BusinessMirror April 02, 2023

‘INEVITABLE EXTINCTION’

Manila’s colorful jeepneys make way for carbon-free minibuses

Calonzo

Price too high?

who need

more financial support to make the shift, putting at risk the country’s goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 75 percent by the end of the decade from 2020 levels.

Only

according to official data.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, has given drivers until the end of the year to form or join cooperatives to help them fund the transition or risk losing their permits to operate.

The mandate is a major worry for drivers like Roger del Monte, who returned to Manila’s roads last year after the pandemic halted his main source of income for almost two years.

Jeepney drivers like him typically earn about P650 ($12) a

day, putting the cost of a modern jeepney—which can go for as much as P2.8 million—far out of reach.

“We won’t be able to shoulder the cost,” the 46-year-old said as he waited for passengers to board the rickety jeepney he’s driven for seven years so he could send his two children to school. “We’ll be deep in debt.”

‘King’s’ sunset CALLED the “king of the road” because of their bulky frames, flashy designs and notoriously aggressive

Funding dilemma

THE problem for the Marcos administration is finding the money to back up its green plans. State resources remain scarce as the economy recovers from a Covid-induced slowdown.

The government currently offers a subsidy of P160,000 per jeepney, and didn’t set aside funding specifically for the jeepney modernization program in this year’s budget.

Last year, it allocated P1.8 billion for subsidies and social safety programs for drivers—a fraction of the P64.2 billion that the land transport agency estimates is needed to raise the subsidy per jeepney to P360,000.

What about the funding, infra?

drivers, jeepneys are the cheapest mode of transport for many of the Philippines’ 110 million people. The 20-seater vehicles, often decorated with graffiti-inspired spray paint, evolved from the army jeeps used during World War II and run on diesel, one of the dirtiest fuels available.

A study from De La Salle University in Manila said replacing old models in the capital may reduce carbon monoxide and dangerous particulate matter emissions by 90 percent.

“THIS is torture for drivers,” said Modesto Floranda, who heads Piston, one of the transport groups that organized a strike against the jeepney modernization policy this month. Some 900,000 drivers may lose their jobs if the government removes old jeepneys from roads, he warned. “The government left us on our own to carry out this program.”

The government’s end goal is to transition drivers to zero-emission electric vehicles, but the Philippines still lacks sufficient charging infrastructure.

It’s more common right now for those able to make the shift to buy

Kim’s rare display of nuclear warheads sends chilling message

By Jon Herskovitz & Jeong-Ho Lee Bloomberg News

North Korea’s propaganda apparatus released photos for the first time in several years of Kim inspecting warheads designed for missiles to strike US allies in Asia and deliver a nuclear bomb to the American mainland.

Weapons experts said the images published this week indicate Pyongyang has made progress in miniaturizing its warheads, which increases its ability to deliver a nuclear strike.

The warhead display comes as Kim’s regime has shifted from onetime tests of a missile to evaluate performance to exercises that show it can deliver a coordinated nuclear strike on short notice.

At this point, North Korea’s nuclear capabilities may have reached a stage where the US may not be able to offer enough incentives to roll them back.

“Kim has conditioned the international community into accepting his country’s nuclear weapons, to the point that these missile launches have become routine and part-and-parcel of dealing with

North Korea,” said Soo Kim, a former Korea analyst at the CIA who is now a policy practice area lead at US-based management consulting firm LMI.

‘Fire and fury’

“AS odd as it sounds, it’s reached a point where it’s hard for us to fathom ‘life without North Korean nuclear weapons’ now,” she added.

The Biden administration has repeatedly told Pyongyang the door is open to resume long-stalled nuclear talks. But Kim’s regime has rebuffed the offers and stepped up its provocations to levels not seen since the “fire and fury” days of nuclear and missile tests in 2017 as it demands the US halt joint military drills with its allies in the region.

North Korea’s ability to deliver a nuclear strike has grown to the point that there are calls by some policy experts to declare the country a nuclear weapons state. The change would lead to a revamp of a decades-old US policy aimed at preventing that from happening, while seeking the complete, veri-

fiable and irreversible end of its atomic arsenal. There’s no sign the Biden administration would make such a declaration.

Show of nuke capability

IN the meantime, North Korea has pressed forward. In March, it started testing mock nuclear devices affixed to missiles that could reach all of South Korea and western parts of Japan.

It has released photos of detonations several hundred meters above a target, saying the tests verified “the operational reliability of

nuclear explosion control devices and detonators.”

To be sure, while North Korea has demonstrated its missiles could fly as far as the US, there are questions as to whether the warheads would remain intact upon atmospheric re-entry and reach their targets.

North Korea is estimated to have about 80 to 90 warheads, the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said in a paper released in January, adding that Kim Jong Un was looking to have between 100 to 300 over the long term. The arsenal is the smallest among states that have declared they have nuclear weapons, but Kim has been modernizing his missiles and delivery systems to ensure his bombs could reach their targets.

The recent warhead display showed size improvements—and possibly design advances—over prior North Korean nuclear weapons, according to George William Herbert, an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Improved engineering

IN addition, it appears North Korea is looking to repackage its weapons designs so that they can be mounted on its latest missiles, he said.

“Having one design that is adaptable to many different delivery platforms is a very efficient engineering step, and one they likely can continue in the future,” Herbert said via email.

North Korea also released a photo of Kim standing in front of a poster showing the various missiles for which the warheads could be used. “The particular weapons in that room were probably all mockups, but their assertion that they’re building many and will deploy them on the many types of delivery systems is credible,” he said.

One area of worry could come from North Korea making advances to miniaturize its peanut-shaped thermonuclear device, which could be mounted in more types of weapons and increase the detonation power of a nuclear blast.

Another worry would be an imminent test of the new nuclear devices. North Korea has been the

only country this century to conduct physical detonations of nuclear weapons. Other nuclear powers use computer simulations for testing the efficiency of their devices.

Satellite imagery has indicated for more than a year that North Korea is ready to hold a nuclear test at its mountainous Punggye-ri site, where it has conducted all six of its previous tests. But Kim has held off—perhaps for technical reasons or perhaps not to pile pressure on his state’s biggest benefactor, China, which has received calls from around the world to rein in Pyongyang after previous tests.

The US, Japan and South Korea have all pledged a tough and coordinated response to any nuclear test. But years of sanctions have done little to slow North Korea’s weapons program and it’s hard to see what leverage really remains.

Preparing for the next test?

JAPAN’S foreign minister is planning to visit China this weekend in the first such trip in about three years, Kyodo News and other local media reported, for talks that could include discussions about North Korea. There’s also little chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, would support any measures against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests.

Kim’s visit to the warhead facility may indicate a test could come sooner rather than later. When the North Korean leader made a similar visit to a warhead facility in August 2017, his state set off its most powerful nuclear device just a few days later.

Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in South Korea, said the newly revealed nuclear warheads appear to be extremely compact and much lighter than the ones from the previous tests.

“So, a verification process is still necessary to confirm if they can function properly in real situations,” he said. “North Korea needs to confirm this for themselves while enhancing their strategic visibility by showing it to the outside world.”

EXTINCTION’

minibuses with “Euro-4 compliant” diesel engines, which have catalytic converters that are more efficient at filtering out pollutants such as sulfur and carbon monoxide.

Success stories

THOSE who have taken the plunge tout the benefits to their health and income. Elisio Estoque, who plies a regular route between the capital and nearby Rizal province, said he earns more after switching to a white Euro 4-compliant minibus due to its bigger capacity.

The vehicle belongs to a co-operative, which pays Estoque a fixed P750 daily wage and takes the rest of his earnings.

“I get to ride an air-conditioned vehicle in this heat,” said 44-year-old Estoque, “and I am not exposed to smoke outside.”

Helen Viloria, who manages a cooperative in the capital, said her group had to take out loans from a state bank to fund its fleet of 52 jeepneys. The government should give them more subsidies as well, she said. “Drivers will not be able to do this alone.”

The Marcos administration should also consider pilot-testing the program with local governments that are more prepared, said Reycel Hyacenth Bendaña from Move As One Coalition, a civil society group pushing for safer transport.

Marcos has said his govern-

ment will review the program until December, and make sure that transport workers won’t carry additional burden. “We have to make sure that no one loses livelihood because he or she can’t afford a vehicle,” he said.

While the government has good intentions, putting the cost on drivers and operators from the poor and lower-middle classes is “not acceptable,” said Antonio La Viña, associate director for climate policy at research group Manila Observatory. He suggested that officials try to get financing from developed countries to advance the program.

“We can’t transition well to a green economy if we don’t do it in a just manner.”

WHILE the US has long demanded North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, the regime’s biggest display of warheads let the world know that Kim Jong Un has no intention of abandoning his atomic arsenal.

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects what it says is the unmanned underwater nuclear attack craft Haeil, which was tested during exercises held from March 21 to 23, 2023, in North Korea. KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY/KOREA NEWS SERVICE VIA AP

A JMC Costar n6 modern public utility vehicle at the Manila Commercial Vehicle Show, July 9, 2022. WALTER ERIC SY DREAMSTIME.COM

Amid strained US ties, China finds unlikely friend in Utah

By Alan Suderman & Sam Metz The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY—China’s global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world’s most powerful communist country.

An investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its US-based advocates spent years building relationships with the state’s officials and lawmakers. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didn’t like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government’s image. Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the US and its western allies have turned acrimonious. US officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijing’s success in Utah shows “how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

“Utah is an important foothold,” he said. “If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.”

Security experts say that China’s campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers’ affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the state’s dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Beijing’s campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP he’s been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

‘Deceptive and coercive’

BEIJING’S interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the US in 2015 that “without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.”

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China “values its relationship with Utah” and any “words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.”

It is not unusual for countries, including the US, to engage in local diplomacy. US officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the US intelligence community reported that China is “redoubling” its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level.

Beijing believes, the report said, that “local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.”

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about “deceptive and coercive” Chinese influence operations. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to “cultivate talent early—often state and local officials—to ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijing’s agenda.”

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the US and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and China’s tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered

and shot down in US airspace.

Legislative and PR victories US officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and e-mails obtained through public records’ requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinesefunded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislation’s sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by US national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards they’d sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to “become young ‘ambassadors’ for Sino-American friendship.”

E-mails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students’ Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by statecontrolled media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: “Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. He’s so cool!”

Portraying China’s most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xi’s letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he “couldn’t help but think how amazing it was” that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a “remarkable” letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xi’s letter “was so kind and so personal.”

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are “essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party” and legitimizing their ideas and narratives.

“Statements like these are exactly what China’s goal is for influence campaigns,” he said.

Spy agency interest

CHINA’S interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education. US officials have noted that China’s civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent he’d been tasked by his spy handlers “to meet people, some American friends.” He was baptized at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent he’d “been going to Utah more often lately” before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former US intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China. Hansen said China’s spy service had tasked him with assessing various US politicians’ views towards China. The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organize the first ever annual US-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. The US State Department cancelled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

‘Utah is not like Washington D.C.’

THE AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on China and host organizations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, they’ve forged relationships

with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijing’s agenda.

“Utah is not like Washington D.C.,” then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. “Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.”

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him “bullish” about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

“It’s a trip not worth taking,” Hughes said.

Utah doesn’t require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so it’s difficult to determine lawmaker’s financial ties to China. Some of Utah’s most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Sen. Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he “had clients in China—a dozen at times—some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.”

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah.

“China’s not going anywhere. China’s going to be a world force. They’re going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavor,” he said.

Ties forged by two Utah residents MANY of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organizations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to e-mails and interviews.

In reviewing the AP’s findings, legal experts said the men’s connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

“If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure,” said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted to the Mormon faith in 1990.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job—as a paid representative of China’s Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding “sister” relationship with Utah.

Le’s advocacy continued after he said he left Liaoning’s payroll, e-mails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with China’s ambassador to the US, Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

“I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home,” Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. “You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.”

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams

thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, e-mails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in e-mail to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work “tirelessly” on the request until it was fulfilled.

Religious sales pitch

A HALLMARK of Le’s approach is to utilize his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his e-mails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the church’s presidentprophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, China’s diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, e-mails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the state’s overall identity. Many of the state’s residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utah’s public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programs.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning China’s welldocumented and brutal crackdown of its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the church’s founder,

Joseph Smith Jr.

“Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports,” Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

China’s ‘advantages’

LE has served as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department—a Chinese Communist Party organization the US government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

“I deeply feel the advantages of China’s system,” Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

“I don’t consider myself a lobbyist because I’m not a lobbyist. I’m just someone who cherishes the relationship between the US and China,” Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

“I do believe he’s lobbying,” Adams said. “He advocates very hard on China.”

Lawmaker’s son turned China advocate ANOTHER Utah resident whom lawmakers said

regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

E-mails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

“I’ve heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritizing their relationship with Utah,” Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Sen. Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomat’s efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the state’s senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda. Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolution’s origins.

“It seemed rather innocuous to me,”

Continued on A4

The World

Russia stops sharing missile test information with US, opens drills

By Vladimir Isachenkov The Associated Press

MOSCOW—Russia

$3 trillion threat to global financial markets looms

By Ruth Carson, Masaki Kondo & Michael Mackenzie

BANK of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda changed the course of global markets when he unleashed a $3.4 trillion fire hose of Japanese cash on the investment world. Now Kazuo Ueda is likely to dismantle his legacy, setting the stage for a flow reversal that risks sending shockwaves through the global economy.

Just over a week before a momentous leadership change at the BOJ, investors are gearing up for the seemingly inevitable end to a decade of ultra-low interest rates that punished domestic savers and sent a wall of money overseas. The exodus accelerated after Kuroda moved to suppress bond yields in 2016, culminating in a mountain of offshore investments worth more than two-thirds of Japan’s economy.

All this risks unraveling under the new governor Ueda, who may have little choice but to end the world’s boldest easy-money experiment just as rising interest rates elsewhere are already jolting the international banking sector and threatening financial stability. The stakes are enormous: Japanese investors are the biggest foreign holders of US government bonds and own everything from Brazilian debt to European power stations to bundles of risky loans stateside.

An increase in Japan’s borrowing costs threatens to amplify the swings in global bond markets, which are being rocked by the Federal Reserve’s year-long campaign to combat inflation and the new danger of a credit crunch. Against this backdrop, tighter monetary policy by the BOJ is likely to intensify scrutiny of its country’s lenders in the wake of recent bank turmoil in the US and Europe.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington under the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the US after suspending its participation in it last month.

Along with the data about the current state of the countries’ nuclear forces routinely released every six months in compliance with the New START treaty, the parties also have exchanged advance warnings about test launches and deployments of their nuclear weapons. Such notices have been an essential element of strategic stability for decades, allowing Russia and the United States to correctly interpret each other’s moves and make sure that neither country mistakes a test launch for a missile attack.

The termination of information exchanges under the pact marks yet another attempt by the Kremlin to discourage the West from ramping up its support for Ukraine by pointing to Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal. In recent days, President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of Moscow’s ally Belarus.

Putin suspended the New START treaty last month, saying Russia can’t accept US inspections of its nuclear sites under the agreement at a time when Washington and its Nato allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized that it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ryabkov’s statement indicated Moscow’s intention to terminate all warnings about missile tests or just those envisioned by the New START treaty. Moscow and Washington have exchanged notifications about test launches

of ballistic missiles since the Cold War era, and the Foreign Ministry said last month that Russia will keep issuing them in line with a 1988 US-Soviet agreement.

“There will be no notifications at all,” Ryabkov said in remarks reported by Russian news agencies when asked if Moscow would also stop issuing notices about planned missile tests. “All notifications, all kinds of notifications, all activities within the framework of the treaty will be suspended and will not be conducted regardless of what position the US may take.”

US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said the Biden administration was aware of Ryabkov’s comments but it has not “received any notice indicating a change.”

He added that Washington has “across-the-board concerns about Russia’s reckless behavior as it relates to the New START treaty.”

Heather Williams, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank, said Russia’s rhetoric was concerning but fits a pattern of behavior related to Ukraine.

“They use nuclear weapons to turn up the volume on a lot of their other activities, and arms control treaties are just the latest way for Russia to try to advance its goals in Ukraine,” she said.

Of more concern, Williams said, is that the collapse of New START has caused a severe reduction in communications between Washington and Moscow, which could be dangerous. “One of the biggest tragedies of the breakdown in New START is the loss of the communication channel,” she said.

Pavel Podvig, an expert on Russian nuclear forces, tweeted that Ryabkov’s reference to the termination of notices in the context of the New START indicated that Russia will keep issuing them in conformity with the 1988 pact.

Ryabkov’s announcement followed US officials’ statement that Moscow and Washington have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data that were envisioned by the New START treaty. Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department said the US had offered to continue providing this information to Russia even after Putin suspended its participation in the treaty, but Moscow told Washington it would not be sharing its own data.

The New START, signed in 2010 by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.

The inspections have been put on hold since 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussions on resuming them were supposed to have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, citing US support for Ukraine.

As part of the Russian drills that began Wednesday, Yars mobile missile launchers will maneuver across three regions of Siberia, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The movements will involve measures to conceal the deployment from foreign satellites and other intelligence assets, the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry didn’t say how long the drills would last or mention plans for any practice launches. The Yars is a nucleartipped intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of about 11,000 kilometers (over 6,800 miles). It forms the backbone of Russia’s strategic missile forces.

A Defense Ministry video shows trucks carrying the missiles driving from a base to go on patrol. The maneuvers involve about 300 vehicles and 3,000 troops in eastern Siberia, according to the ministry.

The exercise took place days after Putin announced a plan to deploy the tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia’s neighbor and ally. Such weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a relatively short range and a much lower yield compared with the longrange strategic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads that are capable of obliterating whole cities.

Putin’s decision on the tactical weapons followed his repeated warnings that Moscow was ready to use “all available means”—a reference to its nuclear arsenal—to fend off attacks on Russian territory.

Ryabkov said Wednesday that Putin’s move followed the failure by Kyiv’s allies to heed previous “serious signals” from Moscow because of what he described as the “fundamental irresponsibility of Western elites before their people and international security.”

Russian officials have issued a barrage of hawkish statements since their troops entered Ukraine, warning that the continuing Western support for Kyiv raised the threat of a nuclear conflict.

In remarks published Tuesday, Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, which Putin chairs, sternly warned the US and its allies against harboring hopes for Russia’s defeat in Ukraine.

Patrushev alleged that some American politicians believe the US could launch a preventative missile strike on Russia to which Moscow would be unable to respond, a purported belief that he described as “short-sighted stupidity, which is very dangerous.”

“Russia is patient and isn’t trying to scare anyone with its military superiority, but it has unique modern weapons capable of destroying any adversary, including the United States, in case of a threat to its existence,” Patrushev said. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington

Amid strained US ties, China finds unlikely friend in Utah

Anderegg said of his resolution. “But maybe it wasn’t.”

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

Ties to alleged front groups

STEPHENSON has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International.

The company’s chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online

biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front.

Stephenson also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by China’s Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book “Spies and Lies: How China’s Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.”

Stephenson said he worked only briefly— without pay—for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

Work aligned with Chinese government’s desires

STEPHENSON said he’s never taken any action

at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

“I work to promote Utah’s economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties,” Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Party’s messaging.

Stephenson urged Utah’s elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that city’s residents early in 2020 as they battled Covid-19, according to e-mails obtained by AP.

“You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China,” Stephenson said in an e-mail pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephenson’s e-mail, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the disease’s dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media web site. The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting “jiayou!”—a Chinese expression of encouragement—on the Utah House and Senate floors. Suderman reported from Washington. AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story

A change in policy in Japan is “an additional force that is not being appreciated” and “all G-3 economies in one way or the other will be reducing their balance sheets and tightening policy” when it happens, said Jean Boivin, head of the BlackRock Investment Institute and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada. “When you control a price and loosen the grip, it can be challenging and messy. We think it’s a big deal what happens next.”

The flow reversal is already underway. Japanese investors sold a record amount of overseas debt last year as local yields rose on speculation that the BOJ would normalize policy.

Kuroda added fuel to the fire last December when he relaxed the central bank’s grip on yields by a fraction. In just hours, Japanese government bonds plunged and the yen skyrocketed, jolting everything from Treasuries to the Australian dollar.

“You’ve already seen the start of that money being repatriated back to Japan,” said Jeffrey Atherton, portfolio manager at Man GLG, part of Man Group, the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund. “It would be logical for them to bring the money home and not to take the foreign exchange risk,” said Atherton, who runs the Japan CoreAlpha Equity Fund that’s beaten about 94 percent of its peers in the past year.

Coming home

BETS for a shift in BOJ policy have eased in recent days as the upheaval in the banking sector raises the prospect that policy makers may prioritize financial stability. Investor scrutiny of Japanese lenders’ balance sheets has grown, on concern they may echo some of the stresses that have floored several regional US banks.

But market participants expect chatter on BOJ tweaks to resume when tensions dissipate.

Ueda, the first ever academic to captain the BOJ, is largely expected to speed up the pace of policy tightening sometime later this year. Part of that may include further loosening the central bank’s control on yields and unwinding a titanic bond-buying program designed to suppress borrowing costs and boost Japan’s moribund economy.

The BOJ has bought 465 trillion yen ($3.55 trillion) of Japanese government bonds since Kuroda implemented quantitative easing a decade ago, according to central bank data, depressing yields and fueling unprecedented distortions in the sovereign debt market. As a result, local funds sold 206 trillion yen of the securities during the period to seek better returns elsewhere.

The shift was so seismic that Japanese investors became the biggest holders of Treasuries outside the US as well as owners of about 10 percent of Australian debt and Dutch bonds. They also own 8 percent of New Zealand’s securities and 7 percent of Brazil’s debt, calculations by Bloomberg show.

The reach extends to stocks, with Japanese investors having splashed out 54.1 trillion yen on global shares since April 2013. Their holdings of equities are equivalent to between 1 percent and 2 percent of the stock markets in the US, Netherlands, Singapore and the UK.

Japan’s ultra-low rates were a big reason the yen tumbled to a 32-year low last year, and it has been a top option for income-seeking carry traders to fund purchases of currencies ranging from Brazil’s real to the Indonesian rupiah.

“Almost definitely it contributed to a significant decline of the yen, a massive dysfunctioning of the Japanese bond market,” former UK government minister and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief economist Jim O’Neill said of Kuroda’s policies. “Much of what happened in Kuroda’s time will partially or fully reverse” should his successor pursue policy normalization, although the banking crisis may cause authorities to proceed more cautiously, he added.

The currency has pulled back from last year’s lows, helped by a view that normalization is inevitable.

Add to that equation last year’s historic global bond losses, and Japanese investors have even more reason to flock home, according to Akira Takei, a 36-year market veteran and money manager at Asset Management One Co.

“Japanese debt investors have had bad experiences outside the country in the past year because a substantial jump in yields forced them to cut losses, so many of them even don’t want to see foreign bonds,” said Tokyo-based Takei, whose firm oversees $460 billion. “They are now thinking that not all funds have to be invested abroad but can be invested locally.”

The incoming president of Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc., one of Japan’s largest institutional investors, confirmed it was shifting more money to domestic bonds from foreign securities, after aggressive US rate hikes made it costly to hedge against currency risks.

To be sure, few are prepared to go all out in betting Ueda will rock the boat once he gets into office.

A recent Bloomberg survey showed 41 percent of BOJ watchers see a tightening step taking place in June, up from 26 percent in February, while former Japan Vice Finance Minister Eisuke Sakakibara said the BOJ may raise rates by October.

A summary of opinions from the BOJ’s March 9-10 meeting showed the central bank remains cautious about executing a policy pivot before achieving its inflation target. And that was even after Japan’s inflation accelerated beyond 4 percent to set a fresh four-decade high.

The next central bank meeting, Ueda’s first, is scheduled to take place April 27-28.

Richard Clarida, who served as Vice Chairman at the Federal Reserve from 2018 to 2022, arguably has more insight than most after having known “straight shooter” Kuroda for years and weighed Japan’s impact on US and global monetary policy.

“Markets expect pretty early under Ueda that yield-curve control is dismantled,” said Clarida, who is now global economic advisor at Pacific Investment Management Co. From here Ueda “may want to go in the direction to shrink the balance sheet or reinvest the redemptions, but that is not one for day one,” he said, adding Japan’s tightening would be a “historic moment” for markets though it may not be a “driver of global bonds.” With assistance from Winnie Hsu, Ayai Tomisawa, Hideyuki Sano, Yumi Teso, Emily Cadman and Jane Pong/Bloomberg

will no longer give the US advance notice about its missile tests as envisioned under a nuclear pact the Kremlin has suspended, a senior Moscow diplomat said Wednesday, as its military rolled missile launchers across Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid fighting in Ukraine.

THIS photo made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, shows a Yars missile launcher of the Russian armed forces being driven from a shelter in an undisclosed location in Russia. The Russian military on Wednesday launched drills of its strategic missile forces, deploying Yars mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine. RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE VIA AP

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

PhilSA using SpaceX’s Starlink Internet to address connectivity gap

setting, considering weather and other site conditions.

The Internet connection is a tremendous help, according to Dr. Sharon Villaverde, the public schools district supervisor of the Department of Education in Jomalig, Quezon.

“Having high-speed Internet is a great help to the students and teachers, especially in creating lesson plans as they now have access to online resources,” Villaverde said partly n Filipino.

the country’s archipelagic and maritime nation “satellites can effectively and quickly provide a canopy of high-speed Internet coverage to communities and nautical highways that open the door to economic opportunities.”

He added: “Satellite overlays complement and coexist with the continuing rollout of terrestrial infrastructure and undersea cables for connecting our many islands.”

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) announced that Starlink is part of the agency’s Introducing Non-Geostationary Satellite Constellations Test Deployment to Improve Internet Services (Incentivise) Project, the agency said in a news release.

PhilSA launched Incentivise open call in October 2021 with the aim of focusing on the space segment and emerging space technologies in order to address the digital divide in the country.

SpaceX responded to the open call.

PhilSA is implementing the project with the Department of Science and Technology’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), and in collaboration with the USAID-Better

Access and Connectivity (Beacon).

Starlink kits have been installed by PhilSA in Barangay Apad, Jomalig, Quezon province, and in Barangay Dikapanikian, Dingalan, Aurora, which are among the geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas in the Philippines.

The Starlink’s low Earth orbit satellites are being used for the deployment in these areas uses for Internet connectivity. It has focus on public education and local governance, where students, teachers and the local government office will have free Internet connectivity for six months.

During the demonstrations, PhilSA and other stakeholders gained insights into the performance of the system in the local

DOST, PEZA to offer more jobs at Cavite die & mold center

She added that teachers are also able to participate in online training, meetings and events.

At the same time, the students are significantly more interactive and engaged in the lessons since the teachers are able to incorporate new technologies in their lessons.

“Moreover, having connectivity in times of disasters is helpful especially as Barangay Apad is frequented by typhoons,” she pointed out.

PhilSA Director General Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. said: “This initiative is meant to demonstrate the capabilities of new and emerging space technologies, such as Low Earth Orbit Internet satellite constellations in bridging the connectivity gap, especially in remote and rural areas.”

Marciano explained that for

According to the US-based company’s website, Starlink offers high-speed connectivity using an advanced satellite constellation that enables lag-free video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high-data-rate activities, PhilSA said.

Starlink also features an easyto-setup system that makes it ideal for bringing the Internet to remote locations where connectivity may have been unreliable or completely unavailable.

Prior to the Starlink deployment in Aurora and Quezon, PhilSA collaborated with the DOSTASTI and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in a proof-of-concept for satellite Internet access for rural banks, the news release said. For those demonstrations, Internet service providers using geostationary satellites were engaged.

FPRDI’s heat treatment facility now accredited

GOOD news to wooden pallet and crate makers near Laguna: the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (DOST-FPRDI) heat treatment facility is now accredited by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture.

INCREASING the employment of engineering and technicalvocational course graduates is being planned by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

This was the highlight of a business-to-business (B2B) meeting held by the DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) and PEZA officials and zone managers at the Mold Technology Support Center (MTSC) project in General Trias, Cavite, on March 24.

The B2B meeting became an avenue to look for ways to help improve the process, products and expertise of the Philippines’ local die and mold industry to make them become more globally competitive.

The meeting also addressed the concerns raised by the PEZA representatives on how to upscale the capabilities of the current workforce, and address gaps in the training needs of employees and fresh graduates.

Lina Afable, chief of the Technology Diffusion Division of DOST-MIRDC, pointed out that the agency, through the MTSC, offers training programs focused on technical skills on metals industry.

According to Afable, “It is the mandate of the DOST-MIRDC to provide trainings to engineers and technicians in the metals [industry].” The trainings will be provided to be able to sustain the manpower needs of the industry.

Afable also said that the center is offering the use equipment in

the MTSC with a very minimal fee.

Lyndone de la Cruz, Industrial Relations officer of PEZA Calabarzon, said that the economic zone is offering its assistance in promoting MTSC’s services to company locators, whose engineers and technicians may need skills enhancement.

The MTSC, which has been conducting training programs since its launch in 2020, was established to address the need for technology and equipment upgrading, and for developing the country’s local expertise in the die and mold industry.

It is a product of an Official Development Assistance from South Korea in collaboration with the DOST-MIRDC and Peza, with the Board of Investments and the Philippine Die and Mold Association Inc.

Afable said that PEZA’s willingness to promote MTSC may be an avenue of collaboration between the DOST-MIRDC, PEZA and local government units within their respective economic zones.

As a result, the MTSC and Peza agreed to hold more B2B meetings to promote MTSC in order to other zones in the Calabarzon region.

The MTSC is open to train those who are looking for programs to increase their skills and technical know-how in die and mold technologies and equipment.

The skills enhancement and technology upgrading being offered by the MTSC are seen to contribute to the increase in the employment of Filipino workers, both locally and internationally.

The facility uses heat in a kiln dryer to kill insect pests infesting wooden pallets and other packaging materials, making it an effective deterrent to the spread of diseases across national borders.

DOST-FPRDI’s Engr. Wency H. Carmelo explained: “To guarantee that invasive insects and diseases are not passed on from one country to another in the global market, the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures [ISPM] 15 requires producers of

wooden packaging materials to disinfect their pallets and crates. They can do this either through heat treatment [HT] or methyl bromide [MB] fumigation.”

Carmelo said heat treatment

“is a safer and cheaper means of sterilizing wooden packaging materials compared to MB fumigation.”

She added that “high amounts of MB can be fatal and are very

damaging to the ozone layer. Heat treatment, on the other hand, is relatively harmless and about 50 percent cheaper.”

The ISPM implements very strict policies as insect pests and diseases transported through global trade have been known to cause massive environmental damage.

In the midwestern US, for instance, these “agents of destruction” have once taken over forests and wiped out entire tree species.

According to Carmelo, through the accreditation of its heat treatment technology, DOST-FPRDI is able to support the country’s export industry as it gives wooden pallet makers an effective, safe and affordable way to meet global sanitary standards.

Rizalina K. Araral/S&T Media Service

Musk, scientists call for halt to AI race sparked by ChatGPT

ARE tech companies moving too fast in rolling out powerful artificial intelligence technology that could one day outsmart humans?

That’s the conclusion of a group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables, such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who are calling for a six-month pause to consider the risks.

Their petition published on Wednesday is a response to San Francisco startup OpenAI’s recent release of GPT-4, a more advanced successor to its widely-used AI chatbot ChatGPT that helped spark a race among tech giants Microsoft and Google to unveil similar applications.

What do they say?

THE letter warns that AI systems with “human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity”—from flooding the Internet with disinformation and automating away jobs to more catastrophic future risks out of the realms of science fiction.

It says “recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop

and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one—not even their creators—can understand, predict, or reliably control.”

“We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least six months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4,” the letter says.“This pause should be public and verifiable, and include all key actors. If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.”

A number of governments are already working to regulate high-risk AI tools.

The United Kingdom released a paper Wednesday outlining its approach, which it said “will avoid heavy-handed legislation which could stifle innovation.”

Lawmakers in the 27-nation European Union have been negotiating passage of sweeping AI rules.

Who signed it?

THE petition was organized by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, which says confirmed signatories include the Turing Award-winning AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and other leading AI researchers, such as Stuart Russell and Gary Marcus.

Others who joined include Wozniak, former US presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a science-oriented advocacy group known for its warnings against humanity-ending nuclear war.

Musk, who runs Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX and was an OpenAI co-founder and early investor, has long expressed concerns about AI’s existential risks.

A more surprising inclusion is Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI, maker of the AI image generator Stable Diffusion that partners with Amazon and competes with OpenAI’s similar generator known as DALL-E.

What’s the response?

OPENAI, Microsoft and Google didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, but the letter already has plenty of skeptics.

“A pause is a good idea, but the letter is vague and doesn’t take the regulatory problems seriously,”says James Grimmelmann, a Cornell University professor of digital and information law.

“It is also deeply hypocritical for Elon Musk to sign on given how hard Tesla has fought against accountability for the defective AI in its

self-driving cars,” Grimmelmann said.

Is this AI hysteria?

WHILE the letter raises the specter of nefarious AI far more intelligent than what actually exists, it’s not “superhuman” AI that some who signed on are worried about.

While impressive, a tool, such as ChatGPT, is simply a text generator that makes predictions about what words would answer the prompt it was given based on what it’s learned from ingesting huge troves of written works.

Gary Marcus, a New York University professor emeritus who signed the letter, said in a blog post that he disagrees with others who are worried about the near-term prospect of intelligent machines so smart they can self-improve themselves beyond humanity’s control.

What he’s more worried about is “mediocre AI” that’s widely deployed, including by criminals or terrorists to trick people or spread dangerous misinformation.

“Current technology already poses enormous risks that we are ill-prepared for,” Marcus wrote. “With future technology, things could well get worse.” Matt O’brien/Ap Technology Writer

STARLINK—the satellite network developed and operated by SpaceX that is owned by multibillionaire Elon Musk—is now being used in the Philippines to address the connectivity gap in isolated areas, especially for education and local governance.

PhilSA personnel discusses Starlink kit setup with teachers of ApadJomalig National High School and Barangay Apad officials. PHILSA PHOTO

A WEATHER and network performance monitoring system is being installed at the Incentivise site to gather data on weather conditions and Internet status. PHILSA PHOTO

ENGR . Wency H. Carmelo (center) explains details about the DOST-FPRDI heat treatment process to the accreditation team of the DA-BPI. DOST-FPRDI PHOTO

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

Why the religious fast during Ramadan, Lent, other holy days

MUSLIMS around the world are welcoming the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting, increased worship, heightened charity, good deeds and community. Christians are also fasting during Lent, the 40-day period of penance and prayer ahead of Easter, which marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Fasting across religions is practiced for a wide range of reasons that include spiritual purification and self-discipline. Here is a quick look at fasting as an act of faith:

Buddhism

IN Buddhism, fasting is recognized as one of the methods for practicing self-control. Buddhist monks generally refrain from taking solid food after noon every day.

Christianity

IN Christianity, fasting is used as a way to purify the body, practice self-control and save resources to give to the poor.

Many Pentecostal Christians fast in anticipation that it will equip them to experience the Holy Spirit more powerfully.

During Lent, many Christians observe a 40-day period of penance, prayer and fasting. It is observed from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, which marks their belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

This year, Easter falls on April 9 for most Christians. During Lent, Christians replicate the biblical account of Jesus withdrawing to the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days.

Christians often abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, and some for the entire period. Some also give up coffee, candy or another item they see as

a personal sacrifice.

“You’re showing your seriousness and your willingness to suffer for your religion,” said Deana Weibel, an anthropology and religious studies professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.

The Catholic Church does not consider fish, lobster and other shellfish to be meat, so they can be consumed on days of abstinence, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In many US communities, Friday fish fries are common occurrence during Lent.

Hinduism

IN Hinduism, fasting is not an obligation, but a voluntary act of spiritual purification. The most commonly observed fast is Ekadashi, which falls on the

11th day of each lunar cycle as the moon waxes and wanes.

Hindus also fast during several festivals or as part of their spiritual discipline. People may do complete or partial fasts or just give up their favorite foods for a certain period of time.

Islam

ABSTAINING from all food and drink—not even a sip of water is allowed—and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is regarded as an act of piety and devotion to God and an exercise in self-restraint.

Islamic scholars say the merits of fasting also include cultivating gratitude and compassion for the less fortunate and poor.

Making donations and helping feed the needy are hallmarks of the month, which also typically sees

the devout dedicating more time for prayers, religious studies and reading of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Many look forward to the fast as an act of spiritual rejuvenation and purification.

In Islam, fasting is one of The Five Pillars of the faith, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and pilgrimage, which is known in Arabic as hajj. There are exemptions from fasting, including for the sick.

The daily fasting is followed by iftar, or breaking of the fast, often in festive gatherings with family and friends.

Jainism

FASTING is an important part of Jainism. It is viewed as a way to cleanse one’s body, including one’s bad karma or actions.

Jain fasts could last from one day to more than a month. People may do complete or partial fasts or just give up their favorite foods for a certain period of time.

Judaism

THE holiest day of the Jewish calendar involves a 25-hour fasting period that’s coupled with prayers for forgiveness.

During Yom Kippur, Judaism’s day of atonement, Israeli life grinds to a halt—businesses shut down, roads empty out and even radio and TV stations go silent as the faithful fast for 25 hours and hold intensive prayers of atonement.

Sikhism

SIKHISM is one of few religions that does not regard fasting as meritorious. Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, regarded fasting as inferior to the “truth” or “right action,” which he said was superior to fasting, penance or other austerities. Luis Andres Henao and Mariam Fam/Associated Press

‘March for Life’ spotlights caring for PWDs

THE care of persons with intellectual disabilities (PIDs) were highlighted at an annual pro-life event of a fraternal organization of Catholic men.

The Knights of Columbus (K of C) Luzon North Jurisdiction on March 25 held its “March for Life” giving spotlight to PIDs as “God’s gift of life”.

K of C Luzon North Jurisdiction State auditor Roger Garma said the care for PIDs are now part of its priority programs.

“They are also God’s creation like us,” Garma said, emphasizing that PIDs also “deserve the best love and care that we can extend to them”. About 70 children with intellectual disability joined the event, which started with

a Mass at the Sto. Nino De Congreso Parish in Bagumbong, Caloocan City.

“Through them, God makes us feel the importance of life, of helping one another, of being united, of respecting one another, and, most of all, the importance of love and of the love God gives us,” he said.

The March for Life is an annual event of the Knights of Columbus across the world to support the rights of the unborn.

The march was a mirror event of the main March for Life in Luzon that was held in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The same activity was also held in some parts of the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Minnie Agdeppa/CBCP News

Vatican counts down to launch pope’s message in satellite

POPE Francis’ message of hope and peace for the troubled world is about to lift off into space.

The Spei Satelles, Latin for “Satellites of Hope,” will carry a record of the Pope’s Statio Orbis of March 27, 2020—held at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic—into orbit around the earth.

The SpeiSat 3U cube satellite (cubsat) will launch on June 10 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will place it in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 525 kilometers.

Peaceful payload

THE cubesat—about the size of an American football—will house a nanobook version of Pope Francis’s Why

book containing images and words from the Statio Orbis.

The nanobook that was created by the Polytechnic University of Turin, is about the size of the tip of a pen, and can only be read by highly-advanced nanotechnology reading devices.

Yet, anyone with an amateur UHF-band radio can pick up a broadcast beamed from the satellite on 437.5 MHz to hear excerpts from the pope’s book as it passes overhead.

Hope and action

THE initiative also offers an invitation for people to get involved, and live out the Gospel message of hope in their own lives.

According to a press release, the website www.speisatelles.org gives people the chance to follow the mission’s progress, and have their name inscribed in a dedicated

memory chip aboard SpeiSat.

“In order to obtain a virtual boarding pass, those interested will be asked to pledge to do a work of mercy on behalf of peace and hope,” read the statement. “Each person involved can, thus, become a concrete seed of hope in their daily lives.”

The satellite could potentially stay in orbit for up to 12 years, but the radio transmitter will continue to broadcast for only six months to a year due to batteryinduced limitations.

Representation of the nanobook

Prophetic icon of hope

THE headquarters of Vatican News-Vatican Radio hosted a press conference on Monday to present the initiative, exactly three years after the momentous papal prayer was held in St. Peter’s Square.

PALM SUNDAY A boy holds a palaspas (palm fronds) next to a lechon stall outside the Our Lady of Light Parish in Cainta, Rizal. Palm Sunday is a Christian feast that falls on the Sunday that signals the start of the Holy Week that ends on Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and being greeted by the people waving palm branches. It is a reminder of the welcoming of Jesus into the people’s hearts and of their willingness to follow him. BERNARD TESTA

Posters near Vatican urge pope to stop Latin Mass crackdown

ROME—Posters calling on Pope Francis to stop his crackdown on the old Latin Mass were plastered near the Vatican last week, in the latest display of conservative opposition to the pontiff.

The posters featured images of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II and quoted from their texts speaking positively about the old rite, which Francis has sought to restrict.

The posters were put up primarily in the Prati residential neighborhood near St. Peter’s Square.

They were referring to Francis’s decision in 2021 to overturn one of Benedict’s signature liturgical decisions and reimpose restrictions on celebrating the old Mass.

Francis said he had to act because the spread of the old rite was dividing parishes.

He said Benedict’s decision to liberalize its use in 2007 had been exploited by people opposed to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that allowed for Mass in the vernacular, not just Latin.

The poster initiative, which is

due to last 15 days, was organized by a group of pro-Latin Mass activists and bloggers who said they feared Francis’s ultimate aim was to forbid the ancient rite entirely.

After Francis’s initial decree restricting the celebration, the Vatican’s liturgy office has issued two subsequent clarifications making it tougher to celebrate it widely.

In a statement, the traditionalist groups said they were being unjustly marginalized and rejected by the Catholic hierarchy for merely expressing their steadfast faith.

They said they were taking action “out of love for the pope, so that he might be paternally opened to understanding those liturgical peripheries that no longer feel welcome in the church.”

The initiative was a reflection of the growing opposition to Francis from some traditionalist quarters in the Catholic Church who remain nostalgic for the doctrinaire papacy of Benedict.

While only a fraction of Catholics go to old Latin Masses, Francis’s crackdown has become a rallying cry for other conservatives opposed to his progressive bent.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication—the parent organization of Vatican News—is promoting the initiative in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the National Research Council, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the Instituto para el Diálogo Global y la Cultura del Encuentro, the Salesian University Institute Venice, and the Digital Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Turin.

Fr. Luca Peyron, who leads the Digital Apostolate of Turin, told reporters that the SpeiSat carries a prophetic message of hope, spread through the marvels of advanced technology.

“Even though the nanobook cannot be read with the naked eye,” he said, “it will be there, orbiting our planet. It, thus, becomes a sign and an icon, just like Pope Francis as he stood alone in that empty St. Peter’s Square.” Devin Watkins/Vatican News

Nicole Winfield Associated Press

A DIAGRAM for Catholics’ easy understanding of fasting and abstinence during Lent.

ST. PATRICK’S AND ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC CHURCHES, STA-SP.ORG

Biodiversity Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

The Amazon is not safe under Brazil’s new president

CONSERVATIONISTS breathed a sigh of relief when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential election in the fall of 2022.

His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had opened large parts of the Amazon region to business by crippling enforcement of environmental laws and turning a blind eye to land grabbing.

It should come as no surprise that deforestation showed a sharp uptick.

However, while Lula oversaw a more than 70 percent drop in deforestation during his first run as president in the early 2000s, the rainforest’s future remains deeply uncertain.

That’s in part because Brazilian administrations, whether of the right or left, have all promoted an ambitious project to boost exports and the economy called the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA).

The initiative focuses on new roads, dams and industry that can threaten the region’s fragile rainforest ecosystem—and harm the world’s climate in the process.

Problem with infrastructure in the forest

AT first glance, IIRSA might sound like progress. Its goal is to improve Amazonia’s economy by developing its resources and establishing better access to global markets.

To accomplish this, the initiative plans to rehabilitate and extend the existing highway system and build dams, ports, industrial waterways and railroads.

However, evidence from my research in the Amazon over the past 30 years and by other scientists shows that new roads lead to more deforestation, putting extreme pressure on the rainforest.

Outside of protected areas, nearly 95 percent of all deforestation occurs within 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) of a road, or less than two-thirds of a mile (1 km) from a river.

Deforestation rates fell during Lula’s first presidency, primarily because Brazil expanded its protected areas program and enforced environmental laws.

However, deforestation began to rise again during the administration of his protégé, President Dilma Rousseff.

Both Lula and Rousseff furthered the IIRSA agenda by building dams on the Madeira River and on the Xingu River, where the Belo Monte dam diverted streamflow vital to the survival of Indigenous communities.

They also downsized protected areas to make way for their projects. Rousseff even downsized Amazon National Park, the first such park in Amazonia.

In all, 181 square miles (469 square kilometers) were removed, close to 5 percent of the total area. The most scenic park landscape along the Tapajos River shoreline was taken to make way for dam construction.

Now back in office, Lula has signaled his approval of a key IIRSA project: the revitalization of BR-319, a federal highway between Porto Velho and Manaus.

If this project is completed, it will open the central Amazon basin to even more deforestation.

The Amazonian tipping point

I BELIEVE this should cause alarm. Research shows too much deforestation could push the forest over a tipping point from which it can’t recover.

No one knows exactly where the line is, but the vast Amazon that people picture today with its extraordinary biodiversity and dense forests would be no more.

Such a catastrophe once seemed the bad dream of doomsayers, but there is mounting evidence that the forest is in trouble.

The tropical rainforest sustains itself by recycling rain to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, which makes more moisture available.

Rainfall recycling accounts for about 50 percent of the basin’s precipitation today.

Too much deforestation could leave too little rainfall recycling to sustain the forest.

Scientists initially estimated the tipping point would occur once about 40 percent of the Amazon was deforested. That estimate has slipped downward over time given the intensification of fires and the onset of observable climate change in the basin itself.

Moreover, the forest shows diminishing resilience, meaning it is less able to recover from climate extremes.

Scientists have already observed widespread shifts to more drought-tolerant tree species. Given the evidence, scientists have revised the tipping point to deforestation as low as 20 percent to 25 percent.

Even if only a fifth of the forest is lost, the remainder could quickly degrade into an ecosystem of fire-adapted grasses and shrubby trees that look nothing like the massive ones native to the rainforest.

Deforestation across all the Amazonian nations now stands at a little over 16 percent. In my view, this is far too close for comfort, especially with the momentum of the IIRSA program.

More than one tipping point?

THE deforestation problem isn’t the only pressure on the forest—the Amazon is also dealing with the heat and drought of global warming.

Evidence suggests that global climate change may be enough to push large parts of the rainforest to the brink.

One concern is that the dry season is getting longer, a shift that appears to be driven by global warming. This affects annual precipitation by reducing the number of rainy days and makes fire more damaging by extending the season when trees can easily burn.

Currently, dry season lengthening is most pronounced in the Southern Basin. However, changes in the southern rainfall pattern can reduce precipitation in the wettest parts of the basin to the west. One estimate suggests dry season lengthening could cause a tipping point transition by 2064. Robert T. Walker, University of Florida/The Conversation (CC) via AP

‘Kuyug’: Calatagan’s famous fish

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

CALATAGAN , a once sleepy agricultural and fishing municipality in Batangas, is now a certified tourist magnet. Thanks to “kuyug,” the area’s famous fish.

Kuyug, rabbitfish in English, or “samaral” in Filipino, is more popularly known as “danggit” in the Visayas which is mostly dried and exported by Cebu.

Like Cebu, known for its thriving dried fish business, Calatagan is blessed with the economically important fish.

What is kuyug?

RABBITFISHES are medium-sized herbivorous fish native to the Indo-Pacific region,” explained environmentalist Gregg Yan. There are 28 known rabbitfish species, which thrive in shallow coastal areas.

They are popular food fish, with wild-capture fisheries supplying the bulk of production.

Indonesia and the Philippines are the planet’s top rabbitfish suppliers, with 2021 landings of around 76,000 tons and 25,000 tons, respectively, according to United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UN-FAO) data.

“The high demand for these species is causing overfishing and a decline in wild stocks. Thus, developing efficient and sciencebased ways to culture rabbitfish has become ever more urgent,” Yan said.

Last year Yan co-authored a UN-FAO paper titled, “Rabbitfish Farming in Asia,” along with Dutch fisheries experts and environmental advocates Jonan van Beijnen and Kyra Hoevenaars.

Dried kuyug

CALATAGAN is a known producer of its version of dried kuyug.

Its Mayor Peter Oliver Palacio aptly described it as “malinamnam at malaman [tasty and meaty].”

The secret: “Unlike in other areas, our dried kuyug is meaty. Because we don’t dry them under the sun or solar dry too much,” he told the B usiness M irror in Filipino. Of course, the municipality’s public market also sells fresh kuyug. But market vendors prefer to dry in answer to the big demand from the tourism sector.

Rabbitfish thrive only in healthy coastal and marine environments, which can be found in Calatagan, some 131 kilometers from Manila.

In the entire Batangas province, Calatagan is the only place where kuyug can be found thriving.

Maynilad awards 21 water, environment champions

MAYNILAD Water Services Inc.

(Maynilad) honored 21 water and environment champions at the World Water Day Philippines Awards (WWD.PH Awards) 2023 held in Pasay City last March 22.

Recipients of Maynilad’s “Water Warrior Award for Advocacy Leadership” were Caloocan City Vice Mayor Karina Teh, ABSCBN journalist Alvin Elchico, Quezon City Climate Change Education Department, and the Million Trees Foundation, Maynilad said in a news release.

They were recognized for actively raising awareness on water sustainability and environmental responsibility in their respective professions and initiatives.

The WWD.PH Awards was in partnership with the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

NWRB’s “Water Wise Award” went to Cebu Technology University, Holcim Philippines Inc. and West Cebu Industrial Park Developers Inc. for their exemplary water management practices consistent with the agency’s regulatory mandate and advocacy.

The “Huwarang Lingkod Tubig Award” recipients of Local Water Utilities Administration were Baguio Water District in Luzon, Silay Water District in the Visayas and General Santos City Water District in Mindanao for being model water districts in water conservation and environmental initiatives.

Meanwhile, the National Irrigation Administration named as “Most Outstanding Irrigators’ Associations” the Makabilog Maynabo Tambo Irrigators Association, San Agustin San Luis Irrigators Association Inc. and Bayawan United Farmers Irrigators Association.

Efforts in Laguna de Bay rehabilitation

Fortunately, Calatagan, which is situated in the Verde Island Passage, is far from Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, and is not affected by the recent oil spill, which many sectors, including foreign experts, are trying to contain in order to prevent further damage to coastal and marine ecosystems.

Kinuyug festival

PALACIO confided that he came up with the idea of promoting ecotourism, starting with having a festival—the Kinuyug Festival.

The local government launched its first Kinuyug Festival in 2016, from December 13 to 16, in time with the founding anniversary of Calatagan. It has since become part of the annual celebration in the municipality.

Why name the festival Kinuyug? The mayor replied laughing: “Why not? It’s in celebration of kuyug. It is more appealing.”

While popularizing Calatagan’s famous fish, the mayor said they are also popularizing the near-white sand beaches of Calatagan.

First-class beach resorts are all over Calatagan, making it an ideal weekend getaway from the stressful life in Metropolitan Manila.

“While promoting dried kuyug, we are also promoting our beaches,” the mayor said.

Healthy coastal, marine ecosystem

CALATAGAN boasts of having a healthy coastal and marine ecosystem. It has vast reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves and crystal clear, literally, clean waters.

The mayor said the municipality is the only place in Batangas with beautiful reefs.

“That is the character of Calatagan. Other towns don’t have reefs. We have beautiful reefs,” he proudly said. Calatagan also keeps its seagrass protected from destructive fishing practices. Blast and cyanide fishing have been “neutralized” by an army of volunteers who have realized the economic potential of ecotourism.

Floating cottages

TAKE it from couple Rodel and Agnes Cardona, owners of the 3s Seniorito’s and R2D Floating Cottages. Rodel used to be a heavy-equipment operator, including pay loader.

Interviewed on March 1, the couple told the B usiness M irror in Filipino that Calatagan’s thriving ecotourism is beneficial to the residents.

Rodel said he now prefers to be a Bantay Dagat (Sea Patrol) and floating-cottage operator than a heavy equipment operator.

“I like this job better. We are having our second floating cottage constructed and we are optimistic this summer will be better,” Rodel said.

His wife Agnes noted that they have realized that having a healthy coastal and marine ecosystem is beneficial to the community.

“That is why we are helping protect our waters. Because our fish will go away if the water is not clean,” Agnes said.

Owners of floating cottages do not work every Wednesday. They dedicate the day to coastal cleanup activities in support of the LGU’s protection and conservation efforts of its coastal and marine environment.

Calatagan LGU counted 700 dulyregistered floating cottages all over the municipality, docked in 13 different locations that cater to tourists, who prefer the beautiful beaches over other coastal areas in Batangas.

Ecosystem function

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim told the B usiness M irror via Messenger on March 10 that rabbitfish play an important role in the ecosystem.

“They feed on algae, so they control algal growth that could invade coral ecosystems,” Lim said.

“Thus, they help coral ecosystems better recover from coral bleaching as they prevent algae from colonizing and killing affected corals,” she added.

Cultured fish, too

A RESEARCH team at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Philippines, led by Dr. Westly Rosario, successfully cultured two of the most commercially interesting candidates, the goldlined spinefoot, or golden rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus), and the vermiculated spinefoot, or maze rabbitfish (Siganus vermiculatus).

“Rabbitfish are grazers, akin to the antelope of the African savannah. As opposed to eating the equivalent of predatory ‘lions’ like lapu-lapu, maya-maya or talakitok, culturing and eating marine herbivores like rabbitfish, which are situated quite low in the food chain, can help achieve food security in developing archipelagic countries like the Philippines,” Yan said.

“The grow-out and marketing of Philippine-raised samaral can provide best alternatives and livelihood options for our coastal communities,” he added.

“It might just be the next big seafood hit,” Yan said

All-time favorite

MARIANNE P. SANIANO Science and Conservation campaign manager at Oceana, told the B usiness M irror via Messenger on March 8 that rabbitfish can grow as as long as 40 centimeters (cm).

The UN FAO said males are smaller than females, with standard lengths of 11 cm to 14 cm for males, and 13 cm to 21 cm for females. The maximum sizes range from 20 cm to 45 cm standard length.

Because they are an all-time favorite, the price of a kilo of dried danggit ranges from P700 to P1,500, Saniano said.

“In the Philippines, juveniles of danggit are dried and become part of breakfast menu enjoyed with sinamak [spiced vinegar],” she said.

According to Saniano, they are found in seagrass areas, which hosts a variety of marine organisms.

“However, these areas are under threat because of various human activities like coastal development, dump-and-fill projects, dredging, etc. Destruction of its habitat means the danggit will lose its home and source of food, endangering its population,” she said.

Fast-growing, prolific fish

JIMELY FLORES , science and policy consultant at the Environment Defense Fund, said rabbitfishes are fast growing and prolific.

“They significantly depend on seagrass beds, which are important habitats to successfully complete the fish life cycle. They can be cultured and hatchery-reared, thus, they are not endangered. But we are harvesting them faster than they can reproduce,” Flores told the B usiness M irror through Messenger on March 9.

According to Flores, there are many methods to ensure sustainable harvesting of fish, such as kuyug or danggit.

“Depending on the stakeholders, some are a combination of temporospatial closure, size limits, gear restriction and limits—in input and output control, which is total allowable catch,” she said.

She said whatever measure is put in place, it should always be science-based.

“[The stakeholders] must also agree to methods of control with accountability and higher compliance. There must be clear indicators and must be transparent,” she said.

were recognized through the “Kampeon ng Lawa Awards” of the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

The awards were given to the local government of Teresa, Rizal; the University of the Philippines Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry; and the Department of Science and TechnologyAdvanced Science and Technology Institute.

The DENR-Environmental Management Bureau’s “Water Leadership Award” went to Adem Inovejas of Project Blue PH for his initiative to design innovative boats made entirely out of recycled and sustainable materials.

Completing the roster of honorees were Metro Pacific Water’s “Kampeon ng Kalikasan” awardee Cagayan de Oro City Water District; Aboitiz InfraCapital’s

In his message during

with this year’s World Water Day theme, “Accelerating change through partnerships and cooperation.”

He thanked the WWD award recipients and acknowledged their role in promoting environmental causes. The WWD.PH Awards served as the

culminating event of the country’s weeklong celebration of World Water Day. Since 2015, the WWD.PH Awards has recognized a total of 114 individuals, institutions and programs that have contributed to achieving water and waterenvironment sustainability in the country.

A MARKET vendor shows Calatagan’s famous dried kuyug. BERNARD TESTA

“Agos ng Kinabukasan” awardee San Pablo City Water District; and the Philippine Water Works Association

MAYNILAD, in partnership with the NWRB and the DENR, honored 21 water and environment champions at the World Water Day Philippines Awards 2023 held last March 22 in Pasay City. The photo shows the awardees with officials of the various water agencies that granted the awards, headed by DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations Juan Miguel Cuna, Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez and NWRB Chief for Policy and Program Division Engr. Susan Abaño. MAYNILAD PHOTO

Inc. “Lingkod Tubig at Kalikasan” awardees Go Share and Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council.

the event, Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez underscored the need to work together for the environment, in keeping

FUJISAWA, Japan—A

busy company owner for the early part of his life, Seiichi Sano began anew at 80 by climbing Mt. Fuji. Apparently not challenged enough by Japan’s highest peak, he almost immediately took up surfing.

Sano turns 90 later this year, and after being recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest male to surf, he’s ready for other tests.

“Maybe I’ll try bouldering,” he said, suggesting he might do it first in a gym. “Outside it might be a bit dangerous.”

He ruled out bungee-jumping.

“Too scary,” he said.

Or maybe he’ll just stick with what he knows.

“I think it would be interesting to try to surf until I’m 100,” Sano said. “I think I take better care of myself when I have goals like this. Even now, I take better care of myself than I did before.”

Sano lives about 20 minutes from Yokohama and gets out most weekends on the black-sand beach near Enoshima, the small island that hosted sailing for the recent

US hurdler Demus finally gets her gold

LAUSANNE, Switzerland— American runner Lashinda Demus officially became an Olympic champion on Thursday, at the age of 40 and more than a decade after the 2012 London Games.

Demus was formally reallocated the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because of the disqualification of Natalya Antyukh in fallout from the Russian doping scandal.

SANO, 89: WHO’S OLD?

Tokyo Olympics, and was the harbor for the 1964 Games.

He said he was inspired by an employee at his local bank, who was always tan and didn’t look like a typical banker. His secret, he said, was surfing. So Sano followed up and found a teacher.

“I don’t consider myself an old man,” he said in his wet suit, board standing alongside. “I have never thought of myself as an old person. I always feel that I can still move forward. I can still do it. I can still enjoy it.”

Enoshima is an area of small waves, which suits Sano. He joined hundreds of other surfers on Thursday, waiting for the larger waves to come. All the surfers were younger, of course. Several were elementary school or junior high age who also work with Sano’s surf instructor, 46-year-old Kazuto Shimizu.

They couldn’t wait to brag about their, so to speak, “great grandfather.”

“I think age doesn’t matter in surfing,” 12-year-old Iroha Shimabukuro said.

Added her twin sister, Fuka: “He’s more like a family member regardless of age.”

“I think he’s amazing,” said their younger brother, Shua.

Rokka Saito, the other young surfer in the pack of four, summed it up.

“I respect him,” she said.

Sano paddles out and waits for a wave to approach. He catches it and stands, tries to do a few tricks on the board, and often tumbles over into the shallow water at the beach’s edge.

“I can only say that I just enjoy myself and do what I want without stressing out,” he said. “So if you try to be too good at it, or think that you have to do it this way or that way, I think you lose the fun.

“I enjoy being swept up in the wave,” he added. “I am not a good surfer. So I call myself a ‘small-wave surfer’—out of respect for those who surf well.”

Sano still runs a business that supplies timber to construction companies, and still works 9-to-5 at the job. The surfing is a stress reliever, apparent as he takes a break far from

shore and floats on his back with his legs draped over his blue and white board.

“To be honest, I was surprised by his age,” said Shimizu, his instructor. “I was most worried that he would get injured. I did not know how fit he was, physically. So when I heard he was 80, I thought it would be a bit tough to think about whether my own grandfather could surf. I was surprised he was able to do it as well as younger people.”

Sano joked about surfing in the delayed Tokyo Games, held just under two years ago.

“I was hoping to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, not as a competitor but as an old-age demonstrator,” he said.

Sano goes through a serious stretching routine before going out; legs splayed 120 degrees, and hands touching his toes. When he stands, he’s straight as his board—though at 5-feet-4 (1.65 meters), far shorter.

“People often say that surfing is life, itself,” he said. “If I describe it in one word, I think it really applies to me right now.” AP

Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

PHOENIX—Years ago, skateboarding was branded as a hobby for rebels or stoners in city streets, schoolyards and back alleys. Those days are long gone.

Skateboarding, which has Native Hawaiian roots connected to surfing, no longer is on the fringes. It became an Olympic sport in 2020. There are numerous amateur and professional skateboarding competitions in the US and on Friday, the US Postal Service is issuing stamps that laud the sport—and what Indigenous groups have brought to the skating culture.

Di’Orr Greenwood, 27, an artist born and raised on the Navajo Nation in Arizona whose work is featured on the new stamps, says it’s a long way from when she was a kid and people always kicked her out of certain spots just for skating.

“Now it’s like being accepted on a global scale,” Greenwood said. “There’s so many skateboarders I know that are extremely proud of it.”

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park as a skateboarding competition was going on nearby.

The stamps feature skateboard artists from around the country, including Greenwood and Crystal Worl, who is Tlingit Athabascan. William James Taylor Jr., an artist from Virginia, and Federico “MasPaz” Frum, a Colombian-born muralist in Washington, D.C., round out the quartet of featured artists. Everyone but Taylor was in attendance.

“Over time skateboards themselves have become works of art highlighting artists’ creativity, boldness and energy,” William Zollars, of the USPS Board of Governors, told an audience of city officials and supporters. “As an American institution older than the country itself, the Postal Service is always looking for ways to highlight and honor stories and histories that are unique to the United States.”

The stamps underscore the prevalence of skateboarding, especially in Indian Country where the demand for skate parks is growing.

The artists see the stamp as a small canvas, a functional art piece that will be seen across the US and beyond.

“Maybe I’ll get a letter in the mail that someone sent me with my stamp on it,” said Worl, 35, who lives in Juneau, Alaska. “I think that’s when it will really hit home with the excitement of that.”

Antonio Alcalá, USPS art director, led the search for artists to paint skate decks for the project. After settling on a final design, each artist received a skateboard from Alcalá to work on. He then photographed the maple skate decks

and incorporated them into an illustration of a young person holding up a skateboard for display. The person is seen in muted colors to draw attention to the skate deck.

Alcalá used social media to seek out artists who, besides being talented, were knowledgeable about skateboarding culture. Worl was already on his radar because her brother, Rico, designed the Raven Story stamp in 2021, which honored a central figure in Indigenous stories along the coast in the Pacific Northwest.

The Worl siblings run an online shop called

Trickster Company with fashions, home goods and other merchandise with Indigenous and modern twists. For her skate deck, Crystal Worl paid homage to her clan and her love of the water with a Sockeye salmon against a blue and indigo background. She was careful about choosing what to highlight.

“There are certain designs, patterns and stories that belong to certain clans and you have to have permission even as an Indigenous person to share certain stories or designs,” Worl said.

The only times Navajo culture has been featured in stamps is with rugs or necklaces. Greenwood, who tried out for the US Women’s Olympic skateboarding team, knew immediately she wanted to incorporate her heritage in a modern way. Her nods to the Navajo culture include a turquoise inlay and a depiction of eagle feathers, which are used to give blessings.

“I was born and raised with my greatgrandmother, who looked at a stamp kind of like how a young kid would look at an iPhone 13,” Greenwood said. “She entrusted every important news and every important document and everything to a stamp to send it and trust that it got there.”

Skateboarding has become a staple across Indian Country. In Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will reopen a refurbished skate park March 29 thanks to a partnership with pro skateboarder Tony Hawk’s nonprofit, The Skatepark Project. Skateboarders on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona recently got funding from there, too. A skate park opened in August on the  Hopi reservation . Youthorganized competitions take place on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Dustinn Craig, a White Mountain Apache filmmaker and “lifer” skateboarder in Arizona, has made documentaries and short films on the sport.

The 47-year-old remembers how skateboarding was seen as dorky and anti-establishment when he was a kid hiding “a useless wooden toy” in his locker. At the same time, Craig credits skateboarding culture as “my arts and humanities education.”

So he is wary of the mainstream’s embrace, as well as the sometimes clique-ish nature, of today’s skateboarding world.

“For those of us who have been in it for a very long time, it’s kind of insulting because I think a lot of the popularity has been due to the proliferation of access to the visuals of the youth culture skateboarding through the internet and social media,” Craig said. “So, I feel like it really sort of trivializes and sort of robs Native youth of authenticity of the older skateboard culture that I was raised on.” AP

On the London track on August 8, 2012, Demus finished 0.07 seconds behind Antyukh, who was implicated last year in the second doping case of her career.

Historical evidence recovered from a Moscow testing laboratory database let track’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) decide last October to strip Antyukh of all her results from July 2012 through June 2013.

Demus will receive a gold medal from the IOC to add to her world title won in 2011. However, she was denied during her career the commercial benefits of calling herself an Olympic champion.

Zuzana Hejnová of Czechia was upgraded to silver, and the bronze was reallocated to Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica, the IOC said.

When the AIU ruling was made five months ago, Antyukh was already serving a four-year ban in a previous case that disqualified all her results from 2013 to 2015. AP

LASHINDA DEMUS (left) and Russia’s Natalya Antyukh pose with their medals during the Summer Olympics in London on August 9, 2012. AP

Pru Life UK PRURide PHL returns in May

PRU LIFE UK is bringing back PRURide Philippines as part of its advocacy to help Filipinos live a healthier lifestyle through cycling.

This year’s PRURide Philippines— set May 21 in Clark and May 28 in Cebu—is part of Prudential’s 175th anniversary celebration, including its 100 years in Asia.

Pru Life UK recently conducted a ceremonial fun ride around Bonifacio Global City with its employees, agency force and partners from the government and private sectors in launching the event.

PRURide Philippines 2023 features official advocates Gretchen Ho, Kim Atienza, and Zoren Legaspi; cycling content creators Ger Victor, Darlings Levi & Sara, Jeno Cuenco and Ian Austria; and Pru Life UK’s health champions Miguel Reyes, Montini De Guzman and Aless Castañeda.

“PRURide Philippines 2023 is about celebrating life and riding together with Filipinos and families for better health and wellness,” said Eng Teng Wong, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pru Life UK. “Filipinos can continue to count on Pru Life UK to have access to many customer-centric health protection and wealth offerings to help them get the most out of life.”

The rides in Clark and Cebu are both open to families with child-

friendly activities. Casual and seasoned cyclists from Luzon and Visayas could join the Gran Fondo, a safe and timed ride ranging from 30 to 60 and 100 kilometers. Gran Fondo 30 is ideal for beginners, while the 100 replicates the route taken by professional cyclists. Those looking for a moderate challenge can join the Gran Fondo 60, which follows a condensed format of the 100.

Professional and amateur cyclists could also join the free Virtual PRURide PH, a 175-km virtual race set in Clark and Cebu. The cyclist with the best time will be declared winner. The Family Fun Ride is a 5-km cycling activity for groups, while the Kids Cup is a fun and friendly race for children.

PRURide PH 2023 will feature a free concert by a top OPM band both in its Clark and Cebu legs.

“The pandemic has shown us how important health is for ourselves and our loved ones,” said Allan Tumbaga, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Marketing Officer of Pru Life UK. “We invite Filipino families to take the first step to a healthier lifestyle by cycling with us in Clark and Cebu for a bigger and better PRURide Philippines this year.”

Registration details are available at prulifeuk.com.ph/en/ pruride2023.

GREENWOOD poses with her painted skateboards in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Is coffee brIngIng people back to the offIce?

Publisher :

Editor-In-Chief :

Concept :

Y2Z Editor :

SoundStrip Editor :

Group Creative Director :

Graphic Designers :

Contributing Writers :

SA WAKAS PART 2

Ebe Dancel fights alongside cancer-patient friend

By Patrick V. Miguel

ACCORDING to Ebe Dancel, there are two reasons why they decided to start another “Sa Wakas” concert. The first one is due to popular demand, as Ebe received many messages from friends and fans. Most of them were not able to make it to the first show, so they were asking him to have another one.

Despite telling Mitch that he’s too old and got tired easily after the first concert, Ebe just could not say no.

The second reason, as Ebe deemed it, was “unannounced.” He shared that they are raising funds for a friend who is currently beating cancer.

“Although we are not announcing it,” he said. “We are raising funds for a very good friend of mine who needs a job because he has cancer and we wanna keep him safe and comfortable.”

Ebe did not name his friend, but in his own words, Ebe described, “Kilala siya ng buong industriya kasi kapag mayroong bagong lumalabas na kanta, siya ‘yung nagshe-share ng mga kanta.”

Sa Wakas Part 2

THE second time around of “Sa Wakas” is going to be different—better—than the first one. Ebe promised more songs and bigger venues. They originally had 17 songs played, and the show took place at 123 Block, Mandala Park.

READ: REVISITING THE PAST Ebe

Dancel excited to perform alongside Sugarfree drummer Mitch

This time, Ebe promised 22 songs and a bigger place to accommodate more audience. He announced, “It’s gonna be 22 then there’s gonna be more space.”

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Aldwin M. Tolosa

Jt Nisay

Edwin P. Sallan

Eduardo A. Davad

Niggel Figueroa

Anabelle O. Flores

Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Patrick Miguel

Asked what motivated him to start a fundraiser for his friend, he simply answered that he wants to help his friend. “Gusto ko lang siyang tulungan in whatever capacity because this person is so good to me,” said Ebe.

“I feel it’s my responsibility to give back,” he added. “This is just my way of [saying]... I want him to be safe. His fight just began, so gusto kong maramdaman niya na kasama niya ako every single step of the way.”

He shared one memory he cherished with his friend, and that was when he went to La Union and found the friend there. They got to bike around and sit by the beach, spending their time together and creating memories.

Soundstrip asked him if he had any message to tell his friend who is fighting for their life against cancer. Ebe, in tears, said, “I love you. We’re gonna fight together. Mas matindi ‘yung laban mo pero… lagi ko naman pinapaalala sa’yo na hindi ka namin pababayaan.

He tried to fight back his tears, saying “Naiiyak ako.”

After a while, he repeated to tell his friend, “Hindi ka namin pababayaan.”

Ebe admitted to having no expectations. He said, “ Wala akong expectations. I just want people to have a good time kasi sila ‘yung humingi nito [kaya] baka sila ‘yung may expectations— ako wala

“

Ine-enjoy ko lang [ang] bawat saglit na kaya ko pang tumugtug kasi you’ll never know eh, you’ll never know kung hanggang kailan pwede kong gawin ito,” he added.

Ebe hints, “It’s a longer set, the line is different…. So there’s gonna be comedy, there’s gonna be music and then there’s gonna be me which is a mix of comedy and music.”

Rock band Sandwich is also scheduled to perform at the show.

Ebe said he wanted an intimate show. He said, “While it’s a concert, we also want to treat us something very intimate, kahit gaano pa karami o konti ‘yung manonood parang ‘yon naman yata yung strength ng music na ginawa ko. It’s gonna be intimate however big or small the venue is.”

Deniece Williams performs for first time in PHL

Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes Y2Z

Photographers :

THIS April 2023 marks the return of theInternationallyAcclaimedLOVE ROCKS! CONCERT presented by MARROX Events, co-presented by MARROX Trading & Construction and in cooperation with Blu Rocks Productions, World Entertainment Group and MaxiOne Production is finally back for a series in the Philippines.

will be backed by the LOVE ROCKS! ORCHESTRA, under the direction of MAESTRO DANNY FAVIS. This onenight only event will be held at The Theatre at Solaire on Wednesday 26 April 2023 at 8:00pm.

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With her incredible four-octave range and distinctive soprano voice, Four-time Grammy Award winner and Oscar nominee DENIECE WILLIAMS will headline the show. Known for her best hits such as “Free,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” and “Healing,” she will be performing for the first time in the Philippines. The concert will be co-hosted by J MICHAELS, who will show incredible versatility in musical styles and OPM Singer “80’s Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala” HAJJI ALEJANDRO as special guest. This show-stopping lineup

With Love Rocks! concert, MARROX Events is in partnership with Free Hungry Minds Library Inc., a foundation which brings outreach programs and initiatives centering on livelihood and education for underprivileged communities in urban and rural areas. Through this partnership, MARROX Events pursues to extend this responsibility to the community while sharing the love for arts and entertainment.

The Official LOVE ROCKS! Concert is a trademarked concept show that has had great international exposure and success. As 2023 marks the 15th anniversary of Love Rocks! concerts, fans can look forward to multiple shows and

more great Artists in the coming months. Tickets are now available at ticketworld.com.ph! Grab your tickets now!

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

EBE Dancel (Photo by Kris Rocha/GNN Productions)

by Tony M. Maghirang

Now Playing: Megumi Acorda, Dilaw, The Brockas, U2, Fall Out Boy and Lana Del Rey

FILIPINA guitarist Megumi Acorda carved out a name in the local shoegaze scene. On this her debut full-length album, Megumi uses shoegaze as props for her voice which warbles beautifully to a batch of slow ballads. Opening track “Dream Sequence” starts with piano riffs that sound like tolling bells and for every other song thereafter, that bell tone resonates through the sprightly pop of “Borrowed” and the rocking “Nothing Forgotten.” Ms. Acorda appears to be stretching her musical muscle that should delight her hardcore fans.

THERE’S something refreshing and vital in the way 6-piece indie band Dilaw draw their listeners. The first two songs off their new EP are love songs laced with Ace of Spades sideways influences. By the third canto, the group steps on the gas to showcase “3109” with its unmistakable socio-political snipes, “Kakoy” that rocks in its ode apparently to the travails of jeepney drivers, and “Maskara” (not the Juan dela Cruz song) that concludes the whole thing with the flourish of a quirky pop opera. As the press release goes, the band is truly building their sound towards exciting new directions.

So Much (For) Stardust

EMOCORE, at least the side the loves hair metal, is back. It’s there in Paramore’s 2023 album. It’s here in Paramore contemporaries Fall Out Boy who are crafting some of the most attractive pop rockers so far this year, and they just don’t rock. “So Good Right Now” is destined to rock all parties from here to Timbuktu. Opener “‘Love From The Other Side” and the funky ‘I Am My Own Muse’” are close second. The warm ballads are just as bracing though they move up to bold dance-friendly rhythms by the second half. The new Fall Out Boy gives a drug-free high from start to finish.

THE BROCKAS Manila by Night

THISalbum does not in any way refer to Ishmael Bernal’s classic film but it may as well be. On their latest release, uber-indie band The Brockas live up to their billing as “a mess of contradictions” which Is what night-time Manila brings to mind: brightly lit karaoke bars bookended by unlit barong barongs, for instance. In The Brockas, there’s a kind of “contradiction” too when this group of artists pairs singer songwriter portions with loud psychedelic jam and singing that evokes Lou Reed as much as Bob Dylan. They’d rather call it “Dadaist” punk though in my book, it’s just filmmakers Lav Diaz and Rox Lee spewing out the noise and distress in their creative heads.

U2 Songs of Surrender

I’LL get personal here. I may the one of the first to get a copy of U2’s “War” album which was a gift to me by my then gf now wife who bought it during her short stay in Germany in ’82. Thing is, it’s the U2 album that to me personally, is their best album ever; Like, first impressions last. So listening to the Irish band’s newest, the stripped-down “Songs of Surrender,” I had my fist pumping on “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” on side 4. But as remembrances usually go, I got goose pimples by the simple treatment (i.e. not arena blasting roar) of “11 O’clock Tick Tock,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” “Every Breaking Wave,” and “Until The End of the World.” Bono’s voice and the melody make all the difference.

LANA DEL REY Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

DESPITE the overlong rather pretentious title, the introspective songs on Lana Del Rey’s new album are splashed with impending doom and gloom. It’s a stylized mood aiming for Goth in a pure pop packaging. Nonetheless, Lana del Rey’s aim is true firstly, in lyrics that deal double entendre like “. “Fuck me to death, love me till I love myself” in the title track. Secondly, in the glorious “A&W,” she bathes in the warm glow of a redemptive ballad till she blurts out, “This is the experience of being an American whore.” Such duality makes “Do You Know..? an engaging even adventurous body of work. Check out digital musical platforms especially spotify for the music reviewed here.

SoundSampler

MEGUMI ACORDA Silver Fairy

DILAW Sansinukob

FALL OUT BOY

Is coffee bringing people back to the office?

By Julia Hobsbawm Bloomberg

My working assumption that coffee is an unremarkable and often undrinkable aspect of working life changed when I realized that it’s playing a central role in rebuilding corporate office culture in the new hybrid era. For employees returning to offices on a hybrid basis, on average three days a week, having a coffee with someone is the perfect way to rebuild relationships with people they haven’t seen in possibly three years.

As I wrote in this column recently, offices break the isolation and monotony of working from home and yet company leaders have to work hard at offsetting the drag of the commute, especially given the fact that the pandemic showed remote workers could be successful.

I took my anecdotal observations to the research firm Ipsos, which analyzed location data from nearly 10 million mobile phones in over 5,000 coffee shops in the New York City area for me. It showed that

only 12 percent of visits occur during working hours, but outside lunch hours. It’s hard to argue with the appeal of free coffee in the office given surging inflation.

I saw the benefits of coffee in reviving office camaraderie first hand on a tour of the Park Avenue offices of corporate real estate consultants Savills Plc. Vice Chairman Gabe Marans showed me a plethora of newly refurbished work spaces from small, soundproofed booths to open plan cubicles and some offices complete with their own sofas and tables, forming a corner office look with privacy for senior executives. But the pride of the renovation is a vast kitchen/hangout area called “The Happy Room.”

The coffee break and its role in bringing people together socially isn’t new. In the 17th and 18th centuries, coffee became a competitor to tea as the beverage of choice for both elites and workers. In his book A History of the World in 6 Glasses, the writer Tom Standage describes European coffee houses as “the internet of the Age of Reason.” Today the coffee break is widely understood as much in a work context as anything, with the “Fika” break in Sweden, “Elevenses” in the UK or even “Smoko” in Australia or the frequently seen canned coffee in Japan, normally the home of tea. Although the US is the largest coffee machine market, the fastest-growing is Asia.

What’s new today is the way the office is aiming to emulate the coffee house inhouse. Coffee consumption is rising while office use has halved in cities like New York compared to before the pandemic. Global green bean exports in November 2022 to -

taled 9.2 million bags up 10.8 percent from the same month of the previous year, according to the International Coffee Organization. On the ground, media magnate Sir Martin Sorrell told me that despite reducing his office space to factor in a three-days-

Now to the issue of quality. Gone are the stewed pots of tasteless water. It was notable on my recent trip that I was offered not even the pod-brewed coffee supplied by Starbucks, but the specialist, expensive expresso variety administered from top-of-

in norm, he agrees “totally” that redefining offices around social space has become indispensable for clients and teams alike.

That’s especially true now that many workers don’t have assigned desks.

“When the time came to reopen our London office, we switched to hot-desking. A more flexible use of office space ensures you always have room to grow your team if your revenue does,” said Drew Benvie, chief executive officer of communications agency Battenhall. Expanding the social space when people are coming in at unpredictable times is a way to mitigate there being nowhere for employees to sit. Battenhall recently posted “a day in the office” on TikTok to underscore that the hot desk life is fun, though the practice remains a topic of debate.

the-range machines. But the one which got me most was delivered on tap: nitro coffee (Reader: it’s punchy).

Obviously, social life and office life have combined before, but the emphasis used to be on out-of-office bonding—happy hours and beers on Friday kind of stuff. These days, no one is in the office on a Friday if they can help it. So what happens during working hours to keep people connected matters a lot—and coffee is rising to the challenge.

Julia Hobsbawm is a columnist for Bloomberg Work Shift and founder of The Nowhere Office, a “book, podcast and research project about the past, present and future of work.”

Cover photo by cottonbro studio/pexels.com

Paving the way for Gen Zs and millennials to thrive at work

WORKPLACES today are no longer about employees isolating themselves in a cubicle for eight hours or more a day. In the age of constant disruption, a creative work environment that inspires its team members has increasingly been the holy grail for companies seeking to capitalize on their most valuable asset: the people.

According to a recent survey by TalentLMS and BambooHR, flexibility, inclusion, engagement and work-life balance are the top priorities for young professionals at work. This is what TELUS International Philippines (TIP) is embodying as it continuously grows its roots in the country, now with seven sites in Metro Manila and two in Iloilo. With its services centering on digitally-enabled customer experience and business process solutions, the company’s workplaces are built to meet its team members’ evolving needs.

TIP’s fun and caring culture is apparent

with themed meeting rooms to keep team huddles light, game rooms for a quick mind break, cafe-style eating areas for a communal feel, and artistic hoteling workspaces to increase collaboration.

“Team members are the heart and soul of every organization, and they perform at their best when they are happy at work,” said Warren Tait, Brand, Culture and Facilities Global Vice President at TELUS International. “Across all our sites, we inject fun features to keep work easy and interactive like themed meeting rooms and work areas. One way our team members can also take a mental break onsite is through our game rooms where they can choose to play billiards, darts, air hockey, videoke, or games.”

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) have also played an integral role in opening opportunities for team members to be more involved in their workplace. There are currently 11 active SIGs across TIP’s nine sites, including Chorale Club, Arts Club, Socio

Civic Club, Outdoor Club, Martial Arts Club, Biking Club Crank Warriors, Dance Club, Highstart Motorcycle Club, Kitchen Club, Photography Club, and Music Club.

Another effective program at TIP is the TELUS Days of Giving (TDOG) which allows team members to participate in volunteer activities that give back to their respective communities.

Being a part of these programs helps team members give back meaningfully to build upon the legacy of our company’s caring culture.

To see current career opportunities with TELUS International Philippines, visit telusinternational.com/careers or facebook. com/TELUSph/ and linkedin.com/company/ telus-international-philippines/

iwAs in New York for in-person work meetings a few weeks ago. while there were the requisite lunches and cocktails at my favorite haunts, one thing stood out: coffee.

Today, the coffee break is widely understood as much in a work context as anything, with the “Fika” break in Sweden, “Elevenses” in the UK or even “Smoko” in Australia or the frequently seen canned coffee in Japan, normally the home of tea.

Work spaces at TELUS International Philippines are designed to stimulate collaboration and productivity, while reflecting the company’s culture.