A TOUGH MISSION FOR DEPED CHIEF ANGARA
NEWLY MINTED EDUCATION SECRETARY SONNY ANGARA HAS PEDIGREE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS, AND THE HEART FOR HIS POST, BUT MUST FACE TWO OF THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGES: BOTTOM-DWELLING COMPETENCY SCORES AND A TALENT-JOBS MISMATCH.
By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
HIS confirmation hearing last Wednesday (August 7) may have been easy sailing—and deservedly so, both because of the traditional courtesy given to former lawmakers like him, and his impeccable credentials—but the rest of Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara’s journey henceforth will be, like the Beatles song, a “long and winding road.”
Angara, described in many quarters as the “perfect choice” to inherit the portfolio of the Department of Education and Culture, has no illusions, however, about the challenges that go with the post. It will certainly be no walk in the park, and he, of all people, understands what the most important and urgent problems are, having been active, as his late father was, in the congressional commission on education. His father, the late prolific lawmaker and former Senate President Edgardo J. Angara, had authored several key pieces of legislation in education and was once president of the University of the
Philippines. His mother Gloria was a former teacher. The pedigree plus his own excellent educational background and experience in crafting policy are just what he needs to tackle two of the most daunting challenges of the DepEd chief: first, the consistently poor showing of Filipino students in international assessments, having languished near the bottom in competencies in language, mathematics and science, but more telling, in critical thinking. Second is the perennial job mismatch of Filipino graduates and what the economy or the nation needs, notwithstanding the
grand, unproven promise of the controversial K-12 system that graduates of high school under the 12-year program would be jobsready.
Academic performance
THE first problem was tackled last Wednesday in a Senate hearing, just as Angara was breezing through his confirmation in the hands of former peers. The former senator had barely warmed his seat, having assumed office on July 19, when the hearing on the persistent issues in basic education took place.
At that hearing, two senators said they were not quite impressed by the result of the DepEd’s National Learning Camp (NLC) in improving the academic performance of Filipino students.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, did not hide his deep disappointment with the result of the NLC Assessment (NLCA).
Gatchalian cited the 2023 NLCA test results showing one of the regions got 37 percent during the pre-test of the learning camp,
but during the post-test gained an even lower 35 percent.
“Even in the pre-test and posttest…in fact [in the] pre-test, 37 percent and the post-test 35 percent, bumaba pa. Nagbigay tayo ng intervention program, bumaba pa yung kanyang grades…it goes without saying that this program needs massive reforms,” Gatchalian said.
“The intention is good but we are not hitting the right results,” he stressed.
Senator Nancy Binay, who also joined the hearing, meanwhile, questioned the effective-
ness of the NLC.
“We want to know the real situation, whether the nine days had an impact, because the nine days in camp was not successful,” Binay pointed out.
The NLC is a voluntary program that will start its phased implementation with Grades 7 and 8 focusing on English, Science, and Mathematics.
Binay lamented the dismal scores of Grade 7 and Grade 8 students in the NLC in 2023, even as the DepEd maintained significant increases in the participants’ test scores during the nine-day program. Less than 50 percent of the participants showed improvement in English, Math and Science after the learning camp, the DepEd assessment showed.
The NLC was launched to address learning loss and enhance teacher capacity as part of the MATATAG Basic Education Agenda. It serves as a subprogram under the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP) specifically designed to tackle learning loss.
Cost of NLC
This July, the Learning Camp consisted of 9 days of face-to-face sessions of students, which cost the government a whopping P1.8 billion, or about P200 million per day.
A tough mission for DepEd chief Angara
Continued from A1
Only half of the total students were assessed. According to DepEd data, only 53.69 percent of learners identified as needing intervention participated in the NLRP assessment, leaving a significant portion of students who required targeted support unassessed.
In place of the NLCA, DepEd directed schools to use screening tests such as rapid assessments for reading and numeracy to group the students into intervention, consolidation, and enhancement camps. However, it appears that not all schools use these tools, and that available results have not been consolidated either.
Senators Gatchalian and Binay further expressed their disappointment over the absence of the very basic yet critical data necessary for assessing the effectiveness of the program, which include the actual number of learners needing the intervention programs and screening results, among others.
“We know that we have a problem, but we don’t know the gravity of this problem. In the universe of 1.7 million, how many of those need intervention programs? So that we can advise you, we can allocate more funds to boost the intervention program,” said Gatchalian.
Only 10 percent of students needing intervention attended learning camps.
For his part, Executive Direc-
tor Dr. Karol Mark Yee of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) pointed out that this has been a recurring request of the Commission. “We have asked for this data in writing, and also in three hearings already both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. We don’t understand why it seems to be difficult to share this information when they can easily share all the other data points. This was the basis for the targeting that should have attended, and is critical in helping us understand the type of learning recovery programs needed by our students.”
The voluntary nature of the learning camps has resulted in low participation from students who needed intervention.
“What are DepEd’s plans for the learners who are at Grades 9 and 10, but without foundational numeracy and literacy? Will the 30-minute National Math Program and 30-minute National Reading Program help them catch up, first in terms of numeracy and literacy, and second to attain grade-level competencies? How does the NLRP reflect this?” asked Yee.
Address the problem WHEN asked about the reforms that DepEd plans to undertake to address the problem and learnings from the current program, DepEd Director Leila Arriola replied, “We
do not have an official decision yet as to how to go on with the national learning camp. But from some of our discussions, we are looking at recalibrating it to focus only on those needing intervention.”
To which Binay offered some advice. “In my view, the intervention…has to be incorporated in the school year—it should be part of the school year. I don’t think the camp alone can cure the problem. The mere fact that we have Grade 7 and 8 [students] who cannot do basic addition and subtraction” is problematic, she said.
The NLC aims to create a camp-like atmosphere by integrating fun and engaging activities to foster learner interests, socioemotional skills, personal growth, and character development.
Based on the specific needs of the learners, they shall be enrolled in one of three camps: Enhancement Camp, Consolidation Camp, or Intervention Camp. Participation of teachers in the NLC is voluntary. Since the NLC entails the services of teachers beyond regular school days, they shall be provided with vacation service credits, certificate of recognition for teachers, and other incentives, subject to the availability of funds and guidelines set.
Indeed, the question begs for answers: Can a nine-day camp cure deep-seated, multi-faceted, festering problems in teaching the most important skills in basic education?
How ready for jobs market?
BEYOND the problem of poor competencies, there is the critical issue of how prepared Filipino graduates are for the job market. Will the country ever overcome the challenge of having so many graduates in ill-suited jobs, a situation that exacerbates the persistently high underemployment rate?
Last Thursday, the DepEd and the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Jobs Committee, through the Private Sector Jobs and Skills Corporation (PCORP), signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to pilot an enhanced work immersion program. The signing in Malacañang Palace was witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and touted as a significant public-private collaboration.
The PSAC Jobs members, together with PSAC strategic convener Sabin Aboitiz, organized PCORP as a non-profit, non-stock corporation as its legal entity to organize a well-coordinated gov-
ernment-industry-academe national movement to solve the jobs and skills mismatch problem in the country.
The MOA outlines key elements, including an enhanced work immersion experience for students, curriculum alignment to allow more hours for learning skills aligned with current industry standards, teacher training to effectively guide students, and nationwide job fairs and matching opportunities.
This initiative aims to bridge the gap between theoretical education and practical industry experience, enhancing students’ employability and making them more attractive to potential employers.
Among the first responders from industry to open their doors to the enhanced work immersion program for senior high schools are the Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI), IT Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines (Conwep), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop), iPeople through the National Teachers College (NTC), SM Group and Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (Go Negosyo).
Ten schools from North to South, including one specializing in the Alternative Learning System (ALS), will participate in the pilot program. These schools can focus on areas such as IT-BPM, tourism and hospitality, agriculture and entrepreneurship, and manufacturing—sectors with high demand for workers and abundant job opportunities.
DepEd Secretary Angara indicated full support for this important step towards student employability. “This MOA gives our students the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience while still studying. In that way, it follows the President’s marching orders to us to do everything we can to improve the quality of our education and boost the chances of our graduates at landing better earning opportunities.”
DepEd and PSAC Jobs, along with school heads and industry partners, have been conducting workshops and consultations to establish guidelines for the pilot program that is set to begin in the 2024-2025 school year.
“This partnership marks a sig-
nificant milestone in our efforts to prepare the next generation for the workforce. By collaborating with DepEd and industry leaders, we can ensure that our students are job-ready and equipped with the skills needed in today’s competitive job market,” stated Joey Concepcion, PSAC Jobs Committee lead.
Labor chief weighs in LABOR and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma acknowledges the problem of jobs mismatch. Commenting on the recent labor force survey, he conceded that despite the record low unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in June 2024—the second lowest recorded since April 2005—the persistently high underemployment signals the need for higher-quality jobs. “Despite these gains, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recognizes the urgent and continuing need to address underemployment, which increased by 208,000 year-on-year, equivalent to 12.1-percent underemployment rate nationwide in June 2024. This increase can be attributable to seasonality of and temporary jobs which are being collectively acted upon through a whole-of-government approach,” Laguesma said in a statement.
“To address the concern on higher-quality jobs, the DOLE, in coordination with the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Inter-Agency Council chaired by Neda, is intensifying its efforts to implement the national employment masterplan in alignment with and furtherance of the President’s directives to create and generate quality, regular and decent jobs,” Laguesma added.
For his part, Senator Jose Villanueva pitched the EnterpriseBased Education and Training (EBET) Framework Act pending in the Senate in tackling job-skills mismatch.
“We welcome the decrease in our unemployment rate to 3.1%, with 1.62 million individuals employed in June 2024, down from 4.1% or 2.11 million in May 2024. However, underemployment remains a critical issue that requires government priority,” the senator stressed.
Villanueva also assured that the EBET Framework Act will complement the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act in synergizing the government’s efforts in solving employment woes in the country, “We are hopeful that this measure will be
into law as soon as possible,” he added.
enacted
A WALK IN THE PARK FOR ANGARA Former Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara swiftly sailed through the confirmation process during the Commission on Appointments Committee on Education meeting on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. The panel took less than 10
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Russell Vought, Project 2025 architect, ready to shock Washington if Trump wins 2nd term
By Richard Lardner The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Russell
Vought sounds like a general marshaling troops for combat when he talks about taming a “woke and weaponized” federal government.
He recently described political opposition as “enemy fire that’s coming over the target,” while urging allies to be “fearless at the point of attack” and calling his policy proposals “battle plans.”
If former President Donald Trump wins a second term in November, Vought may get the opportunity to go on the offensive.
A chief architect of Project 2025—the controversial conservative blueprint to remake the federal government—Vought is likely to be appointed to a highranking post in a second Trump administration. And he’s been drafting a so-far secret “180-Day Transition Playbook” to speed the plan’s implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump’s first term.
Among the small cadre of Trump advisers who has a mechanic’s understanding of how Washington operates, Vought has advised influential conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, held a top post in the Trump White House and later established his own proTrump think tank. Now, he’s being mentioned as a candidate to be Trump’s White House chief of staff, one of the most powerful positions in government.
“If we don’t have courage, then we will step away from the battle,” Vought said in June on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast. “But our view is that’s where the country needs us, and we’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.”
Conservative blueprint to change the government LED by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Project 2025 is a detailed 920-page handbook for governing under the next Republican administration.
A whirlwind of hard-right ambitions, its proposals range from ousting thousands of civil servants and replacing them with Trump loyalists to reversing the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of medications used in abortions. Democrats for months have been using Project 2025 to hammer Trump and other Republicans, arguing to voters that it represents the former president’s true—and extreme—agenda.
Trump in recent weeks has sought to distance himself from Project 2025. He posted on social media he has not seen the plan and has “no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it.”
His campaign said Tuesday that Project 2025’s “demise would be greatly welcomed.” That same day, Paul Dans, the project’s executive director and former Trump administration personnel official, stepped down.
Trump’s attempts to reject the blueprint are complicated by the connections he has with many of
its contributors. More than twodozen authors served in his administration, including Vought, who was director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about which Project 2025 proposals the former president opposes or whether Vought would be offered a highlevel government position in a new Trump term.
Vought did not respond to an interview request or to questions first emailed in February to his think tank, the Center for Renewing America, which played a key role in creating Project 2025.
Those who know Vought described him as fiercely dedicated to Trump’s cause, if not to the former president himself.
“A very determined warrior is how I would see Russ,” said a former Trump administration official who worked with Vought in the White House and requested anonymity to speak candidly about him. “I don’t think he thinks about whether or not he likes Donald Trump as a person. I think he likes what Donald Trump represents in terms of the political forces he’s able to harness.”
Washington insider BORN in New York and raised in Connecticut, Vought has described his family as blue collar. His parents were devout Christians. Vought’s father, a Marine Corps veteran, was a union electrician and his mother was a schoolteacher.
Vought’s father, nicknamed Turk, didn’t stand for idleness or waste. Mark Maliszewski, an electrician who knew him, recalled that after a job Turk Vought would scold his co-workers if they tossed out still usable material.
“He’d go over and kick the garbage can,” Maliszewski said. “He’d say: ‘What is this? If those were quarters or dollars in that garbage can, you’d be picking them up.’”
Russell Vought graduated in 1998 from Wheaton College, a Christian school in Illinois that counts the famed evangelist Billy Graham among its alumni. He moved to Washington to work for Republicans who championed fiscal austerity and small government.
“I worked with a lot of different staff people and as far as work ethic, tenacity, intellect, knowledge (and) commitment to principle, Russell was one of the more impressive people I worked with,” said former GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, who hired Vought in 2003.
After honing his credentials as a fiscal hawk, Vought was named policy director of the House Republican Conference, the party’s primary messaging platform chaired at the time by then-Rep. Mike Pence, who went on to serve as Indiana governor and Trump’s vice president.
Vought left Capitol Hill for a lobbying organization attached to the Heritage Foundation. When Trump was elected, Vought became OMB’s deputy director.
His confirmation hearing was contentious. Liberal Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders accused him of using Islamophobic language when he wrote in 2016 that Muslims “do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.”
Vought told senators his remarks were taken out of context and said he respected the right of every person to express their religious beliefs.
The Senate confirmed him to be OMB’s No. 2 by a single vote. He became acting director in early 2019 after his boss, Mick Mulvaney, was named Trump’s acting chief of staff. Vought was confirmed as OMB director a year and half later as the Covid-19 pandemic was sweeping the globe.
OMB is a typically sedate office that builds the president’s budget and reviews regulations. But with Vought at the helm, OMB was at the center of showdowns between Trump and Congress over federal spending and the legal bounds of presidential power.
After lawmakers refused to give Trump more money for his southern US border wall, the budget office siphoned billions of dollars from the Pentagon and Treasury Department budgets to pay for it.
Under Vought, OMB also withheld military aid to Ukraine as Trump pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate President Joe Biden and his son. Vought refused to comply with a congressional demand to depose him during the subsequent Democrat-led House investigation that led to Trump’s first impeachment. The inquiry, Vought said, was a sham.
Following Trump’s exit from the White House, Vought formed The Center for Renewing America. The organization’s mission is to be “the tip of the America First spear” and “to renew a consensus that America is a nation under God.”
Vought has defended the concept of Christian nationalism, which is a fusion of American and Christian values, symbols and identity. Christian nationalism, he wrote three years ago, “is a commitment to an institutional separation between church and state, but not the separation of Christianity from its influence on government and society.”
The only way to return America to the country the Founding Fathers envisioned is “radical constitutionalism,” Vought said on Bannon’s podcast. That means ensuring control of the executive branch rests solely with the president, not a vast federal bureaucracy.
Anticipating the fights to achieve this, Trump’s backers need to be “fearless, faithful and frugal in everything we do,” he said. A declaration of less independence
Vought’s center was part of a coalition of conservative organizations, organized by the Heritage Foundation, that launched Project 2025 and crafted a detailed plan for governing in the next Republican administration.
The project’s public-facing document, “Mandate for Leadership,” examined nearly every corner of the federal government and urged reforms large and small to bridle a “behemoth” bureaucracy.
Project 2025 calls for the US
Education Department to be shuttered, and the Homeland Security Department dismantled, with its various parts absorbed by other federal offices. Diversity, inclusion and equity programs would be gutted. Promotions in the US military to general or admiral would go under a microscope to ensure candidates haven’t prioritized issues like climate change or critical race theory.
The blueprint also recommends reviving a Trump-era personnel policy that seeks to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers as political appointees, which could enable mass dismissals.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University history professor and author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” criticized Project 2025 as “a recipe for mass chaos, abuses of power, and dysfunction in government.”
The overarching theme of Project 2025 is to strip down the “administrative state.” This, according to the blueprint, is the mass of unelected government officials who pursue policy agendas at odds with the president’s plans.
In his public comments and in a Project 2025 chapter he wrote, Vought has said that no executive branch department or agency, including the Justice Department, should operate outside the president’s authority.
“The whole notion of independent agencies is anathema from the standpoint of the Constitution,” Vought said during a recent appearance on the Fox Business Network.
Critics warn this may leave the Justice Department and other investigative agencies vulnerable to a president who might pressure them to punish or probe a political foe. Trump, who has faced four separate prosecutions, has threatened retribution against Biden and other perceived enemies.
Diminishing the Justice Department’s independence would be a “radically bad idea,” said Paul Coggins, past president of the National Association of Former US Attorneys.
“No president deserves to sic the Justice Department on his political enemies, or, frankly, to pull the Justice Department off
his political friends,” he said. It is not clear what job Vought might get in a second Trump administration. He could return as OMB director, the job he held at the end of Trump’s presidency, or an even higher-ranking post.
“Russ would make a really, really good (White House) chief of staff,” Mulvaney said.
Whatever the position, Vought is expected to be one of Trump’s top field commanders in his campaign to dominate Washington.
The Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Bangladesh protests are not the first time student uprisings have helped bring about radical change
By David Rising The Associated Press
BANGKOK—In Bangladesh, weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs turned into a broad uprising that forced the prime minister to flee the country and resign.
The demonstrations began peacefully last month and were primarily led by students frustrated with the system that they said favored those with connections to the ruling party.
But it turned violent on July 15 as student protesters clashed with security officials and pro-government activists. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled this week after the unrest during which nearly 300 people died, including both students and police officers.
Students or other young people have frequently played pivotal roles in popular uprisings that have brought down governments or forced them to change policies. Here are some other major cases: Gota Go Gama protests in Sri Lanka LIKE in Bangladesh, widespread protests in Sri Lanka in 2022 were able to bring down a government, and youth played a key role.
Scattered demonstrations turned into months-long protests starting in March 2022 as an economic crisis worsened in the Indian Ocean island nation, leading to a shortage of fuel, cooking gas and other essentials as well as an extended power outage.
In April, protesters primarily led by university students and other young people occupied an esplanade adjoining President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office in the capital Colombo, demanding he and his
government resign.
More people joined daily, setting up a tent camp dubbed “Gota Go Gama,” or “Gota Go Village,” a play on Gotabaya’s nickname “Gota.”
The protest site was peaceful, with organizers offering free food, water, toilets and even medical care for people. Camp leaders, many of whom were university students, held daily media briefings and made regular speeches, while the crowd was entertained by bands and plays.
The government reacted by imposing a curfew, declaring a state of emergency, allowing the military to arrest civilians and restricting access to social media, but was unable to stop the protest.
Under pressure, many ministers resigned but President Rajapaksa and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa remained.
In May, Rajapaksa supporters attacked the protest camp, drawing widespread condemnation from across the country and forcing Prime Minister Rajapaksa to resign.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa clung to power until July, when protesters stormed his official residence, forcing him to flee the country. After taking temporary refuge in the Maldives, Rajapaksa later resigned.
His successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in one of his first moves as new president ousted protesters from occupied government buildings and shut down their camp, dismantling their tents in the middle of the night.
The situation has since calmed, and Wickremesinghe has been able to address the shortages of food, fuel and medicine and restore power.
Complaints continue, however, about the rise in taxes and electric bills that are part of the new government’s efforts to meet International Monetary Fund loan conditions. Former Prime Minister Rajapaksa’s son Namal Rajapaksa will be running in the presidential elections this September.
Athens Polytechnic uprising in Greece
IN November 1973, students at Athens Polytechnic University rose up against the military junta that ruled Greece with an iron fist for more than six years.
Military officers seized power in a 1967 coup, establishing a dictatorship marked by the arrest, exile and torture of its political opponents.
The regime’s brutality and hardline rule gave rise to a growing opposition, particularly among students, culminating in the November uprising.
The protest began peacefully on Nov. 14, with students staging a strike at the Athens Polytechnic University and occupying the campus. By the next day, thousands from around Athens had joined in to support the students and the demonstrations grew, as did calls to end the dictatorship.
On November 17, the military crushed the revolt when a tank smashed through the university’s gates in the early hours of the day, killing several students. The number of fatalities is still disputed, but at the time the regime had announced 15 dead.
Days after the uprising, another military officer staged a coup and implemented an even harsher regime. It was short lived however, after a series of events led to a return to democracy in Greece, its birthplace, in 1974.
A prosecutor’s report issued after the return to civilian government,
estimated fatalities at 34, but mentioned only 18 names. There were more than 1,100 injured.
Today, annual marches in Athens to commemorate the pro-democracy student uprising still attract thousands of people.
Kent State demonstrations in the United States
AMERICAN students had long been protesting the US involvement in Vietnam when President Richard Nixon authorized attacks on neutral Cambodia in April 1970, expanding the conflict in an attempt to interrupt enemy supply lines.
On May 4, hundreds of students at Ohio’s Kent State University gathered to protest the bombing of Cambodia, and authorities called in the Ohio National Guard to disperse the crowd.
After failing to break up the protest with teargas, the National Guard advanced and some opened fire on the crowd, killing four students and wounding nine others.
The confrontation, sometimes referred to as the May 4 massacre, was a defining moment for a nation sharply divided over the protracted conflict, in which more than 58,000 Americans died.
It sparked a strike of 4 million students across the US, temporarily closing some 900 colleges and universities. The events also played a pivotal role, historians argue, in turning public opinion against the conflict in Southeast Asia.
Soweto Uprising in South Africa
In the decades-long struggle against white minority rule in South Africa, a pivotal moment came in 1976 in the Soweto area of Johannesburg.
In a series of demonstrations starting June 16, Black students from multiple schools took to the streets to protest against being forced to study in Afrikaans, the Dutch-based language of the white rulers who designed the system of racial oppression known as apartheid.
BBy Fu Ting & Dake Kang Associated Press
EIJING—Chinese authorities are chasing unpaid taxes from companies and individuals dating back decades, as the government moves to plug massive budget shortfalls and address a mounting debt crisis.
More than a dozen listed Chinese companies say they were slapped with millions of dollars in back taxes in a renewed effort to fix local finances that have been wrecked by a downturn in the property market that hit sales of land leases, a main source of revenues.
Policies issued after a recent planning meeting of top Communist Party officials called for expanding local tax resources and said localities should expand their “tax management authority and improve their debt management.”
Local government debt is estimated at up to $11 trillion, including what’s owed by local government financing entities that are “off balance sheet,” or not included in official estimates. More than 300 reforms the party has outlined include promises to better monitor and manage local debt, one of the biggest risks in China’s financial system.
That will be easier said than done, and experts question how thoroughly the party will follow through on its pledges to improve the tax regime and better balance control of government revenues.
“They are not grappling with existing local debt problems, nor the constraints on fiscal capacity,” said Logan Wright of the Rhodium Group, an independent
research firm. “Changing central and local revenue sharing and expenditure responsibilities is notable but they have promised this before.”
The scramble to collect long overdue taxes shows the urgency of the problems.
Chinese food and beverage conglomerate VV Food & Beverage reported in June it was hit with an 85 million yuan ($12 million) bill for taxes dating back as far as 30 years ago.
Zangge Mining, based in western China, said it got two bills totaling 668 million RMB ($92 million) for taxes dating to 20 years earlier.
Local governments have long been squeezed for cash since the central government controls most tax revenue, allotting a limited amount to local governments that pay about 80 percent of expenditures such as salaries, social services and investments in infrastructure like roads and schools.
Pressures have been building as the economy slowed and costs piled up from “zero-Covid” policies during the pandemic.
Economists have long warned the situation is unsustainable, saying China must beef up tax collection to balance budgets in the long run.
Under leader Xi Jinping, the government has cut personal income, corporate income, and value-added taxes to curry support, boost economic growth and encourage investment—often in ways that favored the rich, tax scholars say. According to most estimates, only about 5 percent of Chinese pay personal income taxes, far lower than in many other countries. Government statistics
show it accounts for just under 9 percent of total tax revenues, and China has no comprehensive nationwide property tax.
Finance Minister Li Fo’an told the official Xinhua News Agency that the latest reforms will give local governments more resources and more power over tax collection, adjusting the share of taxes they keep.
“The central government doesn’t have a lot of responsibility for spending, so it doesn’t feel the pain of cutting taxes,” said Cui Wei, a professor of Chinese and international tax policy at the University of British Columbia. The effectiveness of the reforms will depend on how they’re implemented, said Cui, who is skeptical that authorities will carry out a proposal to increase central government spending. That “will require increasing central government staffing, and that’s an ‘organizational’ matter, not a simple spending matter,” he said.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Cui said. Sudden new tax bills have hit some businesses hard, further damaging already shaky business confidence.
Ningbo Bohui Chemical Technology, in Zhejiang on China’s eastern coast, suspended most of its production after the local tax bureau demanded 500 million yuan ($69 million) in back taxes on certain chemicals. It is laying off staff and cutting pay to cope.
Experts say the arbitrary way taxes are collected, with periods of leniency followed by sudden crackdowns, is counterproductive, discouraging companies from investing or hiring precisely when they need to.
“When business owners are feeling
Hundreds are estimated to have died in the government crackdown that followed.
The bloodshed was epitomized by a photograph of a dying student, Hector Pieterson. The image of his limp body being carried by another teenager was seen around the world and galvanized international efforts to end South Africa’s racial segregation, though apartheid would linger for nearly two more decades.
South Africa achieved democracy with majority rule elections in 1994 and today June 16 is a national holiday.
Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
AS the Communist governments of Eastern Europe teetered in 1989, widespread demonstrations broke out in Czechoslovakia after riot police suppressed a student protest in Prague on November 17. On November 20 as the antiCommunist protests grew, the students being joined by scores of others and some 500,000 took to the streets of Prague. Dubbed the “Velvet Revolution” for its non-violent nature, the protests led to the resignation of the Communist Party’s leadership on November 28.
By Dec. 10, Czechoslovakia had a new government and on Dec. 29, Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright who had spent several years in prison, was elected the country’s first democratic president in a half century by a parliament still dominated by communist hard-liners. In 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
AP journalist Bharatha Mallawarachi contributed to this report from Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The protests spread to other areas in South Africa, becoming a flashpoint for anger at a system that denied adequate education, the right to vote and other basic rights to the country’s Black majority.
China cracks down on decades-old unpaid taxes amid mounting debt crisis and budget shortfalls
insecure, how can there be more private investment growth in China?” said Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong’s business school.
“An economic slowdown is inevitable.” The State Taxation Administration has denied launching a nationwide crackdown, which might imply past enforcement was lax. Tax authorities have “always been strict about preventing and investigating illegal taxation and fee collection,” the administration said in a statement last month.
As local governments struggle to make ends meet, some are setting up joint operation centers run by local tax offices and police to chase back taxes. The AP found such centers have opened in at least 23 provinces since 2019. Both individuals and companies are being targeted. Dozens of singers, actors, and Internet celebrities were fined millions of dollars for avoiding taxes in the past few years, according to a review of government notices.
Internet livestreaming celebrity Huang Wei, better known by her pseudonym, Weiya, was fined 1.3 billion yuan ($210 million) for tax evasion in 2021. She apologized and escaped prosecution by paying up, but her social media accounts were suspended, crippling her business. The hunt for revenue isn’t limited to taxes. In the past few years, local authorities have drawn criticism for slapping large fines on drivers and street vendors, similar to how cities like Chicago or San Francisco earn millions from parking tickets. Despite pledges by top leaders to eliminate fines as a form of
revenue collection, the practice continues, with city residents complaining that Shanghai police use drones and traffic cameras to catch drivers using their mobile phones at red lights.
Outside experts and Chinese government advisors agree that structural imbalances between local and central governments must be addressed. But under Xi, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades, decision-making has grown more opaque, keeping businesses and analysts guessing, while vested interests have pushed back against major changes.
“They have a hermetically sealed process that makes it difficult for people on the outside to know what is going on,” says Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Beijing has been reluctant to rescue struggling local governments, wary it might leave them dependent on bailouts. So, the central government has stepped in only in dire cases, otherwise leaving local governments to resolve debt issues on their own.
“In Chinese, we have a saying: You help people in desperate need, but you don’t help the poor,” said Tang Yao, an economist at Peking University. “You don’t want them to rely on soft money.” Economists say intervention may be required this time around and that the central government has leeway to take on more debt, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of only around 25 percent. That’s much lower than many other major economies.
Fu Ting reported from Washington.
WHILE the whole world is currently agog over the Olympics in Paris, where the Philippines has won two gold and more medals, another Olympiad was held in the country—the first International Nuclear Science Olympiad (INSO).
Thirty-seven student nuclear science Olympians brought home the fruits of their months-long labor at the close of the six-day INSO on August 6. It was held in the New Clark City in Capas, Yarlac, the INSO Publicity Working Team said.
Medalists, Nuclear Ambassador EIGHT clinched gold, 13 bagged silver, and 16 won bronze among 55 contenders from 14 Asia-Pacific countries.
The Philippine Team won two golds and one silver.
Philippine participant, Mohammad Nur Casib, from Philippine Science HIgh School Central Mindanao, was named “Nuclear Ambassador” for garnering the highest overall score among the participants.
The medalists comprised of a mix of junior and senior high school students aged 20 years and below.
The following is the list of medalists:
Gold medalists: Mohammad Nur G. Casib and Neil Kyle Olaer Maniquis (Philippines); Caldras Tan Hong Xun, Caleb Chia, Tran Doan Duy Phuc, and Wong Kheng Hshin (Singapore); M N Ahamed Mushab (Sri Lanka); and Nopparuj Sodsri (Thailand).
Silver medalists: Seyedabolfazl Mahdaei (Iran); Isaac Toh Thiam Tek and Lim Yee Jian (Malaysia); Subhan Kashif and Suleman Nouman (Pakistan); Jeremiah E. Auza (Philippines); Galvandi Ibrahim (Qatar); Mohammed Akrikish (Saudi Arabia).
Pabasara Kaushalya Maduwage and W. A. Akila Chamodya Bandara (Sri Lanka) and Nonpawit Koheng, Rawisara Chokdeepanich and Tharatep Lertpetaiy (Thailand);
Bronze medalists: Hasan Aman (Bahrain); Ayda Bina, Seyed Mohammad Sajadiyan, and Shayan
Intl nuke science Olympiad participants bag 37 medals
Rezazadeh (Iran); Omar Amjad Yousef Shbeita (Jordan); Arell Yazid Fazrin Bin Mohd Fauzi and Saratt Suthagar (Malaysia); Ganzorig Khuslen and NyamAyush Tuvshin (Mongolia); Ehban Awan and Qasim Salam (Pakistan); Azzam Khalid Abdullah Alomari, Hala Salman Al Abbad, and Hasan Alawadh (Saudi Arabia); Aditya Vivek (Qatar); and Saayuj Ion Mathew (UAE).
Special awards Tran Doan Duy Phuc (Singapore) and Mohammad Nur G. Casib (Philippines), for obtaining the highest points in the experimental and theoretical exams, respectively.
In the experimental exam, the contestants used simulation software unlike that being used by nuclear researchers. the INSO Publicity Working Team said.
The contestants came as teams representing their respective countries, but they competed as individuals.
They were ranked according to
the points they obtained in the two exams in which Casib emerged as topnotcher.
In her message, Helena Zhivistkaya, expert of the Nuclear Knowledge Management Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Department of Nuclear Energy, reminded the contestants: “The Olympiad is not just a competition but also building long-lasting cooperation for future activities.”
The INSO was hosted by the Philippines and organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in collaboration with the Department of Education, the DOST-National Research Council of the Philippines, the Philippine Nuclear Science Foundation, and the IAEA, the INSO Publicity Working Team said.
Key partners included Meralco, Aboitiz, and E-Beam, and had support from the DOST-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.
The participating students were from Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Japan and Syria participated as observers.
First halal kitchen to open in Mindanao
THE first Halal Kitchen in the country is set to open in Mindanao to serve as an innovation, research center, and demonstration site for halal industry.
According to Mayan Jane J. Inni, Assistant Regional Director for DOST-XI, the agency saw that there is still a gap in promoting halal and tourism, despite the past initiatives they have held like the Halal Verification and Laboratory and the research and development component, where they also partnered with different higher education institutions (HEIs) and state universities and colleges The initiative is being led by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office 11 (DOST-XI), in partnership with the Philippine Women’s College (PWC) in Davao City.
“The problem is we have very few halal-certified hotels and restaurants here in Davao. Recognizing that Davao is the potential hub or location for events like this in Mindanao and the Southern part of the country becomes a limitation for us,” Inni said. She explained that through this partnership, “we established the halal kitchen facility at PWC to provide the innovation and research center for the industry to know more and learn more and to adapt halal and the provision of services especially for tourism and education.” According to PWC Dean Dr. Aristotle P. Carandang halal is a multi-billion industry and is now being looked at as a potential income-generating sector of the Philippines.
“Well definitely, it will cater to the rest of the Philippines.
But as to whether it’s the first in the Philippines, I think it is because DOST is pioneering efforts to promote and provide answers to the problems of halal sectors. We started with the R&D, with the laboratory, and now with services. So, I think that’s true that the Davao Region Halal Kitchen is the novel and the first in the Philippines”, Inni said.
“This year, I’m happy because it’s going to be operational, and we’re just going to do some government registration work, and the training for trainers is already been lined up and this is now under my watch,” Carandang said.
He added that the halal training and instruction services will also be included in the PWC’s curriculum to capacitate more professionals, especially tourism students.
Once operational, the DOSTXI will provide experts and resource speakers for the requests for orientation and training.
The facility was inaugurated in August 2023, for the installation of equipment needed for the training.
It was funded by the DOST-XI and the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
The facility was introduced to the participants of the recent Science Journo Ako, a science journalism seminar-workshop held in Davao City and organized by the DOST-Science and Technology Information Institute.
The activity was attended by 54 junior and senior high-school students and teachers from 15 schools in the Davao region. Claire Bernadette A. Mondares/S&T News Service
Dr. Romulo G. Davide gets National Scientist rank
MALACAÑANG recen tly conferred the Order of National Scientist on agricultural scientist Dr. Romulo G. Davide.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the Proclamation 643, s. 2024 thereby installing Davide the 44th to be named in the Order of National Scientists.
With the award, Davide joined an esteemed group of individuals who have significantly impacted scientific research and knowledge in the Philippines.
The National Academy of Science abd Technology Philippines (NAST PHL), to which Davide is among the Academicians, said he is recognized for his groundbreaking and substantial contributions to the agricultural sciences, particularly in plant pathology and nematology.
His dedication is exemplified by his work on the epidemiology, host range, life cycle, taxonomy, and management of plant-parasitic nematodes.
Davide’s development of the FarmerScientist Training Program has positively impacted the lives of 70,000 Filipino farmers.
Through his steadfast mentorship and commitment as a professor, his students and mentees now lead the field of plant pathology and nematology, earning him
the title “Father of Philippine Nematology.” Davide obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture-Plant Pathology from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1957.
He earned his Master’s degree in Plant Pathology from Oklahoma State University in 1962. He completed his Doctorate degree in Nematology-Plant Pathology from the North Carolina State University in 1965. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Davide was elected to the NAST PHL in 2002, further cementing his status as a distinguished figure within the scientific community.
The Order of National Scientist Award (Orden ng Gawad ng Pambansang Alagad ng Agham) is the highest national recognition given to a man or woman of science in the Philippines, administered by the NAST PHL, and conferred by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Academy.
The NAST PHL is an attached agency to the Department of Science and Technology. It is mandated by law to recognize outstanding achievements in scientific research and development and to serve as an adviser to the president of the Philippines and the cabinet on policies concerning science and technology in the country.
Shortage of skilled plant breeders could lead to dire implications to food security
TBy Clement Dionglay
HE Day of Eight Billion, a significant milestone in human development, happened on November 15, 2022.
This milestone marked the day the world population reached 8 billion, according to the United Nations. It is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and to increase further to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion by 2100.
As the global population continues to increase, so does the demand for essential resources such as food, clothing, and shelter
However, this escalating population presents a significant challenge to food production, with potential consequences of food shortages and insufficient supplies for many.
In an earlier report, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that world food production must increase by 70 percent in 2050 to feed a projected extra 2 billion people.
In the latest Hunger Hotspots report covering June to October 2024, the FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) issued a joint warning about the escalating food insecurity crisis in 18 critical hotspots.
The hotspots—17 countries or territories and one regional cluster—are areas experiencing famine or severe risk, and requiring urgent action to prevent catastrophic conditions.
In 2021, a meta-analysis conducted by Wageningen University and Research revealed that future food demand will increase between 35 percent and 56 percent from 2010 to 2050.
This increase is due to population growth, economic development, urbanization, and other drivers.
The study also revealed that more than 820 million people in the world do not have enough food, while climate change and increasing competition for land and water further raise concerns about the future balance between food demand and supply.
Plant breeders, the unsung heroes of the world’s food supply, are also the architects of
global food security. Their work is crucial in addressing the challenges to food security and sustainability.
In the past three decades, plant breeders have significantly contributed to finding solutions to ensure the global food supply. They are the driving forces in the discovery of innovative tools and the development of crops with enhanced traits to improve food production.
They used modern biotechnology tools and developed crops with beneficial traits like resistance to pests and diseases, crops that resist harsh environmental conditions, such as drought and heat, and crops enriched with vitamins and minerals.
In June 2024, new research conducted across three continents by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia, Lincoln University in New Zealand, and McGill University in Canada found that a lack of scientists specialized in plant breeding could lead to “dire” food security implications in Australia, and around the world.
The joint paper paints a concerning picture of future capacity in the plant breeding area.
Lead author and CSIRO scientist Dr. Lucy Egan said the shortage has been building for some time and has the potential to impact agricultural production worldwide.
“What we’re seeing is a whole generation of highly-skilled plant breeding specialists who are now reaching retirement age, with a gap left as university graduates opt to focus on other areas of plant science including molecular biology,” Egan said. McGill University’s Dr. Valerio HoyosVillegas said one of the keys to addressing the shortage will be the establishment of dedicated training facilities in different countries. The authors identified improvements that can be made in the future to improve the plant breeding sector. They emphasized that a multipronged approach is needed to reinvigorate plant breeding education and research. Clement Dionglay is a Project Associate at ISAAA Inc.
PARTICIPANTS to the recent Science Journo Ako seminar-workshop in Davao City visit the Philippine Women’s College the first-ever Halal Kitchen, which is soon to open for training and instruction services in the region. PHOTOS BY HENRY A. DE LEON, DOSTSTII
www.businessmirror.com.ph
• Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Vatican issues guidance on Holy Doors in 2025 Jubilee
AHEAD of the upcoming Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis, in his”Bull of Indiction,” titled “Spes non confundit [Hope does not disappoint]” indicated as the Holy Door “of St. Peter’s Basilica and the other three Papal Basilicas, namely St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls, with the exception of the Holy Father’s expressed desire to personally open a Holy Door in a prison ‘to offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness.’”
This was reaffirmed in a note issued on August 1 by the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World.
The note specifically provided guidance regarding the opening of the Holy Door in places besides Rome.
“Given the imminent start of the Jubilee 2025,” the Dicastery’s note began, “the question has recently been raised about the possibility of planning the configuration and opening of the Holy Door in Cathedral Churches, International and National Shrines, as well as in other particularly significant places of worship.”
St. Peter’s and Papal Basilicas “IN this regard, while sensitively considering the pastoral and devotional motivations that may have suggested such commendable aspiration,” it continued, “it is nevertheless deemed necessary to recall the precise indications established by the Holy Father in the Bull Spes non confundit”, which reasserts the sites of Holy Doors for the imminent Jubilee.
In the text, the Dicastery also took the opportunity to recall that “the peculiar and identifying sign of the Jubilee Year, as handed down since the first Jubilee of the year 1300, is the indulgence that
‘intends to express the fullness of God’s forgiveness which knows no bounds,’ through the Sacrament of Penance and signs of charity and hope.”
Given this, they urge the faithful to consult “the particular places and different modalities indicated by the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary of May 13, 2024,” in order to “fully live this moment of grace.”
Jubilee overview IN “Spes non confundit,” Pope Francis announced that the Jubilee Year will begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, 2024.
The Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica is opened by the Pope only at the beginning of a Jubilee Year. It is usually the first door to be opened to indicate the beginning of the Holy Year.
This first evidence of the rite happening in St Peter’s was in the year 1500 during the papacy of Alexander VI.
Later, on December 29, the Pope will open the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome.
On the same day, every Cathedral and co-Cathedral throughout the world will have Mass celebrated by the local Bishop to mark the opening of the Jubilee.
On the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, January 1. 2025, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door for the Basilica of St Mary Major, with the Holy Door for the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls being opened on January 5, the Vigil of Epiphany.
“In the course of the year,” Pope Francis had written, “every effort should be made to enable the People of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to their efficacy.” Deborah Castellano Lubov/Vatican News via CBCP News
MESCALERO, New Mexico—Anne Marie Brillante never imagined she would have to choose between being Apache and being Catholic.
To her, and many others in the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico who are members of St. Joseph Apache Mission, their Indigenous culture had always been intertwined with faith. Both are sacred.
“Hearing we had to choose, that was a shock,” said a tearful Brillante, a member of the mission’s parish council.
The focus of this tense, unresolved episode is the 8-foot Apache Christ painting.
For this close-knit community, it is a revered icon created by Franciscan friar Robert Lentz in 1989.
It depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, and has hung behind the church’s altar for 35 years under a crucifix as a reminder of the holy union of their culture and faith.
On June 26, the church’s then-priest, Peter Chudy Sixtus Simeon-Aguinam, removed the icon and a smaller painting depicting a sacred Indigenous dancer. Also taken were ceramic chalices and baskets given by the Pueblo community for use during the Eucharist.
Brillante said the priest took them away while the region was reeling from wildfires that claimed two lives and burned more than 1,000 homes.
The Diocese of Las Cruces, which oversees the mission, did not respond to several emails, phone calls and an in-person visit by The Associated Press.
Parishioners, shocked to see the blank wall behind the altar when they arrived for Catechism class, initially believed the art objects had been stolen.
But Brillante was informed by a diocesan official that the icon’s removal occurred under the authority of Bishop Peter Baldacchino and in the presence of a diocesan risk manager.
The diocese has returned the icons and
other objects after the community’s outrage was covered by various media outlets, and the bishop replaced Simeon-Aguinam with another priest.
But Brillante and others say it’s insufficient to heal the spiritual abuse they have endured.
Brillante said their former priest opened old wounds with his recent actions, suggesting he sought to cleanse them of their “pagan” ways, and it has derailed the reconciliation process initiated by Pope Francis in 2022.
That year, Francis gave ahistoric apologyfor the Catholic Church’s role in Indigenous residential schools, forcing Native people to assimilate into Christian society, destroying their cultures and separating families.
A spokesman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops declined comment on the Mescalero case.
But last month, the conference overwhelmingly approved a pastoral framework for Indigenous ministry, which pointed to a “false choice” many Indigenous Catholics are faced with—to be Indigenous or Catholic:
“We assure you, as the Catholic bishops of the United States, that you do not have to be one or the other. You are both.”
Several of the mission’s former priests understood this, but Brillante believes Simeon-Aguinam’s recent demand to make that “false choice” violated the bishops’ new guidelines.
Larry Gosselin, a Franciscan who served St. Joseph from 1984 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2003, said he sought the approval of 15 Mescalero leaders before Lentz began the painting that took three months to complete.
“He poured all of himself into that painting,” said Gosselin, explaining that Lentz sprinkled gold dust on himself and skipped showering, using his body oils to
ACatholic communicators told: Stay true to Gospel amid trolls, AI
Catholic bishop on Thursday urged Church communicators not to let trolls and bashers affect their mission.
Bishop Marcelino Antonio Maralit Jr, who heads the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Social Communications (CBCPECSC), said that as believers, their role is to spread the truth of the Gospel.
“In the midst and in front of bashers, trolls, creators’ block, and other realities that seem to be negative… we must not be deterred from our mission,” Maralit said.
He encouraged them to rise above attacks and stay committed to sharing the message of faith.
“We are called to be kind, but we also heard [that] we need to be firm,” said Maralit, who is also the bishop of Boac.
His remarks were delivered during his homily at the closing Mass of the National Catholic Social Communications Convention 2024 in Lipa City.
With the theme, “AI: Authentic Influencer for an Empowered Church,” the four-day convention brought together more than 300 diocesan social communication directors, workers and volunteers.
Discussions included modern tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and their roles in evangelization.
While modern technology offers vast possibilities, he reminded Catholic communicators that a deep connection with Christ is crucial in fulfilling their true purpose and mission.
“The source and summit of Christian life should also be the source and summit of the social communications ministry,” Maralit said.
Maralit also pointed out that while AI operates on algorithms, the Church’s mission is guided by a deeper, divine purpose.
“Whether we like it or not, our mission is a call to holiness,” he said.
Communion and communication
IN a recorded video message to the convention participants, Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, said that despite technological advancements, the core mission of ministering to people remains irreplaceable.
He emphasized that the Church is a “communion” rooted in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
“Communion is what makes us members of one another and it is also the most powerful means of Church communication,” Ruffini said.
“Technology comes after. It is a tool,” he added.
Ruffini pointed out that true generative intelligence comes from personal encounters, “where the most wise and constructive decisions are made.”
“We cannot delegate such experience to algorithms based on calculating probabilities, which
are actually neither intelligence nor artificial. We cannot,” he said.
“There are and always will be things that a technology cannot replace, like freedom, like the miracle of encounter between people, like the surprise of the unexpected, the conversion, the outburst of ingenuity, the gratuitous love,” he explained.
While praising the benefits of modern tools, Pope Francis has repeatedly emphasized that AI poses serious ethical concerns and must be used responsibly to uphold human dignity and promote the common good.
For this reason, Ruffini emphasized that the use of technology requires guidelines and ethical considerations, including philosophical and theological reflections.
“We need to look beyond. We need awareness and responsibility,” he pointed out.
THE Apache Christ painting hangs behind the altar of St. Joseph
LEIGHTON
adhere the gold to the canvas. Then he gave the painting to the humble church.
Albert Braun, the priest who helped construct the church building in the 1920s, respected Mescalero Apache traditions in his ministry and was so beloved that he is buried inside the church, near the altar.
Church elders Glenda and Larry Brusuelas said to right this wrong and to repair this damage, the bishop must issue a public apology.
“You don’t call or send a letter,” Larry Brusuelas said. “You face the people you have offended and offer some guarantee that this is not going to happen again.
That’s the Apache way.”
While Bishop Baldacchino held a twohour meeting with the parish council in Mescalero after the items were returned, Brillante said he seemed more concerned about the icon being “hastily” reinstalled
rather than acknowledging the harm or offering an apology.
Still, some are hopeful. Parish council member Pamela Cordova, said she views the bishop appointing a new priest who was more familiar with the Apache community as a positive step.
The concept of “inculturation,” the notion of people expressing their faith through their culture, has been encouraged by the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, said Chris Vecsey, professor of religion and Native American studies at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.
“It’s rather shocking to see a priest who has been assigned a parish with Native people acting in such a disrespectful way in 2024,” he said. “But it does reflect a long history of concern that blending these symbols might weaken, threaten or pollute
The digital world is not readymade. “It is changing every day. We can change it. We can shape it. And we need catalytic communicators to do it, with love and with human intelligence,” Ruffini added.
Maralit earlier reminded Catholic communicators of the significance of AI for the Church and the human family.
“It’s not only just a cultural reality that will be changed. It is a changing epoch,” according to Maralit. “We need to have a close oversight of the ever-developing technology.”
“So, for what reason [do] we have to sit here, to talk, to listen, and to discern? Because we are now in a change of epoch,” he added.
Ruffini challenged the Catholic communicators, “even through artificial intelligence,” a network of communication “based on the communion that unites us, on the truth that sets us free, on the love that explains everything.”
Roy Lagarde and Earl Jerald Alpay
Apache Christ icon sparks debate over Indigenous Catholic faith practices
the purity of the faith.” Deacon Steven Morello, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s missionary to the American Indians, said the goal of the US bishops’ new framework is to correct the ills of the past.
He said Indigenous spirituality and Catholic faith have much in common, such as the burning of sage in Native American ceremonies and incense in a Catholic church.
“Both are meant to cleanse the heart and mind of all distractions,” he said. “The smoke goes up to God.”
Morello said Pope Francis’ encyclical on caring for the Earth and the environment titled “Laudato Si” addresses the sacredness of all creation—a core principle Indigenous people have lived by for millennia.
“There is no conflict, only commonality, between Indigenous and Catholic spirituality,” he said.
There are over 340 Native American parishes in the United States and many use Indigenous symbols and sacred objects in church.
In every corner of the Mescalero church, Apache motifs seamlessly blend in with Catholic imagery.
The Apache Christ painting hangs as the focal point of the century-old Romanesque church whose rock walls soar as high as 90 feet.
Artwork of teepees adorns the lectern.
A mural at the altar shows the Last Supper with Christ and his apostles depicted as Apache men.
Tall crowns worn by mountain dancers known as “gahe” in Apache, hang over small paintings showing Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.
For parishioner Sarah Kazhe, the Apache Christ painting conveys how Jesus appears to the people of Mescalero.
“Jesus meets you where you are and he appears to us in a way we understand,” she said. “Living my Apache way of life is no different than attending church...The
mindless, thoughtless act of removing a sacred icon sent a message that we didn’t matter.”
Parishioners believe the Creator in Apache lore is the same as their Christian God.
On a recent Saturday night, community members gathered to bless two girls who had come of age.
Kazhe and Donalyn Torres, one of the church elders who authorized Lentz to paint the Apache Christ, sat in lawn chairs with more than 100 others, watching crown dancers bring blessings on them.
Under a half-moon, the men wore body paint and tall crowns, dancing to drumbeats and song around a large fire. The women, including the two girls donning buckskin and jewelry, formed the outer circle, moving their feet in a quick, shuffling motion.
In the morning, many from the group attended Mass at their church, the Apache Christ restored to its place of honor.
The painting shows Christ as a Mescalero holy man, standing on the sacred Sierra Blanca, greeting the sun.
A sun symbol is painted on his left palm; he holds a deer hoof rattle in his right hand.
The inscription at the bottom is Apache for “giver of life,” one of their names for the Creator. Greek letters in the upper corners are abbreviations for “Jesus Christ.”
Gosselin, the mission’s former priest, said he was struck by the level of detail Lentz captured in that painting, particularly the eyes—which focus on a distance just as Apache people would when talking about spirituality. He believes the painting was “divinely inspired” because the people who received it feel a holy connection.
“This has resonated in the spirit and their hearts,” he said. “Now, 35 years later, the Apache people are fighting for it.” Deepa Bharath/Associated Press
Apache Mission church in Mescalero, New Mexico, on July 13. The painting, an icon that depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, was the forefront of a tension between the community and the local Diocese when it was removed by the church’s then priest.
AP/ANDRES
BISHOP Marcelino Antonio Maralit Jr, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Communications, gestures during his homily at the closing Mass of the 2024 National Catholic Social Communications Convention in Lipa City on August 8. ROY LAGARDE
A8 Sunday, August 11, 2024
By Jonathan L. Mayuga
ANEW species of pitcher plant was discovered on Mt. Kampalili in Davao de Oro, which is part of the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor.
The Nepenthes Kampalili ( N. Kampalili ) is unique to the limestone karst bonsai forests of the Mt. Kampalili-Puting Bato Key Biodiversity Area.
The discovery highlights the Philippines as home to one of the diverse species of pitcher plants, alongside Malaysia and Indonesia, all in Southeast Asia that is known to be blessed with incredibly rich biodiversity.
Highlighting Southeast Asia’s rich biodiversity, the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) said that while it occupies only 3 percent of the Earth’s land, it covers four biodiversity hotspots and contains three of the world’s 17 megadiverse nations—Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Important discovery
DR. Noel Lagunday, one of the authors of the paper that describes Nepenthess kampalili, says the discovery adds to the number of known carnivorous pitcher plants in the world.
“It highlights the unique ecosystems in Mindanao, thus, housing more species than anywhere else on the planet,” Lagunday told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on August 5.
According to Lagunday, they somehow have an idea of the diversity that Mt. Kampalili holds, including unique species, such as N. Kampalili.
“When we headed out for Mt. Kampalili, together with Aimanuelzon P. Yorong, Kristina A. Corpuz and Dr. Gideon Lasco, we knew, based on the narrative of Chairman Federico Gumbasan of Sitio Kaluyapi, Barangay Langgawisan, Maragusan, [about the unique pitcher plant], but we had zero idea if we will be able to encounter the
plant, or if [it] is a new species to science,” he explains.
Unique species
ACCORDING to Lagunday, N. Kampalili resembles N. peltata , another pitcher plant species that is endemic to Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, but differs in having an attached tendril on top of the leaf.
“It is unique from any other known species in the country in having brownish to black indumenta [hair covering] on the lid of the upper surface,” he says.
Lagunday noted that the species is restricted in the limestone karst forest of Mt. Kampalili at 2200 meters (m) to 2320m above sea level in Maragusan, Davao de Oro.
New center of endemism
HE said the species has caught the eye of biodiversity researchers just recently and discoveries have already been made making the site a “new center of endemism” in eastern Mindanao.
“The huge task of botanizing the site poses a challenge to botanists as the site has very unique ecosystems with new species just waiting to be discovered,” he says.
ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim says the discovery of N. kampalili is a welcome development.
“We welcome the discovery of Nepenthes kampalili, a new species of pitcher plants, in the limestone karst bonsai forests of Mt. Kampalili-Puting Bato Key Biodiversity Area, a priority conservation site in the Philippines,”
Lim says.
She says there are more than 200 secies of Nepenthes in Southeast Asia. 60 percent of these are found in Indonesia and the Philippines.
“With the newly discovered N. kampalili , the Philippines now moves closer to Indonesia, on having the most number of known species of pitcher plants in the world,” she says.
Valuable finding
“WE congratulate the scientists from the Central Mindanao State University for this valuable finding,” she says..
According to Lim, former head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB), the Philippines remains to have the highest number of endemic species, and with the very restricted range of these unique species of pitcher plants found only on islands or patches of remaining forests, they are also most likely to disappear or become extinct in the wild if their limited range is destroyed or converted.
Carnivorous plants
PITCHER plants are carnivorous and can help control insect populations, Lim says.
“In the process of ‘digesting’ their catch, they are not only able to nourish themselves, but also the associated biological components in their natural surroundings, allow them to survive under very harsh conditions,” Lum says.
Moreover, she says extracts from the plants may also have pharmaceutical importance that could protect people from new and emerging diseases.
“The resilience of these pitcher plants may hold the key to help us
Study: Great Barrier Reef water hottest in 400 years in past decade
ASHINGTON—Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef hit their highest level in 400 years over the past decade, according to researchers who warned that the reef likely won’t survive if planetary warming isn’t stopped.
During that time, between 2016 and 2024, the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem and one of the most biodiverse, suffered mass coral bleaching events.
That’s whenwater temperatures get too hotand coral expel the algae that provide them with color and food, and sometimes die.
Earlier this year, aerial surveys of over 300 reefs in the system off Australia’s northeast coast found bleaching in shallow water areas spanning two-thirds of the reef, according to Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Researchers from Melbourne University and other universities in Australia, in a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, were able to compare recent ocean temperatures to historical ones by using coral skeleton samples from the Coral Sea to reconstruct sea surface temperature data from 1618 to 1995. They coupled that with sea surface temperature data from 1900 to 2024. They observed largely stable temperatures before 1900, and steady warming from January to March from 1960 to 2024.
And during five years of coral bleaching in the past decade—during 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2024— temperatures in January and March were significantly
Mt. Kampalili yields unique pitcher plant
withstand some of the planetary challenges we are facing nowadays,” she says.
Lim pointed out that further study and conservation activities should be exerted for pitcher plants to better understand and harness their true value.
Poaching
LIKE most uniquely beautiful plants, N. Kampalili is threatened.
Habitat loss as a result of deforestation has always been a major driver of biodiversity loss. But in Mt. Kampalili, the threat to unique species found in the area is poaching.
“Poaching has always been a problem for carnivorous pitcher plants in Mindanao. These plants are traditionally used as medicine in Mindanao due to its highly modified leave pitchers,” Lagunday. says.
Besides its medicinal value the plant is poached by hobbyists and irresponsible mountaineers to be grown in botanical gardens and later introduced in the market of ornamental plants or as prized collections.
“Perhaps the site being legislatively unprotected is a huge risk to the N. kampalili populations,” he said.
To protect the pitcher plants and areas like Mt. Kampalili, he says there has to be an immediate conservation effort by immediate stakeholders.
Conservation needed
“THE loval government unit, in partnership with the academe, has to act on making the site a ‘local conservation area’ as soon as possible,” he says.
“Protecting Mt. Kampalili is a race against time and if no appropriate conservation measures are implemented, soon we will be seeing this majestic beauty in photographs,” he points out.
Besides N. Kampalili , the ancient forest in Mindanao is known for unique plant and animal wildlife.
higher than anything dating back to 1618, researchers found. They used climate models to attribute the warming rate after 1900 to humancaused climate change.
The only other year nearly as warm as the mass bleaching years of the past decade was 2004.
“The reef is in danger and if we don’t divert from our current course, our generation will likely witness the demise of one of those great natural wonders,” said Benjamin Henley, the study’s lead
author and a lecturer of sustainable urban management at the University of Melbourne.
“If you put all of the evidence together ... heat extremes are occurring too often for those corals to effectively adapt and evolve,” Henley said. Across the world, reefs are key to seafood production and tourism.
Scientists have long said additional loss of coral is likely to be a casualty of future warming as the world approaches the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)
threshold that countries agreed to try and keep warming under in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Even if global warming is kept under the Paris Agreement’s goal, which scientists say Earth is almost guaranteed to cross, 70 percent to 90 percent of corals across the globe could be threatened, the study’s authors said.
As a result, future coral reefs would likely have less diversity in coral species—which has already been happeningas the oceans have grown hotter.
Coral reefs have been evolving over the past quarter century in response to bleaching events like the ones the study’s authors highlighted, said Michael McPhaden, a senior climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved with the study.
But even the most robust coral may soon not be able to withstand the elevated temperatures expected under a warming climate with “the relentless rise in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere,” he said.
The Great Barrier Reef serves as an economic resource for the region and protects against severe tropical storms.
Asmore heat-tolerant coralreplaces the less heat-tolerant species in the colorful underwater rainbow jungle, McPhaden said there’s “real concern” about the expected extreme loss in the number of species and reduction in area that the world’s largest reef covers.
“It’s the canary in the coal mine in terms of climate change,” McPhaden said.
Suman Naishadham Associated Press
Recently, scientists discovered a new genus of rodents on the moountain—the Baletemys kampalili.
Mt Kampalili is called an ancient forest for its being old and as center of evolution for new species with eastern Mindanao, says Dr. Jayson Ibanez, director for Operations of the Philippine Eagle Foundation). He is also a coauthor of a study that described the new rodent genus found on Mt. Kampalili.
Diverse habitats
“AT a peak of 2,340 meters, one of the few high mountains along eastern Mindanao, Mt Kampalili has different types of forest habitats with each habitat potentially harboring a unique set of flora and fauna,” Ibanez tells the BusinessMirror via Messenger on July 30.
“As of the latest record, Mt. Kampalili’s site endemics include Rafflesia magnificia (R. mira), Baletemys kampalili, Podogymnura intermedia, and Tarsomys orientalis. This is by far one of the largest concentrations of site endemics in eastern Mindanao,” he says.
He adds that with more expeditions and taxonomic studies, more species that are new to science can be discovered in the area, possibly including new species of beetles.
All in all, he says the evidences or discoveries show that Mt. Kampalili is indeed a center of speciation in eastern Mindanao.
Mt Kampalili is also a Philippine eagle stronghold. Ibanez says there are around six pairs in that part of Mindanao which proves that Mt. Kampalili is rich in biodiversity as it can support not just one but six pairs of eagles, considered an apex predator in the Philippines.
Because of its vastness, based on the extent of its habitat, at least 15 pairs of Philippine eagles can be accommodated by Mt. Kampalili, Ibanez adds,
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest lowest since 2016
BRASILIA, Brazil—Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest slowed by nearly half compared to the year before, according to government satellite data released on Wednesday. It’s the largest reduction since 2016, when officials began using the current method of measurement.
In the past 12 months, the Amazon rainforest lost 4,300 square kilometers, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island.
That’s a nearly 46 percent decrease compared to the previous period. Brazil’s deforestation surveillance year runs from August 1 to July 30.
Still, much remains to be done to end the destruction and the month of July showed a 33 percent increase in tree cutting over July 2023.
A strike by officials at federal environmental agencies contributed to this surge, said João Paulo Capobianco, executive secretary for the Environment Ministry, during a press conference in Brasília.
The figures are preliminary and come from the Deter satellite system, managed by the National Institute for Space Research and used by environmental law enforcement agencies to detect deforestation in real-time.
The most accurate deforestation calculations are usually released in November.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged “deforestation zero” by 2030. His current term ends in January 2027.
Amazon deforestation has steeply declined since the end of far-right Presi-
dent Jair Bolsonaro’s rule in 2022. Under that government, forest lossreached a 15-year high. About two-thirds of the Amazon lies within Brazil. It remains the world’s largest rainforest, covering an area twice the size of India.
The Amazon absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, preventing the climate from warming even faster than it would otherwise.
It also holds about 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, and biodiversity that scientists have not yet come close to understanding, including at least 16,000 tree species.
During this same period, deforestation in Brazil´s vast savannah,known as the Cerrado, increased by 9 percent.
The native vegetation loss reached 7,015 square kilometers—an area 63 percent larger than the destruction in the Amazon. The Cerrado is the world’s most biodiverse savannah, but less of it enjoys protected status than the rainforest to its north. Brazil´s boom in soybeans, the country’s second-largest export, have largely come from privately-owned areas in the Cerrado.
“The Cerrado has become a ‘sacrificed biome.’ Its topography lends itself to mechanized, large-scale commodity production,” Isabel Figueiredo, a spokesman with the nonprofit Society, Population and Nature Institute told The Associated Press. Fabiano Maisonnave/Associated Press
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
A NEW pitcher plant species, Nepethes kampalili PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK PAGE OF DR. NOEL LAGUNDAY
By Jun Lomibao
GOLD MEDALS IN PARIS
It’s time for the (potty) talk
MORE YOUNG ADULTS DEAL WITH DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS
ATUNOG-PLAKA
Why vinyl LPs are back — for good
NEWLY opened store at Robinsons Galleria that sells household items also has a shelf out front offering vinyl LPs. One afternoon, while checking it out, I saw a Japanese pressing of Freddie Aguilar’s phenomenal 1978 debut album, Anak, with a price tag of P1,500.
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Around the metro, record bars have stacks of vinyl LPs of various genres — at the basement of Makati Cinema Square (now Makati Central Square), as well as on Legazpi Street, along Katipunan in White Plains, at Cubao X, in Kapitolyo, in Greenhills, and on Facebook announcements of pop-up stalls everywhere.
Recently, sellers of audio equipment and physical music media like cassettes, CDs and most especially, vinyl records have banded together under one roof for One Stop Record Fair, held usually in a different shopping center every quarterly. The much anticipated event have drawn large crowds of audiophiles including vinyl collectors.
Yes, it’s no longer a passing fancy, but rather an established fact: the vinyl LP has successfully returned as a music product worldwide and is here to stay.
A recent article on The Conversation, a researchbased news website, explains why so. In his story (https:// theconversation.com/the-triumph-of-vinyl-vintageis-back-as-lp-sales-continue-to-skyrocket-225662), author Josh Greenberg, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication in Carleton University, Canada, argues that“the massive growth in demand [of vinyl LPs] is a marketing triumph that is being driven by promotional culture. Old media is new again, vinyl is vintage, and advertisers are adept at repackaging the past and selling it back to us for profit in the present.”
Greenberg begins by citing numbers, saying that from 2006, when one million vinyl albums were sold in the United States, the figure has grown every year, “soaring to just over 49 million units in 2023.”
The next sentence is not an aside, something Swifties will delight in: “One in every 15 vinyl albums sold last year — approximately seven per cent of all sales (more than three million units) — were by Taylor Swift.
To give you an idea, here are the top 10-selling vinyl albums in the US as of 2022. Take note of Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles enjoying a resurgence
of sales from past albums.
1. Taylor Swift, Midnights (945,000 units)
2. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (480,000)
3. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (263,000)
4. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (254,000)
5. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (243,000)
6. Tyler, the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost (211,000
7. Taylor Swift, Folklore (174,000)
8. Tyler, the Creator, Igor (172,000)
9. Michael Jackson, Thriller (168,000)
10. The Beatles, Abbey Road (160,000)
(Source: Luminate, Dec. 31, 2021- Dec. 29, 2022)
The story is full of details highlighting the visual presence of turntables and physical record collections in movies, TV shows, and ads in the US.
Greenberg says it’s all part of a conscious effort to revive a virtual relic from the past as something useful and desirable today: “As these examples illustrate, today’s pop culture mediascape is saturated in nostalgia. Media companies, brands, marketers and even artists themselves are skilled at turning our longing for the past into desire in the present that can be satiated with consumer goods. We immerse ourselves in reconstructions of bygone eras and enact the sociocultural imaginaries of earlier times by latching to their products and incorporating them into our everyday lives.”
But to cut to the chase, what do LPs have that your Spotify playlist, or your CD collection, sorely lack?
Avid record collectors and audiophiles often say songs from physical albums emit a “warmer, fuller” sound — when heard with or without headphones.
Explains Greenberg: “So much of the music we
listen to now is transmitted from the cloud to apps on our mobile devices via compressed audio files that sound flat and unexpressive. There is something to be said about listening to a format like vinyl that, by contrast, sounds more open, dynamic and alive.”
Now here’s something boomers will totally relate to, an activity among friends, in my case, during high school and college: staring at the album cover while “sound-tripping,” often with herbal delights.
I remember walking with schoolmates to a buddy’s house in between classes at DLSU to listen to Led Zeppelin, Santana, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and the like — as the afternoon slowly faded into dusk.
Greenberg captures the scene like it happened only yesterday: “Avid record collectors often say that the questions of sound aside, an album’s material elements are its most distinctive quality — specifically the liner notes that we open, read, pass around to friends, or the enclosed artwork that we may display on our walls.”
Is there a kind of back-to-the-future reality happening now?
Whatever, a DJ friend who goes by the name Par Satellite has been making a living for decades, giving people a great time by playing vinyl records at bars and clubs.
He has a coming show, dubbed Pirate Satellite Night Live: Pinoy Rock & Rhythm Vinyl Tribute, on Aug. 31, 7 p.m. onwards, at Mono by Phono, 9654 Pililla, Makati; contact 0906 499 2634.
The teaser music sounds exciting: Anak Bayan II, Betrayed, It’s the Urban Bandits, Rizal Underground, Sleepyheads, Neighbors, Dead Ends, Third World Chaos, Tropical Depression, Tarsius, Ethnic Faces, Jerks, Juan de la Cruz, and more.
HELD quarterly, One Stop Record Fair attracts hordes of audiophiles and vinylheads. Photos: Bert Aricheta Abbey-Road
STEPPING UP
The F1 of dance competitions levels up in Manila
By Bea Rollo
POPPIN’ and lockin; in the rhythm on the dance floor as Red Bull Dance Your Style Manila Qualifiers had shaken every watcher off their seats.
The dance floor has been set up and the contestants have been itching to get on their feet and dance. As the ecstatic crowd started to fill up the Octopus Bar in Makati last July 17—hints the night had started.
Red Bull Manila Qualifiers are the highlight of the night but the mood before the show is immensely immaculate that everyone just started to get their groove and own the dance floor. A dance circle quickly formed inside the venue and everyone was invited to really ‘dance their style’ to which they rocked.
Finally moving to Manila, Red Bull Dance Your Style was dubbed as a unique global street dance competition—power dancers came to compete for a chance to represent the Philippines in the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Finals
As the lights started to dim the contenders were divided into the red and
blue corners dancing to every genre of songs played by the DJ further testing their versatility in their dance skills and intensifying the mood in the venue.
Given the power to choose who shall be the winner—the crowd starts to raise their blue or red cards, casting votes and betting on their favorite dancer.
Testing Time: Klokwise valor POUND for pound match point of dance battle immersed yet only one stood out and it was a crowd favorite—Klockwise (Kenneth Martinez) who went claiming his valor.
“I’ve only [followed] Red Bull Dance Your Style via social media, then when it came to the Philippines, I went over to watch it live [and] the [following] year as well,” Klockwise said.
“When I was in the audience, I had a vision of myself performing on stage.
That’s when I made it my goal that one day I would dance, perform, and show my skills.” Klockwise revealed.
Truly, Klockwise has proven his ‘rizz’ (charisma) to be of great influence that brought uproars of cheers from the audience he later said that it was a surreal and unexpected moment for him.
“It’s super unexpected—I just wanted to enjoy, to show what I enjoy doing,” Klockwise said.
He stated that as he prepared for the Manila Qualifiers his go-to technique was to deep dive into listening to lots of music and freestyling to its sound and that he believes that this too can be his way of moving on the the National Finals of the competition.
“I’ll prepare highlights and ground moves, create new patterns of my locking, and of course, listen to new music,” he added.
From one dancer to another RUNNER-ups Kid Magnus (Flourence Lavesores) and Tatai also shared their thoughts on how the Manila Qualifiers turned out to which they both shared good moments of friendship and bond.
More than a competition, to Kid Magnus who placed first runner-up it was a core memory to cherish.
“I really just enjoyed it. The crowd was so energetic and happy, which made me feel that I was just dancing, enjoying the music, dancing to the beat. I was a bit pressured because [my fellow] competitors [are] well known, but all of them were very nice.” Kid Magnus revealed.
On the latter, Japanese dancer Tatai from the top 4 said she was joyful to
compete with such great dancers—to her, competing in dance is an artistic expression.
“It’s about letting your mind go crazy, expressing your love for dance, and enjoying music. I want to practice more, perfect my favorite dance, and give it my all on the next stage,” Tatai shared.
Although the Manila Qualifiers had come to a close, it is far from over as 8 finalists are set to compete for the Red Bull Dance Your Style Philippines National Finals—further, wildcards might just get the game a little more exciting.
Klockwise, Kid Magnus, Tatai, and Q will be joined by Davao winners R3DMAN (Edrian Alcaria) and MSTR PIECE (Regie Harris Lavestre) plus Nemesis (Sam Rivera) and Khlai (Khlai Vargaso Batula), from the Cebu Qualifiers. Vince Mendoza, Red Bull Dance Your Style dance consultant also shared a piece of advice for the highly anticipated nationals, emphasizing that the competition is to put into perspective each dancer’s style and further embrace it. Mendoza said.
“It’s not about winning or losing; it’s about transformation. Accept your identity, accept your uniqueness, and showcase that uniqueness. Don’t be afraid and believe in yourself.” he added.
“Listen to new music, different styles, and different genres. Enjoy the music; don’t force yourself to train,” Mendoza says rest is work too.
The thrilling Red Bull Philippines National Finals will be happening on September 28 and the winner will represent the Philippines at the World Finals in India on November 9, 2024.
WHO GOT SERVED? The Red Bull Dance Your Style Manila Qualifiers. Photos courtesy of Red Bull.
It’s time for the (potty) talk
MORE YOUNG ADULTS DEAL WITH DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS
By Devina Bose The Associated Press
LAUREN BELL was stressed out and just starting her first job post-college in New York City when she realized a bout of food poisoning wasn’t going away after weeks.
A doctor’s appointment revealed she had irritable bowel syndrome, a surprising diagnosis—until she learned more about the connection between mental health and gut health, as well as the prevalence of digestive problems among women.
“Working in a pretty intense environment, living in the city and being an adult for the first time was doing a number on my body,” the 27-year-old said of her diagnosis five years ago.
Every few months, a new TikTok about digestive problems goes viral—the taboo topic often being brought up by women who suggest tips to reduce bloat or ease pain. Experts say it’s not clear whether there is an uptick in the number of people having digestive problems or if the online conversation is leading to more appointments and diagnoses.
But doctors are seeing a pattern of more and younger people wanting to deal with their gastrointestinal distress, and they suspect anxiety related to increased isolation during the pandemic is playing a big role in the increase in visits.
“I definitely have a lot of young women in my practice,” Chicago-based gastroenterologist Dr. Nina Gupta said, “but in the last few years, I am also seeing more younger men.”
Making connections and sharing tips online can help, experts say, but they also want people to be careful because what might look like advice could be more like advertising if influencers are being paid to convince people to buy a product.
How your brain can affect your gut
IT’S not clear what causes irritable bowel syndrome. Food sensitivities and gut microbes can play a role, and research indicates that issues with the nervous system can cause distress in the digestive process.
Research indicates it can also be a two-way street: When your stomach is upset, that could affect your mental health. And mental health, especially
IMAGE shows some of Lauren Bell’s videos on the TikTok social media website. Bell, who takes over-thecounter medications occasionally to treat her sympt oms, first started posting on Instagram about her struggle with IBS, like how isolating it was and how she felt like she was having to rearrange her life and diet around her food sensitivities. AP
for Gen Z and younger millennials, is a major concern. While the pandemic took its toll on people of all ages, surveys have found those age groups reported higher stress and anxiety levels than other generations during and after the pandemic.
A 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that surveyed U.S. high school students during the pandemic showed teen girls’ mental health was severely impacted, with nearly a third reporting that they seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous year.
Anxiety in college-age adults, especially young women, has gone “through the roof” since the early 2010s, said Jean Twenge, a Gen Z mental health expert at San Diego State University. For high schoolers, experts say the anxiety is likely a result of two things: increased isolation during a formative time and a reliance on social media to feel connected.
While changes in diet can improve IBS symptoms, Gupta said a big part of managing her patients’ conditions is for them to “recognize that there’s a connection between their stress or their mental health or their anxiety and their symptoms.”
The scoop on poop
NADYA OKAMOTO hadn’t pooped in four days. “I’m very bloated,” she said as she joined a Zoom interview from her home in New York City.
Okamoto, who has more than 4 million followers on TikTok, has built her platform around publicly addressing sensitive subjects. The 26-year-old is
the founder of August, a period-product company, and frequently posts about her own menstrual cycle.
Some of her most popular posts over the last three years, though, are about her experiences with irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. Okamoto seems to share her experiences with everything—collecting fecal samples for co-
about gut health online is an uptick in misinformation. Some of the most popular TikTok posts on IBS are from people who claim they’ve cured it or found a home remedy that miraculously stopped some symptoms. Others recommend unproven supplements.
A quick scroll of these influencers’ accounts reveal a litany of sponsorships from probiotic or other health food companies. Gupta said viewers should be skeptical when people who aren’t professionals start offering medical advice.
Okamoto and Bell, who has a master’s of public health in nutrition, stick to talking about their own experiences. Both stressed that one of the best things about the online conversation is making information more accessible. That said, in December 2023, Bell posted a TikTok video in response to someone asking if they can self-diagnose their IBS with this advice: “I’m always going to recommend you see a medical professional.”
‘Making people feel seen’ BELL, who is Black, fills a specific gap on social media.
“I felt like there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me doing that type of content,” she said. “It’s not only white women who are hot girls with IBS.” Bell, who takes over-the-counter
“When your stomach is upset, that could affect your mental health. And mental health, especially for Gen Z and younger millennials, is a major concern.”
lon cancer, constipation and bloating.
“It wasn’t until I started dating and being in close relationships and talking about it with my family that I realized … it was not normal pooping three times a month,” Okamoto told The Associated Press.
Seeing the hashtag “IBS” on TikTok led her to the doctor and to a diagnosis. She’s been on three different medications to treat her IBS. None worked.
“From a young age, potty talk is not something that is appropriate, especially for girls,” she said. “We’re not incentivized to be open about it, which means that we know less about our bodies.”
Misinformation on social media
THE downside of more people talking
medications occasionally to treat her symptoms, first started posting on Instagram about her struggle with IBS–how isolating it was and how she felt like she was having to rearrange her life and diet around her food sensitivities–and sharing her diagnosis with her friends.
“It felt kind of like a secret topic that like suddenly everybody in my life had struggled with this, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it,” she said.
Bell sees her role as helping women of color figure out how to start having these uncomfortable conversations about their gut health.
“Gut health spans gender, age, race and ethnicity,” she said. “We all poop.”
Cover photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.