BusinessMirror September 15, 2024

GROWING GREEN HOPE

By Henry Empeño

BOTOLAN, Zambales—In this wooded campus of the President Ramon Magsaysay State University (PRMSU) that overlooks the sea at Barangay Porac in this town, hundreds of youngsters are planting the seeds of a sustainable future for Zambales.

These are the students—all 407 of them—who are taking agricultural courses at PRMSU’s College of Agriculture and Forestry. The number of students here wanting to learn about farming could be a tell-tale sign of a significant shift that may impact food security and sustainability in the province.

In a memorandum circular last year that launched a grants program to encourage youth participation in farming, the Department of Agriculture (DA) noted that with about 45 percent of the Philippine population facing moderate or severe food insecurity—according to the 2023 report on world food security and nutrition by the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)—the national decline in farming becomes an increasing concern. And while experts say that threats to food security include natural disasters, climate change, conflict, and market factors like price fluctuations, the waning interest in farming appeared to pose a critical challenge.

Citing figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the DA pointed out that the farming population in the country has been decreasing from 2014 to 2018, with about 9.7 million persons employed in the agricultural sector out of a total population of 110.4 million in 2019. That was less than 9 percent. Meanwhile, the average age

ultimately be their occupation.

“Initially, I was not inclined to do farming,” Ryan reveals to the BusinessMirror in a recent interview.

He says he first studied Psychology at the PRMSU Main Campus in Iba town, but the pandemic

GIVING BACK: Agriculture graduate Jerric Espinosa shows how correct pruning of grape vines is done at the BCV Farm. HENRY EMPEÑO

ENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERS: Denise Bea Umiten (left, second row) with her second-year agriculture classmates at PRMSU-Botolan. HENRY EMPEÑO

LEARNING SITE: Faith Rico welcomes visitors to the LA Farm Agricultural Learning Center, one of several off-campus learning sites in Zambales. LA FARM

FARMING FUN: Youngsters with corn harvest at LA Farm. LA FARM

RED ’N’ RIPE: Chili ready for harvest at BCV Farm. HENRY EMPEÑO

Growing green hope

experience made him realize just how important food production is—and how there is a need to sustain the viability of their family farm. Now taking up soil science, Ryan learned that farming is not as easy as it seemed. “Actually, it’s complicated. But we are learning a lot here. And with what knowledge we get, I’m sure many doors will open for us when we graduate.”

Like Ryan, Lhane and Denise also see the opportunity to work abroad as a major draw for students pursuing agriculture these days.

Lhane’s first choice was Nursing, then somebody recommended agriculture, so she took up crop science. Later on, she saw that animal science was more interesting and thus had shifted to this study.

“With our experience here in school, there are a lot of doors we can choose from, although it will all be agri-focused” Lhane asserts. “We can do farm management, put up our own agri-business, or even go into teaching.”

“Up to now, there seems to be discrimination against farmers, who are sometimes looked down upon,” observes Denise, who is taking up animal science. “But we need to prove this wrong. Right now, there is a huge demand for agriculture graduates abroad—in New Zealand, Australia, and even Japan. For me, I would grab any opportunity that comes my way— I might go abroad to work, then return to the Philippines to apply whatever I have learned in other places.”

Ryan agrees: “We will be a farmer always. If there would be some opportunity abroad, I may also take it. But it seems like the better option would be to stay in the Philippines and help improve the farm industry. Maybe I would even stay here [at PRMSU] and teach.”

New wave FOR the first semester of schoolyear 2024-2025, PRMSU’s College of Agriculture and Forestry (CAF) has enrolled a total of 654 students, 407 of whom are taking up Agriculture, major in either Animal Science or Crop Science. Of these, 223 are male and 184 are female.

The number of enrollees this year is, so far, the highest in the history of CAF, says Dr. Jocelyn B. Angeles, the college dean and herself a graduate of Agricultural Engineering. She further notes a continuous increase in enrollees for agriculture courses since 2018, when a national government program was launched for scholarship in agriculture.

According to CAF records, students enrolled in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture numbered 180 for the first semester, 164 for the second semester, and 64 for mid-year term for schoolyear 2018-2019. In the succeeding years, semestral enrolment rose, respectively, to 190 and 187 for first and second semesters, and 76 for summer for SY 2019-2020;. The numbers were 248, 232, and 182 for SY 2020-2021; 301, 262, and 148 for SY 2021-2022; and 335, 322, and 170 for SY 2022-2023. “Making agriculture a prior-

ity course in 2018 is a big factor in reviving student interest in agriculture, as it made the course very much in demand in both the government and private sectors,” says Angeles.

Mechanization of the farming industry, as well as the introduc-

tion of technology, she adds, makes farming more attractive to younger people who develop an easy grasp of farm machineries operation.

Then, there is the demand for agriculture workers abroad, a thing Angeles admits contributes to some brain drain in the industry. As many as 20 percent of the students from PRMSU find work abroad—mostly in the dairy farms of New Zealand, or in greenhouse food factories of Japan, Canada, and Israel, she says.

“We can say that graduates here don’t go idle after leaving the campus,” Angeles says with pride. “They either go into farm management, or they become agri-entrepreneurs.”

Angeles says that the agricultural education at PRMSU-CAF provides students with a well-rounded body of knowledge and skills that they can apply right after graduation. Aside from the basics of crop and animal sciences, the enrollees learn integrated farming; extension program, which is in fact community involvement; research; agricultural economics; and marketing.

“We have very enthusiastic learners here,” Angeles adds.

Seeds of hope ASIDE from formal educational institutions like PRMSU-CAF, off-campus learning sites are increasingly contributing to greater knowledge about farming—and greater interest for it among the youth in Zambales.

One of these is LA Farm, located at Sitio Olpoy in Barangay Amungan, Iba, Zambales, which started out as a hobby to keep owner Larraine Rico’s children busy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We asked the help of the municipal agriculturist, who taught us seed selection, growing and planting seedlings, soil preparation and mulching, and then production of organic fertilizer and vermiculture,” says Rico.

“At first, we were just happy that we had free vegetables for the table, but the garden soon expanded and we were selling our harvest at the parking area, then at the talipapa, then the market. We even made door-to-door delivery for orders by regular customers,” Rico recalls.

From there, the farm grew to include sunflower and fruits. Following further training for Rico and her children, as well as some staff workers from the community, LA Farm received accreditation from the Department of Agriculture for Philippine Good Agricultural Practices (PhilGAP).

The farm is now an accredited agricultural learning site supervised by daughter Faith, who brings in learners mostly from the

young generation, Rico says.

The BCV Farm nearby is another site that attracts visitors for its demonstration farm that focuses on organic farming and building climate-resilient farm facilities that reverse the negative impact of agriculture on the environment.

Here, seeds of hope for a greener, more food abundant tomorrow are implanted into visiting students, who learn about making carbonized rice hull for organic fertilizer, fermenting fruit juices that can be used for pest control, composting, and carbon sequestration from owner Boboy Valles and his staff of young agriculture professionals.

The farm is planted to various vegetables and fruits, including grapes.

Ella May Verar, a 25-year-old graduate of Agricultural Education from Guinobatan, Albay, is at home at BCV Farm as an officer for special projects that include orientation for farm visitors. And she is happy about how students appreciate agriculture better.

“They are obviously very much interested not just in the general concepts, but also in the techniques for better food production,” Verar observes. “They want to know how it is possible to harvest more when you use commercial fertilizers and pesticides less.”

Verar agrees that mechanization and technology have democratized farming even more and made it more acceptable to young people.

“There was a time when we were worried that if in the coming 12 years, we don’t develop a new generation of farmers, food security in the Philippines would suffer,” Verar recalls. “Now, we see much hope.”

Valles cautions, however, that with all the transfer of farming knowledge and technology, the coming generations of farmers would still have to ensure for themselves adequate resources for production, particularly land and capital.

“If they would just gain skill sets while land continues to fall into the hands of big corporations, they would remain ordinary workers. They would have to be technically competent professionals with access to resources, if they want to be successful in this business,” Valles says.

Starting ’em young

A GOOD starting point for agri-entrepreneurship may be in a government program designed to encourage active involvement among young farmers and fisherfolk in food security and agricultural development and modernization, as well as to propel them into agri-business and agri-entrepreneurship.

This is the Young Farmers

Challenge (YFC) Program launched by the Department of Agriculture under the “Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997.”

Under the YFC Program, youth participants can avail themselves of either of the three components: YFC Start-Up, which provides financial grant assistance for new or start-up agri-fishery enterprises; YFC Upscale, which makes it possible for previous YFC winners to continue, improve, and upscale their current agri-business operations; and YFC Business Development Assistance, which provides YFC awardees with common-shared facilities, equipment for value-adding and processing, research and development, and trainings and capacity-building, among others.

The program is designed as a competition to encourage agribusiness models that are innovative, have the potential to generate incomes comparable to incomes of salaried workers in urban areas, and integrate sustainability into their business strategy.

The competition starts at the provincial level, wherein awardees get P80,000 for each enterprise; followed by the regional level with additional financial grant of P150,000; and the national level, with P300,000 per awardee.

The DA has allotted 546 slots for awardees at the provincial level; 112 in the regional level; and 12 in the national level.

According to the Zambales Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), 23 youth entrepreneurs have made it so far to the provincial level of the Young Farmers Challenge. These are for various projects that range from production of Rhode Island Red chicken, tower-type cultured mushroom, crayfish, and rabbit meat, to processing of tanglad jam. Among these, two have made it to the regional competition, while one has reached the national level. This is the “KWAKtutubo” project of Philip Quitaneg Trinidad of Iba, Zambales, which fused the Kilusang Wais sa Agrikultura at Kaalaman group with the indigenous community (Katutubo) of Sitio Olpoy in Amungan, Iba, for a duck production enterprise. The agri-business targets the Lechon manok ” market to give a twist to the taste, while offering new products like flavored salted eggs, mango-duck egg leche flan, egg drop burger, and other products like pre-marinated duck meat. At the same time, the enterprise aims to produce organic fertilizer from duck manure. With the YFC grant, capital meets technology and, thus, may pave the way for success in agriculture, as well as for a greener, more sustainable future.

FARM PRETTY: The climate-resilient facilities at BCV Farm add a touristy feel to the agriculture learning center. HENRY EMPEÑO

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

Sunday, September 15, 2024 A3

Toxins and tragedy: Uncertainty looms over Duck Valley Reservation after potentially lethal herbicide revelations

By Gabe Stern The Associated Press

OWYHEE, Nev.—The family placed flowers by a pair of weathered cowboy boots, as people quietly gathered for the memorial of the soft-spoken tribal chairman who mentored teens in the boxing ring and teased his grandkids on tractor rides.

Left unsaid, and what troubled Marvin Cota’s family deep down, was that his story ended like so many others on the remote Duck Valley Indian Reservation. He was healthy for decades. They found the cancer too late.

In the area, toxins are embedded in the soil and petroleum is in the groundwater— but no one can say for sure what has caused such widespread illness. Until recently, a now-razed US maintenance building where fuel and herbicides were stored—and where Cota worked—was thought to be the main culprit. But the discovery of a decades-old document with a passing mention of Agent Orange chemicals suggests the government may have been more involved in contaminating the land.

“I don’t know if I’m more mad than I am hurt,” Terri Ann Cota said after her father’s service. “Because if this is the case, it took a lot of good men away from us.”

Owyhee is the sole town on the reservation, where snow-capped mountains loom over a valley of scattered homes and ranches, nearly 100 miles (161 kilometers) from any stoplights. The area is bookended by deep Nevada canyons and flat Idaho plains. For generations, the legacy and livelihoods of the Shoshone-Paiute tribes have centered on raising cattle year-round. And many still use the same medicinal plants and practice the same ceremonies as their relatives buried there.

First spills, then potential sprays THE US Bureau of Indian Affairs was an integral part of everyday life in Owyhee. The agency, which oversaw the maintenance building and irrigation shop, told the US Environmental Protection Agency in February that it found a revelatory document from 1997.

In it, a BIA employee recalled clearing foliage in the irrigation canals at least 20 years earlier, when he sprayed at least one of the herbicides—but possibly both—that make up Agent Orange. The EPA banned one of those chemicals in 1979 because of its cancer risks.

A BIA official told the EPA and tribal leaders that it was long believed the herbicides were used for weed control along certain roads—not the canals—before rediscovering the document.

The tribes’ current leaders said they were unaware of either scenario. What alarms them, they say, is that the canal system has greater reach than the two-lane highway that runs through town.

Word cascaded down to tribal members, most of whom live along the canals, swam in them, used the water to farm on the edges, and gathered branches from surrounding willow trees to fashion cradleboards and roast marshmallows.

But they know little else.

Hundreds of pages of e-mails, memos and other documents obtained by The Associated Press show federal agencies have promised the tribes that an investigation is coming. Still, the details are scarce because the BIA redacted or withheld most of the contents of the records.

The BIA declined interview requests from the AP but said it’s evaluating the extent that Agent Orange components might have been used on the reservation.

Officials from the BIA and the EPA visited Duck Valley as recently as Aug. 7 to talk about the process of hiring a contractor to clean up contamination from the federal buildings, tribal leaders said. The presentation noted gaps in data analysis, including for the storage and use of herbicides.

Action can’t come soon enough for tribal members who say the federal government’s prior cleanup attempts have lacked urgency and direction. They fear inaction could lead to further sickness and death.

While tribal Chairman Brian Mason presses federal officials for answers, tribal members are being urged to get annual medical exams and an environmental team is tasked with digging up historical documents.

“People are dying. And I don’t know what they’re waiting for,” Mason said. Back then, tribes were unaware of the dangers

THERE’S a long legacy of contamination across Indian Country, ranging from uranium tailings in the Southwest to solvents dumped at a

military installation in Alaska and pesticides used on the North Dakota plains. Health risks and other critical information are often concealed from Native American communities until years, sometimes decades, after the damage is done.

At Owyhee, most of the environmental dangers have been traced to the two BIA buildings no longer in use or demolished.

Back in 1985, at the now-abandoned irrigation shop, some 8,000 gallons of heating oil leaked from a pipeline next to the highway. Samples taken from sump, soil and floor drains around the building revealed a mix of the hazardous chemicals that were stored inside, including waste oil, arsenic, copper, lead and cadmium, along with the two herbicides that make up Agent Orange.

Racheal Thacker, a pesticides and solid waste technician with the tribes, said residents at the time were likely unaware of the dangers related to handling the chemicals stored there. Back then, the workers employed by the BIA didn’t have the expertise or resources to identify pollutants in the ground, Thacker said. Sherry Crutcher was always skeptical.

Her late husband worked in the BIA maintenance building across from the irrigation shop and wore a uniform that reeked of chemicals after spraying willow trees and cleaning oil wells. The building was home base for dozens of tribal members who plowed snow, fought fires and maintained the vehicle fleet.

Crutcher, a teacher and former natural resources director for the tribes, remembers employees in the maintenance building asking for cancer screenings. She said the BIA did the tests, told the workers the results were negative but didn’t share the records.

She remembered asking her husband, Robert, if he or the other workers had any protection. The answer was always that he had none. He died in 2022 from an aggressive form of brain cancer at age 58, she said.

“I never overstepped my husband, I just asked him the questions,” Sherry Crutcher said. “I’d be like ‘why?’ He was just a quiet soul, easygoing, and say ‘well, you know, because it’s our job.’”

In 1995, the EPA ordered the BIA to stop discharging gasoline, batteries and other fluids onto the dirt floor of the maintenance building, saying the practice was improper, threatened the groundwater supply and

SHOSHONE-PAIUTE tribal member Michael Hanchor visits his mother’s grave on March 15, 2024, in Owyhee, Nev., on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation that straddles the Nevada-Idaho border. AP/RICK BOWMER

could endanger tribal members’ health. The disposal practice had long-lasting effects and the building has since been demolished with its surroundings fenced off.

In its statement to the AP, the BIA said it has extensively studied the soil and groundwater on the reservation since 1999 and cleaned up wells used for drinking water. The agency also said any petroleum in the soil is safe and it’s working with the tribes on other remedial actions.

Thacker said there’s no ostensible danger now from drinking water from the tap, since it’s drawn from other wells. Still, there’s an enduring sense of distrust and uneasiness.

Some patches of land can no longer sustain crops. Fences surround contaminated areas. And after tribal officials raised concerns about hydrocarbon plumes under the one school in town, the state committed to building a new school on a different plot of land.

Chairman’s message reverberates throughout the community MASON stood at a podium in March and declared—without any caveats—that the tribes’ land was further poisoned. Agent Orange chemicals were sprayed extensively by the canals, he said, and demanded the federal government do something—and quick.

His broadcast on social media reverberated across the reservation.

The editor of the community newspaper, Alexis Smith-Estevan, listened from her couch and cried, saying she was even more certain

nosed with late-stage liver cancer that spread to most of his upper body years after working alongside Cota and Robert Crutcher in the BIA maintenance building, she said.

“What can you do? If you were to get infected like he was, it was a death sentence.

There’s nothing—there’s no treating it,” she said.

To many in the community, there is a clear link between past contaminants and the pronounced number of cancer cases and other illnesses.

“I’m going to run out of days sooner than I should’ve,” said Julie Manning, a tribal member who was diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian cancer last year. “And my child can pick up the pieces, and she’s been holding them together. And BIA can say ‘whoops, sorry.’”

now the federal government’s contamination of the land led to the deaths of her grandfather and uncle. A grant assistant at the health clinic, Michael Hanchor, heard about it while getting signatures for paperwork and sighed.

Hanchor wasn’t surprised. He said he saw it as yet another government failure in line with forcing his ancestors onto a reservation and sending Shoshone-Paiute children to boarding schools meant to assimilate them into white society.

“When you get that sense of defeat your whole life, you just kind of shrug your shoulders and move on,” said Hanchor, who lost his mother and a grandfather figure to cancer.

Tanya Smith Beaudoin later walked along a canal where two dirt roads converge off the highway. The canal served as a de-facto swimming pool on hot summer days known to locals as “Floramae’s,” named for a sweet elder with a tough exterior who once lived next door.

Smith Beaudoin thought of her own father, Dennis Smith Sr., an influential tribal leader who befriended strangers at the market and organized big family dinners. He was diag -

The chairman’s announcement validated those beliefs. Still, health experts say it’s nearly impossible to say with certainty that the environment factored into cancer diagnoses and deaths—especially without robust data.

The tribal health clinic has logged more than 500 illnesses since 1992 that could be cancer, and is trying to break down the reservation’s data to determine the most common types. A switch in recent years from paper to electronic filing means the records are likely incomplete.

Genetics, lifestyle and other factors often combine to cause cancer. Even if the BIA is able to account for the time, frequency, concentration and volume of herbicides sprayed on the reservation, that wouldn’t be enough to prove a cause, experts say.

“Bottom line is it’s really, really complicated even to establish among things we already sort of know about,” said Lauren Teras, the senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs, which compensates some Vietnam War veterans for exposure to Agent Orange, presumes that certain cancers and other illnesses are

caused by the chemical herbicide but doesn’t make the link definitive.

Mason has called for a study that would give tribal members a better idea of the extent chemicals could have been sprayed and the effect on the tribes’ land and its residents. He said that might provide tribal members a pathway to seek payment from the federal government.

Rooted in the land

SHOSHONE and Paiute tribes once separately occupied an expanse of Nevada, Idaho and Oregon before the federal government forced them onto a reservation just under the size of New York City.

They’ve lived together for generations as “Sho-Pais,” connected by a farming and ranching heritage while cheering on youth sports games and gathering for the annual Fourth of July rodeo and powwow. High school graduates who leave often find their way home after going to college or working in trades, in a sort of coming-of-age cycle, said Lynn Manning-John, the school’s principal. Of the more than 2,000 tribal members, 1,800 or so live on the reservation—“the only place in the world where being Shoshone-Paiute is normal,” she said.

At the school, lessons are tied to being Sho-Pai. Elementary students learn the “Hokey Pokey” in the Paiute language. Other students talk to an elder in their family and bring a picture of them to hang on the classroom walls.

“If the whole world shut down, we have everything we need to survive here,” said Manning-John, whose childhood home is now fenced off due to underground contaminants.

“We have animals in the mountains, we have trees that we subsist upon for our plant medicines, we have berries, we have roots.”

“We have our beautiful water” from the mountains, she said. “But not, apparently, our water from the canal.”

Editor: Tet Andolong

AliciA WAnder lAnd

Story & photos by Bernard L. Supetran

Over the past few weeks, a controversial mayor named Alice has been hogging the headlines because of her tall tales of growing up in a farm, and made a great escape to a neighboring country.

But beyond the infamy Alice has left on her trail, a namesake known as Alicia has etched her legacy among Filipinos for nearly 8 decades and is immortalized in 3 municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The revered woman is Doña Alicia Syquia, wife of former Philippine president Elpidio Quirino who was killed in 1945 by the Japanese troops during the battle to liberate Manila during World War 2.

And what a better time to remember the fine lady than this September when the Isabela town named after her honor is celebrating its monthlong diamond anniversary. Situated along a crossroad along the Cagayan Valley Road, Alicia is a virtually unknown destination even to jaded travelers.

Things have changed in recent years, though, as the town has thrown its hat into the tourism arena to be a wander land with the formulation of a tour circuit that will make it more than just a pit stop in the vast rice fields in the north. For the longest time, Alicia has been synonymous to the Our Lady of Atocha Church, a late 18th-century brick church known for its magnificent Castilian architecture and named after a bucolic village in Madrid, Spain. Declared by The National Museum as an Important Cultural Property in 2019, its current structure was inaugurated in 1849 by then vicar of Carig (now Santiago City) Fr. Francisco Gainza.

The logical first stop being at the

prayer of thanksgiving for the Almighty God’s traveling mercies. A new must-see is the Tawid Ti Alicia Finest Treasures, a heritage museum which has a remarkable collection of local memorabilia dating back to the olden days when it was still known as the village of Angadanan Viejo of its mother town. Opened last September 9 at the municipal hall compound to kick off the monthlong festivity, the well-curated compendium of artifacts, vintage photographs, political history, and antique implements which reflect the town’s pride for its checkered past.

“Tawid Ti Alicia is not just an exhibit, but also a tribute to the enduring spirit of our community and a reminder of the importance of preserving our cultural heritage,” says Alicia mayor Joel Amos Alejandro during the museum’s inauguration.

Also within the government complex is Alicia’s Best Pasalubong

Center where visitors can go on a shopping spree of the town’s best local produce such as rice coffee, rice varieties, snack items, and the sought-after RLGV collection of bignay, tropical mix fruit, guyaba -

no, buggay, and grape wines which can liven up the spirit in every social gathering.

Northern Luzon’s staple organic beverage, bignay wine is noted for its antioxidant, anti-aging, anti -

microbial and healthy properties, not mention its rock-bottom price point which make it a classy alloccasion gift.

Alejandro said that the municipal government has lined up a bevy of special events for the diamond jubilee to put the spotlight on this emerging tourism town and at the same time, showcase its growing economy.

Spicing up the festivity are a motorshow on September 20, motocross contest on September 22, the Pagay Street Dance Competition and Gabi ng Parangal on September 25, the Mutya ng Alicia on September 27, and a grand concert on September 28, the town’s 75th founding day.

Pagay Festival, named after its staple grain, is the town’s annual summertime extravaganza which is timed for the rice harvest season.

As the largest rice producer in the Cagayan Valley region with 10,000 hectares of rice fields, Alicia is rife for farm tourism and agri-based recreation. Currently

luring the so-called plantitos for day tours is Bountiful Flower Garden which exudes its own brand of flower power with its extensive collection and fragrances, and Instagrammable spaces. Mila’s Farm is a garden resort which is popular for its exciting cranberry pick-and-pay activity and children-themed play nooks.

A new establishment that will surely make this town a tourist hotspot is Lucas and Lily’s Farmhouse which evokes that “lumaki ako sa farm” feels with its vast rice field, greeneries, fish pond-slashboating lagoon, and well-appointed teepee-style family rooms. Arguably the best in town, the farm resort aims to offer fishing kayaks, bicycles, and a host of recreation which combine agrarian and adventure escapade.

With its unique blend of culture and agriculture, it won’t be long for Alicia to become a wonderland for wanderers seeking to go back to the basics and reconnect with nature and community.

Tourist mapmaker is new Rotary District 3790 governor

AWARD -WINNING and pioneer tourist mapmaker Ariel Jersey (fourth from left) was recently inducted governor of Rotary District 3790 at Widus Hotel in Clark Special Economic Zone, Pampanga for Rotary Year 2023-24. The tourism entrepreneur is founder, president and publisher of the 30-year-old EZ Maps, the country’s leading map brand which produces brochures, wall maps, and digital maps of the country’s top tourist destinations. A past president of the Rotary Club of Dau in Mabalacat City, he is a recipient of the first batch of the Go Negosyo Most Inspiring Tourism Entrepreneur Awards of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship given by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2007. In his inaugural speech, the new

Bount IF ul Flower Garden

PAGAy Festival street dance competition

t

E o ur l ady of Atocha Church R

GV local wines

ti Alicia Museum

l u CA s and lily’s Farmhouse

DOST, Devcon, DLSU sign pact for CResT climate platform

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

THE Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Devcon Philippines, and De La Salle University (DLSU) have signed a tripartite agreement aimed at capturing a share of the P500-billion climate resilience market through the development of climate technology solutions.

In a news briefing on Wednesday, Devcon Founder Winston Damarillo said the agreement will establish the Climate Resilience Technology (CResT) platform, which seeks to develop and scale climate tech solutions that can address the urgent need for disaster preparedness and environmental sustainability.

According to Damarillo, the total addressable market for climate solutions stands at around P500 billion today, citing government

spending on climate resilience and disaster relief.

“The climate crisis is a race against time, and technology is our fastest vehicle to win. Through CResT, we are not only protecting our communities but also establishing the Philippines as a leader in climate tech,” he said.

According to the World Risk Index, the Philippines is the most disaster-prone country in the world, a reality that has made it imperative for the nation to lead

in climate resilience innovation, said Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr.

“The Philippines is ready to lead in global climate action with techdriven solutions. Through CResT, we will turn challenges into opportunities, positioning our nation as a global hub for climate tech innovation, where we develop

and scale transformative solutions to meet urgent and future needs,” Solidum said.

For its part, DSLU President Bernard Oca said: “DLSU, through Animo Labs, will provide expertise in research commercialization, venture creation, and other support services to ensure that the climate solutions that we create

DOST’s Bantog Awards honor 12 science communicators

By John Eiron R. Francisco

THE Bantog Awards for Science Communication, established by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through its Science and Technology Information Institute (STII), recognized 12 science journalists, broadcasters, content creators and producers in 10 categories.

After a six-year hiatus due to the pandemic, this year’s ceremony, with the theme “Driving Development through Science Communication,” was held on September 10, at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

2024 Bantog Awards winners

THE following were the award -

ees:

n Outstanding S&T Advocate (Institutional Award): ABS-CBN News

n Best S&T Investigative Story (Audio-Visual): Lilian B. Tiburcio of GMA Integrated News

n Best S&T Opinion Editorial (Text). Ramon Bernardo of PM (Pang-Masa)-Philippine Star

n Best S&T Feature Story

(Text): Junephrey Ocampo of Manila Bulletin Agriculture

Monthly magazine

n Best S&T News Story

(Text): Raphael Bosano of ABSCBN News

n Best S&T News Story

(Audio). Patricia Mirasol of BusinessWorld

n Best S&T Editorial/Opinion (Audio-Visual): Mikael Angelo Francisco of FlipScience.ph

n Best S&T News Story

(Video): Francis Dave Orcio of Cignal TV Inc.-One PH and One

News

n Best S&T Short-form Series

(Video): Celine Murillo

n Outstanding Science and Technology Information Officer

First prize , John Maico Hernandez (DOST Region IV-A)

Second prize , Allane Orendez, (DOST Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development)

Third prize , Athena Colline Jacob (DOST Region IV-B)

Significant impact IN his speech, Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. reflected on the significant impact of media partners, journalists and science communicators over the past four decades.

He highlighted how the media partners have profoundly influenced the industry and local communities by spreading awareness about the benefits of DOST technologies and programs.

Through various news platforms, communities have learned about and adopted science and technology (S&T) initiatives.

Solidum praised the media’s dedication and passion in crafting stories and content that foster a culture of openness and transparency.

“This synergy has enabled us to share the remarkable journeys and groundbreaking work of our experts with the public in reaching their knowledge and engagement with science,” he said.

He particularly lauded the media’s heroic efforts during the pandemic, noting their crucial role in delivering essential news and presenting data in a way that was easily understandable to the public. This achievement, he said, has been instrumental in guiding public understanding and supporting the government’s efforts, including those of the DOST, during challenging times.

“Apart from this, your advocacy in combating misinformation and delivering accurate and timely information are essential in shaping public opinion and, at the same time, supporting the government, including DOST, in navigating through these challenging and uncertain times,” Solidum said.

“Through the 2024 Bantog Awards, we aim to inspire and cultivate a new generation of science communicators, individuals who will continue to illuminate the tangible benefits of science and technology and its impact to every Filipino,” he added.

Emerging platforms

ASSISTANT Secretary Napoleon K. Juanillo Jr., for Technology Transfer, Communications and Commercialization, noted the expanded scope of this year’s awards.

The 2024 Bantog Awards acknowledge contributions not only from traditional media—print, broadcast and radio—but also from emerging platforms, such as social media and video streaming services.

“We gather to celebrate and recognize our local science communicators, our trusted allies at the Department of Science and Technology, in translating the complex research and innovative advancements of our scientists, engineers and researchers into knowledge that is easy to understand and readily accessible, so that every Filipino will be aware of the many benefits of science and how it will make their lives much better,” said Juanillo, also the concurrent OIC of DOST-STII.

He emphasized that the recognition serves a greater purpose beyond mere accolades, as it highlights the department’s commitment to fostering a deeper

understanding and appreciation of science among Filipinos.

Juanillo noted the ongoing challenges in science education, as evidenced by the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment rankings, where the Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries in science proficiency.

“It is crucial to emphasize the importance of science literacy— the ability to understand, use, and communicate scientific information effectively,” Juanillo said.

He pointed out that science plays a vital role in daily life, from checking weather updates to planning commutes.

This, he added, underscores the need for Filipinos to be more engaged in science to improve their quality of life and make rational decisions.

Informed decision making

MEANWHILE, Undersecretary Maridon O. Sahagun, for Scientific and Technical Services, in her message read by Juanillo, highlighted that although this field is often overlooked, the contents of articles and videos provide valuable guidance for making informed decisions about livelihoods, safeguards against natural disasters, and protecting the environment and natural resources.

With over 100 entries submitted across nine categories from 11 regions nationwide, Sahagun emphasized the importance of recognizing and honoring those who tirelessly produce content and stories that illustrate the benefits of science and technology.

This dedication, she argued, underscores the crucial role of science communicators in advancing various communities, a role that should be brought to the public’s attention.

energy, enhancing disaster resilience, and pioneering reforestation through robotics.

In addition to the technological advancements, CResT will focus on capacity building, equipping the next generation of Filipino innovators with skills in emerging fields—such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D design, and robotics

The initiative will also foster partnerships with climate tech startups, environmental organizations, and investors to build a robust climate-resilient ecosystem.

According to Damarillo, who is also preparing to speak at the San Francisco Tech Week 2024 to banner CResT, the group targets to have an ecosystem of 100 startups in the next few years to realize the goal of exporting climate tech solutions to other vulnerable countries.

can help prevent losses of income, time, and productivity, while preserving life, spirit, and the unquantifiable.”

Under the partnership, the three groups will pool resources and manpower together to codevelop the solutions, including life-saving early warning systems, expanding access to renewable

“As we collaborate to establish the Philippines as a global hub for climate tech, our vision extends beyond our borders. Through the CResT platform, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable future with solutions that have local impact and global reach,” Damarillo said.

DTI-BOI launch ‘Biotekalusugan’

THE Board of Investments of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-BOI) recently announced the holding of the first Biotekalusugan Competition: The Search for the Most Innovative Biotech Applications in Biomedicine.

The competition is part of the DTIBOI’s activities in celebration of the 20th National Biotechnology Week (NBW) in November.

“The competition is inviting innovative Filipino startups and researchers to present groundbreaking biotech solutions in the field of biomedicine,” the DOST-BOI said.

The submission of entries and nomination will run until October 4. This competition provides a unique opportunity for Filipino startups, researchers, and the academic community to showcase their innovative ideas that can transform healthcare through biotechnology. More details about what’s at stake for finalists and winners, may be found from the links: For applications: https://tinyurl.com/ BiotekalusguanApplication For nominations: https://tinyurl.com/ BiotekalusuganNomination

UP physicists join hunt for gravitational waves

IN 1916, Albert Einstein theorized that two merging black holes create ripples in the spacetime fabric, similar to how a pebble creates ripples in a pond.

The ripples, called gravitational waves, stretch and squeeze spacetime in amounts so minuscule that they were once believed to be too faint to detect.

But a century later, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the US, an L-shaped facility with arms spanning four kilometers each, detected minute discrepancies in how long lasers travel through each arm, signaling the first detection of gravitational waves.

Now, scientists are preparing to launch a more sophisticated observatory into space, aiming to detect even fainter gravitational waves, or those beyond LIGO’s capabilities

This space-based facility, known as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), is a triangular observatory with sides spanning tens of millions of kilometers and is set to launch in the 2030s.

As preparation ramps up, scientists around the world are pitching ideas to improve LISA’s detection capabilities.

Dr. Reinabelle Reyes and her former graduate student Marco Immanuel Rivera, from the UP Diliman College of Science’s National Institute of Physics (UPD-CS NIP) recently published a study identifying a set of parameters that could improve the analysis of signals coming from LISA and future gravitational-wave observatories.

Unlike LIGO, which mainly detects gravitational waves coming from two stellar-mass black holes, LISA hopes to detect a type of gravitational wave coming from compact objects – such as neutron stars, white dwarfs, and stellar-mass black holes – orbiting supermassive black holes.

“When a stellar-mass black hole orbiting a supermassive black hole falls into it, an extreme-mass ratio inspiral (EMRI) gravitational-wave signal is produced,” Reyes and Rivera explained.

One complication with detecting EMRIs is that the environment where the compact object-black hole pair resides can considerably affect the EMRIs they emit.

For example, supermassive black holes are often surrounded by glowing rings called

accretion disks, which can modify the EMRI signal just as the Earth’s atmosphere distorts light from faraway stars.

By understanding how these environmental features affect EMRIs, astronomers can not only filter out noise from the signal but also learn about the environment itself. For instance, by studying the imprints of the environment on the gravitational wave signal, astronomers can infer the density of the accretion disk.

Their study considered three environmental factors that may substantially influence the EMRI signal: accretion, gravitational drag, and gravitational pull.

Their analysis determined the most measurable parameter combination, which is heavily dominated by these environmental effects. They also estimated how precisely these parameters can be measured—an essential factor for extremely sensitive detectors like LISA.

Their analysis is built upon a mathematical tool called the Fisher matrix, which evaluates how accurately an experiment can measure different observables.

To illustrate, imagine a catch basin designed to collect water, rocks, and leaves. The Fisher matrix determines and quantifies how effectively the basin can catch each object separately, even before the experiment is set out.

“The Fisher matrix is used by astrophysicists to estimate the expected precision to which certain properties can be measured from a given signal to be observed in a future detector,” explained the authors.

While their study shows promise, Reyes and Rivera noted that modeling EMRIs is challenging due to strong gravity effects, and more accurate modeling is needed.

“It will be interesting to compare with calculations based on the newer waveform models which are adapted for EMRIs, as well as those which contain the effects of non-trivial environments,” the authors said.

“In the future, we hope to see how the parameter combinations we presented in this study can be applied directly in improving parameter estimation methods used in gravitational-wave astronomy, such as stochastic samplers,” the authors added. Harvey Sapigao

THE DOST, Devcon Philippines and DLSU officials sign an agreement for CResT climate technology platform. From left are Dr. Napoleon K. Juanillo,

DOST assistant secretary for Technology Transfer, Communication and Commercialization; Winston Damarillo, Devcon Philippines founder and president; Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr., Science secretary; Br. Bernard S. Oca, FSC, DLSU president; Atty. Mike Gerald David, Animo Labs executive director; and Dominique De Leon, Devcon Philippines executive director. DEVCON PHILIPPINES PHOTO

SCIENCE Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. ROY DOMINGO DOST Assistant Secretary Napoleon K. Juanillo Je. ROY DOMINGO

A6 Sunday, September 15, 2024

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Pope ends Asia trip with same message: Interfaith tolerance to heal troubled world

SINGAPORE—Pope Francis

wrapped up his visit to Singapore on Friday by praising its tradition of interfaith harmony, closing out his four-nation trip through Asia with the same message of tolerance that he delivered at the start.

Francis presided over a gathering of young people from some of the religious traditions that are present in Singapore, where mosques, Buddhist temples and Christian churches stand side-byside among the city-state’s iconic skyscrapers.

In a sign he was enjoying himself, Francis ditched his speech and urged the youths to take risks, even if it means making mistakes.

But he came back to the topic at

hand to make his main point about the need for people of different faiths to engage in constructive dialogue rather than insist on the righteousness of their particular beliefs.

“All religions are a path to arrive at God,” he said. “They are like different languages to arrive there. But God is God for all.”

It was Francis’ last event before he boarded the Singapore Airlines A35-900 plane for the 12-hour, 35-minute flight back to Rome to complete the longest and farthest trip of his pontificate.

Francis was in Singapore to encourage its Catholics, who make up about 3.5 percent of the population of just under 6 million, while highlighting Singapore’s tradition of in-

New PPCRV voter’s ed program aims for responsible citizenship

THE Parish Pastoral Coun -

cil for Responsible Vot -

ing (PPCRV) launched its “most ambitious” voter’s education program this week, aiming to shape Filipinos into model citizens.

Dubbed as “Tibok Pinoy,” the program includes six books and 11 podcasts that pivot back to key values of a model Filipino.

Evelyn Singson, PPCRV chairperson, noted the challenge of convincing voters that they have the power to effect change.

“This project aims to transform every Filipino voter’s mindset from hopelessness and indifference to hope and empowerment,” Singson said. She pointed out the importance of teaching the youth the core values of a good Filipino and encouraging them to embody these values.

“If they demand these of themselves, they will look for these attributes in the leaders they will choose,” according to her.

“When the qualities of the voters improve, the qualities of the leaders they elect will likewise improve,” she added. “It’s a long journey but we have to take the first step now.”

Previous PPCRV voter’s education campaigns were held every three years during elections, focusing on selecting candidates based on capability, character, and experience, using the widely adopted “10 Commandments for Voting.”

Among those present in the book launch were Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, and Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia. David praised the project. emphasizing that laypeople should be at the forefront of this kind of apostolate.

“The primary volunteer work that the Church is asking for is not to serve the Church, but to serve society as members of the Church,” he said. CBCP News

How the Nazis co-opted Christmas

ted propagandists worked to further “Nazify” Christmas.

terfaith coexistence.

population claimed no religious belief whatsoever.

History’s first Latin American pope offered an overwhelmingly positive message in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, praising Singapore’s economic development and making only one public appeal: that it treat its immigrant workers with dignity and a fair wage.

In his public remarks, he avoided any controversial issues, such as Singapore’s use of capital punishment, which Francis has declared is “inadmissable” in all circumstances.

But at least in his public remarks, Francis made no mention of it while in Singapore, perhaps a show of deference to his hosts during a trip that is likely being closely watched in China, where the Vatican is seeking better ties. Francis’ 11-day journey took him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor before Singapore.

The 32,814 kilometers (20,390 miles) by air clocked for the trip make it the longest and farthest of his pontificate, and one of the longest ever papal voyages in terms of days on the road and distances travelled.

Only some of St. John Paul II’s trips in the 1980s were longer. Nicole Winfield/Associated Press POPE

According to a 2020 census, Buddhists make up about 31 per -

cent of the population, Christians 19 percent and Muslims 15 percent, while about a fifth of the

Francis has raised the church’s opposition to death penalty while visiting countries where it is used, including Bahrain.

Catholic leaders discuss family, fraternity in Ecuador congress

QUITO, Ecuador—The world is wounded, Catholic leaders said Thursday in Ecuador. But an emphasis on supporting the family could be a path toward healing.

Catholic leaders from more than 50 countries have discussed this and other topics in Quito, the Ecuadoran capital, during this year’s International Eucharistic Congress, which ends on September 15.

Thursday’s agenda was focused on family and fraternity. Both topics where addressed by Pope Francis in a recorded message that was played during the opening

ceremony last Sunday.

“It’s an essential condition for a new, fairer world,” said Francis, who just opened the final leg of his tour through four countries.

“Today it is not possible to save ourselves on our own happy island and isolate,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, vicar general for the Vatican. “We need to walk together.”

Rosalía Arteaga, former Ecuadoran vice president who attended the congress, said to The Associated Press that family is a “corner stone” for fraternity, “not from a patriarchal perspective,” but

World’s oldest religious leaders

THE top leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is celebrating a milestone birthday, his 100th.

Like the president of the Utahbased faith—commonly known as the Mormon church—leaders of religions worldwide commonly stay at the helm well past normal retirement age.

Counting Latter-day Saints

100: Russell M. Nelson, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, turns 100 years old on Sept. 9, 2024.

1924L This is Nelson’s birth year. By year’s end, the church had 597,861 members.

In total, there were 1,685 congregations.There were 25 missions.

Today, there are about 17.3 million Latter-day Saints.

Church membership has grown 3.8 percent so far in 2024. Last

year, the number of Latter-day Saints rose 1.5 percent. At the end of 2023, there were 31,490 congregations. There are 450 missions.

Six of the 15 men in the Mormon church’s top leadership panels are 80 or older. President Nelson (100), Dallin Oaks (92), Henry B. Eyring (91), Jeffrey Holland (83), Dieter Uchtdorf (83), Quentin Cook (84).

Counting other faith traditions

99: Alexandre do Nascimento, the archbishop emeritus of Luanda, Angola, is the oldest living Catholic cardinal. He was born March 1, 1925.

94: Ali al-Sistani, the grand ayatollah who is the senior religious figure for the world’s 200 million Shia Muslims

93: In the Catholic Church, the oldest-serving pope ever was Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at

because good relations between parents and children help in preserving society’s values.

In Ecuador—where 80 percent of its 17 million people identify as Catholic—same-sex marriage was legalized in 2019.

Abortion was decriminalized in cases of rape in 2022, though activists consider it insufficient and discriminatory, and keep pushing to widen sexual and reproductive rights.

During his remarks, Monsignor Graziano Borgonovo, appointed by the pope as under-secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, said that families, as social institutions,

are currently in “crisis” due to samesex marriages and “other forms of coexistence.”

“The family is the original nucleus,” Borgonovo said. A Jesuit priest, Iván Lucero, said that the Catholic Church could look for new ways to support same-sex marriages and nontraditional families.

“The pope has a greater understanding and closeness to these couples, whose number is growing,” Lucero said. “But at the same time, we must ensure that the traditional family is not lost or questioned.”

Molina/Associated Press

Gabriela

89: The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader 87: Pope Francis, the current

of Constantinople, who leads Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. AP I

Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters cheered when Hitler condemned “the cowardly Jews for

the world-liberator on the

and

“not to rest until the Jews…lay shattered on the ground.” Later, the crowd sang holiday carols and nationalist hymns around a Christmas tree. Working-class attendees received charitable gifts. For Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, this combination of familiar holiday observance, nationalist propaganda and anti-Semitism was hardly unusual. As the Nazi party grew in size and scope— and eventually took power in 1933—commit-

Redefining familiar traditions and designing new symbols and rituals, they hoped to channel the main tenets of National Socialism through the popular holiday. Given state control of public life, it’s not surprising that Nazi officials were successful in promoting and propagating their version of Christmas through repeated radio broadcasts and news articles.

But under any totalitarian regime, there can be a wide disparity between public and private life, between the rituals of the city square and those of the home.

In my research, I was interested in how Nazi symbols and rituals penetrated private, family festivities—away from the gaze of party leaders.

While some Germans did resist the heavy-handed, politicized appropriation of Germany’s favorite holiday, many actually embraced a Nazified holiday that evoked the family’s place in the “racial state,” free of Jews and other outsiders.

Redefining Christmas

ONE of the most striking features of private celebration in the Nazi period was the redefinition of Christmas as a neo-pagan, Nordic celebration.

Rather on focus on the holiday’s religious origins, the Nazi version celebrated the supposed heritage of the Aryan race— the label Nazis gave to “racially acceptable” members of the German racial state.

According to Nazi intellectuals, cherished holiday traditions drew on winter solstice rituals practiced by “Germanic” tribes before the arrival of Christianity. Lighting candles on the Christmas tree,

for example, recalled pagan desires for the “return of light” after the shortest day of the year. Scholars have called attention to the manipulative function of these and other invented traditions.

Since the 1860s, German historians, theologians and popular writers had argued that German holiday observances were holdovers from pre-Christian pagan rituals and popular folk superstitions.

So because these ideas and traditions had a lengthy history, Nazi propagandists were able to easily cast Christmas as a celebration of pagan German nationalism.

A vast state apparatus (centered in the Nazi Ministry for Propaganda and Enlightenment) ensured that a Nazified holiday dominated public space and celebration in the Third Reich.

But two aspects of the Nazi version of Christmas were relatively new.

First, because Nazi ideologues saw organized religion as an enemy of the totalitarian state, propagandists sought to deemphasize – or eliminate altogether— the Christian aspects of the holiday.

Official celebrations might mention a supreme being, but they more prominently featured solstice and “light” rituals that supposedly captured the holiday’s pagan origins.

Second, as Hitler’s 1921 speech suggests, Nazi celebration evoked racial purity and anti-Semitism.

Before the Nazis took power in 1933, ugly and open attacks on German Jews typified holiday propaganda. Blatant anti-Semitism more or less disappeared after 1933, as the regime sought to stabilize its control over a population tired of political strife, though Nazi celebrations still excluded those deemed “unfit” by the regime. Countless media images of invariably

blond-haired, blue-eyed German families gathered around the Christmas tree helped normalize ideologies of racial purity. Open anti-Semitism nonetheless cropped up at Christmastime. Many would boycott Jewish-owned department stores. And the front cover of a 1935 mail order Christmas catalog, which pictured a fair-haired mother wrapping Christmas presents, included a sticker assuring customers that “the department store has been taken over by an Aryan!” It’s a small, almost banal example. But it speaks volumes. In Nazi Germany, even shopping for a gift could naturalize anti-Semitism and reinforce the “social death” of Jews in the Third Reich.

The message was clear: only “Aryans” could participate in the celebration. Joe Perry, Georgia State University/The Conversation via AP

Francis attends an interreligious meeting with young people at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore on September 13.

PPCRV’s “Tibok Pinoy” voter’s election education materials. CBCP NEWS

RUSSELL M. NELSON, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, waves as he departs the church’s twice-annual conference on April 7 in Salt Lake City. AP/RICK BOWMER age 93.

leader of the Catholic Church 84: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Biodiversity Sunday

Finding nature-based alternatives to plastics

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

AS plastic wastes continue to choke

the planet, various stakeholders are now looking for viable solution to the problem—from environment-friendly technology to alternative materials to plastics—particularly in packaging of various products, including food.

Besides the idea of producing biodegradable plastics through advances in science to developing environment-friendly alternatives to “sando” bags, such as “green or ecology bags,” and replacements to other single-use plastics that end up polluting the ocean, some suggested to use in the “tingi,” or retail system, the indigenous natural containers for products like vinegar, soy sauce and cooking oil.

Others urged the use of reusable “bayong,” or native bags, like those used by our grandparents to the market.

There were also other carefully hand-crafted plant-based “sisidlan” (containers) made from various plant parts—such as leaves, barks and other naturally growing materials. Banana and coconut leaves are used for “suman,” or sticky rice delicacies.

This reminds one of the popular food vendor that uses banana leaves to pack an order of cooked rice, chicken. egg and fresh tomato.

Different leaves and vines, including rattan, are also used to produce baskets, bags or furniture sets.

Agricultural wastes

IN Cavite province, a lot of nature-based alternatives to plastic packaging can be found. They are either grown in farms, plantations or naturally exist in the wild.

Banana leaves and peels, the leaves of taro, coconut, pineapple, cacao, anahaw and bamboo, corn husks and abaca fiber are among the raw materials used for natural alternatives to plastic packaging.

They currently have no economic value and are considered burden to farmers, and are called “agricultural wastes.”

Abundant and accessible

BASED on the results of research dubbed “Scoping of Alternative Packaging Materials” and “Participatory Action Research on Indigenous Knowledge about Alternative Packaging Materials” conducted under a foreign-funded project, the substitute to plastic packaging materials are abundant in the towns of Alfonso, Amadeo, Gen.

USC,

TEmilio Aguinaldo, Indang, Magallanes, Maragondon, Mendez, Silang, and Ternate, in Cavite province.

Considered as agricultural wastes, their proper disposal is becoming a problem.

Some farmers use agricultural wastes as animal feed, while some are left to rot on a side of the farm. Worse, some farmers burn them, which is against the law.

A coalition project

REI PANALIGAN EcoWaste Coalition’s point person for the Plastic-Free Pilipinas project on nature-based alternatives to plastic packaging, said the project aims to address plastic pollution.

The project is being implemented by the coalition’s secretariat with eight members namely: the Institute for the Development of Educational and Ecological Alternatives Inc., Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc., Zero Waste Baguio, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability, Mother Earth Foundation, Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and the Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment.

“The project was designed to support the 2023-2028 goals of the coalition,” Panaligan said.

Its four main strategies are: 1) Eliminate single-use plastic; 2) Overcome corporateled barriers to plastic production; 3) Institutionalize reuse and 4) Build the power of coalition members, Panaligan told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on September 10.

Searca bioplastics

HEIR bioplastics project made from shrimp shells and mango waste landed the University of San Carlos (USC) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) in the global spotlight.

A video featuring the Searca Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions (GRAINS)-funded project of Cebu City-based USC was named one of the Top 10 entries in the prestigious Nature Awards for the Science in Shorts filmmaking competition.

This recognition shines a spotlight on groundbreaking work in sustainable agriculture, with the Searca x USC entry competing against 250 global submissions.

The winning video, titled “Unusually sustainable–bioplastics from shrimp shells plus mango waste!” introduces an innovative approach to tackling plastic pollution by creating biodegradable bioplastics from shrimp shells and mango waste.

This eco-friendly, low-carbon solution is a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics and addresses one of the most pressing environmental issues of today.

The project was led by Dr. Francis Siacor of USC with financial support from Searca GRAINS, which funds innovative agricultural research projects, supports knowledge sharing, and facilitates partnerships to accelerate the adoption of sustainable technologies.

Project background

LEONORA Lava of PRRM cited the increasing plastic consumption worldwide, with nearly every industry corporation and community relying on it.

She is also the project manager of Plastic Free Pilipinas Project, which is currently in phase 2 of implementation and funded by the Plastic Solution Fund, The project is being implemented in Davao, Cebu, Pangasinan, Baguio, and Cavite.

In Cavite, the project is being implemented by the PRRM and the Cavite Green Coalition, an environmental group cofounded by the PRRM.

The research on the scoping of alternative packaging materials is part of the deliverables for the Plastic Free Pilipinas, Phase 2 project.

This project has four major strategies: 1) overcoming corporate-led barriers; 2) intitutionalizing reuse; 3) empowering members; and 4) ensuring the successful, long-term, and measurable reduction of specific types of single-use plastics, as well as laying a strong foundation for a sustainable shift to, or in some cases, the recreation of an economy based on reuse.

Growing plastic consumption, pollution

THE consumption of plastic is increasing worldwide, with nearly every industry, corporation and community reliant on it.

According to the study, the increase of plastics in the environment is predominantly attributed to their inert properties,

resulting in a slow degradation rate, and improper disposal.

Single-use plastics constitute approximately 36 percent of the total plastic production.

Since plastic is disposable and is produced in large volumes, single-use plastics are the most visible and problematic type of plastic pollution.

It has been identified as one of the “biggest environmental challenges of this lifetime,” due to its persistent nature and high pollution rate in the environment.

According to the World Bank Group (2021), the Philippines uses 163 million sachets per day, generates 2.7 million tons of plastic waste annually, and an estimated 20 percent of this waste ends up in the ocean.

Study findings, farmers’ proposals

THE scoping study was conducted by Batch 2024 interns from Cavite State University (CvSU), namely Azalea Patricsse C. Arbues, Raymond Malik A. Mallari, and Judy Mae C. Penis.

Farmers, according to the researchers, have their idea of alternative packaging.

The farmers have proposed replacing plastic packaging with materials—such as banana, taro, coconut and bamboo leaves.

They believe coconut leaves are a particularly versatile option.

“Once properly treated and painted, these leaves can be woven into bags of various sizes,” the study said.

Another commonly used material is bamboo. Its skins are often woven into

from shrimp shells, mango waste win global accolade

USC’s bioplastics project exemplifies how GRAINS nurtures agricultural solutions that have both environmental and societal impact.

The USC project highlights the

role of circular agriculture in waste management.

By transforming discarded materials into bioplastics, the project not only mitigates plastic pollution but also adds

value to agricultural waste products.

This aligns with Searca’s mission of advancing agricultural innovation and fostering sustainable development.

The Nature Awards for Science in Shorts is a global competition that encourages researchers to communicate complex scientific ideas through creative and concise videos.

The competition showcases the importance of science communication to bridge the gap between research and public understanding.

USC’s entry was celebrated at the Curious2024 Future Insight Conference in Mainz, Germany, where the Top 10 films were premiered.

“This recognition is a testament to the potential of agricultural research in addressing global challenges like plastic pollution, Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio, of Searca Center, said.

He added: “We are proud to support projects like this through GRAINS to accelerate the adoption of groundbreaking technologies that benefit both people and the planet.”

Atty. Eric Reynoso, Searca Program head for Emerging Innovation and Growth, said the Top 10 distinction showcased the potential of local research to make a significant impact on the global stage.

The Top 10 videos, including the Searca-funded USC entry, are available for viewing on the official Nature Awards Science in Shorts platform.

purses and baskets.

Unfortunately, farmers generally purchase bamboo from other municipalities rather than cultivatw it locally.

Taro leaves were also suggested as an alternative for packaging. The research participants recalled that their parents used to craft objects from taro leaves, but these skills have not been passed down to the next generation, leading to its decline.

Meanwhile, banana leaves have traditionally been used for packaging, but they present several challenges like the tendency to disintegrate, making them less reliable for crafting.

As a result, although remaining an option, the use of banana leaves for sustainable packaging is considered impractical.

Mature technology

CvSU’s Mallari said many materials can be used as plstic substitute

“Other countries are already processing these materials which can be alternatives to plastics,” he said.

Mallari said government focus is needed to develop agricultural wastes, starting with establishing a database.

For instance, he said, banana leaves and trunks can be processed to produce fiber for alternative packaging materials.

Lava said Filipinos already have the skills and the indigenous technology even before plastics started to dominate the market.

She cited that bamboo has been developed and used by Filipinos as a water container.

“The Department of Science and Technology already has matured technology that can

be used for nature-based and biodegradable alternative packaging materials,” she said.

“The question is how are you going to develop and advance the technology for production of packaging materials,” Lava pointed out.

Alternative packaging, containers

IN upland areas, Arbues said agricultural wastes from bananas and pineapple go to waste for for vermicompost.

CvSU’s Penis was sad to say that in Cavite, passing the indigenous knowledge from the older generation seemed to have stopped.

“They see traditional packaging as no longer practical because of the competition. Private companies sell cheaper and easy-to-produce packaging, compared to [hand-crafted] indigenous packaging,” she said partly in Filipino.

She said some parents have discouraged their children to learn the skills, saying that producing baskets and other indigenous products from plants are not financially rewarding.

But with the worsening plastic woes, some farmers are now looking at naturebased alternatives to plastic packaging. She said farmers are even “excited” with the idea of the government developing a technology that will help them benefit from these agricultural wastes.

Celebrating Filipino Heritage PRRM’s Lava added that from generation to generation, the skills and craftsmanship of Indigenous people have kept the culture and tradition alive, adding that producing the baskets ,like “bayong” land other bags. from indigenous materials, should be sustained as a way of celebrating Filipino heritage.

For his part, Mallari said collaboration between stakeholders is needed, such as local government units nongovernment organizations, and farmers’ organizations. In Cavite, he said there’s a need to strengthen the policy in banning plastic packaging to encourage the government and private sector to work on alternatives to plastic packaging and, hopefully, reduce plastic production and pollution.

Mallari said there is a need to intensify awareness-building about the ills of plastic.

“On the part of the government, they should support those who are into the production of the alternative packaging materials to encourage them to produce environment-friendly materials and promote them instead of plastics,” he pointed out.

PHL eagle in Bukidnon shows gun shot injury

DAVAO CITY—A juvenile Philippine Eagle that was rescued in Bukidnon had a wing injury apparently caused by a gun shot, a veterinarian treating the eagle said.

“It is improbable that the eagle sustained this type of compound fracture and wound solely from a fall from the nest,” said Dr. Bayani Vandenbroeck, veterinary consultant of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), who treated the injured eagle.

He said a “more plausible explanation is that the eagle was shot with a high-powered firearm using large ammunition, such as a marble gun or shotgun which caused the extensive bone fragmentation in the wing at the point of impact”.

The Philippine Eagle was rescued from the Bagalbal Forest in the Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park in Valencia City, Bukidnon, on August 31, Volunteers on routine forest patrol tracked the bird’s desperate call. The bird, estimated to be around six to seven months old, was found perching on a tree and calling out loudly due to apparent distress and starvation.

The volunteers put out a distress call and alerted the City Environment and Natural Resources Office in the municipality of Valencia.

The PEF and local environmental agencies also responded to the distress call of the Bantay Lasang Volunteers, who discovered the young eagle.

The eagle was also found dehydrated and emaciated, requiring immediate medical attention.

PEF’s Senior Animal Keeper Dominic Tadena and Biologist Julia Lynne Allong assisted local veterinarians in stabilizing the bird before transporting it to Davao City for further care.

The eagle’s condition was critical, and upon arrival at Bayani’s Animal Wellness Center in Davao City, it was determined that the wing injury was necrotic, necessitating amputation.

The surgery was successfully performed, and the bird was placed under close observation, with hopes for a full recovery.

The PEF said an investigation was underway to determine the exact cause of the eagle’s injuries, with authorities considering both accidental and intentional harm as possible causes.

“The Philippine Eagle Foundation remains committed to safeguarding the future of this critically endangered species,” it added.

“We commend the swift and very professional response of our community, LGU [local government unit], and DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] colleagues from Valencia City because this prompt action certainly saved the life of the poor eaglet”, said Dennis I. Salvador, PEF’s executive director. “

“But while we commend the prompt action of our partners, we are also deeply distressed by the continued persecution of our National Bird in the wild. Each individual counts, and we all need to work together to stop this [endangering the life of the Philippine eagle],” he added. Manuel T. Cayon

“After confirming the eagle’s identity, a composite rescue team was dispatched, and the eagle was secured and transported to KJT Veterinary Services in Valencia City for emergency treatment,” the PEF said. Upon examination, the bird was found to have a severe wing injury, which was likely caused by either a hard fall or blunt force trauma.

AN ordinary plastic is shown on the left, while the other is a bioplastic made from shrimp shells and mango waste, a project of the University of San Carlos and funded by Searca. SCREENSHOT FROM SEARCA FACEBOOK PAGE

Sports

B8 Sunday, SeptemBer 15, 2024

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

‘Sonny B’ guest of honor in PBAPC annual awards

TPlay in Guadalajara and ride a chopper

GUADALAJARA, México—Guadalajara is known around the world as the birthplace of tequila and mariachi

HE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Press Corps holds its 30th Annual Awards Night on September 24 at the Novotel Manila with no less than former commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios gracing the event as guest of honor. Barrios was deputy to the late commissioner Emilio “Jun” Bernardino for a long time, before finally ascending as chief of Asia’s pioneering pro league in 2008. He reconnects with his PBA family during the two-hour formal gathering that will honor the top achievers of Season 48. After leaving the league in 2010, he continued to work with the PBA hierarchy as executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP),

his retirement early this year. The press corps, headed by Vladi Eduarte of the Abante Group of Publishing, will present the Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan Coach of the Year trophy as well as the Danny Floro Executive of the Year award. A Lifetime Achievement Award will also be handed out by the men and women who cover the PBA beat for the second consecutive edition. Also to be presented are the President’s Award, Defensive Player of the Year, William “Bogs” Adornado Comeback Player of the Year, Scoring Champion, Mr. Quality Minutes, AllRookie Team, Game of the Season and Order of Merit winner. Special citations will also be given out, while members of the PBA family who passed away in the previous season

To avoid a

traffic

around the

Panamericano de Tenis,

in Zapopan, a Guadalajara suburb, tournament organizers offer players helicopter rides from the hotel to the venue. Players can also book rides from the airport to their hotel.

PHL set to host eFIBA Season 3 World Finals

Tthe only WTA event to offer this regular service.”

Besides getting a chance to watch one of three largest cities in the country from above, players also get the benefit of a quicker way to get to the venue, either for practice or for their matches. The distance between the hotel

“We wanted to something extra for the players,” tournament director Gustavo Santoscoy said. “Players

HE Philippines will host the showpiece 2024 eFIBA World Finals on December 11 and 12 featuring best eight nations, the wWrld basketball body announced recently from its headquarters in Mies.

The conclusion of eFIBA Season

3 will be held at the SMX Clark Convention Center in Clark with regional champions from Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North and South America and Oceania seeing action with runners-up from Europe.

“Clark has already held multi-sport events, including the Southeast Asian Games in 2019,” Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio said. “Now we’re excited to host the Season 3 eFIBA World Finals here.

“We felt that Clark was the perfect place for this event as participants  can enjoy world-class amenities in a more relaxed, laidback vibe with our usual Filipino hospitality,” Panlilio added.

and the venue is nearly 11 kilometers. Depending on the traffic conditions, the trip could take between 30 and 40 minutes. In the helicopter it takes four minutes, according to pilot Martin Guevara.

“To be honest, for me they are like any other passenger. I treat everyone the same way, but I can say that it seems like they enjoy the rides,” said Guevara. “Some of them are very friendly and nice.”

The number of daily flights varies from day by day, but according to Guevara, he does nearly 10 flights per day and moves around 40 players.

The WTA 500 in Guadalajara tournament began Monday and will end on Sunday.

“It’s been a great experience, I

won the silver medal at the Paris 2024

at the beginning, it was so hot, bit to have some air. I guess I

company that provides the services, said that players

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said:

“It’s an exciting prospect to be having this season’s eFIBA World Finals in the Philippines since we all know the passion the country has for our sport.”

“This was one more time confirmed last year at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and now we can’t wait to see the most high-profile eFIBA event taking place there, too,” Zagklis added.

A total of 40 players will fight it out on the PlayStation 5 with the newly-released NBA 2K25 for the eFIBA world champion crown and a share of the $50,000 prize pool as they try to succeed current holders USA, which took the honors last season in Sweden.

The competition will see all eight teams playing against each other in two groups with the top two teams from each pool progressing to the semifinals. Classification games will also be played and tip-off times will be made available at a later

the players’ seatbelts and secure the doors to make sure nothing like Vekic experienced happens again.

“We have a great city, with good hotels, restaurants, awesome food and players even like to take small tours around, some of them to Tequila,” Santoscoy said of the chopper shuttle. “We are trying very hard to make them feel welcome and for them to come back every year.”

Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, Americans coming off career-best Grand Slam runs at the US Open, meanwhile, will play each other in an exhibition event at Madison Square Garden on December 4 that also will feature four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz against Ben Shelton.

The lineup for The Garden Cup was announced Thursday. It marks the first tennis event since 2018 at MSG, home to the National Basketball Association’s Knicks and National Hockey League’s Rangers.

Pegula reached her first Grand Slam final at Flushing Meadows before losing to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 7-5 on Saturday. Navarro defeated defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the US Open en route to getting to the semifinals, where she lost to Sabalenka.

Both Pegula, at No. 3, and Navarro, at No. 8, are in the top 10 of the WTA rankings this week.

Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon this season but bowed out last month in the second round of the US Open, which he won in 2022 for his first Grand Slam trophy.

Shelton’s best showing at a major was his semifinal appearance in New York last year; he lost to fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the third round this time. AP

calling. Charissa Thompson gave him a couple of shoutouts when she broke in with score updates on the game between Tampa Bay, one of his former teams, and the Washington Commanders.

Burkhardt joked during another on-screen appearance that he paid extra attention to his hair because he knew there would be more shots of the broadcast booth.

“I do what they tell me. I understand that,” Brady said with a chuckle. “I’m still a rookie in here.”

To the viewers, that was obvious.

Brady’s commentary was knowledgeable, as expected, but also lacking in personality—no Tony Romo anticipating the next play, no John Madden with his “Boom!” and turducken, not even the quarter-zip sweaters that make Peyton Manning stand out from the dozens or hundreds of other ex-jocks who joined the media when their playing careers were over.

There were awkward laughs, a cringey fist bump with rules analyst Mike Pereira and a lot of calling players by their first

Ulanday re-elected collegiate media president

THE Philippine Star’s John Bryan Ulanday was reelected president of the Collegiate Press Corps (CPC), an organization of scribes covering the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

John Remil Isaga of Rappler was also elected vice president for the UAAP and GMA News Online’s Justin Kenneth Carandang for the NCAA in the exercise held recently at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

One Sports’ Lui Morales was elected vice president for internal affairs while Malaya Business Insight’s Abby Toralba kept her post as secretary.

Named members of the board are People’s Journal’s Theodore Jurado, Manila Standard’s Peter Atencio, GMA News Online’s Bea Micaller, Inquirer.net’s Lance

Agcaoili and Daily Tribune’s Mark Escarlote.

Ulanday first term was marked with breakthrough program among them the inclusion of outstanding volleyball players in the annual awards, Player of the Week honors and the CPC Outreach Program for orphans. The sportswriting workshop and contest for campus journalists will also revived by the organization supported by the Discovery Suites and Tinapayan Festival. Ulanday said the CPC also plans a Super Six award for volleyball alongside the staple Mythical Team in basketball in the group’s awards night next year.

Named advisers were former presidents Randolph Leongson of Cignal, Norman Lee Benjamin Riego of Spin.ph, Joey Villar of The Philippine STAR and Camille Naredo of ABS-CBN News.

names (along with an unnecessarily deferential reference to “Coach McCarthy”).

Brady declined to call out Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper when a pass went through his hands in the fourth quarter and made excuses for the Browns while trying to find positives in a dreadful performance.

As one X user posted , “Tom Brady is to broadcasting as Michael Jordan is to baseball.”

(Of course Brady, a sixth-round draft pick who spent his first NFL season as the Patriots’ fourth-string quarterback, managed to grow into the quarterbacking thing just fine.)

It didn’t help that the game, which Dallas led 27-3 early in the second half, was headed toward a blowout that would challenge even a veteran broadcaster to hold the audience’s interest. But that’s where Brady was able to deploy his experience as an asset.

“There’s plenty of time left in this game,” said the quarterback who famously led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl 51 against Atlanta. “Just the margin of error’s slim.” On one play, Brady called for Deshaun

Watson

POLAND’S Katarzyna Piter steps off a helicopter for her match at the Guadalajara Open. AP

UNIVERSITY Athletic Association of the Philippines executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag (third from left) administers the oath to (from left) Abby Toralba, JR Isaga, John Bryan Ulanday, Justin Kenneth Carandang, Lui Morales, Mark Escarlote, Lance Agcaoili and Bea Micaller.

Starbucks turns to a celebrity CEO as it struggles to define itself for an era of mobile orders

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

Silent Sanctuary’s ‘homecoming’ promises a new musical frontier

By Bless Aubrey Ogerio

THE stars have aligned to bring Silent Sanctuary back where they first flourished.

After six years of navigating the independent music landscape, the band returns to Universal Records Philippines (UR) — a major homecoming that rekindles their glory days under the label’s banner.

Known for defining the Filipino music scene with their heartfelt ballads and unique string-infused sound, the six-member rock band’s return to UR marks a commitment to reviving its status as a powerhouse in the OPM scene.

“We’re looking forward to many more collaborations for the band. We are also preparing for their major concert next year, although the title has not been announced yet,” UR Managing Director Kathleen Dy-Go announced during the September 9 contract signing.

The band initially joined UR in 2007, producing hit albums like Fuchsiang Pag-ibig (2007) and Mistaken For Granted (2009). This solidified their legacy with songs like “Ikaw Lamang,” “Kundiman,” and “14.”

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Their music journey was not without challenges. From their stint with Ivory Music and Video, Inc. in 2013 to releasing singles under MRU Music in 2017, Silen t Sanctuary eventually went independent in 2018.

“When we tried to go indie, it was quite challenging to promote our songs since we lacked a marketing arm and media support,” Sarkie shared in Filipino. “ We believe in our music, but it felt like it wasn’t enough to push it forward.

“We hope our relationship with UR becomes as good as it was before,” he added.

Ambition meets legacy

SILENT  Sanctuary remains as driven as ever with Sarkie Sarangay (frontman and guitars), Anjo Inacay (cello and backing vocals), Allen Calixto (drums), Kim Mirandilla-Ng (violin), Ronnie Ropal (bass), and Poch Villalon (synthesizers and backing vocals).

But despite dominating music charts and racking up millions of views on their music videos, the frontman believes the band still has not reached their full potential.

“We feel like we haven’t reached our peak yet as musicians,” Sarkie said. “We have many more music projects we want to pursue. We plan to release more albums… we also hope to release vinyl records under Universal Records, including reissues of our old albums and new ones we’ll create.”

To shake things up, they also set their sights on collaborating with other musicians and artists, including the legendary Ely Buendia of Eraserheads. “Jamming with Ely would be a dream come true,”Sarkie declared, mentioning his longtime idol.

Their hits that have stood the test of time are a testament to the band’s enduring relevance. Anjo pointed to a recent surprise boost for their song 14, which was featured in Cong TV’s vlog.

Sarkie recalled that “14,” a heartfelt plea from someone deeply invested in their partner, was the first track he introduced to the band, which was written back in his high school days. “It’s surprising that something I wrote so long ago still resonates with listeners today.”

Social media hype is less of the band’s priorities. They are focused on what truly matters, which is creating music that resonates with their listeners.

Anjo added that even without jumping on trends

like TikTok, the band’s music has maintained its impact. “Our music speaks for itself. Our songs still connect with people and remain relevant.”

No room for ego

TO outgrow petty clashes, Silent Sanctuary has embraced clear communication and mutual respect as core principles.

“Bawal ang matampuhin sa banda,” Sarkie said bluntly. “You need to man up about what you want because everything can be resolved through discussion. It should not be like when there is a problem, someone would just walk out of practice or a meeting.”

Reflecting on their past, Sarkie admitted, “We used to be overly sensitive, tiptoeing around each other. Now, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. Criticism isn’t an attack; it’s part of the process. It’s all about give and take—sometimes with a few drinks thrown in.”

For newcomers Poch, Ronnie, and Kim, joining Silent Sanctuary was seamless. Poch, who previously worked with rockstar Rico Blanco, said he never felt like an outsider. “I already knew Sarkie, Allen, and Anjo from around 2005 or 2006. And Ronnie, my roommate during out-of-town gigs, made sure I felt at home right from the start,” Poch said.

“There was no awkwardness at all. They were incredibly warm and made the first rehearsal a joy. They ensured I was comfortable and helped me with everything I needed, from the chords to the tasks assigned to me,” Ronnie said, echoing the statement.

Kim added, “They welcomed me like family. It’s been nothing short of amazing to work with such kind and accommodating people.”

Evolving sound, same soul

THEY may be known for their signature sounds, but the band is not content to rest on their laurels. Silent  Sanctuary continues to explore genres and introduce modern twists while staying true to its roots.

“We’re experimenting with different genres, like jazz, which isn’t usually popular here in the Philippines. We want to surprise our listeners with evolving sounds while still maintaining our core identity. It’s about finding a balance between innovation and our established style,” Sarkie said.

The frontman shared his struggle with writer’s block, particularly after becoming a family man, “When I was single, I had more freedom to meet new people and gather experiences. Now, with a family, I focus more on personal experiences and emotions.”

This shift, however, has led him to be more conscious of his word choices, pushing him to break away from overused phrases and clichés. Sarkie credited Dong Abay of Yano fame, for inspiring him to improve his songwriting.

“Dong once told me to get a Tagalog dictionary. That advice stuck with me, and I’ve been using it ever since to elevate our lyrics.”

Staying relevant

SILENT  Sanctuary is among the few OPM artists to surpass a hundred million streams, joining notable names like Parokya ni Edgar and Shanti Dope within the label’s roster.

“Thank you so much to our fans. We hope you continue to support us with our new music, just like you did when we first started. Even when we didn’t have an album yet and performed in bars with only a few people watching, your support meant everything to us,” Sarkie said.

Reflecting on his personal journey, Sarkie candidly admitted to the harsh realities of his early career. “One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of health. When we were just starting out, I didn’t think twice about abusing my body—vices, no sleep. Now, I know better.”

His advice to young musicians is simple yet profound: patience and mastery. “If you’ve got ideas for songs that aren’t complete, don’t rush them. Sometimes, forcing a song just makes it feel hollow. Let it breathe until the timing is right.”

“Focus on perfecting your instrument and dedicate yourself fully. This way, when you grow older, you can pass on your knowledge to the next generation,” he added.

When asked which Silent Sanctuary song would they dedicate to themselves, Sarkie chose “Ingat Ka,” a touching farewell song offering warm, personal advice to a loved one about taking care of themselves.

“In general yan—‘Ingat ka sa byahe,’ ‘Ingat ka sa mga sakit-sakit.’”

SILENT Sanctuary.

Photo courtesy of Universal Records Philippines.

ON Sergio Mendes’ website, sergiomendesmusic. com, is a quote that sums up his six-decade career: “There’s a word in English that I love: Serendipity. That’s the story of

‘MAS QUE NADA’: Tripping on Sergio Mendes

ever-changing groups, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66.

The story of how Mendes recorded a cover version of Jorge Ben’s “Mas Que Nada” with a young Lani Hall on lead vocals was a classic case of coincidence and luck.

At the time, Mendes had been actively recording and performing with other talented Brazilian musicians, including Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, and collaborating with American jazz artists such as Stan Getz and Cannonball Adderley. However, Mendes had a problem. He had been doing club gigs in the United States but couldn’t get a good crowd. “I was fired,” he recounted in a video posted on YouTube.

Then he chanced upon Hall, then 21 years old, who was singing in another club, and was impressed. He wanted her to join his band, asked her parents’ permission, and prepared to record a new album.

That was also the time he met Herb Alpert, the “A” in A&M Records, who liked what he heard and proceeded to produce the album dubbed Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, which opened with the track “Mas que Nada.”

The album was a big hit, and Mendes went on to record over 30 more albums and tour extensively worldwide. Alpert would marry Hall, and Mendes would keep discovering new singers and changing band members. What remained constant was, the hits kept coming. What Mendes perfected in his albums was creating a good balance of Brazilianflavored music and classic pop. Many of the songs he recorded were

covers by the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Burt Bacharach, Paul Williams, James Taylor, Johnny Nash, Stevie Wonder, and other stars back in the day. But Mendes transformed these tunes, tweaking them to fit the Sergio Mendes sound — in the process, “owning” them, too.

But there were other covers that stood out like Mendes himself wrote them: Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”; “Like a Lover” (the English version of “O Cantador”); “Pretty World” (Alan Bergman, Antonio Adolfo, Marilyn Bergman, Tiberio Gaspar); “Hey Look at the Sun” (written by Nelson Angelo, recorded by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77); Jobim’s “Waters of March”; “The Trouble with Hello is Goodbye (co-written by Dave Grusin, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman); “Bridges” (Milton Nascimento, Fernando Brant); and “Love City” (Marietta Waters, Stevie Wonder).

In 2006, after an absence of eight years, Mendes recorded Timeless, co-produced with the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am and featuring updated versions of “Mas que Nada” and other tracks, sung by the likes of Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Wonder, will.i.am himself, among others.

It was a wonderful way to refresh the memories of boomers like me, and a cool manner to introduce Mendes to a new generation of music fans.

A few days ago, I listened again to “Mas que Nada” while on the road on Edsa. In my mind I felt transported to a different time and place, not necessarily the past, but more of my mood being uplifted, devoid of stress or any form of worry.

“Mas que Nada,” written entirely in Portuguese, is said to literally mean, “but that is nothing,” or “anyway,” or “whatever.” As for the song itself, heck, who cares what it’s about?

All I know is, it makes me happy, right from the get-go as Mendes strikes the piano keys in successive beats, followed by Hall’s ascending vocals: “Oariá raiô, obá obá obá…”

SERGIO Mendes perfected a good balance of Brazilian-flavored music with classic pop. Photos: AP, File

Starbucks turns to a celebrity CEO as it struggles to define itself for an era of mobile orders

by Dee-Ann Durbin The Associated Press

to Howard Schultz, the chaos he observed at a Starbucks in Chicago one recent morning summed up the troubles of the company he long led as chairman and Ceo

Commuters tumbled off trains and into a Starbucks store to pick up the orders they had placed on their cellphones. Drinks weren’t ready when the mobile app said they would be. Customers couldn’t tell which beverage was theirs.

“Everyone shows up and all of a sudden we’ve got a mosh pit,” Schultz said during a June episode of the podcast “Acquired.” “That’s not Starbucks.”

An experienced marketer now calling the shots

FiFty-thr EE years after its founding, the Seattle coffee giant is unhappy with what it’s become—and trying to figure out how to meet customers’ changing needs without losing its coffeehouse roots. to recapture what once made it special—and turn around sagging sales—Starbucks is turning to Brian Niccol, an experienced marketer who previously led taco Bell and Chipotle.

Niccol takes over as Starbucks’ chairman and chief executive on Monday.

With nearly 40,000 stores around the world, Starbucks feels like it’s on nearly every corner, but its premium prices are a turnoff to many customers who just want a quick jolt of caffeine, analysts say. At a Manhattan Starbucks, a medium Pumpkin Spice Latte is now almost $8.

Even convenience stores like Wawa now offer great coffee, noted Chris Kayes, a professor of management at The George Washington University. Consumers who want a

higher-end coffee experience, meanwhile, are seeking out independent cafes or upscale chains like Blue Bottle.

“From a marketing perspective, Starbucks has really lost its way,” Kayes said.

Kayes called Niccol a highly regarded “celebrity CEO” who has proven he can turn around a struggling company. When Niccol arrived at Chipotle in 2018, the Mexican chain was reeling from multiple food poisoning outbreaks. Five years later, its annual sales had nearly doubled.

Since he was named Starbucks’ incoming CEO on August 13, Niccol has been visiting U.S. stores, listening to baristas and observing the challenges the brand is facing, Starbucks said.

“We look forward to the fresh ideas that Brian will bring to our business,” the company said in a statement.

A tough concoction

Str EAMLiNiNG Starbucks’ menu is key to eliminating the kind of disarray, Schultz reported seeing in Chicago, said Phil Kafarakis, president and CEO of the international Foodservice Manufacturers’ Association trade group. Niccol needs to figure out who Starbucks’ core customers are, what they like to drink and then start trimming the excess, Kafarakis said.

Because of the many ways patrons can customize their drinks, Starbucks baristas are tasked with making around 100,000 different variations on a consistent basis, Schultz said in the June podcast. Drinks are iced, blended, foamed, shaken and flavored. Starbucks lists 11 different kinds of cream-

ers and milks on its U.S. website.

“They really have created innovation. They have been very progressive. But the problem is, it’s gotten complicated,” Kafarakis said. “Some poor human being has to make all those.”

New drinks can also muddy Starbucks’ messaging. Six years ago, the company announced an environmental milestone: it would eliminate single-use plastic straws globally by 2020. But this summer, singleuse plastic straws were back, tucked into Starbucks’ new cold boba drinks.

Starbucks said the new straws are made of compostable plastic. But the Ocean Conservancy, which once praised Starbucks as a “shining example” for eliminating singleuse straws, said many composting systems aren’t equipped to manage compostable plastics. Companies should move away from disposables altogether, the conservancy said.

Even as the beverages have gotten more complex—down to the number of flavor pumps each customer prefers or the amount of caramel drizzle they want on their Frappuccino—baristas have come under pressure to make them more quickly. Almost 75 percent of Starbucks’ orders now come through Starbucks’ mobile app, drive-thru windows or delivery partners like DoorDash. Fewer customers linger in stores.

Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista and union organizer, said her Buffalo, New york store no longer has the chill coffeehouse vibe it had when she started in 2010 (see related story—Ed). Eisen said Starbucks recently added new brewing machines and workstations to help baristas prepare drinks, but the number of workers has remained stagnant or fallen at many stores.

“They’re adding channels but not adding the bodies they need to keep up with that,” she said. “Orders are coming in and there simply isn’t the manpower to produce them.”

As a result, Starbucks has fallen behind some rivals in service delivery times. in a recent US survey, the restaurant consulting firm technomic found that 77 percent of

customers at Caribou Coffee reported getting their order in five minutes or less. At Starbucks, that number was 62 percent.

Starbucks Jesus? ‘He’s the Ryan Reynolds of CEOs’

At Chipotle, Niccol streamlined store operations to shorten wait times, beefed up marketing and lured customers back with limited-time menu items. remaking Starbucks could be much more difficult. it has many more stores and varying challenges around the world, including low-cost competitors in China and ongoing boycotts in the Middle East.

But Starbucks’ board clearly thinks Niccol has the expertise to chart a new course. Under his generous contract, Niccol could make well in excess of $100 million in his first year at Starbucks. he will continue to live in California and commute to Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters using a corporate jet, a perk that seems to run counter to Starbucks’ goal to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030.

“he’s the ryan reynolds of CEOs,” Kayes said. “They’re paying a lot up front but expecting a return at the box office.”

Eisen, the Buffalo barista, said she was surprised by Starbucks’ decision to bring in Niccol less than two years after it hired former CEO Laxman Narasimhan. But she hopes he will work with the union to improve staffing.

Nearly 500 company-owned U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late 2021. Starbucks and its union, Workers United, have pledged to try to reach a labor agreement by the end of the year.

But Niccol could take a harder line on unionization. When a Chipotle in Maine filed a petition to unionize in 2022, Chipotle closed it. The National Labor relations Board later said Chipotle violated federal labor law and ordered the company to pay restitution to its former employees in Maine.

“it appears Starbucks has invested a lot in this new CEO,” Eisen said. “i hope they want to invest that attention in resources in us.”

New Starbucks CEO wants to recapture the coffeehouse vibe

IN an open letter on the Seattle coffee giant’s website, new chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said Starbucks is a beloved brand but that he found during conversations with employees and customers over the past few weeks a “shared sense that we have drifted from our core.”

Starbucks’ sales have fallen this year due to weaker U.S. store traffic and other issues, including rising competition in China and boycotts in the Middle East.

Niccol said improving the store experience for both baristas and customers will help turn that around.

“Many of our customers still experience this magic every day, but in some places—especially in the US— we aren’t always delivering,” said Niccol, who was named Starbucks’ CEO in August but officially started the job on Monday. “ i t can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too

long or the handoff too hectic. t hese moments are opportunities for us to do better.”

Niccol said the company “founded on a love for high quality coffee” needs to make sure baristas have the proper tools and time to make drinks and personally deliver them to customers. h e also said Starbucks needs to ensure it’s meeting the needs of morning customers.

“This means delivering outstanding

drinks and food, on time, every time,” Niccol said.

Coffee is the heart of the company, Niccol said, and Starbucks’ marketing should remind customers of its coffee expertise. That may have been a subtle dig at recent product introductions at Starbucks, including bubble tea and energy drinks.

Niccol said he plans to spend his first 100 days in Starbucks’ stores and support centers and meeting with suppliers. AP

n Cover photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

BRiAn niCCol, named the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks on August 13, 2024, is shown during an interview on June 9, 2015, in new York. AP