporate citizenship that ensures progress benefits not just today but generations to come.
PHL Economic Briefing in London highlights prospects for British investors
THE British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP), represented by Executive Director/Trustee Chris Nelson, proudly joined the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in London 2024 on October 31, 2024, with the theme: “PH On-the-Go: FastTracking Economic Progress,” led by Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto.
The delegation comprised of the Philippine economic team including the Department of Finance, Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department of Energy. Key presentations and panel discussions focused on the macroeconomic updates such as inflation, interest rates, and economic outputs joined by some of the largest British multinational corporations including Pru Life UK and HSBC.
Rector emphasized the growing relations of the UK and the Philippines in multiple areas including tourism, healthcare, manufacturing, and overall foreign direct investments inflows with a total of GBP 585.74 million as of July
2024. Further noting that, “If there is one country that can stand witness to the best that the Philippines can give the world, it is most probably the United Kingdom.
The presence of around 250,000 Filipinos here in the UK today is a testament to this. This is a powerful symbol of what happens whenever and wherever you open an opportunity for Filipinos, we will always deliver.”
Inflation in the country is also reported to stay within the target range of two to four percent in the next two years, creating a more conducive business environment. Similarly, in a recent report by the Philippine Statistics
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Authority (PSA), inflation for October 2024 recorded a slight uptick at 2.3 percent to which NEDA noted the recent weather disturbances that remain a challenge on ensuring food supply. The British Chamber has also worked closely with the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in encouraging more British meat exports in the country to assist on inflation and food security. Also noting the developments of its supported priority legislation including the recently passed AntiAgricultural Economic Sabotage Act to protect the country’s local agricultural sector and safeguarding legitimate importers.
With the UK being the Philippines’ 21st trading partner, 8th largest source of tourists, and 5th largest source of overseas Filipino remittances, the British Chamber recognizes the importance of the annual briefing to reinforce the growing bilateral trade relations and further identify investment opportunities with British investors, allowing the country to achieve its upper-middle income status and becoming more regionally competitive along with its Southeast Asian neighbors.
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REPRESENTATIVES from the MVP Group of Companies at the Triple P Sustainability Awards, including those from Light Rail Manila Corporation, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Meralco, and Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation.
FINANCE Secretary Ralph Recto
Editor: Tet Andolong
Motoring BusinessMirror
BOSCH PHILIPPINES
TALKS ON EV ADOPTION, STRATEGY, AND INNOVATION
Story by Randy S. Peregrino
DURING the recently concluded recent 12th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, Bosch Philippines conducted a brief online roundtable about the country’s current state of EV adoption and how the company is committing itself to offer strategy and innovation. Present during the discussion were Bosch global executives.
Bosch Managing Director Paulo Duarte explained how EV adoption is gaining momentum in the Philippines with increased government support and public awareness. Referencing a 2023 survey, he shared that 50.8% of Filipinos expressed confidence in EVs as the future of transportation.
“The most urgent need is to develop the EV ecosystem, with a particular focus on adoption and sales. With its abundant nickel resources, the Philippines has the potential to become a major player in EV battery production in the future, further supporting the transition to electromobility.”
“We see two main challenges in the adoption of EV: economic viability and lack of extensive charging infrastructure. The government has taken great strides with policies like CREVI but still trails behind countries like Thailand and Indonesia. Stronger policies on targeted incentives for EV manufacturers and buyers, as well as investments in infrastructure and local manufacturing of EV components (e.g., batteries), will bolster EV
adoption. Additionally, with the Philippines’ abundant resources, such as nickel, we are poised to become a key player in the EV market,” he added. Duarte concluded by stressing using the company’s know-how of Bosch’s aspiration to be an even more adaptable advisor to policy-makers and manufacturers alike. Bosch is actively engaged in discussions on policy updates like the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (CREVI) and strongly encourages the government to continually update these policies to provide a clear roadmap for EV growth.
EV strategy and innovation
BOSCH ASEAN Regional President Martin Knoss shared that the mobility industry is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and Bosch is also transforming to meet the demands of this change.
“By combining our proven strengths and expertise with innovative solutions and a fresh perspective on vehicle architecture and the mobility ecosystem, we can anticipate future developments
across the markets we are in.”
Knoss also pointed out that studies show that EV charging points globally may reach well over 64 million by 2029, thanks to governments worldwide putting emphasis on essential infrastructure. Furthermore, as commercial applications of EVs become commonplace, the demand for EV charging services will drastically increase.
“Bosch is at the forefront in driving the EV revolution in many markets across the globe by delivering solutions like highperformance electric powertrains, intelligent charging systems, and connected vehicle technology. Our relentless focus on innovation and sustainability enables us to meet the growing demand for cleaner, smarter, and more efficient mobility across all vehicle segments.”
“In Southeast Asia, Bosch is driving electromobility with
solutions tailored to the unique challenges in the region, such as infrastructure gaps and economic viability. We also collaborate with governments and stakeholders to foster a strong EV ecosystem and promote sustainable mobility.” Knoss concluded.
Market growth and outlook KNOSS also believes that the future of mobility is electric. “In urban traffic in particular, electrified vehicles have two big advantages: (1) They are quiet, and (2) they emit no pollutants. The research and development departments at almost all automobile manufacturers are now working on e-mobility, meaning that ever more electrified vehicles will be on the roads in the future. It also means that users are much more exacting about their experience.” Knoss further explained that users expect their EVs and their connected services to be personalized, reliable,
and resource-saving. Also, everything is adapted according to the driver’s preferences, which justifies the shift toward software-defined mobility. Bosch is well-positioned to lead the transformation in all these areas.
“Our vision is clear: The mobility of the future must be cleaner, smarter, and more efficient. Our legacy in the automotive industry allows us to develop and offer diverse powertrain options according to the needs of the market – whether that is electric powertrains or fuelcell systems. The development of the automotive industry in the region is a shared responsibility among various stakeholders, and we continue this collaborative approach to ensure the success of the EV ecosystem in the region,” said Knoss.
Technology and Software
MEANWHILE , Bosch Power Solutions Senior Sales Manager for ASEAN Satid Malairodsiri discussed
how many car drivers expect their vehicles to be fully integrated into their digital lives. In addition, new connectivity, automation, and personalization features will be increasingly implemented with software in the future.
“While in the past, the customer’s experience of a car was primarily defined by hardware, software is now taking on a much more important role. This trend of software massively shapes the customer experience, and in some cases, even the specification of the hardware is referred to as the “software-defined vehicle” (SDV),” he said. A case in point is “Battery in the Cloud,” an intelligent solution that monitors and optimizes real-time battery performance. It extends the battery’s lifespan, improves efficiency, and reduces maintenance costs, ultimately offering EV users a better and more reliable experience.
Another crazy idea at Edsa; Isuzu carbon neutrality
THERE was this talk recently about the Edsa bus carousel being reversed. Meaning, buses will be counter-flowed, as in buses going against the grain of normal traffic flow at the country’s most congested highway. If approved, mainstream southbound traffic toward Baclaran from Monumento would see buses at outer-left lane going north-bound toward Monumento from Baclaran. The same system will apply to the other side of Edsa.
The reason given was to deter motorists from using the Edsa bus way. Disobeying the new order could result to fatal head-on collisions. Well, non-believers of the
scheme can always shift tactics by hopping to the other side of Edsa and risk being apprehended— again. Pasaways abound, you know. It’s a crazy idea, actually, as it invites more harm than good. While it can virtually eliminate lawbreakers, it can, however, increase accidents—mainly deadly. Even the concrete barriers separating the bus lane from mainstream motorists cannot save lives as they can even become the causes of crashes, triggers of deaths.
Unless a high concrete wall of permanent-like structure is built to totally separate the bus lane from mainstream traffic? But that’d be a crazier idea costing, wasting, millions of people’s money. It solves nothing, not even the inconsequential crime of traffic violation that tickles more than pricks.
So, stop the foolishness. Abort the plan. Now.
Isuzu innovations ISUZU Philippines Corporation
(IPC), led by President Tetsuya Fujita, has showcased IPC’s latest innovations at the just-ended 9th Philippine International Motor Show anchored on carbon neutrality.
With the theme, “Innovations For You,” IPC highlighted its forwardthinking approach to addressing the evolving needs of both personal and business customers.
“This year, every vehicle we present reflects our dedication to combining top-tier performance with modern solutions, designed to meet both personal and commercial needs,” said Tetsuya Fujita, IPC President. “This lineup demonstrates our unwavering commitment to deliver the best driving experiences while empowering businesses nationwide to succeed and move closer to achieving carbon neutrality.”
The D-MAX 4x4 was unveiled in two versions: the standard model equipped with new Differential Lock System and Rough Terrain Mode. Both versions come with advanced
safety features such as the 5-Star Safety ADAS, a 360-degree Around View Monitor (AVM), a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), Wireless Charging and Connectivity.
On the luxury side, IPC introduced the Isuzu mu-X Executive Edition, an eye-catching SUV that redefines comfort and style.
The mu-X Executive Edition boasts of a sophisticated Red and Black leather interior with elegant red stitching. The second-row seats have been upgraded to custom VIP seats, featuring power recline, leg rests, massage functions, USB/ Type-C charging ports, and ambient lighting, offering a truly first-class experience. To add to its modern sleek exterior, IPC fitted it with a 20” Black Rhino wheels with Nitto S City Tires to enhance its over-all look.
IPC also unleashed its TRAVIZ Concept Cargo Van, an ideal solution for logistics and last-mile delivery businesses. With a modern, secure cargo area capable of carrying up to
1,660 kilograms of gross payload, this TRAVIZ concept model offers enhanced efficiency for business operations. For heavy-duty operations, the new Isuzu EW5 Tractor Head was featured in IPC’s outdoor truck display. Powered by a robust GH11E EURO V engine that delivers 415PS of maximum power and 1,990 Nm of torque, paired with a 12-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), this tractor head is designed to be a dominant force in the hauling industry, further solidifying Isuzu’s leadership in the commercial truck segment. IPC’s booth also featured the N-Series EV Concept Truck, a lightduty electric truck equipped with a powerful HP11 full electric motor. Generating 90kW of maximum power and 370Nm of maximum torque, this truck is ideal for urban and suburban cargo deliveries. With a 40kWh battery that offers a range of approximately 115 kilometers, it is both efficient and
mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph
Editor: Jun Lomibao
Del Rosario makes major move in 2nd rd
a solid score. But I’m not focusing too much on the score or on my position as the defending champion.” Sukapan stayed bogey-free with a solid 68 on two birdies in her last five holes and together with Chen were a stroke ahead of Thailand’s PK Kongkraphan heading into the final round of the NT$5 million championship.
The multi-titled Kongkraphan stayed in contention with a 136 despite a middling 71 as she eyes her fifth TLPGA title this season—she also ruled the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Luisita International last April.
Wannasiri Sirisampant and TsaiChing Tseng delivered a 67 and 70, respectively, to join the tightly packed leaderboard at 137, with Green Poruangrong, also from Thailand, just behind at 138 after a 68, setting the stage for a thrilling showdown at the Lily Golf and Country Club.
Del Rosario emerged as the Filipinas’ torchbearer.
Starting the day at joint 23rd, she climbed to a share of ninth place with a four-under 140, thanks to three birdies in her first seven holes as Fortuna, who began the day at eighth spot, slid to joint 32nd after struggling with a bogey-laden 75.
Manginsay bags natl para games table tennis gold
ZBy Josef Ramos
AMBOANGA Sibugay’s Lhey
Manginsay won a women’s singles table tennis gold medal at the expense of a national team mainstay just moments before the curtains went down on the Eighth Philippine National Para Games on Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“Great game and I just did my best to compete because it is my dream of playing for the national team,” said Manginsay, who beat national team member Minnie Cadag, 3-0, in the final of the Class 10 category of women’s table tennis of the games organized by the Paralympic Philippine Committee and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“This is my first time to compete in the National Para Games,” said the Social Work junior at the Sibugay Technical Institute who also bagged two silver medals in women’s team and mixed doubles events.
Manginsay partnered with Caraga Adminstrative Region’s Marie Nina Carmelotes in women’s team play and lost to Cadag and national teammate Marie Eloise Sable, 0-3 She teamed up with Angeles City’s Rommel Lucencio and also lost in the gold-medal play against Cadag and Catbalogan City’s Linard Sultan, 1-3 Observers said Manginsay plays like the late Paralympian Josephine Medina, who clinched a bronze medal Rio De Janeiro Paralympic Games in 2016.
“It’s an honor to be compared to her and I will do my best to achieve more awards,’’ said Manginsay, whose right arm became immobile since
Soon: A league of their own
TFHE University of the East (UE) Alumni Reunion Golf
Tournament tees off Friday at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City ahead of the UE Alumni Association Inc.’s celebration at the Century Park Hotel.
Registration starts at 6 a.m. while the ceremonial balls will be hit at 6:45 a.m. after with the shotgun start proceeding at 7 a.m. of the charity tournament that has as platinum sponsors Megaworld Corp.’s Dr Andrew Tan and Emperador and gold sponsors Dr. Cezar Quiambao, Wilson Young and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The tournament, according to alumni reunion head Dr. Fernando Fernandez, will go to the UE Community’s “Ngiti Project” that aims to take care of UE graduates and students’ dental needs.
OR nearly every highlight of Julie Croteau’s trailblazing baseball career—all except her time as a double in “A League of Their Own,” really—she shared the field with men. Frequently as teammates.
Always as foes. That’s mostly how it›s been for generations of female players.
So when she recently heard about plans to give today’s players the chance to shine against other women in baseball, Croteau had one thought.
“It’s about time,” she said with a chuckle.
The Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) announced plans last month to launch in 2026 as a six-team circuit for female players. If and when it debuts, it will be the first pro league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League—the one immortalized in “A League of Their Own”—dissolved in 1954.
Heightened interest in women’s sports in recent years made this an ideal time to launch a women’s baseball league, said co-founder Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach for a Major League Baseball (WBL) team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015.
The consulting firm Deloitte estimated that women’s sports will generate a billion dollars in global revenue in 2024 for the first time because of skyrocketing popularity and marketing deals.
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) had its most watched regular season in 24 years thanks largely to its star rookie class led by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League brought in record crowds.
“Certainly we’re standing on the shoulders of the success of the other pro leagues,” Siegal said.
Siegal has sought advice from women leading other professional leagues and is studying what made them successful. That includes catering to the specific needs of female athletes—who often face a different set of responsibilities than their male counterparts.
Siegal was the first woman to coach for a professional baseball team with the independent league Brockton Rox in 2009,
and the first woman to throw batting practice to an MLB team with Cleveland during spring training in 2001.
Back then, Siegal remembers scrambling to find babysitters for her daughter while she coached, and pulling her daughter out of school and bringing her along to the field in some cases.
“I had to do many things to make my dream come true,” Siegal said. “And so I am particularly keen on making sure that we don’t overlook mothers who can compete and deserve a place in the league.”
When she was 13, a coach told Siegal she shouldn’t play baseball because she was a girl. She was told to play softball, which is a reality many girls in the sport face.
Around 1,300 high school girls played baseball on boys teams across the United States during the 2023-24 school year, according to a survey done by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
“When I see that number, I think that there’s 1,300 people who had to sort of basically buck the system to keep playing the sport that they love,” said Croteau, who made headlines in the 1980s by suing her high school for the right to play on the boys varsity team. She lost.
“They’ve had to stare down an athletic
UE Alumni Reunion golf unfurls at Valley Golf for ‘Ngiti Project’
Some 700 individuals are scheduled for dental appointments, said Fernandez who heads the Asia Dental Organization.
Tournament chairman Atty.
Lambert Tagayuna said the Blind Callaway format will be applied in the event that features competitions in Overall Low Gross and Net, Classes A, B and C, Seniors, Super Seniors and Ladies categories.
There will also be Fun Holes—Hole in One, Nearest the Pin and Most Accurate Drive—and cash prizes for aces in designated holes range from P25,000 to P100,000.
director or approach a baseball coach, and they’ve had to make it happen.”
More than 471,000 high school boys played baseball, while 473,000 girls played softball. The NCAA doesn’t offer women’s baseball, but nine women played on men’s baseball teams in 2024, according to the NCAA’s demographics database. Around 21,000 women played college softball.
Keith Stein, a lawyer and businessman who co-founded the WPBL with Siegal, said the hope is to help establish a solid women’s baseball culture in the US to create more playing opportunities for girls in the future.
Both Stein and Siegal pointed to early interest from women’s baseball players as clues to the hunger for a venue for women to compete against women at the highest level. While there hasn’t been a pro league for women’s ballplayers, they still play. The Women’s Baseball World Cup debuted in 2004 to showcase women’s talent.
More than 400 athletes registered to try out within 24 hours of the league launching its player portal, Siegal said.
“These were largely elite players,” Stein added. “Some of the best players in the world—from the United States, of course, but there were players from Japan, Canada, Great Britain.” AP
MERALCO went to import Akil Mitchell to save the day and the game against reigning Korean Basketball League (KBL) champion Busan KCC Egis, 81-80, in their thrilling East Asia Super League (EASL) Home And Away Season 2 game at the PhilSports on Arena Wednesday night.
Mitchell scored 11 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as he willed the Bolts back from an 11-point deficit to escape away with the dramatic win in his debut game with the franchise.
His split from the free throw line in the last 6.4 seconds proved to be the game winner as Heo Ung’s desperate heave from the backcourt fell short at the buzzer.
The 32-year-old AmericanPanamanian also added 22 rebounds and four assists in a 36-minute performance without a turnover.
“This guy [Mitchell] led us with his big rebounds. The nice thing about bringing Akil is he’s a professional, he’s been around, and he knows how to win just like our former import Allen Durham,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo of Mitchell, who took over the spot of the 36-year-old Durham following his retirement.
Mitchell will reinforce Meralco in the coming Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
The Bolts also got solid contributions
SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go pushed for the increase in the 2025 budget of both the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Games and Amusements Board (GAB) during the Senate plenary deliberations on Tuesday which extended into the early hours of Wednesday.
Go, as the main sponsor of the sports budget, emphasized the essential roles played by the PSC and GAB in uplifting Philippine sports, supporting athletes, regulating competitions and promoting grassroots development. For the fiscal year 2025, the PSC’s proposed budget stands at P1.34 billion—a marked increase in the General Appropriations Bill.
“This budget is largely dedicated to the rehabilitation and upgrading of sports facilities, support for national athletes and coaches, and the conduct of grassroots sports programs like the Philippine National Games, among other priorities,” Go said.
During the interpellation, Go pointed to ongoing efforts to rehabilitate critical sports facilities in response to Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” Pimentel III query on the PSC having a similar to the Department of Health’s “Health Facilities Enhancement Program” to ensure regular maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of sports facilities.
“For this year, 2024, we pushed in Congress the rehabilitation of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex,” Go said. “It’s ongoing right now, including the rehabilitation of the PhilSports [Complex in Pasig City].”
Highlighting the importance of comprehensive support for athletes, Go recounted feedback from Filipino Olympians who emphasized the need for more than just financial assistance but for holistic support.
Pimentel advocated for recognizing “generational sports talents”
IT will be the first pro league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League—the
Caitlin plays golf Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever plays an iron from the ninth hole during the pro-am at the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour Wednesday at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. AP
