CAN PHL ENDURE AND THRIVE
AMIDST GEOPOLITICAL CRISES?
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
CATHOLIC churches started praying the Oratio Imperata for Peace in July 2024 to pray every Sunday for six months in this time of “escalating geopolitical tensions in our part of the world.”
“Spare us, Lord, from the horrors of war,” a part of the prayer reads.
The obligatory prayer was crafted after Filipino bishops met in Cagayan de Oro in June 2024 and after the visit of the foreign minister of the Holy See in Manila. A few weeks before the meeting, Filipino and Chinese maritime forces clashed near Ayungin Shoal in South China Sea.
The South China Sea dispute between Manila and Beijing has been going on for nearly 30 years.
But it appears that this particular geopolitical tension is hitting home, affecting (and scaring) ordinary Filipinos. Elsewhere in the world, there are major geopolitical tensions that make the Oratio more compelling each Sunday.
RUSSIA VS UKRAINE, ISRAEL VS HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, IRAN WHEN Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Filipino economic leaders were quick to dismiss its direct impact on the Philippine econ-
omy. Neither Russia nor Ukraine, after all, is a major trading partner of the Philippines. However, the price of oil went up as high as P80 per liter in 2022. Europe, which gets 60 percent of oil supplies from Russia, had to look for alternative countries including Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) where the Philippines also sources its crude petroleum. The global oil supply was further affected when Israel staged re -
West Point awards Filipino soldier for valor, skills during Marawi siege
By Troi Santos
WEST POINT, New York—A Filipino soldier, earlier awarded medals in the country for exceptional courage and expertise in beating back terrorists during the 2017 Marawi siege, has been given the highest recognition by the West Point Academy, the first non-US citizen to be so honored.
the strong USPhilippine relationship,” is how Sonny Busa, West Point Class of 1976 and former US Consul General, described the significance of the ceremonies. The award was presented at the
Can PHL endure and thrive amidst geopolitical crises?
taliatory attacks against Hamas in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, spate of killings and abductions, triggering uncertainty over an expansion of war in the Middle East.
“If there is war in any part of the world, countries naturally tend to protect themselves. They will save on oil. In the Middle East, for instance, they will not produce oil, constrain supplies and will eventually drive the prices up,” Dr. John Paolo Rivera, senior fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, explained.
The transport sector is the first one to be affected by oil price spikes, especially jeepney, taxi and motorcycle drivers whose earnings are based on daily quota systems. After feeling the pinch, drivers and transport operators would increase their prices and affect daily commuters.
Aside from transport, agriculture and manufacturing sectors suffer most from geopolitical crises.
“We are highly dependent on importation. We tend to rely on importation as a solution for every supply problem we face,” he added.
Although many Filipinos just think of the Ukraine-Russia war and Middle East war as too far from home, the reality is that their effects are felt in everyday lives.
“Prices of goods keep rising. The value of the peso keeps depreciating. These are harsh realities we face every day,” Rivera added.
When these geopolitical crises will end, and how far these wars can affect our economy, is uncertain, according to him. Rivera suggested that the Philippines not focus on just one country to trade with. “We don’t want our entire trade portfolio to be reliant on China, on the US, on Europe. We need to diversify our trade partners so we can protect ourselves also,” he said.
He suggested diversifying with non-traditional trade countries like in South America and Africa.
Further boosting trade with fellow Asean members and other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership members—which include Australia, South Korea and New Zealand—is also another path for diversification. “I believe inviting these countries to invest here, to set up shops for manufacturing, so we can be less dependent on imports, is the key to surviving these geopolitical crises,” Paolo added.
OPPORTUNITY IN THE FACE OF GEOPOLITICAL THREATS
PROF. Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit, president of policy think
tank Stratbase Group, thinks the Philippines can take advantage of the ongoing geopolitical crises.
“If we continue to see aggression from China with their intrusion into our exclusive economic zone, the threat remains for the Philippines.
“But this kind of threat can be turned into opportunity if we will continue to see all these maritime cooperation that is being requested or offered by countries where we share values,” Manhit told BusinessMirror
These countries, he said, include Vietnam, which also has claims in the South China Sea, and South Korea, and Germany.
He sees the world now as “divided” between countries ruled by autocratic leaders who are “aggressive in a desire to change the world order” and those countries that value a rules-based international order.
“For me, the world is being divided. Where will you like to be? The world that is being defined by Iran and its proxy wars? Or Russia or its aggression among its neighbors who demand to be democratic and independent from its former Eastern Europe position? Or China and North Korea?” Manhit said.
He sees the Philippines aligning with the “bigger part of the world driven by liberal interna-
tional order which has driven globalization and lifted countries to economic prosperity.”
As the wars in Europe and Middle East drag on, many countries would slowly “accept the need to diversify” their suppliers. The Philippines can offer to be the alternate source of supplies.
“Maybe we can turn these current challenges into economic opportunities by focusing on all efforts working with countries like North Asia—Japan, Korea, Taiwan—or US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or even EU countries and UK,” Manhit said. By aligning with these likeminded countries, the mining and renewable energy industries can be boosted.
“The desire for critical minerals could lead to more support for renewable energy, or shift for the Philippines to develop electric vehicles in our country,” he said.
Pharmaceutical and agro-industrial sectors from these countries may also see the Philippines’s 120-million demographic market to develop light manufacturing industry that caters to consumers. “These could lead to investmentgrowth opportunities for the Philippines as we target countries that share values or those standing up with us on those geostrategic challenges,” he said.
West Point awards Filipino soldier for valor, skills during Marawi siege
Later, when several buildings occupied by enemy snipers were being cleared, “Herrera displayed exceptional bravery and tactical expertise by maneuvering his platoon through unexpected avenues of approach and catching the enemy by surprise.” Herrera, it added, “was also instrumental in the neutralization of two key terrorist leaders when he spearheaded the assault in the buildings adjacent to their occupied structure. All these achievements are a testament to Herrera’s courage, tactical expertise, and dedication to the safety of his troops.”
For his record in the Marawi siege, Herrera received the Distinguished Conduct Star, the Philippines’s second highest award for heroism (equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross), on February 20, 2020. He was also awarded, according to the West Point Association of Graduates, three Gold Cross Medals, the Philippines’s third highest award for heroism (equivalent to the Silver Star Medal): the first for leading his platoon in an intense and close encounter against a numerically superior enemy of Abu Sayyaf Group members on December 30, 2015; the second for leading a mission to engage and defeat a group of 150 foreign and local terrorists in Barangay Gacap, Piagapo, Lanao del Sur, from April 22-24, 2017;
and the third for leading a team to rescue hostages held by foreign and local terrorists on October 19, 2017.
“On September 8, 2017, Herrera was awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal (equivalent to a US Purple Heart) for wounds sustained as a member of the First Scout Ranger Regiment, SOCOM, Philippine Army during an encounter against the Maute Terrorist Group in Marawi City.” Maj. Floren Herrera has served in different units and offices within the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and the Philippine Army, notably as Scout Ranger platoon leader, Scout Ranger executive officer, Scout Ranger company commander, assistant company tactical officer, chief public relations officer, administrative and operations officer, battalion S-3 and S-7, readiness officer, curriculum and faculty development officer, chief of the training department, and other administrative positions.”
Herrera, said the association, served in the same Scout Ranger Regiment as 2nd Lt. Alexander R. Nininger ’41, after whom the award is named. This Scout Ranger regiment is known for its elite and specialized training and is an elite unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, specializing in reconnaissance and unconventional warfare. Serving in this regiment requires a high level of physical fitness, endurance, and mental fortitude.
China tightens grip on maritime industry: Shipowners asked to report carbon emissions amid regulatory shift
By Weilun Soon | Bloomberg
AUTHORITIES in China have started to ask some overseas shipowners to report on their carbon emissions, highlighting greater scrutiny of the industry as the regulatory framework shifts.
The requests for figures on voyages that service local ports affect some tanker and container-ship owners, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. The move follows the EU’s recent adoption of a carbon levy on vessels, and could help in China’s expansion of its emissions-trading system to cover shipping. It’s unclear how many ports are involved. Ocean-going vessels carry the vast majority of world trade, and any decision by China to force carriers to pay for emissions would be a major shift for the global maritime sector. The second-largest economy is the top crude importer, and its ports are among the biggest in terms of container throughput. In March, Beijing set up its first carbon-emissions management agency for the shipping sector in Shanghai to collect figures
from China-flagged ships. The Ministry of Transport said in response to Bloomberg’s queries that it had issued verbal notices to some ports, and that the requests were in response to the International Maritime Organization’s data-collection requirements.
China’s requests to overseas shipowners follow the introduction this year of a carbon levy by the European Union that requires vessels calling at the bloc’s ports to pay for carbon pollution, regardless of the flags they fly or where their owners are incorporated. The majority of ships are still powered by oil-derived fuels, which remain significantly cheaper than lowcarbon alternatives.
“People will have to factor in the costs of these different carbon environments into their vessel economics, into their voyages, as well as for
their customers,” said a spokesperson for Vitol Group, the largest independent oil trader.
International shipping accounted for about 2% of global energy-related carbon emissions in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. The Paris-based group has cited “notable progress” toward decarbonizing the industry, including the EU’s initiatives, as well as efforts by shipbuilders in Asia to develop vessels that use alternative fuels.
Beijing—which has pledged to hit net-zero by 2060—has been building out a carbon-trading system by expanding the number of industries that must pay for their pollution. The framework includes power utilities at present, and will be extended to cover steel, aluminum, and cement producers. Still, progress has been slow given low prices and trading volumes. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the shipping regulator, has been drafting rules to help the industry meet the goal of reducing emissions, possibly with a global standard, but progress has been slow. Shipowners remain concerned about the increasingly uneven regulatory landscape, the people said.
“Whether China is doing it purely to put pressure on the IMO because we need a global carbon-emissions regime, or they could be going forward with this to catch up to the EU, there is a strong business case for them to do it,” said Andrew Wilson, head of research at BRS Shipbrokers.
China is one of the world’s leading shipbuilders. Shipyards in the country have snapped up 70% of global orders for new vessels that run on cleaner fuels including LNG, methanol and liquefied ammonia in the first nine months of the year, state broadcaster China Central Television reported this week. (With assistance from Kathy Chen / Bloomberg)
THE Port of Qingdao in Shandong Province, China DREAMSTIME.COM
Editor: Angel R. Calso
October 13, 2024 A3
Africans promised Russian jobs say they were duped into building drones for use in Ukraine
By Emma Burrows & Lori Hinnant
The Associated Press
THE social media ads promised the young African women a free plane ticket, money and a faraway adventure in Europe. Just complete a computer game and a 100word Russian vocabulary test.
But instead of a work-study program in fields like hospitality and catering, some of them learned only after arriving on the steppes of Russia’s Tatarstan region that they would be toiling in a factory to make weapons of war, assembling thousands of Iranian-designed attack drones to be launched into Ukraine.
In interviews with The Associated Press, some of the women complained of long hours under constant surveillance, of broken promises about wages and areas of study, and of working with caustic chemicals that left their skin pockmarked and itching.
To fill an urgent labor shortage in wartime Russia, the Kremlin has been recruiting women aged 18-22 from places like Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, as well as the South Asian country of Sri Lanka. The drive is expanding to elsewhere in Asia as well as Latin America.
That has put some of Moscow’s key weapons production in the inexperienced hands of about 200 African women who are working alongside Russian vocational students as young as 16 in the plant in Tatarstan’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) east of Moscow, according to an AP investigation of the industrial complex.
“I don’t really know how to make drones,” said one African woman who had abandoned a job at home and took the Russian offer.
The AP analyzed satellite images of the complex and its internal documents, spoke to a half-dozen African women who ended up there, and tracked down hundreds of videos in the online recruiting program dubbed “Alabuga Start” to piece together life at the plant.
A hopeful journey from Africa leads to ‘a trap’ THE woman who agreed to work in Russia excitedly documented her journey, taking selfies at the airport and shooting video of her airline meal and of the in-flight map, focusing on the word “Europe” and pointing to it with her long, manicured nails.
When she arrived in Alabuga, however, she soon learned what she would be doing and realized it was “a trap.”
“The company is all about making drones. Nothing else,” said the woman, who assembled airframes. “I regret and I curse the day I started making all those things.”
One possible clue about what was in store for the applicants was their vocabulary test that included words like “factory” and the verbs “to hook” and “to unhook.”
The workers were under constant surveillance in their dorms and at work, the hours were long and the pay was less than she expected—details corroborated by three other women interviewed by AP, which is not identifying them by name or nationality out of concern for their safety.
Factory management apparently tries to discourage the African women from leaving, and although some reportedly have left or found work elsewhere in Russia, AP was unable to verify that independently.
A drone factory grows in Tatarstan RUSSIA and Iran signed a $1.7 billion deal in 2022, after President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine, and Moscow began using Iranian imports of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in battle later that year.
The Alabuga Special Economic Zone was set up in 2006 to attract businesses and investment to Tatarstan. It expanded rapidly after the invasion and parts switched to military production, adding or renovating new buildings, according to satellite images.
Although some private companies still operate there, the plant is referred to as “Alabuga” in leaked documents that detail contracts between Russia and Iran.
The Shahed-136 drones were first shipped disassembled to Russia, but production has shifted to Alabuga and possibly another factory. Alabuga now is Russia’s main plant for making the oneway, exploding drones, with plans to produce 6,000 of them a year by 2025, according to the leaked documents and the Washingtonbased Institute for Science and International Security.
That target is now ahead of schedule, with Alabuga building 4,500, said David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who works at the institute.
Finding workers was a problem. With unemployment at record lows and many Russians already working in military industries, fighting in Ukraine or having fled abroad, plant officials turned to using vocational students and cheap foreign labor.
Alabuga is the only Russian production facility that recruits women from Africa, Asia and South America to make weapons according to experts and the AP investigation.
About 90 percent of the foreign women recruited via the Alabuga Start program work on making drones, particularly the parts “that don’t require much skill,” he said. Documents leaked last year and verified by Albright and another drone expert detail the workforce growing from just under 900 people in 2023 to plans for over 2,600 in 2025. They show that foreign women largely assemble the drones, use chemicals and paint them.
In the first half of this year, 182 women were recruited, largely from Central and East African countries, according to a Facebook page promoting the Alabuga Start program. It also recruits in South America and Asia “to help ladies to start their career.”
Officials held recruiting events
in Uganda, and tried to recruit from its orphanages, according to messages on Alabuga’s Telegram channel. Russian officials have also visited more than 26 embassies in Moscow to push the program.
The campaign gave no reasons why it doesn’t seek older women or men, but some analysts suggest officials could believe young women are easier to control. One of the leaked documents shows the assembly lines are segregated and uses a derogatory term referring to the African workers.
The factory also draws workers from Alabuga Polytechnic, a nearby vocational boarding school for Russians age 16-18 and Central Asians age 18-22 that bills its graduates as experts in drone production. According to investigative outlets Protokol and Razvorot, some are as young as 15 and have complained of poor working conditions.
Surveillance, caustic chemicals—and a Ukrainian attack
THE foreign workers travel by bus from their living quarters to the factory, passing multiple security checkpoints after a license plate scan, while other vehicles are stopped for more stringent checks, according to the woman who assembles drones.
They share dormitories and kitchens that are “guarded around the clock,” social media posts say. Entry is controlled via facial recognition, and recruits are watched on surveillance cameras. Pets, alcohol and drugs are not allowed.
The foreigners receive local SIM cards for their phones upon arrival but are forbidden from bringing them into the factory, which is considered a sensitive military site.
One woman said she could only talk to an AP reporter with her manager’s permission, another said her “messages are monitored,” a third said workers are told not to talk to outsiders about their work, and a fourth said managers encouraged them to inform on co-workers.
The airframe worker told AP the recruits are taught how to assemble the drones and coat them with a caustic substance with the consistency of yogurt.
Many workers lack protective gear, she said, adding that the chemicals made her face feel like it was being pricked with tiny needles, and “small holes” appeared on her cheeks, making them itch severely.
“My God, I could scratch myself! I could never get tired of scratching myself,” she said.
“A lot of girls are suffering,” she added. A video shared with AP showed another woman wearing an Alabuga uniform with her face similarly affected.
Although AP could not determine what the chemicals were,
drone expert Fabian Hinz of the International Institute for Strategic Studies confirmed that caustic substances are used in their manufacture.
In addition to dangers from chemicals, the complex itself was hit by a Ukrainian drone in April, injuring at least 12 people. A video it posted on social media showed a Kenyan woman calling the attackers “barbarians” who “wanted to intimidate us.”
“They did not succeed,” she said. Workers ‘maltreated like donkeys’
ALTHOUGH one woman said she loved working at Alabuga because she was well-paid and enjoyed meeting new people and experiencing a different culture, most interviewed by AP disagreed about the size of the compensation and suggested that life there did not meet their expectations.
The program initially promised recruits $700 a month, but later social media posts put it at “over $500.”
The airframe assembly worker said the cost of their accommodation, airfare, medical care and Russian-language classes were deducted from her salary, and she struggled to pay for basics like bus fare with the remainder.
The African women are “maltreated like donkeys, being slaved,” she said, indicating banking sanctions on Russia made it difficult to send money home. But another factory worker said she was able to send up to $150 a month to her family.
Four of the women described long shifts of up to 12 hours, with haphazard days off. Still, two of these who said they worked in the kitchen added they were willing to tolerate the pay if they could support their families.
The wages apparently are affecting morale, according to plant documents, with managers urging that the foreign workers be replaced with Russian-speaking staff because “candidates are refusing the low salary.”
Russian and Central Asian students at Alabuga Polytechnic are allowed visits home, social media posts suggest. Independent Russian media reported that these vocational students who want to quit the program have been told they must repay tuition costs.
AP contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry and the offices of Tatarstan Gov. Rustam Minnikhanov and Alabuga Special Economic Zone Director General Timur Shagivaleev for a response to the women’s complaints but received no reply.
Human rights organizations contacted by AP said they were unaware of what was happening at the factory, although it sounded consistent with other actions by Russia. Human Rights Watch said Russia is actively recruiting
foreigners from Africa and India to support its war in Ukraine by promising lucrative jobs without fully explaining the nature of the work.
Russia’s actions “could potentially fulfill the criteria of trafficking if the recruitment is fraudulent and the purpose is exploitation,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noting that Moscow is a party to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.
The AP contacted governments of 22 countries whose citizens Alabuga said it had recruited for the program. Most didn’t answer or said they would look into it.
Betty Amongi, Uganda’s Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, told AP that her ministry raised concerns with its embassy in Moscow about the Alabuga recruiting effort, particularly over the age of the women, because “female migrant workers are the most vulnerable category.”
The ministry said it wanted to ensure the women “do not end up in exploitative employment,” and needed to know who would be responsible for the welfare of the Ugandan women while in Russia. Alabuga’s Facebook page said 46 Ugandan women were at the complex, although Amongi had said there were none.
How accurate are the drones?
BOLSTERED by the foreign recruits, Russia has vastly increased the number of drones it can fire at Ukraine.
Nearly 4,000 were launched at Ukraine from the start of the war in February 2022 through 2023, Albright’s organization said. In the first seven months of this year, Russia launched nearly twice that.
Although the Alabuga plant’s production target is ahead of schedule, there are questions about the quality of the drones and whether manufacturing problems due to the unskilled labor force are causing malfunctions.
Some experts also point to Russia’s switching to other materials from the original Iranian design as a sign of problems.
An AP analysis of about 2,000 Shahed attacks documented by Ukraine’s military since July 29 shows that about 95 percent of the drones hit no discernible target. Instead, they fall into Ukraine’s rivers and fields, stray into NATOmember Latvia and come down in Russia or ally Belarus.
Before July, about 14 percent of Shaheds hit their targets in Ukraine, according to data analyzed by Albright’s team.
The large failure rate could be due to Ukraine’s improved air defenses, although Albright said it also could be because of the low-skilled workforce in which “poor craftsmanship is seeping in,” he said.
Another factor could be because Russia is using a Shahed variant that doesn’t carry a warhead of 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of explosives. Moscow could be launching these dummy drones to overwhelm air defenses and force Ukraine to waste ammunition, allowing other UAVs to hit targets.
Tourism, paintball games and a pitch on TikTok THE Alabuga Start recruiting drive relies on a robust social media campaign of slickly edited videos with upbeat music that show African women visiting Tatarstan’s cultural sites or playing sports. The videos show them working—smiling while cleaning floors, wearing hard hats while directing cranes, and donning protective equipment to apply paint or chemicals.
One video depicts the Polytechnic school students in team-building exercises such as paintball matches, even showing the losing side—labeled as “fascists”—digging trenches or being shot with the recreational weapons at close range.
“We are taught patriotism. This unites us. We are ready to repel any provocation,” one student says. The videos on Alabuga’s social media pages don’t mention the plant’s role at the heart of Russian drone production, but the Special Economic Zone is more open with Russian media.
Konstantin Spiridonov, deputy director of a company that made drones for civilian use before the war, gave a video tour of an Alabuga assembly line in March to a Russian blogger. Pointing out young African women, he did not explicitly link the drones to the war but noted their production is now “very relevant” for Russia. Alabuga Start’s social media pages are filled with comments from Africans begging for work and saying they applied but have yet to receive an answer. The program was promoted by education ministries in Uganda and Ethiopia, as well as in African media that portrays it as a way to make money and learn new skills. Initially advertised as a workstudy program, Alabuga Start in recent months is more direct about what it offers foreigners, insisting on newer posts that “is NOT an educational programme,” although one of them still shows young women in plaid school uniforms.
When Sierra Leone Ambassador Mohamed Yongawo visited in May and met with five participants from his country, he appeared to believe it was a study program.
“It would be great if we had 30 students from Sierra Leone studying at Alabuga,” he said afterward. Last month, the Alabuga Start social media site said it was “excited to announce that our audience has grown significantly!” That could be due to its hiring of influencers, including Bassie, a South African with almost 800,000 TikTok and Instagram followers. She did not respond to an AP request for comment. The program, she said, was an easy way to make money, encouraging followers to share her post with job-seeking friends so they could contact Alabuga.
“Where they lack in labor,” she said, “that’s where you come in.”
The
THIS undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military shows the wreckage of a Russian-fired Shahed drone that it said was downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. UKRAINIAN MILITARY’S STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTORATE VIA AP
London executives are still waiting for Starmer’s grand growth plans
By Caroline Hepker
ANNE GLOVER is exactly the sort of person the UK’s new Labour government wants on its side.
She has been a venture capital investor for more than three decades. She is a member of the Bank of England’s Court of Directors. She also sits on the investment committee for one of the largest university endowments on the planet.
Under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Labour party has made a variety of overtures to City of London types like Glover. His top deputies have been courting financiers and world leaders alike in a push to reignite investment in the country. They’ve supported regulators’ efforts to revamp many of the UK’s onerous rules for public companies. They’re even putting together a sovereign wealth fund they’ve said will act as a concierge service for business.
Still, Glover’s not convinced.
“There’s so much speculation, I don’t think we have a clue what’s actually going to land,” Glover said. “I’m not so sure that—at this much higher policy level—that they’ve been able to say much.”
This month, Bloomberg Radio interviewed top executives from around the world to get their view on Starmer’s first 100 days in office. Their comments come just days before he and Chancellor Rachel Reeves convene their inaugural investment summit, where they’re hoping to make it clear that Britain is open for business as well as reset relations with key trading partners. Later this month, Reeves will reveal her efforts to balance the nation’s finances in her first budget statement on October 30. Financiers across London have been puzzled by Starmer’s decision to go ahead with the investment summit before Reeves had a chance to present the budget. His government has also been tight-lipped on its actual plans for enticing investors to plow more money into the country’s aging infrastructure. With so many questions swirling, Monday’s event is being viewed as a key litmus test of the prime minister’s ability to make good on his promise to bring growth back to the UK.
Here’s what the executives shared:
MIKE EAKINS
Chief investment officer for Phoenix Group
THE UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement provider is ready to go shopping on Monday. At least that’s the hope for Mike Eakins, Phoenix Group’s chief investment officer.
“Phoenix stands ready to get to invest alongside other pension funds and insurance companies and indeed the government itself,” he
said, noting the onus is on policymakers to ensure there’s a ready “pipeline of investable assets that long term investors such as Phoenix and other pension funds and insurance companies can invest in.”
The government has announced that a raft of tech tycoons and financiers are planning to attend the summit, including former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt, Brookfield Corp.’s Bruce Flatt and Barclays Plc’s C.S. Venkatakrishnan. Still, some key Wall Street bosses—including JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon and Blackstone Inc.’s Steve Schwarzman are unlikely to attend—which has been viewed as a setback for Starmer’s planned charm offensive. It was former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call an early election—which catapulted Labour into power months earlier than expected—that left the new administration with just months to coordinate a series of high-profile events. Finalizing the investment summit has turned into a scramble as a result.
Still, Starmer has been looking to put the event back on good footing. He will open the summit by discussing artificial intelligence with Schmidt.
“Our ask is that the government should be really bold in headlining what it wants to achieve from that investment summit,” Eakins said. “We really should be extolling the virtues of the UK as a place to come and do business.”
BILL CURTIN
Global head of mergers and acquisitions at Hogan Lovells THE giants of the UK’s private equity scene are under pressure on many sides, according to Bill Curtin, who leads the mergers and acquisitions practice at Hogan Lovells.
Distributions—how much capital private equity firms return to investors—are at their lowest level in more than a decade. That’s been a problem for the industry ever since the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world began ratcheting up interest rates, crimping the value of many of their pandemic-era investments and making it more costly for them to refinance existing debt.
That Reeves has proposed a variety of tax increases for the industry risks making a bad situation even worse, Curtin said.
“If there’s increasing cost through taxation, interest rates and the like, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for private equity,” said Curtin, who’s based in New York.
Starmer has been boldly warning the first budget would
be painful for those “with the broadest shoulders.” Labour has said it will announce plans to reform the carried interest tax regime when it unveils its budget later this month. Potential proposals have ranged from smaller tweaks in line with other countries to bigger changes like boosting the tax rate for carried interest—fund managers’ portion of profits on asset sales—to 45 percent from the current level of 28 percent.
At first, Labour had said it believed it could raise £565 million ($737 million) in additional tax revenue annually by treating more carry as income. Now, though, an Oxford Economics report published earlier this month found that ending the preferential tax regime would cost the Treasury around £1 billion a year in lost revenues because of wealthy people emigrating or not coming to the UK. While Reeves still intends to close the loophole on taxing carried interest, she is now reviewing her approach to maximize the revenue raised.
Private equity accounts for a large percentage of the M&A transactions that occur in the UK, Curtin said, noting that makes it “very difficult for the ministers not to pay attention to those voices and to their concerns going forward.”
MICHAEL MOORE
Chief
executive
officer of the British Private Equity and Venture
Capital Association
TO the titans of private equity and venture capital, the new Labour government has had all the right messages so far, according to one top lobbyist.
Now, Michael Moore says, the industry is ready to hear more detailed policy plans.
“Many of these ideas are still at a kind of higher level, conceptual stage, and we do need to see quite a lot more detail,” said Moore, who leads the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
“The government continues to say a lot of the right things, but we can’t live without the details indefinitely.”
Reeves’ repeated warnings that she intends to close the loophole on taxing carried interest seem to have spooked many top financiers across the City. The private equity firm General Atlantic, for instance, has warned the government that dozens of dealmakers in London could leave if plans for higher taxes on carried interest go ahead. The hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard is considering a move to Geneva from London. Jeremy Coller, a pioneer of Britain’s private equity sector, has already left for Switzerland.
Moore said Reeves’ proclamations about the impending tax changes — along with her warnings about the perilous state of the UK’s public finances—have made her upcoming fiscal statement a
Financiers across London have been puzzled by Starmer’s decision to go ahead with the investment summit before Reeves had a chance to present the budget. His government has also been tight-lipped on its actual plans for enticing investors to plow more money into the country’s aging infrastructure.
pivotal moment for the private equity industry’s relations with the new Labour government.
“The bigger risk for us is that we send signals to the industry that we’re not a competitive place internationally, and that over time we’ll lose the great advantage that we currently have,” Moore said. “They will look to be in a tax environment, an investment climate that allows them to develop their careers and their investment approach consistently and with some predictability.”
LLOYD LEE
Managing partner and co-founder of Yoo Capital
STARMER’S plan to initiate a blitz of planning reforms has been welcome news for the investment firm behind one of London’s biggest redevelopment projects.
Labour has put housebuilding at the core of its plans, promising to build an average of 300,000 homes a year—a target that previous Tory governments have set and failed to meet.
Starmer has also vowed he’ll reform the leasehold system and introduce new protections for renters.
“One of the concerns that people always have the minute there’s changes is `How long are you going to take to do it?’”
Lloyd Lee, managing partner and co-founder of Yoo Capital.
“Because in the end, whether it’s a year, a month or 10 years, I still have people who don’t have enough housing.”
For years, Yoo Capital has been redeveloping Olympia, a more than 130-yearold exhibition center that’s about one mile west of Kensington Palace. When the work on the venue finishes this year, Olympia will be home to 100,000 square feet of bars and restaurants and 500,000 square feet of office space.
Lee’s work on the project has given him a front-row seat to Britain’s planning system, the mere mention of which can draw groans from developers and lawmakers
alike. Development decisions often lie in the hands of depleted local councils, and objections from local residents can hinder ambitious projects.
“You cannot, on the one hand, allow progress to be impeded by the organizational structure of the system, but, equally, I think it’d be dangerous to just get rid of the system,” Lee said. “Any vision in London has to be public private together as one.”
Yoo Capital last year announced it will develop a plot of land in London’s Camden neighborhood that currently houses a recycling center in order to turn it into a creative quarter for the film and cultural industries. The firm also recently received planning permission to redevelop Shepherd’s Bush Market, a 106-year-old bazaar in West London.
“Even before today, we were long London,” Lee said. “You now have Labour at the council level, in many cases. Certainly Labour at the mayoral level and at the central government level. We’d really like to see continued increases in the coordination between all levels of government.”
ANNE GLOVER
Chief executive officer and cofounder of Amadeus Capital Partners STARMER and Reeves have been too pessimistic on the economy since coming to office almost 100 days ago, according to Glover.
Reeves has repeatedly said that the unveiling of the government’s budget later this month will likely be a painful moment for the UK, which needs to fill a £22 billion fiscal hole. Some have worried those warnings have damaged business confidence and risked undermining the Labour party’s careful work to court the business community.
“The economy isn’t growing fast, but it’s stable, and it wasn’t stable for the last four years,” Glover said. “Inflation has been subdued. Interest rates will come down,” she said, noting “I do think they’re a little bit more pessimistic than they need to be.” In the first half of the year, Britain’s economy enjoyed a “Goldilocks moment” with slowing inflation, rising employment and healthy growth, allowing Starmer to put last year’s recession further in the rear-view mirror in his first 100 days on the job. Still, optimism has dimmed more recently and the Institute of Directors said this month that UK business chiefs are the most pessimistic they have been about the economy in years because they fear looming tax hikes and workplace regulations.
Glover said her hope is the new government will be measured in its approach to any changes in tax policy.
“There is a tendency for governments to kind of want to announce the change the next day so nobody can game it—I think that would be a mistake,” she said. “Phase them in, give people the chance to adapt. Don’t be ideological about it, be practical.” Bloomberg News
STARMER and Reeves at the Labour Party annual conference in September. HOLLIE ADAMS/BLOOMBERG
NAST PHL to Senate: Pass proposed building Act to ensure public safety
THE National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) is urging the Senate to pass with “urgency and priority” the proposed Philippine Building Act (PBA) during the current 19th Congress.
“We urge the Senate of the Philippines to prioritize the approval of their consolidated Senate Bill on the Philippine Building Act in aid of preventing and mitigating both chronic and catastrophic disaster
risks that may be associated with buildings and structures,” said the NAST PHL in a statement.
The proposed law, which aims to increase the resilience of buildings against multiple hazards, will consolidate Senate Bills 1181, 1467, and 1970, and House Bill 8500 as approved last year by the House of Representatives.
The NAST PHL is mandated by law to advise the President of the Philippines and the Cabinet on policies concerning science and technology in the country.
The Academicians expressed its statement through its Executive Council and the Engineering
Sciences and Technology Division.
The NAST PH said that the proposed PBA will replace Presidential Decree 1096 of 1977, or the National Building Code of the Philippines, updating techni -
‘Precision agriculture key to water shortages, resource depletion’
BY the year 2050, it is expected that water shortages will be experienced all over the world due to the increasing population.
This poses a specific problem in agriculture sector, which uses 82 percent of freshwater for crops.
Dr. Sylvester A. Badua, an associate professor at Central Luzon State University (CLSU), raised this concern during his lecture on automated fertigation systems during the green economy forum.
The event was part of the 2024 Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW), held on September 25 in Tuguegarao, Cagayan.
With the theme “Providing Solutions and Opening Opportunities in the Green Economy,” the forum discussed sustainable agricultural practices and capacity building for innovation skills. It was organized by the Department of Science and Technology Regional Office II.
Badua reintroduced the concept of precision agriculture as a means of mitigating resource depletion.
Precision agriculture is the use of resources or inputs in the right
cal standards and administrative regulations that are essential for all public and private buildings across the country.
It pointed out that “passing the PBA is essential to enhance public safety, reduce hazard-related risks, and establish modern construction standards that protect lives and properties”
In its statement, the Academicians said “the proposed PBA will introduce science-informed assessments, innovations, and resilience-building measures crucial for the nation’s disaster risk reduction and management, safeguarding community well-being.”
It added that the PBA will also mitigate negative impacts, promote stakeholder accountability, and enforce related rights and obligations.
This will likewise mark a significant step for safer and more sustainable built environments, and “will enable a great leap in technical and administrative innovations.”
The NAST PHL is attached to the Department of Science and Technology. It is also mandated by law to recognize outstanding achievements in scientific research and development.
SMIC, DOST sign pact to help advance sustainable plastic
By VG Cabuag
UBLICLY-LISTED SM Investments
Pneeded by the crops
He added that the application of fertilizers can be controlled to the right amount.
Badua pointed out that fertigation system can produce greater yields, eliminate pollution, and synchronize fertilization with crop needs, outlining the benefits of the technology.
However, challenges include cost, system maintenance, and setup quality.
DR . Sylvester A. Badua discusses the automated fertigation system.
amount, place and time.
A part of this agricultural technique is site-specific crop management (SSCM), which tailors farming practices to meet the unique needs of different areas within a single field.
One technology in precision agriculture is fertigation, a process that delivers fertilizers through irrigation systems.
In simpler terms, it involves simultaneously supplying plants with the water and nutrients they need for specific growth requirements.
Fertigation has proven to be 90 percent nutrient efficient and 90 percent efficient in water use, reducing waste, minimizing the use of fertilizers, and lowering nutrient loss.
Fertigation is considered a precision agriculture technology for three reasons: precise location, timing, and application rates.
Badua explained that the targeted application of water and fertilizers to the root system ensures nutrients are applied only when
He said that the setting up and implementing the system can be operated manually or automatically.
He also presented a project involving the fertigation system that was implemented at CLSU.
He assured users that they can implement the fertigation system according to their preferences, including the use of power source.
Dr. Claire Marie Castillo, also from CLSU, discussed the topics of aquaponics, hydroponics technology, and tower or vertical gardening, presented by Karl Satinitigan presented the building of a dynamic innovation ecosystem in Cagayan Valley.
Kesha Shua V. Leosala/S&T Media Service
Corp. (SMIC) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to help advance the development of sustainable plastic materials and improve plastic waste management strategies.
The signing was made during the Tactics for Better PlasTIK (Technology, Innovation, Knowledge) forum held at SM Megamall.
Both organizations agreed to collaborate on essential and sustainable plastics initiatives, including joint research and development, training programs and conferences.
“Being a responsible company is important to SM and plastics are a real sustainability issue for the country. We are keen to work with our many stakeholders to reduce plastics use in the Philippines,” said Timothy Daniels, SMIC’s head of sustainability and investor relations.
“We always look for practical solutions. This collaboration with DOST will enhance our collective waste management efforts and also foster knowledge sharing and sustainable partnerships across sectors to help achieve that,” he said.
Representing DOST were Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr., Assistant Secretary for Development Cooperation Rodolfo Calzado Jr. and Executive
Director Enrico C. Paringit, of the DOSTPhilippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
“We thank SM for this partnership and we are optimistic that through this collaboration we can provide solutions and open opportunities for industry players and for our citizens,” Solidum said.
“DOST remains committed to bring technologies from development stage to real-world application,” he added.
“We hope that our green technologies will make its way to the hearts and minds of our citizens through this expo and forum. DOST will be at the forefront of making innovations work for the Filipino,” Paringit said. The partnership marks a significant stride toward a more sustainable future for the Philippines.
The SM group, most notably its retail and shopping mall business, has been taking steps to reduce plastic use, recognizing that key contributors of plastic waste include bags at retail outlets, product packaging, as well as plastic water bottles and food packaging.
Its shopping mall operator, SM Prime Holdings Inc., has partnered with Japan’s GUUN Co. Ltd. to develop infrastructure for systematic waste management and resource recovery. The technology converts non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle packaging into alternative fuel.
Montana man gets 6 months prison term for cloning giant sheep, breeding it
GREAT FALLS, Montana—
An 81-year-old Montana man was recently sentenced to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the US to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota.
US District Court Judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana.
He said he weighed Schubarth’s age and lack of a criminal record with a sentence that would deter anyone else from trying to “change the genetic makeup of the creatures” on the earth.
Morris also fined Schubarth $20,000 and ordered him to make a $4,000 payment to the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Schubarth will be allowed to self-report to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility.
“I will have to work the rest of my life to repair everything I’ve done,” Schubarth told the judge just before sentencing.
Schubarth’s attorney, Jason Holden, said cloning the giant
Marco Polo sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 has ruined his client’s “life, reputation and family.”
“I think this has broken him,” Holden said.
Holden, in seeking a probationary sentence, argued that Schubarth was a hard-working man who has always cared for animals and did something that no one else could have done in cloning the giant sheep, which he named Montana Mountain King, or MMK.
The animal has been confiscated by US Fish and Wildlife Services and is being held in an accredited facility until it can be transferred to a zoo, said Richard Bare, a special agent with the wildlife service.
Sarah Brown, an attorney with the US Department of Justice, had asked that Schubarth be sentenced to prison, saying his illegal breeding operation was widespread, involved other states and endangered the health of other wildlife. The crime involved forethought, was complex and involved many illegal acts, she said.
Schubarth owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre (87-hectare) ranch, which buys,
sells and breeds “alternative livestock,” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves, where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee, prosecutors said.
He had been in the game farm business since 1987, Schubarth said.
Schubarth pleaded guilty in March to charges that he and five other people conspired to use tissue from a Marco Polo sheep illegally brought into the US to clone that animal and then use the clone and its descendants to create a larger, hybrid species of sheep that
would be more valuable for captive hunting operations.
Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and have curled horns up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, court records said.
Schubarth sold semen from MMK along with hybrid sheep to three people in Texas, while a Minnesota resident brought 74 sheep to Schubarth’s ranch for them to be inseminated at various times during the conspiracy, court records said.
Schubarth sold one direct offspring from MMK for $10,000 and other sheep with lesser MMK
genetics for smaller amounts.
The total value of the animals involved was greater than $250,000 but less than $550,000, prosecutors said.
Hybrid sheep were also sold to people in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia, prosecutors said.
In October 2019, court records said, Schubarth paid a hunting guide $400 for the testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that had been harvested in Montana and then extracted and sold the semen, court records said.
Sheep breeds that are not allowed in Montana were brought into the state as part of the conspiracy, including 43 sheep from Texas, prosecutors said.
“You were so focused on getting around those rules you got off track,” Morris said.
Holden sought reduced restitution, saying Schubarth fed and cared for the hybrid sheep on his ranch until they could be slaughtered and the meat donated to a food bank.
The remaining hybrid sheep
with Marco Polo DNA on his ranch must be sent to slaughter by the end of the year with the meat also being donated, Morris said. Morris gave Schubarth until December 2025 to sell his Rocky Mountain bighorn hybrid sheep. Schubarth will not be allowed to breed game stock during the three years he is on probation, Morris said.
The five co-conspirators were not named in court records, but Schubarth’s plea agreement requires him to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify if called to do so.
The case is still being investigated, Montana wildlife officials said.
Schubarth, in a letter attached to the sentencing memo, said he becomes extremely passionate about any project he takes on, including his “sheep project,” and is ashamed of his actions.
“I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry,” he wrote. “My family has never been broke, but we are now.” Amy Beth Hanson/Associated
A6 Sunday, October 13, 2024
Faith Sunday
Pope to Bp. David: ‘Don’t forget humor’
By Roy Lagarde
AFEW days after being named a cardinal, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan got his first piece of advice from Pope Francis: “Don’t forget humor.’
David had a brief audience with the pope on Wednesday before the start of a synod session at the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.
A video and transcript of their conversation were posted on the Diocese of Kalookan’s Facebook page.
In Spanish, the bishop told the pope, “Holy Father, I am the bishop from the Philippines…You’ve changed my life again!”
He then asked the pontiff why there was no advance notice “for something that is so serious.”
Actually when somebody informed him about his appointment through a phone call, David could not believe what he heard and asked the caller if it was a “joke.”
The pope replied, “This is the way things are.”
“Don’t take things too seriously, Pablo. Take it with a grain of humor, God’s humor, okay?” he added, and they both laughed heartily.
Looking at the 87-year-old’s eyes, David said, “I’m here for you—in whatever way I can be of help. Please give me your blessing.”
The pope blessed him, and David embraced him after.
Pope Francis on October 6 announced the creation of 21 new cardinals, including David, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The ceremony to install the new appointees, known as a consistory, will be held on December 8.
The CBCP welcomed the elevation of David to the rank of cardinal, a key position in the Church’s hierarchy.
Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, CBCP vice president, said the pope’s choice of David and the 20 others from around the world represents, yet again, his love for the peripheries.
“The pope’s choice of Bp. David is consistent with his selection of cardinals who reach out to the peripheries,” Vergara said.
The Pasig bishop highlighted the cardinal-designate’s work in establishing several mission stations within his diocese “to better serve the poorest of the poor.”
With a population of more than 1.3 million, a significant number of parishioners in David’s diocese, which includes the cities of Caloocan, Navotas, and Malabon, are informal settlers.
To help attend to their pastoral needs and concerns, he established an Urban Poor Ministry, in partnership with other church organizations.
Acknowledging that poverty is a root cause of human trafficking, the bishop also created a special ministry dedicated to preventing exploitation and protecting vulnerable communities.
David, 65, has a particular concern for persons deprived of liberty, especially young offenders, emphasizing that caring for prisoners is a Christian duty.
When former President Rodrigo
Duterte launched his bloody drug war, David decried how his diocese had turned into a “killing field.”
He has taken upon himself the task of documenting the spate of violence by setting up a team for proper documentation.
David also established a community-based drug rehabilitation program, which has three main components: patient’s care, family care, and community care.
The Church currently has 235 cardinals.
The Philippines has four cardinals—Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Pro Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula; Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales and Cardinal Orlando Quevedo. However, Rosales and Quevedo have passed the age to attend a
conclave at the Vatican.
Cardinals serve as the pope’s closest advisers and collaborators in the pastoral governance of the worldwide Catholic Church, but their main task is to elect a new pope.
Vergara added that David’s elevation to cardinal is also a recognition of his contributions as CBCP president and his “invaluable work” with the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
David, along with Vergara and Advincula, is currently in Rome for the second and final session of the global synod on synodality, convened by Pope Francis.
In his intervention on October 4, the CBCP head, who is also part of the communication body of the Vatican synod, emphasized that addressing poverty is essential to building a Church that truly serves the poor.
He explained how “local migration” from rural provinces to cities poses a “big challenge” to traditional parish structures, which typically serve established local parishioners.
“If the poor don’t come to Church, the Church must go to the poor,” David said.
The bishop urges the Church to focus on helping migrants and the poor at the synod
Earlier at a news conference during the synod, David addressed the issues of migration and poverty, which he said are essential to building a Church that truly serves the marginalized.
David pointed out the need to develop solid foundations that
recognize and respect the dignity of poor people.
Considered one of the prominent Asian voices at the ongoing synod, he highlighted a major challenge facing the Philippines: local migration.
According to him, this internal movement is rapidly changing the demographics of many dioceses, especially those near urban centers.
Using the Diocese of Imus, near Manila, as an example, he pointed out that the population surged from 1.5 million to 4 million in just a decade.
This shift, he explained, presents a “big challenge” to traditional parish structures, which typically “serve only the original residents living close to the city center.” In many cases, migrants from rural provinces feel disconnected from the Church, contributing to the emergence of informal settlements, added David, who is also the incoming vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
David said they took this challenge “very seriously because we could not get the local migrants to enter our parishes.”
“They are sort of alienated from the traditional parishes,” according to him. “So we decided to go out to them.”
The decision, he added, led to the creation of 20 mission stations in his diocese, which he described as the “Church’s presence among the poorest of the poor.”
Roy Lagarde/CBCP News
Shincheonji Bible seminar sparks enthusiasm from pastors Restorers complete work on part of St. Peter’s altar
BUSAN, South Korea—A remarkable wave of enthusiasm has emerged among pastors from established churches who attended the recent Bible Seminar in Busan.
The event, hosted by the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, has drawn numerous testimonies from pastors who have gained a deeper and more accurate understanding of the Bible.
Pastor Cho from Gimhae, shared his experience of attending the “2024 Shincheonji Bible Seminar” consecutively held in Masan and Busan, “I’ve read the Bible many times, but I think I read it literally... I think I learned the revealed word accurately for this era only after attending the Bible Seminar,” Pasto Cho said.
He added that many pastors, including himself, have relied heavily on interpretations by biblical scholars, rather than seeking to understand the true meaning of the scriptures.
He emphasized the need for pastors to “open their hearts” and actively pursue a more accurate understanding of the Word.
Pastor Oh, a Presbyterian pastor of 17 years, expressed similar sentiments.
He admitted feeling disillusioned by the division and competition within his denomination but was profoundly moved by the teachings of the Shincheonji Church.
“I realized that this is a place that preaches the Word according to the Bible. I feel a lot of guilt as a pastor for having taught the Word while misunderstanding it,” Pastor Oh confessed.
He urged other pastors
from established churches to approach the teachings of the Shincheonji Church with an open heart.
In addition to these personal testimonies, Pastor Kim, also a Presbyterian, highlighted the ongoing challenges facing Korean Christian churches.
With many members leaving their congregations, he pointed out that this is a critical time to focus on understanding the Bible. He noted that after listening to the Shincheonji Church’s teachings, he gained insights into the Bible that he had not previously known, feeling that these teachings provide a clearer picture of the present times.
The seminars held in Busan and Masan are part of a series of Bible Seminars organized by Shincheonji Church of Jesus.
The aim is to deliver the revealed word to believers and foster dialogue with pastors from traditional denominations, helping to revive the Protestant Church.
The efforts of Shincheonji Church have drawn significant attention, with thousands of
pastors and believers attending the seminars.
In Busan alone, the seminar drew a crowd of 40,000, including over 100 pastors.
Chairman Lee Man-hee, who led the seminars, focused on explaining the prophecies and fulfillment of the Bible, particularly from the Book of Revelation.
Chairman Lee urged attendees to reflect on whether they have truly adhered to the teachings of the Bible, especially in relation to the book of Revelation.
“I am telling you the contents of the Book of Revelation and the reality that I saw and heard directly. The Bible should be conveyed as it is, as if it were a stamped seal, without distortion or addition or subtraction. Just saying that you believe in Jesus does not mean you will go to heaven. You should listen carefully to each word Jesus said, clearly realize who [you are] according to the Bible, and carry out a life of faith according to the Word,” Lee said
The impact of Shincheonji’s teachings is spreading beyond Busan, with many pastors signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the church to continue exchanging knowledge.
As of early September, 727 domestic churches have signed MOUs with Shincheonji Church, with an additional 13,053 churches in 84 countries also joining in this global effort.
The Busan Bible Seminar has also garnered attention from the local community. Crowds lined up from Seomyeon to the Andrew Training Center in Beomil-dong, drawing comparisons to “World Cup fever” due to the excitement and orderliness of the attendees.
Local merchants were surprised by the turnout, particularly the number of young people who participated.
An official from Shincheonji Church shared, “I think the biggest change is that the pastors are the first to come forward to listen to [our teachings]. I hope that regardless of denomination or sect, people will learn and understand the Bible properly and continue to cooperate through the word exchange.”
Following the successful seminars in Busan and Masan, the Shincheonji Bible Seminar will continue its tour across South Korea, with the next session scheduled to take place in Seoul on October 5.
The seminar will also be broadcast via YouTube simulcast on the official Shincheonji Church channel https:// www.youtube.com/@ShincheonjiChurch_en and streamed live on Facebook at www.facebook. com/NHNE.PH
VATICAN CITY—Restorers put the finishing touches this past week on the ornate canopy covering the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, which has been covered in scaffolding for months during the first renovation of Baroque architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s masterpiece in more than 250 years.
Journalists were allowed a bird’s eye view of the 29-meter canopy, or baldachin, climbing the scaffolding to observe where workers have buffed the intricate surface of the bronze and wood canopy.
During the renovation, workers for the Fabbrica di San Pietro, which maintains the basilica, discovered bits of the baldachin’s history, including a forgotten bit of sandwich and nuts that could be over 200 years old, a 17th Century shopping list including tomatoes and bread, and most telling: the sole of a child’s shoe.
The sole explains the tradition of using children “suspended on a rope and go and clean the most difficult areas,” said engineer Alberto
Capitanucci.
The making of the scaffolding was key to the success of the work, as it needed to allow workers access “to every point of the canopy with reasonable ease,” he said.
“The wood has proven to be in excellent condition, which is the element that we expected to be the most delicate,’’ he said.
When the scaffolding is removed on October 27, Capitanucci said visitors can expect to be dazzled by the sheen of restored gold plate, and the leather effect that was achieved through the restoration of the bronze.
The work was completed with an eye on the upcoming Jubilee year, which Pope Francis will inaugurate in December.
The structure, which is positioned over the basilica’s main altar to provide a ceremonial covering for the tomb of St. Peter underneath, was completed from the 1620s to 1630s on Pope Urban VIII commission of Baroque architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
POPE Francis greets Cardinal-elect Pablo Virgilio David before the start of a working session of the Synod on Synodality in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on October 9, 2024. SCREENSHOT/DIOCESE OF KALOOKAN’S VIDEO
Nicole Winfield/ Associated Press
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
UN report: Insect decline dangerous for migratory birds
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
AUNITED NATIONS (UN) report warned that the dwindling insect population, brought by climate change, contributes to the population losses of migratory birds and other species worldwide.
The UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) of Wild Animals, also known as the Bonn Convention—a treaty launched to protect terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory animals and their habitats—has found that the global decline of insects disrupts the ecosystem by providing fewer food sources for insect-eating species, including migratory birds, bats and fish.
The Bonn Convention, took effect in Bonn, Germany, in 1979.
“The alarming decline of insect
populations is not just an isolated environmental issue—it is a cascading crisis that affects migratory birds, bats, and entire ecosystems,” Amy Fraenkel, executive secretary of the Bonn Convention, said in a statement on October 8.
“Without further research, as well as a swift, coordinated global action to protect insects and their habitats, we risk losing vital species that are critical to maintaining ecological balance,” she added.
A study published by Science
Magazine in 2020 found that the insect population shrinks by about 9 percent every decade, with cli -
2023 the driest year for world’s rivers in 3 decades–UN weather agency
GENEVA—The UN weather agency is reporting that 2023 was the driest year in more than three decades for the world’s rivers, as the recordhot year underpinned a drying up of water flows and contributed to prolonged droughts in some places.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also says glaciers that feed rivers in many countries suffered the largest loss of mass in the last five decades, warning that ice melt can threaten long-term water security for millions of people globally.
“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts, which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies,” said WMO SecretaryGeneral Celeste Saulo, releasing the report recently.
She said rising temperatures had in part led the hydrological cycle to become “more erratic and unpredictable” in ways that can produce “either too much or
too little water” through both droughts and floods.
The “State of Global Water Resources 2023” report covers rivers and also lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, soil moisture, terrestrial water storage, snow cover and glaciers, and the evaporation of water from land and plants.
The weather agency, citing figures from UN Water, says some 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water for at least one month
a year—and that figure is expected to rise to 5 billion by 2050.
WMO says 70 percent of all the water that humans draw from the hydrological systems goes into agriculture.
The world faced the hottest year on record in 2023, and the summer of this year was also the hottest summer ever—raising warning signs for a possible new annual record in 2024.
“In the [last] 33 years of data,
Fisher Retail, Plastic Bank partner to stop ocean plastic, ease poverty
WITH “deep respect for the ocean” coming from its rich fishing heritage, Fisher Retail Inc. has signed an environmental disposal agreement with social financial technology company, Plastic Bank, to help stop 11,000 kilograms of plastic—the equivalent of 550,000 plastic bottles—from reaching the ocean.
Fisher Retail that is “rooted in the fishing industry” will fund the collection of discarded “rigid/ flexible plastic material” through the collection communities under Plastic Bank, to help reduce plastic pollution in the country and alleviate poverty among the members of the communities. Plastic Bank’s Rene Guarin, the regional vice president for Asia-Pacific, said its partnership with Fisher Retail goes beyond protecting the ocean and the environment.
“This agreement empowers collection communities to pave their paths out of poverty. By funding collection efforts, our partners like Fisher Retail enable collection members to exchange discarded plastic for income and social benefits. Together, we drive profound and lasting change for both people and the planet,” Guarin said.
Partnering with Plastic Bank will offset the plastic footprint of the
mate change and land-use change as culprits.
Other ramifications of insect
we had never such a large area around the world which was under such dry conditions,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at WMO.
The report said the southern United States, Central America and South American countries Ar
gentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay faced widespread drought conditions and “the lowest water levels ever observed in Amazon and in Lake Titicaca,” on the border between Peru and Bolivia.
The Mississippi River basin also experienced record-low water levels, the report said.
WMO said half of the world faced dry river flow conditions last year.
The data for 2024 is not in yet, but Uhlenbrook said the extremely hot summer is “very likely” to translate into low river flows this year, and “in many parts of the world, we expect more water scarcity.”
Low-water conditions have had an impact on river navigation in places like Brazil and a food crisis in Zimbabwe and other parts of southern Africa this year.
WMO called for improvements in data collection and sharing to help clear up the real picture for water resources and help countries and communities take action in response. Jamey Keaten/Associated Press
retail company’s Fisher Supermarket and Fisher Department Store located in Quezon City and Malabon City, helping the branches achieve plastic neutrality as part of their compliance to the Extended Producer Responsibility law.
Canada-based Plastic Bank uses a blockchain-secured platform to deliver traceable collection, secured income, and verified reporting.
The collected bottles are returned as recycled feedstock to the circular economy.
Fisher Retail Inc. President Robert Raymond Del Rosario said the retail company, which operates the 10-year-old Fisher Mall in Quezon City, is “dedicated to creating tangible and positive change for our environment and the community.”
“Our agreement with Plastic Bank redefines our company’s role in society, turning waste management into community impact. We believe that as a prominent retail establishment, we have a responsibility to drive positive change,” Del Rosario said.
convention’s study.
Dr. David Ott, one of the authors of the study who works for the German Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, said the issue requires a deeper understanding of how the food chain and ecosystem work.
“To deal with the effects of insect decline, we need to understand that species are part of complex, interconnected communities, and that biodiversity is essential for ecosystems to work properly and provide services to humans,” Ott said.
The study recommends that conservation measures be established for insects to ensure the availability of food for migratory birds and other insect-eating animals.
Policies and multi-stakeholder initiatives should also be in place to ensure that insect decline would be arrested, the report stated.
depopulation include changing vegetation and less insect-pollinated fruits, according to the
The study comes as the convention celebrates the second World Migratory Bird Day on October 12. This year’s theme is “Protect Insects, Protect Birds.”
G20 environment ministers back funding for forest conservation
ÃO PAULO—Environment
Sministers of the Group of 20 nations agreed on Thursday to support the creation of funding sources for ecosystem services, acknowledging Brazil’s proposal to establish a trust fund for forest conservation.
The Brazilian initiative, known as the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, would reward tropical forest countries for protecting critical biomes.
Unlike the Amazon Fund, which rewards Brazil if it succeeds in reducing deforestation, the initiative would benefit all tropical forest nations based on the area preserved, paying local and Indigenous communities involved for maintaining ecosystems that “benefit everyone,” João Paulo Capobianco, executive secretary of Brazil’s Minister of the Environment, told journalists after the ministers’ meeting.
The environment ministers of leading rich and developing countries assembled this week in Rio de Janeiro for four-day meetings to discuss climate change and sustainability.
The topic is one of Brazil’s priorities as it hosts the G20 presidency until the end of the year, with heads of state convening in Rio next month.
Over the past few days, environment ministers discussed efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.
They also assessed public and private financing strategies to support climate change adaptation, transition policies and the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, Brazil’s
Environment Minister Marina Silva said in opening remarks at Thursday’s meeting.
“We have no time to lose, and we cannot leave anyone behind,” Silva said. She addressed extreme events that have afflicted her own country this year, including a deadly flood in southern Rio Grande do Sul state and an historic drought that helped spread massive wildfires across the country.
“In the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes, record drought isolates communities and cities and triggers wildfires of enormous proportions,” Silva said.
“The situation is no different globally, showing in three dimensions the damage and suffering that average temperatures of 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels are already causing to much of humanity.”
The declaration emphasized scaling up mitigation and adaptation efforts.
It also reiterated the signing ministers’ support for the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Other focus areas included oceans, waste reduction, circular economy and plastic pollution.
Heads of state on November 18 and 19 will assess the proposals their proxies have developed in the run-up to their meeting.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has put issues that concern the developing world— such as the reduction of inequalities and the reform of multilateral institutions—at the heart of the country’s G20 presidency. Gabriela Sá Pessoa/Associated Press
MIGRANT barn swallows at rest. Abundant to the Philippines, they are a symbol of successful voyage. Sailors, who spend long periods at sea, adopt the swallow as a talisman of good luck and
BRAZILIAN Environment Minister Marina Silva attends the G20 environment and sustainability ministerial meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 3. AP/BRUNA PRADO
BARGES float in the Mississippi River as a portion of the riverbed is exposed, on September 15, in St. Louis. AP/JEFF ROBERSON
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ROBERT RAYMOND DEL ROSARIO (third from left), Fisher Mall Group president, and Rene Guarin (fourth from left), Plastic Bank regional vicepresident for Asia-Pacific, present their environmental disposal agreement to fund the collection of 11,000 kilograms of plastic by the end of 2024. With them are (from left) Fisher Retail’s Christian Felizardo and Reynaldo Sesgundo, and Plastic Bank’s Rossan de los Reyes and Audrey Trinidad.
Social media harassment
far, wide, violent in NCAA Sports
Jockeys, too, have mental health issues
LEXINGTON, Kentucky—Horse racing’s federal oversight agency and the Jockeys’ Guild are collaborating on an initiative to support jockeys’ well-being with access to mental-health care.
The Guild and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) have partnered with mental-health company Onrise to provide care for jockeys in their native languages.
Jockeys can access therapists, psychiatrists and trained retired athletes for support, a recent release stated, and help create openness and reduce stigma within horse racing.
The initiative was announced during a three-day conference on jockey concussions, safety and wellness. Services are free for eligible and qualified jockeys, the release added.
HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus cited the physical and mental demands on jockeys that she called critical to their long-term success and well-being.
The partnership provides jockeys “with a safe space to connect with professional athlete peers who understand their experiences,” and offers support for handling the pressures of a demanding career.
“We’re going to talk about things, we’re going to have conferences and we’re going to also do something,” Lazarus said at the conference, noting that many jockeys don’t have access to mental-health offerings because they lack health insurance as independent contractors.
Lazarus added, “We’re just so happy that the resources are coming.” Guild president and CEO Terry Meyocks said his organization was proud to partner with HISA and Onrise on a resource for jockey mental wellness.
Citing the Guild’s longtime advocacy for jockey safety and wellness, he said the initiative marks another important step in that mission and helps them “take care of their health in a way that has never been done before in our sport.”
Meyocks said at the conference he has attended safety and mentalhealth seminars overseas for more than a decade and noted that this week’s event was the first held domestically in conjunction with HISA. He expressed hope that the partnership would raise awareness for a subject unknown to many inside and outside the industry.
“We want to reduce costs for racetracks and liabilities,” Meyocks added. “We want to reduce costs for owners and trainers on workers compensation to keep them in business and to keep jockeys healthy. So, I think it’s a nobrainer.”
Onrise works with organizations including the
and
The study cited one unidentified athlete who received more than 1,400 harassing messages in a two-week span.
“The risks and mental health challenges associated with being a victim of online abuse or threats are real and have a direct and immediate effect on athletes, coaches, officials, and their families,” the NCAA wrote in its report. “This can impact them on both a personal and professional level, and ultimately affect their wellbeing and ability to perform at their best.”
The NCAA said sports-betting harassment was spread across all the championships covered in the study.
Racial comments made up about 10 percent of the abusive messages studied, but the survey found the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments were a focus of such content.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina—An NCAA study on social media abuse of athletes, coaches and other officials during championship events found nearly one in five posts that were flagged by an AI-based algorithm and determined to be abusive involved sexual harassment and 12 percent were related to sports betting, according to results of the pilot study released before the weekend.
The college athletics governing body’s findings of its first online harassment study using Signify Group’s Threat Matrix examined more than 72,000 messages flagged by an algorithm and over 5,000 of those posts were confirmed to contain abusive, discriminatory or threatening content and were reported to social media companies.
The study conducted during 20232024 examined social media posts related to championship-level events in six sports: baseball, basketball, gymnastics, football, softball and volleyball.
Of the abusive posts, the study found 80 percent were directed at March Madness athletes, with female basketball players receiving about three times more abusive messages than their male counterparts.
“Toxic online fans resorted to racist mockery, comparing players to monkeys and labelling them as thugs,” the NCAA’s study found.
Women’s basketball players, teams and officials received such treatment, the NCAA said.
“The level of Dogwhistle content during the [basketball] Women’s championships should be highlighted as well in connection with racism,” the governing body said in the report.
The study monitored the accounts of 3,164 student-athletes, 489 coaches, 197 game officials, 165 teams and 12 NCAA official channels using Signify Group’s artificial intelligence Threat Matrix.
It identified varying areas of online abuse and threats, and established 16 categories in which to organize messages that were deemed to be abusive.
The NCAA told The Associated Press the algorithm’s flagging system was based on a series of issue-specific keywords and human analysts organized abusive messages
into the categories.
Violence was found to be the subject of 6 percent of all verified abusive and threatening content, according to the study.
College football at the FBS level, the men’s basketball tournament and volleyball all received “high proportions of violent, abusive or threatening content.”
Other threatening messages were connected to homophobia and transphobia, doping and steroid use and match officials.
The NCAA said risks come across all sports, saying in some instances volleyball and gymnastics generated more “concerning” abusive messages than March Madness or the College Football Playoff.
The NCAA report said social media abuse and threats can have a significant effect on athletes and others involved in college sports.
Even if an athlete who is the target of such abuse says they are fine, “this should not be assumed to be the case,” NCAA said.
Such targeting can continue after a welfare check, “which is why action needs to be
taken to protect them long-term,” the organization said.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said the study is evidence of what some athletes deal with as they go through their time in college.
“We will exhaust all options to reduce the harassment and vitriol student-athletes are experiencing too often today,” he said in a statement. AP
Racial stereotypes persist in WNBA coverage
By Molly Yanity University of Rhode Island/AP
THE The “Caitlin Clark effect,” or the impact on women’s basketball from a ponytailed rookie phenomenon from America’s heartland, is real: The 2024 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) season shattered viewership, attendance and merchandise sales records Clark, however, didn’t get a chance to compete for a league title. The Connecticut Sun eliminated Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, in the first round of the playoffs with a twogame sweep, ending her record rookieof-the-year campaign. And it may be just the latest chapter in a complicated saga steeped in race.
During the first game of
attempt of a Clark shot.
During the next day’s media availability, USA Today columnist Christine Brennan recorded and posted an exchange between herself and Carrington.
In the brief clip, the veteran sports writer asks Carrington, who is Black, if she purposely hit Clark in the eye during the previous night’s game.
Though Carrington insisted she didn’t intentionally hit Clark, Brennan persisted, asking the guard if she and a teammate had laughed about the incident.
The questions sparked social media outrage, statements from the players union and the league, media personalities weighing in and more.
Hit pause button in interview AS a longtime sports writer who has covered the WNBA —and as a journalism scholar who studies women’s sports and
fandom—I’ll concede that Brennan’s line of questioning seems, on its face, like business as usual in sports journalism.
After all, haven’t most baseball fans seen a scribe ask a pitcher if he intentionally beaned a batter?
But Christine Brennan’s questions were not asked in a vacuum.
The emergence of a young, white superstar from the heartland has caused many new WNBA fans to pick sides that fall along racial lines and Brennan’s critics claim she was pushing a line of questioning that has dogged Black athletes for decades: that they are aggressive and undisciplined.
Because of that, her defense of her questions—and her unwillingness to acknowledge the complexities—has left this professor disappointed in one of her journalistic heroes.
Brennan and much of the mainstream sports media, particularly those who cover professional women’s basketball, still seem to have a racial blind spot.
Emergence of Black, queer league
WHEN the WNBA launched in 1997 in the wake of the success of the 1996 Olympic goldmedal-winning US women’s basketball team, it did so under the watch of the NBA.
While gender and sexual identity hasn’t been officially reported, a “substantial proportion,” the WNBPA reported, identify as LBGTQ+. In 2020, the league’s diversity was celebrated as players competed in a “bubble” in Bradenton, Florida, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
They protested racial injustice helped unseat a US senator who also owned Atlanta’s WNBA franchise, and urged voters to oust former President Donald Trump from the White House.
The NBA set out to market its new product in part, to a white, heterosexual fan base. The plan didn’t take hold. While the league experienced fits and starts in attendance and TV ratings over its lifetime, the demographic makeup of its players is undeniable: The WNBA is, by and large, a Black, queer league. In 2020, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association reported that 83 percent of its members were people of color, with 67 percent selfreporting as “Black/AfricanAmerican.”
Racial tensions bubble to surface IN the middle of it all, the WNBA has more eyeballs on it than ever before.
And, without mincing words, the fan base has “gotten whiter ” since Clark’s debut this past summer, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out in July.
Those white viewers of college women’s basketball have emphatically turned their attention to the pro game, in large part due to Clark’s popularity at the University of Iowa.
Money is also pouring into the league through a lucrative media rights deal and new sponsorship partners
While the rising tide following Clark’s transition to the WNBA is certainly lifting all boats, it is also bringing detritus to the surface in the form of racist jeers from the stands and on social media.
After the Sun dispatched the Fever, All-WNBA forward Alyssa Thomas, who seldom speaks beyond soundbites, said in a postgame news conference: “I think in my 11-year career I’ve never experienced the racial comments from the Indiana Fever fan base.… I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”
Echoes of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson IN “ Manufacturing Consent ,” a seminal work about the US news business, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky argued that media in capitalist environments do not exist to impartially report the news, but to reinforce dominant narratives of
the time, even if they are false. Most journalists, they theorized, work to support the status quo. In sports, you sometimes see that come to light through what media scholars call “the stereotypical narrative”—a style of reporting and writing that relies on old tropes. Scholars who study sports media have found that reporters routinely fall back on racial stereotypes. For example, coverage of Black quarterbacks in the National Football League as less intelligent and more innately gifted would go on to hinder the progress of Black quarterbacks In Brennan’s coverage of the Carrington-Clark incident, there appear to be echoes of the way the media covered Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird in the 1980s. The battles between two of the sport’s greatest players—one Black, the other white—was a windfall for the NBA , lifting the league into financial sustainability.
But to many reporters who leaned on the dominant narrative of the time, the two stars also served as stand-ins for the racial tensions of the post-civil rights era.
During the 1980s, Bird and Magic didn’t simply hoop, they were the “embodiments of their races and living symbols of how blacks and whites lived in America,” as scholars Patrick Ferrucci and Earnest Perry wrote The media gatekeepers of the Magic-Bird era often relied on racial stereotypes that ultimately distorted both athletes.
For example, early in their careers, Bird and Johnson received different journalistic treatment. In Ferrucci and Perry’s article, they explain how coverage of Bird “fit the dominant narrative of the time perfectly… exhibiting a hardworking and intelligent game that succeeded despite a lack of athletic prowess.” When the “flashy” Lakers and Johnson won, they wrote, it was because of “superior skill.” When they lost to Bird’s Celtics, they were “outworked.”
330-year-old central bank taps TikTok influencers in quest to reach Gen Z
OCTOBER 13, 2024
FROM GETTING IT RIGHT TO GETTING IT REAL
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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JJosh Cullen unmasks in ‘Lost and Found Album Concert’
OSH Cullen’s story is far from the ordinary.
As a young boy, he endured everything life had thrown at him—struggles that would break most, yet he mustered the strength and persevered.
Seeing him now in his ‘Lost and Found Album Concert,’ was not just for show, but an intimate and raw portrayal of his personal journey---one of pain, resilience and ultimate triumph brought to the forefront.
In a sea of his dedicated fans, Josh took the solo stage last September 28, 2024, at the New Frontier Theater to unravel the narrative about losing himself in the chaos of life and finding the courage to rise and get real.
A journey told through music
THE moment Josh stepped foot on the stage with his opening track “Get Right,” his fans, fondly called BBQs, completely lost it. Sporting a half black and half-blonde hair and donning a spiky jacket, Josh was oozing with charisma or as Gen Zs call it, “rizz.”
The song, released last December 2023, marks Josh’s return to his solo journey as an artist and regaining control over his path. Josh hyped the crowd with his electro hip-hop banger’s deep bass and punchy rhythms.
Following “Get Right” was “1999,” a biting tribute track about Josh’s life growing up as a child and realizing how the world is unfair.
“Bakit ba gustong agawin ang malay
Pati na sayang tinataglay
Kung pwede iligtas lang ang isang musmos labi
Kinakagat ang dila hanggang mawala ang sakit na dulot ng realidad
And I know I’ll never heal ‘cause this world want to f*** me
And I can’t change that”
After setting the tone of what’s about to come next, Josh took the time to thank his fans—A’TIN and BBQs—and dedicated everything he has done to give back to them for their love and support.
“I want it to be as authentic as possible.. Lahat ng nakikita niyo, ito si Josh Cullen [Everything you see, this is Josh Cullen]. Ito po ako sa kinatatayuan ko [I am here standing] somewhere in between the lost and found,” Josh said.
Not really alone
IN his journey (and during his concert), Josh was not really on his own.
One of the highlights of the night was when Josh brought a lucky fan to the stage to sing “Sofa” together. It was at that moment everyone in the show undeniably wished to be that lucky fan singing with Josh that romantic and intimate song.
Mo, a Filipino-American singer and member of Alamat, also shared the stage with Josh during “Lights Out.” Meanwhile, rising OPM artist Kael Guerrero delivered a heartfelt performance of “Takbuhan” together with Josh.
Following that duet, Josh was on his own again, embracing his loneliness with his tracks “Pakiusap Lang,” “Yoko Na” and “Sumaya.”
From trying and hoping that something can still be saved in “Pakiusap Lang” to letting go in “Yoko Na” and finally, saying goodbye in “Sumaya,” Josh provided a glimpse of his vulnerability when it comes to romantic relationships.
SB19’s Pablo surprises A’TIN
AS a surprise to A’TIN, Josh introduced his brother, Pablo, to the crowd as only the two of them performed for the first time. A’TIN went wild when Pablo and Josh performed SB19’s breakthrough hits such as “Gento” and “Crimzone.”
Pablo said that the ‘Lost and Found’ album is very personal to Josh. “Sobrang nakakatuwa lang na habang kinakanta niya yung mga awit na personal para sa kanya, sa inyong lahat, nakikisabay kayo, na ipinaparamdam niyo sa kanya yung suporta niyo, [It’s really heartwarming that while he’s singing songs that are personal to him, all of you are singing along, making him feel your support],” he said.
Pablo, in his swaggy performance of the sporty song “Butata,” was also joined by Josh on stage. The two electrified the crowd as they showcased their
dance moves with many fans singing along and amplifying the energy.
The collaboration between Josh and Pablo highlighted not only the bond between SB19 members but also how integral their support system has been to Josh’s journey.
Josh removes his mask DURING “Silent Cries,” the emotional intensity not just of Josh’s but the audience as well reached new heights.
“I’ve been searching for the pieces of the child who died Searching for the man who’s got his dreams declined Been drowning in the dark, wish I could find the light
Through silent cries”
JOSH’S powerful vocals carried the weight of the song’s message---a cry for help that too often goes unheard.
The audience fell into a stunned silence, fully absorbing the raw emotion that poured from him during that performance.
Josh shared that when he looks back to his childhood, he remembers all the traumas he experienced growing up.
“Many of us have silent battles, silent cries. Most likely, some of you, before getting here, have already gone through a lot,” he said.
Josh expressed his gratitude to his fans who helped carry him each day and will continue to mold him into someone he’ll become.
Honest man
IN “Honest,” Josh confessed the struggles he faced along the way after hiding it for so long.
“If I’m being honest
I’ve been lying my whole life
If I’m being honest
I’ve been two-faced in most times”
Despite overcoming his hardships and achieving his dreams in life, Josh admitted it still scares him to the point he forgets his true identity.
People constantly judge him for his style, and his choices in life, but still, he keeps on going for his fans—to embrace who he really is.
“Hindi na ko magsusuot ng pekeng mukha, hindi na ko magpapanggap. I-eembrace ko kung sino ako at ipapakita ko inyo kung sino si Josh Cullen [I will no longer wear a fake face, I will no longer pretend. I will embrace who I am, and I will show you who Josh Cullen really is],” he said.
“If I’m being honest, niligtas niyo ko [you all saved me],” Josh said.
Now, Josh sees himself as an honest man.
“I finally see me the way that you see me
I finally feel me the way that you feel me
You built me up ten feet tall
And it took me this long to notice”
Everyone around him built him up to 10 feet tall and he finally noticed after being on automatic. “Kayo ang bumuo sa akin at kung wala kayo, walang Josh Cullen [You are the ones who built me, and without you, there would be no Josh Cullen].”
WA ‘SOSYAL’ TUNNEL
A new nightlife destination opens in a new standout mall
EDNESDAY night, October 9, marked the grand opening of Tunnel Bar at Parqal in Aseana City, Parañaque.
Both Tunnel and Parqal are interesting destinations in their own right.
Tunnel does not literally follow the concept of an underground passageway, and is more like a sosyal dance club than just a bar, It has classy interiors with plush sofas, spanking clean toilets (I hope it remains that way every night), and a center stage at the leftmost side.
The first time I visited Tunnel a few months ago, DJs were handling the music. It’ll be great if bands can also play here, I thought.
True enough, two bands were booked on opening night. The first one, Abbey Pineda with Funky Brew, was covering the Rihanna hit “Umbrella” when I arrived past 10 p.m.
The place was packed to the gills, the crowd a mix of demographics between 30 to 60-year-olds, which means the spending segment.
Pineda’s spirited performance drew a warm response, many in the audience cheering and dancing along to the succeeding songs, which peaked with Janet Jackson covers.
The next band, Powerhouse, got off to a rousing start with the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling.” The energy in the room simmered with the band’s rendition of Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle, a slew of Madonna classic (“Holiday,” “Like a Virgin,” “Borderline,” “Material World,” and the Spice Girls’ “Stop.”
I spotted Bo Cerrudo in a corner relaxing with a friend, while Melinda Chua of Aruba Metrowalk fame helped attend to guests.
Amid the din of live music and crowd chatter, I listened to a popular showbiz columnist’s rant against her paper who unexpectedly forced her and her editor to quit in an apparent costcutting move.
“I wrote for them for 30 years!” she said, harping on the abrupt decision to let her go.
But a rival paper has hired her, she
added. “So, let’s have fun!” In the next few months, it bears watching how Tunnel will sustain its momentum.
Parqal
ITS location is likewise worth discussing.
Parqal — a wordplay on “park” and “ kalye” — has landed on the shortlist of “The World’s Most Beautiful Emporiums for 2024” in Prix Versailles, an annual architectural competition.
Also among the seven finalists are the Dior boutique in Geneva, Switzerland; SKP shopping mall in Chengdu, China; Nouvelles Galeries in Annecy, France; Sabyasachi boutique in Mumbai, India; Bookshops at the
Colosseum in Rome, Italy; and the Boucheron Ginza store in Tokyo, Japan.
The Prix Versailles announcement describes Parqal’s design as a “feat of urban planning… Its originality stems from its main street which is protected by a glass roof that stretches more than 400 meters in length, allowing natural light to filter through — proof that an emporium can be a feat of urban planning, especially given that this example occupies a piece of the city.”
Competition organizers noted Parqal’s design encourages people “to move… Far from dressing itself up in the usual environmental finery, Parqal imposes its inclinations by encouraging people to move about, walking, cycling
or taking public transport within a complicated architectural setting, making use of both Filipino tradition and Chinese and Spanish influences.”
My impression is, Parqal makes me feel I’m in a foreign country like Singapore, even somewhere in Europe. At first it can be disorienting, especially at night. Turns out, however, it’s quite easy to navigate, and booking a Grab ride takes only a few moments, since traffic in the area is light. That’s a major factor when going for a night out. Incidentally, nightlife now and then has not changed much. Whether offering live or DJ music, there are lots of venue choices — from Quezon City to Ortigas to Makati to Sucat and Alabang — for every type of crowd.
POWERHOUSE Band
ABBEY Pineda with Funky Brew
IN the next few months, it bears watching how Tunnel will sustain its momentum AERIAL view of Parqal
330-year-old central bank taps TikTok influencers in quest to reach Gen Z
by tom rees and Irina Anghel Bloomberg
HOurs after cutting interest rates for the first time in four years, Andrew bailey, 65, made his debut on tiktok.
It was a cautious foray for the Bank of England (BOE) governor into a social media platform known for dance battles and lip-syncing. Rather than attempt any such physical feats, Bailey got out of his comfort zone by sitting down with a personal finance influencer to explain monetary policy to a younger generation increasingly suspicious of central banking. He even abandoned his omnipresent jacket and tie to project a looser, approachable vibe.
“I read all these articles about Taylor Swift’s impact and say, ‘Yeah, it’s interesting, but it’s not the big story,’” Bailey told his interviewer, Abigail Foster, dropping a name sure to resonate with the kids while discussing the BOE’s fight to contain rising prices. (Splurging Swifties may have made that job harder when the Eras Tour rolled through Britain this summer.)
‘The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’ living young
THE interview is part of an evolution in the way the 330-year-old central bank is trying to communicate with Generation Z, which reads few newspapers and financial news wires. While hardly a viral hit, Bailey’s video got over 42,000 views on TikTok and almost 3,000 likes on Instagram.
In recent months, the bank founded to fund William III’s wars in France and called Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has enlisted influencers to expand its audience. The effort amassed more Instagram followers than the European Central Bank. The BOE similarly featured dancing show stars Curtis and AJ Pritchard in a video to launch the new King Charles bank notes earlier this year.
Such outreach is important not only because of changing news consumption habits, but the BOE’s new, more challenging relationship with the public. While older generations might remember the world’s central bankers rushing to the rescue during financial crises past, the recent inflation shock prompted the BOE and its peers to dramatically ramp up borrowing costs, putting mortgages and car loans increasingly out of reach.
“The cost-of-living crisis significantly increased young people’s interest,” said Foster, the 30-year-old certified public accountant who interviewed Bailey. Younger
people can “feel quite disconnected from financial institutions,” she said, pointing to widespread misinformation online about personal finance.
Besides posting regular social media videos explaining student loans, pension plans and investment savings accounts, Foster also founded and runs Elent, which teaches finance workshops in schools and offices.
Overall, public confidence in the bank plunged as prices soared, with the youngest age groups being the most dissatisfied with the BOE’s performance, according to its latest inflation attitudes survey. At the same time, political figures, such as former Prime Minister Liz Truss, have grown more vocal
they get their news and information.” The BOE is somewhat late to the party.
‘Emerging risk’
THE BOE’s youth forum—a panel of 24 young people discussing how policy affects them—warned officials in 2022 that they needed to post their own content to counter misinformation. The bank’s latest annual report also flagged trends on social media as an “emerging risk” to its communications.
In addition to Bailey’s interview circulating on the likes of TikTok, the BOE has been regularly putting up posts and stories on an Instagram profile launched in March. It also has its own TikTok profile, though it
“[Being on TikTok is part of the] evolution in the way the Bank of England is trying to communicate with Generation Z, which reads few newspapers and financial news wires.”
in blaming the BOE for Britain’s ills.
Online, theories circulate about how central bankers’ policies are exacerbating inequality or that their planned digital currencies are intended to control people’s behavior. The BOE is at a risk of losing touch with a growing segment of consumers at a time when interest rate decisions are reaching deep into the lives of Britons.
Still, the bank must tread carefully when a single adjective by a key policymaker can make markets swoon. (See Bailey’s interview with the Guardian this week.)
Asked to discuss its social media strategy, the BOE acknowledged that it is bolstering efforts to reach the young.
“We think it’s important for the bank to explain what we do and why to as broad an audience as possible,” a BOE spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why we’ve been increasing our efforts to reach people where
has yet to post anything on the platform.
“It gives him the ability to be quite transparent about what’s going on behind the scenes of Bank of England,” Foster said on her interview with Bailey. “They can very quickly reach a broad audience almost instantaneously.”
It will be difficult for the BOE to avoid being drowned out by the torrent of content competing for the eyes of younger Britons online, where pranks and comedy sketches are more likely to go viral. The BOE has stepped up its online presence in the spring, but influencers have been explaining the bank’s policies to hundreds of thousands of viewers for years.
When searching for an explainer on the UK’s digital currency, one TikTok video that is featured prominently and has been viewed by more than half a million people spreads a conspiracy theory that the BOE
will have full control over people’s money and invade users’ privacy. It also incorrectly claims that the central bank has released a CBDC, when a final decision on its launch is still yet to be made.
Another narrative that has gained traction online during the cost-of-living crisis is that the BOE’s policies worsened the inflation surge and helped widen inequality, contrary to the central bank’s messaging on these issues.
A growing trend
SOME businesses have found success on social media platforms, such as EY and Deloitte, according to Anna Fishlock, head of digital at consultancy H/Advisors Maitland. She said that content that “lifts the lid,” and is contentious and humorous often does well on TikTok.
A number of central banks have already woken up to the problem of reaching young audiences. The Federal Reserve launched its Instagram profile last October with over 200,000 followers. While the European Central Bank has been posting on the platform since 2018, it has just over 80,000 followers, less than the BOE’s 92,000.
TikTok is owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance Ltd., while Instagram’s parent is Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. There is a policy purpose to its foray into social media. Keeping inflation expectations under control is key for the central bank as it influences how people expect price changes to unfold in the future and stops wage demands surging.
“It’s fair to say that monetary policy would be more effective if more people were to understand the inflation target,” said Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics. “With more younger people consuming news via social media rather than more traditional news channels, perhaps the governor should record a few TikToks.” n Cover photo by Sofía Marquet on Pexels.com
Younger people can “feel quite disconnected from financial institutions,” said Abigail Foster, a 30-year-old certified public accountant and social media influencer, pointing to widespread misinformation online about personal finance. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com